Demolish Nissan Pavilion...the Coldplay thread.

Too bad an excellent show by Coldplay was practically ruined by the expected traffic disaster that is attending a concert at Nissan Pavilion. The scene looked like a Houston area freeway during a hurricane evacuation. It took about 1 1/2 hours to get from the exit on 66 to the venue, only about 4 miles away. Then afterward we literally moved about 20 ft over the course of 2 hours waiting for the parking lot to clear.

Anyways…high energy show. Sucked the two large video screnes were out, don't know why, but for those in the pavilion the view was good enough. Yellow beach balls falling from the ceiling during "Yellow" was cool. Best two cuts were "Till Kingdom Come" and the cover of "Ring of Fire." Not too political, surprising. Band seemed to play with lots of energy, probably glad to be getting out of the States. Missed the opening act.

But back to the rant…it is time to demolish the mess that is Nissan Pavilion. The place ruins the concert experience for the most part. Merriweather is much better even with the bad accoustics.

Couldn't agree more! It took over 4 1/2 hours from College Park to get there. 2/3 of that was on I-66 and the little tiny roads that lead into the Nissan Pavilion.

We slept in the car for about two hours afterward, just so we didn't have to sit in traffic getting out. The facilities are decent, but it's in the worst location ever!

Why doesn't everyone just play at MCI if you have to play in front of 10,000 people? I would be that almost 75% of the people who were there last night were from within 5 or so miles of D.C. And if not, you could park at any of the suburban metro stops and take the metro in.

Regarding Coldplay, I'm not much of a fan (my gf loves them), but I thought they played alright.

Nissan needs to go away. Never dealing with that shit ever again.

nissan is absolutely pathetic. it was the most amateur handling of parking i have ever seen. Entire lots bottlenecking into one lane with absolutely no direction whatsoever. it's gonna take someone really exceptional to get me to go back there. the traffic was abysmal as well. i had expected to get there well in time for rilo kiley's set, but we ended up getting there literally 10 seconds before coldplay started. it sucks too because i was really looking forward to rilo kiley. it took us 3 and a half hours to get there from dc.

first off I.M.P. isn't involved with Nissan so any moaning here will be ignored by the powers that be. or chuckled at… complaints should be directed at ClearChannel, Cellar Door, and even at Coldplay and thier management for scheduling the concert there.

thing about nissan is that people have been complaining about it since it opened and yet little has been done to improve it… why? because people keep going back so why spend the money to do anything about it. the only way they'll make the improvements is if people start boycotting the place… but like mindcage said in the discussion over drink prices going up at the club, there will be complaining, etc until the next show that comes there that people need to see gets announced and they'll put up with again… and complain about it again lather rinse repeat

if one is truly tired of place then you complain to it's sponsers as well…

nixon pavilion, the local police used to turn the road that goes northbound up to 66 one way and they got the whole lot cleared out with very little sitting and waiting in line like 10-20mins. at ozzfest this year they routed traffic southbound and all over ja-bip. wtf?! why the hell they changed it beats me probably local politics. ya know that is redneck country and they hate us city folk, outsiders u know, small hands. they also changed the lots all around. tip: dont try to leave right away, relax. hang out at your car. drink, smoke, play hacky sack, play music, feel each other up [yes i mean w yer gf …or bf!] but dont be a dumbass like most ppl around dc and be in a hurry to go nowhere fast.
:( …too late. vicodin was the answer.

god, i definitely feel your pain.
last night was my fourth time at nissan; and the traffic seems to get worse and worse each time i go.

last night we left at 4:30 from Bethesda, and arrived at around 8:15. Rilo Kiley, who i was there to see more than i was to see Coldplay, had been playing since 7:30ish; and we only caught about three or four of their songs. i almost cried.

Coldplay were amazing too, but it did suck that the screens were out…we were on the lawn (place was PACKED!).

surprisingly, though, we got lucky and it only took like a half hour to get out of the parking lot. so that was pretty boss.


is anybody else here pissed about Coldplay's incredibly short set, though? that still bothers me…

some things people who complain should consider:

traffic vs. acoustics

well, anybody who has ever been to an outdoor concert knows the sound is going to suck, regardless. however, some places are better than others. the other thing to consider is where you sit, but ticket prices may preclude some from ever hearing a decent outdoor show

video screens

I have on very good authority that the video screens were out because Coldplay requested them to be. Headliners get what they want.

Seriously, quit bitching, if you don't want to deal with the things that are part and parcel of going to shows, don't go.

