Seat Upgrades, Clothing, Meeting them

[zweb]

My two brothers and I are going to our first Coldplay gig at the August 11 St. Paul show. Our tickets aren't bad, somewhere to the side on club level but I've read about the seat upgrades for the excited fans who have energy. I know I'll be freaking out because I'm the biggest fan among my brothers and my hearts beating faster just thinking about it so hopefully they'll notice.

 

 

I hope to be upgraded with my brothers by a roadie but not sure how best to do it. We talked about bright colored t-shirts and doing homemade stuff one them but haven't done anything yet but planning on doing it in the next few days. Would it be helpful to make a sign too? I don't have any like huge pieces of cardboard so I don't know what I would use or put on it.I also wanted to get some slim black cargo pants like Chris's to wear but can't find any where I live and the ones on the internet are really expensive. Anyone have cool ideas for making a t-shirt? And where is the best place to get the stuff to make the t-shirt? And if anyone who was upgraded and had a cool shirt can you post a pic to see different ways of making them? Another idea I had is to do like face paint colors or something but don't know where to get them.

 

 

As for meeting them I think I have very slim chances. I have no idea what I would say if I was lucky enough to actually meet one of them. My older brother is driving and is basically in charge for what we do but I still want to get there early and hopefully get him to let us hang out there a little while after and walk around to see if we see them. What is the best thing to do or place to be to see them or meet them?

 

 

Anyways sorry if this a big jumble of questions and ideas I'm just super excited and want it to be one of the best days of my life, Thanks.

[SoothMeWithMusic]

Hi! I didn't get upgraded when I went to my concert because I had 7th row seats but I know a few people who have gotten upgraded :3

 

Signs are always good and basically everyone who gets upgraded has home made Coldplay themed clothing on. This was my outfit for my concert that I went to on August 1st and I ended up getting a picture on Oxfam's twitter! I also had a Happy Birthday Will sign. Anyway I made that whole outfit. Just bought the jacket from a thrift store and the shorts from walmart and basically spray painted them. My mom sewed on the patches. Spray paint is pretty cheap, at least where I live. Around 2-4 dollars a can. So I recommend doing that, spray painting clothing :3

 

Thrift stores are great places to find cheap secondhand clothing to decorate. So I recommend going there. Try to have everyone in your party make an outfit too. I think there's more of a chance of being upgraded if it looks like everybody that your with will appreciate the closer seats.

 

I also had Coldplay themed shoes and for that basically buy a cheap pair of tennis shoes and Coldplay them up! :) Feel free to take ideas from mine :3

 

Good luck on being upgraded! I really hope you do :D

[UpWithTheBirds]

I didn't get upgraded. I think it's because my seats were too good - just like SoothMeWithMusic :lol:. I did make myself a tour shirt and I made sneakers too. I'll get pictures in a second!

 

As long as you look like you will appreciate the upgrade you'll have a better shot.

 

EDIT

 

My shirt:

 

My shoes:

 

and strangely enough - my nails! :P

[smallnshort247]

I got upgraded on July 8th with a friend. I already posted the story of how it happened, so I'll just copy and paste it here. Before I do, I just wanted to say that I believe the chances of people getting upgraded now are much harder now. At my July 8th D.C concert, not too many "true fans" made their own shirts or posters. My shirt had me in a picture with Coldplay that was photoshopped. It all just comes down to luck! It seems like now at shows, many more people are making their own shirts/shoes/posters etc.

