If you’ve ever used the touch-screen jobpoints at the jobcentre, then you’ll know that the same shitty opportunities always pop up working for companies like McDonalds, Topman, ASDA et al.

Anyone with a bit of memory and an interest in music will notice the same happens with bands. You always get a pool of them that float about just being there and not much else.

Coldplay, Starsailor, Keane and Embrace fit into this category. They create big production, big gig guitar music that’s ideal for bland big budget Hollywood blockbusters and people who don’t want to be vexed or challenged by music.

'This New Day' is Radio 1 drivetime horse-feed from start to end.

Read the full album review here

It's not that U2 should be all that worried about hanging onto its heavyweight title for super-sized, heart-on-the-sleeve arena rock. But Coldplay's show at Milwaukee's Bradley Center on Sunday night showed that the British rock band is starting to figure out how to present its emotion-drenched songs in a live setting and is becoming a worthy contender.

In the past, frontman Chris Martin and company seemed at times to be a little tentative in concert, unsure of whether they should overplay or underplay the emotional content of a given song. But this time around, touring in support of the superbly crafted third album "X&Y," every gesture seemed right for its song, and the high-energy, passionate result kept the near-sellout crowd enthralled for nearly two hours.

Read the full reviews here

Discuss this show here

A blend of rock, jazz and classical rock music — spiced with some Parikrama left scores of Bangloreans in a dense musical haze as it resonated every nook and corner of Palace Grounds.

This unusual initiative by Radio City 91 FM to promote three new local rock bands is laudable indeed. Spanning eight weeks, the weekend show ‘Radio City Live’ — featured eight talented but little known bands and recorded over fifty original compositions across multiple genres of alternative rock, country music, classical rock, Indian fusion music inspired by folk traditions.

They also paid special tributes to our defence forces who fight for our country by sacrificing their lives by playing a composition called ‘Border kings’, encouraging the audience to karaoke to their song. They also covered all-time favourites like Iron Maiden, Robbie Williams and Coldplay’s Yellow.

Read the full article here

Nice guys may or may not finish first, but apparently they draw well at the Bradley Center.

Before an adoring crowd of roughly 12,000, Coldplay performed a 90-minute set that showcased the band’s strengths and gave even its shortcomings a rosy glow.

While technically a quartet, England’s biggest band of the moment is dominated by the sprightly, surprisingly flexible Chris Martin, whose rubbery stage poses suggested he’s been taking yoga tips from wife Gwyneth Paltrow.

Read the full review here

After rocking the joint at Live 8, the former Verve frontman warms to a new alliance with Coldplay

Richard Ashcroft and Coldplay will now be forever linked by their Live 8 performance last summer in London.

The two British acts came together for a powerful rendition of Bittersweet Symphony, the huge breakthrough hit by Ashcroft’s former band, The Verve, which fuelled sales of their 1997 breakthrough release, Urban Hymns, to seven million worldwide.

In fact, Coldplay singer Chris Martin introduced the number as "the best song ever written, sung by the best singer in the world."“It’s a gift and a curse, anything like that,” Ashcroft, 35, says down the line from London recently. “It’s a gift to be given an opportunity to communicate to billions of people. The curse comes when, for the rest of your life, you’re going to be talking about it. It’s not a curse to be talking about Chris all the time, but I did say to him on the day, ‘Do you realize how linked we are now? Do you understand the nature of this? I hope you’re comfortable because you might as well be married to me.’”

Now Ashcroft finds himself opening for Coldplay at the Air Canada Centre for sold-out shows Wednesday and Thursday. Just don’t expect them to play during each other’s sets.

“I don’t know, actually,” Ashcroft says.”I’ve got nothing planned. But I don’t see why not. I’m not really into We Are The World situations but (Martin’s) a hard man to say no to, so I won’t rule it out.”

The two artists met through mutual friend/DJ Wayne Griggs.

