Pet Shop Boys’ 22 tour was highlighted with a headline set at the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, which returned to Worthy Farm following two ‘fallow’ years enforced by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The appearance saw the British electronic pop duo perform their most striking and detailed outdoor show to date.

“This tour was UP’s first time working with the band, but I’d worked as part of their audio team some years ago, so it did feel a bit like coming full circle with an iconic act,” said Roly Oliver, Business Development for UP. “This is the first time the band have used LED on any kind of scale, so we knew we had to deliver something really quite special.”

The band headlined Glastonbury’s Other Stage on the Sunday night, drawing in huge crowds and live TV audiences as the BBC broadcast coverage from site.

The set employed 15m x 3m of Leyard CLM10 panels rigged on Kinesys motors to create a moving, mid-stage transparent screen, while Leyard CLM6 LED was arranged into 16 Tait-designed 1.5m x 0.5m rotating totems. UP also provided an additional 15m x 5m of Leyard CLM10 to create an impressive upstage wall, and the PixelBricks used for Pet Shop Boys co-founder Chris Lowe’s custom console front.

The screens were in the capable hands of LED Tech Phil Leech, who worked in conjunction with Really Creative Media, which provided the tour’s media server package, and two additional crew.

The visual content was expectantly bold and predominantly geometric, creating an angular, clean look for the group’s bright and beautiful return to stage.

“It’s always good to be able to support our touring clients, and with Glastonbury’s triumphant 2022 event, this was a perfect time to lend our services,” says UP Director, Phil Mercer. “It was a pleasure to see how this performance played out with our screens, and the TV coverage is a brilliant reminder of how important live video is for the viewers at home.”

photos - coalpoetmedia