Brazil - Ivete Maria Dias de Sangalo Cady is one of the best-selling Brazilian female singers, with 15m copies sold from her six albums released with Banda Eva and seven more as part of her solo career. For her recent DVD production Ivete Sangalo Live Experience in the Allianz Park in São Paulo, lighting designers Paulinho Lebrão and Guillermo Herrero used two grandMA2 full-size consoles, one grandMA2 light and four MA NPUs (Network Processing Units) to control a set with more than 800 fixtures. Lebrão explains: “We have been using grandMA2 consoles since 2011, and the experience, knowledge and confidence we have in the system leaves us no doubt in the choice. When art director Gringo Cardia presented this project, the mission for us was create lighting that could show the big size, plus all the details of the scenography. Another request was to transform t
UK - The Association of Lighting Designers has announced the winners of this year’s Michael Northen Awards. The awards offer an opportunity for students leaving education to gain practical skills and experience in creating a portfolio that sells their design ideas. The strongest lighting or video designs are then showcased to experienced lighting and video designers and the wider industry. The Michael Northen Award, named in honour of the first credited lighting designer in the UK and his work on the The Mousetrap, was awarded to Sophie Bailey of Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts. The judges described her design as ‘sculptural and controlled’. Johanne Jensen (Royal Central School of Speech & Drama) was awarded the ETC Award for Excellence in Lighting Design. The judges felt the process was presented well an
UK - The Maestra Group in London and Dubai have switched from their existing server-based equipment rental software to HireHop’s cloud-based rental equipment software to manage their productions, hires and inventory. Maestra is an international event production and AV rental company based out of London and Dubai, with a large portfolio of iclients and events under their belts. HireHop’s director Keith Jacobs says: “We are delighted to have such a prestigious and well-respected company on board, and we look forward to facilitating Maestra’s growth in the future.” Justin Hammond, managing director of Maestra London, adds: “We had encountered numerous limitations with our previous rental software and needed a replacement. We switched over to HireHop because it could do everything we needed and more, due to its speed and the wealth of functionality, ma
USA - The Department of Theatre at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo has added 12 Claypaky Axcor Spot 300 moving LED fixtures to its inventory. The lights serve three theatres in the department’s complex as well as an additional performing space elsewhere on campus. The spots are making their debut during the 2018-19 theatre season. The Axcor Spot 300s replace ageing moving lights, which are at the end of their lifecycle. “I had been looking for LED-based fixtures capable of projecting patterns and with a varied range of colours,” says Matthew Knewtson, professor of theatre and lighting design. “I found the Axcor Spots in doing online research, and colleagues recommended the Claypaky fixtures as a viable option.” The Axcor Spot 300s were purchased from BMI Supply in Queensbury, New York. ACT Lighting, Inc. is the exclusive distributor of Claypaky light
UK - Working with production company Attention Seekers, LED Creative provided a selection of products from their Sigma LED range to help build the clean, modern look created for the semi-final of the McLaren Shadow Project. Staged at the prestigious McLaren Technology Centre and streamed live via the project’s YouTube Channel, the event is a highly contested battle for a place on the McLaren E-Sports Team. Having been whittled down from over half a million applicants, the final eight ‘virtual drivers’ were tested over a series of racing challenges, competing at legendary tracks in iconic McLaren machinery. The custom-built Shadow Project studio features eight ‘racing sleds’ configured specifically for the event. Sited on raised podiums edged with crisp LED Highlights, the ‘sleds’ house the individual drivers in cockpits fronted with a colour coded ‘V’
Europe - High End Systems has announced OS v3.10, the latest software upgrade to the Hog 4 lighting console range. The release offers several new features and enhancements, including Virtual Wings, Playback Bar docking, Compound Fixture Explode, Inhibitive Masters in the background and new Pixel Map stock content. With Virtual Wings, multiple virtual wings can be opened on a single system, providing additional playback controls when needed. Playback Bar Docking allows users to swap playback bars easily on the console front panel and wings, providing quick access to more playbacks on a single surface. Inhibitive Masters (default in new shows) can ‘leave inhibitive masters in the background’, allowing page changes to happen without adjusting/restoring active inhibitive masters. When inhibited, groups in the Groups Directory will indicate their current max
