Coldplay playing Riverbend

The Coldplay story is a story about ambition, about four people who formed a band not to become famous or provide fresh soundtracks for TV ads, but because they wanted to write great songs, to make music with real honesty and passion.

"We were trying to say that there is an alternative," said singer Chris Martin, "that you can try to be catchy without being slick, poppy without being pop and you can be uplifting without being pompous.

"Because we're sometimes playing quieter stuff, it's hard to sound like we're trying to change things, but we wanted to be a reaction against soulless rubbish."

Coldplay met in the mid-'90s during their first week as students at University College London and quickly became friends. Martin began writing songs with Jon Buckland. Guy Berryman liked what he heard and joined in on bass. Will Champion was so keen to be part of it that he moved from guitar to drums.

All four shared a passion for music and a quiet determination to be as good as they possibly could be. They rehearsed almost every night.

"We used to play in bathrooms, the basement, even in the park," Martin said, "Anywhere we could find to play."

They recorded a four-track EP and pressed 500 copies, which got them a gig at the In The City music festival in Manchester in 1998. Their set brought them to the attention of Simon Williams, who signed them to his Fierce Panda label for one single, "Brothers And Sisters," which in turn led to their deal with Parlophone.

Coldplay's debut album, "Parachutes," has sold nearly 5 million copies worldwide, winning a clutch of NME and Q awards, two Brits in 2001 and the Grammy award for Best Alternative Album in 2002. Almost overnight, the band moved from playing small pubs to T In The Park in Glasgow, The Big Day Out in Australia and a headlining U.S. tour.

"It was nerve-wracking, quite surreal," Buckland said. "But also the biggest high ever."

how to go

THE NAME: Coldplay

THE LOCATION: Riverbend Music Center, 6295 Kellogg Ave., Cincinnati

THE HOURS: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday

THE TAB: $68.25 and $48.25

THE PHONE: (513) 562-4949; www.riverbend-music.com