Now in its 26th year, the high-profile music event, which began in a small club in 1988, has become a major charity fundraiser. Since 2008, the proceeds have gone to Habitat for Humanity, an international non government, not-for-profit organization dedicated to empowering communities and building affordable housing for those in need.
Preston has been lighting the Christmas Jam for the last four years. This year's goal with the lighting design was to move forward from last year's spectacle which was expanded to two nights with an enlarged rig to celebrate the 25th anniversary.
Having successfully used BMFLs to illuminate Boston City Hall as a vibrant backdrop to the 2014 Boston Calling Music Festival, he wanted to use them again for a full-blown rock 'n' roll show, and this was an ideal opportunity.
"Robe very generously made them available for the show," explained Preston, who positioned the BMFLs on his downstage truss and used them for two specific tasks.
The first was lighting, texturing and transforming a 60ft wide by 30ft high grey polysilk back-cloth, and secondly, for powerful audience washes. He textured the backdrop for emotive 'scenic' songs and then swung the BMFLs out into the audience for the more rocking songs.
"They were absolutely awesome for everything I wanted," he commented on the BMFLs.
The gobos from the six units filled the back-cloth to make a series of striking patterned backdrops, and with the addition of the animation wheels, added a dynamic new layer of fluid three-dimensionality to the stage.
One of the original requests from producer John Dindas was for a starcloth.
Thinking laterally, Preston realized he could provide a highly effective star backdrop using the BMFL star gobos. In addition to this effect, there were numerous other options available which star cloths don't have.
(Jim Evans)
