Rent What’s New Site

I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to visit Rent What’s website recently, but if not, you have got to check it out.  The website has always been terrific, but recently they added some great new content and redesigned the navigation to make it even more user friendly.

The site really is fun to explore, and they have made it so easy to find what you are looking for.  I love the new Backdrops page (check out the LED backdrop information – remember, I posted about them last week), and the addition of separate web pages for each of the Specialty Drape Collections (such as the Rockin’ Red Drapery) means there is lots of inspiration for the show or event designer.

So, whether you’re looking for a drapery rental or just in the mood to check out some cool pictures, this is a gorgeous site to look through (and I bet you’ll come up with some great ideas for your next show or event!).

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Star Drops

Ever wondered how music tours achieve the “starry night” effect onstage?  Well, for years they have used drapes with embedded fiber optics.  But the fiber optics tended to be bulky and difficult to manuever.

Today, more and more, fiber optics are being replaced by LEDs to produce a stunning light display that mimics the appearance of a gorgeous starry night.  These LED Star Drops are manufactured utilizing a durable black synthetic velour on the face along with a strong but lightweight black lining, with strings of LED lights inserted between the face and the lining.  A controller (which can be used on its own or with a lighting board) is used to manipulate the pattern, frequency (speed) and intensity of the blinking “stars.”

Our sister company, Rent What?, has found these LED Star Drops to be quite popular in their rental inventory.  As a matter of fact, last year they were used by the “So You Think You Can Dance?” tour (among others).  Want to learn more?  Check out the “Starlight LED Backdrops” page on the Rent What? website.

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Rent What’s Specialty Drapery Series

I love the way that Rent What has organized their specialty drapery into different series – “Silver Satin”, “Rockin’ Red”, “Ivory Scene”, “Industrial Textures”, and “Timeless & Traditional.”  And the way that the series are presented on their website is terrific, too.  Next to each series on the page is a list of the various drapery elements available in the series (such as Austrians and Swags), several photos of the drapes, and a link to a pdf “Profile” with more information, photos, and inspiration.

It makes it so much easier for the client – to be able to choose from a variety of custom stage curtains in various fabrics that coordinate together a achieve one cohesive look.  Rather than having to start from scratch, all the customer has to do is review the information and “Profile” file for each series and then select which series best fits the design vision for the show or event. 

From there, in consultation with the folks at Rent What?, the designer can discuss the different drapery options before choosing the specific elements to rent.

Each series includes beautiful custom stage drapes and theatrical backdrops, but the one that I find the most interesting and innovative is the “Industrial Textures” series.  It’s a little more “rock-n-roll,” a little more funky.  It includes elements such as Metal Mesh drapes, Camo Net backdrops, and Texturelite (a gorgeous crushed fabric).

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Great Idea by Rent What?

Portable dressing rooms, for use by artists onstage (or backstage) are something that many music tours need.  Think about those “quick changes” that happen between songs (or even mid-song).  The reality is, there just isn’t enough time for an artist to get offstage, get to their backstage dressing room, get changed, and get back onstage without missing a beat.  But for years, there hasn’t been a good solution to this need.  Yes, pipe and base can work, but it isn’t ideal.  Among other things, a dressing room made of pipe and base components requires several different pieces (uprights, bases, drape supports, drapes) – and if one piece is left at last night’s venue?  Well, the crew is scrambling to jury rig something together for tonight’s show. 

Well, Rent What? recently came up with an innovative solution to this problem.  They combined a durable, portable pop-up frame with a custom cover that stores on the frame.  At the show, all the crew has to do is pop it open and, voila, instant 8′ x 8′ dressing room, in under two minutes!

As Rent What? developed the idea of a portable pop-up dressing room, they realized that the outside of the cover needed to be black (to blend in onstage or in the wings), but that the inside should be white to maximum the light within.  The cover also needed to be opaque, so that the light didn’t bleed to the outside.  And the cover needed to be water resistant, for those misty (or rainy) days at outdoor venues.  With these considerations in mind, they chose Roadura, an innovative fabric offered exclusively by Sew What? Inc.

Not content to rest on their laurels, Rent What also thought about the comfort and ease of both artist and crew.  They added a light and mirror, so that the artist had all the necessary elements for a quick change, and they added a rolling cart for easy transport by the crew.

