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Clay Paky Igloo

Clay Paky Igloo

The Igloo dome is a protective device designed to protect the smaller series of light fixtures from Clay Paky (as well as other manufacturers) against the elements. Physically resembling its name, this device can offer a full IP54 protection from the wet weather, sweltering sun as well as dust and wind.

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Clay Paky Stormy Strobe

Clay Paky Stormy Strobes

I’m checking out the two new Strobes released by Clay Paky this year — the all-white LED Stormy and the full color LED version called the Stormy CC. The biggest thrill I get is that Clay Paky is emulating the old classic strobe chassis but utilizing the latest in LED technology. There is a huge concave reflector behind the light source, just as you would expect from a typical Xenon bulb strobe.

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Kilowatt: The Making of an Electrician

The Making of an Electrician

It begins with an experiment by a friend’s older brother growing crystals on lumps of coal in an aquarium with a fluorescent fixture on top. To enhance the colored crystals, he put pieces of colored cellophane around the bulb above the crystals.

I was fascinated. And six years old.

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Indianapolis State Fair, Aug. 13, 2011. Getty Images photo courtesy Take1 Insurance.

The High Cost of NOT Having Insurance

Take1 Insurance’s Scott Carroll talks about why liability insurance is critical for those in the live event business.

The collapse of the temporary structure erected for the Indiana State Fair on Aug. 13, 2011 was the rigging and staging industry’s own 9/11. It has become the point on the timeline that divides, irreversibly, that professional community into sharply different eras of before and after. The tragedy, during an outdoor concert by the country band Sugarland in which a wind gust from an approaching severe thunderstorm hit the stage structure, causing it to collapse, killed seven people and injured 58 others.

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An Attitude of Gratitude

A career as an automated lighting programmer can be a wonderful, exciting and rewarding choice for many. We are privileged to have a job that pays us to have fun while being creative and technical at the same time. Recently I have spoken with a few people that seem to have forgotten just how wonderful a life we have. Most self-help programs endorse making a daily gratitude list to ensure that you see all the benefits that are a part of your life. Along these lines, I have many reasons to be grateful for my programming career and experiences and have shared some of them below.

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Lady Antebellum 'Wheels Up' Tour Photo by Steve Jennings

Touring Legends of the Fall, Vegas Residencies and Quick Cues

Fresh off the heels of Tribe Inc.’s production designs for Lady Antebellum’s “Wheels Up” tour, the 2015 Apple Music Festival in London, Dierks Bentley’s “Sounds of Summer” tour and the Opening Ceremony for the Pan American Games in with Cirque du Soleil in Toronto, Bruce Rodgers and company steps into their next project with Cirque and their next Dierks Bentley 2016 tour.

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Illustration by Andy Au

Advancing the Rig

So I’m rapping on the phone with my buddy Scott Plummer. He owns the finest little mom and pop lighting company down in Tucson, Arizona called Total Lighting Support. One of my acts is coming to his local casino, as they do every year, and it gives us a chance to catch up. Of course the main reason I’m calling is to advance my gig and make sure he has all my lighting plots and I have his. But somewhere along the way he stops me and asks a question.

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LD Ernesto Corti photo by Debi Moen

LD Ernesto Corti with Whitesnake

Tour: May 28-Aug. 16 North America; Oct. 20-Nov. 2 Japan; Europe/UK Dec. 6-19

Design: “This show is big, bold looks. It’s the old school looks of a rock and roll show but with new technology. There’s barely any gobos — just in two songs — and no video, although in Europe we may use video.

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Nook Schoenfeld

Catching Up

I took the summer off from lighting any shows to concentrate on the magazine and be available to see all the shows coming through my city.

I have caught up with so many old lighting designer colleagues as well as meeting a few new board operators that have tons of talent. I really wish I had enough time to catch up with everyone out on the road.

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