 

Anywho, here's my repost

 

 

---

 

I purchased floor seats (section 2) Mylo Xyloto tour tickets all the way back in December of 2011. This would of been my 3rd Coldplay concert ever, so I wanted to do it big. Lets fast forward to May of 2012. A friend from Texas was coming into town and I recommended we go see Coldplay. I already was going with someone on the 9th, so I figured i'd just buy cheap seats for the 8th. I believe we were placed in section 419 which is super high up. We arrived to the Verizon Center about 20 minutes before they opened the doors to the public. We got our Xylobands, got our tickets scanned, and headed to our seats in 419! Once we got up there, both our seats were broken and not suitable for viewing a concert in them. I flag down an usher and explain to him our problem. He then finds some service workers to try and repair the seats. They said that the seats couldn't be repaired, so they had to walk us to guest services to get new seats. I knew that those service men weren't the roadies I heard about on this forum, but I kept hopes high thinking hmm, maybe we'll be upgraded to some really nice seats. That didn't happen, we were basically moved over to the other side of the arena and a tad bit lower, but still in the 400 section. So about 15 minutes later, I spot a roadie pulling a group of two girls to the side asking them "hey, did you girls make these posters?" "how big of fans of Coldplay are you". I knew exactly what was going on, and I wanted to throw myself in front of them and try to request tickets. She offered them seats between the first 3 rows. You see, I actually made my own shirt for the concert. I had a friend photoshop me into a picture with coldplay that looked pretty funny but only something a true fan would do. So once she finished talking to them, I tell my friend, I'll be right back and I try to find her to talk to her. She walked so fast that I couldn't catch her so I kind of gave up and headed back to my seat, bummed out. Then I gained hope again and tried a second time to find a roadie. At this point, I knew how they acted so I felt that I could spot one from anywhere. What do you know, I did spot another roadie upgrading a group of guys to one of the front 3 rows. I tried to catch him but he also walked too fast to speak to. I was going to say "hey, do you know where the bathroom is, hoping he would notice my shirt i created. I eventually gave up trying to track him down and just went back to my seat. At this point I forced myself to just forget about it and enjoy the concert..after all, the next show I'd be in section 2 in front of the X stage. So Wolfgang performed and I LOVED THEM. I checked them out before the concert and the king and all of his men was by far my favorite song by them that i've heard. Anyway, after they were done they said, he we'll be in section 114 or something like that if you wanted to get stuff signed by them or to meet them. My friend said hey lets go there! I kind of recommended that we didn't since I didn't want to risk missing the start of coldplay. She said that there was enough time to get there to meet them. So we leave our seats and head to 114. Before we even get 20 feet away, a guy standing on the side randomly stops us saying "hey guys you coldplay fans". I knew EXACTLY what was going on because he was the same guy I was trying to track down. My friend however thought he was a creep at first since shes used to that kind of thing lol. He showed us his badge and asked if we were happy with our seats etc. We of course say any seat is a good one for Coldplay. Then he asks if we're the only people in our group and we say yes. He tells us he has 4 tickets left between the first 3 rows on the floor if we want them. At this point I'm going crazy, after reading so many people getting upgraded on this site, I never thought it would happen to me! He even had popcorn and offered me some, I of course take some! He guides us to the lower level. I'm so pumped that I call my mom and tell her the good news. We get down to the lower level and he hands us our tickets. First row on the floor, left of the X stage cat walk. It looked as if they reserved the first 3 rows for "true fans" that get lucky enough for tickets. Rows 4 and back looked like really rich people who were only sitting that close up because they could afford it. They didn't look anywhere near as exited as any of us within the first 3 rows. Now, I'm a 21 year old male. I've been a coldplay fan ever since I heard Clocks and In My Place for the first time back in the 6th grade. There was only one other guy in the row. The rest were 14-17 year old girls haha, but I didn't mind, they were all really nice. Some of the girls on the left of me were so pumped that they asked me the name of some of the songs Coldplay played. I gladly told them the names since I love myself some Coldplay trivia! The man who upgraded us to the seats came back about 2 other times during the concert to see how we all were doing up there. He was very kind and funny.

