10-Jul-2009: The Amphitheater, Portland, OR - Tickets, Previews, Meetups, Reviews, Setlists, Photos/

[SueDeNimes]

YouTube - Coldplay mj tribute Clark county ampitheatre 07/10/09[/url]

Thanks for posting the link here, it's a good video and the song sounds great!!

 

[...]

 

The show was amazing as usual, best one yet. They sounded absolutely unbelievable!

[...]

 

Overall, just pure brilliance!

Hi Cindy!!

 

Good to hear you had a great time and thinks for the videos and review! :kiss:

[but a dream]

^thanks for covering my tweets, my twitter twin!:lol:

I actually only covered 1 tweet this time :shame: Was Saturday morning here and too tired to get out of bed :lol:

 

Nice vids :D Now go have fun tonight!

[marie/pims]

The MJ cover is so great.Jonny's bit :D:D

[busybeeburns]

by 2dollarshoes:

 

[ame=http://www.flickr.com/photos/2dollarshoes/sets/72157621152982433/show/]Coldplay in PDX July 2009[/ame]

[chengui]

Long story short – I won a t-shirt design competition and me and a friend won seat ON THE STAGE to the Coldplay show last night. I’ll write more later – but figured I’d post this first half this morning.

 

After I won the tickets I asked the woman at the station if she thought there was any chance we would actually meet the band (so I could be prepared) and she said no. She said the station did not receive ANY meet/greet passes so our prize was just to sit on the stage (still freakin’ awesome – no complaints on my end). She then told me that a woman from Capitol records (who sponsored the contest) would be contacting me the day of the show with specifics of how I got to my seat etc.

 

Fast Forward – DAY OF THE SHOW

In the morning I went and picked up my T-shirt from the radio station and my tickets. Apparently how they do it is they give me real seats (like 3rd row seats too) just to get me in the venue so I can connect with the Capitol rep (as far as I know these seats remained empty since I was not in them). Around 5, I got a call from the capitol rep. She was SUPER nice and said the Capitol people loved my design and that she had been informed (by the powers that be) that I WOULD be able to get to meet the band even though it wasn’t part of the radio promotion and we’d get a picture with them! Wow. She said that she would meet me inside the venue at 7:15. I’d never been to the venue but knew it is supposed to be in Washington (only 20 minutes north of Portland). However, because of the traffic I figured we should leave with plenty of time to spare so we left at 5:45. How silly I was to think it would take me less than an hour and a half to go 15 miles. Traffic WOULD NOT let up! I started out thinking we had plenty of time, but as the traffic refused to let up I started getting more and more nervous. The Capitol rep called me as I was in the car and told me that the meet/greet was scheduled for 7:15 and told me where to meet inside the venue. Now I started to kinda freak out. With a half hour to spare we got off the exit to the venue (of course CRAZY concert traffic to deal with now) It was the worst feeling being stuck in traffic just to find a parking spot and knowing that we could miss our opportunity to meet the band. We got a parking spot and got out of the car around 7:05. We ran through the parking lot, had our tickets scanned and RAN to the meeting spot inside the venue. We made it….with a few minutes to spare (OMG).

 

The two reps from Capitol came and met us and two other winners from another radio station. We got the passes and went through the backstage doors into an area behind the venue (outside still though). The Capitol people were super friendly and one of the guys was chatting with me about weird experiences he’d had with bands/fans. Apparently he found us to be pretty down to earth/normal. The said they were taking us to an area to wait for the band. We walked past these big security guys into this back lot area that had a ping pong table set up. The Capitol people said we would just hang out there until the band had a few minutes to come say hi. As one of the reps was telling our group this, Guy walked right past me and went over to the back corner of the area where he began to talk to Chris (who magically appeared from around a corner). I think as soon as they realized fans were there the ducked around the corner out of sight (although I think I we may have been the only two to see them – the other winners were older…not sure how big of fans they were). The security guards then asked us all to come wait on the other side of the fence. The tour manager came and said hi, and a few other people from the Coldplay “group”. Everyone was super nice and seemed to really like my t-shirt.

