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Japanese B'z takes magic carpet ride with Barco's LED

25
Jul '08

Carpet-like LED screen made up with carbon fiber

Barco, a pioneer in creative LED display technology, is delighted to announce that Japanese rock band B'z has chosen its Creative LED module MiSTRIP for their ACTION 2008 tour. The slim, high brightness modules form a gigantic carpet-like LED screen, which moves up and down above the band during their show giving the impression of a flying carpet.

The B'z is Japan's best selling rock band and is a household name in their home country. They have sold over 75 million records and they were the first Asian artists to have their handprints and signatures put up in Hollywood's Rock Walk. For their ACTION 2008 tour, they worked together with renowned set designer Mark Fisher from Stufish. The mastermind behind stages for U2 and The Rolling Stones designed a 'magic carpet', a grand carpet-like LED screen, flying over the band, presenting viewers a show they've never seen before.

The Stufish team worked closely together with Barco's Innovative Designs to turn their vision into reality. A total of 1,152 MiSTRIPs were used to create the ultimate rock show experience. The gigantic LED screen, 20m wide and 9m high, consists of no less than 36 MiSTRIP panels. The supporting frame is custom made by Innovative Designs for this project and is constructed of carbon fiber which makes it incredibly strong and super light. The curved screen is supported by a winching system so that it can move up and down, giving the impression of a flying carpet.

“I am pleased to have been able to work with Barco again,” says Mark Fisher from Stufish. “I have worked with them on many occasions in the past and I knew that they are able to turn my design into a working reality. Their creative LEDs offer infinite possibilities, which, for a designer, is a dream to work with.”

“The magic carpet is a good example of how the boundaries of lighting and video are really blurring,” says Andrew Healey, Global Marketing Manager for Barco's Events business. “Furthermore, the addition of mechanical motion to the screen delivers an incredible sense of volume or 3D to the content and provides the audience a truly new experience.”

The arena shows of the ACTION tour premiered April 19 in Sun Arena, Mie, Japan. During a 4 month tour, the B'z play 35 shows in 17 cities and will be seen by over 300,000 spectators.

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