Coldplay, 'Music of the Spheres' World Tour. Hampden Park, Glasgow. Tuesday 23rd August, 2022

 

I was less than excited by Coldplay's Music of the Spheres album when it came out (and still feel the same - lots of filler, only one good tune: Higher Power) but we purchased the concert tickets before its release. 

They cost a small fortune, £230 each (£242.10 after fees) for seats in the main stand opposite the stage but the cheaper, standing tickets were not an option as my wife would have had a Tuesday staff meeting after work (if she hadn't subsequently given up teaching), preventing us from arriving early enough to snag a good spot. When we saw Coldplay last time at Hampden, we'd bought the cheaper seats on the west side and we both agreed the view was less than satisfactory. Anyway, that's how I justified the expense. Plus some of the ticket money was going to charity (although Ticketmaster never asked us to tick a Gift Aid box). 

We arrived in time to see the first support act, Scottish singer-songwriter Nina Nesbitt (thanks to some power-walking from Shawlands where we'd parked). I was keen to see her as I liked her last album, The Sun Will Come up, The Seasons Will Change. She did not disappoint. As well as looking gorgeous in her yellow tartan dress, she sang beautifully and sounded great. Despite her set only lasting thirty minutes, she impressed me with how confidently she performed in front of such a large audience. She had sung there once before when she was fourteen but it was before a football international and Scotland went on to lose. She was a winner this time.

The second support act, H.E.R, was more of a mystery to me. I'd streamed a few of her tracks and they did nothing for me so I wasn't expecting to enjoy her. Coming on with her musicians and posse of backing singers, she belted out the opening numbers and I got bored. It sounded like generic R&B to me. My wife even asked me if she was singing in a foreign language because we couldn't make out the words. A large proportion of the standing crowd were loving her performance though, singing along and waving their arms in unison. She just wasn't for me.

Until she pulled out her electric guitar. 

Then the show rocked, and I mean, ROCKED. The whole stage dynamic came alive. Her cover version of Lenny Kravitz's Are You Gonna Go My Way? totally killed and she maintained the momentum until her time was up and she quickly ran off stage.

As the daylight faded, Coldplay took the stage, with pyros, fireworks, giant balloons, confetti bombs and glowing wristbands all being used to create a sensory overload to complement their music. My photos do not do justice to the overall effect but my videos (which do) have files too large for Blogger. Our seats were great for the forward B stage but we still needed to rely on the screen for the performances from the main, A stage. The C stage was miles away on our far right but the special guest was Edwyn Collins so no big loss. 

They played most of the Spheres album, finishing on Biutyful (including a performance from the puppet from the video), so I was less satisfied overall with the show than my wife who thought it was the best outdoor show she had seen (I had to remind her we'd seen Queen and Adam Lambert outdoors). The older numbers were still great and stirred the whole crowd to sing along. Was it worth the cost? Probably not. Did I enjoy the show? Definitely yes.

Chris Martin is a unique performer. I kind of wonder if he operates on a different plane of existence, one where it's normal to sing to puppets and watch stars fall from the sky like confetti. He may not be living in the same world as us but his one seems a far nicer place. It was great to spend a couple of hours with him and the band, radiating love out into the world.

Setlist

(TAPE) Light Through the Veins (Jon Hopkins song) (sustainability video intro)

(TAPE) Flying Theme (John Williams song) (from "E.T.")

(TAPE) Music of the Spheres

Higher Power

Adventure of a Lifetime

Paradise

Charlie Brown

The Scientist (with excerpts of "Oceans" in intro, and backwards outro)

B-Stage

Viva la Vida

Hymn for the Weekend

Don't Panic (piano version)

A-Stage

Politik

In My Place

Yellow

(TAPE) Sunrise (with Louis Armstrong's spoken intro speech to "What a Wonderful World")

Human Heart

People of the Pride

Clocks

Infinity Sign (shortened; with excerpts of " Music of the Spheres II" and "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall")

Something Just Like This (The Chainsmokers & Coldplay cover) (shortened; pre-recorded vocals with Chris performing in sign language + band wearing alien head)

B-Stage

Midnight (remix; contains elements of Lone's "Blue Moon Tree")

A-Stage

My Universe (Coldplay x BTS cover)