 

We waited for quite a while out there and people kept coming over and apologizing for the delay (like I really cared). Finally the band manager said we were ready and we went BACK around the fence to the ping pong table area. Apparently the other contest winners had won some huge framed plaque thing that would be signed by the band, so this was brought out and set on the ping pong table while there was a discussion if they should ask the band to sign the glass with a silver or black Sharpie. We all kinda stood together – however the Capitol people got pulled aside by someone (not sure who) and they came and told us that apparently the other two winners are the only ones that actually would get a photo with the band (as it was actually part of their official promotion). Crazy how this stuff works, you know? Obviously that was kind of a bummer – but still …meeting the band was unexpected and completely extra at this point so I had no reason to complain.

 

A few minutes later the boys walked in. They came and shook all our hands and introduced themselves – kinda like a wedding reception line. Will was first, super friendly and nice, Guy next, who commented that he really liked my shirt, then Jonny who gave the biggest smile and Chris last, who said hello, introduced himself, shook our hands and smiled (but I got the feeling they do this ALL THE TIME – and he was kind of preoccupied) Chris said it was such a beautiful night and I said they really lucked out. Then they were brought them over to the plaque to sign (Will stayed and chatted for a minute). While they were signing, their manager and a few of their “people” were asking me about the T-shirt design – then they pointed it out to the boys – Will and Guy said it was cool. When they were done, we stood off to the side and they posed for a picture with the other two winners. After that was done, Chris looked over and us and said, “What about these guys? – let’s get one with them” – so they came over and took a photo with us AFTERALL! Crazy how this stuff is orchestrated – whatever the band is in the mood for it seems like – I got the impression that you don’t ever approach them about it, you just hope they are in a good mood. After the photo, they all shook our hands and I wished them luck for the show. They left.

 

The Capitol people said it was so awesome that they took a photo with us (and that it was Chris’ idea) – I guess that’s pretty abnormal.

 

HAVE TO RUN THIS MORNING - MORE LATER (about what it was like ON THE FRIGGIN STAGE)

[Mimixxx]

Wooooow! How nice of the boys :dance:

 

Thanks for sharing :D

[Zeya]

Long story short – I won a t-shirt design competition and me and a friend won seat ON THE STAGE to the Coldplay show last night. I’ll write more later – but figured I’d post this first half this morning.

 

A few minutes later the boys walked in. They came and shook all our hands and introduced themselves – kinda like a wedding reception line. Will was first, super friendly and nice, Guy next, who commented that he really liked my shirt, then Jonny who gave the biggest smile and Chris last, who said hello, introduced himself, shook our hands and smiled (but I got the feeling they do this ALL THE TIME – and he was kind of preoccupied) Chris said it was such a beautiful night and I said they really lucked out. Then they were brought them over to the plaque to sign (Will stayed and chatted for a minute). While they were signing, their manager and a few of their “people” were asking me about the T-shirt design – then they pointed it out to the boys – Will and Guy said it was cool. When they were done, we stood off to the side and they posed for a picture with the other two winners. After that was done, Chris looked over and us and said, “What about these guys? – let’s get one with them” – so they came over and took a photo with us AFTERALL! Crazy how this stuff is orchestrated – whatever the band is in the mood for it seems like – I got the impression that you don’t ever approach them about it, you just hope they are in a good mood. After the photo, they all shook our hands and I wished them luck for the show. They left.

 

The Capitol people said it was so awesome that they took a photo with us (and that it was Chris’ idea) – I guess that’s pretty abnormal.

 

HAVE TO RUN THIS MORNING - MORE LATER (about what it was like ON THE FRIGGIN STAGE)

 

That is so wonderful..Congrats for getting the photo after all!(Actually while I was reading I told myself that this review will end up with you getting a photo after all because the boys especially Chris would insist on doing so..I'm glad that I got it right...Lucky you!:D)

Looking forward to the rest of the story and the photos :D

[roche714]

great review.so lucky to meet the band...

[Krystyna]

Yeah those organizers of the meet and greets always seem to have a bunch of strict silly rules in place, but from everything I've read, it didn't seem like Chris would adhere to the 'no photo with these folks rule, it wasnt part of the prize' nonsense.

 

Nice work on the shirt, and what a nice surprise for you to be able to meet the band afterall. :)

[forcin]

^ Congrats on meeting the band, chengui, well deserved i might add, those shirt designs were brilliant:stunned:

 

The band might dedicate a song to Nettie. :shrug:

 

I have a feeling they will dedicate a song to Nettie. That is so sad.

