All Over The Map: UK & America Click

A '60s spirit is afloat as diverse music makers pop up in every corner of Britain. Will America catch the drift?

Down the five decades of rock 'n' roll, musical Brits have had the cheeky habit of periodically bestriding the world as if we owned it.

In 2005, it was Live 8 that commanded global attention (admittedly fronted by Irishmen Bob Geldof and Bono); a huge gig in Hyde Park, London, it formed the centerpiece of a multinational, all-day show seen on TV and online by a potential audience of untold millions. Down at ground level, the cause — a demand to "make poverty history" — was acclaimed. But in the context of current U.K. music, the grand scale of the event actually didn't suit the spirit of the times. The signs are that, at the moment, our rock and pop passions are growing, but in a more personal, small-is-beautiful direction.

Coldplay is the band that proves we can do it in America. Its industrial importance in the U.K. was demonstrated last February when EMI announced that the release of the band's third album, "X&Y," would be postponed, and company shares plummeted 16%. But then Coldplay delivered, and everything clicked, U.K. and America.

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