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Burj Khalifa NYE event lit with Robe
24/02/2026
Steve Ouimette fängt steinzeitliche Percussion für „Just Dance 2026“ mit Schoeps-Mikrofonen ein
19/02/2026
Technical Elements lights Emory Healthcare’s brand refresh with nearly 800 Elation fixtures
18/02/2026
Olga Lounová concerts lit with Chauvet
17/02/2026
Marfa Lights inszenieren Live-Comeback von Lilas ir Innomine mit Cameo
Fünf Jahre nach seinem Bühnenrückzug kehrte das Hip-Hop-Duo Lilas ir Innomine 2025 mit einem ausverkauften Open-Air-Konzert im Vingis Park in Vilnius zurück. Rund 20.000 Besucher erlebten das bislang größte Konzert der litauischen Rap-Geschichte. Für das Licht- und Videodesign zeichnete Marfa Lights im Auftrag von Baltic Production Service verantwortlich. Zum Einsatz kam ein outdoortaugliches Lichttechnik-Setup von Cameo.
Im Zentrum der Bühne im Vingis Park stand eine halbkreisförmige Konstruktion aus LED-Screens, Treppen und Catwalk. Chor, Tänzer, Spezialeffekte, Licht und Videoelemente wurden zu einem durchgängigen visuellen Konzept verbunden. Ziel war es, die musikalische Dramaturgie der Show um die beiden Protagonisten Konstantinas Kiveris-Lilas und Rolandas Venckis-Innomine auch visuell auf sämtlichen Ebenen zu transportieren.
Das Marfa-Lights-Team um Lichtdesigner Andrius Stasiulis setzte unter anderem Cameos Zenit-W300- und Zenit-W600-Outdoor-LED-Wash-Lights, Otos-B5-IP65-Beam-Moving-Heads und Pixbar-SMD-IP-G2-LED-Bars ein, die jeweils in großer Stückzahl und über das gesamte Bühnenbild verteilt waren.
Die Grundlage des Lichtkonzepts bildeten die Zenit W600. Die IP65-zertifizierten LED-Wash-Lights sorgten für eine gleichmäßige Ausleuchtung über die gesamte Bühnenbreite. Ergänzend nutzte Marfa Lights Zenit W300 als Footlights. Für Akzente, Pixel-Designs und Farbverläufe kamen zusätzlich die Pixbar SMD IP G2 zum Einsatz.
Das Videodesign wurde nahtlos in das Gesamtkonzept integriert. Auf Basis der GrandMA-Lichtpulte sowie der Softwarelösungen Notch und Hippotizer gestaltete Pijus Norusis, Video Designer bei Marfa Lights, visuelle Sequenzen, die wie ein erweitertes Lichtdesign funktionierten. „Weil wir das Video nach denselben Prinzipien programmiert haben wie das Licht, konnten wir eine durchgehend konsistente visuelle Sprache schaffen“, so Norusis.
(Fotos: Adam Hall Group/Marfa Lights)
Alex Mungal evokes fierce imagery on Slaughter to Prevail tour with Chauvet
Russian deathcore band Slaughter to Prevail’s recent “Grizzly Winter” tour of the UK and EU was supported by an Alex Mungal lighting design. The 18-city run concluded February 8, 2026, at Prague’s Forum Karlin.
Mungal and his team’s goal was to create a design that translated the masked band’s power and in-your-face music with a matching level of ferocity. “This show was built to emphasize the monstrosity that Slaughter to Prevail has already built with their individual members”, says Mungal. “There are some killer players with terrifying masks on stage. We wanted to bring the themes of their songs to life while keeping the emotions powerful and energetic.”
Scaling his show up or down, depending on the venue, Mungal and his crew were able to fit their show on every stage, creating a starkly intense look that drew fans into the music. “We scaled up and down over the course of the EU tour with varying sizes of venues, but for the most part the crew and I made this beast fit everywhere we went”, he says. “My crew’s support and flexibility made them the real heroes of the tour.”
Helping Mungal and his team accomplish this were 32 Chauvet Professional Color Strike M fixtures supplied by Victory Event Stage & Tour. They positioned twelve of the Color Strike M units in the air and used them for top washes, snare bombs and big hits at dramatic moments. The other twenty units were called upon to create layered uplighting throughout the grated depth, in addition to serving as cyc washes for some songs.
“We really leaned into uplighting on this one through a combination of top/key light and under riser lighting featuring the Color Strike M and batten fixtures”, says Mungal. “It was an additional challenge to simplify light sources for some of the trade-offs, but also it looked cool.”
The Color Strike M also helped Mungal unfold narratives for individual songs through the use of color changes. “Several of the songs follow Slavic folklore tales, so following themes and moods via color choices and source placement to make the ‘characters’ pop was important”, he explains. “Songs like ‘Babayka’ tell of a creature that comes after children if they misbehave or don’t go to bed - we used cold dark tones to bring this nightmarish feel to life. Another song, ‘Baba Yaga’, tells of the bogeyman, so a lot of the lighting choices throughout the show brought a horror combining effects and the band’s masks to elevate everything.”
Beyond light angles and colors, Mungal relied on atmospherics and distinctive inflatables to capture the essence of the music on stage. “We used both flames and fog throughout the show”, he says. “There is a certain percussiveness that comes with the impact of these moments. We had a couple varying sizes of inflatables we’d use depending on space. Inh the end, everything was built out of the music.”
(Photos: Moonvibes/Petrov Visuals)
Veteran broadcast engineer Daryl Doss opts for Studio Technologies
With more than four decades of experience in radio broadcasting and live sports production, Daryl Doss, owner of Doss Technical Services and a contract engineer for SiriusXM and Westwood One Sports, delivers audio systems for some of the industry’s most demanding broadcast environments.
From NFL games and March Madness to Super Bowl Radio Row and The Masters golf tournament, Doss has come to rely on a selection of Dante-based intercom and announcer solutions from Studio Technologies to meet the fast-paced demands of modern broadcast production. As a freelance engineer supporting national broadcasts, Doss is responsible for specifying, integrating, and deploying the equipment. “My job is to make what we have work great, sound great, and be ultra-reliable”, he explains.
Doss’ Studio Technologies deployment centers around Dante-enabled infrastructure, allowing him to streamline complex signal paths using a single Ethernet connection. “Instead of running multiple discrete audio cables for program, IFB, talkback, and coordination, I can run one cable, power the device via PoE, and be ready to go”, he says.
His primary talent interface is the Studio Technologies Model 204 Announcer’s Console, which he deploys across a wide range of productions from small SiriusXM talk show setups to large-scale sports broadcasts. For producer and crew communications, Doss uses Studio Technologies’ Model 348 Intercom Station, Model 374A Intercom Beltpack, and additional intercom solutions that form the backbone of his fly pack.
For major events such as The Masters, where all connections must be hardwired, Doss deploys fiber-extended Dante networks across multiple course locations, utilizing multiple Model 204 units at each position.
Doss owns an extensive Studio Technologies inventory, including multiple Model 204, Model 205, Model 208 and Model 210 Announcer Consoles, Model 348 Intercom Stations, and various beltpack solutions such as the Model 374A Intercom Beltpacks, Model 381 On-air Beltpacks and the Model 362 Listen-only Beltpacks.
(Photo: Studio Technologies, Inc.)
Burj Khalifa NYE event lit with Robe
As the world welcomed 2026, Dubai, UAE, staged a mixed visual media extravaganza, as lighting, video, lasers and fireworks fired off the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa tower, in an event organised by Emaar and produced by Our Legacy Creations.
Robe was also part of it, with eighty-six iForte LTX fixtures on the lighting rig for a spectacle staged on the Burj lake that led into the fireworks, lit by Dom Smith and Paul Johnson from UK-based design studio NeonBlack. The Burj Khalifa NYE event this year started with this dramatic, full-tilt 20-minute show staged across a 450-metre open performance space on a large section of the Burj lake in front of the 828-metre-high building that dominates the downtown Dubai skyline. Twenty-five custom floats, boats, waterboards and jet-skis were involved - with a cast of 570, including a tightrope walker traversing a high-tension cable strung between points of the adjacent shopping mall - in the performance.
Smith and Johnson met the challenges involved in lighting this show, creatively directed by Tiziana Pagliarulo (OLC), choosing Robe iForte LTX moving lights to provide all key lighting for the entertainment programme. The spectacle then led into the 60-second NYE countdown that cued the firework grand finale on the Burj. This new pre-fireworks segment added an extra visual layer to the annual event at the Burj Khalifa, watched by tens of thousands live, and streamed to billions more.
The main issue for Smith and Johnson’s lighting design was getting enough powerful key lighting rigged in the right places to register properly and illuminate the cast across this vast area, so the 36 broadcast cameras, directed by Marcus Viner, could get the best shots. Additionally, for the tightrope artist, twenty-four iForte LTXs were placed on the roof of the Dubai Mall to light the line. The only available positioning for tracking follow spots was on top of the souk market, around 150 metres away from the location of the wire.
