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POSTSCRIPT: LOOKING BACK

The field of concert lighting has moved well beyond the narrow label of rock & roll lighting. In the past decade we have seen methods originally developed for tour lighting adopted by or adapted to dance, theatre, Broadway, theatre and dance bus and truck companies, television, theme parks, architecture, and, yes, even opera. Film is the latest to use trussing, multicable, and moving luminaires. The use of the PAR-64 luminaire and freer use of bold color media attest to the acceptance of some of these approaches.

Early concert-style rock & roll performances on television were accepted by the viewing public so well that the television people took notice, even if they did not jump in with both feet. I introduced the use of color projected on people rather than limited to the cyclorama on the Don Kirshner Rock Concert series in 1973. Now the PAR-64 finds wide use on location video. It is becoming rare to find a television studio where a PAR-64 or two is not in use. Now LEDs are showing up imbedded in sets. Moving luminaires are a staple on game shows.

I am not advocating the ouster of the venerable Fresnel, but I am an advocate for continued change. Change happens in two ways: through new inventions and, probably more realistic for theatre and its sister media, through the borrowing of techniques and equipment. Lighting has never been a heavily financed area of research in the theatrical arts; therefore, we must take what we can from other sources.

One reason for the surge in new equipment is that the manufacturers have all these new venues that are buying their concert products.

Concert designers and their equipment suppliers have taken found space and created “theatre.” When people are able to reach beyond the rock & roll label, they can see what real advances have been made, both in design potential and in the high-tech electronic explosion spearheaded by the intelligent, moving luminaire.

The prejudice against concert lighting has vanished. All entertainment media users are smart enough to know a good thing when they see it and when it is economically viable to use. Take the good elements and discard the bad; improve techniques and adapt them to other areas. This is the essential character of theatre, the great adapter.

This book reveals only a small portion of what concert tour lighting has to offer. The Bibliography provides the names of magazines and books about concert lighting. For those who need to broaden their basic knowledge of lighting, this list of resources is essential to making use of the full potential of the material discussed in this book. There are even schools that teach this high technology in graduate theatre programs or programs geared to the media.

I hope you will look into these to add to your store of knowledge.

WHERE IS CONCERT LIGHTING TECHNOLOGY HEADED?

Concert, touring, and all theatrical lighting will continue to embrace digital technology and “green” energy efficiency. More manufacturers are developingautomated luminaires that are essentially video projectors on a pan/tilt yoke. These instruments are becoming more powerful and are able to deliver output levels commensurate with 575-, 700-, and 1200-watt arc source luminaires. Such a light, with fewer moving mechanical parts, will offer many advantages over one that is limited by metal or glass gobos and color wheels. The industry is also enamored of video content material as an integral part of stage shows. Digital luminaires can be used to easily add these elements to any presentation in creative ways. More tours will take advantage of LEDs to reduce power consumption, and at the same time the lighting designer will gain a whole new color vocabulary. The issue of “pure white” will be solved, and they will fi nd wider application in television and film. The costs are dropping everyday on LED chips, and they are almost indestructible, so replacement costs and downtime to change a lamp will be eliminated.

Is this all? No, not by a long shot. As I have said in each of the previous two editions of this book, there is always something just over the horizon. Somewhere in a guy's basement or in the R&D lab of a giant company is the next great widget. Stay tuned!