USA – Nothing lasts forever, the familiar saying goes, and so it is, that even the stunning new F&M Bank Amphitheatre of Long Beach, which opened June 25th with a concert by native son Snoop Dogg and was hailed by The Los Angeles Times as “Hollywood Bowl By The Water,” will be replaced sometime in 2036 by a new more permanent facility.
Its status may be “temporary” (even though 10 years is a long time!), but the memories made inside this 11,000-capacity venue near the iconic Queen Mary will certainly last a lifetime. Adding a warm and engaging visual element to the fan experience at the venue is a beautifully balanced lighting design by Lightswitch that features CHAUVET Professional Ovation Rêve E-3 and COLORdash Accent 5X IP fixtures.
The Lightswitch team, led by Director John Martin, Senior Designer Ruben Markowitz, and Designer Shawn Nielson, were pulled into the project by their client Dan Schartoff about seven months before the FM Bank Amphitheatre of Long Beach opened. They were tasked with developing solutions for the entire site area lighting, including egress and general circulation.
Present at the site to execute the design all the way through the process leading up to the opening, Lightswitch provided onsite install, aiming, and programming direction. The site and house lighting were supplied by 3G Productions, and their project manager Juan Segovia led procurement and the installation team on “an incredibly fast timeline.”
Since the entire site is considered a temporary installation, Lightswitch worked carefully with engineers from the city and client to develop temporary lighting structures that would allow them to enact the design, with minimal disturbance to the rest of the site plan.
“Our biggest challenge, in addition to a tight budget and schedule, was the temporary nature of the installation.,” said Markowitz. “All lighting positions had to be temporary, or harness temporary structures called for in the site plan. Due to the budget available for lighting, the entire site had to be lit with a minimum number of fixtures, making the positions’ locations and design even more critical. Power and data also had to be run mostly in a temporary manner, using minimal conduit pathways.”
Given these challenges, as well as the proximity of the site to The Port of Long Beach Harbor, the IP65 rated CHAUVET Professional fixtures ,with their versatility, compact size, and high output, were an ideal fit.
A collection of 41 Ovation Rêve E-3 color rendering ellipsoidal-style fixtures were positioned at the entrance and in the VIP area of the amphitheater. “The goal was to provide some visual interest through color and dynamic texture,” explained Markowitz. “While the rest of the site lighting can change color, these areas required a little more visual interest. This Rêve’s integrated IP gobo rotators provided a perfect — and inexpensive– way of augmenting the lighting one step further. The selected gobos were intended to recall some of the graphic patterns printed into other site elements.”
The difference made by this enhanced visual dimension wasn’t lost on fans, who, according to the Los Angeles Times, felt the excitement of entering a music festival when they walked into the amphitheater…something they’re going to enjoy doing time and time again for the next decade.
