Coldplay at Super Bowl 50: The Guitar Wrangler

Coldplay at Super Bowl 50: The Guitar Wrangler

Travelling with Jonathan M. "Jonny" Buckland brought out the best in me as a guitar player, but it's time to move on.

For three years, almost like an understudy, I’ve been his instrument “Wrangler” in charge of all his 20+ guitars: repair, maintenance, packing, moving, tuning, cleaning, and readying each one, for each song, of each set in Coldplay concerts.

Playing alongside him in rehearsals, bouncing riffs back and forth like Lebron James’ practice dummy: catching the ball, throwing it back… catching the ball, throwing it back… riff after riff after riff. While I’m actually doing Jonny’s mundane tasks I don’t think about it; it’s events like the NFL's Super Bowl 50 that make me think about what's next?

Wearing all black from head-to-toe, the best part of the job is bringing Jonny guitars onstage, sometimes changing in the middle of a tune. I pick up a little extra cash from Under Armour, one of the Coldplay tour sponsors, by wearing everything they make from shoes/socks, pants, hooded sweat-top, even black, sticky, football receivers gloves all sporting the interlocking “UA” symbol—I can’t drop guitars!

With the white-hot spotlight on the star and me in all black, I slip on and off the stage cat-like, never tripping on pedals, cords, amps, or speakers; each guitar is tuned-up, set to the right volume, and ready for another solo. The cat-burglar gets away.

It’s not quite like a NASCAR pit crew, but we have to keep accurate timing for a performance choreographed much like a Broadway play; what looks like a free-form, extemporaneous detour by one of the world’s best guitarists, has been practiced and tweaked like a daytime soap opera. 

The timing of a concert is exact, down to the last song. Only the encores are off the clock… The audience earns the encores, which are truly made-up as they play them. Coldplay’s Super Bowl 50 halftime is scheduled by the second, and we’ll probably only play three songs (that's a secret). 

http://www.levisstadium.com/

As big as the band is, we're just a few chaps from University College who'll get to perform in front of 100 million people on a stage in the middle of a bloody football field. (They're so humble they are performing for free; ironically, Jonny's favorite "football" team is the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, which plays a different kind of game):

"I think we're firmly split down the middle between those of us who know absolutely nothing about football, and those of us who know almost absolutely nothing about football," said Buckland.

The instruments are Jonny’s tools, like a surgeon, and he principally uses a '72 Telecaster by Fender, which is like a Strat. Jonny Boy occasionally straps on a Gibson Les Paul, and sometimes even a Rickenbacker. More than 20 guitars used by Buckland provide a unique sound to accent Chris Martin’s lead vocals. 

In the last two CDs there have been guitar solos revealing his incredible talent:

Look to "True Love" off of Ghost Stories CD at 2:57 on the track; compared with "Up&Up" off their latest album at 3:19 in the song. There are more guitar solos I could quote you, but those two will do the trick.

Through the years, working with Jonny helped me develop the craft of songwriting, mostly considering the context of my work and the audience for whom they played. But songs are also written to express my own thoughts as a reflection of my ideas, or an expression of my personality. In a purely binary, economic analysis, songs are considered only on popularity or commercial success; but that structure has changed, music has more channels now in which to be discovered. My creativity cannot be too heavily influenced by my background as Coldplay’s guitar wrangler, as enjoyable as that experience has been. The music means more than the medium.

For me it has always been about the guitar. As an aviator or driver it is all about the vehicle, for a singer it’s about the voice, and in coaching, the victories. For me it is about the instrument. The rhythm, which provides structure for the song, the tone, which provides melody, and the chords, which undergird the accent of the words; all come from the lead guitarist: he’s the straw that stirs the drink. My inherent talent uses my eyes, ears, and fingers in coordination to play one of the most important instruments in the music industry. It was what I was made to do, and now I must be more purposeful about this gift.

After our 15-minutes of fame end with the halftime of Super Bowl 50, and I take off my black ninja suit; we’ll probably finish the evening back at the hotel playing our guitars, inventing new riffs. I may not even remember who won the game?

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#FanFiction (2016) ©Mark H. Pillsbury