- Super Bowl XLVII was a memorable game, but the full Super Bowl experience started well before kickoff with a pair of live pre-game concerts broadcast on VH-1 and CMT where Clay Paky Alpha Spot QWO 800s and grandMA2 light consoles played key roles.
VH-1 and the NFL joined forces to celebrate the Super Bowl with Train headlining “The Best Super Bowl Concert Ever” on Friday night. CMT and the NFL partnered the following evening on a “Crossroads” special starring country band Rascal Flatts and rock band Journey. Both concerts were held at The Sugar Mill in New Orleans, which seats 4,000-5,000 fans.
Atomic Lighting of Lititz, Pennsylvania provided 40 Clay Paky Alpha Spot QWO 800s and a pair of grandMA2 light systems with wings for the concert series. PEDG was the production design team collaborating. Bob Pederson was acting lighting designer on the broadcast truck.
“Atomic had suggested using the QWOs. I hadn’t used them before, but Spike [Doug Brant] had just done a shootout and loved them so he was onboard with them,” said Nathan Wilson, an associate designer with PEDG who served as project manager/production designer for the concerts along with Lloyd.
Once Wilson saw the QWO 800s in action he was enthusiastic, too. “I saw them and liked them,” he said. “They became my main hard-edged fixture positioned all over the place – out in the crowd, up front, on the floor, as key light for the presenter. Most of the rig was QWOs.”
Clay Paky’s Alpha Spot QWO 800 uses the latest MSR Platinum lamp, an 800W light source that produces a sparkling light brighter even than older 1200W lamps. The Alpha Spot QWO 800 is equipped with optical features including a very wide zoom range from 7.6º to 55º, a uniform beam distribution at all zoom angles and a Stay-Sharp-Zoom feature that locks images in focus while zooming. The fixture is small, lightweight, silent and has low power consumption making it a useful tool for TV, theater, corporate events and other demanding lighting applications.
Wilson appreciated the fixture’s range of effects, brightness and beams for keying. “I was impressed. It was a real workhorse and performed great,” he said.
The grandMA2 lights were selected by programmers Kevin Lawson and Tyler Roach. “I’ve always liked MA products, but I’ve been designing more lately and programming less,” said Wilson. “Kevin raved about the grandMA2 light, and it’s PEDG’s desk of choice for all the programmers we work with.”
