At first glance, the design for the Bon Jovi Because We Can World Tour looks extremely simple. When the show opens, there is no video screen, just a wide-open stage and not a lot of lights. On the surface, it seems that Performance Environment Designer Doug “Spike” Brant has taken a severely minimalistic design approach. Nothing could be further from the truth; rather the environment reveals itself, literally at the cue of the video. Building on their dynamic visuals for the last few Bon Jovi tours, Performance Environment Design Group (PEDG) and Brant have taken advantage of a convergence of new technologies and a few innovative companies to realize their most ambitious design to date.

One of the difficulties of life as a freelancer is figuring out how much to charge for your services. They say time is money, but they don’t tell you how much money it’s worth. Add a comment

Labor day has passed, that means two things: no more wearing white and the launch of trade show season. I spent some good relaxation time with my family this summer, and had a lot of opportunities to chat with road crews as they swung through Washington, D.C.—but the long summer days also gave me the time to prepare for my busiest (and favorite) season of the year. Add a comment

TOUR:  Bon Jovi’s Because We Can Tour

GIG: Lighting Director

TOUR DATES:  Through Oct. 25, 2013

With more than 200 DJs and other artists on seven stages over two three-day weekends (March 15-17 and 22-24), book-ending (and dwarfing) the annual Winter Music Conference from which it sprang in 1999, the 15^th annual Ultra Music Festival smashed its own impressive records for growth by drawing some 330,000 revelers to Miami’s Bayfront Park, doubling 2012’s 165,000 attendee count.

Somebody had to do it. Who else but Charlie Hernandez?

A menacing rainstorm in Rio de Janeiro flooded the Formula 1 racing field where the next insane episode of the Guns N’ Roses tour of South America was going down. A delay in getting Guns N’ Roses on stage was nothing new, though this time the weather was not helping. Unwisely, the local promoter let the crowd onto the field during load in. Hernandez and associate Lori Tierney were above in the announcer tower, surveying the mayhem. “Charlie and I were looking out on this seething crowd when [Dale] “Opie” [Skjerseth] comes in and announces that we still needed to run the snake from the stage to FOH. I looked down at that riot, and I said, ‘are you kidding me?’”

Then a wide-eyed grinning Hernandez chirped: “I’ll do it!” Add a comment

Although getting hurt on the job is the last thing anyone wants to think about, it happens.  So while you’re thinking about it, have you thought about where you might turn if you’re injured so badly that you can no longer work or find yourself unexpectedly ill and off work for several months? Add a comment

LS-Live Updates Prolyte’s LiteConsole with Video for Ibiza Rocks

LS-Live has created a custom triple-size DJ booth to amp up the visual performance of well-known DJs for live music/dance hotel brand Ibiza Rocks. The three-meter-long DJ booth featured a front wall of LED panels which, from an audience perspective, merges visually with the big LED screen behind the DJ, allowing the artist to become immersed in the show. Add a comment

All the developments in sound and lighting, all the visual candy designed by our greatest, most imaginative scenic designers, wouldn’t mean anything if an equally creative visionary did not know how to make it all fly. That’s the conclusion the Parnelli Board of Advisors came to in choosing to bestow the Parnelli Visionary Award to Joe Branam. Not only is he one of the rigging pioneers; he founded Branam Enterprises, an institution that has always and continues to create endless possibilities.

The readers have put the spotlight on who they think are the best of the best of their region when it comes to lighting, staging, and/or video. We have some fresh faces and some “repeat offenders.” All of these are bestowed with a little something to hang on their wall with the Parnelli logo and all the honor, glory, and bragging rights that go with it. Take a look at the companies here that you might not be familiar with, and reacquaint yourself with others — before heading on over to www.parnelliawards.com to vote for the best of the best. The winning company will be honored with the Hometown Hero Lighting Company of the Year award at the Parnelli Awards Oct. 20, 2012 at the Mirage in Las Vegas.