Thousands of music fans flocked to Crystal Palace to see Coldplay kick off their UK tour. They wowed a sell-out crowd at the National Sports Centre for the past two nights.

The concerts came during a packed week for the band, who headlined the Glastonbury festival on Saturday and will be taking part in the Live 8 gig in Hyde Park this weekend.

Fans descended on Crystal Palace from across the UK to watch the gigs and hear songs from the group's new album X&Y, which has topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. Tickets for both nights sold out within days of going on sale, bringing 30,000 capacity crowds to the venue. Wimbledon's teenage tennis sensation Andy Murray was among those expected to be there.

Thousands more people headed to Crystal Palace Park on Monday evening to listen to the gig from outside, enjoying picnics and barbecues in the sunshine. And restaurants, pubs and bars in Upper Norwood triangle were packed, with people spilling out onto the pavements before the gig.

Crystal Palace station was packed as concert-goers tried to make their way home by train. Crowd management arrangements were put in place, with different coloured channels telling people which way to go to catch trains to Croydon, London Bridge or Victoria.

Southern Trains diverted services from other routes to cope with demand but admitted they were unprepared for the extra passenger numbers. A spokesman said: "There were more people than we anticipated using the train but we still managed to get them all away by midnight."

The level of service was being reviewed yesterday (Tuesday) with the possibility of more trains being added for last night's concert.

Crystal Palace National Sports Centre was one of just three venues chosen by Coldplay for their short UK tour, which is also taking them as far afield as Bolton and Glasgow.

An extra 55,000 free tickets are to be released for Saturday's Live 8 concert in London after city authorities agreed to allocate more audience space at the Hyde Park venue.

Live 8 organizers said on Monday that the concert, headlined by Coldplay, U2 and Pink Floyd, would also be extended an extra 90 minutes to close at 9:30 p.m. (2030 GMT). The extra tickets will be distributed to first-comers at four ticket offices in London as well as in six locations across Britain from 3 p.m. (1400 GMT) on Wednesday.

There were more than 2 million applications by mobile phone text for the initial 150,000 tickets. "This is going to be the biggest even in Hyde Park's history and the biggest ticketed event ever in the UK," said organizer Bob Geldof.

The size of the concert means the entire park, in the heart of the British capital, will be closed to the public. The London concert is one of eight being held around the world to pressure global leaders meeting in Scotland next month to do more to relieve poverty in Africa.

The tickets, restricted to two per person, will be issued in London at the Carling Hammersmith Apollo, The Apollo Victoria, The Dominion Theatre and at Stargreen Tickets in Argyll Street.

Elsewhere, tickets will be available at the Birmingham Alexandra Theatre, the Bristol Hippodrome, Cardiff International Arena, Manchester Palace Theatre, the Oxford New Theatre and at Southampton Guildhall.

X&Y is at the number one spot in the US and UK album charts for the third week.

The album notched up just over 1million sales in its first two weeks of release stateside, and now having sold around 186,000 copies this week has booked a third week at the top of the billboard chart.

The album is simultaneously at the top spot of the album chart in the UK where it’s also residing for a third week. UK sales are expected to boom even more after Coldplay's stunning performance at Glastonbury, and their current British tour.

Eighties rock legends Queen have launched a stinging attack on anthemic rockers COLDPLAY - claiming all their songs sound the same.

Coldplay's single Speed Of Sound was kept off the top of the British charts by Crazy Frog's Axel-F, a novelty hit based on a mobile phone ringtone - but Queen drummer Roger Taylor favours the frog over Coldplay's offering.

Taylor says, "I actually prefer it to the Coldplay record," and adds, "everything they do sounds too similar."

New pictures of Coldplay at Glastonbury 2005 have been added to the site. Click here to see them.

Coldplay paid tribute to Kylie Minogue at the 'most important gig of their lives', headlining the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury 2005.

The band kicked off their encore with a cover of the star’s 2001 Number One hit ’Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’. Minogue was forced to pull out of her Glastonbury Pyramid Stage headline slot last month after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Singer Chris Martin dedicated the cover to "absent friends".

