My experience of meeting Coldplay ! LONG POST WARNING!

[lucyb]

OK, I have been promising for a while that I would do this, and with the benefit of half a bottle of wine, Im ready to go! Are you sitting comfortably? Then I will begin!

 

I have been a die hard Coldplay fan for the last 8 years. Indeed, when we were emigrating to Australia from England, we planned our emigration around a Coldplay concert. We had tried to get tickets for the concerts in London in December, 2005 and were heartbroken when they sold out. However as our Visa application to move to Australia was well underway, when their Australian tour dates were announced, and a July 5 concert in Adelaide was promised, we knew that we would have to say goodbye to England and be in Aus by that date. We somehow managed to get through to Ticketek from the UK and then our fate was sealed!

 

So, you can imagine my disgust when the 2009 tour was announced and Adelaide was NOT on the schedule. I am not ashamed to admit that I cried. I immediately created a Facebook group 'Petition to get Coldplay in Adelaide 2009' (which I have since left as the event has passed) and set about contacting our local press and radio with quite a bit of success. Chugg Entertainment, however, were not interested in little old Adelaide, and it also transpired that High School Musical the frigging ICE SHOW had booked the Entertainment Centre for the dates that an Adelaide show would have perfectly fit in the schedule. Imagine my irriration when the HSM tour was cancelled due to poor ticket sales! By that stage the Coldplay dates were set and it was too late. Believe me, I tried and was even speaking to the manager of the Adelaide Entertainment Centre at this stage!

 

However, every cloud has a silver lining. I became great friends with a girl called Talia who joined my Facebook group. She was in a similar state of distress because of the Adelaide bypass and we quickly became friends . One day, when she was out my house for dinner and we were watching the Live 2003 DVD, she mentioned that Channel V were running a competition. The winner would be flown to meet the band, then attend the soundcheck and concert! Well, I knew that this was fate! We had to say, in 25 word or less why we were Australia's biggest Coldplay fans. I entered EVERY DAY for 3 weeks solid. IT KILLED ME! I remembered reading this article about this woman who won every competition she entered by writing some catchy and witty jingle. So that's what I set out to do. Every day, without fail, I killed myself thinking of some funny jingle that would hopefully spell out to Channel V that I was the most deserving winner. For example:

 

Id run naked through streets of Sydney

just to prove to you

my undying love of Coldplay

Is that what you want me to do?

 

Most were much better than that , but I cannot share my secrets...I may need them again one day!

 

Anyway. I had the WEIRDEST feeling that I'd one for about a week before the comp closed. After it closed, I was so convinced that I'd won, that I was even taking my BlackBerry into the toilet at work. It closed on a Sunday, and at 6PM the following Tuesday, my phone rang and it was an 02 prefix for Sydney. I KNEW. This was it! My hands were shaking as I answered!

 

'Hello?' I said!

 

'Hi this is Jon calling from Channel V'

 

'Are you calling about the Coldplay competition?' I asked...clutching on to the kitchen counter and gazing at my mother in law who was visiting from England with unseeing eyes.

 

'I might be' Jon said!

 

'HAVE I WON?' I said in a slightly hysterical voice!

 

'How would you like to fly to Perth and meet Coldplay?' Jon said. At this stage I'm afraid I went beserk! My mother in law says I was screaming and shrieking on the phone like a hysterical banshee. I'm afraid I cannot really remember. My children were sitting on the sofa looking mildly concerned at this stage.

 

Fast forward about 2 weeks, and Talia and I are together the night before we leave Adelaide trying to get some sleep. It's not easy. Tomorrow we are meeting the best band in history. We are so desperate to look halfway decent when we meet them that we have a hair appointment booked one hour after landing in Perth, and we have also tracked down a professional make up artist. We were told that we would get our own photo op, which turned out to be a lie as we only got a group one in the end (My avatar is closely cropped, lol)

 

Anyway, backtracking slightly, we get to the Burswood Dome in Perth for 2PM. We are to be meeting some chap from Chugg Entertainment, who turns out to be one of the most miserable old buggers on the planet, FYI. Anyway, he's late and eventually we are ushered into the lobby of Burswood with 9 other prize winners and their plus ones. All of a sudden we hear in the auditorium 'Glass of water' and Talia nearly wets herself. Jackie Jackson, head of security comes out to greet us to lay a few ground rules, but she is lovely. She reminds us not to get to close and then we are on our way to meet Coldplay! OMFG!

