I'm not really a big fan of Coldplay. "Yellow" is one of my favourite songs, but in my humble opinion they've never managed to write another song as great as that one. Most people like their later songs though, that's why they have become a supergroup. And not many supergroups come to Greece to play live, at least if they're not of the hard rock / heavy metal type and certainly not in their prime. On top of that they put on a great show; for me, with this band, it's more about the show than about the music. And this was promised to be the show of the year here in Greece, the big summer concert of the year. (You know the type, Madonna in 2008, AC/DC in 2009, U2 in 2010, Bon Jovi in 2011). So how come I was left without a ticket?
Well, the concert was announced while I was in Italy for the Bruce Springsteen concert in Monza. It quickly sold out and then I thought "It's OK, I'll get tickets for the second one". The second one was announced while I was in Terni on my vacation after the Monza concert. And it sold out while I was still there! And there wasn't going to be a third one. Later in the year, the Athens Olympic Stadium was found to have some problems which made it doubtful that the concerts would even take place. When these were fixed, I thought that I would try to find one at the last moment from someone who didn't want theirs. And that's exactly what I did, looking specifically for one from the first date on the 8th of June, since on the 9th I had already bought a ticket to see Offspring at Release Athens Festival. I searched on the Facebook event page and found somebody who seemed like a real person willing to sell his. I arranged to meet him outside the stadium to buy it there. (No paper was exchanged, he transferred the PDF to me using Viber).
So how come did Coldplay manage to sell out two consecutive nights in Greece (they do that regularly in other countries) when, as I have mentioned before Greeks do not usually go to pop concerts? Has something changed? Well, yes and no. A lot of Greek people decided to attend and most of them were of a young age (and that can only be a good thing), but the truth is that a lot of the tickets were bought by people from other countries. Quite a lot of them from Israel, I also saw some Italians, French and Germans to name but a few and the ever present lately (and always welcome to our continent) Americans who have flooded European concerts this year hitting two birds with one stone: Tourism in Europe, while at the same time avoiding dynamic pricing of concert tickets in the States. All in all, it's cheaper for them to buy concert and plane tickets to Europe while at the same time paying for accommodation, rather that attending concerts in their own country.
Well, with my newly-bought ticket on my phone I got in, received my special wristband (nothing to do with the seating section; it was one with LED lights that is activated during the performance), found my seat and got ready to enjoy the show.
Then it was time for Maisie Peters, a 24 year old Englsh singer. Her own songs were exceptionally good and she also performed a cover version of "Mr Brightside" by The Killers.
The sun had by now gone down, it was fully dark and that meant that it was finally time for Coldplay. And what a show it was! They played across three different stages, the wristbands came into operation depending on the song being performed, the projection screens were a big part of the whole experience (along with the wristbands of course) and there were a lot of added extras like the "jumbotrons" where the dancing done by the audience would power some of the energy needed for the show. They even invited two members of the audience to sing with them at some point and they also sang personally adapted songs to random people displayed on the screens. Somewhere among all these was "Yellow" and you can guess with which colour the LED's on the wristbands were blinking while it was played. It wasn't only about "Yellow" though. Most Coldplay fans like their later songs better that's why the concert didn't disappoint the audience at any moment. "A Sky Full Of Stars" was even performed in two parts, (or twice if you like) the second one "without mobiles". And if you thought it would be quite dark without the mobiles you'd be wrong as the wristbands provided ample illumination. As far as I'm concerned, the only weak spot was the song with the puppet, but then again that's just my humble opinion.
In the end while exiting the stadium we were supposed to return the wristbands in order for them to be recycled, but I must confess that I held on to mine, partly as a memento and partly because I want to take it apart at home, see how it works and maybe reactivate it.
All in all, it was a wonderful and certainly memorable experience and its success could perhaps pave the way for more concerts by big names who are still in their prime to come to Greece (fingers crossed). Think about this: If you went to see Coldplay, you may have paid not just for Coldplay, but for these other acts to (hopefully) come in the future...
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SETLISTS:
MAISIE PETERS
01. Coming Of Age
02. Body Better
03. Love Him I Don't
04. You're Just A Boy (And I'm Kinda The Man)
05. Yoko
06. Mr. Brightside
07. Holy Revival
08. Not Another Rockstar
09. There It Goes
10. History Of Man
11. Lost The Breakup
COLDPLAY
01. Higher Power
02. Adventure Of A Lifetime
03. Paradise
04. The Scientist
05. Viva La Vida
06. Hymn For The Weekend
07. Everyday Life
08. Charlie Brown
09. Yellow
10. Human Heart
11. People Of The Pride
12. Clocks
13. Infinity Sign
14. Something Just Like This
15. Midnight
16. My Universe
17. A Sky Full Of Stars
18. Sparks
19. The Jumbotron Song
20. Fix You
21. Biutyful
