MIDDLESEX, NJ – Studying your customers is the surest way to improve what you’re doing. This guiding principle from Apple’s earliest days rings just as true in these challenging times as it did then, as Squeek Lights owner Victor Zeiser recently demonstrated. Last year, in the midst of the pandemic, Zeiser converted the Ruby Stage […]
ALBANY, NY – The Palace Theatre is Christine Whelan Sharp’s favorite venue to light in and not just for its graceful Art Deco architecture with its gleaming exterior and stylized accents. Nor is it for the theatre’s rich 91-year history that has seen greats like Bruce Springsteen and The Rolling Stones grace its stage. What […]
FORT WORTH, TEXAS – Like many things in the Lone Star State, Billy Bob’s is nothing, if not big. Billing itself as the “world’s largest honky tonk,” a claim no one is likely to dispute, the former World War II airplane factory in Fort Worth’s Stockyard District, covers over 100,000 square feet, features a 2,000 […]
FREDERICK, MD – How long will the COVID-19 lockdown last? Like everyone, Aaron Kovelman can’t answer that one. But there’s one thing the Director of Design and Production at Showtime Sound LLC is sure of: the company he works for will continue to bring safe, socially-distant entertainment options to people for the duration. Showtime Sound […]
LOS ANGELES – A lot of people are hoping for brighter days in 2021. For Julien Reux, the new year certainly started off on an upbeat note when he got a call from Will Chandler of Envizion Group to punt a livestream by Breathe Carolina. Although Reux had done some timecoded projects during the pandemic, […]
LOS ANGELES – Lee Rose and the creative team behind the “Hollywood Party” segment of Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve show begin looking for a suitable soundstage for their production in mid-September. Most years the process is fairly routine, but not (no surprise!) in 2020. “We scouted the Los Angeles Convention Center as a possible […]
RALIEGH, NC – “New Year’s Eve at Lincoln Theatre has become one of our favorite traditions,” alt rockers BIG Something declared when announcing plans for a two-night NYE stand early in December. But during a pandemic, even traditions continued are traditions changed. This was true for BIG Something as well as the design team that lit their […]
PHOENIX – The 1,500-seat Marque Theatre was virtually empty, save for a few widely separated family members on hand, when Spafford took to the stage for its 2021 New Year’s Eve livestream. Matt Collier, the jam band’s longtime LD, couldn’t help but contrast the scene to the one he remembered from the band’s last NYE […]
ROANOKE, VA – Done right, lighting design bridges gaps, connecting sometimes widely different elements, and fusing them into a unified whole. Jason Patsel of 81 Productions demonstrated this recently at a socially distant outdoor benefit show at the Five Points Music Sanctuary, where he melded different eras and expanded space with help from a collection […]
NASHVILLE – Forget sugar plums dancing in their heads. The kids (and adults!) who visited EAMOTION’s Jingle Beat this holiday season are likely to have far more vibrant and dynamic images tickling their imaginations. Held at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway this December, the two-mile fixed drive-thru experience (the brain child of Cour Design founders Erik […]
MIDDLESEX, NJ – The Wonder Years’ November livestream was a homecoming of sorts, not only for the Top 20 alt rockers, but for Victor Zeiser who lit the 90-minute show. “This band is one of our oldest clients, so working with them again was a real thrill,” said Zeiser, the owner of Squeek Lights. “Earlier during […]
MARION, IL – Under normal circumstances, Kyle Upchurch doesn’t have to think much about the area directly in front of the concert stage, as it’s filled with fans. His goal as a designer is to create the kind of immersive looks that pull fans into the performance on stage. But during a pandemic, every rule […]