In a spin-off article from Coldplay's official interview recently, Music Radar are reporting that Chris Martin says that being sued for alleged plagiarism has inspired him to become a better songwriter.

Last December, guitarist Joe Satriani sued Coldplay, claiming that the group lifted "substaintial original portions" of his 2004 composition If I Could Fly for their recent Grammy-winning song Viva La Vida.

Coldplay have denied such allegations, and Martin says that he has tried to turn a negative experience into a positive: "Some people are suing us at the moment and although it was initially a bit depressing, now it's become really inspiring," he said in an interview for Coldplay's official website, Coldplay.com.

Martin went on to say, "You think, 'Right, if everyone's trying to take away our best song, then we'd better write 25 better ones'. And so just at the point where I was thinking about getting fat and becoming complacent, I've been finding more inspiration. Now we've got more to prove than ever before."

Joe Satriani isn't the only musician who is accusing Coldplay of plagiariam. Recently, Yusuf Islam - you know, Cat Stevens - has said that Viva La Vida sounds like a lift from one of his songs from back in the day. Of course, if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, it would appear that the list of people feeling a pat on the back seems to be growing.

Meanwhile, PrefixMag are reporting that the Joe Satriani vs. Coldplay bout is moving past vague innuendos and promises of lawsuits into a possible courtroom showdown. It's unlikely that Coldplay won't settle before a trial, but if they don't, there's a strong chance that the myriad of YouTube commenters who rushed to videos compairing Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" to Satriani's "I I Could Fly" could be called to the stand to testify about the similarities between the songs.

It's unclear who would benefit from YouTube commenters testifying, but either side could use them to their advantage. Coldplay's attorneys could claim that these people can't really say for sure that the songs are similar, and Satriani's attorneys could say that they proved the songs similarities. On YouTuber in particular has been mentioned; a guitar teacher who made two videos breaking down the songs in his studio. I bet getting called to testify would make that dude's life.

Chris Martin at Cruzan Amphitheatre, West Palm Beach:

Pictures: SPIN

Have you ever loved a song to the point of ridiculousness but no matter how hard you try, you just can’t understand the lyrics? What was the artist thinking when writing your favorite tune? More Than Words, a weekly column at Examiner (dot com), helps to delve a little deeper…

Yellow, Coldplay (Parachutes, 2000)

During a concert in Massachusetts, Coldplay lead vocalist Chris Martin discussed the song “Yellow” - about how it introduced the band to the US, how great it was to get such a positive response, and then he said "there's been a lot of discussion about the meaning of the name of this song.....truthfully, I happened to be looking at the Yellow Pages while writing it, and the color stuck!” Songfacts. Martin confirmed this during an interview with VH1 Storytellers.

But is seems as though the sultry songwriter has alluded fans for years with a series of non-committal responses to the age old question – what the hell do you mean? Whilst Martin wavers between discussing the themes of love and devotion, through to meaningless words and a phone book, a barrage of Coldplay-diehards have their own ideas.

It seems the lyrics “Your skin, Oh yeah, your skin and bones. Turn into something beautiful. You know, you know I love you so” have been the main cause for speculation, sparking rumors that the song is about jaundice. “This song is actually about his mother who died from a liver disease. Skin turns yellow when the liver is failing. It is a very sad song to hear knowing the pain he went through watching her die. "I wrote a song, I wrote a song for you and it was called yellow" He says he would bleed himself dry because it is his mother and would do anything to save her. but it didn't work out that way.” This is the second highest rated response on Lyric Interpretations.

Some interpretations also suggest that the song was written for Martin’s Goddaughter who was suffering from a kidney illness at the time, that it was about a dying girl Martin was in love with and…..Asberger’s disease. “This song reminds me of Aspergers, I don't know why it just does remind me straight forward about Aspergers Syndrome.” Lyric Interpretations.

The soft nature of the music and vocals, coupled with lyrics such as “Look at the stars. Look at how they shine for you” and “I swam across. I jumped across for you” lead most to believe that “Yellow” is unapologetically romantic. Not necessarily about love in the romantic sense, but love in the unconditional sense that could be for a lover, a child, a parent etc.

“This song can mean so many things to so many people. It can symbolize the love between a parent and child, brotherly love, or the romantic type of love. To me, it symbolizes the romantic type. It basically says that you would do anything for the one that you love. Every little, tiny thing that your lover does, however insignificant it may seem can actually mean a lot. Everything they do seems wonderful.” Songmeanings.

During an interview on 60 minutes with journalist Steve Kroft, Martin did his best to dispel the rumors:

"Your very first album…you had a world wide hit, in “Yellow”," Kroft noted. "What's it about? F… knows," Martin replied. "I've got no idea. I still think about that every day. I love playing it. I love the tune. I love the chords. I love the balloons that we use live. But I still can't quite work out what it's about," he said, laughing.

"Even if I don't really feel like playing it, those guys have paid their ticket money. They wanted to see us play 'Yellow,' so we'll play it," he said.

Critics were positive towards the song. Matt Diehl of Rolling Stone magazine has noted "Yellow" is an "unrepentantly romantic", adding that "the band creates a hypnotic slo-mo otherworld where spirit rules supreme". "Yellow" won Best Single at the 2001 NME Carling Awards. It was nominated at the 2002 Grammy Awards for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance by a duo or Group with Vocal. Wikipedia.

Source: examiner.com

Coldplay made their third stop in the Washington D.C. area in the last 9 months on the Viva La Vida tour at Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, VA.

The grammy award winning quartet is on the last leg of their tour before a much deserved rest. The concert started out with two opening acts: The Howling Bells, an austrailian/british band and Pete Yorn. Both had their moments but were no where near the calibar of Coldplay.

Around 9 p.m. Coldplay started off by blasting "Magnificent" by U2 followed by classical music leading into the instrumental song "Life in Technicolor." Running on stage with roman candles, Chris Martin and company skipped around stage and got into their first song "Violet Hill." After that were a cavalcade of fantastic songs: "Clocks," "In My Place", "Yellow," "Fix You" and many more. For 2 solid rock-filled hours, Coldplay blew the roof off Nissan Pavilion.

Read the full review at Blogspot here

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Aww, it was so amazing! The weather was beautiful, Pete Yorn was really great and my homemade Viva jacket seems to just keep doing its trick. My friend Kathryn came with me and my family (it was her first Coldplay!) and as we're walking to our separate seats, these two girls came up to us and started to gush over my jacket, along with the homemade Viva tote bag, my 'Strawberry Swing' shirt and my Jonny hat. They took pictures with their iPhone and then told us to close our eyes. They proceeded to give us tickets in the pit. My parents and sister were on the lawn and I told them that they were diehard fans as well. We switched tickets with my mom and went down. A few minutes later, my sister comes with an orange wristband! My parents took our actual physical not-lawn seats. Howling Bells and Pete Yorn, amazing.

The three of us had a great time. Still, the butterflies during 'Lovers in Japan' were magical and 'Strawberry Swing' and 'Green Eyes' were my personal favorites. There were too many rude and / or drunk people there in the pit, but it was good. We all bought shirts and I got some stickers for my car. Chris' dragon was adorable! Saw Roadie 42 and loved the fact that they used the Grammy 'Sgt. Pepper on acid' jackets during the encore. We all got CDs, made it out of the parking lot quickly and was home at midnight. Coldplay, we will miss you but we'll see you whenever you come back.

And, one thing, at school, this guy that told me he was going said he had a nice time and then starts to tell everyone that Coldplay only played three songs from the Viva la Vida album. Uh, yeah. You're a really great Coldplay fan, eh? Whatever. [thanks strawberry_swing]

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Pictures from Nissan Pavilion:

Pictures: Armughan Javaid

Coldplay's Wednesday night show at Virginia Beach Amphitheater still has folks talking. Here's a review from Daily Press reporter Matthew Sturdevant:

Coldplay energized a packed crowd (though not sold-out) Wednesday night at Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater. The band’s leader, Chris Martin, delivered the perfect amount of upbeat, positive energy throughout the band’s performance. Even glum economic conditions seemed blasted away, if briefly, when canons shot confetti butterflies into the air, creating a blizzard that swirled over the crowd of about 18,000 or 19,000 people.

During “Yellow,” balloons the color of the song title descended on the crowd and were bounced toward the stage. Other orbs were lowered above the stage and live video of the band was projected onto the spherical surface, giving the impression of giant Christmas ornaments reflecting the show.

The band took time out to perform songs on two miniature stages set back in the crowd, nearer to the lawn. Each stage was about the size of an office cubicle so that band members were shoulder-to-shoulder, even for a rendition of the Monkees’ “I’m a Believer.”

But the best gift of all? A free CD. Every single person got a copy of “Left Right Left Right Left,” a live CD with nine songs: “Glass of Water,” “Clocks,” “Strawberry Swing,” “The Hardest Part/Postcards From Far Away,” “Viva La Vida,” “Death Will Never Conquer,” “Fix You” and “Death And All His Friends.”

Source: weblogs.dailypress.com

Pictures: Ally Spiers

School is just about out for the summer, but on Wednesday night, Coldplay gave a lesson at the Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater on how to put on a fantastic show. Pencils sharpened? Fresh sheet of paper? Here we go, reports Hampton Roads (dot com).

1. Keep your show full of surprises. Secretly set up small stages in the middle of the crowd and even in the lawn seats, so that when the lights go low, you can run to your predetermined little island and sing a few songs. Do some covers too: something hip and fresh by a group like say, Arctic Monkeys, and then later, cover something totally dorky fun like “I’m a Believer,” so everyone can sing along. People love that stuff.

2. Be into it. Be like lead singer Chris Martin: totally present, totally immersed in what you’re doing, and have fun. Run and jump and slide across the stage. People will know you’re having a good time. They’ll think you’re deep too when you sing with your eyes closed.

3. Dazzle their eyes. Unleash giant saffron balloons filled with confetti for your song “Yellow.” (Note: if your song is “Blue” or “Red” adjust balloon color accordingly.) Set up giant spheres on stage, and project images on them. Multi-colored lasers? Now you’re thinking. Use varying film types for the jumbo screens, so they sometimes make you look like you’re on one of those HBO concert specials; or at other times just playing with the settings on your Mac. It’s all good.

