Green musicians are getting easier to find these days, but if it weren't for some green players in stadium-worthy bands helping pave the path toward the merging of music and environmental respect, the music industry would be much further behind in green issues than it is today. One of the greatest bands of the last decade (or two) that I love to talk about is Radiohead..
Barcelona was one of the cities Radiohead chose to visit with their ‘Carbon Neutral World Tour’. A fantastic concert visualised brilliantly with an amazing light show. And there is much more to the pretty lights than just dancing colours.
Actually they were performed at Forum Park where the largest urban solar structure in Europe was located. The solar panel has a surface of 10.500 m2. The electricity produced by this structure is delivered to the electric public utility system and achieves an annual reduction in emissions equivalent to 440 tons of CO2. The system for capturing light energy uses monocrystalline technology and is made up of tiny silicon wafers that convert sunlight into electricity. In order to maximize solar exposure throughout the year, the panel faces south and is tilted at a 35° angle. Another advantage is that it offers shade during the daytime, perfect to keep the dancing crowd fresh.
Radiohead’s environmental theme is facilitated by energy-saving LED stage lighting designed by i-Pix, the UK-based creators of innovative theater and stage lighting systems, who use Lamina’s TitanTurbo LED light engine modules. The project started around October last year when i-Pix president and chief engineer, Chris Ewington, visited Lamina to view a demonstration of their new narrow optic. The project went quickly from prototype to full production once Watson and Radiohead production manager Richard Young and lighting crew chief Andy Beller viewed the first prototype with the new Lamina narrow optic. “From our experience, most shows spend months in discussion and a maximum of six weeks in prep, so this timescale did not come as a surprise” stated Ewington. “The design period was condensed from six months to four days, the components were produced in two weeks, and the units built over two weeks.”
Lamina is the only energy-efficient lighting company to have its entire portfolio of LED lighting products individually certified for CO2 emission avoidance. The New Jersey-based lighting company labels its products with a “green tag” which highlights their energy efficiency as compared to their traditional equivalents in the form of the amount of carbon dioxide offset. Each Lamina TitanTurbo LED has been certified to avoid over 3 tons of C02 emissions into the earth’s atmosphere.
It is clear that this English rock band pushes festival organisers to make the events more eco-friendly, based on the results of a previous study Radiohead did with Best Foot Forward. The band requested real cutlery instead of disposable plates and cutlery, as well as water tanks to refill their bottles to avoid the use of plastic ones. A Radiohead-branded reusable water bottle was on sale at their merchandise stand amongst posters and t-shirts.
Sinnamon not only made an effort backstage to reduce the environmental footprint of the Daydream Festival, but fans were positively surprised and participating happily in recycling. The biggest step Sinnamon took was the introduction of a reusable cup service, already popular at festivals outside Spain, but never before applied to large festivals in Barcelona. The cups are fully recyclable and available for 1€ at the bar. It comes with a handy clip so you don’t loose the cup, and at the end of the night you can either return it to get your Euro back, or take it home as a souvenir. After all it is a unique Radiohead-branded cup. The local company Ecofestes, who specialise in reusable and recyclable products for events, supplied the cups.
There were also recycling points for plastic water bottles. For every 5 empty bottles you received a full one instead. The result of these two recycling actions was clearly visible compared to other festivals: Nobody had to walk home though an ankle-high sea of plastic rubbish.
Of the many reasons to love Radiohead, perhaps the most important is that they simply lead by example: creatively, musically, ethically, socially, communally, digitally and, now, environmentally…do you have same opinion like me??heheheh……
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