Lesh also specified PixelDrive, the new software control platform for Pixelline, which is a co-development project between James Thomas and IRAD, manufacturers of the RADlite digital media server. Pixelline allows the very quick and easy programming of complex 'liquid' effects via a PC. The software pixel-maps the 18 pixels in each batten for easy on-screen pattern creation.
Using PixelDrive's latest enhancements, Lesh was also able to access and utilize the Pixelline battens' internal strobing effects which - at up to 28 flashes per second. The Pixellines were positioned in four columns, rigged onto the front edge of four floor-based mini-truss towers, upstage of the band. These are so bright when running flat-out that all other fixtures and strobes on the Primal rig pale into the background: "They're an ideal in-the-face effect for a band like Primal Scream," explains Lesh, "where the lighting needs to keep pace with the incredible energy levels coming off the stage."
Lesh first experimented with Pixelline last year, in a head-to-head with all the other currently available LED technology. He found the Pixellines to be the brightest and most responsive option, and so waited for an appropriate creative project on which to use them. The decision to use PixelDrive was also based on the fact he only had three days to get the show programmed and running before handing the operation over to Jonny Gaskell, while he departed to fulfil his commitments with Moloko in Australia.
"The support from IRAD and James Thomas has been brilliant," says Lesh. Using PixelDrive - even though it was new to him - Lesh was able to build up complex chases and effects on the Pixellines, which would have taken hours of conventional programming.Lighting was supplied by Neg Earth and the PixelDrive by HSL. Other equipment included High End moving lights, an assortment of conventionals and a Wholehog II with expansion wing for control. The tour's sound was supplied by Skan, catering by Little Red Courgette and trucking by Fly By Night.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
