Coldplay at Alpine Valley 7-25-09

This past weekend I had the chance to see Coldplay up at Alpine Valley in Wisconsin. Normally I don’t consider myself to be a huge Coldplay fan, although yes, I do own every album from them and I can sing along to just about all of their songs. The only reason I shy away from calling myself a fan is to try to stay away from being associated with many of their other “fans.” This weekend highlighted my ideology almost perfectly.

Of course, its at Alpine Valley. Sure, 30-some thousand people are going to show up, many of whom will arrive hours before to tailgate in the massive expanse of grass known as the parking lot. Sure some people will get drunk before entering the actual bowl. To me that’s fine, especially with the exorbitant price of a beer. However, it is completely inappropriate to be yelling at people in front of you when someone stands up to see a band.

Here’s the problem with Alpine: most of the tickets are general admission lawn seats. Way too many people decide to camp on the lawn so for two people they need a gigantic blanket and possibly some lawn chairs. Well, when I can’t find a place to stand, guess what? I’m going to stand in front of your blanket. I know, you hate me for wanting to see the band.

Which leads to my other problem: opening bands aren’t just there to play music for people as everyone walks in to find the best seat to watch Coldplay. The main opener of the evening was Elbow. ELBOW! Most of the crowd didn’t even pay attention to the opening act. Sure Elbow doesn’t have the outward looking live performance as Chris Martin and Coldplay, but they still play some damn good music.

So when the folks behind me decided to jaw about the fact that a group of people was standing in front of their ground level position, a simple question of “who is playing right now?” ensued. Those complaining couldn’t even answer the question. That doesn’t make me want to sit when I’m singing along to Elbow’s set. Oh, and the people in front of us were standing, too.
However, when Coldplay made their way to the stage, everyone immediately stood up and the entire crowd could sing every word to every song that was performed.

Don’t get me wrong, I had a blast at the show. I know many will question a Coldplay show based on their musical ability, them “borrowing riffs” and what not, but Coldplay sure puts on a hell of a performance. Was it overdone at points? Sure Chris Martin didn’t have to roll on the stage at points, but most of the audience sure connected with it. And did they ever.

I believe a few years ago Coldplay decided to record live at Alpine Valley, and for good reason. I know this year they are recording live during a two-night stand in Vancouver, but the energy at this show would be hard to top in my mind. The nearly two hour set included the band moving to a side stage and playing a couple of techno remixes as well as playing about 10 feet away from me in the center of the lawn. With such a large crowd it really is nice to see a band truly realize the extent to which their fans allow them to do what they do everyday.Overall it was an awesome show. I’ll probably write a bit more about it later, and possibly even post the angry rant I wrote sitting for 2 hours in the parking lot listening to nothing but Left Right Left Right Left, the live disc handed out after the show. Until then, happy listening and have a wonderful day!

Elbow - Grounds For Divorce

Elbow - One Day Like This

Coldplay - Glass Of Water (Live)