“Robe’s iForte LTX was the only option to light the 150- to 200-metre longest throw distances involved”, says Smith, adding that, for the last two years, the iForte LTX has become a go-to key lighting tool for their work. The eighty-six iForte LTXs were supplied by the event’s technical equipment rental contractor Media Pro, who are based in Dubai, and were among approximately 3,000 other fixtures in total used for the show, including the Burj Khalifa’s permanently installed lights.
Most of these iForte LTXs were positioned all around the lake, mainly on the permanent PA speaker towers, with some on custom truss towers fabricated by Media Pro. The tightrope line itself was illuminated by the twenty-four iForte LTXs on top of the souk, and another two fixtures were positioned on the roof of the souk bazaar, used exclusively for tracking the artist. These were controlled by a Robe RoboSpot control system positioned by the lights on the rooftop to help with accurate targeting.
Most of the sixty iForte LTXs around the lake were also on a remote follow system using multiple fixed cameras to cover the enormous field of view that was the stage. All the show’s key and white lighting was programmed and directed by David Wolstenholme. The effects lighting was programmed by Eliot Jessep and Josh Musgrave in the UK and during pre-viz, and Alex Douglas in Dubai.
In addition to the various water-based performance floats, the event also included a series of large Rio-carnival style parade floats that drove down Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard at the start of the entertainment, which also had to be lit, together with the front of the Burj Khalifa facing onto the lake. The fireworks “conductor” was lifted up to fifteen metres on a hydraulic platform and was also tracked by iForte LTXs.
(Photos: Whatever Live/Katie Bowen)
Nick Jevons and Ross Chapple create imagery for I Hate Models with Chauvet
I Hate Models is the stage name of French techno music producer Guillaume Labadie, whose “Refract: I Hate Models All Night Long” show in January 2026 took place in a 12,000-square meter space at Hall 1, Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. The show kicked off at 10 pm and lasted until the wee hours of the morning.
Enhancing the experience at the spacious venue was a visual production by Nick Jevons and Ross Chapple of Auratecture that flowed with the transcendent music and immersed the room with dynamic lighting displays. Describing the show with its 360 stage and asymmetrical design, Jevons refers to it as a combination of “brutalist asymmetry and Mayan-like scenography”.
“For us, Brutalist asymmetry meant raw mass plus deliberate imbalance”, he details. “It is the look of a structure that is too heavy, too stubborn, or too functional to bother aligning itself perfectly. We wanted to prioritize function over visual comfort. We reference Mayan civilization because of its architecture and how they used sheer size in their structures to show power. The doorways of their temples often represented a cave which were seen as portals to the underworld, while all set in a scene from a movie set.”
A collection of sixty Chauvet Professional Strike Array 4C blinders, placed in the “inner sanctum” of the massive central DJ booth, were instrumental in bringing this vision to life. Visible to the audience only from the booth’s tiered platforms, the fixtures created glowing reflective light of the metal set, which accentuated the brutalist aura around the stage.
“Our vision was to create a chaotic and industrial energy underneath the booth’s walkways”, continues Jevons. “The Strike 4C was the perfect choice for this, as we got the wide, bright throw of a blinder combined with the ability to chase and strobe them at high speeds. The fixtures’ output, combined with their color rendering (RGB + Amber), gave us the ability to apply the overall color palette of the show around the booth through the dense fog and haze. This greatly enhanced the transformative atmosphere in the room.”
Jevons, Chapple and their team, including Jean-Denis Rolland (TD and PM), and rigger S Group Live Event spread strobe lighting throughout the room to accentuate the mood. Their shared vision was to create a “desert-scene, much like you would see in the ‘Dune’ movies, with scorched sunsets, deep reds, sandy CTO’s, and bold open whites”, concludes Jevons.
(Photos: Chauvet Professional)
Christina Rupp lights Army-Navy Gala with Elation Paragon
Christina Rupp used Elation Paragon fixtures to illuminate the Army-Navy Gala in December 2025 at the Baltimore Convention Center. The fixtures were supplied by Elkridge, Maryland-based stage lighting company Afterglow Lighting, an early adopter of Elation’s Paragon LED profile moving head.
The event, held ahead of the 126th Army-Navy football game, one of the oldest rivalries in U.S. college football, featured a transformed ballroom complete with a main stage, dance floor, and a variety of performance elements honoring those who serve. Rupp, a lighting designer and master electrician with a decade of industry experience, has worked on Army-Navy collaborations before, but this marked her first time working on the Army-Navy Gala. She frequently collaborates with Afterglow and was brought onto the project by Afterglow and the client, VPC.
“This was not your standard corporate design with a stage wash and audience wash”, she explains. “We needed lighting to transition from a formal dinner to onstage presentations, to performances by bands, cheerleaders, and dance groups, to a late-night dance party. We needed those clean stage washes and audience lighting, but also pickups, accent lighting, and vibrant effects while supporting other elements like walkthroughs and videos.”
Rupp led the design and operation of 32 Paragon S, along with twelve Seven Batten 72, and other fixtures. On stage, the designer created tailored looks with distinct colors for each service branch as the MC highlighted their accomplishments, then shifted to entirely different looks for other presentations, keeping the visuals fluid and dynamic. A full band also performed on stage, playing throughout dinner and into the late-night dance party. A central walkway ran through the room, used by the MC, performers like the color guard, and arriving guests. “Anyone walking down it, or when the MC moved into the audience or onto the dance floor, was lit by the Paragons”, says Rupp.
The designer created a dynamic walk-in look with slow-moving effects, carrying a red, white, and blue theme from the national anthem into the dinner look. “It provided a calm look for dinner in colors that represented both the Army and Navy”, Rupp explains. “Being able to carefully frame and focus the Paragons to place the blue precisely in the center of the onstage scenic piece added a three-dimensional effect.”
The Seven Batten 72 fixtures, 6-foot full-color batten wash luminaires, were used to enhance the scenic from above and below, adding depth and dimension to the look. Rupp employed the Paragon’s TruTone variable CRI engine, switching between high and low CRI looks to create a more dynamic feel, and accessed the fixture’s animation wheel to create diverse looks throughout the night. At dinner, for example, she applied slow-moving animations to the walls intertwined with custom gobos. Then later, during the dance party, she switched to more animated gobo transitions.
The setup included an upstage truss, downstage truss, and four perpendicular trusses extending into the audience that housed the Paragons used extensively for pickups and accent lighting. “For any audience or band pickup, or any situation that needed some punch, I went straight to the Paragon”, says Rupp.
Afterglow’s lighting crew comprised Production Manager/Show Master Electrician Josh Watson, who drafted the plot with Rupp’s advice and preferences in mind, plus lighting techs Jake Myers, Galen Newell, and Ethan Cooper who pre-rigged, patched, and managed the load-in. The 2025 Army-Navy Gala was managed and designed by Chicken Scratch and executed in collaboration with VPC.
(Photos: Elation)
Steve Ouimette fängt steinzeitliche Percussion für „Just Dance 2026“ mit Schoeps-Mikrofonen ein
Ubisofts „Just Dance“-Reihe zählt mit fast dreißig Titeln auf unterschiedlichen Gaming-Plattformen zu den erfolgreichsten und langlebigsten Tanzspielen. Seit 2011 ist der Gitarrist und Komponist Steve Ouimette („Call of Duty“, „Far Cry 6“, „Guitar Hero“) regelmäßig mitbeteiligt.
Für „Just Dance 2026“ präsentiert Ouimette den „Prehistorock“, einen Steinzeit-Groove, basierend auf einem Ensemble aus selbst gefertigten Instrumenten und dazu improvisierter Percussion. Um die archaische Klangwelt authentisch einzufangen, nutzte Ouimette für die gesamte Aufnahme ausschließlich ein Paar Schoeps-Colette-Mikrofone mit MK-4-Kapseln.
Ouimettes erste Aufträge für die „Just Dance“-Reihe knüpften an seine Arbeit für andere Musikspiele an - ein Prozess, den er als „forensisches Re-recording" bezeichnet. Dafür recherchiert und rekonstruiert er die Klänge klassischer Aufnahmen, bis sie vom Original nicht mehr zu unterscheiden sind. Durch diesen Prozess entwickelte Ouimette enzyklopädisches Wissen über populäre Musik und deren unterschiedliche Produktionsstile.
