USA - As Covid-19 impacts almost every aspect of the entertainment industry, ETCP Certified Technicians, with support of the IATSE (The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees), are stepping up to put their expertise and available equipment to good use.
Michael Barnes, IATSE international vice-president and business agent for Local 8 says: “This is spreading way too quickly, and we felt like we have to do something to help. If you are helping you can’t feel helpless, and that is not where we want to be. IATSE Locals across the country are contacting governors state-by-state to offer their expertise in the installation of temporary structures to assist in the development of emergency field hospitals for Covid-19.”
Barnes continues: “I sincerely believe the model that is traditionally deployed in situations like this can be drastically improved upon. Implementing the use of rigging and lighting techniques we use every day to create temporary structures will result in a safer and more productive environment. The pre-engineered truss that we install for any temporary arena or outdoor stage allows much more flexibility; with the touch of a button, we can give health care personnel exactly what they need to operate most efficiently.
“No one is better prepared to solve a dilemma creatively than an entertainment industry professional. ETCP Certified technicians are very well-versed in setting up large volumes of equipment for touring shows in under 12 hours. The fact that we can use our skills to help save lives in a time of crisis

UK - A team of entertainment technology professionals have joined forces to form People Powered UK in a bid to help relieve the pressures of the NHS during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The initiative was started by LDs Katharine Williams and Jono Kenyon and has so far amassed 915 members and counting from across the entertainment and live event industries. Williams previously worked on Crew for Calais, a project that saw event professionals build shelters for refugees, whilst Kenyon has first-hand insight into the pressures of the UK’s health service thanks to his partner, an ITU worker.

A statement from People Powered UK says: “People who usually work at venues such as the London Roundhouse and provide production services to festivals are working together across the entire UK. They’re using skills and ingenuity honed building festival infrastructure to provide structures quickly and effectively, and sourcing equipment from outside the NHS’s usual supply chain to provide solutions to challenges hospitals are currently experiencing. Production people already work with emergency services and local authorities at SAGs, on health and safety, and at planning meetings, so already speak the same language.”

Sam Oldham, commercial and operations director of Camden arts venue the Roundhouse comments: "Our industry is full of highly skilled workers, many of whom are currently out of work or have been furloughed. They have essential skills which can be used to support the NHS and we're so proud to see the Roundhouse technical and producti

Germany - Hamburg rapper Samy Deluxe did not choose to celebrate his birthday privately, but instead filled the Hamburg Barclaycard Arena with around 12,000 fans last December. The show, which also marked the end of his successful SaMTV Unplugged tour, was attended by numerous guests. On top of that was the unexpected release of his new album Hochkultur, which was also given as a present to all birthday guests.
LD Bertil Mark, who has been working on the artist’s tour design since 2019 (after handling various festival engagements in previous years), was given the task of transferring the ‘living room’ atmosphere endemic to an unplugged concert to Hamburg's largest concert location. In terms of lighting technology, he included 24 GLP impression X4L, 12 X4 Bar 20, 22 JDC1 hybrid strobes and 18 Highlander Wash lights, in his set design.
“’Unplugged’ always implies something warm - a kind of living room acoustic atmosphere - and that was also the idea for this show set,” explains Bertil. "Samy's own musical implementation of the unplugged concept was extremely 'fresh' overall and so I was able to develop theme based on that. In the end it became a nice mixture of old and new technology, along with some wooden set elements."
Bertil, who regularly turns to GLP solutions, had already used the S350, X4S, X4 Bar 20 and JDC1 during the unplugged tour in March and April. X4 Bar and JDC1 in particular are among his standard tools. “The X4 Bars are my fixture of choice for 3D light surfaces and light curtains. In single-pixel mode, they ar

