SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Livewire, a 14,000 square foot live music venue that opened in the space formerly occupied by the EDM club Axis-Radius, is drawing new crowds with visual support from Elation lighting and LED video gear. Elation dealer Fyxx Entertainment supplied the venue with Elation Platinum Series moving heads and 4mm pixel pitch Elation EZ4 LED panels.
More details from Elation Professional (www.elationlighting.com):
An exciting new contemporary live entertainment venue, Livewire, opened recently in Scottsdale, Arizona, outfitted with a large, professional lighting and video system from Elation Professional supplied by Elation dealer Fyxx Entertainment. Located in the heart of Scottsdale’s Entertainment District, Livewire is Arizona’s newest premier concert and performance space, playing host to a spectrum of national touring acts (Jeff Bridges, The English Beat, Boyz II Men) and up-and-coming local bands all supported by state-of-the-art sound, lighting and production.
Designed from the ground up for live music, the 14,000 sq ft. venue occupies the same location that iconic Scottsdale nightclub Axis/Radius did for 16 years. Les Corieri, owner of Evening Entertainment Group, shut down the club last summer to make way for the 1,100-guest live entertainment destination.
Adrian de Pamphilis, owner of audio, visual and lighting systems company Fyxx Entertainment (www.fyxxent.com) of Canoga Park, California, was contracted to custom-design a dynamic lighting and video system for Livewire and chose to combine Elation Platinum Series moving heads and LED lighting fixtures with high resolution LED video displays made up of 4mm pixel pitch Elation EZ4 LED panels.
Quality, yes; service, absolutely
For owner Les Corieri, quality of product was important as Livewire is clearly designed as a professional live music venue. Yet service was a key factor in his decision to go with Elation as well. According to Adrian, his experience with manufacturer support with Axis/Radius was subpar and at Livewire he wanted to avoid those problems.
“The deal was really sold on the service aspect,” states Adrian, who stresses Elation’s service advantage over Chinese manufacturers and even an East Coast based location. “That was very important. Les wanted only one vendor to deal with, a single call, local, easy and convenient. Although the quality of the Elation product is as good as the more expensive brands, they know failure will eventually happen with such a large rig and the possibility to have a product shipped overnight with no drama was priceless. Quality and service, Elation has both.”
EZ4 LED screens
Livewire is a sleek two-story space that includes classy features like upscale bars and a VIP lounge with a décor that features dramatic design elements like a sweeping EZ4 LED screen wrapped around the venue’s three-sided mezzanine. “It’s a stadium-style LED display that extends 270 degrees around the mezzanine of the venue, like what you see at football stadiums or a basketball arena” explains Gabriel de Pamphilis, co-designer on the project. “It’s a great design element that can be used to surround the room in effect when bands are playing to bring the lighting design out and around the venue. It can also be used by companies for branding when they hold events here, for product roll outs for example. It’s also used to sell ad space, which is another way for the venue to generate revenue.” The EZ4 screen wrap runs for 159 feet around the mezzanine, encircling the dance floor.
Elation EZ4 LED panels feature in three other areas of the venue as well. A 20’ x 16’ EZ4 LED screen is used for backdrop visuals at the back of the stage while a 10’ x 6’ EZ4 LED screen fronts the DJ booth when top DJs take the stage, creating a layered video effect. In a smart example of flexible design, when not needed the LED screen can detach from the front of the DJ booth and be mounted above the dance floor on a center circle truss. This not only makes for extended effect possibilities out in the room, it also avoids having to store the LED screen away when the DJ booth is not in use. The final LED video element can also be found on the circle truss where individual EZ4 panels encircle the truss as a 360 degree LED video centerpiece.
For Livewire, venue owners wanted the highest resolution LED panel available from Elation and the EZ4 fit the bill. Each 4mm pixel pitch panel houses a high density of 10,816 pixels (104 x 104), ensuring a clear and sharp picture. With a superior image quality, array of vivid colors and 1,200 Nits of brightness, it provides the high quality visual backdrop bands and performers need to run video and graphics. While Livewire owners did take a look at even lower pixel pitch LED panels, the higher resolution solution wasn’t necessary. “The EZ4 creates a stunning image at only a few feet away and a higher resolution screen wouldn’t have added anything visually,” Gabriel says. “It would have just been for bragging rights and there was no need to spend extra money for that.”
