GLOBAL: As a busy outdoor events season near its conclusion, GLP has reflected on the wisdom of uprating the IP65 weather protection on its mighty MAD MAXX CW skytracker to the more water-resistant IP66. And consequently, the fixture – with its massive 750 mm diameter ‘fat beam’ and maximum 68,000 lm output – has been specified on high-profile outdoor shows around the world this summer.

But GLP Director Mark Ravenhill says the fixture’s new certification takes is beyond that. “Having an IP66 rating means MAD MAXX can now be permanently installed outdoors,” he says. This is exemplified by its arrival on the permanent house rig at the 20,000-cap. Rocket Arena in Cleveland.

Meanwhile, current high-profile outdoor arena tours include the Weeknd (LD Jason Baeri) and Mana (LD Iggy Rosenberg); while in Germany it was featured at the recent Wacken Open Air 2025 festival and Parookaville electronic dance festival (both specified by LD Jerry Appelt) – with 24 heads deployed at each of these sites – whereas in Austria Appelt again featured the fixture on the perennially popular Vienna Summer Night Concert (Sommernachtskonzert), lighting up the spectacular Schönbrunn Palace.

The fixture’s durability and reliability were called into play at Wacken, in particular, as this challenging festival site is notorious for its mud and arduous conditions.

“A modern development of the classic old 3kW and 7kW xenon searchlights in LED form, MAD MAXX is an ideal solution for theme parks and visitor attractions, which generally require an IP66 certification, as well as the more obvious music festivals,” concludes Ravenhill. “This new rating now meets all requirements and standards for such venues.”