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“Christmas for the Cause” supported by Illuminated Productions and Obsidian Control Systems
29/12/2025
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
Avolites D9 selected for “Carols by Candlelight” broadcast
Lighting designer Daniel Saveski, the current head of lighting for Australia’s Channel 9 (GTV9), used an Avolites D9 console (with a D7 for backup) to light the broadcaster’s “Carols by Candlelight” Christmas special. The event has been an annual Australian tradition since 1938, staged this time at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne.
Owned and co-ordinated by Vision Australia, a national non-profit organisation providing services for those with blindness and low vision, “Carols by Candlelight” is their largest annual fundraiser and is produced and broadcast by the Nine Network. Saveski has worked on the event for the last nine years in different lighting related roles, and this was the second year he has been the lighting designer.
Saveski had initially rediscovered Avolites and the D9 during the Covid lockdowns, although at that stage there were no D9s available in Australia. After Avolites became a Robe Business in late 2023 and LSC Control Systems became the new official distributor, his interest was renewed and he started actively looking at the brand and its products, especially the D9.
LSC and Avolites business development manager Clare Springett introduced Saveski to the T3 console, and he immediately purchased one. For the 2025 “Carols” event, he used the D9 to control a lighting rig comprising 65 Ayrton Rivale Profile moving lights, three Ayrton Domino LTs running on a remote Ground Control system for follow spots, together with 21 GLP Impression X4s and fifty Impression X4 XL wash lights, 24 ACME Tornados, 46 ACME Pixel Line IPs, fourteen Martin Mac Aura XIPs, twenty ShowPro Fusion Wash 48s and eight Claypaky Scenius Unicos.
On top of that were Creamsource and Creamsource Mini LED soft lights, twelve CK ColorBlast 12 TRs, twelve ETC LED PARs, seventeen sections of Starcloth drape, together with several hundred metres of LED festoon and LED tape around the set. All lighting equipment for the event was supplied by PRG. The set was designed and built several years ago and is stored and maintained by Nine Network’s staging department.
In addition to the lighting, a large upstage LED screen handled a variety of visual content. The set design further enabled Saveski to incorporate ROE Visual CB3 panels into the set of windows on the left and right stage wings and the “rosette” in the centre of the scenic pros arch, as well as the mid stage low fence in front of the house band. These were all supplied by CT Australia. Saveski also included a roof feature in the design, made up of ROE Vanish that was not visible from the front, but added depth and visual interest from the low and upward angled camera shots.
Beyond the technicalities, “Carols by Candlelight” is a special project with enormous meaning for Saveski, and together with all involved, he is hugely proud to be part of delivering it. “It is also a cherished yearly reunion with my crew ‘family’, and the show carries a profound weight as so many Australians are watching with their friends and loved ones, and our work is bringing smiles to children’s faces nationwide”, he states. All the money raised goes towards supporting specialist services for children who are blind or have low vision.
Working closely with Saveski on the 2025 edition were lighting directors Lynden Gare and Hamish Lee and screens director Matt Jones. Saveski adds he has already slated Avolite’s D7-330 and D7-215 consoles to run the 2026 Australian Open broadcast.
(Photos: Clare Springett)
ADJ transforms USS Midway into a festive winter wonderland for “Jingle Jets 2025”
Flashback Lighting/Innovative Presentations of San Diego, California, was recently responsible for illuminating one of the city’s USS Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum, for its third annual “Jingle Jets” holiday event. Utilizing a variety of ADJ luminaires, including Hydro Profile moving heads as well as static Encore LP32 IP and 7PZ IP washes, the ship was completely transformed with swathes of color and moving gobo projections.
Running on select nights from November 28 through December 30, 2025, “Jingle Jets” delivered lighting displays, festive performances, and seasonal cheer for the whole family - all set against the backdrop of a historic aircraft carrier. With guests exploring multiple decks, including the expansive flight deck, the lighting design needed to be both visually impactful and robust enough to withstand the challenges of a large-scale outdoor environment.
“We were tasked with transforming the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum into a full winter wonderland of color”, says Matt Short, Executive Lighting Director at Flashback Lighting/Innovative Presentations. “To bring this vision to life, we deployed more than 140 ADJ and Elation lighting instruments and control components across two decks, including the 4-acre flight deck.”
To bathe the vast exterior spaces in color, the team turned to ADJ’s IP65-rated fixtures. A combination of twenty Encore LP32 IP and twenty 7PZ IP LED-powered wash lights were used to flood the flight deck with vibrant hues. Adding a layer of festive detail, 22 ADJ Hydro Profile automated luminaires were used to project custom snowflake gobos across the deck and onto the ship’s bridge, helping to reinforce the winter theme while highlighting the carrier’s architecture. On the lower deck, where fixtures were sheltered from weather conditions, 22 ADJ Focus Profile automated luminaires were deployed to provide additional color accents and gobo pattern projections.
Control for the entire lighting system was handled by an NX2 console from ADJ’s sister company Obsidian Control Systems. To distribute DMX across the aircraft carrier’s main deck, the team utilized the new Aria X2 wireless control protocol. Seven IP65-rated Aria X2 IPC transceivers were strategically positioned across the deck, ensuring wireless signal distribution to clusters of fixtures spread over the 4-acre space.
Additionally, 37 Elation Arena Par Zoom and ten Elation Satura Spot CMY Pro fixtures, as well as two EN12s, two EN6 IPs and an RDM6 IP from Obsidian Control Systems, were used for the “Jingle Jets” event.
