At the time, none of us had any idea what was coming around the corner.
Coming off the high of the Jordan trip, Oz and I were still floating on air. Then on January 6, Citi announced a pair of exclusive Coldplay performances in Los Angeles as part of their Sound Vault concert series. I immediately got to work, called Oz, and told him he needed to meet me in LA.
He gave me a little bit of pushback at first, but he had no idea that I had already secured the tickets and arranged the entire setup. This time, I was the one organizing everything. He agreed to come, and looking back now, that trip really felt like our last major experience in the “old world.”
While waiting in line outside the venue, I was texting back and forth with friends in Asia who were telling us about what they were starting to see and hear in their cities. At one point, we walked into a local store to grab some food and saw news headlines on a television screen about a new virus. It felt concerning, but still very distant. I pushed it to the back of my mind so we could fully focus on enjoying the music.
A Last-Minute Miracle in Hollywood
There were two back-to-back shows scheduled, and we somehow managed to convince our friend Eduardo to fly all the way in from Mexico on short notice, despite not actually having a ticket to the gig.
After a little bit of strategizing and executing behind the scenes, the ultimate miracle happened: Eduardo ended up getting a ticket straight from Chris Martin himself. Suddenly, everyone was all smiles, and the energy surrounding the group was completely electric. I remember texting memes back and forth with Macky as we were in line. Looking back, it felt like we had this naive happiness or innocence that is so hard to come by post-pandemic.
The shows themselves were pure joy, made even better by the fact that so many of our close friends from around the world were all in attendance together.
And true to form, Oz somehow walked away with yet another legendary addition to his personal memorabilia collection. At the end of the night, Chris handed over his actual stage-worn jacket directly to Oz. Getting to walk out of the venue wearing the real thing was an utterly surreal moment.
There is actually a pretty funny story behind that jacket, too. I was later talking to Charlotte MacMillan, also known as The Collagist, who did incredible work on the Everyday Life outfits. She mentioned that no one knew Chris was going to give the jacket away that night.
Because of that sudden impulse, the wardrobe team had to frantically scramble to prepare a replacement. The band was scheduled to film their NPR Tiny Desk episode in Washington, D.C. just a few days later, and Chris suddenly needed another jacket.
The Oz Parking Phenomenon
After the show wrapped up, Oz was busy catching up with people inside, so I started walking toward the car.
Anyone who has ever traveled with the two of us knows about the famous “Oz parking phenomenon.” No matter where we are in the world, we somehow end up with the absolute best parking spots imaginable. On this particular night, security had inexplicably directed us to park inside the private employee lot right near the exit. We even pointed at it and questioned if they actually meant to park there. They confirmed and we did.
As I was walking up to the car, the band members happened to be walking out to their transport at the exact same time. They looked at where our car was sitting, completely baffled as to how we managed to snag prime real estate in their private lot. I just looked at them, shrugged, and said, “Oz drove.”
We spent a few minutes chatting, catching up, and talking with Phil about the next scheduled concert on the calendar. I headed home feeling incredibly grateful for the week, only to realize shortly after that the “next concert” we had just talked about was actually going to be a very long way away.
Looking back, it stands as one of the single best experiences I have ever shared with that group of friends.
