chengui

Thanks everybody! It seems like a lot of people like the story - do you think it would be worth posting a separate blog about it? I'd like to know what html to use to post photos though... OH! And I was surprised at how tall Chris is - he is a BIG GUY! I'm about 6 ft - poor Renee who was with me is only about 5! haha!

It was funny because when I saw Chris the first time he was dressed normally - about 30 minutes later when he came and "officially" met us he had these ratty old sneakers, sweat pants (the kind with elastic around the ankles) and that old T-shirt on. could be that he just woke up form a power nap.

Thanks guys! I can never figure out the img posting html in here! haha!

here's the picture! http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3499/3737484686_8e4db3a1aa_b.jpg <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3499/3737484686_8e4db3a1aa_b.jpg">

Thanks everybody! I JUST received the pic with the band, will upload it soon!

If I could have challenged them to some serious pong, I love to play :D But seriously they came in, shook our hands, took pictures, signed the plaque thing in 5-7 minutes I would guess.

Does anybody know if the boys play ping pong? Or maybe it was for the roadies...

No problem! It's the least I could do to tell people everything that happened - I feel bad about the lack of pictures :(

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.

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!

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. MORE LATER - sorry, have to leave this morning and this is all I got through....I'm trying to remember EVERYTHING.

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)

Thanks guys! TONIIIIGHT! I'm so excited - the shirts came out awesome....tried to ask if they would be selling them or what, but the lady that gave me all my stuff had no idea.

Picked up my tickets today....Looks like they actually gave us seats to get in, then they are escorting us to the stage seats....so are the seats we have going to go to waste? Looks like we're in like the 3rd row?!

Maybe we'll get to chat before one of the encores ;)

I'm not bummed about not officially meeting the band, who knows what will happen! I have no idea where on stage I'll be, my guess is off to the side out of the way but how often will I get to be ON THE STAGE with a band like Coldplay?

Just got contacted today - They said that someone from Capitol records is flying in with the band and will be connecting with me at the venue - she will be escorting me to the seats on the stage - I asked about chances of actually meeting the band, they said slim, as there were no meet/greet passes made available for the show, but I'm going to be RIGHT there! I'm psyched!

Not sure what the radio station will be doing with them. They are specific to the Portland performance, but don't know if you'll be able to buy them online or not...I'll let ya'll know once I find out.

Just found out I won seats ON THE STAGE to this show. I'm super excited!!! Krystyna - if you're still trying to sell that ticket - try posting on Craigslist here - It's like GOLD!

Oh! And if anybody else is going to the show, I would love pictures of the stage from a "normal" viewpoint :)

Thanks for all the kind words about me design guys :) I have no idea how they will be giving us "Seats on the stage" but I think it will be off to the side of the stage. Crazy. I have no idea about if I will get to officially meet them or anything - not sure if I should bring stuff to sign or what - the radio station said they would be contacting me next week with more details. Still can't believe it.

Portland, OR! July 10th!!! Although I think the show is technically in Washington.

I haven't been around here in a while, but I thought I'd share the good news. I don't even know what to do with myself, what do I bring?!??! IF you want you can check out my design HERE: http://blogs.947.fm/gregglover/

I was a at local record store and found a copy of a CD which looks exactly like AROBTTH but says "interview CD" I picked it up and turns out it is a CD capitol put out (with a nice booklet and everything) which has clips of interviews with the entire band. The really funny part is that in the booklet they have suggested wording for questions you can ask (as a radio DJ I would think) and then play the track as if you are really interviewing Coldplay in the studio. Capitol must have sent these out to radio stations. It would be funny to hear such an "interview" knowing the DJ was just making it up and was alone, playing CD tracks in the studio. Anyways, I got a kick out of it and picked it up for $5 just as a novelty.

I was just messing around on Myspace and I stumbled across this site: http://www.myspace.com/skintribe I added them just because they are so rediculous and I was considering sending them a message about where I could get a copy of their CD. CHECK OUT THE AWESOMELY BAD (photoshopped) PICTURES!!!!!!! They aren't quite as good as Coldplay but sounds like they're getting there.