Newstalk ZB’s Matt Heath meets Coldplay’s Chris Martin backstage at final Eden Park show

When Newstalk ZB host Matt Heath reviewed Coldplay’s first Eden Park show on radio show The Mike Hosking Breakfast, he had no idea Chris Martin himself could have been tuning in.

Speaking to listeners on Newstalk ZB today, where he co-hosts Afternoons with Tyler Adams, Heath revealed how his recap of the band’s opening-night show resulted in him being invited to go backstage ahead of their final concert.

He attended the first show on Wednesday, November 13 and shared his thoughts on air the next morning.

“Chris Martin heard the review, so he got management to reach out to me,” he told listeners.

“Through a series of people, they tracked me down and invited me along to the show on Saturday, and I thought, ‘Oh, that’s very, very nice of them’. I thought I was just going along to the show to see it with free tickets ... and then found out that we had friends and family invites.”

Newstalk ZB host Matt Health recalled meeting Chris Martin backstage ahead of Coldplay's final show in New Zealand. Photo / Jason Oxenham

That meant he and his partner Tracy got to hang out in the friends-and-family area before the show and mingle with the band members – but it didn’t stop there.

“I met a lovely member of the management team, also called Chris ... He goes, ‘Hey, the band want to meet you’. And so –this was just before the show – they lead me and Tracy backstage.

“We go to the area just before the tunnel, before they run on to the stage, and it’s like an army back there putting the show together, because the show is incredible and there’s so many moving parts.

“Then the band come out, and then Chris Martin comes up to me and he gives me a big hug and he whispers in my ear.

“He gives me a cuddle and goes, ‘I heard your review and thank you so much ... it really meant a lot. I believe if people do good things and say good things and put love out into the world, I want it to come back in, so I wanted to invite you here, and I just wanted to say thank you to you personally’.”

While his review was “glowing”, Heath did start by describing Martin as “punchable”. “I’m a cynical guy,” he laughed on air.

However, the singer seemed not to take it personally. “He did mention that. He said, ‘I loved your review, even though you described me as punchable at the start’.”

Martin then invited the radio host and his partner to join the huddle with the band and back-up singers as he hyped them up before they headed out onto the stage.

“He said thank you again, gave me a hug and ran on stage.”

Heath was then tasked with helping to throw balloons into the audience as the show started, though he admitted, “I think I messed up the throwing of the balloons at some point. I needed to duck down.”

Looking back, the radio host says it was a “surreal” experience.

“I’ve always loved their music, but after seeing them live, I said in the review, ‘I would follow this guy into battle’ – and I would follow that guy into battle,” he told listeners.

“He can hold 50,000 people in the palm of his hand and everyone’s smiling, and the guy can sing like nothing else.”

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from News Talks'd be follow
this and our wide range of podcast now on iHeartRadio.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome into the show. Happy Monday to you. Hope you're
doing well wherever you're listening, and you had a fantastic weekend.
But I could almost guarantee that your weekend wasn't quite
as phenomenal as Matt.

Speaker 3 (00:28):
Yeah, mine was pretty good. But I don't want to
show off. I don't want to tell the story about
meeting Coldplayer. I don't really want to go into it,
you know, but let's just say good things happen to
good people. Where was Hoskins invite? Well that's what he's asking. Okay,
Well I will tell the story then if you press me, I'm.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
Twisting your arm.

Speaker 3 (00:43):
If everybody wants to know, if people look, so many
people are twisting my arm. On nineteen nineteen, so I
did my glowing review of the Colbe concert from Wednesday
on My Costing Breakfast show, and Chris Martin, who heard
the review, so he got management to reach out to me.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
Wait, hang on, Chris Martin himself was listening to My
Costing Breakfast and heard at Life.

Speaker 3 (01:06):
I'm not sure he consumed the content somehow, and through
a series of people, they tracked me down and invited
me along to the show, and I thought on Saturday,
and I thought, oh, that's very very nice of them.
I thought I was just going along to the show
to see it with free tickets. Me and my partner,
we went along. We were really happy. Lived near Eden Park,
so we wandered down and then found out that we
had friends and family invites. So then we were in

(01:28):
the friends and family but before the show, and that
was good. Members of the band were mingling around, and
then I met a lovely member of the management team
also called Chris, and I had a great chat with him,
and then I thought, we're just going on to thing.
And then at the end he goes, hey, the band
want to meet you. And so this was just before
the show. So they lead me backstage, Me and Tracy backstage.

