Aktuelle News & Schlagzeilen

Corona: Elation lights chosen for Southern California’s “Concerts in Your Car”

Drive-in concerts have become the necessary norm under the pandemic and Southern California’s moderate climate makes it possible for these events to take place late into the year. Enhanced by a complement of Elation Professional lights, “Concerts in Your Car”, presented by CBF Productions at two SoCal locations, are some of the most popular in that region.

“Concerts in Your Car” debuted June 26, 2020, at the Ventura County Fairgrounds north of Los Angeles and branched out to a second site, the Del Mar Fairgrounds near San Diego, in September. Victor Ortiz, owner of audio-visual company Darvik Productions of Ventura, worked together on the project with CBF Productions founder and CEO Vincenzo Giammanco.

“It all started back in April when our first spring festival of the year was cancelled”, recounts Ortiz, who says that he and Giammanco do about a dozen events together in a year. “We started wondering what the year was going to look like and had heard that Europe was starting to do some drive-in shows. We started to brainstorm what a drive-in venue here would look like, how to build it, etc. By the end of April we knew we’d have to pivot and the idea for ‘Concerts in Your Car’ was born.”

“Concerts in Your Car” at the Ventura County Fairgrounds featured a package of Elation Professional luminaires in a setup that was replicated for the Del Mar site. A typical week at the Del Mar site, which debuted September 25 and has a capacity of 700 vehicles, sees movies on a big screen, hosts local bands or theatre plays, and then stages bigger acts on the weekend. Sundays are reserved for church services or private events.

Shows are held on a four-sided stage with a 14-ft high by 26-ft wide video screen gracing each side. Ortiz and Darvik’s role included coming up with a stage, video and lighting design that could cater to a large, open fairgrounds space. “It's a very flat ground that required a high stage so we came up with an 8-ft high, 360-degree stage design that lets cars in the back rows see as well”, says Ortiz, who also oversaw the build as production manager.

The designer says that because they wanted to avoid followspot towers that would obstruct vehicles, bands of Elation Seven Batten 72s were placed all around the stage that act as footlights/key lights. On each side of the stage are Cuepix 16 IP matrix LED panels with all-weather protection that serve as blinders and houselights. Spread throughout the rig as backlight, and mounted in a center circle truss for stage lighting, are Seven Par 7 IP par wash luminaires, which are also used as truss warmers to set the entire structure aglow.

Concluding the Elation package, Protron 3K Color LED strobes work from the circle truss for special effects while SixPar 100 color-changing Par lights highlight branding on the structure’s skin. Other automated lights also make up the lighting package and some acts do bring in a supplemental floor package. Atmospheric haze and mid-air projection canopy is provided by Antari M-11 foggers.

Darvik Productions supplied all the lighting for both “Concert in Your Car” sites and worked with Elation’s Raul Fonseca on the Elation portion of the rig.

(Photos: Brittany Berggren - www.brittanyberggren.com)

www.elationlighting.com

© 1999 - 2024 Entertainment Technology Press Limited News Stories