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Strictly FX, 20 Years Down the Road

Pyro for Coldplay at the Rose Bowl, 2016. Photo by Steve Jennings

Strictly FX, 20 Years Down the Road

It was 1996 when two guys found themselves together in a room and were informed that if they wanted a particular gig, they had better start working together. The client was only interested in a package deal, it seems. As Mark Grega, one of the principals at SFX explains, “This wasn’t about two guys getting together and saying, ‘Hey, let’s start a company’.” Partner Ted Maccabee admits, “We weren’t really friends who set off looking for our dream job. It just kind of turned out that way.”

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Squeek Lights has been supplying (and designing lighting for) Silverstein and other bands. Photo by Sean Varga

The ‘Unique Blend’ of Squeek Lights

Post hardcore bands Senses Fail and Silverstein shared a great deal in common, beyond their excellence in their musical genre, when they toured together in 2015. Both had achieved critical acclaim; both had loyal cult-like followings, and both maintained relentless touring schedules. Unfortunately, both also lacked the budget for the kind of lighting rig that could do visual justice to their hard driving music. It was then that Victor Zeiser stepped in.

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Guns N' Roses 2016 tour photo by Katarina Benzova

Guns N’ Roses 2016 ‘Not in This Lifetime…’ Tour

It was announced at the end of 2015 that “classic era” Guns N’ Roses lead singer Axl Rose, guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan would be regrouping … after months of speculation and anticipation. Fans, press, media, the social universe and the music industry went into overdrive at the thought of one of the world’s most legendary rock bands being back on the road with this incredible lineup.

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Richard Fernandez, 2016 Parnelli Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree

Parnelli Lifetime Achievenent Award Winner Richard Fernandez

Tour Manager for Faces, Eagles and Tom Petty to Accept Industry Honor at Gala Event on Oct. 22, 2016 at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas

This could be Richard Fernandez’s list of clients, or your favorite playlist on your iPod: The Cars, Crosby, Stills, & Nash, Bob Dylan, Eagles, Faces, Tom Petty & the Heart Breakers, Boz Scaggs, Neil Young and Frank Zappa. It’s likely both.

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Kaaboo Festival Sunset Cliffs photo by Askewone

KAABOO Festival

The organizers of the KAABOO Festival outside San Diego had quite the inaugural show in 2015. Deemed a success by all, the festival reconvened from Sept. 15 to 18 this year for a second go-round. Festivals usually have multiple stages for music, boasts of artistic structures, and various places on-site that a patron can go to in order to take a break from the music, mingle with friends, or in the case of San Diegans, get out of the sun. This festival indeed had seven stages devoted to entertainment that were scattered over the 370 acres at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, just north of the city, but it is also an artwork experience. We take a look at this site to see why it stands out among all the other festivals this summer.

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Full Color Lasers supplied over 40 laser projectors for the 2016 event, which moved to the Atlanta Motor Speedway and added a third day to the schedule.

2016 Imagine Music Festival

In its third year, the Imagine Music Festival moved to the Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, GA, expanded to a three-day format (Aug. 26-28) and offered camping for the first time. The EDM festival was deemed a huge success, drawing close to 45,000 with a lineup that included Dillon Francis, Benny Benassi, Bogore, The Disco Biscuits, Excision, Gramatik, Nero, Showtek, Steve Angello, Zeds Dead and more.

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Chauvet and other manufacturers are working on ways to let media servers and lighting consoles trigger complex fixture functions at the same time. Chauvet's Net-Switch distributes Art-Net, Kling-Net, sACN and other protocols.

From DMX to TCP/IP

A Look at the Growing Complexity of Fixture Functions and Control Systems

ver the years, the complexity of intelligent lighting fixtures has finally gotten to the point where our own intelligence level has to rise up exponentially just to operate the gear we are using. Take a look around at what the shows we see now differ to the shows that we saw just a few years ago. Now take a moment to think about what we will be seeing in a few years from now. That’s right, those are chills running down your spine.

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The mirrorball-chandelier design by Stephen Lieberman of SJ Lighting makes use of Ayrton CosmoPix and MagicDot fixtures.

The Premier Nightclub at the Borgata

Atlantic City Hotspot Features Elaborate Mirrorball, Chandelier

The Premier Nightclub in the Borgata casino gives a classic dance floor fixture — the mirror ball — a new twist. Stephen Lieberman of SJ Lighting provided his signature design for this world class, 18,000-square foot club, located in the space previously occupied by MIXX.

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Debbie Sharpe

Food that Makes You Happy

A Talk with Debbie Sharpe, Catering Godess

As the old saying goes, an army marches on its stomach. Wise words that undeniably also apply to the concert touring industry. One of the people who have been in the concert touring trenches for a long time now is Debbie Sharpe. PLSN spoke with her about how she came to music touring, to food, and about what she’s cooking up these days.

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Joe Calzone at the design desk.

Calzone Case Company Passes the 40 Year Mark

Now Entering their Fifth Decade, This Family Business is Still Setting Standards

“It all started with a trap case,” recalls Joe Calzone, as he reflects on the case making company he founded in 1975. The legendary company, now known as Calzone and Anvil Case, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Recognized as the largest fabricated case manufacturer in the world, the name is synonymous with protective cases across a broad spectrum of industries other than rock-n-roll.

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On Judith Bowden's skeletal set for the 'Sweeney Todd' production at the Shaw Festival in Nagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Kyle Blair as Adolfo Pirelli and Benedict Campbell as Sweeney Todd enter into a fateful competition. Photo by Emily Cooper.

‘Sweeney Todd’ Receives Imaginative Retellings at Two Summer Venues

With the news that Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street will return to the West Village in New York City this winter after an 11-year absence, it’s time to take a fresh look at Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s crowning masterpiece. Coincidentally, the timeless classic received two professional re-mountings in the summer of 2016 just a few hours from one another: one at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, and the other at the Glimmerglass Festival, a summer opera company outside of Cooperstown, NY. The same story was interpreted in two different manners.

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