In January, 2025, my parents and I had a stroke of luck and we attended ColdPlay’s ‘Music of The Spheres’ Tour in Mumbai on 21st January.
The British band Coldplay has always been one of my favorites and I have grown up listening to their iconic songs like “Yellow”, “Magic” and “Sparks” among many others.
It all started with Coldplay announcing their tour in India and their tickets were to go on sale from 22nd September at 12 noon. When online bookings opened, due to extremely high demand, we were part of a virtual queue with millions of fans vying to get tickets. We too were behind thousands of people in queue. However, we got lucky and managed to get the tickets. We were ecstatic- our joy knew no bounds! We were going for a live music concert, our first one ever!!
In the coming days and weeks, all the newspapers were talking about the mad frenzy for these concert tickets. It seems there were 13 million fans who had logged in for the tickets, with queues reaching over 11 lakhs for the Mumbai concert, leaving thousands disappointed and frustrated. So suddenly we realized our tickets were worth their weight in gold!
We arrived in Mumbai two days earlier to the concert as we wanted to explore Mumbai, soaking in the city’s spirit. Mumbai is one of my favorite cities and I love the vibe it offers.
Finally, the day of the concert had arrived and we all were bubbling with excitement. We got dropped by our cab a long way off from the D.Y. Patil Stadium – the venue for the concert.It was a very long walk but we did not mind as the excitement was building up. We saw euphoric and excited swarms of people of all ages and background with a common goal- to get to the stadium for this ‘magical’ experience. When we finally reached, since we had pre-ordered some Coldplay merchandise, we went ahead to collect it before heading to the seating area. Our seats didn’t have a perfect view of the stage but there were multiple Jumbotrons which helped make up for it.
The show started with a few performances by Shone ZW – an Afro-pop/Hip-Hop Artistand the atmosphere in the stadium was building up. After Shone,a Palestinian-Chilean singer Elyanna took the stage, with her high energy performances featuring her unique blend of Arabic and global sounds.The music, the dance and the energy she brought to the stadium along with her troupe was amazing and mesmerized the audience. Soon the stadium was jam-packed, buzzing with excitement, with fans filling every seat and area possible. It was the perfect setting for Chris Martin and his fellow band members-Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman, and Will Champion to take the stage by storm.
The band for the next three hours belted one song after another while occasionally interacting with the fans. It was truly amazing to see how four people could bring 60,000 strangers together with just their music. Everyone was singing along, creating a powerful, unifying experience and shared energy, amplifying the fun and excitement. The atmosphere was electric and vibrant, with loud cheering. The Xylobands (light bands) given to all the fans, that sync with the music, created an immersive and colorful experience for the audience, leaving many fellow music lovers like us in a trance. And then “Yellow” played, the entire venue rippled with yellow and golden tones, making it feel like we were living inside the song. The visuals, the sound and special effects, especially that of the lead singer Chris Martin, were breath taking – words cannot describe the feeling we experienced during those three hours, we were transported into a different universe. It was magical!
The only downside was the performance by Jasleen Royal, who accompanied Chris Martin for a short period – her singing in comparison to the others, failed to connect with the audience as much.
We were brought back to earth by an array of pyrotechnics and confettiat the end as the band members bid us adieu. As the show wrapped up,we were filled with a sense of fulfillment and bliss due to the high endorphins.We then trudged our way back to the hotel, leaving with our hearts full of joy.
The scale of Coldplay’s India tour was unprecedented. In addition to the Mumbai shows, the band performed in Ahmedabad at the Narendra Modi Stadium, drawing over 134,000 fans—setting a record for the biggest ticketed concert in India and the biggest show of their career.
It has been a while since the concert but whenever we hear songs by Coldplay, we think back to those moments of the concert and our experience of a lifetime!
I am sure I will attend many more concerts in the future, but the first live concert will always be special in my heart and life. One-night, endless memories!