(01:49):
We go the area just before the tunnel before they
run onto the stage, and it's like an army back
there putting that show together, because the show is incredible
and there's so many moving parts, so there's people, so
much Edmund going on, you know, so many logistics going on.
So we stand there and then I thought we're just
going to watch the band go on stage. So then
the band come out and then Chris Martin comes up

(02:10):
to me and he gives me a big hug and
he goes whispers him and I tell you what, that
guy is quite. He's tall and he's fit.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
Good cuddler.

Speaker 3 (02:19):
He's a good cuddler. He's muscular. I think he's got
a yoga body. But anyway, he gives me a cuddle
and he goes, I heard your review and thank you
so much. What you know, what you said about me
was so good and it really meant a lot. And
you know, I believe and if people do good things
and say good things, I want to and put love
out into the world. I wanted to come back in
so I wanted to invite you here and I just

(02:40):
wanted to say thank you to you personally. I said, oh,
thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (02:44):
And then he goes, would you like to well, would
you do something with me? And I said sure anything.
You know, you're a superstar, Chris Martin. I didn't say that,
but whatever he wanted me to do, I was going
to do. So he pulled me over and the band
and the band and backing up backup singers. I'm got
in a circle around and it's obviously a thing they

(03:04):
do before each show, and he and then he called
over my partner as well, and he said come over here, Tracy,
come over here as well. And then we got into
the scrum, into the huddle beforehand and he goes, this
is Matt Heath and his partner Tracy, and he wrote
a fantastic review and they were like, yeah, they read it,
Thank you so much. And they all said thank you.
And then they were like, okay, this is what we do.

(03:25):
And then he said some words about you know, beautiful
sort of words, hype up the band words, and we
all put our hands into the middle real and went
way and then he said thank you again, gave me
a hug, and ran on stage. And then we were
handed balloons and we were sent around the side to
the front of the audience and we were throwing the

(03:46):
balloons out into the audience. Although I think I missed
up the throwing of the balloons. At some point I
was I need to duck down anyway. There was a
few people doing that, and then we were led in
to watch the show from from from a very very
good seats that were sort of a couple of a
couple of seats away from Chris Martin's dad.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
And what was going through your head?

Speaker 3 (04:05):
I yeah, it was. It was so surreal, and that
was really good because there was no cameras back there,
so it wasn't one of those situations where you meet
a starr and you're trying to get something from them
like a photo or a signature. It was just a
real genuine experience and he had a really good chat
to me, and you could just tell this is a
really good guy that really preaches what he lives what

(04:25):
he preaches, you knowunds like about you know, you know
that the love you make is equal to the love
you take kind of situation.

Speaker 2 (04:32):
The review was glowing, no doubt about that, and if
you want to listen to it, you can get it
on week on demand on the ZIB website. But there
was part of that review where and you mentioned Mike
that you you thought Chris might have been a bit
of a punishable character to that.

Speaker 3 (04:45):
I started my review by saying, you know, I'm a
cynical guy, and you know, I always knew Chris Martin
was talented, but there's some sort of slight punishable nature
about him, and he did mention that. He said, he said,
I loved your review, even though he described me as
punchable at the start, But then I see it after
seeing him live. And I've always loved their music. Music's fantastic,
But after seeing them live, I said in the review,
I would follow this guy into battle, and I would

(05:07):
follow that guy into bad. I think he's one of
the best front man I've ever seen. And people see
that's crazy to say that he's up there with Mick
Jagger and and Freddie Mercury, even though they're very different frontmen,
And now I stand by it. He can hold the
fifty thousand people in the palm of their hands and
everyone's smiling, and the guy can sing like nothing else. Yeah,
it's incredible, you know. And the band's fantastic. So that

(05:30):
was a really good experience. And then we had took
us to the after party.

Speaker 2 (05:32):
How was that?

Speaker 3 (05:33):
That was a good time?

Speaker 2 (05:34):
Yeah? How long were you there for?

Speaker 1 (05:35):
Ah?

Speaker 3 (05:35):
Is there for ages? Just ripped it up deep into
the night. Yeah, yeah, you're And Chris Martin, Yeah, no,
not so much. I actually went home but early. But
but you know, my son's just turned eighteen. And somehow
he'd got an invite there, so you know, he was
It's kind of weird to be.

Speaker 2 (05:49):
How the hell are the heats getting all these blood invites?

Speaker 3 (05:53):
But it was a special it was a special experience
and it was great to see, you know, you know,
the sort of backstage workings of an incredible band. So
and look, Chris Martin, what a top Blokekay.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
Good things happen to good people. Whe As you say,
you see. You started here at News Talk ZB and
boom you're part of the now.

Speaker 1 (06:09):
For more from News talkst B, listen live on air
or online, and keep our shows with you wherever you
go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio