Viva la Vida

Sometimes, certain events coincide with each other as if they were meant to be. That’s the feeling I get when thinking about the Coldplay concert last night. I was walking from the waterfront of Montreal towards my hostel when I passed the Bell Centre, where I saw a crowd of people gathered. I was headed over to ask what was happening, but then I heard a heavy set man bellow, “Tickets, I’ve got Coldplay tickets!” At that moment, I also realized that I was listening to Viva la Vida on my ipod. Odd.

I observed how these guys were selling tickets – they were acting in an open outcry system, similar to the one the guys at NYMEX use to trade crude oil or natural gas. They were literally buying with their right hand, while selling with their left hand. I watched for about 20 minutes, trying to guage the supply and demand and trying to eavesdrop on what buyers were willing to pay.

After watching and waiting, I decided it was time for me to move in and buy my ticket, but I was by myself, so buying a lone ticket wasn’t exactly the easiest task. I looked over to my left at a group, consisting of two girls and a guy. The guy returned the glance and he approached me and asked if I was looking for tickets – he was willing to sit with me. Our first attempt yielded a price of $200/ticket, which we turned down, but the women went over to a couple of young guys and got us great seats at a respectable price – $170/ticket, 5 rows back from the front of the stage, towards the side. With that, we went in, had a few beers, and saw an awesome show. After the show, Jon mentioned to me that he wasn’t expecting to pick up a guy. I responded, “It happens”.