Coldplay delivered a roaring performance at the National Stadium Bukit Jalil on Nov 22, 2023. Photo: Coldplay/X
British rock band Coldplay delivered a captivating two-hour performance at the National Stadium Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday night despite the rain.
The KL gig, which is part of the group’s Music Of The Spheres World Tour, marked Coldplay’s first concert in the country since its debut in 1997.
The show began at 8pm, with local artiste Bunga Isme opening for Coldplay.
She performed for 30 minutes, singing tracks like Intan Payung, Apadehal, Belai, Buai, and an unreleased single titled Jiwaraga, which will be out next year.
Coldplay took the stage at 9pm where it hyped some 75,000 people in attendance with 25 songs.
In addition to opening up a melodic time capsule with classics like The Scientist, Viva La Vida and Fix You, the Grammy-winning band also presented recent bops such as Higher Power, My Universe, Human Heart and Biutyful.
At one point during the concert, Coldplay’s frontman Chris Martin invited a couple onstage to join him in singing Magic.
He also sent the crowd into frenzy after reciting a pantun in Bahasa Malaysia and crafting an improvised “Kuala Lumpur Song”, in which he sang about his love for Malaysian rain.
“I wish we came to Malaysia sooner than this! Nobody told us you would be one of the best audiences in the world. We’ve waited 27 years to perform here. Thank you to the government for letting us play here,” the 46-year-old said.
While performing A Sky Full Of Stars, Martin expressed desire to return to Malaysia in the future, saying: “If it’s OK with you, we’d like to come back quite soon.”
Coldplay’s KL gig went by smoothly despite protests from certain quarters. On Nov 18, Federal Territories mufti Datuk Dr Luqman Abdullah called the government to cancel the Coldplay concert. Dr Luqman appealed to the public not to support the concert, adding that it would not benefit society.
Earlier this week, PAS and Majlis Ulama Ikatan Muslimin (Isma) religious council chairman Datuk Zamri Hashim also called for the Coldplay concert to be cancelled.
The deployment of the kill switch was also unnecessary during the concert, as the band strictly followed the stipulated guidelines.
The "kill switch" allows the organiser to pull the plug on the concert if the band breaks official guidelines. It was introduced by the Communications and Digital Ministry in October as a precautionary measure following the controversial stunt by pop band The 1975 at Good Vibes Festival 2023.
