dieselbenz

Pink Floyd is my all-time favorite but as current/recent bands go I've kind of developed a little clutch of favorites over time and bounced around a bit in how I ranked them over the past five years. I've hit the point where out of the top ones I don't rank them anymore. So I wouldn't even say Coldplay is my favorite (sacrilige!). But I would say Coldplay is the most special because I've loved them by far the longest and just come back to them over and over and know I will for as long as they're together (well, beyond that too). Lifelong love. And then there's Keane, who were a staple of my life for over a decade and so dear to me (miss them). I had a pretty deep Muse obsession for three or four years and still count them among my favorites, many great memories at their shows. I very much love The National, completely obsessed with their work. Rounding out my top ones are Frank Turner (incredibly live shows) and Arctic Monkeys (only got into them about three years ago). My answer is horrible haha, I just named eight bands in that paragraph.

This is really cool! Good work!

Man the temptation is real. I also wanted to get one of the AROBTTH shirts they had in there since it was my favorite album, so I could just order it all at once. But I want the AHFOD vinyl too. And I still need a bunch of other vinyl ... I mean I've intended to add X&Y and VLV since I started collecting vinyl and meanwhile they're released three more albums since then that I need vinyl of as well. But the surround sound would be so cool if I ever have surround sound in my house. :greedy:

I'm going to ask for the vinyl with stickers for my birthday/Christmas and I'm already stressing whether to leave the stickers with the vinyl or stick them somewhere, haha. I also want that 5.1 release though (even though I have nothing to play it on, what's wrong with me??) so maybe if I get stickers with both, I can keep one set, and put the others on something. I was thinking maybe my welder.

Indeed, I definitely love physically holding it in my hands and placing it in a player, looking at the art, and the sense of making a commitment to just one album for at least that little chunk of time. I suppose we are lucky to have the best of both worlds these days, really.

This is an interesting perspective to read ... I tend to feel very entrenched in physical music having come from the generation mostly before the digital age. But I will say I love having it all digitally too, and the availability of digital music had a massive impact on me as a music fan. While I did first hear Coldplay on the radio, I really discovered their music by downloading it in college and my roommate sharing mp3s with me (of course I feel awful about that now because in those days nobody got paid for downloads, but I didn't know), and then I bought the CD and all the CDs since. But it was sort of revolutionary discovery tool ... and now we have versions of that that aren't morally questionable, which is awesome. I mean, if it weren't for digital music, I probably wouldn't know B-sides from singles that weren't even released in the US, or hear all these great live versions, etc. Those things are mind-blowingly cool. I'm in a generation that really saw the most change I think, in music platforms. When I was born everyone had vinyl. As a little kid I had cassettes and my parents got their first CD player (CDs came in longboxes, I remember!). I got a discman and started buying CDs as a teen. When I turned 18, the digital stuff started. In my mid 20s I got the iPods. I can't say I really ever got on the streaming train or bluetooth stereo. In 2008 I put an iPod-interface stereo in my car and that thing spoiled me, I love it (Viva La Vida was actually the first thing I listened to after I installed it). But I really never let go of CDs, and I actually get teased for that quite a bit (I get teased for having an iPod!). It is just nice to have a physical item that stays with you through time ... I look at my AROBTTH CD and that thing has been all over with me, college, multiple houses, multiple jobs, etc. But at the end of the day if you can enjoy the music in any way at all, that's the best gift. It's really the songs and the feelings they give you that stay with you the deepest and longest, trust me, so don't worry if you don't have a physical collection just yet (or even ever). :happy:

Last weekend I finally got the Parachutes orange vinyl. I didn't actually have the album on vinyl at all so I figured it was a great chance to add it to my collection. I had ordered one at my local B&N and they never called me ... I called them and apparently the order was randomly cancelled. I got nervous and tracked down one at a store 40 minutes away and went and got it. Good thing because my second order was cancelled too! I'm sure I could have ordered it online but I wasn't taking chances on missing out altogether. It looks and sounds amazing! I also got a big kick out of the "you might like" slip they printed out with my receipt. Wow, Barnes and Noble, your algorithm for guessing what I might like is uncanny.

