USA - Celebrations of Pride Month in New York City, the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ movement, took on new importance this year as COVID-19 cancelled in-person events, including the 50th anniversary Pride March. Instead, a number of Manhattan landmarks staged rainbow illuminations as civic expressions of Pride. Among them was the famed Stonewall Inn where 160 Claypaky Mythos 2 fixtures produced a rainbow in the sky seen from miles around. The snack brand Kind partnered with experiential marketing agency Bankrobber Projects on the light tribute in the West Village at Seventh Avenue and Christopher Street, near the site of the Stonewall Inn riot, which sparked the LGBTQ+ movement five decades ago. MediaGenics produced the event with technical support from WorldStage. Kind wanted to create a huge rainbow in the sky, similar to the dramatic 9/11 illumination over
Germany - The event industry may be idle due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but that didn’t stop Florian Vitez from Reposit Entertainment teaming up with Gerd Gruss from Crystal Sound, Sahar Gleich from Gleich Gesitzt, and Mitja Gleich from Messe- und Eventtechnik Gleich and putting together the Karlsruhe Trade Fair’s cultural stage. The four quickly agreed and went straight to planning. Following a call to Michael Brombacher from Megaforce, the main stage was ready in no time, then Lars Wolf, from the company, Hell, brought his lighting design expertise to the project. This small but powerful group was quickly able to bring the idea of the cultural stage to the local cooperation partner, the Karlsruhe Exhibition Centre. On 12 June, the cultural stage at the Karlsruhe Trade Fair opened with a concert by the Swiss pop singer Beatrice Egli. The programme itself is current
Poland - Prolights products gave light to Pocztówka z Polski Tour 20 (Postcards from Poland 20) which featured popular Polish rap artist, Taco Hemingway. Gwidon Wydrzyński, lighting designer at Źle i Tanio realised an impactful set-up. “Because of the spread of Covid-19, we played just half of the tour. Nevertheless, shows took place in Warsaw, Kracow, Opole, Katowice and Rzeszów, and Taco Hemingway played in really big venues, like Warsaw's Torwar and Katowice's MCK, but not only- as well in big clubs like Studio, in Cracow. “To light up the stage and the artist, I used Prolights Stark Bar1000 up in the back of the stage, SunBlast 3000FC as ambient lights around it, and Air 5Fan on the towers on the back. I decided to use these particular fixtures because of their unique and specific features: StarkBar 1000 provide a wide range of colours and po
USA - The coronavirus may have put a temporary halt to rock concerts, but it hasn’t done anything to dim the passion of aspiring stars who dream of one day taking to the arena stage. This relentless spirit was on full display at Let There Be Rock, a two-day livestream featuring a dozen bands from the Frederick Rock School in Baltimore. Videoed at the improvised production studio in the Showtime Sound LLC warehouse, the event, which was streamed on Facebook and YouTube, featured a fittingly intense, hard-driving light show created by Aaron Kovelman, Showtime’s director of design & production. “This was an important moment for students, so we wanted to give them something that made them feel special,” said Kovelman. “We wanted to create looks that were not only powerful, but were also different for each band to reflect their unique personalities.” H
USA - Blackberry Mountain sits among The Great Smoky Mountains with eight miles of protected ridgetop and 5,200 acres. Touted as an immersive experience that “seamlessly infuses wellness, outdoor adventure and hospitality into every experience”, the resort entrusted Bandit Lites to illuminate a three-day wedding that spanned multiple venues and events. The Beall family opened Blackberry Mountain in 2018 after years of success with their property Blackberry Farms. They called Bandit Litesto bring their expertise, preparedness and creative adaptability to their guests. Wedding coordinator Jennifer Matteo worked with Bandit to configure a lighting design that would fit the spaces and budget. “The buildings of Blackberry Mountain have an aesthetic that must be seen in person to be appreciated,” said Bandit Lites general manager Giff Swart. “They are designed to
UK - Leading trade bodies and businesses are joining forces to issue a Red Alert and highlight the severe challenges faced by the live events industry and its entire supply chain due to the pandemic. Planned for 11 August, the action will include social media and video drives as well as legal outdoor events, with other specific activities occurring on the day. The initiative is part of the #WeMakeEvents campaign that aims to raise awareness of the sector’s struggles and to secure further support from the government. “The live events industry supply chain that contributes to every single event in the UK is set to completely collapse,” comments Peter Heath, MD of PLASA. “Social distancing prohibits mass events, and even if this stopped now, long-term plan
USA - Chauvet Professional has added an extended warranty to its LED Maverick, Rogue and Ovation fixtures. The new warranty is for three years on all indoor rated fixtures within the ranges and five years on their LED engines. All qualifying products purchased since 1 January 2020 are covered by the extended warranty. These include the silent Maverick Silens 2 Profile, the Maverick MK3 Profile, Rogue R3X Wash and all Ovation fixtures. Complete details, along with a list of covered fixtures covered by the warranty, can be found on the Chauvet Professional website. “Given the challenges faced by our industry today, the time is right for us to extend our warranty,” comments Albert Chauvet, CEO of Chauvet. “Our extended warranty covers products bought since the start of 2020. Through this offer, we are hoping to lend an added level of assurance to our customers who a
