Europe - Philips Entertainment Lighting has confirmed a number of key appointments in various territories. Shaun Robertshaw has joined the Philips Entertainment Lighting team as UK key account manager. Shaun has worked in the professional lighting business for over 25 years. His experience includes many successful years as UK sales manager with Glastonbury-based Batmink Distribution. He says: “I am delighted to be back in the industry amongst many old friends and, of course, eager to find new ones on this new venture.” Based in Stockholm, Charlie Gustafsson is now the key account manager entertainment EMEA, and will be looking after the company’s customers throughout the Nordic region. Charlie’s career began back in 1988, when, after finishing his military service in the special forces, he saw a job ad for a tech at an AV company. Charlie went on to form
UK - A Zero 88 FLX lighting console has been chosen by Cardiff’s popular St David’s Hall venue, primarily to control lighting for their Foyer Stage (also known as the L3 Lounge). The venue hosts a wide variety of shows and events encompassing all types of live performance, from R ‘n’ B, jazz, folk rock, and classical music to comedy, children’s shows, musicals, spoken word events, conferences, presentations and even darts competitions. The FLX was selected by stage technician and main house lighting operator Emma Nicholson, who until recently was part of a technical team of five running all the in-house audio, lighting and staging requirements, which involved working with WIFI, CCTV, phone integration and other IT systems. St David’s Hall has lighting rigs installed in all three of its main spaces and fixtures can be coloured and re-focused as needed
Peru - He has been called the “heir to Pavarotti”. Dazzling crowds with his immaculate, crystal clear voice, he is universally regarded as “one of the greatest tenors in history” Still, even as his celebrated career has taken him from La Scala to Royal Albert Hall, Juan Diego Florez has kept his heart in Peru. So, when his homeland was struck by a series of natural disasters this spring, the famous operatic star stepped up and announced that he would hold a benefit concert to help those afflicted by these events. On 1 July, this benefit took place at Lima’s national stadium. Produced by Tito Vattuone and Milagros Florez, Homenaje al Peru featured stirring performances by Florez and the Orchestra and Symphony Chorus for Peru. Supporting this unforgettable music was an evocative lighting design by Gianfranco Di Vitto that captured the spirit of the Peruvian la
UK - Stone Roses completed their European tour last month, highlighted by a sold-out performance at London’s Wembley Stadium. For their 2017 tour, lighting designer Paul Normandale of Lite Alternative Design included two Solaris T-Light 85,000W Lightning Machines. “Two were plenty,” says lighting director and programmer Glen Johnson. “These over-the-top strobes are reliable and daylight bright. We needed something for maximum impact against a huge amount of video surfaces. The back screen alone was 35 x 6 meters, with an additional seven screens of IMAG. The T-Lights provided defining moments when used and dramatically ‘altered’ the stage surface each time. Love them.” Provided for the tour by Lite Alternative, Solaris T-Light Lightning Machines have a flash length from 1/30 to 3.5 seconds and an output of up to two million lumens. (Jim Evans)
UK - As part of its summer programme, English National Opera appeared at the Royal Festival Hall for a captivating production of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius. Multi-award winning lighting designer Lucy Carter used light – controlled with ETC Eos Ti and RPU3 – to create an additional layer of emotion and energy to support and reflect the music. Widely regarded as Elgar's finest choral work, The Dream of Gerontius relates the journey of a pious man's soul from his deathbed to his judgment before God and settling into Purgatory. To evoke an otherworldly feel, Carter opted for simple staging with abstract lighting energies that combined with the music to create an ethereal quality. “When I was researching this production and arrived at my eventual design decisions, I knew that in order to create the complex and detailed environments to match the ex
South Africa - The SOS Charity Fund, an initiative by DWR Distribution, hosted it’s very first auction dinner, raising a remarkable R97,500 from the event’s auction alone. With a focus on the SOS campaign during Mediatech, the charity fund raised over half a million Rand during July. Some 230 people - a mixed bag from rental companies and the entertainment market in Africa and Namibia, as well as a number of international guests - attended the SOS Fundraising Evening held at The Venue in Melrose Arch on 20th July 2017. As competitors sat side by side, both Jason Goliath (compere and comedian) and Dr Victor and the Rasta Rebels, provided top class entertainment, free of charge, in unison of the SOS. “Huge gratitude extends to The Venue’s Tony Raciti and Trudie de Kock, who hosted the event and went out of their way to provide a beautiful setting complimented wi
