High End Systems’ Sola Series automated luminaires drove the main Honda Stage at the 2019 Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, TX. For two consecutive weekends in October, 28 SolaFrame 3000 and 18 SolaHyBeam 2000 cut through day and night performances for Tame Impala, Billie Eilish, The Cure, Idles, Third Eye Blind, Cardi B and Robyn, among others.
Houston-based LD Systems provided the gear, while its LDs Nathan Brittain and Lance Williamson worked with ACL Music Festival designer Chris Lisle on the overall design.
The team deployed the 37,000 lumens of each SolaFrame 3000 for profile fixtures and band specials, while the SolaHyBeam 2000 washed the downstage with bold beams, animated gobos and effects. This year’s larger stage was 20 feet wider, measuring 80 feet wide by 60 feet deep.
Weather was a study in contrasts for the event with intense record-breaking heat transforming into chilly wind and rain. Despite the changes in temperatures and humidity, the Sola Series fixtures were a success, benefiting from the patented Lens Defogging System.
“Everything worked very well,” Williamson said. “We didn’t have any weather related issues either with high heat the first weekend or the crazy cold front that came through the second weekend.”
LD Systems added the Sola Series fixtures to its inventory in time for last year’s ACL Music Festival, and has since unleashed its powers on a range of large events from festivals such as Lollapalooza to the Texas rodeo circuits.
