When Coldplay made its Atlanta debut at The Tabernacle on May 30, 2001, the British band that formed five years earlier had fallen into a funk just before showtime. The rock-pop quartet simply allowed the euphoria from the crowd to help bring them out of their slump and into becoming what frontman Chris Martin calls “a very happy band.”
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
It’s been 21 years since that show, and it’s like the best-selling, multiple Grammy-winning band’s enthusiasm for performing live never left. Martin — along with bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and guitarist/keyboardist Jonny Buckland — brought their massive Music of the Spheres World Tour to Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday, June 11. The approximately two-hour concert is Coldplay’s environmentally friendly excursion across the globe that runs completely off low carbon, solar and renewable energy.
Everyone in the audience was given a white wristband made from plant-based materials upon entry and highly encouraged throughout the evening to power the show by dancing on the kinetic floors or peddling on power bikes. The lighting in the crowd from song to song often resembled patches of sequins and rhinestones. Constant reminders were projected on-screen about how each ticket purchased went towards reforestation, ocean cleanups, conservation, soil restoration, green tech and environmental law.
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Aside from crowd participation and environmentally conscious messaging, the production value behind the Music of the Spheres tour is reminiscent of the art-rock foundation paved by bands like Genesis, Kraftwerk and Pink Floyd. Coldplay’s mixed-media set, courtesy of the creative director Phil Harvey, meshed together sped up video sequences, distorted audio, landscapes of sunrises, cotton candy-like portraits, strobe lighting, illuminated beach balls, EDM-flavored laser beams, and cartoonish tie-dyed visual sequences.
Slowly opening the Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s halo with a circular, rotating prism-like color scheme about a half-hour before Coldplay’s set time, all four band members walked through the crowd ahead of taking center stage. They explode into “Higher Power” with pyrotechnics and fire torches just before settling into “Adventures of a Lifetime” and a confetti outburst during “Hymn For the Weekend.”
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Martin, who wore fluorescent high top sneakers and fell onto the catwalk at one point in the show, sat at the piano for “Paradise,” “The Scientist” and “Let Somebody Go” before picking up an acoustic guitar for “Charlie Brown” and “Yellow.” Coldplay also shuffled through “Viva La Vida,” “In My Place,” “Clocks,” “People of the Pride,” “Humankind,” and “Fix You.”
Music of the Spheres isn’t shy on being playful. For “Human Heart” and “Biutyful,” Coldplay brought out Angel Moon, the lead singer of the Jim Henson Creature Shop-produced puppet group The Weirdos that was recently signed to a deal with the band’s label, Atlantic Records.
There are other times when the Music of the Spheres show fell down a rabbithole of cheesy special effects. A “TRON”-like augmented reality and three-eyed alien costumes came out for “Something Just Like This,” Coldplay’s duet with The Chainsmokers. “My Universe,” the band’s chart topping single with K-pop act BTS, transported digital versions of the vocal group onto the screen.
Towards the end of the show, Martin asked the audience to put all electronics away for a performance of the anthemic “A Sky Full of Stars.” “Sparks” was given a roots music treatment on an adjacent stage for an encore while Grammy-winning songstress Kelly Rowland made a cameo appearance for a stripped down version of Destiny’s Child’s 2000 smash hit “Independent Women Part 1.”
Impeccable stage presence didn’t limit itself to the headliner. Coldplay’s opening act, Grammy- and Academy Award-winning artist H.E.R., showcased that she, too, has the necessary chops to eventually headline her own arena and stadium shows.
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
The sunglasses-wearing singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist cranked out a dynamic 50-minute repertoire while effortlessly rotating between an acoustic guitar, two electric guitars, keyboards and drums.
Wearing a teal Asian-inspired ensemble, the Bay Area native born Gabriella Wilson breezed through her catalog with warm-colored lighting design for accompaniment: “Slide,” “Come Through,” “Damage,” and “Focus.” She sprinkled in some features (DJ Khaled and Migos’ “We Going Crazy” and the Daniel Caesar duet “Best Part” performed with her phenomenal 17-year-old background singer Miles Caton), an unreleased song she just wrote, and a few covers (Joan Jett and the Blackhearts “I Love Rock & Roll,” Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” Lauryn Hill’s “The Sweetest Thing,” Foy Vance’s “Make it Rain” and Lenny Kravitz’s “Are You Gonna Go My Way”).
For a band that proclaims to the audience that they’re “infused with Christmas” at the close of the show, Coldplay’s stop through Atlanta, which Martin declares as “one of his favorites nights of his life,” was nothing short of a gift to their listeners, especially since the foursome haven’t been on the road since 2017. The band has announced that they’ll cease releasing albums in 2025, but their ability to please a crowd with their brand of melodic pop-rock and intergalactic stage production will sustain Coldplay as a must-see legendary act.
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