Coldplay played the first night of the Australian Viva La Vida tour at Perth's Burswood Dome on the first of two consecutive nights. The setlist remained largely the same as it was at the end of the 2008 tour... but Speed Of Sound was included in the acoustic set.

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

Setlist:

Life In Technicolor

Violet Hill

Clocks

Yellow

Cemeteries Of London

Chinese Sleep Chant

42

Fix You

Strawberry Swing

God Put A Smile Upon Your Face (techno version)

Talk (techno version)

The Hardest Part (Chris piano, Will)

Postcards From Far Away (piano instrumental)

Viva La Vida

Lost!

Speed Of Sound (acoustic)

Green Eyes (acoustic)

Death Will Never Conquer (acoustic - Will vocals)

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 Jizo

Good Points - Excellent Crowd. Wooooahs during viva, after viva, before the encore, leaving the gig. Was magical. The acoustic set in the crowd. The screens at the side were fucking fantasticly clear.

Bad Points - Chris didn't interact with the crowd as much as he could have. But this is only a very very minor point. [thanks Jizo]

I thought the crowd was a bit average tonight, crowd was better at Twisted Logic Tour. The crowd were getting into the singing, but werent dancing as much, apart from the guy next to me who was headbanging half the night like he was at Metallica! I also thought Twisted Logic show was alot slicker than tonight. Was still a great show though. Heaps more balloons during Yellow than before, always love that moment. [thanks Wally]

RootinBrand: Chris Martin - best front man I've seen in awhile! Coldplay were bleeding brilliant tonight.

sharkola: coldplay was amazing. SOB I WILL FIX YOU SOB.

nicolecorreia47: @coldplay OMG, you guys were FREAKING AMAZING tonight. Love, love LOVE YOU!!! Thanks for running into the crowd & singing near us too

an9ie: Coldplay concert = mmmMMMMmmm. Now, if only Depeche Mode would come to Perth on their current tour, I would die a happy woman.

Jenny_p: As much as everyone loves to bag coldplay, they sure know how to put on a damn good show

davidtanth: Back from coldplay's perth tour. It was SO good!

jsmith189: @coldplay amazing show guys. hope you had a great time, and hope you have a great time tomorrow too

adrianlambert: Just been to see coldplay at the burswood dome. Not too shabby. They played a few duffers but the video show was worth it alone.

glenlewis: Coldplay rock. So authentic, engaging and just fun. Best concert this century!!

developit: on train home from @coldplay concert FANTASTIC !!! #coldplay i have tshirts & jacket (i know i'm a sucker)

antzpantz: Omg. So nervous. In the pit waiting for Coldplay. #m

More on this concert including reviews, videos and pictures here onwards [thanks Jizo & yellowtalk]

U2 frontman Bono has apologised after using a four-letter word live on radio to describe Coldplay singer Chris Martin. The Irish singer, 48, was being interviewed by Jo Whiley on the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge this morning when he called Martin a 'w*****'.

A BBC spokeswoman said: 'An on-air apology was made immediately for the language used during the live broadcast. We apologise for any offence caused.' After Bono swore, Jo brought the interview to a halt and asked him to apologise to listeners. He said: 'Oops! Sorry, sorry, I'm a reformed character - I don't do that (swear) any more.'

After apologising, Bono jokingly labelled Chris 'a completely dysfunctional character and a cretin'. Bono's swearing came as the U2 played a live broadcast concert from the BBC Radio Theatre, where they played their new single Get On Your Boots.

More on this amazing outburst at the Coldplay forum here

The “Countdown To Coldplay” is almost over for Australian fans, and Coldplay will be performing to 17,000 fans at Perth’s Burswood Dome tonight. They will be supported by both Sydney outfit Decoder Ring and Mercury Rev on their eleven massive Arena shows across Australia, making this one of the biggest rock concerts the country will see in 2009.

There are live updates now from tonight's show via twitter in the Coldplay Live forum here onwards courtesy of those inside the arena, and full discussion on the show too [thanks Jizo & yellowtalk].

Meanwhile, Coldplay have posted some more pictures of the LiTii puppets, this time enjoying the Perth sunshine. You can see them at Coldplay.com here, with more discussion on this here [thanks Sirhc]

The Australian tour kicks off in Perth on Friday 27 February and concludes at Sydney’s Acer Arena on Sunday 15 March. They recently brought the number of Australian shows to their itinery for 2009 to eleven, with the addition of a fourth Sydney show. The full list is:

Friday 27th February - Perth, Burswood Dome [discussion]

Saturday 28th February - Perth, Burswood Dome [discussion]

Tuesday 3rd March - Melbourne, Rod Laver Arena [discussion]

Wednesday 4th March - Melbourne, Rod Laver Arena [discussion]

Thursday 5th March – Melbourne, Rod Laver Arena [discussion]

Sunday 8th March - Brisbane, Entertainment Centre [discussion]

Monday 9th March - Brisbane, Entertainment Centre [discussion]

Wednesday 11th March - Sydney, Acer Arena [discussion]

Thursday 12th March - Sydney, Acer Arena [discussion]

Saturday 14th March - Sydney, Acer Arena [discussion]

Sunday 15th March – Sydney, Acer Arena [discussion]

New Zealand:

Wednesday 18th March - Auckland, Vector Arena [discussion]

Thursday 19th March - Auckland, Vector Arena [discussion]

Don't forget that Coldplay's recent show at the Tokyo Saitama Super Arena will be screened on 62 MTV channels around the world tomorrow (Friday 27th February), in their new MTV World Stage slot. Please see your local listings for airing information. For the record, MTV filmed the second of the band's two Tokyo shows, on 12 February.

