CONCERTS OF THE FUTURE
Aided by the Great Pause, concert tech is growing by leaps and bounds. The next wave of live music will be unlike anything we’ve ever seen
Shaun Clair haS seen the future of rock & roll, and it’s a 3D pig. Starting in the Sixties, Clair Global, the company co-founded by Clair’s grandfather, has provided sound systems for major rock tours, from Elton John’s and the Stones’ up through more recent ones like Roger Waters’ The Wall extravaganza. But with advances in AI, lighting tricks, robots, lasers, and other new technologies in the offing, what could the Wall of the future look like?
For one, Clair says, the music would be piped into your ears by way of AirPods or similar in-ear tech — so when that plane smashes into the brick wall at the show’s end, “it will sound authentic,” no matter where you’re sitting. Then, picture everyone sporting Google Glass or similar headgear as the pig arrives. “But instead of that pig being physical and remote-controlled, it’s reproduced through somebody’s lens,” Clair continues. “The pig could explode into a thousand different pigs and bounce around. Or it says over your shoulder, ‘Hey, welcome to the show. Get ready for what’s going to happen next.’ ”
Fans shouldn’t expect a whole new world when they walk into their first post-pandemic show. Thanks to the prolonged loss of income, a lot of acts will be focused on cost-cutting measures, which — according to veteran tour director Christian Coffey — could result in more package tours that allow multiple headliners to share production. For the time being, masks will likely remain mandatory in many places, and admission could become more tiered, similar to boarding an Amtrak train: People may be let in at different times and through different doors.
But in the grand scheme, experts foresee dazzling changes to the concert experience. The gearheads who put on concerts are working to make the live-music experience bigger, bolder, and more immersive than ever. And though the concert industry shut down for more than a year, that downtime has allowed technicians to ponder what’s next, like Augmented Reality (AR) and Extended Reality (XR). Here are a few of the changes that we should see in the decade ahead.
CONCERT VISUALS IN REAL TIME
Advances in software are allowing AI to react to spontaneous activity in an automatic way, transforming a space in which prerecorded visuals had become the norm. When Stevie Nicks sang “Gold Dust Woman” on the most recent Fleetwood Mac tour, she would extend her arms out. Right then, a mini tornado of gold dust floated across the screen behind her. These “real-time effects” are the result of “faster processing and clever software,” says lighting veteran Paul Normandale, who worked on that tour.
Last October, XR Studios collaborated with multimedia studio Moment Factory to put on Billie Eilish’s lauded online show, which was “100 percent live,” says expert concert designer Cory Fitzgerald, who’s long worked for production company Silent House. Fitzgerald adds that his team was one of the first to pull off such a multicamera event with no prerecorded components. Based on where the star was standing, a gargantuan, animated spider appeared to pounce and have its pillar-size legs land perfectly around Eilish like a cage. At another point, the show tapped into fans’ computer cameras, and their faces suddenly popped up to float around Eilish as she sang.
While live-music professionals have been playing around with thermal sensors, tracking beacons, and Kinect cameras for a while,
they’ve “accelerated exponentially in the last year,” Fitzgerald says. “The cost and ease of use has dropped way down.” If a performer moves in a certain direction, elicits a certain reaction from the crowd, or sings a different note, they could change the color or the intensity of an effect, he says. Theoretically, the loudness of audience members’ screams could control a choose-your-own-adventure scenario: Maybe a virtual piñata bursts, flinging rainbow stuffing amok — or it falls, and trots away. Plans like these could entice fans to see multiple shows on a tour, since each night’s visuals could be different.
DON’T BLINK
As for 3D tricks, much can be achieved with eyewear, which, Fitzgerald says, is “without a doubt on the horizon.” Imagine wearing glasses while Lady Gaga performs “Rain on Me” and rain appears to fall all around you. “That technology was getting there at the end of 2019,” Fitzgerald explains, adding that “there have been a lot of conversations around 5G technologies that are able to work at much-faster wireless speeds.” He envisions attendees linking branded eyeglasses to watches or phones to experience the same AR seen by fans at home as the lenses replicate what’s processed in the camera. This kind of tech is versatile, too. “You could, conceivably, perform at the Staples Center and have that motion captured and streamed live in an avatar world,” says Baz Halpin, CEO of Silent House.
