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 Topic: articlesThe new items published under this topic are as follows.
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New York review: Coldplay sizzles at Brooklyn's Barclays Center (30 December)
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, January 01, 2013 - 10:05 AM (1409 Reads)
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 If You’re the kind of person that thinks of rock ‘n’ roll as the language of society’s outsiders, kicking back against the world in the loudest and most obnoxious way possible, then you should never, ever go and see Coldplay, writes the NY Post in a featured review of Coldplay's first show at the Barclays Center in New York (30 December 2012). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from this show at the Coldplay Live forum here onwards now. Thanks to everyone who has contributed with tweets, photos, reviews, videos and comments! Read on for the rest of the Mass live review article below...
For some time, the British band has been a well-oiled entertainment machine, and last night at Barclays Center their vast array of bells and whistles took up almost as much focus as any of their songs. There probably isn’t a crowd in the world that Chris Martin can’t coax into excitement and even though the band is due to play a New Year’s Eve show at Barclays with Jay-Z tonight, the front man was determined to get the party started early. “No one ever spares a thought for poor old December 30th,” he chirped. “Tomorrow’s just a ‘warm down’ for this show!”
Note: Read also: (Wiki) Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Barclays Center, New York (30 December 2012) |
Read full article: 'New York review: Coldplay sizzles at Brooklyn's Barclays Center (30 December)' (3740 bytes more)   | |
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Ology's LP6 preview: What to expect on Coldplay's sixth album
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, December 24, 2012 - 07:40 AM (3426 Reads)
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 Despite rumours to the contrary, Coldplay will not, in fact, be taking a three-year break now that they've almost finished their extensive world tour behind last year's Mylo Xyloto, writes Ology in their blog already previewing Coldplay's sixth studio album. Read on for the rest of the article...
As clarified by NME, Chris Martin recently told an Australian audience that they'd be away for three years. (Translation: it'll be another three years before Coldplay writes, records, releases a new album and then makes it back down under on their next tour. Isn't all that confusing to me, but whatever, shrug.)
Instead, the band will head back into the studio to begin work on their sixth and definitely easier to pronounce album. In the meantime, the inevitable guessing game begins: where can Coldplay take their ever-changing sound next? Even deeper into the dense modern pop textures of Mylo Xyloto, or back to the lush post-Britpop acoustics of their early work? Let's weigh a few possibilities…
Note: Multimedia update: 2012-12-12 Chris Martin @ Sandy Relief Concert [VIDEO MP4, ~90Mb] |
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Read full article: 'Ology's LP6 preview: What to expect on Coldplay's sixth album' (22172 bytes more) | |
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Live 2012: Coldplayers' reviews of the cinema screenings worldwide (part 3)
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, December 12, 2012 - 02:05 PM (2545 Reads)
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 Coldplay's Live 2012 concert film, which has now been released worldwide, documents the Mylo Xyloto world tour, which has been seen by more than three million people since it began in June 2011. The disc includes footage from Coldplay's shows at Paris's Stade de France, Montreal's Bell Centre and the band's Pyramid Stage headline performance at Glastonbury 2011.
Last month, Coldplayers around the world watched the Live 2012 cinema screening ahead of the physical release, and this article focuses on the many reviews coming in from fans who went to see the new Live 2012 concert film in theatres around the world. You can read lots more at the Coldplay Live 2012 movie premiere thread in the Coldplay forum now.
We had so many reviews, we decided to spread them about a bit over several articles - read on for our second selection of reviews and images from around the globe...
That was really really good. The filming was fantastic, as was the recording. Loved the effects too, especially the slow-mos of Chris jumping during IMP. Only criticism is that the film didn't build up the momentum of the actual concert because it kept stopping for interviews (which got a bit silly by the end). Don't get me wrong, they certainly added something, but there were too many of them and some were a bit long. Thought the length was perfect, and on reflection, it was probably wise to leave out a few songs with the interviews included. One more thing... stay till after the credits have finished!!!! [thanks AlfredB]
Note: Multimedia update (new links): 2011-12-04 Coldplay @ MEN Arena, Manchester, UK [AUDIO FLAC, ~521Mb] |
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Live 2012 review 4: Coldplay's masterclass in entertaining millions of people with arena rock
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, November 29, 2012 - 04:37 PM (4990 Reads)
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Coldplay's new Live 2012 release is far from a way to cash in on the platinum success of Mylo Xyloto, despite a release date suspiciously close to Christmas, writes Contact Music, in another promising of Coldplay's forthcoming concert film release, Live 2012, released earlier this month. Read on for the rest of the review...
While the more cynical members of the record buying public may not view Coldplay as being 'cool', even they couldn't deny that Live 2012 is somewhat of a triumph.
The overall package is a masterclass in how to entertain millions of people with arena rock at its best. Even the band themselves admit that this is the first time they've toured without worrying about what people think. Both the Blu Ray and accompanying CD demonstrate that, thereby creating a companion piece to Mylo Xyloto that adds context to that record rather than just re-treading the hits in a live setting...
Note: Multimedia update (new links): 2012-06-07 Coldplay @ Sunderland [Interview + Audio, MP3 various] |
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Brisbane review 2: Coldplay lights up Suncorp in 'last big show' in Australia for a few years (21 November)
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, November 23, 2012 - 09:10 AM (4379 Reads)
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 Coldplay quite literally lit-up Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium Wednesday night during a tour-wrapping show in which Chris Martin dropped big hints that his band won't be back for some time, writes Billboard in another featured review of Coldplay's show at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia (21st November). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from this show at the Coldplay Live forum here onwards now. Thanks to everyone who has contributed with tweets, photos, reviews, videos and comments! Read on for the rest of the Billboard review article below...
This was a proper open-air event, complete with fireworks, giant inflatable balls, glowing hearts and butterflies, lasers and confetti, all framed within a sea of glowing light. And the British four piece -- Martin, Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland and Will Champion -- pulled off a joyful, exuberant set.
It's almost unimaginable the leap this band has made from the melancholy of their first album, 2000's "Parachutes", to the stadium-fillers they are today. They're surely the mainstream rock group of their generation, a group who can shut down parts of a city on the other side of the world like they did here, and count small children and grandparents among the fans...
Note: Read also: (Wiki) Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Australia (21 November 2012) |
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Read full article: 'Brisbane review 2: Coldplay lights up Suncorp in 'last big show' in Australia for a few years (21 November)' (22793 bytes more) | |
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Brisbane review: Coldplay warms to the task as they play a packed Suncorp Stadium (21 November)
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - 06:35 PM (3771 Reads)
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 Anthems? They have a few. But even when they played Festival Hall in 2001 Coldplay always seemed destined one day to play the biggest stages, writes Herald Sun in a featured review of Coldplay's show at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia (21st November). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from this show at the Coldplay Live forum here onwards now. Thanks to everyone who has contributed with tweets, photos, reviews, videos and comments! Read on for the rest of the Herald Sun review article below...
And here they are with all the bells, whistles, pyrotechnics and flashing wristbands that money can buy, playing to more than 50,000 fans at a rare Suncorp Stadium concert last night. But the moody atmosphere of their early days has lately been replaced by a band sounding positively chipper on most recent album Mylo Xyloto, a pop record down to the Rihanna duet.
They do play loads of songs from it in their first Brisbane appearance since 2009 but there is plenty else to go around in a show like this, with early favourites like In My Place and Yellow having the throng singing along for all they were worth...
Note: Multimedia update: 2012-11-20 Chris and Jonny @ 2DayFM (Kyle and Jackie O show) [AUDIO/VIDEO] |
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Read full article: 'Brisbane review: Coldplay warms to the task as they play a packed Suncorp Stadium (21 November)' (19815 bytes more) | |
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Live 2012: Coldplayers' reviews of the cinema screenings worldwide (part 1)
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, November 19, 2012 - 04:40 PM (3569 Reads)
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Coldplay's Live 2012 concert film has now been released worldwide. It documents the Mylo Xyloto world tour, which has been seen by more than three million people since it began in June 2011. The disc includes footage from Coldplay's shows at Paris's Stade de France, Montreal's Bell Centre and the band's Pyramid Stage headline performance at Glastonbury 2011.
Last week, Coldplayers around the world watched the Live 2012 cinema screening ahead of the physical release, and this article focuses on the many reviews coming in from fans who went to see the new Live 2012 concert film in theatres around the world. You can read lots more at the Coldplay Live 2012 movie premiere thread in the Coldplay forum now. Read on for our first selection of reviews and images from around the globe...
Just got back from Cineworld Brighton, absolutely brilliant..... Can't wait for the Blu-ray DVD to arrive in a few days. I do hope they add some more UK dates this tour, coz there's nothing like being there, it's wicked! [thanks Pierre]
Just got back, it was beautiful and not afraid to say I choked up with emotion at numerous points xD Only thing though..... was anyone elses screening so ear splitingly loud? I don't think they could have put the volume up any louder. It actually started to get uncomfortable after a while. [thanks Empily]
Note: Multimedia update: 2012-11-15 Coldplay @ MAX TV Intimate Show [VIDEO, flv, 238Mb] |
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Sydney review: Coldplay dazzles, and keeps the rain away at the Allianz Stadium (17 November)
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, November 17, 2012 - 04:10 PM (4963 Reads)
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 "It's gonna be a good one, boys!" cried Coldplay singer/guitarist/piano guy Chris Martin, accurately, to his cohorts during opener Hurts Like Heaven, writes SMH in our first featured review of Coldplay's show at the Allianz Stadium in Sydney, Australia (17th November). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from this show at the Coldplay Live forum here onwards now. Thanks to everyone who has contributed with tweets, photos, reviews, videos and comments! Read on for the rest of the SMH review article below...
What do you want from a stadium rock show? Erupting fireworks, dazzling lasers and confetti cannons in overdrive? More-original spectacular sights such as 50 thousand raised fists illuminated by flashing multicoloured wristbands (supplied on entry and triggered by the band)? Anthems that can fill such an expansive venue and a frontman who can seemingly connect with everyone in it?
These Brit rock world-beaters not only provided all this before the end of this evening’s second song (the lush ballad In My Place), they somehow seemed able to keep the rain away, too...
Note: Multimedia update: 2012-11-15 Coldplay @ MAX TV Intimate Show [VIDEO, flv, 238Mb] |
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Melbourne review 3: Coldplay take another giant step to becoming 'the biggest band in the world'
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, November 17, 2012 - 07:20 AM (3724 Reads)
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 Are you (the person reading this review) colourblind? If so, you really should have been at Coldplay‘s epic opening show of their Australian tour in Melbourne, writes news website Music Feeds in our third featured review of Coldplay's show at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia (13th November). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from this show at the Coldplay Live forum here onwards now. Thanks to everyone who has contributed with tweets, photos, reviews, videos and comments! Read on for the rest of the Music Feeds review article below...
Why? Because the group, who have previously described themselves as ‘one of Britain’s premium soft rock bands’ and reluctant stadium fillers, put on a display that was bursting with so much colour, fireworks and bells and whistles that it probably would have cured you. In fact, anyone who wanted to see one of the world’s biggest bands cement themselves as bona-fide live superstars should have been there.
I walked into Etihad Stadium to the sounds of country-twanged New York sisters The Pierces. Their band was nice for about five minutes…then, it got a bit dreary. The girls were nice and interactive with the crowd; however, their tunes aren’t obviously built for stadiums yet. One of them mentioned that they were playing at the North-Coat (Northcote) Social Club on Thursday – any fans would probably be wise to see them there instead...
Note: Multimedia update: 2012-11-15 Coldplay @ MAX TV Intimate Show [VIDEO, flv, 238Mb] |
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Read full article: 'Melbourne review 3: Coldplay take another giant step to becoming 'the biggest band in the world'' (22060 bytes more) | |
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Melbourne review 2: Coldplay and audience bond at Etihad Stadium (13 November)
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, November 14, 2012 - 06:30 PM (2812 Reads)
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 One should never underestimate the power of the wristband, at least not when it can light up and follow a tune, writes news website The Australian in another positive review of Coldplay's show at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia (13th November). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from this show at the Coldplay Live forum here onwards now. Thanks to everyone who has contributed with tweets, photos, reviews, videos and comments! Read on for the rest of the The Australian review article below...
It was such a simple piece of gadgetry, worn by the bulk of the 60,000 crowd inside Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, that became a bonding element for audience and band as Coldplay opened their Australian tour on Monday.
The multicoloured wristbands, triggered to light up by the beats and guitar riffs of several Coldplay songs, created quite a spectacle, not least during their Australian No 1 (their first here, as singer Chris Martin pointed out), Paradise. The place lit up like a Christmas tree...
Note: Read also: (Wiki) Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Etihad Stadium, Melbourne, Australia (13 November 2012) |
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Live 2012 review 3: concert film endearingly captures the energy of the world's biggest band
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, November 14, 2012 - 02:15 PM (2633 Reads)
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If there's a way you can be the world's biggest pop band and still be underrated, well, Coldplay have figured out how, writes Indie Wire, in another promising of Coldplay's forthcoming concert film release, Live 2012, due out later in November. Read on for the rest of the review...
Their five albums, which always manage to be solidly artistic and hugely accessible, have sold tens of millions of copies, no small feat in the crumbling age of music, and yet their detractors say that they're boring and dull, two charges that cannot be leveled against "Coldplay Live 2012." A new concert documentary that charts their tour in support of last year's Mylo Xyloto album, 'Live 2012,' like this year's other two great concert docs ("Shut Up and Play the Hits" and "Katy Perry: Part of Me") is a boundlessly energetic, utterly endearing chronicle. Hands in the air, people.
Running a brisk hour-long, this documentary combines footage from the band's performances at Paris' Stade de France, Montreal's Bell Centre, and their headlining gig on the Pyramid Stage at England's Glastonbury Music Festival. Combining these various gigs is a great idea for a number of reasons, and not only because we get these nifty, Google Maps-on-acid flashes where the camera zooms into some new location through a fog of zippy haze, but because we get to see things like Rihanna show up in Paris to perform a rousing rendition of the beautiful, brilliant "Princess of China," and watch how the band's vibe and energy subtly change as their location shifts.
Note: Read also: (Wiki) Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Etihad Stadium, Melbourne, Australia (13 November 2012) |
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Melbourne review: Coldplay hit the sweet spot for 60000 fans at the Etihad (13 November)
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - 03:35 PM (3470 Reads)
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 With U2 in absentia and most other contenders either on hiatus or in retreat, Coldplay have comfortably established themselves as one of the biggest stadium acts on the planet, writes news website The Age in an excellent review of Coldplay's show at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia this evening (13th November). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from this show at the Coldplay Live forum here onwards now. Thanks to everyone who has contributed with tweets, photos, reviews, videos and comments! Read on for the rest of the The Age review article below...
While outside of their vast constituency their credentials as a rock band have long been in dispute, last night at Etihad Stadium the British quartet demonstrated their huge popularity is merited with an excellent stadium pop show. More than 60,000 gathered last night as the hits came in quick succession: Yellow, Violet Hill, The Scientist, Viva La Vida and Speed of Sound were all accounted for.
Diehards were gifted one curio, the excellent album track Warning Sign. Onstage, Chris Martin retains a playful, aw-shucks persona that allows for no cynicism. His ebullience, though, is utterly infectious...
Note: Read also: (Wiki) Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Etihad Stadium, Melbourne, Australia (13 November 2012) |
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Auckland review 3: Coldplay rock Mt Smart Stadium in dazzling fashion (10 November)
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, November 12, 2012 - 09:11 AM (2558 Reads)
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 Coldplay may have their critics, but it cannot be denied the Brits know how to rock a stadium in the most dazzling fashion, writes news website New Zealand Herald in another positive review of Coldplay's show at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand this evening (10th November). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from these shows at the Coldplay Live forum here onwards now. Thanks to everyone who has contributed with tweets, photos, reviews, videos and comments! Read on for the rest of the NZ Herald review article below...
Their two-hour set in front of a 40,000 plus crowd at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday night was as visually explosive and entertaining as it was musically, celebrating not just their latest album Mylo Xyloto, but hits from across their previous four records too. With the Back To The Future theme as their introductory 'walk-on' soundtrack, Chris Martin and his three merry men took the stage as huge circular screens flashed with colours like giant targets, before fireworks burst upward and they kicked off with frenetic, joyous Hurts Like Heaven.
There were cheers from the crowd as the multi-coloured arm bands they'd been given on arrival started flashing in unison with the beat, turning everyone into high-powered twinkling glow worms...
Note: Read also: (Wiki) Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand (10 November 2012) |
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Auckland review 2: Coldplay turn home of warriors into magical playground at Mt Smart Stadium (10 November)
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, November 11, 2012 - 08:50 AM (2770 Reads)
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 Coldplay might have made their way into Mt Smart Stadium to the sound of Jay Z's 99 Problems, but it seems the only issue the band has these days is what to let off first: the fireworks or the confetti canons, writes news website Stuff.co.nz in a very positive review of Coldplay's show at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand this evening (10th November). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from these shows at the Coldplay Live forum here onwards now. Thanks to everyone who has contributed with tweets, photos, reviews, videos and comments! Read on for the rest of the Stuff review article below...
New Zealand has seen stadium shows before, but nothing like this. Led by Chris Martin, Coldplay turned the home of the Warriors into a magical playground for more than 47,000 fans last night.
And they did it quickly. As Mylo Xyloto/Hurts Like Heaven - the first song of an almost two-hour show - rang out so did the sound of the fireworks and confetti guns. Oh, and let's not forget the laser light show and the crowd's glowing wristbands which pulsed in time with the music. The stadium looked like some insane version of a twinkling Christmas tree and an exploding snow globe. It was breath-taking...
Note: Read also: (Wiki) Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand (10 November 2012) |
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Auckland review: Coldplay start with a bang down under at Mt Smart Stadium (10 November)
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, November 10, 2012 - 05:55 PM (2710 Reads)
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 It’s been quite a week and a half for live music here in Auckland…Mumford & Sons, The Black Keys, Ben Harper and Radiohead…and now the biggest show of the bunch, Coldplay at Mt Smart Stadium, writes 13th Floor magazine in a not-so-happy review of Coldplay's show at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand this evening (10th November). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from these shows at the Coldplay Live forum here onwards now. Thanks to everyone who has contributed with tweets, photos, reviews, videos and comments! Read on for the rest of the 13th Floor review article below...
With the technological showcase that Radiohead displayed at The Vector this past Tuesday, I was interested to see how Coldplay’s arena show stacked up against Radiohead’s. Well, for one thing, they started with a bang. Usually the fireworks are saved for the encore, but Chris Martin and company had them shooting skyward right from the start. And that wasn’t all, there were lasers, there was confetti, there were balloons and there were wristbands that flashed in the dark. Every member of the audience was given a wristband as the entered the stadium and encouraged to wear it as it was “part of the show”. Sure enough after a few minutes of hearing Jay-Z’s 99 Problems, the lights abruptly went out and the wrist bands all began flashing with the band’s very first notes. It looked incredible.
During In My Places cannons were firing off confetti throughout the venue. During Lovers In Japan the balloons came out. There was certainly plenty to see, even if the band itself looked tiny at the far end of the stadium...
Note: Read also: (Wiki) Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand (10 November 2012) |
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Live 2012 & Australasian tour preview: Coldplay's testing times, circus & triumphs
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, November 09, 2012 - 08:10 AM (2870 Reads)
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 The launch sounds like it could be a space shuttle flight. "We're good on deck, good for show", a male voice intones over a wireless communications system, writes News.com.au in a preview to the forthcoming Live 2012 concert film, due out later in November, and the Australasian tour that starts in New Zealand on Saturday (10th November).
The "show" is Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto world tour. Within only the first 30 seconds of their Coldplay Live 2012 DVD, as the goosebumps rise along your arm, it becomes apparent this ambitious light and sound extravaganza could be the musical equivalent to a rocket launch. The technology involved in assisting these four musicians - Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland and Will Champion - to realise possibly the biggest show on earth by a rock band is mind-blowing.
There are the LED wristbands, the confetti cannons, the lasers, the state-of-the-art lighting and sound systems - if Coldplay is making money on this tour, it isn't much. Yet for all the bells and whistles, Chris Martin and his bandmates remain the focal point. And, even with his tongue firmly in cheek, the frontman [pictured] admits some nights are tougher than others.
Note: Read also: Live 2012 preview of God Put A Smile Upon Your Face, plus new EPIXHD wallpapers |
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Live 2012 review 2: Coldplay's 90-minute spine-tingling ride leaving you craving a new tour announcement
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, November 07, 2012 - 05:30 PM (3428 Reads)
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If ever there was a band destined to tour the stadia of the world, it’s Coldplay. Coldplay Live 2012 is part documentary, part concert film; a fascinating look at the band taking their latest record, Mylo Xyloto, to sold-out venues across the globe, writes HeyUGuys, in another near-perfect review of Coldplay's forthcoming concert film release, Live 2012, due out later in November. Read on for the rest of the review...
HeyUGuys continues: Opening the film as the album does, with Mylo Xyloto bleeding into Hurts Like Heaven, we then switch back to an audience favourite, In My Place, before coming to our first documentary segment, spliced between a handful of the songs in the sixteen-track set list.
There are many things that separate Coldplay from the vast majority of bands making music today (or in any day), and one of those things is very much their exceptional live performances. You get the feeling that they want each and every person in the audience to feel like a part of the night, and the documentary gives an insight into that desire.
Note: Read also: Live 2012 preview of God Put A Smile Upon Your Face, plus new EPIXHD wallpapers |
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Live 2012 review: Digital Spy gives full marks to Coldplay's forthcoming concert film release
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, November 05, 2012 - 05:47 PM (2550 Reads)
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F**k the haters, f**k the critics and f**k modesty; this was the mantra of the world's biggest band when making their fifth album Mylo Xyloto, consequently their poppiest to date, writes Digital Spy, in the first online review of Live 2012, Coldplay's forthcoming concert film release, due out later in November. Read on for the rest of the review...
Digital Spy continues: One (thankfully first-class) collab with a popstar and an appearance on The X Factor later, however, and they almost f**ked their rep... Chris Martin bawling backing vocals to the Little Mix girls would have been uglier than Javier Bardem toothless in Skyfall, yet that's all it would have taken.
But, from headlining Glastonbury before their second album was out to closing London 2012 ten years later, Coldplay live have always been about losing inhibitions; for the three million who watched their latest world tour and also for Martin, more like a sweatier, jumpier Pluto the dog than ever during this concert film (which isn't fun for Rihanna when they get up close and personal to duet halfway through).
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Coldplay document Mylo Xyloto tour with Live 2012 film, we document Coldplayers' thoughts on the announcement
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, September 26, 2012 - 08:10 PM (10530 Reads)
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 We've been gauging your response to the news on Tuesday that Coldplay will release 'Live 2012', the band’s first concert film / live album for nine years. Live 2012 documents Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto world tour, which has been seen by more than three million people since it began in June 2011. The film will feature footage from Coldplay's shows at Paris's Stade de France, Montreal's Bell Centre and last year's Pyramid Stage headline performance at Glastonbury Festival.
Below are just some of the many comments we have received in the Coldplay forum (Live 2012 thread) over the past 24 hours... on the film, tracklist, artwork, bundles, lithographs and more... [thanks for all your comments so far, and thanks Romy_MX for the alternative artwork, pictured!]
Preordered DVD/CD in the big case, with poster. Shame I don't have anything to read BluRay yet. The trailer looks amazing (although a bit too much dramatic when Chris talks about "the dark side, break ups" and the black & white footage of Will appears...). The shots look incredible, especially the last one behind Chris, amazing ! [thanks Lu'kaa]
I AM WAY TOO HAPPY ABOUT THIS. THEY'RE RELEASING IT ON MY BIRTHDAY!! The trailer looks AMAZING. Loved the huddle And the Xylobands.. and just.. all of it. I can't wait! [thanks PrincessofChina]
I'm planning a date with my 3 coldplay-fan--concert-friends to watch the dvd together as soon as we have it I'm very much looking forward to it! [thanks LeonieArienne]
Note: Read also: (Wiki) Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - AWD Arena, Hannover, Germany (22 September 2012) |
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Paralympics Closing Ceremony review 2: Coldplay's finest hour? (9th September)
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, September 10, 2012 - 04:50 PM (10530 Reads)
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 On August 12, the Olympics closed with a celebration of British music that was, depending largely on your musical taste, a shining reflection of British pop or one step up from the wedding disco from hell. Coldplay – arguably Britain’s biggest global group – were notably absent., writes the NME blog in a review of Coldplay's performance at the Paralympic Closing Ceremony at the Olympic Stadium in London last night (9th September). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from these shows at the Coldplay Live forum here onwards now. You can rewatch the entire Closing Ceremony again via YouTube now (Coldplay begin after about 40 minutes). Thanks to everyone who has contributed with tweets, photos, reviews, videos and comments! Read on for the rest of the NME's blog review article...
Last night’s Paralympics closing ceremony – styled as a ‘festival of flame’ – exercised the principle of quality over quantity. Instead of the Olympics’s musical revue-style variety show, director Kim Gavin turned over a huge portion of the show to Coldplay, who performed a 16-track set including guest spots from singer Rihanna, joining the band for ‘Princess Of China’ and ‘Run This Town’, and Jay-Z, who guested on the latter and ‘Paradise’. The performance was wrapped around a themed, pagan-style show based on the passing of the seasons, making this a totally unique – and totally bizarre – big budget, high concept Coldplay concert with a cast of 1200. Eat your heart out, Lady Gaga...
Note: Read also: (Wiki) Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Paralympics Closing Ceremony, OLympic Stadium, London (9 September 2012) |
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Happy 10th birthday to 'A Rush Of Blood To The Head' - Coldplay's second album (released 26th August, 2002)
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, August 25, 2012 - 10:10 PM (15525 Reads)
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 A Rush Of Blood To The Head, Coldplay's second studio album is 10 years old today! (Sunday). First released on 26th August, 2002 through the label Parlophone in the UK, and a day later on 27th August in the US through Capitol Records, it topped the UK Album Charts upon its first week of release, and became the eighth biggest-selling album in the 21st century in the UK. In the US, it has since been certified four times platinum by the RIAA with sales of over 4,822,000 copies as of March 2012.
A Rush Of Blood To The Head (AROBTTH) won Coldplay the 2003 Grammy for Best Alternative Album for the second time in a row, successive to their previous win in the same category for Parachutes, and the 2004 Grammy for Record of the Year for the song 'Clocks' - a song that almost didn't make the tracklisting until a late intervention by fifth member, Phil Harvey. In 2012, AROBTTH was ranked number 466 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The album cover [pictured] for A Rush of Blood to the Head was designed by photographer Sølve Sundsbø, using a three-dimensional scanning machine. In 2010, the cover was among the ten chosen by the Royal Mail for a set of "Classic Album Cover" postage stamps issued.
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of AROBTTH, join us at the messageboard to look back at some of the songs that made the album so successful, and read Coldplayers' comments on what the album means to them. Also, read on below/after the jump for an interview with the band that was published shortly after the album's release...
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St. Paul review: Coldplay Coldplay has a blast at the Xcel Energy Center (10 August)
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, August 11, 2012 - 08:30 AM (11175 Reads)
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In the last leg of its North American tour, Coldplay delivers an invigorating show from beginning to end, with bright lights and lots of confetti, writes Star Tribune magazine in a review of Coldplay's show at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN last night (10 August). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from these shows at the Coldplay Live forum here (10th - Friday) and here (11th - Saturday - tonight) onwards now. Thanks to everyone who has contributed with tweets, photos, reviews, videos and comments! Read on for the rest of the Star Tribune review article below...
The two biggest bands of the century couldn't be more disparate. Canada's Nickelback is proudly and dunderheadedly macho while England's Coldplay is strikingly and hopelessly feminine (the musical equivalent of chick flicks). Nickelback's frontman Chad Kroeger is all about drinking and getting laid. Coldplay's Chris Martin is all about emotions and caring about everything from relationships to world economic issues. In concert, Nickelback is all about pyro and explosions while Coldplay is about colors and confetti.
In fact, Coldplay couldn't wait to shower the confetti Friday at Xcel Energy Center. Most headliners save it for the end of the evening, but Coldplay fired the confetti cannons during the night's third selection, "In My Place." (By the way, the confetti was in the shape of butterflies, hearts, flowers, exclamation points, etc.) During the fifth number, giant multicolored balloons filled the arena. But the coolest special effect started on the very first song, "Mylo Xyloto," the title cut of Coldplay's current blockbuster album...
Note: Read also: (Wiki) Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN (10 August 2012) |
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Chicago review 2: Coldplay near end of 'sensory overload' US tour (7-8 August)
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, August 10, 2012 - 03:45 PM (9148 Reads)
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Coldplay continued its North American tour in support of the platinum-selling album Mylo Xyloto with the first of a two-night stint at Chicago’s United Center on Tuesday, and the band wasted no time in letting the audience know they were in for an evening of sensory overload, writes Fender magazine in a review of Coldplay's two shows at the United Center in Chicago this week (7-8 August). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from these shows at the Coldplay Live forum here (7th - Tuesday) and here (8th - Wednesday - tonight) onwards now. Thanks to everyone who has contributed with tweets, photos, reviews, videos and comments! Read on for the rest of the Fender review article below...
A nearly two-hour set kicked off with “Mylo Xyloto” and “Hurts Like Heaven,” as the wristbands handed out upon entrance suddenly sprang to life, pulsating with light and illuminating the audience in iridescent colors of pinks, oranges, blues and greens.
Cannons shot off matching confetti during the next song, “In My Place,” as frontman Chris Martin spun and skipped down a middle runway. Guitarist Jonny Buckland joined him there later in the song with Martin kneeling and leaning back to the ground, and thrusting his microphone towards Buckland’s graffiti-painted Stratocaster during his solo...
Note: Read also: (Wiki) Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - United Center, Chicago, IL (8 August 2012) |
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Chicago Coldplay review: inclusion is the big theme at the United Center (7 August)
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, August 08, 2012 - 04:59 PM (9360 Reads)
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 On Coldplay’s latest album, “Mylo Xyloto,” the British quartet traces the story of a desperate couple running from the unnamed bad guys. “From underneath the rubble,” Chris Martin intones, “sing a rebel song.” But that’s just a bunch of malarkey. There’s not a lot of rebelliousness in Martin and his affable bandmates. Exactly the opposite. Inclusion is the big theme at their concerts, and so it was Tuesday in the first of two shows at the United Center, writes the Chicago Tribune in a review of Coldplay's show at the United Center in Chicago last night (7 August). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from these shows at the Coldplay Live forum here (7th - Tuesday) and here (8th - Wednesday - tonight) onwards now. Thanks to everyone who has contributed with tweets, photos, reviews, videos and comments! Read on for the rest of the Chicago Tribune review article below...
Guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and Martin didn’t save their best moves for last. Within minutes, confetti rained down, dozens of beach-ball-sized globes floated and bounced, and six multi-pronged lasers lit up the balconies. Fans who were handed wrist bands at the door found the contraptions glowed in the dark at strategic moments, essentially turning the audience into its own light show.
Note: Read also: (Wiki) Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - United Center, Chicago, IL (7 August 2012) |
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East Rutherford review 2: Coldplay, specialists in euphoria, rock the Meadowland (3-4 August)
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, August 06, 2012 - 07:05 PM (8851 Reads)
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 In the middle of a long catwalk, the grinning pop star lay flat on his back. Confetti had hung thick in the air during "In My Place," blasting out of cannons on the first downbeat of the choruses and catching in the hair of happy concert-goers, writes the NJ.com in another comprehensive review of Coldplay's two shows at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ this weekend (3-4 August). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from these shows at the Coldplay Live forum here (3rd - Friday) and here (4th - Saturday) onwards now. Thanks to everyone who has contributed with tweets, photos, reviews, videos and comments! Read on for the rest of the NJ.com's article below...
It fell like a pastel blizzard on the Izod Center stage, and there Chris Martin of the British pop-rock group Coldplay was a kid, making snow angels. On a lark, he handed the microphone to his longtime bandmate Jonny Buckland and let the guitarist finish the final chorus. Then he sprang to his feet and sprinted back to the center position on the stage, arms outstretched, ready to put his magnanimity in action.
Chris Martin thanked the capacity crowd for giving him the best job in the world. Nobody could have doubted the sincerity of his gratitude or located any ambivalence there...
Note: Multimedia update: 2012-08-03 Coldplay @ Izod Center, East Rutherford, NJ [AUDIO FLAC, Mediafire ~578Mb] |
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Detroit review 2: 'Man-date' to Coldplay at the Palace (1 August)
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, August 03, 2012 - 08:45 PM (8940 Reads)
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 When a Palace of Auburn Hills employee handed me Wednesday night a pink wristband that had the words "Made in China" on it, I started to get doubts, writes the MLive in another media review of Coldplay's show at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Detroit, MI on Wednesday night (1 August). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from these shows at the Coldplay Live forum here onwards now. Thanks to everyone who has contributed with tweets, photos, reviews, videos and comments! Read on for the rest of the MLive review article below...
This was, after all, a trip to go see Coldplay - with another man. And it already seemed a little strange. This is a concert you take a woman to. But since neither one of us have girlfriends, we scheduled a man-date. The good news about this event: Royal Oak resident Brian Wilson, my best fried since sixth grade, was a lock to have a good time because he’s a longtime Coldplay fan. Plus, he also got a pink wristband. I needed way more convincing that I was in the right place...
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Palace Of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Detroit, MI (1 August 2012) |
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Detroit review: Coldplay dazzles with interactive show at Palace of Auburn Hills (1 August)
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, August 02, 2012 - 03:52 PM (7675 Reads)
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 Fans entering Coldplay's concert Wednesday at the Palace of Auburn Hills were given wristbands and were told to put them on, as they would be a part of the show... were they ever, writes the Detroit News in a review of Coldplay's show at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Detroit, MI, last night (1 August). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from these shows at the Coldplay Live forum here onwards now. Thanks to everyone who has contributed with tweets, photos, reviews, videos and comments! Read on for the rest of the Detroit News review article below...
After the arena went dark and the band hit the stage -- to the theme from "Back to the Future," no less -- the wristbands switched on and lit up the arena in a sea of blues, greens, yellows, reds and whites, blinking in sync and turning the audience of 17,000 into a gorgeous electric rainbow.
Coldplay, for all the knocks against the band, has always been a dynamic arena act, pushing the boundaries of production to create a top-notch live show. The wristband trick is the group's greatest feat yet, and feels like a game-changer for live music. It is one of the largest steps ever taken to personalize the arena experience, literally making fans a part of the show...
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Palace Of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Detroit, MI (1 August 2012) |
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Boston review: Coldplay dazzle a sold-out TD Garden (29-30 July)
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 02:35 PM (8012 Reads)
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 The line "with great power comes great responsibility" may be overused, but it’s apparent when it comes to Coldplay - without a doubt one of the biggest bands in the world, which means they’re a major draw for fans, but also for criticism, writes the Boston Music Spotlight in a review of Coldplay's two shows at TD Garden in Boston, MA (29-30 July). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from these shows at the Coldplay Live forum here (29th - Sunday) and here (30th - Monday) onwards now. Thanks to everyone who has contributed with tweets, photos, reviews, videos and comments! Read on for the rest of Boston Music Spotlight's review article below...
Energy and creativity fuel Coldplay’s current show. The energy started with frontman Chris Martin, who performed like a man who’s been trapped behind a piano for years, dying to get out. The singer explored every bit of the band’s extensive stage and catwalk, by running, jumping, rolling, and dancing his way through show. The creativity came in the form of the ingenious idea to make fans part of the visual dynamic of the show by issuing every attendee a colored wristband that lit up in unison at certain points of the performance...
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - TD Garden, Boston, MA (29 July 2012) |
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Montreal review: Coldplay creates intimate, playful show in cavernous Bell Centre (26 July)
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, July 27, 2012 - 08:51 PM (8035 Reads)
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 You can’t even trust artists to avoid dropping spoilers these days. Walking through the Bell Centre doors on Thursday, you were given a nifty Coldplay bracelet. Walking into the belly of the arena, you were requested via a host of screens to wear the device, because “it will light up automatically in the show.” Then you were given a pictorial lesson in how to apply a bracelet to a wrist, just in case you had already spent your paycheque at the beer concession, writes the Montreal Gazette in a review of the first of Coldplay's two shows at the Bell Centre, Montreal, QC (26-27 July). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from these shows at the Coldplay Live forum here (26th - Thursday) and here (27th - Friday) onwards now. Thanks to everyone who has contributed with tweets, photos, reviews, videos and comments! Read on for the rest of the Montreal Gazette's review article below...
Maybe this was pedantry, but it was also insurance. Because when Coldplay took the stage and segued from the scene-setting Mylo Xyloto to the sprightly Hurts Like Heaven, and thousands upon thousands of flashing wristbands turned the packed Bell Centre into a neon wonderland, it was one of those rare moments that will be seared in the memory of even veteran concertgoers...
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Bell Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada (26 July 2012) |
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Toronto review 2: Coldplay and their cult of believers (Air Canada Center, 23-24 July)
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, July 25, 2012 - 04:05 PM (8095 Reads)
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 “We want Coldplay!” someone shouted during a break in Marina and the Diamonds’ opening set – to a smattering of applause – at the first of Coldplay’s two Toronto shows at the Air Canada Centre Monday night, and it’s easy to see why, writes the Globe and Mail in the second featured review of Coldplay's two shows at the Air Canada Center, Toronto, ON (23-24 July). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from the two Toronto shows at the Coldplay Live forum here (23rd - Monday) and here (24th - Tuesday) onwards now. Thanks to everyone who has contributed with tweets, photos, reviews, videos and comments for both shows! Read on for the rest of the Globe and Mail's review article below...
It’s not just because the tinsel-clad Marina emptily twirled her way through a starchy set in front of a crowd that filled up exactly when she left. It’s also because Coldplay has managed to quietly become one of the defining bands of the aughts, an achievement even more impressive because it happened on the strength of just a handful of tracks. Odds are, most of the generation it predominantly defines has likely never heard an entire Coldplay record; their popularity far outstrips the perception of their talent.
The band’s greatest gift is their effortless wide appeal, but they’re also impossible to develop strong feelings about – and they’re well aware. Their latest album is an excellent expression of this; frontman Chris Martin gets away with propagating a contrived thesis that Mylo Xyloto is a complex concept inspired by World War II and old-school graffiti despite it sounding, largely, like any other Coldplay record...
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada (24 July 2012) |
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Toronto review: Coldplay brings high-energy show to Air Canada Center (23 July)
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, July 24, 2012 - 07:13 AM (8192 Reads)
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 Colour me impressed - Coldplay touched down for the first show of two night stand at the Air Canada Centre on Monday night and treated a sold-out crowd to an intense yet artful music extravangaza, writes the Toronto Sun in the first review of the first of Coldplay's two shows at the Air Canada Center, Toronto, ON (23-24 July). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from the two Toronto shows at the Coldplay Live forum here (23rd - Monday) and here (24th - Tuesday) onwards now. Thanks to everyone who has contributed with tweets, photos, reviews, videos and comments! Read on for the rest of the Toronto Sun's review article below...
The wow factor included twinkling, glow-in-the-dark multi-coloured wristbands worn by audience members, multi-coloured confetti - that blasted out several times during the second song and set highlight, In My Place, and multi-coloured balloons that dropped down during the fourth song, Lovers In Japan.
It was like one gigantic street art project with a lot of financial backing emphasized by Coldplay’s own enormous stage decorated by glow-in-the-dark, multi-coloured neon graffiti and a long catwalk that looked like a landing strip with a red ‘X’ at the end - a location where the group ventured early and often...
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada (23 July 2012) |
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Coldplay inch closer to U2 in achieving authentic arena rock spectacle (Inteference)
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, July 13, 2012 - 04:40 PM (8319 Reads)
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 As we take a short break in the Mylo Xylotour proceedings (next show is Toronto on 23 July - already on 31 pages of discussion!), we focus on a nicely written article from the guys over at Inteference (a U2 blog) who have blogged an article this month entitled "Coldplay Inch Closer to U2 in Achieving Authentic Arena Rock Spectacle," which, as the title suggests, Coldplay are getting ever nearer to achieving parity, in a 'live concert production' sense, with their Irish counterparts. Read on for the article, and also enjoy some more great photos of Coldplay's last concerts in Washington, which go some way to substantiating Interference's assertion...
In the same space where one week earlier the Miami Heat were crowned basketball champions, the jubilant city of Miami welcomed Grammy-winning superstars Coldplay to the American Airlines Arena.
Imagine over 20,000 multi-colored lights flashing all together in a single space. Add to the equation 20,000 voices singing along to worldwide hits. Multiply all this by 100 minutes, and we see why Coldplay is becoming a live band to rival any in terms of stage presence, including their inspiration and ours in Irish rockers U2...
Note: Multimedia update: 2012-07-08 Verizon Center, Washington, DC, USA [AUDIO FLAC] |
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Washington review: Coldplay performance at Verizon Center 'anything but boring' (Washington Post, 8 July)
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, July 09, 2012 - 09:15 PM (9221 Reads)
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 Coldplay is sort of a Nickelback for cool kids (!) - over the last decade the chart-friendly UK quartet has inspired ridicule at about the same rate it has record sales, writes Washington Post in a rather blunt but appreciative review of the first of Coldplay's two shows at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC (8-9 July). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from the two Washington shows at the Coldplay Live forum here (8th - Sunday) and here (9th - Monday) onwards now. Thanks to everyone who has contributed with tweets, photos, reviews, videos and comments! Read on for the rest of the Washington Post's review article below...
The Web site Yahoo Answers, an Encyclopedia Britannica in our social media age, even has an entry titled: “Why do people hate Coldplay so much?” Yahoo’s “voters’ choice” for “best answer”: “Its [sic] boring.” Another possible and similarly syntaxed explanation for all the Coldplay animus could be “Because Ive never seen it.” In any case, nobody who saw Coldplay on Sunday at the sold-out Verizon Center came away bored.
Plainly, Coldplay’s current tour takes arena rock production to new levels. As Martin et al kicked into the set-opener “Hurts Like Heaven,” the LEDs on the thousands of wristbands, called Xylobands, that were being given away at the entrances were activated simultaneously by remote control, instantly transforming the huge sports arena into a psychedelicatessen of moving multicolored lights. (The UK press reported a few months ago that Coldplay is an owner of the company that manufactures the accessories.) Lasers shot from the stage to the roof and back...
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Verizon Center, Washington, DC (8 July 2012) |
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Philadelphia review: Coldplay wows Wells Fargo Center in a big way (5-6 July)
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, July 07, 2012 - 10:15 AM (9023 Reads)
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 It was tough to tell whether you were at a theme park or a pop concert at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday, where Coldplay were playing the first of back to back nights at the South Philadelphia sports arena, writes Inquirer section of philly.com - in their review of Coldplay's two shows at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA (5-6 July). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from the Philly shows at the Coldplay Live forum here (5th - Thursday) and here (6th - Friday) onwards now. Thanks to everyone who has contributed with tweets, photos, reviews, videos and comments! Read on for the rest of the Inquirer's review article below...
The Chris Martin-led British quartet were up on stage – and in the crowd - playing music focused on their candy-colored fifth album, Mylo Xyloto (2011), mixed in with ingratiating hits from throughout their dozen year career.
But the show was as much about the exploding bursts of color filling up the room as it was the soaring melodic soft-rock being brought to life by pianist-guitarist-singer Martin and his bandmates Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland and Will Champion. The hardest, most startling moment of the evening came before the concert began – Jay-Z’s “99 Problems” banging out of the sound system in marked contrast to the far more soothing sounds that would follow. The band took the stage to a recording of the “Back To The Future” theme, then began with the Mylo title track and the cheerfully bummed candy-colored “Hurts Like Heaven,” in which Martin sang: “You use your heart as a weapon / And it hurts like heaven.”
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA (5 July 2012) |
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Charlotte review: Coldplay bring magical Mylo Xylotour to Time Warner Cable Arena (3 July)
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, July 04, 2012 - 05:10 PM (9537 Reads)
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 Coldplay did its fans a big favor by holding Tuesday’s concert indoors at Time Warner Cable Arena during the hottest week in recent memory. That decision was probably dictated more by the glow-in-the-dark nature of the production than the temperature, writes Sound Bites - a music scene blog affiliated to the Charlotte Observer, in their review of last night's Coldplay show at the TIme Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, NC (3 July). Catch up on more on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from the shows at the Coldplay Live forum now. Thanks to everyone who has contributed with tweets, photos, reviews, videos and comments! Read on for the rest of Sound Bites' review article...
Ticket holders were each given a fabric wrist band with a small hard plastic box attached to it upon entry. When Coldplay hit the stage with the upbeat title track to its latest album “Mylo Xyloto” following sets by London-based rock band, Wolf Gang and Swedish dance pop star Robyn, those bracelets lit up the arena with over 17,000 tiny colored lights. It was one of many ways Coldplay pulled its audience into the festivities and made the crowd feel less like spectators and more a part of the show. Lasers danced through the air and circular screens, including a large LED screen that hung over the stage, displayed dancing lights and stage footage...
