20.07.2023 | Inspiring illumination: Elation Artiste lights Harvest Crusade in Southern California

Harvest Church held its annual Harvest Crusade evangelistic outreach July 1-2 at a packed Honda Center in Anaheim, California, and Elation Artiste series lights played a key role in creating a revival-like atmosphere for the 32,000 live attendees while helping to captivate over 200,000 who tuned in online. This was Harvest's first-ever crusade at the Honda Center where attendees also enjoyed two nights of performances from award-winning Christian artists.

Proteus to Artiste
Chris Eguizabal, a seasoned Harvest veteran with 12 years of experience overseeing production elements for Harvest events, served as the Production Manager for the two-day worship experience. Throughout the years, they have frequently utilized Elation lighting on Harvest Crusade events, specifically the IP65 Proteus line as the event is typically held outdoors at Angel Stadium. However, for this year's indoor event, a different lighting setup was chosen.

"It was an easy fix for us to switch to Elation indoor fixtures and we decided to go with the Artiste Monet™ and Artiste Rembrandt™," Chris stated, noting that they were looking for fixtures that were widely available. Harvest's primary lighting vendor, BCT Entertainment, had a substantial stock of Monets and they then partnered with Volt Lites to supply the Rembrandts for the event.

Monet and Rembrandt
This year's show, performed in the round, featured a rig of 64 Artiste Monets and over 40 Artiste Rembrandts, the LED-based luminaires all working from pre-rigged trusses surrounding the stage. Most of the lights were utilized for stage effects with some of the outer fixtures used for house effects, gobo looks, etc. Several fixtures on the outside trusses worked with an automated followspot system as key lights to track performers or speakers.

"The color temperature control, framing and brightness make the Monet an ideal fixture for key lighting," Chris stated, adding that he accessed the fixture's full feature set for the event, including the wide zoom. The 51,000-lumen Artiste Rembrandt served mostly as a house wash during speaking moments to highlight audience reactions. Chris commented, "Vendors that own these fixtures rave about how easy they are to turn around and what a great workhorse they are."

BCT Entertainment
This was Anaheim-based production company BCT Entertainment's third year collaborating on the event. BCT has owned their fleet of Artiste Monets for a year and according to BCT co-owner Brian Longhofer, the fixtures have always stepped up. "At 45,000 lumens they are a cannon and there is so much to play with from framing shutters to color mixing to gobo effects," he said, noting that BCT is dedicated to investing in LED source fixtures like the Artiste line. "The cost of ownership is lower, the output is even, and I don't have to spend a lot of money replacing lamps. There are a lot of pluses from an ownership standpoint as well as from a design standpoint."

Established in 2000, BCT is a full service, one-stop-shop that carries a large rental inventory of lighting, control, audio, video and staging equipment. The company prioritizes exceptional customer service and support, values that closely align with Elation's commitment to its customers. "Much like Elation, we pride ourselves on extreme customer service and that resonates with customers," Brian remarked.

Exceeding expectations
Working as a lighting programmer on Harvest Crusade for the second year running was Nick Valdez, who has been with Harvest for eight years. He explains that the event comprised a combination of impactful, big flash looks with more introspective, somber moments with a lot of audience shots to actively involve the crowd. The unique in-the-round format presented an enjoyable challenge, he said, as it required thoughtful consideration for each lighting arrangement.

Nick has used the Monet fixture extensively and says he has enjoyed the Artiste line ever since it came out. "It's one of those fixtures where you get everything you expect out of it," he said. During last year's event at Angel Stadium, Nick used the Monet in the role of key lights, and though he initially had concerns about their brightness, they exceeded his expectations even when operated at 60% intensity. "This year for the indoor show, we're covering the entire arena with brightness and gobos and it looks great."

Chris Eguizabal concludes by stating that although he works on a wide spectrum of exciting events the Harvest Crusade is special because of its message of hope and great family atmosphere. He also appreciates the team he gets to work with. "The companies we work with on this, BCT and Elation, really support our vision and goal and the camaraderie is great. I always tell people that if the gear is great but the customer service isn't, then it's just a product at that point."
Hundreds of media outlets across the U.S. broadcast and livestreamed the Harvest Crusade event, which featured performances by Grammy award-winning singers Chris Tomlin and Michael W Smith, among others, as well as a message from Pastor Greg Laurie. Since 1990, Harvest Crusades have been held in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.