(Photos: ADJ Lighting/USS Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum)
www.flashbackstagelighting.com
“Christmas for the Cause” supported by Illuminated Productions and Obsidian Control Systems
The sixth annual “Christmas for the Cause” fundraiser, auction, and concert transformed Eric Thompson’s Barn in Carrollton, Georgia, into a festival-style live music experience, powered by Illuminated Productions and driven by Obsidian Control Systems technology.
The sold-out event, which benefits families in the Carroll County community facing hardship during the holiday season, featured five full bands and a national headliner, Lonestar. Illuminated Productions (IP), a Carrollton-based audio, video, and lighting production company, served as the event’s complete AV and stage provider.
“Christmas for the Cause” began six years ago as a grassroots effort among friends and has since grown into a non-profit organization delivering presents, meals, and “Christmas miracles” to local families in need. As the event expanded over the past few years, the need for a professional AV company became clear.
For IP President and CEO Chris Dunson, who has previously worked with “Christmas for the Cause”, the event is special. “There are many children in our county that may not have a Christmas due to no fault of their own”, he says. “I wanted to make sure that we at IP were able to push that goal of helping as many kids as possible with this event.” He adds that they were fortunate to be able to give a third of the production cost back to the community.
IP was tasked with building the production infrastructure, including stage design, logistics, artist advancements, and more, and can call on several lighting directors whenever a show demands something beyond the ordinary. “With this event, it was no question who I wanted to bring in to design and implement the vision we had for the stage”, shares Dunson. “Daniel Boerner has been a great asset with IP for years, designing lighting and running multiple programs over the years. Daniel’s knowledge, vision, and calm demeanor make him a first choice in high-stress situations.”
Boerner served as lighting designer and programmer for the house lighting package, programming and running the show on an Obsidian Control Systems NX4 console, supported by Netron networking hardware - two Netron NS8 IP66-rated outdoor network switches, and a Netron EN6 IP Art-Net/sACN-to-DMX gateway. “The NX4 and Onyx platform was great for this type of event because of the ability to quickly get a punt/busking file going by utilizing Dylos”, says Boerner. “By pre-programming presets like color, position, beam, and intensity, I was able to use Dylos mapping to create unique effects on the fly. It has changed my workflow for the better. In a festival-style event like this, there isn’t a lot of time.”
“Daniel did a fantastic job running lighting for all of the opening bands and assisting Lonestar’s LD with integration with our existing fixtures”, notes Dunson. In addition to his role as LD for the event, Boerner serves as Technical Support and Training Specialist at Obsidian Control Systems.
(Photos: Obsidian Control Systems)
Jack Thomas makes moods with Chauvet on Story of the Year/Senses Fail tour
Senses Fail and Story of the Year’s 19-city coheadline “Scream Team” tour concluded December 13, 2025, at the Riverside Auditorium. Lighting design for the shows was by Jack Thomas, who avoided “typical strobes” and video walls and relied on the use of dark space and changes in brightness levels to convey the mood of the music.
Thomas sometimes angled his light sharply downward, creating pools of monochromatic brightness against a sea of darkness. At other times, he covered the stage with crossing beams of light. Relying on changes like these, he created a flow of varied looks for the two bands. “I’m very grateful that Ross Landis (tour manager) entrusted me with this”, says Thomas. “It gave me the opportunity to stretch my creativity. I designed, programmed, and ran lights for Story of the Year and Senses Fail on the tour, working with Mike Null on putting together the floor package supplied by Allen Deneau at Bandit Lites.”
With limited stage space and fixed lighting in set carts, there was no “wiggle room” for physical changes in the rig from one band to the other. “I just programmed each song with intent to convey its energy visually from dark subtle bridges to exciting choruses with lots of motion and intensity”, continues Thomas. “Since I’ve never been one to use a lot of conventional ‘strobes’, I sprinkled them in here and there tastefully during peak energy moments. Otherwise, I liked to strobe different groups of fixtures throughout the rig creating depth and layers.“
Thomas used twelve Colorado Solo Battens and nine Strike Array 2 fixtures from Chauvet Professional, all of which were used at times to create strobing effects. He also relied on his high output battens to light the band, positioning four units downstage and an equal number mid-stage for side lighting; the two other Solo Battens flanked the 8-foot by 18-foot drum riser.
The Strike Array 2 fixtures in Thomas’ rig served multiple purposes in his design. Arranged in three 8-foot sections behind the drum riser, the fixtures delivered bursts of brightness during explosive moments and contributed to crowd lighting for the show’s many singalongs. Mostly, though, they provided warm backlighting to embrace Senses Fail and Story of the Year on stage.
(Photos: connorlazmedia)
Snow machines and lighting fixtures from ADJ support Paramount tree lighting celebration
For the fourth consecutive year, the Californian city of Paramount’s annual tree lighting celebration was brought to life by the production team at Ambient Pro, LLC. Once again transforming a section of Paramount Boulevard into a festive community gathering space, the event combined live performances, seasonal spectacle, and a dramatic lighting reveal, all supported by ADJ lighting and atmospheric solutions.
Ambient Pro used ADJ luminaires and effects to illuminate the main stage and create a magical moment when the city’s Christmas tree was officially lit. With Ambient Pro principal Victor Nava serving as Project Manager, the production continued to evolve, scaling up both creatively and technically to deliver an immersive experience for the thousands of local residents who attended.
