USA - Low trim heights, limited hang points, the lack of house lights - these challenges seem to be present when lighting an event at any big ballroom. They certainly were at the Gatlinburg Convention centre when Andrew Dingman set out to light the Clayton King Ministries’ Crossroad Winter Conference this January.
Dingman comments, “The room and rigging will always be the biggest challenge when designing a show like this in a venue like this. But as is true in every case, there are always ways to overcome challenges.”
In this three-day conference, Dingman met the chall

USA - The Winter Jam Tour Spectacular returned for its bi-coastal celebration of positivity and spreading the Gospel with a lighting system provided by Bandit Lites. This year’s line-up included Crowder, two-time 2024 Grammy-award winner Lecrae, CAIN, Katy Nichole, Seventh Day Slumber, Newsong and more.
“Each year I lean towards putting most of my budget into the flown rig,” said longtime production manager Jerry Holcomb. “The tour usually has artists that bring some sort of ground package, so I leave room for that. Additionally, I have to be conscience of truck space and

Qatar - On 12 January 2024, Qatar hosted the opening ceremony of the AFC Asian Cup at the 88,000-capacity Lusail Stadium, the largest stadium in the Middle East. The ceremony comprised a full-size stage in midfield with a set featuring sand dunes, colourful costumes, and visuals around a central motif of giant mirrored petals.
Simultaneously broadcast internationally across the Middle East, Asia and Australasia, the 21-minute visual extravaganza, Mirrors, The Lost Chapter from the Book of Kelileh Wa Demneh, was ‘a triumph of theatrical story-telling’. It was struck in

UK - PLASA is running an industry-wide survey on sustainability. The association aims to understand how and if companies across the entertainment technology sector are tackling the important issue of sustainability and carbon reduction.
The survey was launched during the Member Business Forum on Sustainability and Carbon Reduction, which took place in London on 18 January 2024. However, the survey is now open to the wider industry until 29 March, in partnership with #WeMakeEvents, LSi, LIVE and PEARLE.
Even though there are no current legal requirements in the UK to implemen

UK - Specialist lighting controls manufacturer, Pharos Architectural Controls, has joined the Q-SYS Technology Partner Programme. This programme enables software and hardware technology partners to create market-ready solutions that integrate seamlessly with Q-SYS, a cloud-manageable audio, video and control platform.
As part of the programme, key products from the Pharos range have been verified and endorsed by Q-SYS, following plugin integration with a Q-SYS Ready badge.
Pharos Designer and Pharos Expert will integrate with Q-SYS to provide integration with its ‘architai

USA - Just before Christmas, Two Cities Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina moved into a new worship centre where modern production equipment enhances the in-person and broadcast experience for a congregation of some 2,500 people who attend three Sunday services.
SES Integration in Mocksville, North Carolina consulted on the design of the new building and, with the support of its SES Production division, suggested a complement of Ayrton Levante, Diablo and Zonda 9 wash lights for the rig. ACT Entertainment is the exclusive distributor of Ayrton lighting in North America.

USA - Eastern Lighting Design has completed the lighting design and installation for the new Chicago-based studio of the sports podcast Numbers on the Board, hosted by Kenny Beecham and produced by Omaha Productions.
The project involved 11 Prolights ArcShine M18FC fixtures, transforming a standard office space into a dynamic, visually engaging broadcast studio. Numbers on the Board combines in-depth NBA analysis with lively discussions, creating an accessible and engaging atmosphere for its audience. The design aim was to cultivate a studio environment that support

USA - Although a procession of major stars like Fall Out Boy, 30 Seconds To Mars, The Last Dinner Party, Bush, The 1975, and Sum41 graced the Honda Centre stage, the lighting rig for this year’s iHeartRadio ALTer EGO concert, which is traditionally held at the Kia Forum in LA, was smaller than it was in recent years.
The size of the rig, notwithstanding, the design team was given the mission of making the overall production for the nationally televised event, look bigger than previous shows.
“We wanted to make the show seem larger this year,” said Dierson of The Activ

