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Dark Matter tour visuals by Rob Sheridan

demetriosdemetrios Posts: 93,184
in The Porch



Very excited to finally tell you what's kept us so busy recently: I’ve had the unique honor of directing/creating the first-ever tour visuals for one of the greatest live rock bands of our generation and a hugely formative part of my Seattle youth: Pearl Jam.

I haven’t worked in tour production/design since NIN 2014, but I always said I would go back to it one day if the right artist and the right creative connection came around. There’s a short list of musicians I’d drop everything and rewire a year of my family’s entire life to make art with, and Eddie Vedder is absolutely one of them.

Ed and I hit it off immediately and discussed an inspiring, experimental approach to creating textural video art inspired by the Dark Matter theme using decidedly tactile and analog methods, with the the album’s light-painted artwork as a jumping off point (I wasn’t involved in the album art / promotions, that was all underway when I came on board). My wife and collaborator Steph, who produced the project, set up a raw studio space here in Tacoma and assembled a lean local camera crew, and we spent two months filming in the experimental, open-ended, DIY style that I like to work. With macro lenses and the 1000fps Ember slow-motion camera (made by fantastic local Washington company Freefly), we followed paths of inspiration through elements and states of matter: Light refractions, chemical reactions, fluid dynamics, incandescent projections (including an old overhead projector that ended up in the show) and other experimental setups tracing the connective tissue of the universe. It was prolific and intense, and wouldn’t have been possible without Steph’s rapid problem-solving and a talented camera, animation, and post-prod team.

A grueling month of editing/programming/rehearsals later, the Dark Matter world tour is out on the road now, with two shows under our belt in Vancouver last weekend.

I’ll have a lot more to say about this production, the unique analog practical VFX we employed, and of course videos to share as more people start to see the shows and I maybe get ten seconds to breathe. For now, I’m off to Portland - show number three is tonight!






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Comments

  • TJ25487TJ25487 Posts: 1,479
    This is awesome! I know some are bitching about the new effects but I think it rocks! Reminds me of the Sphere in Las Vegas. Visually stunning. 
  • MKSNYCMKSNYC NYC Posts: 352
    I’m psyched to see background visuals to create a new Pearl Jam live experience for this tour!
  • vedpunkvedpunk Posts: 919
    edited May 11
    🔥 Amazing work!  These visuals are incredible and really add to the live show experience.  The edibles will hit that much harder!
    Post edited by vedpunk on
  • CarryTheZeroCarryTheZero Posts: 2,971
    Wow, these photos look incredible!
  • May 30thMay 30th Posts: 1,761
    Wicked job!!!
  • TorontonianTorontonian Posts: 552
    So cool!
  • demetriosdemetrios Posts: 93,184




  • BrainofBGABrainofBGA Australia Posts: 4,376
    CarryTheZero said:
    Wow, these photos look incredible!
    They sure do! 

    Can’t wait for November! 
    Melbourne #1 '98
    Melbourne #2 '03
    Melbourne #3 '03
    Melbourne #1 '06
    Melbourne #3 '06
    Melbourne '09
    Melbourne '14
  • Planet of SoundPlanet of Sound UK Posts: 629
    Very cool, makes a nice change after so long.
  • demetriosdemetrios Posts: 93,184
    https://instagram.com/p/C77J3IQvFq5/embed/


  • demetriosdemetrios Posts: 93,184
    https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7hmQfeSJqa/?igsh=eWJmOGQwOXlnajZx
  • demetriosdemetrios Posts: 93,184
      ·
    Photos from the last day of Pearl Jam production rehearsals in Seattle, May 1st 2024. The empty floor of Climate Pledge Arena, where we were putting together the Dark Matter tour days ahead of its debut in Vancouver, created a beautiful reflection of our light/video production that I knew we’d never see again, so I had to capture some shots of it.
    We are currently busy preparing the stage production for the upcoming Europe/UK leg, which will have quite a different feel in outdoor stadiums where we have to adapt to a different screen configuration and daylight conditions early in the set. Thankfully we’ll have big bright LED screens this time around. See you in Dublin!

  • demetriosdemetrios Posts: 93,184




  • demetriosdemetrios Posts: 93,184

    Pearl Jam’s world tour has a different look. This WA artist designed it

    https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/music/pearl-jams-world-tour-has-a-different-look-this-wa-artist-designed-it/


  • D-DayD-Day Posts: 317
    edited June 27
    For which Song is the eye - can’t remember / was it in Manchester? 

    The Animation-Background-Art for 
    Do The Evolution was/is great.
    Would keep it fix on the DMWT setlist because of its special Surefire Power.
     

    Post edited by D-Day on
  • deb1211deb1211 Posts: 1,672
    The eye is in setting sun I believe  which wasn't played in Manchester 
  • D-DayD-Day Posts: 317
    Thanks. I suppose Manchester has seen the fewest so far - just because of 4 DM tracks. 
    Looks like the visuals are one more reason to play 11 DM tracks fix on the DMWT dates.

