This year's concert will be just as diverse and star-studded with Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, The Chainsmokers, Meghan Trainor, Fifth Harmony, Ellie Goulding, Diplo, Charlie Puth, Lukas Graham, Daya, and Niall Horan scheduled to appear.
Although the concert takes place on 9 December, the excitement for Jingle Ball started to build two months earlier with the announcement of the artist line-up. No ordinary press conference, the announcement is an entertainment event in its own right with special guest star performances, DJs from popular New York radio station Z100 pumping up the crowd and - in 2016-- a fast-moving lightshow created by Angel Perez of Fine Quality Events that featured Core 3x3 panels from Chauvet DJ.
Taking place outdoors in front of Macy's fabled Herald Square location on a sunny Tuesday afternoon, the announcement event drew a large appreciative crowd. Charlie Puth, whose debut LP Nine Track Mind reached No.21 on the Billboard charts, and Daya of Hide Away fame both appeared on the stage, their performances matched note for note by Perez's dynamic light show.
Perez used eight Core 3x3 panels on the stage, which was provided and set up by Mobile Stage of West Babylon, New York. Flown on downstage truss and spaced evenly across the width of the stage, the pixel mapping COB LED panels were the lighting rig's main point of engagement with the crowd.
Using the panels for strobing, chase scenes and colour washes, Perez relied on them to set a visual tone for the musical performances and on-stage announcements. "The Core 3x3 was awesome as crowd blinder effect," he said. "At the same time it created great eye candy with color changes and chases. We had some bright moving fixtures on our rig, and the Cores held their own in terms of brightness. Even during the daylight hours, they were more than bright enough to create the looks we wanted."
(Jim Evans)