 

well, they didn't dedicate a song per se, but when chris was giving us instructions on how to do the mexican wave, he said this is for "someone special" so he may have meant nettie:nice:

[Lizzybear]

WOO! Reading Teh Cindy's review now! :D:D:D:D:D

 

AWESOME EVERYONE! :nice:

 

Now Darcy just needs to get back to ol' Alaska and post her review/pcis too!! :dance:

[Lizzybear]

Right Kirsten, parking and traffic was a cluster fuck, took me an hour to get out of the venue:angry:

 

setlist:)

 

Life in Technicolor

Violet Hill

Clocks

In My Place

Yellow

Glass of Water:dance:

Cemetaries of London

42

Fix You

Strawberry Swing

GPASUYF/Talk(techno)(C Stage)

Tha Hardest Part/Postcards From Far Away

Viva La Vida

Lost!

Green Eyes(B Stage)

Death Will Never Conquer(B Stage)

Billie Jean cover(B stage)

Politik

Lovers in Japan

Death and All His Friends

ENCORE:

The Scientist

LiTii

 

That adorable dancing roadie is a gem, complete with Michael Jackson glove:Dthat kid is gonna go places, i'm predicting.

YouTube - Coldplay's dancin' roadie Ridegefield, WA 07/10/09

 

The show was amazing as usual, best one yet. They sounded absolutely unbelievable!

Clocks and Glass of Water just stand out because they are so powerful and visually stimulating. The crowd was awesome, except during 42 when Chris wanted us to sing along to the ohhhhh ooooh's, they kind of choked and the Mexican wave fizzled, but other than that they came through I thought.

Chris was in his usual playful mood, his vocals were stellar. During Clocks Jonny was rockin' his little heart out, i would have gotten it on video, but the king of all butt-faces(security) told me to stop filming and get back to my seat, prick:veryangry:

OMG, and they ran past me AGAIN when they went to the back of the stage to play acoustic! This time I managed to grab all of them and not just Chris, I even grabbed Kelly!:laugh3:Please excuse my squeals of delight and ecstacy:P

YouTube - I GRAB COLDPLAY! Ridegefield, WA 07/10/09

 

Overall, just pure brilliance!

Bought some t-shirts, tour book and the tote and got my free LRLRL which is going to Zeya:kiss:

 

 

 

 

 

 

You touched them all! :stunned::shocked2:

 

:angry: *hates Cindy for 60 sec.*

 

 

jk

 

OK!

:pleased:

Im better now! :P:P

 

 

Cant believe u touched them all tho :bomb: Yes your screams of delight:laugh3::laugh3::laugh3::laugh3:

 

 

 

Sorry about the prick security dude....:veryangry2: sometimes they can be SO annoying, but other than that sounds like a fabulous night :D:D:D congrats, congrats!

[forcin]

^ thanks lizzie, did you get my tweet about Guy being too skinny? all i felt were ribs when i grabbed him:laugh3:

[Lizzybear]

:o :o

 

what were u grabbing woman?! :stunned: I told u not to molest him too much :lol:

 

 

 

:whaaat: somehow i thought he looked more healthy and not so skinny in person at my shows, compared to some of the pics of him in Oz earlier this year :uhoh: He did look a bit skeletor then!

But to me he looked fine in the flesh at my shows, but then again i never grabbed his chest like u did.....:shifty:

 

:hug:

 

 

 

 

edit: yeah i need to check twitter now actually, havent been on since i tweeted u i think :P

[Mimixxx]

Coldplay's pop sneaks up, won't let you go in show at Clark County Amphitheater

 

 

That Coldplay is one the hugest pop bands on the planet is inescapable.

 

The group and its superstar frontman Chris Martin find themselves, a decade-plus into their career, literally having it all: the fame, the fortune (more than 50 million albums sold; packing venues such as the 18,000-capacity Amphitheater at Clark County on a nightly basis), the Grammys (seven), the hot-actress wife and oddly named children (Gwyneth Paltrow; Apple and Moses).