I was 18 and had just graduated from high school. I'm not sure exactly when the first time I heard it was, but I know it was before August when I went off to the my first year of college. I have a memory of hearing it while driving through this particular intersection and thinking how much I liked it, but don't remember much else. When I got to college that August my roommate, whom I'd just met, put on Parachutes and I recognized Yellow, she sent me some of the songs and that was the start of it all. It's hard to remember a lot from back then, I was just a different person, but I remember the feeling of listening to Coldplay, and that part still feels exactly the same.

Interesting question ... Honestly, in my opinion, really nothing. I know I used the term diehard but I don't think there's any particular kind of fan thst deserves to be called that over another. I sort of hate dividing fans into categories ... I mean I don't think one person is a better fan than a other because they go to more shows or know more trivia or have a bigger record collection. I think a die-hard would just be someone who's particularly obsessed and loyal, and you can define yourself as that, no one else has to say you are or aren't. I know I'm certainly not the biggest or best fan, I wouldn't even necessarily say they are my favorite band at the moment (I've had a small handful of favorites) ... but I still think of myself as diehard just because they are really special to me and I'm very enthusiastic about them. So I would think of anyone who feels that way as diehard, regardless of how long they were a fan or any other quantitative factor. I mean basically, do you love them a ton and care about them a lot? They you're a die-hard. :-)

34 ... Parachutes came out my freshman year in college and they pretty much changed what music meant to me. I'm extremely grateful they have been around since; not many people are lucky enough to have a band they love dearly be part of their life that long.

Thank you! At some point I might do a painting of one ... I really want to start one now but I haven't finished my last painting haha.

OMG, that's so cool!!!!!!! Congrats!!!!

OK here are the rest of my photos. :cool: They probably could have been better but I was having too much fun to mess with settings. I'm actually not a very good (well, not skilled) photographer but some of these were sort of handed to me on a silver platter and came out great haha. If there's such a thing as too many Chris pictures, I'm sorry for too many Chris pictures ... I promise I am aware of and love the other members, but the way the stage was designed made it so it was hard to get a clear shot of them and I didn't want to keep holding the camera up high in people's way. Here is another favorite of mine

What a wonderful gift your parents gave you! I've been really lucky in the last few years to be able to see them and my other most-special bands, including doing some travel. Really lucky. It's never lost on me that most fans don't get to do that, and they all deserve it just as much as me (and probably some deserve it more). I echo the sentiment not to give up. It was eight years of loving Coldplay before I ever saw them, even though they did play near me. I was in school at first, then I worked nights, I didn't have money, and my social anxiety was so bad I never would have dreamed of driving into a city and walking into a building of strangers. Once I came out of my shell I've been spoiled. But I always remember the feeling of the first one, even though I was in nosebleeds, because it felt like a miracle. Here's hoping this is the year for you to get the same feeling, @Athena Pedroza !

Yes I was a bit nervous before the fest because I didn't know anyone, so I was so glad there turned out to be so much camaraderie. And it was great to just ramble about Coldplay with people all day. Don't feel bad for others not getting a souvenir too, watching another hardcore fan's day get made is always fun to me whether I get something or not. And we all got the night of a lifetime! For hanging it ... I have a setlist from one of my other favorite bands that I actually put in a shadow box I bought on sale at Michael's crafts (this one) and it looks like a display in the R&R Hall of Fame or something, I love it. You could try that ... it also keeps the glass from sticking to the setlist. :-) Awww, I'm sorry you haven't gotten a chance to see them ... fingers crossed for you maybe they finally make your dream come true later on this tour. I know it's hard when you live somewhere bands never visit.

Hey I remember you, you let me take a picture with your setlist, you guys were right near me! :cool3: Great photos! That view we had was totally worth the long day! It really was a nice group of fans up there, it made the day go much faster. I'm glad you got the setlist, what a treasure ... thanks for taking my picture with it!

Oh god yes, exactly ... I got so emotional seeing all the concert-goers walk away glowing in their own separate directions. I love the thought of those bands glowing away in cars, buses, planes, bikes, hotels, or down sidewalks, everyone going back to very different lives but still one. I'm glad I'm not the only one who got sappy over it haha.

