Source: Facebook/Coldplay

Coldplay halt touring for environmental reasons

The British group have delayed a tour to support their new album Everyday Life as they work towards developing fully carbon-neutral concerts.

Coldplay pause touring until they can offer carbon-neutral concerts

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin told BBC News that the British group was waiting to tour their new album, Everyday Life, so they can ensure such a tour is carbon neutral. “Our next tour will be the best possible version of a tour like that environmentally,” said Martin. “We would be disappointed if it’s not carbon neutral. We’ve done a lot of big tours at this point. How do we turn it around so it’s not so much taking as giving?”

Coldplay are the latest musical act to address the impact of touring on the environment. Billie Eilish has announced plans to make her world tour “as green as possible” by banning plastic straws, encouraging fans to bring refillable water bottles and providing comprehensive recycling facilities.
“We’re not touring this album,” declares frontman Chris Martin Coldplay are the latest musical act to address the impact of touring on the environment. Billie Eilish has announced plans to make her world tour “as green as possible” by banning plastic straws, encouraging fans to bring refillable water bottles and providing comprehensive recycling facilities. Source: Facebook/Coldplay

“We’re not touring this album,” declares frontman Chris Martin

Coldplay have put plans to tour their new album on hold, over concerns about the environmental impact of concerts. "We’re not touring this album," frontman Chris Martin told the BBC.

"We’re taking time over the next year or two, to work out how our tour can not only be sustainable [but] how can it be actively beneficial."

"All of us have to work out the best way of doing our job," he continued, saying the band wanted their future tours to "have a positive impact".

Coldplay’s new album Everyday Life is released on Friday and, instead of spending months on the road, they are playing two gigs in Jordan, which will be broadcast, free, to a global audience on YouTube. The concerts, will take place in Amman on Friday at sunrise and sunset respectively, mirroring the two "sides" of their new album.

The UK band last travelled the world with their A Head Full of Dreams Tour, which saw them stage 122 shows across five continents in 2016 and 2017. "Our next tour will be the best possible version of a tour like that environmentally," Martin said. "We would be disappointed if it’s not carbon neutral.

"The hardest thing is the flying side of things. But, for example, our dream is to have a show with no single use plastic, to have it largely solar powered.

"We’ve done a lot of big tours at this point. How do we turn it around so it’s no so much taking as giving?"

Source: BBC

Coldplay's last tour employed 109 crew, 32 trucks and nine bus drivers, who travelled to five continents, playing to 5.4 million people at 122 concerts. It's not just flights that cause the problem. Fans travelling to and from shows are the biggest source of pollution; but there's an environmental cost to producing merchandise, powering the spotlights and moving stages from venue to venue.
Touring’s environmental impact Coldplay’s last tour employed 109 crew, 32 trucks and nine bus drivers, who travelled to five continents, playing to 5.4 million people at 122 concerts. It’s not just flights that cause the problem. Fans travelling to and from shows are the biggest source of pollution; but there’s an environmental cost to producing merchandise, powering the spotlights and moving stages from venue to venue. Source: BBC/GreenTouringNetwork

Coldplay want tours that are “actively beneficial” to the planet

Speaking to BBC entertainment correspondent Colin Paterson, Martin said Jordan had been chosen because "we wanted to pick somewhere in the middle of the world where we normally don’t get to play".

He said the new record – released today – reflected the band’s global perspective. "If you’ve had the privilege of travelling around the world, you know we’re all from the same place," he went on. "In a very gentle British way, this record is us saying we don’t feel different from any human on earth."

Martin said songs from Everyday Life had been inspired in part by BBC News reports about an Afghan gardener and a Nigerian hymn composer.

"Journalism at its best finds these individual stories that reinforce our shared humanity," he explained.

Coldplay will perform a one-off concert for fans at the Natural History Museum in London on 25 November. All proceeds from the show will be donated to an environmental charity.

Coldplay are going one step further. They don’t just want to be carbon neutral, but to have tours that are "actively beneficial" to the planet. And by putting their concerts on hold, they’re giving up a huge pay day: The Head Full of Dream tour made $523m.

The industry will be watching to see what solutions they come up with.

Check out or video of why Chris Martin is a #celebworthcelebrating 

Source: BBC

The lead singer of Coldplay has said that the band will take a year or two to work out how they could be more sustainable. In an interview with the BBC's Colin Paterson, the band's lead singer, Chris Martin, said the band's dream is to have a show with no single-use plastic. Source: YouTube/BBC

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