Europe - January/February saw Universal Pixels (UP) providing the backdrop to Snow Patrol’s European arena tour showcasing their chart-topping eighth LP, The Forest is the Path.
UP supplied three upstage Roe V4ST LED walls with Brompton processing, Panasonic RQ35 projectors, Panasonic UC4000 & UE150 cameras and Disguise media servers – the album gave the sell-out tour a theme of growth and overgrowth. Roll drops coming in and out are among the unique production elements bringing an extra dimension to Atticus Finch and Flint Studio’s imagery in front of the band’s trademark projection and LED layers.
Snow Patrol are on the road infrequently, it’s six years since their last full production arena run, so confirmed dates foster considerable expectation. And the practised team behind the tour, from PM Robin Scott and show designer Davy Sherwin to the independent suppliers, like UP, that have worked with the band forever, is committed to delivering on the anticipation.
Following production rehearsals at LH2, the first challenge was scaling and squeezing every element of the show into the 2,800-cap Olympia, Paris – success there largely a product of Sherwin’s versatility.
Away from live music Sherwin works in film, and it shows. The colour balance between lights, projection, LED and lasers right across this tour is exceptional. With LED so bright and projection so dim, getting the balance right without 10 projectors was all about the action from two super-bright Panasonic 50ks flown above FOH.
Phil Mercer, commercial director at Universal Pixels, comments: “With projection, you’re always fighting the LED. Trying to place it somewhere that’s repeatable every show, in different size rooms, and to have a really good place to project from that doesn’t kill any seats or ruin any sightlines. LED has taken over so much, projection is a sparingly used discipline now, in touring, but it adds something. There is a real impact.
“Robin Scott always puts a dynamic, proven team together, and The Forest is the Path tour is another fantastic product of that collaboration.”
Davy Sherwin says: “I have been using UP forever on Snow Patrol and Phil Mercer is always there for help and advice. The service is second to none and they have the equipment I need, without fail.”
Universal Pixels will pick up the Snow Patrol tour again when it hits the Middle East in April.
