Pearl Jam - "Alive" in Madrid 2024 - From the lighting desk to the stage / Mad Cool 24.07.11 - 4K
A fun unplanned single-shot clip I took on my phone of Pearl Jam in Madrid, where the Mad Cool Festival's long barricade trench allowed me to walk easily from our lighting/video desks all the way up to the stage, and keep the camera rolling. Filmed on iPhone 15 Pro Max, camera audio.
Electric waves crafted with light for @pearljam’s “Got to Give” stage visuals on their current Dark Matter world tour. Light refracted off of Mylar sheets onto a projection screen, which we filmed at 1000fps while I crinkled and shook the Mylar in various ways. In ultra slow motion, the resulting textures move in a uniquely alien way, filled with rapidly twitching and shifting details that feel like something between liquid and electricity. By finding a good rhythm of shaking the Mylar with the light hitting at just the right angle, I was able to capture iridescent waves that moved slowly and elegantly while also crackling with small frenetic movements. Those two layers of motion were something I was always looking for in our experiments as I sought to create slow, gradually-evolving long-form visuals that also carried in them a palpable energy to match the intensity of #PearlJam’s live performance.
The warm glow of the electric waves came from our unique light source: incandescent light bent through the lens of a vintage overhead projector. The projector was a great find by producer @stephanie_sheridan_ at @tinkertopia here in Tacoma, and we used it for quite a few other visuals in the show, inspired by the Joshua Light Show & other pioneering analog psychedelic visuals of the 1960s/70s.
For the song’s climax, multiple layers of the electric waves overlap, filling the stage’s projection screen with a rainbow of psychedelic light, and lighting director @kkpearl66 adds another layer of real refraction patterns using three physical mirror balls that rotate at the base of the screen. The mirror ball light spills out across the entire arena, as if the light has been released from the screen, uniting the band and audience for a celebratory conclusion.
I’ll be back out on the #DarkMatter tour in a couple weeks as it continues in the US! Come check it out if you can find tix!
rob_sheridan One of my favorite moments from my work on @pearljam’s current Dark Matter world tour. The visuals for “Wreckage” are a slow burn of tension and release created from a single shot of rolling waves followed by a crashing wave, filmed off the Washington coast at 1000fps. It’s very hard to convey the way this feels as a full piece without seeing it in person, but PJ released a live video of it today filmed in Las Vegas so you can get a taste of the full song. Here are a couple clips accompanied by the raw stage visuals.
A little datamoshing by @blueleach’s notch FX pedal, where he adds real-time effects to his live cameras during the @pearljam show. As the tour has progressed we’ve continued to refine bespoke looks for individual songs (which might or might not ever show up on PJ’s famously ever-changing setlists), including matching some custom camera treatments to my pre-filmed visuals. For “Life Wasted,” I filmed incandescent light refracting off the surface of liquid in a wave box at 1000fps macro, making water move like dancing flames. Blue then uses his foot pedal to “melt” the overlaid camera feed as the liquid flames pass over it. Although the organic aesthetic I created for PJ’s #DarkMatter world tour is very far away from #glitchart, the blooming melty look of datamoshing blends in perfectly here. See you on the road!
Without coming across as the grumpy type - but am I the only one who thinks that Pearl Jam doesn't need this kind of "show" at all?
We're more or less glued to screens all day. Of course I thought it was cool in Manchester for a few scenes to see Mr. Mike McCready's solos so gigantic. But you lose focus of what's happening on stage. With this gigantic thing behind the band, you are inevitably distracted. Even if you're sitting close to it and can see everything perfectly even without screens.
In really big venues it may be different, as a large part of the audience is dependent on it.
A couple clips of a special show open for @officialament’s big homecoming #PearlJam concert in Montana, flying over the mountains of #Missoula and the stadium itself, ending on a live shot of the crowd. The footage was filmed by Jeff’s friend @timeriding a few days before the concert, and I worked quickly with @nimblist@kkpearl66@blueleach@b.menaaa to get it into the show in the hours before. A beautiful opening for a hell of a show!
We bumped into Rob at the foot bridge prior to the Missoula show (the crew were all walking over from their hotel) and he was very kind to stop and speak with us for 5 minutes. He told us about the special footage he had in store for the show (Missoula drone footage) and mentioned something else off the record.
😜😉
To quote the 10C from Newsletter #8: "Please understand we have a lot of members and it is very hard to please everybody. If you are one of those unhappy people...please call 1-900-IDN-TCAR."
"Me knowing the truth, I can not concur."