Yesterday, MTV released a promo video clip from the Coldplay performance at the Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo on 12th February for the forthcoming MTV World Stage screening, which you can download in avi, flv or MP4 format here and see screenshots at the Coldplaying Gallery here. The clip shows the performance of the full song 'Life In Technicolor ii' [thanks Lore].

Join the watching party on the 27th February! Full discussion on the forthcoming screenings at the Coldplay forum here onwards.

Microsoft has announced that its singalong game Lips is set to release its first downloadable song pack next month.

Available worldwide from 13 March, the song pack is set to feature three Coldplay songs, including "The Scientist", "Speed of Sound" and "In My Place". Already released on 20 February were tracks "How To Save a Life" by The Fray, "Speed Up" by Funkerman, and "Swing Life Away" by Rise Against.

Coming up over the next two weeks, with new releases on the 27 February and 6 March, you can expect six more tracks including "In The Shadows" by The Rasmus, "The Adventure" by Angels and Airwaves and "Hook Me Up" by Veronica.

More on this smacker of a news item at the Coldplay forum here onwards.

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

February 26, 2009 - submitted by Arissa, Brazil

Q. Well Oracle, I've heard the song "Such a Rush" so many times and I realized that the voice does not sounds like Chris Martin's. Well, maybe I'm wrong, but if I'm not, can you please tell me whose voice is that? My guess is Guy Berryman, 'cause he wrote the song. But please tell me who it is!! Thanks, Arissa

The Oracle replies:

I can see why you may be sceptical but it is Chris. When the band first formed his singing voice was a lot deeper and softer but I assure you it's him. The song credits the band, not just Guy, with writing.

February 26, 2009 - submitted by Melissa, United States of America

Q. Since the first time watching the "LiTii" vid I have had a theory going and now that my curiosity's gotten the best of me I thought I would run it by you, dearest Oracle. The guys are always speaking of themselves as if they are not cool? enough to be "rock stars" (something every Coldplay fan, I'm sure, disagrees with). Could it be that their respective puppets did what the guys would love to do if they were "rock stars" ...Chris could do the splits, Johnny would smash up his guitar and amps, Will would throw his drumsticks out to a fan, Guy...well Guy would be Bono and collectively they would fly off in a helicopter? Thank you, Oracle, keep up the great work!

The Oracle replies:

It was more a case of director Dougal Wilson throwing a few rock n roll cliche in the mix. Chris is already renowned for his nimble acrobatics on stage, Will does throw his drumsticks and the band have been known to arrive/leave in a helicopter (e.g. Isle of Wight Festival) but thankfully there's always room for Jonny!

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

February 25, 2009 - submitted by Charlene, France

Q. Ooh dearest Oracle. I'd like to know your opinion about this project a guy had : at the Coldplay concert in Paris-Parc des Princes, people will come dressed in red or/and white (Viva la Vida colors) and maybe a crown, to show how much we love Coldplay and to leave them a good memory of this gig (I'm sure this concert will give us a great memory !)The guy made a group in facebook and website etc... as I see it's working. So, do you think it's a good idea ? Will the band like it ? Thank you very much...sorry for my English. bye xo

The Oracle replies:

I heard about this a few months ago and think it's a charming idea. The band would love it but not everyone attending the show will know about it so the impact of it will depend on how many people do it. I mean Parc des Princes is a huge venue and I doubt the guy can get 40 odd thousand fans to get involved.

Speaking of Prince, which I know we weren't really but... for the Sign o' the Times tour it was requested on the ticket that everyone wear peach & black. I think crowns would be easier than colour co-ordinating the crowd to be honest. Whatever he decides, good luck to him I say!

Note: The Parc de Princes thread is here for those who want to share their crown ideas!

February 25, 2009 - submitted by Sweet Marianne, Spain

Q. Dear friend Oracle, as you may remember Chris and Johnny took part in 2005 in a radio session in Ingravidez at los 40 Principales radio station, with Ramon Redondo, as seen in Live 2003 DVD. This month at the same radio show it's taking place a contest for one of the 70x70cm limited edition Viva la Vida cover made on linen. This contest consists on asking 6 difficult questions which are:

-Song deticated to Johnny Cash and Johnny Cash video where Chris appears.

-Building where LIT ii was recorded.

-Name of the 3 songs performanced at LIVE 8, and name of the guest artist who sang one of them.

