My Journey with Vista, my lighting desk of choice.
August 11, 2025 - Reading time: 6 minutes
How did it happen?
Back in 2008, I was looking to own my own lighting desk. I don't know why, I just did, it kinda felt like the right thing to do at the time, I could operate a Whole Hog and an Avolites desk. I was also, before then, quite proficient on the Vari*Lite consoles. Whatever happened to them? Ah, them's were the days. I had just been asked that year to do the set and lights for the Cliff Richard and the Shadows' World Tour, so I thought that would be a good opportunity to buy a desk, but which one?
One wet Wednesday, I was in a well-known lighting hire company's warehouse, and they had a Jands Vista S3 console setup and running it with a MacBook. They allowed me to have a look and to play around with it. I liked it, I liked it quite a lot. There were a few things that I couldn't quite get my head around. The approach to some things was quite a bit different from what I had previously known, so I put the software on my laptop, took it home, and spent a lot of time with it. Soon, I was finding my way around it quite quickly and developing some new muscle memory along the way.
Quite by chance, the S3 came up for sale, complete with an unlimited dongle and the MacBook, so I took a deep breath and bought it. My newly acquired Jands Vista S3 was going on a world tour with an, at the time, large and well known act. Had I done the right thing? Fortunately, it was already flight-cased and ready to go.
My first Jands Vista setup. (with Catalyst)
The tour consisted of a large screen, 20m x 5m of high-resolution LED screen, that was it, really, and a pile of lights. The idea was to push all 5 cameras and content to the screen, make them spin and slide on and off and tumble through a Catalyst media server, which would be fired by my desk along with the lighting, quite a challenge back then. Of course, these days it's easy peasy, but back then, in 2009, it was considered a challenge.
I had help from a wonderful chap, Andy Ryhmes. I'm sure he won't mind a mention here. He was brilliant on the Catalyst side of things and getting the Vista to talk to it. After three weeks in rehearsals, we had a show, a great show that went down a storm. A happy client and happy fans. With my new confidence, I was ready to say goodbye to Andy and face the world on my own.
The tour was a great success, and I continued to do lots of work with my S3, which I soon added to with an S1/M1 combo for smaller gigs. There were plenty of gigs for them all, and my desks were always busy. I loved it!
My Jands Vista Collective...
One day, while touring in Europe, with a band that will remain nameless, I learnt the news that ChromaQ in Canada had acquired the rights to the Jands Vista brand. I was shocked and a bit nervous, but a quick call to the wonderful Jack Moorhouse soon put those fears to rest as he told me the future was good for Vista. he wasn't wrong. I bought the new Vista MV and EX combo, which I have had ever since. This little system has worked very hard for me, with the whole system fitting neatly into a single Peli case, under 32 lbs, just, and has been all around the world doing music tours, corporate events and once of events. Each new release of the software brings something new and useful. I have never ever had a single problem with.
As a side note, I was on a corporate gig in Wembley two years ago, and the console was my old S1/M1 system that I sold. Awww!
I'm not into console wars; they all do the same thing now, especially my Vista by ChromaQ. I'm quite happy to sit on a riser with my small footprint console, providing what my clients want. I have, over the years, fraternised with the GMAPC and the Chamsys desks. I like the small form factor, I like just jamming it all into a Peli and leaving for a hotel or airport, pulling it behind me.
My current Vista by ChromaQ setup
I'm looking forward ot seeing more from Vista by ChromaQ in the future. Bring it on...