Brooklyn electro-rock act LCD Soundsystem rang in the new year in San Francisco with back-to-back shows at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. 4Wall Entertainment provided a lighting and video rental package for the concerts produced by Another Planet Entertainment. Lighting Designer Ali Pike utilized hundreds of light fixtures to create memorizing looks that matched the band’s extraordinary performance.
Pike started working for LCD in 2016 when she was brought on board by Creative Director Rob Sinclair. “I have been at the helm for lighting ever since,” she said. “With the design maintaining strong elements and themes of the concepts we developed in that first year with them.” The NYE show design is an evolution from the band’s New York–area residency from November and December. “A lot of the lighting programming came from the 12-show residency, but we repurposed the LED wall of monochrome LED bulbs, transitioning it from being our upstage wall to being side screens,” Pike explained. “The backdrop to the band was then provided by a video wall featuring I-Mag and camera effects generated live by our Director Ken LaBarre.”
The show is ever-evolving, yet it retains certain foundational concepts cherished by the creative team from the start. These include a preference for aiming strobes downward onto the stage and using color in a simple but thoughtful manner, with the understanding that visual details should always be aligned with auditory cues. “The idea of incorporating all room and architectural lighting was born out of our knockdown center residency and is something I feel will remain and evolve in future shows,” said the LD.
The band was keen to add decor for a party vibe, which had a real DIY aesthetic. This was all designed and created by Martin Isenberg. “I then added the extra trusses of GLP JDC1 and Robe MegaPointes around the room to enable us to light the space in 3D and give the whole room the feel of a club rather than a gig,” Pike explained. “We wanted the whole night to feel like a party, so that included using the room lighting during the gig, too, for a more immersive experience rather than just watching the band playing under lighting on stage, which is more traditional.” The MegaPointe fixtures were primarily used as the dance floor light, successfully lighting the central 6ft mirror ball and functioning as a moving color mix spot fixture for the afterparty and other DJs.
“The JDC1s really are still holding their own as an industry-standard strobe and are still my number one choice for a strobe fixture,” said Pike. “The Spiiders and VL3600s were chosen due to their familiarity, both being recently used in other venues, minimizing any programming tweaks required in what I knew was going to be a very tight load-in schedule.”
LCD Soundsystem’s final shows of 2023 were a success and backed by 4Wall’s promise of great customer service and quality gear. The LD shared her thoughts on her experience working with 4Wall. “The service from 4Wall was exceptional, going into levels of detail that made such a positive impact on the success of these shows. The knowledge of the venue that 4Wall Director of Live Events Andrew Isola and the team offered was integral in making everyone able to work quickly and efficiently. In the end, we were able to deliver a high-quality production for what was fundamentally a one-off setup.”
To see more of Ali Pike’s work, visit her website here: Ali Pike | Concert Lighting Designer | UK & USA (alipikelighting.com)
Further information from 4Wall Entertainment: www.4wall.com
Photos by Andrew Rosas (Another Planet Entertainment) & Phil Halperin
