Coldplay Start Rising Artist Competition To Find Support Act In Perth

Coldplay have announced that they’ve started a Rising Artist Competition to find an Australian artist to open for them at their two exclusive Music Of The Spheres Perth shows.

With the concerts taking place on Saturday, 18 and Sunday, 19 November 2023, whoever opens for Coldplay alongside Thelma Plum, Amy Shark, and Tash Sultana is up for a life-changing experience.

Entries to the Rising Artist Competition opened yesterday (21 August) and close on Monday, 4 September. The winner will be revealed on Monday, 2 October.

Here’s how you, as an artist, or your band, can be eligible to enter the competition: entrants must be above 16 years old and a resident of Western Australia. They must upload an original song – a recording and a live video – before it’s judged by Coldplay’s team and a group of music industry professionals. Coldplay will choose the winner.

As the press release notes, Coldplay have started the competition in partnership with the WA Government’s Contemporary Music Fund and the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, who will provide $15,000 in funding to the winning artist. You can apply for your chance to open for Coldplay here.

After their US visas were denied for Blue Ridge Rock festival, Perth metalcore outfit Patient Sixty-Seven could be favourites to open for Coldplay, with the comment section on the UK band’s post about the Rising Artist Competition throwing their support behind local metal music.

In addition to Patient Sixty-Seven, Southern River Band have showcased their non-bid to join Coldplay’s Perth shows. You can check out their clip, where they said “no thanks” to fans putting their name forward, below.

“We’ve been getting tagged in this a whole bunch today,” vocalist Cal Kramer said over an image of a Nine News piece about Coldplay looking for WA talent. “Really appreciate youse putting us forward, but we’re pretty fucking busy at the minute, ay.”

He continued, “Don’t know if we’ll be able to do it! If it was AC/DC or the Foo Fighters or something like that, yep, fucken oath, we might be able to make that work. But at the minute,” he said with a cheeky eyebrow raise, “for Coldplay, nah, we’re good thanks.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Southern River Band (@thesouthernriverband)

Coldplay were last in Australia for 2016's A Head Full Of Dreams tour. Check out The Music’s reviews of their Sydney and Melbourne shows.

The band's ninth studio album Music Of The Spheres, was released in 2021 and was an epic pop symphony. While not hitting the commercial highs of their previous albums, it spawned the massive hit My Universe with BTS and the ten-minute epic Coloratura. One of the first new albums to take full advantage of Apple Music's spatial audio mixing, the album is a sonic feast.

Coldplay’s first show at Optus Stadium on 18 November was met with extraordinary demand, leading to a second show the following night. Tickets are presently sold out. Until the Ticketmaster resale opens, you can try buying tickets through the safe buying and resale avenue, Tixel.

Here’s where you can find everything you need to know about Coldplay’s upcoming Australian shows.