WHERE: Absolute Radio live stories competition

WHO: Chavi Vanna & Coldplaying

WHEN: Now!

WHAT: Go vote for Chavi!

You may remember the Rock Off last November/December in which we reached the semi-finals with superb wins against Keane and Muse official forums? Well, were at it again, taking part in Absolute Radio's Live Stories online competition (part of their non-stop summer of live music) to win tickets for our members and an evening of live music on Absolute Radio for Coldplaying.com!

Starting today, Live Stories is all about your live experiences. First up on behalf of Coldplaying.com is Chavi Vanna (Chavi on the forums) who has submitted a Coldplay review about Rotterdam & Antwerp. What you need to do now: Grab some Coldplaying Karma and VOTE FOR CHAVI VANNA (blue button, 2nd option down). Voting ends on Friday 7th August at 5pm (BST), so you have 48 hours to gather your Coldplay friends and make those votes count!

Below is an excerpt of Chavi's review - you can read the full review at Absolute Radio's website:

I met Carla on the Coldplaying.com forum last summer and we always wanted to go to a gig together, despite the fact she lives in The Netherlands and I live in France. Then a fellow forum member said she had two tickets for Coldplay in four days. On Friday I travelled to Rotterdam after finding out my sister had gone into labour and was about to give birth. In the queue I was 20 people behind Carla, but after swapping seats in the stadium I was in the second row behind Carla. And then after the gig Chris Martin came and signed things for us, including my ‘you make me shiver’ banner – the next night he recognised it from the stage.

This week's winning story wins the writer a pair of live concert tickets for U2 at Wembley as well as putting Coldplaying into the final.

Chris Martin at Absolute Radio studios, 30th January 2009

Such is the extent of the Viva La Vida era that Coldplay have received nominations in the same awards two years running - for songs from the same album. Today it was announced that Hype Williams' video for Viva La Vida has been nominated for four awards at this year's MTV VMAs. It's up for Best Rock Video, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography and Best Editing. Relive the video that was released last year here at the Coldplay forum. [thanks mimixxx]

You may remember that almost a year ago Coldplay’s ‘Violet Hill’ was nominated for Best Special Effects at the 2008 awards, and in 2007 you may also remember that Chris Martin performed a duet that year with Nelly Furtado.

MTV announced the nominees for the 2009 Video Music Awards today and Lady Gaga and Beyonce lead the pack with nine nods. Following the two divas are: Britney Spears (seven); Kanye West, Eminem, and Coldplay (four each); Green Day (three), and Jay-Z (two). Please vote for Coldplay's Viva La Vida video in the first of those categories by clicking here. The awards will be broadcast live from New York City on Sunday, September 13th at 9pm (EST). The show will be hosted by Russell Brand (again).

Screenshots from the Vida La Vida video (2008):

Chris Martin is to feature on the new Echo & The Bunnymen album, it has been claimed. Coldplay's lead singer is known to be a huge fan of Ian McCulloch and sings on an undisclosed track off "The Fountain", reports Yahoo Music (UK & Ireland)..

Echo And The Bunnymen announced details of their forthcoming (eleventh) studio album "The Fountain". The UK act also confirmed several live dates in the UK. "The Fountain" is the band's first studio album since 2005's "Siberia" and will be released on October 12. A single, "I Think I Need It Too", was due to be released in August 2008 (!) but will be released on September 28, 2009 instead. The album was produced by John McLaughlin in the Parr Street Studios in Liverpool (before they were burnt down). It is known that Chris Martin has collaborated with the band on one of the album's tracks.

More news on this collaboration can be found at the Coldplay forum here onwards. This comes just a few days after it was announced that Chris had co-written three tracks on Natalie Imbruglia's new album. [thanks clisaj & lostsides]

Chris recently revealed his dismay at giving Natalie Imbruglia a track that he claims could have been the "best Coldplay song ever". The song is expected to be the first single from Imbruglia's forthcoming new album 'Come To Life', and may be titled 'Scars'. "A bit annoyingly we've given her the best Coldplay song of all time," Martin joked to Heraldsun.com.au. "But because we're off-cycle we can't do it ourselves. Half of me wishes we still had it. But she sounds fucking brilliant on it. I think she has a very unique talent and an incredibly unique voice."

More photos from Coldplay's set at All Points West festival, Liberty State Park, New Jersey (2nd August 2009):

Pictures by Jamd

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More questions answered by The Oracle... (submit yours now!)

August 3, 2009 - submitted by Alexis, United States of America

Q. This isn't really a question but a disappointment. I clicked on your link for "Greetings from Dallas" only to see all the photos were from ARLINGTON. As one who has grown up there, that is just insulting. Can you please apologize? Also, is Chris the only member with kids?

The Oracle replies:

Apologies but I guess as it's the new home to the Dallas Cowboys, that's where the confusion stems from. All members of the band are fathers.

August 3, 2009 - submitted by amado, Mexico

Q. ¿Who sings Hell ben for leather?

The Oracle replies:

That'll be the mighty

August 3, 2009 - submitted by L, United States of America

Q. Dear Oracle, I have consulted you several times in the past, all to no avail. However, I have a quandry that once again, leads me to you. Your sage thoughts would be appreciated. I, in my quest for a true, lasting love, joined a well known online dating service. I live in a fairly large city and thought the prospects would be numerous. Much to my chagrin, I was matched with...my brother. Is this a sign that I should give up this quest?

The Oracle replies:

Don't let this put you off. As freakish as that sounds you have to remember the site is not predicting who you will find attractive but trying to find you a match with and someone you have things in common with; it's therefore no surprise it picked your brother!

More photos from Coldplay's set at All Points West festival, Liberty State Park, New Jersey (2nd August 2009):

Pictures by Jamd

Coldplay's Viva La Vida tour continued through North America last night as they played at the Comcast Center (formerly the Tweeter Center) in Mansfield, MA. The Coldplay-shaped puppets were last see sunning it in Montreal, see those pictures after the jump. No major changes to the arena/amphitheater setlist as Billie Jean replaced I'm A Believer in the acoustic set again.

[discussion] [photos] [videos] [wiki reviews/setlist] (updated over the next 24-48 hours)

Setlist:

Life In Technicolor

Violet Hill

Clocks

In My Place

Yellow

Glass Of Water

Cemeteries Of London

42

Fix You

Strawberry Swing

God Put A Smile Upon Your Face (techno version)

Talk (techno version)

The Hardest Part (Chris piano)

Postcards From Far Away (piano instrumental)

Viva La Vida

Lost!

Green Eyes (acoustic)

Death Will Never Conquer (Acoustic, sung by Will)

Billie Jean

Viva La Vida (remix interlude)

------

Politik

Lovers In Japan

Death And All His Friends

-------

The Scientist

Life in Technicolor ii

The Escapist (outro)

Picture by rachelsarahsays @ Twitter

Okay, so I got to the show when the lots opened a 3:30. Had a picnic with my two friends and listened to soundcheck , walked around while waiting for the doors to open. I found some Frieda from here and we waited together for a while. Before we knew it the doors where opened and we where let in. Got the new tour program and new tour shirt. Then we took oir seats and where treated to Kitty, Daisy, & Lewis, and Elbow. I held my "Rock-A Roll-A sign up for Kitty, Daisy, & Lewis. I'm not too sure they saw it thought. Arther them was Elbow. They where really good live! And there set seemed short. Then for the big guys. COLDPLAY. the usual preshow songs where U2's Magnificent and some rap song. I danced with my sign for both of them, lots of people seemed to snap some pictures. Hope some of them turn up here ;-) They played the usual set nice and long, I'd have to say one of my favroite moments was during In My Place when I threw up a beach ball into the crowd below. It made it pretty far. Before I knew it they where already on the C-Stage playing Billie Jean, the Mansfield crowd loved it! Then came the cell phone wave, that looked really cool from the audience. The boys closed the night with LIT ii amazing live if you ask me. The weather was beautiful! Before the show was over chris announced LRLRLRL to everyone. My copy was supriseingly easy to obtain. So when all is said and done the show was ABSOULTELY AMAZING, and this is comming from someone who was third row back in october. I don't know when I'll be seeing Coldplay next but I hope it's relatively soon. Thank you and goodnight! [thanks JDFSX1]

heyy guys... haven't posted in awhile but i still fucking love coldplay so here i am again. the show was real good. it was my sixth show and definitely up there with the best. i'm kinda brain dead right now and don't really know what to say BUT LiTii was probably my favorite.. it was the first time i'd seen it live which made it even better. chris altered lyrics more than usual by singing something about the loud new england/boston crowd or something.. i don't know if theyve been doing it at every show but when they were on the C-stage chris sang like a mini song about new england or something. overall it was really good but i'm still disappointed that theyve kept the setlist essentially the same for over a year... this the third time in the past year i've seen them in just the boston area and i just feel like if theyre gunna keep coming back they should at least change things up and maybe play a few older songs but thats my only complaint... im done. [thanks BostonSportsTD]

