On my favorite note-taking software (Evernote), I have a note with a whole list of things I want to do in the long run

On thisn’te, soberly called “My dreams”, one can find, for example:

• Going to the desert (done)
• Climbing Mont Blanc (tried, but the weather conditions were not good, I will come back)
• Running a marathon (still needs training)
• Traveling around the world (it’s done 🙂 )
• Parachute jumping (it was my birthday present 3 years ago but still not done)
• …

One of those “dreams” was to attend a Coldplay concert, it was a bit laborious, but it’s done!

Last October, Coldplay announced 13 concerts for the European tour of their latest album A Head Full Of Dreams, in June and July 2017

At the time, we were in Vietnam, and we had no idea where we would be the next year. I decided to give it a shot by trying to buy tickets for their concert in Lyon or Paris. Unfortunately, when I logged on 30 minutes before the online ticketing office opened, there were already 50,000 people in front of me in the virtual queue. 5 minutes after the opening, all the tickets for Coldplay had flown away!

A little disgusted, I put myself a reminder a few months later to try to buy tickets on a resale site

As our project and post-world tour itinerary became clearer, we decided to spend the month of June in Poland. Luckily, it was that month that Coldplay spent in Warsaw!

Being in Krakow and working on Monday morning (the concert taking place on Sunday evening), it took me a little time to decide, but we finally planned a WE in Warsaw with the idea of coupling it with the concert. I told myself that the opportunity would come sooner rather than later and that we had to seize it. One of the other “concerts to do” was the Oasis concert. It’s too late (the band split up in 2009)!

I didn’t have to hang around because I made up my mind a week before the concert. The (only?) site that offered tickets was the Viagogo site

Viagogo is a rather scandalous site that plays with all the marketing levers to convince fans to buy (false sense of urgency, countdown, fictitious virtual tail, …). The conversion funnel is formidable. The rates are exorbitant (about 2x the official rate), and the final price (including service charges and tax) appears only once the credit card numbers are entered…

When I understand that it isn’t possible to download the tickets directly, I feel pressured and understand that I have to receive them by UPS. After some exchanges with my “Airbnb owner,” I finally decide to have them sent to our hotel in Warsaw, where they will arrive on time.

In short, I had to put my reason off to go through the process and let myself be guided by the desire to realize my dream

A week later, I’m in front of the National Stadium in Warsaw where the concert is taking place. This very recent stadium (2012) was built for the Euro 2012 soccer tournament that Poland co-organized with Ukraine.

The security checks are very light compared to France, and it takes me less than 5 minutes to enter. On this kind of occasion, I realized that the tension has become intense in France since the terrorist attacks. For such an event, there would have been a double or even triple search in Paris.

At the entrance, we are given a small badge and a connected bracelet that will automatically trigger synchronized multicolored lights to produce very spectacular lighting effects.

Once inside the compound, many food trucks are available for eating, the atmosphere is good

I will find my place and be patient to attend the first two games

The first two parts (Lyves, an Italian singer, and Tove Lo, a Swedish singer) aren’t exciting. Even if it’s a unique opportunity to do this kind of opening act, it can’t be easy to try to warm up a stadium not yet full and impatient for the real concert to start.

This first part makes me realize that my location isn’t really top-notch. I’m far away (that I knew), but I’m in the shallow part, at the 5th rank (and that I wasn’t aware of at all). On top of that, the scaffolding carrying the huge speakers is right on my axis, which doesn’t contribute to the visibility.

So I decided to find an alternative, and I find it by going up and getting behind the barriers. I’m still far away, but this time, I’m on full axis to the stage, without loss of visibility.

At 8:45 pm the concert starts for almost 2 hours of show!

Small disappointment at first, I find that the sound quality isn’t outstanding. The bass is much too strong and tends to mask Chris Martin’s beautiful voice. It’s quite frustrating.

The band has performed no less than 21 songs. Something just like this, The Scientist, Hymn for the weekend, Fix You, Everglow, Viva la vida, … they played all their hits, and I was happy to discover that I know them all

If the audio quality was bad, visually, I was amazed! Fireworks, lasers, confetti, giant balloons,…

The connected bracelets allow you to change the color of the stadium regularly. It’s really magic! My pictures taken in the dark don’t give much but give an idea of the visual rendering.

Twice during the concert, the stadium becomes all black, and the band appears on two small stages in the middle of the pit. I didn’t quite understand how they got there by splitting the crowd, but it made an amazing effect. The spectators in the pit must have loved it! Performing on much smaller stages gives an intimate feel when there must be close to 70,000 spectators (the capacity of the Warsaw stadium in concert configuration is 72,900 seats)

It isn’t far from 11 pm when the concert ends. My dream to attend a Coldplay concert came true, next, please 🙂

Q&A

Is it worth going to see Coldplay abroad?

We were already in Poland, which is why we decided to visit Coldplay in Warsaw.
In reality, if you were to leave France, even if you could buy the tickets at the original price (say 67€), adding on top of that 200€ for the plane + 60€ for the hotel would make the trip much too expensive.