A defining highlight of the celebration came at the moment the tree lights were switched on, as a flurry of artificial snow filled the air above the crowd. ADJ Entour Snow machines were tasked with delivering this effect; sixteen of the snow generators - double the number used the previous year - were mounted to the main stage as well as truss pillars dispersed throughout the audience area along Paramount Boulevard. The increased coverage allowed Ambient Pro to create a more immersive snowfall, enveloping the crowd and ensuring the effect reached every corner of the closed-off thoroughfare.
Among Ambient Pro’s more recent investments are two ADJ Entourage touring-grade haze machines, which made their debut at this year’s tree lighting celebration. Positioned at either side of the stage, these atmospheric generators were used to create a thin, even haze that allowed lighting beams and aerial effects to remain visible in the open-air environment.
Lighting for the event was centered around a moving-light rig designed to deliver everything from bold aerial effects to detailed gobo projections and washes. A floor-standing truss structure enclosed the stage, which was used to rig the lighting fixtures both in front of and behind the performers on stage.
Six ADJ Focus Spot 6Z automated luminaires were installed across the downstage truss, where they were predominantly used to generate dynamic aerial beams shooting out into the audience. Complementing these, six Focus Spot 7Z fixtures were positioned along the upstage truss, tasked with filling the stage with beams, textures, and gobo projections that added visual depth throughout the performances.
Additional visual impact came from four ADJ Jolt Panel FXIP fixtures, which provided punchy strobe hits, color washes, and eye-candy effects on stage. Meanwhile, four Focus Wash 400 automated wash luminaires were used to deliver smooth, even illumination on the performers.
With a large site footprint and multiple lighting and effects zones, wireless DMX played a crucial role in simplifying setup and maintaining reliability. An Aria X2 Bridge connected directly to the lighting console transmitted DMX wirelessly to fixtures on stage that feature integrated Aria X2 transceivers, including the Focus Spot 7Z and Jolt Panel FX units. These fixtures then served as distribution points, feeding hard-wired DMX to other luminaires without built-in wireless capability.
To manage control reliably across such a large area, Victor Nava opted to run the snow machines on a separate DMX system to eliminate any risk of accidental triggering during the show. Three additional Aria X2 Bridges were used exclusively for snow control, with one unit transmitting wirelessly from FOH to receivers positioned within the audience area. From there, hard-wired connections distributed DMX to the Entour Snow machines located both at the front and rear of the crowd space. Nava and his crew arrived on site at 9 a.m. to begin building the event and didn’t leave until 1 a.m. the following morning.
(Photos: April Espinoza)
Austin Zangi reflects span of Seether’s music on tour with ChamSys
South African rock band Seether’s 24-city coheadline tour with Daughtry, which concluded November 15, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, was supported by an Austin Zangi lightshow run on a ChamSys MagicQ MQ500M Stadium console.
“All of the songs have their own feel and vibe”, says Zangi, who programmed his cue stacked show on the MQ250M using Capture as his visualizer. “My initial setlist and design was to build the show up gradually, using more lights as things progressed”, he shares. Zangi immersed the stage with deep shadowy looks. “My artists like dark and moody”, he says. “So, I tried to keep it on the darker side throughout the show only accenting certain parts such as the solos and core interaction moments with the fans.”
When he accented those moments, Zangi held nothing back, unleashing some nuclear backlighting often in intense monochromatic palettes, silhouetting the performers on stage. “I used silhouettes in a lot of the intros, breakdowns and endings as my singer prefers this compared to having front light”, he explains. “It just takes the attention more away from the individual band members and allows the audience to enjoy the music. There is quite a bit of improvised parts in some songs, and the band is just grooving during these. My monochromatic palettes were added in the last few days of programming after getting inspiration from other designers.”
Although most of his 44-universe show was cue stacked, Zangi did busk at points during some songs. “There was no click or tracks, just an authentic rock and roll show”, he concludes.
(Photos: ChamSys)
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)
Eisarena Salzburg upgrades with KV2 Audio sound system
Eisarena Salzburg (Kunsteisbahn), home of Salzburg, Austria’s eleven-time championship-winning ice hockey team, is an indoor arena with a capacity of 3,400 spectators. After more than a decade relying on a patchwork, inconsistent sound system, the venue’s Operational Team turned to a new solution powered by KV2 Audio, to deliver clear, intelligible game announcements.
Over the years, the venue’s sound system had been assembled from mismatched components and no longer met the high-performance, festival-level expectations of professional sports venues. Existing loudspeakers were mounted in three-box clusters aimed in different directions, resulting in more than a dozen conflicting coverage angles in each section - making speech intelligibility practically impossible.
To add to the problem, the glass, concrete, metal, and ice surface caused intense reflections that further reduced clarity. The hockey team’s Operations Team turned to Salzburg-based music shop Key-Wi Music. “We are always looking to support local projects”, says Gerhard Bernegger, Founder and CEO of Key-Wi Music. “As always, we evaluated solutions from major manufacturers, but we were confident that only KV2 could deliver an audio experience that met every technical requirement of the venue.”
To gauge a reliable first impression of a KV2 system, an on-site test was conducted at Eisarena Salzburg by audio-visual engineering specialists AV Mattr, who led the project’s technical management and system integration. “When I was consulted, it was clear that the only viable solution was a coherent point source system”, says Tim Niedermeier, CEO of AV Mattr. “After the on-site test, it was clear that KV2’s point source philosophy and midrange resolution were uniquely suited to Eisarena’s challenging acoustics.”