„Das Komponieren für diese Spiele hat das musikalische Chamäleon in mir geweckt“, sagt er. „Wenn man von Genre zu Genre springt und all ihre Feinheiten in- und auswendig lernt, prägt einen das stark. So zu arbeiten hat meine Intuition als Komponist stark erweitert. Als Ubisoft sah, dass ich auch gern über den Tellerrand hinausschaue, öffneten sich die Türen zu den experimentelleren und interessanteren Tracks.“
Ein Markenzeichen von Ouimettes Arbeit für die „Just Dance“-Reihe ist seine Vorliebe für ungewöhnliche Aufträge. Er experimentiert häufig mit unkonventionellen Aufnahmetechniken und entwickelt eigene Instrumente, um die Anforderungen eines bestimmten Auftrags zu erfüllen. „Seit fast fünfzehn Jahren geben sie mir mitunter die absurdesten Aufgaben - von Bollywood-Weihnachtsliedern über Balkan-Tänze bis hin zu arabischen Trap-Tracks und vielem mehr“, sagt Ouimette. „Jede davon erfordert einen kreativen, respektvollen Ansatz und ein Ohr für die klanglichen Besonderheiten, die den jeweiligen Stil ausmachen.“
„Spieleentwickler lieben echte Instrumente für ein möglichst immersives Erlebnis - es zieht die Spieler mitten hinein“, fährt er fort. „Dieser menschliche Fingerabdruck in einer sonst eher virtuellen Klangwelt macht den Unterschied. Deshalb nehme ich nach wie vor viele echte Instrumente auf und suche nach Wegen, diese menschlichen Elemente in der Aufnahme herauszuarbeiten. Dies erfordert besondere Sorgfalt bei der Mikrofonwahl - besonders bei ‘Prehistorock’, einem der verrücktesten Tracks für das aktuelle Spiel.“
Im Rahmen von „Just Dance 2026“ erhielt Ouimette den Auftrag, einen wuchtigen „prähistorischen“ Rock-Track zu schreiben, der wie ein Mammut oder T-Rex in Bewegung klingen sollte. Für Ouimette war zudem offensichtlich, dass Percussion eine tragende Rolle spielen sollte, wenn der Sound eines Urmenschen dargestellt werden soll. „Mir war klar, dass ich mich auf ein- oder zweisilbige Wörter beschränken musste, um der Höhlenmensch-Ästhetik gerecht zu werden“, erklärt er. „Das schrie förmlich nach einem perkussiven Ansatz - Stampfen, Klatschen, auf Holz und Stein schlagen, solche Sachen.“
Ouimette verwendete die Colette-Mikrofone mit MK 4-Kapseln als breites Stereopaar, um ein improvisierendes Percussion-Orchester aufzunehmen: Cajón, Bongos, Woodblocks, Shaker und einige seiner selbstgebauten Percussion-Instrumente. „Ich habe mein Percussion-Instrumentarium im Halbkreis aufgebaut und es mit den Colettes einfach so aufgenommen, wie es stand“, sagt er. „So entstand ein schönes, tiefes Stereobild, das letztlich wie ein riesiges Ensemble klang.“
„Es war ein einzigartiger Song, und seine Unnachahmlichkeit brauchte ein hörbares Maß an Imperfektion“, schließt Ouimette. „Die Schoeps-Mikrofone spielten dabei eine wichtige Rolle. Kein Quantisieren und ein bisschen ‘Menschlichkeit’ bewirken viel - und Schoeps hat mir geholfen, dieses Gefühl einzufangen.“
ADJ fixtures power dynamic floor package for They Might Be Giants tour
When They Might Be Giants hit the road for their recent North American run, the production embraced a lighting approach that could deliver impact, nostalgia, and variety night after night. Central to that design was a compact floor package supplied by Eagle Production Co. and built around ADJ’s Encore DBX full-color blinders alongside Jolt Bar FX multifunctional linear LED fixtures.
The 19-date trek, titled “The Big Tour”, travelled across North America during September, October and November of last year, bringing the band’s alternative rock to theaters and concert halls across the continent. Featuring an eight-piece lineup, including a three-piece horn section, the show balanced tight musicianship with the playful theatricality that has defined They Might Be Giants for decades. Lighting designer for “The Big Tour” was Ellingon Smith.
With no opening act, the band performed two full sets each night, drawing heavily from across their extensive catalog. A rotating “spotlight” section in the first set showcased songs from a different album each night to ensure every performance felt unique. The lighting design relied on a strong visual framework that could adapt quickly. In total, eighteen ADJ Encore DBX fixtures and twelve Jolt Bar FX units were used to create the tour’s lighting floor package.
The Encore DBX blinders were stacked in six columns of three, while the Jolt Bars were mounted vertically to floor-standing pipes. Their placement created a distinctive visual rhythm: a single unit furthest from the central screen, then two units, then three closest to the screen, forming a diamond-shaped frame that visually anchored the performance and emphasized the band’s center-stage presence. This configuration delivered punchy audience hits, textured background looks, and dynamic accents that worked equally well for bombastic horn-driven numbers and more intimate moments. Complementing the blinders, the Jolt Bar FX fixtures provided strobe effects, color washes, and animated eye candy.
Lighting for the tour was supplied by New Jersey-based vendor Eagle Production Co. Founded in 2009 as an audio company, Eagle Productions has since evolved into a full-service production house, offering audio, video, lighting, rigging, and power solutions. In 2023, the company strategically refocused its business on dry hire, providing equipment rental and production support for other audiovisual production companies.
Over the past two years, Eagle Productions has added more than 2,500 lighting fixtures to its inventory, bringing its total to nearly 4,500 lights, supported by one of the largest production prep spaces located close to New York. Eagle Productions was also an early adopter of the ADJ Encore DBX, initially purchasing 48 units upon release and quickly expanding its inventory.
(Photos: ADJ)
Erik Mahowald chooses Chauvet for Subtronics residency at the Shrine
An Erik Mahowald lighting design complemented the music during American DJ/producer Subtronics’ six-night residency at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Mahowald and his team at Bending Lite Productions used 160 Colorado PXL Curves and 76 Color Strike M motorized strobe-washes, both from Chauvet Professional, in his transformative design. These fixtures, like the rest of the rig, were supplied by 4Wall Entertainment.
Sometimes during the show, the big room was divided vertically by color - for example with purple radiating down from the roof, and blue rising up from the floor. At other times waves of color moved from different parts of the room and met in the middle. This color shaping created a sense of movement to fit seamlessly into the moment of the music, all without relying on video.
“The idea for the stage design came from Subtronics (Jesse) wanting to perform in the round”, Mahowald explains. “Once we committed to that vision, and a no-video show, I saw it as a chance to focus on the color of our light as the main visual tool. Using fixtures like the Colorado PXL Curve helped us create dynamic, architectural looks that surrounded the whole room. Since the show was in the round, we were able to double-side all the vertical lighting trusses. This gave us large, sweeping visual moments that looked great from every angle.”
The PXL Curves were lined up on the vertical trusses both upstage and downstage, to create a fully immersive 360-degree viewing experience. The Color Strike Ms were also placed vertically, allowing each fixture face to point upstage or downstage at any moment, depending on the look the design team wanted.
Most of the show was cue-to-cue or busked live. Only a few major tracks were timecoded, including some “very intentional” intro sequences. “Our overall approach focused on spontaneity and live energy”, says Mahowald, who worked alongside Joshua Gregoire (Associate Designer), Spencer Michaels (Lighting Designer), Jake Keenan (Vibe Director & Pyrotechnics Specialist), Larry Barcello (Production Director), Max Goessing (Technical Director), Conor Gray (Tour Director), and JDLFX (Special Effects).
“The production design covered the full length and width of the Shrine”, he adds. “Jesse’s DJ booth was at the center of the room and measured 24 feet by 24 feet, this enhanced the in-the-round experience.”
(Photos: Oh Dag Yo Photo)
Technical Elements lights Emory Healthcare’s brand refresh with nearly 800 Elation fixtures
Tasked with illuminating 32 outdoor locations on an accelerated timeline, Atlanta-based event production company Technical Elements (TE) used nearly 800 IP-rated Elation luminaires to deliver Emory Healthcare’s brand refresh across metro Atlanta and Central Georgia.
The large-scale lighting installation, called “City Pulse”, was a one-night, region-wide activation that brought the new brand to life through coordinated architectural illumination. The lighting package consisted of 95-percent Elation lights, including 396 Paladin, 298 SixPar 200 IP, 55 SixPar 200, and 42 Proteus Excalibur.
To mark the launch on January 21, 2026, Emory Healthcare hospitals, clinics, and regional landmarks glowed in “innovative green”, a color representing life, healing, renewal, and hope, creating a unified and highly visible presence across the region. The new shade of green is a key element of the refreshed identity.
“Green is one of the harder colors to reproduce”, says Jake Wright, Lighting Lead at Technical Elements and lighting designer on the project. “The Paladins and SixPars were able to dial in the shade we needed while maintaining a consistent wash across every location, and the Excalibur fixtures added dramatic aerial effects at flagship sites and other locations.”
Also launching January 21 and glowing green from Elation SixPar fixtures were “Aurora Portals”, circular installations placed in high-visibility community locations. Each portal featured a scannable QR code linking to stories of innovation and discovery. Technical Elements served as the lighting provider, coordinating logistics, installation, and execution without disrupting operations at each site. Emory engaged marketing activation firm Ideas United to manage the campaign, which in turn brought on Technical Elements, a frequent collaborator on their projects.
Wright faced an unusually compressed timeline for such a large project, essentially executing architectural lighting on the fly. “The project came in over Christmas, so we had about a two-and-a-half to three-week turnaround, which is extremely short for something this size”, he says.
The fully outdoor project ran continuously for twelve hours overnight, requiring IP-rated luminaires designed to withstand all weather conditions and extended overnight use. Wright leaned on TE’s long-standing relationship with Christie Lites, working closely with account representative Charlie Pike, who recommended Elation for their IP-rated wash fixtures. Much of the gear was sourced from Christie’s Las Vegas and Nashville locations, including Paladins recently used at the Formula 1 race in Las Vegas.
“It was an unconventional approach”, says Wright. “We locked in the gear first and then started designing. Normally, you design first and choose fixtures later, but the schedule demanded the opposite. We had to make some quick decisions.”
Wright selected Paladins as the main architectural wash. “I knew a small PAR wouldn’t cut it for our primary wash light”, he explains. “The Paladins gave us the punch we needed, with diffusion available for my onsite techs to use as an option, which really made the buildings look beautiful.”
SixPar fixtures were used for accents on columns, pillars, pedestrian bridges, and other architectural details, while Proteus Excalibur beam moving heads, another recommendation from Christie Lites, were deployed at flagship locations and “Aurora Portal” sites to create eye-catching, searchlight-type beams in the sky.
TE teams used Excalibur’s Sky Motion system under manual control to create dramatic sky tracker effects. The system allows a single unit - or a group - to operate without a dedicated controller, with adjustable patterns for size, speed, and color. “Sky Motion really came in handy”, says Wright. “The crew enjoyed using it. It really got people’s attention and generated curiosity, encouraging people to see what it was all about.”
With only limited site visits possible, Wright relied on Google Maps, Street View, and photos to measure and plan fixture placement. To simplify logistics, fixtures were deployed at each site in increments of six, matching how Paladins shipped from Christie Lites. “I wanted to make it as easy as possible for the shop and logistics teams. There was definitely some guessing and hoping involved - it’s not how I typically want to design a show, but it worked”, he says, noting that sites continued to be added and cut up until the final day.
The load-in schedule was tight, with a few sites prepared the day prior and the majority handled on the day of the event. Another challenge, explains Wright, was that many sites had existing architectural lighting, which he needed to respect and avoid interfering with. “The fixture side of this project was the easiest”, he reflects. “But the logistics and project management were tough.”
The 32 sites spanned metro Atlanta and into Central Georgia, including hospitals, clinics, pedestrian bridges, and non-Emory landmarks like water towers and the AT&T building in Atlanta, all bathed in “innovation green”. While the portals remained in place for weeks, the Elation lighting activation itself was a one-night-only event.
Flagship locations - including Emory University Hospital Midtown, Emory University campus, and Emory Decatur Hospital - were staffed with dedicated lighting directors, LQs, and project managers. Five mobile crews handled smaller sites, each covering four to five locations in a single night. “It was a fun, challenging, and unique project on a fast, tight timeline”, Wright concludes. “And Christie was fantastic to work with. They worked just as hard on the back end as we did in the field.”
The crew list also comprises Dennis Frazier (Account Manager), Fernando Garcia (Lighting Tech, Midtown Project), Kenneth Wright (Project Manager, EUH Campus), Christopher Mckenna (Lighting Tech, EUH Campus), Zach Sturino (Project Manager, Decatur Campus), Noah Lucas and Jackson Bodie (Lighting Techs, Decatur Campus), as well as the city site teams’ Lighting Techs Jacquie O Rodriguez, Aymar Whistett, Samuel Sanchez, Bryce Anderson, Rashyn Washington, Ethan Mitcham, William “Rocky” Weakley, Courtney Brooks and Brady Henderson.
(Photos: Technical Elements)
Olga Lounová concerts lit with Chauvet
Martin Hruska designed the stage for singer Olga Lounová’s recent tour. Lounová is the first Czech female artist to reach the US Billboard charts. “There has been a great deal of fan interest”, says Hruska. “Our first concert was realized with great success at the O2 Universum Prague hall, which has a capacity of 6,000 people. The next step is to move her shows to venues two and three times that size.”
Hruska used 98 Chauvet Professional fixtures, supplied by Czechoslovakia-based Mastro to create flowing lighting looks for his client. Run by LD Dominik Siska on a ChamSys MagicQ MQ500M Stadium console, the lighting highlighted the many distinctive elements of Hruska’s set design.
“Due to the artist’s pregnancy, I had to simplify many things in the concert, especially her flying and her movement on floating objects”, explains Hruska. “I only kept a tilting cross with stairs and a railing that she could climb onto without fear. The choreographer had to simplify the choreography, basically Olga did not have any major choreographic movements and we transferred all the movement to the dance company.”
Discussing the automated cross set piece, Hruska says: “The cross seemed to me to be the optimal simple solution to scaling the set to accommodate Olga’s pregnancy. It is an interesting shape. We had an LED screen mounted on it, and it moved with four motors. I created stairs with equally high and deep steps, which were attached to the upper part of the cross and allowed a 45-degree tilt in both directions.”
“This allowed me to achieve two different scenes: the cross could be tilted with the screen forward and the artist standing on it, or the cross could be tilted in reverse so that the stairs could be seen from the audience’s perspective as the artist climbed up”, continues Hruska. “There was also a third option with a reduction that would allow the artist to stand on the horizontal position of the cross and float above the stage. I eliminated this during the preparations due to the advanced stage of the artist’s pregnancy. To sum it up, the cross combined with the LED in the background allowed me to create more interesting effects.”
Adding a sense of depth to Hruska’s effects was his fusion of video and lighting. Relying on color matching and carefully coordinated movements and brightness levels, he ensured that video imagery and lighting worked together to provide an immersive backdrop to his client’s performance.
During the song “Dark Water” Hruska and Siska created an “underwater world” on stage by coordinating colorful light with video images of fish swimming and jellyfish rising. “I also used jellyfish as real props in the foreground of the image, and thus a 3D realistic scene of the underwater world materialized”, notes Hruska. “In the middle of this scene was Olga and a tilted cross.”
Providing colors for this vivid panorama were 28 Color Strike M motorized strobe-washes, 22 Colorado PXL Curve battens, twelve Rogue R2X Beams, and twelve Maverick Storm 3 BeamWashes. Adding extra punch to the design at key moments and delivering audience lighting were 24 Strike Array 2 fixtures, flown on the downstage truss.
Siska used many of these fixtures to outline the contours of Hruska’s design. For example, sixteen of the Color Strike M fixtures were positioned on the floor in a semi-circular layout, following and accentuating the outline of the stage decal, while eight of the Colorado PXL Curve 12 motorized battens were mounted on the cross-set piece to accent its shape.
The remaining fixtures were distributed along the sides of the stage and the upstage edge. Siska positioned the Rogue R2X Beams evenly at the rear of the stage, behind the band. “The beams were primarily used to enhance the show’s dynamics, adding energy and visual impact throughout the performance”, says Siska. “The Maverick Storm 3 BeamWash fixtures were used to illuminate the band and dancers, with eight units mounted on the front truss and four units positioned on the floor at the sides of the stage.”
(Photos: Chauvet Professional)
Wharfedale Pro XLA and WLA systems used under extreme alpine conditions at Lauberhorn
This year’s Lauberhorn winter event in Switzerland featured a Wharfedale Pro sound system across key race and hospitality zones, with XLA and WLA series line arrays selected to deliver announcements and music coverage in one of Europe’s most demanding outdoor environments.
The system was supplied and deployed by Stagepro Technical Solutions S.R.L of Studen, Switzerland, working together with Swiss distributor Sacher Music. High altitude, sub-zero temperatures and wind exposure defined the brief. With operating conditions between -15°C and -20°C and wind risk planning up to 150 kph, the audio design prioritised intelligibility, stability and consistent coverage across multiple audience areas.
On the main slope, Wharfedale Pro XLA series arrays formed the core PA system, projecting race commentary and programme audio across exposed open areas. The configuration was designed to maintain vocal clarity and tonal balance despite changing weather and wide listener distribution. In the lower arena, pairs of WLA-112 clusters covered around 1,500 spectators, providing focused coverage for announcements and music while keeping levels controlled and even across the audience zone.
The VIP hospitality tent required a different approach. Here, Stagepro deployed a flown combination of XLA and WLA-112 elements around the main screen structure to achieve smooth, even coverage within the enclosed space. This allowed speech to remain highly intelligible while music added energy and atmosphere without becoming intrusive or tiring for guests.
Amplification across the site was handled by Wharfedale Pro DP-2200N and DP-4100N amplifiers, offering Dante control and monitoring under continuous load. System transport and rigging logistics were also challenging, with subwoofers being removed from the mountain by helicopter after the event build-down.
