Artists featured on the main stage included Scissor Sisters, Razorlight, Kasabian, Kaiser Chiefs, Stereophonics, Natasha Bedingfield, The View, The Fratellis, The Fray, The Twang, Jamie T and Mika.
Lite Alternative's Paul Normandale provided the creative direction for all three stages at this year's event for SJM, assisted on the main stage by lighting director Glen Johnson.
The brief was to create a dynamic, encompassing visual range which as well as achieving a big look for the live stage audience, would translate well on camera for the TV audience.
The back wall of the stage featured a 19m wide by 6m high drop of Color Web 250, with further panels turning the stage corners to provide interest in the cross shots.
Control was provided by a Catalyst PixelMAD media server running on an Apple G5 system, with five Eytherlynx Art-Net nodes to distribute the DMX on 13 DMX lines. Luminex Ethernet 8 Giga-switches were also used throughout the system. The media server was triggered from a High End Systems Whole Hog 3 lighting console, also providing control for the main key lighting and audience lighting.
The same video content was run across all LED fixtures to provide real diversity in the look on stage due to the surfaces' different pixel resolutions. Content was a mixture of PixelMAD library images and custom content provided by the BBC, such as the Radio One logo. Lite Alternative supplied the Color Web, media server and all associated equipment for the festival.
Glen Johnson commented: "I've worked with the Color Web before on other designs of Paul's and it's always been fantastic. We had 100% reliability for this weekend and it was very quick and easy to configure around the shape of the stage. It is the ideal crossover between lighting and video for filling in large areas, and provides a really effective end result for the cost."
(Jim Evans)
