Welcome to the August issue of PLSN. As the summer is half over and we are looking ahead to fall, it’s time to start thinking about the upcoming Parnelli Awards and the Hometown Hero Awards. The nominations process is now open for the Hometown Hero Award, Lighting, which recognizes the vital work of regional, local lighting production companies and rental houses. This is the chance for anyone in our industry to nominate the local companies and shops that are vital to making sure the show goes on. The Hometown Heroes are the companies that you work with on a regular basis or who when you were passing through saved your bacon. Through thick and thin, they’re the ones as an industry are counted on for gear, service, and expendables. This award—from nominations to winners—is selected by you, the PLSN readers, because you truly know who the Hometown Heroes are in the industry. Let us know your favorites (and, yes, you CAN nominate your own company). Please note that nominations are due by August 23, 2024, at 5 p.m. PDT. To nominate a company, go to www.bit.ly/PLSN_HHNoms.
Many of those Hometown Heros are right in the thick of things as the moment, as it’s been a busy summer for touring music, with many artists out on the road playing arenas, sheds, and stadiums. This month we take an in-depth look at the massive video system and production of Morgan Wallen’s One Night at a Time tour that’s touring stadiums across North America, with a design from creative and production studio Raw Cereal. Wallen has gone from his last tour being all sheds with one baseball park to now selling out NFL stadiums. Interestingly, Wallen had to cancel the second night of his Tampa, FL show due to being sick, but it turned into a Hometown Hero moment for ESI Productions, when opening act Jelly Roll found a local venue—Tampa’s Dallas Bull, a 2,500 capacity country bar—to perform in that evening. ESI within a couple of hours was able to get some additional gear over to the venue supplementing the house’s rig and audio setup. With a projected Jelly Roll logo on screen, Jelly Roll gave some of his fans a show they won’t soon forget.
We also speak with the design team on the latest Pearl Jam tour in support of their recent album, Dark Matter. Much of the album art is very visual and was created using light painting. This was the inspiration that led to Pearl Jam to using video content heavily on this tour, which was projected on a massive arena-width projection screen. We also have our usual run of columns, which we hope that you will enjoy and take away some new and positive information. Chris Lose looks at trust and confidence while Rachael Bronstein helps us better understand credit in relation to our financial well-being.
I also want to take a moment to note that it was with great sadness that I learned of the passing of television lighting legend, Bill Klages at the age of 97. Bill was a consummate professional who started out as an engineer in the early days of television and quickly moved into lighting for the medium. Not happy with the re-purposed theatrical lighting fixtures that were sold to television stations, Bill pushed for better lights that were used specifically in the film industry to create better lighting for TV. His list of credits over his more than six decades of lighting is impressive, as is his lengthy list EMMY nominations and awards. Personally I was fortunate to speak with Bill on several occassion of the years and he was always kind, entertaining and generous with his stories and knowledge. I enjoyed every conversations with him and will miss his insight and anecdotes. We have more about Bill Klage’s life in an In Memoriam on page 14.
We should all have as full a career, rich with wonderful experiences and stories in this industry. And I will happily share them all in PLSN. So, as ever, please feel free to reach out to me with feedback, story suggestions and what you’d like to see covered in the pages of PLSN magazine at meddy@timelesscom.com
Michael S. Eddy
Editor, Projection, Lights & Staging News
