How to put on a concert

I was lucky enough to see the band Coldplay live last Wednesday, September 21. I'm not going to lie, it was one of the most amazing spectacles I've ever seen. I haven't been to very many concerts at all, but I think I can still say with reasonable certainty that it will be quite some time before I experience a show as good as that was.

Me, John Michael Fohner, and Brandon George drove down to Kansas City and met David Ubben at a Waffle House a couple of miles away from the venue (Verizon Amphitheater). We got to the show about 2 hours early, giving us plenty of time to find our seats (which were very good), get some food (which was very expensive), and give Ubben a hard time about "replacing" us as his friends with new people from Mizzou (which was very funny).

The band Rilo Kiley opened for Coldplay, and they weren't bad. Their lead singer, Jenny Lewis, has a very good voice. The band had a lot of energy. It was refreshing to see a band with a woman lead-singer that wasn't your stereotypical bubble-gum pop act. It was kind of funny, though. Their lead guitar player was a little guy, probably no taller than 5'8", whom the guys I was with decided had "little man syndrome"--a nasty disposition that gives little men with guitars the feeling that they need to compensate for their lack of stature by behaving spastically and erratically on stage. Anyways, good band. I don't think I'll be buying their latest album, but good band.

There were about 30-45 minutes of down time before Coldplay came out, but when they did, it was awesome. They opened with "Square One", then moved straight into "Politik" (a concert staple), making for an incredible one-two punch of high energy. They played pretty much every song I wanted them to, with a couple of notable exceptions (those being "What If", "Shiver", and "Amsterdam". But, all is forgiven, as the songs they did play were done incredibly well. At one point--I think during "In My Place", Chris Martin ran out into the audience to sing. I didn't have a camera, but one of my friends, Susanna Stewart, did. Now, Susanna didn't go to the same show that we did (her and Hopwood went to the Dallas show 2 nights later), but I think this picture will still give you a feel for what it was like at our show.



Coldplay closed the show with "Fix You".

I guess all I can say about the show was that it was awesome. I really don't know what else to say. I now have a much deeper appreciation for them. I think they deserve their title as "Biggest Band in the World" right now. Thats all I've got for now.