SHAPESHIFTERs Highlight EDC Festival Arches

	EDC Festival arches highlighted with High End Systems' SHAPESHIFTER luminaires

The largest festival in North America, EDC brings 140,000+ attendees for each of its three nights at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The electronic dance music has no shortage of exciting visuals -- among them was the 75 High End Systems SHAPESHIFTER automated luminaires that framed the main stage entryway arches. Lighting designer Andrew Gumper and production company AG Production Services were in charge of creating and illuminating the structure.

Gumper comments, "The production runs from 7:00pm to 6:00am, so darkness is key and lighting is everything! We were in charge of a few different areas, including the main stage entryway arches. We installed a full lighting and structure package for the three arches, which were 210' wide and 65' tall. The 75 SHAPESHIFTERs provided that 'wow' moment when people walked into the main stage area. We placed 25 SHAPESHIFTERs on each arch, which gave us that twinkle and sparkle and big eye candy looks when people were walking in, and also served to separate the concert stage from the common area."

The show was programmed by High End's Joe Haller on a Hog 4 console, and electricians Mike Gallagher and Chris Archfield were also critical to the success of the production. Gumper's primary programming instructions were to create big looks visible to attendees but also from above. "We were going for big looks visible from helicopters; the arches are about 700' apart, so the only way to appreciate the entire thing at once is from the air. We created big concentric chasing looks that went around all three arches, as well as specific areas we hit with special effects."

Gumper says the SHAPESHIFTER was totally unique for this application. "It's not just another wash or profile, it's cool and it's recognizable, so it created a different look. Nobody's seen them used like this -- they were very unique to this application."