Hey guys the show's over on my way to the hotel. Same setlist as always but a really great show still. I'll try to get my review up tomorrow when I get back to Jersey, didn't take too many pics because I was trying to just enjoy the moment. Hope everyone else who attended had an awesome time! [thanks ohmystarisfading]

My lawn experience wasn't that great. There was a beligerent drunk teen arguing about nachos In front of me when Life in Technicolor started! I was so sad lol :-(. That being said (sorry for complaining everyone ) they were so awesome! So much energy! And I got a set list!!! [thanks coldplaylvr828]

I HAD THE BEST FREAKING NIGHT OF MY LIFE! I HAVE many PICTURES and VIDEOS but i need to charge my camera first!!! omg and post a review... i dont know where to start!!!!!!!!!! the only thing that pissed me off a little bit was where the b stage had to be because of the arena. [thanks MrsMartin333]

THAT WAS INCREDIBLE. I thought Lovers in Japan was especially amazing. It blew me away. I was able to get about 5 feet away from the guys on the lawn, couldn't believe it. All in all, great show. Exceeded expectations. I only wish they had changed the set list. [thanks treilly1313]

WOW. Apparently 5th time's the charm, guys! Here's my pictureless review now, I'm too tired to upload stuff tonight! So when I got to the venue I discovered that I was Jonny's side on the aisle, and immediately freaked out because I remembered that they usually run up that aisle during the show... And thanks to twitter, I confirmed it! So I knew right away that it was going to be a good night. I'd made a shirt for the concert, and a lot of people were commenting on how crazy I was to go to 5 shows. Anyway, the show: Elbow was amazing! Best opening act for Coldplay that I've seen, would've loved to hear more! But soon Blue Danube was playing and I was FREAKING OUT. And out came the boys, with Chris looking like he hadn't cut his hair for 10 years... and he worries about going bald, sheesh! Chris was incredibly energetic and happy tonight, he was cracking jokes and talking to us whenever he had a chance, dancing even more than usual (which is saying something ), and generally just going crazy. Some specific things he said were a) that Guy was trying out for America's Got Talent, b) That they've been touring for "over 3 inches of curly hair", c) that APW was the worst concert they'd ever played and so tonight had to be the best ever to make up for it (...? was APW actually bad?), and lots more. Now after B-stage they came up our aisle with police tape roping off our seats, and I started freaking out. I got ready, and after Lost! there they came trooping down the aisle RIGHT towards me! First came Jonny who saw my shirt and gave me a thumbs up, and I reached over and touched his chest and arm, then Will who nodded at me and I touched his arm, then Guy who smiled at me when I touched his arm too. Now I was already flipping out at this point, but then there comes Chris and I just reached out, touched his entire left arm, screamed "CHRIS!" and he paused, smiled at me, and winked! squeeeeeeee. So that was the most exciting moment of my life, but then I started hitting all the Coldplaying karma. After DAAHF I managed to sneak up to the front row for the second encore! Then I begged and begged and got Jonny's setlist and 3 VLV picks from a roadie! And so many butterflies it's ridiculous, plus a popped yellow balloon... Oh and at the exit I got not one but NINE copies of LRLRL! Phew, and that's that! This definitely ties for my favorite Coldplay concert ever with my May 21st concert I'll upload pictures and video tomorrow, I've got a lot including a chaotic video from when I touched them! [thanks notlost92]

More on this concert including reviews, videos, pictures and tweets here onwards.

The Coldplay-shaped puppets, chillin' by the water in Montreal

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Coldplay paid tribute to Beastie Boys star Adam 'MCA' Yauch at All Points West this weekend, as well as the late Michael Jackson. The rap trio had to pull out of headlining the festival's opening night, because Yauch was recently diagnosed with cancer.

Jay-Z was brought in as a replacement and showed his respect, when he covered their 'No Sleep 'Till Brooklyn' on the Friday evening (July 31st). Then last night (Sunday August 2nd), Coldplay honoured the rapper by covering their hit single 'Fight For Your Right', from the Beastie Boys album 'Licensed To Ill'. (click link to watch the video). Later showing their respect for Jackson, Coldplay also covered his song 'Billie Jean' to close their set.

Coldplay faced an anxious wait at the All Points West Festival in New Jersey on Sunday as torrential rain threatened to cancel the whole event. Ticketholders were held at the gates of Liberty State Park for four hours because of the heavy rainfall, which had turned the open field into a mudpit.

The skies began to clear at around 3.30pm (EST) and fans rushed into the festival grounds as soon as the gates opened an hour later. Singer PT Walkley kicked off the day's live music when he opened the second stage with a two-song set - two hours behind schedule. We Are Scientists, Silversun Pickups and Elbow helped to get the line-up schedule back on track, while bands including Steel Train and Kitty, Daisy & Lewis had their early performances scrapped altogether due to the time constraints.

As WENN went to press, Coldplay were on schedule to headline the main stage at 9.15pm and close the three-day festival on Sunday night, while MGMT and The Black Keys are the final acts to hit the second stage.

Source: New Jersey News

Coldplay at All Points West festival, Liberty State Park, New Jersey (2nd August 2009):

Pictures by Jamd

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Coldplay's Viva La Vida tour continued through Canada last night as they completed their mini-festival return, headlining the muddy and sodden All Points West Festival at Liberty State Park, New Jersey. A similar setlist to that of yesterday's Osheaga festival, however Coldplay did add a Beastie Boys tribute in place of The Hardest Part to make up for their performance being cancelled. Glass Of Water and Cemeteries Of London were removed from the usual Viva La Vida tour setlist.

[discussion] [photos] [videos] [wiki reviews/setlist] (updated over the next 24-48 hours)

Setlist:

Life In Technicolor

Violet Hill

Clocks

In My Place

Yellow

42

Fix You

Strawberry Swing

God Put A Smile Upon Your Face (techno version)

Talk (techno version)

You Gotta Fight (Chris piano, Beastie Boys cover)

Viva La Vida

Lost!

Green Eyes (acoustic)

Death Will Never Conquer (Acoustic, sung by Will)

Billie Jean

Viva La Vida (remix interlude)

------

Politik

Lovers In Japan

Death And All His Friends

-------

The Scientist

Life in Technicolor ii

The Escapist (outro)

Picture by Jamd

Coldplay just finished their performance at the Blue Comet Stage, closing out the evening for most in attendance at the All Points West Music and Arts Festival. Sure, some may be staying for Etienne De Crecy, going on in a few moments at the Queen of the Valley tent, but as for us, we're still reeling. If you've never seen Coldplay live before, you probably imagine their show to be big, but surely not this big. With balloons, lasers and butterfly-shaped confetti, the British quartet breezed through their library of mega-hits, from "Yellow" to "Viva La Vida." Frontman Chris Martin even took a moment out to do a solo piano version of "Fight For Your Right (To Party)," the classic Beastie Boys party anthem, covered in honor of Adam "MCA" Yauch, who was recently diagnosed with cancer. The second homage came later, with an acoustic version of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean." The consensus of the crowd, who sang along to every word, was that it was incredible. Martin and company even felt the crowd's pain as they trekked down a part in the middle of the crowd, through the mud, to a special stage constructed for fans in the back of the crowd. Martin called the ground "a mud Jacuzzi." So that's mostly it for All Points West 2009. Go home and rinse the mud out of your ears, your hair and wherever else it may have gotten! [nj.com]

Ok i just got back now only.I am almost front row at the show.To my front is the VIP area. And the b-stage and where they do In my place runner is just in front of me. And I was so near to them today.While they are performing In my place and gpasuyf and talk set i was just in front of them. And he said this is the best show ever,our singing is fantastic and we audience are number 1 out of all the shows. That's all i can type now. But i say this show just rocked in my words. Instead of hardest part they did another song which i don't know.So there's a change in the setlist. [thanks pallavi]

Just got back. The show was AMAZING. Seriously, the audience was brilliant. The best audience I've been a part of so far. simply brilliant. Pics and vids to come tomorrow! [thanks technicolor24]

Will do a proper review later...and post pics&vids(I did it for most of the show so something good has to come out of that!) But for now I'll say, as cranky as I was at some(lots)of moments....the long wait in the rain and then disgusting mud was all worth it! I guess this really does mean I'll go through anything for Coldplay! And I think someone already mentioned it, but it was same setlist as Montreal; meaning usual setlist but NO Glass of Water or Cemeteries of London and instead of The Hardest Part, the Beasties' song. [thanks CookyMnstr]

More on this concert including reviews, videos, pictures and tweets here onwards.

Pictures by Jamd

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More questions answered by The Oracle... (submit yours now!)

