TESS, celebrating 25-years in business, will present aspiring event professionals with a day of insights. 25 in 25 will describe a wide range of roles, along with practical advice on how to start a career in the event sector, with the support of Production Futures, which has launched its new online portal, building on an extensive community focused on engaging with young people about roles in the production industry. Hannah Eakins, CEO of Production Futures, said“We’re honoured to work alongside TESS to bring this idea to life. ‘25 in 25’ isn’t just another careers event – it’s a full-on experience…
Author: TPi
After a career spanning over six decades, Brazilian music legend Gilberto Gil embarked on a farewell tour titled Tempo Rei. Which takes him through sports palaces and stadiums in nine Brazilian cities—including the 42,000-cap Ligga Arena in Curitiba and the Farmasi Arena in Rio di Janeiro—and is scheduled to run until November. At all but one of the shows he has been playing through an evergreen Martin Audio MLA loudspeaker array, provided by partner Gabisom Audio Equipment. Responsible for the sound system design, optimisation and recording is Martin Audio devotee, the eight times Latin Grammy award-winning Daniel Carvalho, who has regularly…
Glastonbury’s 2025 edition saw a collection of CHAUVET Professional fixtures across the large festival site. A newcomer to the CHAUVET Professional family, the STRIKE V, a high-powered 180° tilting hybrid strobe/wash, was at the centre of one of Glastonbury’s highlights: the electrifying headliner performance on the Other Stage by the iconic rave insurrectionists The Prodigy. Kicking things off with their trademark air raid sirens, the band from Essex crashed intense punk into techno sounds to deliver one of the festival’s most heart pounding shows. Fueling the intensity was a no-holds-barred lighting design by Tim Fawkes that drew heavily on the…
Unusual Rigging has announced the appointment of Matt Stott, a highly respected stage engineering specialist with over 15 years’ experience in bespoke mechanical systems and show automation. His arrival reinforces Unusual’s commitment to delivering technically ambitious solutions across theatre, live production and permanent installations. Tom Harper, Managing Director, Unusual Rigging commented: “Matt joins us from TAIT and, before that, Delstar Engineering where he worked under the leadership of Paul Sadler. Many in the industry will already be familiar with Matt’s contributions to technically complex and high-profile productions, including 42nd Street, Miss Saigon (2014) and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (2024) and…
The largest and oldest music festival in Latin America, Chile’s Viña del Mar International Song Festival took place over six days in February 2025 – with help from MA Lighting’s advanced grandMA3 lighting control platform. Founded in 1960, this major annual event is now staged at the city’s 15,000-capacity Quinta Vergara Amphitheater, and broadcast via television and streamed to a global audience estimated at 250 million. For top Mexican LD Pablo Gutiérrez, lighting this year’s event was the latest high point of his 20-year show lighting career. In that time he has worked with many of the biggest stars in…
Ian Livie Lighting, the Birmingham-based lighting rental company with over four decades of industry experience, has made a substantial investment in Martin’s new MAC Aura Raven XIP fixtures, from exclusive UK distributor, Live Technology. The investment, the first rental inventory of Ravens in stock in the UK, marks a strategic shift for the company with its investment in future-proof technology. Founded by Ian Livie in the 1980s, the company began as a small operation selling DJ lighting equipment. Over the years, the company evolved from a one-man-and-van operation into a respected rental house, working with major touring artists including Joe…
The Rockstore has been the beating heart of the live music scene in the French city of Montpellier ever since 1986 when Level 42 played to a sold-out crowd at the iconic club on its opening night. More than 4,500 concerts later and Rockstore now takes the music outside into the Occitanie summer sunshine with Club Peyrou at Le Peyrou. The local branch of production technology specialists Texen rigged the stage with NEXO GEO M12 for a diverse lineup including DJ sets from French music duo Polo & Pan and Dabeull. “We flew main left and right line arrays of…
Elation has unveiled its refreshed vision, mission, and core values, designed to guide the organisation’s evolution and align global operations around innovation and customer experience. The new strategic framework lays a foundation for excellence and reaffirms Elation’s commitment to drive industry development and lead through example, making a positive impact on the industry. “This isn’t just about changing words or statements,” said Toby Velazquez, CEO of Elation and President of the ADJ Group. “This is about aligning our business with guiding principles that will move both Elation and the industry forward.” Elation has evolved from a grassroots business to the…
Concert Stuff Group has announced that Loud & Clear is joining its portfolio of brands. This strategic move further expands Concert Stuff Group’s footprint across the U.S., reinforcing its position as a top-tier provider of end-to-end solutions for the live entertainment industry. Founded by industry veteran Bill Deavers, Loud & Clear has been serving artists, venues, and events for over three decades with a relentless commitment to craftsmanship, integrity, and service. After years on the road, Deavers chose to stop touring in order to focus on starting a family and building Loud & Clear. Under Deavers’ leadership, Loud & Clear…
