Live Review: Coldplay – Music of the Spheres in Perth
Night 1 of Coldplay Music of the Spheres World Tour on 18 November 2023, at Optus Stadium Perth Western Australia
Review by Sheldon Ang
Photography by Sheldon Ang Photography
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The charismatic frontman sits on the runway, legs entwined like a Buddha in a muscle tee, skinny jeans, and colourful sneakers. Soaking the energy, he plunges into a meditative mode, palming his hands together and raising them for an incantation of the third kind. He reaches to the peak of spirituality, climaxing to ecstasy as if his prayers have manifested into reality. The seventy-five thousand strong choir sing the chants of a cappella, echoing in the majestic collosseum, “oh-oh-oh…oh-oh, oh” – on repeat, luring him towards the edge of the runway, as the eyes of pulsating lights of equal measure shine, drawing life of their own. Perhaps the brilliant spectrum is sending messages for the world to aspire; for peace, sustainability, eco, equanimity and love. Surrounded by his 3 stage brothers and a generation of new friends, the night evolves into a collective chamber of dreams under a sky full of stars.
The biggest band has just landed in the most beautiful stadium on the planet.
Welcome to Optus Stadium Perth, Western Australia.
Music of the Spheres is an out of this world production. The show defies gravity – as we are immersed into a sense of levitation throughout this spectacle of sonic and visual brilliance, awed by a display of thematically controlled colours emitting from wrist bands, rich sounds, and performances beyond the spectacles of the past. This writer shall recall those moments, sipping via the conscious and entrenching into his subconscious. But words don’t do justice. But he will try.
Perth is the sole Australian city hosting Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres World Tour, courtesy of the State Government of Western Australia, with two shows at Optus Stadium selling out within minutes. Fact: Coldplay could have sold out over ten, fifteen folds in this seventy five thousand capacity venue, with over two million in the registration queue. Music of the Spheres tour is a world phenomenon with multiple shows sold out in every host city across the globe, including ten nights at the mighty River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires. No doubt Coldplay have the biggest army of peace on this planet.
Lights out…
A three-minute video is broadcast with message of sustainability and the environment while Light Though The Veins by Jon Hopkins is played in the background. The Flying theme of ET – composed by John Williams followed, with live feed broadcasted on the big screen of members walking through the underground labyrinth of Optus Stadium, and passing through the photo pit, finally rising to the end of the runway (Stage B). Indeed it was a chic, classy stadium entrance, without the fanfare of a stadium entrance.
The excitement was electrically palpable. The screams were real. Hysteria personified.
The mighty collective roar exploded with the opening track Higher Power from their latest album, against the colossal and brilliant backdrop of Optus Stadium. The pulsating colours of the battery powered wrist bands given to every audience were individually controlled by a remote centre. The benchmark for the rest of the show was set, as fans dived into the chorus that personifies hype, motivation, hope. The next track was Adventure of a Lifetime.
The surrealness was real. We were finally there.
By the third song, the stadium was echoed by over seventy-five thousand fans at the thumping introduction of Paradise. For the curious, the concert shifted gears at the familiar hook chorus, para…para…paradise…that was stuck on repeat, courtesy of loudest back up vocalist in the history echoed at Optus Stadium. Will Champion on drums was ferocious, fusing with the chorus of ecstasy, as fans drenched in euphoria through the infusion of the choir in woah oh oh oh – that was stuck on repeat. In a world of divisive spectrum, the people of Perth were reunited under the spellbinding musicianship of Coldplay. They are indeed the peacemaker of modern times.
The momentum of exultation endured with The Scientist – the piano driven ballad, perhaps the first Coldplay hit for lovers of the past from their second album A Rush of Blood to The Head. Ranked as one of the greatest songs of all time, it was a moment of respite after a phenomenal start, but only for a fleeting moment as fans were drenched by the finale of cataclysmic endurance that Coldplay specialised in. It may be a track of a man’s despair, in a hopeless world of love, but the combination of the onstage activity, the stars above became a song of inspiration, sealed by Chris Martin’s pacifying vocals. The switch between the lighting pace earlier and the melancholic train in this piece was mellifluous, with each key stroke resonating the supposedly thematically depressed mood of this song, trickling to every audience.