USA - Tenth Avenue North released their gold certified Over and Underneath debut album in 2008, but the Dove Award-winning Christian band’s musical virtuosity stretches back much further in time. This is evident in their current Decade The Halls tour, which features a decade-by-decade cornucopia of Christmas music covering more than a half century. Supporting this musical mix with richly coloured visuals that evoke images of different Christmases from times past is a Mike Marcario lighting design that features Chauvet Professional Rogue and Nexus fixtures, supplied by Bandit Lites. Marcario’s transformative lighting seems to move through time with the music, changing colours and the tempo of its movement to reflect the passage of holiday seasons through the years. “This show is definitely fun to do from a lighting standpoint,” says Marcario. “
Japan - Ayrton reports that Tokyo’s Studio Tanta chose the French manufacturer’s lighting products for its rehearsal studios. The successful installation includes 10 Ayrton NandoBeam S3 units, six WildBeam R fixtures and four Arcaline 2 100 battens which were permanently installed in Rehearsal Studio-C. Studio Tanta is an impressive seven-storey building which took five years to build from planning to completion. It has two recording studios, a rehearsal studio, two artists’ rooms, and a restaurant. Hibino Lighting, Ayrton’s exclusive distributor for Japan, was responsible for the supply and installation of the Ayrton fixtures and a lighting console. Takahisa Hasegawa, the owner and CEO of Studio Tanta, comments: “It has always been my long-term goal to build a large-scale studio in Tokyo so, before designing Tanta, we went on a study trip to visit famous s
The Netherlands - Navarone, one of the best, most energetic and appreciated rock bands in the Netherlands returned to their home base in Nijmegen, launching their fourth studio album with help from the new CLF Orion hybrid. Lighting designer Roy Baarslag was looking for an extensive floor setup to emphasise all the accents in Navarone’s dynamic musical style. “The band wants me to create a lively and energetic show with a lot of variety. I needed fixtures that offer a huge amount of effect versatility, so that’s why the CLF Orion definitely caught my attention.” A powerful light source and efficient optics enable the Orion to produce heavy mid-air effects. “Their output really surprised me, sometimes I even had to reduce it to achieve a balance with the house rig.” In addition, the extensive feature package of the Orion was a useful tool for Baarslag. “I
UK - Diwali is the Hindu, Sikh, and Jain festival of lights, which symbolises victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance. The 2018 Diwali was celebrated with a huge event in the heart of London on 7 November with music, dance, workshops, foods, crafts, and, of course, plenty of lights from SGM Light. “The brief was to create something that was both visual and memorable. We mainly chose SGM fixtures because of the outdoor usage, and Ethix has a very long relationship with SGM and their products, and an excellent record of support. The high IP classification in SGM’s products is very important to me as the majority of our projects are outdoors. Ensuring that a fixture is up to the job is paramount,” explained Paul Jones from production company Ethix Management. For the project, Ethix used G-Spots, G-Spot Turbos, P-5s, and Q-7s.
Slovenia - Ales Pirman runs a successful lighting rental company, Intralite, and in 2018 decided to promote his own event - Castle - Kolpa Music Festival, staged over four days at a beautiful site near the Kolpa River, close to the Croatian border. Around 12,000 people enjoyed an international line-up of over 25 artists including Swedish / Norwegian rap metal band Clawfinger, darlings of the avant-garde Laibach, singer songwriter Magnifico, Serbian alt rockers S.A.R.S., Bosnian pop rockers Plavi Orkestar, Slovenian rock band Big Foot Mama and many others. To ensure that they and all the other artists enjoyed the best possible lightshow and production values, over 100 Robe moving lights graced the main stage. This included Intralite’s newest Robe purchase, 20 x MegaPointes, which joined the inventory earlier this year. Ales had dreamed about running his o
Europe - ADB Stagelight recently presented the Ocean for the first at JTSE in Paris. This lighting console, designed for theatres, opera houses and multi-purpose venues, immediately attracted a great deal of interest among sector workers. The Ocean's most striking feature, as well as one of its main strong points, is its high-resolution touch screen, with a 70-cm-wide (27½-inch-wide) viewing area. It provides operators with full access to all functions and control of all parameters through a single screen, which greatly simplifies control desk ergonomics. Due to its ultra-stretched display format, the console and screen itself are still very compact, both in depth and height. This means the operators have a perfect view of the stage from every angle, regardless of where they are sitting, and can place the console on small surfaces. Moreover, its shallow depth allows t