“Chris Martin was one of the few of my peers to publicly to speak up, especially in England, on my last album (2002’s Human Conditions), and say, ‘Look, I think there’s moments of greatness on this record. I think people have got it wrong and you don’t understand where he’s coming from.’ He’s someone that isn’t … influenced by fashion in that way and he’s not afraid to speak up for things that he enjoys. And that made an impression on me.”

The end result was that Ashcroft — who is now father to two young sons with wife Kate Radley — went on a European tour with Coldplay. It worked out so well that he decided to do another three weeks in North America.

“It was very bizarre ’cause we were leaving early ’cause we had to get my son to bed,” Ashcroft says of the European leg. “We just had one crew member and we’d fit (our stage gear) into a kind of transit van, and we’d drive past 22 articulated lorries that were holding the whole of the Coldplay’s gear. And it was quite cool to go back to none of the pressure. Practically having a standing ovation of 20,000 people 20 minutes before, and then leaving in a van. It felt like a bank robbery in a weird way.”

Ashcroft says because he’s the support act, he only plays for an hour without his full stage production.

“You don’t have all the, for want of a better analogy, Nuremberg Rally buttons to press,” Ashcroft says with a laugh.

Still, both he and Martin have discussed the effect a potent song — delivered by the right singer and the right band on the right stage — can have on a large crowd.

“He said to me, one night in Italy, he said, ‘It’s like watching an archer pulling these songs off his back.’ ”

While Ashcroft hopes to return to North America for a solo headlining tour in support of his third solo album, Keys To The World, the Coldplay gig “is a good chance to play to a significant amount of people and say, ‘I’m back. And this is what I do.’ ”

For now, Coldplay’s supporting slot will more than suffice.

“To be honest, with Coldplay, I can play over a series of three weeks, to more people than I probably play to with eight months of touring on my own,” Ashcroft says. “It’s quite simple as that. I’ve got to, at this stage in my career, get to as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time. Because I haven’t got the energy to give away to North America like I did when I was 21 years old. When I would go every night for six-seven weeks, give my heart and soul, and burn myself out, and sell 50 more records. I enjoy the whole experience of playing live but you pay the penalty in the end.”

In the meantime, Ashcroft’s obsession with strings continues on Keys To The World, released earlier this year. Don’t forget that Bittersweet Symphony famously sampled an orchestral version of the Rolling Stones’ The Last Time.

“My style of singing probably lends itself more to Sinatra, Elvis, the crooners, Bing Crosby, I like them all,” he says. “I like Dion. I love his voice in the ’70s. That deeper sort of tone (and) the way it sort of hits the strings seem to complement each other a lot. And I find that strings are just one part of my palette, really. Whether that goes down to being a kid and just enjoying Sergio Leone or Morricone or soundtracks like that and John Barry and classical composers like John Williams — I’ve always enjoyed anyone who’s used strings in a really good way.”

In fact, Ashcroft is planning a DVD that will feature him performing surrounded by an orchestra and would love to tour one day with strings.

He also embraces American soul on Keys To The World, specifically sampling Curtis Mayfield on the new song Music Is Power.

“I think most music that I love goes back to the church anyway, probably the deep South of America, ultimately,” he says. “And if not that, you follow it back to the slave ships back to Africa. There were quite a number of little sidetrips along the way. Whether it be Celtic folk, or American white folk, country, blues, whatever you want to call it. All this stuff is part of my heritage, too, and I don’t deny it. And I see how much all of that influenced the greatest band to ever come out of my country — the Beatles. Without black American soul and R&B, many of the Beatles’ songs really wouldn’t exist, to be honest. They were some of the keenest Magpiers in the history of music but they just had a way of Beatle-fying their influences, which can only come through time.”

Ashcroft does see songwriting as a way to get some pretty big ideas out into the world. For instance, the new song Why Not Nothing? challenges political and religious figureheads while the title track examines social imbalances.

