Meeting with Bob and Lucas to discuss stage design and lighting techniques. There’s a big knot to untie that keeps coming back at us: are we going to use video in our stage design or not? With somewhat abstract lyrics, the songwriters feel the need for a visual hook to hold the story in place. We’re running the danger of being too abstracted musically and visually, hermetic even, so that nobody would understand what we’re telling. Our visual designers make the point for once and all: we’re sticking to analogue projection and lighting techniques. No video. It’s more suggestive and emotionally rich than trying to fill in the gaps for the audience. The focus will shift towards the music. Point taken.

We also agree that nothing sensible can be said about the stage design so long music and lyrics aren’t developed more. The round-up meeting with the whole team gets pushed back in time. We need to have a better picture of music and lyrics.