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They did play there as part of a radio station Christmas festival during the Parachutes tour. Other than that, no they haven't.

I'm not sure about that, in some of the small to medium sized markets, their average draw is still under 10,000. Granted, many of those markets would be eliminated and consolidated in a stadium tour, but still...

I'm sorry, but that's just not true. ZooTV made profit (though not much of one) Popmart lost a lot of money. That said, both of these tours are generally considered a case of excess over profitability. ZooTV sold out almost everywhere it played, it was a commercial success, regardless of how much profit the band actually made from the shows. Popmart was decidely less successful, especially in North America where some of the shows drew as little as 15,000-20,000 people, but on the whole it was also a commercial success. In industry terms, being a commercial success means the shows are taking in money, especially if they are taking in capacity or near capacity crowds for their venues. The term has little, if any, connection to overall net profits which are effected by how much money is being put out on production.

They absolutely could (and have) fill stadiums in the biggest markets. They played stadium gigs in LA and Toronto in 2009 (both of which sold out), and many of the amphitheater venues they've played can hold crowds comprable to some stadiums. I'd agree they probably couldn't sustain a full on stadium tour here, but they probably come closer than any act of their generation to being able to pull one off. The only bands that can really fill stadiums consistantly here are all veteran bands that have been performing for 30 or 40 years.

Fair enough, but I would also point out that there are some regions of the US that are as big, or bigger as many other countries, so travel time may be comprable even if it doesn't seem so. Particularly for this tour, there are many people in the US who would have to travel a similar amount of time to what you mentioned in order to get to a show.

Portland was one of the handful of cities they played on the first NA leg (unless you mean Portland Maine, but they've never played there)

Until the band actually confirms this from their end, I wouldn't get too exited. There's been a lot of "confirmed" dates over the years that never actually came to pass.

Thanks for reenforcing my point.:)

It's not just Coldplay though, their recording/release/tour pattern is roughly fairly normal for a band of their age and level of success. Heck, U2 goes 4-5 years between albums these days, and Aerosmith have been "working on" a new studio album for almost a decade now.:rolleyes: Simply put, huge bands don't have the commercial imperative to release new material, so they tend to do it whenever they can be arsed to get around to it.

Elevation was just an example. There are plenty of other major tours that feature similar numbers. As to the setlist length, while it may be short, it's well in line with Coldplay's historic norm, so as far as I'm concerned that's a non issue for the purposes of this discussion. Any critisism the band gets on this front will not be new critisism. As to the bankruptcy thing, you're off base there as well. While it has been reported (perhaps accurately, perhaps not) that the technical elements are eating up most of the revenue, that's entirely different from "bankrupting the band". Any tour that posts the attedence and revenue numbers that the MX tour (or ZooTV or even Popmart) is considered a commercial success by industry standards regardless of the actual net profits the band makes from same. Though, for the record, ZooTV was a moneymaker, it was Popmart that lost a ton of money for U2.

Yes, but his legs (and other various parts:wink3:) will be rendered useless, which somewhat defeats the purpose.:P

I disagree. Will may not have as many photos (which I still contend is primarily a function of it being harder to get good pictures of him behind the drumkit at the back of the stage.) That said, if you read through the media reviews of the MX tour, Will is (aside from Chris), BY FAR the band member most singled out for mention and praise. For example: "But this likely wouldn't happen if not for Will Champion. The drummer is vital to the band. And I don't know that I've ever paid attention to his work on the albums. Or if I'm even supposed to. Yet he beats the shit out of his kit onstage. He's a muscular, bearded, Bonham lover. No, seriously. I'm talking about the guy from Coldplay. He drummed harder than anyone I saw all day, and that includes an art metal band. He also sings. Dueting with Martin on "Us Against the World," another newbie introduced facetiously as being about a love affair between Bill O'Reilly and Sarah Palin. Maybe it was his bald head, maybe it was the hammy superimposed faces on the big video screens, but seeing Champion belt choruses into a microphone, I couldn't help but think that if Martin ever dumped the other three to go solo, a la Peter Gabriel, they've got a Phil Collins in back ready to step up." -from a review of their Lollapalooza gig and "One last thing, I have gained a real appreciation for the drummer in Coldplay. Over the course of the show, he played drums, guitar, digital percussion pad, timpani and bells. Hell, he played the guitar and the drums at the same time! He also is the primary harmony vocalist and had a few vocal solo’s as well. And it’s not just gimmicky stuff either. His contribution to the live concert experience is substantial. I hope he gets his dues both within the group and from fans who listen and watch." -From a review of Vancouver I honestly can't remember ever reading a review/article etc. where Jonny or Guy's skills were praised to that extent.

You want him to lose his circulation!?:laugh3:

I don't think they're allowed to. There was some sort of ban at one point.

Sorry, but it's the truth.:embarrassed:

That's the most technically correct meaning, but the term indie has also come to be used for a certain style of music as well. I suspect this is the sense the article intended it, as Coldplay were indeed associated with this style in the earliest stages of their career.

The DVD is another thing I've believe when I see. They've filmed multiple times over the last couple tours and except for the single canadian broadcast of twisted logic, none of that has see the light of day.

Are you seriously suggesting that they only stage outdoor concerts a few months a year? That will work out great.:rolleyes:

Indeed. In all honesty, when the outdoor gigs were first announced, I doubted they'd even use the bands due to them not working well in daylight.

They likely don't have absolute final word over their singles, at least not while they're still under EMI contract.

As has been said above, the B-Side is a dying art form, not just for Coldplay, for all bands. Technically, Re-mixes, Live cuts, and even radio edits are all forms of B-sides, and they've become the dominant form.:\

I don't think it would raise too many questions. Assuming they don't play any additional dates, the band will have played 85 shows by the end of the MX tour. If you add in all their 2011 festival/south african dates (and really there's no reason not to consider them part of the current touring cycle.), that number increases to 107 shows, which is a respectible number for any tour, especially one with a large number of stadium shows. In addition, they will have toured North America, Europe, South Africa and Australia/New Zealand. By way of comparison, U2's Elevation tour, widely credited as re-establishing them as the world's top live act, played a total of 110 shows, and only traveled to North America and Europe. People who live in areas not visited by this tour will likely be disappointed no question, but the tour will have been impressive enough, in a commercial sense, as is.

In some places, yes, but not everywhere. They're a slightly smaller live draw in North America than they are in most of Europe. They could fill stadiums in some of the biggest major markets though. In 2009 they played the Roger's Centre (former Skydome) in Toronto which is a stadium and did sell out. They've also drawn around 35,000 in single gigs in Southern California, and Alpine Valley which is considered to be on the outside edge of the Chicago drawing area.

I could be wrong, but I think that's from the 09 Grammy's.

I'm pretty sure New Jersey will be the closest they come. They haven't played NYC since the MSG free concert, and without doing sheds, there's not a lot of venues elsewhere in the state big enough for them. For whatever reason, they seem to have decided Jersey is the official New York area stop these days.:\