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte, NC (3 July 2012) |
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Atlanta review: Coldplay scorches with polished blowout at the Philips Arena (2 July)
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, July 03, 2012 - 10:08 PM (8936 Reads)
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 Coldplay just might be the hardest-working live band of the past decade – at least of the arena variety. They want you to have fun, to sink into their often-elegant pop-rock and feel the emotion seeping out of Chris Martin’s furrowed brow, writes Access Atlanta today, in their review of last night's Coldplay show at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, GA (2 July). Catch up on more on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from the shows at the Coldplay Live forum now. Thanks to everyone who has contributed with tweets, photos, reviews, videos and comments! Read on for the rest of Access Atlanta's review article...
They want you to cheer with delight at the showers of confetti whooshed in the air and nod approvingly at their neon-graffiti stage backdrop, thinking, “Huh, that actually looks really awesome.”
They hope you walk out of the venue thinking they’re fine musicians, but also casually cool guys, the type you’d want to have a drink with to discuss politics or movies or baby names. And guess what? They succeed at every attempt. It hasn’t been quite a year since Coldplay last played Atlanta, headlining the return of Music Midtown in Piedmont Park last fall and performing for about 40,000 people. But Monday’s gig at Philips Arena was a SRO sellout, so clearly there is demand for the music of Martin, Jonny Buckland (guitar), Will Champion (drummer-plus-piano-plus-guitar) and Guy Berryman (bass).
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA (2 July) |
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Miami review: Coldplay create a celebration with its audience at the American Airlines Arena (29 June)
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, June 30, 2012 - 04:10 PM (8165 Reads)
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 When established rock groups tour in support of a new album, they typically give their fans a fairly brief taste of their fresh tracks, maybe four or five songs. Not Coldplay, writes Miami.com today, in the first review of last night's Coldplay show at the American Airlines Arena (29 June). Catch up on more on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from the shows at the Coldplay Live forum now. Read on for the rest of their review article (and others as we get them, too...)
The Grammy-winning British band – led by the lovably manic Chris Martin – dazzled a sold-out AmericanAirlines Arena in downtown Miami on Friday night as part of its “Mylo Zyloto” tour by performing all but two of the album’s 11 songs. And why not? The new material from the group’s fifth album uniformly stands up to Coldplay favorites, especially live. The fist-pumping anthems “Charlie Brown,” “Princess of China” (with vocals by Rihanna mixed in on the video screens), “Paradise” and the closing “Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall” are instant classics, sure to be a part of Coldplay shows for years to come, and all whipped the adoring crowd into a frenzy...
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL (29 June) |
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Tampa reviews: Coldplay is stone-cold rousing and huggable at St Pete Times Forum (28 June)
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, June 29, 2012 - 04:00 PM (7202 Reads)
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 Not being a Coldplay fan, I felt like an atheist at a revival meeting, nervous that I might be the only one of my kind at the sold-out show, writes the Tampa Bay Online today, in their review of last night's Coldplay show at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, FL (28th June). Catch up on more on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from the shows at the Coldplay Live forum now. Read on for the rest of their review article (and one from Tampa Bay Times too...)
And just like a revival preacher, Chris Martin and his band mates took the converted to ecstatic heights at the Forum on Thursday night. The openers, Wolfgang - a young British band that can only be described as Coldplay Jr. - and Swedish pop star Robyn were given pleasant responses from the well-dressed, clean-cut crowd waiting patiently for their cleric. Robyn, especially, seemed out of place in this context better suited for the Ritz in Ybor than the Forum.
At roughly 9:07 p.m., electronic wristbands on every fan started to glow as the theme from"Back to the Future" faded into the title track from "Mylo Xyloto" and "Hurts Like Heaven," a beautiful sight to behold, even if the Forum looked like a Lite Brite. It was the first of many such spectacles, some of which would not have been out of place at a Flaming Lips show, including confetti bombs, beach balls and a light show that would have impressed a jaded U2 fan...
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL (28 June) |
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Houston review 2: Confetti-soaked Coldplay concert proves Chris Martin is the hardest working entertainer around (25-26 June)
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, June 28, 2012 - 01:30 PM (7946 Reads)
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 Entering Toyota Center, I almost didn't take the wristband that the ticket taker offered. That would have been a mistake. Even before the first song of the Coldplay concert Monday night, a recorded version of Jay-Z's "99 Problems" boomed through the stadium and activated the sound-sensitive wristbands into a glow that enveloped the massive arena, writes the CultureMap website this morning, in another review article of Coldplay's two Houston show this week (Monday 25th & Tuesday 26th June) at the Toyota Center. Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from the shows at the Coldplay Live forum here (25th - Monday) and here (26th - Tuesday) now. Read on for CultureMap's review...
And a magical night of confetti in neon colors, flashing lights, bouncing rubber balls and songs that everyone at the sold-out concert knew every word to by heart began — and it was pure delight. Coldplay stepped onto the stage to the theme of Back to the Future, which segued into the opening track, "Hurts Like Heaven," from the band's fifth studio album, Mylo Xyloto, released in late 2011; the audience, waving glittering, glowing wristbands in unison, immediately felt a part of the experience.
(The band estimates they spend $640,000 per concert on the electronic wristbands — most of the tour's profits — but are hesitant to give them up because "it just feels so magical," guitarist Johnny Buckland said.) After the end of the second song of the set — "In My Place" from 2002's A Rush of Blood to the Head — I was curious to see where the concert could possibly go from there, since lead singer Chris Martin was already positioned in a near-backbend, swimming in a sea of confetti.
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Toyota Center, Houston, TX (26 June) |
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Dallas review 2: Coldplay brings us grandeur, wistfulness - and wristbands (22-23 June)
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, June 24, 2012 - 06:25 PM (7498 Reads)
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 It was a magical evening at the American Airlines Center on Friday night as fans filled the sold-out arena for the first night of Coldplay’s two day stay in Dallas, writes the Pegasus News website this weekend, in a review article of Coldplay's Dallas shows (on Friday and Saturday night - 22nd & 23rd June). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from the shows at the Coldplay Live forum here (22nd - Friday) and here (23rd - Saturday) now. Read on to see what Pegasus News thought of Coldplay's shows in Dallas...
Attendees were handed different colored Day-Glo wristbands as they walked into the venue without an explanation. It wasn’t until Coldplay took the stage later in the evening that the bracelets revealed their purpose.
Wolf Gang, a London britpop band influenced by Coldplay, tried their hand at warming up the crowd as they trickled in. The band’s sound was clear and concise, leaving many impressed with what they had heard, but it was Swedish electro europop sensation Robyn that got people out of their chairs. The pint-sized pixie is not as well known in America as she is in Europe, but she put on quite the show. She danced all over the stage to her electric beats, performing tracks like “Dancing On My Own” and “Call Your Girlfriend” from her Body Talk album series...
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX (23 June) |
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Dallas review 1: Coldplay overwhelms the senses at the AAC (22nd June)
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, June 23, 2012 - 11:35 AM (8241 Reads)
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 Dallas Friday night, Coldplay began at the end. More precisely, the convergence of a confetti deluge, enormous balloons, columns of smoke, blitz of lasers and thousands of vivid, blinking lights adorning the wrists (a LED-powered freebie known as a "xyloband") of a sold-out American Airlines Center felt like the climax of an epic performance, the culmination of two hours' worth of music and sensory overload, writes the DFW (Dallas Fort Worth) website today, in a review article of Coldplay's first of two Dallas shows on Friday night (22nd June). Catch up on more on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from the shows at the Coldplay Live forum now. Read on to see what the media thought of Coldplay's return to the US...
Instead, Chris Martin and his Grammy-winning, multi-platinum bandmates were just on the second song of the night. They were only getting warmed up. (The band plays the final, likewise sold-out installment of its two-night stand Saturday.)
What was most apparent, aside from the fact that Coldplay now has a confetti budget to rival that of the Flaming Lips, was this veteran band is finally displaying a brashness only previously suggested. Martin and his collaborators have always been the aw-shucks sort of group, routinely selling out global, years-long tours, but laying on the self-deprecation thick in concert. No more of that -- touring behind last year's dreadfully titled Mylo Xyloto, Coldplay brought an impressive confidence to the stage Friday, ripping through a 100-minute set and scarcely pausing for breath...
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX (22 June) |
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Manchester review 2: Coldplay raise the bar and the roof at the Etihad Stadium (9-10 June)
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 - 07:55 AM (8258 Reads)
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 Coldplay raised the bar and raised the roof at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday night - and in a stunning assault on the senses, the world-famous foursome did not disappoint with a performance which will live long in the memory of those lucky enough to witness it. writes the Mancunian Matters website this week, in another review article of Coldplay's Manchester shows on Saturday and Sunday night (9-10 June) at the Etihad Stadium. Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from the shows at the Coldplay Live forum here (9th - Saturday) and here (10th - Sunday) now. Read on for the Mancunian Matters review...
The tone was set from the moment spectators entered the stadium with each privileged punter given an official Mylo Xyloto wristband, the purpose of which was spectacularly revealed during the show. Each wristband, worn by the 55,000 crowd, lit up automatically on Chris Martin’s command bathing the arena in an early-evening neon glow.
The band entered to a breathtaking display of fireworks and set the benchmark belting out a pitch-perfect version of Mylo’s opening track Hurts Like Heaven. They followed with the ‘Rush of Blood To The Head’ favourite In My Place before moving the crowd to a standstill with an emotional rendition of The Scientist...
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, UK (9 June) |
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London review 3: Coldplay pinnacle of capital's most spectacular of long weekends (5/5 stars)
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, June 06, 2012 - 09:45 PM (7096 Reads)
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 Revelling in dayglo and melody, Coldplay light up north London in a spectacle of sight and sound that proves the pinnacle of one of London's most remarkable long weekends, writes the London Evening Standard today, in another 5/5 review Coldplay's concerts at the Emirates Stadium in London this past weekend (1-4 June). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from the shows at the Coldplay Live forum here (1st - Friday), here (2nd - Saturday) and here (4th - Monday) now. Read on for the London Evening Standard review article and some new pictures...
Beige no longer, Coldplay’s stadium stint in north London this weekend proved to be the most colourful live spectacle I have ever witnessed.
While it was pure red, white and blue for the Queen down on the Mall, up here umpteen thousand wristbands flashed red, white, blue, green and pink in a bewildering sight that dazzled far beyond expectations. Everybody’s bands started flashing during the whizz-bang opener, Hurts Like Heaven, during which they were outshone by so many fireworks that the stadium was awash with smoke. Then they stayed off for just long enough to be forgotten about, until the sun went down, Charlie Brown and its line about “glowing in the dark” came on, and the space exploded into light in perfect time to the music...
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Emirates Stadium, London, UK (4 June - third night) |
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London review 2: Coldplay conjure moments of intimacy on a crowded football field
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, June 06, 2012 - 08:30 AM (6202 Reads)
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 Minutes before stage time, Jay-Z's 99 Problems booms over the PA system, stirring the bedrizzled punters on the covered pitch, its titanic strut perfect for these vast environs, writes the Guardian this week, in another of our featured reviews of Coldplay's three concerts at the Emirates Stadium in London this past weekend (1-4 June). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from the shows at the Coldplay Live forum here (1st - Friday), here (2nd - Saturday) and here (4th - Monday) now. Read on for the Guardian review article and some new pictures...
Such bold thrills are notably absent from Coldplay's quiver – just how are their more muted charms going to command the attention of a damp 60,000-strong stadium audience?
The production values are lavish: five vast iris-shaped video screens, plus an armoury of rockets and roman candles, confetti cannons, beach balls painted like the globe and audience wristbands that blink multi-coloured lights to the music, transforming them into human lighting rigs. The effect is not unlike a Flaming Lips show, albeit with their psychedelic lunacy firmly dampened down...
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Emirates Stadium, London, UK (4 June - third night)
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London review 1: Coldplay fly the flag of great British music at the Emirates
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, June 03, 2012 - 11:35 AM (5765 Reads)
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 It is fitting that Coldplay are playing the Emirates stadium over three nights during Jubilee weekend; they’re the only band who can match the pomp and pageantry taking place throughout our city, writes the Londonist today, in the first of our featured reviews of Coldplay's three concerts at the Emirates Stadium in London this weekend (1-4 June). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from the shows at the Coldplay Live forum here (1st - Friday), here (2nd - Saturday) and here (4th - on Monday) now. Read on for the Londonist review article...
It is fitting that Coldplay are playing the Emirates stadium over three nights during Jubilee weekend; they’re the only band who can match the pomp and pageantry taking place throughout our city. They’re undeniably the biggest band in the world so while the world watches London, they are flying the flag of great British music, and boy are they making themselves noticed over the gun salutes.
Stadium gigs are always detached, impersonal shows; four tiny blokes on a stage with a screen – thank you and goodnight. Not Coldplay; their Mylo Xyloto world tour is too small for stadia, so the setup has three performance areas – main stage, middle arena jam section and an acoustic stage for the back – a trick only employed by the U2s and Rolling Stones of the rock world...
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Emirates Stadium, London, UK (2 June - second night)
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Coventry review 3: Coldplay create a piece of paradise at the Ricoh Arena
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 - 08:35 PM (3778 Reads)
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 At The turn of the millennium Coldplay stumbled apologetically into the limelight, four skinny, sensitive chaps whose songs walked a tightrope between mercurial and mawkish. How times have changed writes the Coventry Telegraph today, in yet another positive review article of Coldplay's concert at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry on Tuesday night (29th May). Catch up on more on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from the shows at the Coldplay Live forum now. Read on for the Coventry Telegraph review article...
It is hard to believe the same band has grown into the superstars who stun the Ricoh Arena in Coventry with show of muscular magnificence. The evening opens in inauspicious fashion. Support acts Rita Ora and Robyn seemed an unlikely choice when they were first unveiled and the pair struggle to produce anything to justify the decision.
Ora inexplicably cuts short the chart topping hit Hot Right Now that made her name. Meanwhile Robyn spurns her eponymous breakthrough album in favour of some decidedly dodgy dance moves over what sounds like electro-reggae before begrudgingly pulling out With Every Heartbeat to wrap up her set. By the time Coldplay emerge nearly 20 minutes late there is a slightly underwhelming undercurrent... but the moment the band set foot on stage the fireworks - quite literally - begin...
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Ricoh Arena, Coventry, England (29 May) |
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Coventry review 2: Coldplay's stunning Ricoh performance brings new meaning to phrase 'Sent To Coventry' (plus more photos)
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 - 03:43 PM (4427 Reads)
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 Coldplay re-wrote the history books to produce one of the greatest spectacles this historic city has seen by kick-starting their eagerly anticipated summer tour in emphatic style, writes Steve Carpenter of the Coventry Observer today, in another positive review article of Coldplay's concert at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry on Tuesday night (29th May). Catch up on more on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from the shows at the Coldplay Live forum now. Read on for the Coventry Observer review article...
The hottest band on the planet right now have deservedly earned a reputation down the years as being the kings of live entertainment. And on a warm, sunny Tuesday evening inside the Ricoh Arena, Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman and Will Champion produced one of the greatest live music shows in Coventry's proud history. The colourful outfits, the graffiti, the glitter and of course the glowing wrist bands were all part of wonderfully crafted show which began Hurts Like Heaven off their latest album, Mylo Xyloto...
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Ricoh Arena, Coventry, England (29 May) |
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Coventry review: Coldplay wow a sell-out audience at the Ricoh Arena, 29th May (plus new photos)
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 - 10:31 AM (3760 Reads)
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 When Coldplay first graduated to stadiums in 2005, I thought they were too drab to command the space; they had big songs but little charisma, four earnest men dressed in black in front of a black back drop. No one could accuse them of being colourless anymore. Quite the opposite, in fact, they may be the most colourful band on the planet, with a palette that could make a children's TV set designer queasy, writes the Daily Telegraph in the first review of Coldplay's concert at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry on Tuesday night (29th May). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from the shows at the Coldplay Live forum now. Read on for the Daily Telegraph review article...
They storm onto a graffiti splashed set in hand crafted outfits wielding paint spattered instruments and turn the stadium into a sea of day glo light with flashing wristbands, giant red, green and blue balloons, fireworks, glitter, ticker tape, and every laser this side of Star Wars.
You can't even accuse the old bedwetters of trying too hard to make up for a lack of charisma, They throw everything at their audience, including themselves. This is the kind of stirring, sweaty, heartfelt, energetic, emotional and uplifting show that could give stadium entertainment a good name.
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Ricoh Arena, Coventry, England (29 May) |
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Coldplay: Earnest trendsetters (Australia's Herald Sun dripfeeds another Chris Martin interview)
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 - 12:00 AM (2343 Reads)
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 Every word uttered by Chris Martin seems to become a trending topic. Chris's recent revelations that he suffers tinnitus from playing loud music and regrets calling his band's fifth record Mylo Xyloto (but later joked this was untrue) both copped a flogging on all good sites where opinions rule, writes the Herald Sun, in another article from down under, ahead of the Australasian shows later this year. Read on for the article... you can also discuss it at the Coldplay forum too [thanks Tash]
He mock groans when told Mylo Xyloto and "stupid" are easily Googled. "You say something stupid and someone tells you it is trending," he says. "How come no one ever trends about that time with those strippers? Me and my wife and those six strippers, no one trends that!"
Both of us laugh knowing this will indeed trend and by the time the American and British gossip sites get a hold of it, a joke will have become a headline: "Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow's hot night with strippers!"
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Stade Charles Herman, Nice, France (22 May) |
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Jonny Buckland talks to New Zealand Herald following Australasian show announcements
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, May 17, 2012 - 04:35 PM (4026 Reads)
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 As Coldplay prepare to bring their world tour to Australasia in November 2012, Scott Kara from the New Zealand Herald caught up with guitarist Jonny Buckland to talk about current life in Coldplay. Read on for their article...
It's taken a few years to get used to it but Coldplay are now feeling entirely comfortable being one of the world's biggest bands. "Generally, we're much more at ease with ourselves and with what we do than we ever have been," says guitarist Jonny Buckland on the phone from New York where they are about to play Radio City Music Hall as part of an extended global jaunt which brings them to New Zealand in November. And, he adds with a satisfied and cheeky chuckle: "We're less likely to listen to the people who don't like us anymore."
These days there is no denying their pulling power as one of music's few stadium-sized drawcards. Not only are they playing bigger shows than ever, but they have collaborated with the likes of hip-hop mogul Jay-Z, and R&B superstar Rihanna features on Princess of China off latest album Mylo Xyloto.
They may have had humble musical beginnings, and grew out of the Britrock movement of the 90s, but Coldplay went on to supersede bands such as Radiohead, and become a global music phenomenon. Still, ask Buckland who is the better band out of Radiohead and Coldplay he is adamant: "Radiohead. No, I mean really, they are. They are great."
Note: Multimedia update: 2012-05-14 Chris Interview on The Matt & Jo Show, Fox FM [AUDIO, wmv/mp3, 12MB/10MB]
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Seattle reviews 2 & 3: Coldplay lights up the KeyArena (25th April)
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, April 27, 2012 - 08:40 PM (2846 Reads)
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I don't care what anybody says, Coldplay is awesome - Chris Martin is a star and that show last night was incredible - I should probably start at the beginning before I get too deep into my crush on the whole band, writes the Herald Net in another review of Coldplay's concert at the Keyarena, Seattle on Wednesday night (25th April). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from the shows at the Coldplay Live [Seattle] forum now. Read on for the Herald Net review article...
When I entered KeyArena last night, I was greeted by a very nice ticket taking lady who handed me blue and pink a bracelet that looked like an Easter egg I found once and announced, “You have to wear this. It's part of the show.” I don't like being told what to do but I put it on anyway because it said “Coldplay” on it and everybody else was wearing one. More on these bracelets in a bit. Music played throughout the arena as the stage was being set for Coldplay, much like it does at any venue between sets. Then that music suddenly got louder and unedited version Jay-Z's “99 Problems” began to play...
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - KeyArena, Seattle, WA (25th April 2012) |
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Seattle review 1: Coldplay concert's stunning visuals at KeyArena overshadow music (25th April)
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, April 26, 2012 - 06:55 PM (3900 Reads)
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 Rock band Coldplay performed a visually stunning concert at KeyArena Wednesday, but the special effects somewhat overshadowed the authenticity of the music, writes the Seattle Times in a review of Coldplay's concert at the Keyarena, Seattle last night (25th April). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from the shows at the Coldplay Live [Seattle] forum now. Read on for the Seattle Times review article...
There was a moment during Coldplay's KeyArena concert when singer Chris Martin did the seemingly impossible: He ended "Paradise" on the main stage, and moments later began singing "Us Against the World" standing near the back of the hall in the cheap seats. He managed it by being in good enough shape to sprint 100 yards, but also because the clean-cut Martin can easily fit into the landscape of his audience.
Everyman populism has always been at the core of Coldplay's success, and that was abundant at the band's sold-out show Wednesday at KeyArena. The band delivered 90 minutes of hits, complete with state of the art production that rivaled a Broadway show. Those effects started during "Hurts Like Heaven" when wristbands given to the audience began to blink, making the crowd appear like a Lite-Brite toy whenever the band cued up certain songs. Soon, confetti machines filled the sky. During "Major Minus," a cascade of beach balls followed.
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - KeyArena, Seattle, WA (25th April 2012) |
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Portland review: Coldplay bloom at the Rose Garden (24th April)
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, April 26, 2012 - 07:17 AM (2849 Reads)
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 Chris Martin seems nice. This is something that is written almost every time he does an interview, and was especially prevalent in the coverage last fall when his band, Coldplay, released their latest record, "Mylo Xyloto, writes the Oregon Live in another review of two concerts at the Rose Garden in Portland (24th April). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from the shows at the Coldplay Live forum now. Read on for the Oregon Live review article...
USA Today led with how Martin turned tables and energetically questioned the questioner. The New York Times was fond of how he apologized for being late when he was five minutes early. Seems like a relatively normal guy. Highly likable, which sounds like an awful thing to say about a rock star, but isn't. He probably does understand "all the crap" fans had to go through to see Coldplay at the Rose Garden on Tuesday night. All "the money, and the parking. And we hope we don't let you down," he said.
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Rose Garden Arena, Portland, OR (24th April 2012) |
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Vancouver review 2: Coldplay pulls out all its spectacular gimmicks for Vancouver shows (20-21 April)
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 09:15 AM (3291 Reads)
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 If Coldplay proved anything with its Rogers Arena concert on Friday, it’s that it knows what it's doing. If you're going to play a concert in a stadium, this is how you do it: make the audience go absolutely apeshit right off the bat, and keep it on your side for the next 90 minutes. writes the Straight.com in a review of two concerts at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver (20th & 21st April). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from the shows at the Coldplay Live forum here (20th) and here (21st) now. Read on for the Straight.com review article...
And if the band sometimes resorted to gimmicks to achieve that at the first of its two Vancouver shows, so be it. They were, after all, pretty spectacular gimmicks.
When the English quartet made its entrance, it did so to the flashing of thousands of multi-coloured wristbands, timed to light up right as the band launched into "Mylo Xyloto". Then came the confetti cannons, which dumped a veritable blizzard of paper shapes—hearts, crowns, teardrops—onto the audience. And then down came the balloons, which descended from the rafters and were then batted about the room by a sea of eager hands. One headed straight for me. I swung my fist at it, and when I connected, the balloon burst open and showered me with still more of those paper shapes. And that was all within the first 10 minutes. Anyone not solidly in Coldplay's corner by that point was probably a cynical old fuck. Hell, I'm a cynical old fuck and even I thought it was pretty okay...
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Rogers Arena, Vancouver, BC, Canada (21st April 2012) |
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Vancouver preview: Coldplay typecast as good guys
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, April 20, 2012 - 09:05 AM (2557 Reads)
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 There is no arguing Coldplay has been an omnipresent force on the pop-rock scene for the past decade, but what is it about the British quartet that has enabled them to endure for so long, writes the Times Colonist in a prevew of Coldplay's concert at the Rogers Arena (night 1) in Vancouver tonight (20th April 2012). You can check out all the latest photos, tweets and videos from tonight's concert at the Coldplay Live forum [Vancouver] now. If you want more discussion on the #ColdplayFilm that has been stenciled onto all the Xylobands for the shows, head over to the Coldplay forum. Read on for the preview article...
Coldplay's rise to fame was never rooted in a reputation for being cuttingedge innovators or rock saviours. Instead, the success of the band, which plays in Vancouver Friday and Saturday, can be attributed to something far simpler: inoffensive, accessible, feel-good appeal.
Let's rewind to June 2001. Coldplay was touring North America with a set consisting of every song on debut album Parachutes. Their concerts included a pretty spectacular rendition of hit single Yellow, complete with a giant mirror ball sending myriad yellow stars spinning around the room - that number being the sole draw for many of those in attendance at such venues as Montreal's Metropolis, Toronto's Warehouse and Vancouver's Orpheum Theatre.
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, Canada (18th April 2012) |
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Calgary review 3: Night of fun and joy with Coldplay (18th April)
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, April 19, 2012 - 09:35 PM (2101 Reads)
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 You know how I know I’m gay? OK. Obvious, sure. But it’s important to remember that the music of Coldplay was once tagged, for an entire Judd Apatow generation, with a disparaging definition of the word, writes the Calgary Herald website, in another positive review of last night's Coldplay concert in Calgary (18th April). Catch up on even more of the latest tweets, pictures, videos from this show at the Coldplay Live forum now - thanks to everyone who has contributed so far! Read on for the Calgary Herald review article...
They were considered by some an effeminate act whose songs could be enjoyed by women and only men of non-hetero orientation. Well, that was the 40 Year Old inference, anyway. And, slur aside, it was a stigma the band, in recorded form, anyway, was stuck with for the first half decade of its career, with a catalogue that was as precious as it was often moribund — navel-gazing music for sensitive souls.
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, Canada (18th April 2012) |
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Calgary review 2: Coldplay’s comfort rock (18th April)
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, April 19, 2012 - 06:52 PM (2215 Reads)
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 First of all, how the hell could anyone have been violently slashed at the Coldplay concert? From where I was sitting, it was the most cleancut show I’ve ever attended. writes the Fast Forward Weekly blog, in a review of last night's concert in Calgary (18th April). Catch up on more of the latest tweets, pictures, videos from this show at the Coldplay Live forum now - thanks to everyone who has contributed so far! Read on for the FFWD reviews article...
The men could only be described as “people who noticed when Randy River and Bootlegger went out of business,” while the women, a vast majority of whom could be described as “cool moms,” were dressed more business casual than any administrative employee I ever saw in my years as a temp. A lot of sleeveless blouses for the women and weirdly cut black leather jackets for the men. While the Saddledome normally smells like hot dogs, beer, weed and farts at these giant events, the Coldplay concert smelled very upper middle class. The room’s collective cologne wafted together, colliding with the strong smell of clean laundry to create something that can only be described as suffocatingly pleasant.
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, Canada (18th April 2012) |
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Calgary review 1: Coldplay paradise at Scotiabank Saddledome (18th April)
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, April 19, 2012 - 10:55 AM (2801 Reads)
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 The proof is on the stage. The measure of any great band is — and always should be — judged by its live show. Sure, over the past 15 years, Coldplay has become one of the biggest and most consistent recording bands in music — all well and good, writes the Calgary Sun in a review of last night's concert in Calgary (18th April). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from this show at the Coldplay Live forum now.
But in front of a sellout crowd of nearly 15,000 fans at the Scotiabank Saddledome Wednesday night (Day 2 of the group’s North American leg of the Mylo Xylotour), Chris Martin and his mates made a statement as one of the best live acts in recent rock and roll memory. Despite selling more than 55-million records, the easy knocks of being a “chick band” (a term likely buoyed by the group’s tendency towards syrupy pop balladry), pop-rock “lightweights” or, worst of all, a “poor man’s U2,” become unfounded and/or irrelevant when the band walks onto a concert stage...
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, Canada (18th April 2012) |
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Calgary preview: Why are the British so bloody good at rock 'n' roll?
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, April 18, 2012 - 10:00 PM (2316 Reads)
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 The impending arrival of Coldplay has filled area rock fans with a level of joy not seen since the last time Coldplay came to town, writes the Gig City in a prevew of Coldplay at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary tonight (18th April 2012). You can check out all the latest photos, tweets and videos from tonight's concert at the Coldplay Live forum [Calgary] now. If you want more discussion on the #ColdplayFilm that has been stenciled onto all the Xylobands for the shows, head over to the Coldplay forum. Read on for the preview article...
So rarely do we get to see such a top-level British rock band in Edmonton, and it’s always a delightful treat. That’s because we still bow to the Queen of England, touch her face on our money and feel deep down in our bosoms that British rock bands are superior to North American rock bands. Should there ever be some grand Intercontinental Rock Band Warz with both Simon Cowell and Howard Stern on the judging panel (followed by a fistfight to the death between the two), we’d know for sure, but for now, it’s a gut feeling. A big one.
Coldplay performs Wednesday at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary. You might say expectations are high. There are few North American counterparts to Coldplay’s arena-anthem-ready brand of piano-rocking goodness. Semisonic? Too flash-in-the-pan. Ben Folds? Too obscure. Billy Joel? Never mind. Coldplay has the piano rock thing all locked up, backed up by battalions of like-minded Limey ivory tinklers led by General Sir Elton John and the deadly arsenal of Supertramp hits in reserve.
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Rexall Place, Edmonton, Canada (17th April 2012) |
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Edmonton review 2: Coldplay light up Rexall to kick off tour (17th April)
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, April 18, 2012 - 04:35 PM (2839 Reads)
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 At the root, innocence. With a mix of studied stadium rock moves and innovative use of brightly coloured tech, Coldplay on Tuesday night didn’t make us feel cool or mad or even self-servingly alienated — they made us feel like wide-eyed children, writes the Edmonton Journal in another review of Coldplay at Rexall Place last night (17th April 2012). Catch up with more on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from this show at the Coldplay Live forum now - thanks to everyone who has contributed so far! Read on for the EJ article...
It started with neon-coloured wristbands handed out at the doorways – all urged by circular hanging trampoline screens to put them on and be part of the show. Chris Martin took about a minute to get into his first “whoa-oh-ohh” as Hurts Like Heaven began the London band’s North American kickoff show; our wrist devices suddenly signalled by radio to turn the coliseum into a giant bowl of flickering Skittles. Next, for the aptly named In My Place, confetti cannons fire! Now whose mom is supposed to clean that mess up? “I hope you’re as happy to be here as we are,” the cheerful 35-year-old singer said. “Playing Canada is always a f---ing pleasure...
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Rexall Place, Edmonton, Canada (17th April 2012) |
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Charlie Brown - single reviews - "Quite possibly the best thing Coldplay have ever recorded"
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, March 31, 2012 - 09:40 AM (3675 Reads)
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 More reviews of Coldplay's latest single, Charlie Brown, have surfaced online in the past week - most of them have a release date of circa. 19th March, however the official site has listed Charlie Brown in their recordings section as being released on 3rd February. Very confusing! Anyway... we'll have some more Mylo Xyloto album reviews from March, in the meantime here are the latest Charlie Brown single reviews you may or may not have read yet... [discussion in the Charlie Brown sub-forum here]
Unreality Shout (5/5 stars): It’s not hard to trace the progression of Coldplay as they venture into what is widely considered and equally as widely misinterpreted as “going commercial” for their fifth album, ‘Mylo Xyloto’. On an album themed to anti-establishmentarian revolutionaries with a fiercely anti-War message buried under your typical Coldplay fanfare, ‘Viva la Vida’s central track, the luxuriously colourful, wide-eyed spectacle of ‘Lovers In Japan’ was everything (in conjunction with ‘Strawberry Swing’) that brought the rest of the album’s dark tones to that pivotal, obligatory feeling of breaking through the clouds that personifies Coldplay’s latest offering, ‘Charlie Brown’.
Further research would tell you that ‘Lovers In Japan’ was the last song recorded for the band’s fourth album, and simply listening to it would tell you that they had already started to move away from the lead-heavy melodies of songs like ‘Lost!’ and ‘Violet Hill’ and that it merges seamlessly into the vibrant incandescence of their fifth album...
Note: Multimedia update: Coldplay Downloads - Singles, Promos & EP's (thread is up and running again) |
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Review: Coldplay perform iHeartRadio benefit for LA charities (8th Feb)
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, February 09, 2012 - 10:05 PM (3010 Reads)
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 Coldplayer Jason-DeBord has written a fantastic review to go with his up-close and personal photos of Coldplay's benefit concert last night, which took place at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, in collaboration with iHeartRadio and Clear Channel Media and Entertainment Los Angeles radio stations KIIS FM, 98-7FM and MYFM. The proceeds of the show benefit two charities – A Place Called Home and Youth Mentoring Connection. Read Jason's full review at the link above (excerpt and a selection of photos below), and find out more about A Place Called Home and Youth Mentoring Connection. You can also read some more reviews of last night's show, including the setlist, at WikiColdplay now.
A Place Called Home
A Place Called Home is a safe haven in South Central Los Angeles where underserved youth are empowered to take ownership of the quality and direction of their lives through programs in education, arts, and well-being; and are inspired to make a meaningful difference in their community and the world. Click to visit official website
Youth Mentoring Connection
Youth Mentoring Connection awakens at-risk youth to their power, unique gifts and purpose by matching them with caring adult mentors and placing that “match” within a structured group dynamic that provides the resources youth need to reach productive, conscious adulthood. We further seek to awaken society to the needs, promise and value of this overlooked population. Click to visit official website
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - Club Nokia, Los Angeles, CA (8th February 2012) |
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Mylo Xyloto review 20: Coldplay remains consistent, brings the goods (Daily Collegian)
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, February 06, 2012 - 03:25 PM (3011 Reads)
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 Over three months on from the release of Mylo Xyloto, reviews of Coldplay's latest album are still trickling in. The latest online review comes from The Daily Collegian - a magazine that hails from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA. Here is their review, spelling out that MX "leaves audiences in awe of its incredible whirlwind of musical brilliance"...
After almost three years of waiting, Coldplay fans finally have a reason to celebrate as of Oct. 21, when the band released its newest album, “Mylo Xyloto.” The album satisfies every expectation fans may have anticipated, giving listeners a taste of Coldplay’s classic sound, as well as introducing them to a new, more synthesized version of the band. In a clear statement of the band’s musical evolution, Coldplay shows it is not afraid to grow and try something new in “Mylo Xyloto.”
Note: Multimedia update: Fanmade Charlie Brown Acapella [AUDIO, MP3, ~10Mb) http://bit.ly/cp92003 |
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Coldplay 'wrong' on Mylo Xyloto streaming boycott - industry expert reports
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - 07:50 AM (3386 Reads)
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Legal action against illegal file-sharers has helped to bring an 8 per cent rise in global digital-music revenues, but an industry report claims stars should stop boycotting streaming services such as Spotify, writes The Independent today.
A rise in the take-up of legal music-subscription services helped digital revenues to hit $5.2bn (£3.3bn) in 2011, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said. One in four internet users still accesses unauthorised services on a monthly basis. But legislation to inhibit file-sharing has caused a drop in illegal activity.
The removal of the US file-sharing site LimeWire and the Hong Kong-based Megaupload has helped to reduce the use of peer-to-peer services by 26 per cent. However, music fans need to see the latest releases on legal services and the decision by artists including Coldplay, who withheld their Mylo Xyloto album from Spotify to maximise full-price sales, is harming the industry.
Note: Multimedia update: 2012-01-21 Chris & Jonny Interview on 3fm [NEW] [AUDIO] http://bit.ly/cp91695 |
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Mylo Xyloto will appear on Spotify eventually, says Coldplay manager Dave Holmes
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, January 11, 2012 - 05:15 PM (3455 Reads)
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 Coldplay‘s manager Dave Holmes has confirmed the band’s latest album Mylo Xyloto will eventually appear on the popular music streaming site Spotify, but insists he remains ‘very concerned’ about the latest medium to offer a free listening service online. He told Business Week, "I am very concerned that Spotify competes with download stores. Like all of Coldplay’s other titles, the new album will be on Spotify eventually." (More discussion on the Spotify/streaming topic in the Coldplay forum now [thanks Coldplaymom])
However, despite Holmes’ reservations, Coldplay’s label EMI has outlined the positive effect which streaming subscriptions are having on the industry. "Services such as Spotify are currently generating more revenue per user to EMI and our artists than the average digital music consumer generated in a world without these services," EMI’s head of business development Mark Piibe has said.
Business Week pointed out that Dave Holmes, along with some other managers, is basing distribution on a 'windowing practice' as in Hollywood where a film release is staggered first to theatres, then to DVD and later on cable channels and streaming sites like Netflix. Mylo Xyloto has proved to be yet another runaway critical success for Coldplay, while the latest single Paradise became the first no.1 of 2012 in UK Singles Chart.
Note: Multimedia update: 2011-12-15 Coldplay @ Radio 2 in Concert, Dingwalls [VIDEO DVD] http://bit.ly/zrOnJQ |
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Abu Dhabi review 2: Coldplay's New Year's Eve party 'a resounding success' among revellers
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, January 08, 2012 - 07:22 AM (3704 Reads)
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 Despite serpentine queues, heavy traffic and a long wait for those who had chosen to arrive at the venue early, the launch event of Abu Dhabi hosting the 2011-2012 Volvo Ocean Race — and the capital's main New Year's Eve party — was a resounding success, writes Glf News in another review of last weekend's Coldplay's New Year's Eve concert in Abu Dhabi. [Full discussion on this show is at the Coldplay Live forum and more reviews can be found at WikiColdplay now (thanks to all who have contributed to the thread so far!)]
Walking amongst the 20,000-odd concert goers as they crossed from the city to the purpose-built arena, Destination Village, behind Marina Mall, one could see that the crowds had come prepared for cold weather — some, going by Coldplay's previous visit to the UAE, were even prepared for rain. But, the evening was, instead, characterised by the warmth of the group and its entourage.
The audience lapped up the dazzling laser show, the sophisticated giant screen graphics, the glitter, smoke and giant balloons that pervaded the arena. The show was interspersed with short bursts of fireworks. It culminated with another magnificent fireworks display on the Corniche. Listening intently to a mix of Coldplay favourites, some from their most recent album, the lively crowd got into the spirit of the evening thoroughly and swayed on their feet for most part of the concert.
Note: Multimedia update: 2011-12-31 Coldplay @ Austin City Limits Taping [AUDIO/VIDEO PRO-SHOT] http://bit.ly/cp91432 |
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Abu Dhabi review 1: Coldplay rings in a United Arab Emirates New Year
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, January 06, 2012 - 09:41 AM (3958 Reads)
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 Coldplay's rain-soaked 2009 performance at Emirates Palace has become part of modern UAE folklore, with drenched Chris Martin crooning Singing in the Rain remaining a lasting image, writes The National in a review of Coldplay's New Year's Eve concert in Abu Dhabi at the weekend. [Full discussion on Coldplay's New Year's Eve concert in Abu Dhabi is at the Coldplay Live forum now (thanks to all who have contributed to the thread so far!)]
This time, however, the group returned to the capital to ring in the New Year and were met by a crowd of more than 20,000 who didn't mind crawling through hours of snail-pace traffic at Corniche Road before going through the greater struggle of getting through concert gates. The quartet waltzed on to the stage to a short burst of fireworks. The celebratory mood was set with the ethereal instrumental opener Mylo Xyloto before launching into pop-static Hurt Like Heaven.
One begins to appreciate the number of hits Coldplay has notched up in their 15-year career when they are now able to perform former concert closer, the shimmering Yellow, as the third song of the set. It also gave the audience their first chance to warm up their singing voices as they drowned out Martin's falsetto during the chorus...
Note: Multimedia update: 2011-12-31 Coldplay @ Austin City Limits Taping [AUDIO/VIDEO PRO-SHOT] http://bit.ly/cp91432 |
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Abu Dhabi preview 2: Guy Berryman recalls the last visit to UAE (and getting lost in the Emirates Palace)
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, December 31, 2011 - 09:50 AM (4647 Reads)
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 Like a game of sheikh poker, The Mirror have matched The Sun's Coldplay Abu Dhabi payday estimate of £1m and raised them another £1m as the latest figure banded about for Coldplay to play twelve songs at the New Year's gig in UAE is now £2million. (Think that's a lot? It's only about half of what Jay-Z and Kanye West got for performing at a birthday party for Sheikh Mansour in Dubai recently!)
The Mirror continued: Gwyneth Paltrow would be forgiven for giving Chris Martin the Cold shoulder after the treats he’s had ahead of the band’s £2million New Year’s gig. Coldplay is getting the whopping amount to play just 12 songs at the posh Volvo Ocean Race, as special guests of Sheikh Khalifa – ruler of Abu Dhabi who has personally invited them. But instead of watching Jools Holland with the missus, Chris, 34, has taken up the job with a rider including free VIP tickets to watch tennis ace Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic’s opening games, a £3,000 a night suite at Emirates Palace, and a helicopter to and from the gig. I'm told: "Each band member has his own dressing room with fresh food supplies after every costume change, and new waiters to serve them chicken and vegetable shawarmas." That’s the equivalent of a greasy doner kebab – a million miles away from the macrobiotic nosh Gwynie was once famed for...
[Full discussion on Coldplay's New Year's Eve concert in Abu Dhabi is at the Coldplay Live forum now (thanks Skuze23, Mimixxx, _Tash, Denise & LifeInTechniKarel)]
Note: Multimedia update: 2011-09-23 Coldplay @ iHeartRadio Music Festival, MGM Grand Hotel, Las Vegas [VIDEO PRO-SHOT, ~1.8Gb] http://t.co/ifsNzXnV |
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Abu Dhabi preview 1: Coldplay warm up in the Middle East (plus Chris Martin interview)
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, December 29, 2011 - 05:35 PM (4062 Reads)
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 Coldplay won't be in front of the TV watching Jools Holland on New Years' Eve, they'll be pocketing £1million for their slot at the Volvo Ocean Race venue in Abu Dhabi, writes The Sun this morning. Read on for their story... [Full discussion on Coldplay's New Year's Eve concert in Abu Dhabi is at the Coldplay Live forum now (thanks Skuze23, Mimixxx & _Tash)]
The Sun continued: They were persuaded to play there by the Emirate's Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Zayed. Platinum table tickets for the show, including champagne, spirits and car parking passes cost £4,300. Guitarist Jonny Buckland is looking forward to the event after being treated like a prince the last time he visited the country. He said: "I've never stayed anywhere like the hotel they put me in and probably never will again. It made Buckingham Palace look like a two-bed semi."
The band last played in Abu Dhabi in 2009. The concert was struck by torrential rain, thunder and lightning. During the show, Chris Martin entertained the crowd by singing Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head. This latest live performance will reportedly take place at a unique venue. Destination Village has been erected on the Corniche Breakwater ' where the Volvo Ocean Race will take place from December 31.
Note: Multimedia update: 2011-09-23 Coldplay @ iHeartRadio Music Festival, MGM Grand Hotel, Las Vegas [VIDEO PRO-SHOT, ~1.8Gb] http://t.co/ifsNzXnV |
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Reasons to like Coldplay: Calgary Herald offer some festive cheer with a seasonal article
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, December 24, 2011 - 09:35 AM (3334 Reads)
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 Offering some festive cheer in the way of a Coldplay article (and almost previewing their forthcoming show on April 18th) are the Calgary Herald, who write this entitled 'Reasons to like Coldplay'. After you've got past the U2 comparisons and the Gwyneth references that invades most Coldplay articles these days, we couldn't think of a better way to say merry Christmas than this. So enjoy the article and... merry Christmas!
In 2008, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin famously told the U.K. newspaper The Daily Express that rock ’n’ roll — Coldplay’s brand of it, anyway — was a young man’s game.
“I’m 31 now and I don’t think that bands should keep going past 33,” he said at the time. Martin is now 34. The same goes for guitarist Jonny Buckland. Bandmates Guy Berryman and Will Champion are both 33 — although we’re not anxiously awaiting news of their imminent retirement. (The October release of Coldplay’s latest album, Mylo Xyloto, and a subsequent tour announcement, would suggest that’s altogether unlikely.)
For the many who picked up Mylo Xyloto this fall — shooting it to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in its first week — they’re no doubt ecstatic that Martin isn’t entirely a man of his word. Had Coldplay entered early retirement, they never would have appeared at London’s iTunes festival this year, for instance — and highlights from that performance were captured in today’s featured download, Coldplay’s iTunes festival: London 2011 EP. (And they certainly wouldn’t be playing a sold-out show in Calgary April 18.)