New Zealand - Auckland-based lighting designer Rachel Marlow of Filament Eleven 11 created an ‘edgy and exciting ambience’ with Who Lived in a Vinegar Bottle, an immersive lighting and audio installation work staged over four days in Auckland Town Hall Concert Chamber. This was part of the Auckland Live Fringe Town aspect of the city’s annual Fringe Festival event, an independent and popular open-access arts festival which took place earlier in the year, just before the Coronavirus pandemic shut down the industry for an indefinite period. Rachel used the venue’s lighting equipment which includes Robe MMX Spots, WashBeams and T1 Profiles to help realise the piece, which was commissioned by Auckland Live programmer, Anders Falstie-Jensen. Collaborating with Rachel was Bradley Gledhill who assisted in the design, rigging, lighting programming
USA - “Our goal is to prep our inventory and staff so as soon as things are ready to start up again, we can hit the ground running,” states Premier Entertainment Group president and owner Dave Guiler about a recent acquisition of Elation Fuze SFX LED moving head luminaires. “That was the goal behind the purchase, to get things together easily and quickly so when this is over we don’t have to worry about any missing pieces.” Located in Dothan, Alabama, in the southeast corner of the state, Premier Entertainment Group recently acquired 20 Fuze SFX Spot FX fixtures along with other gear as part of a strategy that will see the event services provider put more focus on the touring market. In order to be well prepared once the Covid restrictions have passed, Guiler has put together lighting packages designed to quickly fill a touring rider, truck friendly gear that will
UK - A new outdoor sound, lighting and effects event is coming to Hopetoun House near Edinburgh this October and November. Named Wondrous Woods, this lighting trail event is being launched by 21CC Group. The event will take place in the picturesque private grounds of the Hopetoun Estate and is described as a sound, lighting and effects extravaganza which promises ‘a safe and family friendly experience’. Guests will explore on foot some 2km of winding trails of Hopetoun, exploring the hidden pathways and discovering secrets of the grounds, with some surprises along the way. The event will take place from 21 October 2020 and run for four weeks. The Earl of Hopetoun says, “We are delighted to be the venue for the inaugural Wondrous Woods; it is thrilling for me to see the grounds come to life with all the creative lighting and effects that are planned.
USA - Jazz infusion trio Spaga may draw inspiration from deeply embedded roots, but the band also isn’t shy about pushing forward in new directions, both musically and in terms of performance platforms. The latter was evident earlier this summer when they played a virtual set on a 3D stage at Quarantine Comes Alive, a one-day fundraising festival, presented by Live For Live Music, the COVID-19 Relief Fund, and nugs.tv. Andrew Cass of C2 Design & Drafting created the virtual show, supporting the band with immersive looks that flowed as seamless as the music on their two-song set. Lighting the virtual performance was a collection of 75 Chauvet Professional fixtures. The creative process behind the virtual production began in April when each band member took 16 photos of himself from different angles while in quarantine. Working with animator Arielle D’Ornellas, C
UK - Five high profile buildings around the UK were lit with Anolis fixtures in the recent #LightItInRed lighting action organised to draw attention to the special requirements of live performance, entertainment and events as the economy re-starts after the coronavirus lockdown. The five – the O2 Guildhall and the Mayflower Theatre both in Southampton, Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire, Knebworth House in Hertfordshire and Somerset House in The Strand, central London – all feature permanent Anolis lighting schemes to illuminate their facades and intricate architectural details. O2 Guildhall Southampton: Opened in 1937, the main concert / show venue in this building is now managed by the Academy Music Group and it is – normally – one of the most popular live music showcases on the UK theatre / town hall touring circuit. The exterior is lit with Anolis ArcSource
Sweden - Prolights has announced that Gobo A/S, already Prolights distributor for Denmark, will additionally take over the distribution of the brand for Sweden. Gobo A/S has been in the business for more than 40 years in Denmark, and it has been present in Sweden for more than 13 years. Jens Lind, head of sales for Gobo A/S says: “Our focus has always been lighting and control for the entertainment industry, including TV and film. For the last seven years we have added this with museums, exhibitions and architectural special lighting. We have been working on expanding our business in Sweden, and here Prolights is the perfect match for us. “We look forward to expanding the knowledge of the Prolights brand here in Sweden. This new partnership will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the growth of Gobo Sweden and we are impatient to begin this journey together.
