The contemporary glazed architectural masterpiece sits on the footprint of the previous 1976 theatre building (which replaced the original one built in 1934), providing a high-production-value performance environment and a cool 21^st-century counterpoint to the city’s historical Cathedral of St. John.

The new venue is a radiant modern entertainment and meeting hub, buzzing with energy and creativity in the heart of this picturesque city.

The Robe moving lights are divided between Theater aan de Parade’s two multi-purpose halls, the 920-seater Casino Hall and the Plein Hall, which accommodates 400 people.

The Robe product count breaks down to 23 T2 Profiles, 83 T1 Profiles, 11 T1 PC, 80 LEDBeam 350s, 3 TX1s, 12 CUETE Spots, 14 Tetra2s, which are used as cyc lighting, and 4 RoboSpot BaseStations with MotionCameras.

All of this was supplied via Robe’s Benelux distributor, Controllux, together with a number of other lights that completed the specification, plus control and networking infrastructure. Controllux’s project and sales lead Kuno van Velzen started work on this installation in 2022.

Theater aan de Parade stages over 300 performances annually from numerous visiting companies, plus an array of festival and business events, explained head of technical, Alphons Verhallen, who oversees a tech crew of 16.

The T1 and T2 Profiles were selected as the “best multispectral profile moving heads on the market,” commented Alphons.

Having a multispectral LED fixture at the core of the house lighting systems – as opposed to a white LED source – was a cornerstone of the lighting tender.

It is a frequent consideration for theatres and performance venues where perfect colour rendition and skin tones are vital. Robe’s additive colour mixing techniques ensure that these fixtures deliver the richest of saturated colours and the most delicate pastel shades, all with theatrical finesse and quality.

Highly flexible CCT control provides another layer of premium-quality whites that are key in lighting theatre, drama and dance pieces.

The T1 and T2 Profiles are located on the lighting bridges and over-stage bars in both halls. Seven of the T1 PCs are rigged on the Casino Hall portal bars and four on LX2 in the Plein Hall, where they are providing good wash capabilities, with the TX1s also used overhead in this space.

The LEDBeam 350s are multi-use fixtures and, among other things, replace six-bar moving PAR light effects in both halls. The Tetra2s are proving to be handy for cyc and effects lighting in the Plein Hall, especially for bands, concerts and music shows, together with the CUETE Spots, which are in this same location.

The RoboSpot systems are usually used with the T1 Profiles in either hall. They bring all the flexibility of a quicker setup, being able to position the operators backstage or offstage and enable the LD to choose which lights are used for spotting.

Alphons is very happy with the scenario and confident that the venue can offer its clients great value with this combination of technology.

He notes that some of the incoming companies are making full use of the lighting setup now on offer, while for some older touring shows still on the road with performances based on static and dimmed lightsources, the adaptation may take longer, but the process is definitely underway.

Technical planning for the new theatre originally started in 2018, and between then and now, the specs were modified slightly as new and more appropriate product choices came to the market. When the old building closed, Theater aan de Parade continued producing shows in a temporary venue – again with Robe products in the rig – while the construction was completed.

Alphons, who took up the technical management position for the new theatre to open its doors at the end of 2024, is delighted with the results so far. Apart from all the obvious advantages, the all-LED stage lighting is saving considerably on the previous operational power requirements.

Robe is a brand Alphons has been more familiar with since visiting the 2019 Prague Quadrennial, where Robe lit one of the main centrepieces, “Blue Hour” by Romain Tardy.

Key members of the tech crew have also visited the Robe factory in Valašské Meziříčí, and Alphons highlights the importance of a strong working relationship both with the brand and the local distributor.

Controllux also coordinated the installation of the lighting systems and their related control network.

Photo credit: Kuno van Velzen.

The post Theater aan de Parade reenergises with Robe appeared first on A1 Lighting Magazine.

The 70^th edition of the world’s best-known international pop extravaganza was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), together with the host broadcaster, which this year was Austria’s Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF).

A stunning production lighting design, featuring nearly 550 Robe luminaires, was created by Tim Routledge and his team, working on their third ESC event, and collaborating closely with set, video and production designer Florian Wieder to present a vibrant, flexible and visually impactful environment.

This had to work for the needs and imagination of all 35 delegations, for audiences catching the excitement first-hand right there in the Stadthalle, and for the millions from around the world tuning in on various live streamed and broadcasted channels to experience the event unfolding.

Prominent on the lighting rig were 190 of Robe’s just-launched GigaPointe laser-source multifunctional moving light, 98 WTF!s – IP rated LED strobe-wash-blinder fixtures – and 25 Robe HolyPATT vintage-style LED ‘scenic’ luminaires.

In addition to these, Tim’s general lighting rig included 182 Robe SVB1 multisource LED wash beams, which he also used on last year’s event in Basel, Switzerland, and have since become a firm favourite.

He also chose 64 Robe iFORTES and iFORTE LTXs – fitted with the HCF (High Colour Fidelity) engines – for all the key lighting and specials on the main stage and in the Green Room, this year located in the arena opposite the stage along the other ‘short-end’ side of the venue.

