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Ayrton fixtures illuminate LuckyFes’25
15/12/2025
Karat kombinieren auf Jubiläumstournee Sennheisers neues EW-DX-System mit Vintage Wireless
11/12/2025
Salut Salon auf Tour mit Sennheiser Spectera
11/12/2025
Dave Matthews Band summer tour lit with Robe
21/11/2025
Coda Audio debütiert bei Party.San-Festival
11/11/2025
Ayrton Rivale lights up Red Rocks Amphitheatre for three nights of Brandi Carlile in concert
09/10/2025
Broadway musical “Maybe Happy Ending” uses Ayrton Diablo S fixtures in workhorse lighting role
06/10/2025
Robe celebrates at Sziget 2025
03/10/2025
Jeff Maker lights I Prevail with Chauvet
02/10/2025
DPA’s N-Series and D:facto capture Shelby J. performances at The Epicurus
Copenhagen’s jazz gastropub The Epicurus presents exclusive performances curated by jazz pianist and producer Sir Niels Lan Doky. Featuring internationally acclaimed musicians, the project blends original compositions, jazz classics and transformed pop hits.
The venue is equipped with solutions from DPA Microphones, including the new N-Series digital wireless system and the D:facto 4018 V vocal microphone. The Epicurus recently hosted American singer/songwriter Shelby J., best known for her work with Prince, in a 25-show, four-week residency, which represented an ideal stress test for the system.
“Shelby’s voice is exceptionally powerful, dynamic and nuanced”, explains Audio Engineer Frank Goldberg. “Her high energy and movement - including venturing into the audience, directly in front of the Meyer Sound mains - placed certain demands on the microphone system. The combination of the N-Series and D:facto delivered far beyond our expectations.”
Even as the artist wove through tables and leaned into audience members, the DPA N-Series system maintained its stability, according to Goldberg: “The RF signal remained rock-steady across all 25 shows, regardless of how many audience members separated Shelby from the N-Series receiver. Even with Shelby often directly in front of the PA system, feedback was completely managed with only sparse EQ. It was simple: a high-pass filter at 80 Hz and no surgical EQ (cuts or boosts) were required in the critical mid- and high-mid-frequencies to suppress feedback or achieve clarity.”
In a world where wireless systems often require daily tweaks, especially in dense, urban RF environments like Copenhagen City Center, Goldberg was surprised by the consistency of the N-Series: “We set the system once and didn’t touch the settings for the entire four weeks”, he says.
(Photos: DPA Microphones/The Epicurus)
Ayrton fixtures illuminate LuckyFes’25
The fourth edition of Japan’s LuckyFes took place over the holiday weekend, August 9-11, 2025, at Hitachinaka City’s Hitachi Seaside Park in Ibaraki. Hosted by Ibaraki Broadcasting Corporation, LuckyFM, and Barks, LuckyFes is Asia’s largest theme park-style festival, presenting itself as “a celebration of music, food and art”.
Four stages, set amongst Hitachi Seaside Park’s verdant surroundings, played host to a diverse range of music genres including pop, rock, hip-hop, anime songs and K-Pop, where over seventy of Japan’s most prominent artists entertained tens of thousands of festival goers over the course of three days.
Lighting designer Anderson Hinago brought Ayrton IP65-rated fixtures into his designs for two of the stages: Wing Stage and Rainbow Stage. A total of 23 Perseo Profiles and 28 Kyalami fixtures were rigged on the Rainbow Stage’s overhead rig while the Wing Stage was graced by thirteen Rivale Profile fixtures.
The fixtures were supplied by PRG K.K., a Japanese subsidiary of PRG Group and Ayrton’s exclusive distributor in Japan.
(Photos: PRG Japan)
Karat kombinieren auf Jubiläumstournee Sennheisers neues EW-DX-System mit Vintage Wireless
Die Berliner Rockband Karat feierte 2025 ihr 50-jähriges Jubiläum mit 75 Konzerten in allen Teilen Deutschlands. Zum Einsatz kam dabei die drahtlose Mikrofonserie EW-DX von Sennheiser.
Sänger Claudius Dreilich verwendete auf der Tournee einen Handsender EW-DX SKM mit dynamischer Mikrofonkapsel MM 435. Keyboarder Martin Becker nutzte für seinen Gesang ein Sennheiser-HSP-4-Kopfbügelmikrofon an einem Taschensender EW-DX SK, um in seiner „Keyboard-Burg“ beweglich zu bleiben. Für sein Mundharmonikaspiel nutzte er ebenfalls einen EW-DX-Handsender, mit Kapsel MMD 935.
Der zugehörige Vierfachempfänger EW-DX EM 4 Dante befand sich seitlich der Bühne am Monitorplatz in einem 19’’-Rack, das neben einem aktiven Antennensplitter ASA 3000 auch zwei älteren Doppelempfängern aus der langen Bandgeschichte Platz bot: einen EM 3532 und einen EM 550 G2 der Evolution-Wireless-Serie für die Akustikgitarren. Den EW-DX EM 4 Dante hatte die Technik-Crew über seine analogen Ausgänge mit der Stagebox des digitalen Mischpultsystems verbunden.
Im Bühnenrack von Gitarrist Bernd Römer kommunizierte ein Doppelempfänger EM 2050 mit insgesamt sieben Sennheiser-Taschensendern, die den unterschiedlichen Instrumenten des Musikers zugeordnet waren. Alle Transmitter wurden auf derselben Frequenz betrieben und beim Wechsel der Gitarren vom Backliner per HF-Mute deaktiviert.
Genau so verfuhr man mit den E-Bässen von Daniel Bätge, der während der Show vier verschiedene Instrumente nutzte. Verwendung fanden in diesem Fall vier Taschensender SK 500 G4 und ein Empfänger EM 300-500 G4, der auf Bätges Bassbox platziert war. Den Pegel eines jeden Taschensenders hatte das Technik-Team an das jeweilige Instrument angepasst.
Während der E-Bass per DI-Box hinter dem Effekt-Board abgenommen wurde, waren für die drei Gitarrenboxen von Bernd Römer drei Sennheiser E 906 mit Supernieren-Richtcharakteristik und schaltbarem dreistufigen Präsenzfilter vorgesehen. Schlagzeuger Heiko Jung hatte seine Snare von oben und unten mit E 904 mikrofoniert. Bassist Daniel Bätge nutzte für seinen Gesang ein dynamisches E-945-Mikrofon mit Supernierencharakteristik, dessen Ausgangssignal bei Nichtgebrauch mittels eines aufgesteckten Gating-Moduls automatisch stummgeschaltet wurde.
„Als ich 2008 zu Karat kam, war Sennheiser bei der Band schon mit diversen Funkstrecken und kabelgebundenen Mikrofonen präsent“, berichtet Michael Schüller, der bei Karat die Funktion des Technischen Leiters bekleidet. Auf der diesjährigen Tournee war Schüller am FOH-Platz anzutreffen, wo er mit einem älteren digitalen Mischpult und diversen externen 19’’-Prozessoren arbeitete. Ein E 825 S, dem man die Strapazen eines langen Tourlebens deutlich ansah, diente ihm als Talkback-Mikrofon.
Schüller ist Bühnenmeister, Beleuchtungsmeister und Meister für Elektrotechnik, doch sein Herz schlägt besonders laut für die Tontechnik, die er schmunzelnd als seine „amtliche Leidenschaft“ bezeichnet. „Um 1976 herum habe ich angefangen, mich intensiv mit Tontechnik zu beschäftigen. Ungefähr zu dieser Zeit habe ich auch Karat zum allerersten Mal live gesehen, als sie Vorgruppe für die Puhdys im Erfurter Panorama-Filmpalast waren“, erinnert er sich. „Als Teenager konnte ich mich sehr für die Musik von Karat begeistern, aber damals war natürlich überhaupt noch nicht absehbar, dass ich einmal für den FOH-Sound der Band verantwortlich sein würde.“ Schüller arbeitete früher regelmäßig als Freelancer für die Adapoe Event- und Studiotechnik OHG, deren Geschäftsführer zuvor Karat bei Live-Auftritten mischte. Seit 2012 ist Schüller bei Adapoe als Meister für Veranstaltungstechnik fest angestellt.
