A.C.T Lighting Supports Super Bowl Concert Series on VH-1 and CMT

Super Bowl XLVII was a memorable game, but the full Super Bowl experience started well before kickoff with a pair of live pre-game concerts broadcast on VH-1 and CMT where Clay Paky Alpha Spot QWO 800s and grandMA2 light consoles played key roles. A.C.T Lighting is the exclusive distributor for both Clay Paky and grandMA in North America.

VH-1 and the NFL joined forces to celebrate the Super Bowl with Train headlining The Best Super Bowl Concert Ever on Friday night. CMT and the NFL partnered the following evening on a Crossroads special starring superstar country band Rascal Flatts and iconic rock band Journey. Both concerts were held at The Sugar Mill in New Orleans, which seats 4,000-5,000 fans.

Atomic Lighting of Lititz, Pennsylvania provided 40 Clay Paky Alpha Spot QWO 800s and a pair of grandMA2 light systems with wings for the concert series. PEDG was the production design team collaborating. Bob Pederson was acting lighting designer on the broadcast truck.

"Atomic had suggested using the QWOs. I hadn't used them before, but Spike [Doug Brant] had just done a shootout and loved them so he was onboard with them," says Nathan Wilson, an associate designer with PEDG who served as project manager/production designer for the concerts along with Lloyd.

Once Wilson saw the QWO 800s in action he was enthusiastic, too. "I saw them and liked them," he recalls. "They became my main hard-edged fixture positioned all over the place -- out in the crowd, up front, on the floor, as key light for the presenter. Most of the rig was QWOs."

Clay Paky's Alpha Spot QWO 800 uses the latest MSR Platinum lamp, an 800W light source that produces an intense sparkling light -- brighter even than older 1,200W lamps. The Alpha Spot QWO 800 is equipped with optical features, including a very wide zoom range from 7.6- to 55-degrees, a uniform beam distribution at all zoom angles, and a unique Stay-Sharp-Zoom feature that locks images in focus while zooming. The fixture is small, lightweight, silent, and has low power consumption making it an excellent tool for TV, theater, corporate events, and many other demanding lighting applications.

Wilson gives kudos to the fixture's range of effects, brightness, and great-looking beams for keying. "I was very impressed. It was a real workhorse and performed great," he reports.

The grandMA2 lights were selected by programmers Kevin Lawson and Tyler Roach. "I've always liked MA products, but I've been designing more lately and programming less," says Wilson. "Kevin raved about the grandMA2 light, and it's PEDG's desk of choice for all the programmers we work with."

See A.C.T Lighting at PLASA Focus: Orlando, May 15-16.