As well as the cover the band played a hits set from their three albums. Opening with 'Square One' from 'X&Y', they then paid tribute to the now famous Glastonbury weather during 'Politik', changing the lyrics to "give me weather that does no harm / Michael Eavis, Worthy Farm".

Elsewhere, Martin also mocked the fact their comeback single 'Speed Of Sound' had been kept from the UK Number One spot by the Crazy Frog, screaming "Crazy Frog where are you now? during the song.

Speaking recently about the show to NME, Martin claimed that all the band's tour dates so far have been leading up to tonight's appearance (June 25), and the show is set to be the highlight of their year.

He said: "We want to provide the definitive concert of all time. That's what we want to do. That's how we feel about it. If you want to know honestly our opinion on it, is that it's the most important gig in history. That's how we feel about every gig, but particularly this one because it's the most important gig in history combined with playing inside a massive Toblerone."

The set was:

’Square One’

’Politik’

’Yellow’

’God Put A Smile Upon Your Face’

’Speed Of Sound’

’Low’

’Warning Sign’

’Everthing’s Not Lost’

’White Shadows’

’The Scientist’

’'Till Kingdom Come’

’Don’t Panic’

’Clocks’

’Swallowed In The Sea’

’Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’

’In My Place’

’Fix You’

More Coldplay Glastonbury stuff here

Coldplaying.com has joined up with CMH Records to offer visitors an exclusive free CD offer, for a limited time only.

The new Coldplay Piano Tribute CD is now out - if you purchase this CD from CMH you will get a free Coldplay String Quartet Tribute CD (and vice-versa).

For full details of this offer please click here

Glastonbury's second day has got off to a drier start – with police saying crime remains at record lows.

According to Avon And Somerset Police, total reported crime – excluding drug offences – now stands at 36, down from 74 crimes at this stage last year, a reduction of 51 per cent. Arrests stand at 66, compared to 83 at this time last year.

Police also say that a man has died at the festival. Emergency services were called to one of the camping fields after a report of a man being taken ill. After being treated by ambulance staff he was taken to a nearby medical centre, but was pronounced dead at 8pm (June 24). The death is not being treated as suspicious.

Saturday’s line-up includes performances from Coldplay, Razorlight and New Order.

With the Glastonbury festival well under way, don't get muddy! Join in the party and conversation here

The start of the Glastonbury Festival was postponed today following violent storms that brought Britain's week-long heatwave to an abrupt end.

The delay was caused by fears for the health and safety of musicians appearing on the Somerset festival's outdoor stages.

The morning deluge was in stark contrast to the scorching conditions yesterday, when Britain recorded its hottest night since 1959 as temperatures never dropped lower than 21.9C.

Bands at Glastonbury were due to begin performing at 10.30am today, but a festival spokesman said they had been forced to postpone the start of the event "until further notice".

Lightning struck a beer tent in the dance field, while Radio 1 was forced to abandon its live coverage after a river close to DJ Jo Whiley's studio rose 12 inches in just 15 minutes. The torrential rain also led to a power cut on the main Pyramid stage, where the White Stripes are due to headline tonight. BBC Somerset Sound's Steve Haig said: "There is nowhere for the rain to soak away and it's just staying on the surface.

"The communications are down, with radios not working, and some of the bands who were arriving have been told to stay away because their vans might sink in the mud - the whole thing has been thrown into chaos.

"One can only hope the rain stops soon or this festival is going to go down as a disaster."

Festival-goer James Nadin said there was a rude awakening for some fans this morning when a river broke its banks and a three-metre wide torrent began running through a field where thousands of tents were pitched.

"It's literally gone through people's tents. People are trying to rescue their stuff which is being washed away," he said. "There are a lot of very soggy people around."

Jeremy Knight, 46, from Bedford, who is on his first trip to Glastonbury, said: "I don't think you can come to Glastonbury and be too disappointed if it rains. It's a bit like Wimbledon - of course it's going to rain."

Glastonbury organiser Michael Eavis, who has run the festival on his farm since 1970, said earlier he hoped it would not become a mudbath.

"We've had four or five days of good weather so the ground is firm," he told the BBC. "We've also spent a lot of money on the drainage, so the main site should be OK."

