The Molotovs played two surprise gigs for Coldplay fans at Wembley Stadium on the Music Venue Trust stage – check out footage below.
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Chris Martin and co. band descended on the iconic London venue for their ‘Music Of The Spheres‘ tour earlier this month, with 10 per cent of proceeds from their mammoth 10-date run donated to the Music Venue Trust to help fund and support grassroots venues.
The Music Venue Trust has a stage next to the stadium’s main arena, which the Molotovs took to on Wednesday (September 3) and Thursday (September 4). Speaking about the performance, sibling duo Mathew and Issey Cartlidge pointed to the importance of propping up the live scene.
Both still in their teens, they’ve already managed to play more than 600 gigs. “Whether it’s Coldplay or The Molotovs, one thing almost all bands have in common is that they developed their craft, and their audience, playing at grassroots venues up and down the country,” Issey said.
“While Coldplay started out at the likes of the Falcon and the Bull & Gate, we played the likes of The Half Moon, The 100 Club and Spice of Life – where we still host a weekly music night, Incendiary, with some of London’s best young guitar bands,” she added.
“Another thing we have in common is that we are music fans and without these venues we wouldn’t get to see amazing artists in action.”
Coldplay’s support of the MVT comes after the organisation’s long campaign for a mandatory levy of £1 for every ticket sold to a gig at arena level and above to go back into the grassroots, at a time when the UK is facing “the complete collapse of touring” with one venue closing every two weeks.
In quotes supplied exclusively to NME, the members explained why it was vital for them to help support local spaces and emerging talent, with Martin saying his ultimate goal was to see artist’s younger than them given “even more opportunity than we had, and certainly not less”.
Late last week, the band were forced to reschedule the final two concerts on their Wembley Stadium run due to planned industrial action. In order to avoid cancelling the shows entirely, the only option was to move the upcoming Sunday, September 7 show to Saturday, September 6, and the final gig on Monday, September 8 to Friday, September 12.