ApproximatelyInfinite

That's actually a very good example...hmmm. I guess I'm just trying to think of EMI's perspective, but I suppose if there's nothing about such things in their contract, they can only advise them against playing new stuff. Kings of Leon, though, while big and popular, aren't Coldplay, and their record companies aren't sinking down the tubes as fast as EMI... I think it's clever too as long as the music's good and gets good press and doesn't alienate new and casual listeners for any reason. Because it's Coldplay, one of the top maybe 3 most popular acts in the world right now, the risk of the material not coming off well is probably small.

I've been thinking about the idea of using the festivals as a testing platform too, and I think that's entirely possible. But at the same time, they seem to have been fairly worried about the powers of the internet and downloading in recent years (as they should be), which makes me think that they (or maybe even EMI?) could have some reservations about playing more than just one or two new things live before any official releases for the sake of money. Obviously a live song that makes it to YouTube or something before it officially comes out is not the same as an official leak, but at the same time, it could work against them in a worst-case scenario: if the material doesn't go over that well and a lot of people see it via YouTube etc, it could mean lower album sales. Some people may be attracted by free live previews of tracks, but some people could also be just as uninterested or turned off by the same thing, and this is Coldplay, mega-stars and cash cow, not just any band. That's a really paranoid way of looking at it, but since EMI are hurting these days, they might be thinking like that :shrug:. Just an idea, probably not a realistic one. I still think May/June :D

Because of the Twitter comments from last night, I was expecting something on the level of the Apple Keynote Address, which was a lowpoint for his performances if you as me, but I didn't think this was so bad, really! It has its redeeming moments to make up for the one or two rough patches. I find it endearing that he owns three shirts and can't dress his way out of a paper bag, and I enjoy good-naturedly mocking him for it, but you'd think for something like this he'd at least do all black or something rather than a t-shirt that's seen the inside of a washer too many times in its decades of existence :P

^Everything about this post :thumbsup: However, with The Strokes, even though they did fall off the horse so to speak with the five-year hiatus, I don't think there's much that they can't still achieve if they want it bad enough and work hard enough, which is why I'm especially excited for the upcoming album. Everything they've released so far is top-notch, in my opinion, and I don't think I can honestly say that about anyone else I listen to, and I think that holds great promise for the rest of their career if they can keep the personal sides of things in check.

LOLZ, missed that one. Yeah, I just don't believe that for a second. But I have noticed that his suggestions have usually been crap, but when he says he KNOWS something, he seems to often be right...anyway, whatever, I don't know why I want to believe him :P

The hotel I got is in Palm Springs, which is evidently about a 30-40 minute drive from the festival grounds accoring to Google :dead:. But I searched every other town on like every major hotel website and found nothing under $300/night in Indio, La Quinta, Indian Wells, Palm Desert, or Cathedral City. If you can afford it there are closeby options, but it really is insane--passes don't even go onsale until tomorrow and everything remotely affordable and convenient is gone! But you just reminded me that a shuttle to Palm Springs exists and I just discovered its drop-off is 1.5 miles from my hotel, which is walkable! WHOO!

Where did he say it was going to be called La Mancha? I don't know if I'd believe that if that came straight from Will's mouth or something :lol:

Oh, that's great to know, because I just found someone to go with and she's getting the passes tomorrow :dance: :dance: :dance: I just booked a less-than-desirable hotel, though...40 minutes away, because that's the closest that's still available :freak:

I'm trying to go. Even though I live in England, I happen to be in the US at the time, but around NYC. I've worked out that the whole thing would cost a lot, but within budget. I'm desperately trying to find someone to go with in the next 24 hours before passes go onsale because my budget is for two people and I'm so tired of doing awesome stuff like this by myself. I guess my criteria is that I have to know you, though, because we'd be rooming and driving together and all that. Something tells me it's just not going to work out in the end. Does Coachella tend to sell out like Glasto etc?

I absolutely loved that pink dress, but I think she's clearly botoxing her face and it's clearly not working for her :uhoh:.

Obviously those are all reasons make me skeptical too. I don't know whether I trust him or not, but the fact that he seems to have had insider information before (hearing Violet Hill/the whole album before anyone else, knowing why they were in Maine when no one else seemed to) makes me second-guess my usual instantaneous write-off of people like this. I figure he's sharing both to share with people who care and boast a bit. He's been right three times before, I think, which interests me, but that doesn't mean I believe him either. And I don't think someone that's saying they basically have secret ways of getting this information a few times and being right all of those times could be chalked up to guessing, but that could mean nothing for this time around. :shrug:

I woke up this morning at 6:45 AM for uni and checked Twitter in my grouchy sleepiness and went ":stunned: :freak: :cheesy: :bigcry:" when I saw links to that RS article. I'm still :dance:ing about it, and I think I will be til the 22nd :bomb:.

I don't want to start huge drama or spread rumors faster than they need to be, but...here :escaping:

I said June, but that one guy that got to hear Violet Hill before everyone else said it would be out in May...and he's been right about secret stuff before...:lipsrsealed2:

I think they need to stop touring and come out with a new album now :P. I've loved their last two SO much that I'm really anxious to see what they do next :D

If they call LP5 Masterpiece, they/Chris can forget about ever having a nice word said about them in press ever again! :lol: I mean, Chris already has the erroneous reputation of being a self-centered, cocky douche, so a name like that would just confirm all the haters' suspicions :P. I feel like even Kanye wouldn't call an album that :lol:. I agree and disagree. I don't think any of them are intentionally making music that sells the most records, I don't think their popularity is anywhere on their goals list. But I do think that because they've found themselves so massively popular since 2005 or so, it's had an effect on what they produce. Since becoming celebrities (or one celebrity, I guess), I think they've had more factors to consider when writing music and putting together albums and putting on concerts and making videos. I guess fame changes people and things inevitably, but I guess I feel like the massive commercial success has made them evolve very quickly. If they'd continued to be mildly popular like they were in 2002-03ish rather than exploding into what they are now, I wonder if they still would have come out with X&Y and VLV in the same way. I didn't word any of that as nicely as I would have liked, so I'm expecting to get attacked now :lol:

March 22 :dance:! And a single before then, presumably.

I was initially really turned off by Julian's solo album, I don't really know why. I guess maybe because it wasn't what I expected, so after a couple of listens and liking two songs on it, I kind of put it aside. But my mom talked sense into me and told me to try it again like six months later, and I just fell in absolute love (OK, well besides "Ludlow Street," and I don't see the big deal over the B-side "Long Island Blues," but besides those, I think it's absolute gold). Even though I've always loved what they've come out with when Julian was the songwriter and "first among equals," I really can't wait to see what they produce when working a bit more collaboratively, especially when all of their solo efforts were pretty great :dance:.

I do too :uhoh:. That's usually way less neutral than I'd talk about something that we have yet to hear anything from, but secretly I felt the same way about VLV, and my concern only grew after hearing "Violet Hill," which I really didn't like at first. But in the end, I think that album was a great piece of work and ultimately great, even if when we first got the tracklisting and heard the titles, I was like "OH NO, THESE ARE TERRIBLE, IT MUST MEAN THE ALBUM WILL BE TERRIBLE." Turns out "Strawberry Swing" and "Lovers in Japan," which I thought were probably the worst two titles on the list, ended up being two of my favorite songs on the album. So I'm not going to make calls just based on the titles, even if I find them very worrying-sounding. But..."Every Teardrop is a Waterfall"? "Hurts Like Heaven"? :inquisitive: I said this earlier today in another venue and got some snide remarks for it, but I'm going to say it again just because: I personally think Coldplay have already made their masterpiece in AROBTHH, like that article suggests. That's just my opinion. I like their first two albums and all the stuff prior to 2003 much better than all the stuff since. That doesn't mean I think X&Y and VLV are shit or that I think they should just give up and stop making music, though. I absolutely love all of their albums, I just think the last two pale when compared to the first two for me personally. I still go nuts for them, though, because I think what they produce is consistently pretty amazing--I just happen to like the vibe of their early stuff most.

I feel like I have pretty concrete reasons why I love it so much, but I guess maybe they're not easy to articulate, or sensical to other people. I talk a lot, so I put it under a spoiler. And as bad as it sounds to say, I was also completely fascinated by the bandmembers as people. I saw them in the "Last Nite" video at eleven years old and I was like "they look like they smell and don't give a shit about anything, and the lead singer is drunk out of his mind, but dang, there's something about these guys that is intriguing."

I joined like a month too late to celebrate this myself, but I remember reading about all the excitement :D. HAPPY ST. ODE'S DAY, EVERYONE :dance: And I still maintain that this is an awesome song with a lot of promise, even if the lyrics are a bit throwaway :P

I think it makes logical sense for them to play Glasto, and it's been alluded to and coughed about a few times with no one denying it, so I definitely believe they'll be there this year on the Pyramid stage. Despite the whole ticket snafu thing, I debated going on the chance that they'd be there, but I thought they'd have said something by now about it. I also have the unpopular opinion that their 2002 appearance was better than the 2005 appearance that everyone goes crazy over, even though I love that one too. I think their 2002 performance of Spies is their best live rendition of one of their songs of all time. And like Anna said, they played "See You Soon," which is my favorite Coldplay song :wacky:. Though I don't have any hope of this happening, really, I wish they'd play Glasto (or I guess one of the festivals they're already confirmed to be playing, but most of them are kind of less high-profile) before the release of LP5 and unveil new material for the first time ever on that stage.

^Aw yay, something that's realistic and not snide and full of snark! :cheesy:

I remember I was on Gwyneth's Wikipedia page last week for something or another related to Country Strong and I saw for the first time that she had a cousin in the House of Representatives. I said like "oh wow, that's kind of cool," but little did I know that second cousin would become the top news story for the most horrible, tragic reason a few days later :sad:. I saw this on CNN today and was reminded of me seeing the name last week and not thinking a thing about it, and now her name is the most talked about in the country.

A massive, massive Strokes fan...there are probably bigger, but she's semi Tumblr-famous and I think she's awesome and funny and we talk a little bit :D. It was nice that someone I and a lot of Strokes fans sort of knew got a direct reply from Nikolai on Facebook confirming the March 22 rumor :nice:.