Coldplay were in town this Tuesday and Wednesday playing a couple of excellent shows at the United Center. The fans at the sold-out Tuesday show were treated to an extra surprise- Coldplay were filming the show for the video to their new song “Lost!”. Now they all can tell their grand-children someday that they were in a video on TRL. (That show will definitely still be on then, trust us)

It got us to thinking, what are the coolest random things that can happen at a concert to make it more memorable? Sorry Coldplay, the video thing was cool, but it doesn’t make the cut.

#5. A Surprise Special Guest - We’re not talking about the avalanche of guests that Dave Matthews often features. This is for the more off-the-cuff partnerships like John Mayer joining Buddy Guy on stage at legends. Or even Jay-Z performing “Big Pimpin” with Phish in Brooklyn. Those are the kind of moments that create one-of-a-kind musical creations.

#4. Equipment Malfunction - If Janet Jackson accidentally exposes herself to millions of people at the Super Bowl that’s one thing, but anytime something goes wrong onstage you get the chance to see whether you’re favorite band is cool under pressure. Wouldn’t it be hilarious to see something like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CukuwxkMk5A at a real show?

#3. Someone Gets Arrested Onstage - Nothing says Rock ‘n Roll like trouble with the law, and sometimes a rock star can be so hard to get that onstage is the only place the cops can get him. It would be pretty cool to see a guy get taken off the stage in handcuffs, and you know the band would play an extra-long set to hold off the cops Blues Brothers-style. Bonus points if the arrest doesn’t involve Jim Morrison exposing himself onstage.

#2. The Show Becomes A Live Album - Whether you’re seeing the Who in Leeds, Cheap Trick in Japan, or Johnny Cash in prison, if your show gets recorded and sold to millions of people, you know it was a special performance.

#1. It’s The Last Performance Ever - Sometimes a band will announce ahead of time that a show will be their last, but its more exciting to see a band self-destruct and storm offstage like the Sex Pistols did at their last show. Or the end could be more tragic like Stevie Ray Vaughan’s death in a helicopter crash as he left Alpine Valley immediately after a concert. Either way, a band’s unexpected last show is guaranteed to attain legendary status.

A debate has been raging internally over the influence of the music on iTunes commercials on the mass population. If you recall and look past the U2 and Coldplay commercials of the recent past, you’ll recall how one commercial helped launch the career of a band called Jet, propelled Feist into a different atmosphere where she is now headlining Ravinia Festival for over 20,000 people this coming Friday night, and more recently exposed us to The Ting Tings. You can’t honestly tell us that “1,2,3,4” never stuck in your mind, or that the catchy “Shut Up and Let Me Go” currently on the commercial didn’t get your attention. What other songs that you remember took off because of use at the right time in a particular commercial, movie scene, or television show?

Coldplay announced their return to Chicago this week on July 23rd at the United Center. With the mad marketing rush for the new album Viva La Vida, with the appearance on TV shows and award shows and the very big score of the iTunes commercial, this band is setting itself up and being positioned as the next U2. Remember, the last time iTunes got behind a new album like this it was for U2’s previous release. While some may still consider Coldplay a baby in they eyes of the work U2 has released, a case could certainly said that this band is on its way to super stardom, if not already right outside the city limits of it. Let us know what you think, if you will be seeing the return, and if Chris Martin and company can fill the shoes of U2 and Bono for generations to come…