PRG and Chauvet Professional Help The Sayers Club Bring a Hollywood Icon to Vegas Strip

	The Sayers Club Las Vegas with Chauvet Professional

"Unique" is an over-used word, but not in the case of the The Sayers Club in Hollywood. Entering this chic establishment, one is immediately struck by the captivating blend of edgy and opulent touches running through its intimate space, from the long golden-lit bar and over-stuffed couches to the strategically hung gothic-inspired drapes. There's the distinctive designer cocktails, small plate specialties, and of course the music. Where else can you see name artists like Black Keys and Stevie Wonder perform in a room that holds only 250 people? Or, be treated to a surprise late night appearance by Prince?

As exceptional and rare as the original Sayers Club is, however, Jason Scoppa (creator, designer, curator) and Micah Otano (production manager) have been able to recreate their Hollywood magic in Las Vegas with the opening of a new location at SBE's SLS Casino (the former Sahara at the north end of The Strip). The pair even managed to add a dash of extra Vegas visual sizzle to the new Sayers Club with the help of some pixel mapped Chauvet Professional fixtures provided by PRG's Las Vegas branch.

True to the spirit of its famous Hollywood cousin, The Sayers Club Las Vegas kicked off its grand opening with an inspired appearance from a rock legend, Lenny Kravitz, who performed in front of a pixel-mapped stage wall display created with an array of Chauvet Professional's ÉPIX Strip 2.0 and ÉPIX Bar 2.0 units. Arranged with the bars in the middle of the array and the strips flanking on either side, the ÉPIX fixtures bathed the stage in vibrant colors on opening night as they displayed dynamic images that accented Kravitz's performance.

Scoppa recounted how the stunning stage wall was created. "When I was drawing the Hollywood location four years ago, I had an acoustical treatment that was going to go over the bar wall, which we later scrapped," he said. "It was a layered array of colored fabric vertical bars that would create depth. It was intended to give our brick wall new sound characteristics, be visually pleasing, and be instantly identifiable as something associated with The Sayers Club."

"I wanted to bring this idea back to life for our Las Vegas location's stage backdrop," continued Scoppa. "I had a lot of sketches, and Micah and I talked about a lot of different options that could be used to create this look: from Aurelex foam panels like what we use as our backdrop in Hollywood; to simple LEDs, to foam panels with LEDs inside. Time and budget had become our worst enemy. Then, one night Micah sent me a link to an ÉPIX demo. We were completely sold, and it couldn't have been more timely or a better product for us. After that, Micah connected us with Chauvet, who then connected us with Tim Brennan at PRG. All moved quickly from that point. We've been extremely grateful to be working with the right folks that have helped us execute our vision."

The Sayers Club Las Vegas lighting rig includes: 12 ÉPIX Strip 2.0 fixtures and seven ÉPIX Bar 2.0 units, all of which have their power supply and processing hosted by three ÉPIX Drive 642 units. Also included in the rig are two Rogue R1 Beam and two Rogue R1 Spot moving yoke fixtures, as well as three COLORdash Par-Hex 12 RGBAW plus UV LED par-style fixtures.

Brennan, the vice president of PRG, has this take on the work of Scoppa and Otano at The Sayers Club. "They create a relaxed sophisticated ambience in the club and a vibrant look on stage that supports the music. I would certainly say that the ÉPIX products contributed to making their vision a reality. It's amazing what you can get out of the ÉPIX units; they are a really impactful, cost-effective solution to adding a video element in your design. Sean Guarino of SexyLites in Las Vegas did the programming and video effects with Micah. They had over 150 video looks on the first night!"

The Rogue and COLORdash fixtures also made significant contributions to the magic created at The Sayers Club Las Vegas, said Brennan. Positioned on overhead truss, the Rogue fixtures are used to "highlight acts," while the COLORdash units, with their color rendering capability, contribute to the "overall ambience" of the club.

Since The Sayers Club Las Vegas has no real dance floor, preferring to create a music lounge atmosphere with overstuffed couches and bottle service tables, the club doesn't depend on the typical moving-fixtures-over-dancers rigs found at many other nightclubs. However, guests have been known to get on their feet and dance in the aisles, not to mention the area in front of the stage at the club. When they do, the Rogue fixtures are there providing fast and intense razor-sharp beams of multi-colored light.

"The Rogues, quite frankly, are awesome," said Brennan. "Their output surpasses every expectation. I've also been impressed by the fresh look of their gobos and their smooth dimming. This is a very special place, and I'm excited that it's opened in my hometown. We wanted everything to be just right here, and the Chauvet fixtures definitely did not let us down."

For more information on PRG visit www.prg.com.

See Chauvet Professional at PLASA Focus: Orlando, February 17 - 18, 2015.