30-May-2009: Darien Lakes preview + Jonny Buckland interview (new)

[busybeeburns]

“The band is playing better than ever,” says Coldplay guitarist Jonny Buckland, shown with singer Chris Martin.

 

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.”

 

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.

 

“It was as simple as, ‘Let’s record the shows right now as a document,’ because we all feel that the band has been playing better than ever, and that the audiences have been fantastic in terms of interaction, singing along, really seeming to be completely involved in the show. We wanted to capture that, and then it just seemed like it would be a nice gesture to give it away, as a way of saying ‘Thanks, guys.’ Maybe subconsciously we were thinking of what Radiohead did with ‘In Rainbows,’ but we really just wanted to capture the band at a peak, and offer something to our fans. It really was as simple as that.”

 

It’s not surprising that Buckland and his bandmates are reeling from the collective energy they’ve been channeling on stage. The band has been touring behind it’s Grammy-winning, multiplatinum “Viva la Vida” album for more than a year, during which time the occasional controversy — allegations of plagiarism that have come to naught, the recent cancellation of shows due to illness, on-stage mishaps involving pyrotechnics — have done little to slow the runaway train of the band’s success.

 

When this new leg of the tour wraps up in the fall, the band will have performed the “Viva la Vida”-based set hundreds of times over the course of more than two years. So how has the group managed to maintain an emotional connection with the music?

 

“We do switch things up a bit — change some arrangements, introduce some different songs and so forth,” says Buckland. “Happily, we really love what we’re doing. If we didn’t, it would be torture to get out there and do it over and over again! (laughs) The energy the crowd brings is really what keeps it fresh. It’s pretty difficult to go on autopilot and feel at all bored when 25,000 people are going nuts and singing along.”

 

Buckland’s role in Coldplay is much like the position occupied by the Edge in U2. He seems like the quiet one in the outfit, but his subtle approach to what is clearly a deep musicality is a big part of what makes Coldplay’s grandiose, emotional, broadly melodic and anthemic rock resonate. As a guitarist, Buckland is more concerned with adding texture, color and depth to the music than he is with showing off..

 

“I’m glad you mention the Edge, because, yeah, in terms of an approach to finding something important to say within the music, without trying to draw too much attention to yourself — he’s kind of the king of that,” Buckland says. “I also really love Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine — that music was hugely important to me growing up. It had a big effect on the way I play, certainly.”

 

In the thick of the abundant success granted “Viva la Vida,” when life in Coldplay must have already felt like attempting to have a nice, quiet cup of tea in the middle of a hurricane, Buckland’s life became even more complex — he and his longtime girlfriend welcomed a daughter, their first child, into the world.

 

“You’d think it would’ve made life even crazier, but in fact, it’s really grounded me,” says Buckland of fatherhood. “Really, what it does is grant you perspective — you realize how insignificant the things that used to obsess you are, you know? So in that sense, it’s like a huge unburdening, a big sigh of relief.”

 

Simultaneous with the current tour, Buckland and the band are working on new material, and planning to reconvene with the legendary Brian Eno, who produced “Viva la Vida,” once the tour wraps.

 

“That’s the thing — we’re looking to the future already,” says Buckland. “We’re really grateful for the success, obviously, but the thing that keeps us going is the music. I really do feel that we have so much more to discover, so many new places to go, musically. And that’s incredibly exciting.”

 

Concert Preview

 

Coldplay, with guest Pete Yorn

 

7 p. m. Monday, Darien Lake Performing Arts Center

 

http://www.buffalonews.com/

[marie/pims]

In the thick of the abundant success granted “Viva la Vida,” when life in Coldplay must have already felt like attempting to have a nice, quiet cup of tea in the middle of a hurricane, Buckland’s life became even more complex — he and his longtime girlfriend welcomed a daughter, their first child, into the world.

 

“You’d think it would’ve made life even crazier, but in fact, it’s really grounded me,” says Buckland of fatherhood. “Really, what it does is grant you perspective — you realize how insignificant the things that used to obsess you are, you know? So in that sense, it’s like a huge unburdening, a big sigh of relief.”

 

 

aaawww Jonnyboy

 

Thanks!!Good read:smug:

[pickle]

great interview! :D

[but a dream]

“We do switch things up a bit — change some arrangements, introduce some different songs and so forth,” says Buckland. “Happily, we really love what we’re doing. If we didn’t, it would be torture to get out there and do it over and over again! (laughs) The energy the crowd brings is really what keeps it fresh. It’s pretty difficult to go on autopilot and feel at all bored when 25,000 people are going nuts and singing along.”

Nice to know that Coldplay always appreciates their fans :D

Buckland’s role in Coldplay is much like the position occupied by the Edge in U2. He seems like the quiet one in the outfit, but his subtle approach to what is clearly a deep musicality is a big part of what makes Coldplay’s grandiose, emotional, broadly melodic and anthemic rock resonate. As a guitarist, Buckland is more concerned with adding texture, color and depth to the music than he is with showing off..

That's exactly what I love most about Jonny's (and The Edge's) guitar playing.

“You’d think it would’ve made life even crazier, but in fact, it’s really grounded me,” says Buckland of fatherhood. “Really, what it does is grant you perspective — you realize how insignificant the things that used to obsess you are, you know? So in that sense, it’s like a huge unburdening, a big sigh of relief.”

:heart:

 

 

 

Thanks for sharing Ian!

[BerrymanGirl1]

:DThanks Ian!!aww jonny's so sweet:)