France - Broadcasting 24/7, the international news channel France 24 reaches an audience of almost 500m households around the world in French, Arabic, Spanish and English. However, as is the case all over Paris, space is quite limited, so France 24 has to make the best of its available capacities, with its largest studios being just under 100sq.m with a grille height of 3.5m.
Given the varied programming broadcast by France 24, cameras on this set are arranged very differently, depending on the show. Indeed, sometimes camera axes are reversed by 180-degrees. Also, since various ne

France - Elation and French distributor Best Audio & Lighting provided lighting for the final of this year’s CQLP (C'est Qui Le Patron) lighting design competition in France. A demanding competition that showcases lighting designer talent, this was the first time the competition was held outdoors, this year at the Collégiale Notre-Dame de Mantes-la-Jolie outside of Paris.
Using the grandeur of the medieval church’ s architecture as a centrepiece, lighting design teams produced light shows that combined quality, creativity and technique. Following an elimination tournament

UK - Located in the heart of Chelsea, Cadogan Hall is an historic 950-seater concert hall, presenting a wide range of events and performances, from classical music to jazz to musical theatre. Its acoustics and luxurious surroundings make it the first choice for some of the UK’s top orchestras, including the Hall’s resident orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic, as well as a favourite London destination for international touring orchestras.
It recently decided to upgrade its lighting set-up, in order to become more energy efficient as well as offer performances more options and fle

UK - Reading & Leeds Festival is to debut a new outdoor stage, The Chevron, at this year’s events. The festival attracts 240,000 visitors combined across both sites over the August Bank Holiday weekend.
Reading & Leeds will now feature an additional 40,000-capacity open-air venue, including the world’s first floating video canopy made up of hundreds of thousands of programmable LED lights that appear to be hovering in the air. The mesh is 90% transparent so festival-goers can dance under the open sky into the night.
“The bespoke structure, exclusive to Reading

UK - As lighting controls specialist Pharos Architectural Controls moves into its 20th year in 2024, the manufacturer is launching a campaign in recognition of key people and projects that have played a significant part on its journey.
The 20 Years of Pharos campaign will spotlight 10 lighting professionals and 10 projects that have shaped the success of the company over the two decades since its establishment.
Pharos Architectural Controls was founded in 2004 as part of the Carallon group, as an independently owned specialist in dynamic lighting control systems.
Al

South Korea - Soyoun Lee’s is currently working for Lite Factory in Korea, designing and programming shows for several high-profile K-Pop music artists in Singapore and Korea. One of these is Korean record producer and singer-songwriter, Crush, who recently played several Wonderego concerts - in support of his i third album - at Seoul’s Jamsil Arena, for which Soyoun designed, programmed and operated the lighting.
For the first time, she chose to run the lighting control on a full grandMA3 system. Soyoun had used the grandMA3 console / hardware many times already (running in

Argentina - Rock and pop musician Fito Páez continued his El amor 30 años después del amor tour last year with a 16 December concert at the Estadio UNO - Estadio Jorge Luis Hirschi in Buenos Aires where 54 Claypaky Sharpy Plus fixtures enhanced the energy on stage.
The tour marked the 30th anniversary of Páez’s breakout album, El amor despues del amor, the pinnacle of his commercial success. In 1992 the artist sold more than 750,000 copies of the album and played sold-out concert dates. Thirty years later he drew sell-out crowds to a commemorative tour from Gonna Go!