1996: Toronto - 1998: Chicago, Montreal, Barrie - 2000: Montreal, Toronto - 2002: Seattle X2 (Key Arena) - 2003: Cleveland, Buffalo, Toronto, Montreal, Seattle (Benaroya Hall) - 2004: Reading, Toledo, Grand Rapids - 2005: Kitchener, London, Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Quebec City - 2006: Toronto X2, Albany, Hartford, Grand Rapids, Cleveland - 2007: Chicago (Vic Theatre) - 2008: NYC X2, Hartford, Mansfield X2 - 2009: Toronto, Chicago X2, Seattle X2, Philadelphia X4 - 2010: Columbus, Noblesville, Cleveland, Buffalo, Hartford - 2011: Montreal, Toronto X2, Ottawa, Hamilton - 2012: Missoula - 2013: London, Chicago, Buffalo, Hartford - 2014: Detroit, Moline - 2015: NYC (Global Citizen Festival) - 2016: Greenville, Toronto X2, Chicago 1 - 2017: Brooklyn (RRHOF Induction) - 2018: Chicago 1, Boston 1 - 2022: Fresno, Ottawa, Hamilton, Toronto, NYC, Camden - 2023: St. Paul X2, Austin X2 - 2024: Vancouver X2, Portland, Sacramento, Missoula, Noblesville, Philadelphia X2, Baltimore
We bumped into Rob at the foot bridge prior to the Missoula show (the crew were all walking over from their hotel) and he was very kind to stop and speak with us for 5 minutes. He told us about the special footage he had in store for the show (Missoula drone footage) and mentioned something else off the record.
Without coming across as the grumpy type - but am I the only one who thinks that Pearl Jam doesn't need this kind of "show" at all?
We're more or less glued to screens all day. Of course I thought it was cool in Manchester for a few scenes to see Mr. Mike McCready's solos so gigantic. But you lose focus of what's happening on stage. With this gigantic thing behind the band, you are inevitably distracted. Even if you're sitting close to it and can see everything perfectly even without screens.
In really big venues it may be different, as a large part of the audience is dependent on it.
The mentioned guitar play close ups + the DTE animated art video were top highlights.
And I can see how the DM tracks plus the ART VISUALS can easily lead into a cinematic music video show - already 7 must be noticeably different than 4 in Manchester.
But the arena in Manchester (for example) is already too big to show up without screens - unless the stage, boxing ring etc. is placed central.
The rear third or even 50% of the venue is reason enough for any band to enlarge the musicians via screens - or to cut ticket prices for back there including the floor tickets.
Manchester 8:42 pm at least no heads blocking the view
I like the DM video art but would prefer a light show which is really a “show” plus screens to enlarge the musicians and show details - plus the DTE video footage background action if I could choose only one cinematic add on.
rob_sheridan - "40,000 people lighting up the Chicago sky for @tompettyofficial and singing along with @eddievedder. Quite a moving scene from where I was perched in the upper deck. What a huge night at Wrigley, can’t wait for night two!"
Liquid topography visuals in @pearljam’s world tour, created from macro 1000fps footage of tiny details of turbulence on the surface of Puget Sound in Seattle. Live camera footage (directed by @blueleach ) is overlaid into the footage, disappearing and reappearing as the topography changes the negative space. It was great to see this piece at Wrigley the other night; we have created unique looks for ~100 individual songs at this point, but by the nature of Pearl Jam’s ever-changing setlists it’s anyone’s guess when (or even IF) we’ll get to see them in a show.
Rob has a fantastic aesthetic and I am quite impressed with how it fits in w/ Pearl Jam. His whole visuals scream Sphere run to me.
Pittsburgh, PA September 28, 2005 || Washington, DC June 22, 2008 || Barstow, VA May 13, 2010 || Seattle, WA August 10, 2018 || Dana Point, CA September 29, 2018 (EV) || Dana Point, CA September 28, 2019 (EV) || Dana Point, CA September 25, 2021 (EV) || Dana Point, CA October 1, 2021 || Dana Point, CA October 2, 2021 || Chicago, IL August 29, 2024
We bumped into Rob at the foot bridge prior to the Missoula show (the crew were all walking over from their hotel) and he was very kind to stop and speak with us for 5 minutes. He told us about the special footage he had in store for the show (Missoula drone footage) and mentioned something else off the record.
We bumped into Rob at the foot bridge prior to the Missoula show (the crew were all walking over from their hotel) and he was very kind to stop and speak with us for 5 minutes. He told us about the special footage he had in store for the show (Missoula drone footage) and mentioned something else off the record.
😜😉
This is not on the record... feel free to share.
