Leyard creates an immersive digital canvas for rock legend Roger Waters

A Led display of 650 m2 of the CarbonLight series of Leyard, configured in the form of a twelve-sided cross and suspended from the ceiling, is the centerpiece of Roger Waters' tour of the United States and Europe.

Considered his "first farewell tour", The Rock Legend Roger Waters has embarked on a marathon four-month tour of North America, Canada and Mexico, which will follow next March in Europe, starting in Lisbon (Portugal).

Roger Waters accompanies himself on his tour This is not a drill of a great 360º Immersion Production Based on a series LED display CarbonLight manufacturer's Leyard, of 650 m2 in the shape of a cross and suspended from the ceiling as a central piece, supplied by Universal Pixels (UP).

Jeremy Lloyd, Co-director of the London-based company Wonder Works to provide production and technical design services on the tour, He explains that "with the screen, Ceiling-hung audio and lighting, This 'heavy' equipment required a lot of advance planning. UP provided a screen for the latest 2018, so it was a pleasure to work with the team again and find a solution for this unique show.".

Despite its large size, Leyard's LED display was chosen "because it is light enough to reduce the overall load of the rig, while staying true to the overall design concept. The result is a truly immersive 360° canvas for Roger Waters' creative storytelling.", Lloyd adds.

The first task of the Wonder Works design team was to conduct a detailed weight study, as not only the proposed LED screen would be large in size, but, As this is a touring show, there is three times more audio, lighting and video compared to a fixed show for a performance.

That's why, The team was faced with the challenge of designing a lightweight system, that would be logistically possible to transport and install at all locations on the tour, during the four-month duration.

Phil Mercer, who has been part of Roger Waters' tours since the year 2006 and in UP since 2018, notes that the new production design is the most challenging to date, so it required a high specification LED product, Routable & Solo 15 Kg/m2.

The lightweight carbon fiber mesh construction of the CarbonLight CLM6 Led Panels de Leyard was UP's chosen choice, as the huge screen conformed to weight restrictions, as well as offering everything you would expect in terms of image quality.

"Leyard is not just a natural fit for UP, as we have the largest rental stock of its CarbonLight Led range worldwide, rather, our research showed that it was the only manufacturer with a suitable product," says Mercer. It's not just about a big screen, but a design that was really thought out for the tour. Not only did it have to be light, it had to be quick to charge, Unload & Assemble, and that's where the ease of use of CLM6's tile locking hardware comes in.".

The resulting production layout is a rectangular center stage, with tracks extending from each side and forming a cross. The Leyard LED screen is a mirror of the stage, also in the shape of a cross.

The construction of the structure to hang the screen, separated into three sections that can be moved as one, was commissioned to Tait Towers. The visual design is made up of 648 m2 of twelve-sided cross-shaped Leyard CLM6 panels, allowing the public to view the video content anywhere in the venue.

In addition, The production features sixteen lasers that form giant triangles that surround the entire length of the LED screen above the stage, complemented by surround sound.

Leyard's LED screen also meets the technical requirements of the tour's visual content, providing a Color Depth of 10 Bit, Grayscale and low-light characteristics, Made by the video director, Icarus Wilson-Wright, according to the artistic vision of Roger Waters and his creative director, Sean Evans.

According to Wilson-Wright, "Roger and Sean had already come up with the design concept, Style and workflow, But they needed me to technically integrate it into the production of the show. We created a 3D forecasting project in Disguise and I was able to map the content on a server from this manufacturer.".

Leyard CLM6 "effortlessly manages the high-quality, large-scale content we make," he adds. The Video Codec NotchLC Facilitates the reproduction of 10 bits for our media servers and also allows us to work with darker content, as well as using lower lighting levels to spectacular effect. Work with most of your 10 Bits give us great dynamic range and looks.".

for Luke Marler-Hausen, Director of Business Development at Leyard Europe, "It is an honour that our CarbonLight LED displays play an important role in such technically demanding production. Universal Pixels is a long-standing and valued customer, And we're delighted that they've trusted us once again for such an important tour.".

Other articles on Disguise, Leyard, Roger Waters, Tait Towers, Universal Pixels, Wonder Works