Coldplay

Suncorp Stadium 06.12.16

It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity. Brisbane was sweltering at its sub-tropical best as Coldplay opened the Australian leg of their A Head Full of Dreams tour. Frontman Chris Martin once joked that Coldplay were the ‘substitute teachers you get while U2 are on holidays’. It’s hardly the case now. Like their rock n’ roll elders, Coldplay are completely at home in a stadium.

Everything about the show is presented on a grand scale. Before Coldplay appear the mood is set with Maria Callas’ O Mio Bambino Caro which morphs into Charlie Chaplin’s impassioned speech  from his 1940 film The Great Dictactor. The politics in the anti-hate-speech are echoed by the band throughout the night.

Opening with the title song from their seventh studio album, A Head Full of Dreams – it’s pyrotechnics from the outset and fireworks sailing over the stage as Martin bounds  along the stadium runway. Be sure to grab a xyloband bracelet on the way in, they’re used to great effect. The bands contain light emitting diodes and radio frequency receivers; the result is visually stunning and adds to the immersive experience.

The first sing-a-long of the night appears only two songs in with Yellow. Martin plays acoustic guitar and draws the audience into one of many magic moments. When he’s not playing acoustic he’s at a flower drenched piano, running a mini-marathon or engaging in some electric guitar sparring with Jonny Buckland. Will Champion and Guy Berryman remain a mighty rhythm section upon which the whole sonic enterprise is built.

Early highlights include The Scientist, Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall, Birds and Paradise. The latter segued beautifully into an inspired Tiesto remix.

Like all great stadium bands, Coldplay use the space to maximum effect. Apart from the main stage, the band popped up on two satellite stages. The single version of Everglow was a standout on their ‘B’ stage set, before they moved back to the front of the house for a thunderous Clocks. Fix You has adopted anthem status and the band upped the ante with a sterling take on David Bowie’s “Heroes” that was dedicated to the now departed Bowie and Prince.

Making use of the third stage, Martin introduces the band and takes an audience request for Shiver. If there’s a message in the show, it’s, ’love is the answer’. While the monologues are politics-lite, the message is clear. Martin wants the positivity in the venue to seep out into the world and ‘hallelujah’ to that.

The first half of the show was something special, but it’s the second half where Coldplay give the audience the whole nine-yards and a ball of wax. Hit singles, laser beams, a light show without peer and fifty thousand people singing A Sky Full Of Stars. Martin thanks the audience for coming and thanks them for the grief they take for being Coldplay fans. Mr. Martin, the pleasure was ours.

Sean Sennett