4. Sound terrific playing hits both old – “Politik”, “Clocks” – and new, like “Lost” or “When I Ruled The World.” And then, just as people are leaving, and the anxiety about where their cars might be begins to set in, have someone hand them a CD to remember the magical night. Perfect. A+

Source: hamptonroads.com

The New York Times music critic Jon Pareles has called them "the most insufferable band of the decade." And indeed Coldplay has its detractors, who stand right alongside its legions of dedicated fans.

But they don't really matter -- the band has always beaten them to the punch in the self-critical department. Bassist Guy Berryman once told Rolling Stone, "Most of the time, we just feel like losers." And as the band was accepting one of its most recent Grammys, singer Chris Martin wryly dubbed their music "limestone rock."

Feeling insecure, Berryman says, isn't paralyzing but is instead motivational. "That's the feeling which makes us keep on trying to go into the studio and trying to be better than we have been before," Berryman said. "And when we're play live, that's why we always try and be better than we have been before. I think it's a healthy way to feel. I just think it's insecurities, and I'm sure within the group we all have them to varying degrees. I'd love to be a big, confident rock star, but that just doesn't seem to be in any of our nature," he said.

Berryman gave us 15 minutes of his rest time in a phone interview from London before the next leg of the band's ginormous tour was to begin anew. On Sunday, they're making their first visit ever to Hershey, playing the Stadium with opener Pete Yorn.

He spoke more about what's currently up with the band:

You're giving away a live CD to fans who come to your shows this summer -- tell us more about it...

"It was recorded all over the world. It's a cross-section of old songs and new songs. The idea behind it is to just give something back to our fans who have supported us for the last 10 years. We just thought it would be cooler to do this this way rather than just churning out a money-making live CD. We thought we'll spend a bit of money on this and take the hit and just give it away to people."

So now it's Yusuf Islam (formerly known as Cat Stevens) saying "Viva La Vida" sounds like one of his songs (first it was Joe Satriani) -- what's going on here?

"There was another band -- I can't remember their name -- but they were the first one to say that. It's just getting ridiculous now. I can just categorically say I remember when that song was written and how it was recorded. It's kind of flattering. (But) it's just kind of sad. I don't want there to be any ill feeling between us or any other musician. But we'll fight our corner. I'm just hoping it's all going to go away, to be honest -- it's a distraction.

You're wearing your "Sgt. Pepper's"/French revolution-type jackets on tour -- do you see them as in keeping with the cover art theme of "Viva La Vida"?

"Yeah, that's exactly it. When we made this record, we wanted (it) to be a very tight visual package with a real identity. We don't want to walk on stage wearing jeans and T-shirts again; we want to make it a bit more theatrical or eventful. We just got a bunch of clothes made up and we got some people down to help us make these clothes. It was actually a lot of fun -- we were sitting there with spray paint and bits of cloth and badges and sewing all these things together."

The songs on "Viva La Vida" are so closely linked thematically and sonically -- are you continuing that trend for the next one, which you're working on now?

"We have some songs and ideas we're working on. But how we approach this next record, I think, will be totally different. We can concentrate on the music side of things for a little while -- we'll figure out how everything's going to work visually towards the end of it. But I'm pretty sure once this tour is over, the French Revolutionary costumes will be safely hung up in the closet somewhere!"

Are you still shooting for a release this year?

"We did think it would be nice to release something before the end of the year, because that would have meant we would have released five records within a decade. But this tour just kept growing. Saying that, we have achieved quite a lot in the studio and we'll probably continue working when we get back in September. I'm pretty sure nothing's going to happen this year."

Do you think you'll also continue to experiment with those weird time signatures that made songs like "Death and All His Friends" so incredibly hard to catch on to?

"You should try playing them! It's terrible because if you drop the beat in your head, then you're just screwed. Trying to pick that back up again is a nightmare. We've been working on a 5/4 signature in the studio recently. We also had one in 7. These are really odd things; they're not very intuitive, but I think they're quite rewarding once you get used to them. It's about time we start busting out the obscure jazz rhythms."

You're working with Brian Eno again -- how is that partnership different now?

"We've done two sessions without Chris -- (that) was at Brian's request. Chris is a very dominant figure in the studio and I think Brian wanted to approach things from a slightly different perspective. Of course, he's been writing songs like a madman as usual. But I think Brian really wanted to experiment with music from a textural, rhythmic point of view as opposed to a songwriter's point of view. Which is a typical Brian Eno thing to say, but which is (also) why we love him and want to work with him."

What's it like playing a place for the first time, as you are here -- do you approach it any differently?

"We just approach every show in the same way -- we get very excited about going on stage and then when we're up there, we give it 110 percent. We'll be trying to have as much fun with everyone as possible."

Source: pennlive.com

Chris Martin caught up with Coldplay.com earlier today. In the interview, Chris confirms that the video for the song 'Strawberry Swing' has already been finished and will be released in the summer, and also talks about the unfinished track 'LeftRightLeftRightLeft' which apparently is still in eight formats. Hardly surprising then, that we haven't heard it yet!

Here is the online interview which you can also discuss at the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks Zeya].

Hello Chris, how are you?

I'm very well thank you.

So, the live album has been downloaded more than 3.5 million times already.

I know! It's fantastic. My son Moses had a birthday party and everyone was given party bags at the end of it. That was when Phil said, "This is a good idea for a concert, as a way of saying thanks for coming." So we've done it and we've got a million CDs being slowly given out at shows, plus the download. It feels amazing. I can't believe that we've been allowed to do it.

You'd imagine record labels aren't particularly keen on giving millions of albums away. Was it difficult to sort out?

Not really. A lot of people who work at our record company just love music, so they're happy to be able to help us give something back. We've all got to make a living, but we've been really lucky as a band, so we can afford to manufacture an album and give it away. I think everyone we work with is happy that they've helped us get to a position where we can do that.

This could end up being your most-owned album.

Well, thank goodness we made it good! It makes me so happy though, man, because we really put effort into it. And although it's live, it's supposed to be a real album, part of our canon. Y'know, as well as being a gift move, it is also a musical move. It's meant to say that this is what we sound like at the moment.

So you treated it like a proper album?

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!

And you're pleased with it?

Definitely. What I'm most happy about is that it's nice and guitar-y; it's the first album where Will has a song on it; and it comes in at under 42 minutes.

How did you decide the tracklisting?

Well, apart from Viva, we didn't put songs on it that had videos from this campaign. We tried to make it things that you might not hear if you didn't go to a concert, but things that we really love playing. And also songs we think the audience sing really well. In a way it has to be free because there's so many backing singers on it. There's no way we could afford to pay them all.

The crowd do sound great.

Yeah. Our crowd make Bohemian Rhapsody sound like a two-track demo.

Did you know which night you'd be recording the songs?

No, because they're from all over the place. I think there's Dutch people singing on there with New Zealanders. It was recorded in 101 locations.

How did you decide which particular recordings to use?

Well, we have our sound man Dan who is very patient and has obviously had to suffer more Coldplay concerts than anybody else in history. He picked the ones he thought were best, with Phil. In fact, our method came from reading about Bruce Springsteen's live record, Live/1975-85. His manager, John Landau, picked some of his favourite performances and then went through them with Bruce. We did a similar thing. Now, let's talk about Bruce Springsteen.

OK.

Actually, I'd like to talk about things that I think are brilliant at the moment and I've got three of them. One is Bruce Springsteen in general, but particularly Nebraska and Born in the USA. And I saw his show twice a couple of weeks ago and it's f****** amazing.

A lot of younger folks don't really understand the whole Bruce thing.

No, I didn't understand it either. I was like, "Why is Bruce Springsteen playing Glastonbury?" And then I went to see him and I was like, "God, they've done it again". Glastonbury are way ahead of everybody. You just feel amazing after one of his concerts.

What is brilliant thing number two?

Well, I'd like to talk about the film, Anvil, which is wonderful. It's about this heavy metal group from the '80s who are still going through thick and thin. There's a scene in it between the drummer and the singer which makes you cry, especially if you're in a band and you know what it feels like to love another man so much, but also fight so much.

And the third thing?

That is the first REM album, which is called Murmur. It's interesting because it does exactly what it says on the tin: you can't hear a single word Michael Stipe says, but you get really lost in it. I've been listening to it a lot recently.

Now, Coldplay's live album is called LeftRightLeftRightLeft.

Exactly.

That was also the name of a track touted for the Viva album.

It was indeed. In fact, it was also what Viva La Vida was going to be called, before we found the title Viva La Vida. With the live album, we were going to go for the world record of the longest album title in history by making LeftRightLeftRightLeft go all the way around the CD, so that it never ended. But we took so much shit for how long Viva La Vida's title was, we thought maybe a never-ending title might be a little much. So we opted for five words as just one word.

Does the track LeftRightLeftRightLeft still exist?

It does, but in about eight different forms. It's not finished.

What happens to songs like that?

They're sort of torn apart and you might take parts of them for other songs.

But the LeftRightLeftRightLeft song itself is unlikely to see the light of day?

The song itself has been given the Will Champion seal of disapproval. So, no, nothing will happen to it.

Who did the artwork for the live album?

Well, if you've been to one of our concerts you'll know that there's a lot of fake butterflies floating about, so the idea came from that. We called up a guy called Mark Tappin, with whom we do all our designs. We talk on the phone and say, "We'd like this". Then he says, "I'd like this". Then we fight and fight until we eventually get something we all like.

You're currently a few dates into a new leg of the tour, after having a little break.

Yeah, we've just done the video for Strawberry Swing, which is going to be pretty good, I think.

Is that officially a single, then?

Well, it's officially going to be a really great video. I don't know whether it counts as a single or not.

Can you tell us anything about the video?

It is a new concept in video making, which will either be a woeful disaster or a triumphant Bafta winner. I guess you'll be seeing it at some point in the summer, as it's a summery song.

Arguably the best song on the album.

That's what I think! And we should also say that if you like that song you should listen to The Rock by Delakota. That song had this amazing backwards guitar loop going all the way through. And although Strawberry Swing doesn't have that, the Delakota song was definitely inspirational.

Careful, or you'll have another law suit on your hands.

Haha!

Where are you at with this whole Viva La Vida court case thing?

Yeah, some people are suing us at the moment and although it was initially a bit depressing, now it's become really inspiring. You think, "Right, if everyone's trying to take away our best song, then we'd better write 25 better ones." And so just at the point where I was thinking about getting fat and becoming complacent, I've been finding more inspiration. Now we've got more to prove than ever before.

