The hip new $415 million 1613 room SLS Las Vegas hotel opened in a blaze of glory on the former site of the Sahara – one of the city’s iconic gaming culture landmarks – complete with a special gala event staged in the pool area, headlined by rapper Iggy Azalea and lit by Axis deBruyn.
Axis and his company AxisLights Inc. are based in Las Vegas and work worldwide on a variety of shows and events across all sectors. He was engaged for this launch event by production companies Caravents, Inc. & Lone Outpost, and asked to create an appropriate lighting production design for the occasion.
The brief was to replicate the ambience of an A-list celebrity event with a hot nightclub feel for the 700 invited guests. Challenges included having to make last minute adjustments in the rig to deal with a changing line-up, and contending with searing temperatures of over 100 degrees in the outdoor space!
A stage and ground support system was installed and the lighting rig included 24 x Robe LEDWash 1200s, 16 x MMX Spots and six LEDBeam 100s – all from Robe’s ROBIN range.
For the last couple of years, Robe has been Axis’ choice of moving light and he particularly likes the LEDWash 1200 for its brightness and speed.
He specified Robe because of the “Ease of use and lower power consumption – an important consideration as this show was running on generator power.”
The LEDWashes and MMX Spots were rigged on three overhead trusses – utilized for stage washing and effects – and the LEDBeam 100s were stationed on the floor and kicked-in for additional impact.
Lighting was programmed on a grandMA 2 Command Wing by Michael Herkimer, and the equipment was supplied by VER. The aesthetics for the evening were also enhanced by eye-catching large-format projections onto the adjacent walls.
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