Coldplay confirm UK shows, pledge MVT donation
Music Venue Trust (MVT) boss Mark Davyd has hailed a “massive day” for the grassroots music sector after Coldplay pledged that 10% of proceeds from their newly announced 2025 UK dates will be donated to the organisation.
The band have confirmed six new shows at London’s Wembley Stadium (22-23, 26-27 & 30-31 August) and two at Hull’s Craven Park Stadium (18-19 August) – the only European cities where they will perform next year – in the latest leg of their record-breaking Music of the Spheres World Tour.
Since the first Music Of The Spheres tour date in March 2022, the band have sold more than 10 million tickets – meaning it is already the biggest tour by a group of all-time.
“It’s a massive day for us and a massive day for the grassroots sector,” Davyd tells IQ. “The biggest band in the world have come out and said, ‘Yes, this is true. This is what needs to happen. We are going to do it.’ It doesn’t have to be a challenge for the music industry. It doesn’t have to be a challenge to any other artists. It could just become the new normal.”
Revealed via a poster placed in the window of the Dublin Castle in Camden, London – the scene of the first ever Coldplay show in February 1998 – on Sunday evening, the donation to the MVT will help fund the Trust’s work supporting UK grassroots music venues and upcoming artists.
Donations will also be made to the MVT by the concerts’ promoters (SJM Concerts, Metropolis Music and Live Nation), the band’s booking agent (WME), the venues and the official ticket agents (Ticketmaster, See Tickets and AXS).
“This conversation was started in December 2023,” says Davyd. “It was inspired by an organisation called Save Our Scene, which effectively connected us to Coldplay. When Chris [Martin] from the band had expressed to Save Our Scene that he really wanted to do something, they said Music Venue Trust was the right organisation. George [Fleming, founder] at Save Our Scene was particularly instrumental in making this happen.”
“The live music industry needs to think about what artists are telling them and think about what they can be doing themselves”
He continues: “This is Coldplay saying, ‘It’s very important to us and we want to do it this way,’ so it’s an incredibly helpful example. But somebody asked me this morning if this was proof that people in the music industry are going to deliver on the CMS Committee’s [calls for a ticket levy for grassroots venues] and no, this is just proof that artists really, really care about grassroots music venues.
“The live music industry needs to think about what artists are telling them and think about what they can be doing themselves.”
In a world-first for a stadium show, the band plan to continue their sustainability efforts by powering the Wembley concerts’ production with 100% solar, wind and kinetic energy, collected at the venue and elsewhere in the UK, and delivered by a specially-designed electric battery system. In addition, one of the satellite stages at each show will be fully powered by energy generated by the audience via kinetic flooring and power bikes.
Meanwhile, 50% of the tickets for the Hull shows – the band’s first ever concerts in the city – will go to local fans.
In June, Coldplay announced the tour has so far produced 59% less CO2e emissions than their previous stadium tour in 2016/17, exceeding their original target of a 50% reduction. They also revealed that nine million trees have already been planted, with a further million to be planted before the end of the year.
The group’s upcoming new album, Moon Music, which drops next month, will also set new standards for sustainability, with each LP made from 100% recycled plastic bottles.
The Music of the Spheres World Tour resumes in Australia on 30 October this year, taking in four nights at each of Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium and Sydney’s Accor Stadium, before switching to New Zealand for three gigs at Eden Park in Auckland.
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