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Reviews of yesterday's Coldplay concert in Hong Kong are online; here's one from a Seatleite:   Last night we had a real treat when we attended a Coldplay concert - part of the group's Viva La Vida tour - at the AsiaWorld-Expo Center in Hong Kong. I have to admit, while I have always enjoyed Coldplay (full disclosure: It is my husband who has bought all of their CDs) I did not quite realize just how big they really are. Or how good.   Coldplay performed in front of a full house for just over an

If there were any lingering doubts in the backs of the minds of Coldplay fans that the band is the coolest on the planet, the Grammy Award-winning rock band consigned them to oblivion with its Viva La Vida concert on Wednesday, reports Hong Kong's The Standard.   Chris Martin was the consummate entertainer throughout, using his ultimate insider's knowledge to rib bass player Guy Berryman, guitarist Jonny Buckland and drummer Will Champion between numbers and create an intimate atmosphere.   But

At last, some satire has eventually emerged from the Cat Stevens plagiarism claim. The Huffington Post blogs are now claiming they wrote Viva La Vida. Here is their online article:   I would like to take the opportunity to claim that I wrote Coldplay's "Viva La Vida." In fact, I wrote "Viva La Vida" just about an hour ago after hearing the news that my pal Yusuf -- the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens -- feels that the undeniable Coldplay smash is too close for comfort to one section of his

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Recognizing how tough it can be for developing artists to build a career, concert promoter/venue operator House of Blues has launched the Ones to Watch program.   Each quarter, five acts will be profiled online at the HOB Web site (hob.com/artistfeatures/onestowatch). HOB staffers pick the artists based on music they love. The site will feature a free song download and a podcast of each act being interviewed. The site also will include biographies, photos and links to pur

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 support

Entering Toyota Center, I almost didn't take the wristband that the ticket taker offered. That would have been a mistake. Even before the first song of the Coldplay concert Monday night, a recorded version of Jay-Z's "99 Problems" boomed through the stadium and activated the sound-sensitive wristbands into a glow that enveloped the massive arena, writes the CultureMap website this morning, in another review article of Coldplay's two Houston show this week (Monday 25th & Tuesday 26th June) at

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 no

Before last night, Houstonist may have told you, "Eh...they're OK live, but we haven't been blown away" if you'd asked whether or not you should go see the show. But, that was before last night. Although we weren't blown away (think David Bowie at The Woodlands in 2006), we gained a much better appreciation for Coldplay as live entertainers, report the Houstonist.   The crowd was immediately engaged as the band took the stage playing Life in Technicolor. The energy continued to mount sending a t

As we reported earlier, Kanye West and Jay-Z are celebrating a new record, thanks to huge sale number of their newly-released joint album "Watch the Throne". The rap duo [pictured below] sold the album exclusively on iTunes and pulled in around 290,000 downloads, scoring best first-week digital sales on the retailer, breaking the previous record held by Coldplay three years ago with 282,000 iTunes downloads of their fourth album 'Viva La Vida'.   Well it turns out Jigga & Co. went the extra

When a village side faced closure, they asked some famous locals for help. Simon Turnbull (Independent) talks about an unlikely alliance of rock and cricket...   The sun was not the only one with its hat on in the village known as "the Venice of the Cotswolds". By the gentle slopes of the River Windrush, a group of men with peacock-feathered head gear, blacked-up faces and red and green ribboned clothing were dancing up and down, banging their sticks and whooping.   It was, it transpired, Morri

When Coldplay released its second hit album, A Rush of Blood to the Head, the band said that part of the environmental damage caused by its production would be offset by the planting of 10,000 mango trees in southern India. More than four years after the album's release, however, many of Coldplay's good intentions have withered in the arid soil of Gudibanda, Karnataka state, where the saplings it sponsored were planted.   The idea of saving the world while making music was proposed by Future F

When Coldplay released its second hit album, A Rush of Blood to the Head, the band said that part of the environmental damage caused by its production would be offset by the planting of 10,000 mango trees in southern India. More than four years after the album's release, however, many of Coldplay's good intentions have withered in the arid soil of Gudibanda, Karnataka state, where the saplings it sponsored were planted.   The idea of saving the world while making music was proposed by Future F

Coldplaying's 8th Fantasy Premier League finished last weekend, and it's congratulations to team I am the Scout managed by Marc Paul who finished top with a whopping 2283 points. Runner-up was Athletic Waldaz FC managed by Walter Randazzo, just 11 points adrift. Last year's runner-up PROMIX FC finished in third place this year (maybe next season, promix!) Last year's winning manager, zeddy zeddy, finished in a disappointing 53rd place with his team MAMAIN MAIN FC, performing like they had one ey

