Coldplay fans can expect a big, colourful and ultimately entertaining performance at Mt Smart Stadium tomorrow night. Photo/Supplied
Coldplay fans can expect a big, colourful and ultimately entertaining performance at Mt Smart Stadium tomorrow night. Photo/Supplied
You may not be able to take your selfie sticks or political banners, but Coldplay fans can expect a colourful performance at Mt Smart Stadium tomorrow night.
The British quartet is returning to New Zealand for their first show since 2012 and with two full albums of songs since then - Ghost Stories and A Head Full of Dreams - there is plenty of new material for fans to sink their teeth into.
If you're wondering about set times, Coldplay are due to hit Mt Smart Stadium's stage at 8.45pm. Gates open at 5.30pm, with the first act, Jess Kent, on at 6.45pm, followed by Lianne La Havas at 7.30pm.
If you're a general admission ticket holder, you may want to get there early to grab a good position. Just remember to leave your bags, chairs and umbrellas at home.
But once Chris Martin and co hit the stage, you can expect a big stadium showcase to make it all worthwhile. Recent reviews have been positively glowing, with a number of four and five star reviews touting what an amazing experience the show is.
The Telegraph described their Manchester show as an "explosion at the Dulux factory" with "big production stadium rock, unashamed in its desire to induce a sense of cosy togetherness and a vaguely spiritual brand of euphoria".
They highlighted the many spectacles of the performance, including fireworks, confetti cannons and the LED wristbands handed out to every ticketholder.
The Guardian complained that the band's enthusiasm and cliches could be "comical at times" but the show is "mostly stupidly enjoyable, because of the visual treats, reasonably steady procession of copper-bottomed hits and their frontman's oozing charismatic niceness", ultimately giving it a four-star review.
In terms of setlist, the average for the show seems to be around 23 songs, and the band splits up new music with plenty of hits from past albums. Yellow, Paradise, Sky Full of Stars, Every Teardrop is a Waterfall and Miss You will be sprinkled throughout their latest numbers Hymn for theWeekend and Adventure of a Lifetime.
The Los Angeles Times described the band as an "all-purpose uplift ready for anyone to wear", while the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette highlighted how the group "moves through its songs with cool efficiency".
To anyone who questions how Coldplay's particular sentimentality can sell out stadiums around the world, a review of their Glastonbury headline performance from earlier this year summed it up best.
"You can, if you're so minded, mock Coldplay's innate musical conservatism, their shameless emotional button-pushing... but you'd have a hard time arguing that they don't make perfect sense in a setting like this," Guardian critic Alexis Petridis wrote. "What's the point of Coldplay is an oft-asked question among more waspish music fans and critics. Tonight the clear answer seems to be: well, this."
So fans can expect a colourful, jam packed, emotional but ultimately uplifting performance at Mt Smart tomorrow night. Just don't try and bring anything dodgy in with you or you won't get to see it.
