Coldplay

Chris Martin and company return to the road, again, in support of their latest album, last year's Viva La Vida. The relatively experimental follow-up to the number-one, ten-times platinum album X&Y, Viva La Vida has drawn both praise and scorn from fans and critics for departing from the previous Coldplay formula. Before the album's release, frontman Martin remarked to Entertainment Weekly that he was "slightly terrified about this record, because we've thrown away all our tricks. The truth is, we tried to find new ones." They succeeded — the band and famed producer Brian Eno incorporated a variety of Spanish influences on the record, experimented with acoustic instruments in churches, and knocked Martin's usual falsetto voice down to a lower register. In addition to the hit singles from the new album (the number-one title track and the war protest song "Violet Hill"), concertgoers can still expect to hear Coldplay's earlier, mellower tunes, along with faves such as "Speed of Sound" and "Moses." Friday's performance will mark the opening of the band's summer tour.