A Night Out with Coldplay

Four years ago last month, I went to see one of my favorite bands, Coldplay, for the first time with my brother, Brent, and his two girls who are also huge fans.  It was an amazing performance and one of the funnest nights of my mothering life.  With those fond memories, I knew that I would jump at the opportunity to see Coldplay in concert again if they ever made their way back to Seattle.  Last month, I just happened to walk into my bedroom while the television was on right when a commercial was advertising Coldplay's return to Seattle.  Needless to say, I stopped right in my tracks!  I couldn't believe that they were coming back to town and in just five weeks.  I immediately texted my brother to see if he and Sarah (his one remaining daughter who lives at home) were interested in joining me.  Within a matter of hours, I learned that he and Sarah could not come due to some commitments that weekend, BUT that his other kids, Spencer and Kelsey, and Spencer's wife, Hannah, all wanted to fly up from Utah and Idaho to join me.  I couldn't believe it!  Spencer was serving his mission in Taiwan four years ago and missed our first concert and Kelsey, who had been a senior in high school and who had come out with Brent, had loved it so much that she wanted to go again.  Although I was disappointed that Brent wouldn't be joining us, I was still so grateful that my fun niece and nephew and his wife were willing to make the flight up here to join me.

Fast forward five weeks and the night arrived last night!  I met the three of them at the Seattle Temple (since they were staying at my parent's house) and drove all four of us out to Seattle to see Coldplay in the brand new, Climate Pledge Arena that had just opened up this past week.  We were the second venue to be hosted in this beautiful, state-of-the-art arena that only holds 17,000 people.  After an early start at 6 p.m. with the opening band playing, we were so surprised to see Coldplay walk out onto the stage at 7:08!  This is unheard of for the main act!  Regardless, the tired and exhausted momma in me was so grateful to be starting the concert this early in the evening.  We then danced and sang our hearts out for the next 1.5 hours as our favorite guy, Chris Martin, and the rest of his band thoroughly entertained us.  Although I wished that the concert had lasted a little longer, it was so fun to just forget about all of my worries and stresses for the evening and act like I was twenty again with my 20-something niece and nephew at my side.  When we were all dancing to "A Sky Full of Stars," I just looked around the stadium at all the dancing lights (from the glowing wristbands that everyone was wearing) and thought about how wonderful it was that every person in this arena was just happy and having a good time and getting along with each other for those few minutes in time.  And that seems to be a rare thing these days!

Spencer, Hannah, Kelsey, and me outside the Climate Pledge Arena.

Standing with my beloved niece and nephew with the Space Needle in the background.

All four of us standing in front of the awesome sign that greeted us as we walked into the arena.

A close-up of the sign with the Seattle Skyline beneath the concert logo.

The four of us waiting for the show to begin from our seats.

The stadium all lit up by the glowing wristbands after the band walked onto stage.

Another shot of all of the beautiful colors that changed throughout the night.

A purple glow throughout the arena and on the stage.

Our wristbands all lit up!

A close-up of Chris Martin singing from one of the hanging screens in the arena.

And, although this was tonight instead of last night, I just had to include this picture, too.  Since Spencer served his mission in Taiwan, Ron and I have wanted to take him to this Taiwanese restaurant in Southcenter for years.  It is simply amazing and almost changes your life when you eat there for the first time!  So we were so excited that the three of them were able to join us for dinner the night after the concert.  We ate dumplings and other Taiwanese delicacies for almost two hours and it was amazing!