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Not being a Coldplay fan, I felt like an atheist at a revival meeting, nervous that I might be the only one of my kind at the sold-out show, writes the Tampa Bay Online today, in their review of last night's Coldplay show at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, FL (28th June). Catch up on more on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from the shows at the Coldplay Live forum now. Read on for the rest of their review article (and one from Tampa Bay Times too...)   And just like a revival preacher, C

The world’s top women golfers - including the world’s undisputed No 1 Annika Sorenstam - are in South Africa for the Women’s World Cup of Golf, which started on Friday and ends on Sunday at the Gary Player Country Club course at Sun City.   But Michelle Wie, the one they call the female Tiger Woods and who is the most-spoken about golfer on the women’s - and the men’s - circuit is not here. And she’s missing because of the selection process in which Paula Creamer, who qualified to represent the

At the age of 11, Alex Frenkel's first gig was at a Texas youth camp, and about two years ago, he began playing and singing locally.   Then last week, 16-year-old Alex got a phone call from A&R Select, a company in Hollywood, Calif., that discovers new music artists and connects them with the music industry. The company offered Alex an opportunity to possibly be heard by thousands and maybe by millions. "It was really amazing," said Alex, a Danbury High School junior.   The company found Fre

Guy Hands' Terra Firma has admitted that there will be no quick fix for EMI as the private equity group set out in stark detail the financial and operational challenges facing the ailing music company that it bought in a highly leveraged £4bn deal just before credit markets turned, report Financial Times.   New revelations about the former culture at the record company behind Katy Perry and Coldplay included news of a £700,000 annual taxi bill - the largest account with a prominent London cab co

LONDON - Private equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners said Friday it now owns more than a quarter of EMI Group PLC after Warner Music Group Corp. ruled itself out of the bidding for the British music company.   Terra Firma had been making little headway in its attempt to woo EMI (other-otc: EMIPY.PK - news - people ) shareholders for its 2.4 billion pound ($4.9 billion) takeover offer, extending the deadline several times after winning just a small percentage of the shares. In its last repor

EMI has won a year's breathing space in its fight to avoid being taken over by its lender Citigroup after the music group received a £105m bail-out from Terra Firma, its private equity owner, according to the Financial Times today.   Guy Hands, chairman of Terra Firma, this week won the approval of 80 per cent of his investors to inject more of their money into EMI. Mr Hands bought EMI for £4.2bn in a deal that has become the poster child for the excesses of the buy-out bubble . "This is an exce

Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd., a United Kingdom private-equity concern, said it owns more than a quarter of EMI Group PLC, and it again extended its £2.4 billion ($4.9 billion) bid, after potential suitors Warner Music Group Corp. and former EMI executive Jim Fifield said they had no plan to counterbid.   Terra Firma said it had secured 26.2% of shareholder acceptances as of Thursday. The offer has been extended for a fourth and final time, until July 29. In May, EMI, home to artists such as

Think you know Coldplay?   Well, test your Coldplay knowledge with this quiz and post your results here

Last night when I met up with Piers, I thought I would do the casual, “So. How’s Coldplay these days?” Instead, it came out all shrill and bitter, “So how is that f*cker doing, anyway??”   Piers’ face registered a subtle look of surprise. He recovered quickly and provided an outwardly diplomatic response of, “He’s alright, I guess. I don’t get to see him much. He’s still in Hong Kong. He hasn’t come to London for a visit yet, actually.”   On the way home I wondered why, after a year’s time, I am

The 10 essential rare Coldplay downloads   Our list of 10 essential rare Coldplay downloads! Rare, acoustic and live tracks which are not available to download via popular media platforms such as iTunes and are not as well known to the majority of fans.   Much of Coldplay's discography is now available to buy and outside the band's 6 albums, there's a ton of fantastic b-sides such as 'I Ran Away', 'Crests of Waves', 'Moving to Mars' and much much more! These following songs on the list cannot

Forget the Rock Band video game, software is being developed that not only recreates Beatles performances, it allows the Fab Four to play other artists' music in their own style... which means you could be hearing a Beatles version of Coldplay songs in the near future!   Fancy some tickets to a live performance by the Beatles – with Jimi Hendrix on guitar? This could become a reality thanks to Zenph Studios, a North Carolina company that is developing software which not only recreates famous mus

3. The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival   The two-day event that spawned a multitude of regional music fests was never more powerful. Coldplay also elevated the festival to new levels of commercial esteem by using the festival to preview its “X&Y” CD, ranked the best album of 2005 by Amazon.com customers. The closing night set by angst-ridden Trent Reznor’s Nine Inch Nails also ensured that this Coachella was one of the most musically powerful.   Read the other entries here

Pop and rock musical acts have been crossing the pond in waves ever since The Beatles came to America more than four decades ago, and many signs seem to indicate that 2006 will be another big year for performers from the United Kingdom.   Coldplay, Franz Ferdinand and Keane have brought big shows to America during the past two years. All three were among the nominees at the Grammys earlier this month, as were hip-hop act Floetry and the animated supergroup known as Gorillaz -- also both British