(Photos: Wharfedale Pro)
Crt Birsa uses ChamSys MagicQ Stadium Connect for Nina Puslar anniversary concert
When it came time to mark her twentieth anniversary in the music business, Slovenian singer-songwriter Nina Puslar celebrated the occasion in her tiny hometown of Ivancna Gorica. Fans overflowed the local football field where the concert took place, many more of them than there are residents in this central Slovenian village.
Puslar’s performance was supported by a Greta Godnic set design and a light show by Crt Birsa of Blackout Design that he ran on his ChamSys MagicQ Stadium Connect. “The entire light show acted as an extension of Nina Puslar’s music, from the intimate ballads to guitar riffs very close to rock music”, says Birsa.
“My colleague at Blackout, Amadej Superger, normally does shows for Nina”, he continues. “I had to scale his concepts. I took his colors, time code, cues and make them fit this particular event, remaking cues, and effects etc. The ChamSys Group Cues was a big help in this project. Actually, I cannot imagine program a show like this in the old ‘individual cues’ way.”
Birsa programmed the 36-universe show in his Blackout studio using a ChamSys desk and rand onsite with his MagicQ Stadium Connect. “The show was 95-percent pre-programmed”, he shares. “There is no other way in modern productions with so many fixtures. It was pre-programmed in Wysiwyg, which really works well with ChamSys. Using focus points in Wyg helps a lot because you can transfer the pan/tilt information from Wysiwyg to ChamSys so you can spare quite some time when focusing lights.”
In addition to set designer Godnic, Birsa worked alongside Klemen Krajnc of Blackout Design and production manager Rok Lozar. Together, they created the show, with light emanating for circular and triangular truss structures heading out in every direction.
(Photos: Matic Kremzar Photo/Nejc Fon)
Robert Juliat’s Arthur LT selected for “My Favourite Broadway”
When South African lighting designer Oliver Hauser worked on Jonathan Roxmouth’s “My Favourite Broadway” last year, he incorporated two manually operated Robert Juliat Arthur 1014LT followspots. The show, produced by Howard Events with event technical supplied by Multi-Media, ran from July 25 to August 3, 2025, at Johannesburg’s Teatro at Montecasino.
“My Favourite Broadway” featured songs from some of the world’s best-loved musicals, including “The Phantom of the Opera”, “Les Misérables”, “Evita” and “My Fair Lady”. Actor and singer Roxmouth was backed by the 32-piece Egoli Symphonic Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Adam Howard, delivering a large-scale, live musical theatre experience.
Multi-Media supplied the technical solutions for the show, with everything from L-Acoustics L-ISA Hyperreal technology and a fully integrated production with audio, lighting and video all tracking the artist in sync using Modulo Pi KineMotion. When it came to considering the followspot system, Roxmouth preferred a manual approach instead of an automated system for the production. Having worked as a followspot operator himself, Hauser understands the demands of the role. “A good followspotter needs control, timing and awareness”, he says. “It’s a skilled job, and it carries a lot of responsibility.”
Hauser explains that the decision to go with a manually operated followspot came down to a few practical and creative reasons. “Neither of us had used a fully automated followspot system as the main key light before, and we were cautious about relying on sensors for something so critical”, he says. “There was also the question of style. Jonathan’s blocking can be quite fluid, and human-operated followspots respond more naturally to that.”
Another factor was the operator’s ability to adapt in real time. “A skilled followspotter can adjust instantly if something changes - whether it’s movement, timing or emotion. That flexibility is hard to replace.” Speed and accuracy were also part of the discussion, as well as the desire to keep people involved in the process. “At the end of the day, we didn’t want to replace a human operator”, Hauser adds. “For this show, having someone behind the light made sense.”
(Photos: Lauge Sorensen)
UVLD’s David Seitz lights Prestonwood’s “The Gift of Christmas” with Elation Paragon
Each December, Prestonwood Baptist Church transforms its Plano campus in Texas into the setting for one of the largest holiday productions in the United States. This year the presentation was powered by Elation’s Paragon LED profile fixtures.
With over 1,200 cast and crew members, live animals, flying performers, massive scenic elements, and nearly two hours of nonstop music and storytelling, “The Gift of Christmas” is a signature seasonal event for thousands of attendees. For the 2025 production, Lighting Designer David Seitz (UVLD) relied on fifty Paragon M fixtures to help bring the visually complex presentation to life.
UVLD creates lighting designs for corporate events, television, and special events and has been a long-time creative partner of Prestonwood. “This show is always evolving”, says Seitz. “We work on it basically year-round. We’re constantly tweaking and refining it, so having fixtures that give us flexibility is critical.”
Seitz, who has worked on the production for more than a decade, led the lighting design alongside UVLD colleagues Technical Director Greg Norgeot and Production Designer Matt Webb. Webb, who grew up attending the church, has been involved in the production for decades, including serving as a former lighting designer.
Staged in Prestonwood’s 7,000-seat worship center, “The Gift of Christmas” spanned fourteen performances plus rehearsals and incorporated actors, dancers, choir and orchestra, flying drummers, live camels, donkeys, alpacas, peacocks, and immersive large-scale projection and video content.
The production unfolded in two distinct parts. The first embraced a bold, colorful North Pole theme featuring Santa Claus and high-energy musical numbers. The second transitioned into the story of Jesus, culminating in a live nativity scene. “We might go from 1,000 people on stage to a moment where there’s one performer in the middle of the audience singing”, Seitz explains. “It’s powerful in both ways - whether it’s a huge cast and orchestra or a single soloist.”
For this year’s show, UVLD revamped parts of the lighting system and now runs a nearly 100-percent LED rig. Working closely with longtime rental partner Gemini Light Sound and Video of Dallas - part of Live Events Productions - the team evaluated inventory options and selected the Paragon M. The Paragon fixtures, supplied by Gemini, formed the backbone of the overhead rig, appearing across six trusses from downstage to upstage. “They were front and center”, says Seitz. “They basically replaced a traditional profile system and became a do-it-all fixture for us.”
Seitz had early exposure to the Paragon during its development, providing feedback on prototypes before its official release. “Nick Saiki at Elation brought me in early on”, he recalls. “I got to see the iterations, from where it started to where it ended up.” Before committing to the fixtures for the show, Seitz visited Gemini to review the final production units.
One of the Paragon’s standout features for Seitz is its TruTone variable CRI system, which can adjust from CRI 73 to CRI 93. “We’d tune it up to 90 CRI when we wanted beautiful skin tones, then tuned it down when we wanted more punch”, he says. “Having that option was huge.” This flexibility proved essential in a production that ranged from theatrical storytelling to high-energy EDM-style numbers.
For a production built to maintain its technical infrastructure for years to come, adaptability was key. “We’re intentional about how we allocate both budget and programming resources”, notes Seitz. “When we integrate new fixtures into the rig, we expect that investment to serve us reliably for eight to ten years.”
The show’s 160-foot-wide stage featured massive projection panels that stretched its length and were 34 feet high, forming a curtain and canvas for video mapping and scenic visuals. Combined with layered scrims and LED walls, the environment presented significant lighting challenges.
One new number introduced this year involved multiple projection scrims with performers positioned behind them. “It was tricky because we were creating this 3D environment between the LED wall in the back and the scrims that are layered in”, says Seitz. “We needed lights that could go from precise framing cuts to side light and backlight instantly. The Paragon could do that.”
They then used the same lights to illuminate around the scrims for textured gobo looks. The fixtures’ framing shutters, animation wheel, and gobo system allowed for rapid transitions. “We’d go from big gobo moments to narrow cuts on a scrim, then immediately back to lighting people”, Seitz explains.
He explored nearly every feature of the Paragon M throughout close to 5,000 lighting cues. “There isn’t a single element in those fixtures that went untouched”, he says. “They handled everything - beamage, scenic breakup, aerial effects, animation, and performer lighting. With the show in constant motion, the rig needed to be extremely flexible.”
Beyond lighting design, UVLD played a broader role in overseeing the production, working closely with Prestonwood’s staff and volunteer-based technical teams. Seitz also collaborated closely with the show’s composer, Jonathan Walker, integrating original music and lighting at a technical level. “He writes with lighting in mind”, says Seitz. “For our ‘Drummer Boy’ number, which has flying drummers fly over the audience, I take MIDI triggers from the drummers and manipulate lighting in real time. It’s amazing to be part of those creative decisions.”
Apart from Seitz, Webb and Norgeot, the team also included Nick Deel (Production Electrician), Michael Olivarez (Assistant Electrician), Scott Essancy (Assistant Electrician), Bryan Bailey (Prestonwood Baptist Church Director of Media), Rodney Bailey (Prestonwood Baptist Church Lighting Technician), Matthew Hughes (Follow-Me Department Lead), Amber Hess (Follow-Me Operations), Ben Coleman (Follow-Me Technician), and Follow-Me Operators Bill Mantz, Bill Russell, CG Maclin, Erin Priddy, Mark Holloway, Michael Fuhrman, Soma Badugu, Stephen Brown and Tayden Pendleton.
