7th Annual Club World Awards
January 2009
Best Lighting System
Steve LIEBERMAN of SJ Lighting for Versus, Los Angeles
Light guru Steve Lieberman is nominated for an award in this category every year, and has two wins under his belt. This time, he was contracted to build a well-equipped custom truss for Versus. It currently occupies the same space of the former Los Angeles Stock Exchange. The fully motorized truss is ornamented with a wide variety of moving lights, strobes, LEDs, blinders, and a custom laser. The rig is controlled by an MA Lighting grandMA console. –PM
Matthew Paupst of FBP Group, Lavo, Las Vegas
From the same people who brought Tao to Vegas, Lavo is a mid-sized club with a Mediterranean bathhouse theme. FBP Group's Matthew Paupst was behind this elegant install. The stream-lined system utilizes modern lighting data management that requires almost no maintenance at all. The full lighting and video system is controlled using Artnet and has a basic network infrastructure for redundancy, making it almost impossible to fail. –PM
Joe Zamore of Lighting Methods for Glo, Westbury, N.Y.
This year was a busy one for the double-nominated Zamore. His Glo install features a Schonbek crystal chandelier spinning and changing color, a custom Saco 22mm pitch LED wall, and the entire perimeter of the room changing digital graphics through the use of LED nodes. "The concept for the room was to be able to change the feel, color and visuals of the room by simply replacing the digital content," explains Zamore. A unique, hinged motorized truss system with a "battery of lighting fixtures" floats above the dancefloor. –PM
Best Video System
SJ LIGHTING, INC., WITH SOUND INVESTMENT for RokVegas, Las Vegas
Steve Lieberman's SJ Lighting (also nominated in the Lighting category) installed Vegas' first 360-degree seamless video screen here. The 12' high 75' long and 40' wide screen is powered by High End Systems Axon servers and switching is handled by a Crestron control system. Video content is triggered by an MA grandMA lighting console and was developed by VJ Vello Virkhaus. Another all-star on this project: programmer Scott Chmieleski, who designed the video system for the Beijing Olympics. –PM
Bob Athey of FBP Group for Lavo, Las Vegas
Within a limited workspace, the FBP Group (which is also up for its lighting work on Best New Venue-nominee Lavo) needed to find a projector with a .6 to 1 lens ratio to allow it enough coverage for the soft edge blending for the venue's dome. Four BenQ MP 771 projectors were the solution. It also utilized the Coolux Pandora's Box LT media server's spherical mapping technology, so it could map to the contour of the sphere in the dome. –PM
Steve Rosstad of US Communications for Hawaiian Tropic Zone, Las Vegas
On any given night at the Hawaiian Tropic Zone restaurant on the Strip, you will see hot go-go girls strutting down the catwalk in front of the biggest video wall in the country. Composed of 36 63-inch Samsung screens, the HTZ video wall is capable of 36 individual feeds, or it can be split into 4x4, 3x3, and 2x2 sections. The wall is controlled by custom touch-screen computers that also have an integrated manual. –PM
Michael McCray for Beta, Denver
The main projection surface for Beta (which is up for an envy-inducing number of awards this year, including Best New) is a Da-Lite 21' HD widescreen front projection video screen. This is complemented by Sanyo HD plasmas and Samsung 60-inch rear projection HD TVs throughout the venue. VJs mix with an EDIROL by Roland V4 with inputs from Pioneer DVJ-1000s, a MacBook Pro, a Sony PTZ camera and an HD cable box. Video DJs, such as Sander Klienenberg, also have the option to use the Pioneer SVM-1000 audio/video mixer. –PM
Ohm Productions for Tattoo Bar, Washington, DC
The only rock-themed bar on this year's ballot is Michael Romeo Group's Tattoo Bar. Ohm Productions made sure there wasn't a place in the venue where you didn't have a view of the video screens. The main screen is a 100" custom rear projection screen, which is supported by a 63" Samsung plasma, a Sony Bravia 42" LCD and five Samsung widescreen LCD monitors. –PM
Original article written in Club World Magazine or view a PDF.