So we didn’t have tickets. Aside from some funny comments about his Coldplay “I’m standing on a log in a stream!” photo, Polvi’s Craigs’ List posting did not generate any possible leads, and showtime was approaching. So we did what any sensible bored person would do – we winged it.

We parked near the Google campus, passed a herd of wild black squirrels, and made the hike to the Shoreline Amphitheatre. There were lines of people,all of them looked at Polvi’s sign and snickered. It read, “Yo-Yo Trix 4 Coldplay Tix!”

The lines were long. Everyone had “planner” faces that sarcastically whispered, “What, don’t have tickets? Awww, tough shit.” Things were looking pretty grim. As we worked our way backwards towards the public parking lot, we could not get more than a laugh out of concert-goers, and some cheers from other people trying to find tickets.

Finally, we had worked our way all the way back to the parking lot, where the scalpers hovered like vultures, trying to get a cut. Personally, I would have paid the extra money for the tickets, but Polvi waited a bit longer and we ended up getting a couple of tickets for a lot cheaper from someone who wasn’t a scalper. I guess I am growing impatient in my old age — but who cares! We had tickets!

Sure enough, we eventually find ourselves sitting in the middle of tens of thousands of Coldplay fans, on the lawn in the second deck of the theatre. The theatre itself reminded me a lot of the one in Washington where I saw Lollapalooza 2004.

The concert was great. To my surprise, I actually knew all of the songs, and got a kick out of some of the jokes the lead singer had for us. We could hardly see anything, but it was fun to just get outside and hear some good music. It was worth the risk of not getting tickets.

During the concert I sat back and appreciated the musical effect. You could see thousands of faces — all gripped by the music and touched in some way by the notes and words. It really was something.

After the concert we hiked back to the car and grabbed some Inn & Out burgers. It was a fun day in Mountain View.

$7.50 is way too much for a beer.