Blasted Mechanism Tour. ©Vasco Lopes.

Jands Vista I3 lighting consoles have provided show lighting control for the latest tours of high-profile Portuguese artists Blasted Mechanism and João Pedro Pais.

Portuguese lighting design company, Lamp On! Creative Solutions have three Vista I3 lighting consoles in their rental stock for use by its team of lighting designers; Vitor Azevedo, brother Pedro Azevedo and Rui Rodrigues. The company chose the mid-range Vista I3 model due to its combination of affordability and built-in Linux operating system, providing their ideal touring solution.

LD Vitor Azevedo used one of the Vista consoles on the recent João Pedro Pais Portuguese tour to launch their latest album, A Palma E A Mão. The wide variety of venue sizes, ranging from small clubs to large outdoor arenas, necessitated using different local suppliers and rigs on a daily basis. As with his previous tours using the Vista, Vitor found that the console’s generic fixture model allowed him to easily change fixture types as the rig changed from venue to venue.

Joao Pedro Pais Tour. ©Paulo Maria

He commented: “Touring means a lot of different things. We have to swap between different lighting equipment suppliers, different festival rigs with a lot more fixtures and theatre shows that involve a different patch every night. The Vista gives us the ability to cope with these daily changes and still maintain the same high quality stage looks. The console’s generic fixture model enables our shows to grow and be easily adapted.”

Lamp On! LD Pedro Azevedo has been impressed by the Vista’s visually-based user interface, which has enabled him to build his shows more effectively.

Pedro commented: “I have found the Vista much faster for creating the stage looks and effects I want than on previous consoles I have used. In commercial terms, this means I can give the customer a more rapid and efficient show, and as a result exceed their demands for the final production.”

Other Lamp On! clients whose shows have recently been controlled by the Vista include Buraka Som Sistema, TeraTron and the Anjos.

The company introduced freelance lighting designer, Cristóvão Veríssimo, to the Vista for the current international tour of electro-rock band Blasted Mechanism. After the introduction, Cristóvão received training and technical support for his first Vista tour from Portuguese dealer, Garrett Audiovisuals.

Blasted Mechanism have a reputation for their highly theatrical live shows, which involve elaborate
alien-themed costumes, visuals and unique musical instruments built for them. The Vista’s timeline has proved the perfect tool for the band’s vision, which requires perfect synchronisation between sound, image and light.

Featuring a main lighting rig supplied by Coimbra-based production company, Stageland, the show is timecoded, with a separate cuelist for each of the 27 songs and about 700 steps.

Cristóvão commented: “With the Vista’s timeline I can modify all parameters of fixtures and times of cues in a way that takes much less time than on other consoles I have used. I have finally found a lighting desk that really shares my visual way of thinking. Now I can do more sophisticated shows.”

© Dabney Forest

Once again, a Jands Vista T2 console has provided lighting control for an event winner at the InfoComm / LSA Staged Events Awards. Freeman received the 2010 ‘Best Overall Staging for a Corporate Industrial Entertainment Event’ award for their work on the American Library Association’s Annual Conference.

The annual awards are held at the InfoComm tradeshow and represent achievements in AV excellence in some of the most unique and challenging environments. One judge commented on the winning Freeman event:
“It is difficult for a lighting submission to grab attention when it’s up against so many great total staging projects with video. But lighting is one area that can own a show if it is done properly and this event exemplifies the power of light over the audience.”

Freeman, a world-leading provider of integrated services for face to face marketing events, provided full lighting, audio, video and scenic elements for the winning conference. The multi-day event featured 20 guest speakers discussing their works as well as an awards ceremony.

The event lighting design was by Freeman AV Chicago’s in house LD, Anne Sedlock with programming by Dabney Forest. Anne let Dabney choose her console of choice, the Jands Vista T2, a popular choice in Freeman AV Chicago’s rental inventory. Anne commented:
“We use the Vista T2 on almost all this style of show. It provides us with the flexibility and the ease of use we need to get our shows up and looking great in very little time.”

The challenge was how to give the single stage a unique look for each day of the conference presentations, as well as for the awards ceremony. Anne’s lighting concept was to make the stage scenic elements really stand out by using numerous unique looks to keep the lighting fresh.

