Ball: A case study by New Nostalgia

Ball schematic: the stage under a draped tent roof, the LED sphere at centre on its stand with the band around it, speaker stacks and a row of lights along the front edge

Ball was our stage design and concept for Toro y Moi’s 2026 tour. New Nostalgia designed and performed lighting across a number of stages through Chicago, California, Atlanta, and Asheville. The setup featured a large LED balloon, a variable number of strobe lights, and large plumes of fog. The ball, supporting lighting, and fog resembled different layers of a California landscape: the water, the horizon, and the sun.

Chaz Bear at the keys in red haze, the LED sphere glowing large behind his shoulder — Chaz playing keys backdropped by orange ball, Ventura, CA

The full stage seen head-on under the tent roof, the sphere centred between banks of strobes with fog across the empty floor — Full Stage View, FWB FEST

The sphere burning orange above the band, phones raised in the crowd below — Orange sunset with heavy haze, San Luis Obispo, CA

The draped tent roof lit deep blue over the crowd, the sphere small and white at the far end — Blue-tinted wide-angle crowd view, FWB FEST

Chaz Bear silhouetted at the keys against the sphere lit green — Chaz in front of large green ball, San Luis Obispo, CA

The sphere lit white above the band with the crowd silhouetted in blue and purple haze — Ball installation view, San Luis Obispo, CA, 2026

Kalifornia

This work is largely inspired by the writing of Erik Davis in his The Visionary State: A Journey Through California’s Spiritual Landscape.

All religions have their public and esoteric sides, and California’s visible creed is captured in the radiant, restorative power of Sol. The sun is California’s pie in the sky, the guarantor of endless summer, which is itself a natural symbol for the fullness of experience that is the great lust of California consciousness. (Davis, 2006)

California is a spiritual landscape with striking images of rolling fog, light bouncing off the Pacific, larger-than-life redwood trees. It evokes a raw sense of inspiration, allowing us to dream up any possibility. This inspiration, sourced from the westward expansion in the world, has dreamt up our modern world across mythical, spiritual, and technological realms. OpenAI, Burning Man, In-N-Out, and Hollywood are all California creations imagined from a coast of endless possibilities.

Inherent to this is a paradox: it is a creation of both good and bad things, but a creation nonetheless. The same California sunset that gives hope of a utopia is also reprinted and sold on shirts, or used to sell tract homes for the American westward dream. This alluring utopia is what draws people to move west —us at New Nostalgia included.

The resulting effect is a smoke-and-mirrors quality to the California coast. Its striking appearance tricks us into believing anything is possible. It can inspire you to create, or be used to sell to you — where do you sit within the audience?

In a world increasingly devoid of meaning, maybe belief in the California utopian promise—whether through a large, radiant, sun-shaped LED balloon, strobes that mimic the flow of water, large clouds of smoke resembling fog, and psychedelic expanse of Toro y Moi’s music—is all we need.

Technical Overview

The Toro y Moi stage design was a scalable lighting system centered around a 6-foot illuminated LED sphere. The design adapts to different stages and house lighting systems while maintaining a consistent visual language across each performance.

1. Ground Package

The ground package was positioned behind the band and uses fixtures primarily as backlight, creating silhouettes and framing the performers against the central LED sphere. The visual anchor of the installation was a 6-foot Airstar Crystal Pixel Color DW LED sphere, positioned at center stage on a variable-height stand.

Strobe fixtures are arranged symmetrically on both sides of the Airstar in two layers: one at approximately head level and one at ground level. The two layers are programmed independently, allowing chases, flashes, and intensity patterns to move between or across them.

The number and type of fixtures can scale with the stage. Fixtures used across different versions of the design include CHAUVET Professional COLOR STRIKE M strobes, ADJ Jolt Panel FX strobes, and GLP impression X4 Bar 20 battens.

2. Lighting Control

Lighting was programmed and operated using grandMA3. The Airstar, head-level fixtures, and ground-level fixtures are organized as independent groups within the show programming. The same phasers and timing can be used as the package scales up and down.

3. House Lighting Integration

The venue’s house lighting system was incorporated into the show alongside the ground package. Available house fixtures are organized into corresponding grandMA3 groups. New Nostalgia’s existing phasers are copied onto these groups and adapted to the house rig, while the show’s color palettes are transferred and updated.

This allows the touring programming to extend throughout the venue while maintaining consistent movement, intensity, color, and timing relationships.

4. Atmospherics

Fog was used as a scenic element within the lighting design. Fog machines are positioned and aimed toward the Airstar, creating moving layers of atmosphere across the illuminated sphere. The effect mimics clouds passing in front of the sun and reinforces the sunset-sky imagery of the stage design.