Coldplay band members are probably rich enough to afford a ticket as space tourists. They’re also connected and famous enough to get their brand new song to premiere in space.
This was clearly a PR stunt but it was an excellently done one. Coldplay linked up with the International Space Station (ISS) and spoke with Thomas Pesquet, a French astronaut for the European Space Agency (ESA). Each band member had specific questions about life in space, which Pesquet graciously answered, drawing, whenever he could, comparisons between that experience and “being on tour.”
Video of the chat is available below. Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, and Will Champion were clearly nervous about the chat and the premiere. After all, it’s not everyday that you get to talk to a real astronaut in space. Even when you’re part of Coldplay.
Pesquet spoke about the most cringe-inducing misconception found in space-themed movies (spoiler, it’s all about how quickly astronauts suit up and head outside the space station or shuttle) and waxed poetic about how Earth, seen from space, has no borders and no divisions, hence they’re “constructions of the mind.” As for alien sightings, he’s yet to have any.
At the end of the chat, Pesquet played the single “Higher Power” and the video he’d been sent in advance for the first time ever. It was then transmitted back on Earth via satellite for the premiere, which counted as an "intergalactic premiere" or, as both ESA and Coldplay said later, as an “extraterrestrial transmission.”
“Right now we aren't able to play for anybody on Earth, so we thought we'd just play for you,” Martin told Pesquet. “It's like our one-man concert.”
A one-man concert indeed, but one watched live by millions of people from all over the world. 2020, for all its shortcomings, is really bringing out the creative side in all of us.
Video of the chat is available below. Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, and Will Champion were clearly nervous about the chat and the premiere. After all, it’s not everyday that you get to talk to a real astronaut in space. Even when you’re part of Coldplay.
Pesquet spoke about the most cringe-inducing misconception found in space-themed movies (spoiler, it’s all about how quickly astronauts suit up and head outside the space station or shuttle) and waxed poetic about how Earth, seen from space, has no borders and no divisions, hence they’re “constructions of the mind.” As for alien sightings, he’s yet to have any.
At the end of the chat, Pesquet played the single “Higher Power” and the video he’d been sent in advance for the first time ever. It was then transmitted back on Earth via satellite for the premiere, which counted as an "intergalactic premiere" or, as both ESA and Coldplay said later, as an “extraterrestrial transmission.”
“Right now we aren't able to play for anybody on Earth, so we thought we'd just play for you,” Martin told Pesquet. “It's like our one-man concert.”
A one-man concert indeed, but one watched live by millions of people from all over the world. 2020, for all its shortcomings, is really bringing out the creative side in all of us.
Godspeed up there, Thomas. We’ll see you back on ???? in a few months. Thanks again for a once in a lifetime experience ????????????
— Coldplay (@coldplay) May 7, 2021