Spiritbox’s Eternal Blue Tour

SUPERVOID and SONUS Productions expanded Spiritbox’s stage tenfold for the heavy-metal heroes’ latest tour in support of their full-length debut.

Recently, Production Designer Lenny Sasso and Singer Courtney LaPlante approached SUPERVOID to create a whole visual world to surround and reflect the music of Spiritbox for the Canadian heavy metal band’s tour of their debut album, Eternal Blue. The album’s title was the main inspiration for the band’s chosen colour palette and mood, but the creative team wanted to make what felt like a moving backdrop or physical room rather than simple abstract visuals.

To bring a sense of contrast to the stage, they began the show with a scrim covering the band and featuring the first look of the show: an intricate particle system slowly forming the band’s logo. After that, the scrim dropped, and the multi-tiered video wall behind the band members illuminated, bringing them to the front of the stage. By establishing a rare sense of depth, the team could create a dynamic look that evolved heavily over the course of the show.

The creative team’s workflow varied with each look. Sometimes, they began in Notch, Cinema 4D, or Unreal Engine and moved to After Effects for compositing. Other times, they built looks using stock footage with heavy effects applied. For the song “Holy Roller,” they even built a diorama, capturing footage of it with a Blackmagic 6K camera and using practical effects, like a fog machine and strobe lights. They delivered the final results with a SUPERVOID SVX-1 Media Server running Resolume 7.

The band, their management, and their fans were extremely happy, with attendees posting on social media specifically about the visual elements. As Creative Director and Notch Designer Drew Mercadante notes, it was a passion project injected with love and care from everyone involved. “For me,” Mercadante adds, “I feel that this project is the best work I’ve ever done.”

“Notch’s real-time capabilities sped up our process immensely and, more importantly, allowed us to work together in one room and try things without worrying about render times. This allowed ideas to flow freely and ultimately led to the best overall show.”

Drew Mercadante, Creative Director & Notch Designer, SUPERVOID

Additional press coverage:
Kerrang!, Revolver.

Credits
Client: Spiritbox
Production Companies: SONUS Productions & SUPERVOID.tv
Production Designer: Lenny Sasso
Creative Directors: Drew Mercadante, Lenny Sasso, & Courtney LaPlante
Notch Designer: Drew Mercadante
Video Producers: SUPERVOID.tv

Lighting Designer: Lenny Sasso
Screen Producer: Drew Mercadante
Animators: Drew Mercadante, Matt Keppler, Grant Bouvier, Ciara Hegli, Jaxon Graham, & William Knies
Lighting Director: Colton Sellers
Media Server Operator: Aly Vandenberg
Production Manager: Parker Mullinix
Photographers: Alex Bemis & Ana Massard