The problem with Chris Martin isn’t the fact that the Coldplay frontman writes lyrics that resemble something that might come from the diary of a seventh grader who sniffs magic markers (snow, it turns out, is white after all). No, it’s the fact that he almost forces people to take him so goddamn seriously. And the reason is simple: He is a a) rock star; b) a celebrity (or at least married to one); and c) a social activist.

People often compare Martin’s motives to those of Bono, but that’s not exactly an apt comparison. Martin seems to be actively trying to dissociate himself from activists like Bono —Bono is a rock star who makes shitty music, but also a social activist who is trying to actually make social changes (Third World debt, etc) — while Martin is a pseudo-rock star who makes shitty music with designs on being perceived to be a social activist.

His political rhetoric is foggy - we all got a pamphlet from Oxfam upon entering Toyota Center, but who reads pamphlets? - just like his music. It appeals to people who put value in clichés, and this has turned Martin into a critical punch line (Chuck Klosterman writes extensively about this, most particularly the “fake love” Coldplay songs inevitably engender) and more importantly, a genius.

Read the full review here

No matter who may be the top selling act this year, alternative rock band Coldplay puts on the best show. On Sunday, Nov. 16. the band played at a sold-out Ford Stadium in Oklahoma City. Tonight they play in Dallas at the American Airlines Center.

Coldplay's concert bombards the senses with visual effects, incredible music and even massive amounts of confetti that pour from the ceiling. More importantly, the band is entertaining, especially when front man Chris Martin uses his humility for comedic purposes. "Thanks for being here," Martin said after the first few songs. "We're a band called Coldplay. And I have to say that, as a band, we're thoroughly impressed for a Sunday night in Oklahoma,"

The tour revolves around the group's album, "Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends," released this past summer. The concert opened with the mostly instrumental "Life in Technicolor," a song perfectly suited for opening a show because it begins in a mellow state but finishes with energy. The group immediately launched into the first single from "Viva la Vida," "Violet Hill." The crowd sang along as Martin threw himself around the stage with abandon and gusto.

Read the full preview article here

Performing in Coldplay — one of the world’s biggest bands — could get comfy. Too comfy, even. For bassist Guy Berryman, though, the nightly thrill is intact. After all the massive stadium shows and festivals, stepping on stage still brings that rush of blood.

“I don’t get nervous anymore. But I still get that great sense of excitement,” he says. “I love that moment right before we go on, that anticipation of the lights coming down. It never tires for me.”

Coldplay is on a global tour supporting Vida La Vida or Death and All His Friends, the British band’s fourth album of moody, edge-of-artsy piano rock. In a year of music industry struggles, the album is a standout, having enjoyed the biggest debut yet for Berryman, vocalist-pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckman and drummer Will Champion: In the United States alone, the album sold 720,000 copies its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The band plays Toyota Center tonight. “We’ve got four records now, so we have to get the balance right between the new album and the old songs people want to hear,” Berryman says. “We try to make it as dynamic as possible from beginning to end.”

Read the full preview article here

The modern world, eh? Time was when you’d get an album, preceded and followed by a couple of singles, and that’d be that.

Now, with labels desperately trying to figure out how to keep their clients’ wares afloat, you get ‘leaks’ (some deliberate, some not), streams, downloads, covermounted singles, bonus discs, download-only singles, singles, albums, special edition albums, albums and singles. ‘Prospekts March’ — billed as “an EP of eight previously unreleased tracks” — comes hot on the heels of a single release of ‘Lost!’ and will simultaneously be teamed with the album and released as ‘Viva La Vida Prospekts March Edition’. Cripes!

In truth, of the eight previously unreleased tracks, one is a not-massively-adventurous reshuffle (the Osaka Sun mix of ‘Lovers In Japan’), another a 48-second long incidental piano piece, another the version of ‘Lost!’ that features Jay-Z on autopilot (ie, still quite amazing) but is on the flip of the single. So they don’t count.

The opener is ‘Life In Technicolor (ii)’, which takes ‘Viva…’’s opening almost-instrumental and adds a typically bombastic melody, plus a chorus whose words (“Now my feet won’t touch the ground!”) are reprised as the title of the stripped-down, acoustic guitar-led closing song. And in-between? Well, there’s a positively garagantuan, only slightly Eno-ified stadium filler entitled ‘Glass Of Water’, featuring such deep and meaningful musings as “Dream that you could see your future/Inside a glass of water/The ripples and the lines”; a vaguely dance-y, ever-so-vaguely funky “experimental” effort called ‘Rainy Day’; and the title track, which tries oh-so hard to be a bit, y’know, strange, before the inevitable arrival of synth strings (buoying a ‘Wish You Were Here’-aping line in the guise of, “We’re just two little figures in a soup bowl”) and the even more inevitable arrival of – you guessed it — a life-affirming™ chorus.

All of which is far more complicated than it needs to be, a hefty bout of smoke and mirrors ultimately intended to add some mystery to the Coldplay campaign and re-ignite interest in ‘Viva La Vida…’ which, at the time of going to press, is residing in the lower regions of the Top 40. Will it work? Is ‘Prospekts March’ a stroke of marketing/brand reigniting/whatever genius? Lord knows. But can someone do me a fucking favour and please figure out the best way to do all this shit, so we can get back to reviewing actual music rather than all these crazy little projects?!

Source: NME

Coldplay performed to an arena packed with enthused fans Nov. 13 at Kansas City's Sprint Center in the Power and Light District.

The globe-trotting, British soft-rock group took the stage a little after 9 p.m., following two opening acts - a country-tinged alt-rock group from Texas, and a DJ who laid down beats in sync with an acid-trip-esque cartoon video.

