"Trent?" "Yeah?" "I think I just came. I'm standing 15 feet away from Chris Martin."

So, Coldplay in concert...holy shit. Like, I knew they were good, but they were a million times better live then I ever expected. And it was more than just the fact that these are four very talented guys bouncing around on stage and having so much fun doing it, you're having fun just WATCHING them...it was the whole event. The lights, smoke, acoustics, balloons, GLOW IN THE DARK BUTTERFLIES. It was just...magical. I know that sounds corny, but for two and a half hours I wasn't in Irvine, California. I was in a completely different world. And the population was 20,000 screaming fans and 4 very talented musicians.

The Breakdown:

7:00 - The first opening band starts, a very odd swing/pop/country/blues compilation band hailing from the UK. The male singer was very good, but the female drummer kept throwing me off. She used her entire body whilst drumming. Very strange.

8:00 - Second opening band begins, even weirder than the first. Sort of a African choir meets Techno meets Blues. Very bizarre combination, but it kinda sorta (not-really) worked. Either way, opening bands are supposed to be mediocre anyway.

8:50 - Roadies begin setting up for Coldplay. I squee at the sight of Chris Martin's signature acoustic guitar.

9:10 - The show kicks off with a blast - lights, color, and sound - to the tune of Life in Technicolor. Chris Martin is bouncing around the stage like he's walked every inch of it since he was born. It's hard to describe how happy I was that they opened the show with my favorite song from Viva La Vida.

From there the set followed thusly:

Violet Hill (My second favorite song off the album, who'da thunkit?)

In My Place

Viva La Vida (I shouted myself hoarse on this one. You couldn't NOT sing along.)

Yellow (Here they had giant yellow balloons out in the crowd.)

Glass of Water

Cemeteries of London

42

Fix You (Imagine 20,000 people singing along with this. EVERYONE was on their feet.)

Strawberry Swing (One of the best performances of the night.)

God Put a Smile On Your Face (This is the song where they played on a stage in the middle of the crowd and I was 15 feet away from them. It was insane how close I was. I - just - it was amazing.)

Talk

Lost

Green Eyes (Again, they went and played in a different part of the crowd, but this is my favorite Coldplay song of all time. I was very surprised that they played it. In fact, I bet Trent before the concert that they WOULDN'T play it, heh.)

Billy Jean (Yes, they did an acoustic version of this song. Also, my favorite Michael Jackson song. Funny, innit?)

Death Will Never Conquer (Much to my surprise, the drummer really could sing.)

Politik

Lovers In Japan (Here they launched thousands of thin plastic butterflies that glowed in the dark into the crowed. NEON RAIN!)

Death and All of His Friends

Reprise of Viva La Vida

The Scientist

Life In Technicolor ii (A nice way to wrap up the show with this one.)

The show ended around 11:15, and I called Trent right after it was over to ask him what he thought. Most of the phone call was silence because we couldn't put how it felt to be there into words. I still can't. 

I honestly think the best part about the whole thing was that you could see how much fun the band members were having. I've seen many shows where the band looks like they can't wait to get offstage. Their whole performance says "Damn, I have to do this 100 more times." During this show, there wasn't even a hint of that. Either the members of Coldplay are very good actors, or they genuinely enjoyed what they were doing. It was impossible not to have fun.

Simply put, Coldplay in concert was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. I've stood inside St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome. I've seen the Panama Canal. I've stood at the highest point in the continental United States, and seeing them play live is right up there with all those.

...And the only thing that could top it would be seeing Bowie in concert.