I wish my Xyloband would just glow forever, it's sort of comforting ... I know on the old ones I was able to jump the contacts to make it light up, so maybe I can do it on one of these and solder in a switch haha. But I don't think it will change colors, just light up.

Yes, please feel free to re-post share any of them anywhere! I think that Chris and Jonny one is my favorite, I love their playfulness together. :-) I have a few more nice shots I will put on Flickr and share a link when I get them done. It was great to be able to get some good pictures, I'm not a serious photographer or anything but I really enjoy capturing moments to look back on, in between flailing my arms around and jumping of course. :laugh4:

In my experience and knowledge of singing it can be harder to hit extreme ends of your range while sitting than standing. It's harder to sing in general sitting. Especially when playing a piano where you have to be kind of hunched over. I don't know if anyone else has mentioned that fact; I stopped reading through the whole thread because I realized I don't really want to know that much; he's obviously not doing it the bulk of the show (mess-ups, going slightly off-key, laughing, burping or stopping the song to talk make that obvious), and with music in general I'm kind of of the mindset to let myself keep my head in the sand. I also think a lot of bands playing shows so elaborate and reasonably long use some backing tracks or assistance here and there and it doesn't bother me ... for shows that big to some degree it crosses into theater, and to me that's just a reality. I do think whatever Coldplay is doing, they are trying to make the best show they can ... not doing it out of laziness or trying to rake in money for less effort or anything. Bit odd and sad they do it the whole of Clocks, which is one of my favorite old songs, but when I'm at a show I'm personally singing too loudly and badly to tell anyway so I guess I'll be fine.

It really was, he's so damn fast, as you can see I lose him a couple times haha ... I was actually surprised I stayed on him that well because I stopped looking at the camera screen a couple times when he was spinning. :laugh4:

Also, I thought it was really sweet (not surprising though) that despite the fact they had to fly from a show in San Francisco Saturday to a show in Philly the next night, which is a six-hour flight and loses three hours time-zone-wise, Chris still made time to visit the children's hospital in Philly before the show: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2016/09/05/coldplays-chris-martin-visits-young-cancer-patient-at-chop/

My Xyloband glowed all night, until about 11 this morning ... I left it on my night stand and went to sleep with it like a lovely color-changing nightlight. <3 I'd write a review but I never know how to describe concert-related emotions haha. I got there really early and ran to the stage and got a spot right in the front near the middle, and that stage was just right on top of us. I met some really nice fans too, we had a great little group there the whole day. It was hot but I think we lucked out on weather because none of that wind and rain I feared showed up at all. When the band finally took the stage it was just surreal (people sometimes overuse that word but it really genuinely was, it just felt like an alternate reality or something) ... I thought I'd keel over when Chris first came out on that apron at the beginning of A Head Full of Dreams. The apron did make it a little hard to see the main stage, I had to stand on my tip-toes to see Will or the piano (got a great calf workout lol), but it was so fun to have Chris bouncing all over right there all show. This was my seventh Coldplay show and it has always been a gift to see them from anywhere, nosebleeds too, but it was really a treat to get this close to them just once. I hate to sound heroworshipy, but I was just awestruck the whole time being right in front of these guys I've been listening to for 16 years and actually see their faces and musicianship right there. I've been to a lot of shows in my life, been very lucky, but this was sure one to count on the bucket list. I'm glad everyone got to watch the stream and @coldplayisawesome I'm glad you were able to see!! I'll bet you had a great view since they added the extra part to the stage, and the Xylobands must have looked amazing! I only took one video since it was being streamed and I didn't feel like holding a camera still for any length of time, mostly just snapped a lot of photos ... and it came out surprisingly wonderful so I'm sharing. And a couple photos

Omg that was amazing, I was right up front in front of that stage extension (waited alllll day there) and Chris was like 10 feet from us half the night. I can't even process it. They were so great, the whole night was perfect! Will post some pictures later. I'm still awestruck. :-D My Xyloband is still glowing too, I never want it to stop. <3

They just built a stage extension in like 15 minutes haha. Soon! I'm so hyped, o can't believe I'm going to be this close to Coldplay! Hope everyone enjoys the stream or whatever view they have. :-)