USA - With the use of a number of lighting fixtures from PR Lighting and their Texas-based distributor, MEGA-Lite, First Born Productions designed a successful concert touring rig for popular Puerto Rican, Latin trap and reggaeton artist, Bad Bunny. Having earned several top hits on different charts and previously been nominated for the Latin Grammy Awards Bad Bunny, and his fans anticipated a great show. And lighting designer, Krizia Velez, certainly didn't disappoint. She has been working with Bad Bunny for the past year and visited more than 100 cities, during which time she has worked with many lighting fixtures and well-known suppliers all around the world. Numerous PR Lighting units were featured among the product mix, including the XR Beam 300, XLED 1037, XLED 3019 and XLED 336 were specified by Krizia, enabling her to design a variety of different looks for ea
USA - For the current Newsboys United tour, lighting designer Matthew Brewer is doing the band’s evocative sound justice with an intense multi-layered lightshow that serves up a continuously changing array of looks to capture the essence of every tune. Aiding him in this endeavour is a collection of Chauvet Professional Rogue fixtures, supplied by Axxis. Key to Brewer’s flow of distinctive visuals are the myriad geometric patterns he creates with the 24 Rogue R1 FX-B fixtures in his rig. Like his clients, who have shown a knack for building on musical themes, his work with the five-headed moving linear fixture has become more inventive with experience. “Initially, my basic idea was to use the FX-Bs to frame the video walls in my rig, but when we got into rehearsals and started playing with these lights it became clear to me that the tight shafts of lights and al
USA - For nearly 50 years, the GMA Dove Awards have honoured those who have achieved excellence in Christian music. Held at the Allen Arena at Lipscomb University on 16 October, the night featured a lighting package provided by Bandit Lites and performances from Lauren Daigle, Tauren Wells, Rebecca St. James, Rascal Flatts and Tori Kelly. Due to the venue, the event is scheduled around the existing Lipscomb University athletic schedule, which requires the production team to rely heavily on pre-planning logistics from how trusses are suspended to how the crew will physically handle set changes between the artists’ performances. “Bandit Lites’ exceptional prep process was brought to bear to allow us to bring in a small but rather complicated lighting rig and support structure in a quick and efficient fashion,” says Scott Moore of Go Live Productions. “To faci
Russia - GLP’s impression X4 atom has only been available on the Russian rental market for less than a year, but the fixture has become an original element in some signature project designs. It was Leonid Poznyansky - a lighting designer who frequently uses compact GLP solutions in his lighting plots - who was responsible for their arrival in Moscow. He first saw the X4 atom at Prolight+Sound in Frankfurt in 2017, and immediately urged rental company Laser-Kinetics to invest in it. The LD also promptly placed an order for various mounting accessories, since he knew it was the entire package that would allow him to realise his vision. "When I first saw the X4 atoms, their power impressed me immediately,” he said. “These devices are unusually bright, given their small size. But what is even more interesting is that I can control the zoom remotely and change the be
UK - Henley Theatre Services (HTS) is hosting two open days on 1-2 November at its premises in Henley-on-Thames. Representatives from leading manufacturers, including Robe, Avolites, Electro Voice, Allen & Heath, Le Maitre and JTS Microphones, will demonstrate the companies' latest products, with a focus towards the theatre market. The event will also feature a live demo of Avolites’ PLASA Award for Innovation-winning Synergy platform and also offer visitors the chance to be the first people in the UK to demo the new Robe T1, along with live pyro, console and PA demos and informal training sessions. (Jim Evans)
[Europe] European entertainment industry bodies have proposed ‘small but essential’ amendments to the Ecodesign regulations ahead of key talks in December. The European Entertainment Ecodesign Coalition (EEEC) - comprising PLASA, PEARLE, the ALD, DTHG, the IALD, OETHG, SLF, STEPP and VPLT - and other national and international organisations have released a joint statement to highlight 'some serious concerns' about technical requirements that the bodies insist cannot be met by the industry. Meanwhile, the regulatory committee is meeting with the European Commission on 17-20 December to decide on the draft. The proposed amendments (