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - O2 World Arena, Berlin, Germany (21st December 2011) |
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London O2 Arena review: Coldplay strip away cynicism with their epic choruses and flashy spectacle
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, December 10, 2011 - 11:20 AM (5519 Reads)
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 It’s easy enough to diss Coldplay: they make music that’s hugely successful (boo!) and not terribly challenging; they’re middle class – a heinous crime in a form of entertainment that’s steeped in notions of “authenticity” (hence the enduring love affair between music critics and the oafish Oasis – hey, they take lots of drugs and they used to steal car radios!); and as people they just seem a bit nice, to the point of dullness, writes The Arts Desk today, in a 4/5 star review of Coldplay's show at the O2 Arena in London last night. Read on for the rest of the review and some photos...
I’ve done the dissing thing myself often enough: there’s that way of saying, “Coldplay” that sounds both slightly sneery and slightly shamefaced, in the same way that an aficionado of organic slow food might pronounce “Nando’s”.
So, here goes: actually, tonight, at the O2 Arena, I had a blast. It wasn’t the most earth-shattering gig I’ve seen, and the music was mostly pretty one-dimensional, but when there are 18,000 people singing along to one of Coldplay’s big soaring choruses and there’s all manner of spectacular stuff going on, the effect is, well, tingly. Much has been made by some critics of the way Coldplay seem to deliberately engineer their songs specifically so that they can be sung along to, so that they will shimmer around the walls of arenas such as the O2 (and, next summer, the nation’s football stadiums). Is this a bad thing?
Note: Read also: Coldplay Live Reviews, Photos and Setlist - O2 Arena, London, UK (9th December 2011) |
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Mylo Xyloto review 19: New album completes broad spectrum of music, colours and emotions
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, December 09, 2011 - 12:00 AM (2717 Reads)
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Our next Mylo Xyloto on this Friday comes from The Harbinger - part of the My High School Journalism website. The Harbinger is based at Miami Lakes Educational Center, Miami Lakes, FL. They note that even when Coldplay have clearly changed their sound, there are still old-school Coldplay in MX with songs such as Charlie Brown and UFO. But has their risky change of direction paid off? Find out below...
Ever since the release of Parachutes in 2000, Coldplay and its front man, Chris Martin, have never failed to impress and captivate. Known mostly by their characteristic piano and acoustic guitar - as well as powerful and emotional lyrics - Coldplay truly made a name for themselves with the 2003 release of the single “Clocks.” This single, and its proceeding album, A Rush of Blood to the Head, marked Coldplay as the alternative powerhouse to beat...
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Coldplay and Kids Company featured in new Guardian article ahead of next week's Under 1 Roof concert
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, December 03, 2011 - 09:40 AM (2916 Reads)
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 They might be one of the world's biggest bands but, for four years, Coldplay have been keeping a secret. The band have been the biggest secret benefactors of Kids Company, the children's charity working with vulnerable young people in some of the most deprived areas of London, writes The Guardian in a great article previewing the Under 1 Roof concert taking place on 10th December. Read on for the rest of the article... [More discussion on this article is at the Coldplay forum now (thanks _Tash)]
Now the band, which has donated millions of pounds to the charity, have decided to go public. They have organised Under 1 Roof, a benefit gig next Saturday at the O2 Arena in London, at which they will headline. Chris Martin designed the logo and persuaded celebrity friends to take part, including Tinie Tempah, Emeli Sandé, Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan, who will appear as Alan Partridge.
"Kids Company is a phenomenal organisation that is very close to our hearts," said Martin. "For a long time we were saving up to try to open a youth project, to help kids who didn't have much help, but that was as vague as it sounds. We went to the Prince's Trust for advice and they said we could do our own thing and it would be shit – or we could go see Camila [Batmanghelidjh, founder and Kids Company CEO].
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Q Magazine (Q306) article transcript - Chris Martin invites Q to The Bakery for another chat
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, November 30, 2011 - 09:40 PM (3917 Reads)
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 It seems that Q Magazine's latest article on Coldplay is a hot topic at the moment, just look at all the sub-headlines that are sprouting up all over the internet because of its publication. Instead of reading those, we've transcribed the full interview for you, so read it in it's entirity and make up your own headlines. Enjoy...!
The neutral observer of any big awards ceremony will notice that how late an artist arrives is directly proportional to their fame. On the Monday afternoon of the Q Awards 2011, Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland and Guy Berryman (Will Champion has a family emergency) materialise on the red carpet just 10 minutes before the ceremony begins. But before they enter the room containing the inner circle of photographers, Berryman is briefly detained so they have to wait in a small antechamber. Just as they're about to make their entrance, the seas part and U2 walk past.
Bono doesn't even notice Martin until he says, in a comically terrible Irish accent, "I loike your band. I do." Bono smiles and sweeps a regal hand. "One day all this could be yours." U2 greet the photographers first. Coldplay follow...
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Mylo Xyloto review 17: MX belongs among the stars (Q Magazine's perfect 5/5 rating)
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, November 27, 2011 - 10:35 AM (4294 Reads)
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Our next Mylo Xyloto review is one we've been waiting for for some time. It comes from Q Magazine (print-only), who have given the new album a perfect 5/5 stars, announcing that Britain's biggest band sound more alive than ever, and the fifth album will sustain Coldplay's imperial position for a long time to come. Read on for their top-notch review and scans...
On July 8th, 2011, the final historic flight of Nasa's space shuttle program scorched a hole through the clouds on its way to the International Space Station orbiting some 200-odd miles above our planet. The following morning, as requested by pilot Doug Hurley, the crew were awoken by Coldplay's Viva la Vida broadcast by Mission Control. (Houston, we have a chorus.) And lo, the band who could, if they wished, statistically claim to being "the biggest in the world" based on that song's parent album's ranking as the most "paid-for downloaded" LP of all time, finally transcended mortal concerns, now echoing in a tin can suspended above our insignificant pale blue dot among an incomprehensively vast cosmos, momentarily the biggest band both of this world and beyond it...
Note: Multimedia update: 2011-11-23 Interview + Paradise (Live), Norway [VIDEO] http://bit.ly/cp90676 |
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Mylo Xyloto review 16: Why sometimes pop is just pop (PJ Media)
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, November 26, 2011 - 04:35 PM (3381 Reads)
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 In continuation of our features involving less mainstream reviews of Coldplay's new album Mylo Xyloto, our next one comes from PJ Media, a lifestyle blog from Los Angeles. With much more detailed review than we would expect of a new album over a month after its release, PJ Media not only casts their eye over the new songs, the review features why Coldplay will continue to craft addictive 'pop confections' long after their critics have put down their pens. Read on for their review...
Expectations can be a beast in the world of music criticism. Bands can blow up overnight thanks to blog reviews, even when they don’t have an album to promote – the live shows are that good. Then, when the album drops and it isn’t as magnificent as people expected, the band is dropped like a hot potato, while sites like Pitchfork leap to the next flavor of the week they can’t help hyping to death.
The dreaded sophomore slump isn’t so much named for a significant drop in quality or artistic vision, but rather for the frequent sales drop-off when fans don’t like a band’s second album as much as the one they worshiped maybe a year prior. Worse is the fate doled out to bands who initially sound like another popular act; they initially get a benefit from that comparison, only to have fans turn on them when their music either doesn’t follow closely enough in the footsteps of the iconic act, or conversely fails by following too closely with the original...
Note: Multimedia update: 2011-11-23 Interview + Paradise (Live), Norway [VIDEO] http://bit.ly/cp90676 |
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Mylo Xyloto review 15: Princess Of China album's strongest moment (The Maneater student newspaper)
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, November 18, 2011 - 07:55 PM (2937 Reads)
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In continuation of our features involving less mainstream reviews of Coldplay's new album Mylo Xyloto, our next one comes from The Maneater, the official student newspaper of the University of Missouri. A short but succinct review that captures the feeling that tweaks to Coldplay's sound is more than good enough at this stage of their career. Oh and they love the collaboration with Rihanna too. They give the album overall a solid 3/5 stars. Read on for their review...
For some, Coldplay’s continued popularity is inexplicable, but for many, it is totally understandable. The band takes a very broad Britpop base (vast production, big sound, stadium-filling ambition) and tempers it with a refreshing sense of balance and sweetness, never taking enough of an angle to be polarizing. Always revolving around the complementing sounds of Chris Martin’s earnest falsettos and piano with Jonny Buckland’s chiming, understated guitar work, the band’s sonic imprint is always at least an impeccable piece of craftsmanship.
Ambitious but never bold, the group finds a unique balance of sound and purpose that rarely comes off as preachy (U2), overtly artsy (Radiohead) or theatrical (Muse). All those bands are infinitely more original and engaging, but Coldplay proves a middle-of-the-road approach can’t be hindered by an ability to crowd-please and continually tweak its sound.
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New Chris Martin interview with Maxim discusses: Fighting with desks and waking up in strange places
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, November 15, 2011 - 05:05 PM (5259 Reads)
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 A new interview with Chris Martin has surfaced online - the source being Men's magazine Maxim. In it, Chris discusses (again) the Rihanna collaboration, and other topics such as his 'buff new physique', fighting with desks, waking up in a school playground in South Chicago, and the Bruce Springsteen influence. Incidentally, the interviewer, Joe Levy, is the same interviewer who was asking the questions for the Charlie Rose programme aired in 2006. Read on... [Discuss this article in the Coldplay forum now (thanks coldplaymom)]
We’re impressed by your buff new physique.
Well, in your 30s you can’t let nature take its course.
You’re grappling with your mortality, or you’re grappling with putting on weight?
Not putting on weight. It’s just there’s something about the Born in the USA–period Bruce where he hit the gym and looked hungry again. That’s how we feel.
Both you and Lady Gaga have referenced Springsteen as inspiration for your new records. We wouldn’t have seen that coming.
No. Bruce in the past 10 years has turned a whole new generation on to him. And it’s great in your 30s to discover a new favorite band, and at the same time, in the same decade, discover so much about Jay-Z and Kanye. It’s been a nice two avenues of inspiration.
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Mylo Xyloto review 14: Coldplay freezes out early style with this solid record (Same Same)
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, November 10, 2011 - 07:50 AM (3761 Reads)
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Our latest featured review of Mylo Xyloto is from the Same Same website (Australian lifestyle magazine), who are another media outlet who enjoyed Mylo Xyloto. In fact, generally speaking although we try hard to reflect the general populous by posting a mix of good and bad reviews 'out there', we haven't actually found that many bad ones recently. Even the latest blog reviews we found over the last 48 hours have been highly positive, with only a couple posting mid-range scores. Read on for Same Same's full review...
Coldplay’s fifth studio album Mylo Xyloto is a stunning and solid record. A step on from 2008’s highest selling album, Viva La Vida, and following runaway successes of every album they have ever released, there was a certain pressure on Coldplay to deliver something of equal or greater standard. “We felt like so many people have already made up their minds about us, both good and bad, that we can sort of start again from scratch and try and reflect all the music we listen to and we love,” says Chris Martin of the record.
And the product? Coldplay’s most synthetic and experimental album yet; a ‘concept’ album set in a dystopic future, based around the narrative of two young lovers.
Note: BBC Radio 5Live will be having a discussion about Coldplay with fans and media on their show between 2-4pm GMT today - more details here now. |
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Mylo Xyloto review 13: SF Weekly compares Coldplay to The Police, on Mylo Xyloto
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, November 08, 2011 - 09:03 AM (3865 Reads)
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Our latest featured review of Mylo Xyloto is from the San Francisco Weekly blogs site, who on their first listen of the new album have compared Coldplay with 1970's rock band, The Police, the 'never-cool band that nevertheless forced cool people to notice it in addition to the rest of the world'. PJ Harvey, M83, Robyn and the Pet Shop Boys all get a mention too. How do they arrive at these comparisons? Read on for their full review...
The No. 1 album in the country this week is by the biggest band on Earth. All is right with the world? Well, hold that thought. Unlike textural forbears U2 and Radiohead, much less the Clash or Nirvana, most people even willing to concede that Coldplay is a relevant force do not think it has made great albums. A Rush of Blood to the Head was very good, and surprisingly spiky when it wanted to be (which was not often), while X&Y and Parachutes were singles-plus-other-stuff.
Viva La Vida was Something Different, sort of. It had a huge title hit and will almost certainly age better than Zooropa (played "Daddy's Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car" lately?). But Eno's not exactly Nigel Godrich these days. Where does that leave Mylo Xyloto, which is allegedly named after the protagonists in a probably total bullshit storyline? With Coldplay's best reviews since Rush. Let's test them...
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Coldplay, blockbuster releases and the death of music streaming?
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, November 03, 2011 - 02:15 PM (3914 Reads)
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 Coldplay’s decision to hold their new album, Mylo Xyloto, from all streaming services was one that record label EMI was reportedly uncomfortable with; but first week sales suggested it was a winning strategy that now hangs a question mark over the place of streaming for blockbuster releases, writes The Music Network in just one of dozens of articles on the subject (just take a look at how much interest there is in the Spotify story). Read on for the rest of this particular article... [Read some of the other articles and discussion on the Spotify/streaming topic in the Coldplay forum now!]
There are precedents here. Acts like Bob Dylan pulled their music from Spotify several years ago, a number of heavy metal labels recently pulled their content amid complaints over streaming rates, The Beatles have yet to license digitally beyond iTunes and AC/DC point blank refuse to go on any digital services and yet, with their 2008 release Black Ice, had their biggest selling album in over two decades.
In the UK alone, the new Coldplay album had the biggest first week for digital album sales in chart history (admittedly that is a ‘history’ that only dates back to 2004). Mylo Xyloto sold 83,000 copies digitally and 208,000 in total in its first week according to the Official Charts Company. The previous UK digital record was held by Take That’s Progress album in 2010 (79,8000 copies in week one) while Adele’s 21 did 76,000 downloads in its first week at the start of this year. Impressive figures, but behind the chart records lies another – more complex – tale entirely...
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More Coldplayer reviews of Mylo Xyloto and latest poll results (part ii)
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, November 03, 2011 - 08:20 AM (3026 Reads)
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Coldplay's fifth album - Mylo Xyloto - is now over a week old (officially anyway) and as well as the media reviews we've been posting we promised another batch of Coldplayer 'first impression' reviews, along with the latest poll results from the main site and the forums. So far we've had in total somewhere in the region of 2500 votes asking what you thought of Mylo Xyloto - on a sliding scale from 10 (Brilliant) to 0 (Crap). Read on for some more of those reviews and also the latest polling figures...
If you haven't yet voted you can do so now on our sliding scale poll to the right of your screen and also here in the first impressions thread. You can read and join in with more discussion on the new album at the Mylo Xyloto forum now. [Many thanks to everyone who has given their views so far...!]
Wow. I am really shocked how much I like Mylo Xyloto. I think all the negative talk on here the last few months made me feel apprehensive towards the album to be honest - I wasn't really sure how to listen to it for the first time. I am very glad that I did not listen to the leak or listen to the entire album before I had the 320 kpbs official version. The first half of the album I was mostly familiar with due to the singles, live versions and the side A sampler. The only song on side B that I had heard was Major Minus. Obviously, the second part of the album was what I was looking forward to the most as it was mostly new, unheard Coldplay! I can definitely see why this album has fans divided. It is a new sound for Coldplay in terms of production and direction. However, there are many tracks where 'early' Coldplay is still there, just under new layers. Utimately, I gave the album a 9/10, which surprised me. I do truly feel it deserves it though. It is a good mix of all the previous albums, while still moving forward. [thanks mrman78]
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No thanks, Spotify: Coldplay just set a digital album sales record and is sitting atop the Billboard 200...
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, November 02, 2011 - 03:20 PM (3718 Reads)
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Or as one publisher remarked this week, "getting played is nice, getting paid is better."
This is exactly the opposite result that Spotify wanted, reports the Digital Music News website. Because after skipping Spotify entirely on their latest release, Mylo Xyloto, Coldplay has scored a one-week, digital album sales record in the UK, as we reported a couple of days ago. That is, digital sales north of 83,000, part of an impressive, chart-topping tally of 208,343 units in the UK alone.
Digital accounted for nearly 40 percent of that total, a trend first picked up after three days of sales. And, that offers a strong lead-in to the US-based tally, expected from Soundscan in the next day or so. The Coldplay total beats a relatively fresh digital album record from Take That, and the rapid succession isn't an accident. Indeed, digital albums are still showing strong growth on a percentage basis, and Coldplay seems motivated to maximize returns from the gain.
All of which begs the more important question: what does this all mean for Spotify, Rhapsody, Rdio, and ilk? The question is whether Coldplay-level bands start rethinking their sales approaches entirely, spurred by this success.
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Mylo Xyloto review 10: Coldplay maintain their stadium-spanning grandeur with new album (Pitchfork's 7/10 shocker)
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, November 01, 2011 - 04:25 PM (4201 Reads)
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We're into double figures now with our featured Mylo Xyloto reviews and how fitting it is to give way on our tenth review to Pitchfork - the score many people were waiting for. Their rating of 7/10 surprised many, given that no other Coldplay album has received a higher score from them. You can read earlier articles on the score previews and also the final poll results on what you thought the score might be. Well, now we know what they've given, you can read exactly what Pitchfolk thought to back up their rating of Mylo Xyloto...
"No one knows what it means, but it's provocative… gets the people going." A couple of Chris Martin's good buddies memorably flipped this obscure bit of Blades of Glory dialogue on Watch the Throne to annotate the purchase of Margiela jackets, but it's every bit as applicable to the title of Mylo Xyloto and speaks toward Coldplay's lofty ambitions on it. A new Coldplay album is the sort of thing that's used as a health check for the record industry, and the band is very much aware that they could just release "a new Coldplay album" that would leave everyone involved satisfied-- this is essentially what happened on 2005's X&Y, their fastest seller and also their weakest LP according to many...
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Featured Mylo Xyloto review 9: "Coldplay with a new spring in their step" (Dale & Co)
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, October 30, 2011 - 08:52 AM (3179 Reads)
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The next of our featured Mylo Xyloto album review comes from the website Dale & Co - a great current affairs 'mega-blog' from the UK. Their Mylo Xyloto review rates the album an 8.5/10, and focuses on Coldplay's continuing desire to 'take the world by storm' whilst exploring different musical approaches with the fifth album. Here reads their review...
Bono once said during the promotion for All That You Can’t Leave Behind at the turn of the century that U2 were “reapplying for the job of the best band in the world”. To the same extent, Coldplay, the apparent heirs to the Irish rockers, seem to have been justifying a similar position with every output since X&Y in 2005. This time, with the release of the mysteriously named Mylo Xyloto, they certainly explore different musical approaches, but retain an underlying desire to go big.
According to the band, while the naming of the title is entirely frivolous - the criteria being that “it couldn’t be found in a Google search” - essentially it documents “loosely a kind of romance [between two protagonists, Mylo and Xyloto] in an oppressive environment”. Originally planned as a stripped back and acoustic record, the final result is the polar opposite; washes of colour, dance beats, synths and electronics show the band moving out of their comfort zone, though the guitar hooks, piano solo’s and heartfelt lyrics which are so synonymous with Coldplay remain.
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Mylo Xyloto review 8: "MX is Catchier Than Cholera" (Sabotage Times - no rating)
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - 11:45 AM (3729 Reads)
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The next of our featured Mylo Xyloto album review comes from the Sabotage Times from London who write quirky articles. Their Mylo Xyloto review is no different - although they don't give a rating for the album, they bloody love it, with their standout track being Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall. Read on for their review...
Once upon a time I hated Coldplay, but their latest album 'Mylo Xyloto' contains a brand of non-X-Factor pop that I can't help but love. I used to think Chris Martin was a soft student spokesperson for a new wave of indie music at the end of the nineties. Full of smiles, jokes and flawless interviews, he seemed to be the antithesis of everything Liam Gallagher stood for. I thought he had removed the rebellious heart and soul of rock and roll and stuck a giant Habitat display cushion in its place and I hated him for it.
I was, of course, jealous. I grew up in the same city as Chris Martin and watched the rise and rise of Coldplay through breakthrough album Parachutes, a collection of songs I initially dismissed as break up songs for middle class girls and bed wetting boys. A year later, I realised what a landmark album Parachutes was and every Coldplay album since has needed intense listening to decipher the euphoric layers of piano, strings and guitars that sit on top of simple, confessional lyrics that you can instantly get behind. X&Y may have been a Coldplay album which playfully sampled Kraftwerk and flirted with pop but Mylo Xyloto starts dancing on the way to the stage and waves a banner which reads ‘TUNE!’ before the music starts...
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Coldplay's fifth album Mylo Xyloto released worldwide today - read more of your reviews and latest poll results (Part i)
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, October 24, 2011 - 04:25 PM (4231 Reads)
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Coldplay's fifth album - Mylo Xyloto - has been released worldwide today (including the US now we've heard!) some three and a bit years after Viva La Vida, to another huge wave of media and Coldplayer reviews. Read on for some more of your first impressions of the new album - including the latest poll results on what you thought of it. So far 44% of visitors to the main site and 30% of people on the messageboard gave the album full marks - but there are votes right across the board. Read on for the full results...
If you haven't yet voted you can do so now on our sliding scale poll to the right of your screen and also here in the first impressions thread. You can read and join in with more discussion on the new album at the Mylo Xyloto forum now. [Many thanks to EVERYBODY who had contributed so far...!]
Upon first listen, I felt a little underwhelmed. I didn't think it was bad, per say, but not what I was expecting. Upon a second and third listen, I really, really adore Mylo Xyloto. Like IOwxo2 said about Viva La Vida, I had the same issue with. Not this time around, however. The songs from this era give new life that I haven't felt in their past couple of albums. That said, it has its problems, but really, what album doesn't? I find it funny that I really liked Paradise previous to the official release of Mylo Xyloto, but I am not too fond of it right now. I assume it's because I've listened to it for so long that I want to hear the unheard things for now. For now, I'm going to give it a 8.5/10. It has energy, soul, emotion and beauty. Well done, Coldplay. [thanks DundahMifflin]
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XOXO Coldplay: RTE (Ireland) talk to Coldplay in the studio
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, October 23, 2011 - 08:10 AM (3552 Reads)
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 They've invented a new word for the title of their latest album, Chris Martin says he's "nasty", and they played with Christy Moore as a tribute to their drummer's mum. Coldplay are easing into superstardom in style writes RTE Ten (Ireland) in an online article after they caught up with the band at the Bakery/Beehive studios. (Full discussion on this new article is at the Coldplay forum now.) [thanks Mimixxx]
The first time I see Chris Martin he is a breathless blur of vivid blues and red bounding down the stairs in Coldplay's studio in Primrose Hill. Martin is dressed in his "band uniform." The new dress code is all dark-coloured heavy shirts and jackets and it follows Coldplay's established rule of new album: new clobber. "I like to wear different clothes when I'm performing", he says, "and doing interviews!"
He may look like he's actually rushing off to 1989 to present a 'zany' yoof TV show but at 34, rock's most sensitive star is a shockingly tanned and healthy specimen, a non-drinking, non-smoking macrobiotic pin-up, exuding the burnished health of the very rich. We are in The Bakery, Coldplay's studio and HQ. All four band members live within two minutes of the place and they played their first ever gig as Coldplay just down the road in The Dublin Castle venue in February 1998.
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Mylo Xyloto review 7: "Sincerely, hopefully, Coldplay" (Globe and Mail)
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, October 22, 2011 - 11:03 AM (3828 Reads)
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The next of our featured Mylo Xyloto album review comes from the Globe and Mail from Canada who have published their review of the new album today. They have given the album a very good 3.5/5 and call Coldplay "the rising hope of album music," at a time when Coldplay themselves regularly throw doubt on the future of the LP format in interviews. Read on for their review...
We never saw this coming. Coldplay, the onetime Radiohead-lite with melancholic melodies that reached to heavens, cheap seats and singles charts, is now the rising hope of album music, if not other (more substantial) things. "Slow it down," Chris Martin croons, wiping our brow on the affecting acoustic ballad Us Against the World. "Through chaos as it swirls, it’s just us against the world."
Chaos swirling – yeah, everybody’s feeling it, from Middle East dictators and record companies on down. And now this hopeful transmission from one of the world’s biggest bands, whose means of uplift have never sounded more sincere than on Mylo Xyloto, an elegant conceptual album of soaring soft rock and pop leanings that plays down (but does not completely abandon) the self-conscious sonic revolution of Viva la Vida.
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Will Champion interview with Digital Spy: "We feel like a new band again"
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, October 21, 2011 - 02:29 PM (3695 Reads)
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 It almost goes without saying that a new Coldplay album is a monumental event on the pop calendar, writes Digital Spy in an online article after they caught up with the drummer Will Champion a mere 24 hours before the LP's hand-in to find out more. Their last album, 2008's Viva la Vida, sold over nine million copies and topped the charts worldwide, defying declining music sales and securing their position as a global indie-pop force. (Full discussion on this new article is at the Coldplay forum now.)
What would you be doing now if you weren't talking to us?
"We've actually got 24 hours left to finish the record, so we're all in spellcheck mode at the moment! Can you imagine if there was some horrid glitch on the record that we hadn't picked up on?"
That would be pretty embarrassing. Is there a giant countdown clock on the wall?
"Not quite, but we're the sort to use every single second we're given to work on a record. We've had two years and we're still rushing at the last minute. 12 years down the line you'd think we'd know how to do it. The last 5% of an album takes such a long time."
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Inside the making of Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto: Q talk to Will Champion and the producers
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, October 21, 2011 - 12:45 PM (3572 Reads)
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Coldplay release their fifth album Mylo Xyloto worldwide on Monday (24 October), and with the record already earning a host of acclaim for its mix of anthemic songwriting, collaborations - including one with Rihanna on Princess Of China - and cutting edge production, Q Magazine spoke to some of those involved in making the album to get a unique, behind the scenes perspective on its creation. Producers Markus Dravs, Rik Simpson and Daniel Green; sleeve designers Tappin & Gofto and the band's drummer Will Champion give us their eye witness account of the making of Mylo Xyloto. (Full discussion on this new article is at the Coldplay forum now. [thanks mimixxx & Skuze23]
Will Champion: "We're prone to saying things before we write an album that prove to be totally wrong. There came a point last summer when we realised we had different types of songs in various styles, so rather than make an album that's all stripped-down we decided to throw everything into
the one basket. It's true we scrapped stuff, but
a lot of those songs became antecedents of what you'll hear on the finished album. It's all part of our musical evolutionary process."
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Mylo Xyloto review 6: Album will delight existing Coldplay fans (Daily Mail)
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, October 21, 2011 - 07:58 AM (3982 Reads)
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Our next featured Mylo Xyloto album review comes from the Daily Mail who have published their review of the new album today. For some their rating image isn't working so we don't know what they've given it - keep an eye on their link for that. Their review is positive and focuses on the collaboration with Rihanna, and the review is entitled "Coldplay are HOT: Rihanna cheers up Chris Martin, making his fifth album a triumph". However, they do criticise the flow of the concept storyline, writing: "The concept is a nebulous one, and it is hard to detect any real narrative from the way in which the tracks are sequenced." Their overall verdict: Big beats, bigger choruses. Read on for the review...
Three years ago, as Coldplay were about to release their fourth album, a tetchy Chris Martin seemed at odds with the world. He walked out of an interview when asked about his wife, Gwyneth Paltrow, and cut short an appearance on Radio 4 by saying he didn’t like ‘having to talk about things’.
These days, the mood in Britain’s biggest band is brighter. Coldplay will still be nervous about their enigmatically-titled fifth album, Mylo Xyloto, but on the surface at least, they appear more relaxed: reaching No 1 in 36 countries, as they did with their last album, works wonders for your self-esteem. Their confidence will have been further boosted by a triumphant Glastonbury appearance in June, when they outshone fellow headliners U2 to deliver a masterclass in the art of entertaining an open-air crowd.
Note: NME video interview with Chris/Jonny - The Making Of 'Mylo Xyloto' - now up on YouTube: http://bit.ly/cp89639 |
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Guy Berryman talks shop, relaxing, gadgets and those Lyndsay 'rumours' to GQ Magazine
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - 07:35 PM (4119 Reads)
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 Guy Berryman has one of the best jobs in the world: he plays to stadiums full of adoring fans, has sold 50 million records and yet is still able to sit unrecognised in a London pub and nurse a pint on a lazy Sunday. To mark the release of the band's fifth album Mylo Xyloto, Guy talks to GQ Magazine about partying with A-ha, his obsession with Leica cameras and the schoolboy errors of disco style... (Full discussion on this article is at the Coldplay forum now. [thanks Skuze23])
GQ.com: What's the most impressive live act you've ever seen?
Guy Berryman: I was completely blown away by Grace Jones. I saw her about a year ago in the Roundhouse in London. She's an absolute superstar. If she comes around again, I'd urge you to go and get some tickets.
Do you have any style rules?
Just keep it simple. When you over-think what you're wearing, that's when wardrobe malfunctions tend to happen. At school, there was an annual school disco and I'd be standing in my bedroom wondering what to wear for hours on end. Eventually I'd arrive at a decision that was just the most ridiculous costume you could have ever devised - I think it was probably knitted Christmas jumpers on top of buttoned-up white shirts. So keep it simple and stick to what you know.
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Mylo Xyloto review 5: "A 44-minute adventure in the world of music: immersed in a waterfall of sounds and emotions" (The Upcoming)
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - 07:10 PM (3932 Reads)
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Our next Mylo Xyloto album review comes from our friends at The Upcoming (bookmark their site for everything - thought-provoking stories, cultural insights and interesting news!) They give the new album a perfect 5/5 rating. As well as short reviews for each of the tracks... their album review in a nutshell? It's: "This album is Coldplay’s most pop and widest work to date, it is a 44-minute adventure in the world of music: immersed in a waterfall of sounds and emotions, you just need to close your eyes and let yourself go." Read on for the review...
Coldplay’s comeback to the music scene is their umpteenth challenge to reinvent themselves after the worldwide success of Viva la Vida Or Death And All Of His Friends in 2008.
The album opens with the short M.X. As it happens in a spectacular haute-cuisine restaurant, Coldplay wants to make sure that every single listener begins the journey from the same point: 43 seconds of mood-setting magic. Hurts Like Heaven is the kick-start of the album, an up-tempo song reminiscent of Arcade Fire’s Keep The Car Running and Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing In The Dark. Although the structure of the song is not distant from their previous works, the production is the farthest that Coldplay has ever been: a waterfall of synthesised sounds and the voice predominantly on vocoder.
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Chris Martin on 'Coldplay-bashing, Gwyneth and why Mylo Xyloto could be their last album' (Daily Mail)
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, October 16, 2011 - 10:45 PM (5299 Reads)
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In another extensive interview published online today, The Daily Mail has been writing about the inner workings of Coldplay from their Bakery/Beehive headquarters in North London. In this remarkably candid interview, Coldplay discuss the trappings of fame and Chris Martin even goes as far as discussing his relationship with Gwyneth Paltrow. Other topics include the threat from Justin Bieber – and why they might be about to call it a day (we bet they don't, but NME like to stir shit up so its all over the internet by now). Louise Gannon gets the final word with Coldplay... (Full discussion on this article is at the Coldplay forum now. [thanks Mimixxx])
Tucked away on the wrong side of a smart north London neighbourhood, flanked by a grim housing estate, lies the small, squat HQ of the most successful band Britain has produced in the past decade: Coldplay. There is absolutely nothing to suggest the building is home to über-rich rock stars and a hangout for Hollywood royalty – Gwyneth Paltrow, the wife of lead singer Chris Martin.
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Coldplay talk about Princess Of China, Charlie Brown & Brian Eno to Sunday Herald Sun
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, October 16, 2011 - 11:45 AM (4024 Reads)
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 A few long articles have surfaced from various sources this weekend as the Coldplay juggernaut goes into overdrive, ready for the release of Mylo Xyloto. This from the Sunday Herald Sun (Australian), discusses Coldplay's approach to Rihanna for Princess Of China (nothing we didn't already know), Brian Eno (again, not new) and also the development of one of Coldplay's most popular new tracks - Charlie Brown. That part at least (around the middle of the article), makes interesting reading... [Full discussion on this article is at the Coldplay forum now.]
He is a rock star millionaire, fronts arguably the biggest band of his generation and is married to an Oscar-winning actor, but a beautiful woman can still turn Chris Martin to jelly. On its fifth album, Mylo Xyloto, which is released on Friday, Coldplay has brought in a guest singer for the first time and front man Martin says that the prospect of asking R&B goddess Rihanna to do the honours reduced him to an awkward, bumbling mess.
Martin had originally written the song in question, Princess of China, with the Barbadian beauty in mind, thinking he would offer a song to her as he had done for artists such as Jamelia and his former girlfriend, Natalie Imbruglia. But after showing it to his band mate Guy Berryman, they decided it would be better done as a duo for the album they were working on...
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Mylo Xyloto review 4: "Coldplay make a grand bear-hug record for a bear-market world" (Rolling Stone)
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, October 15, 2011 - 11:35 AM (4741 Reads)
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As we tweeted a few days ago, Rolling Stone rated Mylo Xyloto a 3.5/5, which according to their marking system gives Coldplay an album that's somewhere between 'good' and 'excellent'. Key tracks to look out for according to RS are Princess Of China and Hurts Like Heaven. The review comes with a colourful cartoon animated image which reflects the music. Choruses are bigger, textures grander and the optimism more optimistic. Overall an uplifting review for an uplifting album. You can read more discussion on this new review at the Coldplay forum forum now. Read on for the Rolling Stone review transcription and scans... [thanks oldmuckers & Baw8cc]
In the three years since Coldplay’s last album, the world’s problems have gotten a little more urgent. A cratering economy, riots from Tahrir to Tottenham, the prolonged ubiquity of the Kardashians – these are things that can’t be solved with a lullaby, even from the biggest band to emerge in the 21st century. Chris Martin knows this. But Coldplay’s fifth album–and most ambitious yet–suggests Martin cares too much not to at least try to help.
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Mylo Xyloto review 3: "A triumphant fifth LP which reveals familiar strengths in all the right places" (BBC Music)
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, October 15, 2011 - 08:12 AM (4387 Reads)
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Up next to review Mylo Xyloto is the BBC Music website with a short yet succinct and relatively positive article of the new album. There is no rating and no large song previews, but they do focus most of their attention on the balance of the album. You can read more discussion on this new review at the Coldplay forum forum now. We'll try and cram in as many media reviews of the album before and after it drops... whenever that may be. Read on for the BBC review... [thanks andrea25]
Don’t Coldplay love their Xs and their Ys? And their enigmatic album titles? After 2005’s X&Y and 2008’s Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends comes Mylo Xyloto. Well, it beats Coldplay 5. But any title that needs a pronunciation guide (it’s "My-lo zy-letoe") sounds like it’s trying a bit too hard. Maybe Chris Martin still yearns for something that infers the depth and gravitas of a Bono or Thom Yorke. The album is apparently a concept work, "based on a love story with a happy ending," Martin claims, and inspired by old-school American graffiti and the anti-Nazi pacifist White Rose Movement: "It's about being free to be yourself and to express yourself among negative surroundings." But the lyrics are still typically Martin’s life-affirming, anthem-forming and plain-speaking as ever, more ABC than MYLO XYLOTO...
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Coldplay: "So many people have made their minds up about us already that we had nothing to lose" (The Sun article)
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, October 14, 2011 - 04:15 PM (3874 Reads)
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 Special guests SFTW are side of stage at Cape Town Stadium as Coldplay prepare for their first ever show in South Africa, The Sun writes, in a new article published today. And as with all their gigs, Coldplay are ready to give their all tonight. After an hour of vocal warm-ups, the band are geeing each other up with just minutes to go. Full discussion on this latest article is at the Coldplay forum now. [thanks Mimixxx])
Drummer Will Champion performs some eye-watering leg stretches before they gather in a hug. Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman, Will, unofficial fifth member and manager Phil Harvey and, er, SFTW after Chris drags me into the huddle. Then they run on stage to play new tracks Mylo Xyloto and Hurts Like Heaven. "We're so happy to be here finally, after 12 years. It took us that long to get a visa. We apologise," jokes Chris to an ecstatic crowd who are being showered with paper butterflies.
All day the city's been buzzing about Coldplay. The customs officers at the airport ask: "Are you here for Coldplay?" while fans queuing outside the stadium are treated to a pre-show of sorts as the band arrive to do a sound check. Cape Town is one of three spectacular Coldplay shows SFTW has witnessed this summer in the run-up to the release of fifth album Mylo Xyloto — the others being Glastonbury and Lollapalooza festival in Chicago.
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NYTimes: Chris Martin asks - "What Would Bruce Do?"
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, October 14, 2011 - 08:15 AM (4025 Reads)
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 Chris Martin, is one of the world’s biggest rock stars, a species for whom tardiness is all but a right. Yet he was full of apologies when he popped through the door of a Midtown Manhattan restaurant, no entourage in sight, for a recent interview with the NYTimes this week. “I’m sorry I’m late,” he blurted, wearing a slightly stained “Don’t Mess With Texas” T-shirt and loudly colored sneakers, though he had no sunglasses, hat or any other means of celebrity disguise.
But Mr. Martin was actually five minutes early. And in a discussion about the band’s new album, Mylo Xyloto (Capitol), he focused on the “baggage,” as he put it, of being in Coldplay. For a man who has seen millions of faces and soft-rocked them all — his next appointment was flying to Brazil to perform at the enormous Rock in Rio festival — he seemed to know that rock superstardom is not what it used to be.
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Mylo Xyloto review 2: "First Impressions of... Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto" (Q Magazine)
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, October 10, 2011 - 05:58 PM (8659 Reads)
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Q Magazine are the next of the reputable sources to review Coldplay's forthcoming album, Mylo Xyloto. It is the biggest and most in depth review found so far, but there is no rating to it - instead they have given a short paragraph to each of the songs with a promise of a complete review in issue Q305, out on 25th October. You can read more discussion on this new review at the Coldplay forum forum now. We'll try and cram in as many media review of the album before it drops...whenever. Read on for the Spin review... [thanks Jason-DeBord & Saketblitz]
Mylo Xyloto
The title track of Coldplay's fourth album is the 40-second soundscape piece that the band began their Glastonbury headline slot with - not to be confused with the Back To The Future theme tune that blared out as they walked on. The instrumentation is pure Eno, the producer's imprint all over the cascading glockenspiels and washed-out guitar lines as the song bleeds into Hurts Like Heaven.
Hurts Like Heaven
The first track proper sets the tone for the rest of Mylo Xyloto, bursting in with an up'n'at'em urgency. The melodies, like the title, are a nod to the '80s heroes they so successfully channeled on A Rush Of Blood To The Head, the Cure and Echo And The Bunnymen's influence looming large as Chris Martin sings like he's in a hurry; "I'm strangled with the feeling that my life isn't mine" sings the most brilliantly neurotic man in music, Jonny Buckland's guitars still set to the cosmic sparkle sound of the opener. The chorus - "you use your heart as a weapon/And it hurts like heaven" - is as upliftingly bittersweet as Robert Smith & co.'s best pop songs, whilst the "whoa oh oh" bridge provides the record's first stadium-singalong moment.
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Mylo Xyloto review 1: "Shut Up and Cry: Sir Chris of Martin gives his heartache a dance-pop infusion"
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, October 05, 2011 - 07:48 PM (5108 Reads)
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Spin Magazine are one of the first reputable sources (we're not including NME in that) to review Coldplay's forthcoming album. Although they don't go into great depth and don't say whether they've heard the album in full (or whether they went to the Parlophone playback event in London last week which we wrote about), they do give the album a 7/10. Compare this (or not) to the 9/10 they gave Viva la Vida three years ago. You can read more discussion on this new review at the Coldplay forum forum now. We'll try and cram in as many media review of the album before it drops...whenever. Read on for the Spin review...
It says something about Coldplay's Top 40 assimilation that the most Rihanna-ish song on Mylo Xyloto isn't the one that actually features Rihanna. "Life goes on, it gets so heavy," Chris Martin sings over a booming hip-hop beat on "Paradise," and by the time he mimics RiRi's stuttered delivery on the hook, you're already picturing him sharing the space under his umbrella...
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Transcript: Chris and Jonny talk to TheMusicPimp about Rihanna, Brian Eno, concept of Mylo Xyloto and 'transition into pop'
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, October 03, 2011 - 03:25 PM (4197 Reads)
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Before Coldplay's final festival performance of the summer at Rock In Rio, Chris and Jonny did a round of interviews which were recorded for radio. During one presented by TheMusicPimp, they talked about working with Rihanna, their 'transition to pop' as the interviewer put it, as well as Brian Eno, spraying walls, and more on the concept of Mylo Xyloto. You can listen to and download the full audio interview at the multimedia forum via SoundCloud now. Below is the article as transcripted. Most of the boring bits like the ID introductions have been taken out. [thanks jeremyy]
Chris referred to the album as "Mylo". "We really believe in the album as a format, because it's so hard to get people to listen to whole albums now. But we thought, 'who cares', Let's just try and make a really complete album, which has a journey from the start to the finish. If you want to find a story through it you can, and if you don't, then you don't have to. It's like a half-concept album."
When asked about what the journey was about for this album, Chris said: "Every album is like a diary entry really, as much as you try and disguise it with characters and themes and concepts, it's really just about how you're feeling about the world. I would say this one [Mylo Xyloto] has a bit more optimism than before [Viva la Vida] and more of an idea of togetherness, tackling the issues in life with the people you love. That's kind of the theme." Jonny added: "[On this record] we were more free to try anything, more free to try and express feelings of happiness."
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UPDATED: Q Magazine fallout: what the media wrote on Coldplay following 25th anniversary edition
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, October 01, 2011 - 08:05 PM (5049 Reads)
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 A few interesting storylines have popped up online following the publication of the Coldplay article as featured in the 25th anniversary edition of Q Magazine earlier in the week. As a result of the Q&A session with Chris, Guy, Jonny and Will, so far we've seen headlines on Chris's envy of Lady Gaga, Adele and Jay-Z, his wish for anything but an ordinary funeral and crying when Amy Winehouse comes on. The Q article seems to be very tongue in cheek, but boy do the media take the contents seriously. Here's a round-up of the stories making the headlines...
Popdash and DigitalSpy went with the headline "Coldplay's Chris Martin Reveals Lady Gaga, Jay-Z Envy". They wrote pretty much the same: "Coldplay's Chris Martin has claimed that he is envious of stars such as Lady Gaga and Jay-Z who can write universal pop songs. Martin, whose band will release their new album 'Mylo Xyloto' in October, made the comments in the latest issue of Q. Discussing his fellow A-list songwriters, Martin stated that hearing the work of others inspires him to make his own work good enough to compete. "When I hear Kings of Leon's 'Use Somebody' or Adele's 'Someone Like You' or Lady GaGa's 'Bad Romance', it's like, 'F*ck, that's good, I've got to try and do something better than that'. he said. Even close friends are not safe from Martin's green eyes, as he says about Jay-Z, "It's constant competition but born out of love. Or Jay-Z's 'Empire State Of Mind'. Jay revealed that when he was playing stadiums with us. Why would you do that to us? Why would you open a gig and then play a song that's better than any of our songs, you f*cking b*tard? Why would you do that to someone you claim to be friends with?" Conceding: "But then it also drives you to write better songs."
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Coldplay in the Sunday Times - They've Got A Ticket To Stride - full transcript
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, October 01, 2011 - 08:05 AM (4117 Reads)
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 They are the biggest-selling band in British rock today but also one of the most criticised. Have the slings and arrows stopped us from getting to know the real Coldplay? The Sunday Times joined Coldplay in Japan to find out - and we now have the full transcript of the article entitled "They've Got A Ticket To Stride" below - which is also over at WikiColdplay in protected archive format. Enjoy!
If you are going to mess up a song - and I mean really balls it up to the point where you have to stop - you ideally wouldn't do it in front of 100,000 people, with another 16m watching the TV coverage. And God knows how many more on YouTube. You'd rather do it in the privacy of your own studio. Or bedroom. Or anywhere other than the pyramid stage at this year's Glastonbury, at the festival's climax, on a balmy summer's night.
It happened midway through Us Against The World, one of Coldplay's new songs, a ballad. The culprit was the band's genial, bearded giant of a drummer, Will Champion. He sang "rainbow" at the same time as Chris Martin, the frontman, sang the correct lyric, "raindrop". This caused a fit of nervous giggles that the pair tried to sing through. It didn't work. Marting called a halt. Then he saved the day. "I'm sorry," he grinned sheepishly, as the camera's zoomed in on him, "I fucked up."
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Coldplay in La Repubblica XL (Italian music magazine) - Mylo Xyloto review, Beehive pictures, interview
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, September 30, 2011 - 02:54 PM (4711 Reads)
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 Coldplay have appeared in the Italian music magazine La Repubblica XL this week in an extensive interview about the new album Mylo Xyloto (including the first major review of this era). There were also some interesting pictures from within The Bakery/Beehive... including Coldplay's loo. Back to the album review - XL have given it a favourable 8/10 and compared it to Arcade Fire's Funeral. The closing line of the review entices: MX might very well be a bomb of an album, maybe you just need to give it some time to make your heart beat."
There is also a short video introduction from Chris and Jonny which you can watch here at the Coldplay forum (and also discuss the article, review, interview and pictures). [Many thanks to Patrizio at Coldplayzone, Saketblitz, iriden for the translation, scans and links!]
