The Molotovs give surprise performances for Coldplay fans at Wembley
Fast-rising punk stars The Molotovs gave surprise performances for Coldplay fans this week.
Coldplay are donating 10% of proceeds from the shows to the Music Venue Trust, which has a stage next to Wembley Stadium’s main arena.
The Molotovs last week announced a forthcoming third single next month, ‘Rhythm of Yourself’, which could be their third No. 1 in the physical charts.
Despite still being aged just 17 and 19, Mathew and Issey Carts have played more than 600 gigs and back the trust’s work supporting UK venues. They played its Wembley stage on Wednesday and Thursday.
Issey said: "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.
“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.
"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.”
Speaking for Coldplay’s tour book, guitarist Jonny Buckland said: “I think small venues are the breeding ground for lots of exciting music. There really is nowhere else for bands to start in, and there’s so many fewer of them left. So I think we need to protect these places. They’re a vibrant part of our culture. And we, as a band, wouldn’t have anything without them. I don’t know how anyone would have heard us.”
Chris Martin said: "Well, we were really lucky to grow up in a place where there was a lot of opportunity for unknown people to become known or to get experience. I know how privileged we were to have music in schools and things like the BBC and all these places where they would let a non-stadium act play. Whenever I see a tree farm it always gives me hope: it’s like, you can cut down trees, but you can also plant new ones. The cycle of life will keep going. It’s the same with new musicians: it's so important to have the places for the saplings and the seedlings. And organisations like Music Venue Trust are even more important in this country since Brexit because it's so much harder for new artists to play in Europe. I just know that I would always want people younger than us to have even more opportunity than we had, and certainly not less."