I am really blown away by the way that the folks at Rent What? identified a need and came up with an innovative solution to fill that need.  That to me is the true definition of an entrepreneur.

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Working with “Glee” Live

We got another opportunity recently to work in conjunction with our sister company, Rent What?, and this was a particuarly fun project – the three-week, four city touring show of the hit Fox television series “Glee.”  This is a bit of a novelty for us – we work with music tours all the time, but most aren’t associated with a hit TV show!

This tour had a wealth of industry powerhitters working on the design and production of the show, including Butch Allen, Ray Woodbury and Peter Morse, so we knew from the start that it would be a great project to work on. 

The tour used a variety of custom stage curtains and set pieces to set the mood and highlight the performers.  One scene was highlighted by the use of the “Moulin Rouge” drape, part of Rent What’s “Timeless and Traditional” series (those of you who follow this blog know that I have posted on this drape on several occasions – it is amazing how versatile it is).

Sew What? got into the act as well.  In addition to a couple of 30′ h x 60′ w Double Kabukis (one in White Voile and the other in Black Poly Silk), Sew What? provided some fun custom stage set elements, including several “rock chic” tuck and roll “vintage amp covers” in a red glitter vinyl.

Unfortunately, the show is over – it opened in Phoenix on May 13th and finished up at Radio City Music Hall in New York City at the end of May – but based on the reviews, it sounds like it was a great show.  Let’s hope for another (and longer) tour in the future – we’d love to work on it again!

Want to read more about this project?  Click here.

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Alice in Chains Video

You may remember that I posted last week about the Alice in Chains project.  Although I included linkes to several videos in that post, I just found out about another great video from their current tour, so I thought I’d post a brief update.  The video is a great compilation of scenes from the show.

And while I’m at it, here is another great photo!

Design: Mike Baldassari @ Mike-O-Matic Industries www.mike-o-matic.com;  Photo By: “Iron” Mike – SavoiaPhotography.com

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2010 Pollstar Awards

On Wednesday, February 17, the 21st Annual Pollstar Awards were held at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live.  If you aren’t familiar with Pollstar, it is a leading trade publication for the concert industry, publishing both in print and online (I use their website almost daily - it is a great resource for information on music tours / concerts). 

Each year, Pollstar invites a group of industry professionals to provide nominations in a number of award categories, including venues, production, promotion, staging, lighting, and much more.  Once the nominations are finalized, Pollstar subscribers are invited to vote online, and the winners are announced at the ceremony.

This year, our sister company, Rent What?, was honored to be selected as the provider of rental draperies to the event.  Selected as the main drapes for the ceremony were the Moulin Rouge drapes that I have posted about before (part of Rent What’s “Timeless and Traditional” series).  These gorgeous crimson and gold pieces really are dramatic, aren’t they? 

Rent What? Inc. also provided all of the black masking drapes used for the event.  Although masking drapes are most known for onstage masking, they also are quite effective for masking sections of the seating area in larger spaces.  By masking off sections of seating, the space was transformed into an intimate setting that was especially fitting for this event.

I think the rental drapes provided a fittingly opulent and intimate setting for the presentation of these prestigious awards.  Congratulations to all the winners and nominees!

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Alice in Chains Project

In late January, we worked on an interesting project for the 2010 tour of Alice in Chains.  The primary pieces that we made were a series of Single and Double Kabukis. 

The Double Kabuki, at 25′ h x 45′ w, was made out of Silver Poly Silk, and then the 5 Upstage Single Kabukis (all at 22′ h and ranging in width from 10′ w to 44′ w) were of a silver textured satin.  We also made a number of pieces for the stage (drum riser, amp panels and floor light coverlets) out of Black 16oz Commando Cloth lined with Aluminum Mesh, as well as some black masking drapes. 