The violent storms, that struck the south west today - and are heading for London - brought an end to the week-long heatwave. Spectacular lightning strikes were seen across the south-west including this one at Studland Bay, in Dorset.

Torrential rain and lightning caused serious travel problems in the region, with travellers at Southampton airport experiencing delays as the severe summer storms stopped planes taking off.

After six hours of downpour the rain at Glastonbury finally stopped late this morning and the first rays of sunshine broke through. Sodden festival-goers greeted the change in weather with cheers.

All that noise and all that sound here

Coldplay will be appearing on the cover of next week's Radio Times in an exclusive souvenir edition. And not only will Coldplay have its own cover - the top TV magazine is producing an incredible eight covers in total to mark the occasion of the biggest gig in 20 years - Live8.

Other bands to have their own cover include: U2, Paul McCartney, Sting, Bob Geldof, Annie Lennox, REM and Joss Stone.

Coldplay also talks exclusively to Radio Times in the 10 page Live8 special feature. Don't miss the chance to get your special Coldplay cover, on sale Tuesday 28 June.

To see the full size image click here

Coldplay staved off strong competition from Foo Fighters and the Backstreet Boys to rule the U.S. pop albums chart for a second week, according to sales data released Wednesday.

X&Y (Capitol) sold 323,000 copies in the week ended June 19, followed by Foo Fighters' "In Your Honor" with 310,600 copies and Backstreet Boys' "Never Gone" with 291,000 copies. The total for "X&Y" stands at 1.1 million copies.

Foo Fighters earned their highest Billboard 200 position and career-best sales week with their double-disc RCA set. The rock band's last album, "One by One" opened at No. 3 in 2002 with 122,000 copies and has sold 1.2 million to-date. The Foos' best-selling album remains 1997's "The Colour and the Shape" at 1.9 million."In Your Honor" also debuted at No. 1 in Australia, New Zealand and Sweden, and at No. 2 in Britain, Ireland and Norway, according to RCA.

The tally for the Backstreet Boys' latest Jive set is a far cry from the first week of their last studio set, "Black and Blue," which opened at No. 1 with 1.6 million units in 2000, and has sold 5.4 million to date.

"Never Gone" also debuted at No. 1 in Japan (on the international chart), Germany, India, Chile, and South Korea, according to Jive.

Fat Joe rounded out the top 10 debuts with his best sales week and Billboard 200 career high mark, as "All or Nothing" (Terror Squad/Atlantic) entered at No. 6 on sales of 106,500 units. The rapper's previous peak was a No. 7 start with "Don Cartagena" based on a 106,000-copy week in 1998. His best-selling album to-date remains 2001's "J.O.S.E.: Jealous Ones Still Envy" with 938,000.

In between this week's new entries was chart favorite Mariah Carey, whose "The Emancipation of Mimi" (Island/Def Jam) rose one place to No. 4 with 163,300 copies, and the Black Eyed Peas' "Monkey Business" (A&M/Interscope), which fell three places to No. 5 with 154,500.

At No. 7 for a second week, Toby Keith's "Honkytonk University" (DreamWorks Nashville) sold 93,000 copies. Colombian chanteuse Shakira's Spanish-language "Fijacion Oral, Volumen 1" (Epic) fell four places to No. 8 with 77,000 copies.

Gwen Stefani's "Love, Angel, Music, Baby" (Interscope) dropped one place to No. 9 with 76,400 copies, followed by System Of A Down's "Mezmerize" (American/Columbia), down four places, with 76,200 copies. The White Stripes' new release "Get Behind Me Satan" (V2) spent just one week in the top 10, falling eight places to No. 11 with 75,500 copies.

Other notable Billboard 200 entries included third-season "Nashville Star" winner Erika Jo's self-titled debut (Universal South, No. 27); Static-X's "Start a War" (Warner Bros., No. 29); As I Lay Dying's "Shadows are Security" (Metal Blade, No. 35); and country veteran Dwight Yoakam's New West Records debut, "Blame the Vain" (No. 54).

