Coldplay Live at Shepherd's Bush (2021) - Review
- Sam Bateson
- Aug 11, 2022
- 6 min read
Updated: Feb 3, 2023
I know what you're thinking: on the 12th Jesus Christ, he really is plumbing new depths this week, but do bear with me dear reader.
Towards the end of 2021, Coldplay announced their ninth studio album, Music of the Spheres. As a normal part of proceedings, they did a series of promo shows to, erm, promote the album. Having pre-ordered it, I received an email explaining that they had planned a special launch show at the pokey little 2000-person venue, the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire in London, with tickets available to those who had pre-ordered the album.
I don't think there's a person alive who did not know I wanted a ticket. In fact, I didn't think there was a situation that resulted in me not getting one. Still, I did not sleep a wink the night before, feverishly loading Ticketmaster and waiting for the queue to open. To my delight, I ended up at the front and quickly snatched up a ticket. I then found out that the two thousand tickets were desired by at least thirty-six thousand hungry Coldplay fans who weren't as lucky as I. There were probably more...,
Still, on the 12th October, clutching at my digital ticket, I headed for London, where I found about a dozen of those thirty-six thousand standing outside the venue positively begging for spare tickets. Had I not been so cheap and bought a spare, I would have invited one in (genuinely), but alas. I digress.
I entered the venue, dutifully collecting my Love button and Pixmob-manufactured Xyloband and I managed to secure a place about five or six rows back from the stage barrier; to my left was a wall of speakers, taller than most skyscrapers. On stage, I recognised Hoppy, a famous name in Coldplay circles, doing his thing with Jonny's guitars. Will's Timpano and church bell hovered in the shadows, which to most people means nothing but to us fans means that Viva La Vida is going to get an outing. All around me, people were calling friends and family, livestreaming their night; I send a few photos off to people, not least of which my second-mum Jayne, who insisted I bring one of the band members home with me for her. I said I would do what I could.
After an hour of waiting, a booming voice came over the sound system; "Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Shepherd's Bush Empire. Please welcome to the stage; Simon Pegg." At that, I laughed, thinking it was some kind of joke, but then Simon Pegg strode on stage. An enormous cheer went up, and he waved at the audience, microphone in hand. He spoke for a while about the first time Coldplay had ever performed at Shepherd's Bush twenty years previously. He explained that after the show, he and Chris Martin went to a cash machine and Chris, ever the droll guy, said "Simon, I don't know what I'm gonna do if it gets much bigger than this." One hundred million records later, I wonder now what he thinks?
Semi-interesting note: Since that night, Coldplay appeared again at the Bush in 2009, along with Bono, The Killers, Gary Barlow and Al Murray.
He assured us that Coldplay had a new member of the band joining them for the first time tonight; then, the moment; "Now, please welcome Coldplay." He left the stage. The lights went out. The cheers went up; the ambient, electronic Music of the Spheres introduction 🪐 (MOTS I) kicked in, light at first, followed by thunderous, echoing bass notes that you could physically feel in the air accompanied by purple flashes of light from the 360 degree rig hanging above the stage. A giant image projected onto the wall behind the stage extended onto the proscenium and stage mantle, and it was at that moment I realised the Xylobands were flashing white; I looked behind me and a sea of light pulsed in time with the tune. I turned back around to see the band take to the stage; Chris entered last, mere moments before Higher Power kicked in (and yes, I mean kicked. The bass nearly threw me over).
After Higher Power was Clocks, replete with Chris having furious sex with his piano as he thrust his body on the stool in time with the beat, followed by Fix You. This is when the newest member of the band took to the stage. A little-known guy by the name of Ed Sheeran. He strummed along for the second verse onwards, to much excitement from the audience. Then, in a flurry of Snapchat pictures, he was off again. Viva la Vida was next up, during which I'm certain Chris looked at me (he looked at me!). If you've never heard the woah-woah-oh-oh chorus live, you've never lived; even with a tiny crowd of two thousand singing along, it's a major event. Adventure of a Lifetime, The Scientist, and Paradise followed, the thundering bass still threatening to take the roof off; then, some more new songs from the then-unreleased Music of the Spheres. ❤️ (Human Heart) was first up, with Chris joined on stage by Fleur East, no less, and Los Angeles duo We Are KING for a bit of stripped back, vocoder harmonising. By contrast, the heavy, glam rock People of the Pride was a Muse-esque diversion that took us a bit by surprise but became one of my favourite parts of the evening. A stripped-down acoustic version of Yellow preceded Ed's return to the stage to divert into a couple of his songs; his new single Shivers (not to be confused with the early Coldplay song of nearly the same name…) and the insufferable Shape of You. Then, he was off again.
To conclude the show, we were treated to Coldplay's latest mega-hit collaboration My Universe, featuring K-pop band BTS projected on the wall behind the stage. It was during this song we were made aware that actress Dakota Johnson was in the circle above the standing area (Christ, thought I, Coldplay, Simon Pegg, Ed Sheeran, Fleur East, We Are KING and Dakota Johnson? God alone knows how much the insurance for the event must have cost…), My Universe being dedicated to her. After a flurry of Coldplay-patented confetti during Avicii-produced A Sky Full of Stars, we hit the grand finale; Chris warned us that now was our chance to escape; "This is me saying you may leave now but in ninety seconds, those doors are locking motherfucker, and you'll be forced to ingest some of the biggest slices of soft rock the world has ever known". He's referring, of course, to Coloratura, a ten minute prog-rock excursion into the distant universe, a Pink Floyd-esque epic that shouldn't work today but did surprisingly well. Across soaring guitars and synth melodies, the multi-suite sci-fi journey was the perfect closer, both on the album and to the show.
Then, with a final bow, they were gone. Vanished from the stage like magicians, leaving a flurry of fans, their Xylobands still glimmering in different colours, dutifully calling after the band with their now-ubiquitous Viva chant. By now, my phone is due to die; I settled on only recording some bits from my favourite songs, but that's all they played. So I thought I had better get back to the hotel right away to get it on charge. I headed outside (regrettably completely missing out on the Live at O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire merch stand) and from the bar beside the venue, I hear Coldplay's Yellow again; are they doing an encore there? So I head inside. No, the band haven't swiftly set up an impromptu performance there, but the owners are celebrating the show by playing some of their hits. It seems rude to not partake in the festivities, so I sit for a couple of drinks, ignoring my Mum's warnings that I will inevitably be robbed and left lying in a ditch if I so much as look at a Londoner wrong. But do you know what? I loved it.
The whole purpose of posting this review now is that tomorrow (as of the 11th August), I'm returning to London to see Coldplay again, at the opening of the UK leg of their Music of the Spheres World Tour at Wembley Stadium. The first time I had seen them was in another stadium in Manchester, and you can bet your unlucky ass I'm going to review tomorrow's show too. It'll be very interesting to compare the two shows; intimate singalong with two thousand fans on the one hand and massive stadium spectacular along with ninety thousand others on the other.
The thing that amazes me most about the show is that Coldplay have managed to pack in their trademark epic stadium production into a space smaller than their normal staging. There's lasers, multi-million pound sound systems (in cost and doubtless in weight), confetti, Xylobands and arena-hits abound. Yet it's all been crammed into a school-hall style singalong with some incredibly lucky fans. I remember when their sixth album, Ghost Stories was touring small venues across the world (a whole seven!) and thinking one day, I want to see Coldplay in a venue as small as some of those (think the Albert Hall) and finally I had. But where those shows were stripped back, intimate and small-scale, this was enough to rival a full stadium show. Only Coldplay could pull it off.
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