“I’ve always used it as this outlet to say certain things, and the great songs I love, like Instant Karma … almost had a built-in philosophy, the titles were also really strong.”

Luckily for Ashcroft, the consensus is that he’s back at the top of his musical game with such big-sounding, epic new songs as the aforementioned Why Not Nothing?, the title track, Cry Til The Morning and Simple Song.

But the singer-songwriter says he doesn’t pay attention to such proclamations — good or bad — only personal attacks.

“That’s taking it to a Frank Sinatra level,” he says. “But when people say, ‘You’re back,’ or ‘This is better than the last one,’ they haven’t got a clue, to be honest. They’ve got no idea whatsoever. Most people’s opinions on me are based on something that’s untrue anyway. They often review the music with my personality, or what they think it is, rather than actually listening to the songs. So I gave up a long time ago worrying about what other people think.”

Ashcroft says his working-class background in Wigan, England, has always worked against him in the British music press, stemming all the way back to his alleged drug-fuelled, unhinged days with The Verve that led to the tag “Mad Richard.”

“I think there’s a premeditated effort by certain people to literally try (to) end my career in my own country,” he says. “Not necessarily now but for the last few years. It’s sad, really. It’s almost like because of my upbringing, I’m not allowed to talk about certain issues or I’ll be humoured. And that’s something that’s gone on since the days of Mad Richard and all that kind of stuff. You get to a certain level, whether it’s John Lennon or whoever, there’s always a certain faction of upper middle-class characters who will want to keep you firmly in a place somewhere. They can’t do it in a monetary way, so all that they can do is intellectually try to break me down in a way, to humour me, and sort of make me a comedic kind of character, rather than someone to be taken seriously. I can appreciate that. I’m not here to save the world. I’m just here to make rock ‘n’ roll.”

COLDPLAY W/ RICHARD ASHCROFT

Wednesday, Thursday 8 p.m.

Air Canada Centre

SOLD OUT!

Source: http://torontosun.com

TORONTO (CP) - With Coldplay and Black Eyed Peas among the scheduled performers, this year’s Juno Awards are fast becoming must-see TV for music fans.

Some musicians and industry folk, however, are uncomfortable with the international lineup, arguing that homegrown artists should be the focus - particularly at a time when Canada’s music scene is being lauded around the world.

“A lot of people are talking about it. A lot of people are very upset,” said Fred Litwin, who runs Ottawa-based indie label NorthernBlues Music.

Trevor Larocque of Toronto’s Paperbag Records didn’t attempt to hide his sarcasm: “Coldplay’s playing I hear. They’re an amazing Canadian band.”

Read the full story here [thanks Nettie]

Apple is featured as #10 in In Touch Weekly’s 'Top of the Tots'.

1. Maddox Jolie-Pitt (ANGELINA JOLIE/BRAD PITT)

2. Rowan Henchy (BROOKE SHIELDS/CHRIS HENCHY)

3. Liv Helen Freundlich (JULIANNE MOORE/BART FREUNDLICH)

4. Ava Phillippe (REESE WITHERSPOON/RYAN PHILLIPPE)

5. Rudy Law (JUDE LAW/SADIE FROST)

6. Ella Blue Travolta (JOHN TRAVOLTA/KELLY PRESTON)

7. Charlie Crowe (RUSSELL CROWE/DANIELLE SPENCER)

8. Rocco Ritchie (MADONNA/GUY RITCHIE)

9. Willow Smith (WILL SMITH/JADA PINKETT-SMITH)

10. Apple Martin (GWYNETH PALTROW/CHRIS MARTIN)

[Thanks Victaniac]

More concert pictures from last week's Ottawa concert on the 17th March, courtesy of Kevin Pung.

You can view them here

EDIT: More added.

Radio 1's Chart Show with JK and Joe

JK and Joel count down the official chart, revealing the top twenty albums, the top ten downloads and the new official UK number one. In the Retro, a chance to see Coldplay live in Canada is up for grabs.