 

That the group has faced down its critics to become one of the finest bands on the planet is a matter of considerably more debate, but for all its suburb-rockin' anthems for the evening commute, Coldplay has perfected what Sting once called "music for window washers to whistle to," the sort of pop that sneaks up on you and won't let your brain be. And that, too, has its place in the world, as the throng of singing, hollering, cell-phone-waving Coldplay faithful made clear Friday night.

 

Coldplay's piano-driven balladry is to the '00s what Supertramp's similarly-crafted pop was to the '70s: musically accomplished, somewhat unthreatening, rock the whole family can enjoy. But in a live setting, what sounds tame and overly polished on record explodes in a rainbow of Technicolor and light.

 

Whether on hits such as the relentlessly driving "Clocks," the hooky ballads "Yellow" (accompanied by huge yellow balloons that bounced around the venue like helium pinballs), "The Scientist" and "Fix You," or the dramatic sweep of "Viva La Vida," Coldplay's energy level whipped its set along as if in a race against time.

 

And whereas in the '70s, bands such as Supertramp once played "in the round" so that fans in every seat in the venue could get a look at their heroes in action, Coldplay took a different tack, playing "all around" by moving its stage to various locations throughout its set, sprinting through the crowd to play a medley of reworked songs ("God Put a Smile Upon Your Face," "Talk") on a tiny platform stage left, then marching to the back of the venue to proffer an acoustic set highlighted by a tribute to the late Michael Jackson via an unusual cover of Billie Jean."

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zBpUMHNIn4&feature=player_embedded]YouTube - Coldplay - God Put a Smile Upon Your Face (Live at Clark County Amphitheater, 7.10.09)[/ame]

 

All the while, Martin came across like a likeable anti-star, amiably narrating the show as it progressed ("This is the part of the concert where the singer pretends to go solo, like Justin Timberlake, which turns out to be a terrible idea, then returns to his band as fast as possible," he laughed before launching into "The Hardest Part"), twirling an umbrella under a shower of confetti as the band ripped through "Lovers in Japan," bounding goofily around the stage, switching off easily among various keyboard instruments and guitar.

 

The capacity crowd lapped it up with gusto: Coldplay may have begun its career as a serious bunch of young students given to midtempo confections with memorable melodies and lyrics devoted to the angst-ridden self-reflection of the undergraduate set, but the latter-day version of the band has amped up the fun quotient considerably, and seems poised to give aging stadium veterans such as U2 a run for the money in the decade to come.

 

With their day-glow, quasi-military stagewear and classic sensibilities, you can call them Sgt. Pepper's Hearts-on-Sleeves Club Band, a group less likely to "save rock" than to continue to push it ever forward, one hit single at a time.

 

http://www.oregonlive.com/music/index.ssf/2009/07/coldplays_pop_sneaks_up_on_you.html

[bear]

oh myyy. i dont really have enough time to write a review that is good and/or coherent.

but the show was AMAZING. all my pics are all pretty crap though. i got some ok video. maybe someone can tell me how to take screenshots, and i can post those pics..?

HINT someone tell me how to do screen shots on a windows xp HINT :P

heres some quick thoughts:

i got there super early and heard a bit of the soundcheck.. mostly violet hill and guy fooling around on bass.

the second opening band was very very good.

when they finally came on, it was so surreal! like, "AH IM ACTUALLY SEEING THEM HOW CAN THIS BE HAPPENING" type of thing.

AMAZING SOUND. wow, wow wow.

the platforms out into the audience were uber short):

billie jean cover was quite good, esp. jonnys guitar.

the guy next to me was dancing and singing the entire time. cool dude.

when they walked up to the b stage, i was only 10 seats away:D

two very nice roadies gave me a pick and a setlist:dance:

[but a dream]

:dance: Your excitement is contagious :dance: Glad you had fun :D

[Lizzybear]

oh myyy. i dont really have enough time to write a review that is good and/or coherent.

but the show was AMAZING. all my pics are all pretty crap though. i got some ok video. maybe someone can tell me how to take screenshots, and i can post those pics..?

HINT someone tell me how to do screen shots on a windows xp HINT :P

heres some quick thoughts:

i got there super early and heard a bit of the soundcheck.. mostly violet hill and guy fooling around on bass.

the second opening band was very very good.

when they finally came on, it was so surreal! like, "AH IM ACTUALLY SEEING THEM HOW CAN THIS BE HAPPENING" type of thing.

