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Photos by Michael Sparks Keegan

Rhythm and Roots Festival

Ninigret Park in Charlestown, RI was the setting for the 20th annual Rhythm and Roots Festival held on Labor Day weekend 2017. The festival has become a “must do” event for hundreds of families who enjoy a variety of musical styles including Zydeco, Celtic, Cajun, Tex-Mex. People of all ages enjoy the laid-back vibe at the 220 acre park in the seaside community of Charlestown, RI. The park features picnic areas, a freshwater swimming pond and the Frosty Drew Nature Center and Observatory and hosts a number of events over the summer months.

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Zedd, with floating DJ riser and table. Photo by Travis Shirley

Zedd, Springsteen, Grouplove, Plant, Bleachers and a New American Idol

Russian-German EDM artist Zedd is on tour until Nov. 4 in Mexico with a creative team headed by show and production designer Travis Shirley. Longtime LD and lighting director Steven Hernandez and tour director Ken Floyd are also on board for the trek. “Zedd and his team were looking to get a bit more theatrical with the ‘Echo’ tour,” Shirley says. “We created a unique LED configuration along with a custom floating DJ riser and table and several projection moments throughout the show.”

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Ben Rodman of Infinity Productions created the DMX-controlled 'crossed sabres' scenic element. Photo courtesy Bill Wippert-Buffalo Sabres.

Crossfade Design Sharpens Buffalo Sabre’s Looks

The demand by audiences for more entertainment value for their buck has opened a whole new industry for live entertainment designers, that of sports. Following the example generated during the Predators/Penguin playoffs, the National Hockey League (NHL) is advocating all their teams to step up entertainment production surrounding their teams’ games.

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The Milos MR5 Heavy-Duty pitched roof measured 31 by 18 meters.

TimeShift Festival

The inaugural EDM event in Bucharest, Romania required a lot of gear. Milos had the main stage covered with the largest MR5 heavy-duty roof structure ever assembled. The tilted roof measured 31 by 18 meters.

The inaugural TimeShift festival in Bucharest, Romania also served as the debut of the largest roof ever engineered and sold by Milos. The MR5 heavy-duty pitched roof, which measured 31 by 18 meters, or about 102 by 59 feet, covered the main stage for the four-stage event, which was held July 20-23, 2017 and drew big crowds with a lineup that included David Guetta, DJ Snake and Bloc Party.

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Sound guys can benefit, too - the Console Shade is pictured here on a DiGiCo audio mixer.

The Console Shade

It’s a hot one down here in Tennessee. I’m sweating just watching the local crew drag the control snake out to my lighting desk. The dust rises from the brown grass, the roof on the stage provides no relief from the blistering rays. My front of house platform is someone’s idea of a joke as there’s a plywood floor with some 12-inch truss slammed together around myself and two other operators that wouldn’t protect any of us in a storm. Yup, it’s another long day in a field where I must battle the elements and try my hardest to focus a moving light rig in the sun, before the crowd comes in.

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The company started out as Bay Fireworks, and aerial shell displays are still an important part of their business.

Pyro Engineering

Fireworks Company Now Offers Broad Array of Pyro, Lasers and Special Effects

We recently sat down with Dennis Brady, the CEO of Pyro Engineering, an effects company with main headquarters located in Bethpage, NY, a New York City suburb on Long Island. He introduced us to a company that has been blowing up explosives for more than 30 years and providing other thrilling effects in recent years.

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The show is a mix of timecode and manually-triggered lights. Pictured here, GLP impression X4 Wash fixtures can be seen lighting the stage. All photos by Kevin M. Mitchell

Mary J Blige ‘Strength of a Woman’ Tour

LD Ryan Williams Brings Arena-Style Lighting to Theater-Sized Show

Ryan Williams launched an arena-style look made for a theater tour — and at the Mary J. Blige Sept. 13 show in St. Louis’ Fabulous Fox 4,500-seat theater, he did it impressively. “The Fox is an intimate space, but believe me, we have been in even smaller venues,” William says. “We rig for where we’re at. Overall, this tour rig is a little modest compared to her normal arena tours, but it packs a bit of a punch.”

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Queen + Adam Lambert 2017 tour photos by Steve Jennings

Queen + Adam Lambert World Tour 2017

Queen + Adam Lambert are back on tour and it also happens to be the 40th Anniversary of the News of the World album, which is nicely tied into the concept of the show. We talked to two key individuals who both have history with the band from previous Queen tours, lighting designer & director Rob Sinclair and set designer Ric Lipson of Stufish.

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Front and back view of d3's gx 1

d3 Technologies gx 1 and gx 2

In mid 2017, d3 Technologies revealed its newest and fastest range of servers to date, the gx range. With two models, the gx 1 and gx 2, the new systems meet the increasing demand for real-time generative effects, and then some. Let’s take a closer look at some of its impressive features.

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4Wall OC and 4Wall PA provided the lighting and video for the 2017 NHL All-Star Party

4Wall Entertainment – On the Move

Lighting Rental Company Expands into New Markets and Video, Acquiring Tools and Talent

With rapid growth more than doubling its number of facilities around the U.S. in just a two-year span, Las Vegas-based 4Wall Entertainment is clearly a company on the move — both geographically, and in terms of the expanding array of services it can offer to clients. But those in charge are saying that the growth is more a reflection of the needs of its thousands of clients rather than just growth for growth’s sake.

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