How did you break into the sector? “After graduation, I took a job doing logistics for an AV production company, which helped me develop an understanding of the technical side of live events. I later decided to go freelance. My first job was a corporate awards show, and not long after, I shadowed some friends at Goldsmiths Students’ Union who taught me how to busk lighting on a ChamSys MQ50. I also learned the basics of touring with 3T. However, just a couple of weeks later, I tore the MCL in my knee during a show – only a month…
Author: Jacob Waite
After an eight-year in-person hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the long-awaited return of Showlight – the quadrennial gathering of lighting minds – took centre stage at Le Parc des Expositions et Congrès de Dijon. With over 400 attendees, 40 exhibitors, and an enthusiastic cohort of students and emerging professionals, the event proved that its community spirit remains undimmed. In May, some of the world’s leading lighting professionals gathered in eastern France for Showlight 2025. As a journalist who reports on touring technology, I was fortunate to be able to engage with both seasoned veterans and rising stars of the…
Indochine are renowned for spectacular productions, utilising the latest technological innovations. The band’s Central Tour graced the pages of TPi in 2022, bolstering a new LED solution that could be rigged in front of a PA hang – a concept that would later feature on Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour. Although the French band’s latest run was through arenas rather than stadiums, this did not mean there was any shortage of innovation. Taking up the story was the band’s long-serving Lighting Designer, Jean-Christophe ‘JC’ Aubrée. Also known for his work with The Chemical Brothers, JC has worked with Indochine for the…
Trading digitally rendered content for real life footage, Chase & Status’ latest arena run is a homage to ’90s rave culture – part warehouse rave, part post-apocalyptic theatre. Behind the controlled chaos is a roster of TPi Award-winning live event professionals and technical partners, who collectively brought the electronic music duo’s vision to life. From blowing up cars in central London to integrating live camera feeds through a custom ‘letterbox’ LED screen, this production pushed the boundaries of what live electronic music can look and feel like, as TPi discovers. Chase & Status’ latest arena tour began in April, with…
Clear-Com has revealed new software updates to its award-winning Arcadia Central Station, making it one of the most powerful and flexible 1RU intercom solutions on the market, enabling connectivity across parent and third-party Dante/AES67 devices. Arcadia Central Station is the leader in scalable, IP-based intercom by seamlessly integrating wired and wireless systems across digital, analog, Dante/AES67, and Clear-Com’s I.V. Direct. The latest enhancements include support for V-Series IrisX Panels & flexible port allocation. Users can now connect up to 32 V-Series IrisX panels directly to Arcadia, enabling high-density keypanel workflows traditionally reserved for expensive and complex matrix systems, making this…
The new TC45 truss line from TAF is designed to support big LED screens, heavy lighting fixtures, and other higher capacity loads for live events. Featuring a central C-profile tube with channel for mounting hanging eyes, end users reportedly have complete freedom in positioning their hanging points – from end to end of the truss segment. Fast and easy build-up is ensured by its quicklock connection system, which includes a connection kit included as standard. The new product line features 400 mm (15.75 in) heavy-duty square truss; quicklock connection with a connection kit as standard with 0.5 to 4m lengths…
TiMax has expanded the unparalleled audio capabilities of TiMax SoundHub with a progressive new feature named, Scaling Surfaces(TM). The new tool’s exclusive feature-set allows users to rescale a spatial show file from a studio playback environment to an auditorium – all with just two mouse clicks. It could not be simpler to translate the work users do in the studio to the stage or from venue to different-sized venue, saving significant time. As expected in TiMax, Scaling Surfaces is styled with a level of detail garnered from decades of experience working with spatial audio workflows. Users can rescale their entire…
Powersoft has announced its participation in InfoComm Asia 2025, continuing its 30th anniversary tour. This will be the second time Powersoft will independently exhibit at the event, leveraging the InfoComm Asia platform to spotlight its newest innovations and integrated solutions for the professional audio market. On booth #J20, show attendees can explore all the latest Powersoft technologies, including the ultra-compact Nota 142 amplifier platform, the rugged Unica T platform for touring applications and MyUniverso 2.0, Powersoft’s cloud platform for remote monitoring, management and control of audio systems. In demonstration at InfoComm Asia 2025, Powersoft will be exhibiting its Nota 142,…
SMODE, Smode Tech’s innovative media server and real-time compositing platform, is powering Sensitive Abstraction, a new fulldome graphic and sound art performance by visual artist Yannick Moréteau and electronic music composer Flore. Described as an immersive journey through the poetic dimensions of mathematics, Sensitive Abstraction has been touring planetaria and digital arts festivals in Canada and France since its premiere in 2024. Created entirely within SMODE, Sensitive Abstraction transforms abstract mathematical principles such as the Fibonacci sequence and Euclidean grids into flowing visual tableaux, synchronised in real time with Flore’s score in spatial audio. Yannick Moréteau, founder of the arts…
