Has anyone caught on to the fact that every other month our post is about a Kamp Grizzly gig? Seriously - amazing events these folks do. This one was for the NBA All-Star Week that was happening at the Staples Center. The gig was at the old American Apparel factory which is now a beanie-and-beard hipster joint for creative types. It was two days of 15,000 people enjoying a celeb basketball game (spoiler - Snoop was really high), interactive recording opportunities, concert with Childish Gambino and a ton of others including a cameo by Yeezy himself, new sneaker drops all over the joint, and an insane museum-like experience inside the first floor of the old warehouse which you will see in the video. Kamp also had us doing shows at Nice Kicks in DTLA and a big Footlocker show with Rick Ross where we took over the courtyard at Hollywood and Highland. Huge thanks to the hard-hitting creative team working with us including Lighting Designer Kate Stoval and Trevor Burk brewing up insane visuals. LOVE
The Recording Academy celebrated the 60th Grammy Awards this year, and they moved it back to New York for the occasion. Branden and Rex were gracious enough to bring us out to do our thing. Always the best week of the year, 2018 did not disappoint. The Person of the Year celebration was for Fleetwood Mac. Remember last year, it was our beloved Tom Petty to whom Stevie Nicks paid a heartbreaking tribute. Lorde and Miley and Allison Krause and Portugal the Man and many others played Fleetwood Mac tunes, then The Mac themselves came out and tore down Radio City Music Hall. The Grammy show at Madison Square Garden was great, regardless of what the haters say - Miley and Elton doing Tiny Dancer was unforgettable. And our big afterparty was in Times Square and raged until 3am. If you watch this video until the end, you'll see Adam and some of the boys huffing it across Queensboro Bridge - Their Uber had a flat tire on the way to JFK. You think Kendrick got cheated? How about these rock star techs, man!?
OK, so we're only two weeks in, but I'm still flying high from this amazing gig the other night. Sir David Rodgers included us in the new Stella McCartney roll out, and man are we glad. We supported Beck and St. Vincent and Grimes (I love Grimes) and Borns and a few others. It was a nutty celeb-fest, so no need for artists to flee to their backstage hideouts - chances are the guy watching you perform has sold more records than you.
For a fan-boy like me, it was heaven. Chris and The Team put up this rig in a matter of hours. Programmer Anthony spent his lunch learning Grimes tunes (I love Grimes), so he's now officially in The Club. Rock and Roll Royalty hanging at the legendary SIR studios on Sunset, surrounded by vintage guitars with killer indie acts and sweet handbags that my daughter covets. Something for everyone...
Dang - good gig.
I hope this doesn't bum anyone out, but we've been doing a really cool Rodeo gig for years, in Las Vegas. It's called the NFR - National Finals Rodeo, which is the Super Bowl of Rodeos. Or, the Coachella of Rodeos for you non-athletic types. It's considered to be the world's premier rodeo, and has been happening at the Thomas and Mack arena for decades. We are invited by this great Laser company, YLS, who brings us up every year to light it. 55 million households end up watching it on TV every year. Nuts. The rodeo consists of 10 rounds – one round per day for 10 days. Cowboys and girls can win big money - this year's total purse is over $10 million. We put in a lighting rig as well as a stage that drops from the roof of the arena, for some good country music. Hey man, sorry about beating up ponies and such, but it's a fun arena gig with a fun client.
Sneaker Culture, y'all. ComplexCon is a convention and a festival and a gathering of like-minded pop culture enthusiasts, taking over Long Beach for a weekend. This is the youth generation's Worlds Fair. It's an expertly curated trade show, performance space, retail outlet, and gathering that celebrates hip hop, sneakers, art, music and celebrity. I know it's hard to grasp, so watch the attached video to lock in your confusion. Once again, perpetual-cool-gig-givers Kamp Grizzly had us provide sound, lighting, video and interactivity for two booths at the trade show. Pharell and NERD did an important drop in our space, which brought out all the freaks.
Loving every minute of this ride!
We are thrilled to announce our new partnership with Westfield Century City. WCC has built a world-class entertainment venue within the mall property. In fact there are four discrete venues available for live shows, activations, awards shows, galas, etc. The Atrium is the main space and has brand-new state-of-the-art audio, video, LED and lighting systems. ShowPro has been awarded the contract as the in-house production provider, including a full time staffer on site. David Olson eats, sleeps and breathes his new job, and he loves it. The Westfield events staff is simply the best - Sarah Richardson and team have combined experience that covers pretty much any and every type of event that has been done. But now we get to do this in an insane new venue. The spice of life indeed. This video shows a quick glimpse of the grand opening we did with Fitz and the Tantrums, DNCE and even The Village People! Viva Los Angeles!