(next 3Q will go out during this week, so if you want me to I can send them too) Now my question is: could you PLEASE do noy answer any of those questions? This has to be fair play, you know..Everybody deserves the same possibilities!;) Your truly reader! xx

The Oracle replies:

Two of those answers are on this site somewhere (one just added yesterday) and as it's a competition it wouldn't be fair if I just gave you the answers, you have to put some effort in! The world wide web can help you win the coveted prize but I will give you a little support as there's actually 4 answers needed with those 3 questions. Check the first question carefully; Coldplay wrote a song for Johnny Cash but that's not the same song that Chris appeared in the video for.

February 25, 2009 - submitted by chris, United Kingdom

Q. Hello oracle. I'd like to know, are Coldplay keane on Keane? thanks.

The Oracle replies:

They're keen on Keane, yes.

MTV have released a new clip from Coldplay's recent performance at the Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo on 12th February for the forthcoming MTV World Stage screening, which you can download in avi, flv or MP4 format here and see screenshots at the Coldplaying Gallery here. The clip shows the performance of the full song 'Life In Technicolor ii'. [thanks Lore]

MTV Networks International announced the launch of MTV World Stage and MTV Push, two new music initiatives aimed at demonstrating MTV's unique international scale and connecting fans to the greatest and latest acts on the world music scene. MTV World Stage is a free pass to the most exclusive gigs and unique concert locations from around the world. Coldplay live in Tokyo from the Saitama Super Arena will be the first performance captured for MTV World Stage and will air 27 February on 62 MTV channels around the world. The series will showcase different musical performances every Friday night across the international network.

Join the watching party on the 27th February! Full discussion on the forthcoming screenings at the Coldplay forum here onwards.

Coldplay and Madonna have been snubbed by MTV in their search for the Greatest Album Ever. Voting to find the top 10 albums since MTV was launched in 1981 will start this week across the network's three UK channels - MTV2, VH1 and MTV Base.

An MTV insider has revealed Coldplay - who recently lost out at the BRIT Awards, winning none of the four categories they were nominated in - will not be included on the shortlist, and neither will Madonna, whose first album, was released in 1982. The shortlist of albums was compiled by industry experts, and MTV2, VH1 and MTV Base will each have their own top 10 list.

Read the full article at the Coldplay forum here

There is now online at Coldplay.com an interview with Dougal Wilson, the Life in Technicolor ii video director, who regails us with tales from the puppet video. You can discuss this interview at the Coldplay forum [thanks Cris_Santos]

The Life in Technicolor ii video debuted on UK's 4Music on 20th January and it is now available via Parlophone's official YouTube channel and also Coldplay's website. You can see it in the first post of the LiTii thread here and you can find download links here, and also screenshots in the Coldplaying Gallery here [thanks Lore & sebile]

Hello Dougal. How did you come to make the video for Life In Technicolor ii?

Well, I've been doing music videos for a while and Phil Harvey, Coldplay's mysterious fifth member, got in touch to ask if I'd like to pitch for their next single, and to see if I'd like to meet up with him to talk about it. It sounded a little more engaging than your average video commission. Usually you just get emailed the track as an MP3 and you don't know how many people will be pitching for it, or how much of a chance you stand.

Do you know which of your videos Phil had been inspired by?

I think he must've seen my showreel, which would've had Bat For Lashes, Dizzee Rascal, Basement Jaxx and The Streets on it. If you go on our website, you can see a bunch of them.

Perhaps the Benni Benassi one caught his attention.

Haha! They did mention that one, yeah. But I suppose they noticed that most of my ideas are quite light-hearted or affectionately take the piss out of the artist. Maybe they thought that was going to be good territory for them. I don't really know, to be honest.

So you met up with Phil?

I did. We had a chat and it sounded like they wanted something in the style of what I'd done before, with my kind of silly humour. They were originally going to release a song called Glass Of Water, so that was the one I came up with an idea for. But that idea turned out to be too expensive and would've involved the band, which was looking really tricky because they were on tour. So, then I had to think of another idea, but it was nice because they were committed to me doing it by that point. Meanwhile, the band had suggested that they could be puppets, possibly in a Thunderbirds style. I thought puppets was a great idea, but that the Thunderbirds look had been done, with Team America.

You had worked with puppets before though, right?

Yes, for a Dizzee Rascal video, which meant it was territory I was familiar with, technically. So, I had a think about what we could do with puppets and I thought about Punch and Judy. It's a British institution; quite creepy, funny and anarchic, but I hadn't seen them in a video before. So that's how we came up with that idea. Then they changed the single to Life In Technicolor ii and it seemed to still work with the idea.

What happened next?

Well, the idea was developed that it was a Punch and Judy show which was going to be taken over by a puppet rock band performance. I thought we could have a few jokes, if we attempted to do the kind of thing Van Halen or Motley Crue would do, with all the cliches of a massive rock concert, but on a puppet scale. So I got the song and storyboarded it bar by bar, thinking of all the gags we could put in. I thought it was quite important that everyone watching would be completely unprepared for it, so you're constantly contrasting the people watching with what's happening on the stage. That was the main repeated joke throughout; people looking at it in a mixture of bewilderment and fear. It wouldn't have been funny if they'd started getting into it.