 

During the concert, I can't tell you HOW AMAZING IT WAS TO BE SO CLOSE TO COLDPLAY. I think after this concert, Jonny became my favorite Coldplayer. I forgot which song it was, but Chris was being Chris and running all around. It seemed as if everyones attention was all on Chris on the X Stage but I turned around and continued to look at Jonny. I of course had my camera out recording and i scream Jonny!!! I wave and what not to get his attention and he actually noticed me and kind of smiled and made eye contact! That by far was the coolest thing ever, just being noticed by someone from Coldplay was awesome!!! At the end of the concert, there were two setlists given out to people in the first and second row. One was a little girl who sat behind me. The other was to a couple that I believe was one of the first to be upgraded to the floor seats. The little girl however was kind enough to let me take a picture of her setlist. I personally would of framed it but I guess I can frame the picture of the setlist

 

So that's basically my story. Here are some tips/advice if you're going to a Coldplay concert soon.

 

1) It's ok to bring a point and shoot camera, they didn't have a problem with it. It just can't be a professional camera.

 

2) Feel free to record during the concert. The event staff guys were really strict against recording when the 2 acts were on before Coldplay, but they never told anyone or me to stop when Coldplay came on stage. I got maybe 1-2 mean looks from the event staff guy but he didn't tell me to stop .

 

3) If you want your seats upgraded, being on the highest level (400ish) helps a lot. Try to get to the concert early and walk around the halls. However, sometimes the roadies will come to your seat if you're lucky, so just keep your eyes open for them.

 

4) Make concert shirts or posters. I personally had fun making my shirt, but it's one of the only ways that I've seen that you'll be noticed as a "true fan" by them. Put effort into it and be proud of it.

 

5) HAVE FUN!

[the_escapist]

I know the roadies upgrade people with signs and special clothes that are seated in the nosebleeds (very up). If you have a decent seat, it is pretty difficult.

[Heavensbee]

I've been through this twice, and let me tell you, it is very VERY exciting. The first time was in Washington DC on July 9th, and I was with three friends in seats way up behind the stage (Verizon Center - section 424). We had no clue upgrades even existed so we didn't make shirts and didn't even get there extremely early. I think we got inside the arena around 6:30-6:40, bought some shirts at the merch table near our section, then chilled till the openers came on. After the first opener (Wolf Gang), I noticed a man dressed in black standing near the entrance to our section. I could tell he worked for Coldplay, but I was just thinking he was checking out the equipment from behind the stage to see if everything worked properly. A few minutes later he just walked up to us (we were seated in row H on the aisle) and started asking us how much we loved Coldplay, etc. Being overly ecstatic but still not knowing why this guy was up here, I started talking about how I saw Coldplay the day before from the floor seats that I had purchased, and I even got to touch Chris' hand at the B stage. One of my friends looked semi-disinterested at what was going on while my other two friends who live and breathe Coldplay were looking and acting really excited to be there. I guess he seemed turned off, because he said "I was going to give you front row seats but you don't seem like big fans" and my head just about blew off. He walked away, out into the concourse, and I knew we couldn't pass this moment up so my friend and I chased him down and pleaded for the upgrade. He said no again, so I said "here just take my two friends who are so so excited to be here, I saw it yesterday from the floor so I don't need to be down there again" and he finally gave in and took them down. Turns out his name is Brad and he's one of Coldplay's production managers. I've seen him in one of Roadie 42's pictures about all the pianos that showed up for the London show, and one of Oxfam's pictures from their blog. So right before Coldplay hit the C stage, my friends decided to switch tickets with us so that we could see the last few songs from the first row. Absolutely blew my mind! I noticed that a majority of the people around us were young girls, but a few guys here and there (me included!). So I don't think it matters if you are a guy or a girl, just as long as you have really bad seats, look very very excited, make a shirt or a poster, and get there really early.

