Finally getting down to write about one of the best days of my life, my first Coldplay concert in no better place other than the one and only, Wembley Stadium!
So the concert was on Wednesday, 15 June 2016, and I flew from Singapore and arrived in London on the Saturday of that week, just in time for the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations too! It was an exciting time to be in London. Plus, the Brexit voting was going on that week. Yup, so many things were happening that week, but the only thing I’d missed by a few days was the dropping of the pounds. Oh well!
Anyhow, the show on this day was an extra one added, after the initial shows sold out. It was a pretty YOLO decision to fly here to catch the best band on earth. But I had been meaning to return to London and see more of UK ever since my last trip in 2013, so I thought the timing and everything was pretty spot on for this trip to happen!
I booked my tickets on gigsandtours a few months back sometime in May, and mailed it to my airbnb apartment in Portobello. Met up with a couple of Coldplayers from the forum, and we started at the front of the queue at about 8.30am, right outside Wembley’s designated Gate G/F! Was glad that the weather was pretty pleasant, with a little dose of English rain at about 2pm. Surprisingly though, the wait throughout the day was really bearable. It was exciting!
Near the queueing area of every gate waiting area, there’s a merchandise booth and some food trucks. We each took breaks from queueing at times to get a bite or go to the toilet. I really love the queueing etiquette of everyone in the queue, and everyone seemed to be really honest and stayed in their queue, and helped each other to hold our spots, while we go for breaks. Even when we returned to the line after taking shelter from the drizzle, everyone went back to their original spots! Coldplay fans are the best!
The gates officially opened at 5pm, so at about 4.30pm the security guards started to tell us to stand up and walk slowly towards the gate area, strictly no running. Again, everyone kind of abided by the rules, and moved kind of like in stealth mode to try and stay in line. I must say the wait to get to the swivel gates was really nerve wrecking, and I’ve never felt so excited for a show before. Then when the final tapes were removed, all of us rushed to get swivel gates, got through security quickly, grabbed our Xylobands and rushed to yet another barrier. This time, one more step closer to out spots in front of the stage! It was so, so exciting! The steps down though, was pretty much the last but hardest obstacle to get down, and afterwards it was a mad, mad sprint. We had planned to get to the side of B stage, and got what we wanted!
At about 5.30pm, Lianne La Havas opened the show with her smooth vocals, followed by Alessia Cara whose live vocals were surprisingly powerful.
A Head Full of Dreams 2016
Then the magic hour began at about 8.30pm, the intro of A Head Full of Dreams started playing throughout Wembley, to a completely sold-out stadium. The crowd became hysterical with the gradual build up in the atmosphere. Bubbles also floated in the air, the moment was just incredibly magical. This is what I had imagined a Coldplay concert to be, and more.
Setlist
- A Head Full of Dreams(extended intro with Charlie Chaplin speech)
- Yellow
- Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall
- The Scientist
- Birds
- Paradise
- Magic
- Everglow
- Clocks
- Midnight
- Charlie Brown
- Hymn for the Weekend
- Fix You
- “Heroes”(David Bowie cover)
- Viva la Vida
- Adventure of a Lifetime
- Kaleidoscope
- In My Place
- See You Soon
- Amazing Day
- A Sky Full of Stars
- Up&Up
I was so so happy that they played so many of my favourite songs, even those from the old albums! Loved it, the setlist was perfection, a balanced mix of their new and old materials. I didn’t think they would play some of the songs there, like Everglow wasn’t a single yet, so I was surprised they played it. It’s one of my favourite songs in AHFOD. In my place was a song request by a fan, what a lucky fan! And See You Soon was specially dedicated to the victims of the Orlando attack, which happened that same week.
When they played Yellow as the second song, followed by Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall, my heart almost couldn’t contain my happiness, it was a dream come true, especially the moment when the neon confetti birds and stars shot up into the sky and flew down like beautiful, beautiful, rain. Wouldn’t it be nice if water rains colourful like that?
The confetti moments were amazing. I mean I’ve seen numerous pictures of Coldplay in concert, but nothing, absolutely nothing compares to being there yourself. Life is hopeful, life is magical and life is worth it. A Coldplay concert is a reminder of all that.
Seeing the band play right in front of me was quite surreal, felt like I was in a dream, it was too real, yet unbelievable at the same time 🙂
Anyhow, I shall let the visuals do the talking. Large cameras weren’t allowed there, so they are from a combination of phone pics + Canon S110.
NEXT PLANE OUT 