The Garden Room was packed wall to wall for the Bartenders Ball this year in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Murray Baroody, the owner of Orangeburg Distributors, booked me for the third year in a row. He doubled the budget for the lighting and video from last year, then rented a smaller room. I have worked with Murray for nearly three years from running lights for his band to designing Budweiser parties. I am always worried that I will not be able to improve my show for annual events but in this situation I couldn’t lose.

Murray wanted to split the room creating a dance/live music area and a dining/casino area. We divided the room with two video screens framed with truss. The screens were set on opposite walls protruding approximately 10’ on each side. I eliminated the side view of the band, encouraging fans of the featured band, Tootie and the Jones, to join the fun in front of the stage.

The visuals on the screen were particularly fun. I had downloaded 70+ Budweiser advertisements from all over the world and scrolled them on my laptop every 5 seconds. Sending the monitor signal to an Edirol V-4 for projection, I programmed the Edirol V-4 to key out light shades to dark switching between the pictures and a great visuals DVD called Club Visuals Volume 1. The transition was set to 24 BPM or 2.5 seconds between pictures. When the Bud advertisements were completely keyed out the picture would switch and key in with the new image. Everyone loved it.

Beginning with the lighting at the entrance, two Elation Pro Spots framed the entrance doors scanning the room with a Budweiser Select custom gobo. The black jack tables to the left have 16 Colorcast 14 LED fixtures up lighting the wall. As the Colorcast trasition between colors, Tte wall is cross washed with the psychedelic effect from an American DJ Fantasy Scan. Another Fantasy Scan cast its unique effect across the opposite wall without LED support. Two more scanners attached to the truss scan the ceiling, crossing the beams from the Pro Spots.

Behind the video screens, Tootie and the Jones, Columbia’s premiere cover band, rocked the crowd for nearly 3 hours. 3 moving fixtures and 5 LED Pars framed each side of stage for a power packed performance.

From the entrance to the stage, the lighting and video design created multiple looks and room break ups converting the singular rectangular shape of Garden Room into a diverse environment. Encouraging exploration, the visuals were both entertaining and provided a valuable break that forced the guest to continuing walking through the room to see the stage. The natural flow of the room gave individuals motivation to move through out the room to see points of interest: food, gambling, live music, and the visuals.