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“We want Coldplay!” someone shouted during a break in Marina and the Diamonds’ opening set – to a smattering of applause – at the first of Coldplay’s two Toronto shows at the Air Canada Centre Monday night, and it’s easy to see why, writes the Globe and Mail in the second featured review of Coldplay's two shows at the Air Canada Center, Toronto, ON (23-24 July). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from the two Toronto shows at the Coldplay Live forum here (23rd - Monday) and here (24

TORONTO - Exactly a year after Coldplay played the first of two sold-out shows at the Air Canada Centre, the Brit pop-rock outfit returned to Toronto for a show at Rogers Centre on Thursday night in front of over 45,000 fans, writes Jam! Showbiz.   On a stage dominated by glowing orb lights, the band - frontman Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman and drummer Will Champion - appeared in shadows initially as they kicked off the concert with the stirring instrumental, Life

If they aren’t officially the “biggest band on the planet,” Coldplay are undoubtedly the most eager to please. This hyper-earnest shtick is at once Coldplay’s greatest blessing and curse. Chris Martin and company are the victims of endless snide remarks by elitist critics, but they never fail when it comes to their prime objective: keeping their massive fan base satisfied, writes EyeWeekly.   This has been the mission statement ever since this quartet of once desperately shy English boys hit it

It's been over a year since Coldplay released Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends. They've toured it endlessly and tirelessly since, and returned to Toronto for the second time in a year (they played Toronto's Air Canada Centre on the same day last year) on Thursday night at the Rogers Centre to play one more time before they take a break and begin thinking about their next record, writes Chart Attack.   First, the crowd were treated to the sounds of Kitty, Daisy & Lewis, an R&B tr

In many ways, the world of pop music is akin to the world of professional sports. One invariably starts at the bottom (the minors) and works one's way slowly to the Big Leagues (the exceptions jump the queue via shows such as American Idol ). Thursday night's triptych at the Rogers Centre offered a classic example of three bands at different levels on the ladder, bottom to top, writes The Globe and Mail.   I purposely arrived early to catch the relatively unknown rookies Kitty, Daisy & Lewis

On a particularly humid evening, Coldplay touched down at the Rogers Centre for an energetic, uplifting and momentarily off kilter set. Working off of their vast catalogue of current and past hits, the British four-piece launched into "Life In Technicolour," the lead instrumental off of their latest offering Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, writes Exclaim.   After a strong rendition of "Violet Hill," lead singer Chris Martin took a moment to stare out into the sea of writhing bodies an

It was a rare alchemy that made last night's concert at the mammoth Rogers Centre a ticket to good to pass up as Elbow, the Mercury Prize-winning British critical darlings, and Coldplay, the Grammy-winning heir to the title of "world biggest band" joined forces in Toronto, writes The National Post.   Before the big bands, the night was begun by the young British rockabilly trio Kitty Daisy & Lewis, who were hand selected by Coldplay's Chris Martin for the tour. Playing on the massive stage,

With the music industry losing loads of cash and smaller acts getting more attention, many people think the era of huge record sales and big stadium shows is over. One problem with that theory: Coldplay, writes Metro News (Canada).   It seems that no one told the British foursome, which is arguably the biggest band in the world right now, that the days of epic, over-the-top concerts are a thing of the past. The band has been traversing the world playing for thousands of fans in both packed arena

Colour me impressed - Coldplay touched down for the first show of two night stand at the Air Canada Centre on Monday night and treated a sold-out crowd to an intense yet artful music extravangaza, writes the Toronto Sun in the first review of the first of Coldplay's two shows at the Air Canada Center, Toronto, ON (23-24 July). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from the two Toronto shows at the Coldplay Live forum here (23rd - Monday) and here (24th - Tuesday) onwards now. Thanks t

Over the years, [i've] realized that any review of a Coldplay show I do boils down to this: I head in not wanting to like the band, and then nearly everything the band does makes me like it, writes the Toronto Star.   So, for expediency's sake, at the Rogers Centre Thursday night - where the de facto "biggest band in the world" of the moment played its biggest Toronto show to date before upwards of 40,000 people - I only took notes whenever Chris Martin and the rest of the lads did something to

Coldplay is interested in universals, not small statements.   The U.K. chart-toppers take a beating in some quarters for desperately wanting to be all things to all folks, but in a way, they are: they're almost impossible to dislike when placed in front of you, no matter how cool you think you are.   Personality helps, of course. At the Air Canada Centre last night for the first of two sold-out Toronto shows, pathologically energetic frontman Chris Martin and his rather more heads-down bandmate

The British are coming! The British are coming!   Aside from the Coldplay/Richard Ashcroft shows Wednesday and Thursday at the Air Canada Centre, there's enough high-profile English acts coming to Toronto in the next two weeks to fill a soccer pitch.   Tomorrow night, Brit-pop bad boys Oasis and buzzed-about newcomers Arctic Monkeys take over the ACC. On Tuesday night, Arctic Monkeys return to play their own headlining gig at the Phoenix.   Read the full article here

