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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Monsters of Folk

Rent What? got a great compliment recently from Marc Janowitz, Production Designer / Lighting Director for the Monsters of Folk tour that I posted about in early November, so I just had to pass it on.

In Morgan Loven’s article, “Monsters of Folk: Lighting from the Bottom Up,”  in the January 2010 issue of PLSN (Projection, Lights and Staging News), Marc specifically thanked Megan for stepping in at the last minute and providing rental drapes to the tour.  Marc even said that the drape provided by Rent What? was “even cooler than the one I had originally envisioned.”

I don’t know what Marc originally envisioned, but I must agree that the contour curtain that Monsters of Folk rented from Rent What? is seriously cool - and Marc’s lighting design makes it even cooler!  Great work, Marc!

The entire article is quite interesting to read, as Marc describes the process of designing a production - check it out if you get the chance.

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Swags and Digitals for the Eagles

Recently, both Sew What? and Rent What? had the opportunity to contribute custom stage drapery to The Eagles West Coast Tour, which opened on Monday in Portland, OR.

Production designer Butch Allen send us some rehearsals photos of our drapes on set - and I think they are just amazing!    Take a look at these Silver Swags from Rent What? :

Design: Butch Allen Designs; Photo Credit: Butch Allen

Also included in the rental package provided by Rent What? was a 24′ h x 50′ w backdrop, digitally printed by Sew What? to give the appearance of parchment (see the background in the photo above), as well as black masking pieces.

The tour also purchased a 24′ h x 24′ w custom digitally printed backdrop from Sew What?  Printed on clear vinyl, the clock image is dramatic while still allowing a view of the parchment backdrop behind it (as above).  Clever lighting in another scene makes the clock appear blue:

Design: Butch Allen Designs; Photo Credit: Butch Allen

More clever lighting, and somehow the drapery looks completely different:

Design: Butch Allen Designs; Photo Credit: Butch Allen

I can’t decide which of these three photos is my favorite; all three are just so beautiful.  Butch has created a wonderful set design, and I am so proud that Sew What? and Rent What? were brought on board to bring Butch’s vision to life. 

The show is in Seattle tonight, and then goes to Sacramento, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles, before finishing up in San Diego on December 21st.  So, if you happen to get to one of the shows - check out the drapery and let me know what you think!

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On Tour with R. Kelly

A month or two back, I posted about the “Moulin Rouge” drapes that Sew What? made for our sister company, Rent What?  I mentioned at the time that the rental drapes would be making their “debut” with R. Kelly’s “Ladies Make Some Noise” tour.

The tour is in full swing now, and photos and videos of it are popping up all over the Internet.  So, I thought you might like to see the “Moulin Rouge” drapes in action, as it were.

New York Magazine

New York Magazine did an article called “Ten Things that Actually Happened at Friday’s R. Kelly Concert,” based on the October 19th show at the WaMu Theatre at Madison Square Garden.  Check out # 2 - there is a minor reference to the curtains and set.

You Tube

There are a number of videos on YouTube of the show - this one has a nice closeup of the drapery, but just do a search and you will find a bunch of videos for the tour, many of them showing different shots of the drapery.

Flickr

I just love this photo of R. Kelly with the Moulin Rouge drapes.  Scroll through the photo set on the right for more R. Kelly photos by Ernest - I am really impressed by the quality of the photo.

Want to know more?  Check out this article on the Rent What? website.

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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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Stage Curtains in Action

Since I started this blog, one of my goals has been to educate those readers who are new to the world of stage curtains and rigging.  Based on that, I have written various blog posts and included photos and links.  Today I thought I’d point you to some short videos that will show you stage curtains in action.  I hope you will find the videos both educational and entertaining.

Sew What? Inc. has posted several videos on You Tube.  This video shows an Austrian Drape being raised and lowered.  Make sure you turn the sound on your computer when playing the video - I think you’ll like the soundtrack!

