When rock icon Sammy Hagar took over the Dolby Live in Las Vegas for his recent residency, Lighting Designer Jamie Fadden brought bold and nostalgic visuals to the stage with the help of High End Systems SolaPix Fan 8 and Zeo fixtures, as well as Hog lighting control.
After designing Sammy Hagar’s Best of All Worlds tour, Fadden faced the task of taking the tour’s large and complicated rig and making a similar show work with a more limited lighting package. Fadden says, “That was the direction of this residency, getting as close to my show from last summer as possible while using way less gear. I had to fill in a lot of gaps with less equipment.”
That’s where High End Systems SolaPix Fan 8 and Zeo fixtures came in. SolaPix Fan 8 is a fanned, eight-pixel automated fixture designed to create a variety of looks and effects. Zeo features a unique, square face design and intense brightness for use as a strobe, blinder, and effects light.
Introduced to the automated luminaires just before the residency, Fadden was immediately impressed. “The Fan 8s were something I had been envisioning that I didn’t know existed yet. They helped add variety to the show,” she says. “The Fan 8 gave me tight beam looks and really strong sweep-ins and sweep-outs.”
In total, the package included eight SolaPix Fan 8 fixtures in the air and four Zeo fixtures on the floor. Fadden adds, “I’m a ‘less is more’ designer. I like big looks and simple transitions. The Zeos had a really nice macro fade, none of that clunky switching you sometimes get with other fixtures.”
Fadden ran the show on her Full Boar 4 Hog console, a platform she has come to rely on. “It’s simple, powerful, and just makes sense for how I work. I’m excited to get my hands on the new Hog hardware,” Fadden says.
Despite the challenges of working with a downsized rig, Fadden was able to lean on her nearly 5 years of experience working with Hagar to keep the design consistent. The residency may be wrapped for now, but Sammy Hagar is staying busy with more shows in the pipeline.
Photo credit Niel Lim Samg