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A Coldplay concert upgrade: “It’s good karma”
(Editor’s note: The following post is from American-Statesman business reporter Claudia Grisales).
Houston — My two sisters, mother and I were headed to the nosebleed seats for the Coldplay concert at the Toyota Center in Houston Tuesday evening.
After several wrong turns and a lengthy escalator ride we finally made it to the top and our $49 seats in section 410. Suddenly, a man grabbed a hold of my youngest sister’s arm, and began quizzing her.
“Name three Coldplay albums, not including the current Viva la Vida,” asked the English-accented man wearing a black polo shirt and a two-way radio.
“A Rush of Blood to the Head, Parachutes and XYZ,” she excitedly said.
No, not quite, he responded.
“X&Y,” she corrected.
“Okay, now name a song on A Rush of Blood to the Head,” he asked, leaving me wondering — is this guy trying to pick her up or is this how they get fans amped up for the show?
“Politic,” said Susan, an encyclopedia of various albums.
“Name a top single,” he followed, while the rest of us stared in confusion.
“Yellow,” Susan said.
Next thing we knew, he was pulling out four fifth-row tickets on the floor.
“These are for you. We hold back a certain number of tickets to give to fans when they arrive to the show,” he said. “You just have to rock out down there.”
“Really? No, really? Why? Really?” we all asked as we all jumped up and down, and showered him with hugs. It turns out his name was Richard, and he would operate the camera just a few feet away from our fifth-row seats.
“Did you get an upgrade,” an excited fan asked in front of us. “We did, too!”
The fan next to us told a similar story, pointing to her original seats at the top of the stadium (my sister overheard another couple nearby say they paid $750 for their premium seats).
The upgrade fans later pointed out their Coldplay good samaritan, a man with black-rimmed glasses at the front of the stage who only identified himself to me as “Mr. Lo.”
The Coldplay crew helped give away 96 such upgrades at the Houston show. It’s something the band apparently does “in the states,” Mr. Lo said.
They look for fans wearing a lot of color and ready to show some serious energy.
“It’s good karma,” he said.
Richard, who we approached later, declined a photo or to give his full name. He said otherwise he would be stalked by Coldplay fans for free passes.
Shortly before Chris Martin and gang hit the stage, San Antonio Spurs and Eva Longoria hubby Tony Parker set off a scene when he walked to his seats. Further away than ours.
And the show was no disappointment. It was an adrenaline-rushed evening of songs off their new and past albums, a confetti drop of colorful butterflies and an acoustic version of “Mad Scientist” at the top of the first level at Toyota.
We were close enough to see Chris Martin sweat, the little blemish on the left side of his Adam’s apple and the elastic band of his white underwear.
He and his bandmates ran up and down the side runways, crooned into a mike on his famous piano and jumped around with their famous energy.
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