Anyway, back to the tour. Do you find yourself missing playing when you're off the road for a while?

Well, we've been in the studio, so we've been doing music most days. It doesn't really feel like we've stopped at all, although we did have a few days off. But it's certainly rewarding to be back out again. Our audience is just f****** incredible at the moment. I saw Pearl Jam about a year ago and Bruce a few weeks ago and I think our audience is as good as theirs now, in terms of how much they make us feel good.

Some bands say if you play a really long tour, it starts to become hard work.

That's just bullshit.

Even after well over a hundred gigs on this tour, you can still enjoy it every night?

Yeah, cos now it's really getting good.

You've got some great support acts coming up.

Yeah, absolutely. We've got Howling Bells and Pete Yorn with us at the moment, and then I think Snow Patrol come on for a bit, then Elbow for a bit and Amadou and Mariam. And Kitty, Daisy & Lewis too. It's an amazing list. And we're hoping to get Bat For Lashes for some dates too. Her album, Two Suns, is my current favourite contemporary record.

What else are you listening to?

I love the new Black Eyed Peas song. And obviously the new Green Day record. And Lily Allen's album. She's fantastic. She's one of those people who's so cool that whenever I meet her I feel like I'm back at school and none of the girls like me any more. She has that ability to make any boy feel like a tosser.

On this North American leg of the tour, you're playing some fairly obscure places to a British eye. Like Des Moines. Where exactly is that?

Oh, OK, I see what you're trying to do. I don't know, it's in Indiana or something...

Sorry?

Spinal Tap fans will understand. That's why I've known about Des Moines for a long, long time. And I can't wait to go there.

Put Coldplay's three 2009 Grammy Awards and front man Chris Martin's marriage to actress Gwyneth Paltrow aside for a minute, reports The Washington Examiner.

Coldplay has just proven -- once again -- that they're not caught up in all the traditional rock-and-roll egoism. Late last week, the band members announced those who attend the "Viva La Vida" summer tour will receive an exclusive live CD, "LeftRightLeftRightLeft," free of charge. "Playing live is what we love," the British alt rock quartet released in a prepared statement. "This album is a thank you to our fans -- the people who give us a reason to do it and people who make it happen."

Coldplay has been riding high musically since last summer's "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends," which won the coveted Grammy for Best Rock Album of the year and other honors.

Publicists for the band have long said that the group doesn't fit into the popular music mold due to its "soulful, haunting, intelligent songsÉ" But others said the band, which had its first major label release in 2000, actually doesn't fit in because it achieved popular success fairly quickly.

Jefferson Evans of Alexandria said he thinks the band's decision to release its current album free of charge may compel many to listen to the band without automatically dismissing them as a pop phenomenon. "I think it is a good ideal. They have gotten big enough to suffer a bit of the inevitable backlash when a band becomes 'too popular,'" said Evans. "I had e-mailed a number of friends after listening to the [latest] album, saying I was pleasantly surprised, and one had responded 'I promise not to tell anyone you listen to Coldplay.' [This will] create goodwill to solidify their base and counter any real or perceived backlash out there."

Although Glen Boyd, assistant music editor at BlogCritics.com, doesn't think the tour will boost the band's popularity, he does see it as an interesting marketing move. "Coldplay emulates Radiohead in a lot of ways, so it only makes sense that they would follow the free download model established by Radiohead with 'In Rainbows,'" he said. "I don't think it will make a bit of difference as far as boosting their popularity or ticket sales though. They are already one of the biggest bands in the world."

Don't think the free album giveaway is the only way Coldplay is reaching out to fans, presumably to retain the "biggest band in the world" title.

LiveNation and Coldplay Web sites are filled with rave reviews of the concerts with fans talking about how the band members ran into the audiences, played from mini-stages situated to everyone could see them, and otherwise reached out. "The concert is completely worth it," said one fan. "The [band members] talk to you and make you feel worth it when you are there."

Source: washingtonexaminer.com

Coldplay are still touring hard in the US in support of not only fourth album, Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends and latest EP Prospekt’s March, but now also the live CD LeftRightLeftRightLeft, all the while preparing for ANOTHER album that is supposed to hit shelves later this year, reports Pretty Much Amazing (dot com). Here's their online review of the new CD, along with some fan mini-reviews:

Chris Martin is really trying to squeeze as much as he can from his band, because wasn’t it the blue-eyed Coldplay frontman who said, “I’m 31 now and I don’t think that bands should keep going past 33.” Either way, we're excited at the chance to catch Coldplay live again — they’re truly fantastic, and equally excited to hear another album from the band in the upcoming months.

I guess a good middle-ground for the two is this new, free live EP that Coldplay has begun to hand out at their shows. For those not lucky enough to catch them live, the band is now giving the EP for free online. Coldplay are a bunch of stand-up guys, aren’t they?

I uploaded this onto my iPod as soon as it finished downloading and I’ve been running through the songs all weekend long. I’m not a huge fan of live albums, but sometimes these live albums are beyond words. It has a lot to do with the band, but even more with the crowd. There is such a thing as too much crowd participating, but no one likes a dead crowd either. On Left Right Left Right Left, Coldplay have found the perfect magnitude of cheering, yelling, and singing along in this crowd. The EP runs a delightful and generous 9 tracks spanning Coldplay classics (”Clocks,” “Fix You”), Viva highlights (”42,” “Strawberry Swing,” “Viva La Vida”), and Prospekt’s March filler.

Glass Of Water:

The EP opens up with said Prospekt’s March filler, “Glass Of Water,” and ironically, it’s one of the best tracks on the EP. The song opens up to a roaring crowd silenced by a combination of stuttering keys, electric guitar and Chris Martin’s voice. Crowd participation is limited to light cheering. I’m assuming not everyone in the house has Prospekt’s songs memorized like they do Viva La Vida. All that’s about to change.

Viva La Vida:

Shockingly, the crowd did not go wild when “Viva La Vida”’s oh-so familiar string arrangement permeated form the stage. Definitely a show highlight, this rendition of the upbeat “Viva La Vida” depicts a crowd having the time of their lives bobbing around and singing along to 2008’s biggest hit. “Viva La Vida” is a particularly great song to see performed live. Chris Martin’s captivating stage presence is made known through awkward dancing and erratic jumping about the stage. If you saw this year’s GRAMMYs, you know what I’m talking about (and if you didn’t, watch this).

Clocks:

You don’t feel the crowd loose complete control until one of the world’s most recognizable piano melodies resonates throughout the sold-out arena. “Clocks” has always been my favorite Coldplay track, as well as a personal all-time favorite. Looking back at the times I’ve seen Coldplay live, I recall fire in Chris Martin’s eyes. You can’t see them now, but by listening to this live rendition of the career-defining “Clocks,” you can feel the band’s passion. This is a band still excited about what they do every night, tens of millions in album sales later. What more can you ask for?

Some fan reviews:

Missing some of my all time favs, like Yellow, but a great live album. “The Hardest Part” is a nice surprise, cuz its stripped down to the bare bones with just Martin’s piano supporting a far more restrained vocal. On X & Y, its all light-weight but on this stripped down version, it is far darker. Will Champion also sings well on “Death Will Never Conquer”, which is pretty unexpected. Great of them to give this out free… [David~!]

I downloaded this EP the day it came out - really pumped for it. I was at the first friends and family show for this tour back in June of 08, and the experience is something that will always stay with me. I like the track selection, it gives a good taste I think of what the show is like. You get a good balance between the very choreographed moments that make a Coldplay “show” SO COOL - and the stripped down, unexpected, improvised moments that prove what a truly great band they are. HOWEVER. This EP leaves out a lot of, what I thought, were the highlights of the show. The points that were filed with emotion, that shook the arena floor, and that were really unforgettable (which is probably the idea, since they want people to buy a ticket - but STILL, how great was the 2003 Live record!!) [Evan]

Someone mentioned this on Twitter, so obviously I downloaded it, even though I thought Coldplay were a bit boring. And then I listened to this, and immediately looked them up on YouTube and HypeM and very nearly bought all of their albums. So yes, I liked it rather a lot. [sarianna]

This giveaway is an amazing treat for all loyal Coldplay fans. I hope this will further help people realize that Coldplay are not in this for the money or the awards but rather because of the beauty of music itself. It’s wonderful hearing the “oh oh ohh oh oh ohhh” chant during Viva La Vida, just goes to show that music really is the universal language. [Alejandra]

They were in New Zealand earlier this year, but i couldnt afford the ticket price! So its therefore great to hear an album where i can turn it up loud and actually imagine being there. Clocks especially, i can just picture in my head what it woul dbe like- they have got that perfect mix between vocals, insturments, and more importantly in this case- the crowd. Good Effort Coldplay! [simon D]

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Don't forget, the free download of Coldplay's new live album, LeftRightLeftRightLeft, is currently available for download on Coldplay.com. Click here to download your free copy. Copies of the CD are being handed out to all fans at every remaining Coldplay live show in 2009 (apart from Festival shows). The free download will also be available from Coldplay.com until the band play their final 2009 show.

What do you think of the live album? Let us know your early thoughts on all the tracks at the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks tauiwi, Macbook86, marie/pims & ravrat]

The album was recorded over the past year in various cities around the world on the Viva La Vida tour. Its tracklisting is as follows:

1. Glass of Water - 4:44

2. 42 - 4:52

3. Clocks - 4:40

4. Strawberry Swing - 4:16

5. The Hardest Part / Postcards From Far Away - 4:15

6. Viva La Vida - 5:24

7. Death Will Never Conquer - 1:39

8. Fix You - 5:39

9. Death And All His Friends - 4:24

Total Running Time: 35:52

Review by: prettymuchamazing.com

It was a rock n’ roll radio station, but when it found itself on the cutting edge of the media consumers, Absolute Radio took the opportunity to reinvent itself, reports the Economic Times.

As Clive Dickens, Chief Operating Officer, Absolute Radio says: “We see ourselves as a digital entertainment brand that has a radio station attached!” In its home market of the UK, 75% of homes have broadband, and close to 20 million people — 33% of the population - are online everyday, spending an average of 60 minutes online every day.

And with more than 70 million mobile phone connections, virtually every adult in The UK has a mobile. So instead of giving a makeover to the well-recognised but ageing Virgin brand, Absolute Radio decided to go all on other electronic frontiers, when it acquired the 40-year old brand in October 2008. “You offer your audiences what they want or else they’ll find it elsewhere,” explains Dickens. “So if that means as a radio station we need to give our audience’s videos, web experiences, podcasts or concert tickets ... we give it.