Sam Tozer, lighting designer and creative director of Plymouth-based Vision Factory, created the lighting for the Chase & Status Live Tour using a combination of Ayrton’s Domino LT and, taking centre upstage, over 100 Ayrton Rivale Profiles. “Ayrton is one of my go-to manufacturers,” saud Tozer. “Their fixture range consistently delivers when it comes to reliability, feature set, and output. I’ve used their products across multiple projects.” For this run of six exclusive arena shows across major UK cities, Tozer needed a lightweight yet punchy hybrid fixture to meet the demands of Chase & Status’ eclectic sound: “The Rivale Profile…
A legendary piece of music history is back and is making its last stop for the time being in Neu-Anspach near Frankfurt. To mark the 50th anniversary of the Adam Hall Group, the restored tour bus of Paul McCartney and his band Wings has been presented to the public for the first time on the company’s campus. The psychedelically painted double-decker bus in which the band toured Europe in 1972 will in future be on display as part of the company’s own Rock‘n’Roll Library in the Experience Centre at the Adam Hall Group’s German headquarters – and is symbolic of…
The Pillars of the Earth, the musical adaptation of Ken Follett’s bestselling novel, has wrapped up an epic season at Madrid’s Teatro EDP Gran Vía. This large-scale production by Beon Entertainment brought together set design, music, and lighting to immerse audiences in a deeply emotional and architecturally rich Middle Ages – full of theatrical magic. And, as you might expect, lighting was one of the show’s major stars, with a powerful lighting design entirely built around Ayrton luminaires. The lighting design, crafted by Felipe Ramos and Juanjo Beloqui with incredible expressiveness and technical precision, created a wide range of atmospheres:…
At the beginning of 2025, Patrick Rabus was tasked with handling the production design for a tour by Tim Kamrad, a young pop artist who is increasingly attracting attention with his electronic sounds and strong stage presence. For almost the first month, Kamrad toured medium-sized venues in Germany. “The venues were deliberately kept intimate, but Tim’s presence has grown considerably since then – not least thanks to [his appearance as judge on German TV series] The Voice of Germany,” explained Rabus. “It wasn’t about appearing bigger than we are, but rather about shaping the stage in a way that does…
Christian radio station WJTL returned to Cherry Crest Adventure Farm near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on 17 May for WJTL Fest. STRAY Production Services brought its new PARAGON LED profile luminaires for the event, and STRAY’s Jon Boyer handled the lighting design. “Because the event is outside on a mobile stage, during the day, and without haze, I needed a fixture punchy enough to make an impact but also diverse enough that I could create an artistic show,” Boyer stated. “It proved an ideal event for our new PARAGON fixtures.” As STRAY’s outdoor event roster continues to grow, the company invested in…
On 13–14 June, the Italian beach resort of Fano became the location for a one-of-a-kind audio-visual extravaganza as the Adriatic Sound Festival brought a pure celebration of techno music and underground spirit to the city’s historic airfield. Designed by Stufish Entertainment Architects, the Hangar Stage paid a bold tribute to Fano’s aviation legacy and the power of electronic music, reimagining Fano’s historic airfield as an open-air techno cathedral, framed by three iconic hangars. Sound for the stage was supplied by local event production and technology specialist Backstage who deployed an all-NEXO system comprising main left and right hangs of 15…
TiMax Spatial Studios, based in London’s Tileyard, is the new HQ and studio space for TiMax. As the company celebrates the opening of its audio hub, TiMax can also announce its collaboration with Sonosphere. Together the two companies will provide a flexible, multi-purpose, immersive audio London hub to demonstrate, educate, promote and deliver immersive audio systems, workflow and content. The state-of-the-art suite offers a 26.4.6 TiMax mixing studio, featuring TiMax SoundHub and its powerful spatial audio and show control capabilities. TiMax Tracker D4 is installed with an eight-sensor system, and the studio also offers opportunities to work with TiMax panLab,…
The Rock For People music festival celebrated its 30th anniversary with a five-day event featuring an all-star lineup and an expanded capacity of 50,000, which saw a fully sold-out audience flock to the Park 360 site in Hradec Králové, Czech Republic – a former military airfield dating back to the 1930s. Technical production – lighting, audio, video, rigging – for the main KB and Tesco stages, the Europa 2 tent, as well as a number of smaller stages, was supplied by Czech rental company T SERVIS – who provided over 300 Robe moving lights. A T SERVIS crew of 70…
American singer-songwriter Teddy Swims has blended country, pop, and R&B into a global success story, accompanied this year by his biggest live shows to date, including a sold-out arena run in the UK, even setting a new attendance record at Manchester’s Co-op Live venue. The tour is now in the US before the team returns to Australia this autumn followed by Asia and the Middle East. Supporting the crew as they navigate larger spaces in all corners of the world on the I’ve Tried Everything but Therapy tour, Clair Global Account Executive, Justin Weaver commented: “I can’t say enough about the…
