Articles

Without even trying, White Light Riot have kicked my ass at one of my specialties.   "Hi, sorry we're late," Mike Schwandt says as he, bassist Dan Larsen, and guitarist Joe Christenson bound up to the table in front of the Nicollet Mall Caribou Coffee where I've been waiting like a fool for nearly three minutes.   "No problem," I say, sinking into my chair a bit. "I'm just pissed at myself. I'm never on time. I pride myself on it. It was an accident, I swear."   Read the full review here

New England Patriots QB/QT Tom Bradytook a pass on practice yesterday probably to rest up from the rockin’ Coldplay show he took in with glamazon galpal Gisele Bundchen at the TD Banknorth Garden!   Tom, who is reportedly a HUGE fan of Chris Martin & Co., blew out of a late practice at Gillette Stadium Monday night to join Gi and her GFs at the Garden shortly after the British rockers took the stage at 10 p.m. In fact, Martin dedicated the last song, “Death and All His Friends,” a cut off th

It seems that Coldplay is still searching for their niche among the world’s major rock acts.   That might explain why the British quartet experimented with so many different styles and formats at the sold-out TD Banknorth Garden last night - some successfully, others not so much. The night of massive sing-alongs and fist-pumping anthems began with the dark, brooding “Violet Hill” and the pounding chords of “Clocks,” during which lead singer Chris Martin almost fell off his piano stool with enthu

A few years ago, it became socially acceptable -- even mandatory -- to bash Coldplay. There were plenty of reasons, everything from the band's shameless, simplified aping of Radiohead and U2 (the most aped bands around) to frontman Chris Martin's ubiquitousness as part of a celebrity couple (see: Paltrow, Gwyneth), complete with absurd baby name.   A review in this paper labeled the band's output as music for "medium-level dull people." The phenomenon peaked when one of the most popular comedies

It’s one thing for a band to explode from nowhere with a classic debut album. Following it up is a far greater challenge.   The second album, traditionally, is a band’s opportunity to transcend their original fanbase, infiltrate the mainstream. A great sophomore effort can catapult a band into the superleague – take Coldplay’s A Rush Of Blood To The Head. Equally, it can kill the buzz stone dead. Remember how the lustre of unassailable cool surrounding The Strokes evaporated in the wake of Room

In October 1979, photographer Anton Corbijn, the son of a rural Dutch Protestant minister, set out for England in pursuit of Unknown Pleasures. That was the title of the dark, expansive debut album from the Manchester post-punk band Joy Division, and to Corbijn it was an artistic clarion call.   "I thought, 'I want to be where that music comes from,' " says Corbijn, now 52. "It was my mission to photograph Joy Division." Within two weeks he took an iconic picture of the band that showed singer a

I was driving home last night, and my IPod was mercifully set on shuffle, making my life even more unpredictable than it already is. And then Coldplay's "Everything's Not Lost" came on. I sat back, relaxed my grip on the steering wheel, reclined my seat (don't worry, just a little bit), and listened. It's a beautiful, moving song, providing yet more evidence that Coldplay was better circa-Parachutes, before the bloated mess that was X&Y, one of the more dissapointing albums in recent memory.

Until last week's events, the pair had not been seen together for months - even by the paparazzi photographers who like to haunt their every move. The past few months have been tough for Gwyneth Paltrow. Rumours of her marriage being on the rocks, her comeback film The Good Night taking just £90,000 at the box office, and now a late-night dash to the hospital pushed in a wheelchair by her husband Chris Martin.   When a visibly upset Chris attended the funeral of his beloved uncle Angus on the S

A mole’s friend has recently begun a relationship with a nice young chap who has the unfortunate habit of constantly bragging that Chris Martin is one of his best friends. Exactly the sort of thing any sane man would keep quiet about.   Surprisingly, his claims turned out to be true, and the dead-eyed Coldplay note-botherer joined the couple for a drink. From the outset Chris was rude, aggressive and arrogant, asking a series of personal questions and jabbing his finger into the increasingly ann

Coldplay's frontman has rediscovered his passion - he may even be enjoying himself. He talks about coming to terms with celebrity, and being just a little bit ‘gangsta'   Two hours before showtime in Denver, a crack team of feng shui masters have been working around the clock to make Coldplay's “family area” a haven of zen security. Or that's how it seems. Low pastel lights, fine wines and wooden bowls with artfully scattered fruit adorn the place. If it weren't all being dismantled and recreate

Rather than seeing her husband in concert in Oklahoma, Gwyneth Paltrow journeyed instead to the reopened Fontainebleau hotel, in Miami Beach, where she attended the Victoria's Secret fashion show.   The hotel's owner, Jeff Soffer, a billionaire bachelor, flew her to the event aboard his private jet. The 35-year-old actress did visit Chris Martin in Dallas on Sunday after leaving Miami. Chris's spokesman, for his part, assures the media that the couple's marriage is strong enough to withstand th

Buzzing with a tingles of anticipation, tens of thousands of festivals-goers groaned over their morning toast on 19th June 2002 as they discovered the list of headlining acts for that year’s Glastonbury Festival.   There was washed up ‘mocker’ Rod Stewart, Kelly Jones from the Stereophonics, who sounded as if someone had just taken a cheese grater to his throat, and worst of all Coldplay: a miserable collection of middle class students with a singer that moaned whilst hunched over his piano.   I

