LAS VEGAS - June 2014 -- If there’s a word that characterizes Las Vegas, it’s “spectacle,” which is something that South Point Hotel and Casino on the south end of The Strip has in spades, especially now that the property has recently added three Avolites products to illuminate its live entertainment offerings.
On weekends, South Point hosts national artists ranging from Tower of Power to Tony Orlando, in addition to a wide variety of regional acts. With its 4,600-seat arena and 400-seat showroom, plus convention hall, the resort’s crews are lighting acts six or seven days a week – often with multiple shows on the same day and going into the wee hours for nightclub bands.
For South Point’s production team, the investment in Avolites’ Sapphire Touch lighting control console for the showroom, Tiger Touch II for the convention facility and original Tiger Touch for a portable rig that does arena and pool shows was a “no-brainer,” according to Jason Lein, the casino’s production manager.
When asked about what specific factors helped the venue choose Avolites products, Lein responds succinctly: “Powerful consoles for a fraction of the price of their competitors with the same capabilities if not more power.”
The desks were sold and installed by Kelly Koster at Blue Planet Lighting Inc., founded in 2008, a leading provider of entertainment stage lighting gear and services with offices located in Hollister, Missouri and Las Vegas, Nevada.
The gear’s flexibility and ease of use are major selling points for Joey Juliano, South Point’s entertainment lead LD, who cites the “awesomeness” of Avolites’ Cue Stacking for South Point’s big production shows and the consoles’ general plug-and-play operation. “The first time the audience sees our shows is the first time I see the show. With an ‘Avo’ I can make the show look like I’ve seen it a million times.”
Juliano learned stage lighting from Group One Limited’s (Avolites’ US distributor) Brad White on an Avolites Diamond III console eight years ago. “I have been lucky enough to be able to progress my lighting designs with each new Avolites console that is produced without having to take any more classes. They have kept their language the same through all their upgrades in their consoles, which is very smart.”
Two Avolites console functions that Juliano finds integral to his job in achieving his lighting design goals are Fixture Overlap and Fixture Exchange. “The Pixel Mapper is so addicting and super powerful as well,” he says. The coolest new function that I use literally all the time is being able to steal any aspect of a previous show and drop it into my current show, like cues, palettes, shapes, etc. The consoles also handle our media server in a plug-and-play manner.”
South Point’s Jason Lein notes that equipment features are important, but so is servicing from whom sold it, and he doesn’t take for granted the casino’s relationship with Blue Planet Lighting.
“When we decide on a product to purchase, the support that is behind it is just as important as the product and its capabilities,” he says. “Kelly Koster at Blue Planet and Brad White at Group One have shown that Avolites has a perfect balance of great products with the right support systems behind them.”
South Point Hotel and Casino can be found online at
www.southpointcasino.com, while Blue Planet Lighting’s home on the Web is located at
www.blueplanetlighting.com.