The equipment included high and medium resolution LED screens, Catalyst and Hippotizer digital media servers plus control, spherical projection system, cameras and IMAG PPU and 17 crew.
XL supplied Coldplay's video equipment for the third our running and right from the start of this one in June 2008. The account was project managed by Des Fallon, who said, "It has been a pleasure to be work with Coldplay again, on all 159 shows."
The LED video elements were scaled up dramatically for the stadium shows, most noticeably with the addition of 550sq.m of XL's F30 SMD screen, which formed an elegant elongated 54m wide by 12m high arched backdrop traversing the whole of the upstage area. The Arch also featured a gentle 3.5 degree lateral curve. The surface was carefully selected by Paul Normandale, Coldplay's lighting/visual designer, in close consultation with Fallon and the team at XL Video.
The two left-and-right side screens were Lighthouse L7, each comprised from 28 panels a side in portrait format for the standard sized venues, expanded to 108 panels a side in landscape for the larger stadiums like Wembley and Munich. Three delay screens at the back of the field were each made up from 20 x R7 panels.
Video director Andy Bramley added two extra cameras for the stadium shows, bringing his total to six. These were positioned two in the pit, two at the end of the stage left and right ramps that ran out from the stage into the first part of the auditorium, one on the FOH tower and the final one right in the centre of the field just in front of the delay screens.
One of the big talking points on the tour were the seven inflatable spheres, rigged on individual Kinesys motors, which glided in and out at various points, each with its own 360 projection system. These consisted of a projector mounted with a special lens that internally fitted the content around the full sphere.
(Jim Evans)
