The band promoted inclusion, belonging, and community at their sole 2025 Denver concert date.

All photos © 2025 Kat Valdez unless otherwise noted

by Kat Valdez

The first time I listened to Coldplay’s new album “Moon Music,” I was driving from Fort Collins to Denver International Airport in the early morning hours before sunrise.

It was peaceful. Magical. An epic journey.

It was exactly how you want to experience this album on the first listen: in the dark before the world wakes up.

I could relate to the lyrics of the title track, which opens the album:

But I’m trying to trust in the
Heavens above
And I’m trying to trust in a world full of love

A couple months later, I realized another truth: the other “best” way to experience this album? At Empower Field at Mile High, with 76,124 other cheering Coldplay fans.

Whoo hoo! What a rush!

My companions (let’s call them “The Claw” and “Macy”) and I braved I-25 traffic – including one accident clean up – to arrive about an hour before the doors opened at 6 p.m. Plenty of time to grab a quick dinner (a burger for me and chicken tenders for my companions) and settle into our Section 118 seats before the two opening acts, Elyanna (a Palestinian-Chilean musician who sings on the album’s third track, “We Pray”) and WILLOW (whose hit single “Meet Me at Our Spot [Live]” with THE ANXIETY and Tyler Cole is so catchy that I played it on repeat for a week or two).

Elyanna’s vocals are electrifying, and she and her dance team moved expertly across and down the stage that extends through the crowd. She sang mostly in Arabic with one or two songs in English (including a great cover of “Don’t Speak” by No Doubt), and peppered her set with gratitude to Coldplay for allowing her the opportunity, and to the fans for being so gracious and welcoming.

She shared that when she moved to the U.S., the first concert she attended was Coldplay. So it was especially meaningful to open for them.

Willow Smith took to the stage about 30 minutes later, with the same positive and grateful vibe that Elyanna kicked off. Her vocal skills are something special, especially when she dips into the lower register of her lyric mezzo-soprano range, such as with the line “maybe we can hit the 405” in “Meet Me at Our Spot (Live).” One of her set’s final songs was a slower, more reflective version of that tune.

WILLOW mentioned that Coldplay’s tour is the most sustainable, and we believed it; from the LED wristbands made of compostable materials that we received at the entrance, to the sustainable projects around the world highlighted on the moon-shaped screens on either side of the stage (ocean clean up, reforestation, wildlife conservation, etc.) to the kinetic dance floors and bikes that fans were invited to pedal to generate energy that would power the C-stage at the next concert, to the tour t-shirts printed with soy ink…everything spoke of love and care for people and the planet. Our concert tickets funded all these and more.

After WILLOW left the stage and the crews set up Coldplay’s instruments, Macy asked, “When do you think they’ll start?” It was 8:15 p.m. “Maybe 8:30 p.m.?” I replied. Wishful thinking.

A severe weather alert threatened the entire evening.

As the minutes ticked by, I worried that the concert might be cancelled. Many people started leaving their seats to head inside the concourse. Finally, a message flashed on the screens that the show would begin soon after a brief delay due to a passing thunderstorm.

We all cheered.

People went rushing back to their seats as the concert began at 9:20 p.m., about an hour after WILLOW finished.

The first song? “Higher Power.” How appropriate, because that’s exactly when the rain started lightly falling, adding a magical quality to the entire scene.

This joy is electric
This joy is electric and
you’re circuiting through
I’m so happy that I’m alive
Happy I’m alive at the same time as you

‘Cause you’ve got a higher power
Got me singing every
second, dancing every hour

The sprinkles lasted only a few minutes, though, and we were able to continue dancing and singing along to our favorite songs without being bundled up in rain jackets and hats.

That’s one thing I noticed about this concert and this band: they’re attuned to their fans’ desires and want to honor and respect us by playing well-loved hits from many years ago (the band formed in 1997). I thought, “They’ve gotta be tired of playing the old stuff.”

But one look at the jubilant faces of fans standing in the first two rows – flashed onto the screens for the entire stadium to see – and I knew that this love, these positive vibes, gave the musicians energy. The bottom line: it was no chore for them to bring people joy.

Was I disappointed to not hear “JUPiTER” and “iAAM” from the new album? Yes.

Was I overjoyed to hear “Something Just Like This” (a collaboration with The Chainsmokers), “Viva La Vida,” “A Sky Full of Stars” and “My Universe” (a collab with BTS)? Also, yes. More like YEEEESSSSSS!

(Interested in a play by play? Read the set list.)

Some of the most heart-warming moments came from Chris Martin’s interactions with fans. He accepted one of the rainbow Pride flags from someone in the front row, and draped himself in it; he commented on people’s colorful, sparkly outfits; he read many of the signs aloud, and even acknowledged fans sitting in the highest seats in the stadium. He gave thanks to all the crew members and stadium employees.

A teenager held up a sign that read, “MY FIRST CONCERT, EVER. IT’S MAGIC.” Chris Martin asked, “Really?” and invited him and his companion up on stage to join him in singing “Magic.” (Asher and Allison, if I remember correctly.) The kid looked a bit shell-shocked, prompting Chris Martin to saying something to the effect of, “I’m just a regular human. It’s all good, mate.” to help him relax.

