Coldplay's UK arena tour 2008 may be a distant memory, but new photos of various concerts have been published online by photographer Peter Hill.

A few of his photos are below, to see them all visit his website here. The photos are from the following venues: Sheffield Arena, Birmingham NIA (x3), Liverpool Echo Arena, Glasgow SECC (x2) and the London O2 Arena.

This photo says it all really! More on this and tonights concert in Bologna here

Photocredit: volabologna.it

Pictures courtesy of blesk.cz of Coldplay arriving in Prague, Czech Republic today ahead of their concert at the O2 Arena.

More on this here onwards [thanks Marty McFly]

Cast your daily vote for Coldplaying.com in the Best Unofficial Music Site at the 2008 BT Digital Music Awards

Here are exclusive pictures of Coldplay singer Chris Martin arriving at a hotel in Stockholm, Sweden, before two concerts at the city's Globe Theater last week. Also arriving was Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman and guitarist Jonny Buckland.

An insider says: ‘The Coldplay frontman never rests and he is the most active person. CHRIS doesn’t sleep and he couldn’t sleep any better before he got success. That’s just what he’s like. If you plugged him in you could power a small Scottish town with all of his energy.’

See all the pictures in the gallery here

Cast your daily vote for Coldplaying.com in the Best Unofficial Music Site at the 2008 BT Digital Music Awards

Good afternoon. Here are some pictures which we didn't have time/space/fast enough connection for from yesterday's live blog.

Figuring out how to play the new version of Talk in the soundcheck

Chris, pondering

Warming up for the show...

Moments before taking the stage

Chris on guitar

Chris on piano

Chris on fire

It's fair to say the refreshments stall wasn't very busy during the show

The crowd (which the band all agreed were absolutely amazing last night)

The Lovers In Japan confetti canons in full effect

It was a very fun day.

Anchorman

Click to cast your daily vote for Coldplay.com in the BT Digital Music Awards

Coldplay and their staff are making an extra special effort for their online fans today with a live Lyon photoblog throughout the day. Here's what coldplay.com had to say:

8.45am: Good morning. We're pleased to announce that we're heading to Lyon with Coldplay today, from where we'll be updating the site with behind-the-scenes footage throughout the afternoon and evening. So keep it locked (as they say) to Coldplay.com. Anchorman

You can keep in touch with discussions on the live Lyon photoblog as it happens right here onwards [thanks jenjie]

Coldplay performed an intimate gig for Radio 2, featuring songs from their album Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends, along with some of their classic hits, on Saturday 30 August 2008. BBC have now released pictures from the gig, some of which are below.

See all the pictures here [thanks Lore & mimixxx]

The KIIS FM website have now uploaded some pictures of Chris Martin’s visit on 17th July - you can view them here. You can also listen to the whole interview or download it in the multimedia forum.

Coldplay.com: A few snaps from Coldplay's 'Tonight Show' appearance:

New pictures of Coldplay's Chris Martin signing autographs for fans when the band were in Barcelona, Spain, where they performed a live free concert in the Palau Sant Jordi, to promote the new album Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends on 17th June 2008. See the rest of the pictures at the Coldplaying Gallery.

Full review and poll: 12 Coldplay Months of 2010: SEPTEMBER (4 heading for Las Vegas?)

Continuing our 2010 review, in September, after rolling out a new lineup of iPod models, Chris Martin took the stage to perform Wedding Bells on piano [download], as well as Viva La Vida and Yellow, at the end of a press conference for Apple's new company products at the Yerba Buena Centre in San Francisco. Introducing Wedding Bells, Chris who was wearing a white Flaming Lips t-shirt, joked: "This is a new song called 'Coldplay 2.6' and it has a lot of new features, it features seven different kinds of chords and even a new one that our closest rivals have no idea about," before adding: "This could be the only time you ever hear it. It could go terribly wrong but we'll see what happens."

Meanwhile, Chris Martin was a surprise performer in New York on 13th September as he joined hip-hop's two biggest stars - Jay-Z and Eminem - as they headlined Yankee Stadium in the borough, in a grand show of how hip-hop has grown from Bronx party music to stadium-filler. Phil Harvey tweeted about the show, annotating the picture he sent with "Last night at Yankee Stadium. Jay-Z, undisputed King of New York. Chris went onstage for Heart of the City, Most Kings and Viva. pH

September saw Coldplaying find out that Coldplay and Jay-Z had reportedly agreed a multi-million dollar deal to play a concert together on New Year's Eve, at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas resort to see in 2011. The event was being organised by celebrity party planner Colin Cowie and would be invite only with no tickets being put on general sale to the public. Guests would be treated to separate sets from Coldplay and Jay-Z before the two acts take to the stage together. Beyonce Knowles was also said to be planning to perform in Las Vegas on the same night so she could be with her husband to celebrate the landmark date.