One of the most intriguing musical bromances to develop in recent years has been that between Coldplay frontman Chris Martin and hip hop royalty. Who would have thought the skinny white boy singing Yellow in 2000 would one day be keeping company with Jay-Z and Kanye West on the charts and at their A-list parties?   Martin appreciates the creative opportunities his band's success has afforded him. But he jokes he wouldn't have the wife, the kids or the life he has now if it weren't for pop stard

Tomorrow's release will be a make or break for Guy Hands' £3.2bn takeover   In an industry well used to hype, for once it was no exaggeration when EMI chief Guy Hands hailed it as "the most anticipated album of the year".   Not only does Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends signify that Coldplay are at a stage in their career where they can get away with pretentious album titles, it could also set the tone for whether Hands' controversial £3.2bn takeover of EMI last year ultimately succeeds

Following last weekend's star-studded ceremony, you can now download a set of high quality Coldplay Grammy pictures here. If you've been on another planet or in prison this past week you can see all the other pictures in the Coldplaying Gallery. Meanwhile, here is another Grammy article published today featuring Coldplay, which suggests that their awards wins will help them shake off their 'insecurities':   Maybe winning three awards at the recent Grammy awards will make Coldplay feel a little

Chris Martin knows why you hate his band. For the first time in his career, he couldn’t care less   Blame it on their selling a zillion records—or perhaps it has to do with a singer who shows up in tabloids as much as music mags (thanks to a movie star wife, a daughter named Apple and a son named Moses). Whatever the reason, Coldplay is the most polarizing band this side of U2.   From the dubious homophobic joke heard round the world in Judd Apatow’s “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” (“How do I know you’

An interesting article (and a rare Coldplay caracature) written by the New Yorker:   In a 2005 piece in the Times, Jon Pareles called the British rock group Coldplay “the most insufferable band of the decade,” and he placed the blame on the band’s front man and singer, Chris Martin, whom he called a “passive-aggressive blowhard.”   Earlier this year, in a study sponsored by the hotel chain Travelodge of the bedtime habits of 2,248 people in the U.K., Coldplay topped a poll of music choices that

Coldplay's second album, A Rush of Blood to the Head, was nearing completion when an excited Chris Martin arrived at the studio late one night. At the keyboard, he played the tune running through his head. Lead guitarist Jonny Buckland was impressed. "He picked up his guitar [a sure sign that he likes a song] and played these brilliant chords," Martin recalls. "It was like a chemical reaction process."   The pulsing, cyclical riff – inspired, according to Martin, by the band Muse – was edgy, he

A Tiny Scots company has been picked by Coldplay to help spice up the band’s world tour. Edinburgh-based Pufferfish - set up by two entrepreneurial students - specialise in the 3-D spherical TV screen globes called PufferSpheres.   Founders Will Cavendish and Ollie Collier came up with the idea for the inflatable display system while studying at Edinburgh University five years ago. Since they started up their business - which employs just seven staff - their PufferSphere has been used at functio

Perth is poised to host a southern hemisphere version of the In The City international music festival — an event billed as the world’s premier new music convention which has helped unearth bands such as Oasis and Coldplay.   The West Australian understands that Tourism Minister Sheila McHale will announce on Saturday that Perth has won the right to host an annual southern hemisphere event, called In The City AAA, for three years. The first of the four-day events is scheduled for November next ye

This past Tuesday, the grandeur that is Coldplay revealed their summer tour schedule, showing a 42 date route through North America. This tour, through all arenas and amphitheaters, will probably sell out completely just like both their fall and winter world tours.   To me, that is almost incomprehensible. How can you be that relevant? How can you become that massive touring conglomerate that sells out at will? Droves of people are willing to not just watch them, but borderline worship them, in

Accusations of Plagiarism Are Nothing New in Music World, writes the San Luis Obispo blogs. Maybe Coldplay should cover the Barenaked Ladies song “It’s All Been Done.”   According to this story (watch the video!) posted on CNN’s web site, Coldplay has been fighting charges from guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani that their song “Viva La Vida” was ripped off from Satriani’s “If I Could Fly.” The debate has been going on for a while now — Satriani has actually pursued the charges in court — but CNN not

Let me clarify something.   Coldplay and other artists with a Liberal P.O.V. aren't 'enemies' as I blogged in this space on Friday. I was wrong to say that. What I meant to say was that I struggle with entertainment choices sometimes due to the political views espoused by particular artists or actors or authors. The purchasing decision comes down to just how much I enjoy the music or the film or the book.   Having said that the concert was awesome. Chris Martin has a special ability to relate an

Andy Miller of the Telegraph reviews On Some Faraway Beach, the life and times of Brian Eno, Coldplay's latest music producer   Seek out your copy of the second Roxy Music LP, For Your Pleasure, and turn to Karl Stoecker's portrait of the group. You see the man on the far left posing with a mean guitar, in platform boots, peek-a-boo feather blouson and glamour-model pout? That man is Brian Eno. Last month, he turned 60.   Eno's journey from pop-star androgyne to Liberal Democrat youth affairs ad

Coldplay closed out the North American leg of its tour with an exclamation point last night.   Befitting their status as radio kings, thanks to the success of their fourth album "Viva La Vida," the quartet gave a big performance on a big stage with a big audience singing along to the big choruses. (Speed-dial friends U2 would've beamed with older brotherly pride).   Whether it was the presence of front man Chris Martin's famous wife, Gwyneth Paltrow, and mother-in-law, Blythe Danner, with specia