His visuals scream Vegas Sphere shows. Just sayin'
Pittsburgh, PA September 28, 2005 || Washington, DC June 22, 2008 || Barstow, VA May 13, 2010 || Seattle, WA August 10, 2018 || Dana Point, CA September 29, 2018 (EV) || Dana Point, CA September 28, 2019 (EV) || Dana Point, CA September 25, 2021 (EV) || Dana Point, CA October 1, 2021 || Dana Point, CA October 2, 2021 || Chicago, IL August 29, 2024
“Terraform (Blue).” 1000fps macro footage of the surface of Puget Sound, WA. One of the new ocean-themed visual pieces I prepared for @pearljam’s@theohanafest shows. This one accompanied “Amongst the Waves” Friday night.
What an incredible weekend to finish off an incredible tour. I highly recommend Ohana fest for those who haven’t been, it’s a unique mix of music, art, and ocean activism with a fantastic vibe.
One of my favorite visual sequences from @pearljam “React, Respond,” created with filmed elements of controlled fluid dynamics and light refractions captured with a macro lens at 1000fps, as incandescent bulbs moved across the surface of rippling water in a black wave box. In editing, I layered two clips on top of each other (or in some cases the same clip mirrored) to construct a dance of warm and cool light, converging and separating, to match the tension of the song sonically and thematically.
To make a sequence like this play out in sync with a 100% live band, it was crucial to make visuals that felt like they matched the energy of the music perfectly without ever trying to hit on the beat. They are doing an interpretive dance where they will always flow with the tempo even as timing changes a bit from night to night. I created nine clips corresponding to different parts of the song (intro, verses, bridges, choruses, builds, etc), which were attached to lighting cues that lighting director @kkpearl66 triggers live along with the performance. Each clip is designed with extra length that will crossfade elegantly into the next clip, allowing me to still build a visual narrative across the song even if the band extends or shortens parts of the song.
Comments
Pearl Jam - "Alive" in Madrid 2024 - From the lighting desk to the stage / Mad Cool 24.07.11 - 4K
Electric waves crafted with light for @pearljam’s “Got to Give” stage visuals on their current Dark Matter world tour. Light refracted off of Mylar sheets onto a projection screen, which we filmed at 1000fps while I crinkled and shook the Mylar in various ways. In ultra slow motion, the resulting textures move in a uniquely alien way, filled with rapidly twitching and shifting details that feel like something between liquid and electricity. By finding a good rhythm of shaking the Mylar with the light hitting at just the right angle, I was able to capture iridescent waves that moved slowly and elegantly while also crackling with small frenetic movements. Those two layers of motion were something I was always looking for in our experiments as I sought to create slow, gradually-evolving long-form visuals that also carried in them a palpable energy to match the intensity of #PearlJam’s live performance.
The warm glow of the electric waves came from our unique light source: incandescent light bent through the lens of a vintage overhead projector. The projector was a great find by producer @stephanie_sheridan_ at @tinkertopia here in Tacoma, and we used it for quite a few other visuals in the show, inspired by the Joshua Light Show & other pioneering analog psychedelic visuals of the 1960s/70s.
For the song’s climax, multiple layers of the electric waves overlap, filling the stage’s projection screen with a rainbow of psychedelic light, and lighting director @kkpearl66 adds another layer of real refraction patterns using three physical mirror balls that rotate at the base of the screen. The mirror ball light spills out across the entire arena, as if the light has been released from the screen, uniting the band and audience for a celebratory conclusion.
I’ll be back out on the #DarkMatter tour in a couple weeks as it continues in the US! Come check it out if you can find tix!
“Got to Give” / Electric Waves:
Director: Rob Sheridan
Producer: @stephanie_sheridan_
Editor/Post: Rob Sheridan
Camera Operator: @donovonmedia
Production Assistant: @ilanarahaman
Camera: Freefly Ember by @freeflysystems
Filmed at Rob Sheridan Productions, Tacoma, WA.
rob_sheridan
One of my favorite moments from my work on @pearljam’s current Dark Matter world tour. The visuals for “Wreckage” are a slow burn of tension and release created from a single shot of rolling waves followed by a crashing wave, filmed off the Washington coast at 1000fps. It’s very hard to convey the way this feels as a full piece without seeing it in person, but PJ released a live video of it today filmed in Las Vegas so you can get a taste of the full song. Here are a couple clips accompanied by the raw stage visuals.
