Germany - Robe's philosophy of smaller-brighter-lighter reaches new levels at Miniatur Wunderland where BMFL Spots, Pointes and LEDWash 600s are prominent on the lighting rig for German music superstar Helene Fischer's show-stopping performance at the Berlin Olympiastadion.

The actual concerts were staged in July 2015 during Fischer's Farbenspiel tour and were enjoyed by around 110,000 people. Anyone who missed the show can catch the experience at the Miniatur Wunderland attraction in Hamburg where a 1:87 scale model of the complete venue, stage, functioning lighting, sound and video production plus capacity for a full audience - has been constructed.

This includes a quantity of 1:87 scale Robe fixtures which have been replicated in painstaking detail by Sven Hinzmann and the Miniatur Wunderland technical teams which included around 40 engineers, planners and creatives.

M

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) Ltd. Will be showcasing the latest product highlights from their extensive brand portfolio at the PLASA Focus Glasgow 2016 Show - SECC, Glasgow, UK, stand B1, 20 - 21 January.

A leading one-stop provider of professional equipment to the entertainment industry, AC-ET will be showcasing a selection of the very latest lighting, audio, rigging, video, and film & TV solutions available from their vast portfolio of over 200 leading brands and five specialist sales divisions.

The award-winning Chroma-Q® range of premium performance solutions is designed and built to exacting standards in North America, and has been adopted by many leading designers and specifiers for some of today's most demanding and prestigious lighting applications. The stand will represent a number of product ranges, including the Color One 100 and Inspire full c

UK - London's first Lumiere light festival closed on Sunday 17 January having transformed the city's streets and buildings with 30 spectacular artworks. First estimates put the numbers of visitors at over 1m attending the festival over four evenings.

Developed by creative producers Artichoke and supported by the Mayor of London, Lumiere London turned King's Cross and London's West End, including Leicester Square, Piccadilly, Regent Street and St James's into a magical pedestrian playground and encouraged Londoners and tourists alike to explore the heart of the capital and view it in a new light.

With founding support from Atom Bank, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Heart of London Business Alliance, London & Partners and King's Cross, plus additional support from a host of partners and sponsors, including Westminster City Council, Lumiere London presented installations by 30 intern

Star Tribute - The life of David Bowie was celebrated with a tribute concert at a London chapel. Hundreds of fans packed out Islington's Grade I-listed Union Chapel to pay homage to the musician who died of cancer on 10 January. The service saw an eclectic mix of artists, including the Magic Numbers and ex-Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock, perform the star's music.

Fans filled the small north London chapel as Bowie's best-known tunes, played by an organ, echoed around the hall. A huge screen showed images of the star in his many guises, before the part gig, part remembrance service kicked off with a rousing mass sing-along of Starman. Maggie Ronson, sister of late Bowie guitarist and collaborator Mick Ronson, was joined by The Featherz to sing Ziggy Stardust, paying tribute to Bowie's "massive influence".

Black January - A month of depressing n

UK - Over the past couple of years the iconic Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, home of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, has undergone a major £14.5m refurbishment. This has included the building of a brand new smaller-scale venue, Music Room, on which Stage Electrics and Northern Light worked closely together to supply and fit out, as well as being major contractors for the 1700-capacity main auditorium.

The project was split into two phases. Phase one focused on the main Hall whose 1939 art-deco style architecture has earned it Grade II*- listed status.

It included works to the auditorium, all public, front of house spaces, and backstage dressing rooms and warm-up areas.

Phase two was a new-build project including Music Room, for which Stage Electrics supplied the lighting, sound and staging equipment. Located at the rear of the main Hall, Music Room is a 16

USA - Fast rising country star Justin Moore set a real challenge on his recent US tour, with venues ranging from state/county fairs up to 20,000-seat arena shows.

For production designer Sooner Routhier (of SRae Productions) and touring lighting director Aaron Luke it was a case of developing easily portable, truckable and scalable scenography that was quick to rig and derig.

Sooner also lights stages for Motley Crue to Bon Jovi and it was on a previous tour with the latter that she started using GLP's popular impression X4 heads, quickly sensing the speed of the fixture and the number of beam shapes that could be achieved using the pixel patterns. "I needed a good wash light to generate effects that would give each song a different look - and GLP impressions seemed to be the perfect fit."

