Claypaky HY B-EYE lights Chicago’s xR Stage
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The duo was one of the first to use LEC’s xR Stage, Chicago’s only xR stage designed to accommodate virtual events. LEC owner and director of operations Matt Brotz and So Midwest principal and designer Robb Jibson partnered to build out the space in LEC’s new warehouse, where the stage’s standing set includes two large right-angle LED videoscreens and an LED floor.
Brotz and Jibson turnkeyed Kislov and Mala’s set, supplying a five-camera shoot with drone, full lighting, control, processing and editing with background visuals provided by So Midwest.
“Alex and Arvi are used to walking into a huge festival and playing for the crowd,” Jibson notes. “With the coronavirus causing music festivals to shift online, Alex and Arvi thought it would be cool to prerecord a performance they could use for various festivals from LEC’s new xR Stage.”
Claypaky provided the HY B-EYE K25s for the performance, which Jibson placed under the DJ table where they were the centerpiece of the set’s illumination. “I’ve used Claypaky’s B-EYE K20s for years, and the K25s are a welcome update,” Jibson says.
“We wanted to extend the set’s visual content and create depth on the 2D screens,” he explains. “We wanted to incorporate the fixtures into the pixel map, make all the content flow and have the airspace full of beamage.
“No other fixture could have provided the aerial beams and break ups that the K25s did,” he reports. “Their brightness was amazing, and nothing else compares to the quality of the optics and images. The artists were totally blown away by the fixtures!”
Brotz notes that while Claypaky “had a solid product with the B-EYE K20, the K25 represents a substantial jump up from the previous model. The K25 is significantly brighter, has great pixel mapping and delivers a lot of punch in a similar form factor. There’s no substitute for its feature set and brightness level – Claypaky’s K25 is another echelon of lighting.”
“We want to thank Claypaky and George Masek for being such generous and supportive partners in this project and providing us with a quality product to use in a new digital workflow,” adds Jibson.
“Having access to the K25s was greatly appreciated,” says Brotz. “We’re looking at bringing the product into our inventory once COVID is over.”
George Masek, strategic marketing manager at Claypaky, concluded, “When Robb and Matt approached us about doing this project, we jumped at the chance to be part of it. Robb has always applied unique solutions to his designs, and it didn’t surprise me that he wanted to attack the COVID downtime we are all facing with the same creativity and ingenuity. Taking this opportunity to help out and also to introduce folks like Matt to our products was a pleasure.”
