‘I was at the Coldplay concert in Ahmedabad, and I cried’-OxBig News Network

British band Coldplay’s members Chris Martin, second right, Jonny Buckland, left, Will Champion, second left, and Guy Berryman perform during the band’s ‘Music Of The Spheres World Tour’ at the D.Y. Patil Sports Stadium in Navi Mumbai on January 18, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI

“You will cry,” my friend said, when I excitedly told her that I had managed to get tickets for the Coldplay concert in Ahmedabad.

After waiting in seemingly endless digital queues with six-digit numbers every time BookMyShow announced tickets, I had given up on my long-time dream of seeing the British rock band Coldplay perform in India. But then, just a few weeks before their show in Ahmedabad, the site made more tickets available. This time I was around 15 thousand in queue. As my position started to show promise, my anxiety began to surface. By the time I hit the 5000th position, I started pacing. Then the screen announced ‘it’s your turn’. The standing area, my favourite spot for concerts, which had filled up by then, magically opened a few slots. 

The members of British rock band Coldplay. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

It was meant to be, I thought. 

“So who are you going with?” my friends asked. 

“Alone.”

Cut to January 26, and I stood amongst a crowd of more than 1 lakh people singing ‘lights will guide you home’ at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium. It was almost surreal. We felt that we were all part of something bigger. Because Coldplay’s concerts are about more than just music. Because, let me tell you this, Chris, Jonny, Guy and Will Champion will together ‘Fix you’. 

Musician Chris Martin
| Photo Credit:
AFP

When I flew into Ahmedabad from Chennai catching a red eye flight, tired and excited, I joined fans under the blazing sun. We were packed like sardines several hours before the show was slated to start. We stood there for hours, waiting impatiently, through the opening acts, waiting for Chris to waltz in with his ‘Higher Power’. He did just that, sending the crowd into tizzy. 

This was followed by ‘Adventure of a Lifetime’, ‘Paradise’, ‘Viva la Vida’ and more. It felt as though the skies had opened and rained stars upon us. With confetti of different shapes and colours pouring from the sky, vibrant coloured laser lights shining through the stadium, stunning pyrotechnics playing background score to the songs, Coldplay’s concert lived up to all the hype. 

The concert was punctuated by many poignant moments. Such as when Chris invited a fan to sing with him. Or when a part of ‘Something Just Like This’ was sung in sign language. Or that moment when Chris did a hand confetti trick.

Seeing him break into intricate footwork set to the guitar notes in ‘Fix You’ and then trumping it by throwing hand streamers into the air, the whole stadium erupted into screaming applause. He also wished us for Republic Day and sang Vande Mataram.

As the opening notes of the popular ‘Sky full of stars’ began to play, Chris instructed the audience to put away their phones. “Hands in the sky, phones in the pocket… Nobody needs a phone for this song, all of us are in the same band together, one big family…” 

And perhaps that is why someone will always look out for you at the concert. When the paper stars streamed down from the skies as Chris sang ‘A Sky Full of Stars’, a man standing beside me grabbed a falling star and offered it to me. And when I was parched, another ‘Coldplayer’ offered me water. How can one be alone at a Coldplay concert? 

I definitely came back a different person from Coldplay concert. None of the songs sound or feel the same anymore. As I caught another red eye flight back to Chennai from Ahmedabad, still listening to Coldplay songs in my headphones, I knew it was a night I wouldn’t forget.

Everything felt right until my playlist stumbled at ‘Something Just Like This’. Suddenly my heart felt so full. Tears started streaming down my face. I buried my face in my scarf and sobbed, until my flight landed in Chennai.

All I wanted to do was go back home, crawl into my couch and bawl my heart out, buoyed by the incredible high from the concert. Instead I picked up the love shaped confetti that fell from my bag into the aircraft and placed it safely in my bag. I went to the office, and told my editor I didn’t know what to do with these intense emotions. Then I sat down in front of my laptop and let the words take over.

Eventually they were all right. I did cry. 

And I can say that I was there. And it was everything.