Read the full September 2010 Coldplay review article in the Coldplay forum here

Photos of Chris Martin performing at Apple Keynote event (1st September 2010):

Full review and poll: 12 Coldplay Months of 2010: AUGUST (5 Crests of Waves) [thanks aniskywalker]

In August, Coldplay extended their publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group to cover future song writing. Financial terms or the length of the contract was not revealed. Universal has been the band’s publisher since 2007 when the music major acquired BMG Music Publishing, the group's original publisher. Dave Holmes of 3D Management, the band's manager added: "Coldplay and myself are pleased to continue our relationship with Universal Music Publishing. Paul and Caroline are the best in the business and we are happy to be a part of their ever growing family," Holmes continued.

A new song featuring Jay-Z and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin emerged online in August. Most Kingz is a previously unreleased cut from Jay-Z's latest album, Kingdom Come, but never made it as a beat was never found. Pieces of the verses ended up on the Grammy Family freestyle on Hot97 w/ Funk Flex in 2006 as well as Coldplay’s Lost (remix).

With the lack of reports from Roadie #42, and #43 on an apparent haitus, enter Roadie #44 - The Beehive janitor’s blog to satisfy the masses. Janitor, you ask? Well of course; the band needs to someone to keep the Beehive relatively clean while they are away. The hours are great; it’s not your typical 9-to-5 job. Although there’s no music-making going on in the studio “at the moment”, and Roadie #42 was ordered to take a break, he does still occasionally pop in from time to time. He just can’t stay away! And I also occasionally see this tall, “lanky lad” bringing cigarettes to and from the Beehive. I haven’t asked his name, and he otherwise doesn’t look familiar. I’m just going to pretend that he’s Guy’s personal assistant.

Chris took to his surfboard on exclusive Long Island, in New York's The Hamptons. The 33-year-old, an accomplished surfer, showed off his skills as the sun set. Wearing board shorts and a wetsuit shirt, Martin caught wave after wave. Chris was seen later sporting a cast on his foot after reportedly injuring himself in a surfing accident. His board time is said to have been hampered after he hurt his right ankle last week and he has been photographed wearing a cast while he recovers from the injury, according to The Sun. They wrote: "It looks like Chris is a happy man at the moment. He even pulled off some ridiculous squat poses for the cameras. It's great to see him looking so relaxed. It might be down to his new fitness regime, which he has stepped up in the past few months. He has been surfing every morning and hitting the gym - until injury struck. The surf dude mentality is also creeping into their music, with a real change of direction on their new album. After the epic feel of Viva La Vida, the new material is a more stripped-back affair with an acoustic feel."

Read the full August 2010 Coldplay review article in the Coldplay forum here [thanks aniskywalker]

Pictures of Chris Martin surfing at Long Island, New York (7-8 August 2010):

As part of Coldplaying's Erasmus boat trip excursion for Coldplay's Christmas Lights video last month, Coldplay roadies Matt McGinn and Miller, along with fifth member Phil Harvey were able to provide some excellent online Q&A to Coldplayers who were on the boat (and some who weren't). In the final installment of our Q&A session, last but not least to answer our questions is popular roadie Miller, who answers questions on soundchecks, online future of Coldplay, instrumentation and much more! You can discuss the Q&A here at the Coldplay forum. Read on for Miller's answers. [thanks Debs Wild]

Q. Miller once mentioned that he has a huge hard drive full of demo recordings. So is he the one responsible of archiving them? How many versions do usually exist of one song until its final version is made? What was the song that changed most from original idea to finished product? - Anna R...

A. I record all the soundchecks when the guys are on tour and keep an itunes library of anything that gets played that might end up as a new song - from Will playing a drum pattern that works with a funny slapback echo in the venue to the whole band playing through a song that’s been in the works for months. Similarly, in the studio, there is an iTunes library that contains all of the ideas and work in progress. The evolution of the songs is mainly a matter of the feel and the attitude changing. For example, Lost began as a very fragile sounding piano piece and ended up very swaggering and full - but the chords, words and melody remained almost completely intact. I have to say though (going off question a little) that my favourite recordings are the daft songs that the band do about the crew. They tend to get made up on the spot and are very very funny. I think almost all of of us have had one dedicated to us at one point over the years, my personal favourite being “Don’t go sailing with Brian Leitch”. This was dedicated to the band’s old lighting designer after hearing about an incident he had on his beloved yacht which ended with coast guard assistance...

Q. I really love all the multimedia contributions you do at Coldplay.com. Are you planning something special for the next era? - Angie Castille

A. Thanks Angie. The great thing about working online is the speed at which what’s possible changes. Each time we gear up for a new campaign, the whole online world is different. There’s some very exciting things being discussed that we couldn’t have even conceived of back at the start of VIVA or X&Y. Similarly, ideas we had then that seemed too ambitious now have very real ways of achieving them. Everyone seems very excited about making Coldplay.Com absolutely outstanding in the next few years and I can’t wait!

