Coldplay are coming back to Abu Dhabi. The British band are set to bring their hugely successful Music of the Spheres World Tour to Zayed Sports City Stadium on January 11. Promoters Live Nation Middle East confirmed it will be the only stop in the region for the band, who have been playing at some of the world’s largest music venues – including to more than 100,0000 people at this year’s Glastonbury festival in the UK – as part of the tour.
How to get tickets to Coldplay in Abu Dhabi
Fans can now sign up for access to presale tickets on Coldplay’s official website, which will be available online at noon GST on September 25. Fans can also register for presale tickets on the Live Nation Middle East website, which will go on sale at noon the following day. All other tickets will be available from noon on September 27 on the Live Nation Middle East website.
Prices have not yet been announced. However, their Melbourne show on October 31, which is part of the same tour, has ticket prices starting at approximately Dh250.
Who is opening for Coldplay in Abu Dhabi?
Palestinian-Chilean artist Elyanna is set to open Coldplay's show at Zayed Sports Stadium, continuing the blossoming relationship between the two popular acts. This year, the singer, 22, joined Chris Martin and company on stage during their headline set at Glastonbury to sing their 2019 song Arabesque.
Elyanna commented on Instagram: “Opening for Coldplay in January is a dream.”
On Friday, Coldplay and Elyanna will release an Arabic version of the group's song We Pray, collaborating with artists Little Simz, Burna Boy and TINI. Coldplay has a history of collaborating with Palestinian artists, releasing the Everyday Life with Le Trio Joubran in 2021.
Inside the Music of the Spheres Tour
Coldplay will return to the UAE on the back of their Music of the Spheres World Tour, named after their ninth album, which they have been playing in stadiums since 2022. It is the band's most extensive tour to date, having played in front of more than nine million people in more than 30 countries. According to trade publication Billboard, it is the biggest rock tour of all time and has already grossed more than $945 million.
The tour is also notable for its sustainability efforts, aiming to minimise the group's carbon footprint. The band have made several eco-conscious decisions, such as constructing stages from low-carbon, reusable and recycled materials; using low-energy LED lighting; minimisation of private flights; and setting up kinetic dance floors in venues where the movement of the audience will be registered and converted to energy contributing to power the show.
Coldplay have kept fans and peers aware of their progress by sharing annual reports tracking the tour's sustainability efforts. According to the most recent update, issued in June, Coldplay reported the direct CO2e emissions from the first two years of the Music of the Spheres tour are 59 per cent lower than their previous stadium tour in 2016/17 on a show-by-show comparison.
For two years before the launch, the band engaged the services of consultant Paul Schurink, the founder of Zap Concepts, to co-design a sustainable world tour. Speaking at the XP Music Conference in Riyadh in 2021, Schurink said the band even focused on the nature of the set list, which is purposely packed with up-tempo numbers, such as hits Viva La Vida and Sky Full of Stars, to literally keep the energy high on the kinetic dance floors.
“We do a full inventory of the show in that every single [piece of] equipment that has a plug on it is known by us so we can know how much energy is needed,” Schurink said. “Once we know we can then bring exactly enough energy to have maximum efficiency. And that's another thing that is underestimated, in most events, the total generation capacity – whether diesel or grid connections or whatever – are three to eight times more than that is needed.”
A history of Coldplay in the UAE
Coldplay's coming concert continues their love affair with Abu Dhabi, having played in the UAE capital three times previously. These included two New Year's Eve gigs in 2011 and 2016, at the Abu Dhabi Corniche and Etihad Park respectively, as well as their rain-soaked debut performance at Emirates Palace in 2009. They also performed at Expo 2020 Dubai in 2022.
The show also marks the first stand-alone concert at the Zayed Sports City Stadium since George Michael and Alicia Keys's sold-out show in 2008.
To whet fans appetite, here is the set list to Coldplay's recent performance at Dublin's Croke Park on September 2:
1. Higher Power
2. Adventure of a Lifetime
3. Paradise
4. The Scientist
5. Ride On (a cover of a Jimmy MaCarthy song)
6. Viva La Vida
7. Hymn for the Weekend
8. Don't Forget Me (a cover of a Maggie Rogers song)
9. In My Place
10. Yellow
11. Human Heart
12. People of the Pride
13. Clocks
14. We Pray
15. Infinity Sign
16. Something Just Like This (a cover of The Chainsmokers song)
17. My Universe
18. A Sky Full of Stars
19. Sunrise
20. Sparks
21. The Jumbotron Song
22. Crazy World (a cover of a song by Aslan)
23. Fix You
24. Good Feelings
25. Feels Like I'm Falling in Love
26. All My Love
The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The nine articles of the 50-Year Charter
1. Dubai silk road
2. A geo-economic map for Dubai
3. First virtual commercial city
4. A central education file for every citizen
5. A doctor to every citizen
6. Free economic and creative zones in universities
7. Self-sufficiency in Dubai homes
8. Co-operative companies in various sectors
9: Annual growth in philanthropy
List of officials:
Referees: Chris Broad, David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Andy Pycroft, Ranjan Madugalle and Richie Richardson.
Umpires: Aleem Dar, Kumara Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Ian Gould, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Bruce Oxenford, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Sundaram Ravi, Paul Reiffel, Rod Tucker, Michael Gough, Joel Wilson and Paul Wilson.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
match info
Union Berlin 0
Bayern Munich 1 (Lewandowski 40' pen, Pavard 80')
Man of the Match: Benjamin Pavard (Bayern Munich)
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
The%20team
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 268hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 380Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: CVT auto
Fuel consumption: 9.5L/100km
On sale: now
Price: from Dh195,000
The specs: 2018 Kia Picanto
Price: From Dh39,500
Engine: 1.2L inline four-cylinder
Transmission: Four-speed auto
Power: 86hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 122Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.0L / 100km
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
12%20restaurants%20opening%20at%20the%20hotel%20this%20month
%3Cp%3EAriana%E2%80%99s%20Persian%20Kitchen%3Cbr%3EDinner%20by%20Heston%20Blumenthal%3Cbr%3EEstiatorio%20Milos%3Cbr%3EHouse%20of%20Desserts%3Cbr%3EJaleo%20by%20Jose%20Andres%3Cbr%3ELa%20Mar%3Cbr%3ELing%20Ling%3Cbr%3ELittle%20Venice%20Cake%20Company%3Cbr%3EMalibu%2090265%3Cbr%3ENobu%20by%20the%20Beach%3Cbr%3EResonance%20by%20Heston%20Blumenthal%3Cbr%3EThe%20Royal%20Tearoom%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Jawab Iteiqal
Director: Mohamed Sammy
Starring: Mohamed Ramadan, Ayad Nasaar, Mohamed Adel and Sabry Fawaz
2 stars