The impressive architecture of the performance space was based on curves, spheres and understated elegance juxtaposed with elements of fun and quirkiness – in the true spirit of Eurovision. It offered a technically smart universe of possibilities for all performing there.

A large, sweeping ‘signature’ passerelle feature with video floor started at ground level stage left and looped around the middle of the room in front of the stage, curving upwards at stage right in a giant rollercoaster-style loop, snaking around to finish high up in the roof stage left.

A portrait-oriented central LED screen curved seamlessly from above into the stage floor below and extended into a central thrust that traversed the arena floor, splitting into a double staircase at the other side, ascending to the Green Room.

All of this brought a beautiful flow and harmony to the scene for lighting and playback video, which seamlessly combined with the other technical disciplines and worked brilliantly as a piece of televisual art.

The central screen was framed either side by seven columns of moving lights, bringing an epic and breathtaking cinematic feel to the entire space and giving clear sight lines from all around the arena.

Tim’s highly talented team included his associate lighting designers Morgan Evans and James Scott; moving light programmers Alex Mildenhall and Martin Higgins; key light programmer Marc Nicholson; overnight programmers Olly Martin and Manfred Nikitzer; follow spot caller Louisa Smurthwaite and playback video producer Sam Lisher and team. His gaffer and crew chief was Keith Duncan.

All lighting equipment for the event was supplied by rental company Neg Earth out of the UK, with whom Tim also worked on last year’s event and on his first ESC as lighting designer in Liverpool, UK, in 2023.

Tim was delighted to be able to use GigaPointes on this show and they became “headline fixtures” of the show.

The product was just launched at ISE in February and powered by a 350W white phosphor laser source engine, it is a hugely anticipated multifunctional effects fixture, and it was a real moment to have so many of them used on such a high-profile event, following a demo at the end of 2025.

In Vienna, they were positioned all around the space.

They were prominent along the top of the front sections of the passerelle and underslung below its elevated sections upstage. They were rigged around the central semi-circular trusses in the roof, right at the heart of the rig, and were on all four sides of the main stage at floor level.

GigaPointes were used extensively throughout all performances, especially for gobo and beam looks, with the SpectraBeam effect utilised a couple of times to create unique high-impact effects, most notably for San Marino, which comprised rainbow focused looks.

They also featured prominently in the flourishing ‘stage-ready’ sequence that cut in just after the postcard video sequence – in the upcoming country’s flag colours – for each contestant’s intro, accompanied by an orchestral stinger.

Morgan Evans commented, “They were excellent workhorses – we all loved them! Nice and bright, they worked hard, reliably and extremely well throughout the event in these multiple different positions. A highly versatile multi-use product.”

Tim echoed these comments, adding, “GigaPointes provided us with an aesthetic backbone,” revealing that he was so pleased with their performance that he’s specified them for Take That’s summer 2026 “Circus” stadium tour.

The 98 Robe WTF!s were the main strobe unit on the lighting design, deployed on the roof trusses running the length of the room either side, and on the large central ‘crown’ semi-circular trusses – the innermost ring – above the stage, alternated with GigaPointes and other fixtures.

Tim already had some experience of using a much smaller quantity of WTF!s on popular UK rapper Dave’s most recent tour, so he knew their potential and was very happy to have them on ESC.

“I love their directionality, and we fully used all the sets of LED chips and the zoning for various effects,” he explained, adding that they appreciated being able to pan and tilt the fixtures, which, together with the zoom, proved extremely handy at times for reducing glare into the cameras.

Conversely, they utilised zoom and LED zoning to create cool colour temperature effects, and the ones along the audience trusses helped with washing the arena.

“Lots of options for TV with these,” noted Tim, who has also spec’d these for another upcoming tour.

Eurovision is one of the most-watched/highest-rated live music broadcast shows in the world, and as always with any camera-based show, key lighting is paramount!

Robe’s iFORTE with its high CRI and excellent quality of light has been a white light go-to for Tim since the product was launched, and here they were rigged strategically in all the main key lighting positions for the main stage and Green Room.

iFORTES were positioned all around the arena on the periphery trusses and the two outer ring trusses above the stage – their power was ideal for the long throws from these positions.

Twelve of the 64 x iFORTES were paired with different remote follow systems, including three Robe RoboSpots.

These iFORTES were used for all the main stage key lighting and were critical to every shot, “They are one of the best – I absolutely would not be without iFORTES on a show like this,” he confirmed.

Eurovision is all about making a diverse range of stars from many cultures shimmer with luminance and magic as they deliver their songs, and he used Robe’s SVB1 fixture on the 2025 ESC event in Basel, Switzerland, and really loved them.

So much so that they were included on the main rig for this year – and in the meantime, Neg Earth had also made a substantial investment in SVB1 luminaires that was delivered by Robe UK.

The fixtures were spread out around three of the four large circular roof trusses and helped emphasise the structure. They created the base looks for a host of versatile twinkling kinetic effects, which could be bold or subtle depending on the artist.

The Green Room design stood out this year for its retro, cosy, classic Viennese-style coffee house concept, and the 25 x HolyPATTS were beyond the perfect movie prop for framing this, providing a highly stylised spherical ‘tungsten’ glow, visible in every wide and medium-wide shot.

The Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra was positioned in the Green Room for the grand finale, and they were also dressed with HolyPATTS behind their risers.

Tim and the team applied the highly accurate tungsten emulation with style and panache to bring a highly theatrical feel to the space.

One of the major technical and creative challenges this year was the decision by ORF to shoot the shows – which also included two televised semi-finals to narrow down the field to the 25 finalists – on large chip film cameras, an ESC event first.

For Tim and the lighting department, this meant that more depth, definition and detail was visible, so they had considerably more latitude to play with lighting adjustments and fine-tuning affecting how elements like strobes and pyro would look on camera – harder, softer, etc. “It enabled us to add more texture and finesse to every performance,” he stated, and this really showed on the final broadcast.

Linked to this, the LiveEdit camera software used to cut the broadcast mix could also pre-select different colour LUTs that would run on all cameras for the different artists, so more stylised lighting looks and treatments could be developed and optimised.

Tim described this process as “very satisfying, as it effectively gave us more chance to paint with light,” which also made perfect key lighting – and the role of those iFORTES – even more critical!

Eurovision 2026 was presented by Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski, plus Green Room host Emily Busvine and the winner was Bulgaria, whose DARA gave a stonking performance of her catchy Balkans banger “Bangaranga”, heading off Israel’s Noam Bettan, who came second with “Michelle” and Romania’s third-placed Alexandra Căpitănescu with her song, “Choke Me”.

Photo by ORF Cloud.

The post Robe helps epic Eurovision glow up appeared first on A1 Lighting Magazine.

On Luz’s lighting rig were some core Robe products, including WTF! IP rated LED strobe-wash-blinder fixtures, Tarrantula wash beams and four RoboSpot systems running with 18 BMFL FollowSpots, all supplied by Christie Lites, co-ordinated via their UK office.

Luz Studio was brought on board to produce a completely fresh live performance environment for the band, which involved delivering a full visual package, including a stage set and some very striking video content. Embracing all the visual elements collectively ensured great optical harmony and balance, a creative treatment noticed and very much appreciated by fans.

A starting point for the stage aesthetic was a massive 110 ft wide by 40 ft high upstage LED screen, with a triangular-shaped double-layered set of risers in front, flanked by two diagonal staircases and two ground-level raked diagonal trusses per side.

The band made their entrance via the venue’s large stage lift, and the show started with them ascending to stage level and initially being framed by an automated ‘hero’ triangular-shaped truss that flew out during the first number, completing the last segment of a Union Jack-shaped truss facing the audience. This was a nod to their British roots, hailing from Sheffield in the late 1970s.

As the design started to evolve, creative director Matt Larivee knew early on that they wanted to use WTF!s and RoboSpots.

He had seen the WTF!s during a visit to the Robe factory in the Czech Republic at the end of 2025. “They looked fantastic, so I thought they would be ideal for this residency, especially to cut through the massive video wall. I really needed fixtures with plenty of power and options.”

The four floor-level angled trusses traversed the stage set at around eight ft heigh, two each side, and the 18 WTF!s were deployed on these trusses.

The set was a combination of Def Leppard classic anthems, moments and greatest hits from their nearly five decades of popularity and success, together with edgy new material, so Matt needed plenty of latitude and dynamics in the lighting to cover all eras of the music.

He loves the WTF!’s zoom feature, as well as the pan and strobing options, but it was actually the warm white LED zone of the fixture that was a dealmaker for him.

This was because he knew he could get that classic retro blinder look that would help define a range of classic ‘big rock’ looks – which, together with the associated video content, were juxtaposed so elegantly.

The 24 Tarrantula wash beams were split into two batches of 12. One set was positioned on the downstage truss, used for general band and mid-stage wash, and picked for its intensity and relatively directional beam, so he could contain the field-of-light without it spilling onto the diagonal-shaped set piece upstage of the band.

The other 12 were on the floor, either side of stage, washing across the band from a lower level, again using the contained beam path to avoid messy encroachment onto the side walls.

A total of 18 x BMFL FollowSpots were utilised, running on four RoboSpot systems, each following the four mobile band members with three BMFLs from the front, plus either one of two from the back. The operators were all positioned offstage. Matt would have ideally liked to use FORTES on the system, but he was happy to go with BMFLs. They are reliable and a known fixture that have graced many of his previous designs.

Apart from the enormous flexibility that RoboSpot brings to any performance area, Matt specifically likes this remote follow system because of its straightforward application and abundance of good operators.

The fluidity and consistency unlocked by being able to imagine lighting and video worlds together with the 3D set parameters simultaneously for a high-profile show like this was visibly present, and, as with any Vegas residency, production values were high and there were many expectations.

“We – us, the band, management – all wanted the show to have an arc, so songs and timings were carefully selected where we could build those moments, and create big, bold, memorable looks that were not overcomplicated, so they really spoke out to the audience,” noted Matt.

These reinforced the songs and narrative while providing an additional tempo, framework and drama for the show with lighting and video combined. Notables included a giant leopard, which looked about to pounce off the screen and onto the stage at any moment, but these kept rolling through the nearly two hours of rock-tastic energy.

