My Coldplay.com

Thanks to QuelMartin for sharing her Coldplay experience, during their Mini Latin American Tour. Read after the cut.

GETTING THERE

I took the plane to São Paulo on the 27th, at about 2 pm. I got to the hotel
at 5, and then went to Via Funchal to get my ticket (because I bought it
online). Just looking at it excited me, and there were a few people outside
as well. Then I went to the mall and at about 8 pm we headed to Via Funchal.
I was with my brother’s ex-girlfriend.

CONCERT ON THE 27TH

I was feeling really sad, because they were going to play that night and I
wouldn’t come. I knew I had a ticket for the 28th, but anyways. It’s hard to
stay normal if they are in the same city, in the building just next to you.
You feel REALLY insane. There were loads of people there, including famous
people and people who won contests to get tickets. Everyone was getting in
and I started to hear the opening band. Couldn’t help it. I was already
crying when I heard ‘Square One’. When it started, I was screaming and
crying loudly. I was hoping something would happen - didn’t know what, until
it did. I started talking to a guy that was next to me, and he didn’t have a
ticket either. Nobody there was crying, only me! After ‘Square One’, it was
‘Politik’. Then ‘Yellow’. When the song was almost over, this producer blond
woman came and gave the guy a ticket! “NO!”, I yelled, and started to hit
the thing that was between me and the entrance.. That’s when the woman
looked at me and gave me a ticket! Everything started to get a bit dizzy…
I started screaming, running as fast as I could, screaming REALLY loud…
Everyone was like, “Go, honey, gooo”. There were stairs. When I was close to
the door, I shouted: “Chris, here I aaaaaaam”. I saw the lights. Those
lights… Lights that I saw more than a thousand times through photos and
videos. But never live. Those lights. The crowd… Oh, my God. It was
fantastic. I stood there, in the back, final row. I didn’t care. I had a
good view, strangely enough. When you’re used to them being in London and
you in Brazil… Just three thousand people inside there. I was… Over the
moon. Going crazy during the whole thing. Dancing and jumping wildly. Chris
ran to the ladies’s restroom, then to the left corner. Everyone sang on ‘The
Scientist’. Chris ran and danced in that cute way he does on ‘White
Shadows’. Fantastic! They played ‘Green Eyes’ and didn’t play ‘Til Kingdom
Come’. He said: “The second night is always the best” and said: “E aí,
beleza?”, which means “What’s up?” in Portuguese. LOVED IT! When it was time
for Chris to turn and twist that light on ‘Fix You’, the light went out and
he looked at it with such a cute face. Wondering what the hell had happened
to it! After ‘Fix You’, everybody asked for ‘Shiver’. People did that on the
first night (26th) and they played it, so everyone thought, “Let’s give it a
try”. Chris and Jonny came back, Chris asked: “You fucking bastards… Did I
hear ‘Shiver’? Sorry for that!”. So the two of them played ‘Shiver’, with no
bass and no drums. It was great… When they were gone, I couldn’t believe I
had won the ticket, I couldn’t believe I had gotten that close to them, and
I was so happy ’cause, after all, it wasn’t over for me: I still had my VIP
ticket for the 28th. Great! Couldn’t sleep at all! I couldn’t believe it…

