Coldplay’s one-off Australian show announcement divides fans

Superstars Coldplay are touring Australia for the first time in seven years – but fans are fuming that their “tour” is just one show.

Chris Martin of Coldplay. Picture: James Devaney/GC Images

Aussie Coldplay fans have expressed their disappointment after the band this week announced they would be taking their current world tour to Australia in November – for one show only.

And the show is taking place in one of the world’s most remote cities, Perth, more than 3000km away from the usual east coast concert hotspots of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

The one-off stadium show will be Coldplay’s first show in Australia since December 2016, when the British band played five stadium dates across those three cities.

Perth fans were shut-out during that tour, but this time, through an arrangement between Live Nation and Tourism WA, they’ll be the only Aussies to see the band as part of the Music of The Spheres World Tour.

Cue outrage from east coast Coldplay fans, who have left angry messages on just about every social media channel used to disseminate the news.

The Perth show will be Coldplay’s first Australian concert in seven years. Picture: James Marcus Haney

“What about the most populated cities in Australia like Melbourne!” wrote one person under LiveNation Australia’s Instagram post.

“What a shame. No way I’m flying to the other side of the country. Tourism ploy?” asked another.

“WHY JUST PERTH,” said another.

The story’s the same over on Coldplay’s official Facebook page:

“If this is it for Australia, you must be crazy. I really hope Melbourne and the rest of Australia will be announced soon,” wrote one fan.

“Absolutely devastated that there will only be one gig in Australia. Perth is a logistic nightmare for some of us from other states,” said another.

Of course, not everyone was disappointed by the news: “Perth usually miss out on big acts, so good to see this happening,” wrote one fan, one of many WA residents to voice their approval.

Others suggested that perhaps this was just an initial announcement to drive ticket sales to the Perth show, with other Australian dates to follow.

“Surely this can’t be the only Australian show,” one fan wrote.

“Hopefully this is just to see interest and then whole bunch of shows added to the east coast!” wrote another.

However, that appears unlikely – while there are a few free days between the Perth concert and Coldplay’s other scheduled dates, in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur respectively, both the band and Live Nation have been clear in stipulating that Perth is a one-night-only event.

Coldplay have been careful to bill the show as a ‘one-off’. Picture: James Devaney/GC Images

“We’re so happy to be returning to Perth for an extra special one-off show at Optus Stadium on November 18th this year. It’s a huge deal for us and we’re massively looking forward to coming back to Western Australia. It’s been way too long,” Coldplay said in a statement.

While Australia is a long way to travel and top-tier touring acts usually need to schedule multiple shows in the country to recoup costs, exclusive one-off Aussie shows from big acts are also common. Often, they’re tied in with state tourism campaigns.

Art-pop icon Bjork just performed a string of shows in WA as part of the Perth festival, while the Foo Fighters travelled to Australia in March last year for a one-off show in Geelong.

And Sam Smith’s recent one-off Australian concert – an exclusive invite-only set at a South Australian winery – was just found to have “exceeded all expectations” in promoting the state, amid controversy about how much it cost taxpayers.

Coldplay’s Perth concert is set to take place on Saturday, November 18, 2023 at Optus Stadium, with support from Amy Shark and Thelma Plum. Tickets via livenation.com.au