And that was just Act 1. Take a breather. An ephemeral respite of adrenalin.
There was a sense that the night was nearing, given the next track was the absolute banger in Viva La Vida as the band graced onto B Stage. But the unbridled shaninagans have just started. The seventy-five thousand strong choir sang the chants of a cappella, oh-oh, oh oh-oh, oh on repeat for minutes – resonating the loudest collective vocals ever heard in Australia. Optus Stadium soared in a grandiose instrumental arrangement, speared by the painful lyrics through Chris Martin’s clarion call.
Viva la Vida is Spanish for Long Live Life. Tonight, Perth holds the fort.
For the curious who invested time and money to be part of the festivities, they would soon realised that Coldplay – a band selling over 100 million records since 1997 – have a host of bangers. Yellow is one of them, with the entire stadium turned (as you guessed it) yellow through the remote-controlled wristbands. The melancholic pop infusion resonated the mood of the night; brightness, devotion and hope, as the stadium burst through the unrequited love for one another in a drenched sponge of solidarity. The electric guitar riff by Jonny Buckland was addictively aligned with Chris Martin’s (once again) pacifying vocals.
The casual listeners would’ve also sing out loud to Something Just Like This – the collaboration with Chainsmokers – a track that has amassed over 3 billion streams across all platforms . The four members performed in The Masked Singer-like masks, later jokingly thanking the “big dudes” in the audience of putting up with the mask which included a Miss Piggy look alike.
The love theme continued, as he requested everyone to raise their hands, mimicking the love symbol. “We want you to send love to anywhere in the world you wish, it may be your mum, sister, Gaza, West Bank or wherever you want it to be, even if you are a big muscley dude”. The pacifist carried a Palestine flag in one of their songs in support of the ravaged occupied territory.
The beautiful state of Western Australia was dedicated by Coldplay. Chris Martin performed an acoustic solo – a satirical, “made for WA” track about the state, singing with the lyrics, “you might just have one tamed animal – and that’s Tame Impala (huge cheers)…but I’ve never seen Western Australia…they got 2 great teams playing in the AFL…and they raised the man who sang highway to hell, and they got Justin Langer…and did I forget anyone else…oh yeah – Dennis Lillee…now we love your country, your country is beautiful – but we got to stop somewhere – so we decided in the West”
Coldplay energised the world’s most beautiful stadium like no other. Frontman Chris Martin personifies a likeability factor – without drawing the egoistical persona. He comes without the eccentricity of a rock star, the kind who casually dresses for any occasion, and a man of constant smiles. In short, the leader of the world’s biggest band oozes as a relatable person who connects at a personal level. This is fitting to the current generation of music culture, where simplicity rather than flamboyance ticks for the younger generation. And their music is simply beautiful. With the fusion of all facets, it is no wonder Coldplay is the world’s best selling act.
As for this writer, Coldplay’s Music of the Sphere inspire the audience to utter greatness outside the realms of immediate capability, be it for personal success, sustainability or humanity.
Sheldon Ang Media expresses his gratitude to Live Nation Australia, Revolutions Per Minute, and Coldplay for the Press Accreditation and Reviewer seats.
About the Writer/Photographer: Sheldon Ang Media (est. May 2022) have been accredited to photograph and review the hottest acts in Perth including Red Hot Chili Peppers, Post Malone, Sting, Harry Styles, Backstreet Boy, KISS and Florence + The Machine with reviews shared by the likes of UB40, Delta Goodrem, Toni Childs, and The Fabulous Caprittos and on social media. He has interviewed rockers Ace Frehley (KISS), John Steel (The Animals), Frank Ferrer (Guns N Roses), Phil X (Bon Jovi), Andrew Farris (INXS), Floor Jansen (Nightwish), Ian Moss (Cold Chisel) and forty other legends.
