'I saw Coldplay do their smallest ever UK stadium gig - and one thing blew me away'

Despite being one of the biggest bands in the world at the very peak of their powers, Coldplay have just perfomed their smallest ever UK stadium shows.

Accustomed to filling colossal venues like Wembley, the band’s choice to play for 50,000 fans across two nights at a modest northern rugby league ground speaks volumes about the band’s commitment to bringing world-class music to communities often overlooked on major tours.

Earlier this year, Coldplay set a new record by playing to 111,000 fans a night at India’s Narendra Modi Stadium. Yet here they were at Sewell Group Craven Park, East Yorkshire, performing to a crowd roughly a fifth of that size - a bold and rare act of intimacy that made every beat hit closer and every lyric feel that little bit more personal.

The home of Hull Kingston Rovers was one of only two UK venues chosen for Coldplay’s 2025 Music of the Spheres World Tour dates, alongside the gargantuan 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium, where the band are soon to play ten nights. But Hull’s inclusion wasn’t a mere token gesture. In a deliberate act of cultural levelling-up, Coldplay rejected the usual football stadiums and large arenas, opting instead for rugby league grounds to reach new corners of the UK. Craven Park made the shortlist, a fitting reward for a club - and a city - long starved of headline acts of this calibre.

The ticketing process reinforced that local connection. Fans could enter a presale by pre-ordering Coldplay’s then-new album Moon Music, but even better for locals: those with HU, YO, DN, and LN postcodes got exclusive access to a regional presale.

And they were snapped up within minutes - because Coldplay are one of the best bands in the world.

For on an unfortunately drizzly August night, beneath a sky full of stars you couldn’t see but still feel, Coldplay took us on a true cosmic journey. An interstellar playground of light and music that transported you away from a rugby field to somewhere far beyond.

For two hours, everyday life faded away, replaced by laser-lit skies, and the thrum of 25,000 hearts beating as one. It didn’t feel like Hull. It felt like a world all of its own - one stitched together by sound, stars, and something deeply human.

READ MORE: Coldplay Wembley 2025 - Start times, tickets and set list for Music of the Spheres tour

Following a slow-building ambient intro of Jon Hopkins’ ambient epic Life Through the Veins creating a calm before the storm, we were treated to the Flying Theme from ET before the Music of the Spheres instrumental’s swelling strings and planetary visuals created a launch-pad for Act I: Planets.

The band exploded onto the stage with a triumphant-sounding Higher Power injecting the crowd with a shot of pure adrenalin. The synth-powered anthem of renewal and human energy really stamping the band’s authority all over Craven Park.

Breathlessly segueing into Adventure of a Lifetime , its funky guitar riffs and crowd-pleasing falsettos initiated a wonderful bounce-along as the contagious groove shook the stadium.

Mylo Xyloto’s epic Paradise was next, a spine-tingling sing-a-long raising the goosebumps and spirits before the tempo was brought back down to Earth with a frankly beautiful rendition of heartfelt piano ballad The Scientist.

Act 2: Moons ushered in a euphoric Viva la Vida, which the crowd sang along to with such gut-busting bravado it seemed to knock singer Chris Martin sideways.

Next up was the spiritual Hymn for the Weekend , infusing the stadium with a carnival of color and infectious party spirit.

What happened next was a lovely moment. Chris Martin took a little wander around the crowd, commenting on people’s signs and even an inflatable unicorn. But he was most taken by a young chap called Ray who had travelled an incredible 5,000 miles from his China homeland to see the band in Hull.

In awe of this Herculean effort, Chris invited him up on stage to sing the heart-achingly sweet True Love, their third single from often-overlooked Ghost Stories album. This was the first time the band had performed the song since 2014. And it sounded glorious, with Chris on piano, Jonny Buckland on guitar and Ray singing his heart out. The dazzled fan was so in tune, he was beckoned closer to the mic. A night he will never forget.

The neon energy of Charlie Brown then lit up the night, before Parachutes classic Yellow kicked the crowd further into orbit. The sight of 25,000-plus light-up wristbands (some people were lucky enough to get two) bathing the stadium in a yellow glow is something I’ll never forget.

Act 3: Stars kicked off with the Pink Singers choir harmonising like angels on Human Heart , a quiet moment of reflection amid the grandeur of the show before the colossal riffage of People Of The Pride bellowed from the stage like a lion. Jonny Buckland pounding his Les Paul in a cacophony of T-Rex-like magic.

With its instantly recognisable driving piano motif, Clocks from 2002’s Rush Of The Blood To The Head was greeted with a huge cheer amid a sea of green lasers, before WE PRAY with Hull’s very own Chiedu Oraka. Coldplay were so taken with the grime artist’s stellar rapping skills, they asked him to reprise his verse acoustically.

After the warm hues of Infinity Sign and EDM beats of Something Just Like This , the catchy My Universe (with BTS sadly not in attendance) led us into fan-favourite A Sky Full Of Stars. After a pumping build-up, Coldplay hilariously stopped the song just before the beat kicked in, imploring fans to just put their phones away and enjoy the moment. In a cacophony of good-natured booing elicited by Martin, the band struck up again, and when the beat finally kicked in it really in.

The show was wrapped up with Act 4: Home, which saw the band journey to a tiny little stage at the back of the stadium. The intimacy was electric as they played hushed, romantic throwback Sparks before a drummer Will Champion-led In My Place .

Soon it was time for Coldplay’s infamous ‘Kiss Cam’ (though a tongue-in-cheek Chris Martin said don’t call it that). This is where Martin sings the Jumbotron Song directly to fans or invents funny local lyrics, which really added a lovely touch of charming spontaneity to the night.

To close the show, our wristbands gave off a warm candle-lit glow as the steady strains of emotional ballad Fix You enveloped Craven Park like a blanket. A moment of pure emotional catharsis impossible not to be swept away by.

Moon Music’s instantly hummable Feels Like I’m Falling In Love brought the crowd to its knees before the gentle All My Love rounded the evening off. With its lyrics of “You got all my love, Whether it rains or pours’, Chris Martin urged every crowd member to hold onto someone they loved. As a forty-plus something, of course, I was too ‘old’ for this kind of thing, but my 11-year-old son wasn’t, clasping me tightly throughout.

And this emotional resonance, free of any contrivance, is why Coldplay are still one of the greatest acts in the world today.

The band have often been criticised through the years for being ‘cloyingly earnest’, employing heavy-handed sentiment in an effort to appeal to the masses. But I say what’s exactly wrong in channeling the often-forgotten inherent good in people and sending it back out there?

This was an unequivocally wonderful concert, and in the end, these Hull shows stand as a powerful reminder of just how long the area has been routinely starved of major acts and big-name gigs.

Coldplay’s choice to bring their Music of the Spheres tour to Craven Park reflects a genuine desire to connect with communities often overlooked by the touring giants - and to inspire fans who’ve been waiting for moments like this on their doorstep for far too long.

Whether performing for 25,000 or 111,000, Coldplay’s music has always had the uncanny ability to really resonate with the human condition.

And for those lucky enough to be there last night, it really was more than just a concert. It was a night when a modest rugby stadium became a universe, and a celestial soundtrack lingered like stardust in the air.

I was completely blown away that such a globe-straddling band performed in such a relatively small venue on my doorstep.

A final note to any other big-name artists out there thinking of replicating Coldplay’s riotous success in bringing stadium-scale magic to overlooked cities: ‘if you never try, you’ll never know’.

*Paul watched the Tuesday night performance