USA - Pigeons Playing Ping Pong and Eggy took the stage at the Westville Music Bowl, a new entertainment venue created in a converted tennis stadium on the Yale University campus, campus, Newhaven, CT. Lighting designers Manny Newman for Pigeons Playing Ping Pong and Peter Spadaro III for opening act Eggy unleashed a torrent of dynamic looks, taking advantage of the high (over 30’) stage roof to shower their clients with immersive washes and moving gobos one moment, then transitioning into bright aerials and immersive audience lighting the next. “There was such a diverse range of looks that it’s difficult to describe it in a few words,” said Newman, who designed and built the evening’s lighting rig. “The one thing that characterized all the looks is that they were complete.” Helping to create the production were 18 Chauvet Professional Rogue R1 Wash
Germany - ARRI has announced the release of ARRI LightNet, a new software platform designed by ARRI’s Solutions Group to offer ‘smart, logical, and at-a-glance centralized monitoring, fault-finding, and management of broadcast studio lighting networks from anywhere’ This tool enables broadcast facilities to streamline the management of their lighting network in one platform. As remote, decentralized, and socially distanced working becomes more popular and established, ARRI LightNet provides comprehensive, user-friendly monitoring of lighting networks and will be offered with all ARRI Solutions Group tenders and projects. ARRI LightNet has been developed as a powerful, visually intuitive, and flexible tool to assist the smooth and efficient operation of contemporary studio facilities with both IP-based and DMX-controlled lighting systems. Features include a very
Canada - Érik Nowosielski-Lamoureux lit a Canada Day celebration at the Saint-Ours Canal National Historic Site, about an hour out of Montreal. Faced with a relatively large stage for the size of his rig, Nowosielski-Lamoureux relied on his own ingenuity to stretch his fixtures in a way that ensured that the three musical acts and procession of speakers at the event were all shown in the best light. Helping him achieve this feat was a collection of Chauvet Professional Rogue and COLORado fixtures supplied by RobinSon Productions of Quebec. “Our mobile stage was 32ft by 24ft, which was rather large for what we had; but with all the band gear, you quickly lose a lot of space,” said Nowosielski-Lamoureux. “So I spread the six Rogue R2 Beam units in my rig across the stage, placing two near the drum stand on 8-foot truss, two more on road cases, one on each side of
Europe - Robe Esprite luminaires and RoboSpot remote follow spotting systems – the first installed on an ocean-going liner – are providing a flexible solution for the Two70 Theatre space aboard the new 1,138ft long, 169 gross tonne Odyssey of the Seas, the latest Ultra Quantum-class ship launched by Royal Caribbean International. Built at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, the technical specifications for the various onboard entertainment spaces were coordinated by Christopher Vlassopulos, Royal Caribbean’s sound, light and AV systems manager for new build projects. The installation was completed by media technology specialists and integrators, Amptown System Company (ASC). Two70 is featured on all four of Royal Caribbean’s Quantum-class ships, and fitting traditional follow spots into these was always a challenge. Due to the steep angle of the sea
USA - Robert John Baker was called upon to light the award-winning Andrew Lippa musical based on the famously eccentric Addams Family, at the historic (121-year-old) Casino Theatre in Vandergrift, PA. “Before designing this show, I went back and watched some of the old Addams Family programmes and the film to see the world through their perspective,” he said. “The way they saw the world was quite different than what we deem to be normal. I wanted that to inform my design.” Baker’s empathy for the characters in the Addams Family is readily apparent in the way he uses light to distinguish their unique personalities, express their hopes, and accentuate key moments as their stories unfold in this darkly funny musical comedy. Helping him convey the family’s emotions, while creating a sense of mystery around them were the Chauvet Professional Ovation E-910
UK - TV lighting specialist Version 2 has launched a new Lighting for Radio podcast series that offers an intimate glimpse into the lives of some of the UK's leading TV & film lighting professionals. Each episode will talk to some of the industry's leading lighting experts as they share first-hand experiences and lessons on how they reached the top of their profession. Nick Edwards, managing director of Version 2 explains the concept of the podcast. "Born out of a lockdown idea, this behind the scenes podcast series will give listeners and I hope In particular students’ ideas for their future career paths,” he says. Hosting every conversation is broadcaster Nia Visser, whose career credits include work as a radio presenter with the BBC and currently Jazz FM. The first episode, which is available now on all popular podcast apps, talks to Nick Edward