 

We all creep in and there they are! Coldplay are RIGHT IN FRONT OF US! I cannot describe this feeling to you, other than to say, it really was probably the best experience of my life (Other than the day my two children were born) I mean...look! Coldplay are RIGHT THERE! As we walk in, Chris breaks away from the piano and greets us all by saying, 'Come on in, don't be shy!' I am shaking and reaching for my camera. Initially we stand about 30 feet back, but then I think, sod this, and start inching closer and closer. By the end Im right at the front of stage barriers, which funnily enough is where I am also lucky enough to be for the concert later that evening. They play a bit, then stand around chatting while the sound guys do their thing. Jackie is with us and is lovely....answering our questions and not treating us like idiots at all! Then, Chris says, 'Well we are going to do one more song, so shall we play you something that you'd like to hear that we wont be playing tonight?" OMG I think! 'Amsterdam!!' I scream at him. He looks at me and I fully know he's heard me "sorry, what was that? Trouble? OK . Ill play Trouble!!' Naughty boy!

 

So the soundcheck was unreal. During the photo op, Chris stood next to me and I gave him good natured grief about not coming to Adelaide and we had a good 5 minute chat and I also mentioned that I was coming to Melbourne for 2 of their shows the following week. (If you look on my signature below, there's a link to my Facebook album where I have put all of my fave pics from the concerts.) Afterwards we are given a backstage tour and meet all of the crew. Embarrassingly my husband rings at that stage when there's a lull in the conversation. My ringtone is 'Clocks' and everyone has a giggle. I ask Jackie if we can just stay inside so that we can be front row for the concert and she says sadly not. So we run outside after we say our goodbyes and line up. Now, it's hot, it's summer and we are EXHAUSTED as we have been up for hours by this stage. Talia has had knee reconstruction and cant yet run, so we are discussing tactics for when the dorrs open. Several hours later when they open I am first in. OMG. then my ticket doesnt scan as the machine is jammed. The old trout at the gate says to me, 'wait there' I tell her in my most polite way to get stuffed and run like I have never run before for the stage. My heart is pounding and I feel like Im about to pass out. Im the first person inside the venue. I slow for a second and then hear footsteps running behind me so pick up the pace. I get to the front..dead centre in front of Chris' microphone. Holy crap, I think! How lucky am I? I am holding a space to my left for Talia who cannot run. People are trying to push into her space, but I hold my ground. She finally arrives and we CANNOT believe we are dead centre and front row!

 

So, as you can imagine, the concert is unreal. It's like our own personal performance , we are so close! Drenched in butterflies, we head back to the hotel. ( I probably shouldn't reveal the name for security reasons) So Talia and I have eaten nothing more than a bag of chips in nearly 24 hours. We are faint with hunger and a bit drunk after a few glasses of wine on an empty stomach. We get in the lift to go to bed. As we get out I say to her, 'you know what? Let's just go downstairs just in case they are there'. I just had this feeling. So we get back in the elevator and as the doors open downstairs, Talia clutches my arm and whispers 'Holy F*** it's Chris Martin' and he's standing 10 feet away from us with Kelly looking sexy as hell and exhausted in a black hoodie.

 

'NO PHOTOS' commands Kelly, Chris' bodyguard (we were never anything but polite and courteous to him and Chris and it annoys me that he is so aggressive towards the fans) We are not even holding our cameras. Chris looks at him, then us, and says , 'nah man it's cool' then he says, 'You're the girls from Adelaide, I saw you rocking out in the front row, did you enjoy the show?!' Then some American girl came and asked him what was the 'piano tune' he played after Hardest Part and me and my friend immediately yelled at her 'Postcards from far away' (DUR!) and he smiled at me and said to her, 'see, only the super fans would know that!!' I nearly fainted, lol. Oh and then he said to me, 'Ill see you in Melbourne next week' as he fully remembered the conversation we'd had at soundcheck. He also signns a gorgeous photo of them that Talia had printed for me.... 'Hi Lucy, Love Chris Martin' with a funny face which now has pride of place in our study!

