Code Orange live streams album party
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Describing himself as an “extreme fan” of the band, Jimenez had sent unsolicited renderings months earlier to Eric ‘Shade’ Balderose, their keyboardist and content creator, offering his design services. Shade in turn shared them with Reba Meyers, the band’s guitarist and production manager.
The dream came true! Jimenez was brought on by the band. Everything was all set, with the album release party slated for 14 March at the Roxian Theatre outside the band’s hometown of Pittsburgh. Then, just like that, everything was shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. But, with one door slammed shut, the Code Orange team opened another, staging a 53-minute opening party show at the empty theatre that was live streamed on Twitch.
Fans may not have been present at the theatre, but head banging energy and excitement were. The place was pulsating with visual energy too, as an array of content created by Shade was flashed on a massive 9ft x 11ft centre stage videowall created with Chauvet Professional F2 panels supplied by Star Design Event Services.
Code Orange, Roadrunner Records, along with long-time friend and noted hardcore videographer Sunny Singh and Jimenez organized the live stream event. Singh directed the livestream which Jimenez recommended the video wall for, with Meyers production managing the event and engineering all of the playback.
John Hoffman of Spectrum Audio Productions and the band’s tour manager Daniel Johnson helped pull things together, while MediaQuest provided the cameras and the gear needed for streaming. Joshua Smith of MediaQuest aided in the production efforts and Jeff Davis of Feet First Productions handled additional camera operations.
“We wanted to reflect the sonic energy of Code Orange and the power of the video images with light that was varied and intense,” said Jimenez. “This band is really about creating a whole experience. We also played on the absence of an audience in the theatre. The empty crowd area wasn’t something we tried to hide. We wanted to play with the atmosphere of not having a crowd, but at the same time also make sure there was a balance that didn’t make the stream feel awkward or out of place.
“Josh Tkaczuk house LD at the Roxian Theatre, Matt Barnum our console operator and Chris Robin of Star Design all pulled together to make this balanced look click to perfection.”
(Jim Evans)
