100 thousand voices, eh?
Hello all!
I wrote this from the Vancouver International Airport with a view of the mountains in front of me, and a supremely important package by my side…
Today is the first day of almost three weeks off while the tour is on hiatus and the band hits some major festivals in Europe. This means my crew pass and 2-way radio are unclipped from my belt-band, and that I’ll be carrying car keys in the place of a hotel key-card in no time. I wish I could say the same for those weary crewmates who do sound or instruments, merchandising or security, for the fellas. I honestly thought that 23 shows into the summer tour I’d be exhausted and ready to go home. Although I have begun noticing the dark and puffy circles around my eyes in recent photos, I think my new touring wings have a long ways until they’re worn to a frazzle.
That’s not to say that I don’t miss my peeps. In the six weeks that I’ve been out, I’ve missed the birth of my second niece, and the 6th birthday of my nephew. I celebrated my 26th at a venue in Calgary, and wished my dad a happy Father’s Day from a venue in Vancouver. The youngest of the Yassines graduated from high school at some point while the ‘Viva’ crew was in the Mid-West. Emails and text messages have had to suffice- some postcards too. So you see folks, the coolness of touring has its trade-offs, eh (That “eh” was for you, Canada)? In the age of email, however, postcard recipients can send a response:
We rolled into Vancouver a few days ago and moved out of Bus 5. It was bittersweet, I admit. Big thanks to our driver John “the rock god” for getting us where we need to go safely.
I can’t count the number of times Switzer, Steph, Piers, Carlos and I were all crammed near the passenger seat in front of the bus to chat with him, and when we weren’t up there how many times we overheard John singing along to AC/DC or something comparable.
Rolling into Vancouver for two back-to-back sold out shows with the knowledge that Oxfam’s total number of new supporters had already reached 98,660 felt as though I was entering the city bearing something of utmost importance. This meant that Vancouver would probably be the city to help the Oxfam reach the 100 thousand point. What better way than to leave this leg of the tour knowing we had already reached a major milestone? And Vancouver’s teams did not disappoint! By the end of night one, we’d reached 100,039 actions taken with Oxfam a pledge for Health and Education For All in England, a call to Make Trade Fair in Australia, a petition to Stop Harming and Start Helping in the USA, and so on. 100 thousand voices- enough to fill an arena- against hunger, poverty, and injustice. By the end of night two, 101,669!
One year, two Oxfam “roadies,” half a dozen or so Oxfams, 123 shows, thousands of volunteers, millions of fans. I know I’ve said in the past that the goal is not about the numbers, but those figures are impressive eh?
(Oxfam roadies Pete and Soha)
By the way, some cool news is coming. Stay tuned…
xoxo from home,
s
This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 at 6:07 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Coldplay has invited Oxfam on their mammoth Viva La Vida World Tour. Throughout 2008 the band played huge shows across 3 continents and 18 countries. Oxfam volunteers were there every step of the way, talking to 100,000s of people about how they can take action to overcome poverty. Now in 2010, Coldplay continue this tour with shows across in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. Oxfam groups around the world will again join the tour, blogging as they go.
Mike June 23rd, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Congrats and I can’t wait for the cool news