Coldplay is Alive and Free at Ace Hotel on September 17

A. Lawrence Dreyfuss

After 14 years on the music scene, the pop-rock band Coldplay recently revealed on stage that a favorite song of theirs is “True Love” from 2014 album Ghost Stories. If you’ve not yet heard it, never fear, the opportunity may be right around the corner. As any Coldplay fan will tell you, the band’s current tour has just one concert left in Las Vegas on September 19 — that was the case until Coldplay announced a special one-night-only engagement at the Ace Hotel in Downtown L.A. on September 17, courtesy of CBS Radio and Beats Music.

Frontman Chris Martin is a free trade advocate and strong contributor to Amnesty International. In the vein of equal access, tickets to the L.A. concert are completely free, assuming that you can win them. Tickets are currently being raffled off through promotions with CBS Radio and Radio.com. For anyone unable to get tickets, the concert will stream live on CBS radio and through a Radio.com app. This setup perfectly suits the tail-end of Coldplay’s tour, as the music video for the band’s song “True Love” tells the story of artists hoping to perform at a Los Angeles theater.

During the tour, Coldplay performs songs from Ghost Stories in their signature theatrical style. Paper stars rain down from the ceiling as dueling lasers pump up the crowds, yet the band’s usual energy stands in contrast to the melancholy tone of the album. Ghost Stories was released not long after Martin’s separation from his wife, and it now casts an introspective feel over the live show. Lyrics such as “for a second, I was in control; I had it once, I lost it though” give the music a solitary feeling. But if there’s one thing we’ve come to expect from a Coldplay concert, it’s that they’ll always dance and sway even through the most serious of songs.

Of course, not all the music will be from the group’s recent EDM-infused album. Coldplay promises a show that will span their entire repertoire, from the laid-back breakout ballad “Yellow” and power anthems of Viva La Vida to their Grammy-nominated Mylo Xyloto. The one thing fans are most likely not to see is the fruits of Martin’s recent studio work with hip-hop star Rihanna, as their collaboration is deeply under wraps. Regardless, if you have an inkling to see the band live, this might be your last opportunity for a long time. Coldplay averages three years between their album releases, so it may be a while before the next promotional tour. Martin once stated that he would retire at the age of 33 and, while that milestone has come and gone, we never know when the band may finally decide to hang up their instruments.

Coldplay will appear at the Ace Hotel on September 17 at 8:30 p.m. Information to win tickets can be found here.