Justin Timberlake seems to be just about everywhere these days, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise when his latest album’s release party turned up on The CW network. 36 Clay Paky’s new Sharpy Wash 330 luminaries were selected by lighting designer Nick Whitehouse to support the show,
The one-hour
special “Target Presents the iHeartRadio Album Release Party with Justin
Timberlake” was recorded at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles during
celebrations for the singer’s “20/20 Experience” album. The party included a live, national 30-minute
radio special plus performances and interviews, which were recorded to air the
next evening on The CW where fans also saw the world premiere of Timberlake’s
new music video.
The special was the
first show on which Whitehouse used Sharpy Wash fixtures. Clay Paky’s Sharpy Wash 330 is a compact, lightweight
330W washlight, with the luminous efficiency and optical performance of a 1000W
fixture. It is extremely silent and quick and is fitted with a complete CMY
color system, special colors, 6.5°-48° zoom, mechanical dimmer, beam shaping
filter and motorized top-hat. It is an
eco-friendly light, allowing considerable running and consumption cost savings.
Whitehouse
wanted to give the El Rey Theatre an “old-school, Cotton Club look” and opted
to use the Sharpy Washes as soon as they became available.
Timberlake
appeared at several other club dates, and “by the time we got to the El Rey the
lights were ready,” Whitehouse recalls.
“I wanted to give the show a retro look; there wasn’t much movement, but
there were a lot of color changes. I
used the Sharpy Washes like par cans configured in groups of four; they gave
that nice thin beam with frost in there.”
Whitehouse
says, “I love all the Sharpy fixtures, and the Sharpy Washes performed even
better than I expected. The show was a
nice testing ground for future arena and stadium shows” where Sharpys and
Sharpy Washes will comprise part of Whitehouse’s lighting complement.
George Masek, A.C.T
Lighting’s Vice President, Automated Lighting, adds, \”We\’ve always
been a fan of Nick\’s work – he\’s always doing something cutting edge and
different with the equipment he uses. We were excited when he chose the
Sharpy Wash to support this production because we were sure it would be a great
US debut for this tremendous new fixture and we weren\’t disappointed.\”
Francesco
Romagnoli, Clay Paky Area Manager for North and Latin America, concludes,
“We’re so please to see our new Sharpy Wash fixtures on so many high profile
shows. Nick has always been a great user
of our products and this show is an excellent example of that.”