The Netherlands - The newly built and inaugurated Atlas Theatre in Emmen, Netherlands is a multifunctional performance space in the heart of the city and part of a 250m euro development. In addition to the two Atlas auditoriums - with capacities of 822 and 300 – the complex also includes a full convention centre, catering outlets, offices and is an access point for the Wildlands Adventure Zoo - and Robe moving lights. The plan to replace the old De Muzeval theatre in the city actually took around 40 years to come to realization for a complexity of reasons. The construction eventually commenced in 2014 and was finished in 2016, with its spectacular, gleamingly modern architectural style, the state-of-the-art facility opened in autumn of last year. In the meantime, the technical specifications had been completed by acclaimed Amsterdam based theatre consultants T
Belgium - Thanks to its consistently impressive line-ups and extravagant productions, the five-year old Hype-O-Dream has already succeeded in making an indelible impact on the Belgium summer EDM festival calendar. With this year’s headliners including Lil John and Roger Sanchez raising the bar even higher this year, Creative Rental Solutions were tasked with providing bigger and better visuals then ever for the festival’s five stages. To achieve this, Creative Rental Solutions incorporated a number of Chauvet Professional Maverick MK1 Hybrid, Maverick MK2 Spot, Rogue R2 Wash and Geyser RGB fixtures into the visual concepts of the Mirage Mainstage and the Flashback Stage. To complement the Mirage Mainstage’s impressive 20m high Venetian carnival themed main stage, which incorporated three large video screens of eyes masked by traditional Venetian costume, C
Middle East - After several years of close collaboration and projects in the region, Procom and Prolites are now the official distributors for MADRIX for the Middle East. With this move, MADRIX has expanded the distribution rights from Lebanon to all Middle East countries. "We are very proud of the trust that MADRIX has put into us in expanding our distribution role. This is a great opportunity but also a responsibility to support the thriving MADRIX community. We are committed to offer the best support for MADRIX users in the Middle East", said Rami Harfouch, business development manager at Procom. "While there is a strong brand recognition of MADRIX, we believe there is room to increase the awareness about the full potential of the MADRIX software and hardware and emphasize its role in creating robust, trouble-free solutions with superior levels of control", said Wi
USA - After three Grammy Awards, over 100 shows with the Grateful Dead, and 11m record sales, Bruce Hornsby hasn’t lost his taste for touring. The singer-songwriter is crisscrossing the US with his band The Noisemakers this summer and enjoying every minute of it. Touring is fun, Hornsby told an interviewer, because he and the band “keep the spontaneity factor high.” This free-flowing spirit was very much in evidence when the Hornsby tour bus pulled into the Columbia County Amphitheatre in June. The owner of Quest Sound & Productions, Berret created a bountiful range of looks to reflect Hornsby’s eclectic set list with a rig that was anchored by CHAUVET Professional Rogue and COLORado fixtures and run with a ChamSys PC Wing. Even a sudden summer storm, which wound up cutting the concert short, didn’t damped the pure exuberance of the concert or the lightshow.
Europe - The Manchester band Stone Roses completed their European tour last month, highlighted by a sold-out performance at London’s Wembley Stadium. For their 2017 tour, lighting designer Paul Normandale of Lite Alternative Design included two Solaris T-Light 85,000 Watt Lightning Machines. “Two were plenty,” says lighting director and programmer Glen Johnson. “These over-the–top strobes are reliable and daylight bright. We needed something for maximum impact against a huge amount of video surfaces. The back screen alone was 35 x 6 meters, with an additional seven screens of IMAG. The T-Lights provided defining moments when used and dramatically ‘altered’ the stage surface each time. Love them!” Provided for the tour by Lite Alternative, Solaris T-Light Lightning Machines have a flash length from 1/30 to 3.5 seconds and an output of up to two million l
Singapore - Lighting for the second Garden Beats Festival organised by Sunshine Nation and staged in the pastoral green environs of Fort Canning Park in Singapore was designed by Craig Burridge. He included an interesting mix of Robe products on his plot including 24 x Linees, six ColorStrobes and six LEDBlinder 148 LTs, all of which contributed to a lively and colourful scheme for the one-day event for which the lighting vendor was locally based CSP Productions Pte Ltd. Craig’s main objective was to have a flexible and adaptable rig to provide good general stage, set and audience lighting for the line-up of dance orientated artists – with a few surprises up his sleeve. The 9 x 8m stage was fitted beneath a 10 x 9m ground-supported roof structure with 10m of headroom and this had to be squeezed in between a selection of heritage trees which grace the park, al
