British trip-hop band Massive Attack have partnered with Tyndall Centre, A Greener Future, and Manchester University to develop a roadmap for music industry emissions reduction.
The move occurred after singer Robert Del Naja experienced a moment of crisis on tour, questioning whether his band could justify the carbon emissions associated with transporting himself, bandmate Grant Marshall, and all their equipment around the world. But the emissions associated with a concert stem far beyond the transportation of artists. Research has shown that, on average, an event ticket has a carbon footprint of approximately 5kg CO2e for a standard music venue, 18kg CO2e for an arena, and 25kg CO2e for a festival.
In light of this, Massive Attack decided to make their own event, Act 1.5, hosted in Bristol with a name that leans into the Paris Agreement’s primary goals, the ‘greenest ever’ music festival.
Tracking the band’s emissions
As part of this project, Tyndall mapped the carbon footprint of Massive Attack’s tour cycles, obtaining accurate data associated with their activities to inform the band where their emissions could be cut and reduced, or avoided entirely. From the analysis, four key areas with potential to drive low carbon activity were identified, including:
- The transportation of people and equipment
- Energy use at venues
- Audience travel
- Emissions reduction targets
Audience travel is a significant contributor to the emissions associated with a gig or festival. In many cases, the bigger the band the bigger the audience footprint as a greater number of people are willing to cover significant distances to attend a performance. In 2007, British band Radiohead published the ecological and carbon footprint of their North American tours between 2003 and 2006. This revealed that audience travel was responsible for 80 per cent of their emissions.
Creating a green festival
Taking their learnings from the carbon footprinting of their tour, Massive Attack sought to host Act 1.5 in Bristol with a heavy focus on sustainability. First tackling audience travel, the band prioritised ticket sales to Bristol residents with presale access, as these attendees were more likely to walk or cycle to the event. The band arranged for a fleet of electric coaches to transport people between the festival and city centre, anticipating a high number of Bristol residents. There was intentionally no car park on the festival site in a bid to encourage public transport options. Despite these efforts, the festival had attendees who’d travelled from as far as Miami to see the band perform.
On site, batteries charged by wind and solar power were set up to provide the site with 100 per cent clean electricity throughout day. Electric trucks were also on standby to transport equipment between stages. The toilets around the venue were compost loos, with much of the event’s waste planned to be sent to a firm who remove phosphorus from urine, In addition, all the catering for artists and attendees was fully plant-based from local vendors in an attempt to reduce the carbon footprint associated with meat and dairy products.
As for the band and their individual efforts, the duo assessed their stage setup and sought to slim down their haulage. They reduced their equipment down to two trucks, a move which Del Naja claims “hasn’t lost anything – it’s gained more.” Further, a new woodland of 19,000 native oak trees will be planted 40 miles from the festival site, potentially in a bid to offset remaining emissions.
The band hope that their festival will serve as a blueprint for the industry and encourage widespread efforts to reduce emissions within the music industry. Del Naja argues that promoters, bands and managers waiting for regulation and policy change isn’t good enough, and that much of the technology to cut emissions from tours and concerts already exists.