Many of the video environments also included virtual lighting, diligently calculated to riff and contrast with the real lighting onstage, evoking an eye-catching synergy of optical trickery that also helped move everything along.

The Luz Studio team worked closely with Def Leppard’s longtime lighting director, Cole MacDonald, who flew out to Montreal and pre-vizzed with them, as well as being on-site at the Colosseum and running lighting for the shows.

Luz Studio’s Pierre-Luc Bedard led the lighting programming with Philippe Marquis and Cole MacDonald.

The new-look stage presentation was a huge hit with everyone, especially the fans.

Def Leppard is a band with almost a cult following and many fans from different generations catching multiple concerts during a touring or performance cycle. Impressions from numerous comments suggest that for them, this – the band’s third Vegas residency – was a next-level, “best ever” live show phenomenon!

Photo credit: Luz Studio.

The post Def Leppard Hysteria in Las Vegas with some Robe influence appeared first on A1 Lighting Magazine.

Signify’s professional sports lighting solution, Philips ArenaVision Gen3.5, is approved by FIBA’s Equipment & Venue Centre, which supports venue owners to deliver high-quality, broadcast-ready basketball environments that meet FIBA’s technical standards.

Signify’s ArenaVision LED professional sports lighting systems and intelligent lighting controls are designed for elite indoor and outdoor sports environments, these solutions deliver exceptional light quality, uniformity and visual comfort, while meeting international broadcast standards. Integrated controls enable remote management, scheduling and operational efficiencies, helping venues host elite competition, enhance the live fan experience, and operate more sustainably.

“Basketball demands absolute precision from lighting. Visual comfort, uniformity and glare control are critical for both player performance and officiating, while ultra-high-definition broadcasting requires consistent light quality to capture the speed and intensity of the game. For spectators, lighting plays an increasingly important role in shaping the live arena experience,” says Niels Geven, International Director, Sports & Arenas at Signify.

“Joining FIBA Equipment & Venue Centre Approval Programme allows us to be part of their mission in raising the bar for basketball lighting globally, delivering consistent, world-class performance under the fastest and most intense conditions. Aligned with FIBA’s forward-thinking approach, we’re combining light quality, energy efficiency and intelligent controls to help venues meet elite performance demands while supporting sustainability, innovation and global broadcast ambitions.

Bart Prinssen, Head of Equipment & Venue Centre, said: “We are pleased to welcome Signify to the FIBA Equipment & Venue Centre Approval Programme in the lighting category. Their expertise aligns well with our commitment to ensuring high-quality, consistent lighting conditions in the arenas that support player performance, officiating and broadcast across our competitions. FIBA Equipment & Venue Centre defines key performance parameters, including illuminance, colour temperature, colour rendering and flicker factor, ensuring optimal lighting conditions across the playing field”.

Signify’s sports lighting is already used in basketball venues including Roig Arena in Valencia, Gran Canaria Arena in Las Palmas, and the Barclay Arena in Hamburg reflecting how advanced lighting both supports elite competition and enhances the experience for players, broadcasters and fans.

Receiving the FIBA Equipment & Venue Centre approval builds Signify’s growing momentum in global sport, reinforcing its leadership in elite sports lighting.

The post Signify’s lighting solution, ArenaVision Gen 3.5 approved by International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Equipment & Venue Centre appeared first on A1 Lighting Magazine.

Now in its second decade, TheStadiumBusiness Summit is recognised as one of the leading global gatherings for stadium, arena and venue professionals, bringing together senior decision-makers from across sport, entertainment and venue operations to explore the future of the industry.

At this year’s event, Thorn Lighting will showcase its latest sports lighting solutions, including the Altis White LED and RGBW Colour LED ranges. Demonstrations will highlight how lighting quality, control and flexibility can support modern venue requirements, from broadcast performance to enhanced fan experience.

Thorn will also contribute to the conference programme, with Josh Egginton, Head of Sports at Thorn Lighting, delivering a session titled “The Future of Sports Lighting Technology,” exploring how the latest lighting technology and innovative solutions can help to increase engagement, put fans first and create memorable experiences.  Demonstrating how Thorn Lighting can support global complex projects from a foundation of Circular Design Rules and sustainable business and manufacturing practices.

The company’s involvement follows its recent shortlisting in TheStadiumBusiness Awards 2026, where it is a finalist in the Venue Technology category for its work at Sunderland AFC’s Stadium of Light. The project demonstrates how advanced lighting systems can combine broadcast-quality illumination, energy efficiency and dynamic control to create new fan engagement opportunities, including the club’s pre-match “Lighthouse” lighting experience.

TheStadiumBusiness Summit 2026 will bring together a global audience of venue owners, operators and suppliers, including CEOs, COOs, CTOs and commercial leaders, providing a platform to explore innovation, technology and transformation across the sector.

Visitors attending TheStadiumBusiness Summit 2026 can meet the Thorn Lighting team at stand 149 to explore its latest sports lighting solutions and discuss how lighting can support performance, sustainability and fan experience in modern venues.

