Tens of thousands of music fans danced out Friday night to Coldplay tunes at the Olympic Stadium of Athens in a spectacular show, the music highlight of the year for the Greek capital.
Countless LED wristbands, colorful balloons in the shape of the earth, and impressive sparklers made the concert. The concert was sold out from the first hours it was announced back in 2023, and it was unforgettable.
People from different generations met at a huge party, one of the biggest in the world. Among the concert-goers were Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the leader of the main opposition party Stefanos Kasselakis with his partner Tyler Macbeth.
It was, perhaps, one of those cases where, as Coldplay frontman Chris Martin said on stage, only music seems to be able to overcome divisions and bring people closer together.
Martin opened the concert in perfect Greek: He said Coldplay was very “grateful” that they appeared in the country, and he thanked Greece for the honor.
The world tour of the British rock band, which began in Athens this weekend, will continue with concerts in Budapest, Bucharest, Lyon, Rome, and other major European cities.
It is part of the globally acclaimed Music Of The Spheres World Tour, which has already shattered all previous sales records, solidifying its position as one of the most influential acts in the music industry.
In October 2023, the Coldplay concert in Athens was cast in doubt after the closure of the Olympic Stadium for urgent repairs.
Rust was found along the iconic arched roof of OAKA forcing authorities to close the stadium which hosted the 2004 Olympic Games.
The 70,000-seat Olympic Stadium, Greece’s largest, and nearby Olympic Velodrome are covered by white-ribbed steel roofs designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.
To the relief of the thousands of Coldplay fans in Greece, the stadium was eventually repaired and the concert was given the go-ahead.
Coldplay beats emissions target for world tour
Coldplay has announced that they have reduced their touring carbon footprint by 59 percent compared with their previous world tour via certain creative methods that include kinetic dancefloors that allow dancing fans to generate electricity, recyclable LED wristbands, and the band traveling by train.
On Monday, the British band announced they were “happy to report that direct CO2e emissions from the first two years of this tour are 59% less than our previous stadium tour (2016-17), on a show-by-show comparison.”
In 2021, the band first announced a 12-point plan to lower emissions while touring. This was two years after frontman Chris Martin vowed to never tour again unless it was done sustainably and with a “positive impact.”
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