” Opening up new avenues to engage with the audience has paid off for Absolute Radio — while RAJAR measures its weekly listenership at 12.04 Million hours, the station’s web audience has streamed 22 million hours since its relaunch, making the website one of the top sites for music and entertainment. And the draw of its entertainment is strong not just in The UK – its online listeners are from 160 countries across the globe. “We create content for today’s digital savvy global audience,” says Dickens.

These audiences are quite different from the traditional ‘radio listener’ — they’re listening to their music via their Facebook pages, on their PlayStations as podcasts on iTunes, not just on their FM and DAB receivers. Recent data shows Absolute Radio had 97,000 downloads for its free radio player for the iPhone within weeks of its launch — becoming the most downloaded app in its category.

Stats like these should make Google’s Android happy as Absolute Radio plans to be one of the first to launch an app for them. “Of course our audience isn’t happy just listening to us. They want and get more than just audio,” adds Dickens. That could be high-definition video of performances by artists in the Absolute studio — including Coldplay’s Chris Martin, U2’s Bono or Lily Allen.

Chris Martin at Absolute Radio studios, 30th January 2009

Coldplay, Monday night at the Verizon Wireless Music Center in Pelham, Alabama. Review rating: Four out of five stars.

Who: Coldplay, four British pop-rockers who've enjoyed great success and endured scathing criticism. Some regard their music as exquisitely accessible; others slam the band as U2 lite.

When and where: 9:15 p.m. Monday at the Verizon Wireless Music Center in Pelham. It's been six years since Coldplay performed in the Birmingham area.

Turnout: Ticketholders came close to filling the 10,650-seat amphitheater on a chilly night in May. Some empty seats could be spotted near the middle of the third tier, and a few remained open in the first tier.

Set list: About two hours of music, with an intense emphasis on "Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends." The band played nearly everything from that 2008 disc, and pulled a couple of tracks from the EP that followed it, "Prospekt's March." Coldplay reached into the past, as well, including a few songs from each of its three previous recordings.

Frontman: Singer-guitarist Chris Martin (who also played keyboards) was the main attraction. He exuded charm and humor throughout the show, balancing extreme self-confidence with goofy self-deprecation. Martin was an ultra-physical presence on stage, using his body as a dramatic prop. He jerked to the music like a puppet on strings. He bounced like a kid on a pogo stick. He careened from corner to corner, knocked over the microphone stand and flopped on his back. Martin's voice? An expressive tenor that occasionally cracked on the sky-high notes.

Other band members: Impassive bassist Guy Berryman, energetic drummer Will Champion, reliable (and reliably non-flashy) guitarist Jonny Buckland. All performed skillfully, but Champion stood out for the muscular, animated style of his playing.

Music: Coldplay has matured with "Viva la Vida," an impressively layered music suite with orchestral leanings. It's serious and joyful, personal and political, expressing views on love and war. This show followed suit. Even Coldplay's older material ("Yellow," "Clocks," "The Scientist") seemed to acquire more depth and punch.

Visuals: Well conceived and creative, from the opening march (the band appeared waving sparkler torches, with an image of Delacroix's "Liberty Leading the People" in the background) to the blizzard of butterfly confetti for "Lovers in Japan." Included jump-cut videos, screens shaped like Japanese lanterns, hallucinogenic lasers and a flurry of huge yellow balloons.

Locomotion: Two smaller stages were set up at the rear of the first tier and front of the third one. Coldplay moved to these -- raced, actually -- and performed a few tunes for faraway fans. Mini-sets there included an acoustic cover of the Monkees' "I'm a Believer."

Cons: Coldplay's faux-military costumes evoked a few giggles; after all, brass buttons, ornamental patches and shiny epaulettes are so Michael Jackson. Martin hit a few bum notes, and if you're immune to his spell, some of his theatrics would make your eyes roll.

Verdict: A highly entertaining show with a life-affirming sensibility. Also, Coldplay offered everyone a free live CD on the way out. What's not to like about that?

Source: blog.al.com

Near the end of Coldplay's show tonight at the Verizon Wireless Music Center in Pelham, blizzards of paper butterflies came hurtling from the sides of the stage, reports al.com blogs. Soon enough, the lower part of the audience was engulfed in the pretty confetti, which provided a joyful, glow-in-the dark accompaniment to "Lovers in Japan."

I'm a sucker for any concert that uses well-designed visuals as an exciting adjunct to the music (Flaming Lips, anyone?) and Coldplay's 9:15 p.m. show gave me plenty to look at while I was listening. Examples: a dynamic light show, hallucinogenic lasers, jump-cut videos, giant yellow balloons, screens that resembled Japanese lanterns and the dramatic antics of frontman Chris Martin.

I'm still sorting through the imagery, as well as the set list, but the overall effect was positive and somehow life-affirming. That's no surprise, perhaps, on a tour called "Viva la Vida."

Some fan reviews:

I saw Coldplay in Las Vegas last July and also last night. They may be the best performers that I have ever seen. I truly was expecting to be let down at the Bham show b/c the Vegas show was so incredible, but to my suprise it was almost as good. I may just have to make the drive to Atlanta. [beliscd]

I have been a fan for years, but last night was my first time to see them live. Fantastic Show !! Fun, uplifting, no preaching. Chris Martin is a freakin hoot. I just love that during a solo he stopped, said oh, I "messed up" and then finished the song. Viva La Vida !!! [murnerone]

Source: blog.al.com

In the April 2009 issue of Entertainment Law & Finance, three partners in the Intellectual Property Group at Kilpatrick Stockton LLP take a look at the role that "amateur musicologists" have played thus far in the copyright battle stemming from Satriani's lawsuit against Coldplay for copyright infringement back in December. Here are some quotes from said article:

-- What makes this case unique is the lively debate that it has prompted, which will likely impact how this action and similar infringement cases will be prosecuted and defended going forward. Within days of the suit's initiation, the popular Web site YouTube was inundated with postings in which fans freely offered their opinions concerning the merits of Satriani's claims (or absence there-of). Some of these submissions were supported by surprisingly detailed analyses of the works.

The article also mentions a Canadian guitar teacher who uploaded some videos to YouTube with a detailed analysis.

-- The parties should take note of the prior art works that have surfaced as part of the public debate. Such works could prove to be helpful to Coldplay in defending against Satriani's claims, as they could reflect that Satriani himself may have "unconsciously copied" from an earlier work.

This was written before Cat Stevens claimed that Coldplay was actually infringing his song, the "Foreigner Suite," which was one of the similar sounding tunes people had noticed online. Anyone monitoring the online discussion about the copyright battle would have had this on their radar. Also, it was Cat Stevens' son who brought the song to his attention, my guess would be as a result of discussion about the similarities online.

-- Or [prior art] may simply reflect these oft-quoted words from the Second Circuit: "It must be remembered that, while there are an enormous number of possible permutations of the musical notes of the scale, only a few are pleasing; and much fewer still suit the infantile demands of the popular ear. Recurrence is not therefore an inevitable badge of palgiarism." Darrell v. Joe Morris Music Corp., 113 F.2d 80, 80 (2d Cir. 1940)

This quote reinforces the idea that there are only so many ways to combine chords:

-- What makes the Internet commentary regarding the two songs particularly interesting is that much of it replicates the type of expert analysis that both sides will likely use if the case goes forward. In music copyright infringement cases, it is rare for parties to rely solely on bare assertions of copying or independent creation. Instead, they frequently engage "musicology" experts to undertake detailed analyses of every element of alleged similarity between the two works and conclude whether all or portions of one work were copied from the other. The parties and their experts in [this case] should consider the analyses of the "amateur musicologists" that have weighed in via the Internet and other media, if for no other reason than they may be informative of how a jury might ultimately view the case...

-- While Satriani v. Martin may not go to trial for a variety of reasons, it is clear that user-generated content sites like YouTube have the potential to alter the way music cases -- and other types of copyright case -- are developed. Because advances in technology allow the public to participate in real-time infringement debate, future parties would do well to monitor this "chatter" as it could uncover evidence and theories that may be helpful to the case of the copyright owner, the alleged infringer or both.

The online discussion is largely what has made this case so unique. There have been successful copyright infringement lawsuits over melodies in the past (most notably Bright Tunes v. Harrisongs), but never has the public been able to participate so much in the debate. I think it's likely that Cat Stevens' son wouldn't have known of the similarity between the melodies if not for all of the other people who noticed and highlighted it online. If the case does go to trial, the internet commentary may influence the strategy on both sides and serve as a preview of the arguments. If it doesn't go to trial, the online discussion may influence any sort of negotiation as a means of assessing opinion on the merits of the infringement claim.

The melodies are undoubtedly similar, but the legal question is whether or not Coldplay copied from Satriani. It's not just Coldplay's word against Satriani's, but music fans and "amateur musicologists" are gathering evidence and providing theories which are having a noticeable impact on the proceedings.

Read the full exclusive article courtesy of the Law Journal Newsletter here (pdf - adobe acrobat required.)

When it comes to live concerts, it doesn’t get any better than Coldplay, reports SaportaReport.

I’m still energized from Coldplay’s concert at the Lakewood Ampitheater Sunday night — my second Coldplay concert in six months — with its combination of fabulous music, wonderfully artistic touches throughout the show and, of course, the magnetism of lead singer, songwriter, performer Chris Martin.

Martin and the band exemplify the best in rock-‘n’-roll artists. Numerous times during the performance, Martin thanked the audience for spending their money in tough economic times by coming to hear them play. And he wanted to make sure we got our money’s worth. We did. Probably the most impressive twist for me was that the band set up two satellite stages within the crowd. Coldplay had done the same at Philips Arena in November, so it was not a complete surprise. Except that one of the satellite stages was on the lawn, where diehard Coldplay fans were weathering a fairly constant drizzle with colder than normal temperatures for a May in Atlanta.

Martin seemed to relish being able to give those concert-goers a special, close-up treat. But that was not all. As a way of saying thanks, Martin told the crowd they would all receive a free CD of their music on the way out. The special touches didn’t end there. Several times, Martin would be singing one of the group’s top songs, and he would insert lyrics about Atlanta, the show and the fans.

