Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in
Las Vegas presented its lighting designer Christopher Lose with the ultimate
challenge: find a strong and stable fixture that could be hung at the pool-side
stage all year round. Chris’ answer quickly resulted in an order for ten G-Spot
LED moving heads for movement, beam versatility and patterns and four Q-7 RGBW
for wash and strobing.
Chris
explains: “The Pool Stage is a treacherous environment for
lighting gear. It is an outdoor stage in Las Vegas. The temperature reaches 120
degrees [Fahrenheit – equal to 50 degrees Celsius] in the summer and below
freezing in the winter. Las Vegas rarely rains but when it does it comes
without notice. There is no time for crew to be dropping lighting fixtures on
short notice. We needed 10 spare fixtures to service our 10 previous moving
lights and I was looking for a fixture that we could hang all year round. I
needed a fixture that was bright, versatile, would impress guest LDs and could
stand up to the weather. The G-Spots and Q-7s were exactly what I was looking
for. On top of that, Rehab, Hard Rock Hotel’s weekly pool party is famous for
party goers spraying champagne. We have lost a few fixtures in the past to
stray corks or being drenched in champagne. I needed a fixture that could
handle tourist abuse,” he says continuing with a smile “the G-Spot is able to
stand all of the abuse that our partygoers can throw at it.”
Introduction
to the strong SGM portfolio
The first time Chris was introduced to the SGM
portfolio was through VP of Sales in the US, Randy Wade, who left two X-5
strobes in his rig for comparison with the hotel’s conventional strobes.
Instantly Chris became impressed by the benefits of the LED engine and the
output of the unit, which was as powerful as the conventional but with a
fraction of the power consumption. Once he saw the recordings of the G-Spot
immersed in a fountain, his mind was made up. “There is no other product on the
market that can do what the G-Spot does. It\’s that simple. Once I discovered
the G-Spot, I knew I had to show everyone how powerful it was,” declares the
designer.
The ten G-spot fixtures are hung on a 19ft by
30ft (5.8 by 9.1 meter) 20 inch (50 centimetre) truss structure around the pool
side stage where they provide the multifunctional advantages that they are
originally designed to fulfil. “I needed an LED fixture that could replace a
fully functional arc source moving spot fixture. I needed colour mixing, zoom,
colour correction, plenty of gobos, smooth movement and plenty of horse power.
I\’m also limited to a 100 amp service out at the pool. The G-Spots met every
requirement,” Chris comments.
The fixtures are controlled via DMX on a
GrandMA1 Light Console, using the G-spots in normal 24 channel mode and the
Q-7s in full 8 channel mode.
Clear
benefits
Having installed the SGM products at Hard Rock
Hotel, Chris’ excitement about the IP-rated, LED fixtures persists. “The
G-Spots are as bright as I had hoped they would be. The Q-7s are even brighter
than I imagined. Their colours are very impressive. They make a beautiful wash
light and then turn into a strobe immediately. My crew and I were blown away as
soon as we turned them on.”
As for the G-Spot, their IP65 rating is
essential to Chris. “There are plenty of fixtures on the market that have the
same feature set as the G-Spot. But none of them can do it in the rain. There
isn\’t a single other fixture on the market that can claim to be champagne
resistant,” he adds.
LED lighting is also becoming an increasingly
important factor for the hotel, which is very energy conscious in their
selection of equipment and therefore moving as many fixtures as possible over
to LED, including all of the fixtures in the entertainment venues and public
areas.
And the future seems bright for SGM fixtures as
Chris sums up his assessment. “I can see both of these fixtures taking over a
huge part of the market. There are so many outdoor installations that have been
waiting for these fixtures to come along. I see several indoor applications as
well. I used to be afraid to place floor lights in certain applications fearing
that they would get drinks spilled on them or kicked. I would not be afraid to
put a G-Spot in any of those positions,” concludes the now self-pronounced
‘G-Spot handler’.
Pics Credit: Fred Morledge