 

Fast forward to July 30th in Boston. The same friend who got the upgrade in DC is from the Boston area, and I just happened to be visiting him that week, so we decided what the heck let's go see Coldplay and try our luck at an upgrade! We bought seats in 322, which was once again behind the stage, and in the last row on the aisle. This time though, we wanted to prepare ourselves. Since we knew about the upgrades, what the roadies looked like, and generally how to get one, we were going all out for it. We bought black tshirts and fabric painting supplies at Michael's (may I recommend Glow-in-the-dark dimensional paints as well as the soft fabric paints) and made our own shirts. I found the Mylo Xyloto font online to make stencils with. It's called "EVERY TRUETYPE IS A WISEFONT" and even includes all the little symbols like the butterfly, spiral, and the radio transmission tower! So make stencils using the letters and symbols on cardstock paper, print them out, and have FUN! On the front of my shirt I wrote "HAPPY B-DAY WILL!" and on the back "WE'LL BE GLOWING IN THE DARK" with the glow in the dark paint (how fitting). You can see them here in a picture taken by Oxfam on their twitter: http://twitpic.com/ado0mb anyways, we got to TD Garden very early and were in line when the doors opened. Up we went from the train station into the area where they scanned tickets. Got my pink xyloband, and up we went again onto the main concourse level to find the escalators to the upper level. We were the first ones up there. Lo and behold, not 10 seconds after leaving that escalator, we plow directly into Brad and his roadie buddy Adam. They see our shirts, come up to us, and say "wow you guys must be huge Coldplay fans!!" Apparently they didn't recognize us AT ALL. They asked us when we bought our tickets, we told them July 12th, and Brad said "why so late?" We said we saw them in another city, and just had to go again so we bought tickets right after that show. Brad said, "which city?" We said DC. He said "wow, you traveled all the way up here. Where are your seats?" We told him upper level behind the stage. He said "come with me" and led us right out onto the 100 level seats right by the stage. He pointed down and said "if I gave you a choice, would you rather sit in the seats behind the stage, or wayyy down there by the stage in the front row?" WE LOST IT. The rest was a blur, I forget what we said to each other, but we exchanged tickets as they give the Oxfam volunteers our old tickets so they can watch the show. He said he'd stop by later to chat, which he did as promised when 99 Problems came on and the show was about to start. What an incredible, once in a lifetime experience! We never even made it to our original seats before being stopped!

 

So to recap, here's some tips.

 

- seats in the 300/400 (highest level) are absolutely required. they walk around and stop in some random section entrances to scope things out. if you get impatient, walk around up there.

- buy bright colored or black tshirts from a dollar store/thrift store/heck even Michael's arts and crafts

- get Tulip dimensional fabric paint from Michael's or JoAnn Fabrics to outline letters and symbols, and 'soft' paint to fill things in with color. They sell neon and glow in the dark colors, so be sure to get those. They REALLY stand out.

- get cardstock paper to print the MX letters and symbols out on, using the "Every Truetype is a Wisefont" font (just google it and install it on your PC)

- have fun making your shirts! personalize it any way you want but be bold and make sure it stands out!

- make a poster with some song lyrics on it. be creative and unique!

- get to the venue by 5:30 and get in line. you'll be noticed if you're the first ones in there.

- bring a little portable speaker to plug into your iPod or smartphone to rock out with Coldplay while in line and while sitting in your seats. act excited, get pumped, because no matter where you end up sitting you'll have the greatest concert experience of your life, I promise.

 

I did notice quite a few people around us on the floor in Boston didn't even make their own shirts, which kind of surprised me. But make your outfits creative and personalized. They will take notice, and I believe if you follow these tips, your chances at getting upgraded will go WAY up.

 

HAVE A BLAST!!!!! :) :) :)

 

Oh, and Brad, if you ever read this.. I think it's amazing how the band and the production team upgrades diehard fans. You made my life by doing that. Keep it up!!!

[zweb]

Your shirts look awesome! My brother and I were looking at stuff today. We found the paint and everything and looked at shirts but we weren't sure how the paint would show up on the different colors. It looks great on that black so would it be the same with a neon green shirt or a blue one do you think? We also found some cool color bracelets that I think look good.

