The Yost enjoys new life with Elation Lighting
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First opened in 1913 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the space initially housed vaudeville acts, silent films, and talkies but has also seen service as a live theatre, house of worship, live performance venue and nightclub.
N-EFFECT Productions and owner Kris Plourde started renovation of The Yost in June 2017 and he says almost $1m was put into the venue to give it the encore it deserved. By tapping into the old-world vibe of the storied venue, the new incarnation’s customizable Elation lighting system, QSC line array and large 3mm LED wall can transform events into extraordinary experiences.
“It has a mid-century meets modern vibe, taking you back in time but with the production capabilities of today,” says Plourde, who wears a lot of hats at the venue including owner, production consultant, lighting designer and host-of-the-house. “We wanted to bring the venue back to its roots and put client events centre stage so we pulled everything out and rebuilt the entire system, not only to bring it up to date but to give the venue the tools it needed to take events to the next level.”
Plourde is also CEO of popular event space [AV] Irvine, a customisable space opened in 2016 that also houses an automated Elation lighting system. The intention at both venues is to provide the wow factor needed to impress clients and guests alike. Plourde comments, “The Yost, like [AV] Irvine, was built with clients in mind. We wanted anyone to be able to walk into the building and have their event look, sound and be lit professionally. We all know lighting is the key to making events look amazing. Now both events large and small can look like a million bucks and have a professional in-house team to run it without the high cost of additional production.”
That’s pretty much where the similarities between the two venues end however. [AV] Irvine is modern and cutting edge and lies in the centre of Southern California’s Silicon Valley while The Yost is retro and classic and is located in the centre of Santa Ana’s historic art district. “They are only a few miles apart, but worlds away. It was our goal to build different unique venues all with great service and ease of use in mind.”
Previously run as a nightclub, there were already some Elation fixtures in the lighting rig when Plourde took over, including older Elation Design Wash LED Pro moving heads and Opti Tri Par lights. Plourde stripped the entire system down and reinstalled everything from scratch. He then updated the system with Platinum HFX multi-purpose moving heads for spot, wash and texture duties and Event Bars for precision pin-spotting and aerial effects.
Antari F1 Fazers are used in The Yost for atmospheric haze and provide the mid-air canopy for lighting effects. The entire lighting system is run by a High End Systems Road Hog 4 lighting console. The lighting and video install was completed in September 2017.
(Jim Evans)
