a big bucket list item for me has long been going to a coldplay concert. in may 2022 that little dream of mine came true! in january, ian and i splurged and bought some floor tickets to see the music of the spheres tour in phoenix. we found childcare and flew down to the desert the day of the show, slept over at my brother’s afterwards, and flew home early the next morning. it was the most epic “date night” ever!

we flew right over the grand canyon and headed for the phoenix botanical gardens after we landed. there was an art installation show going on at the gardens – glass sculptures by dale chihuly – and it was the perfect thing to do while we anticipated nightfall and then seeing coldplay. i love the unique beauty of the desert landscape, and adding in some incredible man-made art with the god-made art mades for quite the awesome spectacle.

after taking in all that beauty (and a hefty dose of desert heat!), we got to stop by the mission office in gilbert to see ian’s parents (who were then serving as mission leaders of the gilbert mission!) for a few minutes. that was joyful, and then we met up with my brother josh and headed to state farm stadium, giddy and listening to coldplay music all the way. josh has been to dozens of coldplay concerts and it was so fun to go to one with him. he was so kind to shepherd us around and show us all the ropes and help us get in prime spots all night on the floor.

before we went to the concert, i had heard coldplay’s shows described somewhere as “dazzling and euphoric.” nail on the head. it. was. epic. i loved every minute – under the warm desert sky and full moon, surrounded tightly by a mass of humanity, all coming together to experience a beautiful, creative, sparkly spectacle. it was sensational in every sense. experiencing it all with my true love, and also my awesome brother, was just so fun and full. there was confetti, huge bouncy balls, amazing light effects including led wristbands on all 25,000 attendees, jumping and swaying and cheering, and of course incredible music.

my favourite part was when coldplay played my favourite song – sky full of stars. they started that song and the crowd erupted into cheers. then chris martin stopped singing and told his band to stop playing. he said he wanted to try something different with this song. he asked everyone in the audience to put their phones away. just for one song. and just be. just experience this one song together without any pictures or videos or screens. just each other and the music. everyone did as they were asked! and it was fantastic. 25,000 people just soaking up the moment. i may have shed a tear. i loved it so much.

on our way out of the concert back to the car, we happened to see my sister shawni (who was also at the concert but sitting in seats rather than on the floor). what are the chances in that sea of people?! wild. so fun to see her and give some quick hugs.

this was a night i will never forget! and that i wish i could relive over and over!