USA - The Winter Jam Tour Spectacular returned for its bi-coastal celebration of positivity and spreading the Gospel with a lighting system provided by Bandit Lites. This year’s line-up included Crowder, two-time 2024 Grammy-award winner Lecrae, CAIN, Katy Nichole, Seventh Day Slumber, Newsong and more. “Each year I lean towards putting most of my budget into the flown rig,” said longtime production manager Jerry Holcomb. “The tour usually has artists that bring some sort of ground package, so I leave room for that. Additionally, I have to be conscience of truck space and set up time. Winter Jam doors are early compared to most tours considering we have up to 10 artists and speakers each night; so, a rig that is efficient enough to fit into a truck and a half yet still look big enough for an arena is my goal.” Holcomb sought Bandit client rep Allen Deneau’
Qatar - On 12 January 2024, Qatar hosted the opening ceremony of the AFC Asian Cup at the 88,000-capacity Lusail Stadium, the largest stadium in the Middle East. The ceremony comprised a full-size stage in midfield with a set featuring sand dunes, colourful costumes, and visuals around a central motif of giant mirrored petals. Simultaneously broadcast internationally across the Middle East, Asia and Australasia, the 21-minute visual extravaganza, Mirrors, The Lost Chapter from the Book of Kelileh Wa Demneh, was ‘a triumph of theatrical story-telling’. It was struck in just 27 minutes by 700 stage hands, in choreography as coordinated as the performers who preceded them, before the first match of the tournament kicked off. “It was like Superbowl on steroids,” says lighting designer, Roland Greil who, brought in by design and production agency, Sila Sveta
UK - PLASA is running an industry-wide survey on sustainability. The association aims to understand how and if companies across the entertainment technology sector are tackling the important issue of sustainability and carbon reduction. The survey was launched during the Member Business Forum on Sustainability and Carbon Reduction, which took place in London on 18 January 2024. However, the survey is now open to the wider industry until 29 March, in partnership with #WeMakeEvents, LSi, LIVE and PEARLE. Even though there are no current legal requirements in the UK to implement such plans, PLASA recognises the importance of sustainability across the industry and the need for support. Therefore, the association is now conducting research to understand the current position of the industry. The data will help to inform the activities of the association, as well as future in
UK - Specialist lighting controls manufacturer, Pharos Architectural Controls, has joined the Q-SYS Technology Partner Programme. This programme enables software and hardware technology partners to create market-ready solutions that integrate seamlessly with Q-SYS, a cloud-manageable audio, video and control platform. As part of the programme, key products from the Pharos range have been verified and endorsed by Q-SYS, following plugin integration with a Q-SYS Ready badge. Pharos Designer and Pharos Expert will integrate with Q-SYS to provide integration with its ‘architainment’ and show control system for advanced installation through Q-SYS and Expert’s DMX control. Pharos Designer is the company’s original, award-winning range, which now boasts a wide range of controllers to suit any DMX, eDMX and DALI lighting project, as well as comprehensive show co
USA - Just before Christmas, Two Cities Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina moved into a new worship centre where modern production equipment enhances the in-person and broadcast experience for a congregation of some 2,500 people who attend three Sunday services. SES Integration in Mocksville, North Carolina consulted on the design of the new building and, with the support of its SES Production division, suggested a complement of Ayrton Levante, Diablo and Zonda 9 wash lights for the rig. ACT Entertainment is the exclusive distributor of Ayrton lighting in North America. Seven-year-old Two Cities Church has undergone rapid growth, quickly expanding beyond the capacity of its previous locations. The move to a purpose-built worship centre on 13 acres in downtown Winston-Salem afforded the opportunity to create an all-new production environment to engage congregants
USA - Eastern Lighting Design has completed the lighting design and installation for the new Chicago-based studio of the sports podcast Numbers on the Board, hosted by Kenny Beecham and produced by Omaha Productions. The project involved 11 Prolights ArcShine M18FC fixtures, transforming a standard office space into a dynamic, visually engaging broadcast studio. Numbers on the Board combines in-depth NBA analysis with lively discussions, creating an accessible and engaging atmosphere for its audience. The design aim was to cultivate a studio environment that supports high-quality broadcast requirements while ensuring the space is optimally lit for video production. The Eastern Lighting Design team addressed this challenge by integrating Prolights ArcShine M18FC fixtures, renowned for their versatility and high-quality output. "The ArcShine M18FCs enable
