{"id":29806,"date":"2024-09-04T17:25:06","date_gmt":"2024-09-04T21:25:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=29806"},"modified":"2024-09-04T17:25:06","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T21:25:06","slug":"coldplays-irish-odyssey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=29806","title":{"rendered":"Coldplay\u2019s Irish Odyssey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Peter Kelly was front row in Dublin to witness Coldplay thrill Irish crowds<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With four Croke Park nights at full capacity under their belts, Coldplay left Irish fans as they found them: euphoric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a blend of athletic energy on stage with pyrotechnics and blasts of mass confetti around it. The shows met the year-long hype which saw 320,000 Irish tickets scooped up within minutes. Lead singer Chris Martin\u2019s presence on stage was typically commanding. Sprints across the stage, an outstretched physique reaching for the rafters in the Hogan Stand. On a chilly September evening, the warm up act warned, \u201cit\u2019s a cold day for a Coldplay.\u201d Not so, once the hits kept coming. Each churned out to drive the 80,000 capacity crowd wild. They sang back with ferocious gusto, making familiar hits like \u2018Higher Power\u2019, \u2018Yellow\u2019, \u2018The Scientist\u2019, and \u2018Clocks\u2019, resonate throughout the capital\u2019s north inner city. \u2018Viva La Vida\u2019, \u2018Paradise\u2019 and \u2018Fix You’ were joyous add-ons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The band\u2019s lead singer, famously formally married to actress Gwyneth Paltrow for a decade – gave the Coldplay treatment to Christy Moore\u2019s \u2018Ride On\u2019. The Kildare balladeer had joined the band at the Oxygen festival in 2011. Their tribute to him remains, and helps charm a nation. But optimum charm is reserved on this tour for another Christy – Dignam, the late lead singer of veteran Dublin band, Aslan. They were brought out on stage to perform their seminal hit \u2018Crazy World\u2019 with the main act. Aslan legend Billy McGuinness admitted \u201cthe whole week has been such a whirlwind. We were performing in Australia last week and then back to sing with Coldplay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris Martin managed some convincing \u2018cupla focal\u2019 to the adoring stadium. He singled out from the crowd a trademark redhead Irish colleen, all of 14 years, to sing with him on stage accompanied by her tricolor. Fans remarked on Martin\u2019s trademark sincerity and compassion to make the band\u2019s music an influence on social and environmental good. Cue messages of social conscience, love, solidarity and inclusion beamed onto the stage as backdrop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Savor the quartet\u2019s emphasis on global peace -with encouragement to support those traumatized in Ukraine, Gaza, and both Russia and Israel. With pyrotechnics a plenty, large and frequent explosions and fireworks accompanied the power hits. Chris Martin frequently referred to the band\u2019s Irish odyssey, which saw them play an impromptu set in Dublin\u2019s Grafton Street, as countless thousands missed out on highly coveted tickets which went on sale 14 months ago and were sold out in minutes. They ranged from \u20ac120 to \u20ac180, with \u2018meet and greet the band\u2019 packages reportedly starting at \u20ac1,000. <\/p>\n

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