UK - Colour Sound Experiment supplied lighting and LED screens for the Wave Goodbye concert by UK synth pop duo Soft Cell, who reunited after 17 years for one final show at London’s O2 Arena. Award-winning lighting designer Rob Sinclair helped build the ambience and vibes for this sold-out pop music moment for the band who’ve occupied some hypnotically catchy and viscerally emotional space in the slightly darker echelons of 1980s synth pop. Once he was confirmed on the creative team along with set designer Ric Lipson from Stufish, Rob started imagining the lighting. It was also being streamed live to cinemas around the UK and Ireland and recorded for a live CD and DVD/Blu-ray release in 2019. Both Rob and production manager Kamal Ackerie agreed early on that they wanted Colour Sound to be involved in the event, “We needed a London company that
UK - HSL supplied the recent UK and European leg of Halsey’s ongoing Hopeless Fountain Kingdom tour with lighting equipment. The referral originally came through John Schirmer at DCR Nashville, lighting vendor for the US sections of the tour which started in 2017. Another connection was production designers Sooner Routhier and Robert Long from SRae Productions, with whom HSL worked for over a year as worldwide lighting supplier for Depeche Mode’s 2017-18 Global Spirit world tour. The Halsey project was managed for HSL by Jordan Hanson who commented, ““Working with John Schirmer, production manager Jimi Storey and lighting director/operator on the road Jose Antunes has been a pleasure - great show and great people.” He worked closely with Jose to match their original lighting spec. A key aesthetic feature of this visually edgy and interest
USA - Ancient Athens may be separated from California’s Venice Beach by 6,900 miles and 2,400 years, but that didn’t stop these two very divergent places from melding together on stage in the Jeff Lynne, John Farrar Tony-nominated musical comedy Xanadu. Inspired by the 1980 film of the same name, the show brings together a forlorn SoCal street artist with a group of perky Greek muses. The result is a rollicking adventure, culminating in the nonstop swirl of a disco roller rink that has left audiences laughing around the world since its Broadway debut 11 years ago. Supporting all the freewheeling fun at a recent production of the show at the Hangar Theatre in upstate New York is a colourful, punchy and fast-paced Cory Pattak-designed lightshow, featuring Maverick, Ovation and COLORado fixtures from Chauvet Professional. “Nobody is accusing Xanadu
World - Lighting designer Mathieu Poirier created the atmosphere of the grand hotels of the past for Hotel, the latest touring show for Montreal-based company Cirque Eloize. Poirier selected Claypaky’s new Axcor Spot 300 moving LED fixtures to help set the scene for the troupe’s very special 25th anniversary production. In Hotel, acrobatics, theatre, dance and live music guide the audience through an intimate refuge with an avant-garde look inspired by the elegance of the greatest hotels. The lives of transient travellers intersect briefly but long enough for tales and memories to be forged. “Early in the creative process the Belgium-based director, Emmanuel Guillaume, discussed with the creative team his strong visual interest in Wes Anderson’s film, Grand Budapest Hotel and Damien Chazelle’s La La Land,” recalls Poirier. “Th
Canada - Solotech has appointed Marie-Josée Primeau as business development director. In her new role, Primeau will work closely with the management of the sales and integration division to identify and develop new business opportunities. She has held multiple roles in sales over the last 25 years in companies such as Canon Canada and telecoms firm Telus. She also pursed her career for a few years with the Canadian Business Council in the United Arab Emirates and recently worked at Cognibox International Sales. (Jim Evans)
USA - Elation launched a new Artiste Series LED fixture while its latest luminaires continued to make an impression during this year’s LDI show. Elation launched the Artiste Monet, a new 45,000lm LED profile light with SpectraColor system that received an LDI Award honourable mention. Smarty Hybrid, the compact, CMY colour-mixing with efficient 6,000-hour lamp was also recognised by industry peers, receiving a PLSN award for Best Hybrid Fixture. Interest was also high in two other Artiste Series luminaires - the Artiste Van Gogh, a powerful framing wash LED luminaire, and Artiste Picasso, one of the brightest and most feature-rich profile LED lighting fixtures on the market. A host of other innovative products received significant attention at the stand, including the Proteus Profile, a new 45,000 lumen IP65-rated LED Profile fixture that houses the sa