With the primary goal of achieving uniform coverage while minimising reflections - and without adjustments to the arena’s acoustics - Niedermeier worked alongside lead system designer Stefano Trevisan of KV2 Audio Deutschland to develop the audio system. “At the heart of the system are ten SL412 wide dispersion loudspeakers, which act as the main PA”, explains Trevisan. “We then deployed two ESD10 and four ESD12 loudspeakers in the near and far-range perimeter zones, driven by SL3000D and ESP2000D amplifiers.”
“A key challenge in this type of venue is wavefront tearing, an issue commonly seen in ice rinks”, he continues. To reduce this destructive filtering, all loudspeakers were aimed in the same direction toward the audience and aligned with a central delay line rather than a single point. “This method allowed us to guarantee a coherent wavefront with stable localisation across the entire spectator area.”
As expected for a venue of this type, a strong resonance was observed around 160-180 Hz. “Instead of increasing overall system levels, we pulled the main loudspeakers out of the full-range mode and attenuated the problematic frequencies directly via EQ”, says Niedermeier. “Even under these constraints, the system still delivers a focused +3 dB of punch at 70 Hz - ensuring that music cues and stingers remain impactful, while vocal clarity stays intact.”
Signal distribution is run over redundant Dante (primary/secondary) via Netgear AV-Line switches with analog fallback, managed by Linea Research ASC48 processors. FOH operation and monitoring are handled by a Yamaha QL1 using a custom-built control interface.
(Photos: KV2 Audio)
RegieTek supplies Coda Audio AiRay system for Fête de l’Humanité
The annual three-day Fête de l’Humanité (Festival of Humanity) is France’s largest popular cultural gathering. Founded as a fundraiser for its operations by the French newspaper “l’Humanité” in 1930, the first event attracted around a thousand people, a number that has grown steadily over the decades to reach a record high of 800,000 visitors in 2018.
A mix of music, politics, art, and film, the volunteer-staffed event spans multiple stages, and as well as attracting stallholders from across the world is also attended by eminent politicians and journalists. This year’s renewal at Brétigny-sur-Orge saw a Coda Audio system taking care of the Josephine Baker Stage, one of the event’s principal focal points.
Paris-based event production supplier RegieTek provided the system, which featured Coda’s flagship AiRay line array, and was designed and overseen by project lead Vincent Luce, who states: “This was the fourth year in a row that we have supplied a Coda System for the festival. The AiRay is perfectly suited to the demands of this event. The Josephine Baker Stage alternates between ‘concert’ and ‘electro’ setups.” The AiRay was used in conjunction with Coda’s sensor controlled subs.
RegieTek supplied a main system of 24 AiRays and sixteen SC2 sensor-controlled subs in “end fire” mode. Added to this, a further nine SCP-Fs per side in a cardioid arrangement (front-back-front) were combined with a line of ten SCP-Fs on the floor to provide even distribution of low frequencies. Four ViRays per side were deployed as infills, with a further four ViRays at the front of the stage as lipfills to cover the near-field. A pair of Hops12 opened up the flanks of the stage.
A total of six Coda Audio Linus T-Racks (12-channel touring racks), each containing three Linus14D 4-channel DSP amplifiers, with a further four M-Racks (compact 4-channel touring racks), each containing a single Linus14D DSP amplifier, powered the system. “The Alpha 256 stage enabled us to mount all the loudspeakers high enough, one behind the other - AiRay, SC2, SCP-F”, Luce concludes.
(Photos: Coda Audio)
Unlimited Productions teams up with JS Productions and Chauvet at Elements Festival
Octopuses served as the inspiration for the Water Stage at the Elements Music and Arts Festival, a preeminent event on the electronic and crossover music scene, held in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Unlimited Productions was asked to take on the production direction for all stages.
The team was led by production director Jan-Maarten Luijnenburg, and together with productions manager Moshe Baskin, CAD designer Gijs Mulder and John Strycharz from supplier JS Productions they made the Octopus-inspired stage come to life with help from 32 Color Strike M motorized strobe-washes and fourteen Colorado PXL Bar 16 battens from Chauvet Professional.
The Elements Festival also featured a free-flowing Air Stage, located in lush Pocono woods on the festival’s spacious grounds. Enhancing the mood at this site were more Chauvet fixtures: six Color Strike M units and 24 Colorado 2 Solo RGBW wash lights.
About half of the artists who appeared at the festival brought their own LDs. The Unlimited Productions team, working with overall lighting director Renzo Cubas and other LDs, ran shows to the other acts. “The result at all stages was a combination of detailed pre-viz work, and our team delivering programming”, says Luijnenburg. “There was close collaboration between the artists’ LDs and our LDs in the advancing process.”
Looking at the Water Stage in particular, Luijnenburg explains: “We were asked to elevate the original design from last year and take it to the next level. We kept the head with projection mapping on the circular truss, but re-designed everything else, both the staging and LED, as well as all lighting. Our goal was to create an immersive feel once you are in the octopus without closing it off.”
“With a bigger center screen we kept a canvas for artist teams as a lot of their content needs a bigger space”, continues Luijnenburg. “By making sure we have the correct spacing between the vertical panels, it can feel like one massive screen, but it also allows more creative usage of the panels with specific content. By alternating the panels with the PXL pixel lines we were able to create the vibe we were aiming for.”