USA - Bandit Lites has appointed Justin Wilk as equipment coordinator, heading up the planning, direction and coordination of Bandit’s extensive inventory. “I am responsible for finding solutions for complicated and complex production issues,” Wilk said. “By supporting the inventory control manager, I’ll ensure that all parties have the information they need about the location of equipment.” Following his studies in Recording Arts and Show Production and Touring at Full Sail University, Wilk began working with artists in the studio and then on the road, touring extensively as a stage manager and guitar technician, where his time on the road gave him a love and appreciation for the lighting and visual production side of the entertainment business. “Justin is a great addition to Bandit’s team,” said Bandit Lites general manager, Mark Steinwachs. “Just
USA - High End Systems enters the next phase of its growth with a new website. The upgraded www.highend.com has been completely redesigned to offer a more engaging user experience with improved navigation and functionality. “We wanted to continue the excitement of the company’s new direction with a website that reflected the energy of our products and better addresses the needs of our users,” says HES general manager Becky Koester. “Our new site offers a refreshed, dynamic way to get all the information about any High End Systems products, hear the latest news, find technical support, and share war stories and successes in the forums.” The new design makes it fast to learn all about High End, with clear direction and links to all High End products, including their award-winning SolaSpot line of fixtures and the Hog family of consoles. Mobile users and deskto
UK - An ambitious production of Sir Edward Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius - a collaboration between the English National Opera, Royal Festival Hall and BBC Singers, was described by lighting designer Lucy Carter as “dramatic, soulful, beautiful, calm and overwhelming”. Her aim “to map the emotions of the music in order to give the audience a visceral sensation, with all lighting textures complementary to the music” was achieved with 160 of GLP’s award-winning X4 Bars, which were used almost exclusively in the set. These fixtures formed the main component of the show, featuring full orchestra and chorus, as the LD mapped every single pixel individually on an ETC EOS desk - with programmer Jenny Kershaw setting up over 500 cues on the console. This exercise required not only major support from ETC’s Andy Davies but also GLP’s Simon Barrett, w
UK - While Blackpool’s Winter Gardens is perhaps most famed for its varied programme of visiting musical acts, during three days in March, the complex attracts a whole different kind of audience for the International Fitness Showcase (IFS), the UK’s largest event for fitness aficionados. To provide suitably dynamic lighting for the three energy-packed days of dance, aerobics, lectures, workshops and mind/body sessions across the 14 rooms of the Winter Gardens, LD and assistant production manager Ollie Wilkinson and Thomas Beattie, production manager at Arranpaul, came up with a lighting concept spearheaded by a collection of Chauvet Professional Rogue R2 Wash, COLORdash Batten-Quad 6 and Rogue R1 Spot fixtures. “As this was the sixth year that Arranpaul provided production for the IFS, we wanted to make this year’s design special,” commented Wilkinson. “Wit
UK - Hawthorn has recently supported Status Quo for their Aquostic tour; a follow up to their 2015 album Aquostic II which includes the band’s biggest hits, reimagined in an acoustic setting. Running from 2 June to 1 July, the tour included a headline spot on the acoustic stage at Glastonbury and Suite Festival in Barcelona, before culminating in a sold-out show at the Royal Albert Hall. Hawthorn supplied a lighting and drapes package, which ranged from a console and visualiser to allow Status Quo’s lighting designer to programme the show during band rehearsals, to a floor package and variety of extras to supplement the in-house lighting systems for the warm up shows and festivals, and a full lighting rig for the Royal Albert Hall. Ewan Cameron, the band’s lighting designer said: ''Status Quo have had a very strong working relationship with Hawthorn
UK - Technical supplier and coordinator Liteup Events recently supported Mercury Prize-winning music stars, alt-J, at their first arena show of 2017 at London's The O2 Arena, as part of the venue's 10th year celebrations. The arena show comes at the beginning of alt-J's current worldwide tour, which also saw them headline The Other Stage at Glastonbury this year. Liteup began working with lighting and show design duo Jeremy Lechterman and Jackson Gallagher of FragmentNine on alt-J's last album cycle. Working alongside production manager Bennie Brongers and tour manager Maarten Cobbaut, Liteup is supplying all things visual, except for lasers, on their current EU tour. The company is also supplying the lighting and video control package worldwide. For the festival shows, which make up the bulk of alt-J's touring this summer, Liteup is supplying 84 x GLP X4 Bar 20, 18 x