Design: Mike Baldassari @ Mike-O-Matic Industries www.mike-o-matic.com;  Photo By: “Iron” Mike – SavoiaPhotography.com

Rent What? also provided some pieces, including a Classic Theatre Header (Red) from their Timeless and Traditional Series, along with a number of Borders in Black 15oz Encore, and furnished the 44 piece Solenoid System with controllers (used with the Kabuki Drapes).  Check out the Classic Theatre Header in this photo:

Design: Mike Baldassari @ Mike-O-Matic Industries www.mike-o-matic.com;  Photo By: “Iron” Mike – SavoiaPhotography.com

We were all really proud of how the pieces turned out, but you never know how the client will react.  Well, I am happy to report that the client loved them!  Yesterday, Megan received a thank you letter from Mike Baldassari, Production Designer for Alice in Chains, and it is such a great letter that I have to share a little bit of it: 

Dear Megan,

I’m writing to again say thank you for all of your help, hard work, expertise and most especially your “do whatever it takes” attitude in support of Alice in Chains’ current tour…. I was also impressed with the quality, workmanship and organization of the delivery of the goods that Sew What built.  You have my sincere gratitude for a job very well done, and I look forward to working with you and Sew What on other projects as well in the near future.

Best Regards,

Mike Baldassari

It is so rewarding to get such positive feedback from our clients, and to be able to share it with our employees, especially those who worked so hard on this project.

By the way, if you’d like to see Alice in Chains in action, with some of our drapery providing the backdrop, I found several videos on YouTube.  I think this one highlights (yet again) how perfect silver / gray fabric is for projection, whereas this one shows the drapery in its actual silver color at the start of the video and then shows how it can become almost any color with the proper lighting (you can also see some of the mesh pieces on stage in this video).

Note: Want to see a Kabuki Drape in action?  Check out this video.

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Rent What? does the “Mark and Brian Christmas Show”

Yes, I will admit it…I am a classic rock fan, and my radio station of choice (here in the Los Angeles area) is 95.5 KLOS.  Every weekday morning on my way to work, I listen to the Mark and Brian Show (based here in L.A. on KLOS, but syndicated throughout the country).

So, after listening to M & B talk for weeks about the Christmas Show being held on December 16th at the Nokia Theatre (and wishing I could go), you can imagine how excited I was to hear that Rent What? was renting drapery to the show.

And not just any drapery…this was drapery from the Silver Satin Series.  If you are a regular reader, you know that I absolutely love the Silver Satin drapery pieces that Sew What? made for Rent What?  Most recently, I posted in November on the Silver Satin Austrian and Swags that Rent What? provided to the Maxwell tour.  Well, here they are again, looking as spectacular as ever!

Under minimal lighting, there is only a slight variation in the color (the drapes appear more of an opalescent white than a silver).

Change the lighting, and suddenly they appear red…

…or green…

Pretty amazing, don’t you think? 

I was also excited to learn about a YouTube video of the drapes.  Most of the videos that we find on YouTube that feature our drapes are shot during the show – which is great for seeing the artist, but doesn’t always give the best shots of the drapery!  That is why I was so excited to learn about this video – since it was shot during sound check for the Mark and Brian “Super Group”, there are lots of angles and closeups of the drapery.

So, here I am – the show is over and I am regretting that I didn’t buy tickets and go.  Not only would I have had the fun of attending the M & B Christmas Show in person, but I would have also gotten to enjoy the drapes in person.  Oh, well, maybe next year…

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Transformation by Lighting

It is always fun to see how the drapery we make is transformed on stage.  I have mentioned before how impressive it is to see how the lighting designers can transform the look of the set (including the drapery) through the use of lighting effects. 

Take, for example, the burgundy contour curtain that we made for Rent What?, as part of their Vintage Burgundy collection (which also includes the fabulous Moulin Rouge drapes that I told you about recently).  Just on its own, this curtain is gorgeous, the lift lines creating dramatic yet romantic swags, and the burgundy color adding elegance and sophistication.

With the addition of specialized lighting, however, the curtain takes on an entirely new look.  Monsters of Folk are using this contour curtain in their current tour, and Rent What? got some great photos of their show at the Greek Theare in Los Angeles.  In looking at these photos, it is hard to believe that the curtain is actually burgundy – in some of the photos, it appears red.  In others, you would swear that it is purple.  In all of the photos, the curtain looks amazing.

It just goes to show you that choosing a colored curtain doesn’t have to limit the look of a show.  With a talented lighting designer, one curtain can have several different looks.

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