After British pop-rock band Coldplay completed the A Head Full of Dreams tour in 2017, the foursome decided to go on hiatus from the road to figure out ways they could make their shows more sustainable. They knew they also needed to find ways to stay connected to their audience.
Five years after Coldplay’s last outing and two years removed from the start of a global pandemic, the light bulb goes off. Singer Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman and drummer Will Champion are bringing their eco-friendly, low carbon Music of the Spheres World Tour to Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday, June 11. With support from Grammy-and Oscar-winning performer H.E.R. as their opening act, the seven-time Grammy-winning band’s global stadium and arena run is both their sonic-meets-scientific experiment and pledge to fully power a production with renewable energy and biomaterials.
“Playing live and finding connection with people is ultimately why we exist as a band,” Martin said. “We’ve been planning this tour for years, and we’re super excited to play songs from across our whole time together.”
The Music of the Spheres World Tour is operating through solar panels and the first ever mobile rechargeable show battery made from recyclable BMW batteries. Concertgoers can ride powered bikes to recharge the batteries and power kinetic dance floors from their body movement. For every ticket sold, Coldplay will plant one tree.
Plans for the Music of the Spheres World Tour started around 2019 when the chart-topping act responsible for “Yellow,” “Clocks,” “Speed of Sound” and “The Scientist” partnered with a team of sustainability experts to honor their conservation and ecological commitments towards their future tours. Coldplay partnered with SAP on developing a free tour app that encourages fans to use low-carbon transportation to and from the concerts. The band is tracking the data as part of its commitment to create more sustainable initiatives.
Coldplay also contributes 10% of its earnings towards causes like ClientEarth, the Ocean Cleanup, Global Citizen and One Tree Planted.
“For the past few years, we’ve been figuring out how to put sustainability at the heart of our tour,” Martin said. “The app is a big part of that. It allows us to see how people have traveled to and from shows so we can drawdown all those emissions.”
Martin is additionally turning his attention towards advocating for the differently abled. The quartet’s lead singer became the head of the advisory board for the recently launched Outlyer Group, an IP development and production company that sets out to end stigmas against talent with disabilities across all areas of entertainment.
The Outlyer Group hosted its official kickoff during this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Martin, who advises and guides Outlyer’s focus on music, wasn’t present because of his grueling tour schedule but did share a video message in his absence.
Credit: Robb D. Cohen / www.robbsphotos.com
Credit: Robb D. Cohen / www.robbsphotos.com
“I am an outlyer,” Martin said in his message. “We feel super excited for the launch and to have the opportunity to highlight the incredible talent that the differently abled bring to the entertainment industry and to proactively work to create a more diverse industry for everyone.”
One of Outlyer Entertainment’s founders, singer and actor Emmanuel Kelly, had Martin on as the executive producer of his full-length LP, “Your Story.” The Middle Eastern-born entertainer famous for his appearance on “X Factor Australia” in 2011 noticed how close-knit the band is and supportive of one another.
“Chris’ team and his bandmates are a strong conglomerate and brotherhood,” Kelly said. “As a brotherhood, Chris doesn’t do something without his brothers supporting him, and that’s the band as well.”
Tim Lucas Allen, another one of Outlyer’s co-founders, echoes Kelly’s observations and sentiments about Martin’s benevolence: pointing out the parallels between Coldplay’s tour and Outlyer’s purpose.
“He’s on the journey with us, and that’s second to none,” Allen said. “It all comes down to values. With Chris, you have somebody who is an extremely good hearted individual who wants to do really positive things and create opportunities to do that. He saw the vision that Emmanuel had, wanted to support it, and is genuinely connected to the mission.”
“There’s a bigger goal here: to have a much wider effect across multiple industries,” Allen adds. “It’s not just entertainment. We want to effect real global change across multiple communities, countries, government and corporate levels.”
The Music of the Spheres World Tour is Coldplay’s eighth overall tour and the chance for them to see how effective they can be pairing causes they care about with live performance. For the band that originally formed in London in 1996, they’ve decided to stop recording albums completely in 2025.
Still, Coldplay intends to continue to tour. Going out on the road will allow the four musicians the chance to remain connected to their core audience while continuing to make strides towards the common good.
“We won’t get everything right, but we’re committed to doing everything we can and sharing what we learn,” Martin said. “It’s a work in progress, and we’re really grateful for the help we’ve had so far.”
CONCERT PREVIEW
Coldplay with H.E.R.
7 p.m. June 11. $54.50-$174.50. Mercedes-Benz Stadium, 1 AMB Drive NW, Atlanta. mercedesbenzstadium.com.
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