(Photos: Iris Lee)
Mad About Video chooses Lightware’s MX2 matrix switcher for “Tosca” at Teatru Astra
Mad About Video is a specialist in video for live events and installations throughout Malta. The company’s long-running partnership with Lightware began in 2014 when Mad About Video co-founders Gerald Agius Ordway and Alex Magri first encountered Lightware’s equipment through Italian rental partners.
“When we formed the company, we used to rent equipment from Italy, and it was there that I saw my first Lightware matrix switcher”, recalls Ordway, Director at Mad About Video. “I have used Lightware ever since.”
The annual opera at Teatru Astra on the island of Gozo has become one of Mad About Video’s regular projects, with the company supporting the production for more than a decade now. Each October, the theatre hosts an opera known for its ambitious staging and large-format video integration. In 2025, it was the turn of Puccini’s “Tosca” to grace the stage.
For this project, Mad About Video supplied four Epson projectors, two Disguise media servers - one operating as the main playback system and the other running as a backup - and Lightware’s MX2 system for the handling of all signal management, along with OPTJ extenders for long-distance transmission.
“We’ve been doing this show for over ten years, and there’s always a large video element,” says Ordway. “We provide the projectors, we create all the video content, and Lightware handles all the signal transmission between the media servers and projectors.”
The creative brief for the opera called for a background projection covering the full upstage wall, complemented by an additional front projector used to layer textures, materials and create artistic effects. The goal was to create moods through visual effects, in turn helping to craft an emotional atmosphere for the performance. Mad About Video developed all video content and the team arrived on site a week before rehearsals to create and assemble the technical environment directly in the theatre.
The system design relied on a Lightware MX2-8x8-HDMI20-L matrix switcher. For long-distance transmission, the Mad About Video team utilised Lightware’s HDMI20-OPTJ-TX90 and RX90 optical transmitter and receiver extenders. This ability for long-distance transmission was crucial because the front-of-house control position sat around 35 metres from the stage, and the actual cable path extended far beyond that.
“The path was very long for the cables”, says Ordway. “Usually, we need 120 metres to arrive at the location, but in this setup, we were using over 150 metres of fibre. The Lightware OPTJ units handled the signal transmission perfectly.”
The same backbone was also used to feed an additional projector dedicated to powering the opera’s subtitles. Mad About Video cites Lightware’s continuous product evolution as one of the reasons for their continued loyalty to the brand, such as the recent updated support for 5K resolutions. “The new 5K support will be increasingly relevant for us”, Ordway notes, “as installations grow in complexity and our work in museums demands higher-resolution displays.”
(Photos: Lightware Visual Engineering)
Jack Kelly and Ben M. Rogers help Saadiyat Nights launch 2026 season with Chauvet
On January 9, 2026, Saadiyat Nights launched its 2026 concert season with performances by Diana Ross and Seal. To illuminate the event in Abu Dhabi, UAE, lighting designers Jack Kelly and Ben M. Rogers used a collection of 138 Chauvet Professional fixtures.
“Our primary objective for the festival this season was to develop a lighting scheme that offered maximum versatility for a diverse roster of incoming artists while aesthetically complementing the architectural lines of the stage”, Kelly says of the lighting rig.
Given that Saadiyat Nights is a 10-week outdoor residency, having IP65 rated fixtures was a must, according to Kelly. “It was non-negotiable”, he says. “When compared to other weather-protected options on the market, we felt the Chauvet fixtures offered the most robust build quality and the best performance metrics available for a production of this scale.”
“We maintained a rigorous focus on detail during both the design and installation phases”, he continues. “To ensure a seamless and robust production, we implemented comprehensive system backups and redundant signal paths to keep the system as stable as possible.”
The rig featured 32 Maverick Storm 2 Profiles, thirty Maverick Storm 2 BeamWashes, 38 Color Strike M motorized strobe-washes and 38 Rogue Outcast 1 BeamWashes. Working in harmony with this lighting were a 14 m wide by 7 m high main video screen and two 8 m wide by 6 m high IMAG screens.
As for Diana Ross’s performance, her longtime designer Ben M. Rogers explains: “I deployed my touring setup where the lighting console drives all parameters of the media server layers to ensure I maintained a consistent visual image. The visuals for Diana Ross were curated with her and set a clear visual palette for each song.”
“With the MediaMaster server, I then refined and adjusted color, and playback on content in the same way I did the lighting rig to maintain the balance of color and contrast throughout”, he adds. “With the backup band in pure white outfit, rich colors framing the performers, and Ms. Ross being as warm and elegant as ever, we rocked the stage, helping this stunning venue begin its 2026 season in beautiful fashion.”
(Photos: Chauvet Professional)
Louis Philippson on tour with Neumann MCM microphones and Sennheiser Spectera
Classical pianist Louis Philippson first drew attention to himself when he was just seven years old with a YouTube video of his performance during a talent competition. Born in 2003, Philippson, who has synaesthesia, has since become a social media phenomenon with more than 1.3 million followers and is seen as one of the most successful classical music influencers.
On Philippson’s current “Classical Music for Everyone” tour, Neumann Miniature Clip Mic MCM systems reproduce the performance of the artist and his ensemble. The microphone signals are transmitted wirelessly via the Sennheiser Spectera wideband ecosystem.
Six Spectera SEK bodypacks are used to transmit the microphone signals on this tour. Front-of-house engineer Thorsten Seeliger (pictured) places two packs on padded mats in the grand piano, and a further four are used by the Berlin Chamber Collective (first and second violins, viola, cello), who accompany the pianist. For wireless transmission to the Spectera Base Station, Seeliger has selected the “Raw Low Latency” audio mode. The Base Station uses an 8 MHz wide UHF channel. Seeliger keeps the second available 8 MHz channel free as part of his emergency back-up concept.
Two DAD antennas are connected to the Spectera Base Station using network cables. They are supplied with power by PoE and are placed on stands on the right and left of the stage. The Base Station is connected to the digital mixing console via Dante. Sennheiser Spectera WebUI running on a laptop at the FoH console provides an overview and remote control options. The BA 70 lithium-ion battery packs for the SEK beltpacks are recharged in a Sennheiser L 6000 charging station.
For miking the grand piano, Seeliger employs the Neumann MCM 114 Stereo Set Piano, using Neumann MC 8 Magnetic Piano Clips to direct the capsules at the tenor and treble strings in an AB arrangement. The Neumann microphones are supplemented by a dynamic Sennheiser Evolution E 904 instrument microphone mounted at the tip of the piano above the bass strings. The first and second violins and the viola each use a Neumann MCM 114 Set High Strings (MC 1), while the cello is miked with a Neumann MCM 114 Set Cello (MC 2). To address the audience, Philippson uses a Sennheiser SKM 500 G4-S handheld transmitter with an MMK 965-1 capsule and an EM 300-500 G4 True Diversity receiver. A further G4 handheld transmitter with an MMD 935-1 capsule is used as a talkback microphone.
One of the responsibilities of the experienced audio professional at Nordlite Event Solutions GmbH is distributing Spectera. He has been accompanying Louis Philippson since the autumn of 2024, initially as his tour manager and now, during the current “Classical Music for Everyone” tour, in his dual role as chief sound engineer and tour manager.
“This combined use of Neumann MCM microphones and the Sennheiser Spectera wideband wireless system on the ‘Classical Music for Everyone’ tour is something new for me, although I’ve owned the MCM sets for quite some time now and I use them regularly”, says Seeliger. “The SEK bodypacks are bidirectional, which means that they can transmit mic/line signals and receive IEM signals simultaneously. However, conventional wedges are employed as monitors on Louis Philippson’s tour, as the young ensemble is not yet experienced in the use of in-ear systems. I’ve found that many classically trained musicians tend to view in-ear monitoring with some scepticism at first, as they are accustomed to purely acoustic listening environments. I can fully understand that the ensemble didn’t want to start using IEMs in concerts straight away without having had time to get used to it.”
The use of wedges on stage was the reason why Seeliger selected KK 14 capsules with a cardioid pick-up pattern rather than the omnidirectional Neumann KK 13 model. By doing so, he wanted to avoid crosstalk between the microphones and prevent potential feedback. The ensemble had no objections to attaching the MCM clips to their instruments, and Louis Philippson also had no concerns about having microphones and bodypack transmitters placed in his piano.
“During most of the concert, I only make subtle use of mixing the signal from the Sennheiser E 904 on the bass strings of the piano with the two Neumann MCM microphones”, Seeliger reveals. “However, the programme also includes a piece by AC/DC, and for this I can use the E 904 to provide the low-end ‘punch’ that is needed.” To make the sound as clean and transparent as possible, he deliberately avoided using miking set-ups that are commonly favoured in classical music contexts, such as small- or large-diaphragm microphones arranged at some distance from the instruments.
As for frequency management, Seeliger says: “It’s become really easy. I carry out a scan once at the venue, select a free area, enter the values and, in a workflow that takes about fifteen seconds, I’m ‘set and done’. The bodypacks are also automatically set to the correct frequency range without any input from me. And I no longer have to bother with putting tape on the bodypacks to mark the user’s name.”