Fans rose from their seats and cheered as the first chords of "Life in Technicolor," the opening track on the band's most recent release, "Viva la Vida," began to echo through the arena. Chris Martin and company took the stage to fill in the song's synth orchestration with their own instrumentation - Martin doing acoustic guitar duties as well as vocals, Johnny Buckland on lead guitar, Guy Berryman on bass and Will Champion banging the drums.

Read the full review at University News here

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 functions for Google, Standard Life and London Science Museum.

But they have just been given their biggest gig yet - for Coldplay’s worldwide Viva La Vida tour. So far the giant TV screen globes have wowed crowds all over America but are set to return to their homeland when the band play a concert in Glasgow’s SECC next month.

Read the full article at WikiColdplay here

It’s hard to know what to love best about Coldplay — the music, of course, every rock ballad a smashing crowd favorite, but there’s also the high-energy stage presence of the band and its evangelical, marching-band leader, reports NewsOK.

Then there’s the colorful retro grunge clothing reminiscent of the ’80s, the painted guitars and piano; and the pulsing laser light show complete with drop-down balloons that alternately change colors, go psychedelic or show images of the band in full symphony.

Coldplay’s debut concert at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City on Sunday night was a feast for the senses. The band had two opening acts: Sleepercar, out of El Paso, Texas, which pleased the crowd with its strong vocals and nice harmony; and Jon Hopkins, who’s computer techno sound combined with animated graphics on a projector screen make one imagine a demented Dr. Seuss dropping acid.

Read the full review article here

Coldplay played the Ford Center in Oklahoma City last night.

Unconfirmed setlist:

Life In Technicolor

Violet Hill

Clocks

In My Place

Glass Of Water

Speed Of Sound

Cemeteries Of London

Chinese Sleep Chant

42

Fix You

Strawberry Swing

God Put A Smile Upon Your Face (techno version)

Talk (techno version)

The Hardest Part (Chris - piano instrumental)

Postcards From Far Away (Chris - piano instrumental)

Viva La Vida

Lost!

The Scientist (acoustic)

Death Will Never Conquer (acoustic - Will singing)

Viva La Vida (remix interlude)

------

Politik

Lovers In Japan

Death And All His Friends

-------

Yellow

The Escapist (outro)

[discussion] [photos] [videos] [wiki reviews/setlist] (updated over the next 24 hours)

Well kids no one mentioned this but we got a song last night that no one has heard before. Coldplay did half of "Waiting for Superman" a cover from the local boys Flaming Lips. Wayne of the lips was probably there, I didn't see him, but I've seen him at the Ford Center for other alternative acts. We got a new song! nananana hehe! Same set list otherwise. I was waiting and hoping for Green Eyes, but the one off cover song was special, we can't get greedy can we?

[thanks okcthunder]

JUST A TEASER TILL I GET A FULL REVIEW UP AFTER A BIT OF SLEEP! WHOEVER DID THIS....THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!! THE "GREEN EYES" DEDICATION TO KAREN NEVER HAPPENED! BUT!!!! EVEN BETTER!!!!!! ENGLISH SILKS FAVE SONG EVER IS HARDEST PART, AND THATS JUST WHAT CHRISSY GAVE HER!!!!! 3 TIMES, HE SAID, "FOR KAREN!"TO KAREN", FOR KAREN"!!!!!!!!! KAREN WENT *THUD*... THIS WAS THE BEST DREAM COME TRUE EVER!!! [thanks xxKels]

More on this concert including reviews, videos and pictures here onwards.

Crowd: Estimated 20,000.

Top highlight: In an evening full of highlights, "Viva la Vida” was one of the crowd’s favorites, reports NewsOK. Lead singer Chris Martin was almost evangelical, dancing and twirling around the stage, conducting the crowd and his fans, ending the song lying on the stage as the crowd sang his final notes.

Reviewer’s take: Coldplay impressed and energized its Oklahoma City audience playing many favorites from its long career, including "Clocks,” "Fix You,” and many from its latest album, "Viva la Vida.” Martin has so much energy and plays directly to his crowd, keeping them happy the entire time.

Discuss this article here onwards.

Coldplay's Chris Martin recently wrote about Björk as one of 100 Greatest Singers in a Rolling Stone article. Here's what he had to say:

When you land in Iceland, you feel like you're somewhere a bit magical. Maybe it's the volcanic activity, maybe it's the dried fish, but something's going on: Everyone seems to be extraordinarily beautiful, and everyone appears to be able to sing. Their singers are so far ahead of everyone else — especially Björk. Her voice is so specific and such a new color. Now that she's been around for 20 years, everyone forgets quite how extraordinary she is. She could be singing the theme from Sesame Street, and it would sound completely different to how anyone else would do it, and completely magical.

She first crossed my radar on "Big Time Sensuality," from that video where she's on the back of a flatbed truck. I really got into her on Homogenic, largely because there's so much space left for the singing. On that album, there are strings and beats, but it isn't very full musically, so she has to do all the dynamics and everything. If you really want to hear what she can do, listen to "It's Oh So Quiet," from Post: She can go from zero to 60 faster than any other vehicle in terms of singing. And then to angry.

Read the full excerpt at the Rolling Stone website here and discuss Chris Martin's article here [thanks winigwl]

Performing in Coldplay — performing in the world’s biggest band — could get comfy. Too comfy, even.

For bassist Guy Berryman, though, the nightly thrill is intact. Even after all the massive stadium shows, all the mega festivals, stepping on stage still brings a tingle — that rush of blood, you might call it. “I don’t get nervous anymore. But I still get that great sense of excitement,” he says. “I love that moment right before we go on, that anticipation of the lights coming down. It never tires for me.”

Coldplay is on a global tour supporting “Vida La Vida or Death and All His Friends,” the British band’s fourth album of moody, edge-of-artsy piano rock. In a year of music-industry struggles, the album is a big-time standout, having enjoyed the biggest debut yet for Berryman, vocalist-pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckman and drummer Will Champion: In the United States alone, the album sold 720,000 copies its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan — more than 300,000 of them on the first day.