“The entire aura is really different for the Water and Aire stages”, adds Strycharz. “The Air stage needed to be mystical, minimal and intimate in the woods, while the Water stage needed to be in your face once you are in the octopus.”
(Photos: Chauvet Professional)
Sam Parry chooses Ayrton for “Busted vs McFly Tour”
Pop rock adversaries Busted and McFly showcased their playful brand of rivalry on tour this autumn with a 35-date “Busted vs McFly Tour” of UK and Ireland. The two bands challenged each other musically and verbally in two energy-fuelled sets before uniting for some numbers together.
The show took place under a kinetic display conceived and designed by production and lighting designer Sam Parry of The Owl Creative Design. Key to his design was an Ayrton-heavy rig comprising Veloce Profiles, Perseo Profiles and Zonda 9 FX fixtures, supplied by the tour’s lighting supplier PRG UK.
A major focal point of the set, which needed to work equally for both bands, was a large overhead grid of four square lighting pods, each of which housed 25 Ayrton Zonda 9 FX fixtures in a 5x5 matrix. Each pod was independently rigged on 4-point hoists and capable of positioning at any angle, to allow Parry to change the performance space in many dimensions: at various points extending the area with a wide expansive roof, or hanging at haphazard angles or at times closely enveloping the bands, whilst Parry employed the pan/tilt features and colour capabilities of Zonda 9 FX for effects.
“Having Zonda 9 FX’s LiquidEffects was a little extra added value which I could use to enhance the depth of field created as the automated ceiling descended, and also create a glow during the quiet moments of the show”, says Parry. “For example, we could use the liquid effect without the full output to give a nice dimensionality - like an arch cloistered around the band - which was still visible, but with elements of darkness that could hide the band or backlight them until they were ready to launch forward into their next song.”
Parry also employed 52 Ayrton Veloce Profiles as his workhorses, rigging twelve on an upstage walkway, sixteen on a front-of-house V-truss and six each on four PRG ladder systems that flanked the large central LED wall. Completing the Ayrton line up were fourteen Ayrton Perseo Profiles located on the pyro shelf outlining the downstage edge. “The Perseos hold up well against the Veloce despite the difference in size”, says Parry. The lighting was controlled using two MA3 Full Size consoles, running the latest software. One MA3 Light console provided backup at stage end.
“(Ayrton and MA distributor) Ambersphere Solutions were instrumental in sourcing a rig that featured this much Ayrton in collaboration with PRG UK”, Parry concludes. “Their efforts helped me to create the show the artists deserved without compromise or substitution.”
(Photos: Fran Parry/PRG UK/Anthony Smith/Robyn Sully/Dylan Swann)
Lightswitch and Upstaging illuminate Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park’s “Enlighten” with Chauvet
Now in its second year, the walk-through experience “Enlighten” at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which runs from November 24, 2025 to January 3, 2026, breaks the mold when it comes to this type of holiday events. Visitors will hardly see any typical “Christmas light” red and green color schemes, nor will they encounter typical holiday gobos projected everywhere.
“‘Enlighten’ is not just a ‘Christmas show’”, confirms John Featherstone (of Lightswitch), who serves as the project’s creative director, adding that the color section involves translucent jewel tones and myriad other hues. As for the absence of gobos, Featherstone explains: “Because we let nature and the garden’s collection of astonishing works by some of the world’s greatest artists provide the texture, we elected not to have the clutter of gobos or texture everywhere. We didn’t want gobos to fight either the world class art or the beautiful natural setting, so we elected to use broad strokes of color.”
Helping Featherstone and the team at Lightswitch create these strokes is a collection of 182 Color Strike M motorized strobe-washes, nineteen Strike 1 blinders, and fourteen Strike P38 units from Chauvet Professional, supplied by Upstaging. Positioned throughout the mile-long path, these fixtures are used in a variety of ways, depending on the artwork or garden section being lit.
“Lightswitch differs from many other holiday garden celebration creators because our work is entirely site-specific”, says Featherstone. “Following this philosophy, we took everything that already existed at the Meijer Gardens, interpreted it, and then devised a plan to enhance it.” In addition to garden and foliage arrangements, the walk-through features works by sculptors including Rodin, Henry Moore, and Ai Weiwei. Contemporary art also enlivens the experience.
Featherstone worked alongside Collin Mulligan (lighting designer and co-creative director), Mark Villa (lighting designer), Connor Sullivan (lighting designer and media programmer), Steve Hiben (technical designer) and Upstaging’s Ryan Breneisen, who served as project director.
PRG supplies full production package for “Busted vs McFly” tour
McFly and Busted took their “Busted vs McFly” tour of UK and Ireland on the road for 35 dates this year. The stage was set for a good natured but highly competitive showdown as the bands battled for their fans’ adulation on stage, following an audacious challenge by Busted during McFly’s 2024 birthday show.
For this tour, McFly burst onto stage to open the evening before Busted took over for the second half, the bands finally coming together to battle it out before a grand finale with both bands playing together. At 23,000 capacity, Manchester Coop Live is the largest venue in the UK, but all venues on the tour have been in excess of 15,000. PRG UK supplied a full production package of lighting, video, automation and rigging along with four lighting and eight video crew.
The tour’s design brief centred around a monolithic structure with a kinetic ceiling of lighting pods, a 16 m x 8 m LED back wall, two 5 m x 7 m IMAG screens and a 4-sided 13 m x 2 m automated banner screen that dropped into stage level to aid the transition between sets. The result was a dynamic space, with the forestage set in a diamond orientation, that enabled Lighting Designer Sam Parry and Video Programmer/Operator Thomas Hunter to create two distinct styles for the bands within a cohesive whole.
