Industry professionals descended on the Norwegian city of Kristiansand in July to attend a panel theorising on the future of live production and current industry trends, and see the deployment of HARMAN branded products over several stages as part of Palmesus 2025 – a two-day music event like no other.
The Martin Color Lab Innovation panel was moderated by Director of Global Corporate Communications at HARMAN, David Glaubke, and featured guests Mark Buss, Global Product Line Manager at HARMAN International; Henrik Kristensen, Product Manager, Stage Lighting at HARMAN International and Kevin Wetzels, Creative Director at TWOFIFTYK Media.
Wetzels began the discussion by delving into the move to digital for the events industry, and how different aspects such as sound, special effects and visuals stand within their own disciplines but that a move into an amalgamated would push the audience experience further. “For years, professional lighting has been the race for more lumens, but I think the race for the most output in a product is over,” Wetzels said. “We’re looking for products that are more flexible, hybrid, and can be everything at once.”
Speaking from a manufacturer’s perspective, and with an impressive product portfolio to cite from, Buss shared insights on what Martin Professional and the wider HARMAN banner have learned from end-users, having spent decades developing new technologies.“It’s not about a lighting solution’s feature set, but how the industry wants to be able to control and access them,” Buss said.
“We are more open now as a company, its forms like this that allow us to feed into our own engineering teams, figuring what the trends are, pain points and what the future is.”
Kristensen cited the innovation of the MAC One as a testament of creative output and functionality. He further highlighted the development of Martin Professional’s patented XIP Technology, which allows fixtures to be used in any setting.
“The development of XIP Technology disrupted the market and went further than expected. It put pressure on our engineering team to create a product that fits demanding applications,” Kristensen said. “It showed that experimentation and innovation pays off.”
Glaubke pivoted the conversation to discuss budgets in the industry and how productions and creatives can adapt to changing circumstances. Kristensen unveiled that the company were now working on products with planned releases in 2028/9 that have a much longer lifespan. “From a sustainability and ROI point of view, we want our products to have more than five years of market relevance – from the materials they are created with through to how we service products already in the market,” Kristensen explained. “We do everything to make our service quick, but we also ensure we have parts to fixtures that haven’t existed in our market for 20 years but are still being utilised, to ensure everyone gets the same service, no matter how old the product has been out of production for.”
Given the advance in technology and rising costs of tickets, Wetzels believes that audiences demand more. “It’s probably our biggest headache as production managers, our job is to look at the future and be fortune tellers for what the users want to bring to their audiences. A way in which we’re collaborating with the industry is running technology programmes where we work directly with end users to see what the industry looks like for them whether it be light engine, motor control, or lens technology. We know that customers want something new and exciting that looks amazing, so we discuss with end users, tap into our own knowledge as product managers to come up with cool ideas to bring to the market.”
On the subject on data, Kristensen added: “We haven’t seen a big push on data in our industry, we have a strong strategy going forward, and our customers are going to see a further push for customers and ourselves,” he shared. “Right now, we design solid products, but the question is are we sometimes overdesigning? This request for information is going to change things going forward.”
Buss concurred: “We used to have more products in a line that would cover all bases, but now we put everything into one product, so it would be interesting to know how it is being used to mitigate risk.”
SEEING THE LIGHTS IN ACTION
The panel wrapped up with questions from the audience before a communal march over to the Palmesus Festival site, where attendees got a sneak peek of the main and Cupra stages as well as FOH before the doors opened to thousands of festival revellers.
The main stage featured 40 MAC Viper XIPs, 34 MAC Aura XIPs, 32 MAC Aura Raven XIPs, and a pair of P3-275 System Controllers while FOH included 155 VDO Sceptron 20s, 40 VDO Sceptron 10s and a P3-300 System Controller.
The Cupra stage featured 54 Martin VDO Atomic Dot WRMs, 36 VDO Atomic Dot CLDs, six MAC Aura XIPs and a P3-150 System Controller. The HARMAN Professional involvement didn’t stop at lights, the Cupra stage was equipped with JBL VTX-A12 and its VTX-G28 line array systems.
Nordic Rentals was at the heart of the technical package, ensuring visiting production teams – including the likes of Kygo, Fisher, Stormzy and Chase & Status – all had adequate kit.
Nordic Rentals Production Manager, Oscar Olsson has been involved in the technical delivery of the festival for six years, previously assuming the role of Head of Light and Video at the festival. “It’s my first year doing production at this site,” he stated, proudly. “In Denmark, we like to work together and share our roles – if any department needs help we will always be there, with a helping hand.”
Reflecting on the rig, Olsson waxed lyrical about the legacy of Martin Professional fixtures: “Our house lighting at Palmesus has always included Martin Professional fixtures, they are workhorses and it’s important to have a lamp that works every time. The lamps are so bright, we tend to use lots of haze to help us through the battle of the midnight sun in Norway, but the quality of the fixtures mean that they always cut through.”
As the sun set on the jam-packed weekend at Palmesus, and dozens of flight cases were rolled out of the festival, the words of Production Futures invitee, Abigail Skelton, who shared her sentiments with Martin Professional in the build-up to the festival were poignant:
“I’ve worked with many Martin Professional fixtures at different venues, but there’s always been a degree of separation, so it’s been amazing to spend time with the company and discover the hard work, innovation and guiding principles behind their products.”
Words: Alicia Pollitt
Photos: Allan Toft
