Tuesday, December 20, 2005

I could write a song, a hundred miles long, that's where I belong, and you belong with me...

Last night was spent in the company of my mum, my two brothers, a guy with fantastic knitware (more on later), and around 20000 people. Of which, four were Coldplay.

Nonchelant comments will forever be the death of me. Back in August, my mum asked me if I'd like to see Coldplay, I said yes. Three and a half months down the line, here I am, watching them, and £35 worse off.

Not that it matters.

Put it shortly: amazing. Coldplay are the best band in the world at the moment, bar none. I was a bit unsure of what to expect, as I haven't sat down at a gig since Feeder.

Firstly the support was Richard Ashcroft. I was sceptical at first when announced, as - I'll be honest - I was hoping that he'd play some Verve songs. Thank the good Lord he did. "The Drugs Don't Work" being a personal highlight for me, as I said last week, it's one of my favourite songs ever.

It was during this perfomance that I realised who I was sitting next to. He will forever known as Mr. Knitware, sporting a tank-top, a dodgy shirt and chinos. He was in his 50's, and - whilst I'm not saying that Coldplay's tunes are not enjoyed by all - he did look more out of place than Brad Pitt at a Star Trek Convention. After every Ashcroft song I was greeted with "WOOOOOOOOO!". Not a Ric Flair style "WOOOOOOOO!", but a very forced, husky "WOOOOOOOO!"

It got worse when Coldplay were on.

The image - whilst not fantastic - kind of gives an impression of where I was in the arena. What you can't see is how far I had to lean over to take that picture. Mr. Knitware was holding his mobile up in my face so that his friend could hear the concert down the phone. It's not that I'm being ungreatful, as I think he knew, yet he still did it. It was just very annoying, and - whilst didn't spoil the concert in any way, did kind of peeve me for a short while.

With that considered though, I was happy of my location. Sure, it wasn't at the front, but I did feel like I got a better experience, as you saw some amazing sights, such as during "Yellow", they dropped 15 or so huge balloons filled with glitter on the audience.

Another such moment was during the final song: "Fix You", which would probably go down as the single coolest gig experience of my life. Seeing mobiles and lighters being waved in the air, with 20000 people singing "Lights will guide you home....", and seeing them all from above was so, so cool.

From my vantage point I could also see probably the most humourous point in the gig. At one point, Chris Martin (whenever I type it, I always type Christ Martin......hell, he's a veggie, anti-war, and people come from all around to see him. Wouldn't suprise me if he was the second coming.) ran to the back of the arena, and 20000 plus people turned their heads away from the stage. I know that they share out all the profits equally and it's a 100% democratic band, but for the other three (see, I don't even know their names), it must get a bit demoralising being at the front of a stage, and not a single soul is watching you.

However, should you ever get the chance to see them, do so. Whatever you do, don't stay in our hotel. £100 a night (which I didn't pay), and it was cold, and had this wallpaper.

I'm sure it's a ploy so you can check out on time.

And the pen I nicked doesn't work.