Stadium rock with the Day-Glo aesthetic of CBeebies... Coldplay can no longer be labelled beige or boring as they continue their A Head Full Of Dreams Tour
Coldplay Hampden Park, Glasgow On tour until June 19
Rating: 
'This is Tuesday Night Dance Club,’ announces Chris Martin somewhat improbably, midway through the pounding Hi-NRG climax to Paradise.
The profusion of negatives traditionally appended to Coldplay – boring, worthy, beige – seems to have sparked an almost pathological counter-reaction.
Recent album A Head Full Of Dreams is an indecently perky pop confection, full of liquid Afro-beat grooves and shiny electronic rhythms.
In concert, its upbeat vibes are multiplied tenfold. The message resonates loud and clear.
Coldplay are fun! Not just fun, but F-U-N!!!
Coldplay have transcended their drab indie-rock origins to fashion a stadium show with a colourful, consciously naive pop heart: at the end of two hours, I feel as if I’ve been comprehensively love-bombed
If at times such relentless positivity feels a mite overcooked – think of the office drone who suddenly starts wearing cartoon ties and wacky socks – it undeniably delivers.
Coldplay have transcended their drab indie-rock origins to fashion a stadium show with a colourful, consciously naive pop heart.
At the end of two hours, I feel as if I’ve been comprehensively love-bombed.
In contrast to Bruce Springsteen, who held Hampden in his hands the previous week without the need for any technological fuss, Coldplay throw the full box of pyrotechnic tricks at Glasgow.
Fireworks explode during A Head Full Of Dreams and Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall, and cannons shoot confetti into the sky.
Our hi-tech wristbands pulse and glow during Yellow. Lozenge-shaped video screens beam out every bright nuance. And that’s just the opening three songs.
Later, flames will shoot out from the stage during Hymn For The Weekend, although, sadly, we have to make do with a sampled Beyoncé rather than the real thing.
Despite all the NASA-grade enhancements, the human angle is paramount.
As Chris Martin informs the crowd, with the kind of crazed grin usually found on cult members: ‘You and us! The power of emotional communication!’
He does his best to turn a standard rock platitude into reality.
While his three fellow Coldplayers quietly keep the musical motor running, Martin leads from the front.
He bounds up and down the walkways like a church youth leader on an adrenaline drip.
He kneels and kisses the stage. He dances badly, like a sycamore seed twirling in the breeze.
He calls us ‘beautiful’ – over and over again.
The negatives traditionally appended to Coldplay – boring, worthy, beige – seems to have sparked an almost pathalogical counter-reaction. Recent album A Head Full Of Dreams is an indecently perky pop confection
Such is his boundless energy and optimism, only a churl could fail to be swept along.
When a roadie vacuums the stage during Viva La Vida, it rather undermines the impact of one of their punchiest songs.
Their mini-set on the B-stage – where they play Magic, Ink and Everglow, the latter ending with a video snippet of Muhammad Ali preaching peace – is underpowered.
A truncated cover of David Bowie’s Heroes feels both obvious and perfunctory.
Such longueurs, however, are swept away by wave after wave of the good stuff.
The innate sadness of The Scientist is transformed into something affirming by the vast choir of accompanying voices.
Charlie Brown and Hymn For The Weekend explode in a sea of flashing lights and raised hands, a double-barrelled masterclass in big-gig dynamics.
As darkness falls and 50,000 wristbands glow amber on Fix You, it makes for an unforgettable spectacle.
The main set ends with a joyous Adventure Of A Lifetime, all slinky disco grooves and West African guitar lines.
By now, huge, bright balloons are bobbing around on the pitch.
It’s stadium rock with the Day-Glo aesthetic of CBeebies.
They return to play an acoustic In My Place, and to squeeze a crowd-pleasing Proclaimers reference into See You Soon.
Ending with a trio of songs – Amazing Day, A Sky Full Of Stars and Up&Up – from their most recent albums is a pointed statement of forward motion, yet Martin has suggested that Coldplay may soon be consciously uncoupling. If so, it’s a multi-coloured victory march.
The band headline Glastonbury at the end of June. The road to Pilton will be paved with conquered stadia.
Are Coldplay the biggest band in the world? Very possibly.
Do they have the brightest, bounciest stadium show on the planet right now? No contest.
THREE GIGS TO SEE
Rihanna
Wembley Stadium, London June 24; on tour to June 29
Recent album Anti was surprisingly reflective, showing there’s more to Rihanna than bump and grind. A hit machine with a dark edge, her run of singles showcases an ability to blend pop, dancehall, hip-hop, R&B and even indie
Garbage
Troxy, London Tomorrow
Shirley Manson’s gang once packed enough of a commercial punch to bag a Bond theme. Their profile is more modest now, but a gift for crunchy, confrontational alt.rock with a melodic twist remains evident on new album Strange Little Birds
The Stone Roses
Etihad Stadium, Manchester Wed, Fri, Sat and Sun
Underwhelming new single All For One suggests the Roses’ future lies in memorialising the past, specifically a debut album still fresher than anything they’ve since created. And where better than home turf to relive the glory days
THIS WEEK'S CD RELEASES
By Adam Woods
Tom Odell Wrong Crowd Columbia, out now
Rating:
Underwhelming new single All For One suggests the Roses’ future lies in memorialising the past, specifically a debut album still fresher than anything they’ve since created. And where better than home turf to relive the glory days
Paul McCartney Pure McCartney Virgin EMI, out now
Rating:
This is Paul’s first solo compilation in 30 years. At 67 songs in the deluxe version, it’s vast, mashing together his Seventies work including Wings, with a handful from the Eighties and 20 or so from the Nineties on. Pedants will spot missing favourites – where’s Tug Of War? – and clunking inclusions – Dance Tonight – but as a highlights reel, it deserves two thumbs-up
Neil Young Earth Warner Bros, out Fri
Rating:
Billed as a meeting of Young, his new band Promise Of The Real and ‘all the living things of Earth’, Earth is more easily grasped as a live album with animal noises. So we get Country Home from Ragged Glory adorned with a twin-guitar attack and some jubilant roosters, and After The Gold Rush toasted by howling wolves