AT THEIR HOTEL ON THE 28TH

On the 28th, we had breakfast and headed to Fasano Hotel, where they were
staying. We got there at about 1 pm. I started talking to a couple of girls
that were there, along with about ten people. They said Will and his wife
Marianne had gone out for a walk around the neighbourhood, and the other
ones were in the hotel. I was going crazy. There were bodyguards and a
couple of assistants outside. At about 2.30 pm Will came back with Marianne.
I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. I saw him there, walking, and about ten
seconds later he was already inside the hotel. We couldn’t do anything,
especially ’cause he didn’t even look at us, and because they usually take
some time to go outside and sign stuff. So we waited… This guy came and
told us they would come in an hour, and that we should organise ourselves in
a queue, so that it would be faster, easier and safer. We did. An hour
later, the door opened and I saw Jonny. I said, “EVERYONE, LOOK!”. He walked
out, followed by Guy (I was GOING CRAZY), then Chris, and Will. They were
JUST ACROSS THE STREET! I started to feel like I was going to throw up,
really… But the four of them went inside a car, and we were like “What???
What about us?”. We started singing “Happy Birthday, Chris Martin…”, for
his birthday would be in two days, and he put his hand off the window and
waved at us!! It was so adorable! The car was driven away, but the same guy
came again and said they were late for a press conference at another hotel,
and that Chris promised to see us when they were back. He said: “Chris asked
me to tell you this himself”. It was so sweet of him to let us know. So we
sat, had a snack, talked about Coldplay’s music. An hour later, they came
back. The car stopped; Chris and Will started walking our way, while Jonny
and Guy ran inside the hotel. I started filming (I have that on the
computer). Chris came, said: “I’m okay, hello, everyone”. I couldn’t believe
what I was seeing. He started signing stuff; I was half a meter away from
him. I really felt sick, I felt good, I felt starved, I felt like jumping on
him… I knew I couldn’t, ’cause you’re not even allowed to touch him or hug
him (the assistant said). I was looking at him, his face, so beautiful, A
LOT MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN HE LOOKS ON PICTURES; his jacket, I looked at his
feet, his face again, his hands… “It’s real”, I said to myself. I said to
him, “Chris…”. He looked at me quickly, and then continued to sign stuff.
I looked at Will, three meters from me. Chris looked at me, like, “Do you
want me to sign anything?”. I gave him the ‘Fix You’ vinyl I got when I went
to London on January and he signed. I filmed that as well. I asked, “Chris,
how are you, you okay?”. He said: “I’m okay, thanks”. SO English! SO Chris
Martin! SO unreal! He looked so sweet… So I went to see Will, and he was
taking pictures with a few people. I said, “Hi, Will”, and gave him the
vinyl. He signed as I asked: “Is that for Ava?”, pointing at his tattoo (his
daughter’s little hand). He smiled and answered: “Yes”. I said, “It’s really
nice”. I asked someone to take a picture of me with him, and someone did.
Then I went back to Chris, and he was busy (of course). I filmed Will a
little bit, and it was nice. Then I went to Chris and it seemed like he
wanted to leave. I begged, “Chris, one picture, please”. He said in THE
SWEETEST WAY, “Okay, let’s do it!”. So happy, so nice, looking right at me,
doing something with his hands. I was melting!!! I stood next to him,
feeling his arm, and someone took a picture for me. I continued staring at
his perfect face until he started walking away, and I waved for Will. He
looked at me, and they were gone. I was OVER THE MOON. Stood there for about
half an hour, when a guy next to me said: “There’s Will with his wife and
kid…”. I thought he was joking. “Come on! We didn’t even see him leave the
hotel. Of course it’s not him! And with Ava?”. That’s when I looked, and IT
WAS WILL! And I HAD NEVER SEEN AVA BEFORE! He looked at us and I wanted to
film them, but I was frozen. Marianne didn’t look, and I could see Ava! Dark
hair, small, SO CUTE. Five seconds later, they were inside. After another
half an hour I went back to my hotel. STONED! IT WAS GREAT! I COULDN’T
BELIEVE IT! Just a pity Jonny and Guy didn’t show up. Seems like Guy never
does, but Jonny did on the 26th. Just a pity I couldn’t make it on Monday. I
was glad things were calmer there, ’cause in Argentina it was insane, with
the fans and everything, as I could see on videos and pics.

