However, Coldplay were certainly value for money producing one of the greatest
spectacles you’ll ever see in the world of entertainment.
While thanking everyone who made it possible for Coldplay to stage their spectacular production in Croker, Martin said: “Thank you for the effort it takes to get to a show like this, and the pain in the arse it is to get here and get home…the crazy hotel prices, which is a bad thing. I’m going to have a word with someone about that.”
However, Coldplay were certainly value for money producing one of the greatest spectacles you’ll ever see in the world of entertainment. Talk about a city of blinding lights, their Music of the Spheres concert is a feast for the eyes as well as a thrill for the ears.
It’s heavy on the bells and whistles with fireworks galore and with 82,000 wrist bands, handed to fans on the way in, lighting up at key moments throughout the concert.
But Coldplay also come armed with an arsenal of hit songs, from Higher Power, Paradise, Viva la Vida and A Sky Full Of Stars to Fix You, Yellow and new one, We Pray, which was a highlight…all brought to life by one of pop music’s greatest showmen.
Like a circus ringmaster, the Coldplay singer popped up on satellite stages to engage the audience all around the stadium. At one point he put the spotlight on individuals in the crowd and made up personal songs on the spot for them, including the girl with yellow hair.
From the get-go, Martin turned on the charm offensive for his band’s Irish fans saying: “Céad mile fáilte go Croke Pairc,” adding “Tá áthas orm anseo I Croke Pairc… Conas atá tu mo chairde?”
He said he was “very grateful to see you all here on this beautiful Thursday in Dublin…we are going to have the best time ever. To play here is one of the greatest privileges and honours that we get to experience.
“We played 160 shows before today and I thought I was experienced, but I really don’t know how to handle a crowd this wonderful.”
He praised the people of Ireland for “the example you set here for the rest of the world, particularly England and America…for being so kind to people around the world.”
At one stage he took a moment to check out some of the flags and banners from super fans in the packed venue. One placard asked would he dare sing a U2 song…his answer was ‘no.’ Another, he noted, said that it was “three persons who travelled 2052 kilometres” to see the Coldplay show.
But there was a special one that he focused on, saying: “The first sign I saw today was this next one… ‘Let’s sing for my daddy in the sky.’”
He invited the young girl holding it up to join him on stage with two of her party. It transpired that the fan was Italian and her late father was called Vincenzo.
Martin then invited them to sing with him, adding that they looked like B*Witched.
“You won’t know who that is, they are an Irish band,” he said. “Thank you for coming from Italy, thank you for making this beautiful sign.”
Then, before singing Let Somebody Go in memory of Vincenzo, Chris added: “We’ll sing this for anybody that we are missing including the greats of the great, Sinead O’Connor, Shane MacGowan and Dolores O’Riordan, without who we’d be nowhere.”
Speaking about his surprise appearance on Grafton Street on Wednesday, where he recorded a video for We Pray with Burman Boy, Little Simz, Elyanna and Tini, Martin told how he’d been there the previous night and it was deserted apart from “one drunk.”
He also revealed that he’d been to Sheehan’s pub near-by. When he returned on Wednesday night to film the video a crowd gathered to watch. “I thought it would be quiet, but the people of Dublin gave us the best video I’ve ever seen,” Chris added.
Coldplay’s eco-friendly Music Of The Spheres World Tour, which began in March 2022 and has so far sold more than 10 million tickets, has successfully reduced their carbon emissions by 59 per cent.
They are using a dancefloor that generates electricity when fans dance on it during the concert, power the show with exercise bicycles, make sets with bamboo, install solar panels, reduce their air travel, and plant a tree for every ticket sold.
They reveal that nine million trees have already been planted, with a further million to be planted before the end of the year.
Coldplay’s eagerly-awaited new album, Moon Music, due out on October 4, will set new standards for sustainability, with each LP made from 100 percent recycled plastic bottles (nine per record).
It is available to pre-order now on EcoCD, EcoRecord LP and digital.