Read the full article here

Originally scheduled to perform in Oklahoma City on July 10, Coldplay finally roll their “Viva La Vida” North American Tour into the Ford Center on Sunday, Nov. 16, with special guests John Hopkins and Sleepercar in tow. Due to production delays, Coldplay had to postpone several summer shows on the tour. Tickets already purchased for the July 10 date will be honored on Nov. 16.

Meanwhile, the British hitmakers' fourth album, “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends,” has sold more than 5 million copies — 5,728,000 to be exact — since its June 17 release, according to WorldWideAlbums.net. Globally, the album has become the biggest music success of 2008, topping World Wide's bestseller list. The single, “Viva La Vida,” is the hottest selling album track so far, with more than 4 million combined CD and digital copies sold. Released prior to the album in early May, the song remains strong on charts around the world.

On Nov. 25, Coldplay will release “Prospekt's March,” an EP of eight songs that were originally intended for inclusion on the album. Coldplay frontman Chris Martin explains on the band's Website that the tracks weren't finished in time to meet the completion deadline for the “Viva La Vida” LP. The band will also release a deluxe two-disc “Viva La Vide: Prospekt's March Edition” on that date.

Read the full preview and keep up to date with happenings at the Ford Center in the Oklahoma City show here

It is cold. My hands are feeling all crinkly. I went outside in a t-shirt earlier and regretted it. We are a long way from the Florida sun that shone on our tour buses a few days ago. The confetti canons have just blown butterflies over a crowd of 14’500.. From where I’m sitting, at the Oxfam stall, I can see a few of them fluttering down, when someone opens the curtain to go through to their seat. When it’s closed, I just see the glow of the lights, in time with Will Champion’s kick pedal foot.

Our amazing group of volunteers will be back from their amazing seats, any second now. They all sat together behind the mix desk tonight. I’m sure the show, and sound there, was the best anywhere in the arena. Great seats..

Great effort with the campaigning too. Over 630 more people signed up to find out more about how they can join Oxfam in fighting poverty, and countless more who will maybe see the Oxfam sphere or click a mouse button and read online. Even more great.. is the actions they can all take now - signing a petition to call for health and education for all, or by setting up a college group to become more active in fighting poverty..

Read the full blog entry at the Oxfam Blog website here

Had British foursome Coldplay performed at the Xcel Energy Center in July as originally scheduled, we would have witnessed the band at the beginning stages of a world tour, fueled by nervous energy and excitement, reports Twin Cities.

Instead, the band postponed that July show to allow more time for pre-tour production and stopped by the X on Friday night for a confident and competent performance for a crowd of 16,153. Ever-affable lead singer Chris Martin apologized for skipping out this summer. "We would have been absolutely s—," he said with a laugh.

Of course, he's full of it. One of the many charges leveled at Coldplay is that they were careerists from the start, shamelessly stealing all the best bits from U2's playbook. And even an under-rehearsed Coldplay concert would trump most of the competition.

Friday's show unfolded with near-military precision, so much so that the live video feed on the big screens looked like an expertly edited concert DVD. Yet, what the concert lacked in spontaneity it more than made up for in grand gestures, epic songs and stunning staging that approached, but did not surpass, the group's triumphant 2005 stop at the Target Center.

Take, for example, "In My Place," the band's 2002 single. The pleasantly stirring recorded version sounds great on light-rock radio, but in concert, Martin and company transformed it into an audience-participating, world-conquering monster. It's a trick Coldplay pulled over and over again, elevating "Fix

You," "Clocks" and "Lovers in Japan" into chilling and thrilling anthems. (The latter even arrived with fancy glow-in-the-dark confetti.)

The band focused on its most recent, fourth album, "Viva La Vida," a disc created with the help of frequent U2 collaborator Brian Eno. And, for the most part, the fresh material sounded terrific live, from the uplifting title track to the mini-suite "42" to the dreamy "Chinese Sleep Chant."

When it came to the older stuff, the band wasn't afraid to mess around with the arrangements, which didn't always work, like a dance-beat driven "God Put a Smile on Your Face" that buried the track's original charms. But an acoustic take on "The Scientist" provided a clear highlight of the evening, even if the band hadn't pulled the nifty trick of playing it in the middle of a bank of seats at the back of the arena.

Still, for all the polish and bluster, at times one could sense the band has shifted into autopilot, an almost inevitable effect of five months of hard touring. Perhaps next time the band hits the road, the Twin Cities will catch them while they're still learning their lines.

Discuss this review here onwards.

Coldplay still hasn’t found what it’s looking for. The biggest rock band of the ’00s, the British quartet aspires to be as big as U2, reports Star Tribune.

But the group’s sold-out concert Friday at Xcel Energy Center was like one step forward and two steps back. The show wasn’t as consistently exciting as Coldplay’s first Twin Cities arena concert in 2003 nor as visually dazzling as the group’s 2005 effort.

Friday’s 95-minute concert lacked momentum, urgency and depth. The key culprit was the pacing. For the first 45 minutes, Coldplay subjected 16,153 fans to 10 pretty but stiflingly similar medium-tempo tunes. The redundancy in tempo, texture and dynamics — not to mention the largely unimaginative light show (playing “Speed of Sound” in the dark was not dramatic, it was dunderheaded) — leaves a listener comfortably numb. But in arenas, we want our rock to be transcendent, cathartic and just plain fun.

When Coldplay started to mix things up, it became clear that Chris Martin and company could be big-time contenders someday.

The turning point was “God Put a Smile upon Your Face,” recast as a throbbing techno tune that was warm and fresh compared to Coldplay’s surfeit of shimmering, sonically pristine songs.

Then left alone on a piano on a runway extending from the stage, Martin apologized for having postponed this concert, originally set for July. (“We would have been absolutely [bleep],” he said. “We weren’t even ready.”). After finally showing some emotion in conversation, he broke into the heartfelt “The Hardest Part,” a straightforward piano pop piece.