Q. Well I was curious if any of the guys keept their own personal tour diary? We get perspectives from Roadie 42, the oracle, and anchorman, but I wanted to know if they ever wrote down their own memories just for themselves not to be shared with the public. Do ya'll do the same? Maybe not necessarily a tour diary but when something momentous happens, do you write it down? Kimberly

A. Pretty much all of my thoughts find their way out on the website. I did think for a while about keeping a personal diary, but there just aren’t enough hours in the day really!

Q. Do you find it freaky that fans recognise you and want pictures of you as much as the band? Jen

A. Hmmn, well obviously, I have no idea what you mean. I do know though, that Roadie #42 is actually a very shy fella, which is partly why he chose to write under a pseudonym. He’s never really wanted to write about himself, just his observations of the band and the audience, so the blog isn’t really *about* him, as much as the world he sees around him each day. Sometimes he feels a little guilty when people are so friendly to him and he just dives off in the other direction, but maintaining the mystique is very important! ;-)

Q. My question is a bit selfish, but I was wondering if you'd be able to give any advice to someone looking to work in the music industry, particularly in the more administrative/managerial side of things, in the coming years. I'm just about to graduate university, and I'm deciding what steps to take next in order to get closer to my dream of working for a band much as you all do, and was wondering if you had any advice. Thanks! - Chelsea Gilchrist

A. I’ve never been involved in the managerial side of things, but I’m sure that it’s not that much different to the roadie world where nobody is born knowing what to do - you just have to get in there and get your hands dirty and learn on the job. Any chance you get to get involved with people who are doing the job you want to do you should take - even if you feel a bit nervous at first. There might be a venue near you that books bands, or maybe a radio station or a management company or booking agents. Just introduce yourself and ask if there’s anything you can do to help out. Always ask questions, always be enthusiastic and never think you’re above doing the more shitty jobs. Almost any experience is good experience as long as you learn from it. I wish I could say that you no longer need to be in big cities to get involved in the music industry. Unfortunately though, it still seems to be the case. I grew up in a tiny seaside town a long long way from London. I had a couple of friends who also wanted to do music and all we ever talked about was getting out and moving to London. I could have stayed there and still done something involving music, I’m sure, but if I’m honest, I don’t think I’d have got the opportunities that led me here.

Q. Some of the instruments used in Viva La Vida sound distorted, or a combination of instruments that the band don't always play. The piano throughout the song sounds either treated or an earlier version of the instrument, and the extended instrumental section between the chorus and verse (1:38 onwards) sounds like a combination of electric guitar with distortion pedal, steel guitar or distorted/treated harpsichord? What instruments were used / treated for Viva La Vida? Phil Stewart

A. I’m pretty sure that the sound you’re talking about is the ‘Tack Piano’. Rather than being a piano sound distorted or processed by studio equipment, this is actually a real instrument that lives in the Bakery. Rik Simpson, who engineered and co-produced Viva, told me that Chris first used a tack piano at a studio in New York called The Magic Shop, where he fell in love with the sound. Its unique tone and attack comes from the wooden hammers that hit the piano strings actually having metal tacks (or ‘drawing pins’ in UK language) pushed into them. This is what gives it the very bright, brittle sound (as you say, a little like a harpsichord). When the band got back to London, they bought a cheap piano and a box of drawing pins and made their own tack piano. It’s also on the main riff of Lovers In Japan. In order to get this sound on tour, Rik actually recorded every single key of the Bakery tack piano and made a sampler instrument that is played from the little keyboards near Jonny on stage.

Q. Hi, I'm a big fan of the lovely photographs that you take for the website and blog, did you train in photography and video production specifically in the past, and have you worked on any other big projects in the past? – Kara Thomas

A. Thank you very much Kara, you’re very kind! I haven’t done any formal training in photography or video. I’ve always taken photos, as my dad was a keen photographer who explained a lot to me about how the technical side worked. I’ve also got video footage I shot of friends bands from back when I was at school. (you used to be able to rent video cameras from a shop on the high street if you gave them your parent’s passport as security!). I did train in audio production, which led me into the Coldplay job in the first place. I did find when I started fiddling with photos and video more, that a lot of the techniques you use making music have similarities on the visual side of things. For example, fiddling with EQ to make an instrument sound less muddy and more crisp is very similar to fiddling with the colour balance or contrast of a photograph or video clip to make it more pleasing. Once you’ve got into the habit of sitting in front of the laptop playing around with sliders until you like the result, you’re pretty much on the way with whatever you decide to attempt... Now that everyone can have a recording studio, a photographic darkroom and an video editing suite in their laptops means that everyone can do everything. I don’t think that people will think in terms of “photographer” or “recording engineer” so much in the long term future - people will just be media producers. I’ve done a few things for other bands since doing Coldplay, but to be honest, they keep me busy enough that they’ve been nearly all that’s passed through my laptop since 2002!

Q. What is your most memorable experience working with Coldplay so far? – Deshani

A. This is actually quite a difficult question to answer, as we’re still in the midst of what I’ll undoubtedly look back on as an amazing period in my life. I think the most vivid and exciting period was my first US tour with them in 2002, when I’d first been given the job. I’d never toured America before and every week or so, we’d do a show that was bigger than the previous “biggest show I’d ever done”. It was pretty clear that they were going to be something special (after years of working for bands who never quite “got there”). It was incredible to be around people who wanted to work that hard and who were being as warmly and enthusiastically accepted wherever they went. It also didn’t hurt that it was such a lovely bunch of people to be sharing the experience with!

Q. What would you like for christmas? - emily parker

A. Well, I’m answering this on December 29th, so it’s kind of been and gone. The run up to Christmas was unusually chaotic this year with the song coming out and all the madness of making videos, TV and radio shows, getting ready for gigs and so on that goes along with it. I was looking forward to getting home and collapsing in a heap for a few days - and that’s exactly what I did!

[thanks to Coldplay roadie Miller for answering our questions!]

Voting is closed but you can keep track of the countdown to your favourite albums of 2010:

Full review and poll: 12 Coldplay Months of 2010: JULY (6 articles for the month) [thanks Destrokk]

From the Bakery to the Beehive to the Greenhouse! In July, The Sun reported that Coldplay had crammed so much plant life into new studios that their support staff have labelled it "The Greenhouse." The Sun continued, "Frontman Chris Martin is taking a keen interest in horticulture at the moment. And at a recent garden party at his north London home he bored, sorry, told pals, including Richard Ashcroft, all about it. It's taken such a hold that pot plants in the tiny studios - also in north London - are everywhere. A pal said: "With all the greenery in there it's now a real squeeze."

As part of the countdown to the 10th anniversary of Coldplay's debut album, Parachutes, Coldplaying looked back on the recording process, courtesy of producer Ken Nelson, and as part of the memoirs of the first album era, we also looked back on a special interview of the band, courtesy of NME, at a time when the music magazine used to like Coldplay, of course...

Meanwhile, The rapper and producer Swizz Beatz, announced in July that he was producing material with Coldplay. It has not yet been confirmed whether the song(s) will make the cut for Coldplay's LP5, but Swizz Beatz has previously worked with Coldplay three years ago on a mix called Part of the Plan so this is not the first time the two artists had combined together.

Read the full July 2010 Coldplay review article in the Coldplay forum here [thanks Destrokk]

Ken Nelson, the producer for Coldplay's first album, Parachutes

Full review and poll: 12 Coldplay Months of 2010: JUNE (7 Antiques Dealt?) [thanks howyousawtheworld]

So June 2010 in the world of Coldplay it is then. What happened? You'd be forgiven for putting your favourite band on the backburner as apparently June saw the entire globe go crazy for something called the World Cup which I vaguely recall come to mention it. We saw Roadie #42 return with two blogs in June. Of course for every #42 blog their surely has to one by the infamous Roadie #43, Coldplaying's own "missionary" into the goings on of the band. June featured a bizarre (to say the least) "interview" with "Chris Martin"...

Will Champion revealed yet more irritations towards the band's record label EMI and Guy Berryman had an interesting month which saw the release of the deluxe edition of Apparatjik's debut album We Are Here and the creation of his own antique's dealing company alongside his brother Mark.

Jon Hopkins came out of the shadows to talk about life with Coldplay to Coldplayzone.it and we also saw another blog from Coldplayings own alternative blogger Roadie #43! Oh and the Pet Shop Boys performed their version of Viva La Vida at Glastonbury!

Read the full June 2010 Coldplay review article in the Coldplay forum here [thanks howyousawtheworld]

So... Roadie #42 returned after a two month absence detailing the strenuous song writing phase the band were going through under Brian Eno's guardianship but also revealing that LP5 had some 'killer tunes' lined up. The blog in question led to some media speculation with several news outlets stating that the new record was scheduled to be released by Christmas - sensationalist or what?!

"Greetings to you from Budapest. I'm nearing the end of a two week break from the studio. We're back in on Monday. I greet you hanging my head and begging forgiveness. Yes, seven weeks is an obscenely long time to be leaving you hanging. Apart from this couple of weeks of being a civilian, my primary distraction has been that they've asked me to get a little more involved engineering on the record. This means I've spent a great deal of time trying to work out exactly what plugs in where and more importantly, why...

