Dave at Reading Festival

TAWBOX and Pixels & Noise expanded the Reading Festival stage to match Dave’s breadth of vision for the rapper’s headline performance.

For Reading and Leeds 2022, TAWBOX teamed up with Pixels & Noise to craft a vast, all-encompassing show fit for Dave’s impressive headline performance. With access to vast swaths of LED and a stage expanding far beyond its centrepoint, TAWBOX wanted to incorporate the physical elements at the heart of their set. To do so, they brought in Pixels & Noise’s Lewis Kyle White to create detailed companion visuals.

Having worked with TAWBOX in the past, White had a head start in formulating ideas. He analysed 3D models of the stage and instantly had solutions in mind, wanting to balance the performance in the centre with something different but equally exciting and playful on the stage’s wide wings. Ultimately, White explained, less was more.

Using gx 2c media servers, White set up a system for video inputs into a Notch Block. Working with this pipeline allowed the team to quickly request and incorporate assets from the in-house and external teams in a known format. They could, in turn, layer masks or alphas to create looks very quickly with just composited video sources hosted on their timeline.

The team also set up a DMX control of the lighting design for colour control of particular video layers and graphical elements, such as pixel borders. They could then clone already programmed light fixtures to the Notch content, tying the whole stage into one coherent design. The lighting team could then change the tonality of the lighting and real-time video simultaneously. The final product comprised a subtle, well-informed design that blended right in and let Dave’s performance shine.

“When everyone is trusting each other and working toward the same goal within this kind of workflow, you can forget the technology and focus on creativity, and amazing things can happen.”

Lewis Kyle White, Creative Director, Pixels & Noise

Additional press coverage:
NME, The Independent, Clash.

Credits
Client: Dave
Production Design: TAWBOX
Creative Direction: TAWBOX
Notch Design: Pixels & Noise
Video: TAWBOX
Extended Video Team: Faaris Hussain, Design by Shop, Nathan Tettey, Catherine Woodhouse, & Chloe Hayward

Lighting Designer: Louis Oliver
Lighting Programmer: Ben Cash
disguise Programmer: Alex Loftie
Video Supplier: Video Design