July 31, 2009 - submitted by Rodney, Netherlands

Q. Hi Oracle! Wikipedia told me that 2000 Miles was available as a download on the official website, and as I know that this is the official website, but the song was covered a long time ago. Is there still a chance that I can download this song on this site, or is that not possible?

The Oracle replies:

The track was first available from 16th Dec 2003 until 1st Jan 2004 which was appropriate to the lyrics; the Christmas period. The cover had been recorded by Chris while on tour in the US that year. As it was available for a limited time only, you can no longer download it from this site. However you can still hear it on the timeline.

July 31, 2009 - submitted by Allan, Chile

Q. Dear Oracle!!! You talked about Embrace! Do you like them? Did Coldplay play Gravity or any other Embrace song? And other question: what's your favorite latin american artist? Thanks! :-)

The Oracle replies:

Yes Embrace have some cracking tunes; we like them! I think you may have misunderstood Allan. Gravity was written by Coldplay and Embrace recorded a version of it. My favourite Latin American artist is Gloria Estefan who was born in Cuba.

The sun was shining yesterday at the All Points West Music and Arts Festival, but many of the thousands who trekked to Liberty State Park for the second day of the East Coast's largest rock festival still had rain on the brain, writes New Jersey News.

Friday's downpour left spectators standing in mud up to their ankles. Many shivered through their skinny jeans and stylish T-shirts in the night air. As a reward for their perseverance, single-day ticket holders were admitted free for either yesterday's or today's festivities. Not surprisingly, attendance swelled yesterday afternoon.

As fans began filtering into the park, it was immediately clear that the Friday rain problem had begot a Saturday mud problem. Concertgoers stepped gingerly around the grounds as if in a minefield, looking for the least soggy route to where they were going.

Early in the afternoon at the main stage, on the south end of the festival, fans of Kentucky-based rock quintet Cage the Elephant splattered mud into the air with abandon as they jumped and danced. Some frolicked barefoot, with the deep brown mud caking their feet like low-topped shoes. Organizers spread wood chips and mulch as strategically as possible, but with the enclosed concert area stretching to about a mile from the main entrance to the main stage, the result was negligible.

"It was a wet mess, but it was fun," said Dennis, a 41-year-old attendee with a full three-day ticket who had survived Friday's downpour. "Today is nicer, but I could do without the smell. It's like old mud, as opposed to fresh mud. And the Porta-Johns -- you can smell them in a lot more places today." Dennis was waiting on a relatively short line for a free massage -- one of dozens of booths and tents at All Points West that offer everything from food to video games to cell phones to official Major League Baseball merchandise.

About 25,000 people are expected to attend each of the festival's three days. For Tony Belfer, a security guard checking IDs at the entrance to a sprawling on-site beer garden, this was certainly a good thing. "The biggest problem we're having is the mud, but all in all, everything is going fine," he said. Nearby at the Taco Heaven food stand, 27-year-old Mike Lucius was optimistic behind the grill as he tried to make up for the lost business on Friday.

"The rain hurt us, no doubt," he said. "But since they gave all the ticket-holders free passes for today, we're hoping it'll even out a little. Once the bigger acts start going, we'll start selling some tacos."

As dinnertime crept up, fans began to get excited about some of the evening's more well-known acts, including Arctic Monkeys, Gogol Bordello, My Bloody Valentine and evening headliner Tool. The latter, a veteran Los Angeles-based hard-core act that inspires near-religious devotion among its fans, was visibly represented all day by fans wearing a variety of Tool T-shirts.

All Points West is a staunchly rain-or-shine event, and with British mope-rock gods Coldplay set to close the festival, the crowds are sure to come trudging back. They'd be advised not to wear shoes they care at all about.

Source: New Jersey News

New pictures of Coldplay at Osheaga Music and Arts Festival, Parc Jean-Drapeau, Montreal, Canada (1st August 2009):

Pictures by OsheagaFestival @ Flickr

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Coldplay's Viva La Vida tour continued through Canada last night as they returned to the festival scene, headlining the Osheaga Music & Arts Festival in Montreal. The Coldplay-shaped puppets were last seen yesterday in Toronto - see the pictures after the jump. Glass Of Water and Cemeteries Of London were removed from the usual Viva La Vida tour setlist but a 30-second song about the Quebec province was added during the acoustic set, and was sung during the fireworks.

[discussion] [photos] [videos] [wiki reviews/setlist] (updated over the next 24-48 hours)

Setlist: [thanks Montreal]

Life In Technicolor

Violet Hill

Clocks

In My Place

Yellow

42

Fix You

Strawberry Swing

God Put A Smile Upon Your Face (techno version)

Talk (techno version)

The Hardest Part (Chris piano)

Postcards From Far Away (piano instrumental)

Viva La Vida

Lost!

Green Eyes (acoustic)

Quebec Song

Death Will Never Conquer (Acoustic, sung by Will)

Billie Jean

Viva La Vida (remix interlude)

------

Politik

Lovers In Japan

Death And All His Friends

-------

The Scientist

Life in Technicolor ii

The Escapist (outro)

Picture by cyberpresse.ca

amazing night, amazing night, we were about 5 rows from the stage, it was the best show i've ever went to (my 5th time seeing them) and I got a setlist!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so happy C'ÉTAIT COMPLÈTEMENT FOU!!! [thanks murphy]

FANTASTIC NIGHT!! Absolutely amazing. I was very close (4th row Guy's side, 3rd row mini ramp).I'm on a high so I'll post pictures and maybe other things tonight.It took us two hours to get out of there. [thanks marie/pims]

Tonight was absolutely amazing !!! We were 2nd row on Jonny's side (basically leaning on the barricade at some points)....absolutely beautiful and spectacular show. Definitely the best I've seen from them (this being my 3rd time of course). Wooooooo !! [thanks _Broken_Doll_]

what a great night! definitely the best coldplay concert i've been to crowd-wise (my third show) unfortunately due to my friend being really hungry, we had to go and get food which meant I was unable to secure my place during jason mraz. we were about 15 rows from the stage and it was quite hard for me to see since i'm short =( but the crowd was awesome! lots of singing along during many of the songs (oh-ohs a la viva la vida), great turn out, loved the billie jean singing and their little song about the fireworks and Quebec and all that other jazz haha. Sad that they didn't play glass of water but the show was so much fun it didn't bother me too much. i just wish it didn't have to end... [thanks redcurry]

More on this concert including reviews, videos, pictures and tweets here onwards.

The Coldplay-shaped puppets take a cultural diversion in Toronto:

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It was supposed to be the year of the one-two punch. And it still may be. But Osheaga Music and Arts Festival director Nick Farkas was thrown for a loop last week when he got word that one of two high-profile headliners for the fest’s fourth edition (Saturday and Sunday at Jean Drapeau Park) was pulling out, writes The Gazette (Montreal).

Beastie Boys member Adam Yauch was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour in his salivary gland, leading the band to cancel all upcoming tour dates, including Sunday’s highly anticipated fest-ending set.

Osheaga promoter Gillett Entertainment Group had bet the bank on this year’s headliners – Coldplay and Beastie Boys. Their names were featured on posters, TV and radio ads all over town, often with no mention of the rest of the lineup. It was an all-in gamble that backfired. But the real-life reason behind the situation was too sobering for anything but sympathy.

“I got the call Monday morning from their agent-manager,” Farkas said. “It was 10 o’clock our time, 7 a.m. in L.A., so I knew it couldn’t be good. My first reaction was I was shocked that he was sick. It’s such a terrible thing. Then there was a realization that we would have to fill the slot. But more than that, it was just – those guys are my age. I was concerned (about whether) he was going to be all right. Compared to that, figuring out what to do was nothing.”

He got on the horn, calling the heads of other big fests – Lollapalooza in Chicago, All Points West in New Jersey – where Beastie Boys had been scheduled to perform, to see what they were doing. Time was of the essence. “With not even two weeks before the festival, the most important thing was that we figure something out quickly.”

In the end, the answer was staring him in the face. Brooklyn rock act Yeah Yeah Yeahs were already on the bill for Osheaga, Sunday afternoon – a not-so-prominent time for one of the best live bands out there. “We booked them late,” Farkas explained. “All the slots were locked in, with just a month left – (their original time slot of) 4:45 wasn’t ideal. I would have rather put them in a later slot.”

Yeah Yeah Yeahs were nothing short of astounding when they performed at Metropolis in April 2006. Singer Karen O is a firebrand, a shockingly charismatic performer with irrepressible energy. That the group has a hot new album out, It’s Blitz!, added to the cachet. Farkas’s phone research sealed the deal. Lollapalooza had also moved Yeah Yeah Yeahs into a headlining spot. He had his solution. “Obviously, people wanted to see Beastie Boys,” he said. “But you can’t replace Beastie Boys. ... All things considered, we turned it around quickly, which is what we wanted. We got a great band (headlining), and made the best of a bad situation.”