Full review and poll: 12 Coldplay Months of 2010: MAY (8 Copies of ROADIE) [thanks mrman78]

May was the month American Idol contestants covered 'The Scientist', Coldplay campaigned to save 6music, the much anticipated 'ROADIE' was delayed but eventually made it to us, Coldplay's fame soared, Glastonbury 2011 rumours began, Ash released 'Slash' footage, Roadie #43 debuted, the EMI drama continued and the Oracle delved into even more of our questions!

Coldplay ruled the roost when it came to combined Facebook, Twitter and YouTube followers, according to Famecount. In May, Coldplay had 3.8 million Facebook fans, 2.8 million Twitter followers and more than 70,000 YouTube subscribers according to Famecount.com, the world's first online media measurement service. It gave the band a Famecount index of 57.9 per cent, making them just over half as popular as Barack Obama, who got a 100 per cent fame count and the No.1 spot when it comes to online presence. Globally, Coldplay came 12th in the world as a social media entity.

After months of anticipation and a slight delay from it's original May 4th release date due to the volcanic ash fiasco, Matt McGuin's book "ROADIE: My Life on the Road with Coldplay" debuted! The forum was a-buzz with discussion and reviews regarding the new book, which is a stonker!

Back in 2002 Ash made headlines with a DIY slasher movie they filmed on a camcorder whilst on tour. The film featured cameos from likes of Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland from Coldplay and the Foo Fighters Dave Grohl. Written by Jed Shepherd, it was never completed and was stored away like the Ark. With their A-Z single series ongoing Ash decided to dig it out it of their archive in May and compiled a 5 minute version - featuring Coldplay and Charlotte Hatherley - to use as an alternative video for current single Binary - letter Q in the series - and released this week.

Read the full May 2010 Coldplay review article in the Coldplay forum here [thanks mrman78]

Ash release 'Slashed' movie footage starring Chris Martin & Jonny Buckland

'ROADIE: My Life on the Road with Coldplay' is Released!

Full review and poll: 12 Coldplay Months of 2010: APRIL (9 Old Photos for Guy) [thanks BerrymanGirl1]

In April, Coldplay.com reported that Guy Berryman wanted you to find old photographs for an art project. The article didn't specifically say it was linked to the forthcoming fifth album, but stranger things had happened. Check out who was participating and posting their old photographs they had sent in, at the Coldplay forum.

Coldplaying got a sneak peak of Roadie Matt McGinn’s book that debut in May and Our very own Jenjie gave us a review: Matt briefly fills us in on life before Coldplay & how he came to be a roadie, but he concentrates most of the book to working for Jonny Buckland & with Coldplay. There is plenty of material to keep you going: from the first time at Glastonbury; the transition from smaller venues to stadiums; life as a roadie and plenty more...

For those avid fans (stalkers?), there's plenty of roadie name-dropping. With appearances from Dan Green, Bash, Hoppy & 42, and a great story about Jackie's crowd control techniques. There's plenty of inside stories about how the show works from the stage & what the venue looks like when you're the roadie on the stage pre-band. For those of us who are missing the Viva tour, there's plenty to bring the memories rushing back.

Coldplay were going cosmic during their latest album recording sessions, following Roadie #42's last blog. Frontman Chris Martin stunned the crew by asking them to build him a model solar system in the band's new studio. A source said: "Chris likes to create a certain mood when he's in full creative flow. He had a real interest in 18th Century revolutionary politics when he was piecing together Viva La Vida. Now he's really got into the universe. The crew scratched their heads a little when he first came up with the request but they're cracking away now."

Work on Coldplay's new album wass going so well the band had been forced to set up a Top Gear-style "cool wall" just to whittle down the best tracks. Coldplay had already written more than 50 songs in their new HQ in Camden, north London. The choice was so great they have had to grade the tunes on the wall of a dedicated room as they map out a tracklist for the new album.

Roadie #42, explained: "The names of every idea have been written down - each on their own piece of card. Inevitably, there's a huge number of cards. From tiny moments that were played only once to things that the fellas have been playing for months now, they're all up there. The cards are first arranged on the wall in terms of A, B and C. The A list are songs that have to go on the record. The B list are songs that might or might not. The C list contains things that are being left. There's enough in the unreleased vaults to outfit an entire career for a pretty successful band. It'd be an interesting project to one day pull out all the songs that fell off along the way - like rummaging through Coldplay's attic.

Read the full April 2010 Coldplay review article in the Coldplay forum here [thanks BerrymanGirl1]

Best of the bunch... track names on wall

Guitar solo... more titles that could make album

Full review and poll: 12 Coldplay Months of 2010: FEBRUARY (*almost* £11k Viva Jacket sold!) [thanks Texasluvsjonny]

In March, The Viva tour rolled into Sao Paulo on Chris's birthday. The Setlist included Shiver, Parabéns pra você/Happy Birthday (sung by Will to Chris) and Don Quixote/Spanish Rain. Roadie #42 joined the fellas for a spot of sushi on the first night in Rio De Janeiro. Outside the hotel was quite a crowd of lovely folks who were so overjoyed to see the fellas that they stood on the kerb below and sang the entire Coldplay catalogue up to the open windows above. Will in particular, remarked upon how impressive some of the polyrhythmic clapping had been. Only in Brazil...