UK - The collective behind the #LightItBlue campaign has formed a community interest company (CIC) dedicated to raising funds for mental health charities, with particular focus on benefitting people from the events and entertainment sectors. #LightItBlue was created at the onset of lockdown by a group of events and entertainment industry professionals to show a united display of gratitude to the NHS and frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Within four months the campaign had become a global movement spanning 23 countries across six continents and enjoying a social media reach of 700m. The initiative began on Thursday 26 March when over 100 of the UK’s most famous event venues, sports stadiums and giant LED screens were illuminated in blue to coincide with the nationwide applause for the NHS and frontline care workers. Since then, landmarks ac
Europe - Grammy-nominated and contemporary Christian singer Lauren Daigle was 10 dates into an arena tour when COVID-19 forced its temporary suspension. It was her first collaboration with the lighting partnership of Seth Jackson and Nathan Alves of Darkroom Creative, and easily her biggest production tour to date. The arena setting allowed the two men to create a partial rolling stage, giving the design a curved front extension and allowing greater sight lines to be exposed that was vital due to the high demand for tickets. Helping them to fulfil their creative objectives were a large quantity of X4 Bar 20 battens from GLP. By articulating a desire for her show “to feel like a hug” the artist gave the two men a start point, and consequently their design contained no metal or steel and a minimum of 90° angles. “We really wanted the design to feel more like a ho
UK - Like many individuals passionate about the live events and performance industry, Philip French of Aldershot, UK-based rental and technical production company Peachy Productions was badly missing shows, gigs, and the camaraderie of delivering live events. He decided to do something about it, and with the support of the Surrey Event Professionals headed by Hannah Sheppard – which includes some of Surrey’s finest live event experts – the Peachy Playhouse was born. It offers two weeks of socially distanced, drive-in, COVID-compliant live entertainment, encompassing comedy, music, film and children’s shows designed to appeal to all sectors of the community, staged in the leafy environs and fresh air of Loseley Park near Guildford, Surrey. Providing the full technical production – staging, lighting, sound, and video – plus crew, Phil and lighting desi
UK - “We’re in this together,” has been a common rallying cry for communities throughout the world as they deal with the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. Andy Tugby took this to heart when he turned his home into an inspiring symbol in the Cornwall town of Camborne With business at his company, SoundONE Disco, halted because of the prohibition on events, Tugby brought some of his idle Chauvet DJ lighting fixtures home to his 160-year old house and created a Light It Blue display, the kind normally seen on landmarks and public buildings. “I felt this would be a nice gesture for my neighbours,” said Tugby. “At 8 pm people would come out to cheer the NHS, so I wanted to create an uplifting visual that would support them and serve as a positive symbol.” Working with his DJ Sam Luke Barns, Tugby positioned four freestanding and batte
Australia - Astera LED sales have been growing in Australia since the brand was fully introduced there at the start of 2019, with several leading lighting rental companies investing, including Elite Event Technology based in Canberra. Elite, headed by owner and founder Darren Russell, will typically supply a full production package – lighting, audio, video rigging and staging – to its clients, embracing all sectors of the industry, from music events to corporates and industrials, TV and theatre productions. Last year Elite purchased 96 x Astera AX1 PixelTubes in kits of eight with “all the bits”, supplied by ULA Group, Astera’s exclusive distributor for Australia and New Zealand. More recently – and in spite of the pandemic - the company has invested in another 48 AX1’s and 48 x Astera AX5’s with a full complement of accessories which are for gen
UK - ChamSys has introduced the MagicQ MQ500M Stadium console. This new desk, which offers 256 universes of control direct from the console without the need for additional processing nodes, gives designers and programmers greater flexibility at the highest level of show control, says the company. The MagicQ MQ500M Stadium incorporates an array of software features that support motorised playback faders, playback encoders and customizable illumination. Thanks to its motorized function, the playback section can be used for multiple purposes with shortcut buttons to change the function. With 15 motorised faders and 15 playback encoders per bank - and up to six banks - a total of 180 playbacks can be accessed at the touch of a button. RGB LED illumination enables different colours to be assigned to each individual fader and playback encoder enabling unlimited customisatio
