Thought for the day ...

thank god for a good buddy

Concert Review

Coldplay / Black Mountain
08-13-05
Alpine Valley, East Troy
or, Thank God for a Good Buddy

One of the few {!} nice things about living way out here in the middle of nowhere, is that I'm also way out here right next to Alpine Valley. Literally I'm a mile or two from the venue that a lot of artists mention in interviews as their all-time favorite to play in the nation. So it was pretty cool that we could tailgate before the show... on my deck at my house. Because really, a concert starting at 8 and going until 11 is far too little time to enjoy some of the best parts of life.

So we kicked things off last Saturday at about 2pm with some grill and some drinks. Then we mosied on over to Alpine at about 3:30 to continue the party with the rest of the concert-goers. No, we couldn't arrive at the last minute because we had lawn tickets, so we had to get there early to stake out a good spot. Did we have to be the first ones there to stake out the very best spot possible? Probably not, but we did it anyway. Actually, at 3:30 there were already a bunch of kids there grilling and chilling and some in line at the main gate. But thanks to a friend of mine who has done this a few times, we went and parked a blanket at a little-known side gate where we were actually the only people in line for a good hour. I don't know why the main gate had a line a mile long and no one wandered over to find the side gate that we were at, but no one did. So at 5:30, after much chillaxing and cards and hackey sack, when the gates were finally opened and about 50 people had found the line we started {as opposed to the hundreds of people in line at the main gate} we were able to be one of the very first people let into Alpine. So of course, we took off running a mad dash down the hill to get as close as the monstrously large lawn allows. Here again, my friend with the secret Alpine knowledge came in very handy because he ushered us over to "The Cubby" as we so affectionately dubbed it. It's a little in-let on the very front of the lawn that is surrounded by the rail to get into the main seating, meaning we were as close as the lawn seaters could possibly be and yet no one could get behind us and push on us or spill things on us or babble on with annoying crap during the show. We staked out the whole Cubby with about 6 blankets, making room for the 38 of our friends that eventually found us and stood with us.

We waited; we chatted; we drank.

And after 7 sometime, Black Mountain took the stage. I had heard they were awful, so I was prepared to be disappointed, meaning I was pleasantly surprised. I wouldn't buy the cd or anything, but they were listenable. Sounded like a good 60's jam/rock band with some darker broodiness and just a touch of breathy/screaminess. It definately was a vast improvement over the opening act of the First Avenue show in Minneapolis in 2003, was it? That wasn't actually a band but a movie, made by Coldplay themselves featuring such stars as Michael Stipe and Bono and maybe Springsteen or some other well-known musical figureheads. So you'd think it'd be pretty cool, right? Well you'd think wrong. It was unwatchable. It was unwatchable for over a half an hour. It was part of Chris' Make Trade Fair campaign, so it was for a good cause, but it was random psuedo-stylish imagery with babbling nonsense and odd noises and also several obscenely weird shots of naked tribesmen doing very phreaky stuff. Eyes were covered, it was that weird. So Alpine was alright.

Then the lights dimmed and Coldplay took the stage in front of a screen so massively large that it illuminated the entire field. Really, it is amazing how the pyrotechnic/lighting aspects of concerts these days has progressed along with technology. As plasma/lcd/etc tv technology gets bigger and brighter and cheaper and more amazing, so do concerts. What used to be blinking lights and maybe fireworks for the coolest bands, has turned into a circus of imagery to delight the eyes. Concerts have become one long MTV Music Video except the music is live. The Coldplay screen was the biggest I've ever seen, covering the entire back wall of the stage. And for every second of music something really visually stunning was playing but it was also planned and timed to go along with the music. It's all such a production now. But it makes the experience for us that much better.

Anyway, the massive wall tv counted down a timer as Coldplay started playing and hit zero just as the song reached a bursting crescendo. {sidenote-tirade: It really shocked me how much these lighting effects and other production were planned and timed and synced and ... well, produced. It's really a far cry from a more raw performance with just an artist and a mic and whatever happens live happens. I'm hoping that as we move towards the over-produced concert, that we don't lose the 'live' feeling where an artist can be spontaneous and change his act according to a whim or the reaction of the crowd and the group dynamic of the band. That's live performance to me. If every move is timed, you're boxed in. Not that Coldplay felt stuck or fake, but the production was so elaborate that it made me wonder if technology is taking live shows in a direction less live.}

But anyway, Coldplay has always been the perfect show to bring your girl, or good buddy and then wrap your arms over their shoulder, sway to the music, and feel like no one in the world could be closer than you two are right now. Alpine definately had that, with a group of my good friends, and especially with one of my best friends. I got the tickets for him and his girlfriend because they both graduated this year and Coldplay has always been our band. When Parachutes came out, I was in a particularly low place with some particularly crummy stuff going on in my life, but this guy was there for me like no one I've ever met. We'd listen to Parachutes and talk about my junk and he would help me through. He was the only person I've ever cried in front of, since I was a kid, and with him it didn't feel awkward at all to say "I love you" to a guy. Everything's Not Lost was playing in the background. So now, even though I haven't had any particularly low points in my life since then, we still have this Coldplay connection. We see every show we can, and the farther away, the better, because it's more time for us together on a road trip. Alpine was the first time we added his girl to our Coldplay mix, but she said it was the best concert she's ever been to... so she was a welcome addition.

If they ever play Such A Rush live, my buddy and I will have such an eargasm that I may just have to propose to him.

{Here's some shots from our show. The really close ones I got from other people.}