(Photos: Sennheiser)
Chris Hewitt mixes FOH for Dhani Harrison using Solid State Logic L550 Plus
Chris Hewitt has frequently found himself behind various Solid State Logic (SSL) studio consoles during his career as a mixer, engineer and musician. He chose to use an SSL L550 Plus console when mixing front-of-house for Dhani Harrison’s 2025 tour, which included a performance at Glastonbury Festival, and arena support dates with Jeff Lynne’s ELO.
“I found that translating the richness of Dhani’s music to the live stage was easier on this console than on anything I’ve tried before”, says Hewitt who has been working for Harrison for about two and a half years as production manager, FOH engineer, and studio mixer. “Some digital consoles get a bit cloudy sounding with busy mixes, and that’s not something that you can fix with processing. With the L550 Plus it feels like there’s more space to put things in, so all the elements in the mix can breathe a bit more. I put a lot of that down to SSL’s 64-bit architecture and mixbus.”
”The L550 Plus delivered a sound and workflow that felt less like a tool and more like a musical instrument”, he furthers. “I’ve lived and breathed SSL consoles in the studio for years, so it is always wonderful to be able to take one on the road.” Hewitt employed some relatively complex automation on the L550 Plus console for Harrison’s recent shows including multiple scene changes to open and close gates or change the threshold and release times, for example. “Then there were some scenes that opened and closed complete duplicated channels with mutes for different vocal effects or very different EQs”, he adds.
Hewitt notes that he finds the Live console’s Stems feature particularly useful, as it allows him to bring his recording studio workflow seamlessly into the live environment. “In Pro Tools, for example, a bus can be whatever you want, and that’s how my brain works”, he details. “I don’t enjoy fixed architecture digital consoles. I want to be able to throw anything anywhere, anytime, and stems allow me to do that. Having an open architecture means I can be doing a bit of snare drum processing on the channels, then a snare bus, a drum stem, a parallel drum stem, and then a music bus, for example. It all goes through a similar kind of routing to how I would organize a studio mix session. I like using little bits of processing along the way instead having to lean too heavily on one processor, and that’s how I get the transparency and weight of a busy mix under control.”
Hewitt’s workflow in a live setting is similar to the workflow he employs in the studio. “I approach live sound the same as I do when mixing a record, in that I do loads of technical prep first”, he says. “When I’m able to get the technical stuff out of the way then I can use my creative brain and be in kind of a flow state.” In theatres and on tour, he says, “I typically take a holistic approach to everything audio and oversee the whole department. I work directly with the needs of the artist and the music, from system and audio package design spreadsheets to the most minute details. I think mixing music is all about thousands of micro decisions and, for me, it usually starts with design and planning so that the creative side can be unobstructed and I can focus on doing what I do - being a mixer.”
Hewitt divides his time between working as a record producer and mix engineer at his private studio and as an FOH engineer and production manager when touring. “I’ve had a very varied career so far, which I love!”, he states. “I think the variety keeps me sharp. I’ve been a system engineer for the likes of Slash and Tom Jones, I mix lots of orchestras and shows like the Hollywood Proms. I currently do front-of-house for Passenger, Fat Boy Slim, Paraorchestra, Jess Glynne and Clean Bandit. I’ve mixed monitors for the likes of Rufus Wainwright, Rita Ora and Jeff Wayne’s ‘War of the Worlds’, and I’ve got a long history of working in musical theatre. In the studio, I’ve engineered on a few number one albums and also get to have huge variety there.”
(Photos: Solid State Logic)
Zach Scott turns to ChamSys for The Academy Is anniversary tour
“The first thing I do right after I listen to the music that’s going to be in my client’s set, I write a paragraph for each song that captures the vibe I want to create with my lighting”, says lighting designer Zach Scott. “This includes the emotional tone and rough look for every song. Doing this helps me focus my visual ideas and it helps me avoid repeating myself.”
When creating the design for the recently concluded 20th anniversary tour by pop punk band The Academy Is, Scott used a ChamSys MagicQ MQ250M Stadium console with a MagicQ MQ80 coupled with an extra wing as the tracking backup. “The show was fully pre-programmed - each song lived on its own page with a main cue stack holding the core information”, he explains. “I also used a handful of bump buttons for kick/snare hits and big moments that needed precise manual timing. The band doesn’t run tracks, so everything was triggered live without timecode. It’s been a refreshing change of pace from the heavily timecoded environments I’m usually in.”
“I programmed and pre-visualized the show using Capture 2025”, Scott continues. “I took the Capture file on the road with me so I could plug my console into my laptop and update or build new material whenever the band added a song. The MagicQ 250M was great interfacing with the software. My programming and pre-viz setup stays consistent in my studio, which lets me work comfortably during pre-production. Once the show is dialed in, I simply save the file over to the touring consoles and hit the ground running.”
The flexible per-universe network protocol options were critically important to Scott on this tour. A pair of other features were equally significant: Group Cues, and the compact size of his ChamSys desk, for instance. “Being able to assign different network protocols on a per-universe basis is huge in today’s touring world”, he elaborates. “My floor package runs fully on sACN, but some venues still rely on Art-Net. Having per-universe control means I can adapt instantly without reconfiguring my entire rig. As for the Group Cues, they are a game changer for speed and accuracy when integrating house systems. Instead of relying on clone/morph workflows, I simply build new house-rig groups and copy data from my virtual flown groups straight into them.”
On the subject of console size, Scott notes that in some venues on this tour, the FOH positions usually had their own in-house consoles, which left touring crews with minimal space: “We don’t always have the ability to setup in front of their house equipment, so having a small footprint becomes key in these situations.” Scott credits the team at JRLX and their “immaculate prep work” with helping to make the tour go smoothly.
Looking back at his show, he says: “For the most part the verses stayed moody and toned-down, while the pre-chorus opened up into wide, fanned out looks, with strobe bursts on the downbeats of the chorus. Aerial looks formed the backbone of this show. Since the band hasn’t toured in many years, most of the audience consisted of longtime fans who already knew the music inside and out. I wanted to create a deeply immersive, atmospheric environment that amplified that nostalgia. My goal was for the visuals to hit just as hard for someone in the back of the room as they did for the fans right up front.”
(Photos: ChamSys)
Steven Douglas sets stage for Amble’s first headline arena shows with Chauvet
In December 2025, Irish band Amble capped off a tour with their first headline arena shows, three at Dublin’s 3Arena, and one at Belfast’s SSE. Setting the stage for these shows was a Steven Douglas lighting design that celebrated the band’s rise, while, at the same time, also evoked a sense of intimacy in keeping with their pub-club roots.
Key to helping Douglas achieve this balance was a backdrop that featured a proscenium video screen and a central upstage wall line with a collection of lighting fixtures anchored by the Chauvet Professional Strike 4 and Strike 1, which, like the rest of the rig, were supplied by Just Lite Group.
“We wanted to move away from the convention of a large upstage rectangular screen for this show and have the focus to remain on the musicians and the music”, explains Douglas. “However, I was aware that in large arenas for their first time headlining we also needed to fill the space, so the band felt like they belonged there. So, I devised a video proscenium to fill the space that surrounded the band. For the audience at the front this screen would only be in their peripheral vision, so they’d remain more engaged with the band. Then the further away you got from the stage, the video would come into play as needed.”
The imagery on the proscenium video screen changed throughout the show to vary the looks and moods that reflected the music. Sometimes the screen was turned off completely, leaving only the wall of fixtures to illuminate the stage and audience. At other times various images were shown, including those of the Irish countryside created by Brian Kenny at Lightscape in Ireland.
Douglas positioned 27 Strike 4 fixtures on the back wall and had five additional units on each of the three overhead trusses, as well as sixteen on the front truss and eight on the floor. Over twenty Strike 1s were interspersed on the wall with the Strike 4 fixtures.
The warm lighting from the wall fixtures enhanced the welcoming atmosphere of the show. “We started with a basis of an amber-white palette”, says Douglas. “This created the inviting tungsten-like look that was called for by the music but moved into more saturated colors as the show progressed.”
In addition to the Strike 4 and Strike 1 fixtures, Douglas had eight Color Strike M motorized strobe blinders positioned in front of the band riser to provide him with a tool to use for directing attention on the stage. “They were great for moments where I needed to isolate the three performers on the downstage for moments during the show”, he says of the fixture. “The Strike M gave me a nice rear wash of color to cut the stage size down for the more intimate moments when we focused on the trio itself.”
The four arena shows just before Christmas came after a 10-city UK tour for Amble, with a rig for the smaller shows supplied by Adlib, but it was the Dublin and Belfast arena shows that set the stage for 2026, which is already seeing the band booked for an extensive Asian and Oceania tour.
For Douglas, the Irish shows were a bit of a whirlwind. “Big thanks to project manager John McGuinness as well as Paul Smith and the entire crew”, he states. “I did a couple of days of pre-vis and then they loaded in on first show day with no preproduction time and got up and working in time for soundcheck on day one.”