Lastly, playing solo at the piano, Martin sang a wonderful rendition of “Georgia on my Mind” for the Atlanta crowd. I’ve been to hundreds of live concerts in my life, and it is rare for a performer to make such a personal connection with the audience. When Martin tells the crowd that he loves playing in Atlanta because the band is so well received, we believe him, even if he says that in every city the band plays.

Of course, niceties aside, Coldplay is one of the most talented acts in modern times. Martin’s obvious classical training as a pianist provides a instrumental depth to almost every song. And then there’s his voice — the way he can hit the high notes — and get the entire audience to join in song.

Yes, the concert was absolutely fabulous and with great attention to detail to elicit maximum audience interaction — such as the large yellow bouncing balls being volleyed by the crowd while illuminating the ampitheater during the song “Yellow.”

The free Coldplay disc is in my car CD player with the songs giving the concert an afterlife that will last for many days to come. Yes, it was a night to remember.

Source: Saporta Report

Dear Chris Martin: Thanks for the show on Friday night. It was excellent. But before I go all gushy with praise -- which I will, I promise -- I should tell you that I was dreading your concert, reports New Times (Broward).

Ever since I first heard your band in the early Aughts, I thought Coldplay was Too Cool For School. Removed. Passionless. Johnny Buckland's almost cyborgian fusillade of shimmering chords had something to do with it, as well as Guy Berryman's cold, efficient handling of his bass.

But it was mostly your voice. It didn't lack personality, exactly -- not like Abba or something -- but you did seem to advertise a personality that was always above it all. Never in danger of losing your cool, never willing to get swept along by whatever free and wild current is supposed to sweep a lad towards a life in the arts in the first place.

Listening to "Yellow" in my shitty Ford Taurus, I couldn't imagine you ever losing your head at the mike, the way Thom Yorke does, or even the way Scott Stapp has done on occasion. (I mention Stapp because, as I recall, you were both in pretty heavy rotation on the radio in the summer of 2000, and though Stapp was plainly an idiot I thought you were probably a helluvalot more cynical.) Well, to hell with assumptions. We weren't three songs into the show last Friday when I realized you aren't cool at all. You're blazingly gifted -- your voice is almost perfect live, far better than one would expect from listening to that new live album, which your band so generously arranged to have distributed, gratis, to all 16,000 of us after the show). Your piano playing, which you spent the evening disparaging, is also fluid and strong. But you're also a bit of a geek. And though I haven't known you long enough to say for certain, I'm pretty sure I love you for it.

I'd like to remind you of something you did towards the end of a long, hot vamp wrapped around "Cemeteries of London" (Great song, btw! Props to the drummer!). After flailing around the stage in your cute black performance getup, you made your way to the piano and made a big show of wiping your brow and breathing heavily, to underline for all of us just how hard you'd been working for the previous minute or two. Speaking of assumptions, these gestures contained two that I think are worth noting:

Assumption 1: We'd been watching you the whole time and had taken note of how hard you'd been working. Not true. You have a stage set-up that cost, I dunno, a million bucks or so. It's full of lights and glowing balls and strange CGI video projections. Plus, at Cruzan Amphitheatre, you've got two big screens bookending the stage, both of which spent the majority of the concert beaming us images of things other than you. Most of us -- and I did some non-scientific polling to confirm this -- had no idea why you were making a big show of your tiredness.

Assumption 2: People don't give a shit about the content of your songs. Well, that may be true -- and who could blame them? Do you give a shit about content? And if so, can you please explain what the hell "Cemeteries of London" is supposed to be about in the first place? But content or no content, people certainly care about atmosphere. And the atmosphere summoned by "Cemeteries," especially live, is a long way from comic. So why the aping?

I think I know. I think you think you're boring your audience, or disappointing them. I think the sight of all 16,000 of us waiting for you to entertain us makes you a little panicky, makes you wanna throw in the kitchen sink, because you're not convinced the songs themselves will measure up.

Read the full article and see more pictures at blogs.browardpalmbeach.com

Confetti paper butterflies. Giant yellow beach balls (dropped during “Yellow” — get it?). Super high-definition live video. Friday’s opening night of the last leg of Coldplay’s Viva La Vida tour in West Palm Beach was an Olympics-esque spectacle, complete with five orbs dangling over the band’s heads that served as screens for more state-of-the-art camera work, writes the Rolling Stone today. Here is their article:

Coldplay are playing big sheds for this summer stretch — about 16,000 fans filled the Cruzan Amphitheater — and, despite their sad songs, grand gestures suit them. The quartet, dressed in their Sgt. Pepperesque jackets, want nothing more than to please. That’s why they twice made excursions to small ancillary stages in the middle of the venue, to show their “respect for the lawn,” as Chris Martin said in one of his many shiny, hammy comments (someone hire him a script doctor).

He then choreographed the audience to hold up their lighted cell phones and perform what he called “the first ever Mexican phone wave,” before leading the band into an acoustic cover of the Monkees’ “I’m a Believer.” Believe.

One doesn’t go to a Coldplay show expecting shock rock or even anything more mildly challenging than having to commiserate with Martin over his bad haircut. With Martin’s piano riffs and falsetto croon, the band stops just shy of being alt-rock’s answer to smooth jazz. Their music is almost unnervingly tight; Jon Buckland’s Edge-walking leads rang out in the kind of perfect stage mix you rarely get at shed shows. They played long — almost two hours — and they played well, hitting all the bright spots of their catalog (though changing the song selection little from their earlier U.S. leg). “The Scientist” has been moved to an encore position, Will Champion’s high-hat fillip creating just the right dramatic tension. The butterflies rained down during “Lovers in Japan.” Gwyneth Paltrow was standing center front (not out in the lawn), singing along with hubby Martin.

Given how eager Coldplay are to please, they made a serious misstep with the distribution of free CDs that they touted would be available after the show. A few people handed out woefully insufficient quantities of LeftRightLeftRightLeft at only one of Cruzan’s exits, causing Coldplay’s heretofore-happy, polite fans to get ugly. (A more raucous crowd would have rioted or at least trampled someone for good measure.) Presumably, the band will have this sorted out at future dates — or they’ll just decide everyone who cares will have downloaded LRLRL already and give up on the idea (which Martin claimed as the band’s own original concept, even though Prince did it years ago).

Pete Yorn played before Coldplay, performing angsty ballads from his recent CD Back and Fourth. While Coldplay are practiced entertainers who know how to play to every corner, Yorn and his five-piece band with their earnest, indie songs sounded dwarfed by the venue. It’s nothing that a million or so bucks in audio and video technology and a movie-star wife couldn’t cure.

Article & pictures: Rolling Stone

You've probably heard by now that, there are now four groups claiming Coldplay plagiarized them, the latest being Yusuf Islam, who says 'Viva La Vida' swipes part of his 1973 song 'Foreigner Suite.' Here is the full promised interview with Will Champion in which he talks about the new plagiarism claims, courtesy of Hampton Roads (Virginia) ahead of Coldplay's show on Wednesday May 20th at the Verizion Amphitheater in Virginia Beach...

By now you've probably heard of a little band named Coldplay. The band has sold some 50 million albums; won Grammys, the U.K.'s Mercury Prize and many other awards; and had songs such as "Yellow" featured in commercials that reach just about every household with electricity.

The very un-urban group has even made its name at least recognizable among the BET set, courtesy of collaborations with Jay-Z and Kanye West. Having been elevated to stadium rock demigods - this generation's U2, if you will - the members of Coldplay could not be faulted for becoming a tad bored or jaded. They've been together for more than 10 years, having formed in 1998 while students at University College London. How have they retained interest in both the band and the music over all these years?

"It's inherently interesting," says Will Champion, drummer and unofficial spokesman for the group, which will perform at the Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater on Wednesday. "We have been doing it a long time. Our commitment to music is what keeps it fresh. Every day there are new bands to listen to, something to make you think of music in a slightly different way."

Champion says the band broke from its usual routines in recording its latest album, "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends," by working with Brian Eno, a one-time member of Roxy Music. Previously, Champion, lead singer Chris Martin and the other members of the group - guitarist Jonny Buckland and bassist Guy Berryman - would more or less go into a studio and spontaneously create music.

Martin would typically start them off with a melody or parts of a song, and the rest of them would collaborate until a song formed. This time, Eno had them do something drastically different. "We would come in and pick a (homemade) card from a deck that had different strategies," he said. "You'd pick one, and then you'd do what it says on the card, and it would yield some very interesting results. It might say 'percussion' or 'guitar' and force you to do something you weren't expecting to do. He tried his hardest to knock us off balance a bit and approach things from a different angle."

Champion has been toying with new technology - specifically new drum software that's encouraged him to make sounds exponentially different from the (good) plodding of memorable Coldplay songs like, say, "Clocks."

There's even been speculation that the band is considering making dance music, which, as any Coldplay fan knows, is a complete turnaround. (People used to joke that if you wanted to put an end to a raucous party in your apartment, put on some Coldplay.) "We're definitely trying all types of approaches," Champion said, while avoiding calling their latest experiments "dance" per se. "We're using different tempos... different time signatures. We're doing stuff that makes us feel like we haven't done it yet."

None of it has been released yet, he said, and their experimentation isn't being made with the intention of creating an album; it's just the kind of artistic exploration that keeps them interested in what they do. When Coldplay does release its next album, chances are it'll be distributed in a novel way, too. The band already is giving away CDs of live material at shows on this tour, a move prompted in part by a lousy economy.

"People who invested in us early on have spent time and money and energy listening to us. We felt it was a nice gesture to repay that favor in some way." (Not that they're hard up for cash: Most often when they're touring, the guys pick a hotel home base - say, New York - and then fly to each gig, to ease the grueling physical demands of moving from city to city every week.)

Yet even though Coldplay is looking for novel ways to release its music, and even though Champion is the group's super-nice, down-to-earth mouthpiece, don't look for him on Twitter. "I feel like I would get very sucked into that," he says of social networking sites. He's a family guy who usually goes unrecognized when out and about, even in London. "I would end up spending more time at a computer than with my family. We do have people that keep up with that. I just think most people I don't speak to I don't speak to for a reason."

One thing he finally is speaking about is the re curring allegation that Coldplay plagiarizes from other musicians. Earlier in May, Yusef Islam (previously known as Cat Stevens) became the fourth artist to claim that Coldplay engaged in some heavy lifting. They'd long refused to comment on the allegations, but Champion wants to set the record straight. "It's tough when people accuse you of stealing something when you know that you didn't. So, we accept that it's part of the territory and know it is only for some reason, God only knows why, the successful songs seem to be the ones that are accused of being stolen.

