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Switchfoot “Fading West” Tour

Switchfoot Fading West tour photo by Steve Jennings

Switchfoot “Fading West” Tour

Switchfoot’s ninth studio album, Fading West, shares its title with a documentary film that combines behind-the-scenes band member footage with their surfing exploits in exotic locales. Although brothers Jon and Tim Foreman along with drummer Chad Butler have been performing as Switchfoot since their first album release in 1997 (Jerome Fontamillas and Drew Shirley officially became band members in 2003 and 2005, respectively), Switchfoot has deftly switched between different musical genres and eluded the Christian Rock pigeon-hole.

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String Cheese Incident lit by Brown Note Productions at the Fox Theater in Oakland, CA. Photo by Brian Spady

Brown Note Productions

Catapulted? Ignited? Skyrocketed? Erupted? What is the best word to describe a company that, in a scant ten years, went from a two-car garage to a three-car garage to a 5,000-square-foot warehouse to a 12,000-square-foot facility and is now occupies 27,000 square feet with more than 25 employees? Begun in May 2004 by Sara B. Knutson and Ryan Knutson, Brown Note Productions of Thornton, Colorado, is a supermarket of services, support and sales for live event audio, video and lighting. Like most successes, the enterprise began with a simple idea.

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Working with a Media Server on a Corporate Event

Working with a Media Server on a Corporate Event

When lighting programmers are tasked to program a media server on a corporate event using a lighting console, they may think, “Oh, that will be easy. I’ll just have to play a few videos for the CEO, a few guest speakers, etc., etc.” Well, that’s partially true; the server may be used to play back these types of videos. However, what may not be so evident are the different ways video can be woven into a corporate show. Let’s take a closer look at how video can be used in this type of show.

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The Stageline SAM750 Mobile Stage made its US debut at EDC New York. Photo by Adam Kaplan/ASK Media Productions

Stageline SAM750 Mobile Stage

Each year, mobile stages made by Stageline, a staging manufacturer based in L’Assomption, Quebec, get used at 15,000 events in 45 countries around the world. That number is likely to increase this year as Stageline rolls out its SAM750 — the largest hydraulic mobile stage in the world. First used at the 2013 Osheaga festival in Montreal last August, the SAM750 made its U.S. debut at Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) New York over Memorial Day weekend.

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Altman Lighting Phoenix LED Profile Spot

Altman Lighting Phoenix LED Profile Spot

LED ellipsoidal fixtures are the hottest and most debated product type on the market right now. But can you really call them ellipsoidal? Since LED profile fixtures don’t have an ellipsoidal reflector, the name doesn’t seem a perfect fit. They do have the same characteristics that we know and love from our old reliable tungsten-based fixtures, however. Maybe they should be called Lekos? That is just another angle of the debate going forward with these types of fixtures.

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What NOT to Do

A career as an automated lighting programming can be both fun and rewarding. It is important to always improve your craft and keep up to date with consoles and fixtures. You also need to remain professional in all circumstances to ensure a long and successful career. I have heard about programmers who have ruined their careers through thoughtless actions, bad attitudes and other improper acts. Several of them were once considered the cream of the crop, but now, sadly, they barely even make the “where are they now” list. By studying the actions of others, you can learn how to avoid wrecking your career and ensure a long and profitable programming profession.

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Illustration by Andy Au

I Got Somebody for That

I’m one of those guys who likes to do everything himself. I like to draw my own plots. I like to make my own artistic renderings. I like to load in my own shows. I like to paint my own house too, but I don’t always have time to do any of these things myself. So for just about everything there is in life, I got somebody for it.

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Basspod Stage at EDC Vegas Featured 82 Nexus 4x4 COB LED Panels. Photo by Aldo Parenti

Basspod Stage at EDC Vegas Featured 82 Nexus 4×4 COB LED Panels

LAS VEGAS – For the 200-by-80-foot Basspod stage at this year’s Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) music festival held June 20-22, 30 acts including Pegboard Nerds, Infected Mushroom and Loadstar, among others, performed with a lighting design overseen by LD Steve Lieberman. The rig included 82  Nexus 4×4 COB LED panels from Chauvet Professional.

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From left, Francois Juliat, managing director of Robert Juliat; Bob Gordon, chairman of A.C.T Lighting; Claus Spreyer, sales director of Robert Juliat; and Ben Saltzman, president of A.C.T Lighting

Robert Juliat Names A.C.T Lighting U.S. Distributor

WALLINGFORD, CT —Robert Juliat named A.C.T Lighting its exclusive distributor for all Robert Juliat products in the U.S. Robert Juliat USA’s Fred Lindauer and Pete Engel will join the A.C.T Lighting sales group, and the RJ USA office here will be closing after the end of 2014 as A.C.T Lighting manages all sales and customer service issues going forward.

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Hometown Heroes logo 2014

2014 Hometown Hero Award Nominations Now Open!

LAS VEGAS — Each year PLSN honors regional lighting production companies with our Hometown Heroes awards. These awards honor the best regional lighting production company in six regions across North America: the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Northwest, Southwest and Canada. The best part about this is that PLSN readers — the people who actually work with these companies — get to decide who’s really the best.

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