Festival Visuals

IDentity Festival

IDentity Festival 2012 archive film · Morgan Lavery: Video Director, VJ and Content Creator · Partner footage: Buffalo.dj

IDentity Festival began for us as a referral from The Crystal Method, who wanted Morgan Lavery / VJ Infinight on the tour with them. Once IDentity Festival and Live Nation saw the work, they brought us on as the visual design team for the full touring production across both stages, a relationship that continued across the 2011 and 2012 tours.

Across those two years, Morgan created and performed visuals for nearly every artist on the lineup, with Eric Prydz and Kaskade as the exceptions. The scope included artist media, LED-wall looks, mapped stage content, live VJ operation, and visual direction that had to work from daylight festival sets into nighttime headline moments.

One of the most important parts of this tour was the decision to put visual artists on stage. Instead of hiding the VJs at front of house, Morgan pushed for the visual performers to share the spotlight with the DJs, feel the crowd energy directly, and make it clear to the audience that the visuals were being performed live. That proximity also built real relationships with artists and management teams, leading to future collaborations long after the tour ended.

Client: Live Nation / IDentity Festival
Referral: The Crystal Method
Tour years: 2011 and 2012
Tour scale: Five-week runs across 20 cities
Scope: Visual design and VJ operation across both stages
Morgan Lavery: Video Director, VJ and Content Creator
Photography: Drew Ressler / Rukes.com

ArtyBingo PlayersBus TourContent CreationFestival VisualsIDentity FestivalLe Castle VaniaLive VJThe Crystal MethodTourVideo Direction

Original archived URL

Recovered tour record · August 2012

Eight verified IDentity Festival stops

Recovered Buffalo.dj event listings document VJ Infinight and his team providing visuals across this run of the 2012 tour.

Aug 2Atlanta, GA
Aug 3Tampa, FL
Aug 4Miami, FL
Aug 10Dallas, TX
Aug 11Houston, TX
Aug 17Mountain View, CA
Aug 18San Diego, CA
Aug 19Phoenix, AZ

Tour artist record · 2011–2012

Artists across the IDentity Festival tours

The festival used a rotating lineup by city, so the complete tour record spans more artists than any single date. These are the published artists across the 2011 and 2012 tours. Morgan created and performed visuals for the tour roster, with Eric Prydz and Kaskade as the exceptions.

2011

2012

Adrian Lux
Arty
Audrey Napoleon
Bingo Players
Cole Plante
D3FF & AKTEC
Datsik
Doctor P
DVBBS
Eric Prydz
Eva Simons
Excision
The Eye
The Gaslamp Killer
Hardwell
JDevil
Kerli
Le Castle Vania
Madeon
Mighty Fools
Nero
Noisia
Paul Van Dyk
Porter Robinson
Showtek
Static Revenger
Stephan Jacobs
Wolfgang Gartner

Roster references: Pollstar's 2011 tour announcement, LED Presents' 2011 San Diego schedule, and the documented 2012 tour roster.

Press and Photo Record

The LED-wall show that press noticed

Public coverage around the 2012 tour repeatedly frames IDentity Festival as a visual-first EDM environment: multiple stages, packed amphitheaters, full LED backdrops, lasers, smoke, and large-format screen content. Those accounts match the recovered Morgan Lavery / VJ Infinight tour record and Drew Ressler's official Rukes photography from the San Diego stop.

Rukes photo of IDentity Festival main stage with red spiral LED wall visuals — Image: Drew Ressler / Rukes.com

Official photography · Rukes Identity Festival 2012 at Cricket Wireless Amphitheater

Rukes' San Diego gallery documents the exact main-stage and second-stage LED systems visible throughout this project archive, including the red spiral, cyan wall, white wall, and blue tunnel looks.

View the Rukes gallery

IDentity Festival main stage cyan LED wall and lighting design photographed by Rukes — Image: Drew Ressler / Rukes.com

Event review · USD Student Media Press calls out the full LED backdrop

The San Diego review describes ID Fest as an EDM environment where sight and sound work together, then singles out the main-stage light show, lasers, smoke cannons, and full LED backdrop.

Read the review

Paul van Dyk performing at IDentity Festival in front of red LED wall visuals photographed by Rukes — Image: Drew Ressler / Rukes.com

Concert review · Houston Music Review Wall-to-wall LED screens as a key element

Houston coverage of the tour describes three stages and identifies wall-to-wall LED screens as central to the festival's brand of entertainment, reinforcing how important the visual system was to the show.

Read the Houston coverage

Wide IDentity Festival second stage LED wall and crowd photographed by Rukes — Image: Drew Ressler / Rukes.com

Event listing · LED Presents The San Diego stop and stage lineup

The event listing verifies the August 18, 2012 San Diego stop, the Cricket Wireless Amphitheater venue, and the lineup including Eric Prydz, Paul Van Dyk, Bingo Players, Arty, Le Castle Vania, and the LED stage artists.

View the event listing

Direct public mentions of Morgan Lavery, VJ Infinight, or MELT Creative tied to this specific IDentity page are limited in currently indexed press. This case study separates independent event/production coverage from the recovered MELT and Buffalo.dj archive credits.