The post Thorn Lighting confirmed as headline sponsor of TheStadiumBusiness Summit 2026 appeared first on A1 Lighting Magazine.

The late-night style event comes complete with panel discussions, games, special – and surprise – performances, and collabs, as well as awards that recognize Bravospheric talents and achievements throughout the year. The November 2025 event was presented by Embassy Row Productions in conjunction with NBCUniversal at PH Live in – where else? – Las Vegas!

This was lit and production designed by John Viesta – president and principal designer of design studio Infinite Designs Inc. – who has been working his own creative magic on WWHL since 2010. To keep all that energy pumping, he included a serious amount of Robe moving lights among other fixtures on his lighting rig, in the form of 48 iFORTES, 134 iFORTE LTXs, 3 iFORTE LTX Follow Spots and 22 Tetra1s.

The design and lighting needed to capture the excitement and thrill of pacey live televisual moments, combined with the drama and spectacle of large-scale theater, as BravoCon 2025 featured 29 panels streamed on Peacock – available the day after the live presentations in Las Vegas – while separately, Andy Cohen recorded 5 episodes of BravoCon Live with Andy Cohen.

It was a truly full-tilt environment where all involved in the production needed to be constantly on their toes.

A version of the set had been used before, appearing in the 2023 BravoCon Live with Andy Cohen event. The design concept for the Vegas show captured the spirit of Andy Cohen’s late-night show WWHL by combining a NYC mid-century modern aesthetic and the styling of Las Vegas of the same time period, including a striking and elegant 80-foot-wide proscenium arch encrusted with incandescent lamps. John also used a number of lighting treatments to transform the set, including built-in fixtures that added a contemporary edge.

With PH Live generally being a much larger venue than the previous Paris Theater in Las Vegas, everything was upscaled. During planning, John realized that he would need much higher-powered profile fixtures than had previously been available to handle the 150-200 ft throws at PH Live.

That is where he got talking to Marty Postma, sales director at Robe North America. The two had attended college together and were already in touch, so they started talking and John began looking at Robe.

He needed a luminaire that looked great on camera and was bright enough to cover the throw and ideally a moving light that could also frame small and precise shapes and areas.

“I tested pretty much every moving light in that league that was available,” explained John, “and the iFORTE LTX was the only one that had the real firepower that I needed.”

It was the first time that John had used Robe’s powerful iFORTE fixtures, and a testament to the confidence he had in the products that he was prepared to do so on such a prominent and high-profile live televised show environment.

“Using these modern big-lensed fixtures really assisted with the general aesthetics; the abundance of fixtures enabled us to fill the airspace meaningfully,” he observed.

As it happened, PH Live had also just taken delivery of nearly 75 iFORTES and 9 iFORTE LTXs equipped with LightMaster rigs to be part of their house rig, so John had access to these, in addition to all the other Robe elements that were supplied to the event by lighting and rigging vendors Main Light.

The iFORTE LTXs were all rigged in the FOH area and used for key lighting. They were needed to cover the whole stage, which was at times completely filled with people. The iFORTES were positioned on a downstage bar just above the show portal.

The follow spots comprised 3 iFORTE LTXs running on 3 RoboSpot BaseStations, and it was also the first time that John had used iFORTES for this task, for which he was super impressed:

“The brightness is fantastic. They have decent CRI for camera … they look great on people and have great repeatability – so they return to exactly where we placed them – and color consistency was also very important over these distances. I’ll definitely be using them again!”

Various gobo iFORTE looks were additionally used to wash and texture the venue, creating some cool ambience.

John created a frame of fixtures outside of the show portal, alternating Tetra1s with tiny LED wash fixtures. He notes this effect made a gorgeous “Pearl Necklace, framing the stage.”

The main challenge in delivering BravoCon is the very short rehearsal window, which requires the whole creative team to be fluid, dynamic, and adaptable during production and filming, as ideas can and do change … and they need to be accommodated quickly and efficiently.

The pressure of the live broadcast is also something John loves, as well as it being a big pressure. “This is my favorite project to work on,” he enthuses, adding that Andy is a kind and generous individual with whom to work and who loves to push the boundaries of what is technically possible. “Good leadership comes from the top.”

John’s background is in theater, and Broadway in particular is where he carved out his professional niche. He has used Robe BMFLs in that world as follow spots and T2s on Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, so he knew the brand already, but this was his first big televisual extravaganza using Robe in such a mission-critical way.

“iFORTES are fabulous fixtures and I look forward to using them more frequently,” he notes, adding that when he met Robe CEO Josef Valchar – who is at the heart of the product development – he thought he was very inspirational, and also likes the fact that the company is independent and that the products are manufactured locally in Czechia.

Working alongside John on BravoCon 2025 was an incredibly talented team, including his Infinite Designs colleagues, Tyler M. Perry, who looked after the scenic design and Ben Travis, who was the technical supervisor. The lighting director was Greg Goff; Josh Selander was lighting director/programmer, John Salzmann was the gaffer, with Tom Thayler as associate gaffer, and the best boy was Eric Kaspersin.

