© TrasK House and VUE Show Design.

Legendary American rockers Blink-182 are treating fans to LED-focused, in-the-round arena shows on their current One More Time Tour. Each show is packed with lights, pyrotechnics, and fireworks as well as LED screens and staging powered by tvONE’s Green Hippo brand of Hippotizer Media Servers.

Two flagship Tierra+ MK2 Media Servers from Green Hippo, which are now distributed by ACT Entertainment in North America, took centre stage to drive four large LED screens rigged in a square formation above the performance area. Made up of ROE CB8 LED panels, these enabled optimal viewing from all sides, no matter where each audience member was positioned.

The content displayed was a mix of rendered content, IMAG, Notch Effects, and on-board Hippotizer effects with all content created by LA-based production design company TrasK House. TrasK House also designed the show, with VUE Show Design providing the Media Server programming.

“The Hippotizer Tierra+ MK2 Media Servers were perfect for this show because of their NotchMarks and the four outputs, making it super convenient to route any or all viewports as needed,” explained VUE Show Design’s Bransen Black. “The show features many standout moments, given Blink 182’s numerous hits. Using both Notch and the Hipptozer on-board effects engine created dynamic visual experiences.”

The stage features a custom LED floor fabricated by SGPS, with Black and his team using Hippotizer PixelMapper to send data to it. “The touring Hippo tech, Nick Lepoutre, spent two weeks mapping over 17,000 pixels,” said Black. “Nick had to meticulously place all pixels in the raster space of PixelMapper and ensure proper data transmission from the server to the DMX nodes. But I am constantly impressed by how versatile Green Hippo is. Even simple effects, like lighting the floor in a solid color, were striking due to the stage’s use as a giant light source.”

The Blink-182 show was fully controlled using a grandMA3 console, mixing live action footage and pre-made content as the band belted out hits including “Feeling This”, “The Rock Show,” and “All the Small Things.”

“With a bit of creativity, you can achieve almost anything with Hippotizer,” added Black. “It’s rewarding to demonstrate Green Hippo’s power with its on-board effects engine, Notch, Shape Visualizer, and intuitive user interface. In fact, I hardly required any support at all to achieve the dynamic looks for this tour but, when needed, Green Hippo Technical Product Manager, Nick Spencer, is an invaluable resource, ready to assist and ensure everything runs smoothly – even if just to reassure me that I did something how he would’ve done it!”

The Hippotizer Media Servers and LED came from NEP Screenworks, with the team wishing to thank Marty Kell and Dave Jacobs.

Green Hippo