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End of the Rainbow

End of the Rainbow

A natural rainbow is a beautiful sight to behold. We have all marveled at the ethereal glow of colors arching across the sky. For as long as man has existed, the rainbow has triggered a sense of awe and inspiration. For centuries, humans tried to recreate the colors of the rainbow through various devices. Today’s modern automated lights and LED based products make recreating rainbow looks as simple as the press of a single button. But this magic comes at a cost. We are slowly losing our creativity and settling for simplicity as we accept rainbow chases into many facets of our lives. I am hereby calling for an end of the rainbow!

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Trans-Siberian Orchestra during rehearsals for their 2015 winter tour

Festive Tours, Reinventions on the Road, Quick Cues

It wouldn’t be a holiday without the heavy metal and production spectacle of Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and LD Bryan Hartley is back with this year’s winter tour, “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve.” Hartley has been designing the production and lighting for 17 years, since the beginning of TSO, he says. “I decided not to build a traditional custom set and instead, I designed the video as the set. Then I can change to whatever set look I want.” The identical East and West Coast legs run through Dec. 30 in the US and Canada.

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Illustration by Andy Au

Rigger at Large: Fall Protection

These days, putting on a harness before you climb is as automatic as putting on a pair of gloves or checking your radio channel before you start work. But any lighting technician or rigger of a certain age remembers when wearing a harness — even the ones that are illegal today for fall protection — was optional. In the early 80’s I was a house rigger at the Rockford MetroCentre in Rockford, IL. The head rigger there was Bo Medearis. Bo was a thoughtful, methodical, and confident rigger — which made him everything I wasn’t. I was young, brash, and cocky.

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Saxton Waller lit STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9)

LD Saxton Waller Lights Sound Tribe Sector 9 with Clay Paky B-EYE K10s and K20s

LOS ANGELES – When STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9) began its U.S. fall tour, LD Saxton Waller decided to add Clay Paky A.leda B-EYE K20s to the B-EYE K10 rig he deployed for the band’s 2014 tour, which included their sold-out concerts at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado.  Waller obtained the Clay Paky B-EYES and a full-size grandMA2 console from Brown Note Productions, Inc., in Thornton, CO, which has been working with STS9 for the last 10 years.

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Squeek Lights' looks

Squeek Lights Creates Two Shows from One Chauvet Rig for Senses Fail and Silverstein

NEW YORK – Squeek Lights LD Victor Zeiser provided Chauvet Professional fixtures for a tour featuring two hard-rocking bands – Senses Fail and Silverstein. Pooling their resources, the two bands were able to tour with an impressive visual design. Zeiser’s Chauvet-centered rig included six Nexus 4×1 linear COB LED fixtures, 12 Rogue R2 Washes, 10 Rogue R1 Spots and 16 Shocker 90IRC par style fixtures. 

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More than 270 attended.

Clay Paky, Stonex Host Seminar with LDs Al Gurdon and Peter Canning

MADRID – Clay Paky and by its Spanish distributor Stonex hosted a seminar at the Matadero de Madrid featuring the concepts of lighting designers Al Gurdon and Peter Canning, who have lit shows including the Eurovision song contest, the halftime entertainment shows of the NFL’s Superbowl and the opening and closing ceremonies at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

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Canal Sound and Light's Jason Ayala and Jeffry Kwan used Chauvet Professional fixtures at the event.

Global Spin Awards Expo At NY Landmark Lit with Chauvet Fixtures

NEW YORK – Canal Sound and Light’s Jason Ayala and Jeffry Kwan used Chauvet Professional fixtures to transform a low-ceiling space on Manhattan’s far West Side. Formerly housing a bagel factory, it had been repurposed to serve as exhibition space. For the Global Spin Awards Expo, which required a staged awards show, Ayala used Chauvet’s PVP S5 LED video panels and Rogue moving fixtures.

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The musical was 'All Shook Up,' with links to Elvis and Shakespeare.

LD Erich Meitzner Returns to Alma Mater to Help with High School’s Fall Musical, Lit with Chauvet LEDs

NEWTON, KS – Hoopty Lights’ Erich Meitzner got a chance to return to his alma mater for a Newton High School musical production using color mixing LED fixtures from Chauvet Professional. Meitzner showed the high school students how to make the best use of gear including COLORado Batten 72 Tour RGBW wash lights and COLORdash Par-Quad 7 par-style fixtures.

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