Croatia - Mastering is a busy rental and show production company based in Đurdevac in eastern Croatia, founded in 2018 by Đuro (Djuro) Kucelj, who also runs a construction business and has been an active musician for the last 40 years, playing with various bands and mixing music in clubs. Đuro’s two sons, Matija and Lovro are also involved with Mastering.

In early 2025, Mastering landed the job to supply production for one of Croatia’s leading bands, Parni Valjak, which had Robe moving lights on their lighting rider, so Đuro made his initial Robe investment. 20 MegaPointes and 24 x Spiider LED wash beams joined the Mastering inventory, which have been working constantly ever since.

Mastering’s client base covers a lot of live music, concerts,

Poland - Łódź-based DWD Sound goes back to 2009, when founder Dawid Gabara - after years working as a sound engineer and collaborating with numerous artists - decided to establish his own production company. What began as a personal venture has evolved into a full-scale provider of stage technology, offering stage, lighting and sound solutions for open-air concerts, large conferences, corporate events and a wide range of live productions.

With the company growing rapidly in recent years, upgrading the audio department became a strategic priority. Before investing, the team conducted extensive market research. “In the end, we chose Outline,” says Gabara. “The efficiency, dynamics and sound quality were decisive factors.”

DWD Sound’s setup comprises 24 Superfly, 12 Mantas 28 and 12 DBS 18-2 subwoofers, supported by Outline’s amplifiers a

UK - Holotronica, the Bristol-based holographic effects specialist, is set to celebrate the opening of its new studios at Church House in the village of Long Ashton. The restored stone building, originally constructed in 1907, will serve as both a large, revitalised event space and as a creative hub with office/studios available to rent on the lower ground floor.

The new facility includes a large hall and stage designed for showcasing Holotronica’s Hologauze products, as well as a dedicated research and development studio for their holographic FX systems.

The grand opening will take place on 6 December for locals to see live demonstrations of Holotronica’s holographic technology. Lady Emily Smythe, who was responsible for building Church House, will ‘magically come alive again from her oil painted portrait and walk onstage’ to welcome guests

USA - Garbage have just concluded their 37-city Happy Endings tour with lighting design by Emmanuelle Gigi Pedron. “With Garbage, the music swings from gritty to cinematic in a heartbeat,” said Pedron. “I am busking the show, so I get to ride those mood swings in real time - it’s chaos and control, just like the band.”

Helping Pedron on this journey is an all Chauvet Professional rig supplied by Christie Lites. To accent the dramatic quality of the show, she follows a “lighting 101” principle of playing with intensity levels, moving starkly from bold brightness to more shadowy looks.

Pedron also uses a backdrop curtain made of aluminium chains to add to the kinetic feel of the show. “The backdrop moves nicely,” she said. “It moves with breeze from the fans and shimmers. I love how it catches light in unpredictable ways -

USA - Bandit Lites provided lighting for the latest Papa Roach tour, collaborating once again with lighting designer Mathius ‘Mathes’ Kuhn to bring the band’s energy to life on stage.

“Working with Bandit is always great,” shared Kuhn. “The gear is very well maintained, the prep is unmatched, and the crew is top notch. I also like working together with the Client Reps on fitting the design into a budget and giving the band the best bang for the buck.”

Kuhn praised the synergy between his design vision and Bandit’s experienced team: “It’s always great to have a team of touring-experienced client reps, project managers, and shop personnel that can look at my production design drawings and translate that to something tour friendly.”

The lighting design features moments that capture the emotional depth and high-impact perfor

UK - The birthplace of Queen Elizabeth II and named in honour of the young Queen’s childhood nickname, Lilibet’s, at No.17 Bruton Street in London, features ‘a refined menu of seafood and an equally elegant interior’.

Tateside were responsible for the design and implementation of a complete background audio system based on K-array’s Vyper family of loudspeakers. Lilibet’s is just one of more than a dozen high-end hospitality spaces in this neighbourhood that trust in K-array’s audio solutions.

“Working in collaboration with the consultant and local distributors 2BHeard, the scope was to design and install an elegant, yet discreet, distributed background audio system that would respect the prestigious nature of the venue,” says Joby Morris, project manager at Tateside. “The design did not require high SPL DJ playback, like somethin

USA - Fashion giants Hugo BOSS launched their premier men’s fragrance BOSS Bottle Beyond at an event staged at the Empire State Building. The highlight of the event was a live performance by Colombian singer/rapper and Hugo BOSS brand ambassador Maluma from atop the building’s 90th floor platform – the first time such a performance has ever been attempted.

