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SweetWater 420 Festival

Widespread Panic at SweetWater 420 Festival. Photo courtesy Dave Vann

SweetWater 420 Festival

Premier Global Production Sets the Stage for Another Successful Show

The SweetWater 420 Festival is celebrating its 13th year as an Earth Day environmental celebration. The eco-friendly showcase focuses on music, SweetWater Brewing’s craft beers, food and art. The weeklong event, held in Atlanta’s Centennial Park for the last three years, hosts more than 50 national and local musical performers. Statistics from last year’s performance indicate attendees traveled from 46 different states in the U.S. and seven different countries.

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Dear Evan Hansen photo by Matthew Murphy

“Dear Evan Hansen”

A Balance of Lighting and Video Reflects our Modern World

“A letter that was never meant to be seen, a lie that was never meant to be told, a life he never dreamed he could have, Evan Hansen is about to get the one thing he’s always wanted — a chance to finally fit in.” That’s the premise behind this humorous musical, which would certainly appeal to anyone who ever thought they were on the outside looking in. Especially when browsing social media sites.

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This panoramic shot shows the setup for Brad Paisley’s tour.

Moo TV Expands with New Rehearsal Facility

Move to ‘Steel Mill’ Also Allows All Divisions to Join Under One Roof

 A need, a great location and a vision has brought more possibilities and options to performers in Nashville as Moo TV (mootv.com) has taken ownership of a 70,000-square foot facility on a hill inside the city limits.

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Sometimes I Hate Going to Shows…

Wait — let me rephrase that. I dislike going to shows because I usually end up being disappointed (hate’s a pretty heavy word these days, sorry). Why? I don’t think there is a decent explanation just yet…hence the article. But the simple answer is, I think, errors. Obvious (at least to me) errors in production and performance. Errors in customer service. Errors that could have easily been avoided.

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GLP GT-1

GLP GT-1

It is true, though not necessarily original, to observe that the marketplace for multifunction luminaires has been particularly busy for the past few years. The promise of multiple features on a compact and low-wattage platform is an appealing one, and the makers of these light try their hardest to get the highest-quality effects into moving heads with very little space and demanding cooling requirements. Today, we’re examining the GT-1 hybrid fixture from German Light Products, a (not unsurprisingly) Karlsbad, Germany-based company that has been making intelligent lighting since 1994.

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Robe Spiider

Robe Spiider

[caption id="attachment_276640" align="alignnone" width="800"]Robe Spiider[/caption]

Robe is a top name in entertainment lighting and they continue to deliver new and innovative products to the market. Robe has their successful line of LEDWash and LEDBeam fixtures. In 2016, they released their first “LED WashBeam,” called the Spikie (See Road Test, PLSN, Nov. 2017, page 72). After its immediate success, Robe began developing a second LED WashBeam fixture, the Spiider. Let’s explore this fixture to learn why it’s different from the competition.

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Paying to Play

A new trend has emerged in the concert touring world where opening acts are paying a main act to get on the bill and play at a concert. Gone are the days of a management team making deals to get a band as an opening act; now it is simply who has the cash to play.

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The Who performs 'Tommy' at Royal Albert Hall in London

Tommy Lights ‘Tommy;’ Vegas Gigs; LDs for Sheeran, Spoon, Evanescence, Lady A and More

Lighting designer Tom Kenny filled us in on The Who’s two special dates at the Royal Albert Hall recently, saying it was the first time The Who have played the iconic rock opera Tommy in its entirety in 28 years. Though the band originally billed it as an acoustic performance, they decided in the end to plug in to be more faithful to the 1969 version. On The Who’s website, it was noted: “Our own Tommy (Tom Kenny, lighting designer) made the room look amazing, using every surface as a screen and bouncing light everywhere, not just onstage. What an environment.”

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Illustration by Andy Au

Be Kind to Your Friends in the Shop

I’m a firm believer that people who have spent time in the shop have a better understanding of the lighting business than those who have not. I am lucky enough to have spent four knuckle-busting years in the shops of Vari*Lite, Morpheus and Cinelease. I was there to receive hand written shop orders, assemble gear, tech lights and repair rain-drenched VL6s and Mac 2Ks that came back from multiple Olympics from around the globe.

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Syncrolites in use on 2016 Desert Trip stage

Desert Trip Not on the Festival Agenda for 2017

LOS ANGELES — Desert Trip, the two-weekend classic rock festival that was self-mockingly referred to as “old-chella” by some of the performers onstage, will not be a regularly scheduled annual event, according to Goldenvoice CEO Paul Tollett, in an interview with Billboard magazine.

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