Some of the looks are amazing, particularly the little boy at the start.

Yeah, that is a classic little moment. We couldn't have told him to do that. We had a second camera which we just kept rolling on the kids we'd cast. Basically my criteria for casting them was that they could do a good bewildered expression; I just chose the ones that looked funniest when they opened their mouth very slightly.

How did you pick where to film it?

That was quite tricky. I wanted it to be in a very unsuspecting English village hall, so I tried to find the kind of place where the local ladies guild would have their meetings. But it was quite hard to find places that weren't being used, because those sort of halls are always being used by the table tennis club, or something. We searched for ages and then that one became available. It's in a place called Aldenham which is near Watford. Interestingly it's the same village where they shot the TV adaptation of the Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham, called Village Of The Damned. So it's got some film heritage.

Is it a nice village?

Yes, it's very pleasant and picturesque, although opposite the hall there are these nice little cottages and outside one of them was a big sign saying "Bring back hanging"! We made sure we didn't make too much noise around that particular neighbour. But the locals we met were all really nice.

How did you go about making the puppets?

I've got a really good guy I've worked with before called Nonny Banks. He does prosthetics for feature films and that kind of thing. I did some research into Punch and Judy-style puppets, before trying to draw rough likenesses of the band in that style. Then Nonny sculpted them in clay and we rendered them in fibreglass, then gave them a wood look with paint. I don't think it really matters that they don't look precisely like them, it's more that we're supposed to know they look like them. That's why I thought it'd be funny to really spell it out with the girl and the Playin' It Cool biography.

We've had emails about that book, asking where you can buy it from.

Well, I think the whole phenomenon of the unofficial biography is really amusing. When any band gets any trace of success there's always some opportunistic writer who immediately puts an unofficial biography together. So I put "unofficial biography of Coldplay" into Google and found this bizarre CD called Maximum Coldplay, which has the picture I've used on the cover of the fake book - the one where Will looks about 13. Maximum Coldplay is a CD of a woman narrating a very dry, factual biography of Coldplay, while music plays which isn't even Coldplay, it's just some other band playing a bit like them. You can hear clips of it online. It's very odd. So I thought I should take that picture and put it on the book. It was meant to be a gag about the whole phenomenon of unofficial biographies.

Available at a village hall jumble sale near you.

Exactly! It's a pity you can't see the other books the girl's got actually; classic things like the Hungry Caterpillar. We got loads of amazing props for the shoot.

There's been some talk about Guy's puppet.

Yeah, nobody thinks it looks like him, do they? That is absolutely fair. But it is supposed to be a caricature in a Punch and Judy style. And somehow I thought Guy, of all the band, looked most like Mr Punch. So I exaggerated it and gave him this massive hooked nose, weird eyes and a leering grin. I found it funny that we'd made the most good looking one the least good looking puppet.

Who did the puppeteering?

These guys called Jonny and Will and a friend of theirs called Martin. And another friend of theirs whose name I can't remember.

Um, Guy?

Ha! No, it wasn't the band, despite the names. But Jonny and Will are fantastic puppeteers. I just did a music video-style film for the English National Opera which has also got puppets in it and they worked with me on that too.

You're becoming the puppet video man.

No, no, definitely not. Besides, the opera one was mostly live action.

So, did filming for the LITii video go well?

Yeah. We planned it out very precisely, because the video has a story so we were filming pieces of a jigsaw which had to fit together. It's especially tricky with children, because they're only allowed to be there for a certain number of hours. So we had to do it very, very fast; we probably averaged two takes per shot. With a big commercial you can easily do 30 takes per shot.

And Phil came along to make an appearance.

Indeed, he did.

It's good how he appears, then disappears, then re-appears. Even within the video, he's mysterious and elusive.

Exactly! That's because he was only there for an hour and you have to shoot things in a funny order. For example, you have to do all the shots facing the stage at the same time, and then all the ones looking towards the children. You have to draw it up on the storyboard and work out what you'll film when.

Of course the video climaxes with a helicopter smashing through a window.

Yes, that was actually shot in the middle of the night, at the end of the last day. So all the daylight is artificial - it's just a big light shining in.

Is there any reason Jonny isn't in the helicopter? If that was a Beatles video, people would think it meant he's dead or leaving the band, or something.

No, there was no meaning to that whatsoever. It's just that the helicopter was quite small inside and the puppets were quite big. We had to pull their legs off to get them into the helicopter and even then we could still only fit three in with the roadie. When we tried to put all four in, they were so crushed, they didn't look alive any more. So as it's only a very short shot, we thought nobody would notice if we left one out.

But why Jonny?

I think it was probably because he was the one that was flopping forward at the time, because he didn't have enough Blu-Tack on his torso. So I'm afraid I just pulled him out.

Did you have to smash a real window?

