More Saratoga Springs fan reviews: Coldplay make up for 2 month delay

More excellent reviews of Coldplay's concert at SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY (27th July 2009) have been posted at the Coldplay Live forum, that didn't quite make the main review article in time yesterday morning. Here are just some of the many:

This was my first Coldplay concert so I had nothing to compare it to really, but I did notice that the crowd seemed lackluster at certain points. I felt like I was the only one singing around me as well. And I couldn't believe that it took two tries to get people to sing part of Yellow to Will, and even the second attempt wasn't so great.

I mean, come on, I thought everyone knew that one! It was just so strange to me. I was also disappointed that people weren't more into Glass of Water or Cemeteries of London. Those are two of my favorite songs. Oh well, I was singing the crap out of them so to those who don't know them haha.

I traveled 4 hrs by bus from NYC to see them. The bus actually broke down and we had to wait for a new one to rescue us. I was terrified I wasn't going to make it even though I'd left super-early in case of incident like this. I was almost crying at the possibility of not seeing them. When we got picked up by another bus I was so happy. There was no way I'd go to that concert and not enjoy the HELL out of myself by singing and jumping up and down. I'm glad there are other people willing to do the same. I enjoyed myself regardless of the crowd. And I love Kitty, Daisy and Lewis so I was happy they opened the show. I hadn't heard of Elbow before this but I thought they were great too! This is the first time I've gone to a show and enjoyed the opening acts so this was really an amazing experience for me all around. [thanks serenade-of-sound]

when we checked into our hotel the girl working there was going tonight so we were talking to her a little about it, she was cool. And one time when we were walking through the lobby she points to some guy and says "they really like coldplay!" which made us happy. So the venue was really pretty! I think it was in a national forest or something like that. It was really pretty. And it was also really small! I thought it was going to be big so I was a little shocked when we got there. When my friend Amy[i'llwaitforyou] and I saw how small it was we got so excited because that means we would have awesome seats even though we were kind of near the back. And we did, our view was awesome! Before the opening acts started we walked over to B stage just for fun and I took a picture of it on my phone and sent it into twitter. Then we planned to walk over there once strawberry swing started since we were on the right side. Kitty, Daisy, and Lewis were kind of weird. But Elbow was really good! And oh yeah, when we got there 14 people were in the pit! It was a quarter the way full! And it was a really small pit anyway. So we were like what the fuck why is no one there?! When all the Oxfam volunteers got there it was fuller.

When Magnificent came on we got SO excited because it meant 10 minutes til Coldplay and we put on our glow necklaces and bracelets we brought. Then when Blue Danube came on we stood up and started clapping and tried to get everyone around us to stand but no one would. I was like "uh, they're gonna come in 2 minutes just to let ya know..." then someone in the pit motioned for everyone to stand up so then everyone stood up and started swaying. It was funny.

Life in Technicolor and Violet Hill were AMAZING!!! SO good as always!!! At the end of Violet Hill Chris said something like "If you accept our apology for being 2 months late" and then he started talking about how it was "the ugly singer's fault and jonny, guy, and will had nothing to do with it" and he sung a couple other things about finally making it to Saratoga after that. Clocks and In My Place were both FANTASTIC!!!! But before Yellow started there was a really long pause for something. The stage was dark. At first I thought they were waiting for the balloons but then at the end Chris changed guitars before finishing the song so I think maybe that had something to do with it. Everyone got kind of quiet while waiting and Chris joked saying "it really sounds like you want us to continue" when yellow finally started it was awesome! Everyone in the band was kicking balloons the whole time and having so much fun with it! Chris alone popped at least like 10 balloons and Guy and Jonny popped a few too.

