Martinez Tribune The website of the Martinez Tribune.
BY DANIEL GLUSKOTER
Returning to the Bay Area for the first time since their performance at Levi’s Stadium three years ago, Coldplay began the latest 17 date leg of their North American “Music of the Spheres” world tour with an even more colorful display at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto on Saturday night for the first of two shows before a packed house in the first rock concert at the home of Cardinal football.
Chris Martin of Coldplay basks in the adoration of a sold out crowd at Stanford Stadium Saturday night.
With each concertgoer receiving an electronic wristband upon entering the venue, any doubts about a drab evening were quickly dissipated. Over the course of the 22 song, two hour plus set the wristbands lit up into a myriad of different colors when prompted by the production that combined to impressively light up the stadium far beyond any spectacle ever seen at a psychedelic rave.
A palpable level of electricity could be felt the moment the British quartet took the stage as lead singer Chris Martin appeared at the end of a long catwalk that stretched far into the middle of the crowd on the floor. Opening with “Higher Power” from 2021’s “Music of the Spheres,” the bands ninth of ten studio albums, Coldplay maintained an upbeat tempo throughout most of the show. “This is the 195th concert of our tour, or, as we like to think of it, 194 practices before Stanford. So we hope you’re getting our best,” Martin said.
Continuing on with “Adventure of a Lifetime,” and the uplifting “Paradise” before an electric take on 2008’s “Viva la Vida,” debatably the song that launched a more commercial phase for the band, the entire audience seemed to be engaged, standing and singing along with large smiles on their faces. Many children far too young to have developed musical tastes of their own were also seen beaming, having received the gift of music from their very cool parents.
Coldplay performs Saturday night at Stanford Stadium.
The band did a great job bringing their presentation much closer to the large throng by incorporating two additional stages, the end of the catwalk and another smaller platform rather inconspicuously hidden in a far corner of the field that went unnoticed until the band appeared under the cover of darkness to start an extended encore that included a mesmerizing version of “Fix You.” Large colorful beach ball type orbs with markings mimicking the outline of the continents were also frequently bounced around throughout the crowd, and confetti canons shot off while giant video screens projected images on tack sharp monitors providing a brilliant laser light show.
While not as visible as frontman Martin, guitarist Jon Buckland, drummer Will Champion and bassist Guy Berryman are also polished and animated in their own right and more importantly, all solid musicians. It’s a sign of the stability that the tight knit band that Martin and Buckland first formed in London in 1996, four years before their first brush with fame came with the release of “Yellow” from their debut album “Parachutes,” has had the same line-up since 1998. U2 like consistency for a band that has sold over 100,000,000 albums.
Early songs like “Yellow” and “Clocks” left shivers on the warm spring night, even as they dramatically changed the energy level in the sold out crowd of some 42,000 Coldplay fanatics of all shapes and sizes.
Chris Martin and Coldplay perform Saturday night at Stanford Stadium.
An additional handful of songs on two different stages remained, but it was that closing segment of the show that will be most remembered as any doubters of the bands power or diversity had been converted to believers. They were clearly in the company of one of the most elite and colorful groups in the world providing a musical assault on their senses complimented by ongoing explosions of color.
After “A Sky Full of Stars” signaled the end of the main set, Martin returned to the main stage with a flag draped over his shoulders for a final encore, leading the band thru a closing trio of songs, giving the assembled gathering a final opportunity to revel in the light show they had all contributed to and close out the over two hour extravaganza with one last dash of ecstasy.
Relocating to the smallest of the three stages, the highest-grossing tour in music history, exceeding $1 billion, concluded with an extended encore of “Sparks,” “Fix You,” “Good Feelings” (with Elyanna) and “feelslikeimfallinginlove.”
Following Sunday’s second show at Stanford, Coldplay will move on to Las Vegas for a pair of shows at Allegiant Stadium next weekend, two steps closer to completion of their three year, 220 show world tour.
