The video element of the tour was co-ordinated by XL Video Inc in the US, where the tour kicked off on the first of three US legs. The video front end and control in Europe was supplied by LA-based XL Inc and the screens came from XL Belgium. Santana played a single UK date at Crystal Palace. This is the first time that Santana has toured with a full scale video production, and video director Gerald McReynolds explains that Carlos Santana had some very clear ideas about what he wanted in terms of images - including fire, water and other abstract pre-recorded sources, which are skilfully mixed in and overlaid with the live camera footage.
Using a combination of specially created graphics and material from the Lightdance video, directed by David Fourtney, the live camera action is deftly woven in to the mix creating a seamless moving backdrop to Santana’s maverick performances. The screens - one large upstage central (5 x 6 modules) and two smaller (4 x 4) offstage side screens are made up from Saco 15mm pixel pitch LED panels. McReynolds uses a Synergy 2 switcher/vision mixer, and the system is SDI digital throughout. Three Sony D35 cameras - FOH, onstage and in the pit - are joined by two Robocams with pan/tilt heads, rigged on the upstage trusses. The pre-recorded material is stored on Omega Fast Forward hard disc recorders, cued up and fired via Dataton control.
(Ruth Rossington)
