Elation Lighting for California’s Hard Day of the Dead Fest

Hard Stage
The festival’s Hard Main Stage incorporated an iconic Mayan Pyramid design that was conceived by designer Charley Guest of Stage Tech of Santa Fe Springs, California, their fifth year doing the event. The scaffold structure was 210' wide and 70' tall and was accentuated by using two Elation video products throughout the structure's facia. The Hard Stage setup featured Elation EPV 375 HO LED panels that were specified, says Charley, “for their unmatched brightness in a low res product as well as their ease of use while rigging.” The EPV panels have a 37.5mm pixel pitch and were hung in horizontal lines so they had to be individually hung via lift on the scaffold facia. “The IP65 rating of the panels was a factor as well as we saw some rain on the Friday night before the show,” Charley states. Elation EVLED 20IP video panels were also used in the design.

All other elements of the Hard Stage were designed by Brian Karol of Felix Lighting with programming by Felix’s David Dibb. Felix Lighting has been designing the lighting on the main stage and DOTD site since 2012. “We used 28 Platinum Beam 5R’s on this year’s Hard Stage,” said Felix Lighting’s Brian Karol. “Eighteen of them were exposed through the rain storm and they held up like champs.”

Purple Stage
Stage Tech handled provided Elation lighting for the Purple Stage with Stage Tech’s Charley Guest handling stage design and Purple Stage lighting design by Carlos Guillen. Used on the Purple Stage for their powerful beam look as well as their speed was some 26 Platinum Beam 5R’s along with 8 Elation Opti Tri Par LED lights and 8 Elation Design Wash LED 60 moving heads all controlled via an Elation-distributed HedgeHog 4 console and supported by atmospheric fog effects from Antari M5 foggers.

Harder and Pink
Production company Visions Lighting created the design and provided lighting gear for two of the event’s five stages - Harder Stage and Pink Stage. The Harder Stage featured a massive 60’ high by 120’ wide arch lined with 70 Platinum Beam 5R Extreme’s with sections of truss color-toned using 170 Elation EPAR Tri LED Par Cans. “It made for some amazing looks and great chases,” said Visions Lighting’s Todd Roberts, who designed both the Harder and Pink Stages with Nathan Jones and Colin Johnson doing some complex CAD work. Brandon Dunning was the LD for Harder Stage and David Molner was Master Electrician.

The Pink Stage featured a double pyramid towering over a DJ booth that Visions lined with 36 Platinum Beam Extremes. “The Platinum Beam Extremes were chosen for their ability to throw a long distance and hold up in an extreme environment,” Todd commented. “The night before the event we received an inch of rain and we bagged all the fixtures but they still got pretty wet. But we didn’t lose any fixtures. They worked 100% for the show without having to swap any.” Ricardo Rojas served as LD for the Pink Stage with Shaun Grout as Master Electrician. Antari foggers and hazers were also included in the setup for the mid-air haze canopy and fog effects.

Harder Stage
70 x Platinum Beam 5R Extreme
170 x EPAR Tri  

Pink Stage
36 x Platinum Beam Extreme

Purple Stage
26 x Platinum Beam 5R
8 x Opti Tri Par
8 x Design Wash LED 60
2 x HedgeHog 4

Hard Stage
112 x EPV 375 HO
EVLED 20IP video panels
28 x Platinum Beam 5R

About Elation Professional
Elation Professional is one of the world’s leading lighting and visual solutions providers and is the global brand of Elation Lighting. Founded in 1992 and headquartered in Los Angeles, with European sales, distribution and support based in The Netherlands, Elation designs and manufactures a comprehensive range of innovative yet affordable lighting and video products that are distributed through a global network of dealers and distributors. Made up of a spirited team of dedicated personnel, Elation is setting new efficiency and performance standards in Platinum lamp and LED technology and is acknowledged for a comprehensive commitment to Total Support. As a company in expansion with a presence in a growing variety of market segments, chances are you’ve experienced Elation lighting at a concert, special event, TV, theater, late night venue, House of Worship, theme park, cruise ship, exhibition, architectural space or elsewhere.