Coldplay: A hell of a first concert for my little music lover

Do you remember your first concert? I mean your first real, full-blown, concert, the kind where you plunk down whatever amount of cash is required to see this band because being in their presence for two hours with 15,000 screaming fans who feel exactly the way you is going to be so worth it ... Remember that?

Emma will. She'll have Aug. 11, 2012 down in her heart and mind forever. And so will I. That's the date of the Coldplay concert we went to, a concert that is probably in my top 5 all time, and I've been to a lot of shows (including a lot of Springsteen shows.)

A few months ago, Emma turned 15. For her birthday, she wanted concert tickets, so we gave her money for it. She knew what concert she wanted to see. She wanted Coldplay tickets. She didn't just want to go see a concert. She wanted to see Coldplay. She'd been listening to them pretty steadily for several years now.
So have I. I remember listening several years ago when "Yellow" came on the radio. Loved that song. Still do. And I've never looked back. I downloaded their next album, too. "The Scientist" has been a favorite of mine since the day I heard it. And when "Viva la Vida" came out, I downloaded a ring tone for my phone. (I never actually used it, though. I didn't want to give people any more reason to mistake me for a girl.)

Coldplay has been one of my favortites for a long time.

When Emma wanted to go see them, I told her I was very excited for her and that she and whoever she brought was going to have a great time. I'd planned on being the taxi that night, dropping off a couple of teens for their first time walking into the big concert venue.

I remember my first real concert. I'm not even sure if I should admit this, but ... Oh well, here goes.

Madonna's Like a Virgin album came out in the mid 1980s. My friends and I went wild for it, of course. I mean, have you seen that album cover? The songs were OK. But, my God, that picture of Madonna on the cover? We'd simply never been hit with anything so sexual before. Actually, my buddy Jay Mohrlant and I had gotten into Madonna on her previous album, which was pretty good. But when Madonna hit the scene with this new look, my appreciation for her shifted gears a little. And when it was announced that she'd be playing the St. Paul Civic Center, we couldn't wait to go. (Sidenote: Opening act for Madonna was the Beastie Boys, a rag-tag band of obnoxious young men urging us all to fight for our right to party.)

After that show, I couldn't wait to wear my new Madonna t-shirt to school. It was a sleeveless black number with the album cover photo on the front. I was attending Hill-Murray High School at the time. By first hour, I'd already been called out into the hall by one of the teachers in this Catholic school to be asked whether I thought it was appropriate to wear a shirt featuring a woman in bustier to school -- to this school, of all places, Mr. Capecchi asked. I don't know what I said. Knowing my limited ability to respond with something witty when challenged by authority, I probably said very little. But I digress ...

Two tickets in hand, Emma was excited in mid-July to be for sure going to see Coldplay. Within a few days, she'd decided she would go to the concert with me. I felt torn. I wanted her to experience this with friends. But as it turns out, not all of them are Coldplay fans. And she wanted to go with someone who also loved Coldplay. So I gladly accepted.

On concert day, we ate at Cossetta's, a block from the concert venue, the Xcel Energy Center. Always amazing. The line for the best Italian food in town curled around the lower level when we arrived. By the time we left, it stretched all the way to the parking lot out back. After lasagne and a glass of chianti, it was off to the X.

Charli XCX

The concert had two opening acts. Charli XCX, and Marina and the Diamonds. Coldplay went on at roughly 9 p.m. And by the third song, "In My Place," it was clear that we were in for a helluva night.

Keep in mind this was her first show.

Marina & the Diamonds

Four giant cannons blasted a few million pieces of confetti into the building, and kept blasting to keep it jumping. There was so much confetti that you couldn't see across the arena to the other side. A few songs later, they released about a hundred giant bouncing balls. A sea of balls, I think during "Speed of Sound," bobbed and darted around the room. Later, a series of giant shapes, reminiscent of the artwork on their latest album cover, were wheeled out and placed around the entire arena. Hearts, triangles, Xs, all paint-splattered with bright, glow-in-the-dark paint.

The biggest visual, however, came on a unique concert twist. As we came into the arena, they gave everyone a wrist band. As we got ours, Emma joked that, with her luck -- and she actually is quite unlucky -- hers wouldn't work. I brushed it off. Of course it would work! They'll all work!

But when they turned the lights off and turned all the wrist bands on via radio controls, the sight was jaw-dropping: a sea of red, yellow, blue and green lights, 15,000 of them, everyone in the building united in a colorful display that made us part of the show.

All but one of us, that is.

Emma's didn't light up, as she predicted. Mine worked, of course. So I did what any good dad would do. I took mine off and put it on Emma's wrist.

"Are you sure?" she asked, wanting to make sure it wouldn't break my heart to not have a wrist band.

"Of course," I said.

Bruce

It was the least I could do to say thanks, to show her how much it meant to me that she thought I was still someone she could have fun with, still cool enough to accompany her to her first concert.

The first of many, I might add. She and my son, Sam, are coming with me Nov. 11 for the Springsteen show. I don't know that she'll like it as much as Coldplay, but I'm pretty sure she'll like it. They both will.


SETLIST

Mylo Xyloto
Hurts Like Heaven
In My Place
Major Minus
Lovers In Japan
The Scientist
Yellow
Violet Hill
God Put A Smile Upon Your Face
Princess of China
Up in Flames
Warning Sign
Don't Let It Break Your Heart
Viva La Vida
Charlie Brown
Paradise

Encore:
Us Against the World
Speed Of Sound

Encore 2:
Clocks
Fix You
Every Teardrop is a Waterfall