Martin, 31, rejoined his bandmates for “Viva La Vida,” this year’s buoyant hit that on Friday was as rousing as a Barack Obama victory song. The singer danced joyously as the band, driven by Will Champion’s pounding timpani, played a simple song (for a change) devoid of Coldplay’s usual atmospherics. The crowd sang along festively — “oh — oh, oh, oh” — like it was a Bon Jovi concert. The perfect followup was “Lost,” with a primal beat that evoked Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk.”

Finally, for two consecutive songs, Coldplay had turned into a rock band with a sense of urgency and excitement, living up to its long-held desire to inspire.

Having completely won over the audience, Coldplay could take even bolder steps. So the four guys literally walked through the crowd, climbed up into the cheap(er) seats in the bowl end of the arena, and sang two acoustic tunes, including the hit “The Scientist.”

After returning to the stage, Coldplay carried on with vigor and vitality. They flexed their rock ’n’ roll muscle on “Politik” (though Martin, who had been blatantly political on past tours, made no political statements this time) and partied on “Lovers in Japan” as day-glo tissue-paper butterflies descended from the rafters, creating a visual spectacle not unlike the Republican National Convention did in the same building earlier this fall.

By then, Coldplay and the thrilled crowd had finally found its magical moment.

Discuss this article here onwards.

The biggest post-1990s band from Britain that doesn't give away its music came to Sprint Center on Thursday. And a large crowd was on hand with a loud, long and warm greeting, reports Back To Rockville.

And though it may not know its U.S. geography ("Thank you, Kansas"), Coldplay knows its own history: That's the first time we've played this in the U.S., said lead singer Chris Martin after singing "Glass of Water." That one will have its place of prominence in Coldplay trivia and lore; Thursday night, it was the rare lukewarm moment during a show loaded with bright highlights. (Nobody knew the song.)

The rest of the setlist visited more familiar material from each of the band's four full-length albums, none more frequently than the latest, "Viva La Vida ..." This was the rare show when the crowd welcomed a lot of the more recent songs as warmly as the older ones. The title track to the new album got one of the loudest reactions of the night.

Martin played his usual affable, humble self. He apologized for postponing the show back in July. He stopped the show to say hello to a 7-year-old boy in the crowd (and crack wise about the Jonas Brothers; read the mom's blogpost here). And he chastised himself after he muffed the start to "Green Eyes."

The sound in the Sprint Center was OK to good: At times there wasn't enough bottom -- the bass and kick drums disappeared in the mix. But the volume felt right and the vocals sounded good most of the night. The light show was nice, too; so was the confetti that rained on the floor during the start of the encore (it looked like falling leaves).

Speaking of vocals, there were plenty of big sing-alongs, starting with "In My Place" and especially during "Fix You," when the band stepped back and let the crowd take over the final chorus. Other highlights: The techno-mashup of "God Put a Smile Upon Your Face" and "Talk"; "Politik," which sounded more invigorated than usual; and the short acoustic set that took place high in a lower-level section towards the back of the arena. (Although I could have done without the Billy Ray Cyrus bit in the middle of "The Scientist.")

They ended the 95-minute show with their biggest hit, "Yellow," which prompted the evening's loudest and longest response and sing-along. For a moment, Martin stopped to enjoy the enormous chorale singing back at him. It was that kind of a show: The crowd and the band spent all night entertaining each other.

Setlist: Life in Technicolor, Violet Hill, Clocks, In My Place, Glass of Water, Speed of Sound, Cemeteries of London, 42, Fix You, Strawberry Swing, God Put A Smile Upon Your Face/Talk (techno-mashup), Green Eyes, Postcards From Far Away (piano interlude), Viva La Vida, Lost, The Scientist, Death Will Never Conquer, Politik, Lovers in Japan, Death and All His Friends, Yellow.

More on this review here onwards [thanks jdavis34]

Picture source: http://backtorockville.typepad.com

To the question at hand: is Coldplay cool? Cool enough, that is, for a discerning, punk-bred, 45-collecting, uncomfortable-shoes-wearing music blog reader such as you?

Well, if you’re reading this review at all, most likely you already love Coldplay and you’re just waiting for me to (a) report on awesomeness of band and give the setlist so you can feel affirmed, or (b) dis Coldplay for being loved by squares so that you can eviscerate me in the comments, report The Pitch, Kansas City.

But on the chance that you are a certified hip dude who thinks that Coldplay is the Target of major bands, let’s look at a few attributes of the band. First of all, these guys are British. Next, they have guitars -- lots of them -- plus lasers and glowing orbs and waterfalls of butterfly confetti when they play live in enormous, sold-out arenas. Feeling like a chump yet? No? Alright, one of them – the good-looking one – is married to a famous, beautiful actress, and they have a child named for fruit. The other members of the band are fruit – two grapefruits and a pummelo, to be precise.

They dress like extras from Les Miserables. They’re wildly successful and play songs that boom in your miserable skull for years. Get the picture, hipster douche? They’re cooler than you. On to the show.

The first words out of Chris Martin’s mouth, and people were singing along. It was a new song, “Violet Hill,” but never mind that; people were prepared.

(White people, of course. Many of them hot and svelte. In fact, one of these hot-svelte people asked me and the people around me before the show began, “Do you smell Plato?” “Plato?” people asked. “Yeah, Plato – everyone’s been saying they smell it!” I leaned over and asked, “Plato or Play-Doh?” “That’s it!” he said.)

