Rewind to 1 September, 2016, the Chili Peppers opened The Getaway Tour in Budapest, Hungary. The energetic, funk rock band revealed a larger than life, kinetic light installation that hung above the audience while the Chili Peppers performed a wild jam on stage. Fast forward to 5 January, 2016, the Chili Peppers light up North America, performing to another sold out crowd at the AT&T Centre in San Antonio, TX.
Last week, the Peppers didn't disappoint. The crowd stood eager, anxious and excited while awaiting the bands presence. When the trio took to the stage, the audience went wild and remained standing throughout the night while the band performed and the kinetic light installation morphed into colourful waves and designs above their heads.
Videos of the kinetic light installation flooded social media and many who are attending the concert in a different city, shared in the excitement of experiencing the "light show" and officially becoming a part of a group who have experienced an "other worldly" concert.
The light installation, composed of over 800 TAIT Nano Winches, ascended and descended while changing colours and forming different patterns as the band rocked out on stage. The rhythmic lighting and diverse movements of the fixtures accompanied the band's lyrics and emotion, while video streamed on a massive screen behind them. The elements of art, music and technology created an interactive, 3D experience that the Peppers and their team strived to ignite when first contemplating the show design.
The team, which includes production manager, Narci Martinez, production designer, Scott Holthaus and manager, Peter Mensch of Q-Prime, immediately began searching for the latest in technology as their design concept strayed from standard lighting concepts and numerous trusses. After numerous conversations and viewing TAIT's latest product, the TAIT Nano Winch, the team determined that TAIT would be the provider of staging, automation, and the spectacular kinetic light installation.
In a Youtube video titled, Scott Holthaus and Leif Dixon: Lighting and stage design for the Red Hot Chili Peppers 2016 tour, Holthaus shares that they chose TAIT to manufacture the kinetic sculpture and be the automation provider, not only because of the long standing relationship, but because the packaging, post-production and system integration was vital in setting up, breaking down and transporting the show in an easy, efficient and clean manner.
"This whole system, including lights is like 12 big pieces, it's like a toy," he continues, "it's lots of big bits instead of lots of little bits." Additionally, Holthaus explains that TAIT Navigator, the automation system operating the kinetic light sculpture, is the "brain and the mother" of the kinetic sculpture's movement, and the cues can be created in many different programs including touch designer, catalyst or directly from the desk.
Because of Navigator's easy usability, the band and their production team can continue to change the looks of the installation, whereby making each show different than the last.
(Jim Evans)
