Tuesday, February 28, 2006 | by nathan

The Car I Want To Be In

So last night I came down with a severe case of Coldplay tickets. Or, that’s what I told everyone as to why I wasn’t going to class. Brian got us this as a Christmas present, so last night we rushed home after work, changed and showered, and headed to Cafe Nova for dinner.

Let me just say, that place: Yeah, awesome. Great atmosphere, genius bartender (let’s hear it for the best mojito in town), and amazing food by Ian Wagner, the chef. Potato-encrusted salmon with cucumber salad and arrugula. Our appetizer was creatively named “Crispy Things With Interesting Sauces” and for desert, well…all I really remember clearly is lots of chocolate and a raspberry or two.

The concert was amazing. I love the Ford Center, the new-ish arena in Oklahoma City, because unlike our previous concert arenas, it was designed mostly for concerts. The Cox Center is a convention center, and Lloyd Noble is a basketball arena, and yes, the Hornets play at Ford, but the sound was amazing. Opening act Fiona Apple pretty much dazzled, though we spent most of that time with the people around us trying to figure out where the hell they were sitting, as it was nearly impossible to find our seats with the lights on, much less in the dark. She sounded good and was gracious. The sound was good enough that you could tell without even watching that she is a talented rock pianist, and interestingly, her band had no guitarist, just three keyboards, percussion, and a bass. The sound was fantastic, though.

So Coldplay takes the stage - holy crap. First off, major props to their lighting designers, who clearly had a sizeable budget and some off-the-wall creativity, because the lighting was incredible. Sound was great, of course, and the performance was off the chain. It never ceases to amaze me how much more respect you can get for a band upon hearing them live. I have always really, really liked Coldplay. I remember when “Yellow” came out and I was in Ireland, and Paul Swenson kept saying “that is a beautiful song.” But this took my admiration to a new level. Possibly a form of worship. Easily the best concert I’ve been to since U2.

Two really cool moments during the show. During the second encore, “In My Place,” Chris Martin disappeared for a second. All of a sudden everyone around me is looking behind us, to the back of the arena, where we were, and whoop! There’s fucking Chris Martin, not fifteen feet away from us, singing up in the face of all the people in the back of the room. That was friggin’ awesome.

The other moment, probably my favorite, came earlier, when he mentioned that he was a big fan of the Flaming Lips, who live and are based here in OKC. He said that the band had spent the day with Lips lead singer Wayne Coyne, driving around Oklahoma City in his pickup truck, seeing the city, the places where the Lips first played, all the sights. On the way home I could not get that image out of my head: Coldplay and Wayne Coyne together in one car, driving around my town. I said to Brian, “That’s the car I want to be in.” I am deeply, deeply curious as to what sights Wayne showed them, what they talked about, what parts of Oklahoma City they saw, or liked, or hated, or were confused by.

Anyway, a good night. I’m still pretty wiped from the show, and I have class tonight, or, barring that, I may just go see Dr. Kimball, the head of the religion department at Wake Forest, who is speaking in the OU Student Union this evening. Watch him not have a clue who I am.