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Vari-Lite VL1600 Profile Adds Textures and Effects at Northwest Bible Church, Dallas

“Being able to manipulate color temperature at the source of the fixture allowed me to approach each scene with a greater level of control and precision,” says Lighting Director, Matthew Hughes. Photos: ©Northwest Bible Church

The multi-generational Northwest Bible Church in Dallas, TX, ramped up atmospheric looks and festive lighting effects for a series of concerts in December, rigging Vari-Lite VL1600 Profile luminaires from Signify. The church’s Lighting Director Matthew Hughes worked with Tyler Gannaway, Vari-Lite Business Development Manager Central and Eastern Rental & Touring at Signify, to source the VL1600 fixtures. Hughes’ aim was to utilize the VL1600’s VL*FX wheel to add movement to the textures projected on the walls, and the tunable white engine and wide color range to create the perfect atmosphere for the concerts.Read More »Vari-Lite VL1600 Profile Adds Textures and Effects at Northwest Bible Church, Dallas

CMA Touring Awards Celebrate Excellence

Winners of the 2022 CMA Touring Awards were honored during an industry celebration at Marathon Music Works in Nashville on Monday, Jan. 30. (L – R, back row): Morgan Pitt and Chrissy Hall (Ryman Auditorium), John Huie, John Stalder, Austin Neal, Chris Kappy, Dan Hochhalter, Robert Scovill, Jill Trunnell and Brian O’Connell. (L – R, front row): Michael Zuehsow, David Farmer, Keith Urban, Stephanie Mundy Self, Tyler Hutcheson and Jerry Slone. Photo Credit: Hunter Berry/CMA

After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Country Music Association’s CMA Touring Awards took place Monday, Jan. 30, 2023, at Nashville’s Marathon Music Works. We at PLSN congratulate all of the winners of this year’s CMA Touring Awards. Previously known as the SRO (Standing Room Only) Awards, the CMA Touring Awards were originally created by the CMA Board of Directors in 1990 to honor outstanding professional achievement within the touring industry. The SRO Awards were renamed the CMA Touring Awards in 2016.

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Dave Koz & Friends Wrap Up Their 25th Anniversary Christmas Tour with Bandit Lites

Dave Koz, the acclaimed chart-topping, GRAMMY®-nominated saxophonist kept the holiday tradition alive with his Dave Koz & Friends Christmas Tour. Bandit Lites provided the lighting system for the tour’s 25th anniversary, where Rick Braun, Peter White, Keiko Matsui, and Rebecca Jade joined Koz for an evening of holiday music and memories.Read More »Dave Koz & Friends Wrap Up Their 25th Anniversary Christmas Tour with Bandit Lites

CHAUVET Professional Creates NYE Magic for Mike Grabowski and The Lighting Design Group

 

ABCs ‘Dick Clarks New Years Rockin Eve with Ryan Seacrest’ was lit by Lighting Design Group’s Senior Lighting Designer, Mike Grabowski with a range of CHAUVET Professional fixtures. Photo by John Argueta/ABC via Getty Images) DURAN DURAN

Mike Grabowski was thrilled with his experience designing the multiple stages under his purview for Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest in Times Square this year, except for one thing. His single regret didn’t involve the rain that fell for much of the evening, either. After all, the “unpredictability of nature,” comes with the territory when lighting outdoor events, said The Lighting Design Group’s senior designer. Plus, given that most of his rig was IP65 rated, he had little to worry about regarding the showers. (He and the team have seen a lot of challenging weather, being at Times Square on NYE, for over a decade of these shows.)Read More »CHAUVET Professional Creates NYE Magic for Mike Grabowski and The Lighting Design Group

Karol G $trip Love Tour

The Latin Grammy winning artist, Colombian singer and songwriter Karol G, has been wowing her fans with her “$trip Love Tour” in 2022. PLSN got all the details of the visually stunning show speaking with the tour design team—Creative Director and Show Designer Travis Shirley of Blank Wall Creative, Lighting Designer/Programmer Chris Smith, and Lighting Director Ryan King.

Relation Lighting Agency (RLA) New Elation Sales Rep for California, Nevada, and Hawaii

RLA personnel (l to r): Robert Pullman, Principal; Jonathan Hale, VP of Sales; Chandler Dean, Director of Development and Accounts Manager

Elation Professional is pleased to announce that Relation Lighting Agency (RLA) has been appointed the new sales representative for Elation Professional products in California, Nevada, and Hawaii. Headed by lighting industry veteran Robert Pullman, the new sales rep firm boasts decades of industry experience and will draw on that expertise to represent the entire Elation lighting portfolio, including Obsidian Control Systems and Magmatic atmospheric effects.Read More »Relation Lighting Agency (RLA) New Elation Sales Rep for California, Nevada, and Hawaii

Video of the Week: Women in Lighting // Celine Royer // Lighting Designer, Director, and Programmer

Celine Royer is a lighting designer, lighting director, and programmer who loves music and creating shows that appeal both to the audience and to the bands she works with. She has had an unusual path into lighting, switching from being a hairdresser and a singer in a band to a career as a lighting technician in France. She moved to the United States so that she could work with bigger shows and acts than the ones that were available to her in France. She has now worked with many different bands and acts including Jennifer Lopez, Linkin Park, Mike Shinoda and on Rupaul’s Drag Race for the World Tour and the Vegas residency.

Read More »Video of the Week: Women in Lighting // Celine Royer // Lighting Designer, Director, and Programmer

Top Tours of 2022

“Billboard” magazine recently ranked tours around the world by total ticket sales from November 2021 through October 2022. The Showtime section within PLSN’s January 2023 issue focuses on the lighting, staging and video production teams and equipment supporting these tours.

The Darkroom Creative Draws on GLP Classics for Walker Hayes’ Arena Tour

Nashville-based singer-songwriter Walker Hayes recently embarked on his first headline arena tour, with the help of The Darkroom Creative (Seth Jackson and Nathan Alves), who were responsible for the stage lighting. Helping them build their set was a bunch of classic but timeless ‘impression’ LED fixtures from GLP – notably around 60 of the compact X4 S LED washlights and X4 Bar 20 battens, agile workhorses which helped make the production budget stretch. The inventory was provided, as is so often the case on Darkroom’s projects, by Bandit Lites.Read More »The Darkroom Creative Draws on GLP Classics for Walker Hayes’ Arena Tour

Riley Clemmons Calls on Bandit Lites for ‘First Christmas Tour’

Rising artist Riley Clemmons launched her first head-lining tour with a lighting system provided by Bandit Lites. With over 210 million global streams and 50 million YouTube video views since the beginning of her almost decade long career, Clemmons’s soaring vocals and touching lyrics have endeared her to millions of fans around the world. The First Christmas Tour is named for her hit Christmas song.Read More »Riley Clemmons Calls on Bandit Lites for ‘First Christmas Tour’