Was There a Coldplay Concert During My Acid Trip?

Somehow I've already managed to let another 6 weeks soar past since I last updated what's going on in my life! I thought now would be a good time for a fresh look to the blog and a fresh post!

I kicked off my Thanksgiving break last Friday with a bang by joining Kate as one of the lucky audience members of Coldplay's sold out show at the Pepsi Center. I'm a longtime fan of those charming Britons and also saw them at this same venue a few years and one album back on their tour to promote the X & Y album.

After listening to a fairly good warm-up band, which I think may have been named Sleeping Car we eagerly awaited the captivating stage presence of Chris Martin and co. The stage crew was busily constructing two large projection screens on the stage, which Kate and I lamented would obstruct our view of the band once the concert started. A short while later the lights dimmed and the screen came to life! Coldplay at last! But it didn't quite sound like Coldplay....And what we saw on the screen is difficult to describe. I'd describe it by asking you to imagine if an artist got jacked up on acid, painted everything he saw in his halleucinations, and then asked a coked up animator to make a video out of it. The result was the most confusing and somewhat discomforting half hour I've experienced in recent memory! We were shown this bizarre display for literally 25 minutes without pause and after it was over I was left feeling slightly nauseous and concerned that someone could later walk up to me on the street , yell "turnip", and that would trigger some implanted command I had been brainwashed forcing me to assassinate someone in high political office.

Other people who have seen Coldplay on their Viva La Vida Tour will recognize the video, as I did some digging and found that it was the product of a guy named Jon Hopkins at a place called Nexus Productions, who, for some reason beyond my comprehension, shows this video at each venue before Coldplay starts their show.

I actually managed to find a clip of the aforementioned video: (CAUTION: This video is extremely psychadelic and I cannot be held responsible for any subliminal message contained therein.) It is a mere 90 seconds of the video we were shown for 25 minutes!!!!

All hail winged blue cat thingie....All hail winged blue cat thingie...

Beyond the odd introduction the actual Coldplay show was incredible. They played a lot of their new songs and brought the energy and presence to the stage that they are renowned for. For me the highlights included 5 large spheres that had been suspended from the ceiling and were lowered during some of the songs. They had some kind of video projectors on the inside them so they could be made to glow or display movies. The effect was amazing! I was also surprised and pleased to see the entire band leave the stage and head up about 30 rows into the stands to play an acoustic set of The Scientist! Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it and had a great time!