Commemorating one of the highest-grossing tours ever (at the time surpassed only by
U2 and
the Rolling Stones),
Coldplay put a triumphant cap on their global
A Head Full of Dreams stadium tour with
Live in Buenos Aires. Coming full circle at Estadio Ciudad de la Plata (both the starting and finishing point of the tour), the English quartet performed nearly two-dozen favorites, focusing on their most rousing, inspirational singalongs, which were energized with copious amounts of exploding confetti, fireworks, and their now-signature light-up LED bracelets, the "Xylobands." The first
Coldplay live album to be entirely recorded at a single show, this collection reflected the band's general tour set list and its specialized party-centric atmosphere (take, for example, the inclusion of
Tiesto's remix of "Paradise," used to get the crowd going). Aside from the six fresh
A Head Full of Dreams entries, they stick to the tried-and-true favorites, providing fans with yet more live versions of "God Put a Smile on Your Face," "Yellow," "Clocks," and "In My Place." Without any deep cuts or rarities -- the cover of
Bowie's "Heroes" that was a staple of the first half of the tour is sadly absent, but the 2017
Chainsmokers collaboration "Something Just Like This" is present -- the only surprises are site-specific treats "De Musica Ligera" (a cover of Argentine rock icons
Soda Stereo's 1990 hit) and the previously unreleased "Amor Argentina,"
Coldplay's heartfelt, tango-flavored love letter to the local fans. Even though more than half of the set can already be heard on
Live 2003,
Live 2012, and
Ghost Stories: Live 2014, this tour's overwhelming energy and the crowd of nearly 50,000 fans make
Live in Buenos Aires a joyous, communal experience. And yet, despite the massive scale, the band -- and
Chris Martin in particular, delivering stage banter entirely in Spanish -- still manages to intimately connect with each fan (and, by extension, listener), a huge part of why they could sell out venues over a year and a half and 114 shows. Unabashedly embracing the feel-good spirit that defined their second decade together as a group,
Coldplay jumps headlong into the clouds with
Live in Buenos Aires, their most endearing and exciting live statement to date.
[A special edition of the album bundled
Live in Buenos Aires with the concert video
Live in Sao Paulo, which was filmed at Allianz Parque just a week before the tour's finish. The set list mostly remains the same, with
A Head Full of Dreams track, "Birds," replacing "God Put a Smile on Your Face," and the Argentina-centric C-stage songs switched with "Us Against the World" and newly written
Coldplay song "Paulistanos," dedicated to the city and its fans. There's also an unexpected version of "In My Place" with drummer
Will Champion taking lead vocals. For those who missed seeing this tour live,
Live in Sao Paulo provides an exuberant glimpse into the unforgettable experience that
Coldplay crafted for the Head Full of Dreams Tour, with rapturous crowd shots and expanded wide shots capturing as much of the unbridled joy and visual overload as possible. With their simple message of love, tolerance, and acceptance,
Coldplay transcends borders and languages with
Live in Sao Paulo. Additionally, the three-part "Butterfly Package" added a final layer to the Buenos Aires/Sao Paulo pairing with the
Mat Whitecross-directed documentary A Head Full of Dreams, which chronicled the band's rise over two decades.] ~ Neil Z. Yeung
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