CHAUVET at Dreamstate SoCal

	"The Strike M gave us the versatility to light our statues from a far distance, while still packing a punch," Mahowald says.

The design team for Dreamstate SoCal, billed as the world's biggest all-trance music festival, had a vision for the main stage: to deliver a production that took fans on an evolving journey across the universe. It was a big order: The stage was 70' high by 160' wide with a 60' trim.

Designed by Erik Mahowald, of Bending Light Productions, with animation overseen by Brent Bucci, of The VJ Collective, the stage exploded with vibrant colors, video imagery, immersive 3D features, inflatables from Airworks, and scenic designs from Leisure Expert Group.

"The stage was designed to evolve throughout the festival, taking fans to different planets, environments, and worlds," Bucci says. "Working closely with Jeff Ryan, director of Dreamstate, our team developed a total of 20 major show looks, with custom intros for each artist. Content from the amazing animation team at Wolves Visuals helped bring this vision to life. The stage producer, Insomniac's Andrew Jocson, as well as Bending Light's Aaron Attarzadeh, and Anthony Garcia, of Nice Lasers, added a vibrant element with their work."

At the heart of the stage was a 40' circle of 282 LED panels provided by Akari Production that reigned over the DJ booth. Flanking this circular structure (and at times seemingly enveloping it) were massive video displays and scenic pieces that conveyed myriad images, many of which portrayed alien beings.

Anchoring this panorama was a collection of 36 Aspect Lighting-supplied CHAUVET Professional Color STRIKE M motorized strobe-washes, all of which were run at full power (1,432 lux at 5m for the beam).

"Since we had such large format scenic elements, having high output fixtures was essential," Mahowald says. "The Strike M gave us the versatility to light our statues from a far distance, while still packing a punch. We used them for scenic lighting and effect lighting throughout the performances. They were incredibly useful when lighting large scenic elements."

During early daytime acts, the lighting was dominated by icy blue color palettes to maximize visibility and photo moments while fire and steel elements were used during late night periods to interplay with pyrotechnics.

In both cases, the artfully orchestrated lighting and video animation worked to provide a powerful backdrop for performances by a long list of artists like Armin van Buuren, Solarstone, and John O'Callaghan.