a new doxology

I’ve been to a lot of incredible concerts in my lifetime so far, some that I’m still proud to tell people about (like Garth Brooks, Chicago, Jay-Z, Ben Harper and Jack Johnson, just to name a few), and others that I’m now a little bit embarrassed to admit that I attended (so I won’t list any of them here). Concerts can get pretty expensive, but rarely have I let the high cost of a ticket keep me from seeing one of my favorite bands or artists put on a great show. Yet one of my biggest regrets in life so far was not going to a Coldplay concert with one of my roommates during our senior year of college (the video above for “Clocks” is from that tour). In my defense, I wasn’t a huge Coldplay fan back then (I am now), but that shouldn’t have mattered. Sure, I was a college student at the time, so driving to Minneapolis from Iowa on a weeknight (a “school night”) and paying $50 for a concert probably wouldn’t have been a great financial or academic decision, but I should have realized that a band like Coldplay was guaranteed to put on a “that was the best concert I’ve ever been to in my life” type of show. In fact, that’s exactly what my roommate said about the show when he got back from that concert, and five years later, he still says the same thing about that show. I suppose it’s possible that his memory of the show has improved with time, but during that same time period, my regrets about not going have only increased. I wish I had gone to the Coldplay concert at the Target Center in 2003…

I’m not someone who likes to live in regret, I suppose no one does; I just don’t see the point of it — especially as a person of faith who believes in the forgiving power of God’s grace — but if there’s anything we can take from our past mistakes it is wisdom that will help us not repeat them. So today I have a short list of bands and artists who I will do whatever I can to see in concert if I get the chance, regardless of ticket cost or other factors; the list includes Coldplay, U2, Michael Jackson and possibly John Mayer and Kanye West (I would definitely love to see those last two in concert, but I’m just not sure if they’ve achieved “short list” status yet).

Coldplay’s new studio album is rumored to be set for a May ‘08 release and according to a post on the band’s website earlier this fall, it’s going to be “the album people will remember them by.” Hopefully the tour for this album will include a stop in Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Who is on your short list that you wouldn’t miss seeing in concert for any reason???