Coldplay

First, Joe Satriani. Now, Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens). It seems like everyone wants a piece of Coldplay these days. With their fleet of multi-platinum-selling records, handful of Grammys, and veritable stranglehold on the “very heavy soft rock” genre, who wouldn’t?

Whether or not you think Chris Martin and company fashioned “Viva la Vida” from “If I Could Fly” or “Foreigner Suite,” you’ve got to admit—it’s pretty damn catchy. Catchy enough that the band have been dubbed by some as the biggest rock act of the new millennium.

Coldplay kick off the 2009 summer concert series at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (Saratoga Spa State Park, Saratoga Springs) on Wednesday (May 22) at 7:30 PM. Tickets range from $29.25 to $103.50, and all in attendance will receive a copy of the band’s new live CD LeftRightLeftRightLeft. (Pssst—you can download it for free on their site.) Call 587-3330 for more info.

MASS MoCA 10th Anniversary

We’re not surprised, but we are delighted that the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art has, in its gritty post-industrial home in North Adams, Mass., grown into a regional cultural powerhouse. And they’re going to celebrate their first 10 years in style this weekend.

On Saturday night, Sharon Jones and her big band, the Dap-Kings (pictured), will headline a celebratory ball, which follows a gala dinner, which follows a reception for three new exhibits.

Guy Ben-Ner: Thursday the 12th is the “first major museum survey of his works in the United States”; Ben-Ner is famous for his funny, “low-tech” films featuring himself and his children. Long Time Gone is a 24-chapter graphic novel by George Cochrane (with help from his 6-year-old daughter, Fiamma). Finally, This Is Killing Me, a group show featuring works by Whitney Bedford, Karl Haendel, Andrew Kuo, Sean Landers, Kalup Linzy, Shana Lutker, Marco Rios and Joe Zane, draws on and explores “the anxieties inherent in making art.”

The big MASS MoCA 10th Anniversary Celebration is Saturday (May 23, at 87 Marshall St., North Adams, Mass.). The opening reception for the three new exhibits is from 5:30 to 7:30 PM. The reception is included in the price of admission to the 8:30 PM ball featuring Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings; tickets are $80, $70 members. There is also a gala dinner from 7:30-8:30 PM at the museum; tickets for the dinner, ball and reception together are $200. For more info, visit massmoca.org or call (413) 664-4481.