Change to Believe In

A pair of fresh faces marked this year's video, lighting and sound systems winners.

By Kevin Capp | Club World

May 2009

Best Video System winner Rokvegas

The fact that SJ Lighting, Inc., received a Club World Award nomination in '08 for Best Lighting didn't surprise anyone. After all, the company is a fixture in that category and has won twice, in 2005 (Crobar) and 2006 (Nocturnal). But when, along with its "sister" company Sound Investment, SJ took top honors for Best Video for its work on Rokvegas, the industry took notice. So did SJ designer Stephen Lieberman: "We have been involved in video work for many years." But, he adds, "Typically it has been a secondary priority to our clients. Rokvegas is unique in…that the video is the primary focus and the lighting is secondary." The system's focal point is a 75' long, 40' wide and 12' high elliptical video screen powered by 15 High End Systems Axon servers. Content is tapped via an MA grandMA lighting controller. That, plus custom content engineered by V Squared Labs available in high-definition to all 14 projectors, is perhaps why Lieberman says: "The system is only limited by imagination."

SJ and Sound Investment's win wasn't the only surprise. Among those competing for Best Sound, Mike McCray of Speed of Sound and Sound Investment seemed to have a lock on the disco globe for Beta. They equipped the cutting-edge Denver club with a robust and powerful set-up that boasted four independently amplified and EQ'd full-range Funktion-One Dance Array System speaker stacks, making Beta the first venue in the country to house them.

But, to the surprise of many, the judges thought FBP Group's all Dynacord system for Las Vegas' Body English deserved the nod. "The win is greatly appreciated, but it is more important that FBP Group provided the client an accurate and superlative end product," says company spokeswoman Kat Baum. That attitude is doubtlessly what helped the local installer—which was also up for Best Video and Best Lighting for the Tao Group's latest venue, Lavo—grab the globe. Focus on the result, not the accolades. And what a result.

Besides a royal array of Dynacord components—including four Dynacord X/190 cabinets, three Dynacord Alpha B-3 subwoofers and five Dynacord PowerH 5000 amplifiers—FBP also rigged Body English with "pre-configured FIR filters as a baseline for tuning the room," says Baum. "This allowed us to tune the speaker to the room."

There were no gasps of shock when Lighting Methods landed in the top slot for Best Lighting for Acapulco's Palladium. And not because, given that the company was also up for its install of Westbury, New York, venue Glo, it had double the chances to win. Rather, it's because legendary designer Joe Zamore has built a sterling reputation since his start in the 1970s, when he had a hand in Studio 54, among other (in)famous dance palaces.

Palladium, of course, is well-known for its interstellar lighting show, and this year its atmospherics were given an adrenaline shot straight to its illuminated vein with a noholds-barred upgrade. Although the install's centerpiece is the gargantuan floor-to-ceiling, 36'x8' Martin LC video wall, the DJ booth is nothing to scoff at either: It's tricked-out with 180 Icocolor Module Color Kinetics. As Zamore notes, this provides "live EQ of the music playing…displayed on the booth on cue." Seeing, in this case, is hearing.

Of course, such an install in an often volatile country doesn't come easy. Which is why Zamore refuses to hog all the credit. "Working in Mexico is always a challenge and a learning experience. But, as always, my hosts [Palladium owners] The Rullan Family provided anything required. Having a client that always wants the latest and greatest is our blessing."

Original article written in Club World Magazine or view a PDF.