Coldplay's 'Beige' Music is What The Philippines Needs Right Now

It didn’t take too long for us to do the math and realize that flying to a neighboring country to watch a concert was all-around better value than staying put to wait for the tour to hit the Philippines. Even then, it has to be kind of a slow news day for news outlets to be reporting which of their network talents had jetted in to Singapore to catch the first leg of Coldplay’s Southeast Asian tour dates.

If there was something unexpected here at all, it’s the ferocity of the fans’ adoration—who knew Coldplay could even elicit that kind of emotion in people? 

It seems like everyone and his cousin and their kitchen sink were tweeting about how life-changing the performance was. It’s no surprise to see the turnout for the band, considering the months-long period of anticipation we were forced to undergo after it was first confirmed that there was going to be a Philippine stop for their sweep through the arenas of Southeast Asia. Of course, Coldplay’s pleasantly anodyne brand of pop is, by definition, very very easy to like. If there was something unexpected here at all, it’s the ferocity of the fans’ adoration—who knew Coldplay could even elicit that kind of emotion in people? 

Still, there’s a sense of satisfaction to be had to see Chris Martin et al fill up stadium after stadium on this tour. While it’s still true that their latter material (i.e., post-Paltrow) is still pretty…well, beige (yellow?)—the production values of this particular tour promise to be through the roof. Unlike legendary stadium-fillers U2, however, early reviews point to the way Coldplay “can somehow put on blockbuster shows with all the bells and whistles of an arena concert while still retaining an everyman appeal.” 

There’s an amusing dissonance between the band’s intimate, made-for-your-headphones kind of songs and the grand carnival atmosphere of the entire show, but maybe that’s the kind of retreat we need right now: entertainment we can all agree on, candy for the senses, and safe ground for social media.

Coldplay will, um, play at the SM Mall of Asia on Tuesday, April 4, 2017.