The changes have produced a remarkable body of work and it's a mark of their durability that this autumn BMTH embark on their most ambitious European tour yet. "The show is a complete re-design from what fans saw last year for the launch of 'That's the Spirit'," says the band's production manager Rob Highcroft. "Louis Oliver at Okulus has created a three-dimensional video environment for the band that will startle all who come to see them."
Oliver's design is both radical and huge: "It's a massive commitment of gear and people for us," said Alex Leinster from Video Design who supply the touring package. "The rear wall of 9mm Winvision LED, 10m tall and over 35m wide, is matched by more than a hundred tiles of 9mm as fascia for the band's risers."
Video Design has invested for the tour. A Ross Carbonite Black switcher gives video engineer Matt Vassallo all the tools he needs to marshal content to screen, "It gives me an incredible amount of creative freedom especially for its size and it does everything all in one piece of kit. Less fuss, I can do everything this show demands faster and more easily and - it does it better."
Vasallo is joined by Richard Shipman who directs the camera team: the three operated cameras out front and in the pit are augmented on stage by two Bradley Robo-cams and a pair of fixed minicams for those ever important back facing shots. "It's a really transformational show," said Shipman, "The LED is all enveloping and Matt does a magnificent job of taking my cut and blending it to the content. For the audience it's a complete suspension of reality."
Video Design provides a team of seven including Vassallo and Shipman, with Rob Stansfield leading the crew. "I can't fault them", said Highcroft after the first three shows. "Technically faultless, the realisation of Louis' design is perfect. And as a touring entity it's working very, very smoothly. That back wall of LED could seriously inhibit load-out traffic, yet here we are zipping out in three hours."
(Jim Evans)
