To say that Coldplay’s concert in Manila is the best ever, is an understatement. Those who witnessed last night’s concert at the Mall of Asia Concert Grounds — avid fans or just concert junkies — will have to admit that we all left for home carrying something indescribable inside us. I know I did. It’s 3:15 in the afternoon now, hours after last night’s experience with Coldplay, and I’m still reeling in the everglow that the band gave me.

Video credit to Mark Saquing

Earlier in the day, the sky was gloomy with dark clouds looming over Metro Manila. This is not good, I said to myself. Lord, please don’t make it rain tonight. Well, you know what? It didn’t. The night was, in fact, unexpectedly cool. The skies cleared — not exactly the sky-full-of-stars level (see what I did there? 😉 ) — a few minutes before the band went on stage.

The moment they opened with “A Head Full of Dreams”, pumping the crowd’s collective adrenaline, I couldn’t believe I was there amid a sea of millennials and fellow gen Xers screaming and singing our lungs out. I could have watched the concert somewhere “cheaper”, but after this concert, I was glad I watched it here in Manila. Never mind that I paid quite a sum to get the gold ticket, only to see Chris Martin’s head down to his chest. Never mind that I didn’t get a decent dinner and drink my water a little at a time throughout just so I won’t need to use the portalet in the middle of everything. Never mind that I was feeling a little under the weather.

I saw Coldplay here in Manila, with a couple of good friends, where my memories of loved ones are. Pardon the mush, but the concert really had this effect on me.

I was supposed to watch the concert with very close friends. We already talked about it way before Coldplay announced that they were coming to Manila. So many things happened between then and the time the announcement came. Long story short, I ended up watching it with another colleague who, thankfully, is a joy to be with.

So I was there, and each time Coldplay would sing my friends’ favorites, I would die inside. I imagined them singing and screaming along with me, taking in every bit of ecstatic feeling that Chris Martin and the lads brought with their music. And then came the songs that crushed me – in a “collateral beauty” kind of way.

Video credit to Anne Curtis-Smith

Chris Martin dedicated the song “Everglow” to a friend who passed away. Before the concert, I would listen to the song and dismiss it as one of those sappy songs that’s probably every other fangirl’s favorite. It’s only when Chris Martin sang it live that I got to listen to the lyrics and understood the sentiment behind the music. So if you love someone, you should let them know. Oh, the light that you left me will everglow. We all have issues we think are so big we would rather leave the drama out of our life; but nothing is bigger than having someone you truly care about pass on without letting them know they are loved despite the issues.

A few songs after, the band played “Fix You” – the song I have always dedicated to my Tatay who passed away 14 years ago. Lights will guide you home and ignite your bones; I will try to fix you. Most people would probably consider the song the way I first took “Everglow” for a song covered in schmaltz. But I guess that’s how it is with music. It touches every person differently because of the unique individual story each one carries in his heart.

At the latter part of the concert, the band played “Ink” as a loving salute to a cancer patient who was supposed to be there among the crowd. He already had a concert ticket, but found out he has cancer before he even got to see the live show. Chris Martin visited him in his hospitable bed to share a heart wrenching moment with this young fan who, like all of us, is going through pain.

Because that’s what it is in this life. We are all going through some kind of pain. We just have different ways of dealing with it. Some conceal it with cheerfulness, hoping the pain will either be contained or completely heal. That, I guess, is my everglow.