USA - LEDtronics has announced its latest series of Slim LED flood lights designed for easy installation in various applications. The area lights are offered with a choice of angular adjustable brackets with multiple mounting options for various lighting situations indoors or outdoors, such as in pole-mounted area and building security lighting, wall washing building exteriors, sign lighting, landscape lighting, tennis courts, parks, playgrounds, parking lots and structures, as well as driveway and walkway lighting, tunnels, caves and mines, and up/down spotlighting, among many others. The bracket choices include adjustable yoke, knuckle, U-bracket and trunnion for wall and roof, and adjustable slip-fitter for pole mounting. LEDtronics’ UL and CE-listed FLL00 series flood lights have a 110-degree-wide Type-V circular beam and are IP65 rated to be moisture-proof, mak
UK - Wycombe High School (WHS) is an Academy Grammar school for girls, located in the Buckinghamshire town of High Wycombe. The school takes a progressive view on the use of technology, both in terms of educating its students and engaging with the wider community. One of WHS’s recent eye-catching initiatives has been to create its own YouTube TV channel under the guidance of its marketing and communications manager, Bob Massie. Before joining the school in his current role, Bob enjoyed a career as a media executive, occupying key roles at ITV, IMG and XIX Entertainment amongst others. The knowledge and insight he brings to WHS has proved invaluable. With a brief to develop creative methods of marketing the school to prospective students and their parents, as well as to teachers and other potential staff members, Bob turned to the power of television. Harnessing every
Australia - The first Astera NYX Bulb installation in Australia has been completed by Elite Event Technology at One22, a new music-driven bar and night entertainment concept in a reimagined space that has long served night and party people in Canberra. Owned by the same team who also run the popular Fiction Club and Fact Bar, ACT’s largest club, One22’s new lighting design includes 60 x Astera NYX bulbs in an individually mapped ceiling art piece. EET’s Darren Russell was invited to create a fresh new lighting look to match the eye-catching raw industrial chic of One22’s interior design, and integral to this is the NYX bulb roof installation. “The client wanted to be able to change the mood and dynamic of the venue instantly and drastically but without having any roof trusses full of lighting and rigging,” explained Darren. Having invested ste
UK - The live events sector is set to get a boost with a government-backed insurance scheme worth over £750m, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced yesterday (5 August). The news comes after many months of campaigning by the events sector and the wider music industry for the introduction of such a scheme. However, it comes too late for many, with over fifty per cent of scheduled festivals – both large and small – cancelled or postponed. The government has partnered with Lloyd’s to deliver the Live Events Reinsurance Scheme as part of the Plan for Jobs. The scheme will see the government act as a ‘reinsurer’ – stepping in with a guarantee to make sure insurers can offer the products events companies need. This scheme will support live events across the UK that are open to the general public - such as music festivals and business events. It will cover
China - Resulting from the heightened popularity and massive growth within the eSports industry, Tencent China and Riot Games recently joined forces to create TJ Sports, Asia’s first large-scale eSports remote production centre. As the eSports industry continues to expand across the globe, production companies are looking to streamline operator workflow. Providing a technologically advanced, yet simple-to-operate control solution, TJ Sports selected TSL Products’ TallyMan Advanced Broadcast Control System to accomplish the management of large-scale video switchers, audio mixers and the AV matrix for its events. “TSL enables us to produce more events that are more intensive and complex,” says Zhang Xuming, head of broadcast technology planning at TJ Sports. “The TSL TallyMan controller greatly reduces execution risk during production while improving the overal
USA - Trading off the needs of one audience for another is sometimes unavoidable – but not always. Chad Landers demonstrated that on 12 July when he lit Worship Forever, a 20th anniversary celebration of Michael W. Smith’s landmark Worship album, with a rig supplied by CTS and 4Wall Entertainment. Held before a live audience at the Allen Arena on the campus of Lipscomb University, the show, which featured Smith and special guests like Amy Grant backed by a full orchestra, was videoed for later release and broadcast on the TBN Network. Landers was seeking a way to engage the audience with a direct wash from his downstage position without being distractive on camera. He found it with help from a collection of 25 Chauvet Professional COLORado Solo Batten fixtures. “My challenge was to turn what is basically a basketball arena into an elegant mode
