Member Review: Coldplay

Beeder wrote:

I guess third time's a charm with Coldplay and me! This was definitely my favorite of all the three times. Maybe because I was backstage, and the atmosphere was just very excited.

Highlights for me:

• Chris said a few people in the crowd were up way past their bedtime!
• I guess when they go up to the 'cheap' seats it really shocks everyone, because once again the biggest noise of the night came when they went up there. Chris said something like, "For all of those in the front, you can take a break from looking at us. For those of you back here...This is what we look like up close." Chris said "The Scientist" was written by Will after his football team ("that's soccer, by the way," Chris said) lost to Jonny's favorite football team.
  
• Seeing this new version of "God Put A Smile..." up close! The runway stage was really easy for me to see, and man, Jonny really goes off on his whammy bar! Maybe 'cos I'm a guitar nerd, but it was so awesome to see his hands actually play the guitar and do that effect. You can't see that from the cheap seats. I've never wanted a Telecaster, but Jonny makes me want to go out and buy one.
• Chris just talking, talking, talking: During the start of the show he noticed a series of electronic Hooters advertisements that go around the arena, and I think he said he'd never seen so many Hooters signs in one place. He said that Coldplay doesn't endorse Hooters, because they're not the type of band that endorses Hooters. He said they WISH they were that kind of band, but they're not.
• When he was making his way up to the cheap sets, Chris said something like, "is it just me, or is every woman in California beautiful?" or something like that.

Overall, one of my best weekends ever with Coldplay from the back on Friday and in front on Sunday. Now I have to get back to work, but how am I supposed to get back to work after a Coldplay weekend? Someone help me!

It looks like everyone who was there had a great time. The setlist stayed the same, so I guess those changes will be coming a little later.

1. Life In Technicolor
2. Violet Hill
3. Clocks
4. In My Place
5. Speed Of Sound
6. Cemeteries Of London
7. Chinese Sleep Chant
8. 42
9. Fix You
10. Strawberry Swing
11. God Put A Smile Upon Your Face (techno version)
12. Talk (techno remix)
13. The Hardest Part
14. Postcards From Far Away (piano instrumental)
15. Viva La Vida
16. Lost!
17. The Scientist (acoustic)
18. Death Will Never Conquer (acoustic - Will singing)
19. Viva La Vida (remix interlude)

First Encore
20. Politik
21. Lovers In Japan
22. Death And All His Friends

Second Encore
23. Yellow
24. The Escapist (outro)

Oh, BTW - some other guy who got a pass to the back from BPD got himself so trashed, he had to be asked to leave.........................and this was before he met the band.

Chris was really nice to me and we spent about 10 minutes just talking about the music we liked. The guy was really just "normal".

BackstagePassDirect, you IT!!

The Mac is Back!

Legendary supergroup Fleetwood Mac will be embarking on their first concert tour in five years next month and will include all the Macs’ many greatest hits from over the course of one of rock's most enduring and influential bands of our time.

"We love our band and think the title of the tour "UNLEASHED" perfectly describes how we all feel when we get on stage together - especially in 2009. We’re so happy to get back out on the road, perform everyone's favorite songs and see our fans,”

said the band in a joint statement.

In other great Fleetwood Mac news, the iconographic 'RUMOURS' CD (certified Diamond ® signifying sales of over 10 million units by the RIAA) is scheduled to be re-released as part of a special CD/DVD boxed set on Reprise Records in conjunction with the tour dates. The boxed set will include previously unreleased tracks recorded during the making of 'RUMOURS' as well as a DVD component with never before seen footage of the band.

The multi-Grammy ® award winning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees will continue the ‘UNLEASHED’ tour throughout the Spring and Summer; here are the April-May U.S. dates:

04/15/09 Philadelphia, PA The Wachovia Center

04/17/09 Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena

04/18/09 Columbus, OH Nationwide Arena

04/20/09 Orlando, FL Amway Arena

04/22/09 Tampa, FL St. Pete Times Forum

04/23/09 rise, FL BankAtlantic Center

04/25/09 Charlotte, NC Time Warner Cable Arena

04/26/09 Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum

04/28/09 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena

04/30/09 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center

05/02/09 Houston, TX Toyota Center

05/03/09 Tulsa, OK BOK Center

05/05/09 St. Louis, MO Scottrade Center

05/07/09 Omaha, NE Qwest Center Omaha

05/08/09 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center

05/10/09 Denver, CO Pepsi Center

05/16/09 Tacoma, WA Tacoma Dome

05/18/09 Sacramento, CA ARCO Arena

05/20/09 Oakland, CA Oracle Arena

05/21/09 San Jose, CA HP Pavilion At San Jose

05/23/09 Anaheim, CA Honda Center

05/24/09 Glendale, AZ Jobing.com Arena

05/28/09 Los Angeles, CA Staples Center

05/30/09 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena

05/31/09 San Diego, CA San Diego Sports Arena

Do we need to tell you what it will be like to watch the band perform from backstage? What words will describe hanging out with the band themselves?