No, that's a trick of filming. It's actually some fire doors which we opened and inserted a fake window into. We made it at great expense with balsa wood and sugar glass. We'd had two built in anticipation of one of them going wrong, but we were so short of time that when we smashed the first one and it seemed to work, we left it at that.

How did you actually do it?

The helicopter was attached to a long broom handle, which was just walked through the window. It wasn't flying, it's on a big pole with two hefty blokes walking about two yards behind it until it smashes through. Then in post production we rubbed them out.

There's been a slight controversy over whether the man with the video camera swears. The BBC have said they can't put the LITii video on their website because he does.

Really? How funny! But, yes, he does swear. He says "effing 'ell". He was a featured extra guy called Davis and he was brilliant. The original idea was to cut in with DV footage, but we never used that. But his face was so funny that we thought we'd put him in. We were just improvising and I said, "Imagine something strange has just happened and maybe swear". And he did it brilliantly. I thought it'd be funny to have it after the motorbike scene, because that's pretty much what you'd think if you saw that. It was a spur of the moment thing because it was funny. It was like a moment of humanity coming in. It wasn't supposed to be gratuitous.

Were your roadie puppets based on anyone in particular?

There was talk of basing it on one of the band's long-standing guys, but that didn't happen in the end. So one of them was based on Saxondale, the Steve Coogan character. He's the one you don't see quite so much who pulls on one of the motorbike ramps and flies the helicopter. The other one, who picks the cymbal up and does the mixing desk, is just a classic roadie, with a ponytail and an ear-ring. We thought we should definitely give him a roadie's arse, too.

So, are you pleased with how the video turned out?

Well, you work on something so hard for so long that it's very hard to be objective about the finished thing. But what's really nice is when people start watching it and telling you they like it. That's very, very pleasing. And it seems to have happened quite a lot with this one.

What happens to the puppets now?

We've given them to Coldplay. But I've got one of the roadies on my shelf - the one with the arse. And I've got one of the Indian musician characters we invented for the start.

Do you think we'll ever see them all together on stage again?

Oh, it could happen. A reunion tour must surely be on the cards.

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

February 24, 2009 - submitted by Sarah, United Kingdom

Q. Dear Oracle, I came across a song today that according to a friend of mine is by Coldplay. The vocals seem to be those of Chris Martin which is why I would like to know if this song is indeed one by Coldplay. My friend says its title is "You" and I can recall the use of the word "circumvent" a few times, if that helps. Does it ring a bell? If so, then was it released as part of an album or was it B-side and is "You" its actual title? Thanks very much.

The Oracle replies:

It does indeed ring a bell. I LOVE this song. It's called For You and it's circumnavigate you're thinking of. This is a golden oldie from 2000 and it was the b-side to the Shiver single.

February 24, 2009 - submitted by joey, United States of America

Q. sooorrry for asking soo many questions if ur getting annoyed of me knoweldgable oracle but i was wondering i have heard rumors that coldplay might be playing during halftime at the next super bowl is this true?

The Oracle replies:

The rumour will have started when Bruce Springsteen was asked which band he'd like to see follow him next year. By replying Coldplay he's got a few people excited. However there's been no official talk of it and I'd say it's way too early to even speculate on such things.

February 24, 2009 - submitted by Lynn, United States of America

Q. This is a truly unusual request. I want someone to adopt me so that I can attend a Coldplay concert. I am 67, way too old to be interested in their music but I am captivated by Viva La Vida because it reflects who I once was...on the top of my game. But for some reason Chris' voice gives me joy, not a sense of loss. I've listened to all of the album, looked at YouTube, but really want to see the band in person. But no member of my family is interested. Incidentally, I don't do drugs, am spiritual if not religious, but just appreciate hearing music that resonates with my soul. Thanks...And is anyone up for the challenge of accompanying this Grandma to a Coldplay concert (am ambulatory and in great health and don't look all that bad!)?

The Oracle replies:

Well I suddenly feel like Cilla Black circa 1984-2003, somewhere between Surprise Surprise and Blind Date... Firstly you are not too old to be interested in their music! Music is ageless and the band have fans from all ages between cradle and grave. Secondly you haven't said which show is nearest to you so if you'd like to let me know via email at theoracle@coldplay.com, I shall update this post to let other readers know where and then we shall see what happens!

February 24, 2009 - submitted by Adriana, Costa Rica

Q. Hey there , i have two little questions for you! yes i know you're excited to read, well first is about me, i've always wanted to become a photographer but it's very expensive to study that in here :( and people tell me i shouldn't cause i wont get a job in the future anyways but its my dream, should i give up? and choose a different career? something that does pay back. and the other questions is! i know that chris has been here in costa rica on visit, i was wondering could you tell him and the guys to come here again but bring along their instruments so they can play a concert in here? its my other dream, hmm more than 2 little questions i know but since you're so almighty and everything i think you can help me! Please answer me, i don't want silence anymore.

