Cold Play at the Vivint Arena

I think that I spent almost all of 2001 listening to Coldplay's album Parachutes after my friend introduced me to it on a trip to Ireland.  I loved the song "Yellow."  I tend to get really obsessed with things and I would usually fixate on one song from each new Coldplay album, playing it over and over:  "In My Place" from A Rush of Blood to the Head, "Fix You" from X&Y, "Viva La Vida" from the album of the same name, "Paradise" from Mylo Xyloto, "A Sky Full of Stars" from Ghost Stories, and "Adventure of a Lifetime" from A Head Full of Dreams.  I guess you could say that the music of Coldplay has had a significant place in the soundtrack of my life.  Every one of these songs can take me back to a particular point in my life with just a few notes.  I have always wanted to see them play live but I've never had the opportunity until last night.  The show was simply amazing!  Every audience member was given an LED wristband which would light up in various colors in syncopation with the music.  My favorite moments during the concert were when all of the wristbands would flash different colors.  The arena looked so cool whenever that happened.  In addition to the colorful wristbands, the arena was dumped with multi-colored confetti several times (not just during the encore) and I loved it when Chris Martin would jump on the secondary stage and cause the confetti to rise all around him.  Then there were the multi-colored lasers and images on the giant screens and, at one point, the audience was inundated with colorful balloons bouncing all over the place.  The arena was literally a kaleidoscope of color which, when combined with the music, was almost overwhelming to the senses!  It was one of the best concerts I've ever seen despite the terrible sound in the Vivint Arena.  The band played all of my favorites (except "In My Place") and I loved each rendition, especially "Paradise" and "Fix You" (with Chris Martin rolling around in the confetti).  I also really enjoyed the acoustic version of "Trouble" played by the band on a small platform in the crowd and the passionate rendition of "The Scientist" which had everyone in the audience singing.  The show ended, appropriately, with a spirited version of "Up & Up," a lovely message for these troubling times we are living through (always believe in love).  I'm still on a bit of a high from this show, even though it was really difficult to wake up this morning.

Note:  The opening acts were Bishop Briggs and Alessia Cara.  I wasn't familiar with Bishop Briggs but I really enjoyed her set.  She sang her heart out to an almost empty arena which was really unfortunate because her voice gave me goosebumps, it was so incredibly sultry and soulful.  I wasn't very familiar with Alessia Cara, either (I don't get out much), but she is from Ontario, Canada so I automatically loved her.  I really appreciated the positive messages in her music.