★★★★★

No matter what your opinion is on Coldplay you can’t deny they have grown to become one of the largest bands in the world. They released their seventh album “A Head Full Of Dreams” last December and subsequently sold out 4 nights at London’s Wembley Stadium as well as many stadiums across the world on what is arguably their biggest ever tour.

I have to admit I was slightly worried going to in their show, I had seen them just two years ago headlining Big Weekend in support of ‘Ghost Stories’ a significantly better album than their latest offering which I wasn’t very keen on, however I was pleasantly surprised as their new material managed to provide some of their show’s highlights.

The set started strong, opening track ‘A Head Full Of Dreams’ got everyone dancing almost immediately, it was quickly followed up by early hits such as ‘Yellow’ and ‘The Scientist’ with the crowd gladly singing along to every word. ‘Paradise’ takes on a new lease of life with the band using Tiesto’s remix to kick off a electronic dance party with the crowd bouncing round the stadium alongside beaming lasers, it’s brilliant how Chris makes a segment so unlike Coldplay and their audience work.

Speaking of Chris, he has developed into a fantastic showman who is in full control of whatever audience he’s placed on front of, I put this down to his charisma, down to earth attitude and more importantly the passion he is constantly shows, When he speaks of being amazed by tonight's audience I can believe it. The rest of the band (Jonny Buckland, Will Champion and Guy Berryman) are never left out either, each getting a unique and personal introduction from Chris, they seem uneasy with the spotlight but play effortlessly throughout the night never missing a beat.

The show utilises a large B-stage which reaches deep into the heart of the stadium, it’s here where the slower numbers such as ‘Magic’ and ‘Everglow’ are beautifully performed. we then move onto what is easily the peak of the concert in it’s middle section featuring some of their biggest singalong hits such as ‘Clocks’, ’Adventure Of A Lifetime’, ‘Viva La Vida’ and ‘Fix You’ feature. It speaks for itself that all these songs are only halfway through their epic performance because any one of the previously mentioned hits could easily close out the show, the crowd eagerly lap up each one of the songs loudly repeating the “woo hoo’s” of Adventure and the stadium comes alive with the “woooooah oh” of Vida La Vida’s closing segment.

The band bring the tone down a couple of notches as the show reaches it’s conclusion, once again on the second stage, this time they bring back old favourite ‘Green Eyes’ from their second album, In a very touching and poignant tribute to the Orlando massacre, the death of Christina Grime and Jo Cox who was brutally murdered that very same day “We’d like to send love out to the family of Jo Cox, None of us are entirely sure why that stuff goes on. All we can do is send our love out and hope everyone is able to recover," Martin said. It is truly an emotional moment.

Coldplay have placed an emphasis on their fans getting to request songs over instagram, this time the choice it’s ‘God Put A Smile On Your Face’ it gets a unique acoustic treatment from the band and means ‘A Rush Of Blood To The Head’ gets a surprising fourth song on the setlist, bound to please fans of Coldplay’s earlier and darker material.

The show finishes with a high tempo ‘Sky Full Of Stars’ the crowd jumping along as a confetti stars literally fill the skies above the audience followed by the bands latest single ‘Up and Up’ a fantastic feel good anthem which fills the whole of London with the chorus of "We’re gonna get it, get it together”.

There was many Coldplay songs I would have loved to have heard tonight but were not present, I could have filled a whole extra 2 hours worth of material but that’s what I feel makes a fantastic band, one who can fill you with joy and emotion over a whole 2 hour performance but leave you wanting even more, Coldplay are one of the best live bands around, tonight proved that for me and you should make sure to catch them at your earliest opportunity.

Setlist:

A Head Full of Dreams (extended intro with Charlie Chaplin speech)

Yellow

Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall

The Scientist

Birds (with "Oceans" excerpt in intro)

Paradise (with Tiësto remix outro)

Always in My Head (tour debut; first time live since 2014)

Magic

Everglow (Single Version; preceded by band introductions)

Clocks (with "Army of One" excerpt in intro)

Midnight (partial)

Charlie Brown

Hymn for the Weekend

Fix You (with "Midnight" excerpt in intro)

"Heroes" (David Bowie cover)

Viva la Vida

Adventure of a Lifetime

Kaleidoscope (extended)

Green Eyes (dedicated to Jo Cox, Orlando,… more )

God Put a Smile Upon Your Face (audience request song; acoustic)

Amazing Day (extended intro)

A Sky Full of Stars

Up&Up