Spain - Marea has been rocking for over 20 years as one of the most popular Rock en Español bands around. In 2019, the band released their first album in eight years, El Azogue and promptly hit the road in support with renowned Spanish lighting designer Miguel González on board to define the visual concept.
Gonzalez has worked with a variety of high-profile acts over the years, including Marea since 2007, and incorporated 52 Elation Chorus Line 8 LED battens in his design. Seeking a linear light that was something more than a static wash light, he chose the Chorus Line 8 for its 4 to 40-degree zoom and 220-degree tilt axis movement, dynamism that allows it to fulfill a number of roles in a single show from directional stage wash to dynamic eye candy effect.
“I chose the Chorus Line for its versatility and the short 50cm length, which gave me plenty of possibilities when positioned in vertical truss pipes. The fast zoom and the speed of the tilt movement added vitality and I used them quite a bit throughout the show,” stated González, who also handled programming and lighting desk operation on the tour.
The Chorus Line 8 fixtures were positioned in eight 2m vertical truss pipes, four fixtures per pipe, with the remaining fixtures located under a stage riser (behind retro lenses), a position that allowed the LD to take advantage of the fixture’s zoom. “The Chorus Line 8 played a major part in every scene of the show,” he said, “from pixel-mapping effects to fast beam sweeps.”
One of Spain’s largest AV rental companies

Serbia - With an impressive line-up of EDM stars, the Green Love Festival in Novi Sad has grown into a magnet for music fans, not just for its sounds, but for its visual treats as well. Aside from being located in a beautiful vibrant city on the Danube that was designated the European Capital of Culture for 2021 by the EU, the indoor and outdoor festival also wows fans with some stunning stage panoramas.
This was readily apparent in the looks that lighting designer Predrag Djordjević and stage designer Dragan Rajčin from Chameleon Rental conjured up for artists like Spartaque, Metodi Hristov and Fernanda Martins during the most recent incarnation of the festival. With its crossing patterns of beams set off against a massive wall of bright blinders and video panels, their design wrapped itself around the music, commanding attention without taking attention away from the artists.
Aiding them in this endeavour was a collection of over 100 Chauvet Professional fixtures supplied by Chameleon Rental that included 16 Maverick MK1 Spot, 20 Maverick MK2 Wash, 24 Rogue R2 Beam, and 60 Rogue R2X Beam fixtures.
Massing some of their fixtures along the upstage wall to create a stunning backdrop, positioning some on the stage deck, and flying the remainder on overhead truss that extended midway through the indoor performance area, they were able to immerse the crowd in a field of light from multiple directions.
Key to providing a colourful visual foundation to underline the electronic beats was the output from the combination of Maverick MK1 Spot and MK2

UK - The Space is a theatre training complex for 16-19 year-olds at Heathfield Community School, located next door to Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre in Taunton, Somerset.
The complex includes an 85-seat performance theatre, dance and drama studios all kitted out to high technical specifications - including new Zero 88 Chilli Pro 24 Bypass dimmers.
The facility offers young people in the south-west of the country opportunities for developing future careers in the performing arts. It specialises in a range of interrelated disciplines including dance, acting, film, production arts, makeup, set design and building, and more, with an intake of around 80 students over two years.
The Space’s technical manager Tom Froom explained that the students from both years will produce between 10 and 12 shows over the course of the academic year.
Tom has been at The Space for three years having started as a student there himself and before undertaking a two-year apprenticeship at Tacchi-Morris and The Space. He expresses the importance of having the latest technologies available as part of the learning tools to benefit students.
The new Chilli Pro dimmers have replaced older units which had been in residence for around a decade.
They control 120 circuits of lighting. Currently, the lighting rig includes Selecon Rama 150 and Acclaim PC’s, ETC Source Four Zooms and Source Four Juniors plus a lot of PARs all on the LX rig above the 8 x 8 metre stage. The venue also has retractable seating for configuring in different formats.
They sometimes use

