I love a good bomb. I mean a real stinker. A piece of work where so much preparation was put into it and the result is so horrid that all future epic acts of failure are referred to the prior shit bomb: "Ishtar," "Waterworld," "Gigli," Big Brown (the horse), The New England Patriots, Rap-Rock. And after listening to Vida La Vida these past three days, I cannot imagine a bigger bomb in music history. It's so pretentiously exotic--while still adhering to the mainstream--and unneccesarily expansive that I pray for a Youtube clip of the recording session to see what Brian Eno bullshit Coldplay lapped up. 

Its funny to see a band, who so aped Radiohead during their early years, now ape U2 during their Pop years. Now Radiohead has scaled back their music, and U2, well they are recording with Eno too, so expect to see Bono zag where Chris Martin zigged. Maybe an accoustic-lute Joy Division tribute album?

Coldplay North American dates (Florida in bold) UPDATED! Sorry, Miami:

06-23 New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
06-29 Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Center
07-02 Washington, DC - Verizon Center
07-03 Hartford, CT - XL Center
07-05 Detroit, MI - The Palace of Auburn Hills
07-06 Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena
07-08 St. Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
07-09 Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center
07-10 Oklahoma City, OK - Ford Center
07-12 Phoenix, AZ - Jobbing.com Arena
07-14 Los Angeles, CA - The Forum
07-15 Los Angeles, CA - The Forum
07-18 San Jose, CA - HP Pavilion
07-19 Las Vegas, NV - MGM Grand Garden Arena
07-21 Sacramento, CA - ARCO Arena
07-23 Chicago, IL - United Center
07-24 San Jose, CA - HP Pavilion
07-25 Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Center
07-27 Pemberton, British Columbia - Pemberton Festival
07-29 Montreal, Quebec - Bell Centre
07-30 Toronto, Ontario - Air Canada Centre
08-01 Winnipeg, Manitoba - MTS Centre
08-02 Hartford, CT - XL Center
08-03 Omaha, NE - Qwest Center Washington, DC - Verizon Center
08-04 Chicago, IL - United Center Boston, MA - TD Banknorth Center
10-20 Montreal, Quebec - Bell Centre
10-21 Ottawa, Ontario - Scotiabank Place
10-26 East Rutherford, NJ - Izod Center
10-29 Toronto, Ontario - Air Canada Centre
10-30 Toronto, Ontario - Air Canada Centre
11-03 Detroit, MI - The Palace of Auburn Hills
11-07 Orlando, FL - Amway Arena
11-08 Miami, FL - American Airlines Arena
11-09 Sunrise, FL - Bank Atlantic Center
11-11 Atlanta, GA - Philips Arena
11-13 Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center
11-14 St. Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
11-16 Oklahoma City, OK - Ford Center
11-18 Houston, TX - Toyota Center
11-19 Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
11-21 Denver, CO - Pepsi Center
11-22 Salt Lake City, UT - Energy Solutions Arena
11-26 Phoenix, AZ - Jobing.com Arena