Coldplay begin eco-friendly world tour in Costa Rica – watch

Coldplay kicked off their eco-friendly world tour in Costa Rica on Friday (March 18) – you can see fan-shot footage below.

The two-night stand at Estadio Nacional in San José brought the curtain up on a global run that comes with a commitment to sustainability. In addition to pledging to cut carbon emissions on the road by 50% relative to their last world tour, the four-piece will also plant one tree for every ticket sold and use to discount codes to incentivise fans to use green transportation methods to their shows. They are also powering the shows almost entirely with renewable energy. 

“Despite our best efforts, the tour will still have a significant carbon footprint,” said the band on the sustainability page of their website. “We pledge to draw down more CO2 than the tour produces by supporting projects based on reforestation, rewilding, conservation, soil regeneration, carbon capture / storage (DACCS) and renewable energy. As part of this pledge, the tour will fund the planting – and lifelong protection of – millions of new trees, including one tree for every ticket sold.”

In addition, the LED wristbands that have become a staple of their gigs since their introduction on the ‘Mylo Xyloto’ tour are now made of 100% compostable, plant-based materials. The past weekend’s shows in San José were the band’s first stadium appearances since the release of their ninth studio album, ‘Music of the Spheres’, last October. On Friday, they handed live debuts to ‘Infinity Sign’, ‘Humankind’ and ‘Biutyful’, as part of a setlist that also contained ‘Something Just Like This’ and ‘My Universe’, their collaborations with The Chainsmokers and BTS, respectively.

There was also room for a take on ‘Patriótica costarricense’, the unofficial ‘second national anthem’ of Costa Rica. Hits including ‘Yellow’, ‘Clocks’, ‘The Scientist’ and ‘God Put a Smile Upon Your Face’ all made the cut, whilst ‘Parachutes’ deep cut ‘Sparks’ was dusted off, too.

The ‘Music of the Spheres’ tour reaches the UK in August, for a massive six-night homecoming at London’s Wembley Stadium before two Scottish shows at Hampden Park in Glasgow. You can see the full dates below.

Coldplay, August 2022:

12 – London, Wembley Stadium

13 – London, Wembley Stadium

16 – London, Wembley Stadium

17 – London, Wembley Stadium

19 – London, Wembley Stadium

20 – London, Wembley Stadium

23 – Glasgow, Hampden Park

24 – Glasgow, Hampden Park