Coldplay and the Use of Live Music as a Uniting Force

I went to see Coldplay live the other night, and let me tell you; it was a religious experience. Believe it or not, this is the first time I’ve been to a real concert like this. Before this, I’d only seen formal performances in auditoriums, and of course, high school level performances. Standing in an arena with thousands of other people as one of your favorite bands performs their hearts out is an otherworldly experience, in this case quite literally.

For those who don’t know, Coldplay’s new album revolves around a space theme. Each track on the album represents a certain body in a fictional solar system. I swear I’m working on a full review of it that I hope to publish in the next week, but long story short, it’s tied for my favorite album of all-time. The point is that the idea behind making it space-themed is summed up by one sentence: “Everyone is an alien somewhere.” Essentially, through this album and more importantly the tour, Coldplay is trying to celebrate everyone’s differences yet at the same time use music to bring the world together.

That idea of using music as a tool to bring people together is one that really resonates with me and has only become more and more relevant through the course of the past two years. It’s why playing in ensembles has been so important to me and will continue to be something I will involve myself in throughout my life in whatever way, shape, or form. That said, playing music is by no means the only way to experience music. Listening to music is just as important, because after all, what’s the point of art if there’s no audience to behold it’s beauty. That’s what makes concerts like this so special; people are enjoying music together in every way possible.

Music as a way to unite people has been one of Coldplay’s core values for years and it shows. I’ve been aware of this for a while, specifically since their performance at the Super Bowl 50 half-time show. They had just released their album, “A Head Full of Dreams.” Listening to music wasn’t something I did regularly at the time, and it would be a while before I fully invested myself in music. But little sixth grade me saw something amazing in that performance; thirteen beautiful minutes with thousands of people coming together to help create a magic that spread all over the world. That was when I first felt the power of music as a uniting force. But I digress. The point is that Coldplay understands better than almost anyone that music is a universal language, and they’re using it to change the world for the better.

I also want to take some time to speak about my own experience at what was simply a phenomenal night. It was almost indescribable. More than just being there with fifty thousand other people singing songs we all loved, the show they put on was incredible. If you are planning on going to a stop on this tour, I’d advise you skip the rest of this paragraph to avoid spoiling the show for yourself. I’ll talk through a few of the highlights. First, the beginning; they started with “Music of the Spheres”, the title track of the album and also the first on the record. Everyone had these LED wristbands that were part of the visuals for a lot of the songs they played, and they lit up with the pulses on this first track. On the album, this track transitions smoothly into the next track, “Higher Power”, and that’s exactly what they did at the concert. Except it was so much more than that. They really cranked it up to a higher power for that song. Less than 5 minutes into Coldplay’s performance and it already feels like the music is blowing me away. The lights have me enthralled, and the choruses even featured fireworks. Talk about starting with a bang. I’m singing and dancing along with everyone else on the floor because the music took a hold on my body in the best way possible. To add to the experience, I almost cried singing along to the lyric that goes “I’m so happy that I’m alive / Happy I’m alive at the same time as you” because that was exactly how I felt in that moment. Next was “Human Heart”. If you haven’t heard it, it was written and recorded with only vocals which is part of what makes it so powerful. That power was only amplified when it’s a chorus of 50,000 people singing about how despite our differences, our hearts are all human. I don’t even have the words to describe how powerful something like that is. But that’s not all. When they were playing “A Sky Full of Stars”, they had everyone put away their phones and just be in the moment without paying attention to the recording they were trying to make, and oh what a difference it made. There was a noticeable difference in how engaged everyone was. With the music being played live and the wristbands all twinkling white, it really felt like I was a part of a star-filled sky. Not to mention the star-shaped confetti during the final chorus. That was all the proof I needed that magic exists in this world, and that magic manifests itself through music.

I know I’ve been away for a while and I keep promising that I’ll be back for real, but that never ends up happening. I’m not gonna promise anything this time, but taking a break from my typical analysis of music to talk about live music was definitely a necessary change of pace and I think there will definitely be a greater variety of music-related posts in the near future. I’ll also be rewriting my drafts of the album reviews that have just been sitting for months, so those should be out soon too. But that’s it for now, so I’ll catch you at the double barline!