"It's a very difficult thing to define. There are only eight notes in an octave, and no one owns them. And there are probably about 12,000 songs that feature the exact same chord progression. I think it lies on an intent to steal, which we certainly have never done and never would. So it's unfortunate, but it's the way people are. That's that. We're confident we haven't done anything wrong."

And frankly, their fans probably don't care. Coldplay has brought them so much joy and, as Champion alludes, will continue to. "We want everyone to feel like they're having a wonderful time at our shows. We are thankful for what we do, and we are happy to make people happy in some small way."

Read more on this at the Coldplay forum here onwards.

After supporting bands like The Killers, Placebo, and Snow Patrol, the Australian bred London transplanted Howling Bells have their musical sights set on conquering the new world, as the Howling Bells members Juanita Stein, Joel Stein, Brendan Picchio, Glenn Moule recently signed with Nettwerk Music Group to be their North American label, writes The Deadbolt (dot com).

But with their career quickly on the rise, the Howling Bells received another huge boost on the touring circuit as they'll soon be the opening act for Coldplay on their North American "Viva La Vida" Tour in May and June.

The opening gig with Coldplay couldn’t have come at a better time for Howling Bells since the Australian, London based rockers are promoting their sophomore album debut, Radio Wars, which will be released on July 28, 2009. Shortly after the Howling Bells kick off their opening act in front of Coldplay on May 20 in Virginia Beach, the band's first Radio Wars single, "Cities Burning Down," will also be available on iTunes June 2, 2009.

Originally formed in Australia in 2004 then relocating to London to record their self titled debut album two years later with producer Ken Nelson (Coldplay), Howling Bells caught the attention of several high profile Indie critics who loved their unique style and sound, aided by Radiohead and Air engineer Nigel Godrich on Radio Wars.

With Radio Wars already a Top 30 album in the UK, Howling Bells is looking to find the same type of success on this side of the pond. As The Daily Mail observed, ‘Singer Jaunita Stein's breathless vocals evoke vintage Debbie Harry while nodding towards the swagger of Garbage's Shirley Manson.’ And coming off of a successful homecoming show at V Festival in Melbourne, the group has the distinct pleasure of joining Coldplay this May and June as they tour across the US and Canada.

Howling Bells, which includes: lead vocalist Juanita Stein, guitarist brother Joel Stein, bassist Brendan Picchio and drummer Glenn Moule. For more on Howling Bells, head this way to their MySpace page and official website.

Check out Howling Bells when they open for Coldplay on the following tour dates:

05/20/09 - Virginia Beach, VA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater

05/21/09 - Bristow, VA @ Nissan Pavilion

05/23/09 - Hartford, CT @ Comcast Theater

05/24/09 - Hershey, PA @ Hershey Park Stadium & Star Pavilion

05/26/09 - Camden, NJ @ Susquehanna Bank Cente

05/27/09 - Saratoga Springs, NY @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center

05/29/09 - Scranton, PA @ Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain

05/30/09 - Burgettstown, PA @ Post-Gazette Pavilion

06/01/09 - Darien Center, NY @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center

06/02/09 - Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre

06/04/09 - Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center

06/05/09 - Noblesville, IN @ Verizon Wireless Music Center

06/06/09 - Nashville, TN @ Sommet Center

06/09/09 - New Orleans, LA @ New Orleans Arena

06/10/09 - San Antonio, TX @ AT&T Center

06/12/09 - Des Moines, IA @ Wells Fargo Arena at the Iowa Events Center

06/13/09 - Omaha, NE @ Qwest Center Omaha

06/15/09 - Winnipeg, MB @ MTS Centre

06/17/09 - Calgary, AB @ Pengrowth Saddledome

06/18/09 - Edmonton, AB @ Rexall Place

06/20/09 - Vancouver, BC @ General Motors Place

06/21/09 - Vancouver, BC @ General Motors Place

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Coldplay.com talked to Juanita Stein from Coldplay's latest support act. With Howling Bells set to open at all the North American shows from May 15th to June 21st, they called up the indie-rockers' frontwoman for a natter.

Hello Juanita, how are you?

I'm good, thanks. I'm in New York. I got here a few days early to catch up with some friends and hang out in New York for a bit, before meeting up with the guys in Florida.

Have you had fun in New York?

Yeah, it's been great. We had a really good morning yesterday, where we grabbed a coffee and then walked through Central Park for a couple of hours. They happened to be filming Philip Seymour Hoffman's new film on the lake. It was really cool.

Are you excited about the Coldplay tour?

Hell yeah! It's a phenomenal opportunity for us. I think it's gonna be wild to play to that many people every night. And also from an artistic perspective, just to watch a band of that stature and see how the logistics of a show that huge go down every night.

Have you played many support tours like this?

Yeah, we've done a few. Essentially you are warming up the crowd and in a positive light you can see that they're not going to be as gracious and overwhelmingly communicative as they would be with the main band. Or, in a more negative light, you can see that the punters have been saving up for a lifetime to go and see their favourite band and to some of them you're just an obstacle in the way of seeing them! So you keep level-headed and just try to connect with the audience as much as you can.

But you can have a good support slot show?

Oh, absolutely. It can also depend on the band. Every band attracts a certain nature of fan. There have been some big supports we've done where the fans have been really, really disrespectful - not just to us, but to any support band. And then you get bands whose fans are lovers of music and they're open-minded - and I suspect Coldplay fans will be more like that.

So, for those Coldplay fans who haven't heard of Howling Bells, can you tell us a bit about your band?

Sure, we're originally from Sydney, Australia and we moved to London about five years ago. It was a really big risk for us, because we didn't know anyone and we didn't have a record deal or an agent or anything. But we'd all grown up in very musical households listening to a healthy diet of British pop and we thought we should head to the source of all great pop music. And we're still there.

Which British bands were you particularly inspired by?

Our folks were into the Stones and the Beatles and the La's and all the classics. And then we discovered our own bands, like the Smiths, the Stone Roses and Pulp. There's just something in the UK waters that I don't pick up anywhere else, and that's what really attracted us.

You made your first album with Ken Nelson, who produced the first three Coldplay albums.

Right. I feel like we're destined to be connected with Coldplay somehow! We heard Rush Of Blood To The Head and that's exactly what made us want to work with Ken so much. I thought it was such an astoundingly warm and beautiful record. Sonically it was magnificent and the songs were beautiful and it was really powerful and lush. So we were like, "Why don't we make a record that sounds like that!"

So you got in touch with him?

Yeah, we sent him a whole lot of our demos and he got back to us really quickly saying that he loved the demos and would love to try and work with us. So that was a big deciding factor in us moving over to London, even though we didn't know when we'd be able to work with him, because he was still working on X&Y. We hung around for eight or nine months and got really shitty jobs in London pubs and then eventually went to Liverpool and recorded our first record.

Did you make it at Parr Street studios?

Yes. Coldplay's equipment was still in the studio when we first walked in. We were like, "Oh my God!"

So, it's fair to say that you're fans of Coldplay?

Of course. There's just such an overwhelming, sonically lush, pop energy about their music. I did an interview with a college magazine the other day and they asked why I think Coldplay are so big. And I instinctively felt that it's because they have the ability, especially with Chris as the frontman, to connect with the greater public. Millions of people can find some truth in what he has to say. And there's not many artists that can achieve that.

How did you come to be on this tour?

Y'know, that's a good question. I don't actually know! But when we were told there was a chance of us doing it, we didn't ask any questions, we just said, "Make it happen"! So other than jumping up and down and shouting, "Yes!" I don't actually know how it came about. I hope it's because they like us. I've never met the band, but I remember Ken talking to our guitarist, Joel, and telling him how Chris Martin had heard a song of ours called

Have you ever seen them play?

Not a full show, but I did go to the War Child show they did with the Killers recently. That was a very exciting evening.

You're doing 24 dates with the band. Are you guys used to tours of that size?

No, that's a huge tour for us. It's really good timing, though, because we've just signed a US deal, so our second record, Radio Wars, is getting an American release over the next couple of weeks. So, if there are any fans that want to buy our music, they'll be able to.

Tell us about the new album.

Well, it was recorded in Los Angeles last January with Dan Grech who is the assistant producer with Nigel Godrich, who we're all fans of. We thought it'd be a great leap to work with somebody who worked on a few more electronic-sounding records. I think we've made a much more colourful album this time. And whereas the first one was pretty much written by me in my bedroom back in Australia, this one was written by all four of us all around the world.

It seems to have gone down very well with critics.

Yeah, it's had a great reaction. And a very different reaction too, which is always delightful for a band, because you don't want to be stuck in the same boat for every album.

Will you be on a tourbus for the whole tour with Coldplay?

Yes. Tourbuses can be fun, but sometimes you do wish you could stop for a few hours and sleep in a proper bed. But I cannot complain at all. Apart from the fact I'm doing what I love, it's like a giant road trip with a bunch of friends really.

You're going to some quite little-known places. Will you get to look around?

Yeah, I hope so. We did one tour of the States before, with the Killers. When you follow these huge bands around doing arenas, you actually get a little bit of time to yourselves. I always, always make the effort to get off the bus and just walk around the town, nomatter how deserted or isolated it is. There's a few places on this tour I've never even heard of. I can't wait to see them.

You're going to Hershey, home of the chocolate.

Yeah, the first thing I thought about was how good the rider will be at that one! In fact, maybe the whole dressing room will be made of chocolate...

When you're supporting a big band, do you tend to watch them every night?

Actually, most nights you do. Even though it's the same band, on the same stage, with the same setlist, every single night is different and every audience reacts differently. And you begin to learn the really personal quirks of every band member. In a sense, it's like getting to watch a great invention at work every night.

Finally, what's your favourite Coldplay song?

I was thinking about this last night, because I had a feeling you'd ask. And I've decided on Politik. That was the song that made me want to go and steal their producer and make a record that had some kind of similar essence about it. I think sonically and lyrically it's just a stunning song.

For more information on Howling Bells, head over to howlingbells.net

Bands, like politicians, need to get re-elected every so often. Take Coldplay, who staged a campaign stop of sorts for 16,000 people on Friday night at Cruzan Amphitheatre, west of West Palm Beach. There were remarks, confetti, balloons and presents: The band sent attendees home with a free concert CD, reports The Sun Sentinel (dot com).