Then at the end Chris changed guitars before singing and then popped a balloon and put it on his head and said "Not to sound ridiculous..." and then started laughing and shook the balloon the off his head. Glass of water rocked!! But NO ONE knew it!!! Especially around us!! We were the only ones singing ANY song on like the entire right side of the stage at least, except for viva la vida. The guys in front of us sat down after yellow and were being annoying. And the guy next to me was trying to get me to drink his beer at one point. I gave him a really annoyed look, shook my head, and rolled my eyes and I never stopped screaming the lyrics to the song that was playing. I was kind of like excuse me I'm having the time of my life, leave me alone. For Cemeteries of London Chris sang "and the night over Saratoga lay" At the end of 42 Chris started playing something totally different and it sounded so cool!! Then he started singing the end lyrics still playing it differently but then he messed it up and went "fuck fuck fuck" and then sang "those are dead are not dead, i should have played this cord instead woah ohhh" and then he had everyone try and hold the end note for as long as possible which lasted awhile and during that time he laid back over his piano stool and I was like "OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!"

Fix You was completely beautiful! But the crowd continued to piss me off. For the first chorus you couldn't hear the crowd singing it at all. I was so shocked!! I could only hear Amy and me screaming the lyrics. At the end when Chris pointed his mic toward the crowd then they sang it but it still wasn't that loud compared to the normality of crowds during that song. In Philly/Camden everyone sang every word so loud, it gave me chills. Here, nothing. It was a little disappointing actually. Then once Strawberry Swing started we grabbed our sign we made for b stage and walked over to b stage. We walked right up to the barriers and were front row. Then, someone told us we couldn't be in that aisle yet. So we were like ok we'll go over there and still get a good spot. We watched the end of Strawberry Swing there which was awesome. Then we tried going back over the barriers but they wouldn't let us!! I was SO pissed!! So the boys get to B stage and they STILL won't let us within 20 feet of the barriers. Which doesn't make any sense! I honestly have no fucking idea why they wouldn't let us at B stage. People are supposed to go there! It was so weird. And the guards blocking us kept moving so it was hard to take pictures and they were blocking our view. Amy and I were also the only ones singing over there, at least on our side anyway.

Then during Talk Chris's piano was messed up and sounded really quiet. After it was over I saw/heard him say to Jonny "Go back to the stage? ok!" and then they all ran back to the main stage. I was so confused and sad about that!!! I kept saying "Amy what the fuck?! They play that here! What's going on?! Why is Chris going back there?!?! He's supposed to be here!!" Then we had to walk back to our seats. The reason Chris gave us for leaving B stage was that the people in the balcony couldn't see so the left. Which I'm pretty sure the could see anyway, and eitherway there's screens. They can't see C stage at all either. But I think he was just saying that cover up. I'm pretty positive something was wrong with the piano there. They had a lot of tech problem last night which was weird to see because they usually don't. So for the hardest part there wasn't any lighting really going on because no one knew what to do. They just had a small spotlight on Chris and Will. I was pretty bummed about it I guess because Amy told me I didn't sing during that song.

But then Viva la Vida came on and I was happy again. This is the only song that everyone in the audience sung. And the woah oh ohs were the loudest part of the show, but compared to the Philly/Camden crowds it wasn't that loud. Lost! was great! And we tried to get over to the aisle they were going to run down to get to C stage but no one let us in any aisle at all. I didn't like the security here, they were so annoying. C stage was in the middle of the lawn instead of on the left. Green eyes was so great! And I didn't hear them say this but Amy told me the dumbass bitches sitting behind us said that Chris wrote green eyes about himself because he has "green purplish eyes" I REALLY wish I heard them say that because I want to tell those bitches off!!! Green purplish eyes?! That doesn't even make any fucking sense!!!!! And why would he write a song about himself?!?! He's the most unselfish and modest person in the world and his eyes the most gorgeous blue eyes in the world!! Clearly they knew nothing at all. Billie Jean was amazing! At first I was sad about I'm a Believer being gone especially the "Jonnyboy are you in love?" but Billie Jean was so good! And no one knew that either. I hope people on the lawn knew it because Amy and I and this old couple behind us were the only ones singing it.

