Coldplay Play Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium 9 December 2016 REVIEW

The Beatles were the first stadium rock band and Coldplay could possibly be the last. No other rock band since Coldplay’s 1998 debut can draw a crowd this big. Stadium shows are restricted to the pop circus of Swift and Bieber these days so witnessing a rock show the size of a Coldplay gig almost feels like the end of an era.

Coldplay just scrap in as a 90s band, if you count their 1998 indie EP ‘Safety’ and first single ‘Brothers & Sisters’ from 1999. (Nothing from which make a live show these days). It therefore is telling that the end of the 90s also signalled the end of the stadium rock band.

The Coldplay show is big – Stones big, U2 big. This is an enormous production with synchronised lighting on every fans wrist, lazers, canons of confetti, video screens, fireworks and live footage from a drone. Pulling this off night after night without a hitch is a precision exercise that the relaxed persona of Chris Martin makes look like a stroll in the park.

The first time Coldplay played Melbourne was to a few hundred punters at a pub, the Prince of Wales in St Kilda. Over two nights at Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium they are performing to 110,000 people, more than 200 times more than saw them at that first show in January 2001.

The most touching moment was an appearance from singer Emmanuel Kelly, son of humanitarian Moira Kelly. Martin and Kelly performed John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’.

Incredible guest spot tonight from @emmanuelktwiter #ColdplayMelbourne pic.twitter.com/uaLI3c3VdD

— Coldplay (@coldplay) December 9, 2016

The audience was later “interrupted” for a marriage proposal midway through ‘A Sky Full Of Stars’.

Yet another AHFOD tour proposal! R42 #ColdplayMelbourne pic.twitter.com/DPp4PpY3JW

— Coldplay (@coldplay) December 9, 2016

Aside from that, the show is the show and is literally explosive from the start.

#ColdplayMelbourne off to an explosive start. R42. pic.twitter.com/bHUDjr9xaH

— Coldplay (@coldplay) December 9, 2016

Chris Martin can unite a 55,000 strong crowd but it is the faceless three who create the sound. Coldplay has only ever been Chris Martin, Guy Berryman Jonny Buckland and Will Champion. While Martin was elevated to Rock Star then Celebrity, Berryman, Buckland and Champion have managed to maintain their anonymity and musician status. Chris Martin must be envious of their non-tabloid lives. Maybe it is their invisibility that allows this band to develop creatively. All of the time when Martin is “on show” the Faceless Three delivers the signature sound that has made them one of the biggest bands in the world today.

#ColdplayMelbourne in fine voice. R42. pic.twitter.com/wlTL1XNPXn

— Coldplay (@coldplay) December 9, 2016

The setlist just touches on the early days with only ‘Yellow’ surviving this set from the first album ‘Parachutes’ while the second album ‘A Rush of Blood To The Head’ was still represented with three songs.

Every new Coldplay show focuses on the recent album. ‘A Head Full of Dreams’ is well represented with seven tracks creating the point of difference from previous tours. We missed the ‘Ghost Stories’ tour in Australia so most Aussie fans were hearing ‘Magic’ and ‘Midnight’ live for the first time as well.

Fans still have a decent dose of greatest hits and on this tour, a tribute to David Bowie with ‘Heroes’ Coldplay-style.

There are still rock acts before Coldplay who can pull off a show this size. There are none after them who can do it.

Coldplay setlist Melbourne, 9 December 2016

A Head Full of Dreams (from A Head Full of Dreams, 2015)
Yellow (from Parachutes, 2000)
Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall (from Mylo Xyloto, 2011)
The Scientist (from A Rush of Blood To The Head, 2002)
Birds (from A Head Full of Dreams, 2015)
Paradise (from Mylo Xyloto, 2011)

B-Stage
Always in My Head (from Ghost Stories, 2014)
Magic (from Ghost Stories, 2014)
Everglow (from A Head Full of Dreams, 2015)

A-Stage
Clocks (from A Rush of Blood To The Head, 2002)
Charlie Brown (from Mylo Xyloto, 2011)
Hymn for the Weekend (from A Head Full of Dreams, 2015)
Midnight (from Ghost Stories, 2014)
Fix You (from X&Y, 2005)
“Heroes”(David Bowie cover)
Viva la Vida (from Viva La Vida Or Death and All His Friends, 2008)
Adventure of a Lifetime (from A Head Full of Dreams, 2015)
Imagine (John Lennon cover) (with Emmanual Kelly)

C-Stage
In My Place (from A Rush of Blood To The Head, 2002)
Us Against The World (from Mylo Xyloto, 2011)

A-Stage
Amazing Day (from A Head Full of Dreams, 2015)
A Sky Full of Stars (from Ghost Stories, 2014)
Up & Up (from A Head Full of Dreams, 2015)