ORLANDO, FL – LMG Touring recently provided lighting, LED, media servers and audio support for a Trivium pay-per-view global livestream featuring heavy metal rockers Trivium. Dubbed the “metal streaming event of the summer,” the event sold more than 12,000 tickets alongside with merchandise. The livestream event was the band’s first show since April and promoted their latest album, What the Dead Men Say.
More details from LMG (www.lmg.net):
According to Trivium’s Tour Manager Charlie Bybee, the band was about to embark on a new two-year touring cycle when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, canceling all tours and live events.
“The band was already knee deep in commitments to all-new production,” he says. “Being that they now had a bunch of new production elements as well as a brand-new record—but no shows—the band wanted to find some way to incorporate all they had been planning into a digital livestream to release the record.”
Initially, the creative concept for the show was a wooded area, which morphed into scenic carts designed by Sooner Routhier and fabricated by Gallagher Staging Nashville.
“The art direction for What the Dead Men incorporates nature in a unique, alien-like way,” says Sooner Routhier of Sooner Rae Creative. “Early on in the process, management sent me the album cycle visuals along with images that the band compiled as inspiration. This design is an amalgamation of both. Silhouetted, dead tree branches reach up from the ground like claws and tentacles. The dead branches are on printed vinyl stickers and attached to Perspex boxes that we dubbed the ‘fish tanks.’ Along the upstage side of the fish tanks is a line of video and asymmetrical ‘forest’ of Martin VDO Sceptrons. There is a line of strobe buried on the floor inside the fish tanks to create a bright glow on the opaque portion of the vinyl. Directly outside of the tank, on the downstage edge of the set cart, is a line of Robe MegaPointes. The depth of the fish tank, coupled with the vinyl stickers, Sceptron forest, and video product creates a tremendous amount of depth in the art of the show.”
COVID precautions made it a challenge to test out the effect of the lighting on the vinyl sticker. “LMG provided us with a JDC to test on the surface of the Perspex. Just seeing a little demo of the product in the shop helped me visualize the way the lighting would look with the scenic,” says Routhier.
This livestream show marked the first time Trivium used video integrated into their set, displayed on Roe CB8. All content was designed by Andy Reuter and Audrey Flynn.
With “A Light or a Distant Mirror” (ALOADM), the band wanted to use their livestream expertise to simulate a live show experience for remote fans. Having livestreamed nearly every show for the past three years, the band was eager to take their production up a notch with this show.
“There were countless moving pieces and so many people on the team making this happen,” says Matthew Heafy, Trivium’s guitarist and lead vocalist. “We are incredibly fortunate to have such an amazing team all around us, spanning our management (5B), our label (Roadrunner), our touring Trivium crew, Full Sail, LMG, Sooner and her team, John Deeb and his team, our booking agents, Maestro.io, Bryce, and more.”
Given the elastic nature of the pandemic and ever-changing rules and regulations for events and gatherings, the production team used creative problem solving to keep staffing to a minimum in order to follow social distancing guidelines, while not shortchanging the production. This meant that many crew members held several roles.
All necessary precautions were taken to ensure that the band and crew were safe and protected during the production. Masks were required at all times, and daily temperature readings were mandatory prior to entry. Production also made sure to space out the crew and operations to exercise proper social distancing.
“LMG was willing to do as much as we wanted but were also still invested in the event even if we would have had to shrink it to slim production. Staff on site followed all safety precautions needed to make the event happen safely,” says Bybee.
“LMG has always been the greatest for providing the greatest tools in the industry for making a show next level,” echoes Heafy. “I’ve spent years in awe of what they’ve created and provided for all of the top artists on the planet. It’s always been a dream to work with LMG for a large-scale tour or show, and lo and behold—we did it together for the best live streamed show on earth yet.”
The largely successful global livestream sold nearly 12,000 tickets
