LumenRadio and Philips Electronics lit up the Black Eyed Peas during a three-day event at the Stade de France as part of the group's highly anticipated “The Beginning” tour. The 80,000 capacity stadium in the suitably named La Ville-Lumière or City of Light, also known as Paris, was filled to capacity all three nights.
Fergie and the rest of the Peas wore costumes developed to showcase Philips latest LED and OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) technology and incorporating LumenRadio's CRMX wireless technology. The costumes were designed by Philips Lighting's Chief Design Officer, Rogier Van der Heide in cooperation with B. Ã…kerlund, the Black Eyed Peas Los Angeles based lead costume designer & stylist, who has frequently working with music acts ranging from Lady Gaga to the Rolling Stones.
Rogier Van der Heide, and his multi-skilled design team in collaboration with the BEP production team, including Wardrobe Engineer Tom Bennett, developed the technical concepts and facilitated the practical integration of the LEDs, OLEDs, and the CRMX wireless technology into the costumes.
75 OLED panels sparkling like mirrored glass were carefully applied to Fergie's leather cat suit. The panels were wirelessly controlled through a software program to orchestrate patterns and lighting sequences synchronized to the music; resulting in a truly innovative and integrated performance of music, lighting and technology.
apl.de.ap wore a leather LED suit designed to mimic a graphic equalizer with an integrated Philippine flag as a reflection of his national pride and love of music. Taboo's unique suit complimented the group's futuristic style with silicone studs to diffuse the light of nearly 1,000 LEDs moving in patterns across his body and wirelessly synced with the rest of his band mates.
“Innovation doesn't happen in a vacuum; it takes collaboration with creative, like-minded individuals who can explore the possibilities from multiple angles and areas of expertise in an organic and authentic way” said Philips Van der Heide.
“I love the product. It rocks,” exclaimed BEP's Tom Bennett who continued to travel with the production to such exciting places as Central Park in New York. “The range is outstanding for the big stadium tours with large sets, multiple video screens, and lifts to transmit through. We work amongst lasers, video, audio wireless and with the RTX-2 there are no problems with any other gear operating in the same frequency range. I highly recommend using the LumenRadio product for rugged reliability in the harshest of transmission environments for flawless results. If you need to have control, go with the LumenRadio product.”