We’ll Be Glowing in the Dark {Coldplay Tampa Concert Experience}

{Alternative title: World’s Longest Love Note to Coldplay}

Last night the hubby and I made the trek from Orlando to Tampa (during rush hour – that’s how you know I am truly dedicated) to see my favorite band.

(source)

Now, I feel like there are two camps of people in the Coldplay realm:

·         People that love them
·         People who love to hate them

I can see why the haters hate. Coldplay’s music is fairly simple and swoony. They’ve started out emulating other famous groups and  to top it off, Chris Martin is almost annoyingly polite and humble.

However, I am convinced that if the haters went to see Coldplay live (particularly this tour), they’d quickly change their tune (no pun intended). The “boys” are at home on stage and give everything to every show. It is clear that they absolutely love what they do. And it makes you love them (plus, you have to admit their songs are pretty catchy).

I’ve seen Coldplay twice before in Orlando (from the nosebleed seats) and their shows have been spectacular. This time I decided to splurge and get floor seats. Ummm… can I say best decision ever?

I’m pretty sure I will never be seeing them from the regular seats again.

And by the way…their show was INCREDIBLE.

Now, I’m not a big concert kinda girl (like this girl) and I don’t typically swoon over rock stars. I like music, in fact I LOVE music, but I’m perfectly content listening to it on the radio or while I’m running.  But, I would seriously consider traveling around the world to see these guys perform. And I’m really wishing I was in Miami tonight.

But, I’m getting ahead of myself.

We arrived at the Tampa Bay Times Forum (aka – The Forum, formerly known as the St. Pete Times Forum) around 6 and quickly found parking. We then proceeded to break open a bottle of Sav Blanc and down it. Yes, in the parking lot.

Don’t judge. Beer at The Forum is $9. FOR BUD LIGHT.

We then headed in and looked for food.

One thing I was disappointed it was the food options. Apparently, I am pretty spoiled by the Amway Center’s (and before that the Amway Arena’s) food choices. The pickins were slim, so I settled on French Fries and beer. Dinner of champions!

Since we had never been to The Forum before – or sat on the floor, we asked the attendant where to go for our seats and he said “Right here!” And he showed us the way down. If only winning the lottery was that easy.

We found our seats and then had about a half hour to kill before the opening act started.

Truthfully, I probably WOULDN’T get to a show SO early – but we didn’t want to chance it with the Tampa traffic and in the end it ended up being kinda fun. Sitting in ours seats chugging sipping beer is definitely preferable to sitting in the car screaming expletives.

Around 7, the open act started: Wolf Gang.

You guys – they were so cute (and looked like they were maybe 18).

They sounded like a mini-me Coldplay mixed in with a little Kings of Leon and despite sounding a little green (and not moving around much on the stage) they were pretty good. I really liked the last song they sang (The King and All of His Men).

After Wolf Gang, was the 2^nd opening act (yeah – Coldplay is so big time now they need TWO opening acts): Robyn

Paula had warned me about Robyn. I asked her what to expect and she wrote (and I quote): Get ready for her to wear the worst pants you’ve ever seen.

She was not wrong.

Robyn was… interesting. I dug a few of her songs. People closer to the stage were jamming out. I don’t necessarily know that she works well in a big arena-type concert, but I really appreciated her energy.

FINALLY after Robyn (and another beer was in hand) the real show began. We were ready (and, in my case, maybe a little tipsy).

First there was their cue – 99 Problems, followed by the Back to the Future theme song (kinda love that), and then Coldplay took the stage. And they didn’t just ease us into the show – like I feel like they have in years past. Nope, after the brief Mylo Xyloto instrumental opening – they started jamming out to Hurts Like Heaven and I feel like they just didn’t stop. In fact, they played for almost 2 hours straight.

Along with the music there was an shit ton of confetti (starting with the 3^rd song)…I’m pretty sure they spend thousands of $$ on confetti. The confetti was flowing all night long.

By the way confetti = awesome.

There were also huge balloons (one bounced right on my head) and a laser light show AND they had probably the coolest concert props I’ve ever seen… Xylobands.

We were definitely glowing in the dark!

I have no idea how the bands work – but they were handed to us when we walked into the show and there were various signs instructing us to put them on – I guess in case people thought they were supposed to put them in their pocket or something.

Once the guys started playing, they lit up. Certain songs triggered them – so they weren’t active the whole time. Here’s one of my favorite songs (Charlie Brown) with the Xylobands in action (from their last London show — outside and obviously 10 times  bigger than the Tampa stadium).

Coldplay isn’t just a one-trick pony though — they truly ROCK. You know how some bands sound weak live *cough, cough Maroon 5*? This is definitely NOT the case with Chris, Johnny, Guy, and Will. They tear shit up on stage and sound pretty amazing at the same time. At least they did from where I was standing. They also make you feel like you’re part of the act. They LOVE their fans – and they keep reminding you that they are SO appreciative. You’re one of them. You are just hanging out with 18,000 of your closest friends watching a great show. And they’ve got that damn British charisma.

And since my camera AND phone died (stupid, stupid, stupid Michelle) – Here are some views from where I wasn’t sitting (source) <— This is actually the guy who took our picture! So random to find his stunning pictures.

C-Stage

Ummm….can we talk about Chris Martin’s arm muscles??? When did those happen?

And some more pictures that aren’t mine (source <–Coldplay’s FB Page)

Speaking of location… I was a little worried about our seats. We were in FL 1 Row 42 (out of 56) and I wondered if that would be too far back to really enjoy sitting on the floor (see? Total floor novice).  It turns out the seats were f*cking amazing. We were close enough that I could see the band AND also look at the big screens above us.

They also did a set on their “X-stage” (X at the end of their stage) which was probably equal to sitting in row 20. AND THEN they did another set (as part of their encore) on their “C-stage” (up in the crowd) that was literally at the end of our row. (Sidenote: Pretty sure Chris almost fell off the C-stage at one point. His eyes got SO wide and  obviously, he screwed that part of the song up – ha ha)

(sorry the quality is so crappy – my phone died, my camera died, and I had to use my hubby’s crappy 3GS)

I really did all of that worrying for nothing.

As for the music – the setlist was pretty solid. There were probably 3 songs that they played that I don’t really care for (all from their Mylo Xyloto Album – Up in Flames, Princess of China, and Don’t Let It Break Your Heart) — but when there 21 songs on the play list, it’s hard for me to complain.

My favorites (beside Charlie Brown) included the usuals – The Scientist, Yellow,  Viva la Vida (sing-a-long time!), Lovers in Japan, Fix You, Warning Sign, Clocks, and God Put a Smile on Your Face (that song is good on the album, but it is AMAZING live) and the new stuff – Every Teardrop is a Waterfall, Us Against the World, and Paradise. Wait did I just name almost every song? It was seriously like my ipod playlist brought to life.

So… As I summed it up this morning: AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING show. I danced and sang my my heart out. I screamed and hollered. I lived in the moment. Did I mention amazing?? It also solidified that, much to my hubby’s dismay, my huge crush on Coldplay isn’t going away any time soon.

If you get a chance to see this show live – GO. And buy me a ticket, because I am definitely up to joining you.

Although, if you read this entire thing — maybe I should buy YOU a ticket??