Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres tour certainly packs high energy. Literally.

Article by Molly Lindstrom

The British band offers a new form of engagement for their concert audience: kinetic dance floors and stationary bikes. Not only are these new installations a fun and free activity for fans, but they are also environmentally friendly. Coldplay extends their environmentalist efforts to the hands (or really, feet) of their audience, converting the energy generated by movement on the dance floors and bikes into rechargeable batteries that help power the show.

With the launch of their tour, Coldplay has pledged to cut their CO2 emissions to 50%. The band wrote on Twitter, “We’re very conscious that the planet is facing a climate crisis. So we’ve spent the last two years consulting with environmental experts to make this tour as sustainable as possible, and, just as importantly, to harness the tour’s potential to push things forward.”

Yet, there is another form of energy present at each concert that cannot be replicated. That is, the energy of a great performance. 

Most of the live shows that I’ve been to save the lights and fireworks until the very end, building up to a grand finale. But for the Music of The Spheres tour, this is just the starting point. Coldplay opens the show with “Higher Power”, lighting up the venue with fireworks and electronic bracelets worn by the audience. Enormous beach balls resembling the planets are then thrown into the crowd during “Adventure of a Lifetime”. No one seems to enjoy the tour more than lead singer Chris Martin, happily dripping in sweat from running back and forth across the stage.

When it comes to “Sky Full of Stars”, Martin interrupts the band and requests that the audience put down their devices for just this one song. To be honest, this bit felt somewhat cliché, but I did appreciate Coldplay’s effort to make the most of the concert experience. When the band restarted the song, the crowd lit up on its own (no flashlights necessary).

Special guests take the stage with Coldplay as well. At the show I attended at Metlife Stadium (6/5), I was lucky enough to watch as Martin invited The Boss to join him: “I have a tattoo on my arm which is because this person is my hero. I can’t believe we get to say it, but please welcome Mr. Bruce Springsteen.” The audience roared as the pair performed “Working on a Dream” and “Dancing in the Dark”, two of Springsteen’s hits.

Another “guest” that tours with the band is a fairy-looking puppet, who makes an appearance during the female vocals of “Let Somebody Go” and “Biutyful”. I personally found the puppet a bit strange, but it definitely made for an unforgettable and entertaining experience. 

The interesting thing about Coldplay is that they are unpredictable. You cannot place them neatly into a box. Coldplay does not really fit into a singular genre, ranging from pop to rock to even EDM. Nor do they attract a stereotype of a fanbase, consisting of a variety of music lovers from 2002 all the way to 2022. But this is exactly what makes the band so special.

Coldplay’s music and appeal is timeless, which is why they are able to put on such a great performance. One could call the Music of the Sphere’s Tour an adventure of a lifetime.