Versatile design
Because Livewire hosts a variety of different styles of live music (EDM, jazz, folk, rock, country, etc.) and also serves as a type of event center for gala events, fundraisers, and other corporate events, the lighting brief called for the rig to be as versatile as possible. Fyxx Entertainment served as designers and installers on the project with lighting design a collaborative effort between Jason Jones of Livewire, Adrian de Pamphilis, Gabriel de Pamphilis, and Elation Sales Manager John Lopez.
“Livewire not only wanted a powerful and professional lighting system but we needed to build a flexible rig that could do everything from a simple static wash look for a corporate event to more fun looks for a fundraiser to those crazy, high-energy looks for DJs and more upbeat acts,” Adrian states. “With this rig they can dress the venue differently each night.”
Full Elation rig
Lighting wise, a mix of Elation Platinum and Rayzor Series moving heads, both discharge and LED based, along with LED strips, blinders, panels and strobes, give acts any kind of look they could ask for. Mounted on both an upstage and downstage truss are powerful Platinum Wash 16R Pro and Platinum Spot 5R Pro moving heads while gracing a mid-truss are Platinum Beam 5R Extremes along with LED-based Platinum Wash ZFX Pro’s, Platinum Spot LED IIs, Rayzor Beam 2Rs and EPAR Tri’s. On a downstage truss and used to cover the audience in color and blinder effects are Cuepix Panels, Cuepix Blinders and Rayzor Q12 Zoom LED wash lights.
Punching out a variety of scanner, beam and laser effects from the DJ truss is Elation’s award-winning hybrid Sniper effect light while warm-white LED Lumina Strips line the top of the DJ video wall. Out on the circle truss in the center of the dancefloor Rayzor 2R moving heads alternate with EZ4 panels while Platinum Wash 16R Pro’s on straight trusses can be used to light the stage or dance floor. Protron 3K LED Strobes are spread among the rig for those high-energy bursts of light while warming the truss in washes of color is Elation Flex Pixel Tape, thin and flexible RGB tape that can be cut to any length for easy integration into the décor. The LED video panels, LED lighting fixtures and Flex Pixel Tape allow effects to be pixel mapped across them for a more cohesive look and immersive lighting environment. The entire lighting rig is fully automated meaning it can move and tilt for greater design flexibility and can be lowered to the floor for easy service when necessary.
A barrage of colorful atmospheric haze and fog effects are provided by Antari Z-1520 RGB Foggers, Antari M-7 Multi-Position Foggers with Color, and an Antari F-7 SMAZE Arena Fog/Faze Hybrid. Adrian praises the water-based machines for their lack of oil residue, which keeps the lights cleaner and maintenance low.
Livewire celebrated its Grand Opening on December 27th and has proven a popular new venue for the Phoenix-Scottsdale metropolitan area.
Elation Equipment:
- 194 x EZ4 LED Panel
- 7 x Platinum Spot 5R Pro
- 9 x Platinum Wash 16R Pro
- 8 x Platinum Beam 5R Extreme
- 8 x Platinum Wash ZFX Pro
- 8 x Platinum Spot LED II
- 6 x Sniper
- 4 x Lumina Strip
- 6 x Cuepix Blinder
- 8 x Cuepix Panels
- 5 x Protron 3K LED Strobe
- 8 x Rayzor Q12 Zoom LED
- 8 x Rayzor Beam 2R
- 12 x EPAR Tri
- 8 x Flex Pixel Tape
- 8 x Flex Pixel Tape PSU
- 4 x Flex Pixel Tape Driver
- 4 x Antari Z-1520 RGB Fogger
- 4 x Antari M-7 Multi-Position Fogger with Color
- 1 x Antari F-7 SMAZE Arena Fog/Faze Hybrid
