Beyond the Stage: The Role of Light Shows in Transforming Live Events

The use of different types of lights, such as lasers, pointers, LED bars and LED lights, has allowed for an even greater variety of visual effects and displays.

At Onionlab, we are proud to be a leading contributor to the sector of light shows, having dedicated years to mastering different techniques and creating highly successful projects. Our portfolio includes projects that showcase our expertise in creating immersive and visually stunning experiences. Some of the following works are created in collaboration with Xavi Bové, such as: Time Rhythm, Transfiguració, Brots de Memória and Phasing Rain.

Lasers and pointers are the most common choice for light shows due to their ability to create precise and intricate patterns. LED bars and lights are also frequently employed, thanks to their versatility and energy efficiency making them ideal for creating dynamic and interactive installations.

TIME RHYTHM

For this installation created for the 8th i Light Singapore Festival we transformed the Anderson Bridge into a gigantic light metronome. It implied a huge technological challenge: made of 400 LED digital light bars, pixel mapping, and 25 movable heads, synchronized with the music.

AGORYTHM

We designed this immersive installation for Llum BCN 2021. Agorythm is a poetic journey to the heart of a territory that collects real data from an urban area, turning it into a kinetic simulation. This is a perfect example of how lasers can be implemented in light shows and programmed to create an immersive and astonishing experience.

Concerts and festivals, retail stores, museums and exhibitions, historical landmarks, and monuments can all benefit from light and laser shows. During concerts and festivals, lasers and lights are installed in great numbers and they are programmed to be synchronized with music in order to provide a more immersive and memorable experience for the audience.

TRANSFIGURACIÓ

A perfect example would be the piece that we produced on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of Girona’s Cathedral: Transfiguració de la Nau. This light show consisted in an immersive experience, where several light beams transformed the space through the interplay of movement and a musical accompaniment specially composed for the occasion.

Likewise, lights are essential in exhibition spaces to bring attention to certain pieces or to create a specific mood. Also historical sites and monuments can benefit from light shows to showcase architectural characteristics and communicate their history in an unusual and inventive way.

ULTERIOR

We created this 3D mapping piece for the facade of the Pantheon in Rome where lights played an essential role. LEDs were placed in the interior of the columns along with moving lights: a combination that brightened and transformed the Pantheon into a completely different experience.

BROTS DE MEMORIA

Is an artistic installation to commemorate 80 years of the bombing of Barcelona, an allegory to peace and freedom using light and sound. It consists of a hundred bar lights set vertically, distributed inside El Born Centre de Cultura i Memòria.

Nevertheless, good equipment is not the only aspect of an unforgettable light show; there are several techniques that can be implemented to enhance the overall experience. The first method is one of the most popular, it consists in synchronizing the lights with the music. More precisely, the lights need to be programmed in order to respond to the rhythm and tempo of the music, resulting in a cohesive and immersive experience.

PHASING RAIN

Phasing Rain is an immersive installation about global warming created for Luma festival 2019. The installation consisted of 26 LED columns and speakers surrounding the area. Each column and speaker was synesthetically linked (visually and acoustically) with an individual drop note. These 26 single water drops evolved into synchronized patterns that shifted to an arpeggio.

Additionally, light shows are able to add another dimension of astonishment to a video mapping. Video mapping are projection pieces that are precisely aligned to a physical object or building. By synchronizing light shows to video mappings, the final effect will be of a three-dimensional visual display and it will result in an even more immersive experience.

LUMIN AV

Lumin AV is an installation made for Llum BCN 2019 inside the Design Museum of Barcelona. It is a study about light that researches the behavior and coexistence of different types of light sources in the same space. It consists of projections on a large screen, mobile lights and LEDs, combined and perfectly synchronized to the music.

As interactivity becomes increasingly more popular and accessible (through exhibitions or retail spaces…), the technology of light shows is always improving in order to provide the public an immersive experience. This includes the use of sensors and other technologies that are able to detect visitors’ presence and collect data that will be useful to control the lights and create unique shows. Visitors to interactive installations, for example, may be able to alter the colors and patterns of the lights by moving their bodies or making certain gestures.

LUSH SPA

We designed this interactive and immersive space with LED lights for the Lush SPA in Tokyo. We placed LED bars on the walls and ceiling of the spa floor and thanks to different sensors, the lights were able to respond visually to the visitors’ movement, by changing colors and providing a relaxing and immersive experience.

In conclusion, thanks to the constant evolution of technology, light and laser shows are not only an integral part of many types of events and spaces, but they will always be able to bring the live experience to a whole new level, giving the public something engaging and captivating that will last in their memory.