Also worth noting was the debut of Alanis Morissette's Starbucks-exclusive "Jagged Little Pill Acoustic" (Maverick/Warner Bros.), which sold 56,000 copies through the Seattle-based coffee retailer's U.S. outlets, but is not eligible to chart on The Billboard 200 unless it is generally available to all retailers. The tally would have been good enough for No. 17 on the Billboard 200. "Acoustic" will expand to other retailers outside of Starbucks on July 26.

Coldplay took Dublin by storm last night, performing to a sell-out crowd of 20,000 people on a sultry evening perfect for their re-emergence on the live music scene.

And while the English chart-toppers have spent the last two years writing their latest album 'X & Y', they proved they are still up to speed when it comes to live performances.

Bounding on stage just after 9pm, front man Chris Martin got straight into the swing of things, kicking off the set with Square One from the band's latest album. Whether they were relieved that fans were still enthusiastic to see them after their two-year hiatus or just excited to get out of the recording studio and back on stage, Coldplay's energy was palpable as they played through the set of regular hits and songs from their new album.

"Some places were born great and Dublin was one of them," Chris Martin told the audience.

It was the familiar melodies - Yellow, The Scientist and God Put A Smile On Your Face - which proved to be the most popular with the revellers. Martin continued to win the affection of the crowd after stumbling twice on 'Warning Sign' which he simply laughed off with the rest of the band.

Here's your chance to see Coldplay live and at the same time help support the human rights organization Amnesty International.

Coldplay has donated tickets for select dates on the band's US tour for an online auction to benefit Amnesty International. The concert dates up for bidding include September 1 - 30, with a total of 19 dates in all. The auctions end June 30.

Winning bidders will also receive a signed copy of Coldplay's new CD, X&Y.

Fore more details click here

A mother whose teenage daughter was caught illegally downloading thousands of music files to her computer is being sued after the family were targeted by lawyers acting for the music industry body, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

Sylvia Price, 53, was incredulous when she got a letter from a law firm acting for the BPI demanding she pay a £2,500 settlement fee or face court proceedings. She says she had no idea her daughter, Emily, 14, had been downloading music, her confusion compounded by the fact that she is unfamiliar with computers.

But the BPI maintain that, as the holder of the internet account, she is legally liable to pay the settlement. As part of their latest effort to target those illegally downloading music, which the industry estimates costs £2.3bn a year in lost sales, the body has issued 90 such orders in the past few months, focusing on those considered the most prolific offenders.Almost all of those issued with a letter have been paid without challenge, Matt Phillips, a BPI spokesman, said adding he "strongly suspects" as many as a third of those who have settled so far have been parents paying on behalf of children.

Comparing the illegal downloading of music, or illegal filesharing, to shoplifting, Mr Phillips said: "Parents have to be aware of the dangers of leaving children to do as they please on the internet unsupervised, and be aware that if they fileshare, they face potential litigation. We have made great efforts to raise awareness of the dangers, but obviously, in some cases, that is not getting through."

If Mrs Price does not pay within two weeks, the £2,500 fee will rise to £4,000. She says she has no way of paying on time. "I don't know where I'm going to get the money from. I'm worried. I arrived home from work to find this letter and I don't know what to do. I don't even know how to use a computer. I've never even switched one on. I just pay the bills."

As in many families, the computer was primarily intended for her daughter's homework, meaning Mrs Price was unable to carry out continual supervision as to what Emily was using the computer for, she said.

After being made aware of the practice of filesharing through a television programme, Mrs Phillips confronted her daughter but she denied any knowledge. BPI's law firm, Wiggin & Co, said that Emily had been breaking the law for two years. Emily admits downloading 1,400 songs to her computer, including albums by her favourite bands Oasis and Coldplay. For her part, she insists she had no idea she what she was doing was illegal. She said: "Everyone I know at school does it. I download songs from other people's files but didn't know it was wrong".

More on this story here

Ian McCulloch (Echo & The Bunnymen) has invited Chris Martin to join his band onstage at Glastonbury next weekend.

Coldplay are massive fans of Echo And The Bunnymen, and have covered their song ’Lips Like Sugar’ over the years. Speaking to 6 Music, McCulloch said he’d like to meet up with his old friends at Glastonbury, where both bands are playing on Saturday (June 25).