Reaction has been positive so far, he noted, adding that Osheaga has given out just 450 refunds for Sunday. “To me, that indicates that people are coming for the festival, and that the lineup is strong enough to keep people holding on to their tickets.”

Of course, it’s much more than a two-band event. Nearly 50 acts will perform on four stages over the weekend. Saturday’s roster includes mashup maverick Girl Talk, Swedish electro-pop starlet Lykke Li, live hip-hop heavyweights the Roots, pop singer-songwriter Jason Mraz, Montreal rockers the Stills, hard-rock band Eagles of Death Metal, Toronto rapper K’Naan and British electro buzz act La Roux.

Sunday features dramatic Oregon rock band the Decemberists, British post-punk faves Arctic Monkeys, New York indie-pop act Vampire Weekend (taking Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ original afternoon slot), Montreal techno DJ Tiga, alt-pop auteur Rufus Wainwright in a solo set, London dance-punk duo the Ting Tings, funky hometown trip-hop unit Beast, European electronica group Miike Snow and rap veterans the Beatnuts, among others. Osheaga’s heavy roster of local talent also includes indie acts Hollerado, Parlovr, Ladies of the Canyon, Li’l Andy, Lanan and Caracol. In addition, Osheaga teams up with outdoor dance party Piknic Electronik, happening both days with DJs Ghislain Poirier, Mateo Murphy, Toronto duo Bonjay and more. It takes place just off the site; an Osheaga ticket gets you in.

In other news, the Osheaga arts tent is no more. Instead, art installations will be strewn throughout the site, making for a more interactive environment. “It’s going to be a giant outdoor art exhibit,” Farkas said. There are also a handful of Osheaga in the City concerts this week at venues around town. Local heavy metal band Priestess played Foufounes Électriques last night. Montreal franco-rap act Omnikrom and electro dance band Misteur Valaire take over the Olympia tonight, and awesome dance-pop three-piece Think About Life plays Le National tomorrow.

Osheaga Music and Arts Festival takes place Saturday and Sunday at Jean Drapeau Park on Île Ste. Hélène. Bands start at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $75 for Saturday, $65 for Sunday or $125 for the weekend. VIP weekend passes cost $295. Call 514-790-2525 or visit www.osheaga.com. Details on Osheaga in the City concerts are available on the festival’s website.

Source: The Gazette (Montreal)

More pictures of Coldplay at Rogers Centre, Toronto, ON (30th July 2009):

Pictures by aunieb @ Coldplaying

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Babelgum has announced that it's developed an iPhone application specifically on Coldplay. The app includes video content, as well as a Coldplay news feed and a minigame.

The big inclusion is the video for the track Strawberry Swing, which was directed by a group of visual artists called Shynola, who have also worked with Beck, Blur, Junior Senior and Radiohead. The Strawberry Swing video is joined by all the band's previous videos, too.

In the minigame included, Chris Martin "battles giant squirrels and sea monsters to rescue a princess". We're as confused as you are about that one, though it apparently replicates the Strawberry Swing video, so that might be what's going on.

Lastly, a news feed will give Coldplay fans the latest info, alongside competitions to win tickets and travel to see Coldplay's current world tour. The application is available now and costs nothing.

From Coldplay.com:

Good morning. Following Babelgum's exclusive premiere of the Strawberry Swing video, they have now launched a free application for the iPhone/iPod Touch which includes the Strawberry Swing video along with the Coldplay video catalogue, a Coldplay news feed and a game based on the video. It's available to download from the iTunes store now. Click here to get it.

Here are a couple of screengrabs from the app's game:

Coldplay's Viva La Vida tour continued into Canada for a few days last night as they played the huge Rogers Centre, Toronto, ON. There was HUGE anticipation for this show as evidenced by the Toronto thread which reached over 120 pages of discussion BEFORE the show even arrived. Roadie #42 tweeted a picture of the venue before the show - see the picture after the jump. Will Champion turns 31 today and there were on-stage celebrations as Coldplay's fifth member, Phil Harvey, brought a birthday cake with balloons on to stage for Will. No major changes to the setlist as Billie Jean replaced I'm A Believer in the acoustic set again.

[discussion] [photos] [videos] [wiki reviews/setlist] (updated over the next 24-48 hours)

Setlist:

Life In Technicolor

Violet Hill

Clocks

In My Place

Yellow

Glass Of Water

Cemeteries Of London

42

Fix You

Strawberry Swing

God Put A Smile Upon Your Face (techno version)

Talk (techno version)

The Hardest Part (Chris piano)

Postcards From Far Away (piano instrumental)

Viva La Vida

Lost!

Green Eyes (acoustic)

Death Will Never Conquer (Acoustic, sung by Will)

Billie Jean

Viva La Vida (remix interlude)

------

Politik

Lovers In Japan

Death And All His Friends

-------

The Scientist

Life in Technicolor ii

The Escapist (outro)

Picture by TheGreatEight @ Twitter

The guys were amaaaaaaaaaazing tonight as always. The crowd has humongous, Chris said there were 50 thousand fans, and you could tell they were amazed by how loud we were tonight. They kept smiling to each other, and I think Chris even said something like "Shit, that's a lot of people." Setlist was the same as always, with Billie Jean and all. But, they did have a special birthday sing-a-long for Will. Even Phil, who we never see brought out the cake! All in all the boys never disapoint, and the crowd was unreal, amazing singing, and the mexican phone wave was great. And, one of the highlights of the night, before I left I got Johnny's setlist! A little sad that they said they won't be back for a few years, but it'll definitely be worth the wait, especially if they put out a new album sometime soon. Hope everyone had a great night tonight. Coldplay you are truly amazing. [thanks jonbenar]

hi im new here, so forgive me if i sound idiotic, but hooooly crap! i just came back from roger's centre... my first concert ever + my favourite and ever = i had the best night of my life. the first opening band was pretty bad, it just felt out of place, sounded countryish and all the songs sounded the same which wasn't a good thing. the second band (elbow) was amazing, the lead singers voice was really soothing like chris'. nearing the end, chris announced that it was will's birthday so they brought out a cake for him on stage, and we all sang happpppy birthday lol. they also did a tribute song (billy jean) for michael jackson and it was a neat twist. at the end we got a free cd left right left right left. i was upset they didn't play daylight though =( [thanks farb]

This was my first coldplay concert and it was amazing!!! Couldn't stop smiling and singing. Nobody near me knew the lyrics though. Chris was in a great mood, laughing and poking Johnny. I am usually a member of the 'short hair club', but wow, he looks unbelievable, all sweaty. I loved every sinle verse of every song, it was so much better than I had expected. Will's drumming blew me away too. He was all over it. Too bad though the butterflies were only projected on people in the flat section of the place ... Grammy's jackets for the encore and then out came Phil with a cake!!! What a treat! And it was my bithday too so I liked the song as well. oh, I forgot ... at the end Chris thanked people again for 'giving him his job', but then he said something like "you guys will never know how important this day is for us as a band". Does he say that often as well (like the 'best job' thing)? Does anybody know what he could have meant?? Couldn't have been Will's birthday alone ... [thanks lara____]

I was the only one in my area who knew all the words to every song. My sister came in second only because she didn't know Death and All of His Friends, Green Eyes, and Glass of Water. Kitty, Daisy and Lewis were not the best band and we decided to get some overpriced pizza while they played their set. Then Elbow came out and were totally amazing! We started a small chant in our area for the dancing roadie. Then pit started a wave then the lights went down and the band walked out. Right after Violet when Chris sings "If you love me, won't you let me know." I shout "I love you Jon!" into the crowd. I spend the next bit of the concert chanting Jonny and singing along. When they ran to the acoustic stage I thought I'd lost them then saw them right below me. Jonny did a cute little dance during Death Will Never Conquer. The Lovers butterflies didn't come into my area so we had a fun time collected them after the concert. When Phil gave Will the birthday cake, all I could say was Phil's name I could barely sing. It was beautiful and few things could make it better. Oh, and we were the ones struting around in birthday hats. Thank you Coldplay!! [thanks AngelsHaveBlueEyes]

More on this concert including reviews, videos, pictures and tweets here onwards (WARNING: huge thread alert!)

Bloody heck. The back row need oxygen in this place, it's absolutely huge. R#42.

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Unemployment is up and consumer confidence is down, but one silver lining of the recession is that last-minute tickets to hear big acts like Coldplay and Bruce Springsteen are as little as $1. According to eBay Inc's StubHub, the leading Internet ticket re-seller, last-minute concert ticket sales at sharply lower prices are on the rise for acts like Paul McCartney, Springsteen, Jonas Brothers, Coldplay, and U2.

