Musikmesse Trade Fair Cancelled for 2022 & Beyond , But Prolight + Sound Will Proceed
Messe Frankfurt will not be holding its MIfocused Musikmesse trade fair and festival in 2022 , but it is going ahead with the Prolight + Sound show from April 26-29 , 2022 , in Frankfurt , Germany , where it will offer a wide-ranging educational program and companies will showcase the latest audio , lighting , and video products .
For next year and onward , organizers plan to restructure Musikmesse as a more consumer- and fan-oriented B2C event and no longer stage the B2B component . “ The market concentration in the musical instruments business – where a small number of online retailers account for over 70 % of the market in Germany and neighbouring countries alone – is changing the market and ordering behaviour significantly . This means that it is not commercially viable to organise a B2B trade fair ,” explains Stephan Kurzawski , SVP of consumer goods and sales for Messe Frankfurt . However , the company says that as a specialist trade fair focusing on professionals in the event industry , Prolight + Sound is not affected by these trends and there is still a need and market for an AVL-focused trade fair .
At Prolight + Sound 2022 , in the new Performance + Production Hub , companies of all sizes will present their latest solutions . They will not do so in the style of classic product presentations “ or behind glass cabinets , but hands-on , together with the brand experts ,” organizers say . The range of products extends from software tools , mixers , sequencers , and sound reinforcement technology to DJ equipment and accessories .
On the show stage , top artists and production specialists will present their skills and give visitors an impression of the different varieties of digital live performances .
For more information as it becomes available , go to pls . messefrankfurt . com .
PHOTO : MESSE FRANKFURT EXHIBITION / JOCHEN GUNTHER
JACQUES TANGUAY
RIP : Jacques Tanguay
With sadness , Professional Lighting & Production shares the passing of Jacques Tanguay , a veteran of the rigging and staging industry across multiple companies including Éclairage Tanguay Inc ., Show Distribution , and Moose Rigging .
Ron Morissette of ShowSDT shares the following tribute to Tanguay :
“ I met Jacques at a trade show in Québec City where he ran Éclairage Tanguay Inc ., most commonly known as ETI . Jacques ran a successful lighting company in Québec
City but was looking to expand to Montreal . That ’ s when our working relationship and our friendship began .
“ As with many of the lighting and sound company owners of that era , Jacques was firstly a drummer who had acquired a bunch of lighting equipment in a garage . He created wild lighting shows for his band using a lot of the technology developed for the disco lighting craze . These were scaled down versions of shows that Jacques had seen at the Colisée in Quebec City and at the Forum in Montreal and they faithfully replicated that feel of an arena show in a rock bar setting .
“ The opening of the ETI Montreal office was an adventure . I was to run the sales end and Jacques sent one of his top men from Québec City to run the rentals . That ’ s how I met Louis Racine who later went on to work with Christie Lites and to open Midnite Hour . Louis and I were a formidable team under the leadership of Jacques who by now had scaled up his innovations to serve the local touring market . Jacques was the first in Québec to introduce dimmer per channel systems and pin matrix consoles . He pioneered the use of Socapex cables and many more innovations .
“ Out of the Québec City office , ETI continued to manufacture disco lighting effects and Jacques started building the now-famous orange road cases . Disco lighting had a huge market and it funded the development of the touring lighting division which toured with April Wine , Loverboy , and Anne Murray to name but a few of the artists that were drawn to the energy that Jacques radiated .
“ ETI opened a Toronto office and continued to grow – maybe too quickly . Eventually , ETI closed , and the team went on to become some of the leading players in the Canadian lighting industry .
“ Jacques ’ second chapter was the opening of Show Distribution – the live entertainment rigging company . Again , Jacques ’ energy and eye for innovation brought many leading artists to tour with Show Distribution . Jacques most recently opened Moose Rigging .
“ But no tribute to Jacques would be complete without mentioning his fishing and hunting exploits - they were many and they were wild . Most cannot be published – but we can trade tales the next time we meet to raise a glass to the memory of a friend and a true pioneer of the Canadian live entertainment scene – Monsieur Jacques Tanguay .”
Professional Lighting & Production shares our condolences with Tanguay ’ s family , colleagues , and many friends .
10 | Spring 2022