Tour visuals director/editor: Rob Sheridan
Producer: @stephanie_sheridan_
DP/Camera Op: @donovonmedia
Live camera director: @blueleach
#pearljam
A little datamoshing by @blueleach’s notch FX pedal, where he adds real-time effects to his live cameras during the @pearljam show. As the tour has progressed we’ve continued to refine bespoke looks for individual songs (which might or might not ever show up on PJ’s famously ever-changing setlists), including matching some custom camera treatments to my pre-filmed visuals. For “Life Wasted,” I filmed incandescent light refracting off the surface of liquid in a wave box at 1000fps macro, making water move like dancing flames. Blue then uses his foot pedal to “melt” the overlaid camera feed as the liquid flames pass over it. Although the organic aesthetic I created for PJ’s #DarkMatter world tour is very far away from #glitchart, the blooming melty look of datamoshing blends in perfectly here. See you on the road!
#pearljam #concertvisuals
In really big venues it may be different, as a large part of the audience is dependent on it.
"Me knowing the truth, I can not concur."
1996: Toronto - 1998: Chicago, Montreal, Barrie - 2000: Montreal, Toronto - 2002: Seattle X2 (Key Arena) - 2003: Cleveland, Buffalo, Toronto, Montreal, Seattle (Benaroya Hall) - 2004: Reading, Toledo, Grand Rapids - 2005: Kitchener, London, Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Quebec City - 2006: Toronto X2, Albany, Hartford, Grand Rapids, Cleveland - 2007: Chicago (Vic Theatre) - 2008: NYC X2, Hartford, Mansfield X2 - 2009: Toronto, Chicago X2, Seattle X2, Philadelphia X4 - 2010: Columbus, Noblesville, Cleveland, Buffalo, Hartford - 2011: Montreal, Toronto X2, Ottawa, Hamilton - 2012: Missoula - 2013: London, Chicago, Buffalo, Hartford - 2014: Detroit, Moline - 2015: NYC (Global Citizen Festival) - 2016: Greenville, Toronto X2, Chicago 1 - 2017: Brooklyn (RRHOF Induction) - 2018: Chicago 1, Boston 1 - 2022: Fresno, Ottawa, Hamilton, Toronto, NYC, Camden - 2023: St. Paul X2, Austin X2 - 2024: Vancouver X2, Portland, Sacramento, Missoula, Noblesville, Philadelphia X2, Baltimore
Nice!
Manchester 8:42 pm
… besides a low tec UK club tour 202X 😋
Liquid topography visuals in @pearljam’s world tour, created from macro 1000fps footage of tiny details of turbulence on the surface of Puget Sound in Seattle. Live camera footage (directed by @blueleach ) is overlaid into the footage, disappearing and reappearing as the topography changes the negative space. It was great to see this piece at Wrigley the other night; we have created unique looks for ~100 individual songs at this point, but by the nature of Pearl Jam’s ever-changing setlists it’s anyone’s guess when (or even IF) we’ll get to see them in a show.
Production design: @nimblist
Lighting designer: @kkpearl66
“Terraform (Blue).” 1000fps macro footage of the surface of Puget Sound, WA. One of the new ocean-themed visual pieces I prepared for @pearljam’s @theohanafest shows. This one accompanied “Amongst the Waves” Friday night.
What an incredible weekend to finish off an incredible tour. I highly recommend Ohana fest for those who haven’t been, it’s a unique mix of music, art, and ocean activism with a fantastic vibe.
One of my favorite visual sequences from @pearljam “React, Respond,” created with filmed elements of controlled fluid dynamics and light refractions captured with a macro lens at 1000fps, as incandescent bulbs moved across the surface of rippling water in a black wave box. In editing, I layered two clips on top of each other (or in some cases the same clip mirrored) to construct a dance of warm and cool light, converging and separating, to match the tension of the song sonically and thematically.
To make a sequence like this play out in sync with a 100% live band, it was crucial to make visuals that felt like they matched the energy of the music perfectly without ever trying to hit on the beat. They are doing an interpretive dance where they will always flow with the tempo even as timing changes a bit from night to night. I created nine clips corresponding to different parts of the song (intro, verses, bridges, choruses, builds, etc), which were attached to lighting cues that lighting director @kkpearl66 triggers live along with the performance. Each clip is designed with extra length that will crossfade elegantly into the next clip, allowing me to still build a visual narrative across the song even if the band extends or shortens parts of the song.
“React, Respond” / Dance of Incandescence:
Director/Editor: Rob Sheridan
Producer: @stephanie_sheridan_
Camera Operator: @donovonmedia
Production Assistant: @ilanarahaman
Camera: Freefly Ember by @freeflysystems
Filmed at Rob Sheridan Productions, Tacoma, WA.
#pearljam #robsheridanproductions #concertvisuals #tourproduction #videoart