“The End” is a fitting name for a tour that sees the legendary band Black Sabbath go out on the road for one final time. Starting in Omaha, Nebraska in January 2017, the tour covered the UK, USA and Europe.
The greatest challenge we faced during the design process was creating something new for a band whose career has spanned over forty years. Black Sabbath were keen to see how lighting and video would impact the audience, which contrasted well with their dark and heavy music.
The design was centred around a large kinetic back wall of lights. They were housed in frames that could pan and tilt to create different configurations by moving from a vertical into a horizontal position. Running through the centre of the light wall was a LED screen in a wide letterbox format.
The light wall was 73ft high and 56ft wide fitted with over 260 lights. The top third of the wall is rigged on a system of winches that allows the wall to change its configuration from vertical to horizontal and any angle in between. Slicing across the wall is a strip of video 15ft tall and 56ft wide, used throughout the show. A mixture of IMAG footage and video graphics capture the mood of the band as they take the audience on a sensory journey through their long and impressive career.
