Cool Hunting

The pressure was on last night in Barcelona as one of the world's biggest bands took to the stage for their only gig in Spain on their European summer tour. Radiohead and festival organizers Sinnamon Productions had to deliver something extra special to a crowd that had traveled from far and wide to hear them perform tracks from In Rainbows. And deliver they did, not only aurally, which can almost be guaranteed from this group, but also visually with innovative lighting design set that lit up the stage spectacularly. The combined walls of sound and color wowed the crowd in equal measure.

Hanging strips of lights (which were drawn across the stage like a curtain at the beginning of the set) and the banks of seven cell lighting modules, worked in unison to create a dazzling show of pattern and color to chameleon-like effect. The set was designed by the U.K. stage lighting company i-Pix using Titan series LED lighting from Lamina. The same two companies collaborated on the Live Earth concert in London last year, which used a sixth of the energy consumption usually produced by concert lighting.

If last night was a taster of eco-friendly lighting, the future looks amazingly bright and colorful for the entertainment industry. Radiohead are pushing ahead on the sustainability of all aspects of touring, from traveling less to persuading the crowd drink from reusable cups. Take a look at Petz Scholtus' article over at TreeHugger to find out more about the band's "Carbon Neutral World Tour."

All images by Sergio Carratala.