Don't waste another second. Join BackstagePassDirect today and request your passes right now.

Membership Milestone - Special Offer

We are pleased to announce that our membership has now surpassed the 10,000 mark.

If it were not for the viral nature of the Internet, this feat could never have been accomplished in two short years. We wish to thank all of our members for the trust you have placed in us.

As our way of saying thank you, we will be issuing a $50 one-time credit to each (new or existing) member who is awarded 2 or more passes anytime between now and the end of March. This credit will be immediately applied to the cost of your passes and, in effect, means that your membership has cost you nothing. It's for one time only, and can only be applied to the cost of your backstage pass awards.

It's our way of acknowledging that we are nothing without you; thanks again.

If you haven't yet joined BackstagePassDirect, there couldn't be a better time than right now!

Flight of the Conchords is Landing

The Grammy Award-winning comedy duo Flight of the Conchords bill themselves as "Formerly New Zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo a cappella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo", but it’s probably a safe bet that their recent success has made them New Zealand’s first most popular guitar-based digi-bongo a cappella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo.

Flight of the Conchords has been cracking audiences up since 1998, but in 2007 they debuted their own TV series on HBO, catapulting them to superstardom. Now you can meet Flight of the Conchords during their 2009 tour:

04/06/09 Tampa, FL Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center

04/07/09 Coral Gables, FL BankUnited Center @ The University Of Miami

04/08/09 Orlando, FL UCF Arena

04/10/09 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium

04/11/09 Atlanta, GA Fox Theatre

04/12/09 Seattle, WA Paramount Theatre

04/13/09 Washington, DC DAR Constitution Hall

04/14/09 New York, NY Radio City Music Hall

04/17/09 Boston, MA Agganis Arena at Boston University

04/18/09 Upper Darby, PA Tower Theatre

04/19/09 Kent, OH Kent State University

04/21/09 Toronto, ON Massey Hall

04/22/09 Toronto, ON Massey Hall

04/24/09 Detroit, MI Fox Theatre

04/25/09 Bloomington, IN Indiana University Auditorium

04/26/09 Madison, WI Overture Center For The Arts

04/28/09 Chicago, IL Arie Crown Theater At McCormick Place

04/30/09 St. Louis, MO Fabulous Fox Theatre

05/02/09 Milwaukee, WI Riverside Theatre

05/03/09 Minneapolis, MN Northrop Auditorium

05/05/09 Grand Prairie, TX Nokia Theatre At Grand Prairie

05/06/09 Houston, TX Jones Hall For The Performing Arts

05/07/09 Austin, TX Bass Concert Hall

05/10/09 Vancouver, BC Centre In Vancouver For Perf. Arts

05/11/09 Seattle, WA Paramount Theatre

05/12/09 Seattle, WA Paramount Theatre

05/14/09 Portland, OR Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

05/16/09 Morrison, CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre

05/17/09 Salt Lake City, UT Abravanel Hall

05/19/09 Phoenix, AZ Dodge Theatre

05/20/09 La Jolla, CA RIMAC Arena

05/22/09 Santa Barbara, CA Santa Barbara Bowl

05/23/09 Las Vegas, NV The Joint

05/24/09 Los Angeles, CA Greek Theatre

05/25/09 Berkeley, CA Berkeley Community

You know how hot these passes are, so don't wait. If you're not already a member of BackstagePassDirect, sign up today!

Member Review: The Killers

BPD member BabaluBabe writes:

This evening had it all. There were very good moments, some bad song choices and sound problems that had to be overcome. One audience member enjoyed themselves too much and a full crew of police officers showed up.

The concert started out simply enough. There were no confetti drops at this Killers’ show, but the stage was set up Las Vegas-style, with lights in the shape of a palm tree and lots of other glittery designs.

This time around, the Killers crowd wasn’t totally filled with young indie-rockers. In fact, a large chunk of the audience was 30-to-50, well dressed and looking like they were easily able to afford the $50 ticket price.

Maybe that’s what inspired the Killers’ set. Instead of kicking into the raw, indie-rock numbers the band’s become famous for, the Killers decided to show off their new pop tunes off of Day & Age. Perfect music for a Top 40 radio crowd — not so much fun for indie-rock fans.