AMAZING SOUND. wow, wow wow.

the platforms out into the audience were uber short):

billie jean cover was quite good, esp. jonnys guitar.

the guy next to me was dancing and singing the entire time. cool dude.

when they walked up to the b stage, i was only 10 seats away:D

two very nice roadies gave me a pick and a setlist:dance:

 

 

 

 

FABULOUS DARCY:kiss::kiss:

[bear]

:hug:

[In a telescope lens]

oh myyy. i dont really have enough time to write a review that is good and/or coherent.

but the show was AMAZING. all my pics are all pretty crap though. i got some ok video. maybe someone can tell me how to take screenshots, and i can post those pics..?

HINT someone tell me how to do screen shots on a windows xp HINT :P

heres some quick thoughts:

i got there super early and heard a bit of the soundcheck.. mostly violet hill and guy fooling around on bass.

the second opening band was very very good.

when they finally came on, it was so surreal! like, "AH IM ACTUALLY SEEING THEM HOW CAN THIS BE HAPPENING" type of thing.

AMAZING SOUND. wow, wow wow.

the platforms out into the audience were uber short):

billie jean cover was quite good, esp. jonnys guitar.

the guy next to me was dancing and singing the entire time. cool dude.

when they walked up to the b stage, i was only 10 seats away:D

two very nice roadies gave me a pick and a setlist:dance:

DARCY THAT'S AMAZING!!!!! :dance::dance::D:D:D

SOOO happy for you!!!!!! :D:D:D:D:D

 

but wait how did you get the pick and setlist if you weren't in the pit? :thinking:

[busybeeburns]

found another full version of Billie Jean with good sound

 

 

(added to the first post, thanks michie :D)

[Ab]

well, they didn't dedicate a song per se, but when chris was giving us instructions on how to do the mexican wave, he said this is for "someone special" so he may have meant nettie:nice:

Thanx. :smiley:

oh myyy. i dont really have enough time to write a review that is good and/or coherent.

but the show was AMAZING. all my pics are all pretty crap though. i got some ok video. maybe someone can tell me how to take screenshots, and i can post those pics..?

HINT someone tell me how to do screen shots on a windows xp HINT :P

Yay!

Glad you had a wonderful time, Darcy! :D

As for the screenshots, use GOM Player.

found another full version of Billie Jean with good sound

 

 

(added to the first post, thanks michie :D)

That guy's Flickr:

[chengui]

Let me start from the beginning....

 

After I won the tickets I asked the woman at the station if she thought there was any chance we would actually meet the band (so I could be prepared) and she said no. She said the station did not receive ANY meet/greet passes so our prize was just to sit on the stage (still freakin’ awesome – no complaints on my end). She then told me that a woman from Capitol records (who sponsored the contest) would be contacting me the day of the show with specifics of how I got to my seat etc.

 

Fast Forward – DAY OF THE SHOW

 

In the morning I went and picked up my T-shirt from the radio station and my tickets. Apparently how they do it is they give me real seats (like 3rd row seats too) just to get me in the venue so I can connect with the Capitol rep (as far as I know these seats remained empty since I was not in them). Around 5, I got a call from the capitol rep. She was SUPER nice and said the Capitol people loved my design and that she had been informed (by the powers that be) that I WOULD be able to get to meet the band even though it wasn’t part of the radio promotion and we’d get a picture with them! Wow. She said that she would meet me inside the venue at 7:15. I’d never been to the venue but knew it is supposed to be in Washington (only 20 minutes north of Portland). However, because of the traffic I figured we should leave with plenty of time to spare so we left at 5:45. How silly I was to think it would take me less than an hour and a half to go 15 miles. Traffic WOULD NOT let up! I started out thinking we had plenty of time, but as the traffic refused to let up I started getting more and more nervous. The Capitol rep called me as I was in the car and told me that the meet/greet was scheduled for 7:15 and told me where to meet inside the venue. Now I started to kinda freak out. With a half hour to spare we got off the exit to the venue (of course CRAZY concert traffic to deal with now) It was the worst feeling being stuck in traffic just to find a parking spot and knowing that we could miss our opportunity to meet the band. We got a parking spot and got out of the car around 7:05. We ran through the parking lot, had our tickets scanned and RAN to the meeting spot inside the venue. We made it….with a few minutes to spare (OMG).

