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Jason Rudolph

Jason Rudolph

Jason Rudolph

Entertainment is certainly in Jason Rudolph’s DNA. As the fourth-generation member of the industry, he carries on his family’s rich legacy into new areas of technology. Having started out as a lighting programmer, his mix of projects these days is 95 percent visuals and media-based. He has a busy career as a screens programmer and producer as well as, at times, a video technical manager on massive live shows and televised events like the Oscars and the Super Bowl Halftime Show, music festivals, corporate events, and occasional concert tours and architectural installations.

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The indoor stage at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium was one of many stages used for the event.

Colossal Clusterfest Goes Off Like Clockwork

Large Screen Video provides ultra-high-resolution video screens in the heart of San Francisco

Imagine that you’re in charge of the video screens and on-the-fly production for 50 acts in three days on eight stages—three outdoors and five indoors. Many acts arrive maybe half an hour before they go on and conduct shorthand explanations of what they want to happen behind them or alongside them as they perform. You and a crew of 30 work feverishly to keep things moving and pull off a flawless series of performances.

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ELO - Alone in the Universe, Wembley photo by Kris Goodman

ELO at Wembley Stadium

Jeff Lynne’s Spaceship Rises Again on Stageco Tower

His aviator shades, curly mop and beard may appear to be cryogenically frozen in time, but the renaissance of Jeff Lynne and his Electric Light Orchestra continues to move ever forward in popularity and — with assistance from Stageco — sheer physical size, as witnessed by 70,000 ecstatic fans at Wembley Stadium on June 24.

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Lighting truss articulates to create multiple looks for the numerous acts. Getty Images courtesy ARS

K-Love Awards

LabeLive and Atlanta Rigging Systems Raise the Roof at the Grand Ole Opry

The K-Love Fan Awards is the premiere “Ultimate fan experience” for the Christian Contemporary Music industry hosted at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN. The event is an opportunity for fans to see 22 of their favorite artists perform and accept awards on the historic main stage.

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PLSN August 2017 Buyers Guide

LED Battens

LED Battens hit the scene more than 10 years ago. Some LDs were searching for the ultimate color mixing cyc light, while others wanted a new LED footlight to use for their cameras. Eventually, designers pointed them towards the audience, and the term eye candy took on  a whole new meaning. Original models such as the Chroma-Q Color Force have been updated with serious improvements, and other manufacturers have added their own innovations to this dynamic product category. Take a look at all of the latest models and see what each has to offer.

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All Photos by Joe Kenemore

A Complete Reset

Design Team Reboots Corporate Event Conventions with In-the-Round Cisco Live!

The purpose of this year’s Cisco Live! event, a multi-day educational event for IT and networking professionals staged within the Mandalay Bay Arena in Las Vegas in late June, was to introduce a radically new networking product. So it makes sense that, when the event’s organizers turned to Lightswitch and Go! Experience Design, they were hoping to provide attendees with an experience that also defied expectations.

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The curved LED display moved up and down to reveal company VIPs and musical acts. Photos courtesy Leo Events

Walmart Annual Shareholders Meeting

There’s nothing that comes close to the Annual Walmart Shareholders Meeting as employees gather from around the world in Fayetteville, Arkansas to celebrate all things Walmart, the most profitable retailer in the world since 1988. Founder Sam Walton held the first shareholders meeting in 1970 when he presided over five others at a coffee shop table in Bentonville, the company’s headquarters. Each year the event grew, and since 1994, it has been held on the University of Arkansas campus in Bud Walton Arena, home to the Razorbacks basketball teams. This year, Walmart associates and shareholders filled the arena.

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Photos courtesy Blueshift Design

Alan Jackson ‘Honky Tonk Highway’ Tour

With 16 studio albums and nearly 60 million records sold worldwide, the multi-platinum recording artist Alan Jackson has solidified himself as one of country music’s most iconic talents. In a career that spans three decades, Jackson is still hard at work touring the nation for his dedicated fans. Needing a new production design to support the current “Honky Tonk Highway Tour,” the management team once again enlisted the creativity of Craig Rutherford of Blueshift Design who, in turn, called upon Nashville-based tour provider Elite Multimedia.

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U2 performed at Bonnaroo this year

Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival

The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, now in its 16th year on the 700-acre site in Manchester, TN opened on an historical note with U2 as the opening night performer. It marked the first time in their 41-year career playing a festival in America, and only the second time they have ever performed on a festival stage. More than 65,000 people attended the four day event.

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Toucan Productions helped transform a rural Texas ranch into a musical playground. Photos - aLIVE Coverage, courtesy Euphoria Music Festival

From Field to Festival

The Sixth Annual Euphoria Music & Camping Festival

On any other day at Carson Creek Ranch, one might hear crickets chirping in the grove of pecan trees, while cattle grazed and horses neighed under the hot Austin, TX sun. But for four days in April, its 60 acres of fields along the banks of the Colorado River were transformed into an entertainment venue with the Euphoria Music & Camping Festival.

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All photos by Kevin M. Mitchell

Breaking Day with Norah Jones

A Well-Crafted Backdrop, Perfectly Lit, Creates a Palette of Possibilities

Creating textures. Accenting moods. A woman with a beautiful voice at a Yamaha grand piano with a fantastic band behind her. All in a day’s work for lighting designer Steve Baird as he works with a perfect backdrop and just the right amount of lights (not one too many or one too few).

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