Massive Attack rejected Coachella on environmental grounds
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(Credits: Warren Du Preez)
Trip-hop pioneers Massive Attack have revealed that they rejected an offer to play Coachella 2025 on environmental grounds.
The band, comprised of Robert ‘3D’ Del Naja and Grant ‘Daddy G’ Marshall, are one of the most prominent adherents of the environmentalist cause in music. In 2021, they published the report they had commissioned from the renowned Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research two years prior, mapping the carbon footprint of touring and the CO2 emissions the sector creates. It also provided recommendations for the industry to meet the targets of the Paris Agreements.
Accordingly, the Bristol group became the first band to commit their touring companies to the UN’s Race to Zero emissions reduction schedule.
On August 24th, Massive Attack played the Act 1.5 show in Bristol, which was a “large-scale climate action accelerator” blazing a “trail for new standards of decarbonisation of live music.” It implemented 25 measures to minimise carbon, including giving extra benefits to local attendees and those travelling by train, powering the venue solely on renewable energy, and serving only plant-based foods.
Following that, in November, Massive Attack headlined the Act 1.5 event in Liverpool, which had been anointed the world’s first Accelerator City for Climate Action by the UN. This event also used groundbreaking approaches to reducing the carbon footprint of live music.
At the three-day festival in Liverpool, Massive Attack spoke to the NME and revealed why they turned down Coachella, an event they deem antithetical to their goal.
Del Naja explained: “We said no to Coachella for next year because again, we’ve been there once, and once was enough. It’s in Palm Springs. It’s a golf resort built on a desert, run on a sprinkler system, using public water supplies. Mental. If you want to see something that’s the most ludicrous bit of human behaviour — it’s right there.”
The musician also criticised artists doing residencies in Las Vegas, which he described as an “aviation destination” in the desert. When asked about the futuristic MSG Sphere, where the likes of U2 have undertaken residencies, the ‘Inertia Creeps’ artist said it’s “a brilliant bit of infrastructure in the worst possible place it could be — in the worst setting in the world.”
Elsewhere, he revealed the duo have “some new music which we’ve been sitting on for four years” but are waiting for the right time to release it and are looking at next year, following a label dispute and due to the hope of performing shows under the standards set by the Act 1.5 events.
What is the Coachella 2025 lineup?
In late November, Coachella unveiled its lineup for 2025, featuring Green Day, Post Malone, and Lady Gaga as the headliners.
The dates will run through the weekends of April 11th to 13th and April 18th to 20th. Lady Gaga will headline the Friday, Green Day on Saturday, and Post Malone on the closing Sunday. Other prominent artists announced include Travis Scott – who is set to deliver a special show on the Saturday after Green Day, Missy Elliott, Charli XCX, Megan Thee Stallion, and the original Misfits.
Elsewhere, appearing across both weekends will be The Prodigy, FKA Twigs, The Go Go’s, Sam Fender, Kneecap, Japanese Breakfast, Beth Gibbons, Viagra Boys, The Dare, Kraftwerk, Maribou State, Soft Play, Clairo, Glass Beams, Beabadoobee, and Amyl and The Sniffers.
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