DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL

We love a festival, and were asked by the promoters of Enter Shikari if we could supply a number of liquid flame units to enhance their live performance at the legendary Download Festival. Having formed in St Albans, not far from our HQ, we couldn’t possibly turn down the opportunity to provide effects for a local band.

THE CHALLENGE

We had to design a show that was being fired in close proximity to band members and photographers, whilst remaining safe throughout. This show was being fired via a programmed sequence on a DMX desk, controlled by the client. Handing this element over to them came with some risks as we entrusted them with direct control of high-pressure liquid flame units. High winds on the day added to the challenge; not long before the show the stage was evacuated for safety reasons. We had to keep an eye on how the flames were behaving in the wind, luckily things had calmed down a bit when Enter Shikari took to the stage.

THE SOLUTION

We arranged the 8 flame units in such a way that the 5-Finger did not obstruct the central walkway that lead out into the crowd, where the lead singer travelled up and down a number of times. We added a fail safe switch controlled by a firer from our team in close proximity to the flames. This would be activated if a band member of photographer got too close to the flame units during a firing sequence.

THE RESULT

The show went down well with the crowd, with flames enhancing the music at key moments. Check out the great video on the right put together by the Enter Shikari media team.