Immediate help for Coldplay at the Capitol
17.02.2023 – The Capitol Theater celebrates its 25th birthday on 21 October 2023 - until then, the team at the venue will be highlighting one aspect of the unique event location on the 21st of every month. February is all about the international stars who have graced the Capitol. Coldplay, one of the world's most successful bands, once performed in the former synagogue (instead of the usual soccer stadium). However, the performance, which was streamed around the globe, would probably have fallen through without the immediate help on site.
"As a Coldplay fan, I could hardly believe that this great band came to our venue at the end of 2015 as part of the Telekom Street Gigs," recalls Capitol Managing Director Birgit von Hellborn. The British band presented their latest album "A Head Full Of Dreams" live in Germany for the first time. However, singer Chris Martin arrived in Offenbach with severe back pain and his management couldn't find an orthopaedic surgeon in the city who could help him. The multi-million euro project at the Stadtwerke Offenbach event venue was on the brink of collapse. "So I contacted my orthopaedist in Langen - he recommended a young colleague who had just trained as a chiropractor in England and spoke excellent English," reports von Hellborn. The doctor was busy moving house in Offenbach. "When the management sent a limousine to his door, he realized it was important." So the chiropractor came to the Capitol with his couch and treated the superstar - while his partner was annoyed that she was now solely responsible for the move. "Later, they realized who it was really about - and to this day, the two of them are invited to Coldplay concerts," says von Hellborn. The treatment was so successful that Chris Martin thanked "Eddi from Offenbach" for his help during the concert.
Mission saved appearance from 12 million people
His therapy suggestion before the performance was: "Swimming!" Now there was no indoor swimming pool in Offenbach at the time - so the managing director picked up the phone again and organized a visit to the indoor pool at the Kempinski Hotel in Gravenbruch for the exceptional singer. This meant that the planned interview for the ARD Tagesthemen program was cancelled. "In the evening, however, Chris Martin jumped across our stage like a bouncy ball," says Birgit von Hellborn. None of the crisis had leaked out, the superstar performed to perfection in front of 12 million viewers worldwide - and the Managing Director, who has been on board since the event location was launched in October 1998, had experienced one of her most exciting moments ever at the Capitol: "We've never had anything on this scale before or since," she says.
Indirectly, another global Telekom Street gig recently kept Capitol busy: superstar Robbie Williams celebrated his 25th stage anniversary in this format in November 2022 as an exclusive live streaming event from Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie. He was accompanied by the Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt: Germany's leading crossover symphony orchestra, which has already performed on stage with Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel, José Carreras and David Garrett, consists largely of musicians from the Capitol Symphony Orchestra. His ensemble of around 70 musicians performed Williams' global hits such as "Angels" and "Feel" with him - and rehearsed these pieces in advance at the Capitol Theater.
Over the past quarter of a century, numerous international stars have graced the municipal event venue in Offenbach. These include James Blunt, One Republic, James Morrison, Jessie J and Jess Glynne, Kevin Costner, Eminem, Mando Diao, Chris Rea, Kim Wilde, Maroon 5 and 3 Doors Down, Milow and Morrissey.
In November 2012, the Capitol was transformed into the "MTV World Stage" for one evening: before the music channel presented its "Europe Music Awards" in Frankfurt's Festhalle, the global stars of No Doubt rocked the stage in Offenbach with lead singer Gwen Stefani ("Don't Speak"), and the performance was broadcast in 150 countries.
Of course, the list goes on: On March 7, the Danish band Lukas Graham will present their global hits such as "7 Years" and "Love Someone" at Capitol, on March 12, a tribute show will commemorate rock legend Tina Turner, and on October 25, Paul Carrack, the former singer of Mike & the Mechanics, will return to the stage. To be continued - guaranteed.