Without Chris Martin and Guy Berryman, Coldplay visited Ronaldo and team-mates at Parque São Jorge, Corinthians team stadium. See the pictures of Coldplay with the team after the jump. With their own names on the back of their shirts, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion and Phil Harvey talked with Ronaldo, Edu, Pablo Andres and also posed for the photographers. The team president Andrés Sanches was in the stadium for another event and revealed that he didn't know Coldplay were in the country, admitting that he does not know anything about their music. "I'm into samba!" he said.

The Oracle confirmed that the puppets had met their end during the Mexico trip. They were last seen in Guadalajara. The Oracle didn't say exactly how they met their demise, but I have my theory....Guadalajara.....ground zero for tequila....my spiritual home land.... Some puppets, just can't hang...

Read the full February 2010 Coldplay review article in the Coldplay forum here [thanks Texasluvsjonny]

RIP Puppets...

Coldplay play football with Ronaldo at Sport Club Corinthians Paulista (3rd March 2010):

Full review and poll: 12 Coldplay Months of 2010: FEBRUARY (*almost* £11k Viva Jacket sold!) [thanks Showbiz]

Back in February, an eBay auction of pop memorabilia from some of Britain's biggest acts raised around £50,000 ($80,000) for survivors of the Haiti earthquake, organizers Oxfam said. Among the top lots sold was Chris Martin's "Viva La Vida" tour jacket, which fetched £9,600.

Meanwhile, for Roadie #42, the Beehive was really beginning to feel like home. The builders' dust had settled, the smell of paint has faded and they'd established little workspaces, spreading instruments, equipment and tea cups around the place in equal measure.

February also saw the first show of Coldplay’s Latin America 2010 tour, and revealed the premiere of a brand new song, Don Quixote/Spanish Rain, which left the messageboard very happy about new material!

The future of EMI, the British record label behind Coldplay, Robbie Williams, Madonna and Lily Allen, was plunged into doubt in February when it admitted to making massive losses. The 113-year-old company slumped to a pre-tax loss of £1.75 billion in the last financial year and was struggling to repay bank loans. Its private equity owner, Terra Firma, had been forced to demand extra money, at least £105 million, from its investors to meet terms of the deal set by lender Citicorp. If it failed to, the US bank could seize control of EMI.

Read the full February 2010 Coldplay review article in the Coldplay forum here [thanks Showbiz]

Pictures of Coldplay at Apoteose Stadium, Rio De Janeiro (28th February 2010):

Full review and poll: 12 Coldplay Months of 2010: JANUARY (Twelve highest bidding Coldplayers take home nostalgia) [thanks clisaj]

Back in January, Chris Martin and Glastonbury festival organiser Emily Eavis urged people to donate to Oxfam's appeal for eathquake victims in Haiti, which was launched in reaction to the deadly quake that struck the country on January 12. Coldplay, accompanied by Viva violinist Davide Rossi, performed a stunningly beautiful unplugged version of A Message, and Chris performed an equally stunning rendition of Halo with Beyonce at the London studios of the Haiti telethon in Covent Garden for the victims of the Haiti earthquake. You can relive the performances with video download links via the multimedia forum.

If you recall, last December Coldplay held an auction to sell 10 years worth of their most treasured nostalgia and instruments, with all proceeds going to the charity Kids Company. Dedicated Coldplayers ponied up some serious cash, with the TOP TWELVE highest bidding auction winners taking home the following...

1 - Jonny's Viva Guitar - Jason-DeBord - £15,000 ($23,578.50)

2 - Parachutes Globe - NumbersGirl - £8,100 ($12,732.40)

3 - Strawberry Swing Outfit - lo&loud - £6,100 ($9,588.60)

4 - Takamine Guitar - lo&loud - £5,800 ($9,117.00)

5 - Chris' Gibson J200 "A Message" - bonedaddy - £5,650 ($8,881.20)

6 - Guy's Viva Jacket - Afeather - £4,800 ($7,545.12)

7 - Chris' Yamaha CP70 - christopher Martin - £4,000 ($6,287.60)

8 - Autoharp - silver.lining42 - £3,600 ($5,658.84)

9 - Jonny's Fender Thinline Telecaster - Texasluvsjonny - £3,500 ($5,501.65)

10 - Fender Rhodes piano - lo&loud - £2,505 ($3,937.60)

11-Will's Drum from "Talk" video - lo&loud - £1,850 ($2,908.00)

12-Yellow Lith #1 - DriftedFar^ - £1,021.83 ($1,606.20)

Read the full January 2010 Coldplay review article in the Coldplay forum here [thanks clisaj]

Coldplay play at the London studios of the 'Help For Haiti Now' telethon (22nd January 2010):

In December, Coldplay was featured in the Q Magazine's Artist of The Decade. The band's article was written by Glastonbury's Michael Eavis, and Coldplay were nominated for two Grammy Awards 2010 (for Life In Technicolor ii). The Categories are Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals and Best Short Form Music Video.

