Since Coldplay started their current Music of the Spheres tour more than three years ago, they have played in 43 countries, made (unwitting) headlines and smashed records. They’ve headlined Glastonbury for an unparalleled fifth time and sold over 12 million tickets, making this tour the most highly attended in history. Their return to London this week sees them become the first act to ever play ten nights at Wembley Stadium.
Yet the show has lost none of its sparkle with time. Instead, it’s the most jubilant, gloriously feelgood two hours of pop mastery you’re ever likely to see, expertly helmed by singer Chris Martin who whirls around the stage in a brightly coloured blaze of slogan t-shirts and friendship bracelets. Around him and bandmates Jonny Buckland, Will Champion and Guy Berryman, fireworks explode, giant balls bob overhead, clouds of confetti rain down and the audience’s LED wristbands flash to turn Wembley into a sea of pulsating colour. Even the stadium’s iconic arch is lit like a rainbow above us.
Coldplay: Wembley spoiled with Chris Martin’s sincerity and swagger
There are few better frontmen than Martin. A disarming mix of self-effacement, sincerity and swagger, he brings an astonishing intimacy to a vast stadium of 90,000 people, reading out signs, spotting football shirts worn by fans in the very top tiers and effusively thanking everyone for “going through all the shenanigans you have to go through to be here at Wembley.”
It couldn’t be more different from the scripted lines so many artists at this level churn out night after night. When there’s a brief technical hiccup, he distracts with a spontaneous chorus of Oasis’ Don’t Look Back In Anger, mentions getting home in time to watch Gogglebox and jokingly references his ability to “consistently deliver soft rock hits”. He even improvises a sweet song for his delighted young nephew who is celebrating his birthday and appears on the now-infamous jumbotron which went viral recently when two illicitly embracing colleagues were horrified to be filmed together at the band’s show in Boston (the incident inspired City AM’s Anna Moloney to write a whole guide on in-office dating rules).
However, while the vibrant technicolour production is every bit the stadium-worthy spectacle, it’s not the real reason Coldplay now find themselves as the biggest band in the world. Without the lights, lasers and flame effects, the show would still thrill. That’s because Coldplay’s fundamental charm is exactly as it was when I first reviewed them in the back room of a Kentish Town pub in 1999. They remain the same four friends who came up with some of these songs over 25 years ago, albeit now with better tans and trainers. And while the hits have stacked up since, their blend of unashamed emotional directness, soaring, anthemic choruses and under-your-skin melodies has only improved with age.
Tonight, there’s a hesitant, tender version of the rarely-played Green Eyes, a beautifully epic Fix You and a rousing, clattering Politik from second album A Rush of Blood to the Head. Adventure of a Lifetime, Paradise and Yellow deliver blockbuster pop brilliance, while A Sky Full of Stars is a stirring extravaganza of flashing lights, hands in the air and singalong moments, perhaps because Martin politely requests that everyone puts their phones away for just one song before it starts. They’re joined by support act the Simon Bolivar Orchestra of Venezuela on Viva La Vida, while singers Shone, Elaynna and Burna Boy appear for recent single We Pray in a show that feels like a dizzying, utterly joyous onslaught of non-stop hits, flamboyant visual theatrics and Martin’s ever-cheerful charisma.
Coldplay play Wembley 26, 27, 30, 31 August and 3, 4, 7 and 8 September