Oxfam America Tour Blog: 8 November 2008

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Oxfam Blog - Viva La Vida Tour 2008

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What a difference a day makes.

22:45, 6th November 2008. Orlando, Amway Arena. The arena empties out. Orlando Magic 98 - 88 Philadelpiha 76ers. The court in the center is shiny. Smooth under all those squeeking sneakers. Giant figures leave the court. Sweatbands are off to be rung out. Cheerleaders bound off, with white toothed smiles across their faces. Scoreboard is flashing. Disco ball is rotating. Magic’s mascot is circulating. TV crew are out doing reviews of the game for the audience at home. Charles Barkley (NBA, Suns & Sixers legend, who also used to slam dunks on my Super Nintendo in his spare time), packs his papers court-side to leave (or at least I think it was him..).

10:45, 7th November 2008. Orlando, Amway Arena. Is this the same arena? Squeeking floor nowhere to be seen. No hoops. No mascot. No crowd to cheerlead. Instead - cases. Lots of cases. Cables hanging from points high in the arena. Catwalks *(under construction). Amp stacks waiting to be lifted. Forklifts beeping. Bags full of butterfly confetti. Roadies dressed in black (beards across their faces).

22:45, 7th November 2008. As if by (Orlando) magic.. the stage is being torn down again. Coldplay have left the building.. just as those giants did. Butterflies, plastic cups and popcorn cartons are being swept. Floor chairs removed. Cables are being tied. Trucks are reversing in, being filled, and bolted shut. Oxfam volunteers gather around the last table standing. More than 550 people signed up tonight with Oxfam America. One more Coldplay show. Hundreds more Oxfammers out there. Maybe some of them will be back soon as volunteers themselves. No hand-clappers needed tonight. No cheerleaders required. Jonny, Will, Chris and Guy took the stage for ’Yellow’, clad in personalised Orlando Magic basketball tops. That was the closest we got to the night before. Those were thrown to the crowd. And we were back to a Coldplay show.

Amazing how these tours roll on. We are now back on the bus, waiting for our 5am bus call. One of the lighting guys just got on the bus.

“What’s happening in the world at large?”

“Oh, you know, just enjoying my morning in the parking lot.. in.. wherever it is we are..”

See you in the next place. Pete.

http://www.oxfamblogs.org/coldplay/?p=101