Vegas was certainly a good time as LDI rolled through the same desert town for another consecutive year. Blizzard was once again the booth that everyone flocked to for a party atmosphere. Their satire of a Celebrity Jeopardy show was a hoot and went perfectly with the line of fixtures this company touts. The actors (including Will Komassa as Burt Reynolds’ character) kept us amused, and the aisles stopped up while their show went on.
Some doors closed while others opened this year. It marked the end of an era for the Hard Rock Hotel. The circle bar, where so many of us have held court over the years, is history as Virgin took over the hotel. (GLP’s booth, with a truss guitar and circular bar, was a nice tribute.) My bet is we will all be back in the same building at a different named bar next year, but we’ll see. Heck, with the massive party that 4 Wall threw, we may not need any bar. Everyone in town was there it seemed on Friday night.
The LDI show took place in the North hall of the convention center once again, with Friday showing off a packed floor as people jammed the place to get a look at the latest products. Saturday and Sunday were nice leisurely days for checking in with vendors on their latest wares without the rush of folks bumping into them. The booths of the larger lighting manufacturers did brisk business all weekend. Chauvet won an award for best-lit booth and truly deserved the accolades this year with their stunning design.
Some companies chose quieter places to show off their wares, and prior to the opening of LDI, we got to see what they had going on. The word on the street ahead of times was SPLNTR, an immersive art exhibit that showed off the best features of the Avolites Synergy system, X- Laser gear, Notch FX, Ai servers and various pixelated lighting fixtures. The power of one console pixel mapping all of these together while adding in Notch FX was fairly mind-blowing. Interactive projection that followed your footsteps while adding in sizzling effects was showing us the future of technology. The new Avolites console is not just another macro laden, number crunching effects console. It’s going in another direction that is more artsy and intuitive. I’d love to tell you more about it, but I am sworn to secrecy until April when I can have another go at it.
I’m pleased to report that Martin Lighting is back in a big way. I was very impressed with their new line of Performance fixtures that start out small, compact with less output, but as the models go up in series number, they grow in size, attributes and lumens. Pick what’s best for your needs.
Of all the companies exhibiting wares, I found the Gator Case company had the best stopping point, because they offer these comfy chairs in a road case. Robe is always a good stopping point as they have a bar that could only be topped this year by freshly baked cookies. Along with their Cosmic Truss guitar sculpture and circular bar, GLP served up a killer light show designed by Matthew Shimamoto again. Plus their new Fuse line of waterproof fixtures is out.
For new and possible revolutionary fixtures, I really liked the Robe Tetra batten with the flower effect. I liked that Elation added five really good models to their various lines. High End’s SolaPix is doing something no other multicell pancake light is doing — an Aura-type effect that colors the cell perimeters. Best eye candy I have seen. ADJ is to be commended for their Hydro series of weatherproof fixtures and other new tools. The Claypaky Xtylos demands your attention, in a good way. Is a laser light source the future? Perhaps.
LDI is definitely a lighting show these days and that’s what people came to see. I didn’t see any cameras being shown or many media servers, just a few companies displaying their LED displays. ROE Visual made some cool changes with their now interactive Black Marble floor as well as adding in a touring version of their 8mm see-through product, the Vanish 8. Taylorleds showed some impressive suspended video cube and pyramid-shaped video structures. Audio companies seem to stick to their own shows now and I was happy to see the absence of cheap knock-off gear from overseas this year.
For Nook’s LDI 2019 show report, go to https://plsn.com/articles/features/show-report-ldi-2019/
For his intro video to the Dec. 2019 PLSN, go to https://plsn.com/plsntv/video-of-the-week-a-nooks-eye-view-of-new-products-in-las-vegas/