Scenery was by PRG and Daedalus, with additional scenic elements from Kihl Studios.

Photo credit: Charlie Sykes.

The post Robe gets fired up for BravoCon Live event appeared first on A1 Lighting Magazine.

This year’s production features a full lighting refresh that includes Elation’s PARAGON M LED profile moving head, supplied by 4Wall Entertainment. The fixtures play a central role in shaping the show’s visual language from subtle emotion to high-impact concert-style moments.

Visual storytelling

The modern-day passion play delivers an immersive retelling of the life and death of Jesus. Working alongside Creator & Founder John Bolin and Director Andrew Harmon, Fournier helped shape the look of a show that leans heavily on visual storytelling.

“Lighting plays a gigantic role in guiding the audience’s experience,” explains Harmon, who has been directing the show for the past 15 years. “Lighting tells the audience where to look and, in many ways, it becomes part of the dialogue. It says ‘this moment is important’ or ‘wow’ or ‘this is a sad moment.”

“Precision”

An Emmy Award nominee for his work on Fox’s The Masked Singer, Fournier brings a wealth of experience across broadcast, film, and live events. His connection to The Thorn dates back to 2010, having first joined as a lighting tech under early collaborator Robby Kurtz of 4Wall. Departing in 2012 to pursue his own career before returning to this year’s production, Fournier collaborated closely with Harmon and Bolin on the production.

Each year, The Thorn adopts a guiding principle to focus on, with ‘precision’ chosen for 2026. “Even before the tour started, we focused on precision with the crew,” Fournier explains. “When we brought in the PARAGON fixtures, they immediately meshed with that concept.”

Fournier, who serves as production manager, lighting designer, and lighting director on the tour, embraced that philosophy while refining a design he inherited from previous Thorn collaborators. Given creative freedom, he introduced new programming elements, sharpened the visual look, and added his own ‘tips and tricks.’

“It’s been a lot of fun,” he shares. “We kept the core of what makes The Thorn special but upgraded the rig to deliver sharper, more precise lighting throughout the show.”

A versatile rig for a dynamic show

Recommended by 4Wall’s VP of Business Development, Robby Kurtz, PARAGON has proved to be a versatile and reliable solution on the tour. “I’ve been thoroughly impressed,” says Fournier. “The framing shutters are incredibly accurate, the colors are rich, and the increased lumen level across the stage really shows. The precision on those fixtures has been great.” He adds that they haven’t had to touch the spares or even reset a fixture.

The lighting system includes 36 PARAGON M fixtures deployed across the rig. Ten are positioned on the front-of-house truss for key lighting, while the remainder are distributed across side-stage torms and overhead trusses. The majority—32 units—are integrated with a real-time performer tracking system. To cover the variation in the story, Fournier says he leans into the fixture’s full feature set.

“We’re using virtually everything the fixture offers for high-energy, concert-style looks to very quiet, emotional moments,” he explains. “One of the biggest comments we get when people first see the show is that they didn’t expect how varied and impactful it would be, and it’s what makes the experience so powerful. One minute it’s deeply theatrical, set-piece driven and dramatic, and the next it feels like a full-on rock ‘n’ roll show. It’s a full experience.”

Creating emotional impact

The ability to support storytelling through light is central to the production and PARAGON effects capabilities, from color floods to break-up textures to mid-air beams, all play a key role in maintaining visual interest throughout. Among the many visually striking scenes, one moment stands out for the designer and, undoubtedly, for many who see the show.

“It’s the starry night scene when Jesus is born,” Fournier says. “Dot gobos from the PARAGONs cut through the haze, and it feels like you’re really inside that moment. Using gobos and the animation wheel while tracking creates these beautiful, evolving shadows and textures as the focus moves around to the different zones. The beam spread across the room, and the clarity of the fixture really carries the emotion and underscores the importance of that moment.”

While The Thorn assumes that many audience members are familiar with its story, the production aims to create a deeper connection. “We assume that most people know the story of Jesus, but they might not have experienced it or felt it,” Harmon says. “We hope people leave the show with a different understanding of the story of Jesus and that they feel it more emotionally.”

Powered by partnership

4Wall provided the AV package for the tour, including the new lighting kit. Fournier credits the company for helping shape the system, and for its excellent on-the-road support. “4Wall has been incredible to work with,” he said. “The gear looks brand new out of the box, and Robby Kurtz and Gabe Thruston are great to work with. It’s a great team and makes a big difference when you have that level of partnership on a tour like this.”

Photo by Cora Wagoner.

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As one of London’s leading dance studios, The Manor LDN has built a reputation for elevating training and performance opportunities for dancers of all levels. Their commitment to championing creativity and community has positioned them as a driving force in the capital’s dance culture, and this festival marks an ambitious extension of that mission.

Based in Finsbury Park, The Manor LDN offers a broad programme of classes led by industry‑leading choreographers and performers. Following the success of their first external event in September 2025, the team returned to Indigo at the O2 last week, coinciding with MOVE IT Dance, one of the world’s biggest dance festivals at ExCeL London.

The performance featured sixteen original works from choreographers connected to The Manor LDN, along with international guests. The festival provided dancers with the opportunity to perform on a large scale professional stage supported by full production values.