Interview article:
Coldplay are pissing in front of John Lennon. Seating of WC, they are looking at The Beatles in Hamburg. But it's not lack of respect - it's because in Bakery's bathroom [...] they hanged two pics on the wall: the first shows Lennon in the '70s with an Elvis Presley pin; the second one The Beatles in Germany in 1960, before Ringo Starr came in the band, when they were not-so-well-known...
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Coldplay talk to MusicWeek about new album Mylo Xyloto (includes track-by-track rundown)
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, September 22, 2011 - 10:00 AM (7191 Reads)
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When Chris Martin hinted the last Coldplay album might just be exactly that – their last – producer Brian Eno had other ideas, writes MusicWeek, in an extensive article on Coldplay and their forthcoming album, Mylo Xyloto. Read on for the details... you can discuss this article at the Coldplay forum now [thanks Skuze23]
Guitarist Jonny Buckland explains: "Brian’s a very inspirational character. He wrote us a letter actually after we finished the last album saying, ‘That was good, but I think we can go further, we can do more’ and so, in a way, he got the ball rolling for this." Drummer Will Champion adds: "Chris always has a knack of saying that this could be our last album but at the time, after we’ve just finished an album, it genuinely does feel like there’s nothing left in the tank – there’s no more ideas, so the idea of recording another record is terrifying."
It is to Eno’s credit that he has eked more mileage from the Coldplay juggernaut as Mylo Xyloto, the band’s fifth studio album, is arguably their most exciting, best flowing and enthralling listen since 2002’s A Rush Of Blood To The Head. Threatening more potentially classic Coldplay hit singles than its predecessor, 2008’s Viva La Vida And Death To All His Friends, it is not only likely to confirm their position as the world’s biggest band but potentially better its 9 million worldwide sales. Chatting at their Bakery Studio in Hampstead – having just finalised the tracklisting over lunch - the band appear relaxed although admittedly nervous how the world will respond to a record which began life as a “quiet acoustic record”, at one point was intended to be a soundtrack to a Yellow Submarine-style animated film (abandoned because it would take five years to make) and now sees life as a progressive synth-infused pop “concept album” that still rocks; Buckland’s guitar is arguably more prominent than on previous outings...
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Chris Martin talks about working with Hype Williams and 'a girl' on Coldplay's new Paradise video
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, September 21, 2011 - 04:35 PM (4904 Reads)
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 Since we exclusively reported that Hype Williams was working with Coldplay's new video for Paradise, Williams's first with the band since the official Viva la Vida shoot back in 2008, MTV have all but confirmed the collaboration with an interview with Chris Martin during the Austin City Limits festival this past weekend. They also hint at a new face appearing in the video. Here's what they had to say:
Coldplay already told MTV News that they decided to roll the dice and go with the inscrutable title of Mylo Xyloto for their upcoming fifth album. But when the time came to make a video for their second release from the disc (due October 25), the beat-infected Paradise, they went all in and reteamed with a director best known for lensing clips for some of the biggest names in hip-hop and R&B (Kanye West, Mary J. Blige, Rick Ross). "We just started to do a video on Monday on 'Paradise,'" singer Chris Martin told MTV News at the Austin City Limits festival. "And the bits that we're not in are being done almost as we speak."
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Chris Martin talks to Rolling Stone about Brian Eno, Rihanna, their 'colourful new album' and... the future
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, September 21, 2011 - 08:15 AM (4356 Reads)
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Chris Martin dropped by the Rolling Stone studio yesterday to chat about Coldplay's fifth album Mylo Xyloto, a record which reunites the band with Viva la Vida collaborators Markus Dravs and Brian Eno. This time around, though, Eno was less involved in production and more engaged in the actual performances. Below are some of the excerpts from the interview - in which Chris was unusually unassuming and candid. You can also watch and download at the Coldplay forum now [thanks Blue Nails & zzz]
On working with Brian Eno for the new album: "Brian Eno has become, not a session musician, but a player," says Chris. "He loves to just stand in the circle and play with the band. So he's kind of more of a band member than producer this time, which is very fun, because he comes up with very strange ideas and crazy noises, which quickly become irreplaceable. The key bits of advice that Brian has given us are really to do with self-confidence and not being afraid to really reflect what we love and what we listen to and not be concerned about where we might fit in the overall scheme of bands - and try and be a bit more fearless. As Englishmen - as as musicians 50 years into rock music - we can get a bit intimidated by all of our peers and people who have gone before us. But he {Brian] makes us forget about all that when we're in the studio which feels very liberating.
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Will Champion admits Mylo Xyloto nerves to BBC 6 Music
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 - 07:55 AM (4270 Reads)
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 As Coldplay unveil a trio of tour dates in December, drummer Will Champion tells BBC 6 Music what we can expect from their new record Mylo Xyloto and reveals he's a bundle of nerves. Below is the article from 6 Music today, but you can also download the full audio interview at the multimedia forum now [thanks zzz].
They might have finished the much-anticipated record with producer Brian Eno, but Champion says: "There really is no sense of relief. It's actually almost worse," he told Steve Lamacq. "It's the worst time possible just because there's nothing you can do about it now. It's like when a child leaves home, well they are out in the world now. You've done your best and you're giving it out for people, hopefully to enjoy, but you never know, because it's not out. We've finished it, it's not out, but it's just this waiting game."
The album is out on 24 October and will be swifter than some of their previous records. "In the past, on X&Y, we struggled to finish that because people were coming up saying, 'Oh, you've got to put that one on, you've got to put that one on'," Champion explained. We tried to please everybody and ended up with an album that was maybe 2 or 3 songs too long, so this time we've been very careful. We wanted it to be under 45 minutes."
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Coldplay call Rihanna collaboration their 'Favourite Bit' on Mylo Xyloto
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 - 07:38 AM (2870 Reads)
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Coldplay have talked to MTV News (watch a video interview there) while they at this weekend's Austin City Limits fest, about unexpected team-up on the new album Mylo Xyloto - Rihanna. Here's what they had to say online:
Last week, Coldplay made headlines when they announced they'd be teaming with Rihanna on "Princess of China," one of 14 tracks on their upcoming Mylo Xyloto album. And while the news may have left some fans a tad, uh, puzzled, Coldplay say the collaboration was born out of a desire to keep reinventing their sound — not to mention necessity — as they told MTV News this past weekend at the Austin City Limits Festival. "Well, our new record is sort of a story; it's not quite a musical, but it's dangerously close. There's a bit of a love-story thread, so we really needed someone to sing even higher than me," frontman Chris Martin laughed. "[It's] hard, but very possible. You need to be a female really. For all [drummer] Will [Champion]'s good intentions, he [can't do it] ... ("Can't get that high, not these days," Champion added.)
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ACL festival review: 'Coldplay Plays All the Hits and The Others, Too'
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, September 17, 2011 - 07:55 PM (4286 Reads)
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 It would be a pretty hipster thing to say that the Coldplay show at Austin City Limits Music Festival on Friday was cheesy and overly sincere. But you won't actually hear that. Because all the hipsters were on the other end of the Zilker Park with Kanye West, writes the Dallas Observer music blog.
Sure, Coldplay's music expertly draws out the emotional side of college co-eds, but, aside from popular hipster belief, there is more to the band than aiming to pull at the heartstrings of fans. Nonetheless, their 2011 ACL performance, rather than featuring cuts from their forthcoming record, Mylo Xyloto, found the band pandering to the crowd. They played material from four different albums over the course of their first five songs. The whole show was very much a greatest hits performance...
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Austin City Limits Taping: Coldplay debut Up In Flames (VH1 review)
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, September 16, 2011 - 07:30 PM (5844 Reads)
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 AUSTIN, Texas — For any English band, playing this Texas hipster mecca's long-running PBS music show "Austin City Limits" is a big checkmark on the rock-and-roll bucket list, writes VH1 in a review of yesterday's Austin City Limits Taping. Here is the rest of their review along with song excellent stage set photos from JimmyD on the forums...
Coldplay got their second hash mark on Thursday night, taping a 90-minute special edition of the 37-year-old show just 24 hours before they take the stage for a much bigger crowd just around the corner at Zilker Park as part of the three-day Austin City Limits festival. Like plugging in at New York's Radio City or Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, it's the kind of honor that most bands would kill for just once. Only this time, unlike their 2005 appearance, there was also some "Masterpiece Theater"-style acting involved, as they were taping a show intended to air on New Year's Eve. That time-travel twist required a bit of cold-weather thinking in the midst of one of the hottest summers in Lone Star State history...
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Updated: The Continuing Evolution of Coldplay - The Fans' Perspective
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, September 12, 2011 - 08:50 PM (5859 Reads)
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 We've heard the new song Paradise. Then we heard the news that Rihanna will feature on the track Princess Of China from the forthcoming album Mylo Xyloto. It's a Coldplay day that has pleased some but fueled tension in many - certainly a day that won't be forgotten in Coldplaying circles. Some are calling it progression, others regression; it's a topic that has turned lurkers into posters. What are we talking about? We're talking about Coldplay's 'New Direction'.
We've taken many of your thoughts over the past 24 hours on this subject and combined them into the following article, which makes for very interesting reading for new and old Coldplay fans alike. (If you think there's a comprehensive post that we've missed that deserves to be published - drop us an email or PM!). Here at Coldplaying we strive to give you a balanced view of the latest goings on and whichever side of the fence you stand on on Coldplay's evolution (or sit, as the case may be) its our view that we have some well written posts that have taken effort, outlining the bigger picture, that deserve a mention. So - do away with the 'tl;dr' - grab a coffee and 30 minutes... here we go...!
Two singles on and Coldplay are on the verge of marking themselves as “sell outs”, not by the general people but by their own fans. The general public had termed them that after they became famous ages ago. It’s very easy to join the hate wagon and start criticising the change in direction that the band may be adopting. I use the word “may” because sometimes things aren’t exactly what it seems. What people have presumed from the songs that they have heard till now is that “Coldplay have gone Pop” and it’s hard to break that mould if you listen to “Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall”, the lead single...
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What did you think of new single 'Paradise'? Early Coldplayers' thoughts...
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, September 12, 2011 - 08:50 AM (5670 Reads)
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 Coldplay's new single Paradise has been given its world premiere on UK radio at 7.50am today (September 12th). The track was played on the BBC's Radio 1, Radio 2 and 6 Music, as well as Absolute Radio and Xfm. Paradise has been made available as a digital download at the same time, and also features on Coldplay's official YouTube channel this morning. Chris Moyles (Radio 1) also said on-air that Coldplay were making a video all day today but stopped short of saying it was for the Paradise single... more on this as we get it.
Please vote out of 10 on how you rate the song in our latest poll (the early poll results are after the jump). Your reviews have been coming in thick and fast in the last few hours - we appreciate your comments on what you thought of the song at the dedicated Paradise sub-forum. So far we have had some very mixed reviews - after the jump are some of your early thoughts...
Meanwhile, Chris Martin has revealed to The Sun that Rihanna contributed guest vocals to the forthcoming Princess Of China song: "The album is designed as a whole piece," he told the paper. "It has boy and girl lead characters and top of our list for the girl part was Rihanna… but it took a while to pluck up the courage to ask her." (We will have the full Coldplayers' feedback for you later...)
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Who or what is 'Mylo Xyloto'?
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, September 10, 2011 - 04:15 PM (7609 Reads)
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 Not much has been revealed at this time about the exact meaning of Mylo Xyloto, although there are developments from last night's TV appearance in Paris which will be televised in October. According to Coldplayers, the band discussed the meaning of Mylo Xyloto, Coldplayer Lu'kaa saying: "Yesterday in an interview in the french TV show Chris explained that Mylo Xyloto was just an imaginary language, with two words: Mylo and Xyloto. It's about creating a new word, from nothing, kind of like Google. How I know it? Well I was there!"
For those of you (most) still trying to figure out the possibly meaning behind this title following The Oracle's confirmation that the title was not randomly made up without meaning, it’s a little unclear — though Latin derivations of “Mylo” tend to suggest that it is about something falling apart. (Meanwhile, “Xyloto” has been used to refer to a family of insects.) Could this be some sort of statement meant to suggeest people coming together in the midst of what are difficult times for the world? Until Coldplay speak out about it themselves, we will probably not know for sure. Perhaps there is a tie with the colorful art, which seems to indicate there's beauty in destruction which seems a fitting theme for the darker times we live in.
Now, the latest theory is that Mylo Xyloto is actually an alien - definately an outer space concept, but Coldplayers claim to see an alien face on the album cover. What are your thoughts? Both about MX being an alien and about the influence of U.F.O. in the new album?
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What rating will Pitchfork give for new Coldplay album 'Mylo Xyloto'?
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, August 19, 2011 - 08:00 AM (5774 Reads)
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It's no secret, Pitchfork doesn't like Coldplay. Sure they will post all their news and review their albums, but they definitely make more than a few jokes at their expense. Now the other side of the coin here is that as pretentious as Pitchfork are, they have a pretty big audience and are pretty influential, especially when with the mainstream indie crowd. So what will they score the album? I feel like they could put out a masterpiece and it will still get a shit rating. You can vote and also write down your exact prediction at the Coldplay forum now [thanks Briggins]
On X&Y (4.9/10), Pitchfork commented: "[X&Y] is bland but never offensive, listenable but not memorable. It may be pointless to hate them, but with this album, they've almost certainly become the easiest band on the planet to be completely indifferent to."
On Viva La Vida (6.9/10): "[Chris] Martin is still a hopeless sap. He's clearly aware of Thom Yorke's apocalyptic verve and Bono's most cunning reflexive confessionals, but thus far he's incapable of matching either one. The record's violent, revolution-themed artwork is misleading. Viva is more like a bloodless coup-- shrewd and inconspicuous in its progressive impulses."
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How Coldplay can prevent Mylo Xyloto from leaking - it worked for Jigga
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, August 17, 2011 - 08:50 PM (12186 Reads)
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 As we reported earlier, Kanye West and Jay-Z are celebrating a new record, thanks to huge sale number of their newly-released joint album "Watch the Throne". The rap duo [pictured below] sold the album exclusively on iTunes and pulled in around 290,000 downloads, scoring best first-week digital sales on the retailer, breaking the previous record held by Coldplay three years ago with 282,000 iTunes downloads of their fourth album 'Viva La Vida'.
Well it turns out Jigga & Co. went the extra mile to make it happen. While 'Watch the Throne' was made available for exclusive purchase on iTunes from August 8th, they fought a music leak by blocking hackers from getting a hold of the album. The secret of the latter strategy was recently revealed by their producer who asked to remain anonymous in an interview with Billboard...
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Coldplay feature in Billboard magazine (including Chris Martin Q&A interview)
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, August 12, 2011 - 02:35 PM (5301 Reads)
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 After hearing eight songs recorded for Coldplay's fifth album, Mylo Xyloto, Billboard's Ray Waddell had the chance to discuss the project with the band's Chris Martin backstage at the Los Angeles Tennis Center prior to their performance at UCLA on August 3rd. What follows is the transcript of that conversation, where Chris weighs in on baptisms by fire, the art of making a good sandwich, and why Coldplay would have kicked ass in the 1840s...
In listening to the new music, it seems like there is a lot going on, a lot of forces pulling in opposite directions. It's a restless-sounding album that doesn't stay in one place very long. Did you have a goal or theme starting out, or does that find its legs as you progress?
Because we haven't sequenced it yet, the goal is to leave it in a peaceful place when we finish it. The hope for the record is to be free from any musical kind of box. It very much comes from the Brian Eno professorship of 'go anywhere. As long as it's you guys, you can go anywhere.' [There is] also a story, supposed to be loosely a kind of romance in an oppressive environment. It's sort of a love story. It will have a happy ending, so you either didn't hear that song today or you didn't hear it in the right sequence.
It does seem you're in a narrator role at times, particularly in a song like "Paradise." That's something you don't always do.
I started that listening to Bruce [Springsteen] and Bob [Dylan]. I'm still in the middle of it, so I haven't had any time to sit back and work out how to talk about it. Which is bad news for this interview...
Note: Can you decipher the The Many Mystery Messages Of Mylo Xyloto at the messageboard? [thanks admnistramation] |
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Will Charlie Brown be the next single from Coldplay's fifth album?
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, August 09, 2011 - 08:10 AM (5672 Reads)
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 Could Charlie Brown be the next single to be released from Coldplay's fifth album? That is the latest discussion topic at the Coldplay forum in the last 48 hours. According to both the BMI and Ascap databases, Charlie Brown has now been registered as a song title, but that's not the only clue. Q Magazine called Charlie Brown an "instant classic", and in the recent interview from July, Will Champion commented, "That [Charlie Brown] was singled out very early on as a dead cert. At one point there was a lyric that alluded to Charlie Brown, the Peanuts character, but it's just a name, really."
Charlie Brown was filmed for the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show last week, alongside already released single, Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall. In Japan, Coldplay were seen doing a photoshoot, with a Tokyo cab in the background. This could either be for a new song 'Car Kids' which has been seen written on Chris Martin's clothes during the festivals or it could actually relate to the Charlie Brown lyrics: "I stole a key, Took a car downtown where the lost boys meet, I took a car downtown and took what they offered me."
In a recent (and ongoing) poll at the messageboard, Charlie Brown has been voted by almost 43% of Coldplayers as the next single, followed by Hurts Like Heaven with 25%. Car Kids, which we don't even know is a song yet, has received 13% of the vote.
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'Laughing Boys' Coldplay article in Q Magazine (September 2011) - scan, transcript and your comments
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, July 29, 2011 - 05:15 PM (5143 Reads)
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 In case you missed it, the full Q Magazine article on Coldplay entitled "Laughing Boys" is after the jump (both scans and transcript). The article was written a week before Coldplay headlined Glastonbury at the end of June and how accurate the article is with the current tracklist thoughts within ColdplayHQ remains to be seen.
However in response to a question on the article, The Oracle did add: Within the first paragraph is the quote that the tracklisting "isn't quite there". That pretty much says it all really. The album is in the final stages and those confirmed songs have been recorded. It's worth remembering that magazines usually work around 2-3 months in advance. That interview took place in mid-June which was as late as Q could leave it before going to print for the September issue. At the time of print those songs may have been "confirmed" but it will be, as Will says, done at the last minute.
Armed with the article, The Oracle's comments, your thought's across the forums (mostly centred around whether Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall will be on LP5) go something like this...
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Coldplay's fifth album will be 'ready in two weeks' - but what does this mean for the fans?
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, July 10, 2011 - 03:35 PM (5742 Reads)
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 In between the chaos and excitement of the festival headlining appearances, Coldplay's album will be finished by around the end of July, according to Guy Berryman on Twitter. Guy was quoted as saying, "Only a few more weeks left before we have to finish the album. Exciting. Guy." Add to this the news that Chris Martin had already told Ryan Seacrest that it [LP5] will be done in two weeks, and details revealed in six. Following last week's release of the Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall EP, even fifth member Phil Harvey could not conceal his excitement, proclaiming: "Happy that people are liking major minus and moving to mars on the iTunes EP. I'm impatient to put ALL the music out! PH"
So what does all this mean in the context of getting the material 'out there'? Do Coldplay have a self-imposed deadline for LP5 or are they under pressure from their record label to deliver? How long after an initial announcement will the album drop? Read on for some of your latest comments in response to Guy's tweet, and check the LP5 sub-forum for more of your discussion. Don't forget that we have a megapoll currently underway at the messageboard where you can vote for the day the LP5 tracklisting is revealed. If nothing else, it keeps the interest up while we wait for more news to be announced...
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Article: How you and Coldplay influence the Stock Market
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, July 10, 2011 - 10:10 AM (3140 Reads)
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 Coldplay releases a new EP and single and the stock price of Citigroup, one of the world’s largest banking groups, rallies to its highest share price in six weeks, writes pedestrian.tv in an interesting article entitled "How you and Coldplay influence the Stock Market."
Completely unrelated events or a freakonomics/inconvenient truth/Michael Moore-style cause and effect relationship that can’t be ignored? As much as we love batshit crazy conspiracy theories here at Pedestrian we’d admit that this one probably falls somewhere in the middle of the two.
I was always fascinated by the fact that record label EMI’s share price - and even its entire future as an ongoing concern for much of the mid and late 2000’s - would often rely entirely on Chris Martin and his band not breaking up and continuing to release radio-friendly albums (or in the industry what is referred to as not doing an MGMT).
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'Moving To Mars' is unveiled... what did you think of the latest new track?
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, June 24, 2011 - 05:15 PM (4333 Reads)
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 Yesterday we got to hear another track from Coldplay's forthcoming Every Teardrop is a Waterfall EP in the shape of 'Major Minus'. Now the EP line-up is complete following today's unveiling of 'Moving To Mars'. If you've yet to hear it (where have you been?!) you can listen to it at coldplay.com or at their official YouTube channel. Don't forget to vote at the latest sliding scale poll just to the left!
Moving To Mars is the third song in the new Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall EP that’s out digitally on Sunday 26th June via iTunes. It is considerably more downbeat than the previous two tracks from the EP, with much of the first minute or two derived from Chris Martin sitting alone at the piano before the other instrumentation kicks in. Stereogum described it as "a cosmic ballad with Chris Martin taking notes and poses from the 'Life On Mars' / 'Space Oddity' / Dark Side Of The Moon songbook."
What did you think of the latest song to be unveiled? Let us know at the Moving To Mars sub-forum at the messageboard now! (Your best comments will be published here on the main site). Check out after the jump some of your early thoughts on the song... it definately has gone down a treat with Coldplayers around the world...!
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An important week ahead for Coldplay and EMI, as Glastonbury and the multi-format single looms
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, June 18, 2011 - 11:55 AM (3506 Reads)
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 With Coldplay's Glastonbury headline slot (arguably their biggest show to date) just a week away, we now have the news that Coldplay will be again be releasing Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall, this time on various formats - 7" blue vinyl, CD, standard digital bundle and an iTunes digital bundle - all available via DigitalStore as a pre-order now - which ones are you buying?
This announcement has ignited several discussion topics - the pressure from their record label EMI to maximise profits from the latest single; whether Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall (and Major Minus, for that matter) will make it to the fifth album (both, either or neither!); and what 'additional songs' will be announced this coming week.
As many Coldplayers have already pointed out (see after the jump), the simple fact is you will need to buy Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall (for a second time if you bought it on the 3rd June) if you want the new track, Major Minus. That is, unless Major Minus becomes available as a standalone digital track purchase, which currently is not possible. There are also rumours that the "additional tracks" on the iTunes bundle are remixes or live versions of some of the songs that we have already heard...
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Trapezes. Are we on the verge of a single release from Coldplay?
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, May 30, 2011 - 09:45 AM (4441 Reads)
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 Well it's Monday Morning folks, and as the new lyrics suggest it does actually feel like 'another life', in Coldplay circles anyway. It seems that Coldplayers' attention has now switched from disecting the few liners of text in a 11 second video to realising that we're all on the verge of a single release. Even Albie has reappeared, so something must be going down (the more experienced of you within Coldplaying will know what that's all about).
Today's developments will be interesting... given that the lyrics appear 'complete' - will we receive more lyrics, news on a release, or nothing at all? (today is a national holiday in the UK for those who didn't know, as well as Memorial Day in the States). Keep an eye out on the official Twitter and the messageboard for information!
And how does all this affect the forthcoming festivals tour? As MasoKnight on the forums put it, "Not to get anybody too hyped up (and I'm sure this has been said a dozen times on here), but I think we're gonna get a significant amount of material in the next month or so. It's just hard for me to imagine them doing the Viva tour all over again this summer. Of course, it would also be cool if they played a bunch of really old stuff, though...
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Going where no Coldplayers have gone before - The Final Frontier!
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, May 29, 2011 - 12:30 PM (3181 Reads)
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Coldplay really have us in a pickle. Ever since their website was changed a while back to reflect an outer space theme - UFO's, and other 'alien' goings-on, Coldplayers have been keeping one thought on the universe as a theme for LP5.
This weekend though, the latest theories have taken us where nobody has gone before - Star Trek IV - in particular the bit where the whales communicate with an alien probe that visits Earth sometime in the late 23rd century. This is because that, according to some, the latest lyric video has a background intro that sounds like whale song from the Star Trek film.
Over-enthusiastic imagination you might think, but as it was pointed out a couple of days ago, the 'The Scientist' video that was uploaded to YouTube by Coldplay had tags called SEQ1 and Rev. which are linked to Star Trek if you put them into Google. Whether you think this theory is absolute baloney (and we're sure that there are more than a few non-believers), enjoy instead some of the latest comments on Coldplay's lyrics videos and the teasers they've sent so far...
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UPDATED: More new Coldplay lyrics appear on YouTube... but where is this heading?
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, May 26, 2011 - 09:20 PM (4268 Reads)
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 UPDATE 28th May: The latest lyrics to be added are now "I turn the music up, I got my records on / from underneath the rubble, sing a rebel song / don't want to see another generation stop / I'd rather be a comma than a full stop." [thanks doritji & natascha]
UPDATE 27th May: The next lyrics to be added are now "I turn the music up, I'm on a roll this time, and heaven is in sight." [thanks mayurshikotra]
A few hours ago (shortly before 6pm BST, Thursday) another video was uploaded to ColdplayTV, the official YouTube channel. Entitled, "AATKTDATKANUMMFAL", acronym for "And all the kids they dance / All the kids all night / Until Monday morning feels another life", it shows the words spraypainted in different formats and colours. We are quickly amassing a collection of lyrics for an unnamed Coldplay song, possibly their first single. That's our best guess, anyway...
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New Coldplay "Fuzzy Man" video uploaded to YouTube - what does it mean?
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - 08:05 AM (6956 Reads)
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 It's been a busy week already in Coldplay circles, and its only Wednesday. Already, we've had strange going's on at the Bakery captured by a fan, sat talking to an old Irish fella, and then later that day new graffiti artwork revealed on Coldplay's Twitter by fifth member, Phil Harvey.
Possibly the most revealing news about the LP5 era came yesterday in the form of a short silent video uploaded onto Coldplay's YouTube channel, around the same time that new lyrics were posted on their Twitter account. Speculation suggests that it's either something to do with the new album or single artwork, part of a new video or even a hint to what will be worn during the forthcoming festival tour.
What do you think this video indicates? Let us know in the messageboard. For now, here are just some of the latest comments to come out of the "Walking Man Video" thread in the Coldplay forum...
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Sunday digest: Your thoughts on when Coldplay's LP5 is likely to be released
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, February 27, 2011 - 02:20 PM (5631 Reads)
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 Back in 2008, when Coldplayer locust7 declared that he had already heard the (then) new single Violet Hill two weeks before it was actually released, reactions were, "yeah, right... prove it," and "liar, liar, your bum's on fire." Well, of course he couldn't 'prove it' and his bum wasn't really on fire, but when his written review of Violet Hill matched the song precisely when it was finally made public a couple of weeks later, everyone started to take notice of his posts. He followed this up with information on the LP4 mixing process and then insights into the snippets of some songs from Viva La Vida that he had already heard.
Fast forward to February 2011, and locust7 is back to give us an insight into when we might be expecting LP5. He posted: "I can confirm the change of plans in the Coldplay camp regarding the schedule of the release of LP5, originally before Summer. Hope people can wait until October. Everybody who guessed October as the month of release deserves a prize. Just my two cents on it."
Anyway, since this new admission, which features alongside a 'revelation' found in the Spanish media about a delay until the end of the year, you have been discussing a possible October release for LP5. Below are some of your latest comments...
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The Pierces: 'Guy Berryman is like Jesus'
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, February 09, 2011 - 02:01 PM (4844 Reads)
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Alabama sisters The Pierces have branded our own Guy Berryman "Jesus" for resurrecting their music career, according to The Sun this morning. The girls - Catherine and Allison - had decided to call it a day after a frustrating nine-year slog that spawned three albums, beginning with their eponymously-titled 2000 debut.
But the Parable of the Good Samaritan took a modern twist a mere 24 hours later when their pal Guy called offering to produce their next record, prompting the siblings to reunite. The siblings joined Guy and their bandmates for a stellar Biz Session, performing two original tracks - We Are Stars and new single You'll Be Mine - and an ace cover of Lady Gaga hit Alejandro.
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What is the future for EMI?
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, February 03, 2011 - 03:43 PM (2493 Reads)
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 For almost 80 years it’s been as British as fish and chips, grey skies and a nice cup of tea – but now iconic record label EMI is in foreign hands, writes The Mirror in an informative article today.
The homegrown musical empire that launched Cliff Richard, Coldplay, The Beatles, Kate Bush, Pink Floyd, Queen and Robbie Williams is now owned by an American bank. Citigroup, who financed Terra Firma’s £4billion acquisition of EMI in 2007, have seized control – and written off £2.2billion of debts.
It seems not even putting The Beatles’ enviable back catalogue on iTunes could resuscitate EMI’s ailing finances with some its biggest stars beginning to turn against it. So where did it all go wrong?
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[Las Vegas preview] Jay-Z: Coldplay's Chris Martin like a 'brother from another mother'
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, December 30, 2010 - 10:18 AM (3185 Reads)
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 It's traditional to spend New Year with friends and family and Jay-Z gets to do both this year - and gets paid for it - by performing in Las Vegas with Coldplay, writes BBC Newsbeat today, in a preview article to tomorrow night's invitation-only event at the Cosmopolitan complex, Las Vegas. You can discuss the reports to this latest event at the Coldplay Live forum now and over the next few days.
The US rapper has told Newsbeat that Coldplay's Chris Martin is his "brother from another mother," and admits he sees him as often as possible. "I see him more than my own brother," he admitted. "Actually, I do!"
Coldplay and Jay Z will play separate gigs, plus a joint performance, on 31 December at the new Cosmopolitan casino and resort in Las Vegas. The luxury complex is rumoured to have cost £2.5bn and only opened a few weeks ago with an ceremony that featured Killers frontman Brandon Flowers. The invitation-only New Year's event is sold out, and while Jay-Z admits the show is expensive he also says it'll be relatively intimate.
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The story behind the marriage proposal at Coldplay's Newcastle gig
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, December 21, 2010 - 09:25 PM (4346 Reads)
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 To propose marriage on a stage in front of 1,000 people, with one of the biggest bands in the world behind you is something dreams are made of. It took a month to organise, but for one lucky couple this dream came true, the BBC writes tonight. On 20 December, Coldplay's Chris Martin called up Simon Bignell and Ruth Farmer on stage during their charity gig at Newcastle's Tyne Theatre. Unaware of what was happening, Ruth saw her husband-to-be get down on one knee and propose...she said: "Yes". Watch the video of the marriage proposal at the Coldplay forum now [thanks Bonus_mosher & maria_shiver]
Coldplay chose to perform at Newcastle's Tyne Theatre in one of only two UK dates in 2010 to raise money for the homeless charity Crisis. The audience was made up of 1,000 fans who were lucky enough to buy tickets or win them in a charity auction. Andrew and Ruth travelled more than 350 miles from Poole in Dorset through the snow and bad weather to see their idols that night.
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Crisis review: The Guardian casts their eye on last night's intimate Coldplay gig
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, December 20, 2010 - 03:20 PM (2505 Reads)
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The Guardian newspaper was the first media source to review last night's Coldplay Crisis gig at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool last night - and it appears it went down well with them, who once famously labelled Coldplay with having the prize for the silliest wardrobe in mainstream rock. Here is their review...
"If anyone's here for the pantomime I'm afraid you're gonna have a shit evening," quips Chris Martin, kicking off the first of two gigs for homeless charity Crisis, in "intimate" venues. "Intimate", of course, is a relative concept, but a 1,000-capacity theatre is a small gig for a group who've shifted 50m albums and treat the venue like an arena. The drum sound alone seems to come via the Mersey tunnel.
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Coldplay on the verge of releasing their "concept" album, says BBC
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, December 13, 2010 - 08:30 AM (3473 Reads)
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One of the most open and intriguing LP5 articles has emerged this morning, courtesy of BBC. They have been speaking to the band about the recent recording sessions, and according to BBC it has taken Coldplay four albums and 10 years to get around to it, but the band have confirmed they are finally on the verge of releasing their "concept" album. Read the full article below, and more discussion and a new poll is at the Coldplay forum here now [thanks IneedYou23]
The as-yet-untitled record is being produced by Brian Eno and Marcus Dravs - the same team behind the band's last album Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends - the best selling album of 2008. "It's from the point of view of two people who are a bit lost," Coldplay frontman Chris Martin says. "Two like-minded outsiders who meet in a very difficult environment and therefore have a journey together."
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Director Mat Whitecross talks about Coldplay's Christmas Lights video
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, December 05, 2010 - 10:09 AM (3176 Reads)
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 Director of Coldplay's Christmas Lights video, Mat Whitecross, has been speaking to website PromoNews.tv about working on the set on the South Bank of the Thames. He talked about the ideas involved, and the different incarnations the filming could have taken before they decided on a waterside location with a boat full of Coldplayers... [thanks mimixxx]
"Every Coldplay shoot involves a leap of faith," explains Whitecross. "The band are always intuitive and overflowing with great ideas. My job is to try and compress as many of them as humanly possible into a four minute track. Chris and Phil approached me three weeks ago to do a simple low budget video for their Christmas single. Just me, the band and a handycam, walking down Oxford Street at midnight..."
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Brian Eno: I made Chris Martin wear gloves so he couldn't play as many notes
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, November 17, 2010 - 10:30 AM (3883 Reads)
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 The transcript of a recent interview with Brian Eno conducted by a German radio station has been issued by his press people. The interview refers to the making of Eno’s new album, Small Craft On A Milk Sea, his decision to sign with Warp Records, and his ongoing interest in minimalism, and more interestingly, some new information that came to light about Coldplay's recording sessions during the Viva era, including the first introduction of Jon Hopkins to the Bakery recording process.
We're not sure yet as to the authenticity or timing of this article, or to what radio station it was sourced from, but below is the Coldplay exerpt - with an important brief introductory outline. More discussion on this article is at the Coldplay forum now.
Brian Eno on the creative process for the (Small Craft On A Milk Sea) new album: "The nice thing about working with a group of people is that, they do things that you wouldn’t do. They don’t have the same taste as you for a start so you, you either have to reject it or you have to embrace it somehow...
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ContactMusic: 'Coldplay are forcing Rik Simpson to eat'
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, October 16, 2010 - 09:25 AM (3734 Reads)
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 Coldplay are looking after their studio engineer and making him eat breakfast with them, as he doesn't allow himself time to take a break during the day, reports ContactMusic this morning, in an article that follows on from Roadie #42's latest blog last week. Bit harsh, ContactMusic?!
The article continues by saying - the band have become concerned about the state of Rik Simpson - who is manning music composition program Pro Tools at the Beehive studio where the band is preparing their fifth album - that they are forcing him to eat - as he doesn't appear to have time to eat properly or drink cups of hot tea, prompting guitarist Will Champion to take on a fatherly role over him.
A post on the band's blog at coldplay.com explained: "Not a lot gets past Mr. Champion. He's clearly twigged how hard Rik's been working and has figured that if Rik isn't going to look after himself, then he'll do it for him. Will stands behind Rik as he continues to fiddle in the Pro Tools screen. It's a lot like watching a parent trying to pull their child away from the X-box. I imagine Will has come straight in from the family breakfast table at home. Perhaps he's still in the transition from 'parent mode' to 'work mode'. Perhaps he's just nice. Either way, Rik starts the day with a healthy breakfast."
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Are Coldplay and Apple leaving EMI behind?
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, September 03, 2010 - 09:01 AM (2407 Reads)
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If we take out of the equation some of the pretty droll and one sided articles written by The Telegraph and MTV for example, about Chris Martin's surprise performance at the Apple Keynote convention on Wednesday, there are actually some interesting reads about the use of technology and the link to the music industry. Following the convention it appears that Coldplay's Ping social network account has gone viral, and there is this article by the Irish Times, who suggest that EMI Music chiefs might be looking on as technology appears to be leaving them behind... not good when arguably their biggest artist, Coldplay, link up with the market leader in mobile consumer electronics, Apple. Here is the article:
There were probably a few EMI Music executives who choked on their spuds on Wednesday, as they watched a prize asset, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, play for Apple boss Steve Jobs and an audience of millions. Martin performed a new song, Wedding Bells , at the latest Apple extravaganza to launch new stuff, an event that will receive more coverage than the release of most EMI albums this year...
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MTV: "Is Chris Martin trying to tell us something with Wedding Bells?"
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, September 02, 2010 - 08:39 PM (2764 Reads)
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 MTV got the wrong end of the stick today by suggesting that Coldplay's new song was a subconscious way of telling the media of the current state of Chris Martin's marriage to Gwyneth Paltrow. In their online article, they suggested that it points to an "imminent split" and that Chris is "goofing on the press". Wedding Bells was first heard live on the South Bank Show last September and the couple are still together. One could argue that the article is just another cheap shot at an easy target. Read on for their missive. Meanwhile back on planet Earth you can discuss here what you think Wedding Bells is really about and how it fits into the Coldplay and LP5 story.
It's the bane of any celebrity couple's public existence: The near-constant barrage of tabloid stories proclaiming that one or both of the famous duo are cheating, about to file for divorce, have a wandering eye, are pregnant or refuse to have children.
In the case of Coldplay singer Chris Martin and actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who have two children together and have been married for seven years, allegations of marital strife have dogged them for years. And while neither have deemed it necessary to respond to the persistent drumbeat of break-up rumors, their silence and the rarity of paparazzi spotting them together has helped stoke the tabloid press speculation...
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Music giant EMI slashes losses by 64% but still needs cash injection
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, August 23, 2010 - 10:55 AM (2165 Reads)
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Music group EMI have slashed annual losses by two-thirds but said it needs millions more to stay out of the hands of lenders. Pre-tax losses at the group, whose artists include Coldplay and Katy Perry, fell 64% to £624m in the year to March 31. EMI wrote off £602m, although revenues rose 5% to £1.65bn after successes like the remastered Beatles catalogue.
Terra Firma, the private equity who bought EMI for £4.2bn in 2007, was forced to raise £105m earlier this year to meet covenant tests. EMI's annual report stated up to £26.9m was needed over the quarters to June 30, September 30 and December 31 with a further "significant shortfall" for the March 31 test.
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Latest fan reviews of Matt McGinn's new book - 'Roadie: My Life on the Road with Coldplay'
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, August 01, 2010 - 10:09 AM (2669 Reads)
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 More fan reviews of Coldplay roadie Matt McGinn's new book are now available online as Coldplayers finish reading their copies. The very latest discussion on the book release is at the Coldplay forum now. Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed the book. If you want to be in with a chance of your review appearing on the main page all you have to do is write a fairly sizeable review and post it in that thread. Here are the most recent reviews...
I had a reading marathon last night. I wasn't feeling well so I went to bed early and then I made the mistake to continue reading with the book and just.couldn't.stop. Matt has a great ability to describe things from his perspective and makes you feel like you were actually there. It's cute to read he's a person who is "star-struck" easily and I loved all the little addressings to the reader like "for you anoraks still reading" etc. Matt leads you so well through time from the beginnings in a small van to the big machinery that Coldplay is now. The description of his typical day and of what has gone wrong wasn't boring it all!!! There's a story involving a cameraman which felt like the description of a movie's action scene! (It isn't life or death - but close). Oh and all his comparisons to movies made me smile more than once. What he writes is never boring and even the Glossary is soooooo funny! [thanks SueDeNimes]
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Countdown to 10th anniversary of Parachutes: NME gives debut album 9/10
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, July 09, 2010 - 08:31 PM (2727 Reads)
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 As part of Coldplaying's countdown to the 10th anniversary of Coldplay's debut album, Parachutes, we look back on the reviews of the album, courtesy of NME, at a time when the music magazine used to like Coldplay, of course...
Forget trashing rooms and rent-a-quotes, just listen. It's all a question of what you want from your rock stars. The criticism most often levelled at Coldplay (certainly round these parts) is that they will never be the saviours of rock'n'roll. They will never cause front-page tabloid sensation and they really like their parents. Frankly, they're more likely to enjoy a nice cup of tea in front of the TV than throw it out the window.
But, hang on. Weren't Oasis everything we could want from a rock band once? They fought, had rock star girlfriends, slagged people off and wanted loads of cash to blow on stupid houses. Fine, but those are exactly the things that have made them an embarrassment; an endless, dull cocaine comedown. Remember the disappointment you felt after 'Be Here Now'? Coldplay will never let you down like that...
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Countdown to 10th anniversary of Parachutes: Ken Nelson on recording Coldplay's debut album
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, July 08, 2010 - 02:55 PM (4328 Reads)
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As part of the countdown to the 10th anniversary of Coldplay's debut album, Parachutes, Coldplaying looks back on the recording process, courtesy of producer Ken Nelson...
Ken Nelson favours the old school of recording, based around clean signal paths, live playing and analogue tape — but that hasn't stopped him working with some of the hottest new bands in Britain. Among them are Coldplay, whose debut Parachutes album crashed straight into the charts at number one. "I like bands who can play live," insists Ken Nelson. "That's what I've done more or less all my recording life: I try to get bands to play together. That's the way they rehearse, that's the way they play live, so why change anything when you go to the studio?"
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Terra Firma buys time for Coldplay's label EMI with £105m injection
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, June 12, 2010 - 09:05 AM (2061 Reads)
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EMI has won a year's breathing space in its fight to avoid being taken over by its lender Citigroup after the music group received a £105m bail-out from Terra Firma, its private equity owner, according to the Financial Times today.
Guy Hands, chairman of Terra Firma, this week won the approval of 80 per cent of his investors to inject more of their money into EMI. Mr Hands bought EMI for £4.2bn in a deal that has become the poster child for the excesses of the buy-out bubble . "This is an exceptional vote of confidence in Terra Firma and in EMI," said Terra Firma.
The private equity group needed approval by three-quarters of investors to lift its stake in EMI to more than 30 per cent of the value of its last two funds.
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Jon Hopkins talks about working with Coldplay in new interview
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, June 12, 2010 - 09:00 AM (2344 Reads)
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 Viva la Vida collaborator Jon Hopkins was exclusively interviewed by Coldplayzone.it this week, in which he answers questions on working with Coldplay on their last album 'Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends'. The musician talks also about coming back to the studio, and his recent collaborations. You can discuss this latest interview here at the Coldplay forum [thanks coldpatrix]
Hello Jon! It's a real honour and a great pleasure for Coldplayzone to interview you. How are you?
Hello. Thanks very much, I'm well. I'm on my way back from a show I just had in Montreal which was very fun.
Coldplay's fans (I'm completely aware of what I'm saying, since I'm one of them) owe to you such many things, like the microcosm of ideas you developed during the production of 'Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends'. Your main music genre - electronic music – wasn't so related to the band's ideas in the early steps of their career. How much did the relationship with Brian Eno and the confidence of Chris and the rest of the band in your music skills influence the perfect fusion of such different sounds?
I think the band and Brian were looking to expand the palette of sounds they had become accustomed to using on their previous albums. They were interested in exploring different ways of working, and particularly in the idea of working with new musicians, to break up the routine of what they have become used to...
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Jon Hopkins Praises Coldplay's 'Experimental' Tastes
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, June 04, 2010 - 08:52 AM (2279 Reads)
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Classically trained musician Jon Hopkins is proof a modern composer can be esoteric and widely appealing at the same time.
A former child prodigy on piano, his first two releases were introspective, subtle and dreamlike, but over the last few years those qualities have been augmented by a deeper rhythmic expression. Hopkins attention to detailed, cinematic sonics caught the attention of Brian Eno, who introduced him to Coldplay when Eno produced 'Viva La Vida' two years ago. That led to a tour with the British band, and now Hopkins returns to North America on his own at Montreal's MUTEK festival on June 3.
Working with Coldplay came as a surprise, says Hopkins, though perhaps not a complete surprise, given Eno's golden Rolodex of experimental artists...
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Will Champion: EMI did not handle release of X&Y album well
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, June 03, 2010 - 09:56 AM (2482 Reads)
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In an extraordinary article in the Times Online this week, Coldplay's Will Champion has been giving an insight into the pressures exerted on the band by EMI during the X&Y era. You can discuss this article at the Coldplay forum here onwards. The rest of the article is an interesting read as well...
Read enough reports about EMI's current tribulations and it’s all too easy to imagine that EMI’s problems began when Hands took over. But the recorded-music industry has been suffering for years from falling sales, widespread piracy and free downloads. And much of the label’s £1.75 billion debt was accrued long before Hands took over. If Coldplay’s 2005 album X&Y sounded like the work of a nervous band, who could blame them? They were a group attempting to make an album, knowing that high up above them EMI Group plc was issuing profit warnings citing “late delivery of albums by ... Coldplay and Gorillaz” as a reason for underperformance in the 2004-05 financial year...
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How Coldplay saved the sound of leather on willow
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, June 02, 2010 - 10:26 AM (2281 Reads)
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 When a village side faced closure, they asked some famous locals for help. Simon Turnbull (Independent) talks about an unlikely alliance of rock and cricket...
