Coldplay and my 10 year old son

There are certain parenting milestones that make all the sleepless nights, whining, chaos and mess worth it.  We had one of our very best ones yet on Sunday night.

We took our oldest son to see Coldplay in concert at the Verizon Amphitheatre in Irvine.  He’s a huge Coldplay fan, knows all their songs but is only 10 and I wasn’t sure if it would be entertaining enough for him for the whole evening and I didn’t want to hear ‘I’m bored’ in the middle of a concert I really wanted to enjoy.  I asked if he’d like to go and he bounced up and down with excitement.  I’d say that was a yes!

He looked a bit bored during the warm up acts.  It was a bit dull, no bright lights, no energy amongst the crowd, no songs we knew, so I could see him thinking there was nothing special about a concert.

Then Coldplay walked onto the stage.  The noise, lights, the crowd going wild, he was memorized.  He knew every single song they played so was singing his heart out and dancing, pretending he was playing the drums and waving his British flag.  People around us were smiling at his excitement and enthusiasm.

Coldplay are such a fantastic band live.  I feel like I’m watching regular guys who, if I met them, would just chat to me.  There’s no airs and graces, they just happen to be amazing and passionate about what they do.

One of the first songs they sang was ‘Yellow’ and they released huge yellow balls into the audience.  They were released behind us so we didn’t see them coming, all of a sudden, they just came flying over our heads and we caught them and threw them across the crowd.

Coldplay also move around the audience to sing their songs.  They moved up to a tiny stage just 10 rows in front of us for a few songs, so we could really see the band members.  Later on in the concert, they moved up to the lawn at the Verizon Amphitheatre, the crowd went wild.  They thought they’d only see little figures down on the stage in the distance and all of a sudden, the band is there, right in front of them.  Then you know they’re just regular guys who probably used to go to concerts and sit right at the back.

For ‘Lovers in Japan’ they release thousands upon thousands of paper butterflies, firing them up into the air so that they flutter down on everyone.  It’s magical.  My son gathered some up and those, along with his concert ticket and a free CD the band handed out to everyone, is going in his keepsake box.

He loved every single second and will probably be a Coldplay fan for life and a concertgoer.  And I’m so glad I was able to have that experience with him, even though it means he’s growing up.

Coldplay have just released a new video for their Strawberry Swing song.  I’ll leave you with that.  It’s beautiful.