A bit about Coldplay

‘What is a Coldplay concert?’ My daughter asked me some time ago. I explain that it is not ‘a’ Coldplay concert, but ‘the’ Coldplay concert. It soon becomes clear that she thinks it is a type of concert where people with lights around their wrists experience a shared experience. A question about Coldplay is immediately the starting signal for me to climb onto my soapbox. So I tell. About Chris Martin, about Gwyneth, about Conscious Uncoupling, about Clocks, about the funeral where they played Viva La Vida… When I see an offer on my phone for tickets to ‘the’ Coldplay concert after a warm day at the beach, I click. I puff away the price (180 euros per ticket) with some professional breathing techniques and then I text ‘July 15, 2023‘ in our family group chat, which oddly enough is called ‘skiing’.

For a year, we have listened to Coldplay on Spotify during every vacation. Lyrics included (because the lyrics of Coldplay are just a bit on a different level than I-love-you-and-I-will-be-faithful-to-you), so we went into the ArenA well-prepared. And what followed on July 15, 2023, I will not forget for a while and here’s why.

1. The world
Okay, this is really the dullest heading ever, but it was still so special. Chris Martin said he no longer wanted to tour because he found it too polluting. But they found a solution for that: they try to do everything as climate-neutral as possible. The wristbands with the lights are made from natural waste materials, and there are bicycles in every venue and kinetic floors where visitors can generate energy for the next concerts.

You also saw videos before the show with all the projects that Coldplay funds to cherish and heal the earth. That made the 180 euros (times four) a bit more acceptable for me right away.

2. Chris Martin
There are few things impossible in life, but attending a Coldplay concert and not closing Chris Martin in your heart is truly impossible. Aside from his talent, his voice, his sense of dance, his outfit, the song he sings in sign language, his humor, and his humility (‘thank you for coming, I know how stressful it is to go to a big music event’) he is just a good person. Be good to others, be good to yourself.

3. Nina and Melvin
When Chris Martin reads some lyrics on banners that people are holding up, he lingers a bit longer at one. Then he invites the girl on stage. Her brother can join. ‘Come sit next to me, this is my office,’ he says as he invites the bald young woman next to his piano. Together with her, he reads what is on her board. ‘First, I want to beat cancer’ Chris Martin reads aloud. ‘That’s easy, you are gonna fix that,’ he says. That seems to me exactly what you want to hear when you have cancer. That it’s going to work out. You don’t really need much pity. Then he gives Nina a hug and spontaneously makes a rap on ‘Up & Up’ for her. 60,000 people cry and Nina gives off more light than all the wristbands combined.

4. The show
From completely going wild with 60,000 people to putting away our phones for a moment (‘We are never going to be in the same constellation again. Shall we just put the phone away and truly be in this moment? It’s just the 60,000 of us’) to just Chris Martin behind his keyboard. It’s just a band of four people, no dancers, no other backing vocals, just four men with a rare talent. Everything was thought through, and even when things went wrong (‘here should have been fireworks, I think we fucked up on the firework’) it was still perfect.

As we walk out of the ArenA, we are asked to return the wristband, because that is also better for the environment: when we recycle. When I see the questioning eyes of my youngest girl, I shake my head no. ‘But at the end of the vacation, I can take something to school that made a big impression this summer,’ she says. And before I know it, the wristband is in my bag. But then at least three afternoons of picking up trash on the beach. At least.

And for those who weren't there but want to see the show there is very good news.