USA - Anticipation was high for Kayzo’s Unleashed Tour when it was announced in January. Scheduled to begin 27 March in Denver with stops across the USA, before wrapping up 9 May in Seattle, the tour represented the next step in the former Insomniac Discovery Project winner’s impressive musical ascent. Then, the COVID-19 outbreak brought plans for the tour to a halt, just as it was about to begin. But Kayzo refused to allow a pandemic to box him in. Determined to reach fans despite the lockdown, he teamed up with 4Wall Entertainment to livestream the Unleashed Tour. Reflecting the intensity of the star’s two-hour performance, which was hosted by Insomniac, was a 16-universe Dallas Gasper-designed lightshow that featured Chauvet Professional Maverick MK3 Wash fixtures and Cloud 9 low lying foggers. “Our team was gearing up to start this tour when the entir
USA – Strand has announced that their new line of LED theatrical luminaires are now shipping. The new fixtures, which include an updated Leko LED Profile, feature an RGBALC colour system and target theatres, houses of worship, TV studios and other performance spaces. "There has been strong excitement about the new Strand luminaires, and customers are eager to see the fixtures in person," says Martin Palmer, senior product manager, Vari-Lite and Strand Luminaires at Signify. "The wide colour spectrum, high CRI and easy-to-programme SmartColor Control system have generated a lot of excitement in the market, and we are eager to have more customers see how truly excellent the quality of light is on these fixtures." SmartColor Control on the new Strand luminaires allows programmers to quickly leverage the full power of the RGBALC (red, green, blue, amber, lime and cyan)
UK - A new company specialising in immersive technologies for theatre, performance and live events has won funding from Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency. Copper Candle will use the funding to develop a platform to help the grassroots of the UK theatre and music industry, both in the short-term during the COVID-19 crisis and far beyond. Copper Candle’s innovative Break A Leg platform will help community theatre, choirs and schools to continue collaborating while under pandemic restrictions. But that’s not all: it will also open possibilities for more widespread online collaborations among creative communities in the future. “This funding enables us to build a platform which will allow anyone, but particularly community theatre groups, to easily navigate through technology to create collaborative performances and turn them into shareable content,” explai
Austria - The advantages of LED as a tungsten replacement are many: greater efficiency with less power draw, less maintenance, reduced heat and more flexibility. Leading Austrian event production company Steinerlive is realising all those benefits with a recent purchase of Elation KL Fresnel LED wash luminaires, a bright, high-quality white light with output as beautiful as traditional tungsten halogen. With over 35 years of industry experience, Steinerlive, based in Vienna, are specialists in the application of professional event technology for congresses, conferences, corporate meetings, virtual events, and exhibitions. Seeking an LED alternative to an aging inventory of tungsten Fresnel fixtures, Elation sales representative for Austria, Karl Lager, helped Steinerlive personnel scrutinise the KL Fresnel line. “He did a great job, answered all of our questions, and provi
UK - Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, White Light (WL) and Bug Productions joined forces to create FLUX, a hybrid performance space safely connecting artist, fan and host for a live music experience. Following their first European headline tour and cancellation of the US leg due to lockdown, King Nun frontman Theo Polyzoides was the first artist to perform in this immersive environment. Utilising technical solutions specialist WL’s socially distanced SmartStage studio in London, Polyzoides was joined by music reporter Jimmy Blake, to deliver the intimate gig for an exclusive group of fans. From the safety of remote participation, the fans were able to enjoy a front-row virtual experience and up close personal interaction with the artist. Lee Dennison, WL’s head of business development explains: “As lockdown started, many artists started recording themselves singing or
UK - The Association of Lighting Designers held its 2020 Annual General Meeting via video conference yesterday. As an inclusive association with widespread UK membership the ALD is ahead of the curve having previously held a Manchester-based satellite meeting to its 2019 AGM via video conference. The move, now timely, was introduced to enable ALD members from all parts of the country to contribute without the need to travel considerable distances to London. This year, over 120 members attended individually. The AGM aims to inform and educate ALD members on a range of subjects relating directly to their professional career and to the further development of the ALD as an organisation. The full-day agenda opened with the meeting itself. Follow on sessions comprised a series of smaller working groups open to all members, including Digital Networking in an entertainment
