Seven-time Grammy award winning rock band, Coldplay, celebrated the release of their new album, Everyday Life, by performing intimate shows at the Hollywood Palladium (capacity 5,000) on January 20th and January 21st. Coldplay have mum about touring since they announced that they would postpone a world tour over concerns about the impact of concerts on the environment.
Coldplay have long been known to support humanitarians causes, both concerts supported causes related to criminal justice reform. The first night supported Reform LA Jails, which campaigns for prison reform and advocates for alternatives to incarceration. It included guest speakers Patrisse Cullers, the founder of Reform LA Jails and co-founder of Black Lives Matter Global Network, and actress America Ferrera, the co-founder of Harness, a social justice campaign. The second night was in support of A New Way of Life, which provides housing and support to women rebuilding their lives after prison and featured its founder Susan Burton as a guest speaker, as well as actress and activist Natalie Portman. Additionally, hundreds of buttons with a simple message, “LOVE” were handed out to people in line for the show prior to entry. These pins are commonly associated with Coldplay, but actually represent a beautiful cause for which Chris Martin is an ambassador.
Coldplay gave an energetic performance with their guest musicians including several vocalists, an orchestral ensemble, a saxophone and horns group playing with Femi Kuti. They played a sixteen song setlist including eleven songs from their new album and some fan favorites like “Fix You,” “Lovers in Japan,” “Viva La Vida.” The encore started with a very powerful new song titled “Guns,” followed a particularly emotional song, “The Scientist.” They finished with some optimistic songs as Chris Martin soloed “Something Just Like This” on the piano, then the band jumped in for “Champion of the World.”
This was a very entertaining show for a few thousand lucky attendees. It isn’t very often that we get to see such an iconic band at such a small general admission show. Coldplay has a yet to announce any more shows in 2020 as January 21st, but rumors about a tour are swirling, and Chris Martin certainly teased the possibility at this show.