Sweden - Hip hop star Ant Wan’s brief career featured hits like Malaika and Komplicerat before announcing his retirement in 2025.
Months before he withdrew from the public eye, the artist appeared at Stockholm’s Tele2 arena. A record number of fans saw him there, surpassing even the crowd drawn by Madonna. Setting the mood for the occasion was an evocative lighting design by Jakob Larsson of Light It Production, who worked closely with artistic director Alexander Wessely.
The two collaborators created a powerful theatrical sense on the big stage with a show that was divided into three parts: the first marked by a ‘cold snow’ theme with cool colours and snow machine effects; the second characterised by a ‘fire theme’, animated by oranges and reds along with pyro effects; and the third (on a satellite stage) featured peacock-blue gradients along with lasers that called forth images of Sweden’s northern lights.
Each part of the show had its own distinct ‘room’. Songs in the show’s set were matched to fit the specific spaces. Running through each room and tying the entire show together with a unifying signature look were 110 Chauvet Professional Colorado PXL Bar 16 motorised battens.
Larsson chose the PXL fixtures for his show after he did a shootout with various alternatives. “Our design had the Chauvet PXLs in every room,” he said. “Some were on the floor, following the risers, making silhouettes from the back. Others were on the catwalk, making walls of light, making the curtain smaller. They were also on the satellite stage, which was like a box, with box truss that could go down the whole way to the stage.
“We never used all the lights at the same time, since we really wanted three theatrical scenes,” continued Larsson. “It was a massive show – 13 trailers of fixtures – but we tried to create small rooms to make it feel more intimate.”
Contributing to that sense of intimacy while also powering up bold, intense looks were the PXL fixtures, which were artfully arranged in square configurations. “One of our main goals was to create punchy light curtains with very narrow beams,” explained Larsson. “Of course, the zoom of the PXLs and their nice wash features also came in handy. Our programmer Nikolaj Brink was able to get a lot out of the fixtures. Another person who helped make our show a success was our production manager, Pantea Moafi.”