It’s often said that we live horizontally but dream vertically. Inspired by that idea, Jonathan Rikner used the CHAUVET Professional COLORado PXL Bar 16 to combine both perspectives and create a lighting design full of strength and emotion for Swedish hip-hop group Hov1.
The original idea for this show was to build “rooms of light with emotions.” I chose the PXL Bar for this reason: it has a uniform light output that can define a space. That was during the concept phase. Later, when I had the rig set up for the first time, I experimented with different looks and expressions. That’s when I discovered that alternating between horizontal and vertical bars created a very interesting effect, explains Rikner of NCOAB Productions.
After experimenting with this design concept at different Hov1 shows, Rikner brought his vision to its fullest expression at the group’s Farewell Show at Gärdet, Stockholm. The record-breaking crowd of 52,236 attendees (surpassing the previous record held by Metallica) experienced an expansive visual journey as the stage transformed through a series of radically different looks, while never losing its cohesive aesthetic identity.
At times, the stage remained almost completely dark, with bright shafts of light rising from the base to the top of the structure. At other moments, sweeping horizontal lines dominated, defined by a large video wall lit with intense flashes, before transforming again with pyro effects and haze.
“Smoke or haze is really important, especially with a fixture like the PXL Bar”, says Rikner. “It makes the show feel like more than just a bright stamp on stage—it actually reaches out over and into the audience”.
Rikner used 178 PXL Bar 16 units, supplied by Creative Technology Sweden, in a show spanning 178 universes and 44,000 parameters. He outlined the stage and catwalk with these pixel-mappable RGBW motorized battens, framed the large upstage video wall, built vertical structures at midstage, and placed two light frames near the PA system.
“I ran the fixtures in 186-channel mode to achieve smooth fades and seamless transitions throughout the rig”, he explains. “Being able to maintain a consistent fade for more than 30 seconds is truly amazing”.
The PXLs were the main fixture type for the show. They acted as wash, beam, and effect lights. With good planning on which groups to use and when, you can achieve a very versatile result. My rig made the show possible, along with my wonderful crew: Fredrik Jönsson on key lighting, Edvard Hansson managing the follow-me system, Bombee handling special effects, and our sound engineers Johan and Søren, together with the entire team, he continues.
Reflecting on the show, Rikner says it was the element of surprise that made it special: “It was great having the horizontal bars in sync, adding energy to the songs, and then using the vertical ones for something completely different. It’s easy to think that a strobe can only be a strobe, or a wash can only be a wash, but using all the vertical bars as strobes, for example, completely changes the game”. Such is the unexpected magic that happens when horizontal and vertical worlds meet.
