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Coldplay: Live Entertainment Project

Live Entertainment Project

Victoria Vigliarolo

University of Central Florida Student

Professor Arthur Sims

12/08/2021
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Coldplay: Live Entertainment Project
Live Entertainment Project

For my live entertainment project, I have been looking at the corrections that we

made to my dream live music production design project and decided to focus on that. I am

expanding my research and strengthening my knowledge by showing a strong research support

as well. For this dream live music production design, I have decided to showcase Coldplay as the

Headliner, not only because I have been listening to them since before, I was born, but also

because they are to this day, the best concert I have ever attended to. This live music production

will include a big stage, screens, use of technology, lights, and much more.

The Rundown

Wanted to give a small rundown of the venue, the reason behind it, the show itself and

just how exactly everything will be going down. The show will begin with the opening act,

which we are still trying to decide who would be the perfect fit for this show, we would like to

get an English artist, given the fact that the show will be in London. After the opening act

performs for about an hour, that is when there will be around 15 to 20 minutes of set up time, so

that all the instruments and equipment needed for our headliners to begin will be ready to go.

Once that is done, Coldplay will begin their performance, they will start in the main stage, and

they will be moving throughout a long catwalk that connects them to Stage B which is a smaller

stage in where they will perform some of their slower songs. There will be a small break after an

hour and 15 minutes of them playing so that they can drink some water and do anything else that

they need to do. The audience will have light up bracelets that will be controlled backstage and

they will light up accordingly to the song that the band is playing throughout the show.

Additionally, there will be other elements that will be included in their performance that will be

discussed later that will also appear depending on the song that is being performed. Once the
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Coldplay: Live Entertainment Project
show is over, everyone from the crew will stay and do their job to clean all their equipment up

and anything else that may be needed.

The Headliner

Before we dive into the dream live production design, I think it is important that we talk a

little bit more about the headliner for this show, Coldplay. They have been a band since 1998 and

they have performed all over the world, in so many kinds of venues meaning that their shows just

kept improving and growing. Their last tour, A Head Full of Dreams, was their last tour and it

was one of the most successful tours that they have ever done. They are one of the most popular

bands now, appealing to people from all different ages and allowing for great experiences every

single time that they perform.

The Venue

The venue that I chose to perform this amazing show in is Wembley Stadium in London,

UK. This is because Coldplay is a British band and every single time they perform there, they

have been very successful in all the aspects one can think of. The overall atmosphere is different,

and I know that in terms of business it will make sense because there is a very high chance that

the show will sell out if it is done in London. Every time they release tickets for shows in this

venue, they just sell out so quickly they need to just end up adding more. This venue is also the

perfect size for the show that we have planned because of everything that it includes.

The Stage

The stage design for this specific show is nothing super out of this world mainly because

it is a stage very similar to what Coldplay is used to and based on their live performances’

history, it is a design that they tend to use quite often. The stage will look like the following:
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Coldplay: Live Entertainment Project

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

I think that by having a thrust stage, it will give the members the ability to interact with the

audience a bit more and be able to move around and create various types of performances. The

circle shaped stage at the end of the long catwalk, allows for more calm and intimate

performances and it allows for a change of rhythm of the actual show. They can sing the songs

that do not require as much equipment as the others.

The Technology

For a while now, Coldplay has incorporated a lot of technology within their shows, and

we want to make sure that we keep that alive. Since their Head Full of Dreams tour from 2016 to

2017 they had each one of their guests to wear a wrist band that with the help of technology,

would light up different colors depending on the song or just whenever the time was in where it
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Coldplay: Live Entertainment Project
was supposed to. For example, when I attended their show in Miami in August of 2017, I was

able to witness this with my own eyes, during their song “Paradise” the wristbands would light

up different colors and it would create such a beautiful scenery. We want to make sure that this is

included for this specific show because their fans seem to love it and it is such a creative idea to

have the audience participate and feel involved in the performance. We do want to include

screens on both sides of the stage and one in the middle so that people in the back and at the top

can have a better view and with that we can have some creative visual designs in the background

while they sing. The visual that will be shown will be different every time and we do not have to

include a visual for every song, and even for certain songs, they ones that are the newer songs,

we can share the lyrics so that the audience can sing along.

The Details

Some of the smaller things that I think would be a very nice idea to incorporate to this

show are fireworks, confetti cannons and some type of light up beach ball to go around the

crowd. I got some of these ideas by watching their documentary called “Coldplay: A Head Full

of Dreams” and the way that it looked was nice and again, it allows for some more involvement

of the audience. With the venue, that I have planned to have, we will be able to include all these

details and at the same time, it will create a spectacular show for everyone inside and even

outside of the stadium as well. I think that the light up beach balls should be used more towards

the end of the show just so they do not get in the people’s way throughout the whole

performance. The fireworks and the confetti can vary depending on the exact moment they

would like to use them, but they could work either way and it will create a sense of stamina for

the performance.
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Coldplay: Live Entertainment Project
The Instruments and the Sound

The instruments are such a crucial part of this show given the fact Coldplay members do

play their own instruments, they do not have a band that comes in and does it for them. I know

that for the piano it would be nice if it could be customized and look like the cover of their album

in which they are doing the show about, which would be their most recent album. The other

instruments include a drum set, guitars (electric and acoustic), a bass, keyboard, and a trumpet.

Microphones will also be used to help amplify the sound, which will be transmitted with the

venue’s capability of speakers along with the special equipment that the band will have.

The Costumes

After watching a lot of the band’s previous concert videos, it is very clear that all the

members of the band basically wear the same thing and it has been like that for so many years.

The front man of the band, Chris Martin, has been wearing the same tie-dye shirt since 2015 for

every single performance that he has done, but it was altered a little bit depending on the

occasion (Tang, 2017). It is very clear that they have claimed that they feel comfortable wearing

specific clothes and that is totally fine because it represents their style and who they are. With

that being said, for this specific performance, we will allow them to choose what they want to

wear, however we may design their outfits based on their preferences. To have a better

understanding of what their costumes will be like, I have found and image from their last tour, A

Head Full of Dreams, in where one can see what they like to wear during their performances.
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Coldplay: Live Entertainment Project

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

The Summary

The headliner for this show will be Coldplay, one of the most popular bands in the world

now. They will perform this show at the Wembley Stadium in London, which is such a

significant place, not only for the band, but also for a lot of their audience. It will provide such a

great experience overall and it has a lot of elements that allows for the audience to feel as if they

were part of the performance. A lot of surprise type elements will be there including fireworks

and confetti cannons that will create such a great reaction from audience. It will be such a great

performance that people might not expect and looking at Coldplay’s past history in terms of

performances, they for sure know what they are doing.

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Coldplay: Live Entertainment Project
References

Brilliant. (n.d.). Coldplay A Head Full of Dreams. Brilliant.

https://www.brilliantstages.com/portfolio/touring/coldplay/

Concert Archives. (n.d.). Coldplay Concert Photos. Concert Archives.

https://www.concertarchives.org/bands/coldplay/photos

Tang, E. (2017, October 11). Why does Chris Martin love his tie-dye T-shirt so goddamn much?
ELLE. Retrieved December 1, 2021, from
https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/news/g29995/chris-martin-tie-dye-top/.

Whitecross, M. (Director). (2018). Coldplay: A Head Full of Dreams [Film]. Amazon Prime
Video.