19.08.2016 | Elation Platinum Series Movers and Effects for MLB All-Star Bash 2016

Prior to Major League Baseball’s 2016 All-Star Game on July 12th at Petco Park in San Diego, an All-Star Game FanFest took place the week leading up to the annual Midsummer Classic. One of the FanFest’s most popular events was the MLB All-Star Bash where top acts Akon, Fall Out Boy and DJ Vice performed beneath a lighting rig that included Platinum Series™ moving heads, ACL Bar 360™ LED effect lights and Colour Chorus Series™ LED battens from Elation Professional.

Held on July 10th at the Sails Pavilion at the San Diego Convention Center, Aspect Lighting of Southern California, managed by owner Sid Khera, supplied the lighting and truss structure for the event. Lighting design was by Phil Shearer of lighting and production design company Shearer Entertainment with Aspect Lighting’s Larry Doerr providing creative design and layout input. Lighting design assistance was from Nick Coauette.

Underscoring the importance of the event was the fact that Fall Out Boy LD Robb Jibson flew in for the show as did Akon LD Lenny Douglas, both of whom had at their disposal a flexible rig that served both as performance lighting and lighting for the Bash party. “We had to be mindful of the performers and their system needs while keeping the look of the party,” LD Phil Shearer explains. “The rig was used twofold – as a performance rig and as a party rig for decorative looks and dancing. Programming time was very limited and there was no pre-visualization so there were separate control systems that were discreet of each other which meant that the guest LDs were not hindered by the party lighting.”

Elation’s industry staple Platinum Beam 5R Extreme™ beam lights were mounted on vertical pipe up- and downstage of the proscenium while Platinum SBX™ hybrid moving heads were positioned over the stage for backlighting the entertainment. “We used the SBX for a nice flood of light and used the diffuser wheel for a nice, flat beam for the camera,” Shearer said of the 15,000 lumen hybrid fixture that can be used as a spot, beam, or wash light. “There was 270-degrees of video projection so we had to be mindful of fixture placement as we didn’t want to spill on to the screens.”

A visual highlight of the rig was a baseball diamond-shaped truss lined with ACL Bar 360™ color-changing LED battens, each fixture with seven 15W RGBW LEDs and capable of continuous 360° rotation. “The ACL 360 Bars were perfect for the baseball diamond truss,” Shearer says, who adds that the design idea came from Larry Doerr. “We wanted something that would complement the diamond and the ACL’s worked out great. We used them to their fullest. They are very dynamic and were used for both the performers and the dance at the end of the night.”

The lighting brief involved creating a club vibe around the space and in that respect washes of dynamic color was essential. Positioned around the perimeter of the room and used for decorative color lighting were Elation’s Colour Chorus 48™ and Colour Chorus 72™ LED batten wash lights with RGBA LEDs. “They gave a nice subtle wash around the room and allowed us to manipulate the color effectively,” Shearer stated. “They were essentially used to complement what was going on on stage and project it out into the room.”

Aspect Lighting has stocked Elation gear for years and has quite a bit of Elation product in their inventory, which gave Shearer a wide choice of tools to pick from. “Elation had not only the right tool for the right job but also the right tool for the budget,” he says. “In today’s events where budgets are tight and watched very closely, they really gave us bang for the buck and allowed us to do a lot with a little. Being able to pick and choose from a palette of tools was key.”

This was Aspect’s first year working the event and with client Living Color Events (Marc Burton, Technical Director; Jake Setser, Creative Director). “It was a lot of work in a short period of time,” Larry Doerr remarked after the event was over. “It was really a big success and worked out well.” The MLB All-Star Bash was produced by Noah Flom of Ark Endeavors.

Lighting Designer/Programmer: Phil Shearer - Shearer Entertainment
Assistant Lighting Designer/Programmer: Nick Coauette
Production Electrician: ‘Wild’ Bill Lemkehul

Elation Equipment:
44 x ACL Bar 360™
24 x Platinum Beam 5R Extreme™
18 x Platinum SBX™
18 x Colour Chorus 72™
14 x Colour Chorus 48™
7 x eNode8 Pro™
24 x Opto Branch 8 

Photos: Javier Castellanos