Vari-Lites star at the heart of Romeo Santos' record-breaking Utopia posted: 22/10/2019
The epic Utopia concert by Latin American music superstar Romeo Santos broke the all-time concert gross record for a single performance at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium on 21 September. Produced by Live Nation, the sold-out concert saw Santos joined by guest artists including Raul n Rodr guez, Elvis Mart nez, Luis Vargas and rapper Cardi B.
Yamil Charif and Richard Vicens of YC3 Lighting Design took charge of the entire design for the four-hour show, at the request of Santos' Production Manager, Javier Rolo. The artist had an idea of what he wanted, but he gave us a lot of creative freedom to interpret that, says Charif. Between Javier, Richard and myself, we created a concept and presented it to the artist. He loved it and we took it from there.
At the heart of the show's rich visual design, Charif and Vicens specified more than 100 lighting fixtures from Vari-Lite among their extensive lighting rig. Lining the 260ft wide stage and multiple Runways' were Vari-Lite's unique VL6000 Beam fixtures. These were partnered for the first time by the new VL6500 Wash, which made its world debut on Utopia. Sharing the same large format body as the VL6000 Beam, the 50,000-lumen output VL6500 Wash fixture features the distinctive radial diffusion blades and advanced CYM+CTO color mixing. In addition, Vari-Lite VL4000 BeamWash and VL3500 Wash FX fixtures were also specified for their distinctive, powerful output and effects capability.
To achieve their concept, lighting fixtures were carefully selected to fulfil specific purposes. We chose the VL6000 Beam for the Runways because of its unique look and its intensity, says Charif. We knew it was going to look great on camera and have the punch that we need in a stadium like the Metlife.
This punch' from the fixtures was essential not just because of the scale of the venue, but also because almost every surface of the enormous stage - walls, ceiling and floor - was covered with bright LED screen. Lower powered beams would have been lost against this background.
Making the most of their looks and output, Charif and Vicens positioned 48 VL6000 Beams across the stage's Runways, with 24 of the new VL6500 Wash fixtures lining the sides of the stage. Being the first to use the VL6500 Wash was very exciting, says Charif. It's similar in size and output to the VL6000 Beam, but looks like the old school VL5, with those blades. It's a super-cool look, but at the same time we have the output we need in a stadium to create beams and shapes.
He adds, When the artists walked on the runways, the way the VL6000s and VL6500s would surround them made the stage look even bigger than it was.
For Charif, the Vari-Lite fixtures were essential elements of the design. Those lights were the most important fixtures for us, he says. We were very strict about the Runway and stage fixtures being the VL6000s and the VL6500s. They were the only fixtures in our rig that were non-negotiable. There is literally nothing else on the market will give us that effect. And they work together very well - they really exceeded expectations for us.
Working alongside Charif and Vicens in achieving the show visuals were scenic engineer Gustavo Perezlindo, and lighting programmers Elian Charif and Tomas Villanueva. It was a team effort, says Charif. My brother Elian, as lead programmer, and Tomas programmed the entire show, making Richard's vision possible. They did an impressive job, took every detail into count and worked non-stop to get every single punch and hit recorded. We are lucky to have such a good team of passionate, energetic professionals.
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
07/07/2026
Applications are now open for the Validation Booster, a six-month acceleration programme supporting journalists, media organisations, content creators, media in...
07/07/2026
New mixer aimed squarely at instrument-level sources
Heritage Audio have clearly been busy recently, as alongside their all-new Tubestrip, they've also ...
07/07/2026
New channel strip combines popular hardware designs
The latest arrival to the Heritage Audio line-up brings together a selection of their praised hardware d...
07/07/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
07/07/2026
UKTV commission with BritBox and Sony Pictures Television and inspired by Deborah Cadbury's book, Chocolate Wars
The six-part series is produced by Fable P...
07/07/2026
Tuesday 7 July 2026
Record audiences tune into the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 on Sky Sports
The ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 was the most watche...
07/07/2026
Tuesday 7 July 2026
Official trailer released for Fightland, a revenge drama fr...