[ColdplaySheffield]

Does anyone know if any Roadies go looking for fans at Coldplay's stadium gigs? I'm have tickets for their gig in Paris and would be priviledged and overwhelmed to be upgraded.

 

I went to Coventry and the two Manchester gigs and didn't see any. And at Manchester, I had "nosebleed seats" twice.

[coldplayisawesome]

my sister and i got upgraded from upper level seats to front row at the August 4th show. of course, i was alone when the roadie first came up to me :P but i had hand-painted Coldplay shirt and pants on, as well as lots of glowsticks and my Mylo Xyloto doll that i had made a few days before the show...

 

but i don't think you should do anything like that with the intention of getting upgraded. when i went to my concert, i thought it would be really great if i did get upgraded, but i wasn't expecting it to happen. i think if you're too desperate, it shows, and as far as i can tell, the roadies sort of shy away from that...

 

i guess one definite bit of advice i can give you is to hang out around the area where all the vendors are, because that is where the roadies go searching for people to upgrade. :P

[zweb]

Yeah it's not like if I don't get one I won't love it, it's more like I want something to show how much I love the band and the possibility of a upgrade is a chance to physically show it. And that's sound awesome that you made a doll, would love to see it.

 

 

And here's a experiment of the shirt's I'm working on.

 

 

http://imgur.com/ZXOOq

[come_on_in]

Good luck to you - hope you get an upgrade. If not, you'll still have an amazing night :)

[coldplayisawesome]

Yeah it's not like if I don't get one I won't love it, it's more like I want something to show how much I love the band and the possibility of a upgrade is a chance to physically show it. And that's sound awesome that you made a doll, would love to see it.

 

 

And here's a experiment of the shirt's I'm working on.

 

 

http://imgur.com/ZXOOq

 

:surprised: that looks really cool!

 

and yeah, that's pretty much how i felt when i made the doll and stuff, too. :P if you want, i posted some pictures in the August 4th thread...

[YellowTeardrops13]

To wcampbell98, I was at that same show, on the same level as your original ticket at the Boston show! Me and my friend (unfortunately had different seats than I did) made our own shirts, while I wore my running man tee underneath the shirt I made (I pretty much wore two layers of Coldplay lol). I wish you saw my shirt, but unfortunately, I got there way after you did. I think that it's awesome that Coldplay does that! They really do have the best fans in the world, and the best way that they show it is that they let them come up close to the stage, instead of rich people that only sit there cuz they can is totally uncool.

[Heavensbee]

To wcampbell98, I was at that same show, on the same level as your original ticket at the Boston show! Me and my friend (unfortunately had different seats than I did) made our own shirts, while I wore my running man tee underneath the shirt I made (I pretty much wore two layers of Coldplay lol). I wish you saw my shirt, but unfortunately, I got there way after you did. I think that it's awesome that Coldplay does that! They really do have the best fans in the world, and the best way that they show it is that they let them come up close to the stage, instead of rich people that only sit there cuz they can is totally uncool.

 

Upload pictures of your shirt! I think all of us in the community would like to see it. Probably one of the best ways we can express ourselves as fans, and they're fun to make too!

 

I swear, if Coldplay comes back on a second leg to North America, I'll be following them around in a Winnebago. Keeping my fingers crossed :fingersx: :lock:

[icedude2010]

Here's the front of the shirt I made:

 

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/685/img4877ah.jpg/

 

I got there late as well, and was walking around in that shirt and a roadie stopped to talk to me. I didn't get upgraded because he didn't have any more tickets he said, but it was really exciting!

 

Good luck!

[zweb]

"Yes I feel a little bit nervous,

Yes I feel nervous and I cannot relax,"

 

 

http://imgur.com/ztzjd

 

Almost done with the back of my brothers shirt.

