Dubai Expo 2020: Free Coldplay concert tickets depleted two hours after spot booking opens

All tickets to attend the Infinite Nights - Coldplay live at Expo 2020 Dubai concert were fully booked two afters after spot booking opened on the Expo website.

“All tickets to attend Coldplay in Al Wasl Plaza and DEC Arena are now fully booked,” said a message posted on the website.

However, fans of the band would still be able to view the show on the big screens at Jubilee Park, Festival Garden and Dubai Millennium Amphitheatre. Access is granted on a first-come, first-served basis.

The Dubai Expo 2020 website also underwent a ‘scheduled maintenance’ glitch as free spot bookings to watch global icons Coldplay went live late Saturday evening.

The British band is set to perform at the world’s greatest fair on Tuesday, February 15. Spot bookings for the show went live at 9pm Saturday.

Since then, hundreds of fans have taken to social media to express their frustration and disappointment on not booking spots for the show, scheduled to take place at the Al Wasl Plaza.

@Sandoval_Arra_ wrote, “Trying to get tickets for the concert, but the website has been like this for hours now.”

Most website users could not log into the spot booking page for nearly two hours after the option opened on Saturday.

@misspondo wrote, “Okay, fine. I will watch it online then. What else can one do at this point @expo2020dubai? One hour 30 minutes staring at a refreshing screen #Coldplay.”

Upon logging into the ‘buy tickets for Coldplay page’, users came upon a message, “Hang in there and do not refresh as you will lose your spot. You’re in the queue as we are currently checking the number of available tickets left for Coldplay.”

The page would automatically reload and keep the user’s place in the queue. While the concert itself is free to attend, visitors need to have a ticket to enter the venue.

@ad_geronimo shared on Twitter, “Been online 9 pm on the dot for #Coldplay #Expo2020 tickets - by 9.10-9.15 lower garden tickets are already sold out. And yet the ticket page keeps on crashing!”

The Al Wasl performance, part of Expo 2020’s Infinite Nights Series, unites the shared goals of Coldplay and the UAE and will lead by example, inspiring climate awareness and driving action to preserve the planet.

In March 2022, the four-piece band – comprising vocalist and pianist Chris Martin; guitarist Jonny Buckland; bassist Guy Berryman; and drummer Will Champion – will embark on its ‘Music of the Spheres World Tour’.

The tour has taken two years of planning, with Coldplay working with a range of environmental experts to incorporate initiatives that aim to lower carbon emissions by as much as 50 per cent compared to the band’s previous tours.

Coldplay said in a press release, “We would love to return to the UAE as part of our Music of the Spheres world tour. Our dream would be to partner with the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment to power our entire show with local renewable energy sources and to develop other meaningful sustainability initiatives around the concert.”