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NXT is a high school youth group at Calvary Church in Naperville, Illinois, and Breakaway is their annual winter weekend retreat of activities, competitions, worship and music. Lighting designer Justin Litterio has been designing the lighting for the Breakaway events for the past couple of years and this year turned to Elation's ACL 360 Bar, a rotating LED color-changing batten, to light musical acts at two separate retreats, one in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, in January and another in February Carlinville, Illinois.
“I chose the ACL 360 Bars for their bright blade-like look,” says Litterio, who has spec'd the ACL 360 Bar fixtures on other events but says this was his first time operating them. “Coupled with their 360-degree motion and pixel map ability, I was able to create dynamic looks as well as motion texture backgrounds from the same light.” Litterio placed the fixtures on truss towers in vertical groups of three at staggered heights to provide eye candy as well as textured backgrounds, impressionable looks that filled the stage in sweeps of narrow-beamed, colored light. He said that the look was so well received that other youth groups at the event were asking for the same gear for their retreats.
Production lighting vendor for both retreats was Chicago-based JR Lighting Design, Inc., their second year providing lighting for the Calvary Breakaway events. “The ACL 360 Bars are an excellent addition to our rental inventory,” says Jason Reberski, president at JR Lighting. “We have utilized them both in local production as well as national touring applications. They are bright, reliable and accepted on riders. What's not to love?”
Also in the rig at both retreats were SixPar 100 LED Par color changers, used to provide a wide array of color washes onto the audience. Placed evenly along two 40' trusses running the length of both sides of the room, the SixPars were chosen for their “bright even wash, wide gamut of colors and the minimal detracting from the COB chipsets,” Litterio says, adding that having the UV in the SixPar's color choice was key since this event had a lot of glow parties.
Jason Reberski at JR Lighting adds, “The SixPar and SixBar ranges have been very successful for us. In fact, it is rare that we provide a tour or show that doesn't have a few SixBars or SixPars on it! They produce a wide range of color and high quality white light mixes in a host of form factors and the addition of true ultraviolet LEDs increases their usefulness in our inventory.” Used to provide the atmospheric haze and mid-air projection canopy on the shows were powerful yet fluid-sipping Antari Z-350 Fazers.
Justin Litterio acknowledges JR Lighting for their support and Danny Velez, “...for giving us the chance to create this space for his client.” He also thanks JR Lighting Director of Operations Kevin Rosenhagen for his logistical support on making all the pieces come together.
