The aim and brief of this show's stage design was to present the xx, an often shy and introverted band, in a signature intimate yet new and more impactful way than they had been seen before... To headline Festival Stages through out the summer of 2018. ENHANCE INTIMACY OF MUSIC, SHOW THE SUBTLE PERFORMANCES AND INTERACTIONS MAGNIFIED TO A POTENTIALLY DISTANT DISPERSED AUDIENCE. We achieved this. The Show made you feel like you were both in a room with the band which we physically made on stage using 9 metre square transparent screens and lights also at times created a space on stage which felt voyeuristic and epic. The footprint of the stage composition, band risers and performing levels was extruded and evolved from the bands iconic X logo.
The pure geometry of the design was entirely derived from the bands early genome, yet presented the iconography in a fresh way . The design allowed us to at times, celebrate live feed camera effects, create content to compliment the subtleties of the music, not to over power. We chose a transparent screen product which allowed us to create layers of imagery and transition from crude solid states to very transparent delicate ones. The evolution of colour was key in the show as was the shifting of dimensions going from very 2D looks to almost 4d kaelidascopic ones by the end for Jamie xx's DJ set. The Lighting and architecture were symbiotic and always aware of each other. Instead of one screen facing out. We set two with a simple 45 degree twist.