ORLANDO, FL – Jack Link & Associates (JLA) celebrates 40 years of service to the Southeast US & Caribbean entertainment industry.
More details from JLA (www.jacklinkstagelighting.com):
Jack Link has been serving the entertainment needs of the Southeast US & the Caribbean since 1975, and has grown to be one of the Southeast’s professional turn key production companies.
JLA has provided audio, lighting, staging & roofs, technical crew support & other production services for most of Florida’s large & small venues.(Orlando Arena, Ice Palace & Citrus Bowl). They are the official production company for The Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise, The Melbourne Art Festival, The Brevard Symphony and many others.
Their list of references include, National Recording Artists, Professional Sports Teams, Broadway Productions, Corporate Shows & Other Special Events. JLA can meet all of your requirements from small meetings to large concerts and conventions. They are fully licensed, insured and all JLA employees are fully covered by Workmen’s Compensation and Liability Insurance.
IN THE BEGINNING……………….
In 1969, when Rock Concerts were in their infancy and Psychedelic Light Shows were being phased out in favor of more traditional Theatrical Stage Lighting, two such psychedelic show owners, Paul Weiss and Jack Link joined forces to provide Concert stage lighting under the operating name of White Indigo Stage Lighting.
There existed at the time, several cities, which hosted regularly scheduled concerts Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. the concert business began to change, with different promoters staking claim to their respective venues. Yet as late as 1971, White Indigo was the only Concert Lighting Service in the Southeast. Providing everything from intercom systems, to stage lighting, from spotlights with operators to generators with electrical distribution systems.
By the end of the year, only three full time promoters existed, Howard Stein (New York), L & S ( also of New York) and Concerts West ( Houston) has the lions share of the tours coming through the South. bands such as Aerosmith, Allman Brothers, Beach Boys, Blood Sweat & Tears, Bob Dylan, Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, Carpenters, Crosby Stills & Nash, Doobie Brothers, Grateful Dead, Earth Wind & Fire, Grand Funk Railroad, Jefferson Airplane, Fleetwood Mac, James Brown, Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, James Taylor, The Moody Blues, Yes, The Who, Procul Harum, Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart, Led Zeppelin, Pacific Gas & Electric, Canned Heat, Savoy Brown, Leon Russell, Chambers Brothers and virtually every major touring act at the time was being added to their impressive resume. It was no secret to them obtaining so much work was always obtaining the latest equipment, with a good amount of knowledge and great attitudes.
In addition to those shows, White Indigo was being asked to furnish lights for tours of Jesus Christ Superstar, Deep Purple, Bread, Manfred Mann, plus numerous festivals, state and county fairs, as well as universities.
It was 1973, that White Indigo got its biggest breaks ever, Frank Zappa appointed Weiss as his lighting designer and Link was named lighting designer for Jeff Beck group. Positions they held for several tours. Zappa personally met Weiss to insist that he build state of the art lightweight equipment for his tour with 40,000 watts (10,000 per corner of the stage). Weiss then came up with a revolutionary design of building 27′ pneumatic towers, directly into anvil cases, dubbed “12K in a box”. They spent a month at Altman Stage Lighting in YonkersNY, designing and overseeing the construction of the lamp housings. Then another month at Anvil Cases inMonrovia California on the specialized cases. The funding necessary to pay for all of this came from an offer by Peter Shanaberg (of L & S Productions to incorporate with Weiss, thereby giving them an office in New York City and a very certain future.
By the middle of 1973, L & S (Joe Lambusta and Peter Shanaberg) Productions named Weiss as technical director and stage manager for all their events fromMaine to Miami. By 1974, it was time to add an assistant, so long time employee and friend Steve Andrews was promoted to oversee the 30 stage technicians. It was three months later that Shanaburg requested Weiss to go along with a tour that L & S was promoting for Alice Cooper which would terminate in Rio De Janiero. He was approached by a Brazilian television network ( Rede Tupi) to accept a one year contract as a consultant for their many concerts and festivals. So it was in August (of that same year) that he sold his company to Link & Andrews and moved to San Paulo, Brazil.
Link & Andrews, decided that a brand new name was in order, so Jack Link& Associates was incorporated in August 1975. Business was booming at JLA. New accounts were constantly being added (such as world tours; with Marshall Tucker, Bad Company, The Outlaws, and Bob Marley and virtually every act that came through this area. Over the next several years, the industry began changing. New technology kept coming out bigger and brighter. By adding state of the art lighting, sound systems, stages and covers JLA kept up with the times. Joining Link and Andrews was now Bryan Bergeron, the director of the community theater, who was being contracted by corporations to build scenery flats and various corporate exhnibits for conventions and trade shows.
The company was really in a period of spiraling growth. By 1980, Andrews became a formidable bidder with several major venues like the Orlando Arena, Citrus Bowl,Florida Atlantic University and others, bringing the crew to more than 150.
Many have come and gone at JLA over the last 40 years, some touring with national acts, some teaching the trade to the next generation and some such as Jack Link, Sue Luley and Kenny Seivers still see to the operations of JLA today.
And the rest is history. From 1975 to 2015, Jack Link and Associates has thrived as one of Florida’s premier turn key production companies with quality state of the art equipment and knowledgeable lighting designers, audio engineers and technicians.
August 24, 2015 Jack Link and Associates celebrates 40 Years of service to the entertainment industry in The South East United States and the Caribbean.