For the main scenic element, a massive curved frame covered in white spandex material, Anne used Chroma-Q™ Color Split™ LED fixtures to provide subtle looks of gradiant color uplighting from the base of the structure. Chroma-Q™ Color Block™ compact LED units were used to get into the many curves of the scenic piece and add highlights where needed, as well as adding a hint of colour to the drape line upstage. In addition, Vari-Lite VL3500 Spots provided a layer of downlighting and texture. All fixtures were chosen from Freeman AV Chicago’s in-house inventory.

Summarising her experience of the Vista, Dabney commented:
“It’s not often we get such a great canvas to paint our lights on. As with many shows, for the ALA we got very little time to program. The Vista allows me to create looks efficiently and quickly. I know I can rely on the speed that the Vista’s interface offers to do the things I need to both fast and easily, whether ‘drawing’ precise shutter cuts on my VL3500s, quickly moving icons around my layouts as the rig changes, or copying whole looks across different fixture types. Then of course, there’s ‘extracts’. In the current economic environment, it’s rare for a show to allow for the kind of programming time that was standard in years past. Frankly, without the Vista I could not have made the intricate looks the show needed in the time I had available.”

Altar Boyz, The Bristol Riverside Theatre, Bristol PA.

Lighting designer David Pedemonti specified a Jands Vista S3 console, his desk of choice, to provide lighting control for a regional production of the hit US Off Broadway show, Altar Boyz.

David was particularly impressed with the Vista’s ability to combine big bold looks with the show’s precise comic timing, and how quick and easy the show was to programme using the console’s unique visually based lighting plot.

Summarizing his experience of the Vista, David commented: “As a theatrical lighting designer, I am always searching for a console that handles well the conventional fixtures along with the moving heads and LEDs. The Jands Vista, for me, has addressed the entire process of cueing a show for all types of fixtures. The Vista’s interface and timeline make the concept of lighting much more user friendly, particularly when working with video and audio in a multimedia production.”

Rent at SUNY Geneseo. Photo ©Benjamin Gajewski

The State University of New York at Geneseo has purchased a Jands Vista T2 full size console for its School of the Arts faculty, which provides degree courses in stage lighting design, technical theatre and stagecraft.

Located in the historic village of Geneseo, the University is a premier public liberal arts college with a rich tradition of academic excellence. The campus facilities include a state-of-the-art theatre used for practical lessons and assessments, as well as an array of faculty-directed and student-directed productions, community-produced shows, dance concerts and musical theatre revues.

With a focus on teaching students to use the very latest industry technologies, Johnnie Ferrell, associate professor of theatre and technical director at the School of the Arts, decided it was time to upgrade their lighting console to something more modern, powerful and capable of handing the increasing number of intelligent fixtures.

Being active in the U.S. Institute of Theatre Technology, he decided to visit the USITT show to get hands-on experience of the latest lighting consoles available. After evaluating several popular industry consoles, Johnnie was impressed by the Jands Vista so arranged a demonstration for himself and his students at the University, provided by Jands exclusive North American distributor, A.C. Lighting Inc.

The Vista’s modern, graphic interface, pen-tablet control and ease of use made a big impression on Johnnie and the students, so he purchased a full size T2 console for the University’s theatre via local company, BMI Supply in Queensbury, New York.

Johnnie commented: “I have never had a lighting desk that is so easy to use. You can set cues faster and easier than anything I have ever used. The patch is always a snap as well.”

The console is primarily being used in the University’s 386-seater Alice Austin Theatre to control a lighting rig which includes various Altman, ETC, Elation and Vari-Lite intelligent and conventional fixtures. The Vista has also been used in the campus’s 950-seater Wadsworth Auditorium and 150-seater Robert Sinclair Black Box.

Student productions programmed on the Vista include The Clean House, Fool for Love, Rent, Pirates of Penzance, The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, as well as dance concerts every semester.

In addition to using the console on-site, the students also frequently edit their shows away from the campus using the free PC and native Mac-based Vista offline editor software.

Summarizing his experience of the Vista, Johnnie commented: “As my mentor stated about the Vista: did I want a lighting console that students could learn to program, or did I want a console that the students could light with? The students love the Vista and it has quickly become their console of choice.”

tobyMac ©Jeff Culmer

Lighting and video designer Nick West specified a Jands Vista T2 console to provide lighting, IMAG and video control for the recent tobyMac annual Winter Wonder Slam tour. The American Grammy award-winning gospel rapper’s explosive show featured Diverse City, his 8-member touring band, and played a series of US Arena dates throughout November and December. The touring schedule re-commences in March to promote the launch of tobyMac’s latest studio album, Tonight.