(Photos: Chauvet Professional)
Cage The Elephant lit with Chauvet Professional Strike V
A bold, fast-moving and vividly colored lightshow by Robert Fuller kept pace with the band, when Cage The Elephant helped iHeartRadio kick off the 2026 “Alter Ego” concert series at Kia Forum in Los Angeles on January 17. Fuller used a 4Wall Entertainment rig that featured 75 Chauvet Professional fixtures.
Arranging these fixtures stage left and stage right in addition to running them along the downstage deck, Fuller was able to immerse the band in light even as they moved dramatically across the stage. “I wanted to create a cinematic experience that evokes a feeling of constant motion to match the rhythm of the songs and the energy of the band”, he says. “The band is high-energy and they move around a lot on stage, so I wanted to account for that. Adding footlights to the show has helped with keeping the band covered while maintaining a more theatrical feel to our show.”
At the heart of Fuller’s show were 45 Strike V dual layer pixel effects. Used as strobes, blinders and washes throughout the concert, these fixtures were positioned on six rolling towers, three SL and an equal number SR. Located as they were on either side of the stage, the Color Strike V units left ample center room for the musicians to move around in. At the same time, they worked with the four Colorado PXL 16 units (two on each side of every tower) to provide dynamic side lighting, while bathing the stage in color.
A collection of 21 additional Strike V fixtures were positioned along a 30-foot floor-based upstage truss. From this position they were used to create an immersive field of color across the stage. Their motorized 180° tilting function and variable electronic frost plate helped Fuller call up a variety of different looks to better reflect the various dimensions of Cage The Elephant’s show. “The Strike V was great for accent and fill lighting in this show”, he says. “I wanted a fixture to offset the PXL 16s while also delivering the same color saturation. The band itself had a lot to do with the color choices. We leaned to monochromatic palettes because we felt they complemented the overall mood of the music.”
Joining the Strike V units upstage were six Color Strike M motorized strobe washes that served as dynamic footlights. “They added some great eye candy, and of course some bold strobing”, says the LD. “I have been using the PXL 16 and Color Strike M in my shows since they came out.” Fuller and his colleagues - Chris Fillery, CTE PM; Pedro Pradenas, CTE lighting crew chief; Andrew Rivas, CTE pyro/lasers; and Drew Mercadante, CTE video - created a show full of strobing, chase sequences and other effects.
(Photos: Chauvet Professional)
Elliot Baines creates disco mood on Beth McCarthy tour with Chauvet
Director/lighting designer Elliot Baines, of Spiralstagelighting, drew his inspiration for the design for Beth McCarthy’s recent tour from his client’s latest hit “Drama at the Disco”. In light of this, he wanted to keep his stage relatively simple with plenty of stage positions for his dynamic, dancing client to move to during her show. True to this disco-vision, his design featured a 2-meter by 2-meter mirror ball.
Like any disco mirror ball, Baines’ centerpiece required some intense lighting support to realize its full impact. He provided this with help from Chauvet Professional’s Maverick Storm 4 Profile and Color Strike M, which, like the rest of his rig, were supplied by Subfrantic. “The mirror ball was lit from all angles”, says Baines. “Instead of overusing it, we wanted to use it as a set piece, instead of always using it as ‘a mirror ball’.”
“The Strike Ms in our rig created incredible shadows from the mirror ball itself”, he continues. “It was almost like backlighting it. Creative illusions with left to right strobe effects from the Strike fixtures made it look like the mirror ball was almost shaking. We also used the Color Strike for stage wash color. On some of the tracks, we didn’t want the stage to feel too bright, especially for the more emotional songs, so the Color Strike helped us create individual backlighting on each member, rather than using the whole house rig at once.”
On the subject of color, Baines relied on monochromatic palettes, often in the pink family (a signature hue of the client), to engender a hot, clubby mood on stage. “Beth’s favorite color is hot pink, which we decided to use in different shades, along with purples”, he explains. “To balance out this palette and not overuse it, we introduced a darker tone with cold blues, and colder colors for slower tracks. One of my favorite looks with these colors was for the song ‘Rockstar’, where that section/chapter of the set was bright pastel pinks and rouges, but for that track, we only used the Maverick Storm Profiles in blue, with a snap snake chase, utilizing side shadows.”
The Maverick Storm 4 Profiles were also used to enhance the impact of the mirror ball with gobos. “We had them placed strategically and didn’t use them all at once”, Baines says of the fixtures. “Two of them were kept further back, which helped us create wide silhouette looks coming from the upstage side. This added another dimension, and helped us meet our goal of creating something that was more than just ‘another mirror ball’.”
(Photos: Luke Dyson - lukedyson.com)
Ryder Cup teams up with Cohesion for sound reinforcement
The 45th Ryder Cup was held in September 2025 at the Bethpage Black course on Long Island as the world’s most renowned golfers from the United States and Europe competed for one of the most venerable trophies in sports. In support of the event, the selected Cohesion PA provided the demanded coverage and intelligibility for the ceremonial stage at the 2025 Ryder Cup.
The PGA, who administers the biennial competition, entrusted production of the ceremonies and fan participation to Leo Events. “The PA is integral to the Ryder Cup for setting the mood from the moment the gates open at 6 a.m. to keeping the excitement going all day”, says Technical Director Jim Dorroh, who worked for years directly with Leo Events before freelancing. “You don’t get that at many other golf events, which are quiet and reserved. The PGA was clear about their desire for loud, fun, and exciting to get fans fired up. That meant we needed a PA like Cohesion.”
The PA, deployed by Clair Global, featured fourteen Cohesion CO12 left-right on the mains, which were hung from cantilevers “pretty far upstage, which is not typical”, as System Engineer Paul Cervenansky explains. “The nice thing about Cohesion is we choose our horizontal dispersion. I used mostly 80° and a few 120° where we needed extra coverage. The bottom two enclosures were 80° to keep the energy, and we used some near-field shading and other tools to overcome any challenges.”
A dozen additional CO12 were placed on the stage right side hang, but the stage left side hang needed to be relocated to account for a broadcast booth placed there. Instead, four CO12 were placed on each of two field carts. “We knew that broadcast booth wasn’t going to move, and they still needed that coverage”, says Dorroh. “That’s when Kelly (Epperson, FOH Engineer and General Audio Lead for Leo Events) and Paul put their heads together and changed to the carts on the ground.”
Due to rigging limitations, the subwoofers were ground-stacked only, with three Cohesion CP218 II+ in cardioid configuration on either side providing the low end. Six Cohesion CF14s were placed across the stage for front and lip fill, and four Cohesion CM14 stage monitors were used as foldback for anyone on stage to hear video and playback content.
The stage functioned as the site of the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as a DJ set that energized the tens of thousands of spectators each day. More than 500 feet separated the ceremonial stage, situated at the confluence of the first tee box and the eighteenth green, from the edges of the grandstands and the suites, and fans were dispersed in an area nearly 270° around. “This year, we were front and center, surrounded by both spectators and the tournament itself”, adds Dorroh. “We knew that delays or a distributed PA would not be an option, so we had to fire it like an endstage or stadium system to cover such a wide area.”
The audio team contended with Long Island’s uncooperative weather, as the PGA accelerated the opening ceremonies 24 hours because of forecast rain. “We fought wind and some rain for two-and-a-half days”, says Epperson. “Paul, Scott Diamond (System Tech and FOH for closing ceremonies), and Jay Yochem (System/RF Tech and A2) have incredible skill sets and the Cohesion system was engineered to work well outdoors.”
Pictured (left to right): Kelly Epperson, Scott Diamond, Paul Cervenansky, Jay Yochem. (Photos: Cohesion)
Showtec beleuchtet Dinosaurier-Entdeckungspfad im Auckland Zoo
Von April bis Oktober 2025 ermöglichte der Zoo im neuseeländischen Auckland mit seinem Dinosaurier-Entdeckungspfad eine Zeitreise über 250 Millionen Jahre zurück in die Vergangenheit. Dieses immersive Erlebnis umfasste 25 großformatige animatronische Dinosaurier, die von The Dinosaur Company geschaffen wurden.
Um ihre Größe hervorzuheben, wurden die Dinosaurier mit 36 Cameleon-Flood-6-Q4-, zwölf Cameleon-Flood-15-Q4- und sieben Cameleon-Flood-15-Q6-Tour-Scheinwerfern von Showtec beleuchtet, während drei Antari-IP1600-Nebelmaschinen für eine mystische, urzeitliche Atmosphäre sorgten. Die gesamte Ausrüstung wurde vom Highlite-Händler Lighting for Entertainment Group KEL- PLS bereitgestellt.
Als Lichtdesigner fungierten Glenn Stewart und Julia Roberts, die Projektleitung übernahm Cory Schultz (alle von Kenderdine Entertainment Lighting).
(Fotos: Auckland Zoo/Ian Lamont)
