Coldplay’s efforts to “go green” on tour had an impact on the design team, which had to pivot in how they put together a production. In this issue, we talk to the creatives about complying with the sustainability mantra on one of the most talked about tours, “Music of the Spheres.”
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There are many articles this month of shows that include creative uses of video. Those, paired with some advice for lighting designers working with video from Contributing Writer and Designer, Craig Rutherford, set me thinking about how creative video for live entertainment has grown and changed over the years.
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PLSN’s August 2022 issue features new products from ADJ, Blackmagic Design, Claypaky, Creative Conners, Lectrosonics, Prolights, Pro Tapes, RentalPoint, and Vari-Lite.
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INFiLED’s Titan-X LED panel has an 8mm pixel pitch and a high transparency of 70% making it well suited for blow through screen applications where designers can layer lighting, effects, and even audio behind the LED screen. This newer LED panel was developed collaboratively between production and rental solutions provider, PRG and LED manufacturer, INFiLED.
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Coldplay wanted to find a way to tour in an environmentally green way and they may have found it. With the “Music of the Spheres” tour out on the road, PLSN checks in with the creative team to learn how the tour is disrupting and redesigning the normal process of concert touring and production.
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The four large video spheres in Misty Buckley’s production design for Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres look deceptively solid. Wonderfully round, covered in 25mm pixel pitch LED strips, they’re actually soft surfaced inflatables. Contributing a lot to the sustainability efficiencies of the tour—the spheres are lighter in weight, take up far less truck space, and require much less labor to install/dismantle. They inflate in about two minutes and deflate in about seven minutes. Each sphere hangs from one chain motor, and each has a custom dolly cart for storage and transport.Read More »Coldplay’s Inflatable LED Spheres
On Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres tour, there are powerful video and camera systems that provide the video team the ability to take in any signal—in any flavor—and play it back where, and whenever needed on the many playback surfaces of Production Designer Misty Buckley’s massive set. Those playback surfaces include two 14m (45.93’) circular I-Mag screens—which are used constantly throughout the show; a large arched video wall—known as the Moonrise—that is approximately 44m (144.35’) wide by 6m (19.68’) at the tallest; and four large inflatable LED video spheres suspended high above the Moonrise. The I-Mag and Moonrise LED screens are made from ROE Visual Carbon Series CB8 8mm LED panels and the LED spheres are covered in PRG LED Strip with a nominal 25mm pixel pitch. [For more details on the inflatable LED spheres, go to page 24.]Read More »Coldplay’s Video and Camera Systems
Production and Lighting Designer Travis Shirley and industry legend/Tour Director Marty Hom looked for a project to work together on and found the ideal one with Stevie Nicks’ 2022 “Live in Concert” tour. The tour and design celebrate the iconic vocalist’s long successful career reflected in the production elements.
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This month celebrates the 53rd anniversary of The Woodstock Music & Art Fair. With festivals in their infancy at the time, on Aug. 15-18, 1969, Woodstock would make musical and cultural history. Festival production was also in its infancy at the time and Lighting Designer Chip Monck brings us back with his tales.
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The 2022 Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular concert was back on the Charles River in downtown Boston for the first time since 2019, after being cancelled due to Covid in 2020 and performing at Tanglewood in 2021. The event is one of the most recognized Independence Day celebrations in the country, including its presentation of Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture”—with real cannons—and spectacular fireworks display over the river.Read More »Music and Fireworks: Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular Concert
Craig Rutherford looks at approaching video as a lighting designer. He talks about how to think about—and design—with video elements when one comes from a mostly lighting background. The topics range from content considerations to encouraging designers to break out of the rectangles.
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Columbus, OH-based production company L!VE may have started in a beat-up van, but they have since grown into regional and national event specialists. To date they have produced over 50,000 shows, served 11,000 brands, and covered 1.2 million miles. Today they employ about 110 people spread out across the Midwest.
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