The Oracle replies:

It's very expensive to study Photography here too. It's not just the course fees; it's the cost of the equipment and processing as well. I think it's important to follow your dream but if the cost is too high and there aren't scholarship opportunities maybe it's worth looking in to alternatives. You could always take a short course or a class in the subject. Failing that try and find a Photography club close by where you can learn as well as get great experience and make some good contacts. Luckily photography is something that you could start as a hobby and if you prove to be talented and get a break you could still make it without being qualified. That's no disrespect to all those who do long degrees etc. in the subject but just as you don't have to have music lessons to be a musician, there are short cuts. I can't promise a show in Costa Rica but you never know...

U2 have admitted they fear contemporary heavyweight bands such as The Killers and Coldplay. The Dublin quartet, who are set to return with their first album in over four years, said they are constantly looking over their shoulder at their possible rivals.

"In our heads that's who (Coldplay The Killers) we're up against," said frontman Bono. "You've got to keep an eye on the youth."

Despite the competition, the singer, who last week joined both bands onstage at a special War Child concert in London, hailed their hunger for success. "Coldplay are such an extraordinary band with such song writing talents," he enthused. "I think he (Chris Martin) is one of the most important melodists since Noel Gallagher, since Ray Davies since Paul McCartney. He's in the line of great British melodists."

Read the full article at the BBC website here

Coldplay will join US rock act Kings of Leon to major bushfire benefit concerts in Melbourne and Sydney, which will be staged simultaneously at the MCG and the SCG on Saturday March 14th. A 50 per cent share of ticket sales profits from the Sydney Sound Relief will go to the bushfire fund, with the other 50 per cent to go to the Premier’s Disaster Relief Fund in Queensland to help flood victims.

Midnight Oil, Hunters & Collector and Split Enz will reform especially for the Melbourne event, while Coldplay (acoustic), Eskimo Joe, Hoodoo Gurus and Icehouse will play the Sydney version of the show held simultaneously at the SCG on the same day. Jet and the new look Wolfmother will play both cities.

Tickets will be sold for $75 and go on sale from Ticketek 132 849 or ticketek.com.au on Wednesday March 4 at 9am. General Admission standing on the field and reserved seating in the stands will be available for both concerts.

More on this at the Coldplay Live forum here onwards [thanks josh_simo, anniea89 & tauiwi]

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

February 23, 2009 - submitted by Luisa, Venezuela

Q. Hi Oracle, I was wondering... What happened with the girl form The Scientist video?... Is she dead?... Thanks, and sorry for my English...

The Oracle replies:

In the story within the video yes, we can assume she died in the accident. The actress Elaine Cassidy however is alive and well!

February 23, 2009 - submitted by Alberto, Spain

Q. Hello, I would like to know. wich song was written by Coldplay in honor to Johnny Cash? thanks

The Oracle replies:

'Til Kingdom Come, which is a hidden track on X&Y. You can find it at the end of the album after the last track, Twisted Logic.

February 23, 2009 - submitted by Frisby, United States of America

Q. Hellos Oracle! I was wondering if the "widgets", namely, the wallpapers are copyrighted or protected in some way. I created the most uber wallpaper for myself the other day and I was wondering if I am allowed to redistribute it...Thanks! <3

The Oracle replies:

All images etc. are copyrighted so I'm afraid you can't reproduce and distribute them.

February 23, 2009 - submitted by Csemi, Hungary

Q. Dear Oracle! My mother tongue is not English so I have a question in conection with Lost! lyrics. "I'm just waiting till the shine wears off" What does it mean SHINE? a, shine as light? b,shine as noise? I was looking for my dictionary and 'the shine'=light and noise too!?

The Oracle replies:

Well it actually refers to neither, but it's more to do with light as it refers to brightness, the sheen of a polished finish. I guess as English isn't your first language this is going to be tricky to explain. If I illustrate its meaning by asking you to imagine an Oscar statuette. It's gold, it's shiny and the recipient is very excited to receive it. Literally if you polish it the shine will stay, however if you don't care as much about it as time goes on and neglect to polish it, the shine will wear off. The phrase "shine wears off" originates from this imagery but what it means is: to get bored of. When something isn't new anymore you're not as interested in it. I can't imagine anyone losing interest in an Oscar award but hopefully you'll know what I mean.

You can now watch a video of the 'Making of the Life In Technicolor ii video' showing how it was made. Click here to watch it at Coldplay.com. Here's Anchorman with more details:

Good morning. Click below to watch a terrific "making of" film for Coldplay's Life In Technicolor ii video (big thanks to the video's producer, Matthew Fone, for sending it over). Look out tomorrow for an in-depth interview with the video's director, Dougal Wilson, in which he tells us all about the puppets, the village hall and why Jonny isn't in the helicopter which crashes through the window at the end...

A Coldplay source said: “The puppets were Chris’s idea. The band wanted to do something funny and light-hearted. The videos so far have been quite serious and performance-based. This time they wanted to do something that had a lot of humour in it and that slightly sent up the band too.”

The Edinburgh firm behind a spherical projection system (magic balls!) used by the likes of Coldplay to the world's most famous oil cartel has received a further boost in funding.

