XL Video with Deadmau5 at iTunes

24 September 2012

UK - XL Video supplied Stealth LED screens as part of a spectacular specials package for Canadian electro artist / producer Deadmau5's highly visual performance at the 2012 iTunes festival, staged at London's Roundhouse venue.

XL was approached by Deadmau5 Production Director Mark Ward, who worked with LA-based visuals designer Martin Phillips to create a bespoke concept for the show, based on curved screens that mimicked the venue's unique structural curvature.

XL's project manager Paul 'Macca' McCauley comments, "Mark and Martin came up with something different and inventive for the show to ensure that it looked individual, and we were able to turn this around quickly and efficiently."

The design was based on three separate layers and levels of screens.

The bottom section was a convex curved run of Stealth around the base of the DJ mixer riser, rigged on a special free-standing floor-mounting pipe system.

At the back of the console booth was another similarly sized run of concave Stealth, rigged off rolled pipe sub-hung from a flown semi-circular truss that curved it to the same angle and to the same radius.

The third level was a complete circle of Stealth starting - height wise - where the screen at the rear of the booth finished, and continuing upwards into the ceiling. This was rigged from a flown circular truss.

All three layers brought a quirky electronic wedding cake look to the stage, enabling the display of stunning visual combinations matching the hi energy style and pace of the show.

The content - custom produced for the show and artist - was run via a laptop operated by Jon McGuire.

It fed the Stealth and the five iTunes 'house' production LED screens which were also hooked into the Deadmau5 system and used for the show, together with the Roundhouse's permanent in-house tickertape style ring of LED around the balcony.

All this delighted the packed audience who were able to enjoy a completely immersive video experience

The upcoming Deadmau5 tour will see a totally new stage and video design, so this show was an aesthetic link between this future work and the previous tour.

Deadmau5 also headlined the new VELD Festival in his home town of Toronto before appearing at the iTunes Festival, for which XL Video facilitated the local supply of video equipment.

XL has worked with Deadmau5 for some time and with production director Mark Ward on this and numerous other projects.

(Jim Evans)