 

 

 

So we are buzzing and finally manage to get some sleep. The next morning we wake up and open the curtains. It's a beautiful day in Perth. Luckily we have a poolview room. I keep winding Talia up by saying, "OMG Jonny's at the pool' or 'OMG here's Will with his family' She runs to the window each time but soon realises I am teasing! And then, wait, what's that...holy crap CHRIS MARTIN HAS JUST WALKED DOWN TO THE POOL!!!! I race for my fancy new camera to turn it on and THE BATTERY DIES! Luckily I bought my old one as a back up. I had taken hundreds of pictures at soundcheck and the concert the night before...I guess in hindsight, packing the charger would have been smart. Anyway, I am ashamed to say we were crouched like paparazzi on the floor by the window with our eyes popping out of our heads. Chris appears to be wearing a pair of speedo's? Now I know I posted some pics of this shortly after I got back, but removed them as felt it was an invasion of Chris' privacy. Some of you doubted that it was Chris. But I can promise you that I was there, saw with my own eyes and it was 100% him! (Any wanyway I recognised his shoes, lol...we all know what bad taste in shoes he has!) His mobile rings constantly and he has ants in his pants. He does not sit still for a minute. Then he starts rolling around and doing all sorts of weird yoga moves. And then, Guy rocks up with some blonde chick. He sits awayfrom Chris but seems very relaxed and content to just chill out on a sun lounger. At this point we are in danger of missing our flight back to Adelaide so we reluctantly make our way down to the lobby to check out. Some people asked why we didnt go down to talk to them? Well I feel that they were on their days off and relaxing, and I thought it would have been terribly rude and obnoxious to invade their privacy. (So I just took photos from our hotel window instead )!

 

So we are back in Adelaide, but know it's only a few more sleeps until we head to Melbourne, so we dont feel that depressed. Incidentally I also win a competition on Video Hits for the Melbourne show, but sadly not the sound check this time, just 2 normal tickets. I sold them on EBAY and used the money to upgrade to a better hotel, which proves to be the smartest move ever, as my hunch pays off and guess who happens to also be staying there?!?!?!?!?!?

 

We were on the early flight out of Adelaide to Melbourne. Talia heads straight to Rod Laver to scout out the best place to line up for the day, and I head to the hotel to check in. Imagine my surprise when Kelly walks past me! he does a double take and says 'Hello again!' 'Im fully NOT stalking', I say, 'I just like nice hotels!' and then I add, 'Are you guys staying here?!?!?!?!?!?' to which he hold his finger to his lips like shhhhh. Like Ill keep that one to myself? There's a white Tarago people mover outside the lobby with the doors open, waiting for I wonder who. I hang around for a bit, but dont want to look like stalker so hail a cab to Rod Laver where I break the news to the gathering super fans. Very exciting! We have a great day lining up. There are about 20 other die hard fans and we have a great time swapping stories and generally getting punch drunk on our mutual love of Coldplay. It was a great experience.

 

Now anyone who has had general admission to a concert at Rod Laver knows what a bloody joke it is. It doesnt matter really if you have been there all day, as when the doors open, all bets are off. You have to run like hell to gate 15 to exchange your ticket for a coded wristband which proves that you have the right to be down the front. I swear I nearly collapsed I was running so fast. All of us who have been there all day make a pact to look out for each other and make sure we all get front row. WE DO! However this time I am between Jonny and Chris, but it's still a fantastic position to be in. We joke around with the security and the camera man who gives us water and takes great care of us. We are sadly subjected to our second performance of Mercury Rev. They really were terrible. All of the audience members looked as bemused and amused as we were the previous week in Perth. The lead singer appears to be off is tits on something. The guitarist is hilrious....Id chatted to him in Perth in the elevator and he LOVED himself. He's trying to eye f*** all the girls in the front row and we are in hysterics for most of their show.

 

So at last we hear Strauss' Blue Danube Waltz and it's game on again! I still smile at the thought of Chris spotting me during In My Place and smiling at me. Quite a few people were like 'OMG he just smiled at you' that was bloody awesome!