He said: "You never know, Chris (Martin) might say 'Macca will you play ’Lips Like Sugar’ with us?' Or he might say: 'Macca can I sing ’Nothing Lasts Forever’?' Whatever, he's more than welcome, and I'll make myself more that welcome if I'm invited to sing ’Lips Like Sugar’ with Coldplay."

More on this story here

Enjoy talking to people? Love Coldplay? Then campaign for Oxfam at the Coldplay concerts this year. If you're not afraid of a bit of hard work, Oxfam want volunteers to help at the following gigs:

07.07.05 Arnhem, Netherlands

09.07.05 Munich, Germany

14.07.05 Six Fours La Plages, France

02.08.05 Toronto, Canada

03.08.05 Montreal, Canada

04.08.05 Hartford, CT, USA

06.08.05 Boston, MA, USA

07.08.05 Camden, NJ, USA

09.08.05 Cincinnati, OH, USA

11.08.05 Pittsburgh, PA, USA

12.08.05 Indianapolis, OH, USA

13.08.05 East Troy, WI, USA

16.08.05 Seattle, WA, USA

17.08.05 Portland, OR, USA

19.08.05 San Francisco, CA, USA

20.08.05 Irvine, CA, USA

21.08.05 Irvine, CA, USA

24.08.05 Albuquerque, NM, USA

25.08.05 Phoenix, Arizona

26.08.05 San Diego, CA, USA

30.08.05 Detroit, MI, USA

31.08.05 Columbus, OH, USA

01.09.05 Darien Center, NY, USA

03.09.05 Holmdel, NJ, USA

06.09.05 New York, NY, USA

07.09.05 New York, NY, USA

09.09.05 Charlotte, NC, USA

10.09.05 Raleigh, NC, USA

13.09.05 West Palm Beach, FL, USA

14.09.05 Tampa, FL, USA

16.09.05 Birmingham, AL, USA

17.09.05 St Louis, MO, USA

18.09.05 Nashville, TN, USA

20.09.05 Minneapolis, MN, USA

21.09.05 Kansas City, MO, USA

23.09.05 Dallas, TX, USA

24.09.05 Houston, TX, USA

25.09.05 Austin, TX, USA

28.09.05 Atlanta, GA, USA

29.09.05 Virginia Beach, VA, USA

30.09.05 Bristow, VA, USA

To apply, click here

Forget the album charts or the hard fought ‘Biggest Band In The World’ title, some of the world’s most famous musicians, including Thom Yorke, Chris Martin and Anthony Kiedis, are up against each other for the title of World's Sexiest Vegetarian.

Oh yes, this is the poll the world’s biggest acts have been waiting for. Forget about creating a truly legendary and emotionally resonant album attempting to publicise the plight of the world’s starving millions in the medium of song, as PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) have launched their fifth annual poll to find out the world’s sexiest vegetarian.

As such there's many a famous mung bean muncher from the world of music in the list with Andre 3000, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Anthony Kiedis, Bryan Adams, Chris Martin, Damon Albarn, Eddie Vedder, Moby, Morrissey, Paul McCartney, Perry Farrell, Prince, Thom Yorke and Kenny 'Dangerzone' Loggins all go head-to-head for the title.

But there's some names for the boys too, as you’ll be able to vote in the Girls category for a myriad of hotties like Avril Lavigne, The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde, Erykah Badu, Brigitte Bardot (?), the appropriatly named Fiona Apple, Annie Lennox, Joan Jett, k.d. lang, Natalie Imbruglia, Pamela Anderson, Thora Birch and Sadie Bloody Frost.

As a statement on the PETA website explains, “Vegetarians are sprouting up all over Hollywood! Going green is all the rage among the red carpet set, as more and more celebs are embracing broccoli and giving beef the boot. It’s no easy task to narrow the list of vegetarian delights to just one vegetarian Venus or Valentino, after all, what’s sexier than someone who exudes both passion and compassion?”

Indeed.

Cast your vote today for the World’s Sexiest Vegetarians by clicking here and the winner will be announced in July.

