CALGARY - Chris Martin may be Coldplay's most famous face, but for 25 local fans, guitarist Jonny Buckland is the star of the show.

Buckland has several relatives in Alberta, many of whom will be taking in the British rock group's sold-out Calgary show tonight and the Edmonton Rexall Place show tomorrow.

"We all can't wait to see him," says Jacky Joki, whose late father Ernest Buckland was a first cousin of the guitarist's grandfather.

Joki and her husband Roger first made contact with Buckland's family in 1978, when they visited his grandparents in England.

"I sent Christmas cards to them for 30 years and they would keep me abreast of what he was doing," she says.

"They told me about this little band he was in and how they were doing."

In 2000, that little band started to fill arenas, thanks to its breakthrough album Parachutes.

Its platinum-selling follow-up, A Rush of Blood to the Head, spawned four chart-topping singles, including Clocks, which won Record-of-the-Year at the 2004 Grammy Awards. Within months, Coldplay had become one of the biggest bands on the planet.

Joki's mother, Lillian Buckland, says she didn't realize Coldplay was so successful until she saw a newspaper ad for the band's first Calgary concert in 2002.

"The name rang a bell in my head," recalls Buckland.

"I remember (Jacky) talking about this band and how (Jonny) was trying to get this band off the ground.

"I knew right away when they were coming to town that I had to get ahold of this guy for my husband."

Joki says because of her parents' persistence, Ernest was able to make contact with his famous distant relative.

In 2007, Joki and 14 others made the trip to Vancouver to see the band perform. Afterwards, they were able to meet the 31-year-old guitar player at an after-show party thrown for the family.

"We gave them a few gifts of Alberta and B.C. and enjoyed some beers and company," she recalls. "He enjoyed having us there. I was very surprised he was so grounded."

The family hopes to meet Buckland during his stay in Alberta, but because the band's schedule is so tight it might be difficult for him to get away.

But Buckland did supply a block of seats for his Canadian relatives at Coldplay's Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton shows.

"I think we'll be able to get some backstage passes," says Joki. "My nieces are teenagers so they're pretty excited.