Australia - Chameleon Touring Systems recently deployed a Martin by Harman lighting solution for a new production of Mamma Mia! currently touring across Australia. Mamma Mia! The Musical is playing at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne, with future dates scheduled across the country. In order to create a lighting display that captures the detailed expressions of actors on stage and simultaneously conveys the energy and emotion of a rock show, lighting designer Gavan Swift needed a powerful, versatile lighting system. Swift worked with Chameleon Touring Systems and Show Technology to develop an LED moving light system comprised of Martin by Harman MAC Quantum Wash, MAC 101 CT and all-new MAC Encore Performance CLD fixtures. “I have firmly embraced LED technology in moving lights,” says Swift. “The brightness, colour fidelity and consistency of L
USA - Chauvet Professional launched new products to its Maverick, Rogue, Ovation, COLORado and STRIKE lines. Drawing attention at the centre of the company’s booth was a running water display of the new Maverick Storm 1 Wash, a high output IP65 LED fixture that’s especially well-suited for outdoor applications. Another crowd favourite was the large lighting display wall that featured a show by designer Cody James. Commanding attention on that impressive structure were the STRIKE Saber, a bright pixel mapable LED batten-style fixture with amber shift; and the COLORado Solo Batten, an IP65 rated RGBW linear unit that produces seamless edge-to-edge homogenized colour across its lens with no separations, dimmed lens corners or tiny circles. Also drawing widespread interest were the new collection of Ovation products, including 6-inch Ovation Fresnels (the RGBA-Lime Ov
USA - Robe presented part two of its Lost Worlds exhibition live show trilogy concept at LDI in Las Vegas, with another impressive booth design and an eight-minute live dance extravaganza designed to illustrate its latest technologies in the context for which they have been developed. This included the just launched T1 Profile LED moving light. Over 200 new and current moving lights and LED fixtures - including the SuperSpikie and the MegaPointe, Spiider and Tarrantula LED wash beams, BMFLs and the RoboSpot remote follow spotting system running with MDC (multi device control) - were central to the show. Robe’s new iParFect - the first in a series of upcoming IP rated luminaires - was utilised in two rain curtains that were integral to the fully immersive and highly detailed show environment. The show narrative followed the intrepid Explorer character, having j
UK - Technical production specialists Light Fantastic Production Services supported S2 Events with a comprehensive lighting, audio and support package for a spectacular Havana nights themed event. The networking reception was a key date in the dynamic schedule at Focus/18, the six-day celebration of design excellence that welcomes enthusiasts from around the globe. Held at the Chelsea Design Centre, London, the Focus/18 brief was to assist in the delivery of a magical guest experience, inspired by the season’s new collections; playful, bold and confident. Delivering a rich mix of crisp lighting effects, deep colour washes and clear audio, the on-site LFPS production crew, headed up by project manager Andrew Maxted, built on the Havana theme, filling the Design Centre’s three grand atriums with a vibrant mix of tropical colour and spicy salsa rhythms. To match
USA - The winners of the inaugural Knight of Illumination Awards USA (KOI-USA) have been revealed. An independent jury picked 18 lighting and video designers who were ‘knighted’ for their creative talent across Theatre, Live for Broadcast, and Concert Touring & Events at a gala ceremony attended by 300 professionals in Las Vegas on 20 October. The winners are as follows: Theatre The DTS Award for Projection Design: Finn Ross & Adam Young for Mean Girls The ETC Award for Dance: Al Crawford for Victoria The Altman Award for Plays: Jules Fisher & Peggy Eisenhauer for The Iceman Cometh The Elation Professional Award for Opera: Joe Levasseur for Cellular Songs The Robe Lighting Award for Musicals: Tyler Micoleau for The Band's Visit Live for Broadcast The Phil
UK - High End Systems’ Hog Factor UK competition is poised to return on 7 November, when the Live Finals will be held during Production Futures in Wakefield. The previous winner of the contest, Nina Mesitz and her team Status Cue, triumphed at Hog Factor at Prolight + Sound 2018. Six months on she looks back at her progress since and plans for the future. The team are students from the Austrian vocational school BS Evita. Mesitz, who is a trainee of the Graz theatres, speaks highly of the competition, commenting on the ‘valuable experience and lifelong key contacts’ she made from it. “It’s a unique opportunity that aspiring lighting designers or technicians must take advantage of,” she states. Mesitz and her team jumped at the chance to participate in the competition, recognising the importance of getting hands-on experience with industry professional