USA - The latest addition to ADJ’s Entour range of atmospheric effect generators, the Entour Chill, is a compact yet powerful low-fogger. Using a combination of standard water-based fog juice and regular ice cubes, it can be used to create a dramatic low-lying fog effect without the hassle or expense of procuring dry ice. Building on the success of ADJ’s popular Mister Kool Series, the Entour Chill features enhanced technology that allows for increased output and a robust design that makes it suitable for a wide variety of applications. A newly-developed 800W heater system allows for continuous output for up to an hour, while sophisticated new electronic temperature control lets the machine heat up in just 3 minutes and stay at optimum temperature ready for immediate firing of the effect when it is required. The unit features an internal tank design, however a slot
UK - TSL Lighting helped independent live events production company LRI create a Covid-secure lighting package for a live stream training session by e-learning company, Skillsoft, in May. TSL was approached by lighting designer Tim Ball to supply a fitting solution for the project, with a specification that would provide the presentation with the perfect balance of lighting for the cameras filming the session. Skillsoft had originally programmed its Perspectives 2020 session as an in-person event, but the Covid-19 lockdown meant that LRI and Skillsoft worked quickly to transform the production into a fully online, global digital experience. Ball’s design included Chroma-Q Colorforce II 48 LED battens for scenic treatment, Arri 650 Plus fresnels for key lighting, ETC Source Four Profiles for graphics highlights and an array of battery-powered Astera AX3 L
UK - With many designers and programmers looking for new challenges during the lockdown, the ChamSys Online Programming Competition offered a creative outlet: the chance to programme the power packed 200-plus fixture rig that Chauvet Professional had earmarked for the company’s stand at the 2020 ProLight + Sound exhibit before the show was ultimately cancelled. Drawing over 200 entrants from around the world, the contest asked participants to create a three-minute or shorter show with the PL+S rig, using ChamSys MagicVis software. The large outpouring of creativity awed the panel of five judges, though it made their job of selecting three finalists more challenging. After a careful evaluation, the judges named Amir Cohen of Tel Aviv, Israel the winner for his inspired two minute and thirty-eight second show. Cohen’s design flowed seamlessly in sync with dramatic mu
Germany - GLP is to launch a new series of short-form, fun, and informative interview videos with lighting designers from all over the industry. The series will see videos released on a weekly basis with different designers facing the same 10 questions, covering their formative years, as well as career highs and even some of the moments they would rather forget. Partly informative, partly inspirational, and partly irreverent and amusing, the interviews have been designed to bring a little bit of everything to the viewer. To keep them easy and fun, the interviews will be edited into 15-minute episodes. Given that some of the more elaborate stories could take a little longer, full-length versions of the interviews will be made available in the future. Episodes will be published every Wednesday on
South Africa - #Feedourcrew, supported by DWR Distribution’s SOS Charity Fund, are hoping to give a final push to raise funds internationally for event industry freelancers and theatre technicians in South Africa. This very hardworking and dedicated group of people have struggled to put food on the table during the national lockdown due to COVID-19 lockdown. Nicole Barnes of DWR reports: Over the past two months, the #FeedOurCrew initiative has been able to provide shopping vouchers for over 350 families, who’s primary breadwinners are no longer able to make a living due to the closing of the events industry. “The #FeedOurCrew fund has raised R280 000. Originally each recipient was given a voucher for R1000. Due to dwindling funds and a huge increase in applications, we are now giving recipients vouchers of R500 each. This has helped just over 350 freelanc
USA - With its 76 fixtures and 18ft by 10ft video wall, the rig set up inside the Harford Sound warehouse in Joppa, MD, looks like it’s being prepped for a live event. But the impressive collection of Chauvet Professional lights and F4IP LED video panels isn’t going anywhere, nor was it ever intended to. Instead, it has remained inside the company’s 10,000 sq. ft. warehouse since early March, turning out a series of immersive livestream shows at a clip of three to four a week. Harford Sound owner Evan Kirkendall and his team didn’t pull any punches when they created this 30ft by 25ft performance space following the COVID-19 lockdown. Rather than limiting themselves to providing a “scaled down studio” that bands could use for livestreams, their goal was to offer something that would have a far more lasting impact, allowing clients to create videos that would benef