USA - Although a procession of major stars like Fall Out Boy, 30 Seconds To Mars, The Last Dinner Party, Bush, The 1975, and Sum41 graced the Honda Centre stage, the lighting rig for this year’s iHeartRadio ALTer EGO concert, which is traditionally held at the Kia Forum in LA, was smaller than it was in recent years. The size of the rig, notwithstanding, the design team was given the mission of making the overall production for the nationally televised event, look bigger than previous shows. “We wanted to make the show seem larger this year,” said Dierson of The Activity. “Yet, there’s no bravado when I tell you that this was literally the smallest lighting rig that I’ve been a part of in the past 20 or so years.” Describing this challenge as “a blessed reality”, Dierson explained how it sharpened his creative visions. “It’s good to be forc
France - Broadcasting 24/7, the international news channel France 24 reaches an audience of almost 500m households around the world in French, Arabic, Spanish and English. However, as is the case all over Paris, space is quite limited, so France 24 has to make the best of its available capacities, with its largest studios being just under 100sq.m with a grille height of 3.5m. Given the varied programming broadcast by France 24, cameras on this set are arranged very differently, depending on the show. Indeed, sometimes camera axes are reversed by 180-degrees. Also, since various news and editorial teams require their own looks during broadcasts, the studios have not one, but five different sets, all of which are rolled on wheels. Working within this set of circumstances, Jean-Louis Rousseaux, director of photography for France 24, was seeking a compact and very versatil
France - Elation and French distributor Best Audio & Lighting provided lighting for the final of this year’s CQLP (C'est Qui Le Patron) lighting design competition in France. A demanding competition that showcases lighting designer talent, this was the first time the competition was held outdoors, this year at the Collégiale Notre-Dame de Mantes-la-Jolie outside of Paris. Using the grandeur of the medieval church’ s architecture as a centrepiece, lighting design teams produced light shows that combined quality, creativity and technique. Following an elimination tournament round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals, two teams advanced to the grand finale 20 January. There, the two teams had 40 Proteus Maximus LED profile moving heads, 24 Proteus Excalibur sky beam moving heads, and 40 Paladin Panel floodlights at their disposal to awe judges as well as an enthusiast
UK - Located in the heart of Chelsea, Cadogan Hall is an historic 950-seater concert hall, presenting a wide range of events and performances, from classical music to jazz to musical theatre. Its acoustics and luxurious surroundings make it the first choice for some of the UK’s top orchestras, including the Hall’s resident orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic, as well as a favourite London destination for international touring orchestras. It recently decided to upgrade its lighting set-up, in order to become more energy efficient as well as offer performances more options and flexibility. As such, they approached White Light (WL), a d&b solutions company, who oversaw this significant investment. The upgrade of the existing rig was driven by the venue’s head of production, James Tapping. He explains: “Previously we had a ‘concert rig’ of ETC Source Four Pa
UK - Reading & Leeds Festival is to debut a new outdoor stage, The Chevron, at this year’s events. The festival attracts 240,000 visitors combined across both sites over the August Bank Holiday weekend. Reading & Leeds will now feature an additional 40,000-capacity open-air venue, including the world’s first floating video canopy made up of hundreds of thousands of programmable LED lights that appear to be hovering in the air. The mesh is 90% transparent so festival-goers can dance under the open sky into the night. “The bespoke structure, exclusive to Reading & Leeds, promises an immersive atmosphere and incredible programming, raising the bar for dance music and hip-hop fans and artists alike, raising the bar for dance music and hip-hop fans and artists alike,” said a statement. Positioned in the main arena of both festival sites, The Chevro
UK - As lighting controls specialist Pharos Architectural Controls moves into its 20th year in 2024, the manufacturer is launching a campaign in recognition of key people and projects that have played a significant part on its journey. The 20 Years of Pharos campaign will spotlight 10 lighting professionals and 10 projects that have shaped the success of the company over the two decades since its establishment. Pharos Architectural Controls was founded in 2004 as part of the Carallon group, as an independently owned specialist in dynamic lighting control systems. All Pharos products are designed and manufactured in-house, including each product’s industrial design, the electronics, and the final assembly. By keeping control of the entire design and manufacturing process, Pharos prides itself on maintaining the highest possible standards in quality assurance.
