Confirmation that rock band Coldplay will, after all, perform at two scheduled concerts at the Athens Olympic Stadium (OAKA) in June came from an utterly unexpected but highly official source on Sunday: Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis himself.
Taking to his personal FB page for a weekly review of government work and initiatives, Mitsotakis said the June 8 and June 9 concerts will take place. The specific venue, which hosted the opening ceremony of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games and much of the track & field events at the time, has been closed for months over concerns about the state of its iconic white-ribbed steel roof, known as the “Calatrava Roof” after Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.
Mitsotakis, in fact, accompanied his reassurance that the venue would be ready by accompanying his post with the Coldplay piece “Everything’s Not Lost”.
“I’ll close today’s review with the latest progress of work at OAKA. Approximately 6% of a total of 5,000 polycarbonate pieces from the Calatrava roof have been removed. Some 80 pieces are replaced every day…Removal of polycarbonate plates at this rate will allow the stadium to reopen by the end of March, or from mid-April at the latest. Therefore, sports and cultural events will be able to be held normally before or immediately after Easter, including the Coldplay concert, which I must admit I’m looking forward to. And everything’s not lost…When you thought that it was over – to remind of one of their songs,” he underlined.