Australia - Canberra -based technical production and event specialist and rental company Elite Event Technology ensured that Horizon 2020 – the Friday Night Party event that was part of the Australian National University Students' Association (ANUSA)’s annual Orientation (freshers) Week activities in February – had appropriate lighting and sound for their main stage.
Staged at the Fellows Oval sports ground on the University of Canberra campus in ACT, around 3000 students enjoyed great weather and a line-up of young emerging talent including Cub Sport, Holy Holy, Wafia, Graace, Remi, Adrian Eagle and Hayley Mary.
Elite also provided a d&b PA system for the event. The company supplies lighting, sound and AV production for numerous other functions at the university.
The lighting rig was based around a festival lighting spec created by headliner Club Sport’s LD Jake Ploss.
Elite’s owner and house FOH sound engineer for the night Darren Russell took this as a starting point and – in consultation with Jake – modified elements to make it practical for the event and to fit the 14-metre-wide truck stage.
The stage offered 6.5m of headroom to its structural gantry, below which Elite flew their four production trusses.
Elite’s Blake Watkin operated lighting for all the other bands apart from Club Sport and the challenge was in lighting each artist differently to match their performance and musical style. With the Robes on the rig, there was plenty of versatility and dynamics!
Over 60 per cent played in daylight wh

Germany - The ARRI Academy has announced the launch of a new course designed for all levels of lighting and video production professionals. Lighting Systems Control with Richard Cadena is an 11-part video course that serves as a guide to get you up and running with digital lighting control, using DMX, RDM, Wireless DMX, and ethernet-based networks.
The series consists of short, informative videos with classes ranging in length from five minutes to 34 minutes. Course attendees will gain a working knowledge of standard and emerging technologies and will be trained on the latest lighting technology. The complete list of classes is as follows: DMX, Building DMX network, Troubleshooting DMX network, RDM, Wireless DMX, Intro to ethernet-based networking, Testing ethernet-based networks: PING and IPCONGIF commands, Art-Net, sACN, Consoles, and ARRI LED Ecosystem.
The series is taught by Richard Cadena, LSi columnist and an ETCP-recognised trainer and certified entertainment electrician. Cadena brings over 30 years of lighting industry experience and has been training entertainment lighting professionals around the globe.
The series gives an overview of established and emerging technologies, best practices, and guides users on how to troubleshoot potential issues. Cadena’s insight into the discipline of lighting and the industry is extensive. In the episode on Wireless DMX, for example, he explains, “When people tell me, ‘Oh, I don't trust wireless DMX,’ I start asking questions.” Cadena continues. “‘Well, what kind of wireless were you

China - Chinese industry is now back to work following the Covid-19 crisis, and Guangzhou-based PR Lighting marked the start of a new month by putting out a statement reassuring their global reseller and customer base that it is once again business as usual.
China was the first country to register the outbreak of the coronavirus (on 31 December, 2019) and while production remained temporarily idle throughout the country during lockdown, PR Lighting used the first quarter of the new year not only to fine tune new products already under development but to make some strategic changes to their global sales infrastructure.
“PR Lighting is back running 100% as normal,” confirmed company president, Dave Liang. “Our technical and marketing departments are fully operational, and production and shipment are back on schedule. We would like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding during these unprecedented times.”
Moving forward, PR Lighting’s senior sales managers, Lawrence Mao and Bruce Tian, stated, “Although the pandemic in China is now well under control we are aware that much of the globe is presently trapped in crisis. We want to reassure customers that we are here, ready to support them in whatever way we can with their needs. Meanwhile, we are grateful to our international network of distributors and dealers for marketing the products in their local territories.”
The two men emphasised that PR Lighting holds plenty of inventory of all popular items. “These are available for shipment, subject to the current transport

USA - Bandit Lites has announced that long-time team member Stephanie McSpadden will be taking on a new role as a sales support manager. Her new duties will include overseeing sales invoicing, administrative support of inventory, sales project management within accounting, tax reporting, fixed asset reporting, revenue recognition and project administration.
“All these functions occur as Stephanie is seated in a position between sales and accounting,” comments Bandit Lites chair and founder Michael T. Strickland. “She is truly a hybrid leader in her functionality.”
McSpadden first joined Bandit in 2007 as the Knoxville office manager, answering phones and assisting each department as needed. She then joined the purchasing department to support inventory management and shipping followed by a move to the sales department.
“I am so very proud of Stephanie, not just for her daily accomplishments at work, but for the phenomenal task of earning an MBA while working and being a wife and mother,” adds Strickland. “Stephanie is part of a transformational team that is and has been leading Bandit to new, higher areas in business.”

