Coldplay took the stage for the second of four concerts at Rogers Stadium in Toronto on Tuesday night (July 8), which also held the distinction of being the third overall show at the brand new 50,000-capacity Downsview venue.
If you ask Live Nation Canada's President of Music, Erik Hoffman, they are also one of the major reasons it was built. In their first two shows, though, Chris Martin hasn't exactly had flattering things to say about it. On night one, he called it a "weird stadium in the middle of nowhere," and he went even further on the second night calling the venue a "very bizarre stadium a million miles from Earth."
"We are solely testing the premise, 'if you build it, they will come," he said during his piano intro to "The Scientist."
He may have had his tongue a little bit in his cheek, but it hasn't been good PR for the venue, which has contended with fan complaints about moving seats, lack of water stations and long waits to exit. They've already made improvements on all of those things, though getting out of one of the two exits is still an ordeal. There are now more staff doing crowd control, flashing red and green lights to prevent bottlenecks at the nearby Downsview TTC and GO station.
But the somewhat secluded location also had a benefit for these Coldplay shows. Their celebrated celestial-themed Music of the Spheres tour builds a whole world. Travelling 45 minutes from downtown to get there just increases that feeling, of entering a pocket of connection and positivity. The production was impeccable, and it made the night feel majestic.
Coldplay at Toronto's Rogers Stadium on July 8, 2025.Anna Lee
This was show number 203 on the record-breaking tour, which is the best-selling and highest-grossing rock tour ever, and Martin told Toronto that was just "202 rehearsals for you." Night one saw the band delaying their set time to fix a lighting tower, but everything was running smoothly on Tuesday.
Fireworks and confetti were well timed, everyone's light-up wristbands synced to create rainbow symphonies and hearts. The bright stage lights went out just as the sun was going down around 9:20, and Martin summoned the middle platform's lighting with the words "you make my world light up" in "Hymn For The Weekend." Later, the "moon glasses" handed out to each person at the entrance created hearts of light dancing individually for each person in the stands and on the floor.
There were still many moments of spontaneity, though, and those were some of the best of the night. The band built in points of connection with the fans, like improvising little ditties about fans projected on the stage screens. Martin scanned the crowd for signs, reading many of them out loud. He laughed at one audience member's sign announcing that they had travelled all the way from Downtown Toronto to be there. "It's like Lord of the Rings to get here," he quipped.
He settled on one fan named Vanna whose sign said she wasn't tall enough to see, but she "feels everything." On the back, she had written her own poem, which he read aloud. He invited her onstage to sit next to him and request a song. She chose "Warning Sign," a rarely played ballad from Coldplay's second album A Rush of Blood to the Head. He was a little nervous, Martin admitted, because he hadn't played it in a while "and 50,000 people are watching."
He tried to remember how to play it on piano, but then gave up and requested an acoustic guitar. When it didn't come right away, he jokingly asked the audience not to put this part on YouTube. To bridge the gap, he plunked out a tune and started to sing the lyrics on her sign: "My skybound heart, my soul set free / you sing the hidden parts of me."
It was one of many moments in the night that aimed to build connection among the disparate crowd. Many people brought flags, and Martin welcomed them all: Brazil, Sri Lanka, Colombia, Finland, India. He also welcomed a fan who had brought an LGBTQ+ flag, and later draped himself in one for a song expressing support for all genders and sexual identities.
A night after a fan brought a Palestinian flag, this time another brought a flag of Israel. "We welcome all people," he said. "It makes me happy that both groups can come." Later, he celebrated the crowd full of nationalities and religions and said it shows that "all these conflicts that we keep being told about are really overcomeable by the power of love and togetherness."
It may be a vague platitude, but it's a message of all-size-fits-all unity the band has preached throughout their career. For "A Sky Full of Stars," Martin said this is the first time all 50,004 people (including the band members) would ever be in the same place, and asked to put their phones away for one song and feel the connection. He asked to pick the furthest person you could find and sing the song directly to them.
Coldplay at Toronto's Rogers Stadium on July 8, 2025.Anna Lee
At times, the message veered towards overtly religious themes, as in "We Pray" featuring his tour opener, Palestinian-Chilean singer Elyanna. More often, though, the songs were less specifically spiritual, espousing a theme that was projected on screens as the show finished, "Believe in Love."
Coldplay's fans span generations, with many parents and children there together. They've stayed relevant with new audiences with songs like the BTS collaboration "My Universe," which some young fans sang loud enough to reach South Korea. They began their encore with "Sparks," a 2000-era song that has gone viral on TikTok and charted for the first time this year. The first time they played it in Toronto, there were about six people there, they said. Now, it's a hit single.
All in all, it was a very pleasant concert — or, as Martin put it, "a wonderful Canadian Tuesday."
