Originally published in Total Production International magazine · July 2014
Event Focus: Dream Theater
Interview4 min read
With 20 years of experience on the progressive rock scene under their belt, US metal titans Dream Theater recently embarked on a 36 date European tour. TPi reports on the tour’s video design, which for the first time incorporated a touring LED curtain from PixelFLEX.
With two decades of road skills to their name, the Dream Theater members are certainly well-versed in what a live production needs for a smooth touring transition. As part of their 2014 outings, the band is using PixelFLEX products for the very first time, allowing for a new dimension to their touring credentials. The band’s Tour Manager, Rikk Feulner, had his work cut out in trying to impress Dream Theater’s cult-like fans yet audiences showed nothing but praise for the band’s tour. Feulner explained: “Dream Theater’s fans are the most loyal of any band I have ever worked with. They sing every song, play air guitar, air drums and air keyboards.”
The Dream Theater members themselves are known worldwide for their technical expertise with their instruments, each member has a flurry of honours for their respective talents, and their penchant for development is ongoing. With tickets selling fast, Dream Theater is the first rock act ever to see the touring benefits of a PixelFLEX LED curtain, after their production team chose to implement the 20mm FLEXCurtain.
Production Manager TJ Rodriguez – who began working with the band in 2005 – explained the simple reasons for choosing the product: “We chose PixelFLEX because of the LED wall we wanted, the small amount of truck space it takes up and the competitive cost.”
The LED screens can be easily folded, ensuring that tricky touring applications can be met. PixelFLEX’s David Venus described the new collaboration: “PixelFLEX curtains and Dream Theater are a perfect marriage. Our products allow for acts that have transportation space constraints to be able to carry substantial amounts of LED video screen. Over time, we listened to what our customers were asking for and carved a niche with a new style of LED screen in various pixel densities that is foldable.
“The ability to fold the screen makes for an ideal storage and transportation package, making our curtains a great choice for touring applications.”
The equipment and staging crew had to step up to the mark on this tour, as Tour Manger, Rikk Feulner noted: “The band are perfectionists and their crew need to be too.” The band is impressed by the crew’s dedication; this is due to the same experienced operators and engineers coming back each year to support the band.
As Video Director, Johnny DeKam’s role has grown thanks to the use of LED. He told TPi: “This is our first time using the product, Dream Theater runs a very tight ship, and previously, LED video was not a possible option due to our budget and truck space. PixelFLEX solved that problem for us!”
Weighing in at just 26lbs per sq metre, this cost effective and consequently environmental factor was one of the main reasons why Tour Manager Feulner chose the product: “We chose PixelFLEX because it’s lightweight and therefore easy to ship around the world.”
The PixelFLEX LED curtain wall measures in at approximately 32 ft wide by 12 ft tall and has an eight by three aspect ratio. The new video element went down a storm in Europe as the curtain competes perfectly with a hard wall of the same pitch; DeKam explanied: “When you see the curtain up close, you might be skeptical, but from the house, it is hard to tell it apart from a hard wall. This is due to the relatively high density.”
The staging design was the responsibility of Lighting Designer Steve Baird, who was amongst the crew that decided early on to go with LED in a ‘super wide’ format for the video elements.
Tour Manager Rodriguez concluded: “I think the PixelFLEX products are great, I’d definitely use them again.”
Dream Theater’s tour was serviced by Elite Multimedia, based in Nashville, which provided the PixelFLEX curtain and Barco FLM-20K projectors. The rental house provided equipment for both the international and US legs of the tour. However, this was not the only supplier, as high quality video equipment for the tour also came via Video Director Johnny DeKam’s own company: BEJOHNNY. He provided the video ‘backline’ comprising control system and cameras.
Said DeKam: “We are using an Arkaos Mediamaster Pro for our media server, combined with a ROSS Crossover switcher, as well as an Apple Mac, which is running customised software. We scale for the wall processor externally using a low latency GEFEN HD scaler too. Our Lighting Director, Jason Ahn, triggers the content on the Arkaos server, some of it by Timecode from Avid Protools. The media lives ‘upstream’ of our switcher, so ultimately I am deciding the mix between content and cameras each night.”
Cameras on the tour include one manned FOH HD camera Canon XL-H1’s which was converted to fibre optic, three Replay1080HD Tactical Cameras with custom built HDSDI / power interfaces (to provide close-ups) and two Sony EVI PTZ cameras providing additional downstage support shots.
With clear support in tow for their new touring visuals, Dream Theater will continue to tour this summer, with a headline show at Sonisphere in the UK.