Pioneer on the Internet – Sean Gursky

Coldplay on Thursday night was amazing.

Go back and re-read that first sentence because there is no amount of italicization I can use to express how good that show was. It surpassed all expectations I had and thoroughly impressed me. It was more than a concert, it was a truly passionate performance.

I always considered myself a Coldplay fan. I own all of their albums and enjoy what I hear. They are my 30 most popular artist (which surprised me, I thought they would be top 15) according to last.fm but after last night there is no denying how much I enjoy this band. If they ever return to Edmonton I will not hesitate to see them live, and you would be wise to do the same.

The energy, crowd interaction and stage presence were outstanding. This reminded me of how good a concert can be. Older songs were performed with new intensity, favorites had a twist of techno beats, new songs from the album sounded brilliant and subtle things like the addition of beach balls during “Yellow” helped separate this show from others.

I have nothing but accolades to give to these four guys from London. They seemed to genuinely enjoy themselves and the Edmonton crowd let the guys know how much their effort was appreciated.

There were many memorable moments, like the fierce and high energy batch of songs to start the show, a techno version of “God Put a Smile on Your Face”, a set list that feels like it was made for me or the climactic end with confetti. However the one that stands out, and will rival any other moment at a concert I have attended was the performance of “Green Eyes”.

This was our first dance song at our wedding, so hearing it live was a treat. The way it was delivered made the song amazing. The band walked off the stage, to the rear of the arena and was escorted right in front of us. Then they walked up the aisle about twenty feet and performed the song acoustically. The larger than life band had brushed right by us and performed our song. Something like that is tough to top.

While the night belonged to Coldplay, they had a great supporting team. Snow Patrol, who I saw headline several years ago, was perfect in their middle slot. They played many popular songs and got the crowd nice and warmed up. I was surprised at how little they played from their new album, instead they opted to play songs that most in attendance had heard and it worked. Both times I have seen this band live I have never been disappointed and would be pleased to see them again.

The first opening act, Howling Bells, was another pleasant surprise. I knew nothing of their catalog and found myself getting into a groove and enjoying their music. This is a band I will have to listen to more of because they definitely caught my attention.

When the lead singer, Juanita Stein, stated a few facts that she learned while researching Edmonton I thought that was a nice touch, certainly better than the “your city is the best we have played in” standard talk bands say. Something Juanita said in her facts of Edmonton was brought back up during Coldplay’s acoustic set when they performed an impromptu song and name dropped Michael J. Fox. Just like a good Arrested Development joke, you have to wait until the end to get the punchline.

The Coldplay website was updated with a blog post from Edmonton, and said that they suffered a bizarre incident involving a windshield. Seeing these thoughts of an outsider to our city on events like that or the show itself was interesting and I hope the band returns in the near future for another memorable performance.

I did bring my recording gear to the show. I had intentions of recording Snow Patrol and Coldplay. Unfortunately I only recorded Snow Patrol as nothing from Coldplay was saved to the hard drive, I believe I made the fatal mistake of not pressing ‘record’. In the above Coldplay blog post there was a seventy second snippet from “The Hardest Part”, which puts anything I would have recorded to shame, but it acts as a nice memory with the crowd giving it everything they had.

With that said, here is a song sample from last night’s Snow Patrol performance. The song is “Hands Open” and you can Right Click > Save As to download it.

Time for an update on a few things occupying my time.

The seagurs domain is still in ‘redemption period’. A few weeks ago I began the process of trying to reclaim it, but the account information did not match the domain registration so I had to provide government issued identification for Dad and myself. Since I had been waiting over a week for a response from 1and1, and the ‘redemption period’ was about to expire I decided I had enough with 1and1 and would just forget it and wait it out.

1and1 canceled my previous hosting on March 16, so I am nearing the time where I can buy the domain back. I have read that the ‘redemption period’ time varies so I have been checking GoDaddy for the purchase of my domain several times a day to no avail.

The Las Vegas U2 tickets have been purchased, and my excitement level about the show has increased dramatically. I have seen plenty of photos from Sam Boyd Stadium and it looks like such a cozy and tight arena that no seat will be a bad spot. However, my mission to get a lower level seat close to the stage was successful but there were many who were not so fortunate.

There was plenty of ticket drama surrounding this event as Ticketmaster wasn’t responsible for the fan presale. A smaller site for the venue handled everything and things like presale codes being counted as used when they weren’t, the site buckling under the pressure of presale purchases and a confusing delivery method of the tickets lead to a lot of confusion and grief.

The ticket cost was a bit much for my taste but U2 in Las Vegas sounds like a once in a lifetime experience and after seeing the sights in and around Vegas seeing U2 will be a perfect ending to a trip in Nevada. I am in the process of comparing flights and hotels. I am searching Hotwire, Travelocity, Expedia, WestJet, Air Canada, Yapta and Farecast for the best deals, trends and will hopefully have the flight booked first and then I can focus on hotels and all of the fun stuff to do while in Sin City.

It’s playoff time for the Canucks, and without getting ahead of myself, I am hoping the team can escape the first round and make a solid effort in the second. I am sure their highs and lows will be documented thoroughly here. With that said, I have decided to grow a ‘beard’ in honor of this playoff run.

I use the term ‘beard’ loosely as I have the patchiest, sorriest excuse for a beard that people may confuse me as a double in the “Don’t Be a Tosser” commercials.

In two months the U2 360 tour kicks off and so begins my ritual of following their set lists, listening to fan recordings, reading individual concert reviews and counting down the date until my chance to see them live. Except, I don’t feel the same way about this as I have before. What is going on?

Don’t get me wrong, I love U2 and have had two amazing experiences at their concerts before, but for some reason I am not ready for my habitual U2 binge.

This year we are planning on going to Las Vegas to see them perform. A Vegas trip alone should be worth excitement, but I see several hoops to jump through in order to buy tickets and feel like I am going through the motions. Is the increase in ticket costs* off putting? Is an outdoor show going to change my enjoyment? What is so different than before?

* I realize that General Admission tickets are still the cheapest offered on this tour but I will not subject Jenna to hours waiting in line and standing through the show for the chance we could have an okay view.

I enjoy their most recent album and expect the new material to sound great live but I just cannot get as excited as I usually am for the possibility of seeing U2 perform. To make matters worse there isn’t even the possibility of having a good opening act as it has been confirmed that the last dates on the tour are getting Black Eyed Peas.

This could all be psychological and I am downplaying all of my usual excitement prior to the upcoming presale week. Or it could be that the show is over half a year away and it is difficult to be excited over something so far in the future. I guess time will tell.