We have also included an LED Star Drop that we made for the rental inventory of our sister company, Rent What?  I love the way the lights twinkle and flash - it is really a dramatic sight in a dark theatre or concert venue (again, try it with sound).

Our website has a large number of videos on it as well, showing a variety of custom stage curtains, custom band backdrops, and much more being used by artists as diverse as Lady Gaga, Rod Stewart, and James Taylor (and many more).  Check them out - I think you’ll enjoy them.

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Cool Drape!

Our sister company, Rent What? Inc., is now offering a great selection of specialty drapes. 

I love this Mesh Drape that Sew What? made for Rent What?, part of their Industrial Textures Series.  It is actually made of Aluminum Mesh (think window screen), which gives it a great “crinkly” look and allows the light to catch it at different angles.

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Love those specialty drapes from Rent What?

Last month I posted about how beautiful Silver Satin is for lighting, and I mentioned in that post that we made a number of drapes in this fabric for our sister company, Rent What?  Well, Rent What? has recently upgraded their website, and there is some fantastic info there on the specialty drapes available for rent, including the Silver Satin Series.

The information that has been added to the website is terrific.  One upgrade that I particularly like is the addition of the Specialty Drapery Series page.  Not only are pictures included for each of the four specialty drapery series (Silver Satin, Rockin Red, Ivory Scene, and Industrial Textures - all manufactured by Sew What?), but there are even links to printable versions of the “Profiles” of each series.  These are great – not only informative, but well-designed and clever. 

They have also added a number of other products to their website, including LED drapes, Kabukis, traveller track, portable dressing rooms and much more.  Congrats to Megan and Marce (owners of Rent What?) for this impressive upgrade to their website.

If you are looking for stage or special event rentals, make sure you check out Rent What?  You won’t be disappointed. 

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Silver Satin - What an incredible fabric for lighting!

I am amazed at how beautiful and different silver satin can look depending on how it is lit on stage.  I have seen it look so many different colors, depending on the lighting effects, from the original silver to pink, red, blue…it seems that the possibilities are endless.

We’ve made a number of custom drapes from silver satin over the last couple of years, and every time I look at a photo or video of one of them on stage, I see a new color.  When John Mayer performed at the Nokia Theatre, the same silver satin Austrian appears blue/purple in one video and red/pink in another (all in one show).

We’ve also made a number of silver satin pieces for our sister company, Rent What? , for their “Silver Satin Series,” including austrians, legs, borders, and swags, and Rent What? has found them quite popular for the rental market.  Carrie Underwood used silver satin legs from Rent What? as a backdrop to her performance on the Academy of Country Music Awards broadcast recently, and, due to clever lighting, they appear red – check out the video.

Currently on tour from the Rent What? Silver Satin Series are several swags, used by Jennifer Hudson in her tour with Robin Thicke.  Looking at this picture, you would never know that the swags are actually silver.

I think this is a great fabric for so many uses.  Yes, it looks great on music tours, but it can also be used by schools, churches, dance troupes, and so much more.  On a day to day basis, there is a beautiful silver drape.  In a show, with the right lights, suddenly you have a red drape or a blue drape or…It’s almost like getting several drapes for the price of one!

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Need a rental? Call Rent What?

In the last few years, we started hearing from a lot of our customers that they wished we offered soft goods for rent.  That way, they could maximize their budget - buy a few custom stage curtains and then also rent some of the pieces.  In July 2008, in answer to those requests, Rent What? Inc. was born.

Rent What? is a sister company to Sew What? (separate but equal I guess you could say ), owned & operated by Megan Duckett (Sew What? founder) and Marce Forrester.  Sew What? makes the drapes and then Rent What? rents them out.  It’s the best of both worlds.  Customers get the same high quality products as those bought directly from Sew What? but as a rental for the length of time needed - a week, a month, whatever.  When Rent What? first started out, the focus was on black masking drapes, but now they have built a stock of some absolutely gorgeous specialty drapes (pictures in a future post) as well as LED drapes.

So if you find yourself in need of a rental, give Rent What? a call - Marce & Megan would be glad to help you.

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