South Korea - Soyoun Lee’s is currently working for Lite Factory in Korea, designing and programming shows for several high-profile K-Pop music artists in Singapore and Korea. One of these is Korean record producer and singer-songwriter, Crush, who recently played several Wonderego concerts - in support of his i third album - at Seoul’s Jamsil Arena, for which Soyoun designed, programmed and operated the lighting. For the first time, she chose to run the lighting control on a full grandMA3 system. Soyoun had used the grandMA3 console / hardware many times already (running in mode 2) and felt that this was a great time to ‘make the switch’, for which she prepared herself via online training videos and in-person training arranged via MA Lighting’s Asia Pacific base in Singapore. Through the training, her grandMA3 knowledge increased exponentially and she reali
Argentina - Rock and pop musician Fito Páez continued his El amor 30 años después del amor tour last year with a 16 December concert at the Estadio UNO - Estadio Jorge Luis Hirschi in Buenos Aires where 54 Claypaky Sharpy Plus fixtures enhanced the energy on stage. The tour marked the 30th anniversary of Páez’s breakout album, El amor despues del amor, the pinnacle of his commercial success. In 1992 the artist sold more than 750,000 copies of the album and played sold-out concert dates. Thirty years later he drew sell-out crowds to a commemorative tour from Gonna Go! Producciones that began in 2022. In the tour’s first year Páez played shows in South America and the US; last year he expanded the tour to include additional South American countries as well as Canada and Europe. Lighting designer Gaspar Potocnik selected a large complement of Claypaky Sha
USA - Popular Americana and R'n'B singer songwriter Nathaniel Rateliff and his band The Night Sweats played their sold-out annual homecoming holiday concert at the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, in December. It was the second time the annual event - which has been running for some years - was staged at this venue, after moving to the larger space in 2022. The lighting was crafted by Jeremy Roth, who has been Nathaniel’s production designer since 2017. He utilised over 100 Robe moving lights - Fortes, Spiiders and MegaPointes plus a RoboSpot system - to help make it look spectacular and memorable. Jeremy programmed and operated lights for this seasonal holiday performance himself, working alongside lighting director Adam Waguespack, who often takes the show on the road for him. At Ball Arena, Adam took on the vital role of coordinating the follow spots and Rob
USA - ACT Entertainment has announced that Miles Dudgeon has come aboard as New York City Metro regional salesperson. Dudgeon brings extensive industry experience and knowledge of the eastern US sales market to his new post. “Adding Miles to our team is an incredible win; his existing contacts in the territory and his depth of knowledge from design to specification of the product portfolio is a recipe for success,” says Doug Mekanik, ACT Entertainment director of sales. “All the members of our sales team come with a unique practical skill set beyond just sales. Miles is no different and will add another pillar of industry knowledge for our team to stand on.” Dudgeon served as a marketing consultant for Show and Design Group (SDG), an event lighting production company and owner of the MA Lounge in Las Vegas. His background in the field is supported by sales an
UK - Pearce Hire has shared the news of the passing of team member and friend, John Huson. “John dedicated over 20 years to Pearce Hire and was an invaluable part of the team. His deep knowledge and love for lighting and event technology, coupled with his skills in the digital world made him an exceptional part of the team. Beyond his technical expertise, John will be remembered for his unique ability to inject humour into every situation, brightening even the most challenging times. His quick wit and warm personality made him not just a colleague, but a cherished friend and he will truly be missed by us all. As we remember John, our thoughts are with his family whom he was extremely proud of and loved enormously. If you would like to share your memories of John with the family then please use this form
USA - Mickey Sabbath, an aging, manipulative and sex-obsessed puppeteer is the subject of Sabbath’s Theatre, a new play by Ariel Levy and John Turturro, based on the Phillip Roth novel of the same name. The play, which recently concluded its run by The New Group, evokes the eerie pathos of Sabbath’s life as he approaches death, and his own reality frays, evidenced by his imaginary encounters with people from his past. Supporting the play is a lighting design by Tony Award winner Jeff Croiter that relied on the Chauvet Professional COLORado 2 Solo Batten for part of its haunting effect. Describing the overall mood conveyed by the production, Croiter noted: “The set is very simple, and not realistic, so lighting and video take the audience from one place to the next. At times, it was more important to have a dynamic shift, even if that meant breaking with r