And so she approached long-term vendor SES from North Carolina for a simi

World - American punk rockers Fall Out Boy are on a world tour in support of their American Beauty/American Psycho album with a perspective-bending lighting design by Robb Jibson using Clay Paky Mythos and A.leda B-EYE K20 fixtures.

Robb Jibson - who serves as lighting and show designer for the tour - is using the highly advanced beam and spot light hybrid, Mythos, for effects, backlight, in delay systems and even as follow spots. With them, he projects dynamic aerial effects out across the audience, creates collimated looks and washes areas with vibrant colour.

"Clay Paky has created a really bright fixture in the Mythos," says Jibson. "It has a small footprint that's easy on both weight and power consumption and there isn't a better optical system out there in my opinion. I think its best feature is the ability to have it in a 20° to 30° beam

USA - Winter Jam Tour Spectacular, Christian music's largest annual tour, has returned to the road with lighting provided by Bandit Lites. Artists this year include For King and Country, Matthew West, Crowder, Lauren Daigle, Red and Newsong.

Production manager Jerry Holcomb worked with Bandit's project manager Matt King and business development officer Brent Barrett to make the 360 degree stage lighting design a reality. "Brent and Matt always help me achieve my vision and design to actual workable rigging plots and fixture patch," said Holcomb. "We even set up a couple days at their Nashville location to pre-program and get ready for the tour."

"We appreciate the opportunity to work with Jerry each year from his initial concept through the finished product," said Barrett. "Jerry's temperament along with his experience and knowledge promote

UK - Central Presentations Ltd (CPL) delivered full production, including lighting, sound - featuring brand new d&b Y8s and V-SUBS - video and rigging to an impressive end of year party for technology designer / manufacturer Dyson - which was staged in the grounds of Bowood House in Wiltshire, where a large elegant Trispan marquee was giving a 45m deep and wide party space.

CPL have been the event's technical supplier for the last five years, and there's always an exciting and ambitious brief to be fulfilled from production company Bright. This year their production designer and technical manager was Nick Diacre who liaised closely with CPL's PM Mike Radford.

Luminescence was the theme of this year's event, putting a big emphasis on lighting and visual presentation and treatment of the whole environment.

CPL flew a 10m diameter circular truss in the middle of the m

USA - Multi Latin Grammy-winner Fonseca has been described as one of the easiest artists to like and one of the most difficult to categorize. Colombian born and educated at Boston's Berklee College of Music, the singer-guitarist, who now lives in Miami, began his career in rock. As he evolved as an artist, his music grew to include elements of Colombian 'Tropipop', as well as a variety of other sounds from ranchera to salsa and even classical.

Lighting designer Churry Lafuente reflects Fonseca's diverse musical message in light on the artist's current Conexión tour, thanks to some help from a collection of Chauvet Professional fixtures provided by rental company Línea Estratégica.

Churry, who began designing for the international superstar almost three years ago during the Ilusión tour, created an intense, bright and very flexible rig for the multi-national tour, w

USA - Located in Houston, Texas, the Alley Theatre is a nationally recognized performing arts company that creates a wide range of innovative productions. Recently undergoing a $46.5m renovation which included improvements to the Hubbard Theatre, associate director for design Kevin Rigdon was asked to also serve as the principal designer for the project.

Working with theatrical consultants Bill Connor & Associates as well as Philips Strand Lighting aauthorized dealer StageLight, Rigdon was tasked with creating a more intimate relationship between the audience and the actors on stage, and he did so using 68 Showline SL PAR 155 ZOOM LED luminaires.

"During the renovation, we actually changed the configuration of the theatre which created two zones of house lighting, said Rigdon. "We were committed to using LED lighting technology for the power consumption and heat ad

USA - American alternative rock band X Ambassadors are touring North America through March on their VHS tour using a fully MIDI-triggered lighting rig designed by Cour Design that includes Elation Professional SixPar 200 LED PAR colour changers and Platinum Beam 5R beam lights.

Cour Design handles production design, lighting programming and production coordination on the tour, their first time working with the band. "We met with their management team when we first started our business," stated Gordon Droitcour, co-founder and designer along with Erik Anderson at the Nashville-based design house that can take a project from napkin sketch to full production. "We had never heard of X Ambassadors but they've been one of our most exciting bands to date."

