The band, including original member Graham Gouldman, have achieved considerable commercial and creative success and acclaim in a career stretching back to the 1970s and have just completed the first leg of an ongoing tour. Ian provided the video concept and design working closely with current lighting director Tigger (Russell Matthews).
They needed a versatile set up and flexible equipment that could multi-task to compliment the wide range of styles - from art house rock to pure pop - embraced by the band throughout the set.
Gouldman was particularly keen to get another original band member - Kevin Godley - to perform on one song via a specially commissioned video piece. So, needing a practical solution to make this happen, he approached Ian, who designed a system that would work well, look good and fit into all the venues on the itinerary, as well as facilitating other video elements.
He chose S+H's LED for two reasons. First, because it was light enough to hang on a tab track and be split into five separate columns during the show and manually moved apart ... and then be pushed back together to make one continuous block.
Secondly because he knows the kit is well maintained and that he can always rely on great service from S+H, with whom he has worked on several previous projects, including hiring the same 12 mm screen for various Kim Wilde tours since 2012.
To run the Godley video, a full 15sq.m LED surface was needed. For much of the rest of the set, the LED was split into the five 3m high columns which elegantly filled the stage and provided a completely contrasting look to the performance space.
The Glux 12mm was rigged to a 9m wide Triple E tab-track supplied by Neg Earth Lights, with custom fittings for the screens fabricated by Ian and Triple E.
The whole screen assembly - including the tab track and mounting brackets - weighed only 270 Kgs, which also meant it could be rigged to house fly bars at most venues.
Two video maps were created in the Green Hippo Hippotizer HD media server to run the two different screen configurations. As the screen was (manually) moved apart, the Hippotizer real time morphed between the two maps to create the illusion of moving windows.
(Jim Evans)