Europe - Madrix 5 software has always been available as a demo version for everyone to try out the pixel mapper at the convenience of their own work machines.
Madrix 5.1 launched the additional 'pre-programmer' software license to facilitate show and project preparation without the need for a full output licence.
A new way to fully test Madrix 5 is now being introduced as an additional resource to support the current workflow needs of operators, lighting designers, VJs, and project companies around the world.
Madrix 5 professional is an extensive software licence, which is available free of charge as a time-limited license that works until 1 June 2020. It is fully functioning within this time frame. The only requirement is to make a small, one-time purchase for a Madrix Key from a local dealer. This USB dongle then remains universally usable for the range of Madrix software products and licences.

Thailand - The Office of the Permanent Secretary for Defence recently upgraded its headquarters with Harman Professional Solutions AV, lighting and control systems.
Part of Thailand’s Ministry of Defence, the Office of the Permanent Secretary is responsible for determining strategic goals, executing plans, drafting policy and the inspection and monitoring of the Royal Thai Armed Forces.
Occupying a grand, nine-story building with multiple wings outside Bangkok, the organisation’s headquarters includes a multipurpose hall which can seat 1,500 and be divided into two separate spaces on demand. To ensure world-class sound, video, lighting and control for presentations and events, the Office of the Permanent Secretary deployed a range of solutions from JBL Professional, Crown, Soundcraft, BSS, Martin Professional and AMX.
"The client needed cutting-edge AV and stage lighting systems for the multipurpose hall that seats 1,500 people,” said Pongsakorn Kanchanachayphoom, director of project, Mahajak Development Co. “A robust and flexible solution was necessary to facilitate different types of events. Evaluating these requirements, we designed a system with Harman's industry-leading networked AV and lighting solutions, providing the client with the required flexibility and allowing them to upgrade the platform in the future."
To achieve suitable sound reinforcement in multiple room configurations, the Office of the Permanent Secretary installed a range of JBL loudspeakers in the main hall. When the hall is divided, 15-inch JBL AM7215 speakers

South Africa - Days before lockdown, thousands of fans gathered at the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria to celebrate the 2020 edition of RAMfest, South Africa’s music festival for all things alternative.
This years’ line up included some of South Africa’s most popular alternative bands, including Facing the Gallows, Peasant, Man as Machine, Newtown Knife Gang, The Valley, Stoker, and Truth & It’s Burden. Highlights of the event included a much-anticipated reunion show by South African rock legends, The Van Coke Kartel and USA-based death metal giants, The Black Dahlia Murder, who headlined the one-day festival.
Festival organisers Real Alternative Music (RAM) once again contracted Stage Effects and Blue Array Productions to provide technical services for the event. Stage Effects’ Erik de Bruin has been working with RAM on the festival for several years and he says that it is one of his favourite festivals to work on.
In the lead up to this years’ RAMfest, Erik used the opportunity to give an up-and-coming young lighting designer, Ethan Benjamin, a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get behind an MA3 light console at a festival of this size.
“A few years ago, I found this young guy, Ethan Benjamin, on YouTube, who was making videos about his experience programming on the MA2 platform. I got a hold of him and discovered that, at the tender age of 16, he had taught himself how to programme an MA2 by following YouTube tutorials and online resources. I decided to allow him the opportunity to programme a few gigs over the past two years

