Coldplay preaching peace and love to Charlie Kirk is all well and good. But would it hurt artists to take a stand? | Elle Hunt

"When I attended last week, the stalls were packed with perhaps the most diverse and global crowd I've ever seen. Even the haters not that there were any present would have to admit Coldplay put on a dazzling show, with 3D special effects and guest performers, including Fela Kuti's son Femi, Palestinian-Chilean singer Elyanna and an entire orchestra from Venezuela."

"In some ways it was a triumph of technology and globalisation, but as a platform, I couldn't help feeling it was squandered. Such was Chris Martin's eagerness to preach peace, love and tolerance from the stage that he overshot it a bit, entreating us to direct our good feeling to Ukraine and Russia, Palestine and Israel and everywhere else besides. Well sure. People aren't their governments, and there's suffering everywhere. But in those conflicts, suffering is not evenly proportioned."

"Elyanna sang Coldplay's single We Pray with palpable emotion. I wondered: what would she have said if she'd expressed herself more? Similarly, on Friday at Wembley, the closing night of the tour, Martin exhorted the crowd to send love anywhere you wanna send it in the world. He went on: You can send it to Charlie Kirk's family. You can send it to anybody's family. You can send it to people you disagree with but you send them love anyway."

Coldplay's tour features dazzling production values, including 3D special effects, guest performers such as Fela Kuti's son Femi and Palestinian-Chilean singer Elyanna, and an orchestra from Venezuela. The concerts attract diverse, global audiences and showcase well-known songs like Fix You. Performances emphasize messages of peace, love and tolerance, with appeals to send love to countries and individuals across conflicts. The broad, non-specific pleas downplay uneven suffering in particular conflicts and avoid firm moral stances. Some guest performers convey palpable emotion, raising questions about what might be expressed with clearer, more directed political statements.

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