Italy - A crazy gig of epic proportions saw a quarter of a million Vasco Rossi fans pack into Modena Park for the one and only 2017 live appearance by Italian superstar and local hero in an epic homecoming concert. Lighting designer Giovanni Pinna, known for the imagination and flair of his work, wanted to make a serious impact for this show and utilized 550 Robes as the backbone of his rig – making about around two-thirds of the total fixture count – with 200 x Spiiders, 50 x BMFL Blades and Spots, 200 x LEDWash 1200s and 600s and 100 x LEDBeam 100s. It's safe to say that most people in Italy have a ‘soft spot’ for Vasco, who was also celebrating 40 years of a tumultuous career which has had its thrills and spills, so it’s good to see the maverick rock ‘n’ roll showman right back on form - performing at his very best. The show was also broadcast li
Moldova - King of Kings events are some of the most popular kickboxing events in the world and Elation dealer Eventica Grup SRL of Moldova has been a staging and technical contractor of KOK tournaments for years. For past events, Eventica has turned to Elation Platinum SBX hybrid fixtures for their multi-functionality, power and dynamism. For the King of Kings World Grand Prix 46 tournament held 1 April in Moldova, Eventica added Elation’s new Fuze Wash Z350 to the line-up along with other Elation gear. Lighting design was by Max Cojocari. KOK events are intense affairs with pre-bout introductions a vital step in building up the exciting atmosphere. The fighter entrance stage, key in the build up to a match, is a large space where anywhere from 18 fighters to a single fighter will make their appearance. “We needed to fill the space with dynamic lighting, whether it was f
Europe - Kling-Net is a new plug-and-play protocol for easy operation of LED devices introduced by ArKaos. The Kling-Net Tile app converts your smartphone or tablet into a LED tile and is available for for free. Kling-Net protocol, in combination with ArKaos software (LED Master, GrandVJ XT and MediaMaster), provides a plug and play connection to LED devices of all sorts. The compatibility matrix is on the Arkaos website (www.arkaospro.com) (Jim Evans)
World - CAST has introduced wysiwyg Lighting Design Software Release 39 which packs improved security to protect user investment as well as a rich new feature set for every wysiwyg mode: CAD, Data, Plots, Reports and Previsualization and more. Created with the lighting designer in mind as well as a futuristic workplace, wysiwyg’s powerful and integrated improvements result from the direct feedback from wysiwyg users and the wysiwyg beta testing program. Users will be able to be more creative and dynamic in their lighting design workflow from the design and presentation to clients as well as on site, saving valuable time and resources. Users now can export 360º Spherical images of their design and with the help of a VR googles, such as Google cardboard or Gear VR, users can step inside their virtual design and experience it in first hand. CAST has accomplished
Israel/Germany - The German-Israeli co-production St Matthew’s Passion 2727 is a dance oratorio choreographed by Tamir Ginz for the Kamea Dance Company, inspired by the St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244) by Johann Sebastian Bach, produced by Bayer Arts & Culture and a co-operation between two opera houses in Leverkusen and Wuppertal in Germany and Beer-Sheva Performing Arts centre in Israel. Lighting designer Yaron Abulafia was asked to add his magic and imagination to the intense performance. He is working for the first time with Ginz, one of the most important chorographers in Israel, who heard about Yaron’s fresh, innovative approach to lighting which brings a unique layer of kinetic sculpting to the artform. Yaron, already familiar with the music - a complex and ambitious musical construction that typically involves two choirs and at least one orch
Germany - When Let’s Dance, the German version of Dancing with the Stars / Strictly Come Dancing, celebrated its 10th anniversary series recently, lighting designer David Kreilemann decided to place special emphasis on the versatile and powerful XR 440 BWS moving head from PR Lighting. He could see this fixture, which integrates spot, wash and beam with a quality optical system, performing all manner of duties. He therefore requisitioned 22 of the heads from rental company MLS. "The powerful hybrid lamp impresses with its efficient sharp projection in both the spot and the beam modes,” says Kreilemann. “Even with slow rotations of the gobos and prisms, there are no visible jerks in the movement whatsoever. In fact, the two prisms, which can morph and contra-rotate with respect to each other, are absolutely brilliant on the XR 440 BWS.”
UK - The Urban Hero Awards is an annual event bringing together people of