Bernd Römer ist seit 1976 Gitarrist bei Karat und somit das dienstälteste Mitglied der aktuellen Formation. „Vor meinen drei Gitarrenboxen befinden sich schon seit vielen Jahren drei Sennheiser E 906 - eines pro Box“, erklärt er. „Die Boxen geben unterschiedliche Signalanteile wieder, und das Setup folgt dem Prinzip Dry-Wet-Wet: Aus der mittleren Box kommt das trockene Gitarrensignal direkt aus dem Verstärker, die beiden äußeren Boxen links und rechts liefern ausschließlich Effekte wie Delay und Reverb. Michael Schüller erhält somit drei getrennte Signale und kann sie flexibel an die Gegebenheiten des jeweiligen Auftrittsorts anpassen. Er legt fest, wie hoch der Anteil des Direktsignals und der Stereoeffekte ausfällt. Die E-906-Mikrofone bleiben dauerhaft vor den Boxen und wandern nach der Show mit ins Flightcase. Sie müssen daher weder separat aufgebaut noch transportiert werden. Im Touring-Alltag ist es äußerst praktisch, dass die Mikrofone direkt vor dem Bespannstoff hängen und keine zusätzlichen Stative nötig sind - nach dem Öffnen des Case-Deckels ist meine Gitarrenanlage quasi sofort spielbereit.“
Neben den E 906 nutzt Römer seit Jahren einen EM-2050-Doppelempfänger aus Sennheisers 2000er-Serie. „Es ist zwar nicht das allerneueste Digitalmodell, im Touralltag aber eine absolut stabile Funkstrecke“, kommentiert er. „Jede meiner Gitarren ist mit einem eigenen Taschensender bestückt. Beim Instrumentenwechsel wird der Sender der abgelegten Gitarre auf Mute geschaltet, während mein Roadie den Sender der nächsten Gitarre aktiviert. Es ist ein eingespieltes Vorgehen, das schnelle Wechsel erlaubt und Bedienfehler reduziert. Ich habe verschiedene Sennheiser-Taschensender im Einsatz, deren Klangbild jedoch weitgehend identisch ist. Die Pegeleinstellungen jedes Senders sind präzise auf die jeweilige Gitarre abgestimmt, bei einzelnen Instrumenten ist zusätzlich die integrierte Kabelemulation aktiviert. Auf die Bewegungsfreiheit, die mir die Funkstrecken ermöglichen, möchte ich nicht mehr verzichten. Klangunterschiede gegenüber einer klassischen Kabelverbindung sind im Live-Betrieb praktisch nicht wahrnehmbar.“
Thomas Holz, Relations Manager bei Sennheiser, sagt abschließend: „Der sogenannte ‘Ostrock’ ist ein wichtiger Teil der gesamtdeutschen Rockgeschichte, und der Einfluss von Karat ist unbestritten. Es gibt kaum eine Band, die auf eine derart lange Historie zurückblicken kann und dabei gestern wie heute für künstlerische Authentizität steht. Wir freuen uns, durch unsere Partnerschaft mit Karat an dieser Geschichte teilhaben zu können. Karat feiert 50 Jahre, Sennheiser 80 Jahre - zwei Jubiläen, die für Leidenschaft und die Liebe zur Musik stehen.“
(Fotos: Sennheiser)
Salut Salon auf Tour mit Sennheiser Spectera
Auf der aktuellen und noch bis 2027 andauernden „Heimat“-Tournee des Kammermusikquartetts Salut Salon wird Sennheisers Spectera-Breitband-Ecosystem eingesetzt. Beim Auftritt im Konzerthaus Dortmund am 8. November 2025 befand sich die Spectera Base Station zusammen mit einer L-6000-Ladestation im kaschierten Seitenbereich der Bühne. Zwei über PoE mit Strom versorgte Spectera-DAD-Antennen waren in unmittelbarer Nähe auf Stativen montiert und auf die Spielfläche ausgerichtet.
Angelika Bachmann, Gründerin und erste Geigerin von Salut Salon, Alvina Lahyani (Violine), Maria Well (Violoncello) und Kristiina Rokashevich (Klavier) nutzten bidirektionale Spectera SEK-Bodypacks für ihr persönliches In-Ear-Monitoring und die Übertragung ihrer Stimmen. Vier weitere SEK-Bodypacks wurden für die drahtlose Mikrofonierung des Cellos, des Akkordeons und des Flügels eingesetzt.
Der Tontechniker des Quartetts, Thorsten Seeliger, ist bei der Nordlite Event Solutions GmbH beschäftigt und dort unter anderem mit dem Vertrieb von Spectera betraut. Er begleitet Salut Salon bereits seit fast zwei Jahrzehnten. Für die drahtlose Übertragung der Audiosignale nutzt Seeliger ein 8 MHz breites UHF-Frequenzband, dessen Centerfrequenz in Dortmund bei 554 MHz lag. Den Audio-Link-Modus „Live“ wählte er sowohl für die Mikrofon- als auch für die IEM-Strecken. Im „Live“-Modus kommt der proprietäre Sennheiser SeDAC-Audio-Codec zum Einsatz; die Latenz beträgt 1,6 Millisekunden.
„Bei anderen digitalen IEM-Strecken beläuft sich die Latenz auf mindestens 2,7 Millisekunden, und außerdem gibt es keine bidirektionale Funktionalität“, sagt Seeliger. „Die Audioqualität im ‘Live’-Modus ist für meine Ohren schon so gut, dass ich den vollständig verlustfrei arbeitenden, allerdings ressourcenintensiven PCM-Mode nicht bemühen muss. Außerdem müsste ich beim Einsatz des PCM-Mode das zweite verfügbare 8-MHz-Band des Spectera Systems nutzen, das ich eigentlich gern als Teil des Havariekonzepts freihalten möchte.“
Mit der Stagebox des digitalen Tonpults war die Spectera Base Station über MADI verbunden, um die Latenz so gering wie möglich zu halten. „Bei den klassisch ausgebildeten Musikerinnen von Salut Salon könnte eine zu hohe Latenz beim In-Ear-Monitoring auf jeden Fall zu einem Thema werden - zumal beispielsweise Angelika Bachmann lediglich ein einzelnes Earpiece in ihrem rechten Ohr verwendet, während sie auf dem linken Ohr direkt ihre Violine hört“, erklärt Seeliger. „Käme es hier zu einem hörbaren Zeitversatz, wäre das natürlich nicht akzeptabel.“
Der Umstieg auf die neue Drahtlostechnik sei für Salut Salon reibungslos verlaufen, berichtet Seeliger. Mit dem Endlosdrehgeber an ihren SEK-Bodypacks kämen die Musikerinnen ebenfalls bestens zurecht. Auf die Möglichkeit zur Fernsteuerung der Abhörlautstärke greife Seeliger nur zurück, wenn er ausdrücklich darum gebeten werde. „Dass statt zwei Geräten nur noch ein einzelnes Bodypack für Mikrofonierung und In-Ear-Monitoring benötigt wird, ist bei Salut Salon nicht zuletzt wegen der Kostümwechsel ein großer Schritt nach vorn“, sagt er. „Die Künstlerinnen schätzen es außerdem, dass ihre Namen permanent auf den E-Ink-Displays angezeigt werden. Wenn es Wechsel in der Besetzung gibt, passe ich die Anzeigen in der Software an.“ Seeliger nutzt Spectera WebUI auf einem Laptop am FOH-Platz.
Dass die beiden Spectera-DAD-Antennen bei Salut Salon auf nur einer Seite der Spielfläche und nicht links und rechts davon platziert sind, erklärt Seeliger mit dem auf diese Weise vereinfachten Aufbau. Abstriche bei der Abdeckung müsse man dadurch nicht machen, auch nicht zum Abschluss des Konzerts, wenn sich die vier Musikerinnen spielend durch den Saal bewegen und ihn am hinteren Ende verlassen.
Das Spectera-Breitband-Ecosystem kommt bei Salut Salon seit dem Frühsommer 2025 zum Einsatz. Die Komponenten gehören Florian Hinz von Hinz Audio, der im Wechsel mit Thorsten Seeliger als Tontechniker der Gruppe fungiert.
(Fotos: Salut Salon/Konzerthaus Dortmund)
Steve Lieberman accents Neon Garden Stage at EDC Orlando with Chauvet
Designer Steve Lieberman lit the Neon Garden stage at the 2025 Electric Daisy Carnival Orlando in November with a collection of 383 Chauvet Professional fixtures. “When you spend this much time detailing geometry and defining the personality of a stage, it’s critical to highlight the shape”, he says of the 45-foot wide stage.
Defined by bold techno aggressive triangular shapes that were formed with 40-foot long shipping container-like structures, tilted downward to form a chevron, the stage presented an image that commanded attention. “We placed various types of fixtures in line with the containers to follow the shape of the stage”, explains Lieberman, who worked with Forrest Hunt, executive producer at Insomniac. “Strobes, blinders, LEDs, moving lights were there to give the LDs the ability to change looks dramatically, while still maintaining the overall geometry to the stage, which is an important reflection of the Factory 93 brand.”
F93 is the techno brand from the event’s producer Insomniac, and a six-foot tall mirrored black “disco diamond”, the company’s logo topped the geometric structure. “We used the diamond strategically in this year’s design”, notes Lieberman. “It was positioned prominently in the upstage center position, directly under the apex of the center ‘triangle’. As we moved off stage, we added design details to help create a cohesive look that broadens the stage. We filled the triangle void on the upstage position with a video screen; and additional screens were placed on the horizontal containers offstage left and right.”