An interesting article has emerged online today as a preview to the show at the AT&T Center in San Antonio tonight (June 10). Hard to tell whether the author is a fan of Coldplay or not, but one thing is for sure this article is meant to negate the effects of the New York Times one back in 2005 entitled 'The Case against Coldplay'. Still struggling to figure out if it worked or what the point of it is. You can discuss the article at the Coldplay forum here. Here's the said article, courtesy

The end of the year is nigh and what a fantastic year it has been for Coldplaying.com. We've seen the release of Coldplay's sixth album, Ghost Stories, survived the uncertain period over Coldplaying's future, have experienced some fantastic live shows and have welcomed many new Coldplayers to our community. The Coldplaying Awards is a time for celebration and giving back to our fans who share the great enthusiasm for our favourite band! Where else would you also find an awards ceremony involving

You may remember recently Roadie #42 posted a blog where he talked about Ricardo, the drummer from the Make A Wish Foundation... well now you can watch the a video of Ricardo playing The Scientist with Coldplay here [thanks mimixxx]   The Denver show brings a guest at soundcheck. We are joined by a chap called Ricardo Leon, who's here with the Make A Wish foundation - his wish being to play drums with Coldplay. He makes his way to the stage on a motorised wheelchair, which does make one wonder h

He may look like just any other music-loving old hippy, but Guy Hands appears increasingly out of tune with EMI, for which he paid an astronomical £4.2 billion in August 2007, according to the Sunday Mail today.   Hands has already admitted that the company is now worth only about half that sum, making it one of the most disastrous private equity takeovers. He is, of course, trying to sue his backer on the deal, Citi, to save face on this foray. But it is his spectacular failure to achieve any o

Following a slow, steady climb to the top after releasing their 2005 debut in England, the Editors are trying to repeat that success in the United States.   Maybe it‘s because of their spirited live shows.   Maybe it‘s the result of an overly energetic front man who borders on the seemingly spastic while somehow retaining total control, drawing comparisons to Coldplay‘s Chris Martin. Or maybe the music simply connects with a lot of people.The band has drawn comparisons to early U2, Echo &

Following a slow, steady climb to the top after releasing their 2005 debut in England, the Editors are trying to repeat that success in the United States.   Maybe it‘s because of their spirited live shows.   Maybe it‘s the result of an overly energetic front man who borders on the seemingly spastic while somehow retaining total control, drawing comparisons to Coldplay‘s Chris Martin. Or maybe the music simply connects with a lot of people.The band has drawn comparisons to early U2, Echo &

She may not be returning to hubby Nick Lachey, but the newly separated Jessica Simpson was voted pop music's sexiest-eyed star, according to a Rohto V. Sexiest Eyes Survey.   The survey was commissioned by the Mentholatum Co., distributor of eye drops designed to alleviate bloodshot eyes.   Adding insult to injury for Simpson's soon-to-be-ex, R&B heartthrob Usher narrowly beat out Lachey to claim the title of sexiest eyes among male pop singers. Among men polled, 19 percent said Simpson has

The Fray's 'How To Save A Life' has passed Coldplay's 'X&Y' as the biggest selling digital album of all-time.   'How To Save A Life' has earned the band two Grammy nominations and has sold more than 2 million copies.   The Fray's 'Over My Head (Cable Car)' has sold over 1 million digital singles and they are one of the few bands to pass the 1 million sales for ringtones. "It's been an amazing ride this year plus a lot of fun and hard work," says singer and pianist Issac Slade in a statement.

The Fray have the biggest-selling download album ever. But they tell David Sinclair they're still feeling a bit, well, yellow...   It has been impossible to avoid "How to Save a Life" by The Fray. With its twinkling piano part and cleverly undulating melody line, the single has been all over the radio and hasn't budged from the Top 20 for the last four months. Meanwhile, the debut album of the same name has sold 2.5 million copies worldwide (becoming the biggest-selling digital album ever in th

Babies' names become a window into the psyches of Hollywood's elite   It's a measure of what we have come to expect from celebrities to consider that if Henry Fonda were alive and having children today, it would seem as likely for him to name his daughter, say, Hanoi, as simply to call her Jane.   It seems almost unimaginable for any 21st-century movie star to send his children out among the Hollywood elite equipped with ordinary names like Michael, Eric, Joel and Peter, as Kirk Douglas once did

Babies' names become a window into the psyches of Hollywood's elite   It's a measure of what we have come to expect from celebrities to consider that if Henry Fonda were alive and having children today, it would seem as likely for him to name his daughter, say, Hanoi, as simply to call her Jane.   It seems almost unimaginable for any 21st-century movie star to send his children out among the Hollywood elite equipped with ordinary names like Michael, Eric, Joel and Peter, as Kirk Douglas once did

The Wailers' bass player, Aston Barrett, has lost his high court bid for a £60m slice of Bob Marley's royalties. Barrett, nicknamed Family Man, is now superbly placed to write a song called 52 Kids and Not Enough Cash. But the case makes you wonder: how do bands split their royalties?   With difficulty. Songwriting royalties, not to be confused with recording royalties, come in four varieties - mechanical (eg CD sales); performing (radio airplay); synchronisation (film soundtracks); and print (s