And oh my gosh! The cell phone wave. QUIETEST THING EVER!! It was awesome and worked but it was quiet. Again, Amy and I were like the only ones screaming. It was so weird!! And during the Viva interlude remix you couldn't really hear Chris singing during it, the vocal part of it was so quiet. I'm sure if that was another tech problem or I just remember it different or what. But before that was over Chris sat down at his piano and played the end of it on his piano which was really cool! Then Politik was incredible! LIJ was amazing!!! And Chris used a white umbrella this time. I know first it was red and then it was blue. It was a white one last night. The confetti rocked and we scored a shitload of it. But the crowd didn't really seem that into the confetti which pissed me off, but hey more for us I guess. Death and All His Friends was so awesome! For the encore Amy and I started the viva woah oh ohhh chant which was awesome. It took awhile to start but once it finally did it was so sweet! At that point we ended up right in front of the pit! Chris joked about LRLRL being bad and that's why it was free, we booed him and he laughed. I was hoping for the mad laugh but he didn't do it. The scientist was so beautiful and it was amazing because we were SO close at that point!! He kept looking in our direction during that song too which is an incredible feeling. Lit ii was awesome!! And then at the end a girl standing right in front of chris held up her sign and HE BLEW A KISS AT HER!!! It was so cute and amazing I really hope someone has it on video because I wanna see it again and get a GIF of it!!

THEN, he saw our sign!!! He waved and smiled at us and kind of bowed a little bit. It was so fucking amazing!! We totally freaked out!! Then when they left and people started leaving we went into the pit. A roadie handed Amy a setlist! She got Rick's setilist! Then, a roadie gave me GUY'S SETLIST!!!! I FREAKING HAVE GUY'S SETLIST!! And then someone randomly walking by us put a setlist that was taped to the stage somewhere in Amy's hand so we got 3 setlists total! Oh yeah, we almost got a pick too!!! But then he gave it to a girl next to us we kept reaching for it. I really wanted it but I was just given Guy's setlist so I was happy. Then I saw a pick on stage still in a stand and it looked like Chris's because of where the stand was on the stage and I asked for it but no one was close enough to hear to me. Then we had to leave the pit. So we went and got more butterflies.

Completely amazing night!! But the crowd kind of sucked which was a bit of a let down because normally coldplay crowds are so energetic. We talked to so many before the show who said they drove a few hours to get there. You think with that many people from far away they would have been more into it. No one anywhere near us knew words to majority of the songs. It was shocking! And the girls who thought chris had green eyes were texting and talking to each other the whole time not even paying attention which pissed me off, then they made fun of us for dancing and screaming every word during the whole show. Whatever, they were lame.

The boys did a fucking incredible job!!!!! Chris was ON FIRE!!!!!! It was the best dancing I've ever seen him do!!! Especially during 42!! He was truly amazing!!! Best I've ever seen him!! All of the guys were really into it despite the crowd and they just did a truly incredible job!! And there was SOOOO much C&J love throughout the whole show!!! The first time Chris went over to Jonny and whispered something to him in the beginning of Violet Hill Amy screamed "LOVE!!!!" During every song there was so much love between them and it was SO cute and adorable! I love them!

There was a bunch of tech problems though. In one of the songs in the beginning I can't remember which one Jonny turned away from the audience and was by the speaker fxing something with his guitar which I guess is kind of normal but it seems more important with the other things going on. Chris's guitar was changed for every song, and he had to get a new one before he finished Yellow. And the main thing was the piano at B stage.

Despite those few things it was a fucking amazing night!!!!!!! Fuck the crowd, I had the time of my life with my best friend next to me also having the time of her life. I went to this concert as like a get well/ be happy thing because 3 weeks ago I had surgery on both of my legs. And the timing was perfect because my legs were feeling pretty good and I was so bummed about still not being able to play hockey. This made me so fucking incredibly ecstatic!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And it was the also the last time I'll see the boys until the next tour. So, this was such a good last show for the viva tour, at least for us because got so lucky!! We had some major coldplay karma with us especially at the end!! Truly awesome! and oh yeah, we picked up the local paper this morning because chris was on the cover. [thanks In a telescope lens]

Coldplay at SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY (27th July 2009):