Review: Greg Phillips. Photos: David Harris Photography.
The acclaimed Coldplay Music Of The Spheres World Tour began back in March 2022 and has finally hit Australia, although Perth acquired their own private preview in November last year. The 2024 Australian tour kicked off at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne last night and began in an unexpected manner. Coldplay main man Chris Martin walked onto stage alone and anxiously announced that for the first time ever, the band would be performing without their bass player Guy Berryman as he was ‘vomiting’. “Tonight was the first time in our band’s history that we’ve played a show without all four members onstage,” Martin told the crowd. Not the slickest start to an arena gig but among 50,000 friends, the Melbourne audience seemed happy to place their trust in the band to deliver an amazing show and that they did.
After a welcome to country, a short film was played explaining the environmental impact of the tour. The tour has been praised for its pledge to to reduce direct carbon emissions (from show production, freight, band and crew travel) by at least 50%. Systems in place to help achieve their goal and charge the show batteries include power bikes and kinetic dance floors and the band had encouraged attendees to arrived by foot, bike, ride share or public transport, using refillable water bottles and returning their LED wristband for recycling. As a result the band claim each audience member has helped to plant one of 7 million trees so far.
Ultimately the band arrived and kicked into ‘Higher Power’ from their latest album Moon Music. The LED wrist lights turned on and Marvel Stadium lit up in a sea of colour. ‘Adventure of a Lifetime’ from 2015’s A Head Full of Dreams album followed and so too did the balloons. We were two songs into the concert and it was looking like any other band’s dream finale. It’s a sensory overload and not only visually stunning but the hits came early too. ‘Paradise’ had the audience singing at full volume as did ‘The Scientist’ from A Rush Of Blood to The Head. The band moved closer to the audience, walking to the B stage for an epic Viva la Vida and made you wonder if they’d peaked too early.
Scanning the crowd and reading their handmade signs, Martin invited a couple from South America to the stage to serenade them with their proposal song ‘Everglow’. The stadium then turned gold for another show highlight, the classic ‘Yellow’, the song which started it all for the band. ‘Clocks’ unsurprisingly had the crowd pogoing ecstatically with their arms raised in the air. ‘A Sky Full of Stars’ ticked more boxes for many longtime fans. While the setlist focus was more on the last couple of albums, the band ensured that there were enough hits and material to please everyone.
Filling in for bass player Guy Berryman tonight was the band’s sound engineer Bill Rahko, who donned a helmet and mimed Guy’s bass parts to the band’s Ableton/Logic tracks. A trip further down the stadium to the C stage, emphasised that the band was one man down, with drummer Will Champion on bass when they delivered a tender version of ‘Sparks’, dedicated to local cricket legend Shane Warne. ‘Fix You’ was a tune many had specifically come to hear and the band provided a heartfelt rendition.
‘Good Feelings’ brought the electronic funk to the party, with support act Ayra Starr reappearing to help out on vocals. Confetti, floating planets and streamers were added to the visual feast and it was difficult to know where to look. An emotional Feelslikeimfallinginlove from Moon Music cued a final explosion of fireworks, leaving the audience to sing their way out of the venue, having witnessed one of modern day rock’s most elaborate concert experiences.
REMAINING AUSTRALIA/NZ TOUR DATES
October 31, November 2 and 3, Melbourne, Marvel Stadium
November 6, 7, 9 and 10, Sydney, Accor Stadium
New Zealand
November 13, 15, 16, Auckland, Eden Park
https://www.livenation.com.au/artist-coldplay-8720