PRG supplied 52 Ayrton Veloce Profiles with Parry rigging twelve on the upstage walkway, sixteen on the front-of-house V-truss and six each on four of PRG’s new ladder systems that flanked the central LED wall. Twenty ACME Pixel Line LED strips were also rigged vertically on the upstage ladders between the Veloce Profiles.
“My introduction to Veloce more or less sealed the deal”, says Parry who began his design before Veloce Profile even rolled off the production line. “I’ve been a big fan of Ayrton for a very long time and as soon as I saw the Veloce I knew it was what I wanted for the tour.” Complementing the Veloce Profiles were fourteen Ayrton Perseo Profiles and fourteen GLP JDC Burst 1 strobes located on the pyro shelf outlining the stage edge.
Fourteen GLP Impression X5 were rigged on the front-of-house V-shaped truss covering the stage wash, with 34 Roxx Cluster fixtures acting as audience blinders. PRG also brought together the 100 Ayrton Zonda 9 FX fixtures that populated the four kinetic lighting pods in a 5x5 matrix. Parry used these to sculpt the stage space into innumerable shapes that expanded and contracted the performance area.
The whole ceiling structure comprised four independent square lighting pods, set at a diamond offset to mirror the stage. Each pod was on a 4-way Moveket hoist, supplied by PRG with Moveket’s own main and backup consoles. The sections were pre-rigged on PRG dollies. “We just bolted them together, attached them to the hoists and flew them out”, says Parry. “It made a huge difference to the speed and expedience of getting in and out.”
The tour’s followspot provision came from seven Robe iForte LTX rigged front-of-house with PRG Ground Control remote operation. Haze was provided by four Hazebase BaseHazerPro machines with Martin AF1 fans to aid distribution. Control was from two GrandMA3 Full Size and one GrandMA3 Light control consoles supplied from PRG stock.
PRG employed Thomas Hunter for the tour’s video programming and operation. “I enjoyed the repetition and refining possibilities that a tour gives and it was important to me to deliver a consistent show so the audience got same experience at every venue,” he says. To help him achieve this, PRG supplied 256 Infiled AR5.9 video tiles for the 16 m wide by 8 m tall upstage LED wall, 140 Infiled AR5.9 video tiles for the two flanking 5 m wide x 7 m tall IMAG screens (seventy per screen), all of which were running on Novastar MX40 processors.
The automated LED banner screen, also hung from a 4-way Moveket hoist, formed a four-sided 13 m x 2 m box surrounding the automated ceiling, and was faced with 104 ROE Vanish V8T LED tiles running on ROE EV4 processors. “We wanted the flexibility of a transparent screen which was useful for some of the venues with a low ceiling height and also allowed us to play with the lighting when the banner was in”, says Hunter.
PRG supplied two Disguise GX3 media servers functioning as Director (main) and Understudy (backup), with both being fed two camera mixes cut via a BlackMagic Atem switcher and manipulating the feed with live effects created in the Notch framework. “We used Notch running as separate blocks for some fun augmentation of the background on several songs”, says Hunter. “We were able to change the screens to give the bands two very different looks and emphasise the competitive element between them. Busted leaned into it a lot more: McFly’s effects were more subtle, whereas for Busted we were able to create some nice punky block colour graphics that fitted nicely with their style.”
PRG also supplied the full camera system including four Sony camera heads (two on long lens front of house, and two pit cameras on track at the front of the stage), plus four Sony CCU channels and all necessary monitors and time code equipment to run them.
This tour’s crew also included David Spearing (Creative Director), Iain Whitehead (Production Manager), Aidan McCabe (LX HOD), Adam Hodgson (LX Systems), Tom Begley and George Wilson (LX Techs), Ameer El Elryan (Automation Op), Toby Bale (Automation Assist), Steve Jones (Video HOD), Gavin Brunton (Camera Engineer), Chris Keating (Camera Director), and LED Techs Brad Baker, Chris Hobson, Matt Heitman and JJ Mikinzi, as well as Steve Major (PRG Account Handler) and Yvonne Donnelly Smith (PRG Sales Director for music).
(Photos: Anthony Smith/Robyn Sully/Dylan Swann)
NXP investiert in Follow-Me-Tracking für Tourproduktionen der Clairvoyants
Die NXP Entertainment Group hat in Verfolgerlösungen von Follow-Me investiert. Für die aktuelle Show der beiden Weltmeister der Mentalmagie, The Clairvoyants (Thommy Ten & Amélie van Tass), kommt ein Follow-Me-3D-Six-System mit Track-iT-Erweiterung zum Einsatz.
Die Entscheidung für Follow-Me sei nach intensiver Marktsondierung auf internationalen Fachmessen sowie einer Online-Präsentation des Herstellers gefallen. Geliefert wurde das System über LMP Lichttechnik, den Deutschland- und Österreich-Vertrieb. NXP produziert seit 2015 Shows und Tourneen des Magierduos The Clairvoyants, das mittlerweile mit fünf LKWs und über 100 Tonnen Material tourt.
Die wachsende Komplexität der Produktionen stellte das Team immer wieder vor dieselbe Herausforderung: Die Künstler bewegen sich während der Show nicht nur über die komplette Bühnenfläche, sondern häufig auch in den Publikumsbereich hinein. Mit traditionellen, manuell geführten Verfolgern ließ sich die Präzision, die die Show dramaturgisch erfordert, nicht durchgehend halten.