MUSIC TO YOUR EARS
Companies like Clair are working to develop technology that would allow concertgoers to have the music onstage piped right into their headphones for sharper, less-muddy sound. “As mixed reality creeps into the live performance, this will be incredibly valuable to the fan experience,” says Clair. “They’ll have the impact of the PA and the subtlety and articulation from the earbuds.” The technology, Clair admits, is still years away.
Meanwhile, pioneers like Meyer Sound are in the early stages of developing concert sound systems that will make the music come directly from the musicians onstage, rather than from speakers hanging over them. “If you’re down in front at a traditional rock show, the voices are 80 feet above you,” says Meyer’s Tim Boot, who worked on, among other big shows, Ed Sheeran’s 2017-19 stadium tour. “I don’t want to hear Ed above me. I want to hear the sound right from Ed, and that kind of localization of sound will make it possible. It’s really hard, but we’re excited.”
It’s a controversial topic, though, as is that of VR headsets, because “having this in your ear and having this in your face isolates you,” says Moment Factory’s Daniel Jean, who emphasizes that the company’s mission is to enhance an artist’s vision while not taking fans out of the moment. “We love the collective, emotional impact,” adds Jean’s professional counterpart Tarik Mikou, who argues that this kind of offering must be optional. “We believe that a real experience is shared. It’s OK to have a layer, maybe with glasses, but there has to be a balance between real, physical elements and the technology itself.”
BRING THE ARENA TO YOUR BEDROOM
Just as music creation has gotten more DIY with the evolution of production softwares like Logic, Ableton, and Pro Tools — even GarageBand — graphic design and 3D-animation software have become more accessible and laptop-ready. If Billie Eilish can make the album of the year in a bedroom, so can a graphic designer create a concert experience.
Halpin says he’s received “more emails from 16-year-olds in the last year” than the entirety of his career: Designers no longer need a college degree or a job at a huge production house, like they did 20 to 30 years ago. With the playing field more open, visuals commonly associated with arena-level acts should start to trickle down to the theater and club level.
Marshmello’s and Travis Scott’s headline-grabbing virtual concerts in Fortnite were put together in Unreal Engine 4, a popular platform for designing full-on video games, but in-person shows can be designed there, too. Software is catching up to visual artists’ imaginations, becoming more all-encompassing and streamlined. Gone are the days of designing 3D graphics on one platform and then having to animate and play out their actions on another. (Re-rendering was once a terribly time-consuming process.)
Whereas Unreal was created for gamers by gamers, Notch FX is the only option created with concerts in mind, according to founder Matt Swoboda — who worked at Sony, doing R&D for PlayStation before starting Notch in 2014. “If you look at the top-grossing tours [in a normal year], you’ll find that Notch is on at least twothirds of those, maybe more,” he says. Notably, Muse’s otherworldly Simulation Theory Tour came to life with Notch.
APP AND ROLL
On U2’s 2018 Experience + Innocence Tour, fans were able to download an app that, when aimed at the stage, turned an MRI of Bono’s brain into a melting iceberg, among other effects. More of this is likely on the horizon. As James “Winky” Fairorth, CEO of the leading stage-building company Tait, half jokes, “That goes to another place, where people need to be entertained while they’re being entertained.” Concert apps may also evolve to allow more interactivity. When the Jonas Brothers did their pandemic-era online show for the tech company Lenovo, fans could request songs by online vote, and also submit visual-effect designs. In some ways, the winners helped direct the show.
RECYCLED STAGES
For decades, stages and hardware from major tours would often be bought by acts, then stored in warehouses after the shows wrapped. But given current environmental concerns, using many of the elements from one stage for another act’s tour is looking more viable. After one tour, Tait’s Fairorth says, “I probably saw 300 tractor-trailer loads of shit we had built — steel, decks, wheels, and stuff that was not going to sit well in a landfill. At the end of the day, it’s a better business model for the artist [to rent]. I’m recycling all the usable pieces and materials. Artists are going to be worried about their carbon footprint . . . and they’re going to be kinder to the Earth.”
Advancements in LED stage lighting also play a role here, since LEDs don’t get hot and use a fraction of the power required by moving spotlights known as discharge lamps.
PERFORMERS: UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
Coming to all corners of an arena near you: headliners. Hydraulic lifts and cranes that transport artists around stadiums and arenas are getting lighter, safer, and more comfortable. Artists will be more “willing to explore and have fun,” says Fairorth. Meanwhile, projectors have gotten brighter, LED screens sharper — so even if the artist doesn’t fly by your seat, you’ll still feel like they did.