As the band rolled through a set weighted on the Viva la Vida side (not surprising, as it’s their richest, most musically sophisticated one ever) and peppered with songs from X&Y (three years ago) and A Rush of Blood to the Head (SIX years ago) with maybe just a sprinkle of Parachutes (like, 30 years ago), the stage setup moved from simple and livingroomlike to A Space Odyssey. At first, the only screen being fed by the two closed-circuit video cams down front was on a tiny antique TV on a pedestal. The backdrop was the Renaissance battle scene from the cover of the album: goddess with tits out, Frenchmen with muskets. Then, the big orbs descended from the ceiling, flashing marble patterns that eventually became images fed from the cameras. Later, a giant screen came down, showing chopped and screwed images from the stage.

Musically, the sound was BIG. Way bigger than four guys with one instrument and microphone apiece. How's that? Backing tracks, that's how. For all of Chris Martin’s wide-eyed, sweating-on-piano, knees-bent-running-about charisma and his switching between piano and craftpainted guitars, live, Coldplay’s music tends to plod along, dependent on the musical prowess of three-fifths of its members (Martin, drummer Will Champion, the aforementioned backing tracks) and is all but weighed down by the other two-fifths: the guitarist and bassist, a.k.a. two dudes who should be absolutely thrilled to flash their chops and strut around before crowds of thousands but who look and play, most of the time, like cranky old fudders stuck playing at a fairground on the off season in Blackpool.

In short, I was shocked to learn that Coldplay doesn’t do bona fide live versions of its songs.

Johnny Buckland, guitarist, did have his moments, most notably when he and Martin wound up on the stage-left platform that jutted a dozen rows in the audience during “Clocks,” playing off each other like toy soldiers reenacting the French invasion of Russia. But let's stop a minute: When critics compare Coldplay with U2, they seem to overlook the fact that Buckland and the Edge have only a rhythmic-echo sensibility and a chorus pedal or two in common. Buckland is the diet, caffeine-free Edge. (Likewise, for those who insist on comparing Coldplay to Radiohead, God is in the guitars.) He even flubbed up one of his only spotlight moments, the jig-like riff from “Strawberry Swing,” which, oddly, occasioned one of the only smiles he and Martin shared the whole show.

And what’s with the frownies? Even when the four dismounted the stage and wound their way high, high into the crowd to do two remote acoustic numbers – “Scientist” and the delightful, Champion-sung “Death Will Never Conquer” – all three except for Martin looked like schoolchildren forced to learn recorder (only in this case, it was guitar, mandolin and resonator guitar; why not, like, just one guitar and four guys singing and having fun?)

Maybe they’ve been on tour too long. Or maybe they just had an off night.

In the end though, as a whole, they ended up sounding fine and putting on a good show. They’re Coldplay after all. Cool as hell.

Setlist:

Life in Technicolor

Violet Hill

Clocks

In My Place

Glass of Water (unreleased)

Speed of Sound

Cemeteries of London

Chinese Sleep Chant

42

Fix You

Strawberry Swing

God Put a Smile Upon Your Face

Green Eyes (solo Martin)

Postcards from Far Away (piano solo)

Lost

Viva La Vida

The Scientist (acoustical jam)

Death Will Never Conquer (Will Champion, drummer, sings)

Encore 1

Politik

(piano solo)

Lovers in Japan

Death and All His Friends

Encore 2

Yellow

Critic's Notebook

Personal Bias: I like guitarists who can make it howl and move.

Random Detail: Coldplay has sold somewhere around 40 million albums since forming in 1998. Oh, wait, that's not random at all.

By the Way: I came down with a cold right in the middle of this show. For real.

Source: Pitch.com

Picture source: http://backtorockville.typepad.com

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin has said that the band would be happy to open for Take That - but only after some extensive working out.

Chris revealed on the Coldplay website that the band, who are in the middle of a world tour, randomly started singing the Take That song Back For Good, while in their dressing room waiting to go on stage.

"We sang the whole thing, word for word, with all the right chords on our piano, without having to learn it or anything. It was great. So I'd like to use this forum, the Coldplay website, to announce that if Take That want us to open for them, we'll do it," he said.

Chris also hinted that the band will be doing a tour of the UK next year.

He said: "I have to say, it does feel weird that we haven't been in Britain at all. Over the last week or so, the realisation of that has really hit. But I think next year we'll make up for it. We tried to get Knebworth but it just wasn't possible. So we're having to think of something else. Hopefully we'll be able to announce it soon. And hopefully it's not the same day that Oasis have booked it."

Source: Metro.co.uk

Coldplay.com caught up with Chris Martin in Atlanta and posted a new interview. In it, Chris talks about the upcoming Prospekt's March EP, Barack Obama, Oasis and Exeter City FC, as well as dropping some sizeable hints about Coldplay's 2009 touring plans. Here is their interview:

Hello Chris, how are you?

I'm good man, I'm in Atlanta. I just had my ears looked at and my mouth washed out.

What's wrong with your ears and your mouth?

Well nothing as it transpires. But in every city I go to, I like to find some random person on the street and ask them to look at my ears.

To what end?

I like to ask what they think about 31-year-old men getting their ears pierced. But it's almost unanimous agreement that it's too late, you can't do it. It's annoying.

Right. Let's talk about the Prospekt's March EP. Had you always planned to release it?

Yeah, the idea was always to put these songs out about now.

So when you started recording Viva La Vida, the intention was to have extra songs?

Yeah. But they're all part of the same family. In truth, I think because Glass Of Water is a little heavier, for example, we felt like, "Let's put the album out and then if it does OK we'll put out those songs that we were maybe a little shy about putting out".

Did any of the EP's songs come close to being on Viva La Vida?

Well they all kind of are. I've never thought of them as not being, y'know? That's why it's funny when I realise people haven't heard them yet. Plus, it was nice to have an opportunity to remix Lovers In Japan and get Jay's version of Lost! on there. So to me it's like the right hand to Viva La Vida's left hand.

Are you pleased with Jay-Z's Lost! rap?

Yeah, I love it. He's a clever man.

Did you hear the mash-up album of Coldplay and Jay-Z songs?