 

The two reps from Capitol came and met us and two other winners from another radio station. We got the passes and went through the backstage doors into an area behind the venue (outside still though). The Capitol people were super friendly and one of the guys was chatting with me about weird experiences he’d had with bands/fans. Apparently he found us to be pretty down to earth/normal. The said they were taking us to an area to wait for the band. We walked past these big security guys into this back lot area that had a ping pong table set up. The Capitol people said we would just hang out there until the band had a few minutes to come say hi. As one of the reps was telling our group this, Guy walked right past me and went over to the back corner of the area where he began to talk to Chris (who magically appeared from around a corner). I think as soon as they realized fans were there the ducked around the corner out of sight (although I think I we may have been the only two to see them – the other winners were older…not sure how big of fans they were). The security guards then asked us all to come wait on the other side of the fence. The tour manager came and said hi, and a few other people from the Coldplay “group”. Everyone was super nice and seemed to really like my t-shirt.

 

We waited for quite a while out there and people kept coming over and apologizing for the delay (like I really cared). I was talking to the capitol rep. and she mentioned she had a few extra tickets for the show (like really nice ones) and if i had some friends who wanted to get to the show ASAP, they could have them. I called a few people, but nobody answered, their loss I guess. But she said it happens a lot so I told her to keep my number for the future. Finally the band manager said we were ready and we went BACK around the fence to the ping pong table area. Apparently the other contest winners had won some huge framed plaque thing that would be signed by the band, so this was brought out and set on the ping pong table while there was a discussion if they should ask the band to sign the glass with a silver or black Sharpie. We all kinda stood together – however the Capitol people got pulled aside by someone (not sure who) and they came and told us that apparently the other two winners are the only ones that actually would get a photo with the band (as it was actually part of their official promotion). Crazy how this stuff works, you know? Obviously that was kind of a bummer – but still …meeting the band was unexpected and completely extra at this point so I had no reason to complain.

 

A few minutes later the boys walked in. They came and shook all our hands and introduced themselves – kinda like a wedding reception line. Will was first, super friendly and nice, Guy next, who commented that he really liked my shirt, then Jonny who gave the biggest smile and Chris last, who said hello, introduced himself, shook our hands and smiled (but I got the feeling they do this ALL THE TIME – and he was kind of preoccupied) Chris said it was such a beautiful night and I said they really lucked out. Then they were brought them over to the plaque to sign (Will stayed and chatted for a minute). While they were signing, their manager and a few of their “people” were asking me about the T-shirt design – then they pointed it out to the boys – Will and Guy said it was cool. When they were done, we stood off to the side and they posed for a picture with the other two winners. After that was done, Chris looked over and us and said, “What about these guys? – let’s get one with them” – so they came over and took a photo with us AFTERALL! Crazy how this stuff is orchestrated – whatever the band is in the mood for it seems like – I got the impression that you don’t ever approach them about it, you just hope they are in a good mood. After the photo, they all shook our hands and I wished them luck for the show. They left.

 

The Capitol people said it was so awesome that they took a photo with us (and that it was Chris’ idea) – I guess that’s pretty abnormal. So we all walked back out to the main area (now about 8:30) and were told to meet back by the backstage door at 8:50. We could have gone and found our seats and waited there, but the second opening band was wrapping up and we decided to just hang out for twenty minutes.

 

Snow Cone/Bathroom break.

 

At 8:50 the Capitol people came back and met us, walked us backstage and onto the side of the main stage. It was funny cause they stopped to let the band manager what were were doing and he said (in his thick british accent) “I know exactly what you’re doing. For once I know what the f*** is going on around here.” – he was hilarious. Our seats were right next to the guitar tech’s station on the right side of the stage. There was a thin gauzy fabric that probably hid us from the rest of the audience, but we were RIGHT there! We were the only two that got to sit there (one Capitol rep. stayed with us the whole time) – everyone else there was with the band adjusting sound levels and whatnot. I took out my camera and took a picture, but the Capitol rep (who was super nice) told me that that probably wasn’t a good idea, as a lot of times they don’t like pictures taken of the equipment and stuff. Didn’t want to ruffle any feathers, but I am SUPER bummed that I only have the one picture…which was before the band took the stage.

