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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Photos on Flickr – We’ve Come a Long Way

You know – I’m not that old (I’m in my mid 40s), but it amazes me to think of how much technology has changed in my lifetime. For at least half maybe more) of my life, you needed a camera and film to take a photo .  How many times did the opportunity for a great picture arise, but you didn’t have a camera with you, or you were out of film?  I know it happened to me a lot.

You had to finish the roll of film (12, 24 or 36 frames), take it to be developed, and then wait for the results (when I was younger, it took several days to a week, but eventually you could pay extra for one hour service).  Only then would you have your photos (and the negatives).  Want to give a copy of a photo to a friend or relative, customer or business associate?  You had to take the negative to the store to have a copy made, wait for it (just like before) and then give or mail or Fed Ex the photo to your friend or customer.  Not exactly a quick process.  And if the negative was lost or damaged?  Too bad – the photo is gone forever.

Today, it is so quick and easy to take, store, and copy photographs – all digitally.  We have digital cameras that are about the size of credit cards.  Our cell phones even have cameras, not to mention e-mail capability, so we can snap that pic and instantly e-mail it to a friend or colleague. 

We can save the photo files to our computers and back them up to DVDs or Flash drives – so that they last forever.  We can distribute them electronically or print copies ourselves in an instant using a color printer.

And then there is Flickr – which gives us the opportunity to make our photos available to thousands of people all over the world.  On some of my previous posts, I have included links to photos of our projects on Flickr.  Well, I was looking in Flicker today, and I thought, how amazing is this!  There are so many incredible photos on Concerts and Photostream – 152 in all.

If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you know how much I love the Rent What? Silver Satin Series.  Well, there is a set just for those drapes.  There are also sets for Wide Format Digital Printing, Austrian Curtains, and much more.  And new photos and sets are continually being added, so it is always fun to go back to the photostream to see what’s new.  It’s definitely a photostream to bookmark.

I have always been pretty computer-savvy – my father had one of the first home personal computers, and I have used computers in one form or another for many years.  Even so, I can’t help but be amazed when I consider the changes brought by technology within my lifetime.

And I haven’t even mentioned Facebook or Twitter or Linked In, or DVRs or Wiis or iPhones or Blackberries or Kindles…I’m excited to see what’s next.  How about you:?

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Drapes for The Cranberries

Recently, our sister company, Rent What? Inc. provided some beautiful soft goods for the UK tour of Irish rock band The Cranberries, and after seeing some photos of the set, I just had to post on it.

Through a combination of swags, legs, and borders from their Silver Satin series, complemented by a series of gorgeous Starlight drapes (similar to the “twinkle” drape featured in my earlier post), Rent What? captured just what the client was looking for in their European tour.   A photo taken at the Barcelona show in March is even featured on the Wikipedia entry for the band!

I know that there are other companies that rent stage curtains, and perhaps I am biased, but I am so impressed with the way that Rent What? has thought “outside the box” in designing a rental inventory that includes such beautiful, unique, and highly customizable drapery.

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Carrie Underwood at the CMA awards

Did you happen to catch the Country Music Awards last night?  If you didn’t, you missed a beautiful performance by Carrie Underwood (Entertainer of the Year). 

I am proud to say that our sister company, Rent What? Inc., provided the beautiful White Voile swags and drapes (made by Sew What? Inc., naturally) that provided the gorgeous backdrop for Carrie’s performance.  The combination of the soft floaty fabric and the terrific lighting techniques really sets the mood.

If you missed it (or just want to see it again), check out this video of Carrie singing “Temporary Home” at the 2010 CMA Awards.

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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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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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