CONCERT ON THE 28TH

We had dinner at the hotel and I got myself ready to go to the concert. My
hotel was NEXT to Via Funchal. I mean, REALLY NEXT to it. Ten-seconds walk.
It was completely full - mostly with people who didn’t have tickets. I had
met about 6 people at Fasano Hotel who were really next to me at the VIP
area, so I wouldn’t be alone. One of them was a guy who got the first ticket
sold for the three concerts, André Assis. He was a big fan. The other people
didn’t even know who Marianne was. I waited there, and I found out my seat
was a bit at the right, closer to where Guy usually stands. I was really
close, but I was planning on going to the first row, ’cause André went to
all three concerts and he said everyone did it: ran to the first row and
stayed in that mess. I thought, “Great, I’m so crazy that I’m totally going
to make it”. The opening band sucked and they played 9 songs - too many in
my opinion - and nobody seemed to have fun. After they were gone, we waited
for about 40 minutes until we heard the first notes of ‘Square One’. The
longest 40 minutes ever!!! I ran and stood in front of this security guy,
and he said: “You can’t get any closer than this, okay?”. I was like,
“Great, this is perfect anyway!”. I was in front of EVERYONE. First row,
center. Right in front of Chris’s microphone. I started filming. Jonny
Boy… Guy… Will… Can you hear? I can, even now… “You’re in control,
is there anywhere you wanna go?”… Chris was hiding. I filmed a few
seconds, and just before Chris appeared (for the chorus) I stopped. Another
security guy came and started to push me really roughly, and I was in front
of everyone, so he was really pushing ME, and I was with my camera, trying
to enjoy the concert… Things started to get a bit ugly a few seconds
later, as he screamed: “You all, everyone on yours seats, NOW”… Chris
continued singing like nothing was happening (of course). I looked at him.
Couldn’t go to my row, it was so freaking crowded, people drinking… “Shit,
stop pushing, we can’t move!”, I yelled. The guy was really gross! I felt
his spit on my face! When I could finally go to my seat, the guy didn’t
believe I was supposed to be there. Ridiculous! Chris was just about to sing
the ending of ‘Square One’ and this gross guy wanted me to get my ticket! I
showed it to him and went to my seat. Unfair, I thought, but well, I’m not
going to think about it right now - at all. I was exactly in front of Guy,
only with a man in front of me. I could see Chris perfectly (but I was way
too far to touch him) and Jonny was a bit far. Will was waaay in the back -
I didn’t like it. But anyway, I was having a FANTASTIC time! I didn’t film
or take photos of anything else after that. We had ‘Politik’, then ‘Yellow’
(with balloons that Chris popped!), then ‘Speed Of Sound’. Sometime Chris
said the third night was going to be the best one and again said “E aí,
beleza?”. Adorable! Most of the people close to me seemed to know the lyrics
(so far) but I was singing along SO LOUDLY that I was sure they had noticed.
Everytime there was a break, I screamed “JONNY BOY!” and stuff like that,
and I sometimes caught him trying to look and find who was this crazy person
with this extremely powerful throat! Of course he didn’t look at me once,
but I tried. I really had the strongest voice there, ’cause everyone kept
staring at me. Also, I cried THE FULL CONCERT, and no one else seemed to
cry. Not once. Actually, I enjoyed being the only one - the craziest about
them. So we had ‘God Put A Smile Upon Your Face’, then ‘What If’ (with a
fantastic start by Jonny!). Then ‘Sparks’, when I cried so hard it hurt: I
felt extremely warm and dizzy. I had the feeling that Chris looked at me
twice during the song, but I can’t be sure. I followed him and his “Whoa
oooh ahh” at the end of it. Then we had ‘Shiver’, with Jonny, Chris, Will
and Guy, REALLY GOOD! It’s really a fan song, because of those lines about
seeing the one you love, and not be seen. The funny thing is: Chris DID look
at me on that song! By the end, when he said: “And you know how much I need
you, but you never even see me”. Melting again! Then, it was the greatest
part of the whole concert. Chris did ‘Parachutes’. Less-than-60-seconds
song, guitar-only, with the loveliest lyrics, and NOBODY knew it! It was
like, me and a couple of people more, but considering I had a strong voice,
I stood out! “In a haze, a stormy haze…”. At the end, I yelled: “HERE I AM
AND I’LL WAIT IN LINE ALWAYS! ALWAYS!”. I felt completely connected with
him. I was crying harder when we had ‘White Shadows’. Chris always dances
and jumps that Chris-Martin-way on that song, so I enjoyed it A LOT. He ran
a lot over the stage as well, and he was so close! If I could get one meter
closer I’d be able to touch him. Perfect! Then we had ‘The Scientist’, when