Likewise, the appearance of singer Chris Martin's wife, actress Gwyneth Paltrow, could have come from a political playbook. Paltrow made an entrance befitting a popular first lady, taking a seat up close to watch the concert alongside everyone else. This was Coldplay's second South Florida stop in six months, and "the first night of the last leg of the 'Viva la Vida' tour," as Martin described the itinerary. The show and the set list haven't changed much between visits, but the tone on Friday was noticeably different -- more directed.

In November, while a rock star of politics was claiming the White House, Coldplay just came to entertain. This time, with the Grammy-winning British quartet starting the wind-down toward (presumably) a break, the concert felt like an effort to hang on to votes. Coldplay wants to remain in fans' hearts and minds until the next album and tour.

In this swing state, where Martin himself announced the attendance figure of 16,000, they've probably succeeded. The concert was an effective pitch for the crowd's favor, with occasionally stellar music. Coldplay played anthemic rockers with easy-to-remember slogans: "Open up your eyes" (from "Politik," natch) and "If you never try you'll never know" (from the ballad "Fix You"). Repetition being a favorite tool of political message-shapers, Coldplay seemed determined to keep changes in tempo and mood to a pleasant minimum. Songs from the band's four studio albums ran together like paragraphs in a well-polished stump speech.

There were beautiful exceptions. Coldplay's best song, still, "Clocks" rose above the rest with its shifting triads, thrumming bass lines and Martin's plangent melody stretched across the chords. "Viva la Vida," an orchestral tale of glory and ruin ("Sweep the streets I used to own"), got a rousing assist from the crowd. Martin sang it without a trace of rancor, considering all the recent claims on its authorship.

The band tossed in an oldie, the Monkees' I'm a Believer. It was a telling choice of covers. When Coldplay broke through in 2000, they made sense in the company of a couple of other U.K. bands -- Doves and Muse -- that occupied sonic space between U2's royal empathy and Radiohead's melancholy squall.

As they've gained in renown, they've gone backwards in time. Coldplay's songwriting has taken on the very British wistfulness one hears in stand-bys such as Paul McCartney's "Penny Lane" and Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill." It wouldn't be the first campaign based on appeals to a kinder, gentler past.

Source: Sun Sentinel

More pictures of the West Palm Beach show:

Pictures: http://www.pbpulse.com

It's no small accomplishment to make a sea of 16,000 people feel like an intimate audience in a small club, but that's what Chris Martin and Coldplay did at West Palm Beach's Cruzan Amphitheatre on Friday night, reports the Miami Herald.

Joking, charming, and leading blissful singalongs, Martin and company made the opening night of their U.S. tour into a celebration of the feel-good power of pop music. The sentimental peak came when the group ventured into the middle of the crowd to lead them in an acoustic version of The Monkees' I'm a Believer, teasing at and enjoying the song's innocent "I'm in love, ooooohhhh, I'm a believer" enthusiasm. "People in the back are you in love?" Martin asked, and got a ringing affirmation.

Given that the British rock group just finished another U.S. tour, also in support of their hit 2008 album Viva La Vida, last November, with a stop in Sunrise that same month, the size and enthusiasm of Friday night's crowd was an impressive demonstration of Coldplay's popularity.

Their music is often somber on record. Live, however, even regretful, elegiac songs like The Scientist, or the plaintive ballad Fix You (which inspired Martin's wife, actor Gwyneth Paltrow, who was in the audience, to press her hand to her heart) became fervent and soaring. Drummer Will Champion supplies a solid, thundering foundation for guitarist Jon Buckland and bassist Guy Berryman ringing, churning guitar lines, lusher and more powerful than on record. Martin's famous falsetto rises through the storm, quiet or wailing, naturally and movingly expressive. "For you, I'd bleed myself dry," he sang on Yellow, the beautiful breakout ballad from Coldplay's first album, as big yellow balloons floated through the crowd, and you believed him.

Martin is a natural showman, alternating classic writhing rock star leaps, stage striding, and firey piano playing with an old school, theatrical British humor and calculated but still charming humility. He thank the audience frequently and profusely, asked them if they were having a good time ("If you came to see the Bee Gees, that's tomorrow, and you'll be disappointed"), and joked about how good looking they were. "We'd be honored if you'd sing this with us," Martin said during Clocks, one of Coldplay's best loved older songs. The crowd didn't have to be asked twice.

The production was beautifully designed, not just for effect, but to heighten the feeling of the music -- with some sly cultural jokes. The soaring strains of Strauss' Blue Danube Waltz (producing some interesting variations on your classic concert wave) led into the opening Life in Technicolor, with a giant backdrop of Eugene Delacroix's famous painting Liberty Leading the People (an emblem of Coldplay leading the masses to aesthetic liberation? A topless woman heading up a really good time?) as the band came onstage carrying torches. Projections swirled over giant globes whirling overhead, and the video on two large screens pulsed in rhythm or flickered in black and white with the songs. For the glowing Lovers in Japan, close to the end, the standard confetti guns instead blasted paper butterflies, a simple change that added a magical feeling to the song.

Source: Miami Herald

More pictures of the West Palm Beach show:

Pictures: http://www.pbpulse.com

Perhaps the most lovely thing about Coldplay’s gloriously cordial “Viva La Vida” tour opener at West Palm Beach’s Cruzan Amphitheatre — and there were many — is that the band knows exactly what they are, and aren’t.

Chris Martin and company seem to have accepted that they are not edgy or dangerous, but pretty much nicely square guys from London who love straight-ahead, pretty pop songs like “Yellow” and ”Viva La Vida” with a dash of unabashedly big, anthemic songs with sweeping choruses. Their cute lead singer is married to a movie star, who happened to be sitting calmly right in the middle of the arena, and rather than make Martin seem cooler than you, the result is to make him seem like the luckiest of the nice guys.

Coldplay don’t want to confuse or anger their fans, but hug them. And if they can’t do that personally, they’ll drop swirling currents of bright paper butterflies on them and set up a stage near the lawn so the hoi polloi in the cheap seats can have a nice time.

The result is a fully-realized, feel-good show where the band’s confidence in their sound and comfort in their goofily ordinary skin allows them to take that straight-ahead, sentimental pop and send it somewhere soaring.

“At this point in the show, I feel it’s only fair to ask — Is everyone doing OK? Is everyone having a good time?” Martin asked, well into the show, as Coldplay had taken the first of two trips to side stages located in the audience. And unlike a lot of singers whose “Is everyone having a good time?” patter seems scripted in along with song introductions and what city they’re in, Martin and his Synchronicity-meets-Sgt. Pepper outfit seems to really mean it.

Read the full review article which includes more pictures and fans' reviews here

Pictures: http://www.pbpulse.com

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, writes the Miami Herald. 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.

''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 [download!] that Coldplay is giving to concert-goers on their U.S. tour, which kicks off at West Palm Beach's Cruzan Amphitheater Friday night.

''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 bestselling album in the world in 2008. "It's like a reward system in a grocery store.''

Material sustenance is not what most fans think of when it comes to Coldplay's music or its live shows, which are known for the passionate connection that Martin makes with audiences. The free CD, LeftRightLeftRightLeft, with nine live songs culled from the band's last tour, is partly an attempt to capture that link. ''It is like a snapshot of where we're at at the moment as a band,'' Martin says. ''Hopefully nine little morsels of where we are at the moment. It's supposed to give an overview of how we sound now and mostly how our audience is with that.''

Given that Coldplay is returning to the United States so soon after finishing another North American tour last November, which brought them to the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, audiences seem to like whatever the band does. The combination of Martin's charisma and emotionally introspective, obliquely poetic lyrics, and Coldplay's darkly anthemic, lushly melodic music has proved to be potent. The group has grown steadily in stature and sales since debuting in 2000 with Parachutes, quickly shooting from indie darlings to the top of the U.S. and global charts. Their third album, 2005's X&Y, sold eight million copies in the first year, while Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends sold 6.7 million physical and downloaded copies -- stellar figures in an age of free downloads and splintering audiences.

DIVIDED VIEWS

The press, however, has been divided on Coldplay and on Martin himself. The band's music has been criticized as indulgent and repetitive, while Martin, who is married to actor Gwyneth Paltrow (the couple have two children, Apple, 5 and Moses, 3) is sometimes faulted for being arrogant, a vegetarian, righteously well-behaved, and generally avoiding the classically entertaining rock star behavior of excessive drugs, drinking and screwing around. (Although he has been known to wrestle with paparazzi and appear in comedies like the movie Shaun of the Dead).

Martin is, in fact, unabashedly middle class. The oldest son of five children of an accountant father and a music-teacher mother, he met his Coldplay bandmates in 1996, while all were earning degrees at London University (they refused to tour or release their first record until they'd taken final exams, and vowed to kick out anyone who used hard drugs). He has campaigned on issues of fair trade and global poverty, and spoken out against the Iraq war. While social themes don't inspire Coldplay's songs, Martin says he feels a responsibility to try and affect the world in a positive way.

''It appeases the guilt I sometimes feel for being given such an incredible job,'' he says. ''I think when you are contributing to or talking about something that you know is important on an activist level, it somehow feels better than if you're just sitting back taking coke.'' As well as assuaging his own anxieties. ''I don't really like to stop and feel comfortable,'' Martin says. ''So I guess [social activism] is part of that.''

But he is realistic about how much effect he can have on the world, beyond making people feel better for the length of a song or a show. ''If I'm a bit down and worried about something then if I listen to I'm On Fire by Bruce Springsteen I feel better,'' Martin says. ''We can only influence our little world in our little bubble.''

Coldplay songs are generally attributed to the whole band: Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, drummer Will Champion and bassist Guy Berryman, plus close friend and former manager Phil Harvey, who's listed as a fifth member on Viva La Vida. Though Martin writes most of the lyrics and, as singer (and husband of a movie star), tends to be the center of attention, he emphasizes that the music comes from all of them.

''If any one of the five of us was to leave or die or be kidnapped, the rest of us would be useless,'' he says. ''We're always trying to give credit to the chemistry more than the individual ability. That's what a band is, it's bigger than the sum of it's parts. That's why people join bands -- because they're not good enough to be soloists.''

SONG INSPIRATION

He is reticent about where those lyrics come from. ''I find often songs come from thinking of a title. The other morning I woke up and thought I'd like to do a song called Drunks and Guns. So I hung around the house all day waiting for it to come, and eventually it came to me.''

