To celebrate 50 years of their music, The Rolling Stones kicked off this year's holiday festivities on London's Carnaby Street, switching on the annual Carnaby Street lighting display with a rock n' roll twist.
For the temporary installation, Patrick Woodroffe, lighting designer for The Stones since 1989, collaborated with James Glancy Design to transform London's historical shopping and music district for the season. They turned to entertainment lighting specialist White Light to supply lighting solutions for the holiday installation.
Hundreds of shoppers and music fans gathered for the celebration, taking in Rolling Stones themed decorations, highlighted by the colourful sparkle of lighting from every angle.
For the event, the team from White Light installed nearly 50 wireless LED fixtures - CORE Lighting Point30 units - all around the popular shopping area. The Point30 uplighters, available in the UK exclusively through White Light, provided the perfect solution for the project, allowing for a quick and easy setup. Uninhibited by cables and durable enough to handle outdoor conditions, the fixtures were installed on the exteriors of several Carnaby St shops and were controlled wirelessly using a Wireless Solutions W-DMX transceiver, also exclusive in the UK to White Light. Lighting Programmer Jim Beagly used a Grand MA 1 Lite console to program the display.
On hand for the "switch on" was Josh Yard, hire co-ordinator at White Light, who started organising White Light's role in the project in early 2012. "Events and installations like this one involve a lot of planning," he said, explaining that it's always worth it. "The satisfaction comes from seeing it all come together with great results."
The team from White Light also included project manager Pete Bradbury, and technicians Jo Roberts and Steve Richardson, who spent a few cold mornings getting everything just right for the switch on event.
The Rolling Stones Carnaby Street Christmas installation went live on 9 November and will run through the end of the year.
