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The Boys of Zummer

Robb Jibson crafted the looks for Fall Out Boy during the Boys of Zummer 2015 tour. Photo by Steve Jennings

The Boys of Zummer

“Odd Couple” LDs Jason Bullock and Robb Jibson on the Fall Out Boy/Wiz Khalifa Tour

Chicago-based Robb Jibson is the LD of punk pop group Fall Out Boy. He caters to cue lists and joneses for his Jands Vista lighting console. New York City-based Jason Bullock is the LD for rapper Wiz Khalifa. He prefers to slam though faders and chooses the Chamsys. When both artists toured together for the “Boys of Zummer” tour, it begged the question: Can two LDs, on competing brands of consoles, come together to create one cohesive production for two radically different musical artists, without driving each other crazy?

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Electric Forest 2015, set by Vita Motus. Photo by Adam Kaplan

The Design Process: Vita Motus

It’s too bad the name Industrial Light & Magic had already been taken by some obscure film producer named George Lucas. Otherwise, the terms would perfectly capture the work of Heather Shaw and her firm Vita Motus Design Studio. As she defines it, Vita Motus (vee-ta moe-tus) is Latin for “life vibration,” loosely connoting being attuned to and going with the flow. She describes her company’s designs as futuristic, with a focus on conceptual experience and immersive multimedia sculptures. Vita Motus fuses cutting-edge technology and pop culture into an entirely new world of its own.

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The booth design featured a banner requiring a bright, even wash of white light. Photo courtesy Siemens.

Lighting the Booth for Siemens at RSNA in Chicago

I have gravitated a long way from lighting pop stars live on stage, but the goal is still the same. Make the money look good. There is nothing more exciting than when the stage manager chirps over the walkie-talkie and says, “The show is yours, Mahoney.” I flip on my headset, make sure the spot operators are ready for their first cue, check backstage to make sure dimmer beach and pyro are both ready. After I get “okays” from all departments, I say, “Houselights GO!” The crowd gets loud, the lights go out and we all hit our first cues. “BAM!” We are off and running for the next 90 minutes.

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Nimlok Displays' design for Aclara

Trade Show Tips

Are you a good exhibitionist? Let’s try a little word association game. What thought comes immediately to mind when you see the words “trade show”? “Yippee!” or “Jeez, not again?” “A controlled strategic tool” or “royal pain in the hindquarters?” “Party time!” or “Expensive headache?”

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Freestyle Productions provided this video wall made from Daktronics 12mm LED panels for the 12-day Minneapolis State Fair.

Working the Fair Circuit

Throughout my career, I doubt I’ve ever met anyone who never worked a show at a fairgrounds. In fact, I know some acts who make the majority of their annual revenue playing sets at these venues. The same applies for vendors. Last summer alone, I played four different Midwest state fairs and used different light rigs from TMS, the lighting vendor out of Omaha, all within two weeks time. Every gig is different, and the only thing I expect from these venues these days is…the unexpected.

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LED vs Projection for Corporate Events, from blog posting by Upstage Video

Company Blog Poses Question for Corporate Event Video: LED or Projection?

POTTSTOWN, PA — Although the decision on “LED vs. Projection” for corporate events has always been influenced by what video gear is available, and at what cost, a proliferation of lower-cost, higher-resolution LED video options may be shifting the debate somewhat. While acknowledging that his company “mainly focuses on LED displays,” and that he “may be biased towards LED,” Upstage Video owner Doug Murray invited two other rental and staging industry professionals, Scott Williams from Quince Imaging and Brian Brooks from MB Video Productions, for their potentially contrasting views.

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Le Maitre to Debut New Smoke and Flame Machines at LDI 2015

Le Maitre will be unveiling two new Special Effects technologies at this year’s LDI, Booth 455. Le Maitre’s G300-SMART is a professional smoke machine, designed with the future in mind. This new machine features IoT capability via Wi-Fi, wireless set up and diagnostics, and an easy to read backlit LCD display. Also on view at LDI 2015 will be the X2 WAVE FLAMER,  a fluid based flame machine.

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AV Stumpfl's Wings Engine Raw is a triple-stream 4K uncompressed media server that uses a custom engineered RAID 10 system. It willbe featured at LDI along with other products.

AV Stumpfl Ready for LDI 2015

AV Stumpfl will bring the largest ever line up of innovation to LDI 2015. Making its Americas debut at LDI 2015, will be the Wings Engine Raw, a triple-stream 4K uncompressed media server that uses a custom engineered RAID 10 system (pictured here).

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