The studio only holds about 150 seats, so having one of the biggest bands in the world here, the ACL folks knew the demand would be high. There were only two ways to get tickets: win them from the radio or you have to know someone. Kway and I tried to win them, but we work full time and couldn't be glued to the radio all day. But then, at 3:00pm the day of the taping, a glimmer of hope shined our way. Her office mate, who always gets cool perks from clients, was offered two tickets to the show but he wasnt sure he would go or not. So Kway went over to him and begged for them, offering to give him $100 for tickets he would get for free. He eventually realized he wouldn't be going and was going to give them to us for free, but it turned out that he was too late to get back to his friend and the tickets were given away. WE WERE SO CLOSE!!!
But luckily we weren't totally out of luck. This was the first time they would be doing a live simulcast of the taping a block away from the studio. I wasn't sure I could handle being rejected from a crowd at Hogg auditorium (assuming that when we got there at 6:00 that we wouldnt get in after a line that started at 3:00). But luckily the cold weather and minimal advertising were on our side. There were only 30 hardcore fans that were waiting in the line ahead of us. So we were golden.
We sat at the edge of the balcony in Hogg with a huge screen on the stage broadcasting the famous Austin city skyline backdrop of the studio. It was a surreal experience because it felt like we were in the same room as the band with the jumbo tron just right in our faces, but they were actually down the street. The sound quality was so real that we sometimes got confused whether applause was coming from our auditorium or the studio on the screen. Our chairs would vibrate like we were at the show. The ony thing that really made me feel separated was that we were sitting down -- which I would never do at a show. (I even stood up when I saw Phish at the movie theater 3 years ago).
(this of course is not from the show -- but it is from ACL Festival in September. They recreated this Johnny Cash moment playing "Till Kingdom Come" and "Ring of Fire").
You'd think taping a show would put so much more pressure on the band (and they said they were nervous at first) but they were able to re-do a song if they thought it was crap. The best was at the end of "Fix You" when Chris tried to go into "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" but totally botched it and couldn't stop saying fuck everytime he tried to get back into it. This was the end of the show, and it was apparent they had become much more comfortable on that small stage by then. But that studio barely could hold the lead singer with ADD. When he would try to move around the audience he'd get stuck in the branches of the fake trees.
Chris was very comfortable interacting with the audience. This one spoiled 11 year old caught his eye early on and he kept joking with him about being so young and making comments like "oh I cant say this joke because you're 11" and "good luck with girls....call my sister, she's 14". I hope that kid appreciates the fact that he was front row center at that taping. I hope everyone in there appreciated where they were -- some of them didn't show it. Chris even pointed out a guy who looked like he was either ill or bored -- thats embarassing!! I'd kill to be in there!!
But the show they put on was great. Of course it was a lot from X&Y which is what they are promoting and most songs they played were highly predictable. But I was surprised by them playing the song X&Y -- one of my favorites from the new album. All they played from Parachutes was "Yellow" and from AROBTTH "Clocks" and "In My Place". But the ultimate treat Chris was pumping us up for was bringing out Michael from Atlanta (not Michael Bolton, but REM's Michael Stipe). They have covered a song called "In the Sun" (which they had to do two takes) and then they played the best REM song, "Nightswimming". Kinda funny that Stipe needed the lyrics for a song he wrote himself.
If I could have been in the studio, I would have gone straight for the right side of the stage. That's Guy's side. There were a few good camera shots that distracted me from the music!!! He's very mysterious and shy on stage, which is fine because I dont need competition for his attention. Let everyone fawn over Chris, I'll have Guy all to myself!! Just keep going back in the shadows!
We considered stalking the band at the Four Seasons but figured that would be a waste. If I ever meet them, I dont want to be a star-crazed fan. I want to be the cool girl that just happened to be in the right place at the right time.
The great things about this experience: finally got to witness a taping of ACL before the editing, got to be part of the first simulcast, saw Coldplay as 4 casual and grounded guys who love playing music together, and got me pumped up to pay $100 to see them in Houston if I'm lucky enough to find a ticket!!!
Show airs December 17th on PBS.
