Event Lighting

At 104 years old, Detroit’s iconic Michigan Central Station has been viewed as a reflection of Detroit’s rise and fall and subsequent rebirth, as it has sat unoccupied since the late 1980’s. It was once the central hub of transportation into and out of the city, but its location, the rise of other forms of transportation, and the decline in Detroit’s population ended up being the station’s downfall. Since its closure, there has been much speculation about what is to done with the space. Recently, talk about redevelopment has accelerated.

Music Matters Shines a Light on 70th Birthday Jam

The event, “Hampton 70 — A Celebration of Col. Bruce Hampton” at the Fox Theater in Atlanta GA all started with a short conversation between Duane Trucks, drummer for Widespread Panic, and music entertainment lawyer, Matt Wilson, at the Candler Park Music Festival in 2016.

LD Dave Ward Puts the Company in a Different Light at the Las Vegas Exhibition Center

An old adage goes, “The only difference between men and boys is the size of their toys.” This has never been more obvious than at the CONEXPO-CON/AGG convention. The event, staged once every three years, is touted as the “world’s largest tradeshow.”

Emotional Live Concert Event Garners Honors for “Canada’s Band” and LD Brent Clark

LD Brent Clark sent us a link to a YouTube video. Expecting to see a band’s light show, cameras instead are aimed not at the stage but at the somber audience. Tears stream down a few faces as the band plays one last song.

Production Club, a multidisciplinary team who design and produce music-based parties, shows and experiences, collaborated with electronic musician and singer Zhu to debut a new design at The Shrine in Los Angeles in October The event, in support of the artist’s new album, Generationwhy, followed Zhu’s successful “Neon City” tour, which kicked off at Coachella this year.

TLS Productions Plays Key Role at Los Angeles Auto Show

Walking the floor at the Los Angeles Auto Show (LAAS) the morning of the inaugural press event is a strangely peaceful process. All around, credentialed professionals are silently setting up media capture equipment.

Most lighting-related companies are named after their founders or with initials, descriptors or suitably tech-sounding neologisms. Only one—Walter Productions—takes its moniker from a vintage fire truck.

The Dynamic Visual Design at MTV’s Video Music Awards

There were any number of standout moments during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards, broadcast and streamed live from NYC’s Madison Square Garden on Aug. 28. Whether it was Beyoncé, Rihanna, Nick Jonas, Future, or the return of the Pop Princess Britney Spears, certainly the visual design for VMAs yet again raised the bar. As ever, the show’s producers never want to repeat themselves, so it’s no small assignment to design a dynamic and unique environment inside the MSG arena. The task and wonderfully realized design was accomplished by the creative team of production designer Tom Scutt along with art director Matt Steinbrenner; screens producer Laura Frank, principal of Luminous FX; and lighting designer Bob Barnhart of Entertainment Design Group 22˚.

35 Years of Camping and Festivities in Sturgis, SD

Motorcycle enthusiasts have been flocking to the small town of Sturgis, SD to attend one of the largest bike rallies in the world for years. The Sturgis rally got its start in in 1938 by a group of riders of the Indian motorcycle brand, who originally held stunts and races, including the Black Hills Classic, as the first original event was known. The rally was canceled due to gas rationing in WWII, but roared back in the postwar years and has since grown into a magnet for motorcycle riders from around the world. The 2016 rally was the 76th event.

The Republican and Democratic National Conventions, from the View of the Lighting Programmers

This summer saw the two major U.S. political parties hold their presidential national conventions in July — the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, OH at the Quicken Loans Arena, and the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, PA at the Wells Fargo Center. Both had large multi-level stages, venue-covering lighting rigs, enormous video wall elements and audiences full of enthusiastic delegates. Lighting a convention is no small assignment when you consider that the live images broadcast globally are indelible moments in history. The lighting designer for the 2016 RNC was David Grill, principal of David Grill Associates, Inc. Previously lighting director on five consecutive conventions, this was his first as the lead lighting designer. In Philadelphia, returning for his sixth DNC was lighting designer Robert Dickinson, Principal of Full Flood, Inc.