USA - Elation Professional has added a full-colour-spectrum soft light to its KL series (Key Light) of broadcast-quality LED luminaires, the KL Panel. Broadcast environments require bright and highly variable lighting of very high quality. The KL Panel LED soft light delivers with superior output, precise colour temperature control, full-spectrum colour rendering and an even wash coverage. Using an efficient 295W RGBW + Lime + Cyan LED Array, the KL Panel produces soft white or full-colour washes up to 24,000 field lumens at a 100° half-peak angle. Colour reproduction is also of the highest quality with a CRI over 95 while colour temperature is easily adjustable from 2,000 to 10,000K for a wide choice of variable colour or white shade projections. Additional colour tuning is possible through a green-shift adjustment and virtual gel library. Besides its wide spe
USA - ADJ’s new Pixie Strip Series is now shipping worldwide. The series includes three sizes of pixel strip bars, which can be combined together in any combination to fit with the dimensions and design of a stage’s set or venue’s interior design. The largest model, the Pixie Strip 120 measures 2m (78.8”) in length and features 120 tri-colour RGB SMD LEDs. The mid-size bar in the series is the Pixie Strip 60, which is 1m (39.4”) long and is fitted with 60 LEDs. Finally, the smallest model in the series is the Pixie Strip 30, a 0.5m bar that features 30 LEDs. All three models have the same 16.5mm pixel pitch and are designed such that seamless pixel spacing can be achieved when any two fixtures are placed end-to-end. To aid with setting this up, the units are all fitted with magnetic end caps that will snap adjacent fixtures together to create a seamless run o
The Netherlands - ETC has announced the addition of Robbi Nassi as field project coordinator for the Northern European territory. Based out of Amsterdam, Robbi will be responsible for providing sales support in the Benelux region. His role will involve managing projects and supporting regional sales manager Tim Stokholm in developing the customer and dealer network throughout the territory. With over 18 years of experience in the industry, his interest in the field began with a Performing Arts Technology degree at the Tshwane University of Technology where he went on to specialize in lighting. Prior to ETC, he was at Electrosonic SA where he worked in a sales position as a live events manager before moving to Sydney, Australia to pursue further career advancements as a technical sales representative for Event Communications. Robbi has worked on several large projects
South Africa - In a live stream filmed at MGG Productions in Sandton, and hosted on SACIA's YouTube channel, the technical production and live events industry announced the launch the national campaign #LightSAred, to be held on 5 August 2020. Sharif Baker, chair of the TPSA, announced that the technical production and live events industry will be spearheading a symbolic resistance campaign that will see buildings across the country lit up in red on 05 August. "The colour red is the international colour of emergency," Baker explains. "We are following the example set by our colleagues in Germany and the UK in lighting our national monuments red to highlight the desperate plight of our industry under current lockdown policies and regulations." Baker went on to emphasise that the #LightSAred campaign is not affiliated with any political body or ideology. "We are simply a
USA - The owner of Life Is Art Studios, Daniel Thibault created the lighting design for No Parking On The Dance Floor, a drive-in concert by Top Ten dubstep artists Subtronic and Boogie T. Just under 2,000 fans (in 500 cars) attended the sold-out show, which took place at the Hounds Drive-In Theatre in Kings Mountain, NC, with each vehicle being separated by a wide distance. Normally, when designing for a crowd that size, Thibault builds his rig for an intimate venue, focusing on tight angles, back lighting, side lighting, and close-in specials. But given the generous space between cars at this drive-in show, he had to adjust his approach. “This was definitely different,” says Thibault. “It was still a 2,000-person show, but I had to design the show, and my LD Aaron Lenchek had to run it, as if it were for a much bigger event, because the fans were so spread out.
