No more angst… Coldplay members enthuse yesterday about their evolution to big-arena gigs. Last night the band performed its first Sydney concert in three years at the Entertainment Centre.

 

At first sight, Coldplay look like sensitive, middle-class English boys who studied humanities at university and pined hopelessly after dangerous, arty girls.

 

On second sight, they do, too.

 

But they are also the world's biggest-selling band, with over 8 million copies of their third album X&Y sold last year. Last night, on the eve of their first Sydney concert in three years, lead singer Chris Martin insisted the band had given up on angst. "We're not angst-ridden about anything any more, we're just excited," he said. "We've made it, we've come this far, we've been through backlash, we've had three albums now, we've sold lots of records and we've taken a lot of shit…now it's time to do something great."

 

Martin, along with guitarist Jon Buckland, bass player Guy Berryman and drummer Will Champion, has been crafting serious, lyrical ballads since 1998, now with a larger rock sensibility and ringing guitars to fill an arena. Last night, that arena was the Entertainment Centre. "I personally feel like in an arena now we are really brilliant," Martin, who is married to the actress Gwyneth Paltrow, said. "I know that sounds slightly [big-headed], but I feel like although we got there kind of quickly and we've gone beyond there…that's where everything makes sense at the moment, when there's 10,000 or 20,000 people."

 

Like any successful band, Coldplay has perhaps as many detractors as it does fans. "[but] we've survived it," Martin said.

 

Now, the band has decided to turn inwards.

 

"There's a lot of opinions around when you're a big band, so we've really learned over the last year that we want to close ranks a bit," Martin said.

 

After the concert, instead of trashing their hotel room, the band members would watch the Australia v Italy World Cup soccer match, Martin said. He predicted Australia would make it to the semifinals.

 

"The thing is about Australia, they play that game like life should be lived, it's like they f---ing attack it," Martin said, adding that success might make the Socceroos more cynical and dull to watch. "At the moment it's like watching an excited kid."

 

Source: http://www.smh.com.au

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