Source: XFM

Live8 organisers have vowed to track down hoaxers who tricked charities into paying $95,000 (£50,000) to advertise at the star-studded London concert.

Several British charities were contacted by a firm offering them fake 30 second commercials on the giant TV screens at the Hyde Park gig on 2 July (05). But Live8 organisers are determined to punish the those seeking to illegally capitalise on the buzz surrounding the huge showbiz event.

Spokesperson Bernard Doherty says, "We haven't even got a deal in place for anyone to supply the big screens yet. It's outrageous that somebody would try to pass themselves off as Live 8. We will get to the bottom of this and come down hard on anyone using our name without permission."

The star-studded London concert will be headlined by Coldplay, The Sex Pistols, U2, REM, Madonna, Sir Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd and Sir Elton John.

More on this story here

If you missed the Koko gig in Camden or you simply want to relive it you can find links to download the gig and cover artwork here

For those who haven't seen the setlist yet for Cologne (17/6/05), here it is:

Square One

Politik

Yellow

God Put A Smile Upon Your Face

Speed Of Sound

Low

A Message

Everything's Not Lost

White Shadows

The Scientist

Til Kingdome Come

Don't Panic

Clocks

Swallowed In The Sea

-----------

What If

In My Place

Fix You

Noel Gallagher, the Oasis songwriter, has mocked Sir Bob Geldof's bid to grab world leaders' attention through next month's star-studded Live8 concerts.

Gallagher, interviewed in today's Observer Music Monthly magazine, will not perform at the event, aimed at raising awareness about poverty in Africa and timed to coincide with the G8 summit at Gleneagles.

He said: 'Are they hoping one of these guys from the G8 ... sees Annie Lennox singing 'Sweet Dreams' and thinks, "Fuck me, she might have a point there, you know." It's not going to fucking happen, is it? Keane doing "Somewhere Only We Know" and some Japanese businessman going: "Aw, look at him ... we should really fuckin' drop that debt, you know." It's not going to happen, is it?'

Gallagher, interviewed by the comedian David Walliams for OMM, was asked if Oasis had been invited to take part in Live8. He replied: 'We can't do it. We've got a gig in Manchester that night.'

Gallagher was also absent from Geldof's Band Aid 20 single. 'We were in LA recording the new album. But there were lots of people in there we have a problem with.' He elaborated: 'The Darkness. Keane. I like Bono. He's a friend of mine. I like Chris Martin [Coldplay]. He's a friend of mine. Probably everyone else... I could pick an argument with them.'

Source: Guardian

Click here to listen to What If? from Top Of The Pops

Click here to listen to Square One, What If?, White Shadows and an interview from Later... With Jools Holland.

[thanks djpea]

An MTV News special with Chris Martin...

This weekend (Saturday June 18, 9pm on MTV), sees the premiere of an MTV News special entitled Chris Martin: Two Fingers To Poverty.

The 30-minute special features the Coldplay singer narrating his recent Oxfam trip to Ghana to highlight the issue of trade justice.

Chris Martin: Two Fingers To Poverty also features the likes of Angelina Jolie, Faithless and Bob Geldof speaking out about global poverty.

And if global stars being drenched in food is more your speed, you'll be pleased to know that Chris Martin: Two Fingers To Poverty features clips of Jamelia, Michael Stipe and Minnie Driver being covered in milk, coffee and rice, as part of a Make Trade Fair campaign earlier this year.

The News Special also goes behind the scenes at Make Poverty History's star-studded 'Click' advert.

If you care, and want to know more, about issues at the heart of Live 8 and the Make Poverty History campaign, do not miss this show. Or maybe you're just curious as to why he has that thing scribbled on the back of his hand all the time. Again, tune-in and you'll find out.

Catch the premiere of Chris Martin: Two Fingers To Poverty on Saturday (June 18) at 9pm on MTV.

Then catch the repeats on Sunday 19th at 5pm (MTV Hits) and 8pm (MTV UK), Monday 20th at 11.30pm (MTV Base) and Tuesday 21st at 7pm (MTV UK).

You can find more information on the programme here