CBS
France 24
BBC Radio 1
Originally aired on BBC Radio 1 on May 17, 2016.
Transcript
Clara Amfo: And when it comes to watching Coldplay live, nobody's got a better number than this guy. Jimmy Dushku: I am Jimmy Dushku from Austin, Texas. Clara Amfo: He's responsible for our next number, 67. Jimmy Dushku: I originally began keeping count of all the gigs I go to by... I had this map that I was putting these little thumbtacks in, but then the map that I was keeping count of all the concerts, it got a little too filled up. So people just kind of keep track of it for me at this point. Like, at the last show I was at, I know I'm at 67 Coldplay shows because at the last show, this girl took a photo with me and captioned it with, "67th Coldplay show." Clara Amfo: It's nice that you've got people keeping tabs on you though. That's good. Jimmy Dushku: It's nice, and it can be a little awkward at times too. I've seen photos of myself on Instagram that people take at the concert, but they don't come and say hello to me. Clara Amfo: Almost like a low-key Coldplay celebrity fan. Jimmy Dushku: If you Google biggest Coldplay fan, you're gonna find me. Clara Amfo: You're kind of a big deal, basically. Jimmy Dushku: In a strange way, maybe. It's become that way. I remember my first Coldplay concert in Los Angeles at a venue that we were way too young to be at, but where there's a will, there's a way. And my buddy was a big Coldplay fan at the time, and I honestly wasn't completely sold on the band even though I'd heard them through him, and then I went and saw them live a few times. But it wasn't until about 2002 when I actually started liking the band, and my friend, who's the music hipster, stopped liking them because they were getting more popular. And actually recently I went to a Coldplay show next door to the first venue I went to at the Mayan Theater. So it went full circle back to 2001. By the time that they started doing more shows in America, I had already been to several of their early shows in Los Angeles and Las Vegas and stuff because of my friend that was a fan. And so then later, it just scheduling-wise it worked out because they would be in the same city I was in. It got to the point where it was just so much fun, and as they grew as a band and they released new music, it created completely new experiences, and I got to go meet so many new people, and I have a lot of really good friends. One of my best friends, Oz, he does the same thing I do basically, and goes to a lot of shows. We met actually in a charity auction trying to win Chris Martin's jacket from Viva La Vida. And so me and him, we go all over the world and see shows and just make friends, and it brings a lot of people together. Not just the music, but the band, and they put out so much positivity, so the people that they kind of attract, I think, are people I like to hang out with. And they also always find new ways to keep the audience entertained, like the xylo bands, the genius invention by Jason Regler. It's just unlike anything else. I took a friend of mine to a concert in San Jose a few years ago that he doesn't even like Coldplay, but when those xylo bands came on, my friend Tucker just said, "Okay, you know what? I'm sold." I think people appreciate that, that are fans of theirs. Clara Amfo: When it comes to seeing them live, what would you say it is that you prefer? Do you prefer big stadiums or do you prefer small venues? Jimmy Dushku: I prefer the big stadium shows just because that experience is unlike anything else. Like, I can be having the most stressful day at work and then I go to one of their shows and for an hour and a half I just jump around with tens of thousands of people and all the lights are going. It's a full experience that you just get immersed in. Clara Amfo: Sounds like it's a bit of a release for you. Jimmy Dushku: Absolutely, yeah. One of my favorite memories from a Coldplay concert was, whenever I go, I typically dance pretty terribly and sing pretty awfully. And so one of my favorite memories was in Chicago a few years ago on a tour. In between songs, Chris Martin basically got off the stage to shake my hand and said, "Keep doing what you're doing." And I guess all my dancing really paid off because I had at least one fan giving me positive reinforcement about it. Clara Amfo: Well, look, you got the official co-sign from Chris Martin, so what else do you need? Jimmy Dushku: Yeah, exactly. He's been very nice. I've met him a few times and he's always a very nice person. Clara Amfo: This is Music by Numbers, Coldplay. That's Clara Amfo and she's got the music covered, and I'm Dr. Hannah Fry. I'm a mathematician and I've got the numbers covered. Since 1997, Coldplay have played 1,081 shows in 36 countries around the world. But which song would Jimmy have statistically seen the most times? Well, I've been looking at the numbers, and Coldplay's most played song on tour has been performed 855 times. And which song is it? This one.