UK - The Natural History Museum has re-opened its famous Hintze Hall event space following a transformation which welcomes a blue whale skeleton to take pride of place. The Natural History Museum reveals a new-look Hintze Hall which features a stunning 25.2 metre blue whale skeleton suspended from the ceiling and spectacularly diving into the space. This is part of the museum’s biggest transformation it its 136-year history which includes hundreds of new specimens which have been chosen to celebrate the wonder and beauty of the natural world, from the origins of the universe, to the story of evolution and the diversity in the world today.Ten choice specimens have also been arranged in ground floor alcoves – known as Wonder Bays – including a 4.5 billion-year-old meteorite and a Mantellisaurus skeleton. The new installation provides event guests with an opportuni
USA - Owing to high demand (with tickets selling out before the line-up was even announced), the Electric Forest Music Festival doubled its days and held its woodland adventure over two consecutive weekends, with thousands making their way back into the effervescent woods that feel straight out of a fairytale dream. Lighting designer Jeff Ravitz returned to design the lighting for the Sherwood Court Stage with a lighting package provided by Bandit Lites. In designing the stage where artists such as Lido, The Floozies, Tycho and Black Tiger Sex Machine would perform, Ravitz focused on updating the overall look while still maintaining the aspects of the design that made last year’s set up successful, foremost of which was ensuring the system was ‘all things to all bands’ (within reason and budget). “We have four or five of the artists’ LDs coming in daily
UK - On 27 May, The Courteeners took to the stage at Emirates Old Trafford cricket ground, less than a week after the bombing atrocity at the Manchester Arena claimed so many victims. Supported by The Charlatans, Blossoms and Cabbage, this was meant to be Courteeners’ step up from theatre and arena shows to stadium size venues but events conspired to turn the gig into something else entirely. Dan Hill was in control on a grandMA2 Light operating a lighting rig that was heavy on Ayrton and Claypaky fixtures as specified from Dan Hill and Chris ‘Squib’ Swain’s design house, Cassius Creative. “The tour and the new show design started life back at the end of 2016,” says Hill. “Up to that point, the band’s look had been with more traditional tungsten fixtures so this was a real remodelling of the entire production. We wanted a more modern feel to this campaign and
Australia - Robe has confirmed the appointment of Jands as the Australian and New Zealand distributor for Robe and Anolis lighting brands. Jands is an Australian owned company founded in 1970 that manufactures and distributes some the world’s most recognised lighting, audio and staging products primarily for the entertainment and exhibition industry. With headquarters and manufacturing facilities in Sydney, a factory in Melbourne and offices in Brisbane and Perth, Jands employs over 120 people across Australia and is ideally located to deliver the superlative service for which they are renowned. Jands also has an international reputation and worldwide industry recognition for its award-winning range of lighting consoles, among other products. (Jim Evans)
Europe - Ayrton has announced the appointment of Jerad Garza as the latest member of its growing International sales team. Originating from Texas, Garza entered the industry as show technician with Gemini LSV in Dallas where he spent 17 years learning all aspects of show production, before progressing to the position of sales director and project manager. Roles in European & international sales followed, firstly with Solaris and, most recently, with High End Systems. Based in South Germany, Garza’s role will be to focus on supporting Ayrton’s existing international clients, in addition to establishing and growing new ones, and will have additional responsibility for selling demo and excess stock worldwide. “Now is an exciting time to join the Ayrton team, and I cannot wait to meet our partners and contribute to their growth and success,” he says. “
China - PR Lighting’s new XR 440B BWS expands on the existing XR 440 BWS, which integrates three features (Spot, Wash and Beam) in a single unit. Combining the same advanced 440W Osram Sirius lamp technology with superb optical system, it has been upgraded with an animation effect added to the fixed gobo wheel, along with a wide angle (50°) zoom and LCD touch screen control. Full features include: mechanical strobe (0.3-25 fps with macro); mechanical dimmer (0-100% linearly adjustable); CMY linear colour mixing with macros; colour wheel (13 colours with CTO plus open); rainbow effect with bi-directional and variable speeds; stepping/linear colour changer and fixed gobo wheel (10 gobos plus open, bi-directionally rotatable and shakeable at variable speeds. (Jim Evans)