USA - At LDI 2018, ETC presented entertainment technology charity Behind the Scenes with a cheque for $18,567.19. The funds were collected from the most recent proceeds from ETC’s iRFR and aRFR Radio Focus Remote mobile applications that enable remote control of the Eos family consoles and controllers. Fred Foster, ETC’s CEO, comments: “Over the years, it has become clear that this industry draws in great people that truly feel like family. We are honoured to be part of an industry where the whole spectrum of professionals, from technicians to designers to manufacturers, are so willing to contribute to BTS’s mission to support our colleagues in need.” Rick Rudolph, chair of the BTS Board of Directors, adds: “ETC’s employees and customers should be enormously proud of what they are doing. At a time when feeding profits seems to be the motivating forc
Russia - Moscow’s new Zaryadye Concert Hall opened in style in September with a gala performance by the Russian National Orchestra. The modernist structure houses a 1,560-seat main auditorium lit by a house rig of Claypaky fixtures. Claypaky’s Russian distribution partner DOKA was commissioned to provide technical expertise for the project and specify a lighting solution. To facilitate the breadth of events held at the auditorium – from theatre and classical concerts to conferences - the company designed machinery that required specific lighting fixtures to match. Lighting equipment is mounted on special mechanisms allowing to lift projectors up above the ceiling and handle technical maintenance without dismantling them. DOKA supplied 54x Claypaky A.LEDA B-EYE K20 LED, 12x Claypaky Scenius Spot, 12x Claypaky Scenius Profile and 30x Claypaky Show Batten 100 LED.
UK - Specialist lighting and rigging services provider TSL has appointed account handlers Dominic Sheerman and Loz Wilcox to its board of directors. Sheerman and Wilcox joined TSL from Basingstoke-based conference and event lighting specialist Blinding Light in 2017 prior to its acquisition by TSL at the start of 2018. TSL MD, Sam Tamplin, comments: “We’ve reached the stage where we are a team of more than 60 people. It was time to strengthen the management structure, ready for the next stage of development. Since Blinding Light joined us, we’ve all taken the time to settle in and figure out how we work together, and now the time is right.” (Jim Evans)
USA - Signify announced the global launch of the new Philips Vari-Lite VL10 BeamWash luminaire at LDI 2018. The first lighting fixture to be designed to incorporate the Philips 25R Platinum 550W lamp, the VL10 BeamWash “packs a new level of power, dynamics and personality into a compact, fast-moving body”. The VL10 BeamWash produces 28,000lm of output from the concentrated power of the new lamp, making it the brightest and most versatile fixture in its class. Its 2.2-48˚ zoom range delivers a broad choice of looks, from crisp, tight beams to wide, smooth washes and mid-air blasts, enhanced by an unrivalled suite of creative beam effects. Among the effects choices available are dual overlaying prisms, an eight-slot rotating gobo wheel and an aperture wheel featuring 12 designs, including beam reduction to a laser-like 0.7˚ and a range of bold break-ups and
USA - When describing his lighting design for the second leg of superstar Romeo Santos’ Golden Tour, Bruce Rodgers of Tribe, Inc. says: “It’s all about scale and simplicity.” The scale is immediately apparent to anyone who catches a show on the 18-city tour that began in September. Dominating the area over centre stage is a colossal overhead truss structure that resembles a UFO about to land. Intense brightness radiates from the hovering form, courtesy of 117 Chauvet Professional Maverick MK3 Wash fixtures, which were supplied by 4Wall Entertainment Lighting. The ‘simplicity’ Rodgers refers to may not be as instantly obvious, but once the initial awe inspired by this circular overhead panorama passes, it too becomes easy to appreciate. For all its size and power, there is no waste in Rodger’s lighting design. No distractions. No dead-end flourishes
USA - Harman Professional Solutions has introduced its innovative Martin MAC Allure Profile LED moving head. MAC Allure products were designed to support the special performance lighting needs of rental and install clients, including concert/touring, TV shows, corporate, houses of worship, concert venues, nightclubs, and cruise ships. Also at LDI, Harman re-introduced the ultra-creative potential and ease of use offered by its Martin P3 Visual Control Solution, which is integrated into the MAC Allure Profile and soon other Martin fixtures. The Martin MAC Allure Profile is the first fully-featured moving head to combine a proprietary, solid state RGBW additive colour mixing engine, a seven-segment pixelated beam and onboard P3 and DMX controllability that lets users swiftly alternate or mix between control protocols. The overall feature set further includes dimmer, stro