Starting: 16:00 on Sunday 19th March. Duration: 3 hours

Listen live at bbc.co.uk/radio1

Chris Martin drinks fizzy water in the pub, eats a macrobiotic diet, has a daughter called Apple and wears electrical tape instead of jewellery. So the latest pictures of the Coldplay singer in New York sporting a bird’s nest on his head, left, comes as no surprise.

I love Coldplay’s music. But it appears their top tunes come at a price - with their musical inspiration apparently influencing Chris’ barnet. Now he seems to have come up with a combination of celebrity influenced by the Seventies music hall of fame.

There is a definite tinge of Art Garfunkel, left, there.

The volume has the depth of Leo Sayer’s afro and there are even worrying signs of a spouting beard and hair combo reminicent of whiskery rocker Kevin Godley

Source: The Sun

[Thanks Nettie for the scan]

More on the Radio 2 performance, which is to be aired on 2nd April.

From the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London, Coldplay performed a small concert for Radio 2. You can see exclusive pictures at the BBC Website here [Thanks radioactive_coldplayer]

More on Coldplay's Abbey Road performance here

Edge 102 started their British Invaison Week yesterday and here's what's coming up:

March 17

2:00pm: British Invasion Week kicks off with 3 songs by British Edge artists every hour until Sunday night!

March 19

Ongoing History of New Music Archives:

10:00am: What Happened to Britpop part 1

11:00am: What Happened to Britpop part 2

March 19

6:00pm: OASIS LIVE! A re-broadcast of the June 2005 Oasis private studio concert

March 19

Ongoing History of New Music:

7:00pm: 10 things you didn’t know about Coldplay

March 20

2:00-7:00pm: Bookie will be broadcasting live from the Arctic Monkeys / Oasis show at the ACC!

March 20

7:00pm: COLDPLAY AT 228 YONGE! A re-broadcast of the band's May 2005 stop at the Edge studios.

March 20

Ongoing History of New Music:

11:00pm: Weird things about Oasis

March 21

11:00pm: Punkorama featuring all Brit punk, old and new! Punkorama Online

March 22

2:00-7:00pm: Bookie will be broadcasting live from the Richard Ashcroft / Coldplay show at the ACC! (the show will not be heard onair)

March 22

11:00pm: COLDPLAY LIVE! A re-broadcast of the June 2003 show at the Molson Amphitheatre

March 23

11:00pm: The best from the UK - Live to air on 102.1 The Edge from: The Mod Club.

Source: www.edge.ca

You can listen live at www.edge.ca and all times are in Eastern Standard Time.

More on this here

[Thanks eatmorechocolate]

Vote for Coldplay at MTV’s The Nation’s Favourite Lyric poll.

22) Coldplay - Yellow

“Look at the stars, look how they shine for you”

More on this here

Radio 1’s Chart Show (Music)

Scott Mills and Westwood sit in for JK and Joel, to count down the official singles, albums, and downloads chart. Plus another fantastic prize in The Retro; a chance to see Coldplay live in Canada.

Starting: 16:00 on Sunday 19th March. Duration: 3 hours

Showing on BBC Radio One.

Coldplay: From The Beginning (Music)

Take a tour through the video history of Coldplay.

Starting: 18:00 on Sunday 19th March. Duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Showing on VH2.

Coldplay (Music)

X&Y Inside Track. Inside Track takes a look at Coldplay’s latest masterpiece.

Starting: 19:30 on Sunday 19th March. Duration: 30 minutes

Showing on VH2.

Coldplay (Music)

Storytellers. On 16th May this year, Coldplay performed their latest and greatest hits, and revealed stories and anecdotes behind their songs to an intimate audience at the BAM Harvey Theatre in NYC.

Starting: 20:00 on Sunday 19th March. Duration: 1 hour

Showing on VH2.

Coldplay Live (Music)

At a secret London gig, Coldplay performed songs from their new album, plus a few old favourites, exclusively for MTV - catch all the live action right now!

