SAN DIEGO – Elation is proud to again have had a presence on the KAABOO festival as lighting designers Chris Lisle and Erik Parker turned to the powerful LED-based Platinum 1200 Wash™ moving head to light headlining acts Foo Fighters, Imagine Dragons, and Katy Perry, among others, on the main Sunset Cliffs stage.
More details from Elation (www.elationlighting.com):
Lisle and Parker used twelve of the high-power Platinum 1200 Wash fixtures – each housing 19 x 65W LEDs with wide zoom – spread out across the mid-stage and upstage trusses primarily for general stage wash. “It’s hard to compete with the sun of course, but even during daylight they were able to lay some base color and show up on the camera/IMAG shots for some eye candy,” said Chris Lisle of the LED luminaire that produces color washes as bright as a 1500W discharge fixture. “We loved their overall intensity. In a rig full of a lot of horsepower, they held their own and were great at driving down some base color.” Lisle says they were also “clone-friendly” for the visiting LDs, something he says is an important factor.
Meanwhile, on the Trestles Stage, legendary bands like The Zombies, Tower of Power, Blondie, and The English Beat played popular sets with multifunctional Elation Paladin™ LED effect lights exploited for a variety of looks. Because many of the shows on the Trestles Stage were during the daytime hours, the designers were looking for a fixture that would provide eye-candy as well as the brightness to pop. Placed along the down-, mid-, and upstage trusses were sixteen Paladin effects whose hybrid ability as a blinder, strobe, wash or eye candy effect made them a versatile choice when a host of bands needed to be lit across a busy three-day schedule. “Due to their location, the programmer on that stage did a good job of using them for all of the above,” Lisle says. “They did a great job in blasting out color across the audience and for general effects.”
LD Erik Parker, who together with Chris Lisle has been involved with KAABOO since its inception, was enthusiastic about both Elation fixtures. “I really dig both fixtures! The Platinum 1200s were the main color wash on the main Sunset Cliffs stage and they rocked it. And the Paladins, which I’ve used several times before for various purposes, were true as a bright, reliable and dynamic effect.”
Only in its fourth year, KAABOO has found a unique recipe that appeals to a broad audience with 2018’s eclectic lineup a testament to its growing success. This year, lighting supply for the September festival was by production company Solotech, who Lisle says did a good job on site with a solid crew. “Andy O’Toole has been our lead on this show for years and we love working with him,” he said. “Erik and I also appreciate John Dunn and the whole Elation team for their partnership on this project – it has been a blast!”