To shape the overall look and feel of the event, The Manor LDN turned to lighting designer and technical director Matt Ladkin. Having spent nearly twenty years working with Indigo at The O2 as a freelance engineer, Matt has a long‑established relationship with the venue and was recommended to The Manor LDN team as the ideal creative and technical lead. He approached WL to supply the lighting package, drawing on a working relationship that spans almost two decades.

Matt explains: “The reason I chose WL for this project is because they have great quality equipment, ideally suited to the project, at the right price point, and most importantly, WL is local to the venue. If we needed technical support, they were just down the road.”

While Indigo at The O2 houses an extensive lighting rig, the venue is primarily designed for live music rather than dance. To build the show The Manor LDN envisioned, Matt created a dedicated dance‑focused package that introduced key elements including side‑light towers with ETC Lustr2’s and Elation KL6-FC Fresnel fixtures, a cyclorama package and ground row package of Chroma-Q Color Force II battens, and a complementary floor package featuring Ayrton Rivale and GLP FR10 battens.

Matt built his design in Vectorworks before recreating the full system in Capture, using it to collaborate directly with The Manor LDN at their studios and each choreographer, many of whom were engaging in a creative lighting process for the first time. Real‑time visualisation allowed them to shape mood and tone with confidence. WL provided a full control and pre-vis package to support the week long consultations at the Manor LDN studios.

“Having everything in pre‑vis meant the choreographers could actually see what the piece would look like on a virtual stage. We could turn fixtures on, adjust colour and intensity, and build the dance pieces together. A lot of the choreographers had never been involved in this kind of process, so being able to guide them creatively was really valuable.”

Matt approached each piece by analysing and breaking down the music in CuePoints to identify rhythm, accents, and emotional shifts, ensuring the lighting supported rather than overshadowed the choreography. He ensured each work had its own visual identity while maintaining a cohesive festival aesthetic across the show.

The project operated within extremely tight timeframes, with the full installation, technical rehearsal, performance, and de‑rig completed within a single 12 hour day. Thanks to WL’s prep space in Wimbledon and the efficiency of the shows production electricians, the load‑in and focus were completed in just over an hour, with a full load‑out achieved in just over forty‑five minutes. Having fully built the show in Capture, updates were minimal and enabled the rehearsals to run smoothly and without delays.

Feedback from The Manor LDN, choreographers and audiences was overwhelmingly positive. Many choreographers emphasised how significant the collaborative lighting process felt, particularly given that most festival‑style events afford minimal technical time. The opportunity to craft bespoke lighting looks contributed to a professional experience that felt both elevated and empowering.

“The choreographers were incredibly happy,” Matt says. “For many, it was their first chance to work with lighting at this level, and they really felt the value of having such high production standards.”

With two successful editions delivered within six months, The Manor LDN hopes to continue developing Dance//Offline into a recurring fixture in London’s dance calendar. Matt closed by reflecting on the collaborative spirit that defined the project. “The Manor LDN is investing in a creative process that gives dancers and choreographers so much more than they usually get. Working with WL and the whole team to bring this to life has been fantastic. We have created something that feels ambitious, uplifting and genuinely community‑focused.”

WL’s Head of Lighting, Dom Yates, adds: “We are proud to have supported Dance Offline with both technical excellence and creative partnership, helping The Manor LDN deliver a dance show that celebrates the energy of London’s dance community.”

Lighting team credits:
Lighting Designer: Matt Ladkin.
September 2025: Production LX – Liam Cleary & Al Kiernan.
March 2026: Production LX – Jamie Chaloner & Kyle O’Hara.

Photo courtesy of Manor LDN Media Team.

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Steven leaned into using 68 Robe iFORTE and 60 Robe Spiider moving lights as the primary lighting and effects fixtures for the show, supplied, together with other lights, sound, video and rigging, by Dublin-based rental company, Just Lite, project-managed by John McGuinness and Paul Smith.

Steven first met the band – Robbie Cunningham, Oisín McCaffrey, and Ross McNerney – when they were opening for Hozier, also one of his clients, on a US tour. They liked what he was doing and asked him to produce some lighting magic for them, culminating with these four high-profile arena shows.

Amble liked the idea of having a big back wall of lights, so after initial discussions, Steven took this as a starting point and framed this with an eye-catching LED pros arch to complement the wall of Spiiders. In addition to the three members of the band, these Dublin shows featured up to six guest performers onstage. Fundamental to Steven’s aesthetic, in addition to creating a fantastic lightshow, was “keeping them close together.”

Their success trajectory has been rapid – day jobs were quit and recording contracts were only signed in 2024 – so they are still relatively used to performing on much smaller stages. “I didn’t want to have a 60 ft wide stage with a load of dead space and people feeling uncomfortable,” Steven explained, so the LED pros and the back wall of lights functioned as practical set pieces, to which he added risers for guest artists.

The back wall of 10 wide and 6 high Spiiders on ladder trusses made a big dramatic statement and Steven also used it to create subtle twinkling and kinetic effects. Spiiders gave him “many options” and were interspersed with some blinders and strobes.

