Saturday Night
I just spent 90 minutes jumping up and down behind a lighting console. I wasn’t angry. I was lighting a punk rock band.
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High School Auditorium Gets High-Tech Facelift
Complete refurbishment, acoustic overhaul and state-of-the-art lighting and video installations: it sounds like improvements made for a theatrical company of national significance, not a high school auditorium in Kentwood, Mich. But sometimes star treatment is found in strange places — and East Kentwood High School’s refurbished high school now contains technology and planning that puts it on par with many of the country’s top performance venues.
Read More »American Audio Visual Center, Inc.
Who:
American Audio Visual Center, Inc. (AAVC). Within AAVC is Team Staging.
What:
Audio-visual and multimedia staging company providing turn-key presentation, multimedia and staging support for corporations, producers, meeting planners, associations, product launches, corporate meetings and events.
Sand, Sun and Insanity
Hey, it’s New Year’s in Rio. No worries.
Last month I got a call from my friend, Alex Skowron, the LD for the Black Eyed Peas. The band had booked themselves on a beach in Rio for New Year’s Eve, but they had another gig on the 29th in Las Vegas. He couldn’t make it to Brazil until the show, so I covered for him. Dave Hill had designed a replica stage and lighting rig for Rio and five other cities around the globe. I was to clone Alex’s show to Dave’s rig for a show that would be broadcast worldwide. I kept a running diary of observations, and you’re in luck because I’d like to share them with you.
Read More »The Amazing Power of Community
“I not only use all of the brains I have, but all I can borrow.” — Woodrow Wilson, 28th president of the United States (1856-1924)
I, Swami Candela of the third millennium, know all, see all and tell all, except that which I do not know, see or tell. I know the words to “Louie, Louie,” and I know how many LEDs fit on the head of a pin. I hold all the answers to your lighting questions.
Read More »Touring is About to Get a Whole Lot More Complicated
Last August, British airport security agencies announced a ban on boarding with musical instruments on scheduled commercial aircraft departing the U.K. for abroad, a restriction that applied as well to tours that stop or lay over in a U.K. airport and then move on to other ports of call. The move drew instant complaints and, proving that musicians — even drummers — can organize themselves when properly motivated, a groundswell of protest that ultimately got the restrictions eased…somewhat.
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Martin MAC 700 Profile
The Martin MAC 2000 line of luminaires is arguably the most successful series of moving lights sold to date. It is almost impossible to accurately predict what combination of features, reliability and cost makes up the perfect product. Chalk it up to a whole lot of skill and at least a little bit of luck.
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Robe ColorSpot 2500E AT
Robe Lighting has recently introduced their latest and most powerful fixture to date. The ColorSpot 2500 spot is a hard edge automated fixture that has all the bells and whistles you would expect from a premium product, but its brightness makes this fixture stand out. With the advent of all the 1200-watt wash lights that have come out, the fixture has become a necessary addition to their product line. This new fixture competes in this class, and it will be a major player on the stadium rock circuit or as a searchlight or special effect for many trade shows.
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Feast Your Eyes
High rollers ring in the New Year with a visual feast at Bellagio Las Vegas.
How do you impress some of the world’s wealthiest VIPs in Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve? You throw one major party, and you spare no expense. The Bellagio knows how to throw just such a party and in a big way.
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The King of Congo Blue
Matthew Perrin talks about achieving amazement.
Plenty of people in our industry wanted to be an actor, yet ended up studying technical theatre. But not many have toured as an LD for one of the biggest bands of the ‘70s, then quit to play in a rock ‘n’ roll band. And what if someone were to do both, then ended up working for a mouse? That’s the story of the multi-talented King of Congo Blue, Matthew Perrin.
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Panic! At the Disco Finds Inspiration in Circus Atmosphere
They weren’t just clowning around when the band Panic! At the Disco said they wanted a circus atmosphere for their then-upcoming tour.
“When I was first contacted by the band, we discussed the vaudeville/burlesque theme,” said Robb Jibson, lighting designer/ director. “Carrying that into a ‘Moulin Rouge’ look for the summer, we decided to apply those themes and colors to a really exaggerated carnival environment for the fall.”
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The Magic of Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins is the latest, greatest spectacle to hit Broadway. It ambitiously attempts to recapture the magic of the film, including its myriad locations, its animated park sequence and all of the songs that people have come to know and love, along with some new material. And Gavin Lee, who plays artist/chimney sweep Bert, very much performs in the style of Dick Van Dyke.
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