Massive Attack has decided not to play at Coachella in 2025 because of environmental concerns, Robert “3D” Del Naja shared with NME.
Del Naja told Greg Cochrane that the festival, which takes place in Palm Springs, uses a lot of water resources. “We said no to Coachella for next year,” he explained. “We’ve been there once, and once was enough. It’s in Palm Springs. It’s a golf resort built on a desert, run on a sprinkler system, using public water supplies. Mental. If you want to see something that’s the most ludicrous bit of human behaviour—it’s right there.”
The conversation shifted from Coachella to Las Vegas Sphere when Del Naja noted how it requires flying to reach and criticized its location: “That’s an aviation destination,” he mentioned. “You can’t get to Vegas [without flying]…. What a brilliant bit of infrastructure in the worst possible place it could be—in the worst setting in the world.” The band is also working on releasing new music next year as part of their eco-friendly touring plans.
Sometimes we really need to think about how our actions affect nature.
Pitchfork has reached out for more comments from both Massive Attack and Coachella’s teams.
