Fact #144295
When:
Short story:
On their Viva La Vida tour, Coldplay play for a fee reported to be $2m. at The Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Asia, during a heavy thunderstorm.
Full article:
John Lickrish, Flash Entertainment, United Arab Emirates : We had a terrible time with the Coldplay show. It had been a tough negotiation to get them here because not many top bands came here at that time, then a huge storm hit and flattened our stage. We had to quickly re-build it but then another storm came in. Luckily we managed to get the show to proceed and we had them back a few years later for a New Year’s concert.
(Source : interview with Johnny Black, Audience magazine, Sep 2016)
John Lickrish, Flash Entertainment, United Arab Emirates : We had Andrea Bocelli (the previous night) but really struggled to get Coldplay. We had set up the infrastructure to deliver a classical music show for 12,000 people and a rock concert for 25,000 the next day. The aim was to have two artistes that would not cannibalise each other, diverse shows with one production set-up. Coldplay didn't want to play, they felt there was a health and safety risk. We had taken precautions and assured them we would never jeopardise anyone. It worked.
The show went on for two and a half hours and was amazing. There were 22,000 people standing in the pouring rain in a lightning storm in the middle of the UAE, which never happens, and nobody was leaving. After the show, Coldplay said it was the best of the tour.
(Source : interview with Christopher Barrett, Audience magazine, October 2018)
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(Source : interview with Johnny Black, Audience magazine, Sep 2016)
John Lickrish, Flash Entertainment, United Arab Emirates : We had Andrea Bocelli (the previous night) but really struggled to get Coldplay. We had set up the infrastructure to deliver a classical music show for 12,000 people and a rock concert for 25,000 the next day. The aim was to have two artistes that would not cannibalise each other, diverse shows with one production set-up. Coldplay didn't want to play, they felt there was a health and safety risk. We had taken precautions and assured them we would never jeopardise anyone. It worked.
The show went on for two and a half hours and was amazing. There were 22,000 people standing in the pouring rain in a lightning storm in the middle of the UAE, which never happens, and nobody was leaving. After the show, Coldplay said it was the best of the tour.
(Source : interview with Christopher Barrett, Audience magazine, October 2018)