1. Pete's Big TVs
Screens that give the whole crowd a front-row view
On October 23, some 10,000 Bruce Springsteen fans packed the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia. To ensure the entire audience could see the band close up, Pete's Big TVs of New Castle, Delaware, hung six huge high-definition video screens above and around the stage. The largest screen--seen here at the rear of the stage--measured 26.5 feet wide and 15 feet tall. During the concert, Pete's five-person camera team, along with four robotic cameras, recorded the band's every move, which technicians then projected on the screens. CEO Peter Daniel co-founded the company, previously known as Performance A/V, with Lee Griffin and Greg Gerner in 1986. Last year, Daniel traveled to China to oversee the construction of the screens for the Wrecking Ball tour. "The previous generation of screens were electrically noisy, and it would drive the sound guys nuts," Daniel says. Pete's Big TVs has 40 full- and part-time employees, $10 million in annual revenue, and 50 customers worldwide. The company has handled video production for NBC's Olympics coverage since the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul.
2. Zildjian
Max Weinberg's cymbals
The E Street Band's drummer, Max Weinberg, uses four cymbals--a high hat, one thin crash, one medium thin crash, and a rock ride--made by Zildjian of Norwell, Massachusetts. The company traces its roots to the 17th century, when Armenian alchemist Avedis Zildjian developed a mixture of copper, tin, and silver with unique sound qualities. Zildjian went on to make cymbals for the Turkish sultan. Three centuries later, in 1929, the Zildjian family immigrated to the United States, where its cymbals became the standard for drummers in every musical genre. "The process has evolved, but in some ways, it's still very much the same as it was back in 1623," says CEO Craigie Zildjian, the first woman to run the family-owned company. "The secret is how we mix those metals, and only a few people are allowed access to the process." The $50 million company has 113 employees, including 16 percussionists, and also makes drumsticks, mallets, and hybrid acoustic-electric cymbal sets.
3. Tait
Setting the stage