In August, Massive Attack played a pioneering show in Bristol, England as part of their Act 1.5 programme. Held at Clifton Park in their home city, the show introduced an array of measures designed to reduce the environmental impact of live concerts, including encouraging the use of public transport, ring-fencing tickets for local residents and powering the show and festival site on 100% renewable energy and battery power.
Following today’s announcement that Liverpool had been named the first Accelerator City by the UN’s Entertainment and Culture for Climate Action (ECCA) programme, Massive Attack have announced a series of gigs to be held in Liverpool this November.
Across three nights, IDLES (Nov 28) Massive Attack (Nov 29) and Nile Rodgers & Chic (Nov 30) will perform at the M&S Bank Arena on Liverpool’s dockside area with a similar green ethos. The band say the shows “will test, operate & adapt a range of measures to dramatically reduce the level of carbon emissions & air pollution that would usually be produced at an event of this scale.”
Some of the measures include an earlier show time finish to accommodate the use of public transport back home, a meat-free arena and a “plug & play” technical set-up for the performers. The show will also be powered by 100% renewable energy.
A localised pre-sale for fans in the Liverpool area will begin at 12pm tomorrow (Sep 24) to encourage local attendees, with a general sale held on Friday (Sep 27). Find out more about tickets here.
Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja – also known as 3D – said in a statement: “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. 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.”
Earlier this month, Coldplay announced a run of shows in the U.K. for August 2025 that will be powered by solar, wind and kinetic energy, and also include a 10% donation to the Music Venues Trust to help support grassroots music scenes.
Act 1.5 Presents shows:
November 28 – Idles, M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool
November 28 – Massive Attack, M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool
November 30 – Nile Rodgers & Chic, M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool