“Thank you so much for coming back to a completely different concert.”
Coldplay was set to play a Tidal live-stream show on Friday, Nov. 13, but when terror attacks in Paris killed more than 100 people — including a mass shooting at a concert — the band chose to postpone the stream. Chris Martin & Co. still performed a short acoustic set, including John Lennon‘s “Imagine” as a tribute to Paris, for the fans who had already lined up at the venue.
Coldplay Performs ‘Imagine’ as Tribute to Paris
The rescheduled live-stream show on Saturday night was anything but unplugged, with a laser show slicing through the air and star-shaped confetti raining on the crowd only three songs into their 11-song set. The band played four tracks from their upcoming album A Head Full of Dreams, due Dec. 4, including first single “Adventure of a Lifetime.” The intimate crowd of 2,000-plus at the Belasco Theater in downtown Los Angeles also got a preview of three yet-unheard songs: The title track, which follows in the jangly, upbeat footsteps of “Adventure”; “Amazing Day,” a perfect fit for a ’50s-era slow dance; and, the show’s finale, “Up&Up,” which Martin called “the song we’ve been waiting to write for 15 years.” (The live stream is no longer available on Tidal, but you can listen to the new tracks here.)
Coldplay Cancels Tidal Live Stream After Paris Shootings
Considering the circumstances that postponed the live stream, the final lyric of “Up&Up” was the perfect note to leave on: “Don’t ever give up.” Martin also acknowledged the Paris attacks when, while performing “Viva la Vida,” he grabbed a poster from a crowd member that said “Viva” above the French flag in the shape of a heart.
The event was billed as a “friends & family” show, and Coldplay brought everyone into the fold by night’s end. “To those who aren’t our friends and family, now you kind of are,” Martin said before the final song.
Set list for Coldplay’s Tidal live-stream concert at L.A.’s Belasco Theater:
A Head Full of Dreams
Yellow
A Sky Full of Stars
Paradise
Amazing Day
Every Tear’s a Waterfall
Clocks
Fix You
Viva la Vida
Adventure of a Lifetime
Up&Up