I saw Coldplay live this week and they were awesome!

I bought tickets when they went on sale last year, and it was really difficult getting any! The last 3 times I’ve seen them, I’ve been able to get a spot down on the main floor, but by the time I did manage to get through to buy some, there were only a few seats left up in the highest tiers, so I ended up buying 3 seated tickets pretty close to the stage, but way high up in the top section.

So about five or six weeks ago, I mentioned on Facebook that I had a couple of spare tickets for Thursday’s gig, and the first to respond was Ali, closely followed by Jon (who actually came with me to see them back in 2012!)

Both Ali and Jon arrived in Stockport in the afternoon – Ali drove up from Bristol, and Jon came from Bedford via a combination of buses and trains after his National Express bus left without him (just to add some jeopardy into the day!)

We then took the tram to the Etihad Stadium, and got there just before seven o’clock, so decided to buy some food before going in, so we bought pie and chips for tea! We made it to our seats just in time for a support set from the band Chvrches. I don’t know loads of their stuff, but what I have heard I do like, so had been keen to see them play before Coldplay.

Then, just after quarter to nine, Coldplay came to the stage, starting with Higher Power from the new album, and the crowd responded enthusiastically to such a high energy opener. They followed this with a good mix of stuff from previous albums, before launching back into some of their newest stuff.

I’ve got to say it’s quite a different experience being up away from the floor – you get a great overview of everything that’s going on, and luckily everyone stood up straight away so there was no awkwardness of not wanting to stand up whilst others around you are sitting, but nothing really beats being down at the ground level in the crowd really going for it!

One thing I really like about a Coldplay gig is that, apart from having such great music, they really know how to put on a show, and Chris Martin brings a real energy to it all.

At one point, they brought out the rapper Aitch to do a duet with them (one of his songs) which I wasn’t too fussed about! But one highlight was Chris performed a request from a fan who’d come up onto the stage, and it was the song ‘Everyday Life’, which is from the album of the same name, and I don’t think they’ve performed that live anywhere before, other than when they launched the album!

The gig finished about quarter to eleven, and as we left the stadium, I kind of lost my sense of direction, and instead of heading to tram stop I intended us to get to, we ended up walking all the way back into the city centre – probably about 2 miles! We managed to get a tram from Piccadilly though so the rest of the journey back home was fine!

Set-list:

Higher Power
Adventure of a Lifetime
Paradise
The Scientist
Viva la Vida
Hymn for the Weekend
Everyday Life
In My Place
Yellow
Human Heart
People of the Pride
Clocks
Infinity Sign
Something Just Like This
Midnight
My Universe
A Sky Full of Stars
Sunrise
Performance with Aitch
Sit Down
Humankind
Fix You
Biutyful