Coldplay Inadvertently Exposes an Affair

Martin inadvertently exposed an extramarital affair 

If you're having an affair with someone, don't go to a Coldplay concert, as one couple was found out in Foxborough, Massachusetts the other day.

Frontman Chris Martin wanted to perform to a few select fans, and after singing a happy birthday song to one person, the camera swung to a couple, the man standing behind his date, his arms around her chest area.

Byron and Cabot reaction as camera was on them

But they were not married to each other.

When they realised all the attention was on them, she flew out of his arms, covered her face and turned around, while he sunk as low as he could out of the camera's range.

"Wow, what? Either they're having an affair or they're just really shy. I'm not quite sure what to do," Martin said to the crowd.

The video was posted on TikTok and immediately went viral with over 77 million views.

Meanwhile people online went to work to identify the couple as Andy Byron, the married chief executive of a tech company called Astronomer, and Kristin Cabot, the firm's chief people officer, or head of HR. 

Needless to say there were a lot of questions around the company's water cooler in the office the next morning.

The incident is now nicknamed "Coldplaygate"

While the identities of Byron and Cabot were confirmed by Astronomer's spokeswoman, Byron was placed on leave. The company said in a statement it would launch an investigation into the incident.

People wondered if Byron's wife would be launching a divorce suit.

The pair became the fodder of many morning talkshow conversations, when they had suffered more than enough humiliation.

The moral of the story is, don't go to a concert to carry on your affair, unless you want the whole world to know about it.

Hong Kong Still Trying to Attract Big Names

Coldplay's four concerts in Hong Kong generated HK$1.2B

When Coldplay came to Hong Kong to perform for four nights, the band's stay apparently helped generate an estimated HK$1.2 billion, from hotels to food, shopping and entertainment. 

However, when it comes to big names in classical music, many performers are eschewing Hong Kong and choosing Macau and other Chinese cities instead.

Bocelli performed in Macau late last month

Late last month Italian blind tenor Andrea Bocelli performed at Galaxy Macau, with 40 percent of the audience from Hong Kong. 

For example, superstar pianist Lang Lang and tenor Placido Domingo gave shows at Galaxy Macau in January and last October respectively, while Zubin Mehta conducted the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra at the Shenzhen Concert Hall and Guangzhou's Xinghai Concert Hall in March.

Some speculate it's because Hong Kong's auditoriums are aging, while places outside have newer facilities with better acoustics.

Most international stars are booked at least two years ahead, while in mainland China, venues can only be reserved six months to a year in advance. There is also the issue of visas -- when a performer goes to China, they can't pop out to Hong Kong for a performance and come back into the mainland again unless they get multiple-entry visas.

Lang Lang was also in Macau in January

There is also the problem that Hong Kong may not be a big enough market for performers.

"Hong Kong simply hasn't got a big enough potential market that measures up to mainland cities. If you are an international group that wants to build a following across China, being in Hong Kong doesn't get you onto Xiaohongshu or WeChat," says Kuh Fei, a Hong Kong critic and organiser of performing arts events.

So... who is the next big musical act coming to Hong Kong?

Singapore secured Lady Gaga for May, shutting out Hong Kong...

Coldplay Chris Martin's Tips on Battling Depression

Some 200,000 attended the Coldplay concerts in Hong Kong

A few days ago my Instagram feed was flooded with videos and pictures from friends (seemed like all of them!) attending Coldplay "Music of the Spheres" concerts that were held at the new Kai Tak Sports Park for four nights.

In total about 200,000 people attended. Everyone seemed to be having a great time, dancing and singing their hearts out to the music, and flashing lights on their concert wristbands.

Martin's video giving tips at the HK harbourfront

However at least one person was working hard to fight his emotions -- Chris Martin, the frontman of Coldplay.

The band posted a video yesterday of him sitting on the ground by the harbourfront somewhere in Causeway Bay perhaps, wearing a toque to try to disguise himself a bit.

He first thanked fans for coming out to the concerts, but admitted he was a bit nervous, and then added he was battling depression.

"So I was going to tell you some things that have been helping me on tour and maybe some of them might be good for you too," Martin said.

His tips?

Free-form writing, where you write down your thoughts at the moment and then burn or throw them away;

Fans enjoyed the Coldplay concerts

Practice transcendental meditation;

Watch the 2023 drama Sing Sing;

Read a book on breathing techniques;

Listening to the music of electronic producer Jon Hopkins and London-based singer-songwriter Chloe Qisha.

