I got the best surprise ever over the weekend! Like honestly, one of the best surprises of my life. I'm shocked that Jared was able to pull this one off without me catching on.
A few weeks ago I asked Jared to request a Friday off work before the fall leaves are gone. I was hoping we could do a weekend family getaway somewhere in the mountains or on a lake before winter hits. Jared requested October 22 off, but after I spent several days trying to find an affordable AirBNB that looked nice enough not to be infested with poisonous spiders (like last time), I started to get overwhelmed. Because we live so close to Seattle, hotels/bnbs can be pretty expensive and you kind of have to plan your vacations months or years in advance since you're competing against soooo many other people trying to book weekend trips. Jared's idea to just do a staycation/day trip somewhere pretty became more and more appealing. Eventually trying to plan an overnight trip was no longer fun, so I asked him if we could just stay home and spend Friday doing a fall drive and Saturday knocking out a few house projects. He of course agreed.
The next day Jared called from work and was like, "Hey, could I plan a date for us in Seattle on Friday night and we'll drop Jack off at my parents' on the way?" I said yes and was excited for a night at what I thought would be either a cool restaurant or maybe an Indie concert of some kind. I've never been to a concert that wasn't like an orchestral concert or choral concert. I would've been pumped for anything.
Jared wanted to keep our date a surprise until we got there, but when we were almost to his parents' house he got a call from his ticket source who needed credit card info. He picked up the phone and the person asked what concert he'd be going to. Forgetting that I was sitting right next to him, Jared responded, "Coldplay." My hands flew to my mouth and my eyes got huge--I was caught completely offguard!! Coldplay has always been my favorite band and I've dreamed of going to one of their concerts forever. They got me through some tough flights to and from Grenada. Jared loves them too, but between how broke we were throughout medical training and how awful Jared's schedule was, it was never a possibility to go to a concert. I actually check Coldplay's website a few times a year to keep tabs on their tour schedule, so that's why I'm shocked Jared pulled this off as a surprise. Firstly because I feel like I should've known they were coming to Seattle, and secondly because this was only possible because I told Jared to request off the 22nd, and it just happened to be the one day in years Coldplay would be playing in Seattle. Fate!
You guys, the concert was SO GOOD. Jared thought it started at 6:00. He can be a poor judge of time (so can I), so he failed to account for traffic and parking and getting into the brand new venue. This was Coldplay's very first concert in America since before Covid, and this was the first concert ever in the brand new Climate Pledge Arena just built in Seattle. The traffic and entry lines were bonkers. We started to get more and more stressed as the clock ticked further past 6:00. There was a line wrapping around the building to show our vaccination cards to get in. It was nearly 7:00 by the time we made it inside. I was convinced we had missed half the concert. So we were relieved beyond measure when we got to our seats and realized that 6:00 was just doors open, and the concert wouldn't start until 7:00.
Since this was my first real concert-concert ever, I was caught off-guard during the first song or two at how loud it was. I could feel the bass inside my chest. Between that and being crowded into the middle of a tight row at the top of a steep slope of seats, and wearing a mask, I started getting tunnel vision and panicked through the first song that I'd have an anxiety attack and need to leave. But after the first two songs they played something slower and more familiar (I think it was Fix You) and we started singing along, and for the rest of the concert I was totally fine and on cloud 9.
I never realized how important lighting is in a concert like this! They gave everyone these light-up bracelets that were programmed to change different colors and turn on and off at certain times. That and the overhead lighting were just so cool. It felt so humanizing to be surrounded by so many people having the best time ever, singing and dancing, after years of covid quarantining. And I'm one of those weirdos who kind of liked lockdown.
We were about as far from the stage as you can get so I don't have any closeups of Chris Martin or the band, but wow. Such a fun group. They seemed so happy to be playing concerts again. I loved the mix of songs they chose. Lots of old ones and lots of newer ones, and even a really new one I'd only heard once before ("My Universe") that was waaaay better live than it was when I heard it on youtube. It was maybe my favorite song of the night.
^^I definitely would've worn a t-shirt or something lighter if I'd known we'd be jumping up and down at a Coldplay concert haha.
^^Right before their last song, Chris saw a little boy in the audience holding a sign that said "It's my 6th birthday!" He invited the little boy and his mom up on stage for the last song and it was just the cutest thing ever. The little boy, Patrick, was wearing the same pants as Chris, who then gave him the microphone to introduce the band and see what it's like to be a rock star. After the show was over they all left together to go backstage with Patrick and his mom. It was the sweetest ending.
A Coldplay concert was pretttty high up there on my bucket list. It was so magic to be surprised with this experience. A million points to Jared, and to Coldplay. 20/10, would recommend, and I will be needing to attend every Coldplay tour in America from now until they stop touring. What an amazing weekend.
So I don't forget, I just googled the set-list for our concert and this is what they played. Cray that there were this many songs. It flew by. I feel like they curated their set-list for a post-covid audience, which was really special actually:
Higher Power
Clocks
Fix You
Viva La Vida
Adventure of a Lifetime
The Scientist
Paradise
Human Heart
People of the Pride
Everything's Not Lost
Magic
Yellow
Nothingman
My Universe
A Sky Full of Stars
Coloratura
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