Coldplay in Manila 2017

Judging from social media posts, almost everyone was in Mall of Asia Concert Grounds last April 4, Tuesday, for the Coldplay concert.

Their first album, Parachutes, came out in 2000, the tail-end of my college years. This was the time of downloading and ripping MP3s, hence, I'm sure I came across their songs because of the hubby, then BF. Instantly liked Yellow, Sparks, Trouble and Shiver. Later on, there were crying episodes set to The Scientist and Fix You, haha.

So when it was announced that they will be having a concert here, I bugged hubby that we will watch. Like most people, we were dismayed to learn that it will be held in MoA - we prefer the acoustics in Araneta Coliseum. We tried to buy during the Globe pre-selling for its subscribers which started at 9:00 A.M., and the section we wanted, Silver, was promptly sold-out by 9:01 A.M. Boo. We also tried to buy tickets in Singapore through my brother-in-law, but he was unsuccessful in even buying for himself. Thankfully, hubby has a Citibank card and we were able to buy during the pre-selling last November.

In the months leading to April, I would listen to the AHFOD Tour setlist on Spotify, However, my powers of memorization may have completely left me as I can no longer memorize all the lyrics.

Fast forward to April 4. Hubby picked me up from the office at around 4:30 P.M. He asked where should we eat first, I said it was too early, he asked, have you seen the lines? Turns out people have been lining up since noon. Gahds! We had dinner at Yellow Cab Harbor Square then encountered traffic on the way to MoA. We ended up parking at the Pay Parking area near the business offices of SM.

We saw long lines at around 7:00 P.M., turns out it was for the Bronze and Gen Ad sections. We breezed through the line, but inside, the Silver section was already packed. We tried to get positions in the middle of the crowd, but it was clear that we will not see the band except on the screens.

Then right before the band went onstage, there was an earthquake. We exchanged looks with a couple beside us, but most of the people were oblivious.

As promised, the concert had effects like laser shows, confetti showers and big balloons. However, these were only appreciated by the people near the stage. In fact, it was only now, looking at photos, did I see that the confetti were multi-colored or were lit by colored lights. And I think the xylobands would have been better appreciated if the crowd was on multi-level bleachers. Maybe next time, Coldplay? :D