Cour Design specializes in intricate visual designs that literally run themselves. They have developed a sy

UK - Flashlight Ltd has announced it has been experiencing high demand and great feedback from customers on the ARRI Skypanel range since it started shipping in September. Both the Manchester and London offices are reporting extensive sales to broadcasters, rental companies and studios. With over 200 units sold so far the team are adding to their unprecedented numbers of ARRI LED L-Series sold.

Flashlight's Andy Dodd says: 'It has been phenomenal so far, although not surprising as it is a fantastic product. The technical aspects of the product, with its competitive price point is making it an attractive unit for many of our customers."

The BBC and ITV have been some of the first to invest in the new units, taking a large quantity of Skypanels to bolster their various studios. Andy has received nothing but positive feedback from staff there: "They offer everything u

USA - VER, the global provider of production equipment and engineering support, announced that it has acquired the business of DPS Inc., a production services company. In a sale ordered by the bankruptcy court, VER acquired more than half of the company's lighting and film equipment, nearly all of its audio, video, and rigging equipment, its 70,000sq.ft facility near Burbank, CA and retained nearly half of the company's employees.

VER is already consolidating its rapidly growing, industry-recognized lighting division at DPS's former location. The new VER Light Lab is being expanded to create the most significant facility in Southern California, enabling clients to design, test, and prep systems in real time, supported by the VER engineering team, enabling even more creative solutions and a streamlined programming and design process.

VER will invest further to enhance the alr

UK - Taking place as part of the London International Mime Festival, Tipping Point is the latest production from renowned theatre company Ockham's Razor and features five acrobatic performers using simple metal poles to create an unforgettable theatrical experience. It is currently running at the Platform Theatre, London, and has already achieved critical acclaim. With its strong reputation as the leading theatrical lighting supplier, WL is providing the equipment for this ground-breaking show.

Tipping Point is a co-commission by the London International Mime Festival and The Lowry, Salford Quays, and is produced by Turtle Key Arts. Alison King, chief executive at Turtle Key Arts, comments, "With Tipping Point, we wanted to create something extraordinary. The emphasis was on exploring the use of circus equipment yet in an unconventional manner. We were eager

Poland - Lighting designer Michal Dobek has created a mind-bending light show featuring over a hundred Clay Paky fixtures on the 16th edition of one of Poland's biggest techno music events, Mayday festival.

Taking place across the three levels of Katowice's Spodek Arena, Dobek employed 72 Clay Paky Sharpys and 32 Alpha Spot QWO 800 to shoot intense aerial effects over the audience at the event's main stage. The festival lighting system was supplied by TSE, with the main stage operated by Dobek, Waldemar Osentowski and Marcin Kalu?ynski.

"The Sharpy is the ideal fixture for electronic dance music festivals, especially at this venue," says Dobek. "It is incredibly fast with a precise and reliable beam and is very lightweight."

Weighing just 19kg, the Sharpy produces a perfectly parallel, laser-like beam. The fixtures were spread across several automated

Germany - An array of Clay Paky Mythos and Sharpy Wash 330 fixtures have been recreated in minute model form at Miniatur Wunderland's latest attraction - an exact functioning replica of German pop superstar Helene Fischer's sold-out concert at the Berlin Olympiastadion in July 2015.

The model features the real life audiovisual elements and detail of the open-air performance, including the lighting rig used for the original full-scale design by Patrick Woodroffe and Andreas Kisters. The build, led by project manager Sven Hinzmann and a highly skilled team of around 40 Miniatur Wunderland designers and engineers, took eight weeks to complete.

Working off detailed spec sheets and 3D drawings supplied by Clay Paky, Hinzmann and his team meticulously built each of the models, integrating the Mythos with RGB LED controlled via DMX. There is also a functioning video element display

Germany - Traditionally, in Berlin the New Year is greeted at the Brandenburg Gate. Once again, TLT Event AG was in charge of production and technical implementation.

The turn of the year was also the go-ahead for TLT to invest in a RockLink system. On New Year's Eve it came into operation for the first time in order to provide a redundant fibreoptic network for the MA-Net between FOH and Dimmercity.

"As we are placing great value on reliability for our productions, we have been working with Rock Solid Technologies' RockSwitch Mk2 for some time. Moreover, there was an increasing internal necessity to invest in a redundant fiberoptic network", stated Helge Rabethge, technical director Light and Rigging.

"For the buying decision, it was important to us to invest in a reliable system that consists of as few individual components as possible and that is easy to

USA - Chauvet Professional has unveiled the first of the next generation of products in its popular COLORdash LED series: the COLORdash S-Par 1.

