Coldplay was primed for its biggest show in Chicago to date on Saturday, the first of a two-night stand at Soldier Field complete with confetti and fireworks, yet rain threatened to ruin the festivities. In the end, however, the primary casualties were openers Foxes and Alessia Cara, whose sets were nixed as heavy rain poured during most of their scheduled set times. Several concertgoers who arrived at the gates during the first storm were turned away, and hundreds making their way to the stadium were diverted into a nearby garage to ride out the storm.
But for one of the most high profile, positive-styled bands in the world, a little rain wasn’t going to stop the party. By the time Coldplay hit the stage around their planned set time at 9 p.m., puddles may have formed around the venue, but the clouds parted as if to prove congeniality was enough to control the heavens. And for about 90 minutes, that seemed to hold true. A second show was scheduled for Sunday.
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The mega-popular UK band is on tour for its seventh album and most uplifting-minded material to date, 2015’s “A Head Full of Dreams.” The material stands in stark contrast to its previous more brooding album, 2014’s “Ghost Stories,” which was presumably culled during the disintegration of singer Chris Martin’s marriage to actress Gwyneth Paltrow. If that record chronicled an ending, its latest effort is the sound of eager optimism for the future. And while on album, the people-pleasing vibes can sound cloying and childlike simplistic, in a live setting the feel-good sentiment was fairly contagious, such as during the disco-tipped “Adventure of a Lifetime” and pulsating “Birds.”
That feeling extended to the production, which featured video backdrops and pyrotechnics. The audience added to the confetti-blasted affair, wearing supplied light-up wristbands that changed colors throughout Coldplay’s performance.
The band — Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion — traversed their set adeptly and efficiently without too much banter, likely knowing that the weather might not hold. And though Martin isn’t a particularly deep lyricist, instead going for universal themes without revealing too much personal detail, many songs became singalong anthems, particularly during their great standout early material, including “Yellow,” “The Scientist,” “Fix You” and “Clocks.” Another highlight was “Paradise,” with its dancy Tiesto remix ending.
Despite Coldplay’s best efforts, they couldn’t keep the weather at bay as a second storm came through while they were playing. Martin asked whether they should play another song and come back after the second storm passed, but that was not to be. After they quickly ran through “A Sky Full of Stars,” they cut their set down by about five songs from previous tour stops. Many fans waited as shallow rivers formed around the venue. Though the band was finished, the audience was not, with several joyously breaking into the “whoa-oh” harmonies from the winsome “Viva La Vida,” which the band played earlier, as they made their way to the exits.
Althea Legaspi is a freelance critic.
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