Lieberman called on 232 Epix Strip Tour linear fixtures to showcase the geometric lines of his stage. “They gave us a very refined edge detail”, he says of the one-meter RGB strips. “They offered us a bold look that didn’t overpower the audience, while highlighting the shape of the stage. They also provided us with pixel-controlled details for chasing and color FX.”
While the rig’s four Rogue Outcast 2X Wash fixtures animated the DJ booth with visual energy, its 147 Color Strike M motorized strobe-washes delivered audience lighting - and more: “We placed the Color Strikes proportionally against the rig and between the other fixture types to give us full coverage of the system”, says Lieberman. “This group of lights gave us both strobe looks and also color washes for the entire environment.”
“In addition to this, there was their role in creating scenic light”, he adds. “We set them on either side of each container, had them in one position, and never moved them.” Positioned this way, the Color Strike M fixtures illuminated the structure throughout the festival.
(Photos: Chauvet Professional)
PWS provides RF support for Latin Grammy Awards
Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) once again played a critical role in delivering wireless coordination and support at the 2025 Latin Grammy Awards and related events in Las Vegas. Partnering with Univision for the main awards ceremony at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Red Rock Entertainment for the “Person of the Year” gala at Mandalay Bay and providing additional gear and support for the Pre-Show Red Carpet, PWS ensured seamless RF performance across multiple productions and venues throughout the week.
“Supporting the Latin Grammy Awards is always a major undertaking, with multiple venues, live broadcasts and an incredible number of moving parts”, says Jim Van Winkle, General Manager of Professional Wireless Systems. “Our team worked closely with production and engineering partners to ensure every channel - from intercoms and in-ears to IFBs and microphones - performed flawlessly in one of the most RF-dense environments in the world.”
The week began with the “Person of the Year” tribute at Mandalay Bay, produced by Red Rock Entertainment. PWS provided a complete intercom package featuring Riedel Bolero and wired communications systems, including thirty wireless Bolero packs, fifteen Riedel panels, and twelve hardwired beltpacks. Two PWS RF technicians were on-site to manage system coordination for an uninterrupted communication throughout the show. The event, which brought together top Latin artists and industry leaders in a night of music and celebration, honored multifaceted singer and performer Raphael.
At the Latin Grammy Awards ceremony, held at the MGM Grand and produced by Univision, PWS delivered full RF infrastructure and staffing, with six engineers on-site to monitor and manage the complex wireless environment. The system featured a combination of Shure Axient and Sennheiser microphone systems, 85 Riedel Bolero wireless intercom packs and an expanded DECT band antenna system to accommodate the high channel count. Additional components included IFBs, in-ear monitors and a range of PWS Helical and TS Antennas strategically deployed for optimal coverage.
For the Pre-Show Red Carpet, PWS supported Univision’s broadcast team with microphones and in-ear monitors for hosts and performers, while deploying five PWS Helical antennas to ensure coverage across the busy outdoor area.
(Photos: PWS)
Britannia Row supports Jade Thirlwall’s first solo tour
Britannia Row has supplied a compact control package to singer Jade Thirlwall (Little Mix) on her first UK solo headline tour. Working with FOH mixer Olly Nendick (pictured) and monitor engineer Meghan MacAskill, account executive Jonathan “Jono” Dunlop provided a small footprint touring system to transition from festival season into theatre-size venues.
“Since the start of her career, Jade had only toured in arenas, going from the ‘X Factor’ and straight into huge gigs with an army of fans”, says Nendick. “We knew it could be more of a challenge for her to play in intimate venues as a solo performer with factors such as being closer to the PA and hearing audience noise close up, but she absolutely always delivers.”
Both Nendick and MacAskill chose the Allen & Heath dLive S5000 control surface to fit into small areas while needing to generate a big pop sound through in-house PA systems. “FOH-wise, there’s not too much for me to deal with”, continues Nendick. “There’s some distorted effects in a couple of her songs, which can be a little bit tricky with potential feedback, but I just like to use the console as it is. I wanted to keep it as simple as possible.”
Despite this being a small venue campaign, the tour has some industry veterans overseeing its success, namely tour director Ant Carr and production manager Karen Ringland. “They’re the nicest bunch of people to tour with, and Jade herself is lovely”, says Nendick. “She’s made a varied album that we’ve all been excited by. It’s great to mix live too; it’s a proper musical journey. It’s mainly a track-based show but we have live drums, live guitar, live keys and a couple of saxophones. My only real challenge was that the audience knows every word of every song, and they scream them very loudly.”
At the monitor station, MacAskill agrees: “She does have impressively loud crowds which is picked up through her mic. We’ve used processes to eliminate that noise so that she feels comfortable on stage, but she’s had to adapt to the spaces quickly and navigate her way through a much more intimate crowd dynamic.”
MacAskill’s only outboard is a Bricasti Design M7 reverb unit, and to ensure as much familiarity as possible, Thirlwall, who uses Shure PSM1000 IEMs, likes to hear her vocal very present in the mix, with the tracks and band underneath, and some click. “She likes a full mix for pitching and to cue to”, MacAskill furthers. “We do have a lot of choreography and big theatrical moments in the show, so to achieve as much clarity as possible for the vocals and cues is one of the main goals.”
One of the big moments comes when Thirlwall sings from within the audience and in front of the PA. “With the delay between the ears mix and the PA, it can be very off putting and hard to keep in time”, MacAskill explains. “We always run through this moment in soundcheck as the position changes in every venue. During the show, we made up some signals so that if there’s anything she needs, she’ll just give me a sign, and I can adapt instantly without her losing concentration.”
Following the 13-date UK run, fans in North America and mainland Europe will see the show in February and March 2026.
(Photo: Britannia Row)
Jim Guillerm balances looks for Matmatah’s 30th anniversary show with Chauvet
Setting the stage for Matmatah’s 30th anniversary performance at the Accor Arena in Paris was a lighting design by Jean-Marie “Jim” Guillerm, who has been working with the band since 2017. Collaborating with Vincent Haffemayer, Guillerm seamlessly blended video and light to create engaging rock looks.
“The project was born in 2023 when we were looking to create something that marked the band’s 30th anniversary”, says Guillerm. “Our goal was to create a one-off, around the anniversary date, without being flashy. The band gave us a great deal of freedom with only two simple requests: First, integrate a video screen, and second remain in the spirit of a pure rock concert, without gimmicks - no SFX or light-up bracelets.”
Guillerm and his collaborators came up with a design that focused on the texture and substance of light that interplayed with the band’s music, as well as the imagery displayed on the video screen. To capture and hold the audience’s attention throughout the two-hour and forty-minute 25-song set, Guillerm conjured up a flow of ever-changing looks and varying color washes, moving from bold color sweeps to tightly focused lighting.
Helping this achieve this was a collection of Chauvet Professional Colorado PXL Curve 12 motorized battens and Color Strike M wash-strobes, which like the rest of the rig was supplied by Dushow. The battens were used for everything from gentle footbaths to quick bold color sweeps. “It creates wave effects, thanks to the independent LED heads”, Guillerm says of the Colorado PXL Curve. “We used it with open zoom for flat color, as well as for backlighting that licks the perforated video screen.”
Like the lighting that accompanied it, the video component of the show unfolded over time to captivate attention. In phase one, the unlit screen was decorated by fourteen PXL Curves at the base, with louvered ladders behind. Phase two was highlighted by real images captured live. Phase three featured abstract media and music excerpts - created especially for the tour by graphic designer Smode.
In addition to the fourteen PXL battens below the blow-through screen, other units were positioned along the downstage deck for foot lights, while still other outlined the walk-out proscenium stage. “We treated the proscenium as a separate space”, says Guillerm. “The proscenium was sculpted using PXL Curves to create more intimate moments, almost as if they were rehearsals.”
“Vincent Haffemayer made the excellent suggestion that we line the proscenium with the PXLs”, continues Guillerm. “Collaboration was a great part of this project. We had wonderful collaboration between Vincent, Morgan Production, and Thomas Floury who handled the console and live monitoring - he adjusted certain levels or positions.”
The other Chauvet Professional projectors in the rig, the Color Strike M units, were installed every two meters across the performance area to ensure that the entire audience was lighted per the request of Morgan Productions. “They wanted the audience on screen and to offer shots with texture and color during the production”, explains Guillerm, noting that the TV producers wanted to have the faces of the audience visible in many shots.
(Photos: Thomas Floury/Thomas Kerleroux/Romain Le Douaron)
Alain Corthout turns to Elation for intercontinental Alejandro Fernández tour
Mexican singer Alejandro Fernández is honoring the musical legacy of his late father, Vicente Fernández, with his “De Rey a Rey” 2025 tour, a celebration brought to life through a show design by Alain Corthout of Showplus. To deliver the visual impact he envisioned, Corthout turned to a package of Elation lighting fixtures that includes the Pulse Bar L, Pulse Panel FX, and KL Cyc L, supplied by Procolor Mexico/Pro Rent USA.
The tour, which kicked off in March and continues into December, has played to sold-out audiences across Mexico, the U.S., Spain, and Latin America. It marks Corthout’s sixth tour with Alejandro Fernández since they began collaborating in 2013. “I wanted two panoramic screens with very cinematic content with screens that bent to get away from the usual shapes and forms”, says Corthout of the design concept. “I wanted to use transparency, so most of the lights are positioned behind the screens. The content contains a lot of black parts to create an interesting balance between the video content and the lighting passing through the screens.” The designer also handled programming duties.
At the core of Corthout’s rig are 36 one-meter Pulse Bar L strobe and visual effect bars, lining a large horizontal LED screen with two continuous lines of light. On the floor is an additional line of light from Jolt Bars by Elation’s sister company ADJ. “I wanted to use the Pulse Bar as a blinder to get away from the typical LED blinders. It worked very well, even in large arenas”, states the designer.
Adding to the design are 37 one-meter KL Cyc L fixtures positioned as floor and footlights in front of the musicians. “Brightness and color were very important for this tour”, says Corthout. “The KL Cyc L gave me the rich tones and front light I needed without overpowering the visuals.”
For a pair of Las Vegas shows in September, Corthout added a circle of eight Pulse Panel FX units on the B stage to create “something interesting and fresh”. The Pulse Panel FX, which can be used as a strobe, blinder, wash light, or eye-candy effect, can rotate continuously when the moment calls for dynamic movement.
While Corthout was able to maintain a consistent rig across the U.S. and Mexico, he notes that touring through Europe and Latin America brought challenges with fixture substitutions and programming differences. Still, he credits a responsive support team for helping the tour run smoothly for him and production manager Javier Barba.
(Photos: Elation)
Special Luciano Ligabue show lit with 240 Chauvet fixtures from ZaLight
“La Notte di Certe Notti” (The Night of Certain Nights) - held before 36,000 fans at Piazza Carlo di Borbone, near the Royal Palace of Caserta, Italy - marked the 30th anniversary of singer-songwriter/film producer Luciano Ligabue’s album “Happy Birthday Elvis”. The event’s stage, set up like a slightly vintage Las Vegas show, was enlivened by a Jo Campana lighting design anchored by 240 Chauvet Professional fixtures from ZaLight SRL.
“The idea for the concept of the show was suggested to us by the thirtieth anniversary of the release of ‘Happy Birthday Elvis’. This album has somehow marked a definitive turning point in Luciano’s career”, says Campana. “It gave us the cue to think of a 1950s Las Vegas look characterized by neon signs, saturated colors, rather bright frames and posters - in short, a rich, almost redundant container that winked at the concept of party or amusement park.”
Driving a good share of the show’s dynamic energy were 174 Color Strike M fixtures used in extend mode (97 DMX channels). “They had a decisive and characterizing impact”, notes Campana. “I had already used them in stadiums last year. In this set-up they allowed me to play on two fronts: the first is the more ‘muscular’, with great power of light emission, and the second that of ’embroidery’ by taking full advantage of the pixel-by-pixel effects.”
Campana positioned 134 Color Strike Ms on the roof to its perimeter with its circular trusses. “I spread forty more units on the delay towers”, he says. “The aim was to illuminate the audience and involve them more in the mood of the stage. For me it was then impossible not to enhance the splendor of the facade of the Palace - and in this case the Strike M provided a generous contribution.”
Complementing the effect of the Color Strike M were the 65 PXL Bar 16 battens that Campana placed on the front profile of the stage. They “dynamically supported the almost three hours of concert with their chromatic quality and fluidity on the effects of the dimmer”, says the LD.
Speaking of his multi-talented client, Campana notes: “Luciano Ligabue and the ‘Campovolo brand’ are an association of ideas that comes spontaneously and naturally to think about. For twenty years, the Reggio Emilia location has hosted the great events of this artist from Correggio who feels that the RCF Arena is a bit like his home.”
Playing this show in a different part of Italy represented a bit of a change for Luciano Ligabue, but as Campana asks, “what better venue” could this new experience happen at “than a square like that of the Royal Palace of Caserta?”
(Photos: Chauvet Professional)
Over 450 Robe moving lights specified for “AIG 100” event
A special “Afrikaans is 100 Jaar Groot” (Afrikaans celebrates 100 Years) centenary concert was staged at the DHL Stadium in Green Point, Cape Town, South Africa, a location with views of Table Mountain in the background. Produced by Coleske Artists and featuring over thirty collaborations by leading Afrikaans artists, it marked 100 years of the Afrikaans language being officially recognised. The event sold out in a single morning.
The lighting design for the occasion was imagined by Joshua Cutts and Andre Siebrits from Visual Frontier, featuring over 450 Robe moving lights. All lighting, video, audio and rigging equipment for the event was supplied by South African rental and production company MGG, project managed for them by Günther Müller. Earlier in the year, MGG had made a large investment in Robe iForte and SVB1 fixtures to add to their already extensive Robe rental inventory, which was utilised in the show.
The Robe fixture counts comprised four iForte LTXs running on RoboSpot remote follow systems, 24 x iFortes, 22 x Tetra2s, 16 x Spiider LED wash beams running in Mode 4, 26 x Esprite Profiles, 38 x LEDWash 600s, 24 x BMFL Blades, 24 x MegaPointes, 47 x LEDBeam 350s, 24 x Pointes, another eight Spiiders running in Mode 2, 36 x Spikies, 48 x SVB1s, 98 x LEDBeam 150s and eight BMFL WashBeams. These were a vital element on a rig of over 1000 lighting fixtures.
With Cutts and Siebrits being steady Robe users, “Robe was a natural choice for us”, comments Cutts. They dipped into MGG’s extensive stock and designed lighting that was flown underneath a massive StageCo roof system and 25-metre-wide stage below. This was supplied by Gearhouse South Africa (GHSA) together with other structures. GHSA also supplied elements of the L-Acoustics PA together with MGG.
The stage design and LED screen layout was created by Müller, featuring three large LED surfaces upstage, a central 9 x 16 screen plus two slightly angled supporting 16 x 9 screens on either side, multi-layered LED riser fronts for the house band/orchestra and two portrait-oriented IMAG screens.
The 24 Robe iFortes were deployed on the four front-of-house delay tower positions, six fixtures per tower. The four iForte LTX FSs complete with integral camera running on the RoboSpot system were also rigged here, one per tower. This configuration provided precise remote follow-spot control and front light over some seriously long distances.
It ensured consistent key lighting across the entire venue, a crucial requirement for a production of this scale, which featured a 22-piece house band, up to thirty guest performers onstage at various times, plus numerous MCs, dancers, and TV personalities who were appearing throughout the show. Each delay tower also incorporated a selection of eye-candy and effects fixtures, extending the show’s visual energy into the audience and accentuating the strong sense of depth between the main stage and the rear of the venue.
The Esprites were spread out along the most upstage of four sets of trusses shaped into chevrons, each made up of a stage right and a stage left stick of truss. Five Esprites were positioned upstage centre on their own truss, also holed into the RoboSpot system and used for backlight on individual artists. A row of Spiider LED wash beams alternated with these upstage Esprites, and the three Esprites were on their own front truss for high-angle key lighting and specials. Esprite has become a standard back lighting profile for Cutts and Siebrits. The iFortes and Esprites were the show’s workhorse fixtures. MGG was the first rental company in South Africa to invest in the iFortes and iForte LTX systems, delivered by Robe’s South African distributor DWR.
Half of the BMFLs were on the next downstage set of trusses - alternated with LEDWash 600s - with the others on the most downstage chevron, also with LEDWash 600s spaced in between. Another array of LEDWash 600s were positioned on the second most downstage chevron together with some moving spot lights, so there was a comprehensive general stage wash made up of Spiiders and LEDWash 600s traversing all four chevrons.
The 24 MegaPointes were on a 50-metre continuous ‘header’ truss flown from the downstage section of the roof and extending along the top of both PA wing structures. They were used for blasting out into the audience and pulling them into the onstage action, and alternated with forty LEDBeam 350s supporting them. These formed a certain number of beams that danced up, down and around the audience.
On the floor, the 48 SVB1s were deployed around the risers on all levels, together with some of the LEDBeam 150s and the Spikies. The SVB1s were used extensively as beams or for twinkling kinetic effects, strobe moments, generic eye-candy and back-of-camera fillers. A wide line of LEDBeam 150s graced the front of the stage, used as dynamic footlights and boosting the stage wash from a lower angle when needed.
Cutts and Siebrits did extensive pre-vizzing to establish the basic show building blocks and as much detail as possible, which was vital due to the exceptionally short period they knew would be available on site. “Every song had its own narrative and was effectively a story-within-a-story”, says Cutts, and they needed to go big, small, intermediate and everything in between to communicate all these dynamics and keep the 47,000-capacity audience enthralled.
