Hollywood Boulevard was shut down on Monday, March 30 for Van Halen's first-ever televised performance with original lead singer David Lee Roth. To light Van Halen playing live on Jimmy Kimmel Live! lighting director Christian Hibbard worked closely with LD Bob Hughes for their stage look. "He has the ear of the band and it was very useful to have him tell me what their vision was,” says Hibbard. “They wanted a specific truss layout but lighting specs were left to me. I worked with Dan Moore as the programmer from PRG. He had a lot to do with how the show looked at the end of the day."
The moving light rig comprises Philips Vari-Lite VL5s and VL6s, and Martin Professional Rush PARs, provided by Ron Crume at PRG. "We also put PAR bars on all the rooftops to light the audience and the buildings," notes Hibbard. The truss was from All Access Staging & Productions.
"We closed the boulevard at 6pm the night before, so we’d get about 24 hours from the moment they close the street until the show. We had the rig up and running by 2am and then programmed until sunrise. We also did pre-viz and built the rig in our parking lot the week before so we could load it in like a tour," Hibbard explains, noting that his biggest challenge is that, "We never see it on camera until we start the show. We to rehearse in daylight so the first time we see it on camera is when we tape it. I just have to hope that I get the balance for TV correct."
Check out Van Halen's performance of "Panama" on Jimmy Kimmel Live! below.