Coldplay, a British rock band formed in 1998, visited Korea as a part of 'A Head Full of Dreams (AHFOD)' world tour. The band is currently one of the most popular bands on the planet, and the Korean fans were craving for their concert. Coldplay never visited Korea before during their world tours since their debut. After the excruciating 19 years of waiting, Coldplay’s AHFOD tour was successfully determined to be held on Apr. 15 as Hyundai Card’s 22nd super concert.
Reflecting the band’s fame and the love of Korean fans, the forty-five thousand tickets were completely sold within a minute, with nine hundred thousand people concurrently accessing to the server, according to Hyundai Card. Astonished by the explosive reaction of Korean fans, Coldplay decided to alter their schedule and perform on Apr. 16 also. The same amount of tickets for the second day was also sold completely at an instant. For the customers who could not get tickets, the tickets for obstructed view section were additionally opened, where the stage and screen was hidden by light and sound towers.
The concert lasted for three hours—an opening performance was held by JESS KENT, an Australian artist for half an hour, and Coldplay performed two hours after a 30-minute gap between the performances. Starting with ‘A Head Full of Dreams’, Coldplay sang about 23 songs during their performance, with some songs performed impromptu. The numbers mostly consisted of their hit singles, with a considerable amount from their 7th album, ‘A Head Full of Dreams.’
The Korean audience enthusiastically participated in the concert, singing along to the band. Even considering that English is not their mother tongue, the audience fervently sang along with Chris Martin, the vocalist of Coldplay, as the conductor of the extemporaneous choir. Coldplay played more songs than expected, and added words like ‘South Korea’ or ‘Seoul’ to the lyrics, for the energetic and enthusiastic audience. The audience responded by waving their cellphone flashlights in unison during some emotional numbers.
Other than the audience, Xylobands, a wearable light emitter, made Coldplay’s concert fantastic. Consisted of light-emitting diodes and radio frequency receivers, the wristband emits light according to the software program that sends the signals to it. Every audience gets a Xyloband, and during the concert, the Xylobands emits light based on the RFID tags. Using electronic communication technology, Xylobands creates a colorful sea of light, a trademark of Coldplay’s concerts.
The notable thing is that Coldplay payed respect to the MV Sewol ferry disaster, which happened three years ago on the very day of the second concert. While performing the second number, ‘Yellow’, the band stopped all activity suddenly. Then, Martin requested a ten second silence to commemorate the disaster, projecting three symbolic yellow ribbons on the screen. The fifty thousand crowd also became silent for the moment, to think and remember the disaster that took place three years ago. The Xylobands emitted yellow lights in unison, creating a sincere ambience.