"People often assume a secondary ticket site only offers inflated prices, but it's very challenging right now," said Sean Pate, a spokesman for San Francisco-based StubHub. He said cheap prices were not showing up just for "nosebleed" seats or lawn seats, but rather in all seat locations for top performers. "This trend of lower resale ticket pricing is very variable. It's almost like a stock market and a barometer for pricing city by city," he said.

He said fans have already purchased tickets as low as $1 for Springsteen and Coldplay, $9 for Kenny Chesney and $10 for the Jonas Brothers this season, with tickets listing for as low as $16 for upcoming McCartney shows this weekend in Maryland.

According to Pollstar, a concert industry trade magazine, the concert industry in North America is off to another record year, with the top 100 tours grossing a combined $1.6 billion for the first half of 2009, up $113.5 million or 10.8 percent over the same period in the first six months of 2008. Indeed, the nation's leading concert promoter, Live Nation Inc, said recently that U.S. concert ticket sales this summer were surprisingly strong despite a weaker economy.

And Pollstar said the average ticket price hit $64.61 for the top 100 acts, up 4 percent or $2.54 per ticket. But Pollstar editor Gary Bongiovanni said prices will likely be moderated in the second half due to heavy discounts on general admission amphitheater lawn seats. Live Nation has said sales were holding very strong, helped by discounts like fee waivers it introduced as a recession-year break for customers.

Many of the big tours are reportedly sold out through vendors like Live Nation, but anywhere from 10 to 20 percent of those tickets may find their way onto the secondary market on sites like StubHub or craigslist.org, being sold by a combination of ticket brokers and ordinary fans. In some of these cases, given the economy, the tickets are not re-selling for their face value and are therefore selling for substantial bargain prices on the secondary market, Pate said.

While average concert ticket prices on StubHub have fallen 12 percent since 2008, Pate said overall volume was up more than 50 percent and thousands of tickets for shows like the McCartney concerts have also commanded significant premiums. Typically, sellers pay 15 percent of any completed transaction through StubHub, which also collects another 10 percent fee on transactions.

Pate said for the entirety of his tour, McCartney seats have averaged $242, with the range for the Maryland show swinging from as low as $16 to as high as $1,053 a seat. Similarly, veteran performers like the Eagles, Elton John with Billy Joel and Eric Clapton have all fetched an average ticket price of more than $200 to date this year, he said.

More new pictures of Coldplay at SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY (27th July 2009):

Pictures by draculamusical @ Flickr

Natalie Imbruglia has announced details of her forthcoming new studio album, which features three co-writes with Coldplay. The album, entitled 'Come To Life', will be released on October 5. It will be preceded by a single, 'Want', on September 28. The single is a Coldplay co-write, as are album tracks 'Lukas' and 'Fun'.

Chris Martin recently revealed his dismay at giving Natalie Imbruglia [pictured] a track that he claims could have been the "best Coldplay song ever". The song is expected to be the first single from Imbruglia's forthcoming new album 'Come To Life', and may be titled 'Scars'. "A bit annoyingly we've given her the best Coldplay song of all time," Martin joked to Heraldsun.com.au. "But because we're off-cycle we can't do it ourselves. Half of me wishes we still had it. But she sounds fucking brilliant on it. I think she has a very unique talent and an incredibly unique voice."

More on this exclusive news at the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks lostsides]

'Lukas' was produced by Brian Eno, with Blur and Elbow collaborator Ben Hillier helming the remaining songs. Imbruglia will play a gig at the London Luminaire venue on August 12 – which has sold out. The tracklisting of 'Come To Life' will be:

'My God'

'Lukas'

'Fun'

'Twenty'

'Scars'

'Want'

'WYUT'

'Cameo'

'All The Roses'

'Wild About It'

New pictures of Coldplay at SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY (27th July 2009):

Pictures by draculamusical @ Flickr

More questions answered by The Oracle... (submit yours now!)

July 29, 2009 - submitted by Krystle, Canada

Q. Chris Martin is clearly witty and quick. From his relationship with Ricky Gervais and Simon Pegg, (nevermind the Nappies), I can't believe he doesn't want to venture in the comedy arena. He clearly loves it.

The Oracle replies:

I agree that Chris is quite the joker and has a great sense of humour but so do many people who don't choose that path. Chris has chosen his career path and luckily for him it's working out pretty well. I like to think of myself as a bit of a comedian but there's no way I would venture into the comedy arena - extremely hard to crack and nerves would get the better of me!

July 30, 2009 - submitted by Guy, United States of America

Q. Hey Oracle, I don't know what to do, let me tell you... Last week was my birthday, and I invited some friends to make a bbq in my house, but, after they told me they would come, they didn�t !!. Then I invited them to another place in a different time and the same has happen, the worst part is that I invited all the people that I considered my friends, now I feel alone and I am depressed because I realized that I don't have friends at all. I don't know what to do, I am so shy that I can't say hello to new people, I really want to stop being shy but I don't know what to do. Can you recommend me one self-motivation book, or something to help me?? Thanks in advance.

The Oracle replies:

Well Guy if there's one thing I can't abide it's inconsiderate rude people! These people are not true friends and I wouldn't feel sad, I'd be thankful you have seen them for what they are. It's no reflection on you but you don't need these selfish people around you. Making new friends can be very hard but the best advice I can give is that you look at people who seem to have the same interests as you, maybe take the same class as you and look like the kind of person you want to hang out with. Take a deep breath and just talk to them. Smile too, that'll put everyone at ease. A good technique to overcome shyness is to practice talking in front of the mirror. I'm not suggesting you learn things to say off by heart but it will help you feel confident and relaxed if you start to make eye contact when you engage with people. I wouldn't personally recommend a book for this situation because I know that you can do it without. We've all been there, so remember you're not alone, even if it feels like it right now.

July 30, 2009 - submitted by Noemi, Argentina

Q. Yesterday I had sex with a boy I really like! It was my first time with him, before that we just kiss each other, the problem is that the sex wasn't good enough, and after that we didn't talk any more, the situation was totally uncomfortable, what should I do??

The Oracle replies:

Noemi this is unfortunately one of life's lessons. Some boys, even if they really like a girl, will just want to have sex and then aren't interested afterwards. It doesn't mean it wasn't good or that there's anything wrong with you, it's just something that a lot of boys I know have done and sadly still do when they are grown up! All I can say to you is that you mustn't feel it is your fault but do protect yourself by not sleeping with a boy just because you think that he wants to or will dump you if you don't. It really is better to wait and sleep with someone who you love and trust so you can have a relationship rather than what happened with this boy. All you can do is put it down to experience and not contact him.

July 29, 2009 - submitted by Dagny, Singapore

Q. How does the almighty Oracle calm down after a bad scare?

The Oracle replies:

When my heart's racing from such an experience I take very long deep breaths and also either rescue remedy or a homeopathic Calm & Clear tincture. I hope you've not had a bad scare Dagny!

New pictures of Coldplay at SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY (27th July 2009):

Pictures by draculamusical @ Flickr

More excellent reviews of Coldplay's concert at SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY (27th July 2009) have been posted at the Coldplay Live forum, that didn't quite make the main review article in time yesterday morning. Here are just some of the many:

This was my first Coldplay concert so I had nothing to compare it to really, but I did notice that the crowd seemed lackluster at certain points. I felt like I was the only one singing around me as well. And I couldn't believe that it took two tries to get people to sing part of Yellow to Will, and even the second attempt wasn't so great.

I mean, come on, I thought everyone knew that one! It was just so strange to me. I was also disappointed that people weren't more into Glass of Water or Cemeteries of London. Those are two of my favorite songs. Oh well, I was singing the crap out of them so to those who don't know them haha.

I traveled 4 hrs by bus from NYC to see them. The bus actually broke down and we had to wait for a new one to rescue us. I was terrified I wasn't going to make it even though I'd left super-early in case of incident like this. I was almost crying at the possibility of not seeing them. When we got picked up by another bus I was so happy. There was no way I'd go to that concert and not enjoy the HELL out of myself by singing and jumping up and down. I'm glad there are other people willing to do the same. I enjoyed myself regardless of the crowd. And I love Kitty, Daisy and Lewis so I was happy they opened the show. I hadn't heard of Elbow before this but I thought they were great too! This is the first time I've gone to a show and enjoyed the opening acts so this was really an amazing experience for me all around. [thanks serenade-of-sound]

when we checked into our hotel the girl working there was going tonight so we were talking to her a little about it, she was cool. And one time when we were walking through the lobby she points to some guy and says "they really like coldplay!" which made us happy. So the venue was really pretty! I think it was in a national forest or something like that. It was really pretty. And it was also really small! I thought it was going to be big so I was a little shocked when we got there. When my friend Amy[i'llwaitforyou] and I saw how small it was we got so excited because that means we would have awesome seats even though we were kind of near the back. And we did, our view was awesome! Before the opening acts started we walked over to B stage just for fun and I took a picture of it on my phone and sent it into twitter. Then we planned to walk over there once strawberry swing started since we were on the right side. Kitty, Daisy, and Lewis were kind of weird. But Elbow was really good! And oh yeah, when we got there 14 people were in the pit! It was a quarter the way full! And it was a really small pit anyway. So we were like what the fuck why is no one there?! When all the Oxfam volunteers got there it was fuller.