 

After the concert we, along with Josh and Adam, 2 great guys we had met head back to our hotel, just to see who's about and wouldn't you know it, but there's Phil and Guy Berryman in the lobby. Now Im an ex smoker, however I suddenly rediscovered the need for a ciggie when we spot Guy leaning against the railing out front of the hotel. He is such a lovely , excuse the pun, Guy. So I cant remember the whole conversation but I did say to him 'Guy, you look sooo serious when you are up on stage' and he smiles and replies (probably thinking you're a f*ckwit) 'Well, it's a very serious job I have to do!' LOL. We chat about how he likes Australia and I also ask him if he remembers Adelaide in July 2006 and how shit the audience was. He has no clue....venues all blur into one for him. He really was very sweet. He still had his sexy black jeans on and red shirt, girls. I was standing 2 feet away from him for several minutes. I regret not asking for a photo, but I just didn't want to piss them off and was content just for the chance to chat to them whenever I encountered them. How many fans ever get that chance? Oh before I forget , we also saw Will several times in the hotel lobby pushing his children in their pushchair and with a woman who I presume was his wife.

 

 

So after all of those experiences, we just didn't think things could be better than that....we were wrong! We went back upstairs to our room...and by the way the hotel they stay at is now my absolute favourite hotel in Melbourne...so gorgeous! We were sad that there was only one more concert left, especially as we didnt have general admission, we had seats...the atmosphere is never as good in the seating areas, I dint care what anyone says to the contrary. Talia had general admin and was right by the piano for Hardest Part so I was super jealous! But I suppose it was interesting to see the show from a different angle, but we missed out on the butterflies! Towards the end of the encore just as they started playing The Scientist, we legged out out of Rod Laver Arena and hailed a cab back to the hotel so that we could beat the band back and be waiting there for them when they came back. It was so funny as when we got back, all the hotel management were waiting in a line on the step to greet the band, and I said 'oh for me, you shouldn't have!' as we ran into the lobby. We plonked ourselves in the comfy leather tub chairs and waited for no more than 2 minutes. Jonny was in first and walked about 3 feet past me. He is very cute and so shy in person. I called out to him 'Great show, Jonny' (Like a dork!)and he smiled and started walking towards me. Now this is where I FAILED! Rather than talking to him, I briefly turned away from him to see if I could see Chris, so he carried on towards the elevator. My husband said he was fully coming over for a chat. SHIT!!!

 

So we went to grab a bite to eat quickly and then later my husband had to collect something from reception that had been delivered from his office. So about midnight we went down to reception. Phil was there and came and said hello to me. He asked me if I had enjoyed the show and I said not really as it was nowhere near as good for me, atmosphere wise, as I was up in the nose bleed section! He then said, 'Oh have you met Anthony? This is Chris' dad'. Well of course we hadn't!

 

Now it turns out that my husband and The Martins are from the same part of Devon. It also turns out that my husband's younger brother used to play against Chris at hockey in school. My hubby and his brother went to Millfield, the rival private school to Sherborne and they are the same age. Anthony was travelling with an old family friend who as it happens was looking to move to the same village that I lived in before I moved to Australia and was friends with the vicar who had baptised/Christened my son! What a small world!!! So the four of us had a great time talking about this and that, and before I knoew it, we had been chatting for over an hour! By this stage it was well past 1AM, so Anthony asked us if we would like to join him for coffee the following morning! Out of respect, I will not write about the things we talked about regarding their grandchildren and his daughter in law. But I will say we were so impressed by what a loving, level headed and close knit family they are. We laughed at how he addressed Chris always as 'Christopher' and he is so proud of him. He says it's surreal seeing his son on stage, adored my thousands! And he was telling us how much he HATES Chris swearing! He said 'The Scientist' was his favourite and he also liked the 'piano song', which I informed him was 'Postcards' and played it off my phone for him! We spent a lovely 2 hours with them and then sadly it was time to go to Melbourne airport for our flight back to Adelaide. I really enjoyed meeting him and have a huge amount of respect for him. He is a lovely man!

 

Overall, you have to remember that Coldplay are just 4 normal men with an extraordinary musical talent. All I can say is that the week that I spent travelling to concerts and meeting the band was the best week of my life. I feel honoured to say that I have met them all. They are charming and down to earth. I hope that one day soon I will have the chance to say all of the things I so badly wanted to say until I got tongue tied with excitement.

 

 

 

Lucy

[Miss Lestrade]

I don't think he even remembers how to play Amsterdam. :rolleyes:

I'm pretty sure he could find a way around the high notes.