Spiiders were chosen as he wanted “a big face wash light,” adding that the central chip and Flower Effect were instrumental “in giving the show a unique look and an edge at times.”

The 68 x iFORTES were positioned on the overhead and front trusses and also on side torms with 12 fixtures on the floor for some rear lumen power.

Steven has used the iFORTE numerous times. It is a go-to when working festivals, so he knew it was a “bright, reliable, versatile choice with a good gobo set,” and that it would produce all the effects he was envisioning as well as excellent key light.

Six of the iFORTES rigged on the front truss were paired with a remote follow spot system with two front lights each designated to the three Amble band members together with one iFORTE from the back – on a separate truss just upstage of the pros – so for every person there were 3 iFORTE follow spots. They were complemented by side lighting from another 8 iFORTES to complete the key light picture.

The 12 iFORTES on the floor were used for big, bold, sumptuous beamy backlight looks.

Time was tight, there was no pre-production time at the arena – they loaded in and went straight into the first show – however Steven was able to build most of the show on Capture and spent two intense days of pre-vizzing at Just Lite’s studio in Dublin.

Prior to the Arena shows, Steven completed a quick run of shows with the band in the UK in smaller venues like Glasgow’s Barrowland Ballroom and London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire, carrying only a small floor package in a trailer with the main workhorse being 6 x Robe Spiiders.

For Steven, it was a fun experience to work with a fast-rising band again who are “great lads and very enthusiastic” to deliver these landmark arena shows and get the chance to present a clean, modern look that focused on Amble and their music being the centre of the action, surrounded by a slick and creative supporting production.

“It’s very much a show about the band’s performance, so we created an architecture around them and lit it appropriately, putting all the emphasis on them but with capacity to go a little crazier as the show evolved,” he concluded.

Photo credit: Steven Douglas.

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Los Angeles-based creative company DX7 Design, who have worked on this event since its inception back in 2023, procured 270 of the JDC2 IP hybrid strobes from vendor PRG, along with 500 of the super-powerful JDC Burst 1, as their role this year extended far beyond simply outfitting the circuit grid and pit lane, reaching every corner of the city.

Led by the company’s CEO Tom Sutherland, the team created an expansive design, which spread from the track and paddock through six remote fan zones.

Tom explained: “Emily Prazer took over as race CEO this year, and her directive was to elevate the event into something more experiential, but within the same budget for lighting, audio and video. Her driving force was to bring Formula 1 more into the entertainment space, and we were given a blank canvas to develop a design that we could lay out across the entire city. It was essentially a festival meeting a sporting event.”

And the dynamic of GLP’s ultra-bright, flexible hybrids was key to the many show elements, including driver introductions, podium celebrations and the fan zones.

The 270 pieces of JDC2 IP lined the front of the F1 paddock and were used for colour chasing, strobe effects and displaying the F1 logo, while delivering the power needed for both live and global broadcast audiences. The ability to display the F1 logo had been one of the event highlights, said Sutherland. Thanks to the fixture’s NDI integration, video content could be streamed to the fixture’s RGB pixel plate, while the DX7 team also made use of the fixture’s library of built-in DigiFX.

DX7 then deployed 500 pieces of JDC Burst 1 across the different fan zones and around the track to create uniquely themed environments for the different sponsors (green for Heineken, magenta for T-Mobile and so on), and there were different activation moments set every 15 minutes. A 12-segment white strobe line formed the heart of this versatile fixture, at either side of which were RGBW LED plates, divided into 48 segments of 5 × 5 pixels each, which provided astonishing power output.

Explaining the underlying reasons for his product choice, Tom said, “We first used JDC2 on the VMAs [Video Music Awards] last year, and when I showed Formula 1 how we could import their logo, their eyes lit up.” As for the JDC Bursts, they were a perfect antidote for the torrential downpours and hailstorms that dogged the event, and with their extraordinary brightness took centre stage against the super-bright backdrop of the Vegas strip.

“We needed to be able to compete with all that lighting on the Strip, so you got a sense of the event in itself,” Sutherland agreed. “But while everything had to be bright, it also had to be IP-rated. Consequently, we had very few drop-outs; all GLP pieces worked flawlessly and maintained their strength throughout, without one failure.” Only the huge cable runs risked exposure to the weather.

Tom was supported by DX7 colleagues, James Coldicott (COO), Harry Forster (President) and Hunter Selby (Senior Associate Designer). Programmer Chris Fernandez worked from three intercommunicating grandMA3 full-size consoles stationed in a control centre that was bursting at the seams, running all the GLP pieces in maximum pixel mode for full impact.

Tom can reflect fondly on an event believed to have been the largest temporary video, lighting and networking system piloted from one centralised control position to date, not to mention being DX7 Design’s largest ever project. “The sheer scale of the event and weather were the biggest challenges, and it took a lot of very clever nerds to pull that off – to figure out how this system worked and how it went together. There were a lot of beams pointing into the sky, but fortunately, the FAA didn’t give us any grief!

“In fact, the whole event was a huge success, and the Formula 1 organisation loved the new look.”

Photo credit: DX7 Design.

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