The Warfield Enters a New Era of Lighting with the Philips Vari-Lite VLZ

	Rapper Nipsey Hussle performs at the famed Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, which recently upgraded its stage lighting rig to include Philips Vari-Lite's new VLZ Spot fixtures. Photo: Niko Rodriguez

Signify announces that the famed Warfield Theatre in downtown San Francisco, California has upgraded its stage lighting with its latest LED technology. Now using the new Philips Vari-Lite VLZ Spot luminaire, plus wash lights from Signify's Showline range, the venue is enjoying the many benefits of the company's latest innovations.

The Warfield, operated by Goldenvoice, has a rich history. Since opening in the 1930s it has hosted a Who's Who of stars, from Al Jolson and Charlie Chaplin to Bob Dylan and Nirvana. With an eye on the future, the lighting upgrade had two aims. Firstly, to continue to deliver the highest standards of performance lighting, and secondly, to exploit the latest advances in LED technology to reduce both environmental impact and operating costs.

The choice of the VLZ Spots, along with the SL BEAM 500fx and 300fx wash fixtures, meets all these criteria and is paying multiple dividends for the Warfield. "The LED sources mean a drastic decrease in power consumption, heat generation, and, perhaps most importantly to management, the possible zeroing out of our lamp-restocking budget," said the Warfield's lighting director Rob Robertson.

At the same time, the Warfield needed quality optical systems for smooth fields of light, powerful output, high-level color rendering, and all the features and effects capability expected of today's stage lighting tools. The luminaires from the Signify Entertainment portfolio are meeting these requirements too. Of the VLZ Spot, Robertson said, "The dimming is fantastic. In particular I've been impressed by the unsurpassed brightness for an LED source, the best-in-class optical range, and the quality and clarity of the light output."

He added, "We were drawn to this as the only LED spot in this class of light output. Others in the market have a robust feature set, but lack the output, which we felt was important in a venue of our size. Having high-output spot fixtures over our stage gives us greater flexibility and variety in lighting positions and looks. They also cut down on time taken to focus, giving the LD more programming time."

He adds, "We strongly recommend checking out these fixtures in person when looking for a high output spot fixture."

Signify became the new company name of Philips Lighting as of May 16, 2018.

Signify Entertainment Lighting comprises the Philips Vari-Lite, Philips Strand Lighting, and Philips Selecon brands, as well as the Philips Showline range of LED stage luminaires.