A Sky Full of Stars (restarted, asks audience to put phones away for this song - most do, but not all)

C-Stage

Sparks (with guest pedal steel guitarist Nicole Lawrence)

A Girl Like You (Edwyn Collins cover) (with Edwyn Collins) (with Nicole Lawrence)

A-Stage

Humankind

Fix You (with excerpts of "Midnight")

Biutyful

(TAPE) A Wave 

Coldplay, 'A Head Full of Dreams' Tour, Hampden Park, Glasgow. Tues 7th June 2016

Despite the Yellow weather warning from the met office, the rain stayed away above Hampden. Even if it had, I don’t think it would have dampened the mood because the Coldplay audience were having an Amazing Day (if it had been at Parkhead, I could have used the ‘Para-Para-Paradise’ line).

As you entered the stadium, each person was handed a wristband (or Xyloband). Instructions on how to activate it and wear them appeared on the big screen prior to the show. The lighting effect of tens of thousands of these across the whole stadium was amazing, like rainbow fireflies dancing above the audience. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

We had seats in the West Stand, with a stretch of tarmac and the First Aid tent between us and the packed standing area. It felt like we were sitting in an overflow car park, the distance it left us from the stage and its long extension through the middle of the audience. The squinty First Aid sign also frustrated me, but not so much that I could be bothered faking an illness in order to get through the barrier to the Standing area to straighten it.

We missed the first support act but caught the second. Lianne La Havas offered some strong vocals and a guitar groove that was infectious, even if few of the audience agreed when she asked them to sing ‘Turn up your love’. The camera pan on the big screen displayed a sea of staring, closed-mouthed fans. Nevertheless a fine support act.

Coldplay came on at 8.45pm and played through to 10.50pm. There were fireworks, explosions of floating colour, giant balloons, lasers and even shooting flames, most of which lost their impact until the sun set. This didn’t matter though because deep down Coldplay is about four blokes playing great stadium pop-rock. Chris Martin is a charismatic frontman and musician and the band is solid.

A lot of people mock Coldplay, a fact which Chris Martin acknowledges, but I think those people just don’t get it. Coldplay capture and share joy in performance. Chris Martin is a man-child who never had his dreams crushed by life. He loves what he does and it shows: with talent, with humour and with uninhibited dance moves, like you might have done as a kid and not cared. It’s all about being happy and having fun. What's not to love?

They played from three different locations within the stadium: main stage, end of walkway stage and in the Stand opposite the stage, none of which were any closer to us, a fact for which Chris apologised. Nice guy.

As always, a few fans caught my attention. The tall Chris Martin clone, with the University of Glasgow lanyard and cycle helmet, who sat in front of me was an annoyance, because, when he was sitting, he used the back of his seat as an elbow rest and kept hitting my knee, and when he stood up he blocked my view.

The dancers on the tarmac were heart-warming. Two, in particular, stood out: the one I imagined to be Susan Boyle’s blond sister, in a black top and leggings, who performed her own form of expressionistic dance during the entire concert, adding a purple balloon prop later on. She was brilliant, even shimmying all the way up to the fencing at the First Aid tent for a quick vape; and the bare-backed squaw in the yellow dress and gold sandals, wearing sunglasses and a hairband, who performed a ‘keep the rain away’ dance with her lanky male partner for the entire show provided lots of vigour. Not a dance inhibition between them. (videos to follow)

Overall, it was a great concert experience, despite the view.

Setlist
A-Stage:
O Mio Babino Caro (Maria Callas song) tape
A Head Full of Dreams (extended intro with Charlie Chaplin speech)
Yellow
Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall
The Scientist
Birds (with "Oceans" excerpt in intro)
Paradise (with Tiësto remix outro)

B-stage:
Magic
Ink
Everglow (Single Version)

A-stage:
Clocks
Midnight (Partial)
Charlie Brown
Hymn for the Weekend
Fix You (with "Midnight" excerpt in intro)
"Heroes" (David Bowie cover)
Viva la Vida
Adventure of a Lifetime

C-stage:
Kaleidoscope (extended)
In My Place (acoustic)
The Hardest Part (audience request song; acoustic)
See You Soon (with a snippet of "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers)

A-stage:
Amazing Day (extended intro)
A Sky Full of Stars
Up&Up
End Credits (concert credits on screen)