COLDPLAY frontman Chris Martin blasted Dublin hoteliers for ripping off fans by jacking up their prices around the band’s sold out Croke Park shows.
The English rockers stunned more than 80,000 devotees – many of whom paid extortionate rates for a hotel room – at the home of the GAA on Thursday night in the first show of their four night run.
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The Paradise singer played to the crowd by trying out a bit of Gaeilge after the band arrived on stage.
He said: “Cead mile failte go Croke Pairc. Conas ata tu mo chairde? Ta athas orm anseo I Croke Pairc.”
Later in the sold out show, the singer paid tribute to Irish music stars who have passed away recently including Sinead O’Connor, Shane MacGowan and Dolores O’Riordain.
After bringing up a family on stage to sing Everglow for their father who had passed away, Martin said: “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.”
At the end of the concert, the band stopped to thank the crowd for attending with Martin taking a swipe at Dublin hotels for increasing their prices when big bands come to town.
He 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.”
Coldplay are playing four sold out shows in Dublin’s Croke Park with hotel prices across the city rising for the weekend.
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Hotels regularly jack up their prices after big concerts are announced with room rates soaring in the capital for the weekend Oasis play next year – in some cases quadrupling rates.
Within minutes of the band confirming the Oasis Live 25 tour, hotel rooms in the capital skyrocketed – with some smashing the nightly €1,000 a head barrier.
Earlier in the week, Martin explored Dublin’s stunning coastline with a trip to Dun Laoghaire.
And he later shocked fans with a surprise street gig in Dublin city centre.
But fans were left baffled after spotting that he performed on Grafton Street in his bare feet.
Chazalena wrote: “CHRIS MARTIN IS BAREFOOT ON GRAFTON STREET. THAT IS NOT A GOOD IDEA SIR.”
Gill said: “Newfound respect for Chris Martin. Going barefoot on Grafton Street is brave!”
The frontman told last night’s crowd: “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.”
And the band added: “Four shows in the temple of the GAA in front of 82,000 Dubliners in full voice is the perfect way to finish this leg of the tour.”
Stars attending the band’s first show included Olympic athletes Sharlene Mawdsley and Sophie Becker, as well as GAA legends Bernard Flynn and Peter Casey.