Asher loosened up and sang well, prompting the lead singer to praise and encourage him. Allison had a dreamy look on her face, as though she had just ascended to heaven.

If you weren’t already in love with Chris Martin after all these years of him displaying kindness, humility, and a rip-roaring sense of humor, trust me, this was the moment it happened for you. Insert heart-eyes emoji. Seriously.

Special Moments and Fun Facts

• A few days prior, I mentioned to a co-worker that I was going to attend this concert. “I love Coldplay!” she said, and started to check her calendar. But I stopped her: “We bought our tickets back in October.” I could see it on her face: her heart broke a little.
• The zen vibe of the interstitial music (which reminded me of the heavenly sounds of the album’s sixth track, whose title is simply a rainbow emoji ) between the opening acts and before Coldplay took the stage was soothing and most definitely IMHO designed to promote peaceful behavior.
• Chris Martin mentioned being stuck in traffic on the way to the stadium, and that the band bought two bootleg Coldplay concert tour t-shirts from an enterprising street vendor. The Claw and I cracked ourselves up about the probability of typos: “Coleplay”
• The lead singer joked about how the humidity was making his hair, which he’s trying to grow out, frizz. But that wasn’t stopping him: “I’m committed to it.”
• The moment when Chris Martin asked us all to put our phones away and just be present for “A Sky Full of Stars”? Lovely. (Reminiscent of Rey’s plea “Be with me” in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker a.k.a. Episode 8.)
• Which led us to the Moon Goggles. The puppet Angel Moon told us to put them on for that song during the encore; they created star bursts out of all the lights. It looked even cooler if you danced and moved your head around. Word of caution: Don’t move your head too much…
• Near the end of the show, The Claw complained about her neck hurting. “From what?” I asked. “From headbanging,” she replied. We laughed.

This was undoubtedly the best concert experience of my life – and I’ve seen David Byrne’s American Utopia tour at Red Rocks, Tori Amos’ Ocean to Ocean tour at the same venue, and Depeche Mode’s Concert for the Masses at the Rose Bowl (props to all you Gen Xers out there) in which The Sugarcubes, PIL, and New Order were the opening acts – so this is saying a lot.

A few other noteworthy moments: the audience doing the wave several times around the stadium, large beach balls bouncing through the crowd, the “aliens,” the remote-controlled planets drifting lazily around the perimeter of the floor, our LED wrist bands flashing in sync and changing colors throughout the stadium (except The Claw’s, which was a minor bummer…one defective light among 76,125 is pretty good), punk rock puppets (“The Weirdos”) singing “Human Heart,” and the fireworks that closed the show.

Sure, Coldplay are four white guys from England, one of the whitest of white countries in the world. But they’re using their privilege and platform to advance equity, inclusion, and belonging as evidenced by their opening acts and many other elements of the tour. As well as spending decades bringing people together through art.

Their music heals.

And their positive messages of love, community and gratitude provide a model for us all.

At one point, Chris Martin asked everyone to raise their hands and send love to everyone on earth, even the people who are doing bad things, with the hope that they’ll stop. (“We did that in the ’60s, a friend said the next day, after I told her about the experience.)

So it was fitting at concert’s end when Chris Martin’s final words and the band’s final message – BELIEVE IN LOVE – appeared as fireworks illuminated the night sky and the names of every crew member (movie credits-style) scrolled up on the two moon-shaped screens.

Believe in love? If we didn’t before, we did now.

To share that with 76,124 other humans? Magic.

Call it magic, call it true
I call it magic when I’m with you
And I just got broken
broken into two
Still I call it magic when I’m next to you

At the exit, we were offered tiny buttons with the Coldplay “Love” logo featuring a V stylized as wings. I didn’t notice them and almost missed out, but The Claw grabbed one for me, in my favorite color: green.

Full of GOOD FEELiNGS, we headed home.

Just remember, baby
Whatever we go through

All the good feelings
For one another
As we danced to the radio
All the good good feelings
we have for each other
Don’t ever ever let them go

Postscript

The Claw texted a couple days later, “The bracelets, confetti, balloons, and laser are their jam, but the fireworks are new” and shared a photo of the 2016 concert at the Pepsi Center (now Ball Arena) in Denver.

Nothing like love and pyrotechnics to restore your faith in humanity.

Kat Valdez learned something very important: after hearing one of your favorite bands in concert, take the following morning off. Arriving home at 2 a.m. and starting work at 8 a.m. isn’t practical. Especially if you’re a Gen Xer.

When not playing tennis, tickling the ivories on the Pianos About Town, swimming the backstroke, hiking in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and taking photos of wildflowers, Kat delights in writing at the thrilling intersection of pop culture and racial equity.

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*Hear Coldplay’s 2005 song “The Speed of Sound.”

Interested in reading about another epic adventure or two?

TheDefiantCurtsy.com Pop culture through an equity and inclusion lens

P.P.S.

Our Denver show date contained no kiss cam controversy, unlike the Boston concert the following month. Interestingly enough, The Claw attended that concert, too, and witnessed – live – the moment that became the internet’s latest obsession.

Note to people having affairs: Don’t appear in a public place with video cameras and thousands of people armed with smart phones. Your infidelity may ruin your family…and career.