Starting: 21:00 on Sunday 19th March. Duration: 1 hour

Showing on VH2.

Coldplay: From The Beginning (Music)

Starting: 22:00 on Sunday 19th March. Duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Showing on VH2.

Coldplay (Music)

Starting: 23:30 on Sunday 19th March. Duration: 30 minutes

Showing on VH2.

Coldplay (Music)

Video Exclusive.

Exclusive first play of the brand new video The Hardest Part, which features Coldplay playing on an 80s daytime TV show while a very special dance routine takes place. Director: Mary Wigmore

Starting: 23:05 on Wednesday 22nd March. Duration: 5 minutes

Showing on Channel 4.

Coldplay (Music)

Starting: 21:00 on Sunday 26th March. Duration: 1 hour

Showing on VH2.

Oasis vs. Coldplay (Entertainment)

Check out back-to-back videos from Oasis and Coldplay.

Starting: 12:00 on Monday 27th March. Duration: 2 hours

Showing on VH2.

The hairdos they are a changin' for Chris Martin, who is currently on a break from the music biz.

The usually clean-cut Coldplay singer was looking somewhat dishevelled when he was snapped strolling around New York's Tribeca district on Thursday. Sporting an unruly mop of curls, a smattering of stubble and large shades, 29-year-old Chris was a dead ringer for Bob Dylan. One eagle-eyed shopper tells us: "I nearly didn't recognise him with his big head of curls, but his outfit and shades were cool."

Time to go a knock, knock, knockin' on a stylist's door, Chris - the Bob doesn't suit you.

Source: mirror.co.uk

[Thanks Nettie for the scan]

It was not hard to see why the uber-hip Brit band Coldplay generates as much hype and hysteria as U2, the band they're most often compared to, last night at Scotiabank Place.

Women. Lots and lots of women. Glammed up and gorgeous, they were everywhere last night, making up most of the sellout crowd of 15,000 there to see the thinking woman's boy band. Why all these women made Coldplay's scene was easy -- who else is as cute and writes about women and relationships as affectionately as Coldplay did in their 90-minute set?

No one, not even U2.

Fronted by the laconic, doe-eyed Martin with "the other guys," guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman and drummer Will Champion, the band melted hearts with a gorgeously romantic set of 18 tunes, primarily from 2005's X&Y and their seminal 2002 release A Rush of Blood to the Head.

Read the full review here

Looking to build a social networking site to rival News Corporation’s MySpace.com, TransMedia said Thursday its upcoming service will carry songs from the digital music service The Orchard, which offers a catalog of more than 800,000 songs.

In addition to its Glide Music Social Network and personal profiles, the New York City-based service lets users share their online photos and communicate through audio and video conferencing, as well as text and email.

The service, an extension of the Glide Effortless service the company introduced last December, also offers shopping features so users can purchase items such as photo prints, chocolate, and soon music and ring tones. Users can also buy expanded storage for photos and other files.

The ring tones will include music from groups like Green Day, Coldplay, Bob Marley, Ravi Shankar, and Ween. Customers can even download the voice of the late Pope John Paul II and comedian Lewis Black to their cell phones.

More on this here

Street Magician Dynamo, seen recently on both ITV and Channel 4, is set to release his debut DVD produced by Dynamo and Mastermind Management on Wednesday 9th November: "Underground Magic is a unique combination of magic, music and street hustle.

Filmed in the style of a Hip Hop 'mix-tape', it features jaw dropping magic and some of the biggest names in the world of entertainment. The DVD follows Dynamo, from his street performances as he amazes passers-by, to his numerous live bookings around the world including the Snoop Dogg and Coldplay tours.

Hosted by this years 'best hip-hop MOBO award' winner Sway and British rapper Pyrelli, it also features appearances from Chris Martin (Coldplay), Snoop Dogg, The Game, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ian Brown, Mike Skinner, Graham Norton, Kevin Hart (Scary Movie 3) and many more." The DVD will be available from dynamoworld.com for £14.99 + p&p. However you can pre-order from now for just £10.00 plus p&p.