Braveheart, the Perth-based angel investor, has led a £430,000 funding round into Pufferfish, which was spun out of the University of Edinburgh in 2004. Pufferfish's spherical display system, the PufferSphere, offers digital projection over its entire surface, giving high-impact display of digital content. It describes the inflatable technology as "inescapably conspicuous and impressively adaptable", claiming it draws its own crowd when on display. The PufferSphere has been used in a number of cultural events, featuring heavily in the latest Coldplay tour as well as at Big Chill music festivals and the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Read the full article online here. If you have some good pictures of the magic balls used in Coldplay's shows why not add to them here in the Coldplay Live forum!

Coldplay's Chris Martin was drafted in to help rocker David Byrne write his new album, after the former Talking Heads star was struck with writer's block.

The Scottish-born star teamed up with producer Brian Eno to create 2008 album Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. But Byrne confesses he laboured over several tracks, prompting Eno - who also produced Coldplay's last album - to turn to Martin for help with one particular song. Byrne reveals, "I think Brian gave that one to him because it took me a long time time to get started. I had some of the tracks sitting on my computer for almost a year, thinking about it. I felt a little bit of a burden, that there'd be expectations."

But Martin turned down the offer after he was blown away with what Byrne had already written - telling Eno, "I can't do better than that."

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

February 20, 2009 - submitted by Deborah, Australia

Q. Dear Oracle, We are taking our kids (aged 13 and 9) to the Perth concert next weekend, and my daughter was wondering if the Oracle has any advice for parents not wishing to embarrass their children at the concert ..... or should the kids not just be extremely grateful they're even getting to go see Coldplay? Any handy hints would be gratefully received.

The Oracle replies:

Not only should they be grateful for seeing the band but they get the bonus of laughing at their parents too! Win-win situation surely? I took my parents to see Coldplay in December, both turn 70 this year. I had my Pa on one side frowning at the volume of the intro music (to which he asked, "Is this Jay Zed? You don't like this do you?") And my Ma was singing her head off at the other side of me (not to Jay-Z). It was priceless so tell your children to enjoy themselves and that goes for you as parents too!

February 20, 2009 - submitted by tomie, Canada

Q. What is the name of the song in the time line- year 2002- the video "Glastonbury festival"?

The Oracle replies:

The first track is Politik, the first track on A Rush of Blood to the Head, which hadn't been released at that time. At the end you hear the beginning of Clocks.

February 20, 2009 - submitted by Preya, United States of America

Q. Hi Oracle! I was just wondering, I know that Coldplay supports Fair Trade, but are the clothing items sold on this website Fairly/Ethically traded, Sweat-shop free, or Organic? I would really like to know. Thank you

The Oracle replies:

The shirts are indeed Fair Trade certified.

February 20, 2009 - submitted by Ainsley, Norway

Q. Hello dearest oracle :) I was wondering why there isn't a search engine for these questions? It would be easier for us to know if you've answered something before :) That would also lead to less questions of the same thing for you to read :)we would just search on something that we are curious about, and if you have not answered such a question, we could try and submit it :D xoxo -The HUGE Coldplay fan Ainsley :P

The Oracle replies:

Tags are the new search engines... That should help and it's nice of you to ask seeing as though someone asked me today why the band are called Coldplay... Tags baby, tags.

Coldplay won the Gruppe International Rock/Pop at the 18th Echo Awards that took place on February 21st, 2009 in Berlin, Germany.

The Echo Awards music prize given away by the Deutsche Phono Akademie (German Phono Academy) has advanced to the world third biggest music prizes just after the Grammys and the Brits. Coldplay were nominated as 'Best International Group/Collaboraation' alongside OneRepublic, Maroon 5, Pussycat Dolls and Yael Naim & David Donatien and came out winnter of this important award. Coldplay were not present to accept this award and the awarding of this category itself wasn't aired live on television.

More on the Echo Awards at the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks LittleMissMessy, lovingchris & aniskywalker]

Don't forget to enter our new competition! Win a Coldplay Skin for your MP3 Player/Phone (in conjunction with Music-Skins.com). Full details on how to enter your details are here [thanks jenjie]

EMI chairman Guy Hands consoled himself after EMI's Coldplay missed out on the awards at the band's late-night charity gig at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, reports The Financial Times. The star-studded War Child benefit saw Coldplay share an encore with Take That singer Gary Barlow , U2's Bono and the Killers.

The Terra Firma boss was deep in conversation with silver-jacketed Pet Shop Boys frontman Neil Tennant on the VIP balcony as U2 guitarist The Edge looked on. As Coldplay took to the stage at 1am, the besuited Mr Hands had to stifle a yawn, but he did manage to snap a couple of photos of the world's biggest-selling band on his mobile phone, to really treasure that 'I was there' moment.

It was a good night for Universal Music's owner Lucian Grainge at the Brit Awards midweek, with the record group's acts - including Duffy, Elbow and Girls Aloud - winning eight out of the 13 awards. Among Mr Grainge's guests were Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone accompanied by his daughter Tamara , but sans wife Slavica.