UK - A call has gone out for people to nominate their hero to feature as a portrait, digitally projected onto one of 33 trees in and around Manchester City Centre, as part of a project being delivered by Greater Manchester charity City of Trees, Hits Radio and projection artists, Illuminos. Hits Radio launched their Hero Hour to promote the people who are going out of their way to keep us healthy, safe and fed during this time. Greater Manchester-based projection artists Illuminos - the force behind many large scale art projects including the Lunar Loops Blue Dot festival illumination at Jodrell Bank last year, and the ‘Momentous’ projections on Leeds Civic Hall - were inspired by Hits’ Hero Hour. They have teamed up with charity City of Trees, who aims to plant and nurture at least 3m trees - one tree for every person living in the city region, fo
UK - Working to support government officials in understanding the unique issues facing the events industry due to COVID-19, PLASA has produced two infographics illustrating how the events supply chain will be impacted without further government support. The graphics reflect the number of people it takes to deliver just one performance - on average 443 professionals, spanning planning, design, preparation, warehouse and venue staff. Additionally, the graphics show how valuable the sector is, delivering £100 billion to the UK economy and employing approx. 589,000 people. It is hoped that information contained in the graphics will help highlight to government officials how many jobs are at risk in the events industry without support beyond October. PLASA says in a statement: “Whilst many industries will be looking to return to some normality from July onwards, ex
USA - Four draft standards have been posted for public review on ESTA's Technical Standards Programme website. Materially affected parties are invited to review them at http://estalink.us/pr. BSR E1.6-1, Powered Rigging Systems. ANSI E1.6-1 – 2019 is being opened for limited revision, with the scope of revisions applying only to section 6.6 of the standard. The revisions are necessary to correct errata in that section only. No other revisions will be considered or made at this time. Comments are due no later than 28 June. BSR E1.39, Entertainment Technology - Selection and Use of Personal Fall Arrest Systems on Portable Structures Used in the Entertainment Industry. This standard establishes minimum requirements for the selection and use of personal fall arrest systems (PFAS) on portable structures in the entertainment industry. In addition, the standar
USA - The weather in eastern Maryland never got much past 70° on 23 May, but the vibe in the improvised studio at Showtime Sound’s Baltimore warehouse was decidedly tropical. Aaron Kovelman, the company’s director of design and production, saw to that by creating breezy, colourful, beach-like visuals for its one-hour Virtual Island Festival featuring Jah Works. “From a design perspective, it was very important for me to consider the audience point of view given the platform they would be watching the performance on,” explains Kovelman. “I wanted to give viewers the feeling of an intimate performance, as if this stream was being done straight for them. Yet, at the same time, I wanted to deliver large enough landscapes through the video looks and depth of lighting to make the audience feel as if they were outside on lawns listening to music amidst summe
Belgium - Creative director and lighting designer Koert Vermeulen wanted to do something extra special to celebrate 25 years of his Belgian-based creative design practice ACTLD, so he and his team crafted ‘a fluid and mesmeric large scale spectacle of lighting art’ - A2C5T - which was presented to the public for three weeks at the See U event space in Brussels. The 45,000sq.m former police barracks provided an atmospheric backdrop for this multi-level light art experience, which was inspired by the core tenets at the heart of ACT - Art, Concept and Technology. Within the installation, these three values were represented by three abstract intersecting works of creative lighting, carefully curated by Koert to offer a different but equally compelling immersive experience for guests. The three elements could be enjoyed individually or as one, or as a user-definable mi
USA - Lighting for comedy has its own special characteristics and lighting designer Marc Janowitz, who recently lit comedian Jimmy O. Yang’s debut stand-up comedy special on Amazon Prime - Jimmy O. Yang: Good Deal - using Elation Rayzor 760 and Fuze Z350 LED wash lights, knows all about them. “In the concert industry, you can end up with a thousand different ways to use a light in a single show but in comedy you work hard to come up with a perfect look that stays throughout the entire show and needs to look right from a multitude of camera angles.” Recorded last fall at the Neptune Theatre in Seattle and aired in early May on Amazon’s paid subscription service, the Silicon Valley and Crazy Rich Asians star laid down a hilarious hour of comedy in a blossoming career as a stand-up comedian. “When lighting a comedy special, there is typically an int