Ahead of the event, they also spent time with the creative directors, including Hayley Bennett-Freidin, to ensure the lighting was stylistically synced with the various choreography segments and costumes. The MGG lighting crew was chiefed by Pierre van Wyk, who worked with eight technicians at the stadium, together with a 6-person Springbok (rugby) style “Bomb Squad” who came in during the last two days to blitz the final stages and get the rig ready for handover.
(Photos: Kief Kreativ)
Dayne deHaven and Tyler Shapard bring classic vibe to Ben Rector tour with Chauvet
Prior to kicking off Ben Rector’s current “Richest Man In The World” arena tour on November 13, 2025, in Fort Worth, Texas, Dayne deHaven and Tyler Shapard, the creatives behind the District 5 design studio, were lighting Rector’s sold-out shows at theatres and college campuses.
Rather than changing their theater show design concept for the arena tour, deHaven and Shapard - supported by 4Wall project manager and lighting crew chief Jason Blasing, John Taylor (dimmer tech), Trenton Varnell (FOH, light tech), David Ardale Jr (rigger), and Thomas Dulin (audio) - remained true to their client’s core and continued with the previous tour’s old school sensibilities, but in a dramatically beefed up way.
“The Idea around this design, as well as the design for the floor package we used earlier this year, centered around an old school, simplistic feel”, says deHaven. “Because of this we chose to make clean lines of fixtures rather than spread them out in busy patterns. We just want to light Ben and the band in a way that helps highlight and direct your focus to what they are doing, not make you feel like you are just listening to radio and watching a light show.”
“In the process, we try to find a good balance between adding energy to big moments, and sitting back on small ones”, he continues. “Ben and his entire team, including tour manager Steve Bryan, were enthusiastic about this plan. At the end of the day, for this show, a beautiful static look plus Ben Rector on an acoustic guitar has much more impact than a crazy strobing moment.”
Fitting into this design vision are the twenty Chauvet Professional Strike 1 fixtures in the touring rig, which are arranged in “a clean straight line”, on the downstage truss. “Since our design for most of the year centered around a par can look for our floor package, when it was time to design the arena shows we chose the Strike 1s”, explains deHaven. “The Strike fixtures also have the advantage of being excellent audience lights. Lighting the fans was a huge part of this design, because Ben wants to interact with his audience and see their faces when he talks to them, as well as their reactions to the moments in the show.”
The Strike 1 fixtures were supplied by 4Wall Entertainment, as was the rest of the touring rig, including 76 Rogue R2X Washes, twelve Maverick MK3 Spots, and twelve Color Strike M motorized strobe-washes. Speaking of the latter, deHaven notes that they work in conjunction with the rig’s Strike 1 units to provide the audience lighting. “We have the Color Strikes in a clean straight line on our mid-stage truss”, he says, adding: “A huge part of this show involves using our centered video wall (from PRG) for IMAG, so we need to show the audience reactions in the camera shots. The Strike fixtures also light up the crowd with colors and strobing for high energy moments.” Joining the Color Strike M units on the mid-stage truss are some of the rig’s Maverick MK3 Spot fixtures (the others are arranged on the deck). When not backlighting the band, these fixtures are used to give the stage a more expansive look.
A notable change in the design as Ben Rector’s shows moved from theatres to arenas involves the Rogue R2X Washes. The District 5 partners had sixteen of the washes in their floor package for the theatre shows, arranging them in a downward curve with the center upstage fixtures. For the arena shows, they added a chandelier grid of fifty washes upstage in a 5-by-10 grid hung from 10-foot sticks of truss, which are positioned at a 60-degree upward angle that extends the lighting from the video wall upward and outward towards the audience.
“The inspiration for this came from looking at ‘old school’ par can rigs where bars were hung vertically behind the band”, says deHaven. “We wanted to honor that iconic look while also adding the movement and color we get from the features of the R2X fixtures. We used them in their basic mode to get the full face look from a par can instead of the newer pixel look.”
(Photos: Chauvet Professional)
Dave Matthews Band summer tour lit with Robe
Production designer Fenton Williams and lighting designer/programmer Aaron Stinebrink work collaboratively to develop the lighting schemes for Dave Matthews Band’s annual summer tours. This year, they chose a range of Robe products to help their creative journey - 24 x iFortes, 36 x Spikies, 14 x MegaPointes and two iForte Follow Spots running on a pair of RoboSpot BaseStations, all supplied by rental company Theatrical Media Services (TMS) in Omaha, Nebraska. Overseeing the whole operation technically on the road was production manager Anthony Giordano.
Williams has worked with the band since their formation in 1991, and Stinebrink joined the team as an additional lighting programmer in 2002, when he was working full-time at TMS. Stinebrink has been freelancing since 2021, and TMS has also clocked up a client relationship with Dave Matthews Band’s production over many years, all adding to the family vibes. In January this year, TMS entered a new chapter, being run by a new management team, comprising three longtime employees - John Hansen, Michael Arch, and Jamie Hurst. The trio took over the company’s ownership, bringing over sixty years of combined industry experience to the table.
Williams created the production design for this year’s 15-week Dave Matthews Band tour, which included a 54 ft wide, 26 ft tall arched truss over the stage, large LED surfaces upstage and some 15-ft semi-circular truss pods that were filled with lights and moved. The lighting design was a joint effort between Williams and Stinebrink, and its starting point for this year’s tour was a regular acoustic gig in Cancun, Mexico, by Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds, which has been staged in January for around the last eight years. Williams and Stinebrink have always seized this as an opportunity to experiment with a few new visual ideas and concepts.
So, while a separate touring show design was already being developed, everyone loved the look, style, and atmos of the 2025 Cancun show so much that it was decided to adapt its essence as a base for the summer touring design. Williams specifically wanted “a design with smooth edges”, says Stinebrink, and this started with the upstage arched truss and one large LED screen surface. Williams also controlled and output six layers of video - including a pre-cut IMAG feed from live camera director Michael Lane - to screen via his lighting console, and worked closely with Aaron Farrington to create the playback content through his video company PXLField, which also supplied the LED and camera package.
The two visual entities were fluently merged into the show aesthetic. Williams wanted to continue the clean lines and contemporary feel through to the six 15-ft semi-circular automated trusses downstage of the main arch, which were fabricated by automation suppliers All Access Staging. Twelve of the iFortes were strategically positioned on the automated half circles, while an additional twelve were placed on the downstage truss to provide the bulk of the key light. The tour prompted TMS to double their previous iForte count. Their new fixtures were all supplied through Robe’s North America HQ in Florida.
The MegaPointes and Spikies were rigged along the inside of the upstage double arched truss used for numerous beam looks and effects. MegaPointes were chosen as a match for and combination with the iFortes, both visually and in terms of features, and the fixtures were hung at multiple different angles. TMS purchased their first MegaPointes back in 2018, also for a Dave Matthews Band summer tour and shortly after the fixture was launched by Robe. The Spikies lined much of the perimeter of the arch, effectively framing the video surfaces. They were positioned in groups of four and used for fan shapes as a throwback to the days of conventional ACLs - a vintage look that still has its relevance.
One of the challenges - and also one of the most enjoyable elements - of the tour is the improvisational nature of the show. The crew will usually receive the setlist about an hour before the band go on, and the list can be radically different. The opener one night could be the closer the next, or not even make the setlist, and the band has a comprehensively rehearsed back catalogue of over 130 - plus a trove of hundreds more on which to potentially draw. Whatever order rocks up, Stinebrink and Williams try to devise a “show progression” with the lighting. Utilizing a series of inhibitive masters to introduce specific groups of fixtures and video elements, automation cues operated by Ben Ullmann were added in, so the whole performance took on an organic flow.
“A big thank you to all the crew from TMS, including crew chief Josh Albright, Jerry Woiderski, Jerry Kaiser, Chris Tsuji, Bodie Tureson, Robert Chaize and Holden Fershee, and account handler Mark Huber”, says Stinebrink, together with All Access, and PXLField.
(Photos: Sanjay Suchak)
Sony ermöglicht 5G-Live-Foto-Upload bei NFL Berlin Game
Sony hat rund um das NFL Berlin Game 2025 Fotografen-Teams eine 5G-fähige Kameralösung bereitgestellt. Beim Aufeinandertreffen der Indianapolis Colts und Atlanta Falcons am 9. November 2025 vor 70.000 Zuschauern im Berliner Olympiastadion waren die offiziellen Foto-Teams mit dem tragbaren Datensender PDT-FP1 von Sony ausgestattet.
Auf diese Weise konnten Reaktionen und Emotionen aus nächster Nähe im Stadion und den NFL-Fanzonen eingefangen und die hochauflösenden Bilder mithilfe der 5G-Funktionen der verbundenen Kameras in Echtzeit in die Redaktionssysteme der NFL eingespeist werden.
