Being concert season and all (even though lately it feels like WINTER in the Bay Area), I've been going to quite a few shows recently. Last week's Dave Matthews Band concert was fun, but I probably wouldn't want to go see another concert at PacBell/SBC/Whatever Park. It was built for ballgames and not really anything else, the acoustics suck, and the food is just not that great.

Frankly, I'm just not a big fan of the uber-venues. I avoid them. I think the last time I actually attended a concert at a big venue was close to 6 years ago (with the exception of last week). So irony of ironies, I went to another big show last night. Coldplay. Now you have to understand, I'm a completely head-over-heels, smitten, verging on obsessive fan of Coldplay. I tried to get the tickets to the tiny show at the Fillmore, but no such luck. So when they announced their show at Shoreline, I didn't even think twice about how much I dislike the venue (more on that later), I just giddily purchased tickets.

I have a tiny little history with Shoreline. The last time I was there was probably 8 or 9 years ago and there was a corndog incident. It wasn't pretty, and no further details will be offered so I'll just leave you all to your imagination. Suffice it to say, besides the incident, Shoreline is just MASSIVE. It's a real cattle call. And my experience with it oh so long ago, was that it was just too overwhelming: the lines for everything were long, the parking lot was located in another state, the food there was terrible, the people who worked there were mean, and you could barely see the stage. But regardless of all that, this was Coldplay. I probably would have gone anywhere to see them. So we went to Shoreline.

Since it was Friday night, we hit the road early and sailed right in, quickly parked and joined the long queue to get in. Once they opened the doors, the line moved along quite quickly and then it was a mad rush to the lawn to set up camp. We staked out our territory, I decided to go check things out and see how they compared to the ballpark.

Shoreline has a good number of offerings, from the requisite Gilroy Garlic Fries (which looked a bit better than those at the ballpark) and assortment of roasted sausages and dogs, to an array of Mexican food (offered at the popular Rosita's Mexican), pizza (as I mentioned in the ballpark post, not a good idea), BBQ, and of course, corndogs. There was a small crowd gathered near Wild Bill's BBQ, so I ventured over and noticed they were pouring Fat Tire (always a good sign). Their menu listed classic choices, from tri-tip sandwiches to BBQ chicken sandwiches, dogs and burgers. I went for the BBQ chicken, a grilled breast slathered with KC-style sauce, served on a soft wheat roll with fresh lettuce, tomato, and red onions. Not too bad for $5.50 (again, like my brat-kraut the week before, a pretty good bargain). We also tried the regular fries at another stand (couldn't bring myself to eat the garlic-saturated potatoes for 2 weeks in a row) and they were hot, crisp, and delicious.

The really great thing about Shoreline is that you can bring your own food and non-alcoholic beverages with you into the park (they do have a few rules as to what types of containers you can bring in so be sure to check that out before rolling your big cooler up to the front gate). We didn't really plan ahead, plus we wanted to check out the offerings at the park, but we did notice all kinds of great food around us, from Italian sandwiches to sushi to full plated meals.

Even though I still hold that Shoreline is a bit too massive, it was definitely redeemed last night. The folks who worked there were pleasant and helpful, the crowd was in great spirits, and the food was decent to boot. I don't think I'll be running back there anytime soon, but you can bet I'll be there the next time Coldplay shows up.