You can download a LOT of pictures from the night here with more in the Coldplaying Gallery, and reviews and feedback from the gig are still pouring in at the Coldplay Live forum [thanks Jenjie, Mimixxx, SueDeNimes, LittleMissMessy, bello-lo, scusi, crazyduckette, laura84, marianatsl, kspillers2, KissesBirds, Dejan, iriden, sophierose23 and everyone else I haven't mentioned!]

Despite not winning any of the four awards they were nominated for, Coldplay have seen sales for Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends rise by 26% in the United Kingdom.

Mid-week sales figures have shown a sharp increase in album sales for acts who performed or won awards at this years’ Brit Awards. Coldplay performed the single Viva La Vida early on in the show. Their latest album Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends topped the global sales chart last year with 6.6 million copies.

Sales for Duffy’s album ‘Rockferry’ are up by 66.3% and the record looks set to move up the album chart from 19 into the Top 5. Duffy was Queen of the Brits taking home three of the four awards she was nominated for. The Ting Tings’ ‘We Started Nothing’ is up by 58% and sales for Kings Of Leon’s ‘Only By The Night’ have risen by 47.4%.

More discussion on Coldplay at the Brit Awards 2009 is in the Coldplay forum here

What do you do when you're the bestselling music act in the world? If you're Coldplay, you start giving away albums for free. For the band's summer and autumn tour, Chris Martin has resolved to give every Coldplay concert-goer a free live album. "It's a way of saying thank you," he explained to the Sun earlier this week. "It's a tough economy and people are paying a lot of money for tickets."

It was only a year ago that Coldplay made their first foray into the, er, free world. Starting with gratis downloads of Violet Hill, the band went on to hold free gigs in London and New York. Last week, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry announced that Viva La Vida was the top-selling album of 2008, with 6.8m copies sold worldwide.

A free live album is "obviously a bit tricky in terms of record contracts and things but it would be great", Martin said. The band imagine a scenario where 'you hand your ticket in at the door [and] get given the recording ... as a gift'. "It would be such a cool thing to do," he said.

Coldplay were nervous ahead of Wednesday's Brit awards – where they left empty-handed despite being nominated for four awards. "The Brits [are] fun because it's not in our national character to celebrate our own greatness," Martin said. "That's why people get really hammered and why it's always so scandalous. Because, deep down, we don't feel comfortable with the idea of all that self-congratulation."

Though Coldplay didn't get the chance to do any self-congratulating, they don't need an awards ceremony to keep their egos in check. "You could start getting a big head," Martin said, "[but] then you listen to something like [bruce Springsteen's] Born In the USA. Hearing that makes you think, 'OK, we're still shit.'"

More on the possibility of a free live album at the Coldplay forum here [thanks melanieau]

Coldplay have announced another west coast US show for this coming July. They will play the Sleep Train Amphitheater in Sacramento a day after they have played the Shoreline Amphitheater in San Francisco. This just in from Anchorman:

Good afternoon. We're pleased to announce another show for Coldplay's upcoming North American tour. The band will play at the Sleep Train Amphitheater in Sacramento, CA on Tuesday 14th July. A presale for tickets will begin at 10am (local time) on 27th Feb, from here. The general sale will start the following day.

Full discussion on this new show at the Coldplay Live forum here

We have a new competition! Win a Coldplay MP3 Player/Phone Skin (in conjunction with MusicSkins). Full details on how to enter your details are here [thanks jenjie]

Speculation is mounting down under that veteran Aussie promoters Michael Gudinski and Michael Chugg are co-ordinating simultaneous stadium concerts in support of the country's bushfire and flood appeals.

Word is that the 100,000-capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground and the 45,000-plus capacity Sydney Cricket Ground will host concerts on March 14, while unconfirmed reports suggest the likes of Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Kings Of Leon, Jimmy Barnes, the Veronicas and a reunited Midnight Oil could be among the names on the bill. Coldplay is touring Australia shortly and are booked to play Sydney Acer Arena that evening.

Confirmation of "two major music industry bushfire and flood relief concerts" was made in an email late this afternoon inviting the media to a Feb. 24 press conference at the MCG.

More on this news at the Coldplay Live forum here

Natalie Imbruglia and Chris Martin have been secretly recording together, The Sun has confirmed today. The former Neighbours star and the Coldplay frontman have collaborated on a string of tracks, which are likely to feature on her forthcoming album.

In a break from his group’s studio this month, he filled his time penning tunes with Natalie, who presented the International Group gong to Kings Of Leon. Afterwards, she did an impressive tour of the parties. First to Shepherd’s Bush to catch Chris and Co’s War Child show. Then she hung out with the Kings and The Killers at the Met Bar.

This may be a follow up to recent speculation during Coldplay's early February studio sessions without Chris. Roadie #42 recently blogged: "So what of Mr Martin in all of this? Somewhat predictably, he's not slouched on a sofa in front of daytime television. He's up the road at another studio pouring out songs in a writing project with another artist."