 

At around 9:00 the lights went out and Coldplay took the stage swinging sparklers around. RIGHT before they came on stage this huge Banner dropped behind the stage, except it got tangled up in itself and the roadies all scrambled to get it unraveled before the lights went on. The head roadie guy ran past me yelling, “Are you f***ing KIDDING me?!”

 

It was awesome to be so close and see the workings back stage, but I will say it gave me a HUGE appreciation for how the guys can perform like that because the sound is ALL messed up when you are standing on the stage like that. Reason being that all the speakers are obviously pointing out, so the music is bouncing off the venue walls, so there is a slight delay between the music heard on stage, and what they are playing. Everything sounded pretty good, except for the songs with a lot of drums because we were actually hearing the real drums (not the amplified ones) so they sounded ahead of the rest of the music (thanks Will!). Also when Chris spoke between songs there was too much echo for us to really understand. That being, said – I’ve seen them before and I know they sound AMAZING live, so it kinda sucked that we could see everything great, but didn’t really get to see/hear the show as well as if we had been up front. I mean we were right next to them, but let’s face it, they are performing to the crowd. So that being said, I can always pay for great seats next time they are in town, but I’ll never get to be ON STAGE again – so no complaints here.

 

Early in the show Guy came into the guitar tech’s booth thingie in between a song (literally 2 ft to my right) and took off his coat, which he hung basically on my chair. Also, Chris would be singing, and as he was running around stage he would come up to the Guitar tech and make a motion to adjust some kind of level or something. The guitar tech guy (I wish I knew his name) had like 10 backup guitars that he was prepping and swapping out with all the boys in between songs.

 

One of the cool things they did during the show is they set up two small stages way towards the back of the venue and the jumped down into the crowd (surrounded by bodyguards of course) and ran to one of these back stages and performed a few songs out there so everybody got to be relatively close. It was really cool of them to do. Well the first time they did it, they played talk and then Chris went solo on piano and played The Hardest Part while the rest of the boys were brought back to the main stage. Well while Chris was playing, Jonny came and hung out with the guitar tech, joking around and talking about something he’d messed up with one of the guitars. He was seriously standing right next to me. Crazy. They obviously had everything scheduled very precisely and it struck me that this is really their job.

 

They all came back to the stage and played a few more songs and it all went seamlessly – The band manager came out and asked me if everything was going well – also they brought us some water - then the band headed out AGAIN to a smaller stage which was much further away. It was kinda hard for us to see because they were off to the right, past the guitar tech station, which was right near the right end of the stage. The guitar tech was so friggin nice though, he moved some of his gear and invited us around to stand on the stage so we could see better. Like he didn’t have a billion other things to worry about - so nice of him. So we stood on the stage and looked out over the crowd at the band playing. Chris asked everyone to take out their cell phones and do the wave, using the light from the screens (pretty cool). Then they played an acoustic version of Green Eyes (awesome), Death will never conquer, and then they covered Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean! Pretty darn cool. After Billie Jean was over the guitar tech beckoned us back to where we were earlier because we were standing pretty much in Chris’ spot. As we passed by his little set up he took my hand and gave me one of their guitar picks. Super, SUPER nice guy. During their song, Lovers in Japan they released billions and billions of paper butterfly confetti – which I thought was pretty cool, until they released a second wave of black light neon butterfly confetti which was REALLY cool. After their encore they left the stage and we had to wait until they cleared out, before we could leave. We walked out with the Capitol people, and got to say goodbye to the tour manager and band manager, who had both been so nice to us. After that it was trying to find the car, and a good 2 hours sitting in the jammed up parking lot – NIGHTMARE.

 

All in all a really, REALLY great time!

[chengui]

6th paragraph picks up where I left off, sorry!

 

 

Here's the one picture I got from the stage - I don't think pictures of the band would have come out so great anyway because of the gauze. It shows up way darker on the pictures than it seems like in real life.

[LittleMissMessy]

Woah ... Chengui :)

 

That was a really amazing experience, even from reading!!

 

I am so thrilled for you that everyone was so very nice towards you :)

 

This review is simply fantastic! Thanks for sharing everything with us :)