Coldplay's sold-out series of shows at Abu Dhabi's Zayed Sports City Stadium ended on Tuesday with 200,000 people, according to promoters Live Nation Middle East, streaming into venue to see the band perform across four nights.
Apart from the band's renowned musical performances, during which the British group has played hits such as Yellow, Viva La Vida and Fix You, the concerts have been full of standout moments, including memorable interactions between the band and fans, heartfelt odes to those in conflict areas and personal milestones for those in attendance.
Here are several of the moments that have been going viral across the UAE from the four shows.
1. Coldplay sends love to Gaza
At one point during the first show, lead singer Chris Martin invited a Pakistani fan on stage, who he asked to choose a song for him to sing. When she chose a song that the band planned to do later, he instead proposed doing a song dedicated to our loved ones that we miss, sending love to our "brothers and sisters in Gaza" among other countries across the world.
This is not the concert's only link to Palestine, as Palestinian-Chilean singer Elyanna opens all four shows.
2. Fan marriage proposal in the crowd
A fan named Hitesh Vijwani shared a video of his wedding proposal during the first night. While Sky Full of Stars played, he got down on one knee to ask his partner to spend the rest of his life with him, which she tearfully said yes to.
3. Chris Martin speaks Arabic
At the beginning of the first two shows, Chris Martin has offered an extended message in Arabic to the audience of tens of thousands, eliciting a warm response from the massive crowd across Zayed Sports City Stadium.
"Thank you so much, we are happy to be in Abu Dhabi," Martin said in Arabic.
Martin then commented on how international the audience was, which had always been the kind of crowd the band had dreamed of playing in front of.
4. Saudi fans join Coldplay on stage
Midway through the second show on Saturday, Martin invited two young Saudi female attendees up onto the stage after he spotted their sign in the audience. The sign asked the band to "please play Trouble", a song off their 2000 album, Parachutes. The fans were both 22, leading Martin to comment that the song was older than they were.
5. Band participates in pregnant fan's gender reveal
At one point during the show, Martin noticed that two fans were holding a sign that read: "Help us with our gender reveal please?"
"He doesn't know? Ok I've got you," Martin said, before improvising a song about the reveal. "Hello, my beautiful brother and sister. Seeing you gives me such joy. My friends and me, we all want to see, if you're having a girl or a boy."
The woman then revealed that she was having a girl, which elicited cheers from across the crowd.
6. Chris Martin celebrates a mum's first time out in five years
During the Saturday concert, Martin saw a woman holding a sign that stated that she was a mom and this was her first night out in five years. The singer was surprised, asking the fan if he'd read the sign correctly. He then welcomed the fan and thanked her for coming to see the band's show.
7. Chris Martin gives a shout-out to his dad
Chris Martin was among family in Abu Dhabi. The singer took a moment to thank his father, who was revealed by the camera to be in the audience. With his guitar, Martin serenaded Anthony Martin, reportedly a retired chartered accountant. “Many people in the crowd are good-looking, and this guy doesn’t look too bad either,” Martin sang. “But I have to tell you, I know him very well. I do. Because the man on the screen is my dad.”
8. Heavy metal royalty was in attendance
Why did Chris Martin bizarrely sing the chorus of Rammstein’s dark heavy metal hit Du Hast amidst Coldplay’s irrepressibly chirpy setlist on Tuesday? As it turned out, Till Lindemann, the frontman of the German heavy-metal titans, was also in the audience. Spotted on camera during Martin’s musical tribute to the crowd, Lindemann appeared relaxed and jovial. “It is such a great thrill to welcome you, Till, from Rammstein − one of our favourite bands," Martin said.
