Your milestone 40th anniversary edition of LSi is out now! Available with a special cover for those who subscribe to the print edition, the November 2025 edition is also available in a digital format which is available to read and download now.
Inside, along with reflections on LSi’s history, we’re proud to share a wealth of exciting content reflecting 40 years of innovation, creativity, product development and more from across the industry.
This includes an in-depth report on 1985’s Live Aid – which took place a few months before LSi’s launch – as Steve Moles talks to fellow production professionals who worked on the iconic fundraising event that quite literally changed lives. Meanwhile, Rob Halliday visits London’s Shaftsbury Theatre to discover how the spirit – and look – of that legendary day has been recreated for new musical Just For One Day. Rob is joined in the audience by Live Aid’s lead lighting designer, who also shares his verdict on this new production.
We also bring you a long-form interview with production designer Willie Williams, as he discusses his inspiring career creating “tomorrow’s cliches today” for incredible artists such as U2, David Bowie, George Michael, REM, Robbie Williams and more. Plus, nightclub tech pioneer Dave Parry sits down with Jerry Gilbert to reflect on his own 40-year career and the changes he’s seen in the industry along the way.
Meanwhile, Ian Cullen travels to Lyon to detail the all-encompassing production elements at work behind French band Indochine’s Arena Tour, including a first-of-its-kind deployment of tech from PixMob.
Plus, Phil Ward takes a trip to Hannover to sit down with Daniel and Andreas Sennheiser as the company celebrates 80 years in business, before hot-footing it back to the UK to talk a whole lotta Led Zeppelin with Focusrite’s Phil Dudderidge, who reflects on his time touring with the band.
Elsewhere this issue, with Live Aid on the mind, as the only female on the event’s lighting crew, Kate Lyon reaches out to fellow touring crew to ask what – if anything – has changed in terms of crew diversity in the past 40 years. Plus, Sarah Rushton-Read shares her views on why the human voice provided by trade press still matters in an increasingly digital age. And James Simpson looks back at his past Future Tech predictions to see which ones have come true, and which still hold potential to change the way theatre and live event professionals work and create.
James also gets to grips with the Elumen8 Virtuoso Profile 600 RGBAL fixture from Prolight for this month’s Technical Focus product review. Could this well-priced fixture be the ideal solution for small venues looking to upgrade their Tungsten rigs to LED?
This jam-packed special edition of LSi also includes contributions from Green Day’s FOH engineer Danny Badorine, who is this month’s In Profile subject, plus Funktion-One’s Tony Andrews, large format video specialist Dave Crump, Avolites’ Steve Warren, former LSi editor Lee Baldock and many more LSi friends and contributors.
LSi editor Claire Beeson comments: “As we celebrate our milestone anniversary by presenting this bumper collector’s edition of LSi, I’d like to take a moment to personally thank our readers and advertisers for their continuing support. I’d also like to thank our incredible contributors – past and present – for adding their unique perspectives, insights, and voices to the mix over the past 40 years and helping to ensure that LSi remains the trusted and respected industry title that it has been since PLASA launched it back in 1985. The industry may have changed a great deal since then, but the passion of individuals and businesses hard at work in every facet of it remains undiminished, driving us all forward. Documenting that is our absolute pleasure. Here’s to the next 40 years and beyond!”
In celebration of LSi’s 40th anniversary, the title is launching a new-look website in the coming days. More on this exciting development will be announced very soon . . .
