A series of fortunate Mistakes – or how I met Will and Jon
Monday and Tuesday, 11th and 12th Nov 2019
It all started yesterday evening with the premiere of Rip Up the Road, the new film about Foals. At six in the evening, I crammed myself into a crowded Overground to the Rio Cinema. Outside the venue, a long queue had already formed, and I buried my hopes of getting a good seat. But good and bad luck seems to come in pairs, so actually I met some nice folks from Kent, Sophie and her father, and found a good place in the second row – upstairs on the balcony.
Once I got my place, things went downhill. I was sad and felt guilty for missing out on my lectures at uni for this event. Suddenly, nothing seemed worth it anymore, and I felt like crying or leaving. I even started snapping at N. Why am I telling all of this? What does it have to do with meeting Will and Jon, holy shit, girl! Get to the point.
The point is, that while queuing N had sent me pictures of Chris being spotted at Air studios that day. I was quite sarcastic about it – great, so when I’m in Manchester or at a movie premiere, the whole band is in London. But as the film started, my bad mood transformed to something more hopeful. Music and live shows really have something magical about them. Yannis was telling about how important it was for him to see his music meant something to the fans. I remembered Chris was in London, and suddenly I had the feeling that I would get up early in the morning and go looking for him. I had a flashback to some really difficult times in my life, about three years ago, when he and Coldplay’s music were the one thing I could hold on to. And somewhere inside me, I had that feeling that if I go tomorrow and search, I would find him. Crazy, isn’t it?
Eventually the film ended and there was a short Q&A with the band. It was funny, but it only lasted a few minutes, and they were far away. Then it was already over and I was on my way back. I told N how important her support is for me and thanked her for encouraging me to go places and experience wonderful things. But once at home, I already felt down, sad and alone again. So I set my alarm, and went to sleep.
This morning, I woke up shortly after seven, before the alarm and struggled to open the curtains, have breakfast or even get out of bed at all. I told N that it doesn’t make any sense going anywhere – and anyways – what was I expecting to happen? So I spent the morning procrastinating, eating too many raisins and cereal and watching a forty-minute painting restauration video (little did I know how grateful I would be for that later). Eventually, I finally managed to get myself to dress up and leave the house, carefully packing my camera, a CD and a pen into my handbag.
I had little hope – even if the band was there, it was almost 10am and they would certainly have started rehearsing by then, I thought. Nevertheless, I took the southbound Piccadilly and Victoria lines. At Highbury and Islington, I was torn between taking the Overground, like I usually do, or going to King’s Cross to change to the Northern line, that would take me closer to Air studios. The train stood waiting with open doors for quite a while, but something told me to just keep my seat. I cursed myself soon after, because I managed to lose additional time getting lost in King’s Cross, but later I would thank heavens for it.
Finally, I got out of the station and started walking down the street. Some sort of sixth sense told me to check my camera settings. I remember putting on my gloves and thinking, you won’t know what to do with them if you meet anyone.
At 10:33am I wrote to N, “Definitely found Air studios, have walked past often.”
“Was it open or sth?”
“Look like a fucking church. Yeah, there are definitely people. But who, fuck knows.”
“Really fuck knows who is there.”
“Won’t linger there, but go towards Bakery/Beehive. See you soon”, I said, two minutes later.
And then I saw a grey limousine enter the driveway at the studios. I thought, if you don’t go and check who’s in that limousine, you’re a goddamn idiot. And so I turned, and walked back.
Holy shit. It’s Will.
There he was, getting out of the car and walking towards the entrance. I couldn’t believe my eyes. But my feet were already moving and crossing the street, stopping at the gate.
“Will?”
He turned around, a quizzical expression on his face.
“Excuse me, do you have a minute?”
“Yeah sure!”
I always thought I’d make a really bad fan while meeting the band, and I got to say that I probably confused Will quite a lot because no useful combination of words would come out of my mouth. He just stood there right in front of me, looking at me with big eyes and expecting me to tell him at least something, while I was just like, “Oh gosh, I don’t know what to say… I’m so happy to meet you.” And really behaving like the most stupid idiot.
Eventually he was like, “So do you want to take a photo or something?”, probably to help me out of my weird situation of wanting to say something and not being able to.