Originally posted by msaonline:
video screens

I have on very good authority that the video screens were out because Coldplay requested them to be. Headliners get what they want.

I thought this was obvious since, oh, COLDPLAY BROUGHT THEIR OWN VIDEO SCREEN WITH THEM ON STAGE.

That said, for those who weren't in the pit, I'm sure it was pretty annoying that they only put the band up every 4th or 5th song.

well im probably the one person who didnt complain too much about getting to nissan. i was warned about the 3-4 hour drive from everyone who previously had been there. i know lots of people from work who live in manassas and was lucky to take backroads. needless to say i left at 5:15 from fairfax and was there right around 6pm. met some cool people in the pit who had to pay close to $500 to see coldplay. i almost cried for them.

none of us cared for riley kiley. jenny lewis does have a good voice, but sounds a bit too countryish for my liking. some of the songs were catchy, but wasnt blown away by them.

i was right in front for coldplay, on the left side. couldnt have had a better view. coldplay played roughly an hour and a half with the highlights of the show the johnny cash covers. 'ring of fire' was great. i was glad to hear trouble, sad that i didnt hear spies or don't panic. overall, thought coldplay did a great job of playing songs from all their albums. chris was energetic, entertaining, and def. was worth being right up front. i don't care for x&y all too much, but the songs worked live. and i was surprised chris didnt start ranting and raving when he had his moment of talking to the crowd, about the war, etc.

off to see robbers tonight and cannot wait! ill take going into arlington any day over venturing to nissan pavillion. that place is def. a nightmare, and i plan on never going back there again, unless the smiths reunite!

Originally posted by [username edited by p.c. moderator]:

Originally posted by msaonline:
video screens

I have on very good authority that the video screens were out because Coldplay requested them to be. Headliners get what they want.

I thought this was obvious since, oh, COLDPLAY BROUGHT THEIR OWN VIDEO SCREEN WITH THEM ON STAGE.

That said, for those who weren't in the pit, I'm sure it was pretty annoying that they only put the band up every 4th or 5th song.

right. i was on the lawn, and we really couldn't see a thing. but it was okay because the audio was what counted. i cannot believe they didn't play Amsterdam!

I think all my complaints about friday nights show have already been mentioned.

but. i do have to say this

Coldplay set @ hfstival > coldplay set friday night

yes

yeah i would agree i was more excited/entertained at hfstival than i was friday night. although i still thought friday night was really good

Originally posted by msaonline:

Seriously, quit bitching, if you don't want to deal with the things that are part and parcel of going to shows, don't go.

shut the fuck up.

ahhhhh cant u just feel the luv in the room?

Originally posted by jesse:

Coldplay set @ hfstival > coldplay set friday night

Yeah, seven songs is always much better then those seven songs plus ten more. :roll:

Originally posted by you be betty:


last night we left at 4:30 from Bethesda, and arrived at around 8:15. Rilo Kiley, who i was there to see more than i was to see Coldplay, had been playing since 7:30ish; and we only caught about three or four of their songs. i almost cried.

As I recall, they came on late, and only played 8 songs, so you didn't miss a whole lot.

It's A Hit
I Never
Pull Me In Tighter
Does He Love You*
A Man/Me/Jim*
More Adventurous*
The Execution Of All Things
Portions For Foxes

The ones with astericks could be out of order. The people in the pit were mostly polite except for one kid who kept either yelling "You're dead, Matthews" or "Theme Song to Boy Meets World" at Blake or "Show us where babies feed!" at Jenny. I wanted to smack that bastard.

I'd have to say that Nissan is a real pain cause of traffic, but for me the only way I'll go there is for someone I rEALly need/want to see (like when I went to see Rush).

And if that is the case, it's an afternoon off, I will leave work early or just take lots of time off to go see whoever.

If the band is THAT important, I take a vacation so hopefuly you can do that.

I even left work at 2:30 to leave Crystal City to drive up to Merriweather to see Radiohead. I didn't miss anything but it was a brutal long drive and horrid traffic. I should have taken the whole afternoon off.

Lesson learned ;)

Originally posted by [username edited by p.c. moderator]:

Originally posted by jesse:

Coldplay set @ hfstival > coldplay set friday night

Yeah, seven songs is always much better then those seven songs plus ten more. :roll:

i can think of lots of reason why a seven song set would be better than 17…

Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
i can think of lots of reason why a seven song set would be better than 17…

I can too (i.e. "this band sucks"), but I'm working off the assumption that someone who went to see the band twice likes them. I was at both shows, and I cannot for the life of me figure out how someone who was at both would like the shorter show better when the band played equally well at both.