In a world where it's harder than ever to be surprised, don't be shocked if Live Nation or AEG Live appears on the marquee of your neighborhood megachurch. The people who install their staging systems say it's increasingly difficult to distinguish what's inside them from any other theatrical venue anymore.
Automated lighting programmers are, of course, always working with light, but often they are required to work in the dark. Most lighting consoles have a button and function known as "Blind." When activated, any edits or modifications to fixture data will not directly affect the output of the console.
Every once in a while, we take on a gig where it becomes evident that we are dealing with someone who cannot handle his or her job competently. We witness some questionable decisions being made by someone in charge. It's politically correct to grin and bear it, as we work long hours to make the best of an errant design. In short, part of our job description is not to laugh, but just deal with the amateurism of what I call "the hack designer."
Lighting Co.
Performance Lighting Chicago
Venue
B1 Stadium Lot
University of Notre Dame
South Bend, IN
Lighting Co.
MWLPS Inc.
Venue
The Janet Root Theatre,
St. Petersburg, FL
Lighting Co.
Elite Multimedia
Venue
Various (Tour)
Lighting Co.
East Coast Lighting & Production Services (ECLPS)
Venue
Various (Tour)
Lighting Co.
Productions Reno
Venue
Theatre St-Denis
Montreal, QC, Canada
"I have six locks on my door, all in a row," George Carlin said. "When I go out, I lock every other one. I figure no matter how long somebody stands there picking the locks, they are always locking three of them."
Rush's Time Machine tour recently brought an ambitious Steampunk-themed extravaganza to venues across North America. At the visual helm was LD Howard Ungerleider, currently celebrating his 37th year with the power trio comprised of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee; guitarist Alex Lifeson; and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart.
Lightwave International announced plans to debut a full-color, 56-watt laser projector at LDI with irradiance close to 800W per square centimeter, which the company calls a new world record for full-color lasers used with live entertainment.
When Barry Manilow moved his show from the Las Vegas Hilton to the Paris Las Vegas for a new two-year residency, the production team wanted to make a few changes to better reflect and adapt to their new home. To do so, they brought in lighting designer Chris Medvitz of Lightswitch to create an intimate yet potent lighting design. Lightswitch then enlisted the assistance of PRG and 65 Vari*Lite luminaires from Philips Vari-Lite.