The sun was not the only one with its hat on in the village known as "the Venice of the Cotswolds". By the gentle slopes of the River Windrush, a group of men with peacock-feathered head gear, blacked-up faces and red and green ribboned clothing were dancing up and down, banging their sticks and whooping.
It was, it transpired, Morris Dancing Day in Bourton-on-the-Water – to the obvious bemusement of one camcorder-toting Japanese tourist wearing a Chelsea strip. Life must be like that in this chocolate-box corner of the Cotswolds. You never quite know what you're going to get...
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Tim Wheeler talks about Ash's appearance in the 'Slashed' film
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, May 27, 2010 - 09:27 PM (3108 Reads)
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 Following yesterday's release of the 'Slashed' footage, Tim Wheeler tells Coldplay.com about their appearance in Ash's discarded film, which instead makes up the Alternative video to their new single. Here's the official interview:
Good afternoon. A few years ago, Chris and Jonny were persuaded to star in Slashed, a horror movie made on the road by Northern Irish band Ash. The film never saw the light of day and has since become the stuff of legend. But now, Ash have decided to use some of the footage for the video of their new single, Binary, which is out this week. We called up Ash's frontman Tim Wheeler to find out more about Slashed and Coldplay's role in it.
Hi Tim. How did Chris and Jonny come to be in Slashed?
We were on tour with Coldplay, doing a lot of support slots in America in 2002. When you're a support band, you've got a lot of free time, so we decided to make a slasher movie on the road. And then we kept meeting so many interesting people and getting them involved. It was kind of amazing how much fun we had and how many people wanted to join in on the action. Dave Grohl is in it too...
Note: Attention iPhone/Blackberry/Android/Nokia users! We're testing the forums through new mobile applications - help us with your feedback now!
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Latest reviews of Matt McGinn's new book - 'Roadie: My Life on the Road with Coldplay'
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, May 22, 2010 - 08:30 AM (2712 Reads)
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The first full fan reviews of Coldplay roadie Matt McGinn's forthcoming book are now available online as Coldplayers begin receiving their copies. The very latest discussion on the book release is at the Coldplay forum now. Here are the most recent reviews...
To say I was excited about reading this book would be an understatement, like any dedicated fan I love discovering little details about the inner workings of the band, whether it’s from an interview, backstage photos, a blog, or in this case a book...and I wasn’t disappointed. Born in South Devon and possessing a love of music to rival his extremely famous bosses, Matt manages to paint an honest and hilarious picture of life with the biggest band in the world, whilst remaining completely respectful to their private lives and desire to remain enigmatic...
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Hands Projects 58% Return to Win Backers for Coldplay label, EMI
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, May 05, 2010 - 08:01 AM (2220 Reads)
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Guy Hands’s Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd. is telling investors they could earn a rate of return of as much as 58 percent if they provide cash needed to keep lenders from seizing control of EMI Group Ltd, Business Week are reporting today. More discussion on this is at the Coldplay forum here onwards.
The projection includes any recovery of the original equity, which would probably be worthless without the new investment, according to a presentation Terra Firma sent its clients April 27. The firm needs to corral support from 75 percent of fund investors and inform Citigroup Inc., EMI’s lender, by May 14, according to the document.
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[Poll] Who or what will have the biggest influence on Coldplay's fifth album?
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, April 16, 2010 - 11:56 AM (2270 Reads)
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In our new poll, we're asking you to decide who or what will have the biggest influence on Coldplay's fifth album. You can vote for your choice at the poll on the left of the page. Based on previous interviews with the band and news articles on LP5, the shortlist is below. You can also comment on the poll at the Coldplay forum, and we will synch the frontpage/forum poll results later in the month. The best comments will be published with results soon...
Roadie #42 on the solar system: Frontman Chris Martin stunned his crew this week by asking them to build him a model solar system in the band's new studio. "Here in the studio, it's difficult, if not impossible to anticipate what's coming next and what you'll be asked for... it shouldn't really come as any surprise then, that within an hour of my first day back after South America, Chris comes up to me with the following: "I've got a little project for you". "I'm not sure whether to be excited or terrified", I reply. "I'd like you to build a solar system..."
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Round-up of latest reviews of Matt McGinn's new book - 'Roadie: My Life on the Road with Coldplay'
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, April 14, 2010 - 12:07 PM (3648 Reads)
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The first full reviews of Coldplay roadie Matt McGinn's forthcoming book are now available online. Many thanks to the publishers for allowing Coldplaying to review the full book ahead of its release next month. Here is the review from Coldplaying's admin, Jenjie :
As a Coldplay fan and an avid reader who'll try most genres, there was always a strong chance I was going to like 'Roadie'. Having said that, I have also read some pretty dreary autobiographies, which had promised to be interesting, so there was a chance I may hate it.
I knew from the moment I read the introduction that I was going to enjoy this book, and I wasn't disappointed. After all, a man who quotes one of my favourite scenes from 'Pretty Woman' can't be bad! Its not often a book makes me laugh out loud, but I did on more than one occasion. Matt's telling of a disagreement between Guy & Chris had me chuckling, and I could picture the scene in my head...
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The day the music died: Coldplay would not let EMI market Viva la Viva
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, April 04, 2010 - 09:49 AM (3781 Reads)
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He may look like just any other music-loving old hippy, but Guy Hands appears increasingly out of tune with EMI, for which he paid an astronomical £4.2 billion in August 2007, according to the Sunday Mail today.
Hands has already admitted that the company is now worth only about half that sum, making it one of the most disastrous private equity takeovers. He is, of course, trying to sue his backer on the deal, Citi, to save face on this foray. But it is his spectacular failure to achieve any of the major changes he thought were so desperately needed when he arrived at the music group that is even more telling.
But such a cement-boots approach saw the Rolling Stones and Radiohead walk out while Coldplay would not let EMI market their last album, according to the Mail. Paul McCartney is set to take his back catalogue elsewhere as might Queen. EMI has also just lost a court case against Pink Floyd so cannot sell individual tracks on the internet.
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Coldplay's former label boss talks about releasing the Brothers and Sisters EP
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, March 18, 2010 - 07:30 PM (2520 Reads)
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 Simon Williams is the founder of Fierce Panda records, the much-loved UK independent label which released Coldplay's Brothers & Sisters EP in April 1999. Coldplay.com called him up to chat about his memories of working with Coldplay. This interview comes a couple of days after it was announced on the official site that Coldplay's former label will release Goldheart Assembly's debut album.
Back in 1999, Coldplay released the Brothers & Sisters EP, via UK independent label Fierce Panda. The band have remained firm supporters of the label, and they've asked the official site to let you know about Wolves And Thieves, the terrific debut album by folk-rockers Goldheart Assembly, which is out on Fierce Panda this week. Click here for more information and a free download of a track from the album. Read on for the interview with Simon Williams...
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Rio De Janeiro: Guy Berryman speaks to Terra about touring and new album
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, March 01, 2010 - 01:15 PM (4835 Reads)
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Rio De Janeiro: Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman spoke with Brazilian music website, Terra, in the latest of Coldplay's Latin American interviews of 2010. Below is the roughly translated article of the Brazilian article found online. Guy confirms that Coldplay are hoping for a December release to their 'acoustic' fifth album, but if it doesn't appear by the end of the year then it won't be the first time a deadline has been extended. More discussion on this latest article is at the Coldplay forum now [thanks Iriden & marie/pims]
A room with walls behind the makeshift stage set up at Square Apotheosis sounds out of one of a mandolin. A cordon of security guards wearing black will not let anyone get close. Testing chords and improvising a song on the premises is the group formed by Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, Will Champion and Jonny Buckland.
Coldplay is in Rio de Janeiro for the first show of Viva La Vida tour in the country, which will go through Sao Paulo on Tuesday. Bassist Guy Berryman is scheduled to leave the room to chat with Terra. Displaying a friendly smile and an education worthy of the reputation of the United Kingdom, he spoke for twenty minutes on the tour, the band's future and the music industry...
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Abbey Road studios 'not for sale', says Coldplay label, EMI
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, February 21, 2010 - 05:49 PM (1963 Reads)
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Music group EMI has said it is not considering selling London's Abbey Road studios, according to various media outlets today. EMI released a statement saying the studios, made famous by a Beatles album, should stay under its ownership. EMI, which counts Robbie Williams and Coldplay among its artists, posted a £1.75bn loss for the year to March 2009 in accounts earlier this month.
EMI had been courting bidders for the property in St John's Wood, which it bought in 1929 for £100,000 and turned into one of the world's first custom-built recording studios, but have gone back on the decision. A sale could have raised tens of millions of pounds for the music group, which is looking to reduce the burden of debt following the 2007 buy-out by Terra Firma.
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Read reviews of Matt McGinn's new book - 'Roadie: My Life on the Road with Coldplay'
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, February 14, 2010 - 01:31 PM (5931 Reads)
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Ahead of the release later this year of a new Coldplay book entitled 'Roadie: My Life on the Road with Coldplay', written by roadie Matt McGinn, there are a couple of reviews written online by the likes of Waterstones and Amazon. The reviews are below and after the jump. You can also see the full page on Roadie by Matt mcGinn at WikiColdplay now, which includes the full cover image, publication details and the pre-publication teaser released by the official Coldplay site last year.
WATERSTONES: If it's true that behind every great man there is a great woman, then behind every great band, there's a similarly skilled road crew... this book is the backstage 'on the road' account of Matt McGinn's life as a roadie touring with a band at the pinnacle of their success. The book charts the life and duties of a rock and roll roadie for the band Coldplay, who has been with them right from the start of their career (as well as his).
"Roadie" will be the first, and only, biography and book of the band approved by Coldplay. It is an authoritative, engaging account of a roadie's life and duty to the biggest band in the world. It is an insightful and entertaining look at the rock and roll touring industry. This the first and only book blessed by Coldplay. It includes a foreword by Chris Martin (Coldplay), along with exclusive photography.
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Guy Berryman speaks to La W Radio Colombia
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, February 11, 2010 - 07:40 AM (4782 Reads)
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Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman spoke with La W Radio Colombia on the work of the band and the show that will bring Coldplay to Colombia. Below is the roughly translated article of the Colombian article found online. You can hear the full audio interview in the Multimedia forum here [thanks SueDeNimes]
Guy Berryman told The W that in terms of spectators in the world, Europe is a major public North America is a little louder, but definitely in Latin America are the most lively and noisy audience, so look forward to playing in our country. On his tour of Latin America and the show they bring to Colombia, the bassist of the British group said that our country will bring everything they have, all the songs, costumes and surprises of her world tour.
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Coldplay's success undermined by EMI's debt as label crashes £1.75bn into the red
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, February 08, 2010 - 01:03 PM (2474 Reads)
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EMI is the latest in a long line of businesses bought with junk-rated debt where the owners face pressure to surrender much or all of their investment to banks and other debt holders, according to private equity experts, reports the Guardian this week.
Terra Firma, the buyout owner behind the troubled music group home to Coldplay and Kylie Minogue, is asking fund investors to stump up an additional £105m to shore up this ill-fated business. Without this so-called "equity cure", buyout bosses will find themselves at the mercy of EMI's lending bank Citigroup — with whom they are already locked in bitter legal dispute.
Even if investors prove supportive, the cash injection is expected to buy EMI a grace period of about 12-months before tough decisions on restructuring the balance sheet have to be addressed.
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Brian Eno talks to The Observer about Coldplay
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - 08:35 AM (4307 Reads)
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When influential music website Pitchfork listed its 100 greatest albums of the 1970s – which in certain other lists is calculated to be the greatest decade for rock music – the modestly immodest, driven, musical non-musician Brian Eno was directly and indirectly involved in at least a quarter of them. He spoke to The Observer, in which he mentions his work with Coldplay on several occasions. Here is the excerpts from the interview, below...
He's worked with U2, and more recently, as if relishing the snobbish horror of those who dismiss U2 as pompous irritants, he's attended to another ambitious four-piece male rock group with delusions of splendour, Coldplay, producing their last multi-million selling album Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends and now, at the age of 61, finishing their next...
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Sammie Lee Smith 'lawsuit' - music fans around the world support Coldplay
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, January 18, 2010 - 09:20 AM (4842 Reads)
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 Music plagiarism is a big deal. It can ruin reputations and end careers. No one has learned the potential damages of such charges better over the last few months than Coldplay — the likes of Joe Satriani, Cat Stevens, a random singer-songwriter, an animator, and some relatively unknown indie band have all accused the group of ripping them off in one way or another. And now there’s another person throwing their hat in the "sue the pants off Coldplay" club.
As TMZ reports (via Rolling Stone), a man named Sammie Lee Smith has recorded 4,000 songs on some 100 tapes since 1976. Of those songs, he claims that “Yellow”, “Clocks”, and “Trouble” were ripped off from his plentiful back catalog. No one seems sure how the band 'came into contact' with Smith, but the lawsuit demands that the band cease playing these songs and that Mr. Smith receives an undisclosed but undoubtedly exuberant amount of money. So, there. Sammie does not say if any of his other 3,997 songs were ever stolen by anyone.
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Snow Patrol 'want to be as successful as Coldplay'
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, December 29, 2009 - 06:26 PM (2172 Reads)
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 Gary Lightbody has said that he wants to become as successful as Coldplay and U2 in the coming year. According to Contactmusic, the Snow Patrol frontman wants to build on the band's current popularity and take a step up to the next level in 2010. He said: "I see U2 in a class of their own, Coldplay in the next tier down and us and a ton of bands in the tier below them."
Although the group received an encouraging crowd response as last-minute headliners at this year's V Festival in Chelmsford after Oasis pulled out unexpectedly, Lightbody insisted that they still have a way to go before they can match the country's top-billing acts. He added: "I don't see them as equals. We need 10 or 15 more songs in the national consciousness for that to happen."
Meanwhile, if you missed the exclusive interview Snow Patrol gave Coldplay.com earlier this year while on tour with Coldplay, read on...
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UK: Coldplay ticket hike possible with latest Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, December 26, 2009 - 08:42 AM (2979 Reads)
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 Millions of music fans face higher concert prices after watchdogs yesterday cleared a £500million merger between booking agency Ticketmaster and promoter Live Nation, as we predicted back in October
The Competition Commission's decision comes two months after it warned the mega-deal would harm customers. The U-turn caps an embarrassing 48 hours for the quango after BAA won an appeal against an order to sell three of its airports.
In October, the Commission warned a marriage between Ticketmaster and Live Nation "could lead to higher prices and lower service quality". But, making its final decision, it said it had a change of heart following "significant new evidence and arguments". Ticketmaster and Live Nation - who have promoted concerts by Madonna (left), Coldplay and U2 - announced the planned merger in February.
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New exhibits in Coldplay's Exhibition Room now every day of the week
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, November 30, 2009 - 11:50 PM (3507 Reads)
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 You have to be in awe of the way Coldplay has been embracing social media, writes Bit Rebels. First they announced they were giving away their album, LeftRightLeftRightLeft via a free download. The next step was to give the album away to everyone who purchased a ticket and arrived at the show. A bonus to fans, since most had already downloaded the album, but who doesn’t like free CDs?
But their newest social media masterpiece is quite unique. It’s called the Exhibition Room and it proves to be a powerful social media tool for fans to get a chance to be noticed for their creativity by other fans.
Exhibits have been shown off on the front page of the Coldplay website, and will be displayed in the studio for band members to see. Now, due to its unprecedented success, the Exhibit Room is opening its doors to new exhibits seven days a week...
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Tim Wheeler (Ash): 'Chris Martin should be a comic'
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, November 16, 2009 - 10:10 AM (3818 Reads)
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 Chris Martin should be a comedy star, according to Ash frontman Tim Wheeler. The Coldplay singer has been urged by 'Goldfinger' rockers Ash to widen his career and seek acting roles after impressing them with his appearance in their unreleased horror movie 'Slashed'.
Ash singer Tim Wheeler said: "He was the best thing in it. He's a really, really good actor. He could be really strong in comedy."
Ash's 2001 movie also starred Foo Fighters' frontman Dave Grohl, 'Play' hitmaker Moby and actor James Nesbitt, with Chris appearing as Sherbert Bones, an FBI investigator hired to track down a supernatural serial killer alongside fellow agent Datsun Ford, played by his bandmate, guitarist Jonny Buckland.
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Interview with Nikki Rosetti, producer of Coldplay's Safety and Blue Room EPs
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, November 05, 2009 - 05:35 PM (3299 Reads)
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 Coldplayzone recently published an interview online with Nikki Rosetti, the producer of Coldplay's first releases - Safety EP and The Blue Room EP. Artist, musician and painter, Nikki, told them about her history with the band with delight and a touch of nostalgia: "I told everyone, 'watch out for this band, they're going to be huge", she said. Here is the interview article below:
You’ve been the producer of the two Coldplay opening musical publications, that is Safety EP and The Blue Room EP. That was the moment of the band birth and baptism. And you were there. How did you meet Chris, Jon, Guy and Will?
We were recommended to the band by friends of theirs. Most of the bands who came to us, did so by word of mouth or from record labels developing bands.
So you set to work at once. Was it hard? Was there enough material to work on or was everything under definition?
The songs were all written, although I recall all the band members trying out keyboard parts or harmonies and so forth. We recorded the basic tracks pretty much live, then overdubs that worked, were added, but very few. Some keyboard parts, vocals and harmonies, maybe some guitar. Getting Jonny's guitar effects set up right took some time...
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The Beatles cover Coldplay at a venue near you
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, November 05, 2009 - 06:46 AM (4412 Reads)
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 Forget the Rock Band video game, software is being developed that not only recreates Beatles performances, it allows the Fab Four to play other artists' music in their own style... which means you could be hearing a Beatles version of Coldplay songs in the near future!
Fancy some tickets to a live performance by the Beatles – with Jimi Hendrix on guitar? This could become a reality thanks to Zenph Studios, a North Carolina company that is developing software which not only recreates famous musicians' performances, it also learns the "DNA" of their style, letting them perform music that they never played before.
Zenph is best known for their "re-performances" of works by Glenn Gould, Art Tatum and Rachmaninov. On those albums, the company's software memorised the original musicians' performances and then recreated them on computerised pianos, in state-of-the-art recording studios...
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BBC America's online attack on 'uncreative' Coldplay
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, November 03, 2009 - 08:49 AM (2772 Reads)
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Last week, BBC America launched their own music section, Tunes From the Thames, and they've included several top 10 lists featuring the best of British pop music.
First thing they go and do? Launch a scathing attack on BBC's fellow coutrymen, Coldplay, whilst boringly comparing them with UK compatriots Radiohead. Never been done before, we're sure. Anyway, below is the article that will infuriate many Coldplay fans. Way to go, BBC America! You can discuss this at the Coldplay forum now.
The most potentially controversial list is the Top 10 Current British Artists in the U.S. After much hand-wringing, Coldplay and Radiohead were selected as our top two biggest UK artists. In that order. But that begs the question: should the imitator (Coldplay) really triumph over the originator (Radiohead)?
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Hollywood Today: Chris Martin predicts his death
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 - 08:25 PM (4596 Reads)
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 Posted on the forums a few days ago, here is a strange article from Hollywood Today focussing on alleged quotes by Chris Martin with respect to dying early and his Jim Morrisson comparisons. A morbid article, just in time for Halloween 2009!
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 10/25/09 — "I think I’ll die at 42", Chris Martin says about what he calls his number. Chris would sign his name ‘Jim Morrison‘ on his mails to me. Jim Morrison being the epitome of rock god, excess, mystic poetry as well as my favorite male rock star, who passed away at 27. I like him the way my imagination divies, tho he was a drunk, lewd and weird with his woman, I can overlook it as I didn’t have to really know him.
There’s no real comparsion between Chris and Jim beyond they are both very good at what they do. Chris signing his name Jim Morrison, was just one of his charms...
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Coldplay 'Peer Envy' hits former UCL college student (AKA failed potential syndrome)
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, October 26, 2009 - 09:05 PM (4853 Reads)
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 An interesting article on the subject of peer envy has been published today in the Daily Mail, from a college cohort of Coldplay's, way back when at University College London:
The Coldplay concert is what pushed me over the edge - standing in the middle of a 70,000-strong crowd who were all singing Yellow while giant sun-coloured balloons bounced on their heads. It was at that point I had something of a life crisis. If there's one thing that annoys me about Coldplay, it's not their dodgy lyrics, their maddening worthiness, or their homemade clothes - it's their success.
Their bona fide hanging out with world leaders and marrying Hollywood starlets success. You see, it could have been me. Well, not the whole musical genius, rock god stuff, but the high-achieving, general greatness. For once upon a time Coldplay and I were at college together. We started our adult lives knowing the same people, hanging out in the same grim Camden pubs and stalking the same library corridors...
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Coldplay, Black Eyed Peas and U2: Artists Unite For Apple's iPod
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, October 24, 2009 - 09:06 AM (3277 Reads)
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Think about this for a moment: The iPod is only eight years old. In less than a decade, Apple's portable music and media device has become an absolutely necessary part of modern life, writes MTV newsroom.
The first iPods hit the market on this day back in 2001, with five and 10 gigabyte versions available. The first iPods were hilarious looking, especially compared to current models. They used a clunky mechanical scroll wheel and weighed about ten pounds. They were so solid you could use them for masonry. But like all technology, the iPod evolved quickly.
The iPod (and by extension the iPhone) is now not only a music device but also a video player, gaming system, personal organizer, Web browser, messaging system, navigational tool and on and on. Last month, Apple introduced an iPod that has a capacity of 160 gigabytes, enough space to store over 53,000 songs.
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Flaming Lips talk about touring with Coldplay
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - 08:11 AM (4370 Reads)
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Flavorwire recently caught up with the Flaming Lips’ vocalist and master of ceremonies, Wayne Coyne, who amongst other things talked about touring with Coldplay.
The punk-rock born, experimentally-evolved band The Flaming Lips have created a new pinnacle in their psychedelic rock endeavors this week with the release of their twelfth studio album Embryonic. With a strong cult following after albums such as The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, the hard-core followers (not me, by the way) felt the band was on a course for pop-alternative sounds and a routine stage performance with their 2006 release of At War with the Mystics...
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A look back at the Strawberry Swing video, and the late Gideon Baws
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, October 19, 2009 - 01:10 PM (4480 Reads)
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 Last week at the UK Music Video Awards Strawberry Swing gained an impressive three category wins, including the coveted Video of the Year, writes Animation Blog. Downloaded already by nearly one million YouTube browsers, the fact that it is the latest official video for Coldplay helps of course. Here is Animation Blog's online article, from the perspective of the unjaundiced eye reviewing the best of world animation:
But we focus on the movies here. A mix of stop motion and live action, the video features the lead singer cast in the role as super hero intent on saving a drowning lady. Off he leaps into the air in a desperate attempt to save the day, beating biplane, hitch-hiking clouds, using his umbrella both to fend off missiles from a dastardly giant squirrel as well as elude the attentions of an equally massive catfish...
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Coldplay gig tickets could cost more with Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, October 09, 2009 - 01:02 PM (3721 Reads)
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Millions of music fans may face dearer concert tickets if a mega-merger is allowed, watchdogs warned yesterday. The Competition Commission wants to scupper a £500million tie-up between booking agency Ticketmaster and promoter Live Nation.
It is powerless to block the deal as both businesses are based in the US. But, fearing the move may get the go-ahead from American authorities, it yesterday revealed ways to limit its power in the UK. Options include forcing bosses to split or sell UK arms or make them flog tickets through rivals. World No.1 Ticketmaster has 50% of the UK market, with nearest rival See Tickets about 20%. Last year Germany's CTS, the global No.2, announced it wanted to expand in the UK. But that is unlikely if the Ticketmaster deal goes ahead, with the Commission saying: "It could lead to higher prices and lower service quality."
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London fan reviews & photos (part 10): Coldplay at Wembley - Friday 18th September 2009 (feat. COLDPLAYERS!)
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, October 06, 2009 - 11:40 PM (3304 Reads)
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 We are now on to part TEN (knew you guys had it in you!) of the Wembley fan reviews, this time with stories from Coldplay's first concert on Friday 18th September. Some great reviews of the two Wembley shows have so far been published at the Coldplay Live forum with still more being added. Thanks to all the Coldplayers who have contributed with tweets, pictures, videos, reviews and of course masses of discussion so far. You can browse the 18th Wembley thread at this thread (all 118 pages of it!) Please add your comments if you have something to say about the show. So, here is the promised TENTH edition, and to celebrate double figures all the photos will feature the Coldplayers!
Ok, so I know it's almost a week late and maybe the wiki page is full of insightful reviews, but well, you cant' stop my fingers from typing! For this show I chose to sit and be able to relax before the show (the "chicken&chips" though pricey were yummy) and be able to have a beer. And thank God I could go and hide in the bathroom for most of Girls Aloud. I'd never heard or seen White Lies before this, but they were great; I came home and bought the album! So CP gets the points they lost by having GA open by introducing me to WL. JayZ..... I'm not a hiphop fan AT ALL, but by the end I was bouncing along with the rest of the crowd...he really has a gift for getting everyone into it. GA was terrible terrible, as you could tell from my tweets. The only reason I can come up with why they were chosen is that when it came time to set up this gig, the guys had been on tour for a while and were horny as heck, so first girls they saw, Chris was like--BOOK 'EM'!
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The Simpsons on health kick in time for Coldplay! (plus more 19th Wembley photos)
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, October 05, 2009 - 07:45 PM (3725 Reads)
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 Cartoon character Homer Simpson from the TV show 'The Simpsons' will soon be turned to an icon inspiring the British to fight obesity. The Department of Health has decided to promote the beer-loving, doughnut-munching idler as the new face of healthy eating.
The 'DoH' will be sponsoring episodes of the hit show to make Brits improve their diet. The central characters in the show-Homer, Bart, Marge and the rest of the cartoon family-will apparently be seen sitting on the sofa with junk food placed in front of them, at the start of each episode. Next, the food vanishes and gets replaced by nutritious fruit and vegetables.
As recently announced online Coldplay has been announced as special guests on the 20th anniversary episode of The Simpsons. According to Coldplay.com, the episode will air on January 14th, 2010. An earlier report by RollingStone.com suggested that in the episode, Homer Simpson hires the band to play privately for him and Bart after he wins the lottery -- with the band having to stop their performance while Bart goes to the bathroom.
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London fan reviews & photos (part 9): Coldplay at Wembley - Saturday 19th September 2009
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, October 05, 2009 - 05:05 PM (2487 Reads)
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 We are now on to part nine (we'll reach double figures if it kills us!) of the Wembley fan reviews, continuing with more stories from Coldplay's concert on Saturday 19th September. Some great reviews of the two Wembley shows have so far been published at the Coldplay Live forum with still more being added. Thanks to all the Coldplayers who have contributed with tweets, pictures, videos, reviews and of course masses of discussion so far. Please add your reviews to this thread (now a whopping 390 pages!) if you have something to say about the show. So, here is the promised ninth edition:
Saturday was the better of the two nights IMO. The crowd was up for it! Rain, who cares. Bring it on because everyone was there to party. After breakfast we all stashed our junk in Chris' room at the hotel and went to queue. Can I just say how frickin awesome Chris was this whole weekend. He was running about and doing stuff for us all the time. Such a sweetie. Mich had to get to tickets, so we all split up agian til we could find out our gate. I was worried because our gate ended up being about as far from Jonny as we could get, but the crew running our gate was top notch and we got in really fast, ran....sorry we walked fast ....to the front row in front of Jonny. Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. White Lies played a nice set again. He's still pretty...
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[Reminder] IQ Mag: Life, Death & Butterflies - Coldplay tour momento (free PDF online!)
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, October 05, 2009 - 09:05 AM (4009 Reads)
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The Viva La Vida tour may be over for 2009 but IQ magazine’s December issue is still available in a free PDF format if you haven't already seen it (or lost it on your hard drive!) and contains a world exclusive behind the scene report on the early stages of Coldplay’s World Tour, entitled Life, Death And Butterflies. To save the online magazine, right click then save as here. You can also get the previous versions of the magazine (issues 1-20 also online here). Here's the synopsis of the Coldplay article:
Life, Death & Butterflies is a 16-page feature chronicling the Viva la Vida tour, sanctioned by Coldplay’s management and published by international live music business magazine IQ. Including exclusive interviews with management, key production personnel, booking agents, promoters and suppliers, it tells the inside story of how the tour was put together, what makes it tick and just what makes it such an original and ground-breaking production. This issue of IQ also includes an exclusive interview with Glastonbury festival founder Michael Eavis, as well as a roundup of the live music business in 2008.
You can discuss this exclusive World Tour Coverage article at the Coldplay forum here [thanks Terry]
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Viva la legal abuse - have music 'rights' gone too far? (plus more Wembley 19th photos)
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, October 03, 2009 - 08:35 AM (3742 Reads)
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 Here is a nicely written article by Statepress thankful that the whole Coldplay/Satriani plagiarism episode is over...
On Dec. 4, 2008, fusion rocker Joe Satriani filed a lawsuit against the collective members of Coldplay for copyright infringement in the band’s song “Viva la Vida.” Coldplay’s hit allegedly stole “substantial, original portions” from Satriani’s 2004 release, “If I Could Fly,” a musical love letter written for his wife. What Satriani dramatized as a blatant act of musical burglary was little more than a musical coincidence. True, both songs use a similar chord progression, but the melodies in question share little more than an opening motif.
He claimed to have suffered “substantial damage to his professional reputation … as well as losses in an amount not yet ascertained.” A listener of both artists, I was particularly curious to know what of Satriani’s underground fusion compositions made its way onto the radio by way of Coldplay. Once familiarized with both songs, I was disappointed...
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London fan reviews & photos (part 8): Coldplay at Wembley - Saturday 19th September 2009
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, October 02, 2009 - 04:30 PM (3261 Reads)
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 We are now on to part eight (still some reviews not yet featured - maybe another two parts to come) of the Wembley fan reviews, continuing with more stories from Coldplay's concert on Saturday 19th September. Some great reviews of the two Wembley shows have so far been published at the Coldplay Live forum with still more being added. Tthanks to all the Coldplayers who have contributed with tweets, pictures, videos, reviews and of course masses of discussion so far, and are continuing to do so. Please add your reviews to this thread (now a whopping 388 pages!) if you have something to say about the show. So, here is the promised eighth edition:
Hello Coldplayers! Excuse me being a bit late to post my thoughts on the gig... it took me two days for the reality to sink in that I was even there, the whole thing was like a really surreal dream!! Sorry if this is a bit long... I got a little carried away! Sat night was my 2nd Coldplay gig ever (having seen them in Dec last year on the UK leg of the Viva Tour) and I have to say out of the two this was definitely the best. It was just incredible... I feel so lucky to have been there on the last gig of the Viva Era. It was the first time I've gone to Wembley, and I have to say, when I first got their and walked down the steps I was overwhelmed by the enormity of it. It really is massive...
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Jim Kerr's (Simple Minds) advice to Coldplay: "Don't Split Up"
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, September 30, 2009 - 12:50 PM (4906 Reads)
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 As Coldplaying reported last year, Coldplay were guests at Villa Angela in Taormina, residence of Jim Kerr, lead singer of Simple Minds. Coldplay had returned to the region where they previously played to 2000 people in concert in Misterbianco, in the province of Catania to film the video for Violet Hill in 2008, according to La Sicilia, the Italian newspaper.
In the last few days, the Scottish Daily Record have reported that Jim became personal adviser to Chris Martin during the stay at his Villa Angela hotel.
"I hadn't met Chris before," said Jim. "He bounded over and said, 'Jim, you've been around the block a few times. Any advice?' "I thought he was taking the piss. So I said, 'Why are you asking me? You're the biggest band on the planet.' But he said there must be some advice I could give. I thought they were probably sick of each other and knackered so I told him, 'Don't split up.' Chris looked at me, seemed to take it in and said, 'That's a good idea.' "
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Manchester fan reviews and photos (part 2): Coldplay at LCCC (12th September 2009)
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, September 27, 2009 - 05:05 PM (2832 Reads)
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 Going back a couple of weeks, there have been some exceptional reviews and photos of the Coldplay concert at Lancashire County Cricket Club on the 12th September 2009, posted at the Coldplay Live forum. Here is the second part of the Manchester fan reviews. The first part was published a few days after the concert. There will be another episode soon. Pictures below are by Jayzo...
Gig was incredible!! Was right by the C-stage and they ran straight past us. That Jackie security woman was manic, she is pretty f*cking scary! She was barking orders around at everyone. We got pushed forward just before Jay Z while they roped at bit of space off next to the c-stage but we stayed close to the barrier and the three songs they played there were fabulous. The audio wasn't great, Chris sounded so quiet but Will doing the high parts of Billie Jean more than made up for it. They all looked like they were really enjoying themselves up there, laughing and smiling and Chris looked quite cheeky and mischievous. Him singing Trouble to Will was awww cute. [thanks squareone13]
Note: If you missed Coldplay's session on Jo Whiley's Radio 1 Live Lounge, you can find download links here to the interview, acoustic songs and Glasgow concert [thanks Lore, Jdeuceiswild, coldplay12, squareone13 & mattaio26] |
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London fan reviews & photos (part 7): Coldplay at Wembley - Saturday 19th September 2009
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, September 26, 2009 - 06:50 PM (2973 Reads)
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 We are now on to part seven (still plenty of reviews yet to be featured!) of the Wembley fan reviews, continuing with more stories from Coldplay's concert on Saturday 19th September. Some great reviews of the two Wembley shows have so far been published at the Coldplay Live forum with still more being added. Tthanks to all the Coldplayers who have contributed with tweets, pictures, videos, reviews and of course masses of discussion so far, and are continuing to do so. Please add your reviews to this thread (now a whopping 386 pages!) if you have something to say about the show. So, here is the promised seventh edition:
I had a brilliant first ever gig, and the whole experience was one I'll never forget. Yes, my feet, legs, back and even my jaw were in extreme pain, but that was never going to ruin a perfect evening, even I predicted and welcomed the heavy rain. Sadly we had to leave our spot to the left of the stage jetty thingy near the corner (looking at it) just before LiJ, and I missed the butterfly shower We then left the stadium for our last train home just after LiJ and heard Death and All his Friends while walking around to Wembley Way. I was really sad we had to leave early but my friends weren't prepared to sleep on the platform at Charing Cross, whereas I was pretty much prepared to Hopefully I'll go again on the next tour, can't wait! [thanks JamesR2]
Note: If you missed Coldplay's session on Jo Whiley's Radio 1 Live Lounge, you can find download links here to the interview, acoustic songs and Glasgow concert [thanks Lore, Jdeuceiswild, coldplay12, squareone13 & mattaio26] |
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London fan reviews & photos (part 6): Coldplay at Wembley - Saturday 19th September 2009
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, September 25, 2009 - 10:05 AM (3384 Reads)
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 We are now on to part six (of how many, who knows!) of the Wembley fan reviews, continuing with more stories from Coldplay's concert on Saturday 19th September. Excellent reviews of the two Wembley shows continue to be posted at the Coldplay Live forum. Once again, thanks to all the Coldplayers who have contributed with tweets, pictures, videos, reviews and of course masses of discussion so far, and are continuing to do so. Please add your reviews to this thread if you have something to say about the show! Here is the sixth edition:
Just got back from a brilliant weekend in london! Friday night me and the girlfriend went for a few drinks and then a walk around Wembley while the concert was on we had a listen outside! Saw 2 Coldplayers who were queuing at 9pm for the saturday show, thats insane, 2 girls it was not sure who it was on here?
And we also spoke to a sweedish guy called Henry? His friends had gone to see Coldplay and left him outside with there suitcases bless him!
Then at the end of the concert we were outside the entrance or exit and all the traffic was stopped coldplay finished and a car came immediatley speeding out asuming it had Chris martin in it but dont know what happened to the rest of the band Saturday night was just awesome, didnt get to the stadium till bout 7.30pm but caught the end of Jay Z, he really was amazing but Coldplay came on and were even better Chris didnt seem his usual self to me though he looked either ill or very very tired! [thanks Liam]
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IQ Mag: Life, Death & Butterflies - Coldplay tour momento (free PDF online!)
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, September 25, 2009 - 09:17 AM (4090 Reads)
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The Viva La Vida tour may be over for 2009 but IQ magazine’s December issue is still available in a free PDF format if you haven't already seen it (or lost it on your hard drive!) and contains a world exclusive behind the scene report on the early stages of Coldplay’s World Tour, entitled Life, Death And Butterflies. To save the online magazine, right click then save as here. You can also get the previous versions of the magazine (issues 1-20 also online here). Here's the synopsis of the Coldplay article:
Life, Death & Butterflies is a 16-page feature chronicling the Viva la Vida tour, sanctioned by Coldplay’s management and published by international live music business magazine IQ. Including exclusive interviews with management, key production personnel, booking agents, promoters and suppliers, it tells the inside story of how the tour was put together, what makes it tick and just what makes it such an original and ground-breaking production. This issue of IQ also includes an exclusive interview with Glastonbury festival founder Michael Eavis, as well as a roundup of the live music business in 2008.
You can discuss this exclusive World Tour Coverage article at the Coldplay forum here [thanks Terry]
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London fan reviews & photos (part 5): Coldplay at Wembley - Saturday 19th September 2009
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, September 24, 2009 - 09:20 PM (2852 Reads)
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 Here is the fifth part of the Wembley fan reviews, continuing with stories from the Coldplay concert on Saturday 19th September. Excellent reviews of the two Wembley shows continue to be posted at the Coldplay Live forum. Thanks to all the Coldplayers who have contributed with tweets, pictures, videos, reviews and of course masses of discussion so far! Here's said fifth episode:
I thought I’d start writing this already, otherwise all the ‘fresh-ness’ of the post-concert would fade (even though I’m only doing 2 days later coz was way too knackered to do it before). Things started on the 18th, when Chelsea and I decided to go to the stadium to check out queues, entrances and even got listen to most of the 18th concert from outside the stadium. We had then decided that we were spending the night and Semy joined us. In the end, with everyone leaving Wembley and the place getting quite deserted we changed our minds and went home - we could all do with a little sleep and an early trip back to the stadium the next day - we knew it was going to be a loooong day...
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London fan reviews & photos (part 4): Coldplay at Wembley - Saturday 19th September 2009
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, September 24, 2009 - 04:57 PM (2174 Reads)
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Most of the Coldplayers who attended the Wembley shows have now returned home, and plenty of fantastic reviews of the two shows continue to be posted at the Coldplay Live forum. Here is the fourth part of the Wembley fan reviews, focusing on fan reviews of the Coldplay concert on Saturday 19th September. Thanks to each and everyone of you who has contributed with tweets, pictures, videos, reviews and of course masses of discussion so far!
Just thought I'd pop in and say last night was AMAZING. White Lies and Girls Aloud were great. I managed to shout 'Oh my god you are so fit!' while Nicola Roberts was talking to the audience, got a laugh but not sure she heard me Jay-Z was sensational, I got to see him at Glastonbury Festival last year so I expected it to be awesome, but I didn't expect it to be better! Good to see everyone in standing near the front (where I was) throwing up diamonds for the great HOVA. So yeah, Coldplay. Wow. It was amazing. The last time I saw them was at Earl's Court in 2005 and shiiiiit they have upped their game. Very tight set, no technical hitches as I have been hearing of recently. Good effort. The rain was a godsend, it was so hot just before and it added to the atmosphere! COOL. Ok, ummm I'm not sure if any of that made sense but I just wanted to put my thoughts up on here for all to see. Ooooh yeah and after the gig I saw a few Coldplayers in their yellow t-shirts, was too shy to go up and say hi though. Anyway, ciao for noooow.. [thanks - DAN -]
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London fan reviews & photos (part 3): Coldplay at Wembley - Friday 18th September 2009
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, September 24, 2009 - 10:15 AM (3421 Reads)
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 As Coldplayers who attended the Wembley shows return home, more comprehensive fan reviews of the two shows continue to be posted at the Coldplay Live forum. Here is the third part of the Wembley fan reviews, focusing on the early reviews posted of the Coldplay concert on Friday 18th September (more reviews needed for this show!):
After seeing Coldplay 5 times (Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Nijmegen, Nijmegen) the first Wembley show was the big finale of this tour for me. I wanted to get there as early as possible and I managed to get there at about 11.00. By then, there were ~25 people and the wait began. The weather was good, there were toilets and food nearby, so the wait wasn't even so hard! There were a couple of Coldplayers with Coldplaying t-shirts in the queue, but not much and I had no idea who they were.
At 15.30 everybody suddenly stood up and lots of people who were sitting behind me suddenly now stood before me. When the gates opened and we walked/ran towards the far right gates, I was one of the first to get through (don't know what happened to the people who were going to the left, as I was one of the first to enter the field). We started running down the stairs, were told to slow down, slowed down, but when we saw people coming from the other side, we started running again and all three of us made it first row (again!)...
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South Bank Show review: Chris Martin drinks Vodka & Cranberry as punishment for sacking Will
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - 10:10 AM (5328 Reads)
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 As we reported back in May and Mid-June, Coldplay were featured in a documentary last Sunday for the South Bank Show. In case you missed it or want to watch it again, you can see the full episode in five parts via YouTube, and you can also find download links via filesharing sites here, at the Multimedia forum. Here's a recap of the documentary:
Chris Martin abides by the bizarre ritual which stems from an incident in the group’s early days when his bandmates punished him for sacking their drummer Will Champion by making him get drunk - Chris Martin forces himself to drink vodka to remind himself “not to be an idiot”.
During the South Bank Show, Chris said: "It started when I had to ask forgiveness for sacking our drummer Will about 10 years ago. Three days later the rest of us were feeling really miserable and we asked Will to meet me and out bassist Guy Berryman in Monkey Chews, a bar in Camden, London, where we asked him to come back. They made me have lots of vodka and cranberry juice in remembrance of what a nasty piece of work I was being. Now if I find myself making a big mistake I have to force myself to drink that stuff to remind me not to be such an idiot!"
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London fan reviews (part 2): Coldplay reach end of gruelling tour schedule at Wembley
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, September 21, 2009 - 08:44 PM (2336 Reads)
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As Coldplayers who attended the Wembley shows return home, more comprehensive fan reviews of the two shows continue to be posted at the Coldplay Live forum. Here is the second part of the Wembley fan reviews, focusing on the early reviews posted of the Coldplay concert on Saturday 19th September:
I’ve waited SO long and endured many miles to make it to Wembley and write this review, my first but one of Coldplaying’s last reviews for their concert threads, so I was very eager to get inside. I turned to be the first person to take a seat in my section as the usher had so kindly noted to me. And I looked forward to giving a not-as-common re-“view from the top” specifically section 510 – way at the back of the stadium…or as Chris put it last night “People in another time zone”.
I know a lot of the reviews for concerts (or at least it seems to me ) are of people at the floor level (which I imagine is an incredible experience! – being among the energy of so many in such close proximity to the band and being able to see what goes on with them on the side stage). But I was SO pleasantly surprised and just as energized from my, as you’d say in America, “nosebleed section”…which was ever so slightly to the right of center but gave an excellent overview of the massive stagework...
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London review 3: Cheers for Coldplay (and Jay-Z) in Wembley balloon finale (new pictures)
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, September 21, 2009 - 12:47 PM (6728 Reads)
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Only a serious success story could book as their support act a man who is currently number one all over the world, writes the London Evening Standard today.
Jay-Z, the biggest rapper of the day, willingly played second fiddle to a bunch of "posh boys" (as South Bank Show put it) as they concluded a 15-month world tour, ending up rolling around in a manly embrace with Coldplay’s Chris Martin after their unlikely duet, Lost! This odd couple proved something we’ve known for some time: everybody loves Coldplay.
At Wembley, even those who once thought them bedwetters would have been forced to admit there were teeth to the hurtling riff of Glass Of Water, and a power to Will Champion’s drums on Clocks that could be felt internally.
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London fan reviews (part 1): Coldplay end Viva tour with a bang
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, September 21, 2009 - 09:51 AM (3297 Reads)
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As more and more Coldplayers who attended the Wembley shows return home, some excellent (and varied) fan reviews of the shows have been posted at the Coldplay Live forum. Here is the first part (of many I'm sure) of the reviews, starting with Coldplay on Friday 18th September:
Went to Wembley on the 18th. A good deal of the crowd were leaving before the end and it was a sign that it was only an OK concert. There lots of pauses and not enough energy ( and a backing track for keyboards sometimes). And 90 minutes? I think we deserve better/more than that. I thought the boys were a bit self indulgent - it's for the fans after all - and we didn't pay to see Simon Pegg, even though I like him. CP don't need support acts, we just need to see more of them. Maybe the big venue didn't help. [thanks danm]
^ Were you standing or seated? I was standing about 30 rows from the front in the centre and I thought the atmosphere was fantastic. The crowd around me knew most, if not all of the songs and were singing loudly. I'm seated tonight and expect a different sort of atmosphere. I noticed early on that most were sitting on their seats until the usual favourite songs were played. I reckoned it was 1hr 50m but I've paid the same price to see 90 minutes of a turgid Premiership football game and do you think those players care about the fans? The fact that the band trekked near the back of the stadium (for the Simon Pegg segment) and utilise the side stage (right stage from our standing position for God Put a Smile/Talk mix, Hardest Part) suggests that at least they made an effort. [thanks mingymoo]
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London review 2: Coldplay mix it up in style (plus yet more 19th C-stage photos)
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, September 21, 2009 - 09:24 AM (4016 Reads)
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 Coldplay's previous two albums were hyped as experimental and challenging, yet beneath the odd tweak the results were more of the same: soaring anthems full of ardent but vaguely directed emotions, phrased by English ex-public schoolboys torn between high romanticism and reserve, writes the Financial Times today.