Following U2's massive haul at this week's Grammys, will it take 20 years before Coldplay take home as many? Assuming Coldplay last that long, what will the band look like when they make their speeches? Possibly something like this...     More on this here

It's time to tackle flying's role in climate change, writes Danielle Teutsch.   Next week I'm flying to Europe. As I soar above the clouds, eating my in-flight meal of rubber chicken and watching movies, I'll have the discomfort of knowing I am releasing 11 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.   I can almost hear the polar ice cracking and an awful gurgling sound as another small island nation disappears into the ocean.   Frequent flyers can no longer be in denial about their contributi

They're Not Rocking 'Cuz They're Still Rockin': Older Acts Still Sell Tickets Because They're Still   The impression you get from MTV and Top 40 radio is around 30. That's about the age when many bands start to ease out of rotation (the likes of U2, Madonna and Pearl Jam aside) and fans, apparently, quit buying CDs.   But concert attendance figures paint a drastically different picture. Ask yourself, for example, what the highest-grossing tour of 2005 was. Mariah Carey? 50 Cent? Kelly Clarkson?

The new series of Extras stars this week - and Chris Martin and David Bowie are among those who’ll be humiliating themselves in it.   For those of you who still wake up screaming at the nightmarish vision of Les Dennis, naked as the day he was cuckolded, cupping his nadgers and baring his arse, brace yourselves. Extras - the superstar-sniping sarco-series that leapt sneering from the hot brain of Ricky Gervais after The Office - is back.   And this time the weekly guest stars lining up to prove

Career-defining albums are both a blessing and a curse.   No artist would turn down the opportunity to put out a mega hit. But there is no denying many long-lived careers have come to be characterized by one recording. Nothing that follows will ever be as good, as important, or as meaningful to as many as "the big one" was. That can damn your inspiration, even as the money keeps rolling in, particularly if you peak on album No. 1. We look at other albums that reached the same pinnacle -- studiou

Satirical blog article looking at a chance meeting with Coldplay...   The trendy hotel I stayed in at the weekend happened to belong to a trendy recording studio, and I'd heard that its private bar was likely to be full of trendy rockstars on their lunchbreaks.   You can imagine my disappointment, then, when the bloke from Coldplay walked in.   Never mind, at least he's a celebrity, and fortunately I've had a fool-proof plan prepared for quite some time now, in case I ever had the opportunity t

Scottish singer KT Tunstall has done it, as have clean-living rockers Coldplay.   Even Conservative eco-warrior David Cameron is in on the act. Carbon neutralising is the must-do activity for those in the public eye who want to emphasise their environmental credentials.   Tunstall had trees planted to offset the pollution created by the production of her debut album, Eye to the Telescope, as did Coldplay, while Cameron carbon-neutralised a trip on a private jet by contributing to renewable energ

Scottish singer KT Tunstall has done it, as have clean-living rockers Coldplay.   Even Conservative eco-warrior David Cameron is in on the act. Carbon neutralising is the must-do activity for those in the public eye who want to emphasise their environmental credentials.   Tunstall had trees planted to offset the pollution created by the production of her debut album, Eye to the Telescope, as did Coldplay, while Cameron carbon-neutralised a trip on a private jet by contributing to renewable energ

Chris & Gwyneth recently bought Kate Winslet's old London pad. How is it developing? Well, you can find out here!

Under the bright lights and probing questions of an all-in media conference yesterday, Shane Warne gave off the distinct impression that he is evolving into a cricketing version of Mick Jagger.   He is old enough to be the father of several of his contemporaries. He courts celebrity and, in the case of rock band Coldplay's lead singer Chris Martin, celebrity returns the favour. And despite being at an age where his powers of performance and charisma should be diminishing, he is confident, brash

GENEVA/PARIS, June 22: French broadband ISP Free is working with i-concerts to offer its subscribers a high-definition channel and an IPTV VOD platform, both featuring performances from some of today’s top artists.   The ADSL channel i-concerts HD launched yesterday. It will offer up performances by artists such as Robbie Williams, U2, James Blunt, Radiohead and James Brown.   The two companies have also combined forces to create i-concerts Jukebox, which provides Free’s Freebox subscribers with

Echo & the Bunnymen’s Ian McCulloch tells Eamon Sweeney why he’s looking forward to Oxegen, why he told Coldplay their songs weren’t good enough and why he just had to be in the ‘best band in the world’   McCulloch was mysteriously credited as an "associate producer" on the second Coldplay album, A Rush of Blood to the Head. "That made me laugh!" he cackles. "Brian Eno just took over my role! I was amazed when I read that. I just came in and did a bit of Bowie dancing and a few impressions.