07/07/2026
Wuppertal July 7, 2026
Riedel and ARRI Bring Cinematic Live Production to the Eurovision Song ContestRiedel Communications and ARRI played a key role in one o...
07/07/2026
To Whom It Concerns RT today confirmed that Patrick Kielty is to extend his contract as host of The Late Late Show.
Last season, the world's longest-runn...
06/07/2026
Bundle gains 100 new synths & more
Synth Anthology 5 the largest and most feature-packed edition of UVI's hardware synth emulation bundle, bringing toge...
06/07/2026
Available now via free firmware update
MOTU have just announced that three of their popular audio interfaces now boast official Milan Certification. The 16A...
06/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz completes Hunter Preliminary Design Review for the Integrated Co...
06/07/2026
The R&S IMAGER from Rohde & Schwarz uses millimeter wave imaging to inspect the ...
06/07/2026
Monday 6 July 2026
Sky Kids unveils new slate for 2026 including Paris Hilton&#...
06/07/2026
Monday 6 July 2026
Sky agrees to acquire ITV Media & Entertainment, creating a ...
06/07/2026
Fresh from his World Cup heroics with Cabo Verde, Roberto Pico' Lopes will join the RT panel for Argentina v Egypt tomorrow and for the England v Norway q...
06/07/2026
A death can be unsuspicious, but it has to be explained
What happened to Ke...
05/07/2026
Browser-based and desktop apps available
Digital Sunset Studios have been busy working on an interesting project: a free software tool that provides compute...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
** MEDIA ALERT **
BLEACH: THOUSAND-YEAR BLOOD WAR THE CALAMITY Continues I...
04/07/2026
** MEDIA ALERT **
VIZ Media Unveils New Anime Slate at Anime Expo 2026 with ...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
** MEDIA ALERT **
VIZ Media Celebrates Anime Expo 2026 with BLACK TORCH Worl...
02/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
02/07/2026
A new era in unmixing and spectral editing
The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...
02/07/2026
Aims to simplify additive synthesis
Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...
02/07/2026
Products to remain fully active & supported
Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...
02/07/2026
What you missed!
Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...
02/07/2026
Thursday 2 July 2026
Tea with Judi Dench returns to Sky Arts with legendary guest, Sir Ian McKellen
Sky today confirms Tea with Judi Dench will return this su...
01/07/2026
New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more
Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...
01/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
01/07/2026
Exclusive run of limited-edition modelling pedals
Sweetwater and Andertons M...
01/07/2026
Our SD10T was an absolutely rock-solid, stable console and the Quantum 338T has been the perfect upgrade, Hurley says. Having multiple screens is a big advant...
01/07/2026
LEXINGTON, Kentucky - July 2026 -Tyler Childers' seventh and latest studio record, Snipe Hunter, is an adventurously sprawling collection of tunes that span...
01/07/2026
** MEDIA ALERT **
BLEACH Comes to Life in Los Angeles with First-of-Its-Kind...
01/07/2026
UKTV has today announced the appointment of Matt Berry to the newly created role of General Manager - Marketing, effective 1 July.
Matt will take on this senio...
01/07/2026
Sky Zero Footprint Fund-backed TV campaign featuring Deborah Meaden challenges consumers to rethink everyday bathroom wasteWednesday 1 July 2026
Fussy asks Bri...
01/07/2026
Constituency-level analysis reveals where girls miss out most on sport - and where targeted action could unlock more than £640 million in economic and health be...
01/07/2026
Wuppertal July 1, 2026
Riedel and SKAARHOJ Expand Collaboration With SimplyLive IntegrationRiedel Communications today announced an expanded collaboration wit...
01/07/2026
Apple today introduced power-packed updates to Apple Creator Studio, a groundbre...
01/07/2026
Nectar360, the Retail Media, Loyalty and Insights business of the Sainsburys Gro...
01/07/2026
9.2 million streams on RT Player between 11 and 28 June
Reach of 2.9 million viewers during Group stages of FIFA World Cup on RT 2
23 million video views acr...
Vari-Lites star at the heart of Romeo Santos' record-breaking Utopia posted: 22/10/2019 