And how did he come up with the title? ''No idea,'' Martin says. ''I think if you write a list of songs you feel like certain letters are missing, so maybe I had a list with no D's on it.''

Aside from filling out an alphabet of titles, it seems the only downside for Martin these days is being away from his family months at a time. Martin insists it's not a significant problem. ''It's not the same as being a soldier being sent away for six months with no contact,'' he says. ''It's pretty manageable at this point.'' In fact, he jokes that separation can be a good thing. ''I think their worst nightmare is having to be with me every day. You've only had 20 minutes.''

Source: Miami Herald

Coldplay.com talked to Juanita Stein from Coldplay's latest support act. With Howling Bells set to open at all the North American shows from May 15th to June 21st, they called up the indie-rockers' frontwoman for a natter.

Hello Juanita, how are you?

I'm good, thanks. I'm in New York. I got here a few days early to catch up with some friends and hang out in New York for a bit, before meeting up with the guys in Florida.

Have you had fun in New York?

Yeah, it's been great. We had a really good morning yesterday, where we grabbed a coffee and then walked through Central Park for a couple of hours. They happened to be filming Philip Seymour Hoffman's new film on the lake. It was really cool.

Are you excited about the Coldplay tour?

Hell yeah! It's a phenomenal opportunity for us. I think it's gonna be wild to play to that many people every night. And also from an artistic perspective, just to watch a band of that stature and see how the logistics of a show that huge go down every night.

Have you played many support tours like this?

Yeah, we've done a few. Essentially you are warming up the crowd and in a positive light you can see that they're not going to be as gracious and overwhelmingly communicative as they would be with the main band. Or, in a more negative light, you can see that the punters have been saving up for a lifetime to go and see their favourite band and to some of them you're just an obstacle in the way of seeing them! So you keep level-headed and just try to connect with the audience as much as you can.

But you can have a good support slot show?

Oh, absolutely. It can also depend on the band. Every band attracts a certain nature of fan. There have been some big supports we've done where the fans have been really, really disrespectful - not just to us, but to any support band. And then you get bands whose fans are lovers of music and they're open-minded - and I suspect Coldplay fans will be more like that.

So, for those Coldplay fans who haven't heard of Howling Bells, can you tell us a bit about your band?

Sure, we're originally from Sydney, Australia and we moved to London about five years ago. It was a really big risk for us, because we didn't know anyone and we didn't have a record deal or an agent or anything. But we'd all grown up in very musical households listening to a healthy diet of British pop and we thought we should head to the source of all great pop music. And we're still there.

Which British bands were you particularly inspired by?

Our folks were into the Stones and the Beatles and the La's and all the classics. And then we discovered our own bands, like the Smiths, the Stone Roses and Pulp. There's just something in the UK waters that I don't pick up anywhere else, and that's what really attracted us.

You made your first album with Ken Nelson, who produced the first three Coldplay albums.

Right. I feel like we're destined to be connected with Coldplay somehow! We heard Rush Of Blood To The Head and that's exactly what made us want to work with Ken so much. I thought it was such an astoundingly warm and beautiful record. Sonically it was magnificent and the songs were beautiful and it was really powerful and lush. So we were like, "Why don't we make a record that sounds like that!"

So you got in touch with him?

Yeah, we sent him a whole lot of our demos and he got back to us really quickly saying that he loved the demos and would love to try and work with us. So that was a big deciding factor in us moving over to London, even though we didn't know when we'd be able to work with him, because he was still working on X&Y. We hung around for eight or nine months and got really shitty jobs in London pubs and then eventually went to Liverpool and recorded our first record.

Did you make it at Parr Street studios?

Yes. Coldplay's equipment was still in the studio when we first walked in. We were like, "Oh my God!"

So, it's fair to say that you're fans of Coldplay?

Of course. There's just such an overwhelming, sonically lush, pop energy about their music. I did an interview with a college magazine the other day and they asked why I think Coldplay are so big. And I instinctively felt that it's because they have the ability, especially with Chris as the frontman, to connect with the greater public. Millions of people can find some truth in what he has to say. And there's not many artists that can achieve that.

How did you come to be on this tour?

Y'know, that's a good question. I don't actually know! But when we were told there was a chance of us doing it, we didn't ask any questions, we just said, "Make it happen"! So other than jumping up and down and shouting, "Yes!" I don't actually know how it came about. I hope it's because they like us. I've never met the band, but I remember Ken talking to our guitarist, Joel, and telling him how Chris Martin had heard a song of ours called

Have you ever seen them play?

Not a full show, but I did go to the War Child show they did with the Killers recently. That was a very exciting evening.

You're doing 24 dates with the band. Are you guys used to tours of that size?

No, that's a huge tour for us. It's really good timing, though, because we've just signed a US deal, so our second record, Radio Wars, is getting an American release over the next couple of weeks. So, if there are any fans that want to buy our music, they'll be able to.

Tell us about the new album.

Well, it was recorded in Los Angeles last January with Dan Grech who is the assistant producer with Nigel Godrich, who we're all fans of. We thought it'd be a great leap to work with somebody who worked on a few more electronic-sounding records. I think we've made a much more colourful album this time. And whereas the first one was pretty much written by me in my bedroom back in Australia, this one was written by all four of us all around the world.

It seems to have gone down very well with critics.

Yeah, it's had a great reaction. And a very different reaction too, which is always delightful for a band, because you don't want to be stuck in the same boat for every album.

Will you be on a tourbus for the whole tour with Coldplay?

Yes. Tourbuses can be fun, but sometimes you do wish you could stop for a few hours and sleep in a proper bed. But I cannot complain at all. Apart from the fact I'm doing what I love, it's like a giant road trip with a bunch of friends really.

You're going to some quite little-known places. Will you get to look around?

Yeah, I hope so. We did one tour of the States before, with the Killers. When you follow these huge bands around doing arenas, you actually get a little bit of time to yourselves. I always, always make the effort to get off the bus and just walk around the town, nomatter how deserted or isolated it is. There's a few places on this tour I've never even heard of. I can't wait to see them.

You're going to Hershey, home of the chocolate.

Yeah, the first thing I thought about was how good the rider will be at that one! In fact, maybe the whole dressing room will be made of chocolate...

When you're supporting a big band, do you tend to watch them every night?

Actually, most nights you do. Even though it's the same band, on the same stage, with the same setlist, every single night is different and every audience reacts differently. And you begin to learn the really personal quirks of every band member. In a sense, it's like getting to watch a great invention at work every night.

Finally, what's your favourite Coldplay song?

I was thinking about this last night, because I had a feeling you'd ask. And I've decided on Politik. That was the song that made me want to go and steal their producer and make a record that had some kind of similar essence about it. I think sonically and lyrically it's just a stunning song.

For more information on Howling Bells, head over to howlingbells.net

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin doesn’t know if Michael Stipe will be on hand when Coldplay returns to Atlanta Sunday, but having R.E.M.’s lead singer sit in with Martin’s band back in 2005 was “a front man’s wet dream,” Martin says.

One might imagine the admiration goes both ways, considering the triple-Grammy-winning, multimillion-selling success of Coldplay’s latest album, “Viva La Vida.”

The extended tour that began almost a year ago to support the album brought Coldplay to Atlanta last November, and brings them back to perform at the Lakewood Amphitheater Sunday. In a recent telephone interview from Los Angeles, Martin talked about selling out arenas and the thunderstorm in the Abu Dhabi desert that greeted one of Coldplay’s recent outdoor concerts: “I think it was God telling us to shut up.”

The free album you’re handing out at the concert, is it a download?

It’s a physical album; it’s an actual CD.

How primitive.

It’s archaic, but it also looks very nice; it’s a nice present. It’s a way of saying thanks for liking Coldplay.

Considering illegal downloads, don’t listeners already get enough free music?

Anyone who is already at the concert has given us more than enough. In fact, we’re thinking about offering a free baby-sitting service.

Speaking of baby-sitting, is Apple [his daughter with wife Gwyneth Paltrow] going to see her godfather Simon Pegg [who plays Scotty] in ‘Star Trek?’

She’s little bit too little I think.

I read that your prep-school band the Rockin’ Honkies was booed.

That’s a combination of two stories. I was in a band called the Rockin’ Honkies. We had no idea of what the word ‘honkie’ meant. We were in the middle-of-nowhere England. It was a rhythm and blues band. They were very popular. I was in another band at the same time.

Called what?

I can’t tell you that. I was booed and hissed. But recently there was a guy backstage at a Coldplay show, and I realized it was a kid from my school, and he was one of the kids who had booed me off.

Did you confront him?

I should have, but he was a little fat and a little bald, and a little drunken so I didn’t. I did, however, have his tires let down.

What’s the deal with the gaffer’s tape on the fingers?

Ah, you haven’t been paying attention. I’ve moved on to bracelets. It’s what all the soft rockers are wearing now.

Is Coldplay a stadium rock band?

No. Only U2, the Stones and Bruce Springsteen are stadium rockers. We could play a stadium, but no one would be there.

More discussion on this interview is at the Coldplay forum here [thanks mimixxx]

Elbow have announced that they will support Coldplay on several US tour dates this summer. The Mercury Prize-winning band will also play a handful of headlining shows during the North American jaunt.

They'll kick things off with their own gig in Los Angeles on July 22 before teaming up with Coldplay in Wisconsin three days later. They'll hit cities including Toronto, Montreal, Charlotte and Atlanta, before concluding the tour in Tampa, Florida on August 9. The band are supporting their most recent album, 'Seldom Seen Kid'.

Elbow recently announced a giant Manchester homecoming show at the MEN Arena on September 18, the same night that Coldplay play Wembley. Then, according to frontman Guy Garvey, Elbow will "disappear" from the live scene until they finish their next album.

The Elbow tour dates are:

Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern (July 22)*

East Troy, WI Alpine Valley Music Theater (25)

Toronto, ON Rogers Centre (30)

Montreal, QC Osheaga Music and Arts Festival (August 1)

Jersey City, NJ Liberty State Park- All Points West (2)

Mansfield, MA Comcast Center of Performing Arts (3)

Washington DC 9:30 Club (4)*

Raleigh, NC Music Pavilion Walnut Creek (6)

Charlotte, NC Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre (7)

Atlanta, GA Center Stage Theatre of Atlanta (8)*

Tampa, FL Ford Amphitheatre (9)

*Elbow headlining without Coldplay