When Magnificent came on we got SO excited because it meant 10 minutes til Coldplay and we put on our glow necklaces and bracelets we brought. Then when Blue Danube came on we stood up and started clapping and tried to get everyone around us to stand but no one would. I was like "uh, they're gonna come in 2 minutes just to let ya know..." then someone in the pit motioned for everyone to stand up so then everyone stood up and started swaying. It was funny.

Life in Technicolor and Violet Hill were AMAZING!!! SO good as always!!! At the end of Violet Hill Chris said something like "If you accept our apology for being 2 months late" and then he started talking about how it was "the ugly singer's fault and jonny, guy, and will had nothing to do with it" and he sung a couple other things about finally making it to Saratoga after that. Clocks and In My Place were both FANTASTIC!!!! But before Yellow started there was a really long pause for something. The stage was dark. At first I thought they were waiting for the balloons but then at the end Chris changed guitars before finishing the song so I think maybe that had something to do with it. Everyone got kind of quiet while waiting and Chris joked saying "it really sounds like you want us to continue" when yellow finally started it was awesome! Everyone in the band was kicking balloons the whole time and having so much fun with it! Chris alone popped at least like 10 balloons and Guy and Jonny popped a few too.

Then at the end Chris changed guitars before singing and then popped a balloon and put it on his head and said "Not to sound ridiculous..." and then started laughing and shook the balloon the off his head. Glass of water rocked!! But NO ONE knew it!!! Especially around us!! We were the only ones singing ANY song on like the entire right side of the stage at least, except for viva la vida. The guys in front of us sat down after yellow and were being annoying. And the guy next to me was trying to get me to drink his beer at one point. I gave him a really annoyed look, shook my head, and rolled my eyes and I never stopped screaming the lyrics to the song that was playing. I was kind of like excuse me I'm having the time of my life, leave me alone. For Cemeteries of London Chris sang "and the night over Saratoga lay" At the end of 42 Chris started playing something totally different and it sounded so cool!! Then he started singing the end lyrics still playing it differently but then he messed it up and went "fuck fuck fuck" and then sang "those are dead are not dead, i should have played this cord instead woah ohhh" and then he had everyone try and hold the end note for as long as possible which lasted awhile and during that time he laid back over his piano stool and I was like "OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!"

Fix You was completely beautiful! But the crowd continued to piss me off. For the first chorus you couldn't hear the crowd singing it at all. I was so shocked!! I could only hear Amy and me screaming the lyrics. At the end when Chris pointed his mic toward the crowd then they sang it but it still wasn't that loud compared to the normality of crowds during that song. In Philly/Camden everyone sang every word so loud, it gave me chills. Here, nothing. It was a little disappointing actually. Then once Strawberry Swing started we grabbed our sign we made for b stage and walked over to b stage. We walked right up to the barriers and were front row. Then, someone told us we couldn't be in that aisle yet. So we were like ok we'll go over there and still get a good spot. We watched the end of Strawberry Swing there which was awesome. Then we tried going back over the barriers but they wouldn't let us!! I was SO pissed!! So the boys get to B stage and they STILL won't let us within 20 feet of the barriers. Which doesn't make any sense! I honestly have no fucking idea why they wouldn't let us at B stage. People are supposed to go there! It was so weird. And the guards blocking us kept moving so it was hard to take pictures and they were blocking our view. Amy and I were also the only ones singing over there, at least on our side anyway.

Then during Talk Chris's piano was messed up and sounded really quiet. After it was over I saw/heard him say to Jonny "Go back to the stage? ok!" and then they all ran back to the main stage. I was so confused and sad about that!!! I kept saying "Amy what the fuck?! They play that here! What's going on?! Why is Chris going back there?!?! He's supposed to be here!!" Then we had to walk back to our seats. The reason Chris gave us for leaving B stage was that the people in the balcony couldn't see so the left. Which I'm pretty sure the could see anyway, and eitherway there's screens. They can't see C stage at all either. But I think he was just saying that cover up. I'm pretty positive something was wrong with the piano there. They had a lot of tech problem last night which was weird to see because they usually don't. So for the hardest part there wasn't any lighting really going on because no one knew what to do. They just had a small spotlight on Chris and Will. I was pretty bummed about it I guess because Amy told me I didn't sing during that song.

But then Viva la Vida came on and I was happy again. This is the only song that everyone in the audience sung. And the woah oh ohs were the loudest part of the show, but compared to the Philly/Camden crowds it wasn't that loud. Lost! was great! And we tried to get over to the aisle they were going to run down to get to C stage but no one let us in any aisle at all. I didn't like the security here, they were so annoying. C stage was in the middle of the lawn instead of on the left. Green eyes was so great! And I didn't hear them say this but Amy told me the dumbass bitches sitting behind us said that Chris wrote green eyes about himself because he has "green purplish eyes" I REALLY wish I heard them say that because I want to tell those bitches off!!! Green purplish eyes?! That doesn't even make any fucking sense!!!!! And why would he write a song about himself?!?! He's the most unselfish and modest person in the world and his eyes the most gorgeous blue eyes in the world!! Clearly they knew nothing at all. Billie Jean was amazing! At first I was sad about I'm a Believer being gone especially the "Jonnyboy are you in love?" but Billie Jean was so good! And no one knew that either. I hope people on the lawn knew it because Amy and I and this old couple behind us were the only ones singing it.

And oh my gosh! The cell phone wave. QUIETEST THING EVER!! It was awesome and worked but it was quiet. Again, Amy and I were like the only ones screaming. It was so weird!! And during the Viva interlude remix you couldn't really hear Chris singing during it, the vocal part of it was so quiet. I'm sure if that was another tech problem or I just remember it different or what. But before that was over Chris sat down at his piano and played the end of it on his piano which was really cool! Then Politik was incredible! LIJ was amazing!!! And Chris used a white umbrella this time. I know first it was red and then it was blue. It was a white one last night. The confetti rocked and we scored a shitload of it. But the crowd didn't really seem that into the confetti which pissed me off, but hey more for us I guess. Death and All His Friends was so awesome! For the encore Amy and I started the viva woah oh ohhh chant which was awesome. It took awhile to start but once it finally did it was so sweet! At that point we ended up right in front of the pit! Chris joked about LRLRL being bad and that's why it was free, we booed him and he laughed. I was hoping for the mad laugh but he didn't do it. The scientist was so beautiful and it was amazing because we were SO close at that point!! He kept looking in our direction during that song too which is an incredible feeling. Lit ii was awesome!! And then at the end a girl standing right in front of chris held up her sign and HE BLEW A KISS AT HER!!! It was so cute and amazing I really hope someone has it on video because I wanna see it again and get a GIF of it!!

THEN, he saw our sign!!! He waved and smiled at us and kind of bowed a little bit. It was so fucking amazing!! We totally freaked out!! Then when they left and people started leaving we went into the pit. A roadie handed Amy a setlist! She got Rick's setilist! Then, a roadie gave me GUY'S SETLIST!!!! I FREAKING HAVE GUY'S SETLIST!! And then someone randomly walking by us put a setlist that was taped to the stage somewhere in Amy's hand so we got 3 setlists total! Oh yeah, we almost got a pick too!!! But then he gave it to a girl next to us we kept reaching for it. I really wanted it but I was just given Guy's setlist so I was happy. Then I saw a pick on stage still in a stand and it looked like Chris's because of where the stand was on the stage and I asked for it but no one was close enough to hear to me. Then we had to leave the pit. So we went and got more butterflies.

Completely amazing night!! But the crowd kind of sucked which was a bit of a let down because normally coldplay crowds are so energetic. We talked to so many before the show who said they drove a few hours to get there. You think with that many people from far away they would have been more into it. No one anywhere near us knew words to majority of the songs. It was shocking! And the girls who thought chris had green eyes were texting and talking to each other the whole time not even paying attention which pissed me off, then they made fun of us for dancing and screaming every word during the whole show. Whatever, they were lame.

The boys did a fucking incredible job!!!!! Chris was ON FIRE!!!!!! It was the best dancing I've ever seen him do!!! Especially during 42!! He was truly amazing!!! Best I've ever seen him!! All of the guys were really into it despite the crowd and they just did a truly incredible job!! And there was SOOOO much C&J love throughout the whole show!!! The first time Chris went over to Jonny and whispered something to him in the beginning of Violet Hill Amy screamed "LOVE!!!!" During every song there was so much love between them and it was SO cute and adorable! I love them!

