There was hit after hit from the music giants at Sewell Group Craven Park
There may not have been A Sky Full Of Stars over Hull last night but who cared about the couple of light showers that fell when you could stick on your Moon Goggles (when called for) and witness a mega show of the sort never before seen in the city.
Fans attending the first of two back-to-back performances by global music giants Coldplay were in thrall from the moment the opening strains of their first song, Higher Power, rang out. And the light-up bracelets we were all wearing (you’re handed a free one as soon as you pass through the bag security checks) were immediately brought into play, with stunning effect.
I can’t think Sewell Group Craven Park will have ever, or ever will again, look quite so dazzling. And for a time, a spot so entrenched in red and white had to forego those shades for a display of other colours, notably Yellow. Fireworks, flares and confetti cannons all added to the exciting staging while the music of frontman Chris Martin and the rest of the band – Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland and Chris Champion – soared out from the packed east Hull stadium.
Through Adventure Of A Lifetime – when loads of huge balloons started bouncing around the crowd – Paradise, The Scientist – with Chris saying “we’ve had 211 rehearsals for Hull with this song” (referencing the monster Music of the Spheres Tour that has been running since 2022) and Viva La Vida, the hits just kept on coming. And each and every song was welcomed by the ecstatic audience.
One of my personal favourites by Coldplay is Hymn For The Weekend and I was chuffed this figured early on in the set list. Chris took time to read out some of the posters being held up by fans, close to the stage that had a runway right out into the heart of the crowd, somewhere around what would be the halfway line on a match day. The singer was pleased to highlight someone in remission, to much applause.
READ MORE: Pictures as excited Coldplay fans enter Craven Park for Music of The Spheres world tour
He had some of the audience members up on the stage (one in a fetching chicken hat) before his rendition of Gravity, followed up by Speed of Sound (which a Hull Trains service was recently named in honour of the band’s visit to the city). Hull grime artist Chiedu Oraka, who had earlier opened the show for Coldplay, saying it was the biggest stage he had ever performed on, returned to the spotlight for a ribcage rattler of a rap with the band.
One of the stadium “here to help” crew got his turn in the limelight too, busting some moves in an alien mask. Chris encouraged everyone to “sing a bit louder, jump a bit higher” to a rocking rendition of A Sky Full Of Stars.
The show was turned down a notch for a more intimate part of the set, right in front of the North Stand, where the frontman offered up thanks and praise to all those making the concert possible, and to everyone making the effort to attend. He jokingly (I think) thanked the “football team” whose stadium they were using, to mock horror (I think) from the fans, and said: “Don’t put that on YouTube, for the love of God”.
Announcing Don’t Panic – and a solo segment by guitarist Jonny – Chris said: “We used to play like this in Jonny’s bedroom in the Nineties … we met across a crowded room in 1997 and [to Jonny] I ruined your life! Jonny wanted to be a dentist.”
READ MORE: 20 pictures as Coldplay take to the stage in Hull as part of Music of the Spheres world tour
Jumbotron, which sparked the now infamous kiss-cam moment at a US concert, did not elicit any Hull recreations of the toe-curler, only lots of smiles and laughs from the crowd members who had the camera home in on them. Among them was the ”handsome” young man thanked for “dressing in that pink thing” and Bernie who had Chris wondering how to improvise about her not unremarkable assets.
There were more floating orbs, confetti in the shape of butterflies (we’d already had stars) and a “Hull karaoke” session to help close the show. The band declared: “People of Yorkshire, we love you.”
Concertgoers who are lucky enough to have bagged tickets for the second Coldplay show in Hull are in for a rare treat, including the opener from home-grown talent Chiedu, a set from Ayra Starr, Nigerian musician and Mobo Award winner, who has previously collaborated with Coldplay and got the crowd grooving and singing along, and an appearance by the Pink Choir. Craven Streat, the food and drink village, offers a good variety of options and is well set out with a huge bar, but it will get busy later on, so best get in there early if you want time to tuck in.
I took the Yellow shuttle run by Stagecoach to the venue from Hull Paragon Interchange. It went like clockwork for me on the outward journey but I think the organisers will learn from last night’s haphazard departure, with so many people flocking to buses in one go.