How to prepare for Coldplay

Details

Published on Tuesday, 04 October 2011 21:04

Written by Anade Situma

On Monday 9 May at exactly 6.45pm it became official: Coldplay was heading to South Africa.

There was a tangible buzz all over campus; everyone was talking about it. Whether they were proudly declaring that they were above the Coldplay craze or planning their rations for the night they were going to spend camped outside Shoprite, you couldn’t ignore it. Now, days before they are set to play, ticket holders are faced with the mammoth question, “how do you prepare for Coldplay?”

Somebody remarkable once said to me that the worst part of a concert is the end; when you have to motivate yourself to keep living your life. You've lived through one of the most magical experiences and then have to go back to unforgiving reality. You walk out of that stadium, and your senses are so overwhelmed that you are incapable of thinking beyond the memory that was just engraved in your mind, so you find a group of people that were there, and you sit, and you remember.

Concerts allow you to connect with thousands of people physically, emotionally and psychologically for two hours straight. Essentially, concerts are mass-hysteria on steroids. Surrounded by strangers, you sway in unison, singing songs that are personal, in a different way, to each and every one of you. There are so many variables concerning concerts that the greater the hype, the more potential there is for disappointment.

What if they don’t play your favorite song? The band only has two hours to showcase years of hard work and emotion. What is even more interesting about the upcoming Coldplay concert is the fact that, a week after they perform in South Africa, the band releases a new album, Mylo Xyloto. It is only logical then to expect a great deal of their new material to dominate their set list. To some die-hard fans this could be a problem; since the release of Viva La Vida, Coldplay has definitely explored a more upbeat, less "Coldplay" sound. How do you recover from queuing for hours to get a ticket, anticipating the night for months, queuing for hours to get into Cape Town Stadium and not recognising the songs?

The real question is how to spend your time on the day of the Coldplay concert. Do you go about seeking an education as usual? Do you take the day off to sleep and make sure you are in the best physical condition to absorb the awesomeness? Do you spend the day roaming around Town, getting a feel for the energy on the streets? Do you decide to fill that whole day with your favourite things: champagne breakfast on Camps Bay, Indian Curry for lunch at the Eastern Bazaar, followed by a light dinner with our "Coldplay Crew" at Rafiki’s or do you just wake up and go straight to Green Point?

Intuitively every ticket-holder is going to spend the week leading up to Coldplay listening to every album available, determined to ensure that they can sing along to every word, every melody that fills every moment, and prove their loyalty every time Chris Martin points the mic at the crowd. They'll use the 15 minutes between lectures to compare notes, hoping that sheer desire will cause Jay-Z or Kanye West to make a surprise appearance. They'll check the weather for Wednesday night on three different websites only to decide that it can’t possibly rain, regardless of all indications otherwise; plan, and then re-plan, then re-plan theirr outfit, and then decide on Tuesday to go out and buy something more appropriate.

Concerts are magical. There is no telling what will happen. They are a display of intense human musical talent, the art of touching another’s soul through song. At exactly the same time, concerts are mass appreciation for talent. How you get ready for that, only you can know.