Official Coldplay Tour.Cleveland, Ohio. 6.10.03 Tower City
Wed Jun 18, 2003 1:08 am
monologue: Hey everyone. Great to get caught up on this silly, obsessive, psuedo-virtual tour/journal. Apologies to all you Cleveland music lovers who I've neglected for all this time...(along with every other city not yet posted...and those who were delayed).
Right now we're traveling from Tennessee to Texas; as most of you know, 80% of thiswork is done from the passenger seat of our GMC extended van. I have a powerful power-converter plugged into a cigarette lighter (socket) giving juice to a multi-plug which is giving juice to my Apple, any of 3 fire wire drives, a digital video camera and a phone charger. Wires are all over the place....tapes are all over the dash....it's a mess; but it works.
Today, we're traveling through Arkansas - notorious for having the worst roads in the country, so I'm being bobbled and tossed and can hardly see the screen much less the images I'm trying to tweak. There IS, however, a great deal of road construction to slow us down quite often so perhaps the problem is being addressed. However, we dealt with the same road construction last July on our way to Cornerstone Fest, and nothing seems improved.
We stopped and ate in Hope, Arkansas - home of Bill Clinton. Since I saw a photo-shrine of him, I asked the gas station guy if Bill actually ever hangs out in Hope; he said, "yup....he was supposed-duh be here this weekend...cuz Monica, his girlfriend showed up thinkin' he 'uz gonna be here...but he never showed...." I said, "you're joking, right?" He just looked up at me like I was asking a stupid question. "nope...she was here alright..." So, there you have it. I uncovered National calibur scoop. (inquirer, that is)
Let's get back to the tour no longer in progress! Here we are in Cleveland. I don't think there's a place like Cleveland anywhere else on the planet. What amazing imagery... physical structures...bridges, multi-skeletal frameworks of wrought-iron towering over waterways...erected into the sky for reasons I don't understand... factories and machines and metal-oids....everything looks very old, raw, of the elements but formed for a culture I am unfamiliar with; it's a very mechanical world...an exhibit baring a historical record of man's apparent venture into harnessing the power of machines...a canvas of iron, metal, steel, rust, brick, paint, waterways, salt, rust, bolts, beams...it's very cool. (you can tell by the crappy images that I was taken in).
The Venue:
I like the utility of this amphitheatre - which, in this case, is really just an elevated word for a stage, a slab of concrete and a tent o're head; and it's all cached in this concrete chasm of bridges, freeways, factories...did I say bridges? yes...with exposed, rusty rebarb showing because the concrete is falling out in chunks underneath; old buildings with old beautiful old advertising graphics peeling off the walls everywhere you looki; and there are salt water rivers, freighters... boats, docks, etc....an amazing visual of multiforms - both man made and natural... eye candy carnage.
The Show:
People started lining up by the 1000's to get in. You'd think this culture might only embrace bands like Metallica and....uhh, how about King's X; but apparently they're in touch with their soft rock, sensitive side.
Sidenote: My good friend David DePaul, who I haven't seen or talked to in 20 years came to the show, said he recently saw The Foo-Fighters at the same venue. (that's very cool, he's still into music at 42; but who couldn't love those Foo guys. Their newest record is amazing.) btw...we had a heart-warming reunion...and he loved Eisley. How time flies.
Eisley's show was very cool. The mix wasn't so great, but the enthusiasm from the Cleveloidians proved it didn't matter. 30 minute show, 30 minute signing and we were 2 states away within 30 minutes after we grabbed gas station food. I'm making this up.
Well, I'm running out of time for words. We're almost home. Here are some screen shots from the experience. Thanks. Boyd
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I am working on the code to post all Cleveland pics. It's 2:06am and we're home. I have to fall asleep in my chair here before I can get back up and finish. I'm dizzy and incoherant.
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I described the venue accurately in the journal. But, what's cool is:
look how people filled up the tent. And this is for Eisley's show...
(they wanna get their early for their favorite band - CP)
We're driving around looking for the venue....and we see these
amazing old buildings and structures...
Amazingly, business owners in the 1930's already were big fans.
Bridges, bridges, everywhere...
One of several identities for the venue and surrounding campus.
This is a shot of our robotic, metal arm located on the side of the
van - preparing to bore through earch and rock - so we can get
to the venue on time.