"Those are some of the things that are helping me to stay grateful and happy to be alive," he said.

John Lee Sacks 2 Ministers in Surprise Announcement

Chan (left) and Law (right) are Lee's new ministers

Looks like Hong Kong officials who don't perform actually get sacked.

This morning in a surprise move, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced that "after a period of observation" he had removed his tourism and transport ministers, Kevin Yeung Yun-hung and Lam Sai-hung respectively.

However, he repeatedly evaded questions from the media as to why the two were given the sack.

Yeung could not lure big acts to Hong Kong

Director of housing Rosanna Law Shuk-pui replaces Yeung, while Mable Chan takes over the transport portfolio from her boss, Lam.

Lee said Law and Chan would deliver better results with their ability to communicate their policies, and that both had shown they were proactive as senior civil servants.

"I see the strengths of the two new appointed secretaries," Lee said in a press conference on Thursday.

"They will be assisting me more to realise my goal of ensuring results and also doing as much work as possible in the coming years."

He said he needed a team to help Hong Kong catch up after the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2019 protests, and believed both Chan and Law supported his policy direction and could take up more responsibilities.

Sounds like Lee is getting pressure from above to belatedly kick-start Hong Kong's economy and so far it's been quite the struggle. It's been really hard to lure tourists to the city when their governments are warning them not to go because of the national security law.

Lam failed to improve taxi services, regulate Uber

There's also the logistics of planning remote night markets in public spaces didn't go so well, superstar footballer Lionel Messi dissing the crowd and refusing to play in a friendly match, and the Hong Kong Tourism Board hasn't been able to lure big acts to the city, except for Coldplay, which will perform four nights at the new Kai Tak stadium.

The HKTB's goal of having 46 million visitors in 2024 is far from achievable with less than a month to go. Someone on Bluesky calculated they would need an average of 189,000 visitors per day to meet that number.

Meanwhile Lam was unable to rein in the taxi industry, and the idea of encouraging taxi drivers to learn Arabic to cater to passengers from the Middle East was far-fetched, and he still hadn't come up with a way to regular ride-hailing apps like Uber.

Now that Lee has actually sacked two ministers for poor performance, who's next? Some are speculating it could be Secretary for Environment Tse Chin-wan for his failure to implement the waste tax that was so convoluted that it was axed at the last minute.

Coldplay Adds Another Date in HK

Coldplay fans are thrilled for an additional date in Hong Kong

Hong Kong was abuzz when super band Coldplay announced it would perform in the city next April and tickets were snapped up for shows on April 9, 11 and 12 in the new Kai Tak stadium, where the nearest MTR station is about 30 minutes' walking distance.

Then today concert organiser Live Nation said another date would be added.

"Due to incredible demand for Coldplay: Music Of The Spheres World Tour in Hong Kong, one more date has been added at Kai Tak stadium," the promoter said. 

Kai Tak stadium has 50,000 seats

Fans can get tickets for the April 8 show from next Friday. The tickets start from HK$399 (US$51) for the nosebleed section, and then HK$699, HK$1,299, HK$1,699 and HK$2,099. For those who have the stamina to stand for the entire show closer to the stage, that costs HK$1,399.

For those willing to shell out more, there are "experience" packages for exclusive merchandise, early access to the venue, and backstage tours range from HK$2,799 to HK$6,599.

These prices seem more down-to-earth compared to the stratospheric prices for Taylor Swift's last concert dates for the Eras Tour which ends in Vancouver next month.

Today there were tickets released for seats behind the stage -- you may not necessarily be able to see everything on the stage, but you can definitely hear the superstar artist.

An acquaintance told me tonight that she tried to get the tickets but found there were 800 people ahead of her; when it was around 400 people ahead of her, all those tickets were gone. Those tickets were a mere C$16, but now they are selling for over C$2,000.

Vancouver will be mayhem when Swift comes

Some charities have gotten a hold of Swift tickets and are selling them at auction. The Canuck Place Children's Hospice raised C$46,000 for selling four pairs of tickets, and VGH UBC Hospital Foundation raised a staggering C$320,000 at auction for 15 private suite tickets to see Swift.

While a lot of people are gouging Swift fans who are desperate to see her in person, it's great to see charities benefitting from the "Swift effect".