Multi-platinum RCA Records Nashville entertainer Chris Young headlined the first-ever socially distanced concert at Coolray Field on Nov. 14 with a lighting package provided by long-time vendor, Bandit Lites. Young, whose new single “Famous Friends” with Kane Brown released last month, was joined by special guests Cassadee Pope, Kameron Marlowe, and Payton Smith for the live show. The stadium setting allowed concert goers to have 6’ spaced, pod style seating on the field, in suites and in the stands with face coverings required at all times when guests were not in their designated seats.

ESI Production Services installs a Kara system in the historic venue’s main auditorium, enabling it to host a wide variety of music genres and other live events

WASHINGTON, DC – Bandit Lites Founder and Chair Michael T. Strickland testified before the United States Senate Subcommittee on Manufacturing, Trade, and Consumer Protection on December 15 about the effect of COVID-19 on the Live Event Industry. This testimony led to the passage of the new COVID Relief bill today.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Purple Schulz achieved great national fame as a German pop singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and radio presenter with titles such as "Sehnsucht", "Verliebte Jungs" and "Kleine Seen". In times of Corona he was also looking for ideas how to perform concerts despite the restrictions - with success. Recently, a collaboration came about that could not replace live music in the future, but could change it. Specifically, this involved a concert in which all the components were completely remotely controlled. On the technical side, a grandMA3 system, running grandMA3 software, was used for the control and for the lighting, among others, Prolights Pixie Zoom, Portman Lights P1 Retro and Portman Lights P3 PIX3L, as well as MAC Viper™ AirFX and MAC Viper™ Profile were specified by the design team.

Hollywood heartthrob Channing Tatum’s acclaimed dance show Magic Mike Live opened in Sydney, Australia on 17 December. It features a complex, dynamic all-new lighting design created by Philip Gladwell, using a rig supplied by TSL Lighting.

Tom utilized 154 x Robe MegaPointe moving lights – all supplied by Felix Lighting – as part of the lighting package which helped create a stylish super-clean architectural aesthetic for this year’s live broadcast. The popular online-voted awards show that recognizes achievements across multiple fields of entertainment took on a different format this year, with a digital live audience replacing a real one in the venue, all requiring a novel approach by camera director Ryan Polito, creative director Paul Caslin and production designer Florian Wieder.

When COVID-19 hit earlier this year, Hyacinth Belcher, President and CEO of full-service audiovisual company Onstage Systems, worked hard to find a way to bring live events back safely to the Dallas area. Belcher dedicated months to the project, which culminated in Capricorn Drive-In, a series of live events held at historic Fair Park, a 277-acre campus located just east of Downtown Dallas.
 

Colorado production house Brown Note Productions was hired by longtime client Danny Wimmer Presents to provide audio, lighting and video production for a special online performance by alt-rock band Puscifer from experimental town Arcosanti in the high desert of Arizona. Called on to create evocative visual atmospheres for the shoot was lighting designer Sarah Landau (A Perfect Circle, Childish Gambino, M83), who turned to an IP-rated rig of Elation lighting to brave the desert elements.

The 2020 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid (MBFWM)’s SS21 season show went ahead in its regular venue – Hall 14.1 at the Feria de Madrid – to a 30% capacity socially distanced live audience together with thousands more joining a livestream. Lighting designer Juanjo Saunier chose 38 x Robe MegaPointes, 20 x LEDWash 800s, 12 Spiider LED wash beams and three BMFL Follow Spots running on three separate remote control BaseStations to assist him with creating an eye-popping show.

On Saturday, millions of fans tuned in live to witness the most ambitious International Final of Red Bull Batalla de los Gallos yet. Taking place at a TV set at Pinewood Studios in the Dominican Republic, Red Bull Batalla de los Gallos celebrated the victory of Rapder in the world’s first rap competition set in a completely virtual world.Speaking about his victory, Rapder said:“I’m really happy - it hasn’t really hit me yet. It’s not the happiness in winning, it’s knowing everything I’ve gone through in my life, knowing that you can make mistakes, fall down, and keep going. I’m really happy. I’m really proud to have won this. I can’t wait to be back in Mexico and celebrate with my family.”

Like many in the lighting industry, Costa Rican lighting professional Emilio Aguilar has used the pandemic downtime to learn new competencies and better his skill set. Finding himself back home in Costa Rica last spring following Cirque du Soliel’s bankruptcy, Aguilar got in contact with longtime collaborators Luces y Sistemas, the exclusive distributor of Obsidian Control Systems products in Costa Rica. “I inquired about the NX2™ lighting console, which I thought would be the perfect console for the types of gigs I do,” he states. “They were happy to show me the console and in the end it was just what I wanted.” Luces y Sistemas provides full support for the entire Obsidian line of hardware and software lighting control solutions in Costa Rica.
 

The annual ARTE Concert Festival went virtual this year with three days of music live streamed to audiences worldwide.  Lighting Designer Pierre Claude deployed seven Claypaky A.leda B-EYE K10 fixtures, two dozen Claypaky HY B-EYE K25 LED washes and 16 ADB SVOBODA classic batten fixtures for the live musical performances shot at La Gaite Lyrique in Paris, November 13-15.

Luxury fashion brand Dior’s flagship London store has launched its festive Christmas display, unveiling an entirely video mapped frontage powered by a Hippotizer Nevis+ Media Server.

Remote Recording Network (RRN), Riedel Communications, TV Skyline, The Black Project, and 13 other partners collaborated in the production of a landmark virtual live event on Nov. 22-23 that brought together teams working remotely across four countries and three continents. Headed by Peter Brandt, CEO of RRN, the show represented the first-ever fully decentralized production of a live, global music event.

Sweden’s Malmo Opera presented an acclaimed production of musical classic “Funny Girl” as part of the autumn / winter repertory programme which continued to run despite the pandemic! Audience figures were dramatically reduced to 50 plus a livestream which could be enjoyed by all who had bought a ticket for each performance. Planned two years earlier and fully sold out many months in advance, Malmo Opera decided to go ahead in delivering all their dynamic seasonal main house productions as the budgets were already allocated and spent.