At B.C. Place on Friday, September 29.

It was a busy night in downtown Vancouver on Friday night—Parq Vancouver held its opening and Miranda Lambert performed at Rogers Arena. But in our opinion, the city’s main attraction was at B.C. place.

British rock band Coldplay finally returned to the Vancouver after five long years for their A Head Full of Dreams Tour, and it was completely worth the wait.

The night started off with openers Alina Baraz and Tove Lo; the latter is a Swedish singer who hyped up attendees with her unique vocals in hits like “Talking Body” and “Habits”.

When the main act took the stage at 9 p.m. with “A Head Full of Dreams”, the crowd finally shed their muted energy and entered full-on euphoric mode. The band’s production team managed to create an atmosphere that made 50,000 people feel connected, thanks to individual LED wrist-bands that lit-up while synchronized to the music throughout the show.

Beneath the psychedelic strobe lights, firework effects, differently shaped confetti, and unbelievably high-definition screens was the humble four-piece band that has historic ties to Vancouver.

“The first show we ever played in North America was in 2001 in Vancouver, B.C.,” lead singer Chris Martin said to the cheering crowd. “It’s been five years since we’ve been back. It’s a beautiful city and we’ve saved the best for last.”

Guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, and drummer Will Champion kept up with their frontman by putting in 110-percent of energy throughout the show. 

“Yellow” from their debut album Parachutes was played next—can you guess what colour the wrist-bands turned? When a packed stadium is filled with glowing yellow lights, it makes for one helluva photo or video.

Several oldies but goodies were performed, including “The Scientist”, “Paradise”, “Clocks”, “Viva la Vida”, and “Magic”, which elicited plenty of singing and dancing along from concert-goers.

Slower tempo songs like “Fix You” and “Everglow” were part of the set list, as well as newer tunes such as “Hymn for the Weekend”, Chainsmokers collab “Something Just Like This”, and “Adventure of a Lifetime”.

At this point, boulder-sized multi-coloured balloons started to float into the floor area, which was easily one of the most magical and amusing moments of the night. It’s not often that you see grown-ass people become this excited about inflatable latex.

Throughout the concert, Martin demonstrated why he is one of the best entertainers on the planet by dancing, running, and playing various instruments, in addition to sweet-talking and serenading the audience.

The band finished of their 20-plus set list by playing “Up & Up”, an inspiring and well-chosen closing song from their newest album. Roars of cheers and applause broke out as Martin kissed the Canadian flag and took a few bows with his other bandmates.

Coldplay’s show was more than a concert, it was an experience—one that even a non-fan would have thoroughly enjoyed. And we’ll be thinking about it until their next return to Vancouver.