American Indie band Broken Bells is out on its second tour, After The Disco, featuring musical producer Danger Mouse (U2, Black Keys, Portugal) and James Mercer (lead signer of The Shins). “For their albums they have created unique artwork with a theme,” explains Matthieu Larivée of Luz Studio in Montreal, which is responsible for the entire visual design—scenic, lighting and video. “This way we help to make sure that we were into 'their world' and that everything was cohesive.”
A pink orb is the primary symbol for the decor. “It has a retro futuristic look. Their music has a retro 60' touch and the colors used in the artwork are in relationship with that,” says Larivée. “So we had strong inspiration to work with. Danger Mouse wanted to create a live show that reflects their world. So when you see the show, you can feel that it's Broken Bells universe, which is both a visual and audio odyssey.”
Larivée adds, “In our design, sometimes we have to let the music speak so you can enjoy that part without being entertained by flashy lights or video. The fact that the band is playing multiple instruments is very entertaining too,” he says. “Sometimes we have videos and lights to support the show. Danger Mouse wanted to have visuals so that the crowd could have something to look at. They don't move on stage and they don't interact much with the crowd. They let the music speak and the visuals entertain.”
The challenge is that the band is touring into large clubs and theatres, so the stage dimensions are quite different on a daily basis. “We came up with a ground support solution do avoid rigging and projection issues,” Larivée notes in response to this challenge. “The video projector is on floor and covered by a half mirror dome. That dome is one of the iconic characters of the retro-futuristic era. So we have designed the dome with garage security mirrors.”
The set has two different projection screens: one for large venues and one for the smallest venues. “Both screens can be either hung on the theater pipes or ground supported with a pipe and drape solution. Both are printed canvas usually used for large scale advertising,” says Larivée. “We printed a semi-circlular projection surface and added echoes of that circle to enlarge the projection surface. The echoes are meant to be lit from behind, like a cyc. To avoid having the lighting fight with the front-projection light, we have a physical semi-circlular mask on the back part of the screen. The fact that the projector sits on floor makes it easy as we always have the right distance from the lens to the screen.”
The use of SMPTE time code for the video helps the band get images synchronized and avoid having generic backgrounds that do not look in relationship with the music. “We also did that on some lighting effects using GLP X4 Impression fixtures,” Larivé. “We were doing 'pixel mapping' synchronized with the music.”
Lighting-wise, Larivée looked for some unusual options: “We purchased hydroponic growing lights and modified them with a reflector and a warm halogen bulb. They fit perfectly into the retro futuristic look. On stage they surround the band and they became an important visual element of the show,” he notes. “Broken Bells is a very creative band and they were implicated with every decision on the setup and content. The rehearsals were also creative. This is were we end up doing the shadows with the video projection on 'Angel and the Fool' (see full lighting list and light plots below).
Video routing chart—click to enlarge:
Broken Bells World Tour
Production: Monotone
Production Manager: Lalo Medina
Tour Manager: Jason Tobias
Show Designer: Matthieu Larivee / Luz Studio
Visual Design: Luz Studio
Lighting Director: David Rondeau / Luz Studio
Video Director Francis Laporte / Luz Studio
Lighting and video vendor: Upstaging/ North America, Neg Earth/ Europe
Audio: FOH: David McDonald; Monitors: Jason Versaw
Lighting Gear:
12 Philips Vari-Lite VL3000 Spot
24 GLP X4 Impression
12 Chauvet Color Accent White LED
6 Chroma Q Colorforce 72''
4 ETC Source Four 19 deg ellipsoidal
10 Custom Halogen Reflector
36'' RGB digital LED tape
1 MA Lighting grand MA 2 Lite
Light plots—Click to enlarge:
Video Gear:
1 Christie 20k projector, lens 0.73
1 coolux player pro
1 Go Pro 3
Check out the Broken Bells image gallery