As Loyle Carner headlines at Reading Festival 2023, one of the UK’s biggest music events, the stage architecture of his performance invites the audience into a world inspired not only by his most recent album Hugo, but also his formative lockdown experience of taking driving lessons with his father.
In playing an event as big as Reading, yes, there is the element of spectacle in the design; but complementary to this is a sincere showcase of a personal journey that offers a side of the artist we rarely get to see.
Loyle Carner at Reading Festival 2023: the stage design
Design studio The Unlimited Dreams Company (UDC) worked on the stage setting. Co-founder Harrison Smith says: 'The set was not really technically led', but more a process of becoming invested in telling a heartfelt story. He notes that very early on, it became obvious that ‘progression and evolution’ were the driving concepts for the design of this show.
Going beyond the usual representational props, the set uses real-life objects with visceral power as a part of its composition. At polar ends of the stage, a humble street light and the actual Volkswagen 93 Mark Two that Carner learned to drive in are the kingpins of the set. The approach was purposefully minimal, and collaborative. Harrison points out they followed Carner's culinary mantra: 'If it's not necessary, it's not on the plate.'
UDC co-founder George Thomson remarks: 'There’s something very special about the fact these two men were in a very confined metal box, where they had to talk together and work through their problems.' He continues: 'For a project that is rooted in storytelling, I feel we really had to have it as part of the set.'
The performance and stage set are curated to represent the span of a 12-hour day, using the cycle of the sun to narrate acts of self-inquisition. Taking cues from Hugo, the concept helps to narrate Carner’s lived experience of grappling with manhood, race and navigating emotional journeys with his father.
Despite the stripped-back nature of the set, designing and building it all was not without challenges. Thomson remembers, 'We had to modify and adapt and play with it. It's a practical constraint of fitting it in, but there's also an aesthetic aspect of making it look right. We really didn't want smaller venues to get a worse version of the show.'
Wanting to create a communal experience, the usual rectangular use of floor space is done away with, instead cutting the corners to create a triangular layout for the physical platform – and therefore, a forced perspective. Thomson explains: 'The false perspective is actually carried on through light, so it also brings the audience into the set – [they are not just] looking into a window of a world.'
Alongside the performance itself, spatial elements encourage a state of empathy. In a time where we usually only see the shiny parts of people's lives, it’s refreshing to be let in on an experience that memorialises genuine moments of change, even the difficult parts. It's a spectacle that embraces authenticity, showing that all transformative moments are just as worthy to be hailed and celebrated.
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