More on this here

The Junkie XL/Francois K/J. Lu Cont Mixes of Coldplay's 'Talk' have reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart.

'Talk' itself has also re-entered the Hot 100 at number 99.

More on this here [thanks musicman1990]

More acts have been announced for the Isle of Wight Festival, which takes place from Friday 9th June until Sunday 11th June 2006 at Seaclose Park Newport, Isle of Wight.

Joining the bill on the Sunday are legendary act Procol Harum, whose 'Whiter Shade Of Pale' is surely known by everyone (isn't it?). Also new for the Sunday, and opening the stage that day are Skyline Heroes, who are the winners of the high school Battle of Bands competions. And joining the Saturday line-up are Scotland's dynamic duo, The Proclaimers.

More on this here

With wireless song sharing on the horizon, the record industry is keen to avoid the tracks of its internet tears and cash in this time

It's enough to leave record-label executives trembling: researchers in Sweden are developing an application that could allow music to be sent wirelessly from one mobile device to another. It's a concept that threatens content owners' rights and, especially, revenue, just as illicit internet file sharing does.

EMI hopes to deter mobile music users from acting illegally by promoting legal downloads. It recently undertook a trial with Nokia in Finland where, in the controlled environment of a coffee shop, consumers could stream songs and music-related content. In the UK, it promoted Coldplay's album X&Y by offering streaming content at railway stations.

Read the full article here

Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl was thrilled when Chris Martin offered him a trip in his private plane - until he saw the aircraft menu.

Coldplay had chartered a jet from Lisbon, Portugal, back to London following the MTV Europe Music Awards last November, and had enough room for the American band. However, Martin's clean-living lifestyle left carnivorous Grohl missing his meat meals.

He says, "It sucked because it was all vegetarian food and you couldn't smoke, so it was like, this is lame! We're stuck on this thing for two hours."

More on this story here [thanks radioactive_coldplayer]

Even though we share a common language and history with our British cousins across the pond, there are some things they do that are simply perplexing. Cricket instead of hockey. Tea instead of Tim Hortons. Coldplay instead of, you know, a band with testicles and stuff.

Now comes Hex (tonight at 8 on Space, Cable 43), an import from England's Sky One satellite network that's part Buffy the Vampire Slayer, part Mean Girls and undeniably British. It's the teen dramedy as seen through a scary Gypsy's crystal ball, yet with more adult content than The O.C. could ever hope to get away with.

Carrie should probably be added to Hex's list of inspirations, what with naive heroine Cassie (Christina Cole, Amanda Bynes's wicked stepsister from What a Girl Wants) being an outsider who is suddenly bestowed with telekinetic powers. Just you guys wait until prom!

Read the full article here

The excitement about Powter in America comes on the heels of the 34-year-old's phenomenal year across the ocean, where he has already sold a total of one million albums. "Bad Day" beat out Coldplay, U2, and James Blunt to top an airplay survey of the biggest European radio hits of the year, which is based on the playlists of 100 radio stations across the continent. He also topped the individual airplay charts for the year in France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Australia, among others.

Powter's debut album, which the artist has described as "keyboard music on steroids," was produced by Mitchell Froom, who is known for his work with Suzanne Vega, Los Lobos, and Richard Thompson. American tour dates to support Daniel Powter are currently in the works.

Read the full article here

It’s A Sell Out! The Isle Of Wight Festival 2006 has sold out.

With headline acts including Coldplay, Foo Fighters, Prodigy and Placebo, The Isle of Wight Festival is one hot ticket and with tickets now completely sold out, it just got even hotter!

The sell out comes just days after organisers announced that Foo Fighters and Coldplay had joined the ever expanding line up – especially exciting given that this will be Coldplay’s ONLY live date in Europe this summer.

More on this here