Coldplay at the Emirates Stadium, London (1/6/12)

Having bought the tickets as soon as they’d been released last October, the eight-month build-up to seeing Coldplay perform live at the Emirates Stadium in London was painstaking: the day I was going to see them was coming closer and closer at what seemed a ridiculously slow pace.

On Friday 1st June, the day finally arrived. Being a huge Coldplay fan I was adamant that I wanted to be close to the stage, and so at 11.30am I joined the queue outside the stadium. Five and a half hours later the doors were open — wearing my brand new “Coldplay Live 2012” t-shirt, I ran to the front of the stage as fast as I could, securing a spot at the barrier.

Ash and Marina and the Diamonds were the two supporting acts, but unfortunately no one paid much attention to them as the anticipation for Coldplay to come on was so high.

Eventually, at 8.50pm, Coldplay came onstage. Beginning with ‘Mylo Xyloto’ and moving on to ‘Hurts Like Heaven’, Chris Martin ran up and down the stage energetically while confetti poured down on the audience and fireworks went off behind him. The feeling in the audience was one of realisation that the money and time they’d spent for the performance was worth it. Following on from this amazing start, Coldplay played a mixture of their hits and album tracks, accompanied throughout by incredible pyrotechnics, giant balloons, confetti, lasers, and strange inflatables in the shape of human heads and butterflies. The stage had three runways coming off into the middle of the crowd, and the band played a couple of songs at the end of them. They even took a trip to the back of the arena to “say hello” to the audience in the stands.

The show was a great spectacle, fitting in with the enormous size of the football stadium, yet did not detract from the music. Audience members were all given flashing wristbands on entry to the arena, which came on at the beginning of Coldplay’s performance and again for ‘Charlie Brown’, transforming the arena into a dome of flashing lights. There was also a number of slow songs where all the distractions of lights and lasers were turned off, leaving the four-piece as the centre of attention. These moments were truly mesmerising, and the stadium’s atmosphere completely altered momentarily into appreciative awe, however was always closely followed by a firework or two to get the audience hyped up again for more jumping around.

The overall experience was amazing. I am now suffering from a serious bout of post-Coldplay depression, and cannot wait for the next time I see them perform live.

Set List:

Mylo Xyloto
Hurts Like Heaven
In My Place
Major Minus
Lovers in Japan
The Scientist
Yellow
Violet Hill
God Put a Smile Upon My Face
Princess of China
Up in Flames
Warning Sign
Don't Let It Break Your Heart
Viva la Vida
Charlie Brown
Paradise
Us Against the World
Speed of Sound
Clocks
Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall