Lighting

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04 October 2024

Denmark - At the heart of its northern city Aalborg’s cultural life is the Aalborg Kongres & Kultur Center (AKKC), one of Scandinavia's busiest entertainment and convention venues. Hosting concerts, theatre, ballet, exhibitions, and conventions, it welcomes over half a million guests annually.

After years of relying on traditional incandescent lighting, the venue decided to upgrade to a more versatile and energy-efficient LED system to better accommodate its diverse events. AKKC lighting technicians Jakob Krøyer and Thomas Nowakowski were instrumental in the search and eventual specification of a new LED lighting system for the venue’s main performance space, ultimately opting for Elation Fuze Max Profile and the KL Profile FC luminaires.

Krøyer explains the specific lighting requirements: “We needed an ellipsoidal fixture for static fron

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04 October 2024

Canada - This August, Pierre E Roy was the LD for Rock La Cauze, a festival that takes place over three days at Parc Terre des Jeunes in Victoriaville, Quebec. The main stage hosted 19 acts, mostly rock and metal artists, along with some reggae bands, like Atreyu, Thrice, Arch Enemy, and Sublime With Rome.

Roy’s versatile festival rig featured the Chauvet Professional Maverick MK1 Spot, seven Rogue Outcast BeamWashes, six Rogue R2 Beams, and 25 Colorado 2 Solo fixtures, all supplied by DGM Sonorisation.

“I only had 14 of the Mavericks, so good placement was important,” said Roy. “I studied all the light plots for each band programmed in our festival. I then introduced the light plan in a way that made it as easy for them to clone their show.

“Given how many acts we have to please, flexibility is important and a priority in the rig,

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04 October 2024

Europe - The Showtec Titan Strobe FLEX FX is designed to ‘revolutionise the way we experience strobe and effect lighting’.

The Titan Strobe FLEX FX features eight powerful pods, each equipped with a 100W cold white COB LED behind a Fresnel lens, delivering sharp and intense strobe effects. These effects are designed for high-energy environments like concerts, festivals, and large-scale productions, where impactful lighting is essential. Surrounding each COB LED are 12 integrated 2W RGBW LEDs, which can be controlled individually, giving you precise control to design intricate and dynamic lighting designs.

This fixture seamlessly integrates into modern lighting setups with ART-Net and sACN compatibility, ensuring it works effortlessly with larger systems. It also includes RDM (Remote Device Management) functionality, allowing for remote monitoring

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03 October 2024

Italy - Teatro di San Carlo, the oldest continuously running opera house in the world, is based in the historical heart of Naples. Renowned worldwide for its rich musical tradition, it presents over 250 performances of opera, ballet, and music every year.

As a leading cultural hub in Naples and one of Italy's most esteemed theatres, it features a modern lighting system equipped with numerous ETC products.

Nunzio Perrella, head of the lighting department and lighting designer, has had a long career at San Carlo, inspired by his father, who was also the venue's lighting designer. Starting young, Perrella staged small performances in his early teens and became a chief electrician for touring companies by his late teens. After gaining experience in television and touring with renowned artists across Italy, Perrella returned to Teatro di San Carlo at 23 a

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03 October 2024

The Netherlands - Located in Baarn, in the Utrecht region right in the centre of The Netherlands, Speeldoos Theatre is a vibrant local and national hub for culture including film screenings and all types of live performing arts. Last year, the venue, which has a 343-seat theatre space, invested in Robe T1 Profiles as part of a lighting upgrade.

Overseeing this was technical manager Kevin van Boeijen, who explained that they will typically stage over 100 events across a year, screening movies on Mondays and Tuesdays with live shows the rest of the week including opera live streams. Discos and parties are often hosted in the foyer, bands also play in the bar area, and the spaces are available for private events. There is constant activity.

The 16 x T1 Profiles were purchased to replace all the theatre’s generic PC and profile front light in the theat

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03 October 2024

Belgium - The organisers of Brussels’ Listen Festival selected the three-tunnel complex under Marie Louise Square as one of the sites for their city-wide event.

Fans crowded the tunnels to see international stars VTSS, Crystallmess and Mary Lake, along with local favourites like CJ Bolland and Nosedrip. Setting the visual tone for the shows was a dramatic lighting design by the John & Jane team that accentuated the intensely raw aesthetics of the tunnel structure.

“This was the third year in a row that we provided sound and light for multiple stages of Listen Festival,” said Lowie Lesage, technical supervisor of the project. “Listen Festival is known for their unusual locations. This year, having the festival take place in tunnels was a fun challenge. Our successful cooperations rely on good equipment and light and sound designs that matc

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03 October 2024

Denmark - [Lite]Com Group has expanded its rental inventory with the addition of the Prolights Astra Hybrid330, a compact and versatile hybrid fixture known for its power, precision, and wide range of visual effects. This makes it a suitable solution for a variety of events.

The decision followed a successful demonstration by Gobo, Prolights' distributor in Denmark and Sweden, where the Astra Hybrid330 impressed the [Lite]Com Group team with its ‘outstanding’ performance.

Recognising the fixture for transitioning from traditional R-Series lamps to LED technology, [Lite]Com Group invested in 120 additional units, adding to the 38 already in their catalogue. This brings their total inventory to 158 Astra Hybrid330 fixtures, solidifying the projector as a key asset for the wide range of events they support.

“Prolights has demonstrated an i

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02 October 2024

Europe - Green Day’s The Saviors Tour 2024 continues with Claypaky Tambora Flash fixtures from Upstaging accompanying the band on their world tour.

The band’s sold-out global stadium tour will play over 60 dates. It kicked off in May in Spain and celebrates the 30th anniversary of the album Dookie and the 20th anniversary of American Idiot, with the band playing both albums in their entirety along with hits from Green Day’s 14th studio album, Saviors. 

Green Day tasked The Playground, a creative collective and production house, with creating a production design for the tour consisting of three distinct acts, which give each album its own identity. 

“Our goal was to create a trilogy for this show with three completely different art and creative directions – scenic elements, content and Notch desi

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01 October 2024

UK – The Theatres Trust Conference returns next week (Tuesday 8 October), taking place at The Lowry in Salford. With a theme of ‘Making Theatres Thrive’, the full programme has now been announced and includes a mix of speakers, panels and case studies.
Speakers include senior politicians, such as: Cllr Bev Craig, leader of Manchester City Council and Economy, Business & Inclusive Growth lead for Greater Manchester Combined Authority; and Cllr Tracey Dixon, leader of South Tyneside Council and Portfolio Holder for Inclusion and Skills, North East Combined Authority.
Senior theatre leaders from across the UK will also present, including: Kathy Bourne, Chichester Festival Theatre; Kris Bryce, Pitlochry Festival Theatre; Selina Cartmel, Royal Exchange Theat

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01 October 2024

UK - Entedi has confirmed its acquisition of CP Wave, the exclusive distribution partner of Claypaky in the UK and Ireland.

Entedi MD Cally Bacchus comments: “I am thrilled to welcome both the Claypaky brand and the CP Wave team into the Entedi family. CP Wave have been making a very positive impact over the last 18 months, and we are very excited to have them on board to add to our incredible portfolio of top-tier brands.”

Paddy Stacey, CP Wave commercial director, adds: “With locations and staff across the UK and Ireland, I can’t wait to show what we can do together with our new colleagues at Entedi.”

“Entedi's approach to distribution perfectly aligns with our values at Claypaky, so we are incredibly happy to see them acquire CP Wave,” says Alessandro Colangelo, sales manager at Claypaky.

Entedi’s business manager E

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01 October 2024

South Africa - Homebrew in Cape Town has invested in new Robe LEDBeam 150s for recording the most recent series of popular games show, Wheel of Fortune.

The LEDBeam 150s were specified by head of lighting Daniel Louw, who oversees all things lighting related for a few productions at the film and television production facility, which is a bustling hub of creative activity serving the Western Cape and beyond.

The 20x new LEDBeam 150s were delivered via the Cape Town office of DWR Distribution, Robe’s Southern Africa distributor, and are rigged top and bottom of two large set pieces in Atlantic’s Studio for the current Wheel of Fortune production.

This follows on from another Robe purchase instigated by Daniel in 2023 involving Esprites which were used on Deal or No Deal?

The Wheel of Fortune forma

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01 October 2024

UK - Doughty Engineering was the supplier of choice for BH Sound & Lighting hire when they were contracted to provide lighting for An Evening with Chris Packham and Martin Simpson this summer. Having used Doughty products since the company’s formation in 2011, sound and lighting engineer Finlay Ryan-Smith knew that they’d be well-designed, engineered and built-to-last products.

Ryan-Smith commented: “We were initially asked to provide lighting for a small series of concerts at the Church of Lady St Mary’s for the Purbeck Guitar Festival this June. We spec’d this job in line with the requests of most of the artists, which were passed onto us by the client – it was key we were able to find a middle ground between being able to fill these criteria, whilst also keeping costs low for the client, as they were on a limited budget.

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01 October 2024

USA - Creed are back on tour for the first time since 2012. The multi-platinum, Grammy- and American Music Award-winning rock band embarked on a 40-show tour that boasted sold-out performance after sold-out performance while their Greatest Hits returned to four Billboard charts. Lighting designer Mathias Kuhn worked with Bandit Lites to supply a lighting system worthy of the sound that has elevated fans for decades.

Having previously worked with members of the band and management on Alter Bridge, Kuhn was trusted to deliver a design that centred around the direction: a big circle with lights. And while the truss appears to hover over the band, two dozen Bandit Lites-supplied Tyler Ladder Towers act like a drapery of lights between video screens.

“Mathias and I began working on this tour in October of 2023,” said Bandit

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30 September 2024

USA - Ayrton Rivale and Domino lighting fixtures and grandMA3 full-size consoles played a key role in DJ John Summit’s sold-out, five-and-a-half hour show at New York City’s Madison Square Garden (MSG). Chicago-based LEC was the lighting vendor for the performance, the kick-off of Summit’s Comfort in Chaos tour.

The show, which also was broadcast on YouTube, follows the release of Summit’s debut album, also called Comfort in Chaos. Over the last few years Summit has been headlining some of the biggest markets in the EDM World. He is known for original releases, several of which have hit #1 on the US Dance charts, along with remixes and marathon DJ sets. 

Jason Baeri, who served as the show’s lighting and co-production designer with creative director James Klein of Aeon Point, has an almost 10-year history of using Ayrton

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30 September 2024

Australia - Clearlight Shows, the Australian distributor for Luci Della Ribalta, will be present on the Entech Roadshow, the tradeshow for AV and entertainment technology professionals. Starting next month, the roadshow visits Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth.

“Our distribution network has solid foundations, and for years we have been present in markets and areas far from our headquarters in Italy,” says Lisa Papi, managing director of LDR.

“Clearlight Shows does excellent work in distant Australia, and we are very pleased that they are participating in this event, which, as we interpret it, seems to develop a very interesting travelling format that will allow many important players and companies to get in touch with our products.

“We are certainly looking forward to some feedback after the event, confident in the exce

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27 September 2024

USA - The Rolling Stones took to the road in April for their Hackney Diamonds Tour, a North American run of both classics and original material that featured an energetic, modern production utilising Elation Proteus Maximus luminaires.

Creative director Patrick Woodroffe worked alongside lighting designer Terry Cook of WBD and associate lighting designer and programmer Ethan Weber, all long-time associates of the band, with lighting supply by Upstaging.

The band released Hackney Diamonds last October, their first studio album of original material in 18 years, and followed up with a much-anticipated tour announcement.

“We knew from the start that video would be a major part of the tour, so choosing the right light would be important,” Cook commented, adding that they met several times with Upstaging to discuss options.

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27 September 2024

UAE – Dubai-based Flair Event Services designs and delivers full technical production for a range of projects – corporates, industrials, concerts, clubs, social events and more – throughout the UAE and across the Middle East region.

The team – currently nearly 70 full-time – also engages in consultancy work and is headed by managing director Sameer ‘Sam’ Rahman, who has been in the industry since he was a teenager. He started working in a theatre in Dubai when at high school as well as DJ’ing and running his own lightshows, initially with 12 PAR cans and plenty of imagination.

Sam is now also an award-winning lighting designer who has worked worldwide on a diversity of shows. He is Flair’s head of lighting – and responsible for all investments – as well as MD of the company, and is a big advocate for Robe.

Flair has a la

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26 September 2024

Europe - The Disney in Concert series has been bringing Disney magic onto the large concert stage for many years. The production has been on tour once again in 2024, visiting arenas in Germany and Austria with the Hollywood Sound Orchestra.

To keep the numerous soloists under the spotlight in front of the large LED wall at all times, gruppe20, the lighting technology service provider in charge, decided to rely on a zactrack SMART system.

“Stage production has continually developed in terms of technology over the years,” explains Klaus Mayer, managing director of gruppe20, which has overseen lighting and rigging for Disney in Concert since 2016. “The number of performers appearing on stage at the same time in musicals has grown as well. When eight or more artists are on stage, using followspots is no longer feasible. Also, with

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26 September 2024

USA - Martin Castañon’s design for the lighting rig at the 27th annual Santa Barbara Mariachi Festival called for 12 Chauvet Professional Color Strike M motorised strobe-washes and 12 blinders. But instead, he got zero blinders and 18 Color Strike M fixtures.

