A four-day music, camping and arts festival created 19 years ago to celebrate the Grateful Dead, the annual Gathering of the Vibes has something for everyone who appreciates freewheeling creativity, good times and an intense musical experience. 

Derek Iorfida of JDI Productions (Johnston, RI) understands this tradition, which is why he chose our  Legend 230 SRBeam and Legend 412 as the lynchpins of his lighting rig at the most recent edition of this popular event, which featured standout performances from Black Crowes, original Grateful Dead member Phil Lesh and Darkstar Orchestra.

“Given the history of this festival and the energy level of the artists on stage, we wanted a light show that packed a punch,” said Iorfida.  “The Chauvet products were included in the rig because we needed something to match the intense performances we knew would be taking place on stage. That was our goal and that’s what these fixtures did.”

Like all successful applications, the Gathering of the Vibes project design was the result of a team effort on the part of some dedicated and talented people, said Iorfida. “Everyone put their heart into this project,” he said. “Our lighting crew chief Phred Thompson deserves a lot of credit, as do our lighting techs Peter Therrien and Cody  James.”

Iorfida used 24 of the Legend 412 moving yoke washes and 16 Legend Beam 230SR high output beams on a trussing rig positioned around the performers. “We stepped the truss all the way down to the stage to create a wall of light,” he said. “The idea was to have very sharp beams and intense patterns to match the driving force of the music.”

Featuring a 230-watt Osram Sirius lamp and a 2.25 degree beam angle, the Legend 230SR Beam outputs 96,000 lux at 15 meters, giving Iorfida the intensity he was seeking. “The Legend 230SR Beam pretty much blew away all of the other lights we had on stage,” he said. “This included 1200-watt fixtures we had from a big name manufacturer.”

The nimble and compact Legend412, a high performance moving head wash with 12 quad-colored RGBW CREE LEDs, served as a perfect complement to the Legend 230SR Beam. Iorfida used these fixtures to increase the overall brightness on stage and create added excitement with dynamic chases and pixel mapping effects.

A crowd of roughly 20,000 attended the Gathering of the Vibes festival, which took place on the Long Island Sound, a little over an hour away from New York City. “We had variable weather during the festival, with some rainy days and sunny days,” said Iorfida. “The Legends worked perfectly without exception. The crowd loved the lightshow and how it supported the music. I never sell my Chauvet products on price – the results they deliver for me are truly second to none.”