Viva La Hova? I haven't heard it, but I've heard about it. I don't look at anything on the internet very much, so I don't really know what's going on.

And what was the thinking behind the new Lovers In Japan mix?

Well, we've been playing it live better than it is on the record. So the live version has informed this Osaka Sun version, which is just a bit more lively. I'm super-pleased with the EP, I've gotta say. And I'm allowed to say that because it doesn't have the same pressure as an album coming out. I think the people who've got Viva La Vida already and like it will hopefully really like the EP because it's from the same family, if a little more catchy. And the people who haven't got Viva La Vida can get both together. I just feel good about it. But what I'm really excited about is playing in Britain.

Ah yes, the UK tour is only a couple of weeks away.

Exactly. I realised onstage yesterday that we've done almost 70 concerts now and we still haven't played at home. I just felt like, "Man, we've been really rude, we've got to go back and play there". I can't wait for the Sheffield show.

Do you have any special plans for the UK tour?

We'll we be doing the same kind of things, but the jokes will be more Britain-centric. We're going to have to lose all the Joe the Plumber jokes and the Sarah Palin jokes and come up with ones about Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand. Really the only problem with playing in different countries is thinking about what to say between songs.

You're playing in the UK right up to Christmas, with the last show on December 23rd in Belfast.

Yeah. And I would also like to do something on Christmas Eve, but I'm not sure if it's possible. I have to say, it does feel weird that we haven't been in Britain at all. Over the last week or so, the realisation of that has really hit. But I think next year we'll make up for it.

Is that a hint towards future plans?

Well, we tried to get Knebworth but it just wasn't possible. So we're having to think of something else. In fact, I think we have thought of something else. Hopefully we'll be able to announce it soon. And hopefully it's not the same day that Oasis have booked it.

Although that would be a good double bill.

It would be a great double bill. And we wouldn't mind opening. I would also, funnily enough, open for Take That. We were in the dressing room yesterday and, for whatever reason, we started singing Back For Good. We sang the whole thing, word for word, with all the right chords on our piano, without having to learn it or anything. It was great. So I'd like to use this forum, the Coldplay website, to announce that if Take That want us to open for them, we'll do it. The only problem is that we'll have to get down the gym for a bit.

But you do have more touring plans for next year?

Yeah. Our touring plans are very much like Christmas presents that are wrapped, but you can basically see what they are. If you look carefully you can see the shape. And you can probably guess, "Oh this feels like a stadium".

Have you been enjoying this tour?

Man, we're having the time of our lives. The truth of it is, we've always wanted to be a band that could go anywhere in the world and it's suddenly happened. It's such a privilege. It's surreally brilliant. But we can't wait to get back to Britain. That's home. So, what else is going on in Britain? How are Tottenham doing?

They're doing incredibly well since Harry Redknapp took over.

Great.

Meanwhile, your team, Exeter City are doing well in the league but got knocked out of the FA Cup by a team many divisions below them.

How many divisions are there below them?

Well Exeter are in the fourth tier of English football and they were beaten by a team from the eighth tier.

What?!

They're called Curzon Ashton.

Hang on, you're telling me they got beaten by Demi Moore's husband?!

It's quite fashionable to buy a football club these days. Perhaps you could make Exeter an offer.

Well, if we had enough money I would love to buy Exeter City and then give it to someone who knew what they were doing, because I don't really know anything about football. But it's too expensive. Funnily enough, someone came up to me in New York the other day - a big businessman - and said, "I nearly bought your band the other day". I can't tell you who it was, but it was a hilarious conversation. He said he'd nearly bought our label.

So, if you had to pick the best gig from this tour, which would it be?

Paris Bercy.

What was good about that?

The crowd. And the price of the refreshments. I judge our concerts on how reasonably-priced the veggie burgers are. If I see that they're too expensive, I can't have a good gig.

Really?

No, not really.

Good. Because the price of a burger is often linked to its quality. Cheap burger usually means bad burger and vice versa.

Do you think so? Does that work with music too? Could we be like Be Here Now, reassuringly expensive? By the way, could I go on record and state that Be Here Now is a great album?

Not even Noel Gallagher thinks that.

No, Noel doesn't like it, but I do. I think it's got great songs on it. I think My Big Mouth is one of Oasis's best songs.

But that album is just too long.

Well that's also known as X&Y syndrome. Every band gets it. But for anyone reading this, they should listen to the song My Big Mouth by Oasis, because it's wonderful.

It was nice to read your note about Barack Obama winning the election last week.

Oh man. This American tour has been fantastic because it's just such an incredible time to be here and the audiences are in such a good mood; I think our audience is probably 90% Barack people. It's been like living in the middle of history. We were in New York on election day and it was a total carnival.

It sounds amazing.

It is amazing. You remember when Take That came back? It feels like that for America.

That good, eh?

Yeah. If you think of America as an Othello piece, it feels like it just turned over. It feels like 50% different. It feels like all the people who've had to be quiet for eight years are suddenly the people that are now gonna get to make decisions.

Have you been writing songs on tour?

Yes. I write all the time, because it's the only way to make sense of everything. I've got one of those little keyboards you get given for Christmas when you're seven. I have it with me at all times.

Did you write a song today?

I did write a bit of a song today actually, yeah.

Can we have a sneak preview?

Um, well, it's about when your uncles get drunk and sing.

Is it really?

Yeah, I promise. And it also owes a slight debt to Altogether Now by The Farm. I never knew that song was about the football match in the trenches in the First World War. It's amazing.

Well we'll look forward to the drunk uncles song. In the meantime, is there anything else you'd like to add?

Just that we are grateful to the people that have been into our band this year, because we're having an incredible time. In fact, we fucking love it. And we're gonna get better and better. That's the news.

Two of the world's hottest rock bands, Coldplay and Kings of Leon, will play in Melbourne in March with sharply different ticket prices, report the Herald Sun.

