PixMob of Montreal wows during the Super Bowl halftime show

PixMob, the Montreal company that popularized the use of LED wristbands at major music and sports events over the past decade, just lit up the Super Bowl halftime show.

A crowd of 65,000 participated in the show at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium tonight. Jennifer Lopez, Shakira and a number of guest rappers, singers and dancers delivered an energetic, raucous and occasionally raunchy performance. PixMob’s bracelets and light fixtures illuminated the show, making the spectacle more spectacular.

Late last week PixMob president Jean Olivier Dalphond spoke to us about tonight’s halftime show. At the time the company’s involvement with the event and the details surrounding the show were top secret. The term “beach wave” was being used as code for “Super Bowl.”

“Every fan is going to be brought together in a moment of unity together with all the performers. There’s going to be this moment where everybody’s going to connect through light,” says Dalphond. “This is really the essence of what we do: creating togetherness. You’re not on your phone, you’re not holding a device, you’re not wearing AR glasses. We reinvent what we think of as a new fire ritual.”

Dalphond went on to explain that both the crowd in the stands and props on the field would light up simultaneously. The unifying moment in question came when Jennifer Lopez’s daughter Emme and a number of other Latino children made an emotional political statement.

PixMob massive

Over the past decade the company has contributed their signature effect to events ranging from Arcade Fire festival shows to the Sochi Olympics, Cirque du Soleil productions to Ariana Grande, Spice Girls and Shawn Mendes tours. This is actually the second time that PixMob has lent their lighting magic to the Super Bowl. Their first halftime collaboration came during Bruno Mars’s 2014 performance.

PixMob is proud to be using recycled plastic wristbands (X2R, an evolution of the X2) for this Super Bowl endeavour and in their projects going forward. The Montreal company won the Live Design International Award in 2018 for their sustainability efforts during Taylor Swift’s Reputation Tour. Their recycling program increased wristband returns by 40%, allowing them to refurbish one million wristbands over the past two years. ■

For more information on PixMob, please visit their website. See our editorial about the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show controversy here.