Oxfam America Tour Blog: 11 November 2008
From WikiColdplay
De-ja-voo in Atlanta.
Right. Time to catch up. Access to the internet on tour is never as easy as it is, when switching on a computer, in the ‘comfort’ of an office block or internet cafe. Wireless internet is set up in tour production and management offices. This usually leads to a line of roadies sitting on road cases outside, or sitting on the floor around the production team. In these concrete block buildings.. that signal doesn’t travel too far. Crew rooms are usually slightly less equipped for internet, as they are for showers and couches. Ocassionally, like today. There is a crew office. Today, it sits at the back of Production. It’s a tiny little room, which randomly has mean-looking cartoon characters, wielding hockey sticks and perched on basketballs, painted on the walls. It’s a strange little place. The tour buses have a handy intermittent internet connection too. It does not cease to amaze me, that I can send an email to my friends back home in England, from a tour bus, moving along Atlanta streets to a venue.
We’re back in Atlanta’s Phillips Arena. De-ja-voo. We walked in saying “Good to see you you again” to the venue staff, as if we had worked with them for years. This is the second show of two in this building. Two shows in Florida were sandwiched in between. Last stop was Ft. Lauderdale. As a British guy used to rain and frost in November.. it was a strange experience to be outside in a t-shirt before the bus left Florida at 2am.. It turned out to be a long ride from there to Atlanta. 15 hours later, we rolled up at the hotel last night.
I wanted to talk about our amazing volunteers. Each city Coldplay goes to, a different group of Oxfam volunteers are always there. Every day, I head outside to meet them. There is always a group patiently waiting, ready to work hard for Oxfam for a few hours before they go in to see the Coldplay show. I have met all sorts of people, with all sorts of stories. It has to be one of the best parts of this job. So many of our volunteers here, tell of how they first heard about Oxfam from a Coldplay album sleeve, or shout out from the stage. One volunteer in Ft. Lauderdale summed up the feeling well..
“I wanted to do what I can to help overcome poverty around the world, and I get to see a great Coldplay show, for free. What could be better?”.
I wanted to share this link with you, from one of our volunteers in Philly a little over a week ago. His name is Logan Deck, and he made this video. Thanks Logan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SqB5-CTanQ
http://www.oxfamblogs.org/coldplay/?p=102
Atlanta, Georgia (part 2)
I’m huddled in a corner behind one of the Oxfam pop-up banners by our table at the entrance to the arena. If I look up, I can see three of Oxfam’s volunteers enthusiastically passing out free badges and signing up Coldplay fans to the Oxfam America mailing list. Here come 5 more fans ready to sign on the sheets. It’s great to listen to some of the little things that happen at the stall..
“When I say ‘Cold’ .. you say ‘Play’ .. Cold - Play. Cold - Play!
When I say ‘Ox’ .. you say ‘Fam’. Ox - Fam! Ox - Fam!”
I haven’t heard that one before. But that’s the beauty of doing this in so many different places. In the background, I can hear ‘Sleepercar’ finishing up on-stage. There’s just 40 minutes until the main attraction hits the stage. These arenas are strange places to work. So hollow during most of the day.. slowly building up a buzz as the sound checks get started, and the hazers keep spraying.. but when the doors open, it’s like working in a busy mall or station. Thousands of people wander about, filling the place up. Some wander aimlessly .. wondering where to buy a pretzel.. eyes glazed.. others stare at the merchandise for a silly amount of time. Some stop by our booth and sign up. Some rush to their seat and wait patiently, not daring to move, in case they miss something. Then there are the ones that miss all that and run in right before the set and skip the aimless/purposeful wandering.
They all have a couple of things in common. They all love Coldplay, and they all have the power to make a difference to the world. Oxfam does amazing work to overcome poverty. We are here to help people see how they can help. How their actions collectively can save lives. The more people who get involved, the more Oxfam can do.
I just have to say.. there’s a bit of competition going on. The stall next to ours is renting out binoculars for those people in the noseblead seats (*the ones up high). Seriously. Ours is a way more exciting stall. No offense.
Anyway, back to the show. I have to run and get the volunteers tickets, so i’d better go. Hoping for a smooth trip tonight.. Atlanta - Kansas City. Wow. We’re covering some ground.
Back in production.. 10 minutes to stage time. I can hear Chris Martin in the next room warming up his voice..
http://www.oxfamblogs.org/coldplay/?p=103