„Einsätze kamen nicht immer sekundengenau, schnelle Richtungswechsel waren schwer abzufangen, und vor allem im Publikum war eine saubere Nachführung kaum möglich“, sagt Thomas Joksch von NXP. „Die Show verlangt, dass Thommy und Amélie jederzeit im Licht stehen - dieser Anspruch war mit klassischen Followspots nicht mehr zuverlässig zu erfüllen.“
Follow-Me 3D Six in Kombination mit Track-iT ermöglicht es nun, jederzeit zwischen automatisiertem Tracking und manueller Führung umzuschalten - eine Funktion, die NXP als „entscheidend“ einstuft. Zudem deckt die Lösung die notwendige Fläche von rund 2.500 Quadratmetern ab und erlaubt das gleichzeitige Verfolgen von bis zu sechs Personen. Die herstellerunabhängige Einbindung der Scheinwerfer habe ebenfalls eine Rolle gespielt, gerade mit Blick auf wechselnde Produktionen. Hinzu komme die Möglichkeit, das Tracking auch außerhalb der Bühne zu nutzen. „Für uns war wichtig, dass das System die Bereiche einbezieht, in denen sich unsere Künstler tatsächlich bewegen - und dazu gehört bei unseren Shows oft der ganze Raum“, so Joksch.
In der aktuellen Produktion „Dreifach zauberhaft - Die Las Vegas Show“ verfolgt das Follow-Me-System nicht nur Thommy Ten und Amélie van Tass, sondern zusätzlich bis zu fünf Objekte, die während der Show in den Saal fliegen, darunter Frisbees oder Würfel, die in einzelnen Szenen dramaturgisch hervorgehoben werden. Gezielt gesetzte Lichtkegel machen diese Bewegungen sowohl für das Publikum als auch für die Kameras sichtbar.
Eine 24 Meter breite Projektionsfläche fährt während der Vorstellung auf und ab und ist vollständig in das Tracking eingebunden. Track-iT liest die Höhe dieser Fläche in Echtzeit aus. Sobald ein Künstler hinter der Fläche verschwindet, blendet Follow-Me die Verfolger automatisch aus. Für die Regie entstehen dadurch fließende Übergänge, ohne dass Eingriffe notwendig sind.
Für die Ortung stellen große Venues, etwa die Wiener Stadthalle mit rund 2.400 Quadratmetern Spielfläche, laut NXP kein Problem dar. Dass das Lichtlevel weiterhin über den Operator gesteuert wird, bewahre zudem die gewohnte künstlerische Kontrolle.
(Fotos: NXP/Lukas Rauch)
Luke Thiel reflects Lorna Shore sound with Chauvet
American deathcore band Lorna Shore’s recent 31-city North American tour, which concluded October 30, 2025, at the Madison Square Garden Theatre in New York, was supported by a Luke Thiel lighting design featuring Chauvet Professional Color Strike M, Maverick Storm 4 Profile and Rogue R3X Wash fixtures, supplied by Squeek Lights.
With its ever-changing lighting angles and strobing patterns (along with custom video content), Thiel’s looks moved seamlessly with Lorna Shore’s music. “An approach I like to take with any design and programming is to replicate how I hear and interpret the music”, says Thiel. “One of the beautiful things about music is the mood it creates within us when we hear it. Syncopation of the lights to rhythms and melodies is something I feel are important in order to reinforce to help immerse the punter in the music further.
“The mood I feel often helps me dictate which colors to use throughout the show”, he continues. “For this show the choice of color was also made in collaboration with the band as they of course have a deeper connection to the music than anyone else.” Thiel relied often on strobing to reflect the intensity of his client’s music. He also changed the vibe on stage through silhouetting. “I used silhouetting as a means of directing focus to a particular band member”, he says. “This is especially true during solos from the lead guitarist as well as quieter moments for the singer.”
One thing missing from Thiel’s lighting repertoire on this tour was key lighting. “I wanted the music to be the primary focus of the show as opposed to a traditional ‘rock band on a stage’ performance”, he says. “I also felt that this approach helps the punter immerse further into the show. The band was lit from the sides to allow the punters to see the members enough to allow interaction, but rather than drawing focus to a particular member, I wanted the focus to be the entire stage.”
Much of Thiel’s side lighting came from the Rogue R3X Washes that he positioned on the floor. The Color Strike M, he says, was “used sometimes as a wash, of course as a strobe, but then sometimes just to create patterns to help reshape the stage and create a bit of eye candy”. The Maverick Storm 4 Profiles were Thiel’s main moving profile for the show.
Thiel, owner of Australian based Luke Thiel Lighting Design, had fifteen R3X Washes, sixteen Color Strike Ms, and twelve Storm 4 Profiles in his main touring rig. For the tour final show in New York, he added fourteen extra R3X washes and twenty extra Storm 4 Profiles. The main tour and New York shows were run by LD Collin Reagan.
(Photos: Nick Chance)
PWS manages over 1,000 wireless frequencies for Dreamforce 2025 and supports Dreamfest concert
Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) was on site at Dreamforce 2025 in San Francisco, providing global RF coordination to ensure that all wireless equipment operated in its designed frequency range. Dreamforce is an annual tech conference presented by SalesForce that also offers entertainment to its event attendees with its Dreamfest concert, which benefits UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals.
