Pete's Big TVs Rocks 2014 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

	Photo: Guy Benjamin

Video equipment rental company Pete's Big TVs supplied the high resolution LED video panels and a video tech crew for the 29th annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony April 10 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

"Pete's Big TVs has been supplying the show since 1989," said Pete's Big TVs VP Guy Benjamin. "The production has grown since those early years, when the ceremonies were small, private, and held in a ballroom at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York. We've grown along with it. Because it has moved to large arenas and is now a televised event, the production requirements now include the latest products in video production technology, which we specialize in."

Artists inducted this year were: Peter Gabriel, Hall & Oates, Kiss, Nirvana, Linda Ronstadt, and Cat Stevens (now called Yusuf). Legendary band managers the late Brian Epstein (The Beatles) and Andrew Loog Oldham (The Rolling Stones) were honored with special Ahmet Ertegun Awards. The E Street Band won The Award For Musical Excellence.

Many of those inducted also performed. To serve as the massive backdrop behind the performing musicians, production designer Bruce Rodgers of Tribe Inc. created a set which featured a video wall spanning the stage at 65' wide and 15' tall.

Pete's Big TVs provided the 378 digiLED MC7 high res LED video panels to comprise this main video wall, which displayed archival images and video clips of the honorees.

Pete's Big TVs also supplied 60 panels of Absen A3 3.9mm LED display panels to create the two screens -- 30 panels each -- at stage left and stage right behind the podiums.

The selection of LED panels were chosen for different reasons, he added. "Because the screens behind the podiums were so close to the presenters, we didn't want the images to become pixilated, so we chose the Absen A3 3.9mm screens there. The Absen panels, which we added to our inventory this year, are our highest resolution LED panels."

"For the main screen, we chose the digiLED MC7 panels as they provided the high resolution needed for broadcast quality, plus they emit no radio frequency interference. These panels have a transparency to them, allowing lighting designer Allen Branton to achieve some lighting effects shining from behind and through the video screens at various times of the show. There are not too many screens with that high of a resolution which have that transparency. These have been the most popular LED panels in our inventory."

Benjamin supervised his crew of LED techs Matt Ellar, John Ellar, and David Jacobs.

"While the production setup was similar to last year's ceremonies, the show looks different each year depending on the artists being inducted into the legendary hall, as well as the energy created by the performers," Benjamin added.

"One of my favorite parts of the show is the unusual pairings of artists performing together," he said. "Artists you will never see together on the same stage come together for that one night a year. We've received comments about how great they look on our large LED video screens, and we're happy to again be involved. It's always an honor to be part of rock music's biggest night."

Pete's TVs was again brought in by Line By Line Productions in New York. Show director was Joel Gallen of Tenth Planet Productions.

The show will air exclusively on HBO in May.

The 2014 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Performer Inductees were chosen by more than 700 voters of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. Artists are eligible 25 years after the release of their first recording.