 

Great Coldplay experience! I'm not jealous or anything...:lol:

[BerrymanGirl1]

right kyra:lol:

:stunned::shocked2::o

thats so awesome!!!!you guys are so lucky!!!:wacky::D:D:D:D

I must say I am jealous:whistle:

 

 

:lol:thanks for sharing with us!!!

[Ab]

Where's the part where you had a ciggy with Guy?! :P

 

I guess it'll be in the next entry. :D

Nice story btw.

 

& no, just edit the 1st post, & then make a new post to notify us, I guess that way is better so that your story won't get lost between our posts IMO. :smiley:

[LFDianne]

Lucy,

 

Love your story. Lucky you! I won a call-in radio contest here in March, and get to meet them for "Cocktails with Coldplay" before their concert here in Irvine, California, on July 19. I know how you feel about Coldplay Karma - it was a pretty miserable weekend here, due to some things that happened with my daughter. I called in to the radio station every single hour when I heard the cue. I got through so many times, but was never the right caller. Finally, on Sunday afternoon, I was the correct caller. I about died. My husband was standing with me when I called that time, and was shouting in the background when i was talking with the dj. He must have thought I totally lost it. lol But I absolutely cant wait for the concert. It's on a Sunday night, and I am also going to see them at a different nearby venue Saturday night. It will be my 5th and 6th times seeing them :)

[i♥C.MART]

:shocked2:

that is effing amazing. you are soo lucky! i'm really jealous!

:wacky: chris is such a sweetie! :heart:

[technicolor_love78]

wow! that's so awesome, lucy!! lucky you and thanks so much for posting ur experience :smiley: I can't wait to read the rest!!

 

@lfdianne: congrats on finally getting in and winning! i'm so excited for you and you get to meet them on my bday haha :lol::dance: man, i wish my local radio stations did more CP contests :P

[Andy14]

Fantastic story Lucy :) The hotel meeting must have been fabulous! They were playing Glass of Water as we walked into the Brisbane soundcheck too. That song will forever have awesome memories attached!

[lucyb]

Part 2 upate done....it's the smoke with Guy bit, ladies! I still have heaps more to write but am going to see my new puppy at last! I promise Ill write more later !

x

[BerrymanGirl1]

holy shit you met Guy!!!!!!!!!:bomb::bomb:so lucky Lucy!!!!!!:bigcry:wow thats so awesome!!!!!and Chris in a speedo:wink3::lol:you are seriously lucky!!:D:D:D:D

[i♥C.MART]

holy shit you met Guy!!!!!!!!!:bomb::bomb:so lucky Lucy!!!!!!:bigcry:wow thats so awesome!!!!!and Chris in a speedo:wink3::lol:you are seriously lucky!!:D:D:D:D

:shocked2:

whats this about chris in a speedo?!?

 

:uhoh:

 

:bomb:

[coldplayisawesome]

:stunned:

 

@caitlyn: :lol:

[i♥C.MART]

:smug:

[ilovechrismartin09]

CHRIS IN SPEEDOS !!! X OMFG

[BerrymanGirl1]

:lol::lol:I know right!!doing yoga too:D:D

[ilovechrismartin09]

AHHH !! lol :P x

[i♥C.MART]

:lol::lol:I know right!!doing yoga too:D:D

:bomb::bomb::bomb::dead:

 

damnit chris! stop being so sexy! you're killing me!

[BerrymanGirl1]

:dead:too late:sad:

[Corkus]

Awesome experience! :D Quite envious!

Also, whoever doesn't know Postcards doesn't deserve to have such an experience. :whip:

[BerrymanGirl1]

:lol:yeah thats so true^^

[Guest LiquidSky]

awww your story suddenly made me really nervous!! Was Jonny on a speedo too or am I missing that part? :idea2:

[lucyb]

Why did it make you nervous? I have a cute Jonny bit for you later too...and Will! x

[Guest LiquidSky]

Why did it make you nervous? I have a cute Jonny bit for you later too...and Will! x

 

Because you were meeting Coldplay and then you MET COLDPLAY and then you randomly met Chris! and then you later met Guy and Phil???????? :surprised:

 

yeah that would be........yeah that was awesome.. so it made me nervous :nice:

 

 

I'm looking forward to the Jonny bit!!! :D

[lucyb]

It's all finished!!!!!!!

[but a dream]

Chris in a speedo???

 

:bomb:

 

 

Great story :D Waiting for the Jonny bit as well :D