Hi, long time lurker, first time poster. I want to purchase tickets for one of the St. Paul gigs and had a couple of questions. I've never been to a Coldplay concert, but I did see U2 last summer in the twin cities. I want to buy floor tickets but I noticed they had a row number and seat number. Does this mean anything? Isn't it first come first serve? My U2 tickets had the same thing but meant nothing. I would love some help figuring this out and any help is appreciated!

All floor tickets for the US tour are reserved seats, so you will have a specific section, row, and seat number. No GA

Hi, long time lurker, first time poster. I want to purchase tickets for one of the St. Paul gigs and had a couple of questions. I've never been to a Coldplay concert, but I did see U2 last summer in the twin cities. I want to buy floor tickets but I noticed they had a row number and seat number. Does this mean anything? Isn't it first come first serve? My U2 tickets had the same thing but meant nothing. I would love some help figuring this out and any help is appreciated!

 

 

No, it's not GA standing. There is temporary seating on the floor, and everyone has an assigned seat.

^It's a pity because I wouldn't be able to sit when Coldplay is only a few meters away :D

^It's a pity because I wouldn't be able to sit when Coldplay is only a few meters away :D

 

 

It's extremely hard to get health & safety to agree to GA in many places, especially in an indoor venue. This tends to mean a lot of tours scrap GA everywhere because from a production standpoint, things work better if every show has a uniform set up.

I still insist that floor seating in arenas is ridiculous. I've been in one of Coldplay's seats in the middle of the Home Depot Center, which is a STADIUM. It was an awful experience. You can't see one damn thing, plus you can't move around and dance because there's seats everywhere and other people want to just stand there. It would have been a far more enjoyable show in the higher levels. Not to mention Coldplay's floor seats are stupidly overpriced. Every rock band I can possibly think of has all-standing arena floors (even though Coldplay's "rock" status is disputable).

I still insist that floor seating in arenas is ridiculous. I've been in one of Coldplay's seats in the middle of the Home Depot Center, which is a STADIUM. It was an awful experience. You can't see one damn thing, plus you can't move around and dance because there's seats everywhere and other people want to just stand there. It would have been a far more enjoyable show in the higher levels. Not to mention Coldplay's floor seats are stupidly overpriced. Every rock band I can possibly think of has all-standing arena floors (even though Coldplay's "rock" status is disputable).

 

Don't get me wrong, I do think floor seating is stupid (particularly on an ungraded floor, which seems to be your main issue.), I'm just saying that there's often reasons for things like floor seating that are beyond the production's control.

I still insist that floor seating in arenas is ridiculous. I've been in one of Coldplay's seats in the middle of the Home Depot Center, which is a STADIUM. It was an awful experience. You can't see one damn thing, plus you can't move around and dance because there's seats everywhere and other people want to just stand there. It would have been a far more enjoyable show in the higher levels. Not to mention Coldplay's floor seats are stupidly overpriced. Every rock band I can possibly think of has all-standing arena floors (even though Coldplay's "rock" status is disputable).

 

The really stupid thing about this is that there was a GA pit, so it's not like they couldn't get permission or something for GA. To me, having the floor seating/GA pit combo is worse than having exclusively floor seating. Thankfully I was front row pit for that concert, but I doubt even mid pit could see half of what was going on, never mind the floor seats that were further back.

The really stupid thing about this is that there was a GA pit, so it's not like they couldn't get permission or something for GA. To me, having the floor seating/GA pit combo is worse than having exclusively floor seating. Thankfully I was front row pit for that concert, but I doubt even mid pit could see half of what was going on, never mind the floor seats that were further back.

 

In a lot of places that do allow GA, you are still limited as to the total number of standing on the floor, so I'd bet that has something to do with it. I know where I live, it's extremely difficult to get permission to do GA standing at an arena show, and your numbers are limited to around half of what they would be with seating. I used to work with tours (from the local end), and I've seen how much hassle you can get trying to do standing admission, but that's mostly set by local law and can vary greatly from place to place. The only arena show I know of here that did standing was U2, and I heard they had to move heaven and earth to get that.

In a lot of places that do allow GA, you are still limited as to the total number of standing on the floor, so I'd bet that has something to do with it. I know where I live, it's extremely difficult to get permission to do GA standing at an arena show, and your numbers are limited to around half of what they would be with seating. I used to work with tours (from the local end), and I've seen how much hassle you can get trying to do standing admission, but that's mostly set by local law and can vary greatly from place to place. The only arena show I know of here that did standing was U2, and I heard they had to move heaven and earth to get that.

 

Muse did a GA floor a couple of years ago at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Don't know why CP can't. Guess it doesn't matter here for this tour, since they were at the Hollywood Bowl - no GA (except for the small orchestra pit area) there.

Muse did a GA floor a couple of years ago at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Don't know why CP can't. Guess it doesn't matter here for this tour, since they were at the Hollywood Bowl - no GA (except for the small orchestra pit area) there.

 

 

From what you and Corkus have said, I think the CA rules must be more relaxed than here.

In Singapore for the Viva La Vida tour, I think there was floor seating put you couldn't tell because every single person in the whole stadium was standing up anyway. I also went to to Muse and I was in the pit where there were no seats.

So would you guys suggest getting regular seats rather than floor ones?

To use a current example, The Black Keys are currently playing in many of the same American arenas that Coldplay are playing in. Their floors are entirely GA, and that's not just one or two shows. It's all of them. So it's not just the venue's decision. It's the band and their promoters.

 

And yeah, I've been to several shows at the Honda Center. Coldplay was the only one that had floor seats.

My guess: It's all about the money! If people are willing to pay for overpriced floor seating tickets, there's no way the promoters are gonna set up the arenas for GA.

To use a current example, The Black Keys are currently playing in many of the same American arenas that Coldplay are playing in. Their floors are entirely GA, and that's not just one or two shows. It's all of them. So it's not just the venue's decision. It's the band and their promoters.

 

And yeah, I've been to several shows at the Honda Center. Coldplay was the only one that had floor seats.

 

 

In a lot of cases, it is the venue decision and/or local regulation that are the primary factors. Do bands and their promoters have a role in the process? Yes, but to claim there are no other factors at play is simply incorrect.:rolleyes:

So would you guys suggest getting regular seats rather than floor ones?

 

 

Probably yeah. Most of their venues have ungraded floors, so unless you're fairly tall, it is hard to get a good sightline from the middle of the floor.