My Coldplay.com

Coldplay with Richard Ashcroft (March 22, Air Canada Centre): The first perfect concert of the year — rated five out of five — featured an exciting Brit-pop matchup that doesn’t get much better, although the Arctic Monkeys opening for Oasis earlier in the week at the same venue came awfully close.

Both Coldplay’s Chris Martin and Ashcroft, formerly of The Verve, are riveting performers and didn’t disappoint in the first of two sold-out shows. Coldplay, in their third visit to Toronto in less than a year, obviously felt comfortable in our city, too, filming both ACC performances for a DVD.

STAGE BANTER: “I’m a sweaty bastard.” — Chris Martin

TorontoSun

Ahhhh, Tradition….albeit slightly modified. HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE and thanks for visiting this site. Enjoy!

1. The Arcade Fire. Duh. No, but seriously. We may not be ready for the tidal wave of hype that will come rolling in this spring (March, it is said), when Montreal’s indie-rock torchbearers release Neon Bible, the follow-up to their massively successful 2004 album Funeral. To hear the first track Intervention, and some other amusing silliness, call (toll-free) 1-866-NEON-BIBLE, and press 7777.

This may be a blasphemous comparison, but I remember when Coldplay performed at Metropolis in 2001, just before becoming worldwide superstars. Next time around, they were at the Bell Centre. By this time next year, we may be all looking back, remembering when the Arcade Fire was our (admittedly ill-kept) little secret.

To listen to their music, go to www.myspace.com/arcadefire

Canada.com

Coldplay.com is heading off on its Christmas break this evening, which means the site won’t be updated again until we return on Tuesday January 2nd.

Until then, CLICK HERE to head to Jo Whiley’s site, where you can watch a video of Chris performing ‘White Christmas’ for Jo’s Radio 1 show in December 2005.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS DEBS…

Papal provocations, Zidane’s moment of madness, the Foreign Secretary’s caravan, Tom Cruise’s wedding… It all comes flooding back. Or does it? Find out if you’ve been paying attention over the past 12 months with our bumper quiz of the year.

H What once unimaginable landmark was passed on 22 February? (Clue: the song in question was Coldplay’s “Speed of Sound”.)

TheIndependent

THE MUSIC MASTER PICKS THE HIGH-FLYING GRADUATES IN THIS YEAR’S PICK OF THE POPS
THEY were the class of 2006, the newcomers who stormed the British music charts and passed their pop exams with flying colours.

This year more newcomers bagged the No.1 spot than ever before, with nine debut albums getting to the top, leaving the more established artists in the shade.
[Read more]

LONDON - Starcom has won the £32m media planning and buying account for EMI Records after a five-way pitch, including incumbents Carat and Media Campaign, as well as MindShare and the7stars.

The account is currently split between Carat and Media Campaign. The agencies have held the account since 1997.

The record company is home to artists including Coldplay, KanYe West and Robbie Williams.
[Read more]

It’s depressing to admit, but Coldplay’s Happy Holidays video is way more fun than Metallica’s. This is not the season to be cool, which makes it perfect for Coldplay, whose usually nauseating goofy sincerity really comes across well in this stupid, sweet clip.

RollingStone

Coldplay have posted a special Christmas message on their official website, capturing the band dressed-up as Victorian gentlemen dancing to rave versions of their songs.

The short black and white clip sees Chris Martin and co in full festive spirit, backed by a cheap dance mix of Coldplay tracks.

It was shot last week and concludes with Martin announcing: “I predict that railways will be big in the future.”

The video can be seen on the band’s official website, which is also running a competition to win a shirt won by the Coldplay frontman during the group’s world tour this year.

As previously reported, Coldplay will play a string of shows in South America next year, where they are expected to showcase songs from their forthcoming new LP.

The dates are as follows:

February 2007

14+15+16 Santiago Espacio Riesco
20+21+22 Buenos Aires Gran Rex
26+27+28 Sao Paolo Via

March

03 Mexico City National Auditorium

DotMusic

Hello and welcome to the new, improved official Coldplay MySpace profile. As you’ve probably noticed, we’ve added some new songs to the player (including a special festive treat), posted the band’s latest tour dates and spruced up the lay-out.

Apologies that, in the past, your friend requests don’t seem to have been accepted as quickly as we’d have liked - we’re currently catching up with the backlog from the past month. If you have an unaccepted friend request from before that, then please could you send us a new one. Thanks very much.

http://www.myspace.com/coldplay [thanks YoL]