USA - Eric Cathcart begins the design process by forming an idea for a distinct look in his head. Then he goes to his rental company contacts, does his best to describe his vision down to the smallest detail, and asks which fixtures in their inventory can help him achieve it. This sums up what happened late last year when Cathcart envisioned expanding the look of his show to better reflect the free-flowing sound of Silversun Pickups. Understanding Cathcart’s inspiration as they did, his contacts at Upstaging recommended the COLORband PiX from CHAUVET DJ. “I have been working with Silversun off and on since 2016,” said Cathcart, owner of Bigtime Lighting Design. “The album cycle started June of 2019 with a very minimal floor package, consisting of strobes and small movers. For the new year, I wanted to create a wall of light to close the gap between the floor pa
USA - Over the last two months, Stage Right Lighting of Virginia Beach has been hosting a 6 Feet Together livestream concert series that has put some much needed joy and optimism into the live event community. Stage Right’s final livestream concert was held Saturday, 6 June and featured Celtic-inspired rock band The Fighting Jamesons. The 6 Feet Together benefit concerts are streamed live from Stage Right Lighting's own studio and are decked out using their extensive inventory of lighting gear including Elation Proteus Rayzor 760 moving heads, Seven Batten 72 linear lights, ZW37 II moving heads, Cuepix 16IP matrix panels and Protron Eclypse multi-effect lights. The 6 Feet Together benefit concerts raise money for out-of-work musicians and crews with donations going to Hampton Roads musicians and local stage technicians, as well as the technicians that make the 6 Fe
France - Robert Juliat has launched a new range of luminaires – and the latest introduction to its LED lines – Sully. Sully is a new family of LED products based around the same exclusive 115W white LED engine, with an output that equals or exceeds that of a traditional 1kW tungsten fixture. Robert Juliat has developed a new LED compartment which will enable customers to upgrade current traditional profile installations to LED by simply swapping the tungsten lamp base on their existing RJ 600SX Series for the new T650SX LED module. The new accessory is also compatible with Robert Juliat’s Aledin Series, Figaro, and Quincy, and with its tungsten Cricket and MSD Buxie followspots. This new development is kinder to the planet as well as your budget. Any 600SX Series profiles can be transformed from tungsten to LED sources whilst retaining the iconic, ergonomic
UK - Event production specialist Leisuretec UK, headed by Phil Jameson, has utilised imagination and resources to light up Wigan’s DW Stadium in a variety of vibrant colour combinations, showing support for the National Health Service (NHS), essential workers and various community initiatives as everyone pulls together to beat the coronavirus pandemic. The venue is used by both Wigan Athletic football club and Wigan Warriors rugby league club, and Leisuretec UK is the preferred event technical supplier, which entails providing kit, services and crew for numerous corporate activities happening there – around two to three a week for most of the year. With all that and other work on hold, the idea of firing up some lights started at the Leisuretec UK warehouse in support the UK’s weekly Thursday night Clap For Carers action which Phil illuminated with their 12 x Rob
Belarus - Ayrton has announced A17 Stage Systems as its new, exclusive distributor for Belarus with immediate effect. A17 Stage Systems was established in 2019 with the mission to service its customers’ projects from concept to completion using only the best, most reliable brands in the industry. The company is composed of experienced technicians with many years of expertise in the lighting, sound, rigging, staging, conferencing and video markets. Its customer base includes VVIP and government organisations. “From the very beginning, A17 Stage Systems has hunted out the best brands in all areas of its activity,” says A17’s engineering director, Vitaly Kazakevich. “We look for future leaders, not just current brands, and see that Ayrton is a fast-growing company with interesting new technologies, and a very good, professional team. “The Ayrton product
Europe - With fellow General Device Type Format (GDTF) founders MA Lighting and Robe lighting, global design and BIM software provider Vectorworks reports that DIN SPEC 15800 officially recognises the GDTF as an open standard for the entertainment industry worldwide. "With this latest accomplishment of DIN SPEC 15800, GDTF will continue its growth and see even greater success now that it is recognised as a standard way of communicating controllable characteristics of lighting fixtures,” said Vectorworks CEO Dr. Biplab Sarkar. “GDTF has covered a lot of ground in the two short years since inception. We already have 35 manufacturers signed on to support the open standard and are grateful for their contributions to help build a solid basis for a standardized format that will advance the industry in new ways. I look forward to seeing more manufacturers, as well as more