He once sang about A Rush Of Blood To The Head but we thought that was all down to his macrobiotic diet.   Well we can reveal that Chris Martin is indeed a party animal. The Coldplay star, 30, stunned revellers by downing shots of neat vodka at the Maddox members' bar in London. A spy tells us: "He was mashed. He even sang along to Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit at the top of his voice."   Bet he was back on the organic lemongrass smoothies next day.   Source: http://www.mirror.co.uk

Before Coldplay's final festival performance of the summer at Rock In Rio, Chris and Jonny did a round of interviews which were recorded for radio. During one presented by TheMusicPimp, they talked about working with Rihanna, their 'transition to pop' as the interviewer put it, as well as Brian Eno, spraying walls, and more on the concept of Mylo Xyloto. You can listen to and download the full audio interview at the multimedia forum via SoundCloud now. Below is the article as transcripted. Most

Well it's Monday Morning folks, and as the new lyrics suggest it does actually feel like 'another life', in Coldplay circles anyway. It seems that Coldplayers' attention has now switched from disecting the few liners of text in a 11 second video to realising that we're all on the verge of a single release. Even Albie has reappeared, so something must be going down (the more experienced of you within Coldplaying will know what that's all about).   Today's developments will be interesting... given

Travis frontman Fran Healy is nothing if not a realist. He knows his band helped soften the face of rock music with their 1999 album The Man Who.   Healy has had a little help from his famous friends. Coldplay's Chris Martin is not only a musical colleague but he and Healy are also both rock dads. Martin's son, Moses, and Healy's son, Clay, were born about the same time and the two meet at each other's houses for rock creches.   "We've had some lovely afternoons," Healy says. "Not many people h

Noel Gallagher has said intolerable 'violent and verbal intimidation' and a 'lack of support' from management and bandmates forced him to quit Oasis. In a statement, on his blog at Oasisinet.com, he said: "The details are not important and of too great a number to list. I feel you have the right to know that the level of verbal and violent intimidation towards me, my family, friends and comrades has become intolerable. And the lack of support and understanding from my management and bandmates ha

Ahead of headlining Glastonbury for the first time on June 28th 2002, the nervous four piece, Coldplay were anticipating what was probably their most important live date in their careers. Publicly, opinions were split on the British band. Their first album, 'Parachutes' was a huge success but they had their critics, such as Alan McGee, who labelled the band as "bed-wetters". The band did not have any doubts in their ability though and so much so, they decided to perform a set with eight new song

A recent survey of British birth certificates registered since 1984 has revealed that certain Brits enjoy giving their kids famous celebrity names - on top of the list: Demi [Moore], Keira [Knightley] and Kylie [Minogue] for girls and Tiger [Woods], Keanu [Reeves] and even Dre [rapper Dr. Dre] for boys, reports Flying Sparks.   After watching Sir Ian McKellen in Lord of the Rings, 6 (!!) parents even decided to call their sons Gandalf - while other toddlers have to grow up with awful "violent ga

While the debate rages as to whether the festival calendar is already over-saturated, news reaches us of two more being plannned for next summer - a 'mini T In The Park' and the Isle Of Man's first major music event...   With no Glastonbury Festival taking place this year it was perhaps inevitable that a whole new crop of festivals would spring up in attempts to fill the void. Some have worked, others have half-worked, several have completely fallen by the wayside and many more remain to be seen

The Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department gave antitrust approval Tuesday to Universal Music Group's planned acquisition of BMG Music Publishing for $2.09 billion.   The deal must now receive approval from European regulators to become final.   BMG - owned by German media company Bertelsmann AG - owns the rights to more than a million songs by contemporary recording artists such as Nelly, Maroon 5 and Coldplay, as well as classic hits by the Beach Boys, Barry Manilow and other ente

Dubai - British rock band Coldplay will perform in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, their first performance in the Middle East, the entertainment satellite channel MTV Arabia reported Monday. The concert is planned as a stage in the English rockers' world tour promoting their latest album, Viva la Vida, Samir al-Marzouqi, managing director of MTV Arabia, told German Press Agency dpa.   Despite an exodus of foreign workers seeking opportunities elsewhere in response to the world financial crisis, Abu Dhab

A navy hoody pulled up over his blonde curls, trying his best to go undetected, Coldplay's Chris Martin mooched across a half-built arena ahead of the UK band's first concert in the Middle East.   Barefoot and boardshort-clad, the world famous frontman oozed calmth, in direct contrast to the 100-strong work force beavering away to get Emirates Palace ready for the 15,000 hungry fans due to descend on the venue in a matter of hours. The concert, the final stop on Coldplay's Viva La Vida world tou

One of Britain's most successful universities is appealing to its wealthiest alumni in an attempt to raise £300 million to maintain its world class status.   University College London, one of the top four establishments in the country and recently ranked 25th in the world, will imitate its American rivals this week by trying to persuade former students to donate a proportion of their income to university coffers.   It will be followed by a similar campaign by Cambridge University, which will be

More fan reviews of Coldplay's concert at the Esprit Arena in Dusseldorf that didn't make the review article on Monday evening have been posted at the Coldplay Live forum. Here are some more of the reviews...   Before the concert I read somewhere on the net that Gwyneth will be attending that concert as well. I thought that was a bit ... well a thing that's not going to happen. But now I think she might have been there. After they had played Fix You Chris put his hand on his heart and pointed to