The ghost show

The debate over the environmental sustainability of big music events has long been in the spotlight, with a series of initiatives trying to reconcile business and ecology as much as possible. For instance, Coldplay, with their Music of the Spheres tour, cut CO₂ emissions by 47% compared to their previous tour. All the energy for their shows comes from renewable sources – including solar panels, kinetic dance floors and electric bikes – while 86% of their LED wristbands get reused. Chris Martin's band uses sustainable aviation fuel for flights, recycled materials for the stage, and donates 10% of profits to environmental projects. Other artists too, such as Massive Attack, have experimented with low-emission tours, paving the way for a new, planet-friendly idea of live music. Working alongside Extinction Rebellion, they published the Roadmap to Super Low Carbon Live Music, an open tool for the music industry, commissioned and produced by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. The roadmap, which identified six main methods for cutting CO2 emissions, was tested by the band on their tour last year.

In Italy, meanwhile, it was the "Jova Beach Party" that sparked debate. The initiative by Jovanotti and Trident Music, which aims to combine music with environmental protection, has drawn plenty of criticism from environmentalists and residents concerned about the ecological impact of its stops on Italian beaches.

A far more radical solution was the one chosen in 1981 by Franco Battiato, who was due to perform near Villasimius, in what was then an unspoiled spot in southern Sardinia.

Filippo Destrieri, the keyboardist who often played alongside the Sicilian singer-songwriter, recounted the episode in an interview with Il Fatto Quotidiano, on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of "La Voce del Padrone", the musician's 1981 bestseller. "Success hit us in San Giovanni Valdarno: suddenly, from the 4,000 people we'd draw every night, 20,000 showed up! Franco Battiato had exploded, and wherever we went to play, the highways were always jammed – Destrieri recalled – He couldn't even step out for a coffee without being besieged by five hundred people: with that album we ended up playing in front of 50,000 people". But at the Sardinian stop, in Villasimius, something extraordinary happened. Once he arrived on site, Battiato discovered that the organizers were cutting down an ancient forest to set up the concert area. "It was the last date of a short Sardinian tour, and as I was arriving on site with the band I crossed paths with Battiato's car: he was leaving and waved for us to follow him – Destrieri recalled – Later, once we got to the airport, he explained that he had cancelled the concert: the organizers were tearing down an ancient forest to make room for the crowd. He had stopped the bulldozers and, taking on the penalty fee himself, gave up that date". A quiet but powerful gesture, which still resonates today as an example of consistency between art, ethics and respect for nature.

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19/02/2026