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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.'  

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 h

"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 comme

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 op

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

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

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 come

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 be

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

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

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

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

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 “Li

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 reall

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

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

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 Vi

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 agre

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 us

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

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 r

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

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 B

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 t

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 m