“The rig was originally supposed to have the Color Strike Ms on the up and mid truss for a total of 12 – blinders were specced out for the downstage,” recalled Castañon. “Somehow when the rig was built, we accidentally got the extra six Strikes instead of the blinders. In the end it worked out beautifully as it tied the whole rig together. It was great having the horsepower to punch things up for the crowd, especially in colour, not to mention when riding the beams on them. It looked like the night turned to day. I didn’t miss the blinders at all.

“I used the Strikes mos

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25 September 2024

France - Marseillais comedian Redouane Bougheraba’s On m'appelle Bercy tour, produced by Gilbert Coullier Productions, included sold-out performances at the Accor Hotel Arena in Paris, the Velodrome Marseille, and other large venues.

Supporting Bougheraba’s performance on his tour is an Andreas Monschauer lighting design that, like the popular comedian himself, is versatile, free-flowing and always engaging.

Monschauer is powering his shows with ChamSys consoles: a MagicQ MQ500M Stadium Console with a wing at Marseille, and a MagicQ MQ250M at the Accor Hotel Arena. Working with a scenic design by Vincent Rautureau (G the Imagineers), Bougheraba uses lighting and video to set a tone that is “at once dramatic and inviting”. He uses up to 80 universes of lighting. Supplied by MPM (which also furnished the sound), the lighting is run thr

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25 September 2024

USA - Bandit Lites continues its transformation in its Gen8 leadership with the promotion of Sophie Phillips to technical services manager.

Phillips earned her BFA in Lighting Design and Technology from Kent State University. While in school, she worked at Cedar Point, Porthouse Theatre, and was the president of the technical theatre group for two years. She joined Bandit Lites in 2021 as a moving light technician. Now as the technical services manager, Phillips will oversee the entirety of Bandit’s Technical Service Department, a move that she says makes her feel “empowered”.

“I have grown a lot over the last three years and am ready and willing to start a new generation of Bandits,” said Phillips. “Michael T. Strickland is at his core a leader, and his ability to trust people and move forward is a skill. He has taught me that being a ma

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24 September 2024

UK - Assembly is right at the heart of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and an integral part of this celebration of arts and culture.

The 2024 event saw Assembly – one of the largest venue operators at the Fringe – operating 26 venues featuring over 240 diverse shows embracing multiple entertainment genres, with lighting managed by Martin McLachlan, Assembly’s Festival Fringe head of lighting since 2018.

This year, McLachlan specified an abundance of Robe moving lights for several of Assembly’s key venues.

The Assembly Festival Fringe operation involves over 90 technical staff (covering sound and stage management in addition to lighting) over a six-week period, which includes two weeks of build and rehearsal before the three-and-a-half-week festival. McLachlan, together with a small team of four, oversees the house stage lighting and cre

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24 September 2024

Canada - CAST Group of Companies reports that it has been certified by Great Place To Work. The award is based entirely on what current employees say about their experience working at CAST. This year, 85% of employees said it’s a great place to work.

"Great Place To Work certification is a highly coveted achievement that requires consistent and intentional dedication to the overall employee experience," says Sarah Lewis-Kulin, the vice-president of global recognition at Great Place To Work. She emphasises that certification is the sole official recognition earned by the real-time feedback of employees regarding their company culture. “By successfully earning this recognition, it is evident that CAST stands out as one of the top companies to work for, providing a great workplace environment for its employees."

“We are thrilled to become Great Pl

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24 September 2024

Europe - Following the worldwide success of the Rivale Profile which sold over 10,000 units in less than a year, Ayrton has introduced the Veloce Profile, the second ultra-equipped luminaire in its ‘Ultimate’ family, which has been specially designed for use in large spaces.

Veloce Profile is a versatile, IP65-rated luminaire capable of operating in all conditions, indoors and outdoors, including saline-heavy environments. Veloce Profile features a new sealed monoblock 850W high-efficiency LED module, calibrated at 6,500K, which offers a luminous flux of 43,000 lumens with optimum positioning on the black body to achieve perfect light neutrality.

Its proprietary 13-lens optical system offers a zoom ratio of 13:1 and a zoom range from 4° to 52°, its 180mm front lens capable of delivering an ultra-intensive 4° beam.

Veloce Profile, like