UK - Tate Britain today has unveiled Rupture No l: blowtorching the bitten peach, a new work by Heather Phillipson. Lighting, alongside sound and motion, played a key part in her spaces, with vibrant hues being created via two light sources from the eLumen8 and LEDJ brands. Phillipson’s three interconnected illuminated spaces are populated with the remains of scrap goods repurposed to form creatures. These structures, coupled with media, audio and projected light, create the scenes you see in the images from the commission. The whole installation utilises 40 of the eLumen8 Endura 1Q120 RGBW COB Zoom exterior fixtures and 42 LEDJ Performer 200 Quads, all supplied by Colour Sound Experiment. They were chosen for their high outputs, smooth colour mixing and robust built quality; and came highly recommended by Colour Sound Experiment as the features they had to o
USA - OSA International which delivers entertainment technology, event production and systems integration, based in Chicago, Las Vegas, and Nashville, has added a large complement of Claypaky Xtylos fixtures to its rental inventory. “Our lighting division was launched in November 2019, so everything we have is the newest and highest technology,” says Mark Fetto, OSA’s vice president, lighting. “Acquiring the Xtylos was the perfect way to build our inventory with the latest and greatest.” OSA had previously purchased Claypaky Mini-B fixtures for the new division. Fetto believes that, as a beam light, the Xtylos will be not only in demand for the touring market but also for special events and entertainment shows at big corporate gatherings. “We really like how vibrant and punchy the Xytlos is when you add colour – that’s where it’s really strong,
UK - Collaborative Creations, a provider of creative business development and PR services for the events industry, has made a series of new appointments as it enters a period of expansion. Stuart Wood joins as the company’s new content manager and will be overseeing its PR and editorial output. Stuart joins from event industry publisher Mash Media. Also joining the team is Ian Saunders who is the company’s new business delivery manager. Ian will be helping the team manage its increased workload after a series of new client signings. Ian previously served for 15 years as executive director of the Association of Lighting Designers (ALD), recently renamed to the Association for Lighting Production and Design (ALPD). Finally, Luke Edwards joins the company as its new marketing manager. Luke is a familiar face on the lighting circuit who has toured with artists in
UK/USA - Christie Lites has made several key new account rep appointments from across various industry sectors over the last several months. Starting in the UK Christie Lites announced the addition of Mark Burnett, who is joining the UK account rep team in late Q2 of 2022. Burnett joins Christie Lites with over two decades in the stage lighting industry, having built an established and well recognised career focusing on the theatrical and events market sectors. He will work in conjunction with CL UK and North American team members and clients to further the Christie Lites growth mandate on both sides of the Atlantic. Additionally, this summer, Christie Lites welcomed rental account rep Gordon Torrington, a live events and concert touring veteran, to be based out of the CL Coventry location. Torrington brings over 20 years of hands-on experience to his new position, in
Mexico - Renaissance is a beautiful word, believes Gerardo Urbán y Fernández, not just for the promising future it represents, but also for the struggles that preceded it. The director of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Toluca (Toluca Philharmonic), states, “Rebirth means to die first, and that was a bit what happened last year. Somehow, we all suffered not only losses but we had this need to see many things from our past. Now is the time to start over, to do better, bigger, and more beautiful things, because the experience we lived through has made us mature.” This spirit was reflected in Renaissance, a concert performed by Orquesta Filarmónica de Toluca at the iMorelos Theatre before a live and livestreamed audience to mark International Music Day. For many involved in the performance, it was a rebirth as it represented the first time they were able to perform t
UK - The Roadie Cookbook: Toured There, Ate That is a new charity publication created by live music crew members with the mission of funding Mental Health First Aid training for every tour bus in the UK. Borne out of an idea by production manager Nick Gosling (Nile Rodgers & Chic) in April 2020, the project was curated with friends production coordinator Julie Cotton (Massive Attack), production assistant Athena Caramitsos and backline tech Rich House (Elbow). The team set out to help their peers re-engage in the much-missed mealtime connection of crew catering by sharing recipes over social media and Zoom. When the devastation of Covid-19 hit, live music stopped overnight, and tour buses stood still. While almost every venue in the world closed, home kitchens became the new catering hub for unemployed music workers. As stories of memorable meals and secre
