Atlantica - 01.11.2001, Page 20

18 A T L A N T I C A
Jennifer McCormack meets Coldplay drummer,
Will Champion, and takes a look at the band’s progress
since the overwhelming success of their first album.
At the reception of Reykjavík’s Hotel
Saga, I’m greeted by a bestubbled
Will Champion of Coldplay, the band’s
manager and what I take to be their tour
manager. I get the feeling that I’ve turned
up for a blind date with the cousin of a
friend of a friend as Will navigates our
way from the foyer to the bar. He choos-
es one of many empty tables and asks
politely if this one will do.
After skipping through screen after
screen of Coldplay web-info, I had come
to expect nothing less than the pleasant
fellow before me. He’s red around the
eyes, and rubs his nose in the signature
style of this island’s home-grown diva,
Björk. “Are you tired?” I ask him. “I am
incredibly tired,” he responds with a
smile. It would be nice to say we should
just skip it then in that case, and let him
put his feet up before his gig that evening
in Laugardalshöll, in Reykjavík’s largest
park. But my show must go on too, so I
ask if he’s tired of doing press. “No,” he
tells me flatly, “I really don’t mind the
interviews.”
University of London Calling
airmail
PHOTOS: BRIAN SWEENEY.
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