Christie MicroTiles wrap reunion shows
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Vocalist and pianist Andrew McMahon performed on a piano fully wrapped in Christie MicroTiles LED, which displayed images and lyrics from the band’s catalogue. Kevin ‘Clutch’ Page, principal, Procraft Media, who is also the bassist in Something Corporate, led the integration of this one-of-a-kind project.
Something Corporate returned to the stage after a 13-year hiatus. The performances also marked their first shows in 20 years with the band’s original line-up.
Bassist Clutch recalls the history of the band, and how they vinyl-wrapped McMahon’s piano with album artwork and song lyrics from the band’s sophomore record North. Clutch had a new idea for the band’s reunion: to display the artwork and lyrics from the band’s albums using LED wrapped around the piano. “I threw it out there and didn’t know if it would stick. And then people got excited about it,” says Clutch. “A lot of this is a nostalgia thing for the fans that have been around for 20-plus years, and we wanted to bring something special for them.”
The next step was to figure out how to wrap the piano, and how much of it to cover. “I first thought it was just the downstage edges [the parts of the piano that are closest to the audience] that people would see, and then we realized we’d have image magnification with cameras moving around to broadcast the performance up to the large screens that are left and right of the stage.”
As a result, Clutch and McMahon wanted to encompass as much of the piano as possible. “I grabbed the tape measure and started doing some math to figure out how I could pull it off.” The solution? Christie MicroTiles LED. “I don't think we could have done it with another product because the form factor of MicroTiles LED is a lot smaller than other solutions on the market.”
At 1,000 nits, MicroTiles LED was also bright enough to stand out on stage during Something Corporate’s daytime performance at the When We Were Young festival.
Clutch and the team from Procraft Media worked closely with Christie to design the wrap-around MicroTiles LED display. “We built a 3D model of the piano to ensure the tightest fit possible before we started fabrication,” says Clutch. The tiles are mounted on a custom wooden and aluminium frame that encompasses the piano, with the Octrollers, which can control and power up to eight tiles, and cabling hidden between the frame and piano.
“This was a challenging endeavour, but I also learned a lot about the mounting sheets and methods for MicroTiles LED,” says Clutch. Despite concerns about transporting, disassembling, and reassembling the piano for the show, the performances were a great success.
Something Corporate will use the MicroTiles LED piano for two headlining shows at City National Grove of Anaheim on 30-31 December.
“Everybody on our team jumped in to help,” says Martin Waverley, senior director of sales, Americas, Christie. “Clutch is a very highly trusted advisor and has led some of our most complex MicroTiles LED installations to date. We’re excited to have supported Something Corporate’s reunion shows with our technology.”
“I’m thrilled with the help that Christie has given. The team rallied with full engineering support for the project,” says Clutch.
