Coldplay go on touring hiatus over eco-concerns

Coldplay have put a temporary hold on their touring career, and will not tour their next album at all, due to concerns over live music’s environmental impact, frontman Chris Martin has said.

Speaking to BBC News, Martin says: “We’re not touring this album. 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.”

The double album Everyday Life, the band’s eighth studio effort, will be released on Parlophone tomorrow (22 November).

“All of us have to work out the best way of doing our job,” Martin continues, telling the BBC Coldplay want their future tours to “have a positive impact”.

The UK act are currently in Amman, the capital of Jordan, preparing to play two shows that will be streamed live on YouTube. The two concerts, to be staged tomorrow at sunrise and sunset, respectively, will mirror the two halves of Everyday Life.

Coldplay’s last world tour was the A Head Full of Dreams trek, which encompassed 122 shows across four continents in 2016–2017.

“All of us have to work out the best way of doing our job”

The tour was the third highest-grossing of 2016, taking in US$241 million from 60 shows, and held the same spot the following year, earning another $238m from 54 shows.

“Our next tour will be the best possible version of a tour like that [A Head Full of Dreams], environmentally,” adds Martin. “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, [and[ 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 not so much taking as giving?”

To ensure their next UK and Ireland dates carbon neutral, the 1975 recently pledged to plant a tree for every ticket sold for the home leg of the People tour.

The environmental impact of touring and how to mitigate it will be among the topics discussed as the next Green Events and Innovation (GEI) conference next March.

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