It is being staged to promote their ninth and tenth studio albums, Music of the Spheres and Moon Music , respectively. They had not toured their previous record, Everyday Life , because of environmental concerns. Coldplay announced the tour on 14 October , a day before the release of Music of the Spheres.
Similar to the Mylo Xyloto Tour —12 , the concerts make extensive use of pyrotechnics and confetti. However, they were adapted to minimise the group's carbon footprint. Other ideas included crafting the first mobile rechargeable show battery in the world with BMW and planting a tree for every ticket sold. Pollstar declared that they ushered in "a new era of sustainable touring".
The band also set a variety of records at the venues they visited. The shows received widespread acclaim from music critics, who praised Coldplay's stage presence, musicianship, versatility, joyfulness and production value. A concert film, Music of the Spheres: Live at River Plate , was released to cinemas around the world in , featuring their performances in Buenos Aires. After the release of Coldplay's eighth album, Everyday Life , lead singer and pianist Chris Martin said they would not tour until their sets were environmentally friendly , [ 2 ] which led the record to be promoted with small charity concerts and a performance at the Amman Citadel in Jordan, broadcast by YouTube.
A team of sustainability experts was commissioned to investigate Coldplay's carbon footprint and study how to reduce it. For special effects, Coldplay used biodegradable confetti adapted to require less compressed gas for ignition, while pyrotechnics had new formulas to reduce or eliminate harmful chemicals and mitigate the explosive charge. Coldplay partnered with SAP to develop a free mobile application for the tour which calculated the total carbon footprint generated by concert goers and encouraged them to take environmentally friendly travel options.
Additionally, Imperial College London 's Grantham Institute helped the band to study and publish their progress. American singer H. Martin mentioned that the concert was divided into four acts because it is "a journey traveling outwards into the unknown to then come home having learned something new.
