I'm having a hard time telling a straight forward narrative these days. I think that's been my problem with updating any sort of journal. This is what they call a Cold Open. No theme-song. No recap. Any past information will come in the form of a flashback.
I left work yesterday with every intention of going back to the apartment I'm crashing at to shower, and prepare myself a quick dinner.
At work (www.fredflare.com) I don't eat very much. It's partially a time-management thing, but mostly it's a money-management thing. New York City is awfully expensive, as most can imagine. I find it easier on my wallet to resist eating out for lunch everyday and conditioning myself to enjoy a constant stream of Peanut Butter and Honey sandwiches. But that leaves me starving by 7PM when I approach the apartment. So when I arrived to little more than a dial tone on the video phone, I convinced myself it was a sign I was meant to try my luck uptown at Madison Square Garden at the Sold Out Coldplay concert.
For those that didn't know, Coldplay put out a new record last week. In support they announced a string of free shows across several countries: London, Barcelona, New York, and a few others. Some sort of website contest that was announced in the beginning of May. Tickets sold out in minutes, I'm sure, and I was left scouring Craigslist for a kind soul who didn't' know what to do with their extra pair of Free tickets... That said, tickets were being placed up by scalpers for as high as $2,000 a pair. Talk about a profit. With this in mind, and nothing in my stomach I ascended to midtown.
After well over an hour of making awkward eye contact with any single person in a crowd, I was ready to give up when my placement next to an awkward Texan with a sign asking for tickets ended up working in my favor.
"are you a cop?" asked a samaritan.
"no... absolutely not" said the awkward texan.
In retrospect, the samaritan who wanted to give away his two extra tickets was, kind of ignorant to think that he was going to get arrested for not making a profit off of his free tickets, but I digress...
The awkward texan and I shared our excitement and quick introductions before finding our seats in the nosebleeds. He bought four beers and popcorn, and I bought a really expensive pizza-like-substance to fill my stomach finally. As I sat there next to a person I just met, in my work clothes I smiled for the first time in a while.
Set List:
Life In Technicolor
Violet Hill
Clocks
In My Place
Viva La Vida
Chinese Sleep Chant
God Put A Smile Upon Your Face
42
Trouble
Square One
Lost!
Strawberry Swing
Yellow
Fix You
Lovers In Japan
The production design was unlike anything I've ever seen for a one off. I'm still searching for photos of the huge orbs that hung from the ceiling, or the laser light show.
