"You know how I know you're gay? Cuz you like Coldplay."

Yes, yes, I like Coldplay...all my headbanger metal head friends always make fun of me when I say I like Coldplay. Whatever...a couple weeks ago I got the chance to go see Coldplay live in Abu Dhabi. The U.A.E. is made up of seven Emirates...Dubai, Ajman, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaima, Sharjah, Umm Al Quwain, and Abu Dhabi, which is the capital. The drive from Dubai to Abu Dhabi is a little over an hour and this was the first time since I've landed in Dubai that I left it at all. It was nice to get a change of scenery. Compared to the fast paced city atmosphere of Dubai, Abu Dhabi is a little more relaxed. A lot more family friendly...more trees, grass, and places to walk. I was told the late president of Abu Dhabi, His Highness Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, was a lover of the enviornment. He made sure there were plenty of parks filled with trees and grass and actually fined anyone who cut down a tree. People were incouraged to plant gardens of their own and spread the enviornmental awareness. You can definitely feel that in Abu Dhabi.

The streets also are a little easier to navigate in Abu Dhabi, at least in the parts that we drove through. It seems to be a grid system...like Manhattan. In Dubai the roads are a little more sporadic, and by sporadic I mean retarded.

The concert was an outdoor one. With the Emirates Palace hotel in the background. All weekend long the weather being predicted was rain, rain, rain. All day it was fine...cloudy, but no rain. When we arrived at the ampitheater it started to pour. I did not have any kind of rain protecting device (a.k.a. an umbrella) a friend I was with had an extra hat. One of those Gilligan hats...I don't know what they're called, here's a pic...

Obviously, I got wet.

Fortunately it stopped raining and we went and got our spot in front of the stage. Mercury Rev was the opener, and they sounded great, even though I'm not a big fan. Then Coldplay took the stage and literally 2 mins later it POURED. Now...this was my first experience of serious rain in the U.A.E. and I have never experienced rain like this. The rain drops were the size of basket balls. One drop drenched my entire head. It was insane! And they were heavy...I felt like I was being pelted with gummy bears.

Here's the opening of the show, we had a really good view. We were on the lawn in front of the stage with an excellent view of the band, they were amazing...it was quite surreal actually. At one point in front of me Coldplay is playing behind me is an ampitheater filled with people, and off to our right is this giant emerates palace hotel. I thought to myself...there's going to be a day when the words "I saw Coldplay in the middle the pouring rain and flashing lightning in Abu Dhabi" will come out of my mouth. It's not too often that you get to say something like that.

Even Coldplay brings on the "Lasers"

You can really see the rain here. At this point it's really coming down. And you can see the lightning was flashing in the sky every few minutes. You can't see us but Chad and I are chiming in. Chris Martin is actually a really funny guy. He kept breaking off into rain themed songs like "Singing in the Rain," right in the middle of Coldplay tunes.

Here are some great snapshots...such an awesome show...

I got really hungry at one point, so I got an ice cream, and as you can see, the fact that I look like a complete tool has completely escaped me.

The stage setup was pretty cool, they had these two giant screens flanking the stage...her's a close up of Chris Martin.

It was definitely a memorable night that was a lot of fun. Here's a photo of all of us from work who went. You can see how wet we are, and this is actually before Coldplay went on. Afterwards we were completely drenched.