Hosive

the magical fall is in full swing as we headed to nj and the meadowlands for a coldplay show. i got to see a free show at msg in the spring but coldplay decided not to make a return visit to the city on this leg. i likely will not see them again on this tour if they do wind up playing a full show at msg since their shows are pretty uniform. their sunday and monday shows at izod were nearly identical!

i haven’t been to a show at the meadowlands since i went to see u2 with debby fung two tours ago way back in 2001. i think the arena was named something else but i forget what. its hard to find a sponsor for this place especially since the nets are rumored to be moving to brooklyn in a few years, rendering this a tenant-less arena….not too marketable.

here we are at our pretty decent seats right by the side of the stage….i thought we would be closer to mid arena. norm and steph had tickets in the next section but we were on opposite ends of our sections so it felt like we were two sections apart!

as we waited for things to start, we saw the crowd rise, take pictures and react to gwyneth and her mom blythe danner make their way to their seats across the arena from us. they seemed to enjoy the concert a lot.

my hair is long and floppy these days. no more spiking for a bit. i’m tired of gel….and it being the reason i have to check bags in. $15-$25 per bag!

i didn’t get any good shots of the opening act, duffy….mostly because she played in the dark with minimal lighting effect. she was a treat since i rarely know the opening acts…but duffy has been headlining her own club shows and i have her debut cd after i saw her tear it up on conan. while i enjoyed her, most were waiting for coldplay. she did her best to charm and warm the crowd. she said that this was the largest crowd she had ever played in front of.

coldplay started the concert with new songs from their latest album and then proceeded to forget they had  new material and went into their greatest hits mode. the crowd was into the latter but i want to hear the new tunes. however, it’s nice to hear old favorites. they did play more of their new stuff later.

this was the best coldplay show i’ve seen….they’ve become(even more)polished and create an intimate, light and playful connection with the crowd. they move around a lot and play with fervent energy. i sometimes complain that their shows with the cameras on are better than when they are off. but they brought it tonite!

the other knock on them of course is that they play short shows. they played like 17/18 full songs; they only had a one song encore. and they played under an hour and a half. by contrast, u2(old guys)play 23/24 full songs and go for nearly 2 hours. billy joel(another old guy)played 3 hours at shea over the summer….twice!

but what we got from them was magical. my favorites of the new songs live were lovers in japan, death and all of his friends and viva la vida. of the older stuff, i still love fix you…their most transcendant song. the hardest part and the scientist(acoustic)were also excellent. i wish they would have played longer versions of god put a smile on my face and talk. i could have done without speed of sound.

i joked with justin that most people will sit for the majority of the show waiting and standing only for yellow. that joke became prophecy as the people around me did not really know the new stuff.

i stood, sang and cheered the whole time. i do love you coldplay….but play longer shows! especially since you’ve jacked up the prices.

still a nice little night with my sweet t. she was pretty happy.

u2 is not the only band that we have a special relationship with. we have high hopes for coldplay too…hopefully, they’ll play longer concerts and bring it every night…and be around for a long, long time.

here’s an interesting tidbit from entertainment weekly that will make christi chew happy:

In an Aug. 30 interview with the BBC, Chris Martin revealed the group would release an EP called Prospects March on Dec. 26 — and another full album in December 2009. Is he for real? Well, back in April, drummer Will Champion told EW that there was ”potentially another album left over” from the band’s recording sessions with producer Brian Eno. Bassist Guy Berryman added, ”It’s not disposable B sides. It’s songs that didn’t quite fit this record. We’re still very keen for people to hear them.”

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not quite christmas….but better than no coldplay….or no u2!….speaking of which, the new projection date is february. this is from hotpress.com:

A band insider confirmed to Hot Press that February 2009 is now the likely launch date for the band’s long-awaited follow-up to How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. That new target was set, Hot Press understands, at meetings that have taken place over the past 36 hours in Nice, where the band have been based for the latter part of the summer.

“There’s still some details to be decided before the date is confirmed one hundred percent, but that’s the plan,” the source confirmed.