USA - Mirror balls have been used to create atmosphere in dancehalls and nightclubs for almost a century, and became synonymous with the ‘70s disco explosion. Dance Studio Vol. 1, the latest new addition to the nightlife scene in Chicago’s River North neighbourhood, takes this lighting staple to a new level by filling the ceiling above its dancefloor completely with ADJ mirror balls of various sizes.
The new nightclub and event space is a renovation of the ‘dearly departed’ Studio Paris, which closed in January 2019 after an eight-year run. With a totally redesigned interior, Dance Studio Vol. 1 is a 350-person venue that hosts live music, DJs and ‘surprise entertainment’. It features a lighting system that was designed and installed by Craft Lighting, a Chicago-based AV design and integration company.
Craft Lighting supplied and installed a total of 470 ADJ mirror balls of different sizes, hanging them at various heights to create a sea of glass facets above the heads of dancers. A mixture of standard 8”, 12”, 16” and 20” balls were combined with three of ADJ’s huge 40” units to create a truly dazzling, eye-catching installation which surrounds a moving light package consisting of fixtures from ADJ’s sister company Elation Professional.
“The mirror ball installation sprung from conversations and design explorations with the client,” explains Noah Craft, owner and lead designer for Craft Lighting. “They were exploring visual themes for this project that relied on repeating patterns/textures and wanted to evoke feeli

USA - High End Systems has announced new live events via its Study Hall programme, featuring webinars, Q&As, and round tables led by both employee experts and friends around the industry. “The content will be geared toward all our audiences around the globe, including dedicated events for just our dealers and reps - so be sure to log in to MyETC to see all the upcoming listings!” suggests HES.
This week’s schedule includes: Thursday, 2 April, 10:00 am CDT - Intro to Controls Networking - “It's all about making meaningful connections... between the components of your lighting system! ETC NYC's Nick Gonsman presents a special intro to the theory and practice of controls networking.”
Thursday, 2 April, 12:00 pm CDT - Let’s Go Hog Wild - “Join Maegan Wilson and Noah Allen, product support specialists for High End Systems, as they will cover the basics of the Hog 4 console, including console layout, navigation, patching, and controlling fixtures.”
Says HES, “We welcome your feedback, so please reach out to the HES Sales team with any suggestions and topic ideas. In the meantime, stay safe and stay connected.”

UK - Touring and live events may be on hold for now, but learning and career development continue to move forward at the ChamSys Training Academy. The lighting console maker has been actively expanding its online education resources with new courses, tutorials and appointment opportunities being added on a continuous basis. In addition to providing programmers with the chance to sharpen their skills (and develop new ones), the academy is serving as a platform for them to remain connected to the industry in the wake of the closings and cancelations that have taken place.
Open to anyone, the academy offers daily online webinar training sessions. Conducted by active lighting designers and programmers, like Philip Watson, Brett Lorins and Charles Courser, these sessions cover a range of basic, intermediate and advanced topics.
The ChamSys Training Academy also features an expanded menu of video tutorials, including Beginners Sessions that provided a basic look at subjects like windows, buttons, faders and shortcuts; to Intermediate Sessions that deliver in-depth guides to topics like using the Execute Window to its maximum benefit. An extensive collection of Advanced Sessions is currently under development.
Another highlight of the academy is its free MagicQ and QuickQ online training sessions. Free of charge, the sessions provide practical user-friendly guides to mastering these powerful software tools.
For programmers and designers seeking a more personal learning experience, the ChamSys Training Academy offers one-one-one consultations duri

Europe - Lightpower has announced a number of organisational changes and senior personnel moves. “After 42 years of successful activity on the market, it is time for our company to take another step,” says a statement.
“Over the years, our company has developed and established numerous national and international business activities. In order to give these businesses a common roof, we have founded the Lightpower Holding company. The task of this holding company is to act as a control centre for all underlying companies and to develop future strategies in close cooperation with their managing directors.”
The establishment of the holding company is also accompanied by a change in the management of Lightpower GmbH. As part of this process, Herbert Marx and Michael Rickers will succeed Ralph-Jörg Wezorke, managing director of Lightpower and Franz-Josef Wewer, authorised representative of Lightpower.
As joint managing director, Herbert Marx is responsible for sales, marketing and purchase. Herbert Marx, a well-known personality within the industry, is appointed to the management board. Having been with the company for 12 years, Marx initially worked as marketing manager before he took over as director of sales.
Michael Rickers also becomes joint managing director and concentrates on the areas of finance, human resources and organisation. Michael has been with Lightpower for three years. Prior to this, Michael was responsible for finance and controlling at a German Bundesliga football club for several years.
Additionally, the managemen