Tour lighting was provided by Axxis Inc., with lighting design, direction and programming by Nick West. Video was provided by Big Picture.

When it came to specifying lighting control for the tour, the Jands Vista was Nick’s desk of choice. Nick is an experienced user of the Vista range, switching between a rented full size T2 console for tours and his own S1 control surface for fly dates or using as a wing, which he takes on every show.

He commented: “When I saw the Vista, the timeline and ability to swap fixtures were major selling points. Often I fly to a show that morning and I may only have 30 minutes with the rig before we play, which gives me just enough time to focus. With the Jands Vista’s Mac or PC based offline editor, one quick advance call to get the fixture types and addresses from the local company and I can have the console ready to go before I even show up on site.”

The tour rig centered around a Barco Slite LED video wall upstage for IMAG and a low resolution Barco MiStrips LED wall in front of a 40 foot wide by 5 foot high riser.

120 Par Cans arranged in a 30 by four configuration were also flown in and out during the show, providing a major set piece used to spell out words. Nick was originally going to pixel map the Par Cans, but after starting to pre-program them on the Vista he found the console’s graphical based approach to programming made it very easy.

He commented: “The show starts off with ‘TOBY MAC’ spelled out in the Par Cans. After a couple of shows, Toby asked if I could do something specific with them, such as having them come on as if someone was writing it. I was able to instantly grab the fixtures, work with them in the timeline and have the effect within 30 seconds of him asking for it.”

The rig also included 22 Martin Mac 700 profiles, ten 26 degree Source Four Lekos, three ETC Sensor racks and two Motion Labs 220V Distros. Video came from a Catalyst HD media server. The lighting, video and live camera feeds were all triggered from the Vista T2 console.

Summarizing his experience of the Vista, Nick commented: “I use the Vista for anything and everything I do. It’s great having on-board visualization of your fixtures and the flexibility to layout the console to your specific needs. The Vista is great for controlling lights, IMAG and video. Technical support for anything is very quick. Jands listen to their users and continually make requests and ideas happen.”

Other production staff on the tour included Tour Manager Ryan Lampa, Stage Manager Sam Shifley, Lighting Crew Chief / FOH Cam Anthony Morgan, Lighting 2nd John “2Tone” Sumitra, LED Tech / Robotic Cams Jeff Culmer, and Shoulder Cam / Video Tech Nick Bush.

Cliff Richard and the Shadows 2009-2010 tour

Lighting and video designer Derek Jones specified a Jands Vista S3 console to provide lighting, IMAG and video control for the 2009 / 2010 Cliff Richard & The Shadows international tour. The sold-out tour recently completed shows at major UK and European arenas, and re-commences in February for a series of dates in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

When Derek discussed the choice of control console with UK and European tour lighting supplier, Lite Alternative, they suggested the Jands Vista S3. Having jumped between using many other consoles, Derek thought it would be a good opportunity to experience for himself the Vista’s graphical based approach to programming. On the strength of trying the free Vista demo software and then using the S3 for a one-off corporate show, he purchased a console to use for the tour.

Derek commented: “I felt very comfortable using the console, particularly the timeline editing function, which appealed to me having used timeline based editing for video editing. I was a bit nervous about the idea of using an unfamiliar console on such a major tour for the first time, but after trying the desk with success on a corporate show and a few hours of the tour rehearsals, I felt completely at home with the Vista.”

Having worked separately for both Cliff Richard and The Shadows over the past ten years, Derek was keen to design a show which suited both acts’ visual style, so he incorporated a mixture of traditional and high-tech show elements.

Derek wanted a multi-functional scenic / IMAG backdrop to save on truck space and provide a dynamic above-stage show replay system which would give the audience a central view of the IMAG. He specified a 13.5m wide by 4.5m high PixLED screen, supplied by XL Video UK.

For the lighting, he opted for a goalpost truss surrounding the screen featuring MAC700 spots and MAC2000 washes, 19 ETC Source Four fixtures and additional floor-mounted MAC700 units. Video came from a Catalyst media server. The Lighting, video and live camera feeds were all triggered from the S3 console.

Summarising his experience of the Vista, Derek commented: “The Vista has served its purpose very well. I feel very much at home with it. Because Vista is very software based, I can use any of the hardware options that Jands have to offer and still feel that I’ve got a full console in front of me.rdquo;

A temporary nightclub installation in Kristiansand, Norway used a Jands Vista T4 lighting console to control a state of the art LED digital lighting, projection and video system featuring Robe DigitalSpot fixtures and a large Chroma-Q™ Color Web™ video effects wall.

