Massive Attack have pulled a gig in Liverpool to protest an electronic arms fair that is being held at the venue at which the concert was due to take place.
ACC Liverpool had been due to host the group’s upcoming ‘super-low carbon’ event, which was taking place with help from researchers at the University of Manchester to trial methods that would allow the band, and other musicians, to play gigs that are more environmentally friendly. Explaining their decision to pull the show, Massive Attack’s Robert "3D" Del Naja put his support behind the group Liverpool Against The Arms Fair, which organised a demonstration against the arms fair in Liverpool this past weekend.
"The one-off testbed show planned for Liverpool involved design, planning and relationship building on a scale that dwarfs any conventional tour, so it’s really disappointing that for reasons way beyond our control we can’t pull it off," Del Naja said. "But showing solidarity with the people of Liverpool at this crucial moment supersedes that."
He continued: "We can rearrange a testbed show, but applying a wider focus, I can’t imagine a more graphic example of the psychosis of the systems we live by than what’s playing out in Liverpool. On the eve of a global event that’s totally critical if we’re to avoid a catastrophic extinction event, arms barons are shop-windowing technologies that inevitably harm and incarcerate people; often in the hands of states already acknowledged to be human rights violators.
"The International Red Cross says that the impacts of climate emergency seriously increase the risks of armed conflict, by exacerbating existing social, economic and environmental factors. In what world is that an ‘opportunity’ worth promoting? As artists, we cannot travel along with that."
Earlier this month, Massive Attack renewed their push to help reduce carbon emissions in live touring, launching their Roadmap To Super Low Carbon Live Music.