USA - Popular Americana and R'n'B singer songwriter Nathaniel Rateliff and his band The Night Sweats played their sold-out annual homecoming holiday concert at the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, in December.
It was the second time the annual event - which has been running for some years - was staged at this venue, after moving to the larger space in 2022.
The lighting was crafted by Jeremy Roth, who has been Nathaniel’s production designer since 2017. He utilised over 100 Robe moving lights - Fortes, Spiiders and MegaPointes plus a RoboSpot system - to help make it look

USA - ACT Entertainment has announced that Miles Dudgeon has come aboard as New York City Metro regional salesperson. Dudgeon brings extensive industry experience and knowledge of the eastern US sales market to his new post.
“Adding Miles to our team is an incredible win; his existing contacts in the territory and his depth of knowledge from design to specification of the product portfolio is a recipe for success,” says Doug Mekanik, ACT Entertainment director of sales. “All the members of our sales team come with a unique practical skill set beyond just sales. Miles is no

UK - Pearce Hire has shared the news of the passing of team member and friend, John Huson.
“John dedicated over 20 years to Pearce Hire and was an invaluable part of the team. His deep knowledge and love for lighting and event technology, coupled with his skills in the digital world made him an exceptional part of the team.
Beyond his technical expertise, John will be remembered for his unique ability to inject humour into every situation, brightening even the most challenging times. His quick wit and warm personality made him not just a colleague, but a cherished friend a

USA - Mickey Sabbath, an aging, manipulative and sex-obsessed puppeteer is the subject of Sabbath’s Theatre, a new play by Ariel Levy and John Turturro, based on the Phillip Roth novel of the same name.
The play, which recently concluded its run by The New Group, evokes the eerie pathos of Sabbath’s life as he approaches death, and his own reality frays, evidenced by his imaginary encounters with people from his past. Supporting the play is a lighting design by Tony Award winner Jeff Croiter that relied on the Chauvet Professional COLORado 2 Solo Batten for part of its

Europe - Robe Lighting enjoyed a busy and lively ISE 2024. New products on show included a selection from Robe’s award-winning IP rated iSeries - the iForte and iForte LTX, iPainte, iESprite, iBeam 350TM, iTetra2TM, iT12 ProfileTM and Robe also previewed its new iBolt - soon to be launched - plus a variant of its T32 Cyc, as well as the Footsie Slim, a compact version of this ingenious footlight solution.
The eye-catching and contemporary Robe booth featured areas for Robe’s other businesses - architectural brand Anolis, lighting control solutions specialist Artistic Licence

Germany - The FlexDistro rack has been developed to meet the frequently changing requirements in the event and touring sector.
Designed for quick and easy swapping of modules, the Indu-Electric FlexDistro can be equipped for the specific requirements of any project or production in an instant.
Each module has up to 24 channels, and each channel is protected with its own 30 mA RCBO (RCD/RCCB). The list of standard features includes a network-capable meter, USB port, mains indicator, switchable LED strips and utility outlets.

Portugal - Ayrton has announced the appointment of NAN Audiovisuais as a distributor for Portugal, with immediate effect.
Founded in 1995, NAN Audiovisuais has established itself as a leading distributor of professional lighting, sound and video equipment in the Portuguese market. NAN's commercial structure, back office and technical support teams work every day alongside lighting designers, rental companies, and technical teams from theatres, cultural spaces and multipurpose spaces, organising demo and training sessions, and providing the best technical support for a wide range o

UK - Panalux has announced the hiring of lighting-industry veteran Sandro Leone as the company’s long form sales director. In this role, Leone will focus on serving feature and series productions in London and Southeast England.
“Sandro brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in lighting rentals,” said Panalux managing director Mark Furssedonn. “Additionally, his previous roles in camera rental give him a keen perspective on how the equipment and service offerings of the larger Panavision group can further support our customers’ needs. We’re thrilled to welcome San

USA - Brentwood Baptist Church was officially constituted on Easter Sunday 1969 in the Nashville suburb of Brentwood, Tennessee. In the past half a century, it has grown to nine campuses around the region and has consistently averaged over 5,000 worshipers in weekly on-campus attendance, along with an estimated 4,000 additional online viewers.
The current main campus’ church was built in 2002 and had a few updates along the way, but last May it completed a complete refresh of the sanctuary’s audio, video, and lighting systems, in concert with leading AVL systems integrator Di

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