From watching Bollywood and Hollywood films in theatres, the new craze is now to watch music concert films in theatres. After INOX screened epic concert films from bands like Westlife and Metallica, recently on 29^th October 2022, INOX screened a live broadcast of Coldplay’s ‘Music of the Spheres’ live concert on the big screen.

Held at the Estadio River Plate stadium in Buenos Aires, the show was broadcast live to over 3,500 cinemas across more than 75 countries and regions. It’s been touted as the first concert in Latin America to be streamed live in cinemas around the world.

Coldplay kicked off their Music of the Spheres world tour this year. Their last tour was in 2017, which means many fans were eager to see their return and what a return it was.

A Coldplay concert is a multi-color, multi-generational experience as seen in this over 2 hour spectacle. The music rocks from the very first song, throwing in elements of EDM, pop, ballads, soul and more. Yet the members of Coldplay, namely vocalist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion, are at ease as they take you down the career they have crafted so well.

Once the band got on stage and kicked off with Higher Power, a hit song from their latest album ‘Music of the Spheres ‘, fans screamed seeing their idols in front of them. They went into a tizzy with colorful bracelets lighting up the stadium. Fireworks and confetti burst into the air. 

The band played a mix of their hit songs making you seated in a theatre want to get up and dance, but now you have to watch the concert and enjoy its experience. So there were all the hits, including Adventure of a Lifetime, Paradise, The Scientist, Viva la Vida, Yellow, Hymn for the Weekend, Let Somebody Go, Yellow, Clocks, Something Just Like This, A Sky Full of Stars and Fix You. They also played hits from their latest album including Let Somebody Go, Human Heart, People of the Pride, My Universe, Humankind and Biutyful. 

Going into the finer details which are truly memorable, would be when Coldplay sang Viva la Vida, the crowd continued singing the chorus much after Martin had stopped. It was truly a beautiful thing to witness. There were moments in which Martin would talk to the crowd, asking if they could put their phones and any electronic gadgets away during one song in order for everyone to feel more connected. He also acknowledged the recent incidents of gun violence and wanted to send love to everyone, especially those who have been directly affected by it. 

Chris Martin got the crowd cheering when he sang a song entirely in Spanish when he took on a spirited cover of Argentine rock band Soda Stereo’s De Música Ligera.

The band also performed an Iranian protest song Baraye with the exiled Iranian actor Golshifteh Farahani on stage and singing in Farsi.

Iran has been gripped by protests since the death in custody on 16^th September of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old of Kurdish origin who was arrested in Tehran by the “morality police” over her headscarf. Amini was allegedly beaten, taken to hospital in a coma and later died. Since then, protests led by women have been met with violence by authorities, with at least 270 people dead and 14,000 arrested, according to the group Human Rights Activists in Iran.

Chris Martin told the audience that in Iran “young women and young people are fighting for their freedom, for the right to be themselves”. After inviting Farahani on stage he told fans, “You may not know this song, but we’ve got to give it everything because we’re going to send this with love from here to Iran.” During the performance, Hajipour’s original video of him singing the song was broadcast above the stage.

Standing tall on a small stage right in the centre of the stadium, Martin prodded on his band members Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman and Will Champion who have been with him since 1997 to sing a song from the time they were beginners singing in Johnny’s garage in England. What a memory it was when they sang an acoustic song.

One of the highlights of the concert was BTS member Jin aka Kim Seokjin’s performance that had the crowd in raptures. Jin performed with his favorite band and that too live. This was probably his last performance before he heads off to the military for a couple of years. Singing the song The Astronaut was very special for him although he didn’t have his other band members around him. He was one lucky man to be signing with Coldplay.

The Astronaut appeared 22 songs into Coldplay’s set, following an appearance from H.E.R on the track Let Somebody Go. The Astronaut comes only months after BTS performed My Universe a collab with Coldplay.

In a speech shared before Jin took to the stage, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin said, “A few years ago, I felt like we had to play a certain kind of music all the time, we had to fit into a box – and I felt that way about my life also. And I met some good people and read some good books and met some great teachers, and they seemed to be happy. And the thing that made them happy was not having fear of what you don’t know and people you don’t understand yet – you just ask. And one way that really blessed my life – and our life as a band – is that about two years ago, someone suggested to us that we should work with a Korean boy band. I was full of judgment, which is often my first reaction, because I’m human. But after a while I was like, ‘Why do I feel scared about this just because they’re different?’ And so we went down this road and we did a song together called ‘My Universe’. And it’s turned out to be one of the most fun and fulfilling relationships that we have as a band, and it’s taught us so much about… Just embrace the other, rather than be scared of it. And so, about six months ago, one of their members called me up and he said, ‘I have to leave the band in December to join the army in Korea because that’s the rules there. And he said, ‘I need a song that says goodbye to everybody for a little while, and tells them that I love them… And so I said, ‘Okay, we’ll do a song together.’ And instead of being worried about it, I feel so excited about it, so grateful for this relationship that we have with BTS. And then this song arrived, and I was like, ‘This is one of our best songs – let’s give it to this gentleman.'”

Jin performing with Coldplay was memorable with BTS fans going crazy seeing their idol in the flesh.

The whole concert was truly incredible. There were pyrotechnics, bright colorful lights, fireworks, confetti, the fireworks sometimes traded for inflatable balloons that fell genuinely into fans hands. Coldplay put on a great show and proved to be the top band to every watch out for.

My favorite part from what I saw was Chris mentioning all the countries the band visited, including India, mentioning the country not once but twice. One of the core messages of ‘Music of the Spheres’, Coldplay’s ninth album, released last year, is ‘Everyone is an alien somewhere’ which was inscribed  on his T-shirt.

One also could not miss out on the puppetry interspersed in between songs, innovative as it is. ‘Music of the Spheres’ is set in space (sort of) and co-stars the non – human Angle Moon, who “sings” a couple of tracks. Angel Moon is the work of the Jim Henson studio. Martin duets with her (operated by a puppeteer) on Biutyful, a gentle love song about the redemptive powers of love in the face of everything going to hell.

The cinematography of the concert was to die for, shot in various angles and aerials shots, it put the audience seated in the theatre right there in the centre of the concert. It was a whole lot of fun to witness 90,000 people dance, sing and shout out to a band they love. It was an audio visual at its best.

The British hit makers powered their stage production almost entirely with renewable, low emission energy, with fans getting an opportunity to dance on kinetic energy floors and ride on stationary bikes in order to help power lights and overall bring more awareness to the band’s environmental initiatives.

Coldplay made it a night to remember and are a band on top of the world, at this concert they showed off the greatest spectacles in stadium showmanship. 

At the live broadcast you felt you were in the audience. Thanks to INOX, India, who broadcast the show, which in true Dolby Atmos, gave you goosebumps, with the thunderous sound that got your heart racing.

Reviewed by Verus Ferreira