However, the quartet's desire to mix it up finally paid off at Friday's triumphant Wembley Stadium show, the first of two nights at the 70,000-capacity venue. Not only did Chris Martin and co play a blistering set, but they also had as support acts the magnificently unlikely pairing of Britain's most popular girl group Girls Aloud and the world's most successful rapper Jay-Z. "Not bad for four posh boys from Devon," as Martin dryly remarked.
First up were the five non-posh young women of Girls Aloud, sporting bright mini-dresses, high heels, hair extensions and glowing tans, like Top Shop Cleopatras.
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Warming up to Coldplay (Ireland article, plus new Wembley photos)
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, September 19, 2009 - 07:45 AM (2747 Reads)
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Hate him if you like, but at least Chris Martin has the good grace to bash out a decent tune and keep us entertained with his antics, says Ed Power of independent.ie. Why does everybody hate Chris? Say what you like about his band's faintly antiseptic music, but the Coldplay frontman seems a decent enough sort (albeit with a whiff of the batty yoga instructor about him).
And yet, if asked which rock star we'd most like to smack on the nose, a sizable majority of us would walk right past Bono, Brandon Flowers and Johnny Borrell and plump for the softly spoken singer. What is it about Martin and his nice, middle-class Coldplay chums that stirs in us such violent thoughts?
"Are we hurt when critics use Coldplay to mean something derogatory?" the band's bassist Guy Berryman asked last year, clearly flummoxed by all the vitriol flowing in the group's direction. "Of course. I think the reason was that we became so successful so quickly. That's what made people want to have a go. In this game you've got to be thick skinned, because, if you do well, you'll have those who want to bring you down."
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Dublin review: 'Rush of blood' as Coldplay hit Phoenix Park
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, September 16, 2009 - 05:52 PM (3987 Reads)
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Coldplay put a smile upon the faces of 40,000 fans last night when they rocked Dublin's Phoenix Park, writes The Independent (Ireland). The thoughts of work this morning didn't stop the fans from partying for the final week of the band's Viva la Vida tour, which started in June 2008.
But there was no sign of Coldplay slowing down for the 156th date of their gruelling schedule. And there was no downpour, much to the relief of revellers who descended on the open air venue from 5pm yesterday. Tickets didn't sell out for the show -- a sign of the times -- as it's only nine months since the band sold out two nights at the O2. Hordes of people who couldn't afford the price of €82.85 for tickets enjoyed the music through the trees and some even had a barbecue.
There was a festival feel to the event as Coldplay fans tucked into pizza and beer and sat down on the grass before the main act appeared. Sisters Aisling and Neasa Kelly from Carlow were among the Coldplay fans who hurried out of work to the Ashtown Castle section of the Phoenix Park for the gig. "I'm so excited said Aisling, I've seen Coldplay in December in the O2. They were amazing then. They were so good that I had to come back and see them again."
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Manchester review 4: Coldplay bring variety to Old Trafford
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, September 16, 2009 - 06:00 AM (3329 Reads)
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 Liverpool Confidential's Jonathan Schofield had a good sing-along to classic tunes during Coldplay’s gig at Old Trafford Cricket Ground. “Billie Jean is not my lover,” we caterwauled, “she's just a girl who claims that I am the one. But the kid is not my son.”
Given the lyric was from the late Michael Jackson this was an eminently believable statement. More believable than nice Mr Chris Martin ever going for anybody called Billie Jean. “La, la, la, la. People always told me be careful of what you do. And don't go around breaking young girls' hearts,” we crooned drawing in the words as though they carried the wisdom of ages. “Do you think they could go back to playing Coldplay songs?” someone behind me asked. “You’d hope so,” her friend replied, and then sang, “But the kid is not my son.”
Coldplay were full of little tricks. For the ‘Billie Jean’ cover, and Michael Jackson tribute, they’d come right into the heart of the 55k crowd for an intimate acoustic set. Earlier front man Chris Martin had said: “We know you had to miss the X-Factor tonight so we thought we’d stage our own version.” He got us to sing the chorus of the band’s first hit, ‘Yellow’.
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Manchester review 3: Coldplay and Jay Z at Old Trafford
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, September 14, 2009 - 11:13 PM (3652 Reads)
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Jay Z showed steely confidence while Chris Martin turned personal anxieties into communal prayers at the Coldplay gig at Old Trafford
For the opening night of Coldplay’s live return to the UK it was hard to know what was more incongruous: the cloudless blue Manchester sky or the booming rap music vibrating across the open pitch of Old Trafford. Denied a part in the Ashes, the cricket ground was perhaps determined to prove it was still a fine place for a celebration, just as American rapper Jay Z was determined to prove he could play to a crowd of 50,000 Coldplay fans, The Telegraph writes tonight. The latest on the Manchester concert, inlcuding a mini-review from Debs Wild, is at the Coldplay forum here onwards.
The street hustler from Brooklyn and the choirboy from Exeter may make an odd couple, but Shawn Carter and Chris Martin clearly have more in common than their glossy A-list wives. Both are ambitious, multi-grammy award winners with a strong belief in engaging in public debate and protecting their private lives.
Following a brief retirement, Carter, 39, has been revitalised by both his triumphant headline slot at Glastonbury last year and the election of America’s first black President. With a new album out this week, his mission now seems to be foreign diplomacy on a mass scale – proving that rap can triumph on any stage.
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Manchester review 2: Coldplay/Jay-Z at Lancashire Cricket Ground (12th Sept)
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, September 14, 2009 - 12:05 PM (2023 Reads)
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 They may be one of the most successful bands in the world, but Coldplay still really, really want us to love them. Playing their first and biggest British date of 2009 to more than 50,000 people, the singer Chris Martin and his fellow Fair Trade rockers deployed every weapon in their arsenal, from fireworks to flattery, and from Simon Cowell to Jay-Z, writes The Times Online.
Four emphatically English public schoolboys touring with a Brooklyn-born gangsta-rap mogul may seem incongruous, but there are parallels. Martin and Jay-Z are friends and collaborators, but also both canny populists who recognise the crossover marketing potential of a shared fan base. The rap superstar was in likeably laconic mood on Saturday, playing the hip-hop Sinatra over live horns and jazzy guitars. In leather jacket and shades, he paid wonderfully deadpan homage to Coldplay: “Quite small guys ... the singer’s OK.” Ever the diplomat, he politely neglected to say that there appeared to be more black people on stage than in the audience.
More than a decade into their career, with their fourth album Viva la Vida nudging eight million sales, Coldplay have finally figured out how to work within their limitations. They know that their clean-living, nice-guy image and carbon-neutral stadium-pop scores low on the Richter scale of raunchy rock-star excitement. But their current presentation of it is a dazzling, dynamic, imaginative spectacle, which smartly leaves little room to dwell on the substance of their songs.
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Coldplay drummer Will Champion talks about touring, The Simpsons and sewing
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, September 14, 2009 - 10:25 AM (3233 Reads)
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Coldplay drummer Will Champion recently sat down with Matt Donnelly at The Daily Free Press for an interview. Will, who normally takes a back seat to band Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, says it's a big job to keep the energy going from one tour stop to the next.
"I think it’s easy to become a bit jaded when you’re on the road, but ultimately, it’s our dream job to play music," Champion says. "I think you have to imagine that there’s someone in the audience who’s probably seeing this for the first time. I don’t think that we ever take our audience for granted, and we know that we want to give everyone as good a time as possible."
As far as the band's upcoming appearance on The Simpsons, Champion says its been a long time coming. "We actually went to a read-through for an episode about seven years ago. We were staying in Los Angeles and... just went down and had a listen, while all the actors were reading their lines, and we were just blown away that we were even there. From then, we just thought it would be amazing to make it on an episode. It’s definitely one of those moments where you have to pinch yourself. It’s been around for so long."
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Manchester preview: Coldplay aiming to bring summer to a close in style
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, September 11, 2009 - 04:40 PM (1828 Reads)
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Well, here is it is then, the last big outdoor gig of the summer. Oasis were both ramshackle and resurgent at Heaton Park (the last time we’ll see them? I’m not so sure…), while Doves positively shimmered at Delamere, writes the Manchester Evening News tonight. [thanks mrman78]
But undoubtedly the most innovative, awe-inspiring and just plain joyous outdoor gigs of yet another meagre summer came from Take That and their sold out run at Old Trafford. Bursting – centre stage – from a flurry of airborne balloons, Mark, Gary, Howard and Jason showed just why they’re just about the hottest ticket in the country at the moment. Could they’re comeback have gone any better? Quite simply the answer is no.
Hoping to harness the quartet’s ability to make a 50,000-capacity (and tired looking cricket ground) feel spectacular, yet intimate this Saturday will be Coldplay. And let’s face it, with a major label and humungous ticket sales behind them, no corners will be cut. Their arena tour, which took fourth LP, Viva La Vida, to the people last winter showed early inklings of what they had planned too.
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Catching up with Coldplay (Will Champion interview)
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, September 10, 2009 - 03:11 PM (2683 Reads)
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Back in August, MUSE reporter Matt Donnelly sat down with Coldplay drummer Will Champion before they returned to Boston for their 2008/2009 Viva La Vida tour to discuss keeping energy up on tour, working with U2’s go-to producer Brian Eno and The Simpsons.
The MUSE: You’ve been touring for more than a year now and have been all over the world. You’ve only got a couple of months left and you’re in the-middle of-nowhere, Massachusetts. How do you keep your energy up?
Will Champion: I think you have to imagine that there’s someone in the audience who’s probably seeing this for the first time. I don’t think that we ever take our audience for granted, and we know that we want to give everyone as good a time as possible. I think it’s easy to become a bit jaded when you’re on the road, but ultimately, it’s our dream job to play music. Me and my friends go around the world playing music together, so it’s pretty great. When you put it into perspective, it instantly makes you energized – how could I possibly be cynical or complain about this?
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More Paris fan reviews: Coldplay King at Parc des Princes (plus new photos)
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, September 08, 2009 - 10:45 PM (2688 Reads)
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More fan reviews of Coldplay's concert at the Parc des Princes in Paris that didn't make the review article this morning, have been posted at the Coldplay Live forum. Thanks to all the Coldplayers who have contributed, as always!
I was in 4th row just behind the coldplayers Chavi, Camille, Anna etc (who let me squizze in second row after the Viva remix *w*)... and just in front of Chris The show was AMAZING!!! My neck and shoulder hurt today, but i f*kin' don't care!!!! The boys were on fire as well as the crowd!!! Camille manage to show her banner to Miller who put his camera just in front of us!!! (Ihave blurry photos of him XD).
I have great shots, I'm pretty proud of myself XD!!! Was good to see all the coldplayers!! For LRLRL, I thought that Chris was joking at first, but when he told us about the Fnac, we knew he wasn't.... I don't know if I'll get my CD cause I guess that just a few fnac in Paris that will deliver it and I'm not there anymore...
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Paris Fan review: Coldplay at Parc des Princes (7th September 2009)
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, September 08, 2009 - 02:07 PM (3941 Reads)
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A comprehensive review of Coldplay's concert at the Parc des Princes, Paris (7th September 2009) has been published online, courtesy of Khalplay. Here is the review and some new photos by Sound of Violence, more of which you can view at their website (links provided):
Let's be straight: best Coldplay concert ever! And I mean it! That kinda surprised me considering it was my 8th Coldplay concert and I wasn't expecting to enjoy it that much, especially because of that now well-known and unsurprising setlist... though I did enjoy it a lot.
Chris' neck was still covered and it appeared clear that he was trying not to do too many crazy things (we didn't have a long ''ohohoooooo'' at the end of 42) and I don't even think he helped us starting the Viva La Vida ''ohohoh'' at the end of the song (although he didn't actually need to). So yeah, Chris was soft but good! So well... we - Chavi and I - arrived at 5am and accidentally woke up the 6 persons sleeping there. All the girls joined us a bit later around 5:30 or 6. Was so nice to see everyone again. Was a bit cold but fine so I decided to take a run around the stadium with Perrine to have fun.
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Coldplay's next album set to reflect the band's close bond
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, September 06, 2009 - 04:50 PM (8284 Reads)
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 Scotland's Sunday Mail are backstage at the Esprit Arena in Dusseldorf (27th August) when rock superstar Chris Martin of Coldplay pops the question. Billy, what do you think we should do next? Where should we go with all this?" he asks.
I almost fall off my chair, scrambling to find words of advice. It's just minutes before Coldplay are to perform before a 50,000 sell-out crowd at the home of German soccer team Fortuna. The singer fixes me a stare but seems satisfied when I tell him to cement his friendship with band members Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland and Will Champion and build on the foundations of the music made so far. Coldplay have sold more than 50 million records and hit Hampden Park in Glasgow on September 16 as part of their latest world tour.
The phenomenal success of their four albums - Parachutes (2000), A Rush Of Blood To The Head (2002), X & Y (2005) and Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends (2008) - has elevated them to become one of rock's biggest acts. But Chris, 32, is still reaching for new goals. The singer says: "We have to go in a very different direction with our next record. We know what we have to do. The big mistake would be to try to replicate the size of Viva La Vida.We'll probably just rely on the chemistry between us rather than too much musical trickery."
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Barcelona fan reviews (part 2): Audience disappointing at Estadi Olimpic?
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, September 06, 2009 - 12:30 PM (3964 Reads)
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More fan reviews of Coldplay's concert at the Estadi Olimpic in Barcelona that didn't make the review article yesterday morning, have been posted at the Coldplay Live forum. Here are some more of the reviews this time focussing on the crowd, and a couple of comments from Coldplayers who didn't attend the show, but were able to give a neutral view based on what had been said before...
Hey what's going on with all those complaints?? The show was really awwwwesome!!! they were fantastic all of them, even Chris was brilliant with his delicate voice as we all know, and there was the same energy in the stage as always, no problems and no mistakes, and it seems that they were happy to play in Barcelona again, and of course, Chris has a better catalan and spanish than last year! But for me, the only disappointing thing of the night was... the crowd. I'm not going to say the sound problems, because it's a normal thing to happen in big stadiums, you just have to understand it and that's all.
But it's NOT normal that when a powerful song is playing, people just stand motionless with the cameras up and in silence... oh C'MON they were recording the show with professional cameras!! It's just a stupid thing to do with your own little cheap camera!! The crowd was much more euphoric in Palau Sant Jordi last year than yesterday, and it was quite sad... Coldplay chose Barcelona for this tour, and on top of that they choose this show to record it!! and people didn't give what the four guys needed... they didn't deserve it.. was very shameless...
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Barcelona fan reviews (part 1): Coldplay suffer sound problems at Estadi Olimpic
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, September 06, 2009 - 10:07 AM (3803 Reads)
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More fan reviews of Coldplay's concert at the Estadi Olimpic in Barcelona that didn't make the review article yesterday morning, have been posted at the Coldplay Live forum. Most of them feature comments on the sound problems (video) that marred parts of the concerts, as well as voice problems that Chris Martin allegedly suffered. Those who left the stadium last after the show were also left without a LeftRightLeftRightLeft CD because of short supply due to concertgoers taking handfuls. Here are some more of the reviews...
I was very very near to the stage and the boys definitely noticed the sound problems. Chris looked to the side of the stage several times saying "f*ck" during Violet Hill. After that, the gig was great. I don't understand all the critics. I was standing in the front and it was great. I had friends seated on the sides and they said it was great too. There were a lot of cameras recording the show (6 or 7 only in the main stage!). [thanks ITF]
I think problems wasn't in backing tracks. Problems happened when they forced the big loudspeakers baffle (translation of altavoz?) that where hanged to both sides of the stage. That SSCRRREEE was the typical baffle problem when you force it and it doesn't reach the tone. They don't need to be connect to that big baffle sound to listen themselves playing, then they didn't realise what was happening. Sometimes you are paying and you don't listen the same that people is listening, in a s such a big scenario this problem can be bigger, you have to reach to a lot of people. (My father had a electronic components shop, and my husband plays in a little folk music group for fun.) [thanks mygdalom]
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Behind the scenes of Coldplay's confetti showers
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, September 06, 2009 - 09:27 AM (5173 Reads)
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 In what may be the largest confetti effect ever at a touring event, Coldplay is shooting hundreds pounds every night during its summer stadium tour – around 440 pounds, depending on the venue. This feat, fulfilling the vision of lead singer Chris Martin, would not be possible without the tech experts at Strictly FX, who invented a whole new way of distributing confetti just for the band, writes Live Design Online.
The new units were specifically designed by Mark Grega, a partner in the company, and Reid Nofsinger, Strictly FX special effects designer, to maximize throw with a patented process that makes use of both thrust and vacuum to create a perfect environment inside the unit to propel contents further and in larger amounts than other units on the market.
The effect is dramatic — millions of oversized U/V butterflies floating over the audience during Lovers in Japan, from six Strictly FX CO2 truss-mounted Confetti Cobras ™ and 38 CO2 ground-based Strictly FX Confetti Cobras for the stadium configuration.
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Coldplay have 'neglected Britain' during tour claims Chris Martin
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, September 02, 2009 - 05:15 PM (3615 Reads)
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 No one apologises like Chris Martin. Onstage and off, the word "sorry" or a close variant thereof is never more than a few minutes away from the Coldplay singer's lips, writes Q Magazine, in the October 2009 issue.
During the course of the evening, for instance, he will verbally flagellate himself for everything from the state of his hair to the fact that his band have, in his eyes at least, shoddily neglected Britain and their British fans when it comes to touring their latest album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. For a man who fronts one of the most successful bands on the planet, with all the attendant lifestyle perks that brings, this is a strange state of affairs.
"Oh God, I thought all that had gone out of the window years ago," says Coldplay drummer Will Champion after the show, still clad in the regulation 19th-century French army cast-offs that constitute the band's stage costume. He's perched straight-backed and attentive alongside similarly attired guitarist Jonny Buckland on a comfy green leather sofa in a small, dimly-lit room signposted "Chill Out Room", somewhere under the banks of seats that line Toronto's Rogers Centre.
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Udine fan reviews: Coldplay at Stadio Friuli, Italy (with new photos)
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, September 02, 2009 - 01:27 PM (3597 Reads)
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More fan reviews of Coldplay's concert at the Esprit Arena in Dusseldorf that didn't make the review article on Monday evening have been posted at the Coldplay Live forum. Here are some more of the reviews...
Before the concert I read somewhere on the net that Gwyneth will be attending that concert as well. I thought that was a bit ... well a thing that's not going to happen. But now I think she might have been there. After they had played Fix You Chris put his hand on his heart and pointed to the stand where I think VIPs were. And he also pointed there after Strawberry swing.
The best song besides Clocks was Politik for me. They played it really "hard". I also enjoyed Lovers in Japan- I was standing in front of the thing where butterflies were coming out, I was basically attacked by them... Oh and I think that Guy was really in a good mood yesterday. He kept smiling and posing for people who were taking photos of him. As if I weren't pleased at the concert completely I was also given the set list which made the evening perfect.
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Udine preview: Balloons and Crowns expected at Coldplay concert tonight
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, August 31, 2009 - 11:05 AM (2527 Reads)
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 Two Italian fansites, ColdplayItalia – the first Italian community about Coldplay born in 2002 – and ColdplayZone - have worked together to make up a choreography for tonight's Coldplay concert at the Stadio Friuli in Udine, writes Italy's Il Giornale Del Friuli Libero ahead of tonights highly anticipated concert.
Their aim is to produce as many paper crowns as possible at one concert, inspired by the second version of the 'Viva la Vida' video directed by Anton Corbijn, and also fill the stadium with balloons in tribute to 'Life in Technicolor' with the help of people attending the show. The two choreographies, already witnessed at the Bologna and Milan shows last September, will also be set up in Udine to both thank Coldplay and to participate in an unusual but creative way in one of the most eagerly awaited show of summer 2009.
Moreover, the main French fan website decided to promote the crowns choreography for the forthcoming Coldplay concert at Parc des Princes in Paris on September 7th. On the website ColdplayItalia they reported: “We know it can be a good way to spread, even in a playful manner, a message of collaboration”. Meanwhile, at Coldplayzone, there will be a live blog (in English and Italian) which promises to have live images and updates throughout the day direct from the venue today.
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Dusseldorf fan reviews (part 2): Coldplay at Esprit Arena (plus more photos)
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, August 30, 2009 - 09:35 PM (1947 Reads)
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We continue with even more comprehensive reviews of Coldplay's concert at the Esprit Arena in Dusseldorf that have been published at the Coldplay Live forum since the concert on Thursday. If you haven't read it yet, we urge you to check out an excellent review by Anna (SueDeNimes), which includes some exclusive pictures from inside the Esprit Arena, which you can view here, and also a review of the new 'Adventures of Kris' in Dusseldorf. Here is part 2 of the Dusseldorf fan reviews...
So, I'm well-rested but still happy and all excited. I was standing on the right side from the band's view, somewhere between row 5 to 10. That changed a lot, quite funny. The people around me were, well, it could have been better but it was okay. Sometimes, especially during Glass of Water, I felt like being the only one who's singing. It started with the Kilians. I've heard their name before, but none of their songs. They were alright, definitely better than Howling Bells, which I disliked.
Right from the first note of Magnificant, I was totally nervous. A few minutes later, the lights were switched off and I felt like being in a trance for the next two hours. They were just perfect, marvellous and gigantic. After it was all over, I felt electrified. That's fitting. It was like happiness and incredulity were combined. Very strange. Luckily, I was able to grab a lot of butterflies and also a copy of LRLRL, but I'm not sure whether my sister has a spare...
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Dusseldorf fan reviews (part 1): Coldplay at Esprit Arena (with new photos)
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, August 30, 2009 - 05:45 PM (2926 Reads)
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More comprehensive reviews of Coldplay's concert at the Esprit Arena in Dusseldorf that didn't make the review article on Friday morning have been posted at the Coldplay Live forum. There is also a huge review by Anna (SueDeNimes) with pictures which you can view here, and a seperate review of the 'Adventures of Kris' in Dusseldorf. Here are some more of the reviews...
We arrived at the ESPRIT Arena at 4:15 pm, but didn`t queue up, because we had seats. There weren`t many people queuing up at that time though. At 5 pm, the gates were opened, and we were interviewed by a reporter of the WDR while we went inside, so we`ll possibly be on TV this evening! (Aktuelle Stunde at 6:50 pm today). Inside we bought a tour book and some VIVA cups(You were supposed to bring them back, but we didn't). Kilians started playing and they were quite good, but the Howling Bells were terrible...
After they finished, the crew removed the curtain and prepared everything for Coldplay. Then Coldplay started playing. The sound was really good for an outdoor arena. But when Chris sang Violet Hill and Clocks, you could hear that he was a bit sick. Clocks sounded terrible, in fact. Chris' falsetto was great, but he had problems hitting the "normal" notes, and sang everything a bit to high! They also had technical problems during the first songs, but the crowd was great, and so we had a good time anyway. Even most people in the seats were standing, singing and clapping all the time.
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Tribute to Oasis split: Collection of Coldplay insults
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, August 30, 2009 - 10:00 AM (5819 Reads)
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 Noel Gallagher has said intolerable 'violent and verbal intimidation' and a 'lack of support' from management and bandmates forced him to quit Oasis. In a statement, on his blog at Oasisinet.com, he said: "The details are not important and of too great a number to list. I feel you have the right to know that the level of verbal and violent intimidation towards me, my family, friends and comrades has become intolerable. And the lack of support and understanding from my management and bandmates has left me with no other option than to get me cape and seek pastures new."
He went on to say the rock group's success had been a dream come true, adding: "I take with me glorious memories. Apologies are probably not enough, I know, but I'm afraid it's all I've got," he wrote. He also said sorry to fans who hoped to see them at the V Festival in Essex last weekend. "Again, I can only apologise - although I don't know why, it was nothing to do with me. I was match fit and ready to be brilliant. Alas, other people in the group weren't up to it," he said. "Now, if you'll excuse me I have a family and a football team to indulge," he concluded.
How fitting an end to an outspoken band - verbal intimidation. So with that in mind, lets recap a few verbal volleys that the Gallagher brothers kicked in Coldplay's direction over the years, which have included references to their clothes, drugs, music, environment, and plantpots...
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Pep Guardiola’s (Barcelona coach) obssession with Coldplay continues
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, August 29, 2009 - 11:40 AM (5840 Reads)
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Barcelona football coach continues to rile up his troops with 'moderately-paced middle of the road rock', Coldplay
As they cruised to a historic treble last season, Barcelona revealed the secret to their success: a love of Coldplay. Pep Guardiola is a huge fan of the band, and regularly plays their hits to inspire his players in the dressing room beforebig matches. It clearly worked, and Xavi revealed his particular fondness for unofficial Barca anthem ‘Viva La Vida’, a song that is frequently played through the PA at the Camp Nou: “Viva La Vida is a sophisticated piece of grandiose orchestration that motivates and gives us luck.”
Despite his considerable ears, teammate Dani Alves wasn’t quite so enthused: “That song does not motivate me because I do not understand what he says.”
Regardless of Mr Alves’ opinions, Spanish paper Sport report that fanboy Guardiola will achieve one of his dreams next Friday, as the Viva La Vida world tour brings Chris Martin and co to Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium. The international break will allow Pep to meet his heroes, with whom he is apparently “eager to exchange views”. He will be accompanied by his assistant Tito Vilanova and any other players who have not been called away for international duty.
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Chris Martin: "I hate people who complain about fame"
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, August 29, 2009 - 09:39 AM (2608 Reads)
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Chris Martin hates it when his showbiz peers complain about being their fame. Chris — who is married to Martha Stewart-wannabe Gwyneth Paltrow — insists he is grateful for his stardom, writes Showbiz Spy. “I hate people who complain about being famous,” said Martin. “I’ve got my dream life at the moment. I’m not going to complain, it’s ridiculous.”
The frontman also said he believes one should never take stardom for granted. “You can never say you’re big — I don’t think you can ever take anything like that for granted,” he said. “That’s when you get shit automatically.”
Meanwhile, speaking of fame, Noel Gallagher has announced he is quitting Oasis because he can no longer work with his brother Liam. Noel, the group's lead guitarist, made the statement on the band's website. He said a series of rows with his brother led to the decision.
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Stockholm fan review: Coldplay at Sweden's Olympiastadion
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, August 24, 2009 - 11:42 AM (3267 Reads)
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A comprehensive review of Coldplay's concert at the Olympiastadion, Stockholm, Sweden (22nd August 2009) has emerged online, courtesy of Rock Revival. Here is the review and some of the photos, more of which you can see at their blog (links provided):
Before Coldplay walked on stage they played U2’s Magnificent over the PA, followed by Jay Z’s I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me) during which one of their roadies came out on the catwalk break dancing! What a great way to get the crowd fired up! This was followed by the mandatory Blue Danube during which a crew member up front directed the audience to wave their arms and clap at the right points.
Then it was time for Coldplay! There was an animation of the earth on the screens that zoomed in on Stockholm. The band took the stage behind a transparent black curtain, all holding up sparklers. First song was Life in Technicolor, the perfect opener in my opinion. This was followed by Violet Hill, Clocks, and In My Place - what a great way to start the show! During In My Place, both Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland came out on the catwalk right by us! That was so cool! We got some great pictures of that. When they left the catwalk Chris said “Tusen tack allesammans” (”Thanks everyone”).
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Natalie Imbruglia: I had a 'semi-nervous breakdown' working with Chris Martin
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, August 23, 2009 - 10:30 AM (2144 Reads)
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 Natalie Imbruglia has joked that collaborating with Chris Martin was hard work. The Australian singer has recorded material written by the Coldplay frontman, 32, for her new album.
'When I worked with Chris Martin he was very honest and brutal with me,' Natalie, 34, tells NME. 'He helped me with my tracklisting and we got rid of riff-raff. Sometimes we agreed, sometimes we disagreed... the hard bit is him saying which songs he doesn't like, but it's refreshing to have someone of that calibre with you. So yes - I had a semi-nervous breakdown.'
Meanwhile, Natalie Imbruglia suffered a technical hitch during her V Festival slot at Staffordshire yesterday afternoon (August 22). The singer, who arrived onstage dressed in a black sparkly dress to a packed Arena tent, was greeted with huge chants of "We can't hear you," as she attempted to sing new track 'WYUT' blissfully unaware there was no sound coming from her mic.
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Toronto fan reviews (part 3): Coldplay rock Rogers Centre, 30th July
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, August 19, 2009 - 02:40 PM (2244 Reads)
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As promised and further to part 1 and part 2, here is the third installment of more excellent reviews of Coldplay's concert at the Rogers Centre, Toronto, ON (30th July 2009) have been posted at the Coldplay Live forum, that were written after the main review article was published:
I went to the concert yesterday, it was my first concert. my friend and i had seats in 525, which weren't all that bad because it was near the middle. the daisy kitty louis band was a bore, not a great act to start off a coldplay concert. elbow, another one of my favourite bands, were brilliant as well. guy had so much energy, although i was the only one going nuts and singing in my section. after elbow, another couple came and kindly told us we were in their seats (we were one section too far!) , which actually benefited us because our actual seats were in the middle! and then coldplay came on, and they were fantastic. the singalongs were amazing, and fix you and viva la vida were definitely the highlights...
Everyone got up and was singing/dancing/clapping along, even the old folks in front of us! and as we were leaving, at union, people were still chanting "OoooooOOOooo" and there were butterflies strewn everywhere .. the energy was still alive! all in all, im so happy i went, just to be together with thousands and thousands of coldplay fans in one dome .. i'm never going to forget this day! [thanks mitali_29]
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[Recap] Coldplaying interviews Oxfam America's Soha Yassine on Coldplay tour
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, August 19, 2009 - 07:41 AM (2574 Reads)
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 Once again, Coldplaying.com has been lucky enough to obtain an exclusive interview with the Oxfam Tour Co-Ordinator on the 2009 Viva La Vida Tour. We previously interviewed the 2008 Oxfam representative, Pete Lusby during the second North American Viva La Vida tour leg. Whilst the band have been busy at the 2009 European festivals, Soha took some time out of her break to answer some questions for us...
Coldplaying.com would like to start by congratulating Oxfam America on reaching 100,000 sign-ups whilst on tour with Coldplay. It's a fantastic achievement to have reached that many people, especially in the limited time you have to talk with them. What does it feel like to have been involved in that achievement?
Thank you! Simply put, it was awesomely gratifying and validating. Congratulations are certainly due to the several Oxfam affiliates that that trained and deployed teams, especially Oxfam Canada who was the Oxfam affiliate to drive the total number of people who have taken action to 100 thousand.
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60 Minutes recap: A look at the "mystery" of Coldplay (plus new APW photos, 2nd August)
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, August 18, 2009 - 05:22 AM (2829 Reads)
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 (CBS) This story was first published on Feb. 8, 2009. It was updated on Aug. 13, 2009.
The small, exclusive club of rock musicians that can legitimately claim to be among the very best in the world got four new members this past year - the British rock quartet Coldplay, led by singer Chris Martin, writes CBS News in a recap of February's 60 Minutes interview with Coldplay. If you haven't yet seen Coldplay's '60 Minutes' slot that aired just before February's Grammy Awards, you can see it again via YouTube in two parts at the Coldplay forum here [thanks Christa1 & NiteOwl51762]
In the midst of a recession, in a music industry fighting for survival, the group's fourth straight multi-platinum album "Viva La Vida" has sold an astounding eight and a half million copies and the bands current world tour is virtually sold out, as 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft first reported in February after following the band from Orlando and Chicago to London and Belfast.
London just before Christmas - the soaring melodies, the thumping beat of the music, and the quirky charisma of lead singer Chris Martin had the crowd on its feet. "We rely more on enthusiasm than actual skill," he told Kroft. "Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically and people will like it more. I can't dance like Usher. I can't sing like Beyonce. I can't write songs like Elton John," he said. "But, we can do the best we can with what we've got. …. And so that's what we do. We just go for it."
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Toronto fan reviews (part 2): Coldplay rock Rogers Centre, 30th July
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, August 16, 2009 - 09:02 AM (2041 Reads)
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As promised and further to part 1, here are more excellent reviews of Coldplay's concert at the Rogers Centre, Toronto, ON (30th July 2009) have been posted at the Coldplay Live forum, that were written after the main review article was published. We'll have a third part shortly, in the meantime here's the second part, of just some of the many:
Coldplay saved our house. Literally. We got back from America yesterday morning (my dad drove all night) and arrived to see the pipe in our fridge had burst and flooded our kitchen and dining room and parts of the basement. Everything is okay now, thank goodness for insurance! My parents wanted to stay longer in America but Coldplay comes first and a good thing too because I'm pretty sure our entire main floor and basement would have been damaged.
So my sister and I arrived at the GA gate around 2:30. We didn't know where the other Coldplayers were but got in line anyway. We met cazmartini in line but didn’t know it was her yet haha. By 4pm or so, things started to get hectic. The security people said that they were going split up the line and stand at another gate and we were sent to another gate. People started to complain that now it was unfair for those who had lined up at 11am (someone apparently lined up at 6am!) and I agree that is definitely not fair...
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EMI Deal Hits a Sour Note (plus new Coldplay photos from Charlotte)
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, August 15, 2009 - 08:53 AM (3642 Reads)
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For more than a century, EMI Group Ltd. has survived waves of turmoil: the breakup of its top act, the Beatles; its firing of the Sex Pistols over unruly behavior; and a long-running merger standoff with rival Warner Music Group Corp, writes the Wall Street Journal.
But the storied record company is now facing a problem it hasn't yet been able to shake: the heavy debt from a leveraged buyout gone bad. Wounded by collapsing music sales like the rest of the industry, EMI was acquired in 2007 by British financier Guy Hands and his Terra Firma Capital Partners for £2.4 billion, or about $4 billion now.
Mr. Hands applied the buyout formula that worked when he acquired everything from British pubs to German service stations -- raising large amounts of debt and cutting costs aggressively, with an eye toward selling the streamlined business at a big profit. Mr. Hands figured a new tough-minded approach to the profligate music business could trump falling CD sales, according to public reports by Terra Firma.
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Charlotte review: Coldplay heats up Verizon Wireless Amphitheater (plus new photos)
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, August 13, 2009 - 06:16 PM (3527 Reads)
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As we skip over Coldplay's postponed Tampa show at Ford Amphitheater, reviews are still being written about the band's last show at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater at Charlotte. This latest review is courtesy of The Examiner:
So it's been two, almost three, days since Coldplay rocked the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre this past Friday, and I'm finally writing about. Why now? Well I've been trying to come up with the right words to explain just how amazing this show was. When I attended the show on Friday I expected nothing less than a stellar performance, and what I experienced was completely indescribable. Not only did the band sound phenomenal, but the lighting was fantastic and Coldplay, and more specifically lead singer Chris Martin, have this insane amount of energy.
It was one of those instances where you know you are witnessing something great because you get goosebumps. I don't get goosebumps very often in the dead of summer, at an outdoor venue, but I got goosebumps several times on Friday night., which I personally think speaks volumes about my concert experience.
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Elbow chats about supporting Coldplay in America (Official Coldplay.com interview)
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, August 12, 2009 - 05:28 PM (2315 Reads)
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 With lovelorn Manchester tunesmiths Elbow having supported Coldplay for the last few weeks, we called up frontman Guy Garvey for a chat ahead of the Charlotte show. Here's the official interview of Guy Garvey talking about supporting Coldplay in America:
Hello Guy. You've been with Coldplay for a couple of weeks now, how it's going?
It's great. It's a really good vibe. The crew are dead hospitable and the other band that are on, Kitty, Daisy and Lewis, are great - we've been hanging out with them a lot. The Coldplay boys have been very, very generous. Their shows have been amazing too. And we've been playing for 40,000 people a night, so that's been great. It's a lovely tour to be on.
According to Roadie #42's blogs most of the Coldplay crew watch you from the pit every night.
That's true, yeah! That's really flattering. They've all been very complimentary about our set. I'm made up.
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Raleigh review: Coldplay came through with likable arena rock
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, August 08, 2009 - 07:35 AM (2401 Reads)
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RALEIGH -- The easy points of comparison for Coldplay are Radiohead and U2, both of which certainly apply. But if you want to get beyond sonic similarities and consider Coldplay's broader place on the landscape, the group's current stature resembles no one so much as 1970s-era Elton John -- someone else who commands a lot more respect now than he did in his prime, writes the News & Observer.
Tastemakers put Coldplay down as a denatured version of Radiohead and U2. But four albums and a decade into a recording career that's getting bigger all the time, the well-established Coldplay brand shows every sign of outlasting its detractors. The group drew a near-sellout crowd to Raleigh's Time Warner Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek Thursday night, and a run of stadium dates in Europe beckons. And what do you know, Coldplay's latest album has outsold the latest from U2 by multiples.
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Charlotte preview: No magic recipe for Coldplay
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, August 07, 2009 - 01:15 PM (2163 Reads)
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There's a lot of gloomy, end-of-times talk in the record business these days about the death of the industry. Fewer and fewer new acts break through every year, and the ones that do never seem to have any staying power, writes the Charlotte Observer.
But that paradigm doesn't apply to Coldplay, which plays Charlotte's Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre on Friday. At a time when “gold is the new platinum,” this British quartet still moves tonnage that recalls the industry's glory days. Last year's “Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends” (Capitol Records), Coldplay's fourth album, has sold more than 8 million copies worldwide – easily the top-selling album of 2008.
Somehow, Coldplay has emerged as The Last Big Band, combining mainstream popularity with industry respect and widespread (though not unanimous) critical acclaim. Similar to Fleetwood Mac in the '70s, U2 in the '80s or R.E.M. in the '90s, Coldplay has become one of those omnipresent consensus bands whose lyrics get scribbled in yearbooks.
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Raleigh preview: How Coldplay became the first band to beat the digital deficit
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, August 05, 2009 - 11:35 PM (2430 Reads)
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Coldplay is the biggest rock band on the planet by almost every rubric: The polite English quartet's latest record—the misty, Brian Eno-helmed Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends—sold more than 700,000 copies in its first week as other respectable rock acts struggle to crack half that, writes Indy Week.
2008's best seller, Viva La Vida has since been certified double platinum in the States while moving nearly 8 million copies worldwide. And now, the band is in the midst of a string of 30 dates at North America's biggest venues. When they return to Europe, the king of hip-hop, Jay-Z, will open for Coldplay for two days at Wembley Stadium. Impressed yet?
Perhaps the most compelling distinction Chris Martin and company can claim is that they're the first band to break the million mark in digital album sales. In other words, they're the Internet Music Kings. Billboard hooted and hollered about the broken record last month, and music trade magazines groveled. Indeed, in a market where selling 50,000 records seems to be the new 500,000, it's instructive to consider why a little band from London changed the rules of digital success.
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Mansfield review 3: Chris Martin spreads 'Yellow' fever (plus more APW photos)
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, August 04, 2009 - 08:39 PM (1925 Reads)
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The Coldplay of 2009 favours sounds that are both soft and subtle and loud and booming. They like mixing styles, throwing curveballs, and shifting between the sublime and the silly - a massive balloon drop during “Yellow” and butterfly-shaped confetti shooting everywhere during “Lovers in Japan.” The English quartet, who played Comcast Center last night for nearly two hours, put on a full-on rock show, writes the Boston Herald today.
Which is to say, singer Chris Martin is no longer the introspective piano player we met back in 2000. He has evolved into a Bono-esque rock star and showman, not bound to the piano of yore. He bounces around the stage untethered. He plays guitar but still spends some serious, quiet time at the ivories. From the rush of the opening “Life in Technicolor,” into “Violet Hill” and “Clocks,” it was clear Coldplay brought its A-game.
In a fictional survey taken at Comcast, it was revealed that 99% of the women wished they were Gwyneth Paltrow. That was likely, especially so during “In My Place,” with Martin begging for salvation, and in “Fix You,” where Martin promised to “learn from my mistakes” and “ignite your bones.”
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Mansfield review 2: Coldplay’s ballads lift up spirits of the masses
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, August 04, 2009 - 03:40 PM (3403 Reads)
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MANSFIELD - For the casual fan seeing Coldplay live for the first time since the band performed at the Paradise in Boston many years (and many millions of accumulated fans) ago, last night’s triumphant two-hour performance at the Comcast Center was like seeing your younger family members for the first time in years. You just can’t stop marveling at how big they’ve gotten, writes Boston.com.
In a set that reached back to their 2000 breakout album Parachutes, where they first sewed the seeds of their anthemic Brit-rock grandeur, Coldplay flipped through the pages of a hit-rich catalog. With crowd-pleasers like the love drunk “Yellow’’ and the chiming, downtrodden plea of “In My Place,’’ vocalist Chris Martin and company laid down their deviously contradictory m.o., using heartbreak writ largely to buoy the spirits of the masses. On those two songs in particular, each note of Jonny Buckland’s delay-heavy guitar shimmered and fell like bursting teardrops.
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Mansfield review: Coldplay hits Comcast Center
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, August 04, 2009 - 09:20 AM (4029 Reads)
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MANSFIELD - Coldplay brought their Viva la Vida tour to the Comcast Center Monday night and showed why they are probably the hottest act in music today, writes The Sun Chronicle.
Lead singer Chris Martin was in full control throughout the show and played the audience like one of the finely tuned strings on his guitar. The Brit quartet stormed through a strong sampling of their huge CD "Viva la Vida" as well as many of the hits from their relatively brief career. They rocked the main stage, held court from a side stage, and even went to the back of the lawn section of the venue for three numbers.
After they were done, no one could have possibly felt cheated on a gorgeous August night with a brilliant orange moon keeping watch overhead. It was all reminiscent of Bono, The Edge and company as they ascended to the height of their career and conquered the music world.
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MTV: Coldplay electrify waterlogged All Points West festival
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, August 03, 2009 - 07:15 PM (1658 Reads)
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 JERSEY CITY, New Jersey — If you didn't mind the (near constant) rain, the resultant mud, the trench foot or the indescribable odor of 10,000 soaking-wet Tool fans, well, then the second All Points West festival was genuinely great.
Actually, it was pretty great regardless of those things, a testament to the organizers who assembled a lineup that managed to outshine the deluges that flooded New Jersey's Liberty State Park all weekend. The brainchild of Goldenvoice, the same folks who bring you Coachella, APW lived up to the pedigree, delivering a lineup heavy on indie (both new and old), hip-hop and buzz bands, and positively top-heavy with headliners — Jay-Z (who filled in last minute for the , Coldplay and Tool. It was so solid a schedule, full of so many can't miss acts, that you almost didn't mind trekking through calf-deep mud to get from one stage to the next.
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Rolling Stone reviews Coldplay's 'All Points West' festival headline performance
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, August 03, 2009 - 05:56 PM (2413 Reads)
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 It’s terribly fashionable to criticize Coldplay but unless trenchfoot is the latest hipster accessory, there wasn’t anyone being fashionable on the third day of All Points West, writes Rolling Stone.
With the rain and sludge double-whammy demoralizing the thousands of fans in Liberty State Park, the sound of the London-four piece spinning out a decade’s worth of stadium anthems and a few other party favors was just the unpretentious tonic that Sunday night needed.
Dressed in their now familiar (but no-less conspicuous) French revolutionary clobber and backlit to within an inch of their lives, Chris Martin and Co. reached high gear almost instantly, dispatching “Clocks,” “In My Place” and “Yellow” before they’d even said a proper hello. “As four British people who grew up in the mud and the rain, we salute you for coming out to what can only be described as a mud Jacuzzi,” gushed Chris Martin before spinning and spiraling around the stage during '42'; like a little boy who’s just discovered how fun it is to make yourself dizzy.
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Coldplay dazzle with close out to "All Points Wet!" festival
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, August 03, 2009 - 04:29 PM (1379 Reads)
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 After a soggy Friday and sunny Saturday, the thunderstorms returned for the third and last day of All Points West, this time resulting in major delays and canceled sets for the festival held at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, NJ. But after the rain cleared and mercifully stayed away, organizers hustled to get the schedule back on track, culminating in a dazzler of a headlining set by Coldplay, writes Billboard.
Sunday's line-up, scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. in the comedy tent and 2 p.m. on the music stages, was pushed back several hours due to severe storms that hit the area midday. Fans who arrived early were turned away at the gates, and it wasn't until just before 4 p.m. that ticket holders were invited to line up at the festival entrance for an even longer wait for admission.
