We heard Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto tour was coming months ago. They were set to play in Sydney on 17 November and we bought our tickets at first pre-sale in early May. It was like bidding in the last 10 seconds on EBay. I was attempting at my office in Milsons Point while Dave, Jutta and Zach were trying to get tickets in their office in North Sydney. We kept getting kicked off or placed in an idle queue among thousands of other Sydney-siders. In the last few minutes of the ticketing window, we secured 4 tickets for Section B of the floor seating for $100 each. This is cheap in Sydney concert standards.
Months had gone by and all of the sudden, it was the weekend of the Coldplay concert. I heard they put on not just a show but a spectacle. We were not disappointed.
We arrived at 5:30pm and already there were thousands dispersed outside the Allianz Stadium gates at Moore Park. Luckily Zach and Jutta had arrived 15 minutes earlier and were already in line. Dave and I cut hundreds of people and played it cool finding our friends right inside the gates.
Just Arrived at Allianz Stadium, Sydney
The Pierces, The Temper Trap & Coldplay
We walked into Allianz Stadium seeing what looked like a Cirque de Soleil set up. Coincidentally, Cirque de Soleil was set up next door at the Entertainment Quarter. This concert was going to be a circus.
The opener was The Pierces. No one had heard of them except for me because I knew they had a few songs in Season 1 of Gossip Girl. Their music is the type you'd hear at Lilith Fair. They do have one mainstream hit Secret, which is heavily promoted for Big Brother Australia. Jutta and I tuned out while we caught up with each other's lives sitting on the floor of the stadium, while the boys went to get beers and gozleme - a new late night favourite.
Wristbands Unite
Jutta, Zach, David and Me
What Could This Be For?
Listening to Temper Trap. Pumped for Coldplay
Next up was The Temper Trap. At first I didn't like their sound, but after a song or two I started to like their beat. They are very U2 and Indie. I wanted to hear more, but this was my only chance to go to the loo before Coldplay got on stage. The longer I waited, the bigger the crowd and the longer the lines would be to the ladies room.
I was back in 20 minutes and we heard the last few The Temper Trap hits. One of their songs included water and drums! The ended with a tribute to Coldplay playing Hurts Like Heaven.
It was 8pm and knowing that concerts end around 10:30pm due to the residential proximity of the venue, we knew Coldplay would be on soon. It wasn't until 8:45pm that Coldplay came out. The wait was long, but so worth it.
They didn't hold back. Smoke, fireworks, lasers and confetti canons filled the sky. Then all of the sudden, our bracelets lit up like Christmas lights. The stadium was filled with our waving lit up bracelets. This was better than New Year's Eve!
50,000+ Enamored By Chris Martin
Reach for the Confetti!
Surprise Bouncy Balls Fill the Floor
Bouncy Balls Dispersed Through the Crowd
Confetti Fills The Air Again
Every Song in a Different Colour
Full Effect of LED Light Wristbands on the Floor
LED Light Wristbands Light the Stadium
Encore #2
Lasers and Smoke in the Sky
Clocks in a Red Backdrop
Closing with Fireworks
Coldplay's set list was spot on. They played old favourites like Yellow and The Scientist early. Elton John was in town for his concert too. Chris Martin joked to the crowd saying how irritated the band was that Elton had taken over the entire hotel except for their 4 rooms. As young artists they were in such awe of Elton and respect him so much more today. Chris played part of Rocket Man as a tribute on piano and it was amazing! They filled the middle of the set with Mylo Xyloto, X&Y, Viva La Vida album favourites like Paradise, Fix You and Paradise.
They ended at 10:00pm and the crowd was not convinced. We knew there were would be an encore. They did come back, but no on stage, but a second stage near us! Section B was worth it! We rushed over when Chris Martin appeared only 50 feet from us! The rest of the band came out one by one during Speed of Sound and another song. By the third song, they were back at the main stage of Clocks.
They rocked out the last 15 minutes of the concert on the main stage dazzling the crowd with en epic laser show with bursts of fireworks that could compete with Sydney's New Year's Eve.
To read an great review on the concert, check out the article on Sydney Morning Herald posted that night.
If you missed out, you're not too late. They played in Sydney on Sunday, 18th November and are ending their tour with Brisbane on 21 November.
Concert Exodus
*On Sunday evening of their second show in Sydney, Dave and I could hear the concert all the way in our apartment in Elizabeth Bay. We turned off the TV, listened in nostalgia and I wrote this blog post.
