Massive Attack gig to feature a 100% plant-based menu

The Massive Attack gig on 5 June 2025 will feature a 100% plant-based menu and low-emission travel at Manchester’s eco-conscious Co-op Live arena.

Trip-hop pioneers Massive Attack will bring their only UK arena performance of 2025 to Manchester’s Co-op Live on Thursday 5 June, with the venue confirming it will go entirely plant-based for the show.

The fully vegan menu will be available across seven kitchens on three levels, featuring plant-based burgers, masala fries, vegan pizzas, and hot dogs – including options from Big Chicken, the fast-food brand founded by NBA star Shaquille O’Neal.

The one-off initiative marks the first time the UK’s largest indoor arena has tailored its entire food and drink offering to match an artist’s environmental values.

Massive Attack’s Manchester gig builds on the band’s previous climate-led performances, including a show described by the BBC as being 100% battery-powered and entirely vegan.

In a statement shared by Co-op Live, Massive Attack’s Robert “3D” Del Naja said the gig would ‘underpin that production with the lowest emissions measures possible’. He also stated that the band would travel by train, and encouraged fans to do the same where possible. “We’re then acting in unity to create smarter, cleaner events without avoidable pollution, which has to be the future.”

ACT 1.5: Pushing live music towards Paris Agreement goals

Massive Attack’s performance at Co-op Live is part of a wider project known as ACT 1.5, launched by the band in 2019 to help decarbonise live music in line with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target.

Working with climate scientists at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, the initiative has tested both outdoor and city-wide approaches to reduce emissions from concerts.

Its Phase 1 pilot, a homecoming gig in Bristol, was expected to be one of the lowest carbon shows of its size ever staged. The Phase 2 programme takes the approach further by addressing emissions across the whole host city.

As a result, the United Nations recently named Liverpool the world’s first “Accelerator City” for its climate-focused work in major live music and film production. According to ACT 1.5’s lead producer, Mark Donne, the goal is to help transform how artists, promoters and venues approach sustainability:

“Massive Attack are synonymous with creative innovation and an insistence on the cleanest production possible,” he said. With global temperatures continuing to rise, Donne added that such efforts represent more than personal values. They are a response to a “physical limit” the live music industry can no longer ignore.

Co-op Live: Sustainable venue backs Massive Attack vegan show

Since opening, Co-op Live has aimed to become one of the largest and most sustainable concert venues in the world. It runs entirely on electricity, powered in part by solar panels the size of a football pitch, and features rainwater harvesting, intelligent energy systems and reusable cups. The arena also has a zero-waste-to-landfill policy.

The 100% plant-based food menu for Massive Attack’s performance is a first for the venue. Sara Tomkins, Co-op Live’s sustainability and community director, said: “Hosting Massive Attack with a completely plant-based food menu demonstrates how we can collaborate with artists to go further – creatively and sustainably.”

She added that the collaboration is “a powerful example of the venue’s flexibility” and a chance to “encourage fans to consider sustainable choices.”

Menu highlights include bao buns, ‘NoChicken’ burgers, aloo tikki chaat, and vegan samosas with mango chutney. Co-op Live says the curated selection aims to provide variety while supporting the environmental aims of both the band and the venue.

Original source: https://www.veganfoodandliving.com