An IP65-rated RGBA wash fixture, the COLORdash S-Par 1 marks a major advance in LED color blending, because its 27 red, green, blue and amber LEDs appear, not as individual pixels, but as one large homogenized light source. This breakthrough eliminates the "color separation" that typically occurs during LED mixing, producing a blended palette of colours, each appearing as a single emulsified hue directly from the lens.

Along with its homogenizing optics, the COLORdash S-Par 1 features new high-power RGBA LED engine for enhanced brightness (377 lux@ 5 meters) and a 22° beam angle and 42° field angle to cover a wide wash area. Ideal for events, shows and productions of all types, the light can be used indoors or out,

Belgium - ArKaos has produced an effective new accessory which instantly integrates the latest version of its GrandVJ software with one of the industry's most popular MIDI controllers, the Akai APC40 mkII.

The new GrandVJ Cover is a durable plastic overlay, which fits the face of the Akai APC40 mkII controller precisely. All the GrandVJ 2.1 features from the pre-installed MIDI template for the controller are clearly printed on the cover. The illuminated Akai control buttons remain clearly visible through special transparent sections of the cover. "With glow-in-the dark elements for more effect, this is a perfect combination of practicality and style. All GrandVJ 2.1 features from the MIDI template can be seen at glance, while the appearance remains supremely funky," the company says.

"The GrandVJ Cover has been designed specifically for use in live performance

Germany - Motörhead blasted off in the 1970s and rocked gloriously loudly for the next 40 years until their last live gig in Berlin on 11December 2015.

The band officially ended on 28 December 2015, two and a half weeks after that memorable show in Berlin, and part way through the Bad Magic tour with the passing of founder, lead singer and rock 'n' roll warrior Lemmy (Ian Fraser Kilmister) aged 70.

The Bad Magic tour was supporting their 22nd studio album - for which lighting designer Caio Bertti sculpted a classic rock 'n' roll look with the contemporary twist of moving lights from Robe.

The famous Motörhead bomber set piece also flew again for this European tour - its last as it would turn out - and its first time on a tour for many years. It was completely refurbished and brought bang up-to-date with new lighting including Robe Pointes and LEDWash 600s plus a full au

UK - Rock band Skindred are known for their lively and energetic live performances as well as their music which is an eclectic fusion of heavy metal, punk rock, hip-hop, electronica and reggae - and so the pressure is always on lighting designer Jordon Cooper to come up with a few surprises and touches of the unexpected.

This design for the current Volume tour is diverse, different and practical to stage in different sized venues. It was also one of the first to feature Robe's new LED ColorStrobe, together with several other Robe fixtures including MMX Spots LEDWash 600s and CycFX8s and 4s.

Jordon, one of a new wave of UK LDs designing for a series of rising star artists - has lit the band for two years.

The design for the latest leg of the tour - which culminated in an amazing hi-energy performance at London's Brixton Academy - started with the set and backdrop. The band

UK - Following a year which saw White Light expand both its expertise and resources, the company is now launching a new platform from which its extensive range of lighting, audio, rigging and video equipment will all be available to purchase: ShopWL.

The site, www.ShopWL.com is now live and has more than 5,000 products available for purchase, with more than 1,000 of these ready for next-day delivery. The site will offer every type of entertainment technology from state-of-the-art lighting and loudspeakers to the essential consumables such as batteries and tape.

Peter Threadgold, WL's customer services director, comments, "As a company, WL is renowned for providing complete production solutions. We wanted this reputation to be evident with our online shop hence the launch of ShopWL. As more customers than ever before are making their purchases online, it is important tha

UK - Over 65 years after its first production, the popularity of musical Guys and Dolls is as great as ever. The success of the 2014/15 Chichester Festival Theatre production has seen it transfer to the West End, with a tour to follow. Stage Electrics has worked closely with lighting designer Tim Mitchell to help make the transition.

Produced by Runaway Entertainment, the show has just started an eight week run at London's Savoy Theatre, after which it tours 18 UK and Irish cities through to the end of July. As an associate artist at Chichester Festival Theatre, Tim designed the lighting for the original run. Yet, unusually, you won't hear him say the word 'compromise' regarding the tour.

"Budget and time are obviously the two main creative constraints for a tour and we had to massively modify the rig. But I think we've actually improved it. It looks a lot sharpe

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