UK - Stage Electrics has won the contract to complete the technical fit out of production lighting, sound, video, comms and stage engineering systems at the new purpose built, fully accessible, Brixtonhouse Theatre (formerly Ovalhouse Theatre) which forms part of the Somerleyton Road Project in the heart of Brixton.
The new building will have two performance venues and seven multi-use accessible studios and a whole new inventory of equipment and is set to at the end of 2020.
Stage Electrics will again be working with main contractor Galliford Try with who they previously completed the Southampton New Art Complex.

USA - Community Christian Church in Tamarac, FL, has been livestreaming Sunday services for over two years, but until recently, they always were conducted before a room filled with worshippers. When concerns about Covid-19 prompted the church to hold services inside an empty building, its tech team, which includes media pastor Bill Kelly, director of communications Vinny Cesar and visual arts director Kevis Mulchan, began revising its streaming strategy.
“We felt that not having people in the church would necessitate some changes,” said Mulchan. “Our initial thought was that it would not be good to show a room full of empty seats on our online broadcasts. However, by the second week of doing this, we reversed course, coming to realise that it was actually a good thing to show the vacant space, since this emphasized that the church is not the building itself, but the individual people out in the community.”
The Community Christian team continues to tweak their livestreaming strategy to account for the absence of worshippers at services. “Since we are now lighting exclusively for an online audience it is different,” said Mulchan. “We’re lighting only for the camera, so I’ve been intentionally looking at new ways to position lights and camera in relation to the band and vocalists. Conveying energy on camera has been a focus of mine.”
Helping Mulchan convey that energy are the eight Chauvet Professional Maverick MK2 Spot and 14 COLORdash Batten Quad-12 fixtures in the church’s rig. Drawing on the output of these fixtures along wi

USA - Boston is a town with many traditions and one festive custom that Bostonians have enjoyed since 1975 is First Night Boston, New England’s biggest New Year’s Eve celebration. Produced by Conventures, Inc., this past season’s festivities were lit by Port Lighting Systems using Elation weatherproof luminaires. First Night Boston is an event the New Hampshire-based lighting specialists have worked for many years.
As veterans of First Night Boston and other outdoor events, Port Lighting Systems knew the secret to its success would be carefully selecting equipment and crew. “We tapped team members with experience lighting in all weather conditions, and chose a combination of outdoor-rated fixtures, equipment designed to protect fixtures from the elements, and back-up gear should anything fail,” says Port Lighting’s Graham Edmondson, who served as production manager on the project.
Port Lighting Systems also designed all the lighting looks for the event, which included a light show in Copley Square along with illumination of the Ice Pavilion, the mainstage in front of Trinity Church Boston, the facades of the surrounding buildings, and the midnight countdown clock. “In the past, we’ve projected patterns onto the Fairmont Copley building in Copley Square and the Boston Public Library,” Edmondson explains. “This year we wanted to add a base colour layer to the buildings as well.”
With the express goal of bringing energy and excitement to the New Year’s revelry, no matter the weather conditions, Port Lightin