Club Salamander was part of the five-day Quart music festival. Built partially over a pond in the middle of a forest, the 3,000 capacity venue was packed out every night to house and electronica performed by leading international DJs including Bob Sinclair, Guru Josh, DJ K-Mixx, Inkfish, Trulz og Robin, Kenny Shifter and Andy Carvell, to name a few.

Stage Concept A/S provided the main production, with additional system equipment sourced from Norway-based production suppliers including Konsertsystemer A/S, Baerum Lyd, Norsk Sceneteknikk A/S and UK-based HSL.

The club’s lighting design was a creative collaboration between Stage Concept A/S, Thor-André Sæther and Baerum Lyd. With little time available for programming the ambitious temporary LED installation, the Jands Vista T4 console was specified due to its stability, fast programming and user-friendly interface, which the team felt would be ideal for their collaboration.

The lighting rig was hung from an 11m by 13m ground support roof over the dancefloor area. Fixtures included Robe’s DigitalSpot 7000 combined digital moving light projector and LED-based wash light, ColorWash 2500E AT and ColorSpot 700E AT moving lights, high power strobes and strip light battens. Further Robe moving lights, Griven Colorado fixtures and LED Par Cans were scattered around the venue to uplight the surrounding trees and create reflections over the water alongside the club. The DJ booth featured a 7m wide by 8m high Chroma-Q Color Web LED video wall, pixel-mapped via a Madrix system and lit through by ColorWash 575AT Zoom fixtures. A Green Hippo HippoCritter media server also fed content to two 50” plasma TV screens in the DJ area.

The Jands Vista console used 12 universes to control the various conventional, moving light and digital lighting and video sources. In addition to using the desk’s four DMX outputs, eight universes were distributed via Art-Net output using the new Chroma-Q Magic Box™ EtherSwitch 7™, a robust, high quality network switch that supports seven simultaneous Gigabit Ethernet network connections.

Club Salamander lighting co-designer, Thor-André Sæther, commented:

“I was the first to take on the Vista in Norway and I have never looked back since. As one of the Club Salamander lighting co-designers and having responsibility for the system set-up, in my opinion there really was no other suitable option than using a Vista T4. We were pressed for time and wanted a console that could handle the 12 universes we needed, as well as having the physical playbacks to make a lot of pre-programmed stuff available without having to cycle through page after page to get to what we suddenly needed. The Vista amazed me again with its ease of setup. Everything connected and worked flawlessly on the first attempt. The speed of programming achievable was a huge factor; along with the encoders it gave total control.

As for the Color Web, I personally don’t know of any other product that could have done the same job.
It comes together easily and it’s lightweight. Two hours with two people was all it took to configure, assemble and hang it. It created a fantastic visual framing for the DJs and drew a lot of attention from the clubbers towards them during the nights, which was what we wanted.”

Lighting designer Dave Boser of Image Technologies Corporation specified a pair of Jands Vista I3 consoles to provide lighting control for the Silpada Designs 2009 National Convention in Missouri. Silpada is one of the nation’s largest sterling silver jewelry home party companies, with over 28,000 independent representatives. This year’s three-day annual conference at the Kansas City Convention Center attracted nearly 6,000 sales representatives and featured presentations, an awards night and an entertainment night.

The live event was produced by Doug Flory and production managed by Bob Casey, with technical direction by Mark Scanlon. Lighting design / direction / programming was by Dave Boser, and master electricians Nick Wisdom and Michelle Morin assisted with the rig install and strike. Image Technologies Corporation provided all lighting and rigging equipment for the event.
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Indiana based Grace Community Church has invested in a range of Vista lighting control solutions as part of a multi-million dollar expansion of its worship facilities. Models purchased include the full-size Vista T2, the portable Vista S1 and the playback-only Vista M1 consoles. This is to expand the church’s capacity to three weekend worship auditoriums, to accommodate as many as 6,000 churchgoers on a typical weekend.

The Church relies on a team of over 100 volunteers to assist the paid production staff during services, which can run simultaneously in up to three auditoriums. Senior Director of Production, Daryl Cripe, therefore felt it was essential to invest in a lighting console that the inexperienced volunteers could easily understand.
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