There was a bunch of tech problems though. In one of the songs in the beginning I can't remember which one Jonny turned away from the audience and was by the speaker fxing something with his guitar which I guess is kind of normal but it seems more important with the other things going on. Chris's guitar was changed for every song, and he had to get a new one before he finished Yellow. And the main thing was the piano at B stage.

Despite those few things it was a fucking amazing night!!!!!!! Fuck the crowd, I had the time of my life with my best friend next to me also having the time of her life. I went to this concert as like a get well/ be happy thing because 3 weeks ago I had surgery on both of my legs. And the timing was perfect because my legs were feeling pretty good and I was so bummed about still not being able to play hockey. This made me so fucking incredibly ecstatic!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And it was the also the last time I'll see the boys until the next tour. So, this was such a good last show for the viva tour, at least for us because got so lucky!! We had some major coldplay karma with us especially at the end!! Truly awesome! and oh yeah, we picked up the local paper this morning because chris was on the cover. [thanks In a telescope lens]

Coldplay at SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY (27th July 2009):

Pictures by maggieroseee @Flickr (xmonstermaggie @ Coldplaying)

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Recorders at the ready! A final reminder that Coldplay's new video for Strawberry Swing finally will make its debut on terrestrial TV tomorrow (Wednesday). Here's Anchorman will full details:

Good morning. Tonight (Wednesday 29th July), the Strawberry Swing video will make its UK TV debut on the 4 Music digital channel at 7pm. It will then be shown on Channel 4 a few hours later, at 12.05am. For those of you outside the UK, Channel 4 looks a little bit like this. Anchorman

The groundbreaking short film was directed by visual artists Shynola and features Chris Martin as an animated superhero in a chalk-drawn world (with a killer squirrel). You can watch now it in its entirity here at Babelgum. The film will also be shown at ODEON cinemas across the UK from Wednesday July 22nd, where it will be programmed in front of both Bruno and The Proposal. Strawberry Swing (the single) will be released globally as a digital download on September 14th. The video will be commercially available a little while before that, on August 3rd. You can check out the artwork for the single after the jump.

You can discuss the single release and review the video at the Coldplay forum here onwards. Please also rate this video in our new here as well! [thanks iPsy & svenky]

Single artwork

Here are some stills from the video...

After executive producer Al Jean mentioned it last week, representatives of the band confirmed today that Coldplay would make a guest appearance on an episode during the upcoming season of "The Simpsons." They'll join an impressive list of bands who have gone yellow for the show, including U2, the Ramones, the Who, Smashing Pumpkins and Metallica, MTV Newsroom writes today.

MTV go on to say that: Coldplay don't necessarily have the same cool cred as the bands above, but are they the most mediocre act to ever play a note with yellow skin? Of course, Coldplay will have a lot of trouble living up to the greatest "Simpsons" musical guest of all time, which is when Red Hot Chilli Peppers played on Krusty the Klown's comeback special and changed their lyrics to be more family-friendly. So the "Give it Away" line "What I got you got to get and put it in you" became "What I'd like is I'd like to hug and kiss you." That's some hilarious censorship we can get behind.

Below (after jump) are the musical guests that Coldplay will give a run for their money. More discussion on 'Coldplay featured in the Simpsons' is at the forums here onwards. [thanks Max & clisaj]

Shawn Colvin: Remember Colvin? She had a brief bit of success during the Lillith Fair era with her hit "Sunny Came Home," and she's one of the few musicians to appear on "The Simpsons" as a character and not herself. She played a singer in a Christian rock band who wooed Ned Flanders following the death of his wife Maude. Verdict: She appeared well after her caché had expired, though she was in the guise of a character and not herself, making it seem more like an acting performance than anything else. Plus, she appeared in more than one episode — no small feat for a "Simpsons" guest star.

Bachman-Turner Overdrive: BTO appeared on an episode in the show's eleventh season, where they played themselves doing a gig at a state fair that Homer attended. In the scene, Homer compares the group to Emerson, Lake and Palmer and openly mocks their song choices (he only wants to hear "Taking Care of Business," and really only a particular part of it). Verdict

Sting: In "Simpsons" lore, Sting was Krusty the Klown's opening act in the '60s. Later on, he was recruited to sing on the show's "We Are the World"-esque charity single "We're Sending Our Love Down the Well." Verdict: Sting was never quite believable as a playing-along guest on the show — strange considering his skin actual skin tone is pretty close to that of Bart and Homer.

Baha Men: The trio never actually ended up on the show, but they did perform several parodies of their lone hit "Who Let the Dogs Out?" for the show. Verdict: They get a bit of a pass for not having been on the show, and their lameness is more the fault of the show creators for going back to the well long after it had dried up.

Source: MTV Newsroom

More photos of Coldplay at Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, WI (25th July 2009)

Pictures by Ebs757

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It's been said that you're nobody in Hollywood until you've done a guest spot on "The Simpsons," and that idea may apply to musical acts as well. After all, the list of artists who have appeared on the show in some form reads like a hall of fame: Michael Jackson, U2, Metallica, Paul McCartney and the Red Hot Chili Peppers have all loaned their pipes to the long-running animated show, writes MTV today.

And Coldplay are the latest group to have their skin turned yellow for the sake of cartoon comedy. According to "Simpsons" executive producer Al Jean (and confirmed by a Coldplay spokesperson), Chris Martin and the gang will lend their voices and likenesses to an episode in the show's upcoming 21st season. Jean says the episode in question will see Homer use a million-dollar windfall from lottery winnings to pay the band to play a private concert for himself and Bart — "When Bart goes to the bathroom, Coldplay has to stop," Jean told Entertainment Weekly.

The band joins "Funny People" star Seth Rogen, comedian Sarah Silverman and actresses Anne Hathaway and Neve Campbell as special guest stars on the upcoming season, which launches on Fox on Sunday, September 27. An episode later in the season will also feature one of the last recordings of legendary torch singer Eartha Kitt, who passed away last Christmas.

Though it may represent the first time his group has been animated, it's hardly Chris Martin's maiden voyage into comedy: He appeared as a slightly more egotistical version of himself in an episode of Ricky Gervais' "Extras," poked fun at himself on episodes of "Saturday Night Live" and also appears on the titular character's cheesy charity single at the end of "Brüno." The band is currently wrapping up its tour of North America (including a set at this weekend's All Points West festival) before heading back to Europe to complete the world tour in support of their multi-platinum fourth album, Viva La Vida, or Death and All His Friends.

Source: MTV News

Pictures of Coldplay at Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, WI (25th July 2009)

Pictures by TheAngie

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Starting in August, Coldplaying has the opportunity to take part in another forum competition with Absolute Radio, similar to the Rock-Off. This time around it’s all about your live experiences, and could win prizes for you and the Coldplaying forum. Absolute are asking forums to discuss your live experiences and submit our best Coldplay stories... and we have lots of shortlisted Coldplay reviews to read and put forward for entry!

This summer, Absolute Radio is bringing you free live music every day. To celebrate, they are once again pitting forums against each other in a series of competitions called 'Live Stories'. Your experiences could win you tickets to a fantastic live event, and the winning forum gets to pick the line-up for a virtual festival to be broadcast on Absolute Radio, using Absolute's extensive archive of live recordings! Imagine a full online evening of live music chosen by YOU!

What you need to do now: Read all the live reviews that have been shortlisted to represent Coldplaying in the competition, and vote for your favourite. Voting ends on Wednesday 29th July, so you have 24 hours to make that vote count!

Each week, the live review entries submitted from Coldplaying will be judged by a panel. They will select stories to go forward to the public vote for that week. The winning story for the week wins the writer a pair of live concert tickets for Coldplay, Oasis, The Killers, U2, Radiohead or The Arctic Monkeys, as well as putting Coldplaying into the final.

Chris Martin at Absolute Radio studios, 30th January 2009

More questions answered by The Oracle... (submit yours now!)

July 28, 2009 - submitted by Jennifer, United States of America

Q. Hey Oracle! I was recently at a Coldplay concert (best concert of my whole life) and Elbow was their opening act, they sang a song with a lot of violin in it. Sorry if this is a dumb question but could you please tell me the name of the song!? I would love to buy it! Thanks so much! :)

The Oracle replies:

I sincerely hope you mean One Day Like This because it is amazing. It's on their last award winning album The Seldom Seen Kid. It's a fantastic cd and I highly recommend buying it if you can. FYI: Coldplay & Elbow both played at the In The City music convention back in 1998 which indirectly launched both their careers.

July 28, 2009 - submitted by Helmut, Austria

Q. Dear Oracle, have you ever heard of IAMX? What do you think of him?

The Oracle replies:

Yeah I have actually. A publisher friend gave me some music over a year ago; I thought it was pretty cool!