„5G ist ein wichtiger Bestandteil in Live-Event-Umgebungen. Hier gilt es, den Spagat zwischen dem Bedarf an Bandbreite und Übertragungsgeschwindigkeit sowie dem Bedürfnis nach Zuverlässigkeit zu schaffen“, sagt Luca Sabio, Head Connected Business, Sony Europe. „Mit unserem mobilen Datentransmitter PDT-FP1 und 5G-Kameratechnologie zeigen wir, wie effizientes Arbeiten für Fotografen bei Großveranstaltungen aussehen und funktionieren kann.“
(Foto: Sony Corporation)
Coda Audio debütiert bei Party.San-Festival
Das Party.San Metal Open Air im thüringischen Schlothheim präsentiert alljährlich die extremen Stilausprägungen des Genres und fand in diesem Jahr vom 7. bis 9. August statt. Die technische Planung des Festivals übernahm der in Erfurt ansässige Eventdienstleister Proklang GmbH. Zum Einsatz kam erstmals ein Coda-Audio-Setup, bestehend aus AiRay (Main PA), ViRay (Nearfield), SCP-F und SCV (Tieftonbereich) sowie diversen Linus-Racks (Amping).
Auf Wunsch des Veranstalters sollte die Festivalfläche „nur in einem bestimmten Bereich“ beschallt werden, wie Proklang-Geschäftsführer Marco Müller berichtet. Im sogenannten „Familienbereich“ sollte zwar alles gut zu hören sein, aber eben nicht zu laut. Ohnehin musste mit der Dezibel-Versorgung vorsichtig umgegangen werden: „Die Lärmbegrenzung für die Anwohner war verbindlich einzuhalten“, so Müller, beispielsweise durch „eine nach hinten auslöschende Anordnung der Bässe“.
Für das Sounddesign hieß das, den druckvollen Gitarrensound mit hohen Pegeln naturgetreu umzusetzen, ohne die Tiefe der Musik zu übertönen. Was den Tieftonbereich angeht, sagt Müller: „Ein richtiger Tiefbass unter 40 Hertz ist für diese Musikrichtung zwar nicht vonnöten, aber die Bassdrum darf schon gerne die Hosenbeine zum Flattern bringen.“
Die Main-PA bestand pro Seite aus 8 x AiRay (90 Grad Abstrahlwinkel), 4 x AiRay (120 Grad), 21 x SCP-F (als Linie mit CSA-Anordnung) und 4 x SCV. Das Nearfield übernahmen 8 x ViRay (als 2er-Pack auf der Bühnenkante). Für das Amping wurden 4 x Linus T-Rack, 2 x Linus M-Rack und 2 x Linus 12C (als Spare) genutzt.
(Fotos: Thomas „Kelly“ Kellner/Proklang GmbH)
Romanian TV talent show “The Ticket” lit with Robe
The launch season of new Romanian TV talent show “The Ticket” premiered in September 2025 and is being recorded at Castel Studios just outside Bucharest. It is produced by Imagic and Antena 1 and lit by lighting designer/DoP Dan Andrei and lighting director Marius Matyas, using a large Robe moving light rig, which is owned by the Antena TV Group.
The show’s acts can vary greatly from a children’s choir group or a pop band, to a group of scientists finding the most efficient way to create a waving toilet roll effect using wind machines. On the rig are 24 Spiider wash beams, 18 T1 Profiles, 11 BMFL Blades, 12 LEDBeam 150s, 22 LEDWash 600s, 18 LEDWash 800s, and 48 Pointes, plus two rows of 16 MegaPointes at the back, among other fixtures.
A slick spherical stage set has been created by Peter Talea, including stylish bamboo frames and a large, curved LED screen at the back, with the live audience seated in front also in a round configuration, and this provided the starting point for the lighting design.
Andrei started with the initial creative concept and Matyas then fine-tuned this in WYSIWYG. They both developed the look from there and started pre-programming the basic building blocks. “We work with Robe products a lot as Antena 1 has them in stock”, says Matyas, who is now a freelance lighting designer/director, but had previously worked full-time for the broadcaster for 24 years. In the last two years, Antena 1 has steadily increased its Robe stock, which was delivered by Romanian distributor Senia Music.
Spiiders, LEDWash 600s and LEDWash 800s were positioned in the overhead rig for general stage washing and applying colour to the set. The BMFL Blades were used for back lighting, punching through in front of the LED screen with additional power and effects when needed, supported by the Pointes rigged on ladders at the back. The T1 Profiles were used for front and key lighting.
The other lights are around a central circular overhead truss, semicircular trusses upstage and two horizontal trusses at the front shaped with mirrored curves following the front and back contours of the stage. Andrei describes the style of lighting as “mainly bright, bold, colourful, and a bit quirky”, but the key was being able to switch from that to being dramatic, moody, and theatrical when needed.
Matyas has been working regularly with Robe products for around four years. Before Antena 1 bought their own, they would regularly rent them in as needed. While they don’t have any on this show, he lists T2s and Fortes as among his favourite Robe fixtures, in addition to the T1s and BMFL Blades.
The weekly episodes of “The Ticket” are filmed over three days and broadcast on the Saturday. The shoot days are long overall, but the amount of real time that Andrei and Matyas get to decide the lighting treatment for each contestant is only around twenty minutes. They use the same lighting rig for each episode, but there is some resetting in between.
Chief LX for the series is Alexander “Axl” Sora, and the stage manager is Eddie “Edi” Balteanu. “The Ticket” is being directed by Zoran Caramazan. Mona Segall is the general producer, and Robert Lionte is the executive producer.
(Photos: Antena 1/Gabriela Arsenie/Louise Stickland)
Ayrton Rivale lights up Red Rocks Amphitheatre for three nights of Brandi Carlile in concert
Singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile returned to Morrison, Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre for three back-to-back concerts on September 5-7, 2025. André Petrus acted as lighting designer and programmer for the shows, which featured 88 Ayrton Rivale provided by Brown Note Productions in Thornton, Colorado.
Petrus, a lighting and production designer who heads Nashville-based Outrage Media Group, has been using Ayrton fixtures for at least a decade but had not previously deployed Rivale. “I actually asked for a different fixture, but Brown Note recommended Rivale”, he shares.
Although Petrus did not have a history with Carlile he had worked with Sandbox Management, which teamed with Carlile’s Phantom Management on the event. His concept for the concert lighting was to use the venue’s unique rocky landscape as a set piece with no screens upstage and lighting illuminating the artist and the scenery.
“I was surprised to hear the Red Rocks team tell me that nobody ever really utilizes the scenery there”, Petrus recalls. “A Red Rocks date is usually a stop on a tour, so the performance is not built around the venue and there’s usually something upstage blocking the scenery. We got compliments about how they’d never seen the rocks lit the way we did.”
The 88 Rivale were the rig’s main moving lights and were positioned “everywhere”, according to Petrus. “They were shin lights, they were upstage in a ground row to give depth, they acted as the main key and back lights”, he explains. “Rivale were also mounted on three layers of truss running upstage to downstage to give yet another layer of depth and texture.”
PBS was shooting a special about the concerts so TV lighting was also a factor for the shows. “I generally light everything I do to be suitable for television since I come from that background and want everything to photograph really well”, Petrus notes. Brown Note also supplied Petrus with active and backup full-size GrandMA3 consoles with three medium PUs. “I’ve used GrandMA for most of my professional career and have my own GrandMA3 for programming in my studio”, he concludes.
(Photos: Phill McDonald/J Siegel)
Martin Heining und ETC setzen In-Extremo-Jubiläumsfestival auf der Loreley in Szene
Vom 4. bis 6. September 2025 hat die Mittelalter-Rockband In Extremo ihr 30-jähriges Bestehen mit einem Festival auf der Freilichtbühne Loreley gefeiert. Mit dabei waren Genre-Kollegen wie Feuerschwanz, Eisbrecher, Fiddler’s Green und rund fünfzehn weitere Acts. Für das Lichtdesign bei dem dreitägigen Event sorgte Martin Heining.
So schön die Open-Air-Location sein mag - für Lichtdesigner stellt die nahe des berühmten Loreley-Felsens gelegene Bühne eine Herausforderung dar. Aus zwei Gründen, wie Heining erklärt: „Zum einen wäre da die Bühne. Sie hat eine geringe Clearance, ist sehr breit und hat nur wenig Dachlast. Zum anderen steigt die Zuschauerfläche sehr steil an, der FOH war zum Beispiel über der Bühne. Das alles zusammengenommen macht es einem nicht gerade leicht.“
Eine weitere Hürde basierte auf dem Konzept des Geburtstags-Festivals: „In Extremo haben an den drei Tagen jeweils ein unterschiedliches Set gespielt“, fährt Heining fort. „Das heißt: Ich hatte es mit einer enormen Anzahl von Songs zu tun - und für jeden einzelnen Track musste ich das jeweils passende Licht kreieren.“
Der renommierte und schon lange für In Extremo tätige Lichtdesigner nutzt seit vielen Jahren Hog-Konsolen von ETC, so auch beim diesjährigen Jubiläumsfestival. Neben einer Hog 4 (Backup mit Hog-Version-5.0-Software) fungierte hier die neue Stage Hog als Dreh- und Angelpunkt der Lichtinszenierung. Eine 19 Zoll große, im 2-HE-Rackformat gestaltete und 64 Universen bietende HPU (Hybrid Prozessor Unit) rundete als DMX-Prozessor Heinings Konsolen-Equipment bei dem Event ab.
