Originally published in the Metro UK on August 9th 2017
Fireworks? Check. Balloons? Check. An impromptu jam with a fan carried onstage via his wheelchair? Check. It’s fashionable to call Coldplay a bit naff these days but on occasions like this they’re in a league of their own.
From start to finish this was an expertly crafted, super-sized display of colour, sound and just plain fun.
Any lingering cynicism was immediately swept away by opener A Head Full of Dreams, the title track from their latest release. Amid dazzling pyrotechnics and massive bursts of fire, the London foursome delivered an emphatic first-volley. It culminated in a Chris Martin catwalk sprint and a well-timed burst of multi-coloured confetti. The effect was rapturous.
Martin himself was a bundle of charm and joy throughout. He flexed his superstar chops by traversing the multiple stages with ease, doling out praise and prompts at will. Keeping 80,000 punters engaged is no mean feat but Coldplay came armed with an impressive bag of tricks. In particular, the dished-out LED wristbands helped create the occasion and define the sense of scale, turning the mammoth stadium into a kaleidoscopic forest of lights at regular intervals.
Gimmicks aside, there was no denying the strength of Coldplay’s back catalogue on display. Viva La Vida – their most genuine singalong anthem – was a firm highlight, alongside the insatiably buoyant funk of Adventure Of A Lifetime which closed off the first part of the show.
There were some more poignant moments too. Martin dedicated an acoustic version of Don’t Look Back In Anger to the victims of the Manchester attack, while on the aforementioned jam, Martin wrote ‘a song about Dublin’ on the fly, with super-fan Rod on harmonica duties beside him.
Always In My Head and Everglow delivered a noticeable lull midway through but that blip aside, this was a near-perfect pop spectacle.
Stop The Lights 