Wembley concerts weren't the last Coldplay shows of the decade, the band announced an intimate show in Exeter (Chris's hometown), with all proceeds going to Mencap's amazing work with people with a learning disability in the UK. Just 500 tickets were available. This was a very special gig and the band was very excited, especially Chris: "I don't think there could be a better way to end the decade... La Roux, Lily Allen, Jo Whiley - what more can you ask for? We're proud to support Mencap and, for me, it's exciting to play my hometown. We haven't played there since 2000. It's going to be really, really special."

The setlist in Exeter was very special and included Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and Happy Christmas (War Is Over), John Lennon's cover. Some fans were lucky enough to meet the band. Too bad Guy doesn't like Shiver: "Karen asked him to play Shiver to which he replied no, even though she had stood outside so long to buy tickets He said it'd never sound as good as it did and to ask Guy as he is the one who always vetoes it."

The Sun posted some news about next Coldplay's album. The band aim to release the album in 2010, a lot earlier than anyone expected - not least their label EMI. They have only one more album to deliver before they can move elsewhere, which will cause a huge stir in the industry. Chris plans to test the songs early in 2010 on their closest pals by inviting them to the church to hear them live. The band will then record "as live" in the church, then aim to do a tour of smaller venues for fans to hear the new stuff. The late James Brown was known in music circles as the hardest working man in show business, but these boys are doing everything they can to take the title from the Godfather Of Soul. So far, we don't have any official info, but we all hope to hear new stuff soon!

Coldplay surprised us all announcing the End of Decade Clearout Sale. The sale included guitars, clothes and lots of more Coldplay important memorabilia. You can see the full catalogue here. The sale raised a lot of money and Coldplaying members spent £70,000, that's about 25% of the total amount raised in the auction!

Read the full December 2009 Coldplay review article in the Coldplay forum here [thanks Lore, SueDeNimes and analoeskah]

Coldplay in Exeter

With The 'Viva La Vida' tour over all but for several charity concerts and the long awaited Latin America tour in 2010, you would be forgiven for thinking that November was a boring year in 2009’s Coldplay calendar. The Oracle is still in residence, and the boys are in the studio.

Roadie #42 causes Beehive craziness - in his blog #109 he talks about being confused, sleeping on an air-bed below the uniforms and their smell... but also gave us the news that there would be a new studio! It's the skanky looking Beehive. Roadie goes on to say:

Even though it's in a mess right now, the one thing that you can't help noticing as you wander amongst the rubble is how much light there is everywhere. Studios can very often feel like underground bunkers. Soundproofing is somewhat all or nothing and windows can often get trampled in the rush to keep the neighbours happy...

Not so here at the Beehive, though. Everywhere you go there's light streaming in. Even on a relatively gloomy British afternoon, it's noticeably bright inside. I can only imagine that this will be reflected in the new material. Talking of new material, the studio whiteboards are positively exploding with plans, schemes and fragments of fresh ideas. In some places, when Chris has run out of white-board to write on, he's carried right on to the adjacent plaster. It's like the tour was an 18 month session of shaking up the fizzy drink bottle of the band's imagination - and now they're back in the studio, the lid has been unscrewed.

Jonny got married to his girlfriend Chloe in November and the Oracle revealed that not Chris but Will was his best man. Also it was interesting to learn that Mr Buckland hired X-Factor reject Daniel Pierce, revealed The Sun. Coldplay have a long-held fascination with X Factor and have regularly said they like the show. Only recently they sent contestant Stacey Solomon a signed poster and a hand- written note wishing her all the best.

Meanwhile... Apparatjik fans were bursting from anticipation to hear the new single "Electric Eye" which had to be "found" on their (confusing) website from November 30th onwards. And besides various other sites and magazines mentioning Coldplay in their "songs of the decade" lists, Q Magazine's January issue (yes, it came out that early) of course had Coldplay in their list as well. Have a look here to see the scans again.

Read the full November 2009 Coldplay review article in the Coldplay forum here [thanks iPsy & SueDeNimes]

Inside the 'Beehive'

Coldplay joined the Twitterverse way back in January, but after a flurry of tweets from Guy and a little nudge from Anchorman at the end of May, June saw the band reach the magical 7-figure mark of 1,000,000 followers. Being fans of the 140 character social network site ourselves, Anna and I thought we’d use it as the basis for our look back at June on the Coldplay calendar.

