Massive Attack, IDLES, Nile Rodgers for climate weekend

Massive Attack has announced a weekend of live music in Liverpool, featuring IDLES and Nile Rodgers, under the banner Act 1.5 presents…

Last month, the British band delivered a groundbreaking eco-friendly concert in their home city of Bristol, dubbed Act 1.5.

The all-day outdoor event was a “manifestation” of a carbon emissions report commissioned by Massive Attack and conducted by scientists at the University of Manchester’s Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research.

Today, Massive Attack and the Act 1.5 partners have announced a weekend event at Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena between 28–30 November which will build on the sustainability methods first trialled in Bristol.

Continuing their partnership with clean energy provider Ecotricity, ‘Act 1.5 presents…’ will test, operate and adapt a range of measures to dramatically reduce the level of carbon emissions and air pollution that would usually be produced at an event of this scale.

These measures include a localised presale period for anyone living in the Liverpool City Region, an entire event site powered entirely by 100% renewable energy, a public transport incentive initiative to reduce travel emissions, a meat-free arena, 100% zero to landfill waste removal and a single technical set up shared by each act.

“Our recent Bristol show demonstrated beyond question that major live music events can be Paris 1.5 compatible”

News of Act 1.5 presents… coincides with today’s announcement at UN Headquarters in New York that Liverpool is the world’s first ‘UN Accelerator City’ for climate action.

“Our recent Bristol show demonstrated beyond question that major live music events can be Paris 1.5 compatible, and that audiences will embrace change enthusiastically,” says Robert Del Naja, 3D – Massive Attack.

“The vast scope of work in Liverpool and UN recognition means we can now concentrate more dynamic pilots and experiments to rapidly phase out fossil fuels. This idea and this insistence are not going back in any box. We’re delighted to see artists like Coldplay testing elements like localised ticket pre-sales as recommended in the Tyndall Centre Paris 1.5 decarbonisation road map and encourage other artists to do so freely. The talking stage is over, it’s time to act.”

Nile Rogers adds: “Some of the greatest CHIC shows have taken place in Liverpool so I’m thrilled that we are bringing our funk back to the city. We love the people and it’s always a night to remember. However, the circumstances this time are special, as we’re joining forces with our friends in Massive Attack to launch Liverpool’s UN climate action programme across music and film.

“Our We Are Family Foundation community of global youth changemakers have been sounding the alarm and working in the climate change space for years, as have Massive Attack, and now it’s time for all of the music and film communities to get onboard. Yes, we’re going to have a party at Liverpool Arena, but we’re also going to act!”

Read IQ‘s recent interview with A Greener Future’s Claire O’Neill about Act 1.5 in Bristol here.

For more information on Act 1.5 presents… click here.

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Italy’s Radar Concerti launches first festival

Italy’s Radar Concerti has planned a new two-day summer festival, headlined by British rock band IDLES.

The 7,000-capacity Fake Fest will take place at Beky Bay Beach in Rimini, a city on the Adriatic coast in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region.

A total of 10 acts – nine of which are yet to be announced – will perform at the beach festival on the 13 and 14 July, with tickets priced at €40.25.

Radar’s Fabrizio Pompeo told IQ that the festival is part of a strategy to “develop new events in Italy” under the All Things Live umbrella.

The Italian agency and promoter was bought by All Things Live in July 2022

The Italian agency and promoter was bought by All Things Live in July 2022, marking the Nordic live entertainment giant’s first foray into the region.

Radar, which has offices in Milan and Rome was founded in 2014 by Giorgio Riccitelli, who brought ex-Live Nation Finland senior promoter Pompeo on board as a partner in 2018.

The company has worked with international artists such as Idles, BadBadNotGood, Central Cee, Future Islands, FKA Twigs, the Libertines, The xx, Masego, M83, Kamasis Washington, Saint Jhn and Slowthai.

Radar also partners with festivals including Cinzella festival, Ypsigrock festival, Flowers festival, Todays festival, Spring attitude festival, Frac festival, Mengo festival and Farm festival.

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Sheck Wes is October’s hottest new act

Kanye West-endorsed New York rapper Sheck Wes was the hottest new act of October, pipping emerging Southern hip-hop artist Quando Rondo and UK post-punk five-piece Idles to first place in the Radar Station’s monthly chart.

The Radar Station algorithm calculates the fastest-growing new artists by combining data across a number of online platforms, including Spotify, Facebook, Songkick and Last.fm. Florida rapper YNW Melly was last month’s hottest chart-topper; see the September chart here.

Born to Senegalese parents in 1998, Sheck Wes (né Khadimou Rassoul Cheikh Fall) was signed to Travis Scott’s Cactus Jack and Kanye West’s GOOD Music labels earlier this year, after taking first SoundCloud then Spotify by storm.

His debut single, ‘Mo Bamba’, made №16 in the Billboard Hot 100 last year, while his debut album, Mudboy, released through Interscope on 5 October, reached #16 in the US and #19 in Canada.

Sheck Wes currently has nearly 13m monthly listeners on Spotify. He is represented by Obi Asika and Kazia Davy at Echo Location.

Savannah, Georgia-born Quando Rondo, meanwhile, is another SoundCloud prodigy, with his first mixtape, Life B4 Fame, garnering 1.9m downloads in the space of a week when it dropped earlier this year. The follow-up album, Life After Fame, was released through Atlantic Records on 24 September.

Idles, formed in Bristol in 2011, followed up a support slot for Foo Fighters at the O2 Arena in September 2017 with a string of European festival dates this year, and released their second album, Joy as an Act of Resistance, on 7 September. A Guardian review describes the politically charged LP as “11 songs of focused, cathartic rage” and and calls Idles “Britain’s most necessary band”. They are represented by Natasha Bent and Geoff Meall at Coda Agency, and Paradigm’s Tom Windish and Carly James in North America.

See the full chart, with links to each artist’s Facebook page and booking agency details, below.

For more details about the Radar Station, contact [email protected].

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