Concert lighting specialist turns Indiana home into an eye-popping Christmas light show

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Last year, Nick Metken was on tour with Bob Seger. Now, the Carmel, Indiana, man is turning his talents into a Christmas light extravaganza at his parents home.

"The event industry pretty much stopped in March. Pretty soon after that I got furloughed. To save money, I moved back in with my parents," Metken, an event and concert lighting specialist, told FOX 59 of Indianapolis. "I was watching some YouTube videos, and figured this would be the year to [create a Christmas light show] if I was going to do it."

Concert tour lighting technician turns parents’ Indiana home into an eye-popping Christmas light show — (Courtesy of FOX 59)

His parents' home is now flush with LED lights that move to the beat of five songs that he has programmed across an 18-minute show, which loops every 20 minutes from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The matching music can be heard on 100.1 FM and is broadcast from a transmitter in his parents' home in the 900 block of Hawthorne Drive in Carmel.

"I primarily do concert touring, so I will go and travel from city to city with an artist or a band. It’s the same concept, same sort of equipment," Metken told FOX 59. "I started at the end of September, beginning of October, planning it all out. Through the month of October into November I was working a few hours every night on the software side of programming it."

Metken said it took him and his brother one day to construct the lights after the programming was finished. Because the entire setup is LED lighting, he said it doesn’t cost his parents much to keep it going.

So far, the display has garnered viewers from all around the Indianapolis area who come to check it out.

"I’ve seen as many as 10 on the street," Metken said.

"We were just looking at Christmas lights and pulled over," said an older couple named Phil and Meg with a laugh as they held out a cell phone. "We FaceTimed our grandchildren in Charlottesville, Virginia, to show them what we found."

While the light show is keeping his skills sharp, Metken longs to go back to work. However, he admits he doesn’t know when the pandemic will let him do so.

"Nothing compares to that time when all the lights get turned off, and the crowds starts screaming," he said.

Metken is hopeful he can return to work in 2021 and said his industry is seeing a lot of concerts scheduled for next year.