Stars deliver verdict on Coldplay

Corden co-wrote and starred in the BBC Three hit Gavin and Stacey

Gavin and Stacey star James Corden was quite simply "blown away" by Coldplay's comeback gig.

He was one of a host of celebrities among the thousands of fans at London's Brixton Academy on Monday night.

"I loved it," he said. "I think that may have been the sixth time I have seen them now, and musically, that's as good as I have seen them play."

It was Coldplay's first concert in two and half years and while Corden said he liked the new album Viva La Vida or Death & All His Friends, he did not really know it yet.

"It has a real anthemic quality about it, it feels like it has been built for stadiums," he said.

He said he was still drawn to their golden oldies and claimed he was the "reason" behind the new acoustic version of Yellow, which the band performed from a balcony.

Yoga partner

"I asked them if they were going to do Yellow and I said, god, do something different with it for goodness sake - why don't you go up on the balcony because I saw Prince do it and they just went along with it," he said.

But he joked he was more than happy to conduct the band from behind the scenes, as he was far too busy doing yoga with lead singer Chris Martin's wife Gwyneth Paltrow.

"I don't want to be part of the band," he said. "I am more than happy just to help them with the live aspect of the show.

Dom Joly was the man behind Trigger Happy TV

"But I only talk through Gwyneth, so I never have direct contact with the band. That's why if you see the band and me in the same room, they pretend not to know me."

Hollywood actress Gwyneth was also spotted at the free gig, as was Kelly Osbourne, Stella McCartney, Andy Burrows from Razorlight, Muse's Dominic Howard and Danny McNamara from Embrace.

Comedian Dom Joly said the band was no laughing matter.

"I am on Facebook and I said I was going to see Coldplay and so many people wrote, they're crap," he said.

"I think it is trendy to knock Coldplay and I genuinely think they're a great band."