Canada/Europe - Montreal-based visual design practice Luz Studio, headed by Matthieu Larivée, created the eye-catching production design at the core of French-Canadian singer and impressionist Véronic DiCaire’s Showgirl tour, which had a very successful launch in Canada in December 2019, then toured arenas in Europe, before the coronavirus pandemic took hold and curtailed all live events.
The Showgirl concept saw the artist delivering material written / performed by around 50 female vocalists - from Dua Lipa to Celine Dion - in their style and voices, backed by six dancers and four musicians.
Matthieu proposed a harmonious and integrated set, lighting and video design which featured Robe moving lights at the centre, with 28 MegaPointes and 12 Spiiders, plus six BMFL Blades and two BMFL Spots being used with a RoboSpot remote follow-spotting system.
The stage architecture was defined by five distinctive LED columns onstage, a central flat-plane LED surface flanked by four three-sided columns with the four musicians in the middle, which allowed them to be concealed and revealed as desired. This highly effective visual trickery also preserved the form and structure of the performance space.
Working closely with the artist herself and her creative team including show director Josée Fortier, choreography / stage director Geneviève Dorion-Coupal and artistic director Patricia Ruel, Matthieu developed the lighting and video content together into a coherent aesthetic treatment for each segment of the show.
“Véronic was e

USA - For those missing the comradery and exuberance of a live concert experience, long-time Bandit Lites client Garth Brooks offered some words of encouragement amidst a one-hour Facebook live stream that was so popular, it apparently kept crashing the social media site. Brooks was recently honoured as this year's recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.
“Garth stands alone in music at this point,” said Bandit Lites founder and chair, Michael T. Strickland. “Never has anyone been so impactful, yet so giving to the world as a whole. There is never a cause or a moment that Garth does not only rise to the occasion, but he sets the bar. Garth and Trisha provided a free concert for anyone that cared to listen, an incredible move that was 100% them giving of themselves to a public in need of a moment of relief. Thank you Garth and Trisha; we can all learn from you both. I love you both.”
With more than 50,000 requests pouring in, Trisha Yearwood and Brooks entertained the 3.4m watching at home with renditions of Shallow, Whiskey to Wine, Amazing Grace and even Ed Sheeran’s Perfect.
Brooks has postponed his upcoming concerts in Charlotte, NC and Cincinnati, OH with promises to reschedule and honour all tickets. Bandit Lites provides the lighting system for The Garth Brooks Stadium Tour and looks forward to returning to the road with the legendary entertainer, although no one seems more anxious than Garth himself.
“I need this more than anybody,” Brooks shared, and while he or

Europe - As the industry is facing an unprecedented down-time as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, French lighting manufacturer Ayrton wants to help break up the monotony by offering an opportunity for creatives who are self-isolating.
“Let’s channel that creative energy into something positive and fun," says the company. "Show us what you can do by participating in the Ayrton Boredom Buster!”
To get involved, create a show to the song of your choosing using your favourite pre-visualisation software and an ‘Ayrton only’ virtual lighting rig, and submit your video, mailing address and shirt size via email to bb@ayrton.eu with the subject Ayrton Boredom Buster.
In return, you could receive swag and an opportunity to be featured on Ayrton’s social media pages.
Ayrton is also urging people to follow its social media pages for the latest information on the initiative at #AyrtonBoredomBuster.

USA - Over the next few weeks, ADJ will host a series of live video broadcasts that will provide educational content and in-depth product overviews. Each installment of Stay Connected will have a specific focus and provide an opportunity for lighting and event professionals to upskill from the safety and comfort of their own homes ready for when the covid-19 pandemic is over.
This is the season that ADJ, like many in the industry, would usually be exhibiting at trade shows around the world, demonstrating its latest products to new and prospective customers. In lieu of these industry events, which have all been cancelled or postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak, ADJ wants to offer something of the tradeshow experience but in a way that can be accessed safely in these times of social distancing and home working.
ADJ wants to serve the industry by providing free education to help event professionals prepare for returning to work. Each Stay Connected session will be packed with practical ideas, tips and insight designed to teach, equip and inspire. broadcast via Facebook Live, each video will also feature interactive elements allowing viewers to ask questions directly to the product specialists on camera.
“We are living through unprecedented times,” comments ADJ USA’s national sales manager, Alfred Gonzales, “and our hearts go out to everyone who has been affected by the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, especially within the lighting industry that we love and serve. We are also sad to be missing out on the opportunity to meet wi