Geezers of Gear

The Lumen Brothers are primarily made up of 3 old friends from the Theater / Opera lighting world who got together in 2017 and decided to create a Podcast. 152 episodes later, they're still doing it! David Jacques, Stan Kay and Steve Woods are all educators who are also passionate and very talented lighting designers in their own right. But more importantly, they're all really funny guys!  Episode...

Phay began back in the 70s, with his first "break" coming from Bob Geldof and the Boomtown Rats. Shortly there after, he began working with a group of teenagers from Sheffield England called Def Leppard, who at the time had just recorded their first album. Both acts would go on to do HUGE things, and Phay's relationship continued for decades with both. Phay transitioned from LD to LD and Productio...

Patrick became intrigued by the lighting and production world early, while still in his teens. He took a slightly different approach though, writing a business plan for a lighting rental company he would call Backstage Productions. He didn't stop there, he shopped his business plan to some 30 odd banks before one finally bit, and gave him the money. So with his $100,000 (borrowed), Patrick venture...

We discussed Seth's upcoming book, Concert Design - The Road, The Craft, The Industry at length. So many great things about this book for people who want to get into this business. Seth has long term client, vendor and manufacturer relationships because he's got amazing work ethic and a great attitude, plus - he works on those relationships constantly. He's got a great story that starts with his f...

Cosmo (Charles) Wilson began his lighting touring career in the 80s and really, hasn't slowed down! He's worked with a "who's who" list including The Stones, The Cure, AC/DC, Foreigner, Scorpions, Aerosmith and many others. Along the way, Cosmo has become well known for his positive "can-do" attitude and incredible work ethic. Today, he continues his work with Aerosmith who are months into their L...

KLSTR is a brand new technology created by some very smart guys in Belgium who simply sought out a better way. At the foundation, they hated wasting so much time configuring and addressing lighting systems... and at its core level, KLSTR solves in a moment what takes normal lighting communication technologies several hours. KLSTR enables you to control MUCH larger lighting packages, easier, faster...

Bob Barnhart just designed Super Bowl 54, remarkably his 21st Halftime Show as lighting designer. In addition, Bob designs for So You Think You Can Dance, VMA's, Ellen, Oscars, Grammys, Miss Universe, Miss USA, Family Feud, ESPY's, and so much more. In addition, Bob has already been awarded 11 Emmy awards for his work. Episode 76 is brought to you by ACT Lighting and their Ayrton Perseo, as seen o...

Benoit has done what so few have in the concert lighting world, and reinvented himself to establish a parallel career.... in Movies! Having worked with LD's including John Broderick and Marc Brickman, doing lights for artists including Metallica, Matchbox 20, George Michael and Aerosmith. Benoit has evolved to work on movies including Avengers, Iron Man, Ghostbusters, Fast and Furious and so many...

A unique business model is always intriguing and this one caught our attention at the recent NAMM show in Anaheim. Lee was a touring musician and found himself wanting much more when it came to his bands production quality. Specifically, Lee envisioned better lighting... somehow. Although they could not afford to hire a lighting crew (or even just one guy) and a full rig, they could afford somethi...

I've always considered this guy one of the nicest, kindest and most passionate people in the industry. Lowell started with lightshows using overhead projectors in the 60s and went on to found one of the largest and most important companies ever to enter the automated lighting space, Highend Systems. Along the way, he never lost site of his original passion for lightshows though! Highend is now a p...

For a year, the question has been "when do YOU get interviewed"... and while this isn't the concert industry interview you'd likely expect, it is a great interview done by a local celebrity, Anita Mitchell, who among other things was the head of the Republican Party here, was married to Apollo 14 astronaut, Edgar Mitchell and was the Chair for Jeb Bush during his 2016 Presidential campaign. Enjoy!

Dizzy began his career lighting punk bands in the 70s using the very first version of Thomas pars before joining Meteorlites and then, finally, Bandit Lites. 40+ years with only 2 jobs.... Impressive. Enjoy Dizzy's unique thoughts and approach on gear, truck packs and more.

Benny has worked closely to collaborate with designers on artists like Michael Jackson, Nickelback, Aerosmith, Shania Twain, Elton John and so many more. His work supporting top LD's as a programmer or director is legendary. Peter Morse said "Benny is one of the most in-demand programmers in our industry right now....and has worked for many years with me and others! He’s really interesting, knowle...

Andrew has literally been lighting churches and faith based projects since his teen years. After graduating college as a theater major, Andrew took his show on the road, eventually ending up with DC Talk with 12 successful years. Since that time, Landru Design has been focused on both faith based "one off" projects and installations, many of which would fall into the Mega Church category. This epi...

If you've been to a lighting tradeshow anywhere in the world... in the past, ohhhhhh 30 years... you likely know this man! He's one of the best known sales guys in the industry and has been very closely connected to the success of the lighting control world with a long run at AC Lighting and more recently (and current), MA Lighting. Glyn shares stories from his career and gives us an update on the...

Marcel gives thanks and discusses every single episode recorded in what has been an incredible 11 months of Geezers Of Gear. Showing gratitude to our guests, listeners and of course, our sponsors.

This is one of the more colorful guys in our industry and he's funny, memorable (both his sense of humor AND appearance), and a brilliant production manager. And oh yeah, he's been responsible for the production of Eurovision since 2000! Ola is now working on the "Americas" version of Eurovision, currently called American Song Contest, expected to kick off in November of 2021. Brought to you by El...

Most founders or entrepreneurs are happy and fortunate to be in a position to found 1 successful startup. Nils is in a very elite company of people who have done it not twice, but 4 times! And at least 3 of those 4 were revolutionary and even disruptive to their respective industries. With the Whole Hog, and eventual Hog II consoles, Flying Pig virtually took over the market for touring and theatr...

Episode 64 - Brought to you by ACT Lighting... Steve has always been a guy who is able to come in to a challenging situation and turn it around, to the point where he gets the call back. His career has spanned more than 4 decades, and there is no sign of stopping yet. You can say "Hi" to Steve on his big run with the Doobies next year on their 50th anniversary - with Michael McDonald back in the b...

Recorded live on the LDI show floor - Chances are - you've either met, heard of, employed, or been replaced by Patrick at some point. He's not only a talented designer, but a personality to be remembered. Patrick is passionate about design, but just as passionate about running a business. Also on the podcast, we were able to kidnap Greg Jones from Martin Professional - also our sponsor.

Udo began his career in the rigid confines of Siemens before joining his brother in the club lighting business he had created - B&K. There, Udo fell in love with the lighting business and began to dream up his first innovation in GLP - the innovative Patend Light.

Blizzard was started by a couple of musicians with a very basic need for better lighting, so they started a company! Then, realizing they would need someone to create sales channels, distribution, etc - they brought in a 3rd partner, Frank Luppino.

Naming your company after (arguably) the best driver to have ever raced in F1 says something.... but Yvan shares something with Mr Senna... he has passion for perfection, horsepower and just getting it right. Ayrton have quietly become a major player in the lighting business as their company continues to grow. This podcast is brought to you by ACT Lighting.

You want to learn about lighting your live shows for TV or Video? These are a few of the people you DEFINITELY want to learn from! Jeff Ravitz, Bob Barnhart and Tiffany Keys have collectively lit virtually every major televised event between them. Do NOT miss this one!! Brought to you by Martin Professional.

Bob has been wandering LDI with his roller bag of coffee for as long as I can remember. As bob says... it gets him invited to a lot of parties... but it's also brilliant marketing on his part. Robert started his first business at 12 years old and founded Eggshell at 16. Since that time, he's worked with the who's who of live acts. This episode is brought to you by ACT Lighting.