Review: Coldplay does something that had never been done before

Colplay is as reliable as it gets in the concert arena, churning out highly enjoyable and professional shows basically every time it takes the stage.

Thus, it was certainly no surprise that the London quartet — vocalist Chris Martin, bassist Guy Berryman, guitarist Jonny Buckland and drummer Will Champion — triumphed once again as its mammoth The Music of the Spheres World Tour returned to the Bay Area.

“This is concert 195 on our tour,” Martin said of the trek, which began in Costa Rica in March 2022 and will have included more than 220 shows when it winds up in September at London’s Wembley Stadium. “Or as we like to think about it, it was 194 practices before Stanford. So, we’re hoping you’re getting our best.”

Again, it was no shocker that Martin’s hopes translated to our reality on the first of two sold-out Stanford shows.

What was a surprise, however, was that the true star of the show may well have been the venue itself.

Who knew?

Well, basically no one since this was the first-ever major rock concert to be held at the new Stanford Stadium, which opened to Cardinal football fans in September 2006.

Yet, it turned out to be a delightful place to watch a show. The scenic tree-studded facility — with gorgeous live oaks in the surrounding areas and tall redwoods peaking over the rim of the venue — offered a very different experience than what you get at the 49ers’ sleek, high-tech NFL palace of Levi’s Stadium, which is where Coldplay performed the last time it came through town with this tour in May 2022. It has a decidedly college-campus vibe — and it stuck with me through the entire show.

Sure, there are some issues to be figured out if they want to continue having shows at the venue. Notably, traffic getting in and out of campus, is rough. Yet, police officers were doing a great job directing the flow of cars and pedestrians.

Hopefully, this night didn’t just represent a first for Stanford Stadium, but also the start of something new for live music fans in the Bay Area.

Either way, it was certainly a great debut as Coldplay rocked fans with a very enjoyable 22-song set that unfolded over the course of more than 2 hours.

The show was run on renewable energy, with some of the proceeds from ticket sales going to ocean cleanup, reforestation, soil restoration and other green initiatives. There were actually fans pedaling “power bikes” at Saturday’s performance, helping to generate power that would be used during Sunday’s gig. Also, Stanford University’s focus on renewable energy reportedly factored into the band’s decision to play this venue.

Coldplay, however, certainly served up its own form of renewable energy as it took the stage and rocked its highly appreciative fans with a big take on “Higher Power,” from the tour’s namesake, 2021’s “Music of the Spheres,” which is the band’s ninth full-length studio album.

The group certainly didn’t scrimp on special effects, with confetti canons firing off into the sky, giant bouncing balls making their way into the audience and pyrotechnics being used as the group continued through “Adventure of a Lifetime,” “Paradise,” “The Scientist” and other offerings. The show’s early start time, in order to comply with a 10 p.m. curfew, meant that some of the lighting effects didn’t quite achieve their intended impact during the first part of the set.

“The whole concert is designed for a little less daytime-y,” Martin admitted.

As night fell, the whole experience grew more dramatic — with the 40,000-plus wristbands given to fans beginning to pulsate in different shapes, colors and rhythms — lighting up the stadium in ways that accentuated Coldplay’s powerful pop-rock music. Fans also received glasses — which few bothered to wear, unfortunately, since they produced a really cool effect in which heart-shaped halos rose from each of the lights.

Continuing on through “God Put a Smile Upon Your Face,” “Yellow” and other fan favorites, Coldplay worked a massive main stage that featured a contoured catwalk, snaking its way through fans on the floor to a smaller circular stage near midfield.

Berryman, Buckland and Champion spent most of their time holding down the fort on the main stage, while Martin worked the catwalk and smaller stage, doing everything in his power to connect with the fans.

Martin’s friendly, amiable personality — more than his sizable musical aptitude — really represents Coldplay’s greatest asset.

He’d put that advantage to use at every turn, always in a unpretentious manner, as he brought two fans up onstage to sit around the keyboards as he sang a solo piano version of “Magic”; focused the spotlight on a dancing security guard (who had some seriously cool moves); singled out a handful of fans who were shown on video screens and, in general, showered the crowd with a steady stream of compliments.

“That’s the advantage of having full daylight,” Martin said. “I can see how sexy the people of Stanford are.”

He also displayed a charming amount of self-effacing humor — which is so refreshing from a man who leads what is arguably the world’s most popular pop-rock band.

“We hope you have the best time,” Martin said. “And if you don’t have the best time you can just say something horrible about us on the internet.”

Martin probably won’t be seeing two many negative online comments from these audience members, who were fully behind the band as it brought the main set to a close with a soaring “A Sky Full of Stars” and then continued — at first on a third stage on the far side of the field — with a generous encore segment.

It was a fitting finale to Stanford Stadium’s first big rock show. Here’s hoping there’s many more to come at the majestic venue.

Coldplay setlist, based on our notes and information from setlist.fm
1) “Higher Power”
2) “Adventure of a Lifetime”
3) “Paradise”
4) “The Scientist”
5) “Viva la Vida”
6) “Hymn for the Weekend”
7) “Magic”
8) “God Put a Smile Upon Your Face”
9) “Yellow”
10) “All My Love”
11) “People of the Pride”
12) “Clocks”
13) “We Pray”
14) “Infinity Sign”
15) “Something Just Like This”
16) “My Universe”
17) “A Sky Full of Stars”
Encore:
18) “Sparks”
19) “The Jumbotron Song”
20) “Fix You”
21) “Good Feelings”
22) “feelslikeimfallinginlove”