Comedians Todd Barry, Christian Finnegan and Janeane Garofalo, originally slated for 45-minute sets at the Queen of the Valley tent, were rushed through with 10 minutes each to make way for the musical acts that followed them. "I might do a tour of entirely rained-out festivals," said Barry, "it's big money for not a lot of work at all."
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All Points West review: Coldplay closes damp festival (plus new photos)
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, August 03, 2009 - 11:34 AM (3878 Reads)
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 Thus spoke Coldplay frontman Chris Martin Sunday night as he looked over the soaking crowd on the final evening of the second edition of All Points West Music and Arts Festival in Jersey City, "This has to be the strangest-smelling but best concert we've ever played," writes New Jersey News.
Martin was referring to the odorous mixture of mud, rain water, mulch and swampland into which Liberty State Park was transformed over the past three days, and the audience roared in acknowledgement, as if to say, "We know, but we survived!"
By 10 p.m. on Sunday, the grounds at the park looked as though they had endured all they could. There wasn't much grass left to speak of. The garbage bins were overflowing with water bottles and half-eaten tacos. Stray shoes littered the soggy muck, abandoned by concertgoers who had long since decided that the best footwear at All Points West was none at all.
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Osheaga festival review: Coldplay close Saturday, Montreal style
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, August 02, 2009 - 03:25 PM (4305 Reads)
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So… not so bad being the world’s biggest pop-rock band after all. Not on the perfect 2009 Montreal night – the only one. Not when even La Ronde’s fireworks display were perfectly timed to open one of your ballad-anthems. And not when 30,000 people jammed Parc jean Drapeau and Osheaga for its biggest-ever single act, writes the Montreal Gazette.
So we’ll drop any debates about the significance of Coldplay, or the critical resistance to their ambitions claiming a status deeper than the one they own: globe-conquering pop band.
Night had come down as the River Stage shadow-scrim silhouetted the band for Violet Hill’s soft-focus war memorial. Goosepimple red lighting for the climactic Clocks, followed by singer Chris Martin scrambling stage left to throw the chorus of In My Place to the masses. “Merci beaucoup, mes amis,” he said, before the stage went Yellow and balloons bounced over the audience.
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Toronto review 8: Coldplay Brit bring soul to the stadium
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, August 01, 2009 - 07:53 PM (1588 Reads)
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With the music industry losing loads of cash and smaller acts getting more attention, many people think the era of huge record sales and big stadium shows is over. One problem with that theory: Coldplay, writes Metro News (Canada).
It seems that no one told the British foursome, which is arguably the biggest band in the world right now, that the days of epic, over-the-top concerts are a thing of the past. The band has been traversing the world playing for thousands of fans in both packed arenas and bursting-at-the-seams stadiums, and putting on a damn good show at that.
By the time the group took the stage Thursday night at Rogers Centre they had played nearly 140 shows in support of its most recent album, Viva la Vida. While they’ve been putting on large, anthemic shows for years, the new disc, with its rockier tones and more guitar-based songs, meant fans were in for a more raucous show than they may have seen the last time the band strolled into town.
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Toronto review 7: Coldplay arrives with dark, fluid show (plus amazing Coldwave shot)
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, August 01, 2009 - 07:00 PM (2118 Reads)
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 It was a rare alchemy that made last night's concert at the mammoth Rogers Centre a ticket to good to pass up as Elbow, the Mercury Prize-winning British critical darlings, and Coldplay, the Grammy-winning heir to the title of "world biggest band" joined forces in Toronto, writes The National Post.
Before the big bands, the night was begun by the young British rockabilly trio Kitty Daisy & Lewis, who were hand selected by Coldplay's Chris Martin for the tour. Playing on the massive stage, the group - fronted by a trio of teenage siblings - did their best to warm up the slowly filing-in crowd. The reception was polite, if not quizzical. As Elbow readied to take the stage, three massive video screen behind the stage turned on, and it was clear that the production level was about to go up a notch. Elbow is smart-rock: big, epic lullabies and devastatingly-orchestrated complex Mancunian rock set to Guy Garvey's biting lyrics. One could only wonder how all that would translate to the caverns of the Rogers Centre.
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Toronto review 6: Coldplay entertains 44,000 ecstatic fans
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, August 01, 2009 - 06:44 PM (1475 Reads)
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On a particularly humid evening, Coldplay touched down at the Rogers Centre for an energetic, uplifting and momentarily off kilter set. Working off of their vast catalogue of current and past hits, the British four-piece launched into "Life In Technicolour," the lead instrumental off of their latest offering Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, writes Exclaim.
After a strong rendition of "Violet Hill," lead singer Chris Martin took a moment to stare out into the sea of writhing bodies and ask, "Everybody all right?" which sent the sell-out crowd into hysterics. The band kept the energy in the building pumping with one of their first hits, "Yellow," during which an explosion of yellow balloons was released above the floor, and then with a stirring "Fix You."
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Toronto review 5: There's a reason Coldplay is in the big leagues
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, August 01, 2009 - 01:56 PM (1970 Reads)
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In many ways, the world of pop music is akin to the world of professional sports. One invariably starts at the bottom (the minors) and works one's way slowly to the Big Leagues (the exceptions jump the queue via shows such as American Idol ). Thursday night's triptych at the Rogers Centre offered a classic example of three bands at different levels on the ladder, bottom to top, writes The Globe and Mail.
I purposely arrived early to catch the relatively unknown rookies Kitty, Daisy & Lewis, a trio of young London, England, siblings whose influences include vintage 78 rpm records and classic fifties rock 'n' roll, rockabilly and blues. Integrating standup bass, barrelhouse piano and laptop guitar into the mix, the group (which is rounded out by Mum and Dad on guitar and bass) covers the likes of Johnny Horton ( Mean Son of a Gun ), Louis Jordan ( Ooo-Wee ) and Canned Heat ( Going Up the Country ), making them a kind of present-day version of John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers. It was good fun, but would have worked far better in an intimate club setting than in that cavernous, still-filling stadium. Quirky, but destined for anonymity in the minors.
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Toronto review 4: Coldplay Don't Need Experimenting
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, August 01, 2009 - 08:28 AM (2185 Reads)
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It's been over a year since Coldplay released Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends. They've toured it endlessly and tirelessly since, and returned to Toronto for the second time in a year (they played Toronto's Air Canada Centre on the same day last year) on Thursday night at the Rogers Centre to play one more time before they take a break and begin thinking about their next record, writes Chart Attack.
First, the crowd were treated to the sounds of Kitty, Daisy & Lewis, an R&B trio of '50s sensibilities. Their skiffle and early rock 'n' roll sounds were a bit out of place on a bill that featured bands that play atmospheric pop rock, but it was refreshing nonetheless, especially their covers of Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon Of Kentucky" and Canned Heat's "Goin' Up The Country."
Elbow's Coldplay soundalike mopey pop was a jarring contrast. On record, Elbow are positively snoozeworthy, but live they're more explosive. Their set was entirely comprised of songs from last year's Mercury Music Prize-winning The Seldom Seen Kid. Then again, anything can sound explosive in a stadium with a sound system that's designed for 50,000 people. Oh, Manchester, so much to answer for…
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Toronto fan reviews (part 1): Coldplay rock Rogers Centre
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, July 31, 2009 - 07:40 PM (2357 Reads)
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More excellent reviews of Coldplay's concert at the Rogers Centre, Toronto, ON (30th July 2009) have been posted at the Coldplay Live forum, that didn't quite make the main review article in time this morning. Here is part one, of just some of the many:
Okay I had the craziest day ever yesterday. Got up early, drove to Toronto, shopped, got ready, and then we went to the venue... Well we were staying at the hotel there but we had to get our VIP ticket things... at first they wouldn't give them to us since I was with my friends and we're only 16 so I don't think they believed us even though we had proof we knew Chloe. -_-
Anyways, my mom went down and got them for us, and then at about 7:30 we went in and were sent on a wild goose chase around the venue because no one could find where the family room was. FINALLY, we found it, and hung out there for a bit. Johnny came in after he warmed up and signed my ticket for me saying, "Best wishes Katie. Nice to see you again! Johnny" I'll upload it in a bit. My friends and I also got a picture with him and then a group shot with him and Chloe. I need to wait until they're uploaded on facebook, but I'll maybe post the one of me with him...
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Toronto review 3: Coldplay keep massive fan base satisfied
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, July 31, 2009 - 03:49 PM (4048 Reads)
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If they aren’t officially the “biggest band on the planet,” Coldplay are undoubtedly the most eager to please. This hyper-earnest shtick is at once Coldplay’s greatest blessing and curse. Chris Martin and company are the victims of endless snide remarks by elitist critics, but they never fail when it comes to their prime objective: keeping their massive fan base satisfied, writes EyeWeekly.
This has been the mission statement ever since this quartet of once desperately shy English boys hit it big on the strength of a simple song like “Yellow.” As the Viva La Vida tour enters its second year, they’re at it again, holding up their carefully constructed reputation as down-to-earth, socially responsible do-gooders, with Oxfam volunteers filling up petitions with thousands of signatures, and Rogers Centre security guards handing out a free live album to every fan.
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Toronto review 2: Coldplay lift roof of packed Rogers Centre
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, July 31, 2009 - 07:15 AM (3321 Reads)
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TORONTO - Exactly a year after Coldplay played the first of two sold-out shows at the Air Canada Centre, the Brit pop-rock outfit returned to Toronto for a show at Rogers Centre on Thursday night in front of over 45,000 fans, writes Jam! Showbiz.
On a stage dominated by glowing orb lights, the band - frontman Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman and drummer Will Champion - appeared in shadows initially as they kicked off the concert with the stirring instrumental, Life In Technicolor, the first song from their multi-platinum, Grammy winning fourth album, 2008's Viva La Vida. "Everybody okay?" asked the always charming Martin mid-song, before finishing Violet Hill with: "If you love me, let me play Tor-on-to!"
Frankly, it was hard to see the four musicians, even during the next song, Clocks, despite Martin rocking back and forth on his piano stool, the presence of four large video screens, two on each side of the stage, and green laser lights.
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Toronto review: Coldplay takes red-hot show to Rogers Centre
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, July 31, 2009 - 07:04 AM (3363 Reads)
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Over the years, [I've] realized that any review of a Coldplay show I do boils down to this: I head in not wanting to like the band, and then nearly everything the band does makes me like it, writes the Toronto Star.
So, for expediency's sake, at the Rogers Centre Thursday night - where the de facto "biggest band in the world" of the moment played its biggest Toronto show to date before upwards of 40,000 people - I only took notes whenever Chris Martin and the rest of the lads did something to endear themselves to me. Here's the rundown.
1. I know they've agonized over the pre-show mixtape, because we're steered toward Coldplay's emergence by U2 (very "meta," lads), Martin pal Jay-Z's "Give It To Me" and ..... er ..... Strauss's "Blue Danube Waltz" - which is a modest way of referencing 2001 without piping "Also Sprach Zarathustra" over the P.A.
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Saratoga Springs fan review: Coldplay finally hit SPAC
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, July 30, 2009 - 07:40 AM (3340 Reads)
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A comprehensive review of Coldplay's concert at SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY (27th July 2009) has emerged online, courtesy of Killing Myself To Live @ Blogspot. Here is the review:
“Uhm, so we’re two months late,” Chris Martin said last night. “Sorry we had to cancel before. We’re fuckers.” It's okay Chris. I forgive you. Coldplay was supposed to play on May 27 in Saratoga but it got postponed due to a “band emergency.” I was heartbroken at the time, but after FINALLY seeing the show last night, it was worth the wait...and the $41 lawn ticket. Actually, it was so great that I regretted not spending the $80-$100 for an inside seat...but if I did that I would have missed Chris Martin singing “Billie Jean” on a stage ON THE LAWN A MERE INCHES FROM ME. In the words of Perez Hilton, it was “amazeballs.” Amazeballs times 100.
How can I even begin to explain the Coldplay concert? I feel like words would fail. I mean, Coldplay is by no means the greatest band when they record, but man are they fantastic live. The entire show was amazing. Their albums are good, "Viva La Vida" was pretty awesome, but if they just released live albums, they could be the next Zeppelin, well maybe not, but close. Chirs Martin, for being so media-shy and reserved in interviews has this stage presence that you wouldn’t expect.
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East Troy review 3: Coldplay at Alpine Valley Music Theatre (plus more new pictures)
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, July 29, 2009 - 06:59 AM (3348 Reads)
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World tours tend to have a way of draining even the most vivacious of bands. Between buses, airplanes, groupies, booze and constant ass-kissing, the energy can dissipate—leaving us with robotic, by-the-numbers performances, writes Time Out Chicago.
Entering Saturday’s show at Alpine Valley, Coldplay, known for its anthemic arena rock and distinct falsetto tones courtesy of lead singer Chris Martin, had played 137 shows on its Viva La Vida world tour. With a show practically every other day since the tour began, it would be safe to assume the boys from London were a wee bit tired.
Yet, from their animated performance before a less than sold-out crowd (the Live Nation ticket prices, $115 for a pavilion seat, may have kept some fans away) at Alpine, either Martin and co. drank a hell of a lot of Red Bull before prancing onstage, or these guys are truly enjoying every minute of their success.
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Saratoga Springs review: Coldplay wows them at SPAC
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, July 28, 2009 - 08:47 AM (3620 Reads)
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SARATOGA SPRINGS — How did Coldplay make up for being two months late for its performance at Saratoga Performing Arts Center Monday night? Well, for starters, the British adult pop band apologized profusely throughout the evening — it was the first thing frontman Chris Martin mentioned from the stage, shortly after burning through “Life in Technicolor,” writes the Daily Gazette.
But perhaps more to the point, the band simply rocked the packed audience into submission, with one of the more elaborate stage shows on the touring circuit today, no doubt.
Take, for example, “Yellow,” the band’s first big hit from their 2000 debut “Parachutes,” early on in the set, when giant yellow balloons filled with confetti fell from the ceiling in the amphitheater. Or towards the end of the set, during “Lovers in Japan,” when the first 10 to 20 rows were showered with paper butterflies throughout the song. Or the multiple stages the band used throughout its set, including one out towards the front of the lawn that the band used to great effect during a three-song acoustic set.
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East Troy review 2: Coldplay brings a personal touch to a crowded arena
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, July 27, 2009 - 08:46 AM (1730 Reads)
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East Troy — A rock show in an arena setting can be a depersonalizing experience only a few levels below that of taking off one's shoes before passing through an airport security checkpoint. The beer costs too much in both cases. Saturday night at Alpine Valley Music Theatre, Coldplay tried to re-personalize the experience, writes JS Online.
The quartet drew more than 30,000 people, and its music had the grandeur-embracing sincerity of early U2. Lead singer and pianist Chris Martin exhibited the characteristics of an intelligent frontman: a voice to make the heart swoon, energy to burn and self-deprecating charisma. Guitarist Jon Buckland owed some of his serrated clarity to The Edge (U2's axman, natch), but he took it toward English countrysides ("Strawberry Swing") and funereal bleakness ("Cemeteries of London").
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East Troy review: Coldplay energizes Alpine Valley crowd (plus new pictures)
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, July 26, 2009 - 09:50 PM (4833 Reads)
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Before the encore to Coldplay's two-hour show at Alpine Valley on Saturday night, lead singer Chris Martin came out onstage with a clipboard and announced officiously that he was holding the results from the band's audience ranking. Of the 138 shows so far in Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" tour, the Alpine crowd ranked "in the top one," writes 77 Square.
Even if he tells that to all the other girls, Saturday night's show did buzz with an electricity that probably only comes a few times on a good tour. It spanned more than 20 songs, including an acoustic tribute to Michael Jackson with "Billie Jean." The band's presence onstage was loose and energetic. Martin skipped, rolled and bolted across the stage like a dancer, ending "In My Place" flat on the floor in a backbend (those yoga classes with Gwyneth are paying off).
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Another Shynola interview: Coldplay.com talks to video team
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, July 23, 2009 - 07:15 PM (2771 Reads)
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Coldplay.com have interviewed the makers of the new Strawberry Swing video explain how they worked their magic. They asked Kenny, one of the Shynola team, to tell us how they made it. Here is the interview...
Hello Kenny, how are you?
Great, thank you. I'm eating a yogurt.
How did you come to be involved with the Strawberry Swing video?
We were approached one day, with what was an unusual, but rather intriguing brief - namely, make a video for a song that wasn't really going to be released, and at film resolution so it could be shown in cinemas. More of a short-film than a typically commercial piece.
Could you tell us some of the other music videos you guys have worked on?
We've made videos for Beck, Unkle, The Rapture, a load of stuff for Radiohead, a video with David Shrigley for Blur, and my favourite one - Queens of the Stone Age.
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Shynola interview: The Making of the Strawberry Swing video
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, July 23, 2009 - 01:00 PM (39794 Reads)
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Coldplay made their anticipated video return this month and unveil the ground-breaking new video to blissful summer lament, ‘Strawberry Swing’, exclusively on Babelgum. The Shynola-directed video sees Chris Martin play an animated superhero in a larger-than-life world drawn entirely in chalk.
Fans had the opportunity to see the video for the first time ever on Babelgum and on the iPhone application (featuring this video plus Coldplay’s video back catalogue, a news feed and game), on July 20th.
‘Strawberry Swing’ will be released on Parlophone as a digital download on September 14th. The video, commercially available from August 3rd, will also be given a theatrical premiere in front of 'Brüno' and 'The Proposal' at ODEON cinemas across the UK from July 22nd.
Jason Groves from Shynola gave Babelgum an insightful interview as he talks us through the video...
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Irvine review: Coldplay's roaring take to packed Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, July 21, 2009 - 10:57 AM (3310 Reads)
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Midway through a roaring take on the song "Viva la Vida" on Sunday, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin looked up at the packed amphitheater in Irvine and urged the crowd to give just a little bit more, writes US Official Tabloid Gossip blog.
"For the last time in California for a few years, so let's turn it up!" Martin shouted as he invited, or actually demanded, that we all sing along with just as much passion and power as the band itself delivered all night at Verizon Wireless. And of course, the full house did just as he'd asked, belting out the "oh, oh, oh's" of the chorus as Martin sang and skipped across the stage, guitarist Jonny Buckland and bass player Guy Berryman crisply played their parts, and drummer Will Champion hammered at a large metal bell so violently that he shattered his mallet.
The song, as did the entire night, offered the sound and sight of a band at its peak, road-tested after 134 concerts on a tour that started over a year ago, but still as fresh and enthusiastic as a band just heading out.
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More Carson fan reviews: Coldplay surpass last year's Honda Center show
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, July 19, 2009 - 10:50 PM (3392 Reads)
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More excellent reviews of Coldplay's concert at the Home Depot Center, Carson, CA (18th July 2009) have been posted at the Coldplay Live forum, that didn't quite make the main review article in time this morning. Here are just some of the many:
Okay the show last night was incredible. It beat my experience at the Honda Center last year. I couldn't see sometimes because i'm only 5'5 but when I started looking around heads i could(plus the Bigscreens). Anyways it was so much fun, Chris was his usual self, very energetic and funny. The crowd was okay in my section. I tried to start a chant a couple of times but no one else joined around me.
At the end of Yellow the singalong didn't work out that well, even Chris noticed because he said something along the lines "We need to work on those lyrics". I sang along to every song and jumped around. They sang Billie Jean incredibly well, I was standing on my chair when they went to the C stage and so were a whole bunch of people but the security made us all get down when they left that stage. Chris, Guy, Jonny, and Will all looked very good.
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Carson fan review: Coldplay power through Home Depot Center show
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, July 19, 2009 - 10:39 PM (3479 Reads)
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A comprehensive review of Coldplay's concert at the Home Depot Center, Carson, CA (18th July 2009) has emerged online at the Coldplay Live forum, courtesy of DaveLev:
Getting to the event was a snap. Left our home at 5:30, got some fast food, pulled up to Home Depot Center at 6 PM, paid $20 to park, and was only one of about 100 cars in the whole place. Walked up to Northeast gate, and waited another 20 minutes or so. The gates did NOT open at 6 PM due to 'production' issues. I later found out it was because the first band did not do their sound check earlier in the after noon (unverified).
Once gates opened, people were scanned through metal detectors. This is Compton, so makes sense. Logistics were not so good for getting into the pit area. You showed your ticket to walk down the stairs (but only in a designated area - there were two walkways for GA ticket users). You then showed your ticket at the bottom of the stairs. Then you walked along the field sidelines through another 3 sets of guards, showing each one your ticket. At the third, they hole-punched your ticket in order to get a wristband. Once you had a wristband, you could enter the GA area, which, by the way was ENORMOUS.
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San Diego review: Coldplay ‘vivas’ their ‘vida’ at Cricket Amphitheatre
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, July 18, 2009 - 09:09 AM (2922 Reads)
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British alt-pop band Coldplay thrilled a packed house at Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre Thursday night, performing their decreasingly-unique brand of melancholic piano jams to the thousands in attendance, writes the San Diego News Network.
Playing mostly cuts off of their 2008 release “Viva La Vida,” frontman Chris Martin and Co., used an array of dazzling lights and lasers and clever camera angles to enhance the visual experience.
In addition, in typical Coldplay fashion, they had fan interactivity as well, including releasing giant yellow balloons which spectators bounced around like beach balls, during the band’s signature single “Yellow.” Martin also urged fans to start a “cell phone lights wave,” and eager concertgoers obliged, holding up their phones and doing the wave from left to right, in a unique dazzling display.
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Introducing... Mat Whitecross (Coldplay video director interviewed)
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, July 17, 2009 - 05:53 PM (2780 Reads)
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 Mat Whitecross, 31, started making films at 13 using his father's camera, a toy gun and lots of ketchup. 'Someone would enter a room and kill about ten people and that was that,' writes the London Evening Standard.
While studying English at University College London, he met an unknown band called Coldplay and directed their first video, Bigger Stronger, 'We shot it on the beach in winter and I made Chris Martin jump off a cliff into the ocean. It was haphazard and shambolic, but great fun.'
After working as a runner and editor, Mat co-directed the documentary Road to Guantanamo, about prisoners released from Guantanamo Bay, with Michael Winterbottom in 2006. 'I had the idea but nobody would give me the money to do it, so Michael suggested we do it together. We were both quite drunk, but the next day he got the ball rolling.'
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Coldplay San Diego preview: "Rock artists' fine line between borrowing and stealing"
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, July 16, 2009 - 10:45 PM (2153 Reads)
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If you want to accuse Coldplay of musical plagiarism over its 2008 hit song “Viva La Vida,” get in line, writes the San Diego Union Tribune. Coldplay, who perform on Thursday at Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre, was sued late last year by veteran San Francisco guitarist Joe Satriani, who alleged that “Viva La Vida” brazenly took from his 2004 song, “If I Could Fly,” Why they decide to focus on a plagiarism case rather than the forthcoming show is probably due to Satriani's roots in CA. Wonder if he got a ticket to one of Coldplay's West Coast shows. Hmm. Anyway, here is the rest of the article...
Coldplay was also accused last year of copying parts of “Viva La Vida” from an obscure 2008 number by Brooklyn's Creaky Boards, called – fittingly – “The Songs I Didn't Write.”
Coldplay, Satriani and the Creaky Boards' songs all bear, in varying degrees, similarities with 2002's “Frances Limon” by top Argentinian rock band Los Enanitos Verdes. In turn, “Frances Limon” owes a debt to the instrumental section from Toto's 1982 song, “I Won't Hold You Back,” although no one from Toto appears to have taken any legal action, at least not yet.
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Boise Weekly reviews Coldplay Live CD 'Left Right Left Right Left' (plus new Shoreline pictures)
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, July 15, 2009 - 08:26 PM (2533 Reads)
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 "Man, we put in more rehearsal for this album than any other, because we played it live 101 times before we released it. Talk about road-testing material," said frontman Chris Martin on Coldplay's website. You've got to hand it to Coldplay that not only can they write some captivating songs, they can also deliver on a live performance, writes Boise Weekly (dot com).
Furthermore, despite these Brits being world superstars, they've managed to keep a handle on their music. There's something commendable about a mainstream band refusing Gap the rights to their songs. So when they release a live album as a free download on their Web site, it's worth a listen.
LeftRightLeftRightLeft captures that quality about Coldplay that's given them global appeal. The songs, many of them from last summer's Viva La Vida, are in the trademark emotional explorations of Chris Martin, winsome without bordering too far into unbelievability.
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Portland fan review (part two): Meeting Coldplay backstage & showtime... on stage
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, July 14, 2009 - 10:30 PM (3109 Reads)
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Part two of chengui's excellent review of Coldplay's concert at the Clark County Amphitheater, Portland, OR, and a meet and greet backstage (10th July 2009) is now available to read online at the Coldplay Live forum. In case you missed part one recently you can recap that here. What follows is part two:
So we all walked back out to the main area (now about 8:30) and were told to meet back by the backstage door at 8:50. We could have gone and found our seats and waited there, but the second opening band was wrapping up and we decided to just hang out for twenty minutes.
At 8:50 the Capitol people came back and met us, walked us backstage and onto the side of the main stage. It was funny cause they stopped to let the band manager what were were doing and he said (in his thick british accent) “I know exactly what you’re doing. For once I know what the f*** is going on around here.” – he was hilarious.
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Mountain View review: Coldplay delivers rock-solid show at Shoreline
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, July 14, 2009 - 08:06 PM (2698 Reads)
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Name the band that you'd least expect to deliver a Michael Jackson tribute. Metallica? Marilyn Manson? How about Coldplay? It was the latter that surprised the capacity crowd at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View on Monday with its tribute to the recently departed King of Pop, writes San Jose's Mercury News.
And the real shocker was how Coldplay went about it. Late in the set, the quartet moved from Shoreline's big main stage to a smaller platform, which probably measured no more than 6-by-6 feet, located at the rear of the reserved seats, near the lawn area. The players huddled together, acoustic instruments in hand, and vocalist Chris Martin announced that they were "going to go into a song that is far better than any song we could ever write."
A mandolin rang out, alongside two acoustic guitars, and the rhythm was instantly familiar, if not immediately identifiable. Then Martin uttered the first line of the song: "She was more like a beauty queen from a movie scene... ." The crowd let forth a collective gasp, then a shriek, as 22,000 fans realized they were hearing an acoustic cover of Jackson's "Billie Jean."
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Chris Martin battles giant squirrel in Coldplay's new Strawberry Swing video
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, July 14, 2009 - 07:35 PM (3797 Reads)
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REUTERS: Coldplay have made a brief preview available to accompany their single “Strawberry Swing” that will be shown in UK cinemas from July 22nd as a supporting act to Sacha Baron Cohen’s mockumentary “Bruno,” as well as to romance “The Proposal” starring Sandra Bullock. In it, frontman Chris Martin, dressed as an old-style superhero, battles a giant squirrel, whch is drawn entirely in chalk.
Meanwhile, NME also write that Coldplay will showcase their new video before selected screenings of Sacha Baron Cohen's new movie 'Bruno'. The clip for 'Strawberry Swing' will be shown exclusively at Odeon cinemas in the UK from July 22. The film will also be shown before 'The Proposal' at the cinema chain.
The video was directed by Radiohead, Blur and Beck collaborators Shynola, see frontman Chris Martin - who also features in the 'Bruno' film as himself - doing battled with a giant squirrel in a world drawn entirely in chalk.
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Sacramento (14 July) preview: Coldplay shows fans the warmth
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, July 14, 2009 - 10:05 AM (2087 Reads)
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Despite being the adored, much analyzed and fantasized-about lead singer of one of the planet's biggest rock bands, Chris Martin of Coldplay is practical, even humble about his role. Sitting on the floor of a rented house in Los Angeles, enjoying the California sunshine and the taste of the strawberry he's just finished, Martin is deliberately and charmingly low-key.
writes The Sacramento Bee. Full discussion on this show is at the Winnipeg thread here in the Coldplay Live forum.
"It just comes from pure gratitude at being given this job, particularly in a period of time when music is hard to be employed by," Martin says of the free CDs that Coldplay is giving to concertgoers on its U.S. tour. (The tour stops in Sacramento on Tuesday; it started in May in West Palm Beach, Fla.)
"We wanted to give something to the people who have paid money to come see us or buy the album," he adds, referring to "Viva La Vida," the best-selling album in the world in 2008. "It's like a reward system in a grocery store."
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George, WA review 2: It's time to stop dissing Coldplay
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, July 13, 2009 - 09:49 PM (1802 Reads)
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Excellent review from Blogcritics has emerged online of Coldplay's most recent show at the Gorge Amphitheater in Grant County, and its a big thumbs up for Coldplay and thumbs down for the boo boys. Here's the review...
Say whatever you will about Coldplay. Plenty of folks already have, both here on Blogcritics and elsewhere. But rarely have I ever seen a band who works so hard to please an audience, and who obviously has such a great time doing it. At one point during Coldplay's stop at the beautiful Gorge Amphitheater near the Columbia River in Eastern Washington this past Saturday, Chris Martin thanked the sold-out crowd for "giving us the best job in the world." Sure, it sounds like the sort of thing performers like Martin say to their audiences every night, but you really got the impression that he meant it.
Martin wore a shit-eating, schoolgirl's ear to ear grin for much of the night, and he also made several remarks about the natural beauty of the Gorge. He even ad-libbed a lyric at one point with the words "If you want to play the place that's the best, come to the Gorge Amphitheater in the Pacific Northwest."
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George, WA review: Coldplay leaves fans walking on air
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, July 13, 2009 - 08:16 AM (2699 Reads)
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THE GORGE, Grant County — Most bands wouldn't show much enthusiasm 130 shows into a worldwide tour that started over a year ago. They wouldn't be pleased to sweat through long-sleeved shirts and jackets while playing an evening show in desert-like temperatures. And they wouldn't make it seem novel and fun. But most bands aren't Coldplay, writes The Seattle Times.
Martin is a treat to watch, not only because he is a gifted musician, but also because he appears genuinely fresh-faced and awed by the power of song. Two screens on either side of the stage showed close ups of the lead singer and three bandmates (Jonny Buckland, guitar, Guy Berryman, bass, and Will Champion on drums) throughout the night. The quick cutaways that offered glimpses of each musician during a song added to the upbeat energy of the evening.
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Coldplaying interviews Oxfam America's Soha Yassine on Coldplay tour
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, July 12, 2009 - 01:20 PM (2710 Reads)
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Once again, Coldplaying.com has been lucky enough to obtain an exclusive interview with the Oxfam Tour Co-Ordinator on the 2009 Viva La Vida Tour. We previously interviewed the 2008 Oxfam representative, Pete Lusby during the second North American Viva La Vida tour leg. Whilst the band have been busy at the 2009 European festivals, Soha took some time out of her break to answer some questions for us...
Coldplaying.com would like to start by congratulating Oxfam America on reaching 100,000 sign-ups whilst on tour with Coldplay. It's a fantastic achievement to have reached that many people, especially in the limited time you have to talk with them. What does it feel like to have been involved in that achievement?
Thank you! Simply put, it was awesomely gratifying and validating. Congratulations are certainly due to the several Oxfam affiliates that that trained and deployed teams, especially Oxfam Canada who was the Oxfam affiliate to drive the total number of people who have taken action to 100 thousand.
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Portland fan review (part one): Meeting Coldplay backstage
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, July 11, 2009 - 11:29 PM (3987 Reads)
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An excellent review of Coldplay's concert at the Clark County Amphitheater, Portland, OR, and a meet and greet backstage (10th July 2009) has emerged online at the Coldplay Live forum, courtesy of chengui (more to come later!):
Long story short – I won a t-shirt design competition and me and a friend won seat ON THE STAGE to the Coldplay show last night. I’ll write more later – but figured I’d post this first half this morning.
After I won the tickets I asked the woman at the station if she thought there was any chance we would actually meet the band (so I could be prepared) and she said no. She said the station did not receive ANY meet/greet passes so our prize was just to sit on the stage (still freakin’ awesome – no complaints on my end). She then told me that a woman from Capitol records (who sponsored the contest) would be contacting me the day of the show with specifics of how I got to my seat etc.
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Portland review: Coldplay's pop sneaks up, won't let you go
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, July 11, 2009 - 11:11 PM (3267 Reads)
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That Coldplay is one the hugest pop bands on the planet is inescapable. The group and its superstar frontman Chris Martin find themselves, a decade-plus into their career, literally having it all: the fame, the fortune (more than 50 million albums sold; packing venues such as the 18,000-capacity Amphitheater at Clark County on a nightly basis), the Grammys (seven), the hot-actress wife and oddly named children (Gwyneth Paltrow; Apple and Moses), writes Oregonlive.com.
That the group has faced down its critics to become one of the finest bands on the planet is a matter of considerably more debate, but for all its suburb-rockin' anthems for the evening commute, Coldplay has perfected what Sting once called "music for window washers to whistle to," the sort of pop that sneaks up on you and won't let your brain be. And that, too, has its place in the world, as the throng of singing, hollering, cell-phone-waving Coldplay faithful made clear Friday night.
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Coldplay: “We Just Keep Working, Keeping Our Heads Down”
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, July 09, 2009 - 05:08 PM (1714 Reads)
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With Coldplay back on the road this summer for the final leg of its tour behind its most recent album — the Grammy-winning, multi-platinum Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends — Shockhound thought it was the perfect time to catch up with singer Chris Martin and find out how he’s holding up. After all, it can’t be easy touring the world while being married to Gwyneth Paltrow and getting sued by Joe Satriani. Or can it?
Even though the group has been replaced by puppets in its video for “Life In Technicolor II,” the frontman sounded fighting fit — as well as quite convivial — as he spoke to ShockHound by phone from a tour stop somewhere on the East Coast. Along with revealing that his band has already started working on its next album, Martin even asked us for some career advice — but only after we addressed more important topics like boozing, playing video games and making fun of Bono. Read the full article after the jump, you can also discuss this interview at the Coldplay forum here [thanks mimixxx]
SHOCKHOUND: How do I know I'm not speaking to your puppet?
CHRIS MARTIN: You might well be. You have no way of knowing if this is the real singer of Coldplay. Well, I have no way of knowing if this is really you.
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Rock Werchter fan review: Coldplay class act (plus new festival set photos)
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, July 04, 2009 - 07:55 PM (3276 Reads)
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An excellent review of Coldplay's concert at the Rock Werchter festival (3rd July 2009) has emerged online at the Coldplay Live forum, courtesy of Bye:
I was in Werchter last night, it was my first Coldplay gig and they most definitely lived up to my high expectations! We were really in for a treat yesterday. Elbow earlier was fantastic, I didn't really know them before yesterday but will definitely give them another listen. Bloc Party started a great party. Then on came The Killers, who really started and ended their show with a bang! Chris Martin would later remark that they're not used to closing for The Killers and hoped they'd be worthy.
Anyway, the wait before Coldplay came on was charged. We'd been highly entertained by the previous groups and couldn't wait to see what Coldplay had in store for us. The announcer had said right after The Killers concert that he'd just seen two cute little kids, a boy and a girl, and finished off by saying, "yes, they're really here!". A JayZ song (I presume) was the first sign that Coldplay would be on soon. This was followed by The Blue Danube by Strauss (I don't know if they do this at all gigs or not). It served really well to build up the anticipation. And then on they came, waving fire sticks. You already know the set-list so I won't go into that.
Note: Join us now at the Coldplay forum here for all the discussions on the latest pictures, interviews, videos and updates from Sunday's live Coldplay Roskilde blogging! |
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For Chris Martin, the upbeat goes on (recent Coldplay Winnipeg article)
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, July 01, 2009 - 07:56 AM (3175 Reads)
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An hour before showtime, Chris Martin lopes about the concrete backstage of Winnipeg's MTS Centre in cyan socks and baggy warm-up pants. All around him, roadies bark into headsets, and security guards clench their fists. He seems oblivious. A song is looping in his head – Nickelback's If Today Was Your Last Day – along with thoughts of Marco Polo, a recent obsession, writes The Globe And Mail.
A week earlier, Forbes magazine had named Martin and his bandmates the world's most powerful British celebrities. Here in the home of the Manitoba Moose, the rock star appears detached, and a little alone.
Martin has blue eyes like spotlights, a diffident smile and an unfailingly affable air, but his hands are most mesmeric of all. Staring at his long, gangly piano fingers, one can't help but think these genetic aberrations form the heart of the whole hit-making, Grammy-winning schmaltz factory that is Coldplay.
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Ne-yo, Busta Rhymes, Shontelle and Lemar on Coldplay
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, June 26, 2009 - 04:21 PM (2050 Reads)
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Once upon a time, the honour was undisputed. In the 60s, it was accepted that the Beatles were the world's greatest act. In the 70s, it was the Stones. In the 80s, it was U2's turn. Hindsight tells us, of course, that other acts had legitimate claims - James Brown, notably - but they were ignored by the white rock-and-pop establishment, writes The Guardian.
And so the title of "the greatest" became a competition between a succession of guitar bands, even as guitar rock was being left behind as any sort of pioneering force within music. But, still, people understood what the title entailed: the acts hailed as "the greatest" were those who could make a crowd of 100,000 feel intimate, who had an ability to communicate meaning far beyond the literal meaning of their songs.
But who is the world's best act these days? It's a question bands seem eager to avoid: Chris Martin last year laid claim to Coldplay being no more than the seventh-best band in the world, and even Bono doesn't appear to have been lusting for the top spot since 2000, when he announced U2's intention to "reclaim their title".
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Ridiculous ticket surcharges problematic for bands
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, June 25, 2009 - 08:21 AM (1436 Reads)
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 How can this be justified? A 38 percent surcharge on a $21 concert ticket. It can't, especially when - as usual - the specifics of these "service charges" never are divulged, writes Recordnet.com.
This time, it was tickets for a July 27 Glasvegas concert at San Francisco's newly renamed Regency Ballroom (formerly Grand Ballroom). This is a young (one album), very promising band from Glasgow, Scotland, whose self-titled debut is one of the year's best rock records.
Tickets purchased with a Visa ATM card at a Ticket Master outlet - not online or by phone, where even higher fees can be whomped on you - were $21 each. The surcharge was $8 per ticket, as in 38 percent of the face value. That usury doesn't go to the band. The whole concert ticketing situation has turned into an absurd, almost unfathomable free-for-all. It's a big mess that could lead to a U.S. Justice Department ruling on antitrust issues this year.
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Vancouver review 3: Coldplay gives high energy concert; films Vancouver fans
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, June 21, 2009 - 05:08 PM (4169 Reads)
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REVIEW — Coldplay frontman Chris Martin bursts a giant yellow balloon, then grins as confetti falls over his face. The sold out crowd at GM Place lets out a roar. Balloons bounce from person to person around the stadium, writes the Vancouver Sun.
And the sweeping melody of the British megaband’s hit song Yellow, ends after wrapping itself around the audience. Ah. There’s something about a Coldplay concert. And even if you’re not a fan of the group’s softer-edged stadium rock — even if you agree clean-living Martin is the so-called “Jesus of Uncool,” as per Rolling Stone — just try not to get swept away by their live show.
By their swelling rhythms, their musicianship and their charm. I was. I arrived feeling ho-hum and left humming along to Fix You. (A song they really nailed, by the way.) The lads kicked off the night with high energy as they bounded on to the stage and twirled sparklers. Martin, 32, jerked his body around like a marionette, loose limbs flailing and his yoga-limber body bending backwards and forwards.
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Vancouver review 2: Coldplay exudes confidence in aggressive GM Place concert
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, June 21, 2009 - 05:00 PM (3696 Reads)
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With Viva la Vida, Coldplay has shown a willingness to progress. It would have been easy to cruise along with a couple more albums as successful as A Rush of Blood to the Head or X&Y. Instead, Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman and Will Champion took a chance. Not a big chance. Viva la Vida isn’t a challenge or a dramatic change, but it does broaden the band’s scope and shows its ambition, writes The Province.
Coldplay isn’t Radiohead — yet. But it does sell more records and has used its popularity to reposition itself. Until Viva la Vida revealed a band that wanted to leave a significant mark, it was acceptable. That’s all. The acceptable face of current rock, an acceptable sound, an acceptable look. Viva la Vida sustains moods, creates a cinematic sweep in which ambitious song arrangements flourish.
So it was that the band had to reconcile its former self with the current personality. It wasted no time. After a fanfare that mocked Andre Rieu, Coldplay got down to business Saturday night, linking “Life in Technicolor II” and “Lost!,” then launching into the big hit “Clocks.” This took confidence, to go big so early, but that’s what Coldplay has become — confident.
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Vancouver review: Coldplay get 'intimate' with 20,000 crowd
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, June 21, 2009 - 10:10 AM (2965 Reads)
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Chris Martin of Coldplay announced Saturday night that of all the cities on their tour, the band have chosen to film the Vancouver concerts, writes the Vancouver Sun.
Halfway through the first show in a two-night stint at GM Place, Martin thanked the crowd for braving the traffic and 'missing Desperate Housewives', complimenting Vancouver audiences as the best in the world.
The love was evidently mutual, as the sold-out crowd of 30,000 remained on its feet throughout the show, echoing back to the band an energy high and so warm, the arena took on the intimate feel of a concert hall. The love-in reached a crescendo when Martin and the band wove their way across the stadium floor to the back, slapping hands along the way and disappearing into a doorway, only to emerge moments later in the midst of the furthest reaches of the audience for a harmonica-laced, strummed rendition of Green Eyes.
Did you go to the show? Let us know! Post your reviews at the Vancouver thread here or simply browse the latest comments, pictures and videos on the 20th June show!
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Edmonton fan review: Coldplay Impresses fans on Viva La Vida Tour
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, June 20, 2009 - 11:46 PM (2531 Reads)
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Coldplay on Thursday night was amazing. Go back and re-read that first sentence because there is no amount of italicization I can use to express how good that show was. It surpassed all expectations I had and thoroughly impressed me. It was more than a concert, it was a truly passionate performance, writes seangursky.com.
Basically, the concert started with ‘Life in Technicolour I’ and then we just got more intense then there. The band pulled out all kinds of REALLY fun tricks (which I don’t really want to give away to those who are planning on seeing an upcoming ‘Viva La Vida’ tour show).
And while watching, I thought, here’s the difference between a band who uses tricks to enhance what they do well, rather than using tricks to cover up what they can’t do (such as using backup dancers to distract from lip-synching), or using tricks needlessly and senselessly (example: Mariah Carey’s numerous costume changes at her show back in 2006). When you have about 10,000 people screaming for you and wanting to get closer and closer to you, you don’t need lasers and confetti and gritty black-and-white jumbotron images. But… it only enhances the Coldplay experience in that the music takes on a kind of electrified, magical, whimsical dynamic that makes it both look and feel truly alive.
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Vancouver preview: Coldplay turns up the heat online and on stage
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, June 20, 2009 - 09:04 AM (1765 Reads)
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VANCOUVER - Coldplay has been on the road more or less for a year now, but they are good boys and write home often. They write to everyone, nearly every day through Myspace, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. The top-selling band in the world is also the most connected, writes the Vancouver Sun.
What once was a one-way conversation between rock stars and fans — we release a record and you buy it — has become a 24/7 chum-fest, at least for the Coldplay community. Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman and Will Champion Twitter daily to more than one million followers. Their Facebook site has more than 2.2 million registered fans and their Myspace page has ticked over 32 million views. They also have a YouTube channel boasting views in the millions.
While the record industry tries to make sense of a crumbling business model in the iTunes era, Coldplay has it goin’ on. When the 2008 release Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends became the top-selling album in 2008, Coldplay rewarded fans with a whole other live record from the supporting tour, for free.
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Edmonton Review: Coldplay rocks Rexall Place
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, June 20, 2009 - 05:25 AM (4384 Reads)
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 Viva La Coldplay! Long live Chris Martin and all his friends! For almost two hours, the British rockers ruled the world — or at least 15,500 fans — on Thursday night at Rexall Place, writes community blogs at canada.com.
Armed with military jackets, lasers, butterfly-shaped confetti, and unbridled happiness, Martin and his bandmates let their joyous tunes — including Clocks, Viva La Vida, Politik and The Scientist — soar through the sold-out arena.
Theirs was one of those rare sets to fully savour — to toss aside your cell phone, BlackBerry or notebook, close your eyes, tilt your head back and let yourself be carried away by Martin’s falsetto, Jonny Buckland’s chiming guitars and Will Champion’s booming drums. They started off with a bang, complete with sparklers and five of their biggest hits — an abridged (and instrumental) version of Life In Technicolour, Violet Hill, Clocks, In My Place and their 2000 breakthrough, Yellow.
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Snow Patrol warms up to Coldplay (by playing football!)
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, June 18, 2009 - 06:35 PM (2704 Reads)
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 Challenging each other to football is one way to level the playing field. So the crews and musicians of Coldplay and Snow Patrol are engaged in a series of soccer games on this tour. Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody describes the games as round robins in which both sides have won and lost. Despite inequities, the games put both groups on an equal footing, writes canada.com today.