To ensure “impeccable live audio” for Maluma, as well as the event’s 600 attendees and fans watching on the livestream around the world, an audio production team from Clair Global utilised Sound Devices Astral Wireless.

Although other artists have filmed videos and performances on top of the Empire State Building in the past, this was the first to be done completely live for an audience and supported by a worldwide livestream. “There were so many aspects of it that made it special –

Tunisia - For more than half a century the Hammamet International Festival has taken place at the coastal town’s theatre overlooking the sea, designed in the Neo-Greek style and widely considered to be ‘one of the most beautiful open-air venues on the Mediterranean’.

In its 59th year, the 2025 edition of the festival attracted up to 1,100 people each night proving as successful as ever thanks to the combined passion and energy of the artists, organisers, technicians and a loyal audience that returns year after year to enjoy a varied programme of music, theatre and dance.

Also returning to the festival each year is Tunis-based event services company Sybel, bringing more than 30 years of live sound experience along with a Nexo sound system to provide consistent audience coverage for every type of performance.

The main FOH system

Germany - For decades, Das Fest in Karlsruhe has ranked among southern Germany’s largest open-air events, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors each July to the city. The 2025 edition took place from 24 to 27 July and, despite variable weather, attracted more than 243,000 festivalgoers. Including the pre-event, Das Fest am See, the total attendance climbed beyond 268,000.

The line-up featured national and international acts including 01099, Amy Macdonald, Clueso, Faithless, Grossstadtgeflüster, Max Giesinger & Friends, and Zoe Wees.

Crystal Sound has been involved with Das Fest since its earliest days. “We’ve been looking after Das Fest virtually since the beginning,” recalls Jonas Goldschmidt, event technology specialist at Crystal Sound. “Today, we are responsible for audio, lighting, rigging a

UK - In the summer of 2025, the Matterley Estate in the South Downs National Park near Winchester was transformed into a fictional city with eight themed districts, over 50 hidden venues and 12 main stages. The Boomtown Festival once again impressed this year with its combination of music, theatre and visual art.

The stage and lighting designs always make a major contribution to the magic of Boomtown. The British event technology service provider GLS Lighting was once again responsible for the realisation on several main stages this year – with a focus on lights from Cameo.

For the Grand Central Stage, account and project manager Wil Gregory created a setup that could be harmoniously integrated into the spectacular stage architecture with its handmade backdrops by the London design studio Brutal. “We wanted to optimise the set design of

USA - Bethlehem Baptist Church, located in Greensburg, Kentucky, is a small, rural Christian congregation in a community where faith and tradition hold deep significance. A modest, brick building with a steeple, its interior is reflective of a traditional Baptist style, with pews arranged in rows facing the pulpit. Although open and airy, the parishioners struggled to hear and understand the sermon at times. Amplifiers from LEA Professional were the chosen solution to increase headroom during musical worship and provide better intelligibility for spoken liturgy.

Church staff contacted Alex Peake, a project manager at JCA Media, to design a new audio system for the sanctuary. He recommended the Connect Series to meet the church's goal of high intelligibility.

“Most amplifiers are being commoditised and sold at almost the same price,” said Alex Pea

USA - A compact yet effective lighting rig, comprised exclusively of ADJ fixtures, was deployed for a hometown performance by techno DJ Stacey Pullen. Taking place on the patio outside Detroit’s TV Lounge nightclub, Pullen played a mammoth ‘open to close’ DJ set with dancefloor illumination provided by ADJ Jolt Bar FXIP, Vizi Beam 12RX and Vizi Wash Z19 fixtures.

The longest running nightclub in Detroit, TV Lounge is the spiritual home of electronic music in Motor City. Throughout the summer, the venue’s indoor space is occasionally augmented for special events by transforming its patio into an open-air dance floor with the city skyline providing an impressive backdrop.

The task of carrying out this transformation from a technical perspective falls to ART Visuals, the recently formed lighting arm of well-established Detroit audio production a

UK - STLS was commissioned by Epsom & Ewell Borough Council along with The Epsom Playhouse, a much-loved theatre in Surrey, to modernise its house lighting system, upgrade the existing dimmer room, and install new lighting fixtures across the auditorium. The project aimed to improve lighting quality and energy efficiency, and create a cleaner, more integrated control environment that would serve the venue for years to come.

The scope of work included the design, supply, installation, programming, and testing of a complete new lighting and control system. The goal was to deliver a modern, flexible, and efficient setup that met the demands of both day-to-day operations and high-profile live performances, all while respecting the character and functionality of the venue.

The installation came with several logistical challenges. The venue is only clo

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