Europe - Robe Lighting enjoyed a busy and lively ISE 2024. New products on show included a selection from Robe’s award-winning IP rated iSeries - the iForte and iForte LTX, iPainte, iESprite, iBeam 350TM, iTetra2TM, iT12 ProfileTM and Robe also previewed its new iBolt - soon to be launched - plus a variant of its T32 Cyc, as well as the Footsie Slim, a compact version of this ingenious footlight solution. The eye-catching and contemporary Robe booth featured areas for Robe’s other businesses - architectural brand Anolis, lighting control solutions specialist Artistic Licence and lighting console and media server manufacturer, Avolites. It attracted many visitors and was constantly busy throughout all four days, primarily functioning as a meeting and networking space. Those wanting to see the highlighted products in more depth could walk or catch a shuttle bus a s
Germany - The FlexDistro rack has been developed to meet the frequently changing requirements in the event and touring sector. Designed for quick and easy swapping of modules, the Indu-Electric FlexDistro can be equipped for the specific requirements of any project or production in an instant. Each module has up to 24 channels, and each channel is protected with its own 30 mA RCBO (RCD/RCCB). The list of standard features includes a network-capable meter, USB port, mains indicator, switchable LED strips and utility outlets.
Portugal - Ayrton has announced the appointment of NAN Audiovisuais as a distributor for Portugal, with immediate effect. Founded in 1995, NAN Audiovisuais has established itself as a leading distributor of professional lighting, sound and video equipment in the Portuguese market. NAN's commercial structure, back office and technical support teams work every day alongside lighting designers, rental companies, and technical teams from theatres, cultural spaces and multipurpose spaces, organising demo and training sessions, and providing the best technical support for a wide range of prestigious brands and manufacturers. "We are excited to become a new Ayrton distributor for Portugal,” says Correia Neves, CEO of NAN Audiovisuais. “In recent years Ayrton is the moving lighting brand that has grown the most on a global level. “We have been absolutely amazed by
UK - Panalux has announced the hiring of lighting-industry veteran Sandro Leone as the company’s long form sales director. In this role, Leone will focus on serving feature and series productions in London and Southeast England. “Sandro brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in lighting rentals,” said Panalux managing director Mark Furssedonn. “Additionally, his previous roles in camera rental give him a keen perspective on how the equipment and service offerings of the larger Panavision group can further support our customers’ needs. We’re thrilled to welcome Sandro to the Panalux family.” Leone previously served as head of sales at Procam Take 2 Films, and prior to that as head of film and drama at Filmscape Media. Those positions followed 17 years with Arri Lighting Rental. “I feel lucky to be part of the incredible team here at Panalux,
USA - Brentwood Baptist Church was officially constituted on Easter Sunday 1969 in the Nashville suburb of Brentwood, Tennessee. In the past half a century, it has grown to nine campuses around the region and has consistently averaged over 5,000 worshipers in weekly on-campus attendance, along with an estimated 4,000 additional online viewers. The current main campus’ church was built in 2002 and had a few updates along the way, but last May it completed a complete refresh of the sanctuary’s audio, video, and lighting systems, in concert with leading AVL systems integrator Diversified. And the finishing touch on the updated audio infrastructure is a new KLANG:konductor, the most powerful and versatile immersive in-ear mixing processor ever. “We had a few periodic updates to the systems over the years, such as going from analogue to digital audio and upgrading ou
UK - Ed Warren’s lighting design for The Lottery Winners’ recent homecoming show at the 02 Apollo Manchester featured a strong floral element. Warren had two rows of daisy set pieces arranged across the stage. Each had at its centre a Chauvet Professional Strike 1, single source 230W warm white LED blinder, ready to rock the house and transform the stage with intense strobes, audience lighting and immersive washes. “The concept of the flowers came about from a creative meeting with the band,” said Warren. “They mentioned their logo/branding is daisies, so I had the idea of having some daisy set pieces built. The plan was that we would mount lights in the centre disc of the flowers. The Strike 1s seemed like the perfect solution since they provided natural looking light and a killer strobe. The daisy set pieces were custom made to suit a Strike 1 fixture. The