Powersoft has announced the promotion of Varun Mahesh Jagger to the newly created role of regional manager (distribution) for the EMEIA region. Jagger joined Powersoft in 2018 and had served as the Italian company’s sales manager for EMEIA (Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa) since 2021, where he played a pivotal role in growing Powersoft’s presence across the region. In his new position, he will be responsible for overseeing Powersoft’s EMEIA distribution network and directly managing area sales managers Cosimo Cecchi and Simone Scaramuzza. He will continue to report to Powersoft’s global sales manager (distribution), Fabrizio Romano Bolzoni. In…
Cesare Cremonini, one of Italy’s most prominent artists, tours with a lighting design featuring Ayrton Mamba and Cobra laser-sourced lighting fixtures. The Cremonini LIVE25 tour comprises 13 completely sold-out shows in some of Italy’s largest stadiums, with multiple dates across cities including Rome, Milan, Bologna and Bari. Mamo Pozzoli, the tour’s lighting designer and a long-time Cesare collaborator, created a powerful and innovative lighting plot characterised by multiple moving circular structures and a strong focus on graphic fixtures. Set within this vast design, dominated by a massive ultra-wide LED wall, Mamo carefully selected and positioned a number of high-performance beam…
Martin Audio’s Blackline Series has set a benchmark for affordable professional loudspeakers—renowned for their sound quality and reliability at an accessible price point. BlacklineQ provides a comprehensive reimagining of this iconic series. The nine-strong product range comprises improved passive two-way point source loudspeakers, all-new column speakers and a suite of subwoofers. The entire series features intelligent design details, making it equally at home in portable or install applications, such as portable sound reinforcement for live sound, theatre, DJs and corporate events; unobtrusive stage monitoring; and permanent installation in clubs, hospitality venues, conference rooms and houses of worship. In sync with…
Rightway Audio Consultants (RAC) have been appointed Optocore distributors for China, Hong Kong and Macau. This marks a strategic elevation of the existing reseller partnership between the two companies, which has flourished for a number of years. “It was a mutual decision to deepen cooperation, which aligns with the long-term mutual benefits sought by both parties,” stated marketing director, Nan Hu. “This will create broader synergies in the future.” Hong Kong-based RAC have immediately set up a programme of Optocore demos and training for their customers and partners. However, they have long been familiar with the German fibre company’s tech…
To provide Janet Jackson’s Together Again tour with immersive and impactful visuals for pop royalty, Lighting Designer Eric Wade implemented a versatile and adaptable rig featuring the Martin MAC One fixture, produced by PRG and Crossfade. Beginning in April 2023 through October 2024, the Together Again tour marked Jackson’s first return to the road in four years and promised audiences across the world a prolific set featuring both decade-defining hits and fan favourites. With a massive discography that pulls from a wide array of genres and influences, from new jack swing to hip-hop to pop, Jackson required a lighting rig…
Early 2025, Live Events Productions was one of the first production and rental houses to invest in Elation’s PARAGON moving head and has been using the multi-award-winning LED profile luminaire on projects ever since. “Now that we’ve had them for a few months, we have found them to be incredibly useful across a wide range of projects. They check a lot of boxes and are versatile enough to be used virtually on any show from corporate events to broadcast to touring,” stated Ben Coker, VP of Technology and Assets at Live Events Productions. Live Events invested in 52 PARAGON M…
From spare bedroom builds to full-scale manufacturing, SA Touring has grown into a powerhouse in live production and Van Damme has been a key part of the journey. When Jake Staff began crafting custom looms and fly racks from his spare bedroom, he couldn’t have predicted the scale SA Touring would one day reach. Now operating from a dedicated workshop in Norwich and serving clients across the UK, including chart-topping artists like Ella Eyre and Mae Muller, the company has become a go-to for premium touring solutions and cable manufacturing, with Van Damme at the heart of its operation. “Everything…
For the recent US leg of Coheed and Cambria’s 2025 tour, Lighting Designer, Ben Jarrett of Squeek Lights crafted a dazzling visual feast using Elation’s award-winning new PARAGON moving head as his primary spot fixture. The PARAGON M played a central role in shaping the visuals while supporting the band’s unique Amory Wars narrative, including the dramatic lighting of a full-sized inflatable character on stage. New Jersey-based Squeek Lights, a one-stop shop for stage lighting in the area, provided all lighting, video, and rigging for the tour. The co-headlining tour with Mastodon, which ran from early May to June 8,…
The first Avolites D7-330 and D7-215 consoles have arrived in the Balkans region – received by Belgrade, Serbia-based Avolites distributor, Light & Sound Design D.O.O. (LSD) – where they will be in action with the team led by Milan Scepanovic. LSD proactively distributes the full range of Robe brands – Anolis, Artistic Licence, LSC, and Avolites – across Serbia, Bosnia, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania. “It is great to have the first D7 models – to my knowledge – in the whole of southeast Europe! The consoles are powerful, flexible and portable and they look very cool! Given the general…
