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Photo of Pearl Jam lighting designer and director Kille Knobel by Steve Jennings

Pearl Jam LD Kille Knobel

Pearl Jam toured North America in 2013 with shows that followed the July release of “Mind Your Manners,” the lead single off the band’s 10th studio album, Lightning Bolt (the album debuted a few months later, in mid-October, 2013). As with any big-name act with songs that have achieved iconic status, audiences have come to expect a huge “wow” factor in terms of a complex interplay of visual elements tightly synched with the music. But for Pearl Jam, that mandate was offset with the band’s directive to focus on the music, and not the “stuff” surrounding it.

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Front of House at the YouTube Music Awards. Photo by Jenny Schulder

YouTube Music Awards

YouTube is known for the spontaneous creativity of the artists and fans who post their videos to the site, and it was in that spirit that the inaugural YouTube Music Awards (YTMA) streamed live on Sunday, Nov. 3. The awards honoring the songs and artists that were viral hits globally this year were presented live at Pier 36 in New York City, and the 90-minute show lived up to YouTube’s promise of an untraditional event. Several of the winning artists, including Arcade Fire; Avicii; CDZA; Earl Sweatshirt; Tyler, the Creator; Eminem; Lady Gaga; Lindsey Stirling; and M.I.A., created live music videos on sets placed throughout the venue.

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With no windows, ample fly space and a huge rear projection screen, Northview Church isn’t your typical house of worship.

Northview Church: Means for the Message

It’s no secret that many houses of worship have gone high-tech in order to amplify their message and provide dazzling services for their congregations. Northview Church in Carmel, IN certainly had that in mind when they built a $16 million auditorium that boasts plenty of cutting edge sound and lighting. What they did not bank on (but can now) was the fact that many Christian music acts would regularly play there, even luring people away from a major secular venue in the Indianapolis area. It seems that the means for delivering their message appeals to others as well.

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PS4 Launch at the Standard, High Line Hotel in Manhattan. Photo by David Kepner

PS4 Launch: Stungun Transforms Manhattan Hotel

The week-long press event to launch Sony’s PlayStation 4 (PS4) console, held a trendy boutique hotel in lower Manhattan known as The Standard, High Line last fall, was a virtual feast for the eyes, meshing elements of high- and low-tech, including ad hoc and supersized video projection, an “interactive” LED walkway, hundreds of LED lighting fixtures simultaneously blasting color into the night and outdoor guerrilla gaming zones.

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Marquee Dayclub dome photo by Adam Kaplan

Marquee Dayclub Dome Rises in Las Vegas

The Marquee Nightclub & Dayclub at Las Vegas’ Cosmopolitan casino resort, which opened in late 2010, quickly vaulted to the top of Nightclub & Bar’s rankings of top U.S. nightclubs by annual revenue, tying XS at Steve Wynn’s Encore casino resort, also in Las Vegas, with annual revenues estimated to be in the $80 to $90 million range for 2012. But don’t let those Las Vegas palm trees fool you.

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Pink Truth About Love tour photo by Steve Jennings

Pink’s The Truth About Love Tour

After 142 shows, Pink’s The Truth About Love world tour concluded Jan. 31 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The tour received rave reviews as it traveled to 16 countries and, as ranked by Billboard, became the third highest-grossing tour of 2013. In support of her sixth album of the same name, Pink once again teamed up with show director Baz Halpin of Silent House.

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Will Komassa

Blizzard Lighting

True to its name, Blizzard Lighting appears to be taking the world of small and mid-sized lighting design by storm. The Waukesha, WI, company offers more than 100 lighting products (not counting accessories, bags, cables and the like). “We’ve got a really strong base of products,” says founder Will Komassa. “They start at performance and price points that a mobile DJ or local band can use and go all the way up to something that production companies could use on a tour of any size [including KISS’ rig].

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LightParts founders Don Pugh and Robert Mokry

LightParts Founders Celebrate a 10-Year Mileston

When Don Pugh and Robert Mokry founded LightParts in early 2004, they weren’t just launching a company, they were launching a new industry niche: a lighting parts and repair center for entertainment lighting. The High End Systems alums have since expanded their focus from legacy HES gear such as Intellabeam, Emulator, Dataflash and Laser Chorus fixtures to gear from Martin, Element Labs, Vari-Lite, Flying Pig Systems, Jands, Wybron, Coemar, Color Kinetics, ETC and Clay Paky — and the list goes on.

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Photo by George Dodworth/Lightwave International

Laser Safety Regulations: An Overview

Not sure about getting lased for the first time? If you haven’t been sat down for “the talk,” you’re likely confused about the paperwork and procedures needed to include laser special effects in your production. Even the most seasoned professionals may have inaccurate laser information from word-of-mouth. What works for lasers in New York City might not in London, Melbourne or the state of Arizona. Here is an overview of factors that laserists, lighting designers and others need to consider when staging shows and touring with laser effects.

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PLSN editor Justin Lang

Take Control of the Camera Flash

Several arena tours visit the DC market during the winter.  I have attended a number of them, and I am always grateful to those that allow me in to chat with the production crew and cover the tours for these pages of PLSN. I am constantly amazed at what can be packed into trucks, unloaded in a day and torn down at the end of the night.  The lighting rigs alone are massive and give me chills of excitement every time.

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Fitz and the Tantrums on tour. Photo by Amber Stokosa

LD Chris Smith for Fitz and the Tantrums

Tour Legs: Feb. 10-18 (U.S.); March 3-16 (U.K./Europe); April 3- May 15 (U.S.)

Design Concept: “The shows in February will be one-offs, so I’ll spec out a system. The new tour design happens in April when we’re carrying gear again. We’re talking about adding more video elements and beam fixtures surrounding and encasing the band.”

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PLSN Feb. 2014 Video World by Paul Berliner

Moving Video, Moving Data

Just about a year ago, I wrote a primer on LED digitizers, which included a lengthy discussion of the processing required between the video source and the LED wall itself.  True, you simply can’t connect a video signal directly to an LED wall and expect to see a picture.  In order to create an image of the desired size, shape and aspect ratio, the wall (regardless of the manufacturer) requires proprietary video processing and a proprietary input signal, rather than a standard DVI, HDMI, or HD-SDI format.  To put it another way, the wall is looking for data — not video.

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