Looking out the window and videotaping what we see is part of the tour.
At the absolute guarantee of sounding cliche', "it's the journey, not the
destination."
Jon, shown here, is always very patient. If we're lost....we're just lost.
Bridge foundation. Metal legs and concrete shoes laced on with bolts.
Another identity. This nice graphic seems upscale. Do you think the other
one fits better?
[img]hhttp://www.eisley.com/laughingcity/images/coldplaytour/cleveland/ohioworker.jpg[/img]
A truck drove by right after we found the venue. I thought this guy
was ok.
Something old, something new.
Someone needs to believe in the cause. Cars are suffering and
eroding away, even dying... The people have spoken.
What? Is it a lumber mill?
Yes. A closer look brings forth evidence that the "wood age" did exist
in Cleveland; perhaps at the turn of the century. (1700 - 1800 when
North American Woodsman dominated the continent)
A difficult tunnel to hack out of earth, rock, iron ore and...well, frankly...
the earth's core. Lucky for us, the venue was on the other side...just as
we suspected.
That's the band but it looks fake. Like British pop art... They're too big.
Someone is messing with our minds. oh....probably done with a computer.
This is what we saw from the bridge. See the venue?
Metal and people living under the same tent... and they love each other.
That's an Oh-Hi-OH-ian boat floating on that river that was polluted in the
70's, but is now clean. Ben from Make Trade Fair told me it's a pivotal part
of enviro-political history. Things changed after this. Now the spotted owls
can fluff their wings in safety...and rock bands can warm the city with 1000's of decibals on weeknights without a single complaint. Only the metal
bridges sound their silent, barbaric yaups....for they will one day topple.
This one might survive for a while longer.
That's inside the ampitheatre looking back toward Cleveland... I'm serious;
millions of decibals were being pushed into the city...subtones, white noise,
Eisley's sound check. (they played Sun Feet as a warm up. I was at the
end of the long line nearly a 300 yards back)
"well....here we are!"
Chauntelle always seems to go to the back as if she's gonna unload...like
in the old days, when all the girls had to unload the gear along with the
manly men. Those old days were great....just 4 weeks ago.
See....I videotape Weston. He's just more stealth....always hiding behind
cymbals and gear...or sleeping in the van...he's not a splashy person. He's
a funny person. Attempts will be made to document his whereabouts and
sightings. sorry. Glad Juan from the UK won the contest. Now we have to
ship one T-shirt across the ocean.
He reminds me of the hippie that use to run New Earth Concerts back in
the 70's in Houston. I'm just glad these guys are still around, doing
promotion and making a difference. Wait, is that Guy on the left? I thought
it was some buff, Italian dude.
zzzzzzzzz......zzzzzzzz........
There are too many of these shots, I know.
That's Dave...a sound/crew guy who was super nice. He and Miller
and John and others were so helpful and funny.
That's what it looks like up close in case you've seen it from
Isle 102, seat 206 at some show. I guess he used a white marker or something.
more sound check/warm up.
It's what you do...over and over again.
Here's my long, lost friend. He's had some bumps like everyone else in
life...but is still alive; it was NO time had lapsed. We just picked back up
like it was 1980. He writes songs with his 20 year old son and the play in
bars in Garrard (sp?) where Phil Keaggy is from. It was weird...like a time
machine. We were in bands together at ages 20; here we were watching
my kids doing the same. It does my head. It did our heads.
Jon coming out of the dressing room.
I like the last line of this one.
We went on a long walk...for miles and miles... to find the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame. Here they are leaving.
More. Here they are out of chronology - entering.
We're tired, but they're trying to figure out the statue, the history...and
apparently interact with it.
Closer... I just like this pose and expression.
Finally, we're on to the show...honestly, there aren't many great shots.
The lights just didn't allow for good stills. Plus, me and David are pretty
far back...it was packed all the way to the back. I was near front of house,
which is about half way. More later if I can dig them up.
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too tired. must sleep now. will add captions and find shots of actual show in the morning. I'm going to sleep in my own bed. My own wife is asleep in there now. That's nice. bd
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On to the next one....on, on... on to the next post. but I must say, i'm getting sucked into the madness of the upcoming shows here in Texas, dealing with a flurry of emails from management, label, TM, WB publicists, Record Collection and dirty clothes. Please be patient. bd
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