Earlier this year, Bristol greats Massive Attack returned to the stage, giving their first performances in five years. They also announced a North American tour, and then they canceled it a few days before it was set to begin, citing “unforeseen circumstances.” Now, group member Robert Del Naja, also known as 3D, says that Massive Attack got an offer from Coachella, and they turned it down because they don’t think that kind of festival is environmentally sustainable.

Massive Attack have lately been doing a lot of work on reducing the carbon footprint of big live shows. In a recent NME interview, Robert Del Naja says that Massive Attack said no to Coachella, a festival that they’ve played once before, because of the specifics of its desert setting: “We said no to Coachella for next year because again, 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 behavior, it’s right there.”

Del Naja says that Massive Attack wouldn’t play a Las Vegas residency for the same reason: “It’s like the Sphere. Of course I’d love to get my hands on that much LED! Acres of spherical LED to play with. You’re not going to go to Vegas to do that, are you? What a brilliant bit of infrastructure in the worst possible place it could be — in the worst setting in the world.”

Apparently, we might get to see how Massive Attack’s ideas of sustainable touring can apply to other artists, as Del Naja says that they’re working with Billie Eilish on her upcoming European tour:

The UN announced this at New York Climate Week; we weren’t there. Maggie [Baird, Billie Eilish’s mother] got hold of Mark Watson at C40 Cities and said “How do I Act 1.5 Billie’s European dates?”

I think where we’re going to get the breakthrough with Billie’s European tour [July 2025] is on rail. We’re working out a deal at the moment with Trainline, where all across Europe we say, “How about a nice hum-dinging discount?.” Billie can say, “If you’ve got a ticket to my gig, you get this discount code, and you travel by rail.”

Del Naja also says that Massive Attack have “some new music, which we’ve been sitting on for four years.” They’re hoping to release it next year, if they can figure out a “dispute at the label.” Read the interview here.