Viva la Vida Tour

The Viva la Vida Tour was the fourth concert tour undertaken by British rock band Coldplay. It was launched in support their fourth studio album, ''Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends'' (2008), becoming a massive commercial and critical success. The tour visited Europe, Asia, Oceania and the Americas, further establishing the band as one of the biggest touring acts in the world. According to ''Pollstar'', the tour has grossed $209.4 million from 2,831,377 tickets sold in 166 reported dates.

The stage setup consisted of a stripped-down main stage and two catwalks; Coldplay also performed amongst audience members at the back of venues in a special acoustic set. Instead of a giant video screen on-stage, the band opted for six hanging giant PufferSpheres that displayed images, video and streamed closeups. Lead singer Chris Martin dubbed the fixtures as their "magic balls". During the intro, ''The Blue Danube'' by Johann Strauss II was played on all concerts right before the band came into the stage. The tour visited arenas and stadiums in separate phases: In London, they visited The O2 Arena in 2008 and the Wembley Stadium in 2009, with the latter show featuring a half-dome stage design.

Coldplay were accompanied by Oxfam and David Gibbin during the tour. Volunteers were stationed at each venue to tell concert goers how to reduce poverty; the organization's logo and website was featured on one of the light ball fixtures during each show. On 23 July 2008 Coldplay performed their second in two shows at the United Center arena in Chicago. In each of the two shows, the band shot the music video for "Lost!" by performing the song twice.
On 19 September 2008, Chris Martin was accompanied by A-ha pianist Magne Furuholmen in the encore at the Oslo Spektrum, Oslo, to play a cover of the A-Ha song "Hunting High and Low".

Visuals

The intro of the concert would begin in space before turning to show the Earth and zooming to aerial views of the continent, country, city and then stadium that the show would take place. The idea was to make each show being a spectacle in its own, rather than just part of the tour. The cosmic theme is repeated across a number of the visuals like "Speed of Sound" and "Glass of Water". This takes the gig-goers on a journey through a solar system where the stars coalesce to form an eye shape that goes supernova and engulfs the screen in flames. However, other sections of the show were completely different. "Lovers in Japan", one of the highlights in visual terms, uses a series of archive footage and animations across the screen at the back of the stage and in the end thousands of confetti butterflies would rain all over the venue. For the show's closing number, "Life in Technicolor II", the paintings created for the album artwork from Viva La Vida was treated with sprocket and projection effects to create a vibrant, immersive and colorful effect.

Opening acts

There were 34 supporting acts for the tour. They are:

*The Blue Jackets (New York City)
*Jon Hopkins (North America—Leg 1, select dates)
*Shearwater (North America—Leg 1, select dates)
*Santigold (North America—Leg 1, select dates) (Japan—February 2009)
*Sleepercar (North America—Leg 1, select dates)
*Duffy (North America—Leg 2, select dates)
*Snow Patrol (North America—Leg 3, select dates)
*Howling Bells (North America—Leg 3, select dates) (Europe—Leg 3, select dates)
*Pete Yorn (North America—Leg 3, select dates)
*Amadou and Mariam (North America—Leg 4, select dates)
*Kitty Daisy & Lewis (North America—Leg 4, select dates)
*Elbow (North America—Leg 4, select dates) (Ireland—September 2009)
*Albert Hammond Jr (Europe—Leg 1)
*The High Wire (Europe—Leg 2, select dates)
* Eugene Francis Jnr and the Juniors and the Juniors (England—December 2008)
* The Domino State (London—14 December 2008)
*Kilians (Europe—Leg 3, select dates)

*Bat For Lashes (Europe—Leg 3, select dates) (South America)
*The Flaming Lips (Europe—Leg 3, select dates)
* White Lies (Europe—Leg 3, select dates)
*Moi Caprice (Denmark—August 2009)
*Datarock (Norway—August 2009)
*Ministri (Italy—August 2009)
*Pegasus (Switzerland—September 2009)
*The Sunday Drivers (Spain—September 2009)
*Miss Montreal (Netherlands—September 2009)
*Girls Aloud (Britain (Scotland and England)—September 2009)
*Jay-Z (Britain (Scotland and England)—September 2009)
*La Roux (England—December 2009)
*Decoder Ring (Australia)
*Hollie Smith (New Zealand)
*Mercury Rev

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