Aus dem Scheinwerfer-Segment setzte Heining unter anderem einen brandneuen ETC-Scheinwerfer ein: Das Gerät soll erst demnächst offiziell veröffentlicht werden, Heining durfte während des In-Extremo-Festivals jedoch schon einen Beta-Test durchführen. Sein Urteil: „Ein extrem heller Scheinwerfer mit einem enormen kreativen Potential.“
(Fotos: ETC/Jan Heesch)
Organissimo and Elation deliver lighting at Americana Trade Fair 2025
The Americana Trade Fair in Friedrichshafen, Germany, is Europe’s largest trade fair for Western riding and equestrian sports. At the heart of the event is the Show Arena, a 36 m x 72 m space hosting horse shows, competitions, demonstrations, and broadcasts to both live and online audiences.
For the 2025 edition, held from September 3 to 7, Organissimo - official service partner of Messe Friedrichshafen - worked with Elation to illuminate the arena. Activities began as early as six in the morning and ran until midnight, with rehearsals often stretching into the early hours. This meant the lighting system had to perform under near-constant use. The arena was captured on eight to nine cameras for both broadcast and livestream.
The welfare of the horses was paramount. Traditional halogen fixtures had not only failed frequently, requiring constant bulb changes, but they also projected blinding light that could distract riders and animals. With fixtures mounted high on trusses above sensitive arena sand, there was no opportunity for quick maintenance if something went wrong.
The venue knew they wanted to upgrade to LED, and the solution was Elation’s KL Panel XL. Organissimo mounted seventy units across three long trusses running the length of the hall, along with additional trusses at each end to achieve full coverage. Organissimo’s Martin Knauer chose the KL Panels for the arena lighting and created the overall lighting design.
The KL lights were integrated into the overall production by Organissimo, which not only managed lighting, sound, and video but also oversaw some construction and provided behind-the-scenes support. Organissimo collaborated with camera teams, who specifically requested LED panel softlights, something that would not project blinding light but could cover the entire arena in a uniform wash.
The LED panels enhanced video capture without distracting riders or animals, while the RGBWLC engine provided the softer color tones requested by the client. The KL Panel XL units worked in conjunction with moving head fixtures, enabling Organissimo to combine uniform soft washes with dynamic spotlighting for specific scenes and performances.
For the first time, the Americana arena could transition seamlessly between crisp competition lighting and immersive colored scenes, something previously impossible with the halogen system.
(Photos: Organissimo)
Broadway musical “Maybe Happy Ending” uses Ayrton Diablo S fixtures in workhorse lighting role
Five-time Tony Award-nominated lighting designer Ben Stanton chose 58 Ayrton Diablo S fixtures for Broadway’s “Maybe Happy Ending”, the South Korean musical about human-like helper-bots who forge a relationship. “Maybe Happy Ending” premiered in Seoul in 2016 and has enjoyed many international runs before arriving at Broadway’s Belasco Theatre in September 2024. The production recently won six Tony Awards, including one for “Best Musical” with Stanton receiving a nomination for his lighting design.
Prior to “Maybe Happy Ending” Stanton had used various Ayrton fixtures for concert touring but had not deployed them on theatre projects. For this show he needed “a very small, powerful fixture that could be a workhorse for the design” and Diablo filled the bill. “I needed a light that would fit nicely on the balcony rails of the beautiful Belasco Theatre as well as fit into very small spaces overstage”, he says. “The house electrician Justin Freeman recommended I look at Diablos.”
PRG provided Stanton with 54 active Diablo S fixtures and four spares. Some are mounted on the balcony rail where they largely function as front lights. He uses the Diablo’s shutter assembly to shape the light to the apertures of the moving portals in the set design. Additional Diablos hang over the stage on 12-inch trusses where they serve as side lights and back lights. “We can also lower these fixtures in between tiles on the video ceiling to downlight certain places on stage”, remarks Stanton.
As for the lighting design, he furthers: “One of the hallmarks of the design is how we use colour. A lot of the musical takes place in small, white apartment-like boxes, and a big part of the storytelling in ‘Maybe Happy Ending’ is achieved through the use of saturate colours in these spaces. The colour mixing in this fixture allowed us to create many beautiful fields of colour. This combined with the shutters, gobos and optics made the Diablo the perfect light for this production.”
PRG also supplied the show with active and spare MDG ATMe haze generators and MDG Max 3000 APS fog generators. “I specify MDG atmospherics for every project that I can”, says Stanton. “The CO2-based haze is much smoother and finer than other types of atmosphere. The ATMe runs throughout the majority of the show with more intense SFX requiring the fogger appearing toward the end of the show.”
For the production Ken Elliott is the Associate Lighting Designer, Kat Morrill the Assistant Lighting Designer in charge of followspots, and Ron Schwier the Production Electrician.
(Photos: Matt Murphy)
Robe celebrates at Sziget 2025
At this year’s edition of the Sziget festival in Budapest, Hungary, Robe moving lights were prominent on several major stages, including: the Bolt Night Stage supplied by Light Positive with some fixtures that were a brand-new investment; The Revolut Stage supplied by VEG Europe, and the Main Stage, supplied by Colossal.
Robe’s distributor AVL Trade organised an exclusive word-of-mouth backstage area and tech hub for all crew, creatives and others working BTS across the site, which included the Avostream mobile demo vehicle, a comprehensive merch cabin, a bar and chilling zone under the trees, complete with loos adjacent to the Night Stage backstage village, which brought the buzz of artists coming and going. Up to 60,000 festival fans attended each day.
“It was another great event for us in terms of networking, reconnecting with our industry friends and acquaintances and making new contacts, including visiting lighting directors and operators”, says AVL Trade’s Csaba Csanádi. “It was excellent to see so many Robe products in use festival-wide.”
Bolt Night Stage, previously known as the Party Arena, is a 10,000-capacity tent and Sziget’s core for electronic music fans and revellers keen to rip up the 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. hours, with a lineup featuring Armin van Buuren, Steve Angello, Amelie Lens, Boris Brejcha and many more.
The Night Stage lighting design was created by Netherlands-based visual design specialist The Art of Light, led by Andre Beekmans. The company also provided the production lighting design for the Colosseum Stage. Overseeing The Art of Light’s work on site was Kasper Dijksterhuis, who created the plot, drawings and renders with Beekmans.
A major feature of Twofiftyk’s environmental design for this space was fourteen automated “visual” pods rigged with lighting and video elements, hung in the roof above the audience, which enabled the architecture of the space to be changed each day - and during each artist as required.
Additional trusses ran the length and width of the ceiling area available for lighting, audio and video positions, and the onstage widescreen LED behind the DJ booth accentuated the epic yet fun feel of the space.
Each of the moving pods contained ten Robe LEDBeam 350s, with additional LEDBeam 350s also used as side key light for the DJ. Twenty Robe Fortes were positioned along the top of the upstage screen and on the trusses left and right of this, placed for back lighting. In the roof trusses, sixty MegaPointes were positioned to beam down, along and around the audience area.
The Night Tent was hosted by a series of different curators each night, some of whom supplied their own lighting directors/head of lighting for their evening, e.g. Robbert-Jan Vernooij who oversaw and ran lighting for the Awakenings line up on the Friday night.
The Fortes and 24 of the total 142 LEDBeam 350s were new purchases by Hungarian rental company Light Positive, which has been supplying this stage at Sziget for the last six years. They also purchased more MegaPointes at the same time, and have around 250 Robe products now in the current rental fleet.
A Light Positive team of six including Nandor Ládos and Sándor Orosz looked after the Night Stage, but their total crew on site was around sixty as they also supplied three other areas, including The Circus Stage and the Street Theatre Stage. Both of these featured Robe Tarrantula wash beams, which were also part of the new batch of lights delivered to them by AVL Trade.
The Revolut Stage, the second biggest of the event, featured a mix of global stars, local gems, and rising talent, including Justice, Empire of the Sun, Blossoms, Caribou, Papa Roach and loads more. Looking after lighting here were Bence Doma and Almos Bus, both regular freelancers for VEG (Visual Europe Group).
