“We’ve been in queues for Taylor Swift tickets. This should be easier,” a friend mentioned optimistically the night before. Big concerts in India are few and far between. While music festivals are gradually becoming more popular with more acts coming in, a Coldplay concert, specifically the Music Of The Spheres World Tour 2025, is truly a rare event – an ‘Adventure of a Lifetime’, if you will. The band’s last visit to India was in 2016, a concert fondly remembered by many older millennials.
A day has passed since what will now be referred to for years to come as ‘Coldplay ticketing Sunday’, and the Internet remains divided. Some individuals are celebrating their success in securing tickets, expressing disbelief, while others are coming to terms with the fact that they weren’t as fortunate. Meanwhile, several people remain in denial, wondering through social media reels and tweets if anyone actually secured tickets at all.
Innovative, albeit expensive solutions have emerged – some individuals are debating whether booking a room at the Marriott in Navi Mumbai near the DY Patil Stadium might offer a different piece of the concert experience. Scalpers are selling tickets at exorbitant prices, leading to anger and frustration, with some contemplating whether it makes better financial sense to plan and attend a concert abroad.
In the days leading up to Sunday, many fans meticulously memorized seating charts, consumed numerous instructional reels about the best seats to book, and coordinated group bookings across cities. Pertinent questions emerged within groups: how would they log in through their mobiles and laptops while maintaining communication if one person got through? Should they all join a Zoom call and let it run in the background? If only two tickets were secured instead of four, who would be asked to step aside?
Despite extensive preparation, everyone quickly realized that securing tickets for the ‘adventure of a lifetime’ would be an adventure in itself. Though the ticket bookings were scheduled to start at noon, chaos ensued as the ticketing portal BookMyShow crashed, seemingly overwhelmed by the influx of aspiring concert-goers. Amidst the chaos, memes rapidly circulated, with numerous references to Coldplay’s ‘Fix You’ transforming into pleas for the portal to “fix it”. When ticketing resumed a few minutes later and fans were placed in virtual queues, many found themselves waitlisted in the thousands, even in the hundreds of thousands. A third show was subsequently added, giving fans another chance to secure tickets.
Ashwin Radhakrishnan, a Chennai-based fan who managed to book a ticket for a friend, attributed his success to his experience booking tatkal tickets for trains regularly.
. “I have a great strike rate and have gotten used to the system. We keep trying until we succeed. A friend challenged me to book a ticket for her, and I managed to secure a standing ticket for the second concert day,” he shared.
A sudden change in the number of tickets allowed per person, from eight to four, jeopardized many concert plans right before the ticketing commenced. For Pooja Hemalatha from Chennai, the Coldplay concert was part of a larger plan involving a friendship pact with a group of friends.
“When I got into the queue for tickets, there were lakhs of people ahead of me. It was a stroke of luck that an extra show was announced, and I managed to get into the queue for the third concert. I found myself at position 6,450 and, thankfully, secured standing tickets for the final day,” she recounted. Her successful booking involved considerable strategizing – logging into multiple devices with different IDs, having friends log in from various locations to increase their chances, and arranging for quick payment options ahead of time.
On Sunday, a spokesperson for BookMyShow announced that nearly 13 million fans logged in to try for tickets. “Today marks a landmark moment in India’s live entertainment history as we witnessed true fandom, overwhelming love, and incredible excitement for Coldplay’s Music Of The Spheres World Tour 2025 in India,” the spokesperson said.
Both BookMyShow and BookMyShow Live emphasized their efforts to ensure every fan had a fair chance to secure tickets, providing step-by-step booking guides and maintaining transparent communication through all official channels. “We implemented a queueing system to handle the overwhelming demand and addressed issues caused by suspicious and malicious traffic within minutes, resulting in a brief delay but ensuring minimal disruption for genuine fans. Due to unprecedented demand, we added a third Mumbai show shortly thereafter, which also received a fantastic response,” they added.
In the aftermath of the ticketing frenzy, discussions surrounding what is gearing up to be India’s biggest musical event in the upcoming months show no signs of dying down. For many, the journey to the concert has only just begun, with arrangements for trains, flights, and hotel bookings next on the agenda. With anticipation building, it seems that the ‘Adventure of a Lifetime’ isn’t just about the concert itself but also the quest to be there.