Australia - For a company specialising in events, a festival that takes over an entire city can be both the best of times and the worst of times. Tasmania’s Dark Mofo winter festival is all of that for the Hobart-based Alive Technologies Group, but it’s a challenge the team delights in rising to. Dark Mofo, created and run by MONA - Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art - is a fortnight of festivities which celebrates the dark through large-scale public art, food, film, music, light and noise, all held at venues which may be created or re-designed just for the occasion. A huge amount of that venue staging, lighting and audio is taken care of by ATG and the company’s lighting project manager Nathaniel Collins was at the heart of much of the work. “We do a lot with MONA so as a result of that connection, they brought us on, as the largest local supplier. W
UAE - Qasr Al Hosn is the oldest and most significant heritage site in Abu Dhabi. It was built after more than 11 years of restoration and the site has now reopened its doors as a museum to the public, showcasing the development from a community reliant on fishing and pearling to the modern Abu Dhabi. Creative Technology Middle East (CTME) were on hand to deliver 9,750sq.m of projection for the historical event on behalf of client, People. The Qasr Al Hosn Inauguration was opened by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi on 5 December 2018. The large projection show featured content supplied by Fly Studio, showcasing the UAE’s heritage and the history of Qasr Al Hosn Fort. The content was delivered across three buildings, the Musalla, the Cultural Foundation and the Qasr Al Hosn Fort. The projection covered such a large area of the event that the
UK - Pearce Hire regularly collaborates with corporate production specialists Hawk Audio Visual on large scale events. This successful partnership recently provided a circus themed entertainment and dining space for over 1,000 company staff and stakeholders at the BGL Awards Ball held at Manchester Central. BGL Group is a financial services company based in Peterborough and the biennial event which celebrates and rewards staff achievements, was also part of the company’s 25th anniversary celebrations. Pearce Hire’s project manager John Huson provided some insight into the support and co-operation between Hawk and Pearce Hire. “Hawk Audio Visual has been a client of Pearce Hire for over 20 years and during that time we’ve actually partnered with them on four previous BGL Balls alongside many other events which usually averages 15 to 20 jobs every year. Hawk Au
USA - British musician and singer-songwriter Steven Wilson is about to wrap the 2018 leg of his To the Bone Tour (see LSi May 2018), named for his fifth studio album. Bandit Lites provided the lighting package for the production, helping to provide a layer to the visuals of the show while keeping the emphasis on Wilson’s music. Lighting designer Tellson James credited the visual experience to the video footage produced by Steven Wilson, Lasse Hoile and Jess Cope, lighting the scene around the video and song accordingly, all the while paying special attention to the mood each song suggestions. He utilises Claypaky Sharpy washes on the front truss, illuminating the
Belgium - The Jacques Brel musical La Vie Est Brel captivates a blend of classic and contemporary, both in its songs and in the powerful lighting design that supports them. Created by Revolution Event Support, the design relied on the intense output and versatile performance features of 12 Chauvet Professional Maverick MK2 Spot fixtures. “The general idea of our lighting concept was retro, going back in time to the period Brel was performing his shows in the 1960s and 1970s,” says Revolution Event Support’s Bart Faut. “As a result, the look of the stage retained a classic and minimal feel, with a lot of classic visual elements such as warm white lighting required to create the appropriate atmosphere within the auditorium in Ostend.” Hung on downstage and mid-stage truss as well as stage left and stage right booms, the 440W moving fixtures create
Germany - German Light Products (GLP) has acquired outdoor lighting specialist Ehrgeiz Lichttechnik, effective 1 January. Karlsbad-based Ehrgeiz and its employees will be integrated into GLP, with Ehrgeiz set to remain as a brand in GLP’s portfolio. Steven Braun, MD of Ehrgeiz, says: “Since both companies are located in the same place and are active in the same market, there have always been points of contact. Ehrgeiz has been successfully developing and marketing products in an increasingly competitive market in recent years. This fact has not escaped GLP and there have been discussions as to how we can combine the strengths of both companies. I am delighted to be joining the GLP family, along with the Ehrgeiz team, and continue to develop great and innovative products.” Udo Künzler, CEO of GLP, adds: “I am proud to welcome Steven and his Ehrgeiz team, and we
