Being on the other side of the world prevented me from attending this years Coachella music festival unfortunately. And when I heard about the amazing lighting innovations, it rubbed it in even harder.
You probably would have found me in the Sahara Tent where United Visual Artists (UVA) installed amazing looking “sound sculptures” just inches above the dancing throng. They were giant LED “panels” that flashed with audio-reactive visuals. The patterns were actually generated by the music because they had an audio input.
This means “morphing visuals on the spot to coincide with the changing rhythms, tempos, and mood of the music.”
Sweeeeet, duuuude.
The main staged looked amazing too (which I got to see thanks to YouTube and 5 Gum for streaming it live). The team at UVA created a structure that’s “one part performance platform and one part light and sound sculpture”.
I can attest to great visuals adding to the experience. I remember seeing Radiohead and just hearing the band live would have been amazing enough but the added “wow factor” of the cutting edge light show, literally brought me to tears at one point.
Sensory Appeal™ is about “targeting the sense with new textures, colors, tastes and sounds.” Today’s audience wants to be blown away! Perhaps it’s because movie effects these days are so epic, that we expect the same from our live performance too? The essence of this wave is about INTENSIFYING THE EXPERIENCE -and that’s just what the modern live concert is achieving.
CHECK OUT SLIDESHOW HERE