The Killers kicked off the night playing new songs such as “Human,” and frontman Brandon Flowers did warn the audience that they were in for a barrage of new tunes. “We hope you like the new album,” Flowers said. “We’re going to be playing a lot of it for you tonight.”

That’s where things started to go wrong.

The Killers pounded out track after track of new material from Day & Age, only pausing to throw in a song or two from band’s two earlier CDs. That’s when musical karma hit the band.

In the midst of the Killers’ new, overly-poppy tunes, the sound went out. Seems the Killers brought in their own sound system, but the crew was having trouble bringing it up to high quality. Watching this chaos from the back gave new meaning to the term "Chinese fire drill". For a few moments, the music just stopped and everyone appeared lost and noticeably frantic.

Fortunately, they finally realized how to make the band’s stage sound become crystal clear, and it was all uphill from there.

The group suddenly switched gears and pulled out crowd pleasers such as “Read My Mind” and “Mr. Brightside.” The songs energized both the band and the crowd.

It proved that when the Killers have the right material, they can be a brilliant band.

IMHO, the Killers have talent, chops and songwriting ability, but the group’s too busy chasing Top 40 radio for now. I’d like to see the Killers again when they decide to return to their musical roots.

Keep sending those reviews in, members. Those who haven't ever seen a show from backstage or those who would like to do it again, visit us at BackstagePassDirect.com and become a member today.

Member Review: The Meat Puppets

BPD member "DoubleDown" wrote to us recently:

The Meat Puppets are a band that changed my entire way of approaching music when I was introduced to their music by a friend in 1986. The Meat Puppets taught me that you don’t have to be perfect to be great and that having a personal style was more important than being the fastest guitar player on the planet.

When we shook hands, I was struck at how Cris Kirkwood has aged. Life has not been kind to him as he’s been shot, lost his wife to a drug overdose and spent time in prison. It showed on his face and he looks much older than his brother Curt now. That being said, when he went outfront, he absolutely nailed his bass and singing parts. He has a fantastic touch on the bass guitar and it’s a testament to what a player can do with just a simple bass guitar and an amplifier to watch him play. He made that bass come alive with his playing and his playing is the perfect compliment to Curt Kirkwood’s guitar playing. Cris and Curt are brothers and their voices are very similar when they sing. Because of that the harmonies have a silky quality that is a real pleasure to listen to.

Ted Marcus, the new drummer, did a great job of keeping the beat going for Cris and Curt to work their magic. Ted played his butt off all night long and by the end of the night his shirt was drenched from the effort. He really knew how the drums fit in the Meat Puppets music and he is a great fit for them.

The show was really a thing of beauty. The Meat Puppets work together as a perfect team and it’s awesome to watch the interplay between them from backstage. Watching Curt ask the others what they wanted to play and watching how the used eye contact with each other to go from song to song was really entertaining. The show ebbed and flowed with moments of brilliance and plenty of improvised jamming as well. They played all their biggest hits and the crowd loved every minute of it. The Meat Puppets are proof that some bands are just plain better live than they are on a recording. If you get a chance to see them when they come to your town, go to BackstagePassDirect and get yourself some passes.

They are truly a great band to see play live and they're even more awesome from the back.

Elton John and Billy Joel Face to Face......Again

Billy Joel and Elton John, the most successful and longest-running concert pairing in pop history, will reunite for their Face 2 Face tour next month.

Billy and Elton always open the concert with a series of duets, playing twin pianos and trading vocals. Each artist then performs a set with his own band. A grand finale brings the two superstars and their supporting musicians back together for a closing encore. This includes some of both Billy and Elton's greatest hits along with an unpredictable selection of rock and roll classics.

"The great thing about performing with Elton is that he is such a good piano player and that makes me have to dig deep to keep up with him, not to mention I've got the best seat in the house-only one piano away from Elton John!"

Dates:

Mon 03/02/09 Jacksonville, FL Jacksonville Veterans Mem. Arena

Thu 03/05/09 Tampa, FL St. Pete Times Forum

Sat 03/07/09 Charlotte, NC Time Warner Cable Arena

Tue 03/10/09 Cincinnati, OH U.S. Bank Arena

Sat 03/14/09 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena

Tue 03/17/09 Tulsa, OK BOK Center

Thu 03/19/09 Houston, TX Toyota Center

Sat 03/21/09 San Antonio, TX AT&T Center

Thu 03/26/09 Phoenix, AZ US Airways Center

Sat 03/28/09 Anaheim, CA Honda Center

Mon 03/30/09 Anaheim, CA Honda Center

Passes for these two won't last long. Become a BackstagePassDirect member and request your passes to see these two legends today!