At pretty short notice, Wollongong band Hockey Dad decided to do a Live Stream (direct to YouTube) for the launch of their new album Brain Candy. The live stream was done from the Regent Theatre in Wollongong where the band played the entire new album live to YouTube.
Ei Productions came on-board with less than one week’s notice to put together a complete lighting and riser package for the event.
The band sent LD Bryce Mace a few pics of the concept they were looking at presenting and he got to work designing a lighting rig that would suit their concept and budget while being mindful that there would also need to be enough light for the camera. The cameras and stream were looked after by Gareth “Gigpiglet” Stuckey who did an amazing job at short notice.
Hockey Dad wasn’t satisfied with just a live performance, they also filmed a mock news story that top and tailed the show on YouTube explaining how the band’s music was “infecting” the population (not dissimilar to a certain popular virus). They also put in the stream adverts for their Brain Candy Cereal and Hockey Dad Couriers (who seem to mostly deliver the cereal).
The actual live gig featured the band in zombie makeup as well as some additional zombies appearing throughout the show.
“We all thought it was a great concept and good on them for doing more than just a live gig,” commented Neale Mace, managing director of Ei Productions. “It was more of a “soft” looking light show with no real hard edges or gobo looks, however, it worked well with the overall concept that the band were looking for a came up great on the YouTube Live Stream.”
Lighting included Vintage Blaze 55, ACME LED Par64, Chauvet Q40 LED Wash, GLP X-Bar 20, LED Fresnels and Unique Hazers, all run from an MA Lighting grandMA2 light by LD Bryce Mace.
It was a long day for the crew with an early bump-in and Covid-19 protocols slowing things down a bit. Ei Productions supplied their fully stocked Covid-19 PPE Drawers case to the show to make sure all the safety boxes were ticked.
“It was a great result in the end though, with the band, management and YouTube really happy with the outcome,” added Neale. “For us, in the current climate it was great to do an actual ‘proper live gig’ all be it without a live audience and we’re grateful to Hockey Dad for having us on-board for this show.”