As he notes, it's rare for a headlining band such as Coldplay to take an interest in its opening act but he also says that "this has been on the horizon for a long time."
No doubt he means that Snow Patrol frequently is mentioned with Coldplay. The Irish/Scottish Snow Patrol released its first album around the same time, 2003, Coldplay was experiencing its first rush of success and there are similarities in the sound, direction and open-mindedness of both. The difference is scale.
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Calgary review: Coldplay at Saddledome 'hot from the get-go'
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, June 18, 2009 - 05:02 PM (2033 Reads)
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What was that Bible passage, again? Something about the meek inheriting the Earth? Having seen Coldplay's sold-out show at Saddledome, I fully concede, at least for the moment, that they have, writes the Calgary Herald.
Yes, chalk a big one up for the Coldplay-lovers of the world --legion that they are--based on the aural and visual extravaganza that is the Viva La Vida Tour, taken in by some 15,000 Wednesday night at the Saddledome.
All around it was the perfect display of arena rock pomp meets alternative rock preciousness. As for the Coldplay cynics out there (A group which, by the way, I have to count myself a part of)? Well, for hardened meanies like us, that was the taste of humble pie when the London band--which has become one of the biggest on the planet, hands down--performed so powerfully in Calgary.
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Coldplay's 'reinvention could use reinventing' says Georgia Straight
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, June 18, 2009 - 04:50 PM (1739 Reads)
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Seeing how he seems like a genuinely humble and all-round decent human being, let’s assume that Chris Martin is as horrified as anyone at the way things have unfolded, writes Vancouver's straight.com.
Imagine setting out to create something new and boundary-pushing, a reinvention, if you will, of a band that’s easily become the biggest success story of its generation. That’s what the boys of Coldplay did with 2008’s Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, a record that found them, for the first time, shooting for something higher than ball-less, housewife-friendly alternative pop.
And what happened with that ambitious rebranding project? Well, as every YouTube addict knows, it ended up getting the U.K. quartet sued for plagiarism. To add to the indignity, the plaintiff isn’t a beloved icon (e.g., Neil Young, David Bowie, or Lou Reed) that any self-respecting songwriter would happily cop to ripping off, but instead one of rock ’n’ roll’s most notoriously tasteless musical masturbators.
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Coldplay's Chris Martin thankful for job (Winnipeg Sun exclusive interview via Canoe)
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 - 03:58 PM (2337 Reads)
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 Even rock stars get tired of talking about themselves eventually. Case in point: Chris Martin. The 32-year-old Coldplay frontman has spent the last year being interviewed by reporters far and wide about the band's gazillion-selling, chart-topping, Grammy-winning album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, writes the Winnipeg Sun.
And now that the awards are shelved, the sales are tabulated and the Britrockers' lengthy world tour is finally wrapping up in September, the last thing he really needs to do is another interview. But along with being fabulously rich, internationally famous, boyishly handsome, skinny and married to the equally fabulous actress Gwyneth Paltrow, Martin also seems to be something you don't always come across in the music industry: A gentleman.
So when Coldplay returned to Western Canada this week to make up for a series of concerts postponed from last year, Martin not only agreed to a chat -- he sat down with me in the front lounge of the band's tour bus on its first stop in Winnipeg.
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Winnipeg review 3: Coldplay Pass Through Manitoba
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 - 01:05 PM (1835 Reads)
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It was pretty obvious that Coldplay were going to incorporate some backing music to flesh out the exotic sound of some of their material, such as the opening number "Life In Technicolor," from last year's Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, writes Blog Critics.
Released in May, 2008, Coldplay's fourth studio album was the number one selling album in the US (over 2 million) and internationally (7.8 million) and it debuted at number one in 36 countries. It's also the most paid-for downloaded album of all time, with over 700,000 downloads to date and counting (statistics courtesy of Wikipedia.)
Early in the show, the burst into Yellow, one of their first hits from their debut album, Parachutes (2000, 4 million sold.) As the first few notes rang out, members of the road crew walked into the floor area, bearing large yellow balloons, some much larger than beach balls.
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Calgary preview: A Rush of Blood to the 'Dome (Buckland family interview)
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - 11:26 AM (1712 Reads)
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 Chris Martin may be Coldplay's most famous face, but for 25 local fans, guitarist Jonny Buckland is the star of the show. Buckland has several relatives in Alberta, many of whom will be taking in the British rock group's sold-out Saddledome show tomorrow, writes the Calgary Sun.
"We all can't wait to see him," says Jacky Joki, whose late father Ernest Buckland was a first cousin of the guitarist's grandfather. A bunch of us are travelling to Vancouver and Edmonton to see him as well."
Joki and her husband Roger first made contact with Buckland's family in 1978, when they visited his grandparents in England. "I sent Christmas cards to them for 30 years and they would keep me abreast of what he was doing," she says. "They told me about this little band he was in and how they were doing."
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Winnipeg review 2: Coldplay’s performance is hot, hot, hot
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - 07:55 AM (3702 Reads)
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Coldplay may very well be the biggest rock band in the world right now, with the best-selling album of 2008 and a tour that’s criss-crossing the globe. At the same time, they may be the least "rock" rock band in the world, writes the Winnipeg Free Press.
You’d likely be hard-pressed to pick the unassuming members out of a crowd (unless singer Chris Martin had glamorous wife Gwyneth Paltrow on his arm) and even their recent stab at rock-star flamboyance — wearing colourful Seargent Pepper-style jackets — is a pale imitation of provocateurs past.
So some trepidation was attached to the London band’s first visit to Winnipeg. Charity donations, vegetarianism and all-around niceness are well and good, but a good concert experience demands a little excess. Sex and drugs might be passé, but a rock ‘n’ roll attitude is still a requirement.
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Winnipeg review: Coldplay put a smile upon your face
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - 07:51 AM (2638 Reads)
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Some bands leave you wanting more. Chris Martin and Coldplay definitely aren't one of them. At least, they weren't at MTS Centre on Monday night, when the Brit-rock foursome finally made their long-delayed local debut. What they were instead was a band that gave a sold-out crowd of 12,500 fervent fans everything they could possibly want — and then gave them more, writes the Winnipeg Sun.
You wanted hits? They had ’em: Nearly two dozen numbers, including most of their gazillion-selling 2008 album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, along with older crowdpleasers like Yellow, Politik, The Scientist and even a jangly acoustic cover of the Neil Diamond-penned Monkees classic I'm a Believer. If you weren't a believer before last night, that along might have changed your mind.
You wanted a rockin' band? You got one: While Coldplay's lushly melodic anthems and ballads can sometimes come off as lightweight and poppy on CD, there was no shortage of muscle in their live show.
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Winnipeg preview: Thanks for coming to the show (plus new Des Moines pictures)
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, June 15, 2009 - 09:56 PM (1540 Reads)
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Despite being the adored, much analyzed and fantasized about lead singer of one of the planet's biggest rock bands, Chris Martin of Coldplay is practical, even humble about his role. Sitting on the floor of a rented house in Los Angeles, enjoying the California sunshine and the taste of the strawberry he's just finished, Martin is deliberately and charmingly low-key, writes the Winnipeg Free Press. Full discussion on this show is at the Winnipeg thread here in the Coldplay Live forum.
"It just comes from pure gratitude at being given this job, particularly in a period of time when music is hard to be employed by," Martin says of the free CDs Coldplay is giving to concert-goers on their current tour, which kicked off last month in West Palm Beach, Fla.
"We wanted to give something to the people who have paid money to come see us or buy the album," he adds, referring to Viva la Vida, the best-selling album in the world in 2008. "It's like a reward system in a grocery store."
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Fan Reviews: Coldplay at Qwest Center, Omaha, NE
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, June 15, 2009 - 02:42 PM (2210 Reads)
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We've had a spate of excellent reviews of Coldplay's most recent show at Omaha's Qwest Centre and also much discussion and feedback on the crowd. Below are some of the fan reviews found on the Coldplaying forums, which you can also read and reply to (even if you went to the show or not) at the Coldplay Live forum here in the Omaha thread...
The show: I hung around outside early to try to get a glimpse of them, but some fat ass security guard who makes $10/hr had to feel on a power trip and tell me I couldn't hang there. I asked him to show me the sign that said that, which he couldn't but told me that is why he was there. I mumbled something not so nice and went on this pedestrian bridge to watch, but I think they were already in there as I could hear bass drum kicks comming from the arena. I was right up by C-stage. The people around me were actually fairly into it, which is good because I warned them I am a pretty hardcore fan. My fiancee and I made a sign that said "Will has the voice of an ANGEL". Chris saw it, smiled for quite a while, and poked Will 3 times to make sure he saw it, and he got a kick out of it as well. Little disappointed he didn't say anything about it to the crowd though. [thanks bearcat1229]
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Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) Makes Peace With Coldplay
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, June 15, 2009 - 09:18 AM (1972 Reads)
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 Veteran singer Yusuf has reached out to Coldplay - just weeks after he accused them of stealing one of his melodies to use in their hit track Viva La Vida. The star - formerly known as Cat Stevens - claims the band lifted elements of his epic 18 minute song Foreigner Suite, which was released in 1973, and incorporated them into their 2008 single.
His claims came after guitarist Joe Satriani took legal action over the song - accusing Coldplay of copying segments from his 2004 instrumental If I Could Fly. Coldplay have denied Satriani's plagiarism accusations, insisting they thought up the tune themselves.
But Islam insists he won't be following Satriani's lead and pursuing the matter through the courts - and he wants to make peace with the Grammy Award winning rockers. He says, "I stand by what I said. They did copy my song but I don't think they did it on purpose. I have even copied myself without even knowing I have done it. I'll write down what I think is a good melody and realise it's the same as something I have already done. I don't want them to think I am angry with them. I'd love to sit down and have a cup of tea with them and let them know it's okay."
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Omaha review: Coldplay doesn't disappoint at Qwest Center
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, June 14, 2009 - 04:04 PM (3687 Reads)
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Coldplay didn't let down its fans Saturday night, even if frontman Chris Martin said he was nervous about it. Most in their teens and 20s, more than 11,000 people showed up at Qwest Center Omaha on Saturday night to see the Grammy-winning British quartet, writes the Omaha World Herald.
Making stops all over the world, the group has been on its “Viva La Vida” tour since nearly a year ago. “I don't know why it's taken us so long to get to Nebraska. We must have been nervous,” frontman Chris Martin joked. “But on tonight's evidence, we have no reason to be nervous. You've been very warm and inviting. At least we rehearsed this concert 217 times before we brought it to Nebraska. I hope it is up to your expectations.”
Looking like gray versions of the Beatles from the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,” the group took the stage wearing pseudo-military uniforms during the song “Life in Technicolor,” the opening track from their mega-popular 2008 album “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends.”
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Concession workers robbed at gunpoint at Des Moines Coldplay show
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, June 13, 2009 - 08:43 PM (2205 Reads)
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 Two unidentified men who appeared to be wearing concession-worker work clothes robbed Wells Fargo Arena concession employees at gunpoint late Friday night, report the Des Moines Register today.
The Des Moines arena was staging the Coldplay concert as witnesses told police one of the men worked a different concession stand earlier in the evening. No arrests were made after the men left the area with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Witnesses said the men, wearing clothes labeled with the name of Wells Fargo concession company Ovations Food Service approached workers at a concession stand approximately 9:30 p.m. One pulled a small-caliber handgun and pointed it at workers, witnesses reported. He then demanded money, which he stuffed in a backpack, and also took a cell phone. The suspects left through side door of the arena generally not used by the public.
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Des Moines review: Coldplay sells spectacle, and Iowa responds (plus new pictures)
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, June 13, 2009 - 11:31 AM (2415 Reads)
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Three bands that had never played in Des Moines took the stage Friday night at Wells Fargo Arena, but you wouldn't have known that they were unfamiliar with our fair city. Coldplay singer Chris Martin thanked the crowd for skipping out on Winefest, writes the Des Moines Register.
Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody managed to pronounce "Des Moines" correctly (Howling Bells singer Juanita Stein wasn't as lucky, adding an "S" sound.) "If we knew how good the audience is, we'd have come a long time ago," Martin told the crowd. He even worked a line about "finally making it to Iowa" into the opening tune, "Violet Hill."
Coldplay put on a show filled with spectacle. Giant balloons floated into the 11,000-strong crowd during the band's early hit, "Yellow," exploding into a mess of confetti when band members would strike them. Martin made full use of the stage, which included two walkways extending into the audience. He sprinted around the stage during "In My Place," collapsing to his knees before finishing the song.
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[Oxfam's Coldplay Blog] Hallelujah!
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, June 11, 2009 - 01:47 PM (1166 Reads)
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 Dear Lovers and Friends, My glasses have been found! Last night, my already tired eyes struggled to articulate the flood of thoughts, reflections, and realizations about my trip in NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana) without my glasses to no avail.
Thankfully, they’ve been found and my eyes have become of use once again! Stay tuned for my post about NOLA as I work through my draft of it. In other news, I recently moved out of Bus 2 to make room for new lampies (lighting technicians) and I’m proud to say that I’ve been designated Bus Mom of Bus 5 today! This means that I’m in charge of managing our grocery list and making sure it lands in the hands of the powers that be.
Read the full blog entry with pictures at the Oxfam Blog website here onwards.
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On tour, Coldplay members just regular Joes (Omagh preview/Will interview)
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, June 11, 2009 - 01:36 PM (1609 Reads)
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Coldplay is a musical giant. But selling millions of albums and winning a pile of Grammys hasn't turned members of the band into egomaniac rock stars. While on tour, they spend their time doing things like any average Joe, writes the Omaha World-Herald.
“Often we have our families with us and that keeps us very busy. We play soccer. We read. We do all the things that everyone else does,” said Coldplay drummer Will Champion. The group's “Viva La Vida” tour stops in Omaha on Saturday.
“Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends” was released in 2008, selling millions of albums and garnering the group three Grammys, including awards for song of the year and best rock album. Their cloud nine has been darkened, though, by several musicians (Joe Satriani and Cat Stevens among them) who claim Coldplay stole their songs. On the phone from Coldplay's studio in London, Champion answered questions about his band's music (creating it, performing it and giving it away) before the band embarked on its tour...
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[Blog] When musicians sue: Coldplay taken to court (plus CNN video)
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, June 10, 2009 - 04:46 PM (1734 Reads)
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 Accusations of Plagiarism Are Nothing New in Music World, writes the San Luis Obispo blogs. Maybe Coldplay should cover the Barenaked Ladies song “It’s All Been Done.”
According to this story (watch the video!) posted on CNN’s web site, Coldplay has been fighting charges from guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani that their song “Viva La Vida” was ripped off from Satriani’s “If I Could Fly.” The debate has been going on for a while now — Satriani has actually pursued the charges in court — but CNN noted how YouTubers have been engaging in the debate as well by comparing the songs. This guy , for instance, did a comprehensive analysis and garnered over 670,000 views.
While there are clearly some similarities, I agree with Coldplay — that any similarities are probably a coincidence. I mean, come on. There are only so many chord combinations, right? A lot of people think “Viva La Vida” also sounds like “The Songs I Didn’t Write” (yes, an ironic title) by the Creaky Boards. And, as my features department colleague Sarah Linn wrote in the comment section, even the former Cat Stevens has claimed inspiration for this song, saying “Viva La Vida” sounds a lot like his 1973 single “Foreigner Suite.”
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The Case for Coldplay: Exhibit A - Music critics are assholes
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, June 10, 2009 - 11:19 AM (4053 Reads)
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An interesting article has emerged online today as a preview to the show at the AT&T Center in San Antonio tonight (June 10). Hard to tell whether the author is a fan of Coldplay or not, but one thing is for sure this article is meant to negate the effects of the New York Times one back in 2005 entitled 'The Case against Coldplay'. Still struggling to figure out if it worked or what the point of it is. You can discuss the article at the Coldplay forum here. Here's the said article, courtesy of San Antonio Current:
If you were to take the myriad reasons that critics clean the floor with Coldplay and evaluate those claims independently, they might have a point. Maybe Coldplay isn’t original. Maybe they are predictable. But Coldplay, like any band, works through various tools. Every single tool might be bad or wrong, but together it works.
After the release of Coldplay’s third album, X&Y, in 2005, New York Times reviewer Jon Pareles called the British quartet “the most insufferable band of the decade.” In case you missed it, folks, the most odious band in the world to this erudite asshole is not Chumbawamba, nor is it Aqua, nor even Puddle of Mudd.
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Coldplay / Satriani case: settlement attempt in July according to prosecution
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, June 10, 2009 - 09:54 AM (3943 Reads)
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Getting into the middle of a plagiarism dispute between hot British band Coldplay and legendary American guitarist Joe Satriani has made Winnipeg music teacher Andrew Wasson a minor Internet star, writes the Toronto Star.
Last December, Wasson, owner of Creative Guitar Studio, did a nine-minute analysis of the similarities between Coldplay's 2009 Grammy-winning song of the year, "Viva La Vida," and Satriani's 2004 instrumental, "If I Could Fly."
His conclusion, based on comparisons of rhythm, melody and harmony: Satriani's claim that the Coldplay song was a rip-off of his own tune is essentially true. Since then, Wasson's video on YouTube has received more than 670,000 views and earned him a coveted place in YouTube's Partner Program, earning him a modest monthly income.
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Indianapolis review 3: Coldplay rock the Noblesville 20,000 (plus new pictures)
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, June 09, 2009 - 06:37 PM (1848 Reads)
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Noblesville, Ind. - When an enormous yellow beach ball bounced out of the audience and hit bassist Guy Berryman in the head in front of more than 20,000 fans in attendance, he couldn’t help but turn to his fellow Coldplay band mates and laugh, writes the Indianapolis Star.
Lead singer songwriter, Chris Martin, with a wide smile, launched the ball back into the crowd, but only after he’d boyishly kicked it around the stage to his satisfaction and the crowd’s amusement.
The prop was released with 20 more or so of the same as a tangible way to get the audience involved during the foursome’s performance of their single, “Yellow.” But it was the candidness seen in the reaction of the multi award-winning band onstage to a silly circumstance that kept the audience captivated for two full hours of music. Even the edges of seats in the Verizon Wireless Music Center weren’t sufficient means to prepare for whatever would happen next. Collectively, the crowd stood the entire time.
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Indianapolis review 2: Coldplay at VWMC, June 5
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, June 09, 2009 - 09:17 AM (1538 Reads)
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Coldplay's June 5 show was consistent with shows on their last tour, which also stopped at Verizon Wireless Music Center, writes nuvo.net.
Just like in 2005, the platinum-selling British group used tricks to win the crowd, dropping big yellow balloons filled with confetti during the rendition of their first hit, "Yellow." This time around they used not just one, but two auxiliary stages - one in the upper pavilion and the other on the lawn - to give the sold-out amphitheater a sense of intimacy.
Several tracks from their most acclaimed and best-selling release to date, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, graced the set list, notably "Violet Hill," "Lost" and the title cut. The quartet wore the garb - relics from Sgt. Pepper's closet - that has become synonymous with the album.
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Nashville review 2: Coldplay at The Sommet Center (plus new pictures)
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, June 08, 2009 - 05:57 PM (2044 Reads)
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Realizing that attending Saturday night's Coldplay show--their first in Nashville in six years--was a no-lose situation, as we were guaranteed an entertaining spectacle of sound and vision, we decided we owed it to ourselves to witness the phenomenon of the band's success firsthand, and made it down to the Sommet Center on time, writes the Nashville Scene blogs.
There, we got caught up in the cattle-herd of teenagers outfitted in Viva La Vida fatigues, popped-collar frat boys and their girlfriends, Jon Bon Jovi look-a-likes who color-code their two-tone dye jobs with their pre-ripped jeans and slobbering drunk cougars. As a result, we missed the first half of Howling Bells, whose brief, shoegazey set droned more than howled.
Even from our plush ninth-row floor seats it was hard to see the Australian foursome burning holes in their shoes and taking cues from the 4AD discography due to the "moody" lighting that obscured them. Which is just as well considering that what they do is pretty antithetical to the whole arena rock thing.
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Jonny Buckland speaks on Coldplay's next album, touring and Joe Satriani
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, June 08, 2009 - 12:57 PM (4479 Reads)
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In the Fountains of Wayne minidrama "Someone to Love," lovelorn corporate attorney Seth Shapiro "puts Coldplay on, pours a glass of wine/curls up with a book about organized crime." The implication is clear: Coldplay is the feel-good band of yuppies the world over, writes The Times-Picayune ahead of Coldplay's show in New Orleans.
In a decade, singer Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman and drummer Will Champion have evolved from utter unknowns to cultural touchstones. They've sold tens of millions of albums, endorsed various charitable and political causes and, in the case of Martin, married Hollywood royalty without seeming insufferable.
Buckland called from his home in England during a recent break in Coldplay's tour, which stops at the New Orleans Arena on Tuesday, June 9... [discussion]
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Nashville review: Coldplay sends audience home with a smile
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, June 07, 2009 - 07:32 PM (3418 Reads)
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Concerts rarely inspire audience members to turn their attention in as many different directions as Coldplay's Saturday night show at Nashville's Sommet Center did, writes The Tennessean.
The British rock group's lavish stage production frequently urged its attendees to take in the spectacle around them rather than focus on the band on stage. Lasers shot across the venue for their hypnotic performance of "Clocks." Giant balloons rained from the ceiling at the start of the band's breakthrough hit, "Yellow." A swarm of neon, butterfly-shaped confetti shot into the air during their closing number.
Still, the most transfixing moments of the evening came when all eyes were focused on front man Chris Martin, who manages to balance commanding showmanship with palpable humility in a one-of-a-kind way. As all the house lights turned on for "In My Place," Martin bounded down the stage catwalks, greeting his audience with equal measures of cockiness and gratitude. During the choruses, he turned the microphone toward the stands like he was lobbing a softball, and the crowd, in turn, knocked their cues out of the park.
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Nashville preview: Coldplay's dynasty shows no decline (Chris Martin interview)
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, June 06, 2009 - 11:35 AM (2081 Reads)
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Even if he's singing in character, it can be a little hard to swallow the opening line of Coldplay's 2008 hit Viva la Vida. "I used to rule the world," front man Chris Martin croons over a mix of regal cellos and dance beats, but anyone who's even casually followed popular music in the past few years can tell you that the British rock group's rule is far from over, writes the Tennessean ahead of Coldplay's show at the Sommet Center on Saturday.
The group is one of the few modern rock acts able to perform in arenas and stadiums throughout the world — they'll headline Sommet Center on Saturday — and they picked up awards for song of the year and best rock album at this year's Grammys. But an equally impressive accomplishment is the fact that Martin and his bandmates have, by all accounts, remained some of the warmest and most sincere rock stars around.
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Indianapolis review: Coldplay full-service entertainment at every angle
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, June 06, 2009 - 08:42 AM (2680 Reads)
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The rock ’n’ roll crown rests easily on the collective head of Coldplay, a band that balanced earnestness against whimsy and virtuosity against the basics Friday night at Verizon Wireless Music Center, writes Metromix Indianapolis.
Vocalist Chris Martin -- the focal point of attention since the U.K. band released debut album “Parachutes” in 2000 -- makes everything land in its right place in a live setting. At the top of the show, Coldplay and its audience of 20,207 fumbled for common ground across two songs. But once Martin uncorked pub-rock triumph “In My Place,” a massive sing-along latched onto its tipsy tempo.
Criticized at times for being too solemn and other times for being too goofy, Martin appeared comfortable in his own skin during this picture-perfect Indiana night.
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Cincinnati review 2: Coldplay pull out every trick in the rock closet (plus new pictures)
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, June 05, 2009 - 10:08 PM (2738 Reads)
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CINCINNATI — At some point during Coldplay’s nearly two-hour show at the Riverbend Amphitheater last night, I had a dream, writes the MTV Newsroom today, in a review of the Riverbend show.
It went something like this: I was walking around the luxurious London flat that is home to singer Chris Martin and his wife, Gwyneth Paltrow, and while flipping through the various yoga journals, costume-fabric swatch samples and discarded baby-name books piled on the couple’s nightstands, I spotted a most unusual binder.
On the cover were the words “Rock Star Stage Materials Inc.,” and it was stuffed with page after page of every cool, whiz-bang thing a world-beating superstar could want for his band’s tour. And then I woke up and realized that, economic downturn be damned, Martin had totally folded down just about every page in the catalog for the Viva la Vida outing. Coldplay have never shied away from admitting they are going for the big brass rock ring owned by U2, and their live show on this tour is definitive proof.
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Chris Martin speaks on Coldplay's free album, stage fright and butterflies
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, June 05, 2009 - 09:21 PM (5000 Reads)
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 Coldplay is back on the road this summer on the final leg of its huge "Viva La Vida" tour. Just days before the group landed in America last month, singer Chris Martin gave the San Francisco Chronicle a call to talk confetti butterflies, stage fright and the totally bonkers idea to give everyone who attends the shows a free copy of a new live album, 'LeftRightLeftRightLeft'. The following article appears on page R - 14 of the Chronicle:
Q: You've been on the road quite a lot this year. Are you just trying to avoid the family?
A: I'm glad you started with an easy question. From the very beginning of my life, people have always enjoyed it when I was around for a couple of days at a time. So, I think, most people in touring bands are best in small doses. That's why we turn up in a town, play and then we leave before anyone can get sick of us.
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Cincinnati review: Coldplay brings drama in show at Riverbend
Posted by busybeeburns on Friday, June 05, 2009 - 05:22 PM (3475 Reads)
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It had always made sense to think of Coldplay’s Chris Martin as a new-age Bono – both are skilled in crafting big, sweeping modern-rock anthems. As lyricists they differ. Martin goes for the sensitive-guy routine more than the U2 front man, writes cincinnati.com (for The Enquirer).
There’s a comparison that might work even better, and Martin himself, perhaps unaware of the connection, gave the clue during the British band’s Thursday-night show at Riverbend. When he and his band did a version of “I’m a Believer,” it was clear. No, not that Coldplay are the Monkees to Radiohead’s Beatles. Somebody crueler can say that. It’s that Martin is a modern-day version of the guy who wrote “I’m a Believer,” Neil Diamond. Each has his look (a jumpsuit for Neil, fake military jackets for Chris), each errs on the side of schmaltz as a songwriter, each has about 50 million female fans who swear by him.
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Detroit review 2: Coldplay delivers another good one at DTE Music Theatre
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, June 04, 2009 - 05:42 PM (1900 Reads)
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Coldplay was all of four songs into its concert Tuesday night at the DTE Energy Music Theatre when frontman Chris Martin declared "It's gonna be a good one," writes the Oakland Press today.
And nothing that happened during the next 19 numbers undermined that prediction. Then again, good Coldplay shows are nothing new. Dipping into the playbooks of forebears such as Pink Floyd, Queen, nine inch nails and especially U2, the British quartet has been consistently adept at turning its mix of anthemtic and ambient rock into a visceral and visual treat when they hit the stage.
It's a testament to Coldplay's four-album career that the group can toss three of its biggest hits -- "Clocks," "In My Place" and "Yellow" -- into the first 25 minutes of the show and still have plenty of top-shelf material to carry the rest of the night, all accented by Martin's Muppet-like energy and earnestly grateful stage demeanor.
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San Antonio preview: Coldplay graces S.A. for first time (Chris Martin interview)
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, June 04, 2009 - 06:46 AM (2557 Reads)
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Chris Martin is an extraordinarily talented and affable chap. Just don't ask the singer how Coldplay became the biggest band in the world, writes my SA entertainment. "It makes my brain melt," said Martin, who said he really doesn't agree with the premise. Not to mention that a recent Bruce Springsteen concert blew him away and reminded him pecking order is irrelevant. "It really doesn't matter who's biggest today."
Coldplay makes its first San Antonio appearance at AT&T Center on Wednesday. Snow Patrol opens. OK, so maybe the Grammy-winning band didn't start out wanting to rule the world, but how does one handle it when it happens? "I have a hard time believing it," Martin said. "Maybe it's because I'm British or because I'm too religious. I feel lucky."
But quite astute is Martin's reasoning on how it happened: "When Radiohead went less commercial."
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Guitarist Frets Over Copyright Suit Against Coldplay
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, June 03, 2009 - 08:40 PM (1778 Reads)
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The silent tension inside the cavernous Staples Center built with every calculated pause, writes Derek Stahhl for the me.com website. "And the Grammy for Song of the Year goes to... Coldplay for 'Viva La Vida!'" The award, given for songwriting, was the English band's second of three wins that night for their album "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends."
But in another part of the city, 52-year-old guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani sat appalled - too upset to watch the show on television - as his manager described the scene. Coldplay was accepting the songwriting award for a song he believes the band copied from him. Satriani had already sued Coldplay for copyright infringement.
Satriani has been nominated for 15 Grammy awards over his 30-year career, but has never won. He is one nomination away from tying Brian McKnight for the most nominations without a win. "I felt like a dagger went right through my heart. It hurt so much," Satriani said of hearing Coldplay's song for the first time in an interview with musicradar.com. "The second I heard it, I knew it was [my own] If I Could Fly."
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EMI and Warner Music "should merge"
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, June 03, 2009 - 01:45 PM (1490 Reads)
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The saga must rank as one of the longest-running, most inconclusive, takeovers in corporate history, writes The Telegraph today.
It has emerged that EMI-owner Terra Firma met with Edgar Bronfman, Warner's chief executive, several times last year, but talks on a deal ran aground yet again over price and the two have not met since. "There are £1.6bn in value terms of synergies out of any such merger but neither side could agree who should get the benefit of those synergies so that deal fell apart," said one source of what is at least the fifth time the pair have looked likely to link up only to fail to do so.
Mr Hands' EMI may have taken writedowns and amassed a large debt pile but Terra Firma is still the proud owner of the company behind Coldplay's Viva la Vida, last year's best-seller. You would be unlikely to see such passion in other less glamorous sectors, such as mining or chemicals.
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Detroit review: Coldplay's invigorating show thrills DTE crowd
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, June 03, 2009 - 07:45 AM (2816 Reads)
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Coldplay is not only one of the biggest bands in the world, sharing rarified air with bands like U2 and Radiohead, but it also may be the most likeable, writes The Detroit News.
The British foursome brought its massive show to DTE Energy Music Theatre Tuesday, playing to an adoring sold-out audience of more than 15,000 fans. The show set the bar quite high for the 2009 summer concert season and was one of the most thrilling concerts DTE has hosted in years.
After just four albums, Coldplay has amassed a catalog stacked with populist anthems, from the still-rousing "Clocks" and "In My Place," to newer smashes "Viva la Vida" and "Lost." And the band delivered them Tuesday in invigorating fashion, complete with a busy stage show that included laser beams, balloon drops and two mini-stages set up in the audience -- one in the pavilion seats and one at the foot of the lawn.
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Coldplay Live Review - DTE Energy Music Theatre, Detroit, MI (2nd June 2009)
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, June 03, 2009 - 07:35 AM (4762 Reads)
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Coldplay's Viva La Vida tour continued on last night as they played at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, Detroit, MI. Chris Martin apologized for the concert coinciding with Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals. The setlist was the same as previous nights.
[discussion] [photos] [videos] [wiki reviews/setlist] (updated over the next 24-48 hours)
Setlist:
Life In Technicolor
Violet Hill
 Clocks
In My Place
Yellow
Glass Of Water
Cemeteries Of London
42
Fix You
Strawberry Swing
God Put A Smile Upon Your Face (techno version)
Talk (techno version)
The Hardest Part (Chris piano)
Postcards From Far Away (piano instrumental)
Viva La Vida
Lost!
Green Eyes (acoustic)
Death Will Never Conquer (acoustic - Will vocals)
I'm A Believer (Neil Diamond Cover - acoustic)
Viva La Vida (remix interlude)
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Politik
Lovers In Japan
Death And All His Friends
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The Scientist
Life in Technicolor ii
The Escapist (outro)
Picture: Dana Ocker
It was so awesome!!! Loved every second except that I didn't get a single butterfly. The guy up in the rafters was only dumping them into the middle section and we were off to the side. But...AMAZING SHOW!!!!! They are just so great live! [thanks Grebbin]
Really really fun show. I hit one of the yellow balloons, and got some butterfly confetti. Also, my friends mom had sixth row tickets, and she let me switch for one song. So i got to see Fix You from the sixth row, which just made my skin tingle. I was on Jonny's side so i got to see him go to town on the guitar part. Also got a copy of LRLRL without a problem [thanks Zman54]
Just got back from DTE, wow what an amazing show!! This is the third time i've seen them and this was by far the best. The energy was astounding. Great song selection!! My seats were directly in front of the extended ramp on stage right, i think Chris' sweat was flying on us!! It wouldn't have mattered where you were sitting though, the whole crowd had a great time. Well worth every penny. [thanks triwizard24]
More on this concert including reviews, videos, pictures and tweets here onwards.
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Darien Lake review 2: Hype-worthy Coldplay owns sold-out Buffalo crowd
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, June 03, 2009 - 12:19 AM (2299 Reads)
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Add to Coldplay frontman Chris Martin’s talent that of tightrope walker. Monday, before what appeared to be a full house, the Coldplay singer deftly managed to be both arena-rock ringmaster and earnest songsmith. If you think that’s an easy wire to walk, well, then you’ve never tried to do it yourself, reports The Buffalo News.
Coldplay has been touring its Gram-my- winning, multi-platinum “Viva la Vida” album for more than a year, which means that the band should by now be both bushed and sick to death of the material they wrote and recorded with alternative music icon Brian Eno some three years-plus ago. Most bands just go out there and do their business, faking it qualifying as one of the many things the fans won’t notice at a big gig with bright lights and the rest.
Monday, Coldplay did something else. It proved itself to be a band worthy of the hype it has generated. And at the same time, it made a dazzling display of that fact that popular music might be at once accessible to those who only casually care and an object of extreme import to those who take such things quite seriously.
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[Support Act] Coldplay.com interviews Pete Yorn
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, June 02, 2009 - 09:05 PM (1238 Reads)
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 Coldplay.com caught up with Coldplay's current support act, Pete Yorn. With the singer-songwriter nearing the end of his string of support dates with Coldplay, they called him up to find out how he's been getting on.
Hello Pete, how are you?
Hey man, I'm good.
So, you've been on the road with Coldplay for a couple of weeks now, how's it been going?
It's been great. They've been taking very good care of us. They provide wonderful meals for us and the fans have been great. And I've been getting to hang out with Howling Bells: I'd never met them before and they're good people. It's been a good experience.
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Darien Lake review: Coldplay is one fine specimen of arena rock
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, June 02, 2009 - 09:07 AM (3846 Reads)
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Big, glorious rock concerts are like magic shows. You don't want to look too hard for the invisible wires and trap doors. Just watch and listen. So it was Monday night at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center, with Coldplay and 12,000 people lustily cheering all of the tricks, as familiar as they may be, reports the Democrat and Chronicle.
There was the confetti-filled balloon drop, retina-searing lasers, beery sing-alongs by the audience and the entire band exiting and re-appearing on a tiny stage halfway up one of the pavilion aisles, on which all four guys could hardly fit, for an intimate set of songs amidst their fans.
It's all in the name of arena-rock fun. The band took the stage backlit behind a screen, Kabuki Coldplay, twirling sparklers for an opening instrumental, "Life in Technicolor," followed by "Violet Hill" and what remains Coldplay's best song, "Clocks." Front man Chris Martin is a kinetic clown, hippity-hopping and teetering about the stage, commanding attention, and even showing a sense of humor: Holding one long caterwauling note, he glanced at his watch.
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Coldplay says thanks: Detroit preview & new Chris Martin interview (1st June 09)
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, June 01, 2009 - 08:55 AM (2268 Reads)
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Once upon a time, Coldplay fans learned how to wait. Years would pass between releases by the big British band. Songs like "The Scientist" and "Speed of Sound" would be old classics by the time the next album rolled out.
Now it's an abundance of riches for fans of a quartet that's brimming with creative energy: Last summer's chart-topping "Vida La Vida" was promptly followed by the EP "Prospekt's March." And now there's "LeftRightLeftRightLeft" -- a live collection described by vocalist Chris Martin as a "free thank-you album." Concertgoers will receive the CD at the door; others can download the songs at Coldplay.com.
Work has already begun on the full-length follow-up to the anthemic "Vida La Vida." Martin connected with the Free Press shortly before the tour's May 15 kickoff, speaking from L.A., where he'd been holed up writing songs. Chris Martin talks to the Detroit Free Press about connecting to fans and Tuesday's DTE audience getting a free disc...
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Pittsburgh review: Coldplay sparkles in PG Pavilion season opener
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, May 31, 2009 - 08:38 AM (3637 Reads)
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It's always a concern when a band cancels the two previous stops on the tour amid reports that the singer lost his voice. And it's not like Coldplay's Chris Martin doesn't need it, with all those high falsettos, reports the Post Gazzette.
Last night for the opening of the Post-Gazette Pavilion season, he didn't seem to be feeling any ill effects -- not if he could handle the sustained notes on "Cemeteries of London."
Martin and his mates marched on stage (after opening sets by Howling Bells and Pete Yorn) in those colorful quasi-military jackets, twirling sparklers, and then sparkled through a nearly two-hour set of anthemic British rock. Coldplay hasn't been around these parts for several years, during which time the band has swelled musically and visually to fill the big stage. With "Viva la Vida" in the set now, Coldplay even has a good soccer stadium chant to rile the adoring fans.
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Darien Lakes Preview: Coldplay at a peak (Jonny Buckland interview)
Posted by busybeeburns on Saturday, May 30, 2009 - 01:19 PM (1880 Reads)
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When you walk into Darien Lake’s Performing Arts Center on Monday evening for the highly anticipated Coldplay concert, you’ll be handed a free copy of the band’s live album, “LeftRightLeftRight", reports Buffalo News today, in an exclusive new interview with Jonny Buckland. Here's their article:
Of course, you might already have the album; the band has been offering it for free download via its Web site for the past few weeks. At a time when the mantra in the music business seems to be “Get what you can while you can, then get out,” why is one of the most commercially successful rock bands on the planet giving its music away, in a move mirroring the model created by one of its biggest influences, Radiohead?
“It really is not meant to be some radical gesture or anything,” says guitarist Jonny Buckland, speaking to The News by phone as he prepared to embark on the final leg of Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida” tour.
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Coldplay Pittsburgh Preview (Jonny Buckland Interview)
Posted by busybeeburns on Thursday, May 28, 2009 - 08:27 AM (3696 Reads)
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When Prince played the Arena a few years ago, people walking in were delighted to be handed a copy of his new album, "Musicology." Coldplay isn't going that far, but the band will be passing out free copies of a nine-track live album that it very well could have been selling at Wal-Mart, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette today in a preview to Saturday's show at the Post-Gazette Pavilion. Here is their article:
Why the gift? "This last year we enjoyed playing live more than we ever have," says guitarist Jonny Buckland. "It was the most fun and we were feeling like we've been playing better than we ever have. We feel like the crowds have been better than ever as well, in terms of how much people sing along and how much energy they bring. So we felt that we wanted to record that and we thought, well, 'Let's make a record of that and give it away.' It seems like the right thing to do. It was no more considered than that."
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Coldplay brings tour to SPAC, Saratoga Springs (Guy Berryman interview)
Posted by busybeeburns on Wednesday, May 27, 2009 - 01:10 AM (3950 Reads)
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Performing in Coldplay — performing in the world's biggest band — could get comfy. Too comfy, even, reports the Times Union. For bassist Guy Berryman, though, the nightly thrill is intact. Even after all the massive stadium shows, all the mega festivals, stepping on stage still brings a tingle — that rush of blood, you might call it.
"I don't get nervous anymore. But I still get that great sense of excitement," he says. "I love that moment right before we go on, that anticipation of the lights coming down. It never tires for me."
Earlier this year, Coldplay launched a global tour, supporting "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends," the British band's fourth album of moody, edge-of-artsy piano rock. The band will hit the Saratoga Performing Arts Center on Wednesday night, the first Live Nation show at the pastoral venue in Saratoga Springs.
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Hershey Review 2: Coldplay warms up Hersheypark Stadium crowd
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, May 26, 2009 - 04:19 PM (3256 Reads)
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The "Mexican Cell Phone Wave," as invented by Coldplay frontman Chris Martin on Sunday night at Hersheypark Stadium, might have been a flop. But as to the British quartet's quest for big-venue rock domination, these guys may be on to something, reports Lancaster Online.
Martin and company made their debut in Chocolate Town an overwhelming success, performing 23 songs in 90 minutes — pausing only for short breaks between two encore sets.
Borrowing a few live-show tricks from their elders, U2, the guys in Coldplay quickly made the thunderstorm that delayed their debut here a passing memory. Martin's early-show gripes about being burned while coming on stage also dissolved among the dazzling light displays and large yellow beach balls that tumbled atop the crowd of 12,000.
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Coldplay Plagiarism Twist - YouTube Inundated With Fans' Opinions
Posted by busybeeburns on Tuesday, May 26, 2009 - 03:06 PM (2619 Reads)
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The potentially enormous plagiarism case involving Coldplay and guitar twiddler Joe Satriani has taken another twist, with lawyers admitting that YouTube evidence could be used, reports Clash Music.
Coldplay released their new album 'Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends' last year. An enormous hit, it was buoyed by the title track which was a huge anthem upon its release as a single. However some were not pleased by the group's success. Epic rock guitarist Joe Satriani claims that the album's titanic title track borrows sections of his 2004 song 'If I Could Fly'. A legal tussle ensued, with Coldplay vehemently denying any wrong doing on their part.
Satriani in turn grew increasingly bullish. Threatening to deliver the legal papers personally at the Grammy Awards, the guitarist eventually shied away from the ceremony which saw Coldplay scoop a much coveted trophy.
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Chris Martin 'Terrified' By Lily Allen
Posted by busybeeburns on Monday, May 25, 2009 - 08:05 AM (2101 Reads)
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 He's performed to tens of thousands at stadium shows and he sings for one of the biggest bands in the world, but Chris Martin says if one woman can make him feel like a little boy again, it's singer Lily Allen.
The Coldplay frontman has met the outspoken pop star before, but he always feels intimidated, as he tells the Mirror. "Lily Allen is fantastic. She's one of those people who is so cool that whenever I meet her I feel like I'm back at school and none of the girls like me anymore. She has the ability to make any boy feel like a tosser."
Coldplay are currently being sued for allegedly nicking the idea for Viva La Vida - the song which won them the gong. The trauma is proving both depressing and inspiring for Coldplay. Chris, 32, says: "Now we've got more to prove than ever. You think, well, if everyone is trying to take away our best song, then we'd better make 25 better ones."
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Hartford Review: Coldplay Turns In A High Energy Show At Comcast Theatre
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, May 24, 2009 - 11:55 PM (1929 Reads)
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Coldplay has plenty of reasons to be pompous. The London-based rock band has won seven Grammy awards, and is currently one of the biggest acts in the world. Still, in its Saturday night performance at the Comcast Theatre in Hartford, the group displayed humility and appreciation, genuinely thanking its fans for its current success.
Early on, lead singer Chris Martin promised to give "eight-million percent" effort, because he appraised his last Hartford performance as "less than fantastic." Coldplay redeemed itself through a nearly two-hour set of nonstop energy.
"Speed of Sound" grew from ethereal piano to a swirl of thrashing guitar and drums, backed by cryptic lyrics of questions and answers. Martin yelped in falsetto behind a piano draped with a flag for "Viva La Vida," the band's latest album, as multicolored laser lights rushed across the stage.
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Comedy, confidence, and Coldplay (Hershey preview - Chris Martin Q&A session)
Posted by busybeeburns on Sunday, May 24, 2009 - 09:49 AM (3386 Reads)
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 Chris Martin is the most well-mannered of rock stars. When the Coldplay front man calls from Los Angeles because his band is playing the Philadelphia area for the third time since last June's release of Viva La Vida, he's like a job candidate intent on asking as many questions as he's asked, writes Philly (dot com).
The leader of the world's biggest soft-rock band (and husband to actress Gwyneth Paltrow) was eager to talk about Kanye West and Woody Allen, as well as to defend himself from allegations he plagiarized parts of Coldplay's No. 1 hit, "Viva La Vida." (The band Creaky Boards, singer Cat Stevens - now known as Yusuf Islam - and guitarist Joe Satriani have all claimed similarities between the song and their own work; Satriani has sued in Los Angeles.)
Tonight, Coldplay will perform at Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey, and on Tuesday the foursome will be at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden. What follows is a Q&A with the 32-year-old English songwriter and musician, with some A's and Q's reversed.
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Read full article: 'Comedy, confidence, and Coldplay (Hershey preview - Chris Martin Q&A session)' (7579 bytes more) | | |
Coldplay's new single 'Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall' has been given its world premiere on UK radio at midday today (June 3). The track was played on the BBC's Radio 1, Radio 2 and 6 Music, as well as Absolute Radio and Xfm. ETIAW (as its common acronym) has been made available as a digital download at the same time, except in the UK where it won't be released until midnight on Saturday (June 4) to coincide with radio chart figures.