USA - With a nod to Game of Thrones, the Vegas Golden Knights hockey team now enters the ice through a 20ft, 2,375-pound medieval jousting helmet accented with 60m of FloppyFlex Digital LED neon. Originally conceived for the Stanley Cup, the team’s entrance is now a standard feature for all home games at the T-Mobile Arena. Designed and built by Water FX, the large helmet features lighting by Sean Guarino, with the FloppyFlex provided by PRG Las Vegas. “Outlining the helmet to create a portal worthy of the team required something cooler than conventional LED tape,” says Golden Knights LD, Sean Guarino. “I wanted this to pop, and Tim Brennan of PRG suggested FloppyFlex Digital, which exceeded my expectations. Using the pixelated Digital RGB version, I can create spectacular multi-colour chases. The colours are bright, vibrant and warm, and installation wa
Mexico - Lighting designer Pablo Gutierrez utilised 52 of Robe’s Pointe multi-functional moving lights for the launch of Mexican singer Fey’s new Desnuda (Nude) tour. The tour kicked off in full-on style at the 18,000 capacity Arena Ciudad de México (Mexico City Arena) in the country’s vibrant metropolis. Fey is a multi-talented Latin Grammy nominated singer, songwriter, designer, dancer, record producer, director and actress who has recorded seven successful studio albums and was massive in the 1990s following the release of her first album Fey in 1995. The proactive celebrity wanted to make maximum impact for her singing and live touring comeback, so her management team asked Gutierrez to create a suitably high impact production design for the show. As well as being spectacular, the design had to be scalable for an arena tour which follows
UK - S+H Technical, specialists for LED visual effects, drapes and starcloths, supplied around 350sq.m of its LED Animation cloth and 450sq.m of standard RGB starcloth drape for the BBC’s 2018 Children in Need telethon, broadcast live on BBC One and BBC Two. Featuring a star-studded line-up, the event raised over £50m for the 2018 appeal in what was the crescendo of this year’s fundraising activities for disadvantaged children and young people in communities across the UK. The telethon production design was created by Alex Craig - working on his 10th Children in Need - and this new look for 2018 featured some threads from the previous design to keep a strand of continuity, together with some spectacular new elements including lots of LED and a large upstage LED wall, 14m wide by 5m high, which split in the middle and opened for performer entrances and exits.
UK - London-based LD Dan Saggars had the opportunity to put Elation’s new Artiste Picasso LED profile to the test on the new Park Theatre drama, Distance in September. Saggars required a flexible light that could both wash wide to cover the stage and isolate for dramatic specials and placed the units in overhead and side positions to achieve the desired result. “I was able to get massive coverage with the overhead units,” the designer states, “and then extremely specific specials from the sidelights that were able to perfectly isolate areas, people, even body parts.” Distance, which played 5-29 September in the theatre’s intimate Park 90 space, is a powerful examination of the trials and tribulations of mental illness. Male suicide provides the context for the play, an intense dramatic experience played out on an express train and through a s
France - Pirates Paradise, a pirate-themed restaurant in Lille, offers more than an array of delectable dishes as well as an interior complete with shipwrecks, treasure chests, mysterious coves, and live shows. Lending colour and excitement to this immersive spectacle is a Jocelyn Morel lighting design that features Chauvet DJ Intimidator, COREPar and EVE fixtures. Morel, whose impressive body of work includes the renowned Au Bonheur des Dames cabaret, was contacted by Grégory Devilder, the CEO of Public Address, the company that owns the 500-seat venue, to create a versatile lighting design that would enhance the restaurant’s shows as well as its unique themed flourishes. “I know Grégory quite well and understood what he was looking for from the lighting design,” explains Jocelyn. “The lighting system here must do more than merely illuminate the room
UK - ETC has expanded its partnership with fellow lighting manufacturer GDS by acquiring its ArcSystem, BlueSystem and CueSystem product lines. Under the new agreement, ETC will assume the global manufacturing and distribution responsibilities for ArcSystem, BlueSystem and CueSystem from August 2019. David Lincecum, ETC vice-president of marketing, comments: “ETC plans to expand our work in architectural lighting throughout the world, and bringing these GDS products under the ETC banner is the leading edge of that strategy. We look forward to assisting customers around the world in their migration to architectural LED lighting. GDS have designed great products and we are pleased to take them over in 2019.” Richard Cuthbert, GDS managing director, adds: "Following this new agreement together, we will see GDS move forward into a new, exciting stage of expansi
