SINGAPORE — British rock band Coldplay kicked off its series of concerts in Singapore on Tuesday (Jan 23), rousing a full-house crowd of 55,000 fans at the National Stadium.

The quartet is scheduled to play a total of six shows of their Music Of The Spheres world tour here, with the final one happening on Jan 31. 

Following the first concert on Tuesday night, fans who were there wasted no time in sharing their footage and experiences online.

From technical hiccups to heartwarming moments, here are some of the things concertgoers had to say about the first gig of the Singapore leg of Coldplay's tour.

POOR SOUND QUALITY, TECHNICAL ISSUES 

A number of fans took to social media to criticise what they perceived to be poor sound quality at the concert. Some complained that they were unable to clearly hear frontman Chris Martin’s vocals during the first few performances, while others found the audio to be too “echo-y”.

Sharing their reviews in a discussion thread for Coldplay on online forum Reddit, one user named “ghim7” wrote: “Utterly disappointed with Singapore’s day one show. The sound (was) bad with (a) very heavy echo. Closed roof might be the culprit, I don’t know.”

Seconding the opinion, another user said: “(I) can confirm that the audio quality is really subpar here unfortunately. Like the vocals can feel really drowned out and echo-y. And from what I've seen online, this is a longstanding issue with this venue.”

The Singapore National Stadium has a retractable domed roof that can be closed and opened as needed. Accounts from concertgoers were that the roof was closed on the night of the show.

Some fans were also upset that Martin's piano malfunctioned while he was singing The Scientist and had to pause the performance to let the stage crew fix the problem.

Not wanting to let a technical fault ruin the show, the master showman then improvised with guitarist Jonny Buckland to deliver an acoustic version of the hit song, with Buckland’s guitar substituting the piano.

Although some fans were “bummed” that they could not enjoy the original version of the song, others thought that the impromptu guitar rendition made it all the more “special”.

As one Reddit user reasoned: “Think about it, how many times have they played The Scientist with a guitar? You got a very unique experience that you will always remember for years to come.”

NO REAL FIREWORKS

With footage online showing spectacular firework displays at Coldplay concerts previously held in other countries, fans were eager to experience that at the Singapore show as well.

However, many were dismayed when they realised that the only fireworks they were going to get were digital ones.

A video by TikTok user “jenibrrr” showed what seemed to be a combination of light projections and digital fireworks on the roof of the stadium.

One viewer commented: “What? Trash. Pay so much to watch projectors.”

Another person lamented: “It's incomplete without real fireworks.”

Despite not being able to enjoy fireworks at the show, one Reddit user reminded fans in Singapore to be grateful: “The Tokyo show also didn’t have fireworks, not even this digital version, but the experience (was) still superb. Singapore is lucky enough to have more than two nights of Coldplay.”

COLDPLAY SINGS TRIBUTE TO FAN’S LATE FATHER

In a heartwarming moment during the concert, Martin dedicated a song to the late father of an Indonesian fan.

He had spotted the fan from Jakarta in the audience holding up a sign asking him to play Everglow “for her papa in heaven”. He then invited the woman along with her partner onstage to join him for the performance.

Sharing her story, the fan said that her father had died two months ago and was supposed to be attending the concert with her.

The woman was seen wiping away tears as Martin performed the song.

Online users were equally moved, calling the moment “beautiful” and praising the band for creating a special memory for their fans.