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Prolight + Sound 2016 Show Report

PLSN Show Report - 2016 Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt, Germany

Prolight + Sound 2016 Show Report

The 2016 Prolight + Sound and Musikmesse exhibitions in Frankfurt, Germany swapped physical locations this year, and instead of being held concurrently, the show dates were staggered, with Prolight + Sound running April 5-8 and Musikmesse held April 7-10. It’s part of the organizer’s re-launch of Musikmesse from a trade fair to more of a consumer music event and festival. Not everyone was happy with the changes, of course, but that didn’t hurt the overall stats for Prolight + Sound — which enjoyed an increase in total exhibitors (from 920 to 940) and a 16 percent increase in the exhibition display area. And as ever, there were plenty of technological advances on show.

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Bruce Springsteen 2016 'River' tour photo by Steve Jennings

Q&A with Jeff Ravitz and Peter Daniel on Bruce Springsteen’s 2016 ‘River’ Tour

“Can you recreate a 1980s concert look in 2016?” Bruce Springsteen asked of his longtime LD Jeff Ravitz. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band’s The River Tour 2016 commemorates the release of the double album of the same name in 1980, and Bruce wanted the old vibe of yesterday to flow into his new shows today. A challenging idea, especially since fixtures and video equipment are light years ahead of where they were then. LD Jeff Ravitz has been working with The Boss since 1984, but he shuddered when the phrase “PAR cans” was bandied about. And video? Not much in 1980. PLSN looked at the lighting from Morpheus Lights and video production from Pete’s Big TVs on this current tour.

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Ultra Music Festival main stage photo by Adam Kaplan

Miami Ultra Music Festival 2016

Words cannot quite capture the visual extravaganza that is Miami Ultra Music Festival (UMF) 2016. Now in its 18th year, the hugely popular electronic dance music (EDM) event held annually on Bayfront in downtown Miami, played host to a sellout crowd of more than 165,000 over three days, from March 24-26. The event’s Main Stage, Carl Cox & Friends Stage and World Wide Stage would each be, by themselves, impressive enough to anchor a major music festival. Combined and extended by other stages, including the U.S. debut of the flame-shooting Arcadia Spider on the Resistance Stage, the Ultra Music Festival retains its perch as a world-class blockbuster event.

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Mythos light used as FOH spots pick out Pete Wentz. Photo by Justin Segura

Robb Jibson is Just So Midwest

Fall Out Boy Wraps Up a Two-Year Tour with a Fresh Look

It’s been about 20 years since Robb Jibson graduated from high school and got his tail back to Chicago, the town he loves and swears his allegiance to. He’s been practicing lighting ever since, and from what I saw at the Fall Out Boy (FOB) show the other night in Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN, he has mastered his skill. Even as he claims, “I’m never done building this show. I will be refining it until the last gig.”

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Mountain Productions MTN BOX Spektrum Series SM Road Case

Mountain Productions MTN BOX Spektrum Series SM Road Case

Mountain Productions’ MTN BOX: Spektrum Series SM road case offers the same high level of durability and versatility as the original MTN BOX design, but in a smaller, more compact size. This road case is designed to optimize truck packs and provides an adaptable storage system for users looking for a manageable sized case that’s tougher than the road traveled.

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The band played behind a curtain of laser beams from Lightwave International. Photo by Erik Kabic Photography.

The Killers Help Launch T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas

Major Laser and Light Show Augments a Dynamic Evening in Vegas’ Biggest Venue

The opening weekend of MGM Resorts $375 million T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas was filled with non-stop action from several shows. Starting off with the best that Vegas has to offer on April 6 were hometown heroes The Killers. A large production was designed by long time production and lighting designer for this act, Steven Douglas; with all the production elements one would expect for a first class rock show opening a mega venue.

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DVM-HDT HDMI Toolkit from Sommer Cable

DVM-HDT HDMI Toolkit from Sommer Cable

Sommer Cable America is introducing their DVM-HDT-KIT– HDMI Engineers Toolkit with 4K and HDMI 2.0 support at the at NAB show in Las Vegas. The kit promises to make HDMI installations easier for rental companies while also enhancing trouble-shooting and product development.

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Seth Jackson joined TPI earlier this year. Pictured here, from left, are Gene Brian, Seth Jackson, Elizabeth O’Keefe and Michael O’Keefe.

LD Seth Jackson’s Ever-Evolving Career

One remarkable and impressive transition after another has happened for Parnelli Award-winning lighting designer Seth Jackson’s career since he was a teenager growing up in St. Louis. “I hate to say this, since my students might see this, but I only got my first job with a resume. Everything else has been an evolution of relationships,” he says. “I have always had such a passion for this business and this industry. I worked hard, I did a good job, I built the relationships, I studied the people that came before me, and the result is that I kept getting opportunities. It was never planned, per se, but I was obsessive about getting where I wanted to be.”

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In the dramatic last moments of Dialogues of the Carmelites at Eastman Opera, Blanche makes her way to the guillotine bathed in the light of the cross. Photo by Nic Minetor

Opera Lighting: Broad Strokes, Big Drama

When the production staff at San Diego Opera opened the containers from the rental house — the ones that were supposed to contain the Michael Yeargan-designed set for their production of Aida — they could hardly believe what they saw. They saw nothing. The containers were empty. Their one-week production schedule did not allow for setbacks, nor could they replicate the set in their own scene shop. The automated, winch-driven scenery with its steeply raked floor had to exist somewhere, but finding it could take hours, or even days.

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