Coldplay at the Sydney Entertainment Centre..

[KiwiCoromandel]

THE World Cup has lessons for everyone (apart from the key tip that cynical diving can gain a result). Twenty to 30 years ago there was a handful of elite teams, a slightly larger second tier who could occasionally trouble them and a large swathe of enthusiastic but outclassed performers who made up the numbers and dreamt.

These days the largest group is the second-tier where, thanks to the globalisation of skills and opportunities, most of them can regularly match it with the elite, push them hard and, if opportunity arises, spring a (mild) surprise. There are a lot of good to very good teams. Here is the rub: there still is something indefinable but undeniable that the great teams have which separates them from the pack at crucial moments. Greatness isn't thrust upon them; it's within them.

It is the same in music where globalisation - via music videos, ready access to recorded music and widescale touring - has elevated the standard immeasurably. There are a lot of good to very good bands, but the elite remain few - the likes of the U2s, the Rolling Stones, the Radioheads.

Coldplay have long nurtured the dream of being among the this group. The bands who not only sell well, not only write and play well but who also matter and who can turn a show from a display of skills and entertainment into something glorious.

more here........

http://www.smh.com.au/news/music/yellow-fe...1174333879.html