Oh, to have been a fly on the wall at the production meetings for Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres tour, currently winding up a run of six sold-out nights at London’s Wembley stadium. Umpteen stakeholders would have pondered the tour’s environmental aspects in the wake of Coldplay’s 2019 announcement that they would stop touring while they worked out how to make it less worse for the planet.
Sceptics should note that the band’s light-up wristbands, always magical, are now made of compostable plastic. Anyone with any passing knowledge of Coldplay gigs knows that the play of the colour across the venue, like a murmuration of starlings, is one of the greatest spectacles in stadium showmanship. The floor is wired to harness the kinetic energy of 90,000 bouncing souls. If only they could wire up Chris Martin himself, who exudes gigawatts of energy running around, belting out the hits. The band reportedly ferry stuff around using as little carbon as possible – although if any act could pull off a fleet of Phileas Fogg-style solar-powered hot-air zeppelins, it’s this one, with their Tiggerish optimism and penchant for unleashing brightly coloured balloons. The giant beach balls come out on Adventure of a Lifetime, two songs into this generous, career-spanning set – one that baffles as much as it dazzles.
