As the co-founder/design principal of Cour Design, Erik Anderson has led the production design teams for tours from Billie Eilish to Kacey Musgraves. But when the COVID-19 epidemic brought traditional touring and live events to a dead stop, it was time to get really creative and innovative.
“When everything shut down we realized this was a moment when we could make something that otherwise we wouldn’t get to create,” says Anderson. “We didn’t want it to feel like it was a band-aid for the current time — like a drive-in concert, which is something that I don’t think I would go to if I had another option. We wanted to make something that felt familiar but that had vast creative potential.
“We’ve been thinking about immersive events for a long time,” Anderson continues. “The traditional venues that people go to see events really haven’t changed for over the last few thousand years — from Colosseum-style stadiums to theaters. So the idea of having people move through a space and changing up their relationship with the performance has always been something we’re interested in.”
The result is a pandemic-proof, live-entertainment experience known as EAMOTION, which is making its world debut in Nashville this week. Utilizing over 8000 lighting, video, and special-effects elements along a drive-thru course of 50-foot tall pyramids constructed from 2000+ video panels and 400-foot wide projection-mapped surfaces, EAMOTION promises a unique twist on the audio-visual extravaganza. As such, a mere written description can’t quite do it justice, according to Anderson, who is also EAMOTION’s CEO.
“The quickest way to describe it is it’s kind of like those drive-through Christmas light displays but with Super Bowl-level halftime production. There are elements that are pretty much indescribable until you experience it. It’s an immersive audio-visual event is a spectacle in itself and it’s something you can go do safely right now.”
EAMOTION will be staged at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, September 18-22. With audience members confined to their vehicles, EAMOTION is billed as a safe, contact-free event for the whole family. More information and tickets are available at eamotion.com.