  • deb1211deb1211 Posts: 1,672
    The eye is showing on the if you could see what I see now
  • D-DayD-Day Posts: 317

    There’s only one way to leave this thread 

    IF you have read it so far & IF you are attracted by the visuals 

    https://community.pearljam.com/discussion/303266/world-tour-2024-25-dark-matter-in-it-s-entirety

  • demetriosdemetrios Posts: 93,184
    https://xchange.avixa.org/posts/pearl-jam-reimagine-their-concert-experience-in-partnership-with-visual-artist-rob-sheridan


  • D-DayD-Day Posts: 317
    good one
  • Spiritual_ChaosSpiritual_Chaos Posts: 30,564
    I wonder if they will beat this setup into the ground the coming years. Or if it's a Dark matter tour exclusive, like the 2006 lasers. 
    "Mostly I think that people react sensitively because they know you’ve got a point"
  • demetriosdemetrios Posts: 93,184

    rob_sheridan

    A look at the one-off visual piece we cooked up for “Half Full” at last night’s @pearljam Barcelona show. I brought a photo to life that @officialament had taken at Gaudi’s Sagrada Família the day before, giving it surreal movement that gradually melts into abstract forms inspired by Gaudi and Dali. @kkpearl66 crafted a lighting look around my video piece, @blueleach dialed in real-time psychedelic distortions to his overlaid live camera feeds, and as my video dissolved into a haze towards the end of the song @eddievedder took over on some visuals of his own, using his guitar to reflect a beam of light out onto the crowd. It was only noon yesterday when Jeff threw out the idea of using his photo to bring some of the city’s own inspiring texture into the show, and by that evening we had created all this from it. Truly a chain of inspirations, and a very fun challenge for one of my favorite cities in the world. Muchas gracias, Barcelona!

    #pearljam #robsheridan #gaudi #gaudiarchitecture #concertvisuals #barcelona



  • SM187650SM187650 Canada Posts: 791
    Verrrrry cool! Thanks for sharing. 
  • Spiritual_ChaosSpiritual_Chaos Posts: 30,564
    demetrios said:

    rob_sheridan

    A look at the one-off visual piece we cooked up for “Half Full” at last night’s @pearljam Barcelona show. I brought a photo to life that @officialament had taken at Gaudi’s Sagrada Família the day before, giving it surreal movement that gradually melts into abstract forms inspired by Gaudi and Dali. @kkpearl66 crafted a lighting look around my video piece, @blueleach dialed in real-time psychedelic distortions to his overlaid live camera feeds, and as my video dissolved into a haze towards the end of the song @eddievedder took over on some visuals of his own, using his guitar to reflect a beam of light out onto the crowd. It was only noon yesterday when Jeff threw out the idea of using his photo to bring some of the city’s own inspiring texture into the show, and by that evening we had created all this from it. Truly a chain of inspirations, and a very fun challenge for one of my favorite cities in the world. Muchas gracias, Barcelona!

    #pearljam #robsheridan #gaudi #gaudiarchitecture #concertvisuals #barcelona



    Great!
    "Mostly I think that people react sensitively because they know you’ve got a point"
  • BrainofBGABrainofBGA Australia Posts: 4,376
    edited July 11

    My current desktop photo on my laptop, taken from a 2015 Europe trip. great minds think alike @officialament. 
    Post edited by BrainofBGA on
    Melbourne #1 '98
    Melbourne #2 '03
    Melbourne #3 '03
    Melbourne #1 '06
    Melbourne #3 '06
    Melbourne '09
    Melbourne '14
  • D-DayD-Day Posts: 317
    edited July 11

    👆🏿Lazer Guitar

    😎 
    Post edited by D-Day on
  • demetriosdemetrios Posts: 93,184
    BrainofBGA said:

    My current desktop photo on my laptop, taken from a 2015 Europe trip. great minds think alike @officialament. 

    Awesome!!!
  • BrainofBGABrainofBGA Australia Posts: 4,376
    demetrios said:
    BrainofBGA said:

    My current desktop photo on my laptop, taken from a 2015 Europe trip. great minds think alike @officialament. 

    Awesome!!!
    One of the greatest places I’ve ever been. And it’s not even ‘finished’. 
    Melbourne #1 '98
    Melbourne #2 '03
    Melbourne #3 '03
    Melbourne #1 '06
    Melbourne #3 '06
    Melbourne '09
    Melbourne '14
  • demetriosdemetrios Posts: 93,184




    rob_sheridan

    A fun unplanned clip I took on my phone of @pearljam playing “Alive” a couple nights ago to a fantastic crowd in Madrid. The Mad Cool Festival’s unusually long/wide barricade trench made it easy to walk from our lighting/video desks all the way up to the stage and keep the camera rolling, so I had a bit of fun with it. Chopped up for length here, but I posted the unedited single-take video at YouTube/RobSheridanProductions as it’s much better that way and I’m sure a lot of PJ fans who were there would want to see themselves in the crowd. Filmed on iPhone 15 Pro Max, raw phone audio.

    #pearljam #madcoolfestival2024 #pearljamlive #madrid


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