The overhead house lighting rig comprised 24 Fortes, 22 Tarrantulas, 34 MegaPointes and twelve Tetra2s, as well as a variety of different floor packages, some with additional Robe fixtures, which they also supplied to certain acts. The house lighting rig was designed to cater for up to six bands a day. The house lighting was rigged on an 8-leg steel ground support system.
Production lighting for Sziget’s Main Stage was designed by Mark Kontra, part of the team from rental specialist Colossal, which supplied all the lighting kit for this area. Kontra has been involved in some capacity with this stage and the festival for the last fourteen years, and since 2015 has headed up the Main Stage lighting team.
The Robe count this year was over 300. This included 56 Fortes, thirty iForte LTXs, six FS (follow spot) versions and 24 standard, forty iFortes, 56 Pointes, 38 ColorStrobes, 34 iBar 15s and 48 LEDBeam 350s, with four RoboSpot systems available for those wanting to make use of the iForte LTX FSs which were installed on the four FOH towers.
Main Stage headliners this year were Charli XCX, Chappell Roan, Shawn Mendes, Kid Cudi, Anyma and Post Malone. Robe’s own live musical talent also made a surprise appearance on the Johnnie Walker Stage with a special collaboration between DJ Stereonoize - Csaba Csanádi from AVL Trade - and Robe’s international business development manager Bram de Clerck - DJ Phos - who played a funky set that energised an otherwise relaxed Thursday afternoon in the heat.
(Photos: Louise Stickland/Paul Clarke)
Jeff Maker lights I Prevail with Chauvet
To set the tone for American metal/post-hardcore band I Prevail’s “Summer of Loud” tour, Las Vegas-based lighting designer Jeff Maker used twelve pyro effects positioned upstage, mid-stage, and downstage. Throughout the shows, the fiery effects underscored the core character of the band’s performance.
Nevertheless, Maker was careful to arrange the pyro units so they did not block the lighting. Altering the light angles throughout the show, he gave each song its own emotional flavor, while his strobing, audience lighting, and pyro effects kept the adrenaline pumping. “Light angles played a big role in setting moods and moments throughout this design”, says Maker. “By shifting between uplighting, side lighting, and crowd lighting, I could sculpt the band differently from song to song. I felt that it gave the show a dynamic flow and kept the visual storytelling evolving.”
Color also helped shade the mood on stage. “As a designer it’s my job to magnify the meaning of songs and capture the emotion of what the artist is trying to convey”, notes Maker. “I try to approach every song with an open mind and interpret each one in my own way as well, blending it all together in harmonious colors that work in holy matrimony with the video content.”
Helping Maker pull this tapestry of moods and feelings together were thirteen Chauvet Professional Color Strike M motorized strobe-washes, which, like the rest of his rig, were supplied by BBM Clair. The fixtures were positioned inside three rows of metal wire risers, which themselves gave the stage an edgy industrial look.
“We had grated risers located on the downstage edge, mid-stage, and upstage, and had our Color Strike M units inside them”, says Maker. “This allowed us to punch up through the stage and reach out toward the crowd with some vivid white strobe effects. At other times, we directed them back toward the set with some cool washes.” Changing the direction and nature of the light from the Color Strike M fixtures created constant visual evolution on stage, he adds.
(Photos: Jessika Wollstein)
IPS calls on over 530 Chauvet fixtures for “Mission: Impossible” premiere
Multi-Grammy winner Rod Stewart wasn’t the only non-film-star celebrity to turn out for the world premiere of “Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning” at London’s Leicester Square - stars like Dua Lipa, Idris Elba and Florence Pugh were also there, even though they were not involved in the film.
A production executed by Limited Edition Event Design (LEED) helped the glamour sparkle during the event. For technical support and lighting, LEED turned to its frequent collaborator, Milton Keynes-based IPS. To ensure that the premiere was shown in the best light for the sizable live crowd, as well as for millions of fans who watched the broadcast and other media coverage of the event, IPS used 530-plus Chauvet Professional fixtures and panels that were positioned throughout the site.
Included in this collection were over 460 REM 3IP LED video panels. Displaying images from the film and its stars, the panels were positioned across a 50-meter main platform, as well as on branding walls around a custom-built fountain and entrance arch, all with 3D design and full safety sign off.
A collection of forty Color Strike M motorized strobe-washes pumped up the energy level. Given the large number of celebrities on hand for the event, the media-interview area was a busy place. To ensure that all camera shots came off smoothly, IPS installed thirty OnAir IP panels.
(Photos: Chauvet Professional)
Robe supports Hungarian National Day spectacular
Hungary celebrated its National Day on August 20, 2025, with a 35-minute timecoded show in Budapest, involving monumental projection, lasers, lighting, drone shows and a massive firework display which blew up along a 5 km stretch of the Danube River.
Visual Europe Group (VEG) was the event’s main technical supplier, providing sound, lighting, lasers, video walls, projection mapping, and a large-scale drone show for this extensive main city centre site along both sides - Buda and Pest - of the river. Robe moving lights - iBolts, iFortes and iForte LTXs - played a significant role in illuminating four key architectural elements - the 118-metre-wide Hungarian Parliament Building, the Hungarian National Gallery, the Széchenyi Chain Bridge and Elisabeth Bridge.
The project was managed by VEG’s in-house team, with all key technical decisions handled internally. Project lead Zoltán Ösz oversaw end-to-end production and delivery in alignment with the creative design team at Gyár Post Production Company, sister company and part of the Visual Europe Group.
Tibor Kalla was the lighting designer. It was the first time he had worked in this capacity on the National Day event, although previously he had been part of the team as a systems engineer and network installation specialist. He collaborated closely with VEG to choose the best fixture placements around the city to create the desired overall lighting aesthetic.
Eight Robe iBolts were positioned on top of the Chain Bridge’s two arches. iBolts were used as beacons of light to draw attention to the bridge as a focal point of the show. During the timecoded show, the arches were illuminated with projection, and the iBolt’s sky beams were synced with the music and projections. At the Parliament building - on the Pest side of the river - ten iFortes were positioned to illuminate the North side of the building, supporting the projections that appeared on its front facade.
The Hungarian National Gallery sits on the Buda bank of the river and is part of the Buda Palace complex. One of the highest altitude points across the whole city, it is highly visible as part of the show vista, and this year its front facade and central dome were illuminated with sixteen iForte LTXs in a series of different colours plus gobo texturing to give it more depth and resonance. The iForte LTXs were sitting on scaffolding towers built and spaced out along the Savoy Terrace in front of the National Gallery.
The Elisabeth Bridge pylons were illuminated with a total of sixteen iForte LTXs, with another 64 iFortes shooting beams off the sides. This bridge, built at the narrowest part of the Danube spanning 290 metres, was the furthest southern point of the main show site, with the Margaret Bridge being the most northern point in the opposite direction along the river. The fixtures were placed on staging platforms spaced along the bridge’s pedestrian walkway sections.
The Robe products were part of around 900 lighting fixtures deployed around the city centre site by VEG for a show that attracted approximately 1.5 million visitors to the city for a day of celebration, which saw Budapest become a big carnival with a distinctive festival atmosphere. Among the major challenges for the VEG team of 250 was coordinating with all the other independent technical departments, so when they arrived on-site, both the power supply and data infrastructure were already in place across this vast urban landscape.
The projection mapping was achieved using 67 Panasonic PT-RQ35K 35,000-lumen projectors and Disguise VX4 media servers, set up in containers at the main control position on the Buda side of the river opposite the Parliament building. They were shooting around 400 metres across to the facade of the 1902 neogothic architectural masterpiece.
The lighting build started on August 13 and continued until the evening of August 18, with just one rehearsal on August 19. Lighting rigging on Elisabeth Bridge was left until last, as it was only accessible once all the city centre road traffic closures were in place, coordinated by the police department. The fireworks were designed and executed independently by Budapest-based pyro specialists Nuvu and were fired from multiple sites, including a series of barges moored along the river.
The complete overall event organisation was delivered by Lounge Event, an event management agency sharing the same ownership as Visual Europe Group.
(Photos: Louise Stickland)
Elysée-Palast ordert ETC-Lonestar-Scheinwerfer für Auftritte Emmanuel Macrons
Die für Auftritte des französischen Präsidenten Emmanuel Macron zuständige Abteilung hat kürzlich Licht-Systeme von ETC geordert: Sechs High-End-Systems-Lonestar-Scheinwerfer wurden an den Elysée-Palast geliefert. Sie bilden das Herzstück zweier mobiler Beleuchtungs-Sets.
Um zwischen den vielfältigen nationalen und internationalen mobilen Anwendungen keine Engpässe zu riskieren, stellte das präsidiale Lichtteam zwei identische, aus jeweils drei Lonestar-Scheinwerfern bestehende Licht-Sets zusammen.
(Fotos: Soazig de La Moissonnière/Alexandra Lebon/Durand Thibault/Présidence de la République)
