While much of the attention at the annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival focuses on the music lineup, the stage design and visuals have become an increasingly vital aspect of what makes each set both aesthetically pleasing and something fans walk away talking about.
Coachella has eight unique stages (including the Do Lab) that vary both in sound and design, some being altered throughout based on specific artist’s vision. Elements that drive an exceptional set often incorporate lights, visual effects and video content on gigantic screens for the masses to experience. The festival exposition is set by hundreds of production crew members and stage designers who work diligently to encapsulate the essence of the music.
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Steven Lieberman has been the lighting designer of the Yuma Tent since its introduction to the festival in 2013 and has also curated and designed lighting for EDM music festivals like EDC (Electric Daisy Carnival) and Ultra Music Festival. For the air-conditioned Yuma Tent, which has its own dancefloor, Lieberman works to emulate the atmosphere of an edgy techno underground club scene that festivalgoers can fully immerse themselves in.
“When you are looking for entertainment, it is more than just the music and the lighting,” Lieberman said. “It’s all of these things as a bigger cohesive experience, and the lighting is meant to give you a visual illustration of a story that we’re trying to tell, just (like) when you play a record or a song.”
Another EDM-focused experience at Coachella is the Do Lab, one of the festival’s most colorful and diverse experiences. What began as a small stage with a few artistic structures has evolved into a must-see spectacle for EDM enthusiasts looking to catch up-and-coming talent and surprise guest performances, which in the past have included, Skrillex, LP Giobbi, Rüfüs du Sol and SG Lewis.
Josh Flemming, a co-founder of the Do Lab, oversees the design of the stage and the creation of its artistic structures. He and his twin brother and co-founder, Jesse Flemming, who curates the music and lineup for the stage, have worked with Coachella for nearly 20 years to bring the EDM-centric area to life on the festival grounds and are the founders of the Lightning in a Bottle Festival.
“Back in the day, we used to just kind of mess around with some little light installations or small sculptures, and we just gradually started learning the tools and techniques that we needed to go bigger and make larger spaces and environments for people,” Josh Flemming said.
In the Do Lab’s early years, the designs were smaller, whimsical and mimicked giant vegetables and other plant life. The Do Lab team utilizes a design at the festival for three years before unveiling a new one. The space now hosts several sculptural pieces and aerial dancers that can be seen suspended from the ceiling.
“It just turned into a little garden of ours, so people were pretty excited to be in it just because it was very unique,” Flemming said. “I want the stage and the architecture to be like a giant sculpture, so you’re inside the work of art, and you’re not just staring at a box or a generic white tent.”
One of the other cornerstones of Coachella’s stage designs is the video content displayed across the massive screens behind the artists.
Ian Simon, CEO and co-founder of Strangeloop Studios, said that his team has worked with Coachella for nearly a decade and lets the music primarily drive the visuals that emphasize 3D animation. The studio has provided work for SZA, The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar. This year they worked with Kaytranada, Chromeo, Kenny Beats and others to produce original video content for their sets.
Simon said it’s a lot of fun and work to produce video content due to the giant screens, which take three animators working with various software to design the content for each artist. The team sometimes works collaboratively with the artists to get an idea of the vision for their set.
“It’s just a process of synesthesia and translating an artist’s musical identity into something that makes sense visually, somatically and trying to construct a narrative with 3D animation for their show,” Simon said. “These stages are so big and creatives and the artists take the shows really seriously, and often they’ll build an entirely new show just for Coachella. So one of the fun parts is going and just being with what everyone has to show off.”
Most lighting, set designs and visuals are better appreciated in person, but those watching the livestream at home can also enjoy some exclusive 3D content.
Coachella worked with Epic Games and Unreal Engine to allow 2023 performers like Gorillaz and Bad Bunny to augment their performances on the YouTube livestream with the help of special cameras set up at the festival. During Gorillaz’s set, viewers saw the beloved animated band members come to life and interact with the real-life band’s set. Bad Bunny’s performance incorporated suns, palm trees, and a cow abducted by a flying saucer, all a nod to Bad Bunny’s album “Un Verano Sin Ti.”
“The goal for that program is to give at-home viewers something special that people at the festival don’t get,” said Sam Schoonover, Coachella’s innovative lead. “I think it plays with people’s sense of reality and gives the artists a larger and more interesting canvas to express themselves on.”
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