Get your gray on!

In a world of high impact graphics, vibrant colors and over the top visual/video effects at shows, I’ve found over the last few years that the color gray and shades of gray are my favorite colors to work with.

For most people, gray evokes images of battle ships and gloomy days. From my perspective, it’s a lighting directors dream. A gray backdrop lets the lighting designer take control of the mood and drama of the stage.
Add the texture and sweep of a complex swag to your drapes and you can achieve beautiful effects that will transcends your stage to a whole new level. It’s not the only color of course, but something to consider when your planning your tour. Get your gray on!

Planning a Holiday Show or Event?

It’s hard to believe, but Thanksgiving is past, and the holiday season is starting in full swing.  Now’s the time to think about what custom stage drapes and other soft goods you might need for your holiday show or party.

Need some ideas?   See if these get your creativity going.

That Traditional Christmas Look

Inspiration: David Archuleta’s Christmas 2009 Tour

Specs: Gold Lightweight Velour Drapery, highlighted with festive red bows and large gold balls.  Add Christmas Trees, Wreaths, whatever you can imagine to set that festive holiday mood.

Winter Wonderland

Inspiration: “Silver Satin” and “Delightfully White” specialty drapery from Rent What?

Specs: A variety of Silver Satin drapes, from Austrians to Swags to Borders (and more) combine to evoke a romantic winter scene.  Add a little white with White Voile or Lightweight Velour Drapes, along with twinkle lights and a few snowflakes here and there for sparkle.

An Industrial New Year’s Eve

Inspiration: James Taylor; The Decemberists

Specs: Cool crinkly Metal Mesh gives a great industrial vibe, especially when lighted with spots in different colors.   Think about supplementing the look with stretch shapes, other crushed or textured fabrics in grey, silver and black tones, and metal pieces in a variety of finishes (pewter, silver, stainless steel, chrome, rubbed bronze, etc).

Still stuck for an idea?  Take a look at the Sew What? and Rent What? portfolios and Flickr for loads of inspirational photos and videos.

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).

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.

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.

Sheers and Silvers for Celtic Woman

Last spring, I was lucky enough to see Celtic Woman live at the Orange County (Calif) Performing Arts Center, and it was really a lovely show. Well, Celtic Woman is back in the US with a new tour, “Songs from the Heart,” and Sew What? was proud to be asked by production manager Scotty Ross to provide custom stage curtains to the tour.

The focus was on an ethereal look that could be transformed through lighting.  We started with the unique drum risers, which were comprised of three layers.  The top layer was White Voile, digitally printed with the client’s artwork (modeled after the “Songs from the Heart ” album cover art).  In the middle was White Iridescent Sheer, gathered at 200% fullness.  The bottom layer was Black 16oz Commando Cloth to ensure that the drum riser behind was masked from view.

The same White Iridescent Sheer fabric was used for upstage sheers, complemented by a swagged border and midstage swagged legs in Silver Velvet, along with legs in a White-Silver Sparkle Velvet. 

As I’ve mentioned before, silver  or grey fabric (along with white fabric) is ideal for colored lighting.  Check out how the drapery looked under a purple / blue lighting scheme:

And then how it looked under a red / gold lighting scheme:

It’s hard to believe that these are the same drapes – and that under natural light, they are actually white and silver!

I think the drapes turned out just gorgeous, and evoke just the right romantic, ethereal mood for the beautiful music of Celtic Woman.  Want to see (and hear) more?  Check out this video of the tour at Radio City Music Hall.  And if you’ve never seen them live, try to get out to see them this spring – they really do put on a great show.

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…

Xmas Soft Goods for David Archuleta

Once again, both Sew What? and Rent What? were asked to provide soft goods to a single tour – David Archuleta’s Christmas 2009 tour - and I think this one turned out particularly great, as both companies thought “outside the box” to create some unique pieces for the show based on a fabulous set design created by Butch Allen.

Rent What? provided the drapery – in this case it included Gold Lightweight Synthetic Velour Legs and Swags from their “Timeless and Traditional” Series, all wrapped up with giant red and gold bows for a perfect Christmas presentation. 

Design: Butch Allen Designs; Photo Credit: Butch Allen

What I think takes the drapery to another level, though,  is the incredible “twinkle-light” drape.  We’ve made traditional LED Star Drops before, but this drape was different .  For this drape, low resolution twinkle lights were inserted into a sheer white voile – the result is just gorgeous and reminds me of snow falling.

Design: Butch Allen Designs; Photo Credit: Butch Allen

Sew What? also got in the act, making some gold satin skirts along with some fun three-dimensional Christmas Trees out of White Cambio! stretch fabric.  There were five trees, ranging in from 8′ to 16′ in height, and depending on how they were lit, they appear gold/white, blue/white, or green.  Here’s how they look in green:

Design: Butch Allen Designs; Photo Credit: Butch Allen

All in all, the combination of the beautiful drapery provided by Rent What? and the fun Christmas Trees provided by Sew What? sets the stage for a fun and festive holiday show.  Want to see more photos?  Check out the Concerts and Curtains Photostream on Flickr.