HOUSTON – Ugly Christmas sweaters aren’t necessarily known for their beautifully balanced hues, but such color mixing miscues don’t have to carry over to a tour celebrating this beloved (but definitely funky-looking) holiday fashion tradition. Just ask Braxtin Pieper! The Texas-based designer unwrapped some distinctively beautiful color combinations for the popular “Ugly Christmas Sweater Tour,” […]

NASHVILLE — The art of life is a constant adjustment to our surroundings, wrote the 19th century Japanese philosopher Kakuzō Okakura in his famous “Book of Tea.” Good advice to live by, perhaps, but also wise words to follow for anyone hoping to create a consistent fan experience on an eight-month world tour that visits […]

AMSTERDAM – Springing forth from the human heart and soul as they do, all songs have their own unique personalities. This is especially true of those created by an iconic band that has been turning out heartfelt and refreshingly original singer-songwriter hits for close to 30 years. As the lighting designer for the Dutch acoustic […]

ATHENS, GA – Creative sleight of hand is the secret sauce that makes many entertainment experiences click. ACM New Artist of the Year nominee Gavin Adcock taps into this magic when he turns even big arenas into old school honky-tonks through his hard-driving music and irrepressibly gritty stage persona. On the rising star’s sold-out Need […]

NASHVILLE — There’s a good reason why some old school ideas got to stick around long enough to become “old” school — they work! Oftentimes, they even do the job better than any alternative, as Dayne deHaven and Tyler Shapard are so beautifully demonstrating on multi-platinum star Ben Rector’s current Richest Man In The World […]

CASERTA, ITALY – “Breathtaking!” It is a word often used to describe the Royal Palace of Caserta, the massive 18th century baroque masterpiece just north of Naples with its exquisite architectural flourishes and stunning gardens. Earlier this fall, such lofty praise could also be ascribed (but in a slightly different and more modern way), to […]

NEW YORK – Hearing music with our ears is only the beginning. The real action comes when these sweet sounds enter our mind, and, as Plato put it, “give wings to imagination.” Luke Thiel says he begins every lighting design by tapping into this magical realm. That much was beautifully evident in his work for […]

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – “This is not an off-the-shelf light show. This is custom curated… like nothing I’ve ever seen,” a reporter for the local Public Broadcasting station exclaimed after touring ENLIGHTEN at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in western Michigan. Certainly not a case of “fake news” here! Now in its second year, […]

NIAGRA FALLS, ONTARIO – When designing to create a wide array of big looks on a small stage with a limited rig, what are the most important things to consider? Versatility quickly comes to mind… and while having fixtures that can do multiple things (and do them well!) is certainly critical, Andrew Dawson always keeps […]

LONG BEACH, CA – Some people say there are ghosts wandering around the cavernous halls of the Queen Mary. Maybe, maybe not… but one thing is certain, any phantom haunting the iconic ocean liner that has been drydocked in Long Beach for over half a century, felt some powerful otherworldly energy raise their spirits late […]

PARIS – Like a massive west wind that gains strength as it travels over time and distance, Matmatah continues to shake the very foundations of venues after three decades of touring. This is true even of a glass and steel behemoth like the Accor Arena. From the very moment that the band from Brest took […]

STOCKHOLM – Beautiful moments captivate us even more intensely when they are fleeting. Philosophers have reminded us of that since ancient times, recalling how quickly flowers fade after blossoming and stunning sunsets sink below the horizon. It is a feeling familiar to fans of Swedish hip hop star Ant Wan, whose very brief career blazed […]