Brit band Coldplay and American rockers Kings of Leon will strut their stuff at Rod Laver Arena. Kings of Leon have refused costly tiered pricing, instead setting all tickets at a credit-crunch-friendly $92.

Coldplay have a March 2 show on hold, with final confirmation due shortly. Coldplay's ever-increasing asking price saw a string of local promoters pass on the tour, figuring it too much of a financial risk. The cost will be passed on to fans who will pay about $145 for a ticket.

Three or four Coldplay shows have been earmarked in each state to make a profit from the tour. "It will be interesting to see how it goes," said a tour insider. "That number of shows is ambitious in the current climate."

Coldplay had three shows at Rod Laver Arena on their last Australian tour in 2006.

More on this exclusive tour news here [thanks deaths_friend]

Destination Kansas City. We rolled up at the Sprint Center, Kansas City today. Some of these arenas have quite grand and strange designs. This one struck me that if you shone some flashlights on it, it would become a crystal ball. At the moment though, it just looks a bit like a glittering fruit bowl you might find in a certain Swedish megastore..

It was another mammoth drive yesterday. I sympathise for the truck and bus drivers when we do long-hauls like that. It’s an incredible country to tour. You drive for as long as it would take to cross the whole of some large countries, just to get to the next city. Weird when you start to see 7 or 8 hours as a ’short drive’.

Today we are on the first of 2 in a row. We have 9 more shows out here before we tread back across the pond. Strange to think that Coldplay have only done one show so far in their home country.. When we have done over 50 already this year.

Read the full blog entry at the Oxfam Blog website here

Hotpress.com got a sneak preview of Coldplay's musically adventurous new EP, which is due for release from November 19th. Read on for the full verdict...

For a long time Coldplay seemed determined to live up to Alan McGee’s snide “bedwetters music” jibe, making a succession of albums that affirmed their reputation as the go-to guys for tear-stained indie-rock introspection. On occasion they’ve flirted with change, but really it has been little more than a subtle batting of the eyelids, gestures that would go unnoticed by all but the most attentive of observers.

This year’s Brian Eno helmed Viva La Vida contained a few notable quirks but it was nothing more than a subtle shift in the modus operandi. How startling then to hear the Prospekt’s March EP. Combining everything from blustering rock riffs and crackling synths to Indian tablas and even a cameo performance from a hip-hop icon, this release hints at a hitherto concealed sense of adventure.

Easing us in with a lyrics-supplemented version of ‘Life In Technicolor ii’ and the piano interlude of ‘Postcards From Far Away’, Coldplay then proceed to blast our expectations to smithereens with the Muse-style bombast of ‘Glass Of Water’.

‘Rainy Day’ pings pinball like between stylistic forms, beats and guitars clattering into a strings swathed chorus. Things become more recognisably Coldplay with the assured balladry of the title-track. Elsewhere Jay-Z adds an extra dimension to ‘Lost’ and ‘Lovers In Japan’ is refined a touch with the ‘Osaka Sun Mix’. With brass and Eastern embellishments, ‘Feet Won’t Touch My Ground’ brings a last chameleonic change. An intriguing and eminently listenable offering, only time will tell whether the Prospekt’s March EP indicates the band Coldplay could have been or might yet become.

Read all the discussion on this review here onwards.

Performing in Coldplay — performing in one of the world’s biggest bands — could get comfy. Too comfy, even, reports kansascity.com.

For bassist Guy Berryman, though, the nightly thrill is intact. Even after all the massive stadium shows, all the mega-festivals, stepping on stage still brings a tingle. That rush of blood, you might call it. “I don’t get nervous anymore. But I still get that great sense of excitement,” he says. “I love that moment right before we go on, that anticipation of the lights coming down. It never tires for me.”

Coldplay is on a global tour supporting “Vida la Vida or Death and All His Friends,” the British band’s fourth album of moody, edge-of-artsy piano rock.

In a year of music industry struggles, the album is a big-time standout, having enjoyed the biggest debut yet for Berryman, vocalist-pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckman and drummer Will Champion: In the United States alone, the album sold 720,000 copies its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan — more than 300,000 of them on the first day.

With sales of the album continuing to pile up, the band has been on the road nearly nonstop since June, including a U.S. summer sprint.

“We’ve got four records now, so we have to get the balance right between the new album and the old songs people want to hear,” he says. “We try to make it as dynamic as possible from beginning to end. It took us awhile — it took most of the first American tour to knock that into shape. The show pretty much runs in the same order now because it’s working.”

A revamped production team has brought a new visual look to Coldplay’s stage production and introduced what Berryman describes as “a few things people haven’t seen before at other concerts.”

For the decade-old band, life on the road is low-key these days. Berryman says he has learned to pace himself to endure the rigors of touring, eschewing the high life in favor of stints in the gym and daily jogs. Hopping from hotel to hotel, spending long stretches in air-conditioned spaces, it’s too easy to get ill. And “it’s not fun having a cold on tour — you can’t call in sick.”

“We destroyed ourselves a few times by not looking after ourselves — partying every night, staying up late,” he says, recalling the band’s early days. “Certainly, for me in particular, we’re really just trying to keep healthy. It’s that age-old thing: healthy body, healthy mind. I’d have laughed at myself a few years ago if I could hear myself saying that. But it’s true.”

Coldplay will wrap up its year of touring with a series of U.K. dates in December. After a month break, the band will regroup in the studio to begin cutting material for a fifth album.

“The plan, in an ideal world, is to have something finished by the end of 2009,” Berryman says.

That would mark a notably fast turnaround for a band that has been known to take its time between records, including three-year gaps between each of its past three albums.

And fans get a treat in the interim: the Nov. 25 release of “Prospekt’s March,” an eight-song EP of material left over from the “Vida” sessions and a new version of the single “Lost,” remixed by fellow A-lister Jay-Z.

