Seven Decades of Guitar - Live Show Video Production

Director Nick Whiteoak was approached by our good friends Amicus Solutions Group to consult on the LED Screens and Media Servers for the project and invited to the rehearsals of the concert following a hugely successful sell-out run at Wilton’s Music Hall in 2014, Seven Decades Live, an innovative live concert meets documentary show, is set to return bigger and better than ever with a run of shows taking place at London’s Clapham Grand on October 10-12. With punk pioneer Joan Jett specially chosen to pre-record the narrative, Seven Decades Live perfectly tells the story of three guitars that changed the way we hear the world.

Video Production

Video Illusions supplied and installed 44 sqm of VIES 4mm LED for Seven Decades Live three nights at The Clapham Grand.

The first challenge VI had to face was there were no way of hanging the LED Backdrop so a truss structure had to be designed around the fixed position stage bar, keeping the aesthetics of the stage tidy, behind the LED Wall.

VI also installed a 24ft x 8ft stage with 500m legs to enable us to install on 8m wide x 0.5m LED step on the front of the stage.

Our mac pro resolume servers provided the playback, run by VI's Oli Chilton, essential to the show being aligned with the live band coming in seamlessly with Joan Jett's voiceover.

The animation of the show being intertwined with the narrative and setting the scene during which particular era of guitars the show was at and visuals, created by acclaimed filmmaker Nick Morris, to give the audience documented video from the era.

With the top half of the screen showing this, and the 1.5m lower sections graphic changing venues with the decades, 50's, 60's, 70's and so on, the audience is taken on an audio and visual time travel through the history of Guitars.

A music spectacular

Described by The Times as a “tremendous show” and a “hugely impressive live music spectacular” by Guitarist Magazine, the 7-piece band, led by frontman Mike Ross, tell the story of music’s history through what are undisputedly the world’s most renowned guitars: the Gibson Les Paul, the Fender Stratocaster and the Fender Telecaster. Using an amazing collection of vintage guitars, the band will be performing work from some of music’s legends including The Clash, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles and many more.

Joan said about the show: “I was so thrilled when Bill Curbishley asked me to do the voice over for this unique show, Seven Decades Live".

For more information on the services Video Illusions provide and other projects we have worked on please visit our website.