--- title: Coldplay Frontman Chris Martin Gives Impromptu Show in New Delhi Cafe description: He performed many of the popular U.K. band's iconic songs before an elated crowd at the Summerhouse Café n New Delhi's Hauz Khas Village. canonical: https://time.com/3944226/chris-martin-india-delhi-performance-freida-pinto-coldplay/ author: Rishi Iyengar article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-02T03:47:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:21:42.836Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Chris Martin Just Played a Surprise Set in New Delhi og:description: Patrons of the Summerhouse Café in Hauz Khas Village got a treat og:url: https://time.com/3944226/chris-martin-india-delhi-performance-freida-pinto-coldplay/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Chris Martin Just Played a Surprise Set in New Delhi twitter:description: Patrons of the Summerhouse Café in Hauz Khas Village got a treat twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Coldplay Frontman Chris Martin Just Gave an Impromptu Performance at a New Delhi Café by [Rishi Iyengar](https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Jul 2, 2015 3:47 AM UTC by [Rishi Iyengar](https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Jul 2, 2015 3:47 AM UTC It was just another Wednesday night for patrons of the Summerhouse Café in New Delhi’s Hauz Khas Village, until Coldplay’s lead singer Chris Martin got up on stage and began to sing. Guitar in hand, Martin performed many of the popular U.K. band’s iconic songs, like _Fix You_ and _Paradise_, before a shocked and elated crowd, as this video from one of the attendees shows: And here’s another, sent anonymously to [BuzzFeed India](http://www.buzzfeed.com/regajha/what-is-happening#.scNknl8dn), of him performing another Coldplay classic _Viva la Vida_: And if you live in Delhi, and chose to stay home, and aren’t already feeling bad enough, _Slumdog Millionaire_ actress Freida Pinto was also there. > [](https://twitter.com/VishalDadlani/status/616324568894943233) Indian musician Vishal Dadlani, who was at a dinner with Martin in the Indian capital, confirmed on Twitter that it was a completely impromptu, acoustic performance by the British musician, who is immensely popular in India despite Coldplay never having performed there. > [](https://twitter.com/VishalDadlani/status/616366439675473920) Which explains why nobody in Delhi had any idea, leading to devastated posts like these all over social media: > [](https://twitter.com/AskThePankazzzz/status/616439197734273024) > [](https://twitter.com/infinityonpause/status/616439834949718016) > [](https://twitter.com/tHefUnkYdORy/status/616439920605835266) It’s not yet clear exactly what Martin was doing in India in the first place, but fans around the country will be praying that the brief interaction with the Delhi crowd has convinced him to come back with the rest of his band for a concert or two. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3944226/chris-martin-india-delhi-performance-freida-pinto-coldplay/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3944226/chris-martin-india-delhi-performance-freida-pinto-coldplay/"},"headline":"Coldplay Frontman Chris Martin Just Gave an Impromptu Performance at a New Delhi Café","datePublished":"2015-07-02T03:47:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:21:42.836Z","description":"Indian social media melts down","url":"https://time.com/3944226/chris-martin-india-delhi-performance-freida-pinto-coldplay/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","Music","India","New Delhi","Coldplay","Chris Martin"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3944226/chris-martin-india-delhi-performance-freida-pinto-coldplay/","name":"Coldplay Frontman Chris Martin Just Gave an Impromptu Performance at a New Delhi Café"}}]}] ```