GLP X5 On Tour, 4Wall's Broadcast Network For The NFL Draft, and Volux's First PHYTON Deployment... Five Production Stories Worth Unpacking
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This month brought arena tours, festival debuts, and a live national broadcast where millions were watching and nothing could fail. We're covering GLP's impression X5 series powering DJ BoBo's arena rig across Europe, the Volux PHYTON earning its stripes in its first real-world deployment at ULTRA 2026, Claypaky and Patrick Woodroffe inspiring a thousand lighting professionals at Scena Jutra, 4Wall building a fully redundant broadcast network for the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh, and Master FX settling into a brand-new headquarters.
@limelightwired: 24/7 Livestream Now Live 🔥
We're excited to announce that we now have a 24/7 livestream running on our website and our Roku Smart TV App. Whether you're pulling an overnight pre-rig, winding down after a load-out, or just want production lighting content on in the background while you draft plots, we've got you covered around the clock.
GLP X5 Series Accompanies DJ BoBo On "The Great Adventure" Tour 2026
For DJ BoBo's "The Great Adventure Tour 2026," GERDON DESIGN went all in on GLP's X5 series, deploying 113 impression X5 fixtures. The decision to stay within a single product family wasn't arbitrary. When your stage concept is built around tight integration between projection content and live lighting, color consistency across every fixture position becomes non-negotiable. The X5 serves as the foundation for color accuracy, covering virtually any color needed for content matching or contrast. The Compacts handle effects and ambient duties, running as footlights along performance areas where space is tight but output can't be compromised. Meanwhile, the IP Maxx units deliver striking uplight accents during key show moments, pushing enough output to cut through the projection wash. GERDON DESIGN has been working with DJ BoBo since the 2022 tour cycle, and the continuity shows - this is a rig that knows what it needs to do and has the tools to do it consistently across a full European arena run.
PHYTON Takes the Stage as Volux Lighting Returns to ULTRA 2026
Volux returned to ULTRA Music Festival 2026 with 52 PHYTON hybrid-profile moving heads at the RESISTANCE Megastructure - marking the very first time the fixture appeared on an actual production since its announcement. The PHYTON is built around a 600W LED engine paired with a high-efficiency optical system, producing up to 32,000 lumens of output with a native zoom range spanning 1.9 to 52 degrees. But the spec that mattered most in Miami wasn't the lumens - it was the IP66 rating. From the PHYSOS rollout in 2025 to the PHYTON debut in 2026, the turnaround from trade show reveal to high-profile deployment has been remarkably fast.
Claypaky Shines at Scena Jutra: Innovation, Inspiration and an Encounter with the Legendary Lighting Designer Patrick Woodroffe
Some events are about products. Scena Jutra - "Stage of Tomorrow" is about people. Held April 13–14, 2026 at the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, the event drew attendees each day spanning experienced designers, technicians, and emerging talent in the entertainment lighting space. Organized by Fundacja Scena Jutra with support from Claypaky's Polish distributor Prolight, the production floor featured Volero Cube fixtures, Tambora Batten units, and Arolla Aqua fixtures powering dynamic 3D video graphics displays across the Discussion Stage. The anchor moment was an exclusive session led by Patrick Woodroffe - the legendary lighting designer whose credits span the Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Genesis, Michael Jackson, the Glastonbury Festival, and Olympic Games ceremonies - alongside Francesco Romagnoli and Alena Turiakova. Woodroffe shared career stories, offered mentorship to next-generation professionals, and reflected on his decades-long partnership with Claypaky as both a customer and a collaborative partner. In an industry where the gear evolves constantly, events like Scena Jutra remind us that the knowledge transfer is what keeps the craft moving forward.
4Wall Utilizes NETGEAR at NFL Draft
The NFL Draft is rebuilt from the ground up in a new city every year. In Pittsburgh, the 2026 draft ran April 23–25. 4Wall deployed the complete lighting and video infrastructure, consisting of 78 NETGEAR M4250 AV Line switches and 6 enterprise access points spanning two outdoor sites connected by 2.63 miles of tactical fiber across 30 spools. The architecture is fully redundant, with two integrated parallel AV Line networks, so if one fiber path is severed the secondary takes over without interruption. With over 1,000 lights distributed across nine locations - six dimmer and network pits plus three front-of-house positions - network management runs through NETGEAR Engage, giving any engineer an immediate visual VLAN layout clear enough for a night-shift handoff without an extended walkthrough.
Master FX Is Expanding Its Global Headquarters
🔥➡️ Read More From Master FX
Master FX - the West Chicago-based manufacturer behind the Mystic Series hazers and a growing lineup of atmosphere and special effects solutions has moved into a brand-new headquarters. The 40,000 square foot facility is currently mid-renovation and the front section is being converted into a dedicated showroom and demo space where customers will see the product in its actual context. Behind that, manufacturing is being split into two purpose-built zones, with zone one handling machine assembly and zone two reserved exclusively for testing and quality control. Founder Vince Camerano gives us tour in the video below. ⬇️
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