everybody sings along. I screamed for Will, but you can’t really catch him -
so in the back… Guy just stared at his bass all the time, unlike Jonny,
that kept looking at everything and us. I wanted to call Guy’s attention,
but it was impossible! When it finished, Chris sat and played ‘Girl From
Ipanema’ on the piano! The crowd went insane, and he looked really happy
himself. So we had a break with ‘The Scientist’ backwards (playback). I
could sing that as well, by the way. Then they all got together at the right
of the stage, three meters away from me. Playing ‘Til Kingdom Come’. I stood
up on my seat and cried like crazy. Guy was playing his harmonica when a
security guy asked me to get down. I did, but then I could walk a meter
further and stood even closer to them!!! I cried. I felt like they knew I
was different from the other people there - but of course they didn’t. It’s
just what I wanted them to know… Chris smiled a lot to Jonny, and Jonny
laughed; Will smiled… They looked sweeter than ever. Just before ‘Love Me
Tender’ (Elvis cover) Guy went to the back of the stage and I yelled “GUY,
DON’T HIDE”. He came back - but probably not because I called him. They did
‘Love Me Tender’ and I cried so badly, ’cause the lyrics are so cute. Guy
smiled (BIG). He hadn’t done it so far, so I almost had a heart attack. I
think it was about then when they threw four or five of those cameras (they
always throw a few), and I couldn’t get any of them. The guy in front of me
did, the lucky bastard!! Then it was time for ‘Clocks’. Shit, I told myself
I wouldn’t freak out on that one. But I did. It’s just too much energy! My
head was exploding. I continued to sing louder than everyone. By the end of
it, when Chris sings “Home, home, where I wanted to go…”, they held the
song for like a minute or two more than the album version, just pumping
there, PURE ENERGY! I screamed for Will. “And nothing else compares…”.
When it was over, the crowd was SO LOUD. I must have gotten a bit deaf
because of them. Then we had ‘Talk’. Chris always makes this move on ‘Talk’,
it’s so great. He went to the left corner, and really in the back of the
audience, through the side. I couldn’t see him at all, so I focused on Jonny
Boy! “Do you wanna talk…?”. And it ended. It was time for ‘Swallowed In
The Sea’. About then people knew the lyrics! I loved it; it’s one of my
favourites. I surely knew I belonged with Coldplay, no matter what - not
swallowed in the sea… So we had ‘In My Place’. On the first chorus,
everyone sang “YEAH…”. Chris jumped, made this face, like, SO surprised by
the power of that “yeah”, you know? There are no words to describe! So we
had the last song, ‘Fix You’. When it starts, you already know it’s going to
be over, and it’s shit. But then you just get into it. You flow with it.
This time Chris could turn around with that light and throw it in the air,
and so he did. He let us sing by ourselves the final chorus, also with no
piano, then ended it himself, saying “now it’s time to say goodbye… thanks
for having us”, and that stuff. It was sad. “Thanks for giving us the best
job in the world”. And he stood up. Will came. Jonny and Guy left their
instruments and looked at us for a bit, then walked to Chris. The crowd was
making a lot of noise. Guy had this white towel around his neck. The guy in
front of me screamed and asked him for the towel, and Guy threw it at him!!!
I couldn’t believe it! I asked, “please, Guy, ME!”, but I guess he thought
the other guy deserved it better (no way!). So they stood together, side by
side. Jonny, Chris, Will, Guy. They took a bow. Another one. I saw a lot of
flashes during the concert, but that’s when I saw the most. I was feeling
great; I was feeling awful; I was so sad it was over. Physically, I was
feeling like shit. My throat, back, legs, arms, neck, feet, head. Everything
hurt! ALL WORTHY. All worthy. I’d do it everyday, if I could. They took
another bow. Gone. Farewell. See you soon, I hope.

IT’S OVER

I stood there looking at the stage. No one moved, just kept shouting. Five
minutes later, I went closer to the stage, hoping to get something from it.
The security said they would come back for another song. Happily, I went
back to my seat. No way! They didn’t come back at all. I stood there, empty,
depressed. Thrilled. This woman came selling water and I bought a bottle.
Drank it. Went to the stage. People were there asking for the producers and
the assistants to throw something to us. Like bottles of water, setlists,
towels. I couldn’t get anything. Some people got used bottles, other people
got closed bottles. I didn’t see them giving away the setlist, so I guess
they didn’t. I headed to the entrance, feeling… Amazed. And that’s some
power they’ve got over me…

The End