Co-designing the set for U2’s Innocence + Experience tour with Es Devlin, Ric Lipson of Stufish Entertainment Architects says there were many ideas over the two years of the design process that ended up being cut in their physical respects, but most of the initial ideas held fast in some format, the initial themes at least translating into the video content.
"For example, at one point we prototyped a flying room that had internal projection that would fly around the arena with projected members of the band within," Lipson says. "There were going to be four of these. This idea went away after we tested it at 1:1 scale and found its reference in the show when you see the video for ‘Song for Someone,’ where Bono sings to his younger self who is seen in environment of his bedroom and living room. Another idea was for a very large lightbulb that would hang over the round stage at the far end of the area that would blow apart at one point in the show to reveal 1970s junk and furniture. This was replaced by the idea of the tsunami at the end of the song ‘Until the End of the World,’ which sees the innocence of Cedarwood Road washed away by a tsunami of water that has exploded out of a video lightbulb."
Lipson says that the show starts with the notion of the innocence of a single lightbulb. As the story developed during the design phase, it informed the shape of the stage to facilitate the narrative: the theme of going from home to the world and then back again, "the journey from 'Innocence' to 'Experience,'" says Lipson. "The layout of this show meant we had to reinvent the way the sound was done for concerts in an arena. The size of the screen and other core elements such as followspots, together with the massive structure of the screen and quantity of cable to make it all work, meant that this is one of the heaviest arena shows ever. The show is no smaller than any other of the U2 arena shows. Compared to the stadium shows that Stufish has designed over the last 23 years with Mark Fisher and Willie Williams, this is not as large as 360, but it is still large and very complex to make all of the elements work so well together."
Moving Parts
Over the main stage are kinetic floating LED fluorescent strip lights on Tait winches that deliver power and data through the winch lines and are controlled by Navigator. "The square stage itself is quite simple otherwise," says Lipson. "The round stage has a clever lift that brings the piano to the stage. This new design stores the piano under the stage and unfolds 90 degrees like a book to make it unfold from the stage rather than just rising in the traditional way. The main piece of automation is the [PRG Nocturne V-Thru] screen. The screen itself flies on four six-ton winches attached to four custom spreader trusses in the air. The winches allow the screen to move up and down by 7m over 30 seconds. These are all controlled by Navigator. In the screen itself at the end, there is a kinetic staircase at the square stage end that allows Bono to climb the stairs to the catwalk, and at the far end of the screen there is a custom lift that allows Bono to descend to the stage. Under the screen, there are four automated mirror ball winches that are able to lift the balls up and down while spinning them. There are also eight more kinetic strip lights all controlled by Navigator."
Surrounding the stage are additional LED strip lights mounted on custom hinges that allow them to be stood up at various moments, working in conjunction with the choreography of flying strip lights overhead. "Tait also created a new tracking parallel motion camera and track that allows the camera to track along the side of the stage to follow the band and get interesting shots that would not normally be possible," says Lipson, who calls the overall vision of Williams as creative director "visionary" and stresses the talents of his fellow creatives. "He assembles such a great team around him that allow the lighting and video to work together symbiotically," Lipson adds. "There are large portions of the show that do not use the video at all and also parts of the show that use very little amount of lights. In this show, no one department is dominant over another, and everyone works towards the cohesive vision."
Lipson emphasized the role of video director Stefaan "Smasher" Desmedt, who runs visuals and I-Mag throughout the show, as he has on past U2 tours. "Using d3 and other software, such as Demolition, he affects the live I-Mag feed during the show," says Lipson. "We also do a video moment where a member of the audience films the band on the stage. This is done with Meerkat."
Lipson concludes that, while the design process was very long, the final result is a show that "explores a journey of the band from Innocence to Experience. Making such an ambitious project happen was testament to the entire team, headed up by [production manager] Jake Berry."
Check out our full coverage, sponsored by SHS Global at our Project In Focus on U2's iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE Tour here, and check back often for continuing updates.