This was the most impressive musical event I’ve ever been a part of, including my fifth grade band concert.
Should I have worn eyeliner?
Perhaps all the 1980s bands wiped that option off my face ages ago. More than likely, though, I just feared I’d look stupid. When I asked my daughter to help dress me for our date with Chris Martin and the gang from Coldplay, I had to draw the line somewhere. And it wasn’t going to be underneath my eyes.
I agreed to the cheap Converse that supposedly are quite stylish. They shaved my head which allowed me to go out in public without that silly little tuft atop my noggin that looked like it belonged anywhere else on my body EXCEPT my dome. And there was the gold hoop earring, a source of contention between daughter and mother.
One said I looked liked a pirate, the other, a bad-ass. I only heard bad-ass and went with it.
Coldplay holds a place in our family like few other acts do. Last year they allowed me to use one of their songs on a bone marrow transplant slide show I did. But more importantly, all four of us really dig their sound. For Skye’s 18th birthday and for sort of a send-off to college, she and I got tickets to their Palace gig.
When we walked into the venue, we were all given these curious wristbands that said #coldplayfilm on them, as well as a Twitter ad. No one seemed to know exactly what they were for, but as the concert commenced, the whole arena was lit up by flashing LED colors embedded within each individual band. We, the audience, were all part of the spectacle.
It takes a certain level of trust to just put on a bracelet, no questions asked.It was something I’ve never witnessed before. Even though Chris Martin is quoted as saying the wristbands cost a fortune, they certainly added an entirely new dimension to concert-going. Listening to an MP3 of the band on your phone is one thing; actually being part of a performance is something else crazily different.
Yes, the music was incredible. But I’m no rock critic. Adam Graham at The Detroit News wrote a much better review than I could possibly attempt. And if you want to see real, live fantastic photography, take a look at what my pal Dan Mears shot at the concert. He said if you looked closely, you could see Skye and I in the crowd. Thank goodness he was just kidding.
The last time my daughter and I had so much fun at a concert was when The Police came to town four years ago. She was freshman at the time. She’s a freshman yet again. The more things change …
