Coldplay @ Estadio Nilton Santos
The British band Coldplay have been doing it for decades. In the United States, their name comes with a million connotations. Fans of the band deal with plenty of naysayers calling the band’s music “sad and boring”. Others say the band is just another classic example of “a band that traded in their indie touch for the glittery, fluorescent fame of radio pop hits.”
Those people probably have not seen Coldplay live. Add in a raucous Brazilian crowd and those adjectives could not be further from the truth.
These are fans that have none of these perceptions or preconceived notions. They waited more than a year for this show after Coldplay was forced to postpone the original dates due to Chris Martin’s lung infection.
They waited in line for hours just to secure a place near the stage. A fan’s sign reads “I waited 15 years for this”.
Martin and his bandmates Will Champion, Johnny Buckland, and Guy Berryman are currently on a massive Music of the Spheres World Tour supporting their latest album which was released in 2021. It is their biggest show yet with a production level rarely seen in the live music scene.
The difference is seen right away as Coldplay treats their opener Higher Power, with the grand scale worthy of a set closer. Confetti cannons fire, unleashing a barrage of paper butterflies floating through the sky. Fireworks ignite the Rio sky, and the now famous light-up wristbands dance along with the beat in a shimmering display linking the crowd with the show. And that is just for song one.
Martin dances along the catwalk of the massive stage never missing a moment to engage with the crowd. He has some of the moves you would expect from a middle aged father of two but he exudes a contagious energy that never slows the entire show. He is what a front man strives to be.
The band moves through hit after hit they have accumulated through their nine album discography. The first act of the show ends with the beautiful ballad ‘The Scientist’ which births a massive choir sing-along that would deafen any American crowd.
The choir outdoes themselves as the band brings out their biggest song ‘Viva La Vida’ early in the set. The famous “oh–ooo-oh’s” echo through the stadium with a force as the band unleashes more energy behind a brilliant light show from the smaller B-stage at the end of the catwalk.
Martin offers a touching moment as he brings two fans on stage to sit alongside him on the piano as he plays solo. The lead singer dusts off a deep cut from the Viva La Vida album ‘Strawberry Swing’, the first time they have played the song since 2016. Despite his superstardom, Martin is as welcoming to the fans as your grandmother is when you visit for Christmas.
The band quickly turned up the sound again, igniting a jumping dancing scene as they rock through more hits from their eras where they embraced more of their pop rock side. For the song ‘People of the Pride’, they even turn on their best Muse-impression with heavier guitars and pyrotechnics lighting the stage. The flames shoot up behind Buckland as he shreds his telecaster.
The highlight of the show comes later as Martin asks all the fans to put away their phones for just one song before the band unleashes the Avicii-produced smash ‘A Sky Full of Stars’. The rumbling from the fans dancing shakes the floor of the stadium as again confetti rains down even heavier than before, and the glowing wristbands dance like a meteor shower.
Before the climatic close, the guys sneak away to a hidden C-stage amongst the crowd for a quieter acoustic set. They bring along Brazilian artists, the Veloso family, to sing a song in Portuguese ‘Todo Homem’. Opening band CHVRCHES also joins in on the fun as lead singer Lauren Mayberry sings a duet with Martin on ‘Cry, Cry, Cry’. A lesser known cut from Coldplay’s album Everyday Life.
The show comes to a fantastic finish with the powerful song ‘Fix You’ and the uplifting ‘Biutyful’ accompanied by the largest firework display of the evening and the most joyous notes from the voices of the crowd.
The band takes their time leaving the stage, taking bows in Broadway style. It is not pretentious but well earned. This was not a typical concert but a full-scale prediction. Murmurs can be heard as the crowd exits “best thing I have ever seen in my life”. Coldplay do not just play, they put on a show. Add it to your bucket list.
(Photos by Anna Lee Media)