“Yes, that would be great. I- I just don’t have a great phone, I have a camera instead.”
“That’s fine.”
I pulled out my camera, thanked the heavens that it was already set up and apologised for my shaking hands.
I took a photo and said something like, “let me just check if it took one.” I checked and it had taken one, so I said thank you to him.
Unfortunately there is a mess inside my head about what happened how and when, but he surely asked me, “What’s your name?”
“I’m Jana.”
He stretched out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Jana. Where are you from?”
“I’m originally from Germany, but right now I’m living in Wood Green.”
“Oh, nice! What are you doing, are you studying?”
“Yes.”
“What are you studying?”
“I am studying Digital Media.”
“Oh that’s very nice.”
I guess we wished each other a nice day and I thanked him once again and then he disappeared into the studio.
Oh my gosh, what had just happened? Is this real, I thought. Still trembling and in shock, I stepped onto the sidewalk and turned to the right, to go back. And there, just in front of me, Jon came round the corner. I just froze on the spot and stared at him like an idiot. That was not real, that can’t be happening right now.
“Oh my god. Jon”, I managed to say.
He looked at me, smiling, “Hello.”
Aha, hello to you as well, I’m dead.
Unfortunately, here my memory got really messed up, because that is just too much shock in two minutes. I remember thinking, “Oh god, it’s him, it’s him. He looks so soft, oh god, it’s Jon.” And he was not as tall as he had looked like onstage, actually. I must have stuttered something like, “Oh my god, Jon” a few more times, covering my mouth because I was so shocked. He was just standing right next to me all soft and kind and listening to that nonsense. “Jon, I’m so glad to meet you, I’ve been looking for you for so many weeks and you were not there.”
“Oh, really?” His voice was just so kind and he was so calm and patient with me.
I attempted to express that he is my biggest hero, but unfortunately, I suddenly forgot 90 percent of my English vocabulary. But I think, he understood anyway. “Can I take a picture?”
“Yes, sure.”
I told him the same as I told Will, about the camera, and apologised for shaking. In that state of shock, I thankfully still had the presence of mind to actually ask him if I could hug him for the photo, and he agreed. I checked if the photo got taken and thanked him. Then he already wanted to go but I stopped him and asked if he could sign an album for a friend.
“I have a friend, her name is Nicole, and she’s from Ukraine. She’s your biggest fan and it would mean the world to her.”
“Yeah, sure I can.”
I gave him the CD and he looked a little lost, probably because he didn’t have anything to write with, but I said, “Oh, I also have a pen.”
“That’s great, thanks.”
He struggled a little with the shitty golden pen that did not want to write at first, but then he asked me if he spelled N’s name correctly, and he did!
While he was signing, I tried to use my limited mental capacity to ask him if they were “rehearsing for the- [insert album release show in Jordan] the… tour- the thing?” (great word choice, amazing).
“Yeah, yeah, we are.”
I thanked him, and awkwardly kept the CD in my hand, not wanting to smudge his writing by putting it in my bag. Again, he was about to go – but how could I let him without asking one more thing?”
“May I hug you, Jon?”
He allowed me to hug him and what can I say? He was so warm and soft… Jon is really the most kind and gentle person and it has been my biggest dream to meet him for a very long time. I just kept hugging him for a little bit longer, then I finally let him go and said goodbye.
At 10:39am I wrote, “n call me now. now. rn. call me. rn.” In only four minutes, all of this had somehow happened to me. I was in shock, and barely typing or walking, because my hands and knees were shaking. The next hour or so I spent wandering through Hampstead Heath, talking into my phone like a fucking mad person, and explaining something about “omg he is so soft” to the trees in the forest, any passers-by and N who was almost as excited as me about the news and wanted me to tell all possible details.
In the end, I finally calmed down enough to actually buy some bread and other food at the local supermarket and get the tube home, still smiling happily. Perhaps, I could have met Chris or Guy if I had waited longer, but honestly, this does not make me sad or feel like I missed out on something. Today, I am the happiest unable-to-speak person on earth. Only later I realised how all of these misfortunes, delays and little details led to me being at the right spot at the right time, and I feel so blessed. Somehow, whenever Coldplay is involved in something, they always bring some magic with them. And I feel so happy that they shared a bit of their magic with me today.
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