Coldplay has been quick to stress that these aren’t throwaway tracks. Indeed, Berryman says, much of the material could have fit seamlessly on “Vida.”

“We didn’t want to make the album too long. We thought the third record was too long, and we didn’t want to make that mistake again. But these songs were too good just to be B-sides on singles,” he says. “It’s kind of meant to be an amendment to ‘Vida la Vida.’ We wanted people to hear that record as a stand-alone first and not bombard them. We’re really proud of it.”

Chris Martin, Coldplay frontman, husband of Gwyneth Paltrow, father of Moses and Apple, is letting other members do interviews these days. This summer, around the time “Vida la Vida” was released, he did tell the Los Angeles Times some secrets to his success, reports kansascity.com.

“Like millions of people in the world, I can’t listen to Coldplay,” Martin said with a daft wink. “But my reason is professional. You see, I’m always thinking about the next thing. I’m also always looking for something that will inspire the next thing. Look, we’re the one band we can’t plagiarize. So really there’s no point in me listening to it. If I think, ‘Well, that’s good,’ then I’ll want to use it, which won’t work. And if I think, ‘Hey, that’s terrible,’ then I’ll be depressed over breakfast. It’s a classic lose-lose situation.”

If nothing else, Martin has been the first one to pick on himself and his earnest image. “We’ve never been about being cool, and we never will be. And I think in a way that’s quite cool. But I can’t think about it too much — because if you think about it then you automatically aren’t cool. Wait, I’ve gone too far. I’m not cool. Again.”

No matter what, he knows the band won’t win over a certain constituency that, frankly, has detested it too much and for too long to start listening now. Jon Pareles of the New York Times once called it the “most insufferable band of the decade,” which might say less about the band and more about how fashionable it has become to slag it. Martin said it’s because he wears his heart on his sleeve when he sings.

“If you allow yourself to be vulnerable in your music, people will feel it a lot more,” Martin said. “But a lot more people will also hate it or mock it. It’s almost like a deal with the devil, but I’m happy to take that deal. It doesn’t feel right to me to sing about stuff I don’t believe in.”

You can discuss this article and tonight's show in the Kansas City live thread here.

With Viva La Vida collaborator Jon Hopkins about to start another run of shows supporting Coldplay, the official site thought it was time to find out a bit more about him...

Hello Jon, how are you?

Hi, I am well, though a bit jetlagged. Currently in Miami, I arrived in the US in time to DJ at the Atlanta show last night and have my first live support in Kansas tomorrow night.

You've already played some dates with the band on this tour, have you enjoyed them?

It's been amazing, I think I've played about 15 shows with them so far. The most surreal were the first three free shows we did in London, Barcelona and New York. The sense of anticipation and excitement from the crowd was awesome.

What's it like to play to big arenas?

Quite hard to describe. At first it was actually beyond nerve-wracking and almost amusing. Then it became slightly terrifying. Now it's actually fun.

Have you found Coldplay's fans responsive to your music?

Yes it has seemed to go down really well - I didn't know how they'd react to something so different from the band they've come to see but they've been really welcoming and I've had some awesome responses.

You worked on Viva La Vida with the band - how did you meet them?

I was introduced to them by Brian Eno, one of the producers on the record. He invited me into the studio for one day in early 07 to see if I could contribute and I somehow ended up staying till the album was finished a year later.

And what was your involvement on the record?

I co-produced a couple of the tracks, and played organs, harmoniums, and other keyboard instruments on some others. I also adapted one of my own new songs (a track called Light Through The Veins, which I'm releasing soon) into what finally became the intro to Life In Technicolor, and the backing to The Escapist.

Had you worked with other bands in a similar way?

I wouldn't say I've had a comparable experience really - I have produced some solo artists, such as King Creosote and Dan Arborise, and have done bits of co-writing with David Holmes, Brian Eno and Massive Attack, but I also do a lot of film scoring and remixing work which tends to be more solitary. So it's been cool to work with a bigger group of people, and see how things work within a band like this.

What was the atmosphere like in the studio compared to other acts you've worked with?

Perhaps harder-working but amazing fun, very rewarding.

Is it a nice feeling knowing that music you've worked on and co-written is now in the homes of millions across the world?

Yeah very, and I'm proud of my input on the record. What was particularly great was hearing the intro to Violet Hill on the radio for the first time, which actually came from an improvisation that myself and Davide Rossi (the album's string arranger) did.

Could you tell us a bit more about your own music?

It's electronically made, but includes a lot of treated acoustic instruments. It's rhythmic and melodic, very dark in parts and euphoric in others. I'm not good at describing it beyond that but you can hear some at myspace.com/jonhopkins...

How do you translate largely electronic music to a live show?

There are a lot of new instruments and technologies around that allow you to make electronic music a much more "performed" thing, and to improvise and build your ideas live. I also play alongside a big screen of visuals on this tour, made up of some crazy psychedelic animations by this genius guy called Vince Collins, who allowed me to use his work as part of my show. This adds an extra dimension I think... these stages are perhaps quite difficult to fill with one person and some machines.

Do you enjoy being on the road?

Yes. It's not something I've done much of until this year but I'm loving it.

Are Coldplay a fun band to tour with?

Yeah. I've known the band for nearly two years now, it's great being on the road with them.

After the US, you'll be joining them for the UK tour too - are there any shows you're particularly looking forward to?

I'm looking forward to the London o2 Arena shows - Davide Rossi is joining me on stage doing live strings.

Do you tend to watch Coldplay's show? What do you think of it?

It's been cool watching it evolve over the last 6 months, it's changed a lot from the first friends and family show into the massive spectacular I witnessed last night... it seems to really have settled into itself now, if that makes sense.

Finally, what's your favourite Coldplay song?

Probably Politik. A sublime epic.

Thanks Jon.

You're welcome.