July 28, 2009 - submitted by Ana, Argentina

Q. What could be worst? To get what you want but not what you need? Or to get what you need but not what you want? I recently got what I terribly needed (a laptop) instead of what I desperately wanted (a plane ticket), my need got stolen after 3 weeks, and now I don't have what I needed nor what I wanted, and I just can�t let the anger I feel go away... what would you recommend me to do next time I save enough money, what I want or what I need?

The Oracle replies:

It's nice to indulge in what we want once in a while or more often if the means are available, but I have to say that getting what you need is more important. Not just in the material sense but also in taking care of you. That's slightly contradictory because a lot of what I want in life is actually what I need; good friends, good health, a home, a job... Anyway, let go of the anger because the laptop has gone, it can be replaced but make sure you get adequate insurance cover next time. Luckily possessions can be insured so take special care of the things that can't like your heart and soul.

Coldplay's new video for Strawberry Swing finally premiered online and in cinemas last week, and it has been announced that it will make its debut on terrestrial TV tomorrow (Wednesday). Here's Anchorman will full details:

Good morning. Tomorrow night (Wed 29th July), the Strawberry Swing video will make its UK TV debut on the 4 Music digital channel at 7pm. It will then be shown on Channel 4 a few hours later, at 12.05am. For those of you outside the UK, Channel 4 looks a little bit like this. Anchorman

The groundbreaking short film was directed by visual artists Shynola and features Chris Martin as an animated superhero in a chalk-drawn world (with a killer squirrel). You can watch now it in its entirity here at Babelgum. The film will also be shown at ODEON cinemas across the UK from Wednesday July 22nd, where it will be programmed in front of both Bruno and The Proposal. Strawberry Swing (the single) will be released globally as a digital download on September 14th. The video will be commercially available a little while before that, on August 3rd. You can check out the artwork for the single after the jump.

You can discuss the single release and review the video at the Coldplay forum here onwards. Please also rate this video in our new here as well! [thanks iPsy & svenky]

Single artwork

Here are some stills from the video...

Coldplay's Viva La Vida tour continued across North America last night as they played at SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY, in a rearranged date from May that was postponed due to an illness in the band. The Coldplay-shaped puppets were seen clowning around a Wisconsin clown - see all those pictures after the jump. No major changes to the setlist as Billie Jean replaced I'm A Believer in the acoustic set again. The Hardest Part was played on the main stage and not the B-stage as has previously been expected - this was due to heavy rain.

[discussion] [photos] [videos] [wiki reviews/setlist] (updated over the next 24-48 hours)

Setlist:

Life In Technicolor

Violet Hill

Clocks

In My Place

Yellow

Glass Of Water

Cemeteries Of London

42

Fix You

Strawberry Swing

God Put A Smile Upon Your Face (techno version)

Talk (techno version)

The Hardest Part (Chris piano)

Postcards From Far Away (piano instrumental)

Viva La Vida

Lost!

Green Eyes (acoustic)

Death Will Never Conquer (Acoustic, sung by Will)

Billie Jean

Viva La Vida (remix interlude)

------

Politik

Lovers In Japan

Death And All His Friends

-------

The Scientist

Life in Technicolor ii

The Escapist (outro)

Picture by missimmons @ Twitter

I just got back from the concert!!!!!!!!!! My first EVER COLDPLAY CONCERT! ONE I HAD TO WAIT MORE MONTHS THAN I WANTED TO FOR! Needless to say, I wasn't let down! I really worried the crowd would be bad though. Just from looking at this thread you can see how few "true" coldplay fans are attending this concert. It took a long time for the inside part of the ampitheater to fill up. Elbow played to about 50 people and the lawn crowd. Well by the time Magnificent and Jay-Z and I'm not sure what classical piece it is but it's one I love and am annoyed i don't know the name to, the band came in. I didn't expect the light swingers (what I shall call them), but they had them and they were quite spectacular. Really all one can say about this concert is it's design and aesthetic. The music was great with the minor hiccups to be expected. Chris swore and kept it light and funny admist all the earnestness of the music. I was just taken aback by how perfect this concert was planned. Lovers in Japan was by far the stand out. One many have grown to love in concert. I thought they hit everything out that they could. Chris was in a great mood and kept apologizing for missing the original date. But we wouldn't expect anything less. All in all this was a wonderful experience. I'm sure someone else can give you some more insight, but I'll prefer to look back on this as a collective. It really was quite an amazingly blissful experience. Even though I was one of the only people there who could sing the words to every song, the crowd came through. And behind it was Chris, Jonny, Will and Guy. The did a great job. [thanks footyfan10]

Was my first Coldplay show as well. Hopefully you weren't referring to me as one of the 'non-true Coldplay fans' because of my post count. But anyway...had an amazing time. Was lucky enough to get some awesome seats for the encore due to some awesome guy giving my friend and I his on the way out. Which was especially good because I could hardly see on the lawn towards the end. The show was amazing and worth every penny and then some. Grabbed a piece of butterfly confetti on the way out for the ticket/scrap book. Glass of Water, Clocks, 42, Lovers in Japan and of course the encore when I was down front were the highlights. (That I can remember right now). Definitely have to see Coldplay again from somewhere where I can actually see the whole show. They do an amazing job in the video presentation. Also the light show is very well done. All in all a great time! [thanks The Bootleg Saint]

This was my first too! it was awesome! OMG i just got back.....i recorded them doing billy jean and death will never conquer.....they came near us and i was soo lucky! I was NOT let down @ all! I absloved it!!!! [thanks CSIHousefan]

OMG!!! This show put the Darien Center one to shame!!! It was simply awesome ... something not to be taken lightly, as I felt that the Darien Center show was the best show I've ever seen by ANYONE!!! First of all ... I'm really sorry to all the fans who had to wait the two months to see this show, but the truth be told, it's the ONLY reason I got to see it!!! After the Darien Center show, I went home and saw the Saratoga Date and bought tickets right then and there!!! Had it not been postponed, I would have missed it all together. As for the show itself ... The band, including Chris seemed tired ... Definitely understandable!!! I want to mention that just because they seemed tired does not mean there performance was lacking in anyway. I would have to say that perhaps it was for this very reason that they seemed to put forth extra effort to entertain us all. There were definite positives and negatives when it came to this venue, but I think over all it was a great place to see the show. I think the balcony, which certainly hindered the view of the upper half of the stage area, ultimately ended up adding something ... by that I mean Chris and the band were aware of the issue and went out of their way to make the show enjoyable for EVERYONE!!! The ONLY part which was sad was that no butterflies made it out into the lawn area... I was hoping to "capture" some for a friend who's children had destroyed those she collected @ Darien Center back on June 1st. I suppose I could have fought the crowd after the show and moved up to get some, but when you are relying on someone else to drive you the 4 1/2 hours home, you tend to stay on their heels. In my opinion, an A+++ show! Can't wait to see another in the future!!! [thanks pitaboy1968]

More on this concert including reviews, videos, pictures and tweets here onwards.

The Coldplay-shaped puppets clowning around a Wisconsin clown:

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A fire which swept through a community recording studio in Parr Street, sparking traffic chaos as roads were cordoned off, is being treated as suspicious by fire chiefs. Smoke billowed over Liverpool city centre recently when the disused building – formely a Greek restaurant - was completely gutted by flames. [thanks RedGirl76]

Parr Street, Duke Street and Slater Street were among roads closed to traffic as crews battled to contain the fire which spread to an adjoining builders' merchants and garage. It is thought the building contained significant levels of asbestos. Crews extinguished the blaze at 9.30pm and investigators will now attempt to determine its cause. Merseyside Fire and Rescue said it was treating the incident as ‘suspicious’ and confirmed there were no casualties. Eye witnesses Mike Nolan and Peter Carr took photographs of the blaze at The Parthenon restaurant.

Parr Street Studios’ Studio 3 is where Chris Martin wrote some of Coldplay’s biggest hits, including The Scientist, and has been used by everyone from Echo and the Bunnymen to Oasis and (former owner) Phil Collins over the years.

Thousands of pounds of equipment, including computers and mixing desks, was destroyed as the fire ravaged the former Parthenon Greek restaurant, in Parr Street, on Saturday afternoon. Investigators refused to rule out arson as the cause of the fire, which spread to an adjoining builders’ merchants and garage, and sent thick smoke billowing over the city centre.

Seel Street, Parr Street, Slater Street and Fleet Street were all cordoned off by the emergency services at 4.10pm, leading to city centre traffic chaos for motorists. No one was injured in the fire, which took crews five hours to extinguish. Hordes of spectators were drawn to the blaze and had to be moved back by officers, who feared the fumes smoke contained traces of asbestos.

Onlooker Pete Carr, a photographer, said: “It sounded like there were firecrackers going off inside. “You could really feel the heat and soon all of the roof was exposed.” The building, which was being used as a community recording studio for local bands, was completely destroyed by the blaze.

New photos of Coldplay at Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, WI (25th July 2009)

Pictures by TheAngie

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