As the official on-site frequency coordinators, PWS managed over 1,000 channels of wireless mics, intercoms, IFBs and in-ear monitors for this year’s event. The company coordinated a range of wireless frequencies for the event keynotes, breakouts and training sessions in addition to its benefit concert. PWS also supported the film/ENG crews with global coordination, enabling them to capture content across all venues, while operating in the specified bandwidth.
The concert took place at Chase Center and Bayfront Park across the street, requiring the PWS team to cover a large geographic area in addition to having an extensive list of wireless equipment. This year’s Dreamfest event featured Metallica, as a VIP event guest, as well as Benson Boone.
(Photo: PWS)
Ukraine’s Vyrii Festival opts for L-Acoustics
Ukraine’s inaugural Vyrii Festival took place in August 2025, fusing Ukrainian culture and mythology with modern electronic and traditional music, theatre and visual art. Hailed as “Ukraine’s Burning Man”, the event used ethnofuturism as its guiding theme and encouraged total freedom of expression.
Audiences of every age enjoyed a wide-ranging line-up that featured artists like Mercury Prize-winner Benjamin Clementine and Ukrainian icons Jamala and DakhaBrakha. For those in attendance, the festival offered a welcome reprieve from the challenges imposed by the ongoing war.
Ukrainian technical production company Franz Audio was responsible for the festival’s audio infrastructure. Because the event featured two stages that operated simultaneously, Franz Audio needed to avoid interference, allowing audience members to move from one stage to the other without any bleed.
The final configuration they opted to use was dependent on the availability of equipment. L-Acoustics’ K3 and Kara systems were chosen for the electronic stage design, while a legacy V-Dosc system was sourced for the main stage. Much of Ukraine’s audio inventory has been destroyed in the war, or moved abroad for protection. Adapting to what was available ensured that Vyrii was able to proceed without a hitch. Franz Audio used Soundvision to model each stage, predict coverage patterns, and optimise speaker placement before transferring to LA Network Manager for final tuning.
The electronic stage featured three hangs: two clusters of six K3 over three Kara each, plus an out-fill hang of four further Kara. Six Kiva provided front-fill. Paired with SB18 and KS28 subwoofers, this configuration delivered the imaging and low-end electronic music requires. The main stage deployed two hangs of eleven V-Dosc hangs by LA8 amplified controllers.
The K3 system was already familiar territory for Franz Audio; it had been part of the inventory for about a year and the team had deployed it on numerous projects, while V-Dosc was new to the team. “Our familiarity with L-Acoustics products, our team’s extensive L-Acoustics training, and the preparatory work we were able to undertake in Soundvision ultimately made the transition to V-Dosc as smooth as it could possibly have been”, says Yurii Danyliuk, Director of Franz Audio.
The K3/Kara systems used AES67 network audio protocol to provide signal transmission, system configuration and synchronization via the PTPv2 protocol. The audio, video and lighting elements were integrated into a unified control system - critical for the electronic stage, where music synchronized tightly with visuals.
The team was able to set up everything on schedule despite the challenges imposed by poor weather and air raid alerts.
(Photos: Andrew Kharlamov/Yaroslava Mazur/Liza Shykiriava/Vyrii Festival)
Pliant Technologies supports immersive demonstrations at global construction arena
When a major construction and machinery company set out to elevate its immersive training and product demonstration experiences, it turned to Pearl Technology for a robust communication solution. Tasked with ensuring seamless, real-time coordination across its massive indoor and outdoor viewing arenas, Pearl deployed two Pliant Technologies CrewCom intercom systems, designed to support the live production environments.
The company’s indoor demonstration arena, which spans the size of several football fields, hosts live shows for dealers and clients from around the world. The facility features an 80-foot-wide video wall, advanced lighting, and a high-powered sound system, creating a theatrical showcase of new and existing equipment in action.
“These demonstrations are essentially large-scale productions”, says Jeremy Caldera, Executive Vice President of Pearl Technology. “There is heavy machinery moving, drones flying, camera crews shooting live feeds, and operators communicating in real time. This is all while a presenter narrates to a seated audience behind glass. It’s a live event that requires broadcast-level communication reliability.”
Pearl Technology worked with Pliant Technologies’ local manufacturers’ rep AudioBiz to implement two distinct CrewCom systems, including one permanently installed within the facility and another portable setup that can be deployed for outdoor or offsite demonstrations. The systems are designed to support multiple communication channels simultaneously, enabling seamless coordination between equipment operators, production staff, and presenters.
“We designed the setup with three primary channels”, Caldera explains. “One dedicated to operator-to-operator communication, another for production coordination between camera crews and directors, and a third ‘live’ channel that feeds operator commentary directly into the audience viewing area. That way, when a machine is being operated on the floor, attendees can hear the operator explain what’s happening in real time.”
Each setup utilizes Pliant’s CrewCom intercom system with CRP-44 radio packs and PHS-SB110 SmartBoom Pro single-ear headsets, offering interference-free performance across a large coverage area. Up to 32 radio packs are in use at one time, with operators, camera crews and announcers all working in sync during a show.
The system’s portable trailer-based setup, which serves as a fully equipped production booth, enables the company to replicate the same communication infrastructure for large outdoor events and special showcases held at other facilities. “The portable system mirrors the permanent one”, says Caldera. “It’s built into a trailer with its own headend equipment, telescoping antenna mast, and communication hub.”
(Photos: Pliant Technologies)
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)