USA - The one hour syndicated daytime show The Kelly Clarkson Show (TKCS) produced by NBCUniversal Syndication Studios is an energetic mash up of chat, stories, opinions, humour, and surprises involving an array of guests, personalities, and music. The role of lighting this ever-shifting environment recorded on Universal Studios in LA’s Stage 1, has been down to Darren Langer of DCLighting, a lighting design and direction practice also based in LA, specialising in television and multi-camera environments. Their work encompasses broadcast, streamed shows and events, awards extravaganzas, talk shows and music-based projects of all sizes. Darren has relied on several specific Robe products throughout series 1 and 2 of The Kelly Clarkson Show – Pointes, BMFL Spots and BMFL Blades, PATT 2013s, Spiiders and Tetra2s – to ensure that the studios and sets have looked fre
Serbia - Crt Birsa of Blackout Lighting Design designed a compelling lightshow for Bosnian stars Dubioza Kolektiv at Arsenal Fest 2021. Birsa began lighting the genre-smashing band in late 2010 and soon after that he had bought his first ChamSys PC Wing. In all the years since, he has built on this experience with every single Dubioza Kolektiv show. Using ever-more advanced ChamSys consoles, he has continuously taken earlier looks and bent them in original ways to create designs that build on a rich legacy, while reflecting his client’s music in refreshingly original ways. “My show contains 10 years of history,” said Birsa. “This is a history that is constantly updated with new ideas for old songs, and also new songs being reflected in new and traditional ways. “Designing for Dubioza Kolektiv is a wonderfully rewarding challenge, because the band combin
UK - Scottish Ballet has recently taken possession of a second consignment of Robert Juliat Dalis 860 cyclorama lights bringing its total inventory to 26. The award-winning Dalis 860 fixtures were supplied quickly and efficiently by Adlib’s Glasgow branch to provide Scottish Ballet with a versatile tool that can adapt to many environments and design requirements. The upgrading of Scottish Ballet’s lighting systems began with a focus on cyclorama fixtures. “Cyc lighting is a fairly constant requirement at Scottish Ballet, and we don’t anticipate models to change dramatically. We wanted an LED replacement for our existing fixtures that looked the part as well as doing a great job,” explains Scottish Ballet’s technical director, Matt Strachan. “I have been looking at Robert Juliat’s Dalis at trade shows for several years but never had a chance to use them
UK - Marta Minujín’s provocative work Big Ben Lying Down With Political Books is a centrepiece of the Manchester International Festival. The work takes the London landmark and turns it on its side in Piccadilly Gardens. Stretching 42m and reaching as high as 8m in some places, the structure commands immediate attention. But the Argentinian pop artist had more than novelty in mind when she created the distinctive structure. Covering the tower are 20,000 books donated from various Manchester groups. Representing a range of literary eras and styles from Marx’s Das Kapital to Marcus Rashford’s You Are A Champion, the books have been selected for their roles in shaping Britain’s culture and influencing its future. Collectively they serve as a source of reflection for the nation during a time of profound change with Covid and Brexit. Adding impa
UK - Event production specialists, ADI, delivered a visual experience that transformed the ExCeL for the 2021 Heineken London E-Prix. Creative applications in LED and video featured across the venue, resulting in stylish sports presentation and a high-octane fan experience during the fully charged double-header, that was also the world’s first indoor-outdoor motorsport race. Having first conceptualised ideas for Formula E London two years ago, ADI designed a huge modular set with over 100m of 3mm LED to create a show-stopping digital centrepiece. Over both race days the bespoke LED staging hosted live performances by Raye, TV presentation and podium celebrations, with the integration of multiple displays and content zones for re-active video and fan-rousing messaging. Modular LED screens to stage left and right delivered coverage for fans inside the ExCeL, while ou
USA - The new LED Work Light II (WLII) from Altman Lighting is designed to be a solution for any space requiring a high CRI, wide-spectrum, dimmable work light. WLII’s 90+ CRI ensure both costumes and set painting looks as colourful and true as designed. “Altman designers and engineers focused on developing a new LED Work Light that would be portable enough and energy efficient enough to make it perfect for just about any venue,” says Nicolas Champion, VP of sales and marketing. The LED Work Light II is outfitted with onboard dimming for local control or, when set to full, can be operated on any Phase cut or Triac dimmer. It can output well over 14,000 lumens and offers a high CRI and soft, even distribution of light, when coupled with the included framed diffuser. The 3000K or 5000K, 90 watt single point source allows for a true flood with soft distributi
