UK – There is a point where art forms converge, throwing aside distinctions like “style” and “genre” to join together and fire up new levels of imagination. The team at High Scream stoked these magical flames for the multi-award winning producer-songwriter Black Coffee recently when the South African visionary appeared at the O2 Arena.
Rather than build their production around a traditional LED wall, the High Scream team sought to reflect their client’s genre defying music with a production that felt like a convergence of “theatre, rave, concert and conceptual art.“ To do this, they built their design around a centrally located stage with a stunning circular overhead centerpiece that moved and flowed with Black Coffee’s performance.
Positioned as it was in the middle of the arena, the stage connected the entire audience to the performance. For its part, the overhead structure served as an evocative storytelling canvas for the show, which moved seamlessly through different art forms during its three-chapter narrative.
Comprised of an enormous curtain rig surrounded by draped fabric suspended from trusses, the centerpiece utilized analog projections instead of conventional LED screens. The curtain was fully automated using winches to allow for dynamic movements and shifting configurations throughout the performance.
Working in concert with this magnificent centerpiece to enhance the impact of the visual design was a lighting rig that featured 23 STRIKE V tilting strobe-wash hybrids and 56 Color STRIKE M motorized fixtures, both from CHAUVET Professional.
The STRIKE V fixtures were used to uplight the draped fabric and also served as the primary floor key light for the stage area. The Strike M units were positioned on trusses to provide strobe and wash effects that extended over the entire audience.
Working together, the various production elements helped to unfold the three-hour show’s distinctive narrative progression that blended different artistic elements into in its three-part storyline. The show opened with a live opera choir supported by lush orchestral textures. The lighting supporting this segment was “highly theatrical, warm, and architectural, accentuating the musicians and treating the space like a grand concert hall.”
In the second segment, Black Coffee unleashed his signature deep Afro-house grooves and electronic elements. The lighting moved along with the show, powered by deeply saturated colours, low-level atmospheric glows, and “moody shadows that mirrored the hypnotic progression of the music.”
The show’s concluding chapter, which the High Scream design team refers to as “The Peak” revved up with surprise guests like Alicia Keys. As the tempo of the show reached a new crescendo, the rig shifted into high gear with sweeping beams, sharp strobes, and expansive textures that filled the entire volume of the O2 Arena.
Fans left the iconic venue feeling as if they hadn’t just seen a show but experienced a creative journey… such is the magic that happens when art converges.
