Pet Shop Boys Tour Super

27/01/2017 LVSdesign Comments (0)

British duo Pet Shop Boys went on tour Super – in support of the 13th album by the same name.

Group members Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe began a tour from 4-month rehearsals. The Inner Sanctum show was held at the Royal Opera House (London Covent Garden) before stopping in North, South America and Europe.

The creators of Inner Sanctum and the Super Tour:

– Designer: Es Devlin
– Lightworker: Rob Sinclair
– Lighting Designer and Programmer: Ben Kesh
– Laser show designer: Andrew Turner (ER Productions)
– Video / Multimedia Company: Creative Media
– Creative Director: Jack Jameson
– Production: James

The design of the show – from simple to stunning

Cover album image Super – yellow display and round emblem of various colors on a white background. This motive became the central point of the design of live show.

A simple idea literally become alive under the influence of illumination, lasers and projection. Thats how two-hour show becomes a legend.

Initial design concepts came from conversations between Devlin, Tennant and Lowe.

Super is the depth that is on the surface. And is based on this principle ( Devlin)

Work with the use of designs of LED rings, projections and lasers has created a stunning and awesome background for the “the heart bass show.”

The perception of 2D and 3D elements work simultaneously. Charming light rings are displayed through a translucent layer of plastic. The rings are superimposed on projections and laser.

Viewers are very difficult to impress visually (Devlin)

Their eyes are already accustomed to the usual techniques of designers. Therefore, they become resistant to special effects. The mix of sculptural elements with graphic projection creates an interesting combination as the feedbacks from the audience shown.

Devlin has already worked at the Royal Opera House. But never before – in the context of a pop show.

She says her favorite moment in the show – when the LED rings fly past each other, pulling behind shadows. This is one of many clever and amazing results of the perfect combination of all elements in the Super Tour.

In fact, I got a lot of pleasure standing in my place and dancing throughout the show.

I enjoyed an array of lasers covering all the scenery (Delville)

Concentric rings

The central design element for the Super Tour is a series of concentric aluminum rings built by the Total Solutions Group.

– The rings were hung on the forefront from the largest (2 m in diameter) to the smallest (50 cm)
– In the residence of the Royal Opera House there were 5 rings, 4 of which were used in the tour
– RGBW LED installed on the rings change their color.
– Total Solutions Group have created rings with collapsible design for tours.

Lighting suspension:

The LED rings supplemented the illuminating suspension, which consisted of:

TMB Solaris Flares for bright colored solid blocks in smoke
Martin MAC Viper Performance is designed for rigid side lighting
MAC Viper Profiles for bulk rays

The basis of the design of the second act

Another design basis is projection in 2 layers. In this reception front screens allow you to focus on the performers.

The main projection of the surface of the II act is the fabric.

The translucent, matte surface for projection created a brilliant, soft, diffused light behind it.
The material allowed the front projection to be bright.Through this surface scattered light from LED rings merged with projection. This created an artistic interaction between them.
The artists all over the world worked very closely with the video department to link the ring and the content together.

Equipment that makes Super – super Tour:

Creative Media used:

– 6 Panasonic PT-DZ21K 20000 lumens projector. It created stunning visual effects with blend of lenses.
– SAMSC Catalyst V5 Media Server.
– Media servers on Mac Pro 6.1 with the original synchronized HD-SDI frames of the Apple signals.
– MA Lighting M.А.2 controlled servers on Art-Net.

During rehearsals, Adquissus used Blackmagic Design Hyperdeck Studio Pro to record a timecode. This helped everyone to synchronize.

The Timecode Changeover Device, custom designed by Really Creative Media’s: to monitor and control the code signal time on all devices, even the flying ones.

Catalyst, MA2 and 6 small, but powerful projectors have helped preserve the integrity of the design of the show.

The effect of a halo on the stage is not accidental.

The final layer is a laser design from ER Productions, which is an integral part of any PSB show. ( Cache)

5 laser systems are displayed on LED rings. They give a glossy, animated, electric and shimmering finish. In order to get the most out of the lasers, it is extremely important to give them the opportunity to “breathe” in the show with lighting.
The display of lasers on the rings through the projection surface also allows the team to create a halo effect on the scene for some songs.

Opening of the show

To open the show, musicians appear on two white spheres, through which there is a massive laser field of force.

ER used:
•8 new VV3 lasers
•6 Cyclone 18WRGBBs for display on rings
•2 Excellent 21
•3 Tripans (Lightline)

Creating an ideal balance between art installation and pop music is a daunting task. But our laser technician / programmer Tom Waals and the laser designer / programmer Andrew Turner did a great job as always..