Concert Review | Cool Games at the Olympic Stadium
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Coldplay is very eco-friendly
British band Coldplay is one of the most successful bands of all time. Now Coldplay wants to be the greenest band of all time. The band will play three times at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium. By Simon Brewer
Typically, stadium concerts end with fireworks and confetti showers — and Coldplay has that right at the start. It shimmers, shimmers, flashes and bangs as frontman Chris Martin runs across the Olympic Stadium on a long catwalk for the first time – with “Higher Power” from current album “Music of the Spears”.
At the beginning of the second act, dozens of giant balloons fly through the area, which are happily pushed back and forth by the audience. For those new to Coldplay it’s fun, interesting and definitely huge; But anyone who’s seen the band live multiple times knows that Coldplay concerts are always like brightly colored children’s birthday parties.
Confetti for everyone
Nothing can really be said against it: against the confetti and pyrotechnics and a nice humorous break from grey, dull everyday life. In fact. But before the concert, two video screens detail how the audience is doing by attending the concert and how Coldplay is trying to play venues around the world in an environmentally friendly way. Every ticket sold plants a tree, supports animal welfare and cleans the oceans; Electricity is generated at the stadium through small wind turbines, solar panels and moving dance floors – meaning fans can recharge their Gold Play batteries by jumping and dancing.
Consistency and laser sights don’t go together
There are even two bicycles bolted to the back of the stadium – called power bikes, which can also be used to generate electricity. But with video screens, lasers and, last but not least, a sound system, the entire starting field of the Tour de France would have to be on these power bikes to deliver the energy that Coldplay can capture in a song. Talking about consistency and at the same time blowing fireworks into the Berlin sky with every second song – it just doesn’t go together.
Remote controlled fireflies
Nevertheless, the two-hour concert has its good and touching moments: for example, the now more than 20-year-old Coldplay song “Yellow”, an all-time hit; The idea of equipping all visitors with LED wristbands and making them part of the light show: brilliant – even if it turns everyone into remote-controlled fireflies. During the encores, Chris Martin sang with the Ukrainian Children’s Choir. Coldplay: Too Good For This World – The only thing the band needs to do is conserve energy.
Broadcast: rbbKultur, July 11, 2022, 6:00 am