[icedude2010]

"Yes I feel a little bit nervous,

Yes I feel nervous and I cannot relax,"

 

 

http://imgur.com/ztzjd

 

Almost done with the back of my brothers shirt.

 

That's really cool!

[zweb]

Stayed up late, mostly finished. I have pants and sprayed my shoes a little too.

 

http://imgur.com/a/ySNPp

 

Can't wait!!

[PrincessofChina]

Looks VERY cool! Enjoy the gig tonight :):)

[R_Burns]

Does anyone know if any Roadies go looking for fans at Coldplay's stadium gigs? I'm have tickets for their gig in Paris and would be priviledged and overwhelmed to be upgraded.

 

I went to Coventry and the two Manchester gigs and didn't see any. And at Manchester, I had "nosebleed seats" twice.

 

Highly doubt it due to the vastness of a stadium and the intensity of a one off show (setting up etc.) Letting extra people into standing areas isn't as easy as giving them an allocated seat either.

[LFDianne]

Does anyone know if any Roadies go looking for fans at Coldplay's stadium gigs? I'm have tickets for their gig in Paris and would be priviledged and overwhelmed to be upgraded.

 

I went to Coventry and the two Manchester gigs and didn't see any. And at Manchester, I had "nosebleed seats" twice.

 

No. Unlike the European stadium gigs, the US shows all have assigned seats and chairs on the floor. The band like to fill the first few rows with big fans who provide lots of energy, rather than fans who can pay the big bucks for the front. At GA shows, the fans in front are the ones who lined up early to rush to be in the front of the stage.

 

From Roadie 42s blog: http://www.coldplay.com/newsdetail.php?id=987&page=0

 

My god! That’s it! After a bit of email back and forth, it turns out that they were in the front row after being “upgraded” from seats way up the back. The band have done this for ages now. It came about after struggling with shows where the seats closest to the stage were often full of just “the highest bidders” and not necessarily the most enthusiastic fans.

 

In European standing shows, the front rows are the kids who’ve been outside the venue since daybreak and who’ve sprinted in to get the pole position. Usually by the time the opening acts have finished they’re at fever pitch with excitement. The sight of Chris’s piano being wheeled into position can bring about a screaming cheer - explosive enough to make you think the show has already started.

 

In contrast, folks who’d paid astronomical sums for the tickets could often just sit with an arms folded sense of entitlement, emoting “come on then, entertain me, have you any idea how much I paid for this?”.

 

So the band don’t sell the tickets to the front few rows any more. Instead, various crew members are sent out to scan the highest, furthest seats to find folks who look genuinely excited and giddy to be seeing the band. They’re then given tickets to the front row (which quite often looks a very, very long way away from the “nosebleed” seats). Often, folks think it’s a scam and refuse to believe it. Often they go berserk and jump up and down screaming - until they have to calm down before they fall down.

 

Eventually, though, they end up down the front and the natural order of things is restored. For them, it’s a Willy Wonka golden ticket. For the band, it’s guaranteed energy from the folks closest to them. It genuinely does make the shows better. We’ve all said it many times. How good a show is, is largely to do with how good the audience are. It’s what fuels the whole thing.

[butterflygirl]

So, did you get upgraded?????

[zweb]

Working on a longer post, will be done soon.

[YellowTeardrops13]

Upload pictures of your shirt! I think all of us in the community would like to see it. Probably one of the best ways we can express ourselves as fans, and they're fun to make too!

 

I swear, if Coldplay comes back on a second leg to North America, I'll be following them around in a Winnebago. Keeping my fingers crossed :fingersx: :lock:

 

Sure! Here's the front:

 

And the back:

 

When Coldplay goes on tour again, I'm buying tickets PRONTO!

Btw on the back of the shirt, I made the graffiti in the M and the X by hand with sharpies and fabric markers. It came out pretty good for markers!

[YellowTeardrops13]

Sorry. DP.