Stage graphics for the legendary rock band DDT

World Tour, October 2011

Kyiv, October 2011

Brief

Craft stage graphics for the global concert tour of rock legend DDT. The band wanted to implement a new style that would radically differ from typical Russian rock. At the same time, DDT didn’t want to copy Western artists.

Execution

Jointly with Fedoriv marketing agency and avant-garde artist Oleksiy Sai, we developed the concept, stage design, and decorations for the concert tour. The Front Pictures team also helped engineer a stage setup with an impressive 48x14m screen that complied with the strict restrictions of a road tour; the projection setup could be easily deployed multiple times within just a few hours and fit into just half of a road tour trailer.

Impact

Within the three-year concert tour ‘Inache’ (Otherwise), DDT held about 50 live shows across Russia, Europe, Asia, and North America. The concert in Moscow won ‘The Best Concert of the Year' nomination from Chartova Diuzhyna (Chart Dozen), a prestigious rock award established by Nashe Radio. Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta named the album and concert tour ‘Inache’ the main music event of 2012. Based on the concert, Panic Films Studio filmed the first independently funded Russian rockumentary ‘The Sky Under the Heart’ (2012).

Client

DDT

Marketing Agency

Fedoriv

Capabilities

Art Direction, Content Production, Video Engineering

DDT is a legendary Russian rock band founded in 1980. It rose to fame addressing social issues in the Perestroika period. Its 18th album “Inache” was released in 2011. To promote the album, DDT planned out a global concert tour.

Fedoriv agency, which was responsible for the concert concept development, visual design and show communication materials, approached Front Pictures to create stage graphics and stage setup for the live shows.

“Yuri Shevchuk (DDT frontman) wanted to make it different. He wanted to create a visually saturated show for the first time in the history Russian rock. But not just for the sake of appealing visuals. He wanted to wake up the young audience and deliver a message about freedom that would be more bold and powerful than the official propaganda”

Front Pictures CEO Yuri Kostenko.

The tour was originally slated to have shows in 70 cities and take place at arenas capable of accomodating from 7,000 to 50,000 spectators. After discussing various options, we decided to build the set design around a huge video wall, as big as each concert venue can accommodate. At the same time, we wanted to create not just a giant flat display, but to make a monumental screen that would resemble a constructivist building almost in life-size.