When Coldplay last performed in Abu Dhabi, many remember the gig as being amazing and memorable. When pressed, they say it's because of the massive lightning storm that took place as the British alternative rock band performed.
After their New Year's Eve performance at the Abu Dhabi Breakwater, people will still remark how memorable the band were - and this time, it's thanks to the music.
The four-piece group, led by the boyishly handsome Chris Martin (perhaps many in the crowd wondered, as I did, what his wife Gwyneth Paltrow was doing for New Year's Eve), came on just after 10pm and put in a solid set until just before midnight, perfectly timing what we thought was their last song to segue into a 20-second countdown to the New Year.
"We're so happy you're spending your New Year's Eve with us," said Martin as giant timers ticked down and the crowd chanted along with him.
He'd had the 20,000-strong audience eating out of his hand since the moment he stepped on the stage, and sat down at his signature upright piano to play the songs that have brought the band worldwide fame, from their first hits such as Yellow - one of the biggest sing-alongs of the night—and Fix You, the huge Viva La Vida, and finally the current radio hits, Paradise and Every Tear is a Waterfall.
With five studio albums, the band - comprising alongside Martin bassist Guy Berryman, lead guitarist Jonny Buckland, and drummer Will Champion - had more than enough material to do a two-hour set, and so after a short break for fireworks to the left of the stage, they returned, a surprise to the audience - I'd expect things to be wrapped up after the sparkles in the sky faded. In fact they came back to play another hit, and to douse the crowd with glitter and confetti.
It's as they had done earlier in the night, shooting neon paper into the air, matching the colours on the Mylo Xyloto album (the band wears these colours too, and the stage background featured the yellow, green and pink in hypnotic swirls).
Martin's voice wasn't the strongest at times, but the band were pitch-perfect in every other way - in fact, it was comparable sometimes to hearing them on the radio, so spot-on were they.
