Massive Attack slams music industry over climate inaction
The band is aiming for their Act 1.5 show at Bristol Downs this weekend to have the lowest emissions of any big music event.
Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja has said "it’s time to act" and address the music industry’s dismal record on climate change.
The band's home town show in Bristol on Sunday, titled Act 1.5 – named after the UN climate treaty that asked countries to keep global heating to a 1.5C threshold – will be 100 per cent powered by renewable energy, and is hailed as being the lowest-carbon show of its scale ever held.
30,000 fans are set to attend the one-day festival, with additional appearances expected from US rapper Killer Mike, the Mercury Prize-shortlisted Irish folk group Lankum, and Oscar-nominated actor-musician Samantha Morton.
Massive Attack frontman Robert Del Naja told The Guardian: “Some people think the whole point of our sector is to tell people about [the climate crisis] as if it’s not one of the most widely reported issues globally of our time."
He continued: "We don’t need to talk about it – we need to act on it."
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While the band hope the event will feel like a normal gig to most people, there will be a few noticeably different features.
All the food will be vegan, the loos compostable and, instead of having diesel generators, the stage and stalls will be hooked up to (electric) vans containing large batteries.
Meanwhile, there won’t be a car park: guests are encouraged to walk, cycle or get public transport. There will be free electric shuttle buses to and from Bristol's two main stations.
Massive Attack aren’t the only band taking action. Back in June, Coldplay announced they had cut the carbon footprint of their last world tour by 59 per cent via some creative measures including kinetic dance floors and electricity-generating bicycles, among other methods.
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