When the ACL TV show taping in Austin was announced, I knew I had to find a way inside. The whole situation immediately took me back to 2005 when I faced the exact same challenge. Back then, I somehow managed to get in, but by late 2011, Coldplay was bigger than ever. I still vividly remember being a kid back in the day, spending the weeks leading up to that original taping strategizing with my friends. They were probably completely exhausted from hearing me talk about the band, but they were always so supportive about it.
This time, the show was being taped at the newer ACL Live theater over at the W Hotel. I knew going in that security was going to be tight and the guest list strictly enforced. Normally, these public television tapings rely on a lottery system, or tickets go directly to major donors. Once those groups are let in, they sometimes allow an overflow line of non-ticketed people to fill in the gaps, but that was a gamble I simply could not take.
Things were already looking up for the day, though. I had actually won a local radio station contest to attend an advance listening party for the new album, Mylo Xyloto, which was scheduled for that exact same afternoon right before the taping.
On the List
Luckily, a good friend stepped in and helped make the impossible happen. After all that worrying and strategizing, my name was officially on the list.
What made this specific ACL TV taping so unique was that it was produced to air on PBS for New Year’s Eve as if it were happening completely live. Because of that festive theme, everyone was given these really cool Mylo Xyloto styled t-shirts to wear that actually glowed under the venue’s UV lights.
The energy in the room was already electric because Paradise had just been performed for the very first time on French television, meaning we were about to be only the second audience in the world to hear it live. The single had only dropped three days prior.
When the doors opened, my friend Amanda and I made our way right up near the stage to wait for the show to start. We stood there just shaking our heads, unable to believe we were actually inside.
The band walked out, and the performance was incredible. Being part of an intimate TV taping like that is always a special feeling, and even in the middle of the show, I kept reminding myself just how lucky I was to be standing there.
After the final song wrapped up, I caught up briefly with Phil to say hello before calling it a night.
A Midnight Cameo
Writing this now in February 2012, I finally got to watch the official broadcast on television a few weeks back for New Year’s, and I actually made the cut!
A hilarious story came out of the broadcast, too. My doctor happened to be watching the show on New Year’s Eve around midnight and spotted me in the crowd on screen. He immediately called one of our mutual friends to say he had just seen me on TV, fully assuming that friend was out celebrating with me at that exact second. My friend had to gently let him down and explain that the entire concert had been pre-taped months earlier. It was a very on-brand moment for that friend.
Added note 2021: It has been years since this entry, but something really cool just happened. I was on an international flight and caught this exact episode of ACL TV on the in-flight entertainment system. It was the first time seeing myself on a screen on a plane, and it brought back so many good memories.