By the time the boys got to Indiana on the 5th, it seemed as though Guy had been well and truly bitten by the Twitter bug and he actually tweeted live from the stage. Roadie #42 blogged again on June 7th – this time he was feeling all nostalgic for the good old days when the band was in its infancy, playing to small crowds in tiny venues. (How times change! In the month of June alone, Coldplay played to over a quarter of a million people - yes, fact-fans, we searched each arenas capacity to check our figures on that one!)

#42: I'm stood in the corridor where the band grab a drink and a towel before the encores and I realise that despite all else that surrounds the hugeness of the Coldplay circus, they're still the same four mates who started it all those years ago. As the Viva remix pounds through the walls, they dry the sweat and talk of who came into which chorus too early or who hit the wrong note when. Admittedly, when the show is over they leave by police escort in a screeching cavalcade of flashing lights, rather than pushing a transit van. Inside the van though, not that much has changed.

On 19th June, Anchorman announced on Twitter that Flaming Lips and Bat For Lashes would be joining Coldplay on the European leg of the tour while Coldplaying.com was buzzing about the confirmation that Girls Aloud & Jay-Z would be playing BOTH Wembley Stadium shows. Oxfam had their own reason to celebrate in Canada, as they picked up their 100,000th signature on the Viva tour.

Read the full June 2009 Coldplay review article in the Coldplay forum here [thanks RedGirl76 & SueDeNimes]

May kicked off with much excitement as Anchorman announced that the band would be giving away a free live concert CD. Left Right Left Right Left was made available as a free digital download beginning May 15 with hard disc copies given to each person attending non festival shows for the remaining dates on the Viva tour.

An exchange thread was set up to try and get as many of the hard copy discs to fans as possible. Board members with spares pledged to help members needing copies. It isn’t clear if the discs will be given away on the Latin American Tour next year, but assuming they are, if you still need a disc, you can add your name to the "I can haz spare?" list and maybe you can still get one.

The Viva tour rolled on starting in West Palm Beach Florida on May 15. Many of the shows were hit by rain showers. Singing in the rain lead to Chris getting sick causing the Saratoga Springs to be postponed. It was rescheduled at the expense of a planned and announced Jones Beach show. Scranton was cancelled due to a scheduling conflict and refunds or tickets to the Hershey show were offered to fans in exchange. Set List stayed the same at all shows except for ‘Georgia on My Mind’ played in Atlanta...

The "everybody and their mother wrote Viva La Viva except Coldplay" got really hopping in May with Yusuf Islam aka Cat Stevens jumping on the Coldplay ripped me off bandwagon. Joining Creaky Boards and Joe Satriani, he claimed Viva La Vida was taken from his 1970s track 'Foreigner Suite'. However my (Texasluvsjonny's) personal fav claim to the song came from the The Huffington Post:

"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 "Foreigner Suite" from his 1973 album "The Foreigner." So to be honest here, I'm not exactly sure if I actually stole "Viva La Vida" from Coldplay, from Cat Stevens, from Joe Satriani or from some obscure band called the Creaky Boards who actually called their version of our collective hit "The Songs I Didn't Write." But rather than waste any time haggling and trying to figure out who's actually right here, let me make a very modest proposal to keep get this peace train back on the rails. Why don't we all just split the royalties for "Viva La Vida" equally among the five of us? It's only fair, right? Heck, because the stock market went up today , I'll sweeten the pot a little and declare right here in the Huffington Post that if Coldplay agrees to my plan by midnight Friday night, I will personally treat the entire extended "Viva La Vida" writing team to dinner at a participating Red Lobster to be mutually agreed upon -- assuming someone can spot me an advance on my royalties. 'Viva La Vida' indeed!"

Read the full May 2009 Coldplay review article in the Coldplay forum here [thanks Texasluvsjonny & BerrymanGirl1]

In April British newspaper the Mirror reported that Coldplay frontman Chris Martin had banded together with Sacha Baron Cohen —in his guise as gay Austrian TV personality Bruno—to record a single. Martin has also developed a reputation as a musical do-gooder, particularly with his support of fair trade practices. But that didn't stop the pair from playing along with Cohen's [April Fools] spoof.

The song, which has already been partially recorded at legendary Abbey Road studios, bears the couplet, 'For people of Africa who live in hell/ They will never wear Chanel.' "Chris Martin was in stitches throughout the recording and only just managed to get his lines out," says a spy at the session.

Also in April 2009, with a then astounding 425,408 followers, Coldplay passed the king of Twitter Stephen Fry's 370,110 followers to become the most-followed UK celebrity. An iphone app that lets you tap along to favorite songs was released as a special Coldplay edition. It was originally released with 10 of the band's major singles and artwork inspired by their videos.

Meanwhile in the land of Satriani...

Read the full April 2009 Coldplay review article in the Coldplay forum here [thanks Space Cadet & akasapple]