Bono has already spoken about how U2 intend to make 2009 their year.

“This is our chance for us to defy gravity once again,” he enthuses. “We have what it takes, we have the songs, new rhythms and a guitar player who is not ready to re-enter earth’s atmosphere until he’s taken a slice of the moon!”

the irony of living in this expensive city is that there are so many free things to do. sometimes, there’s even free swag! theresa says they have to make it up to us for what we pay in housing and taxes. however, when i look at gas prices around the country….i think we got it pretty good with only having to pay $81 per person per month for travel costs. i’m not looking forward to paying what it will cost us to drive around california in about a month.

before we lose conan to said california and the tonite show, we will try to catch our boy as much as possible. i have a closet full of free conan late nite t-shirts. strangely, no t-shirt this time around.

the fan club include me, t, steph and my favorite australian….theresa had to work so this time we invited conan studio newbie, jason tseng. green was the clearly the color of choice as steph and i continue to exhibit uncanny fashion prophetic abilities and were dressed in that color…..pei li sorta got the memo.

based on our place in line….as well as our usual luck….guess where we sat in the studio?

no front row at the free coldplay concert at msg…well, sorta…..front row in the upper level!!!

this is coldplay’s only nyc appearance this go around listed so far…and all the tickets(all of them!) were given away for free(free!) via a lottery held worldwide. had no luck winning the lottery but its better to have friends than luck. my groomsman and lifetime friend, steve lau and i have been getting tickets for each other for the past decade. a few u2 shows, an upcoming sox/yanks game at the stadium and of course this……

the concert itself was short…16 songs but just over an hour. this is their usual amount of songs but usually they go longer time wise. but when you consider old heads like u2, bruce springsteen and even bon jovi play 20-24 songs and for hours…you wonder what coldplay is thinking. the excuse used to be that they did not have enough songs. we’ll see what the story is this time.

good to hear the new tunes but i suspect most came to hear the greatest hit parade. whenever i hear a band, i want to hear new stuff….it sounds different live! the new album has some instant hits and a few gems that need multiple listenings…and live versions would help. but i’m in the minority:people came to hear yellow and in my place.

chris martin is a good showman….when the cameras are on. most people think he’s on all the time because they usually see him at the grammies or the mtv movie awards. but i’ve seen him do a few subdued shows when there was no tv or filming. if he wants to propel his band to u2, e street band or even richie sambora status, he’s got to bring it every night. i’ve seen more energetic shows from arcade fire, mute math and the killers.

but i give coldplay mucho credit for doing a number of free shows. none of those bands i mentioned have done a free show……yet. more on that soon.

our annual rite of summer is taking in free shakespeare in central park. the delacorte theatre is an open air semi-circle venue that has the park as its backdrop. with a light summer breeze and the setting sun fading into dusk, its a magical atmosphere. this year’s offering was hamlet which features a violence warning and disclaimer. just the way shakespeare should be: bloody.

in the interest of keeping the arts accessible to the common man, all the tickets are free. you can however make a donation and surprise! they thank you with a handshake and a ticket!

but unless you are willing to make a “donation”, you have to get tickets the old fashioned way:

you have to get in line! and early! they hand out tickets at 1p but some camp out or come before dawn. we usually shoot for 6am or a bit earlier.

no cutting. no saving spots. no leaving the line. no switching out or swapping people or relieving people(though we have done that out of necessity….but people really can’t tell us asians apart!….does steph in a cap really look like theresa in a cap??)

being used to waiting for u2 all day long, this is easy time. we’ve waited at 5:30am until 9p for the boys to take the stage. besides, we have portable lounge chairs that even have foot rests. you do have to sometimes brave the elements but the passing rain is worth it! each person can ask for 2 tickets and they will do their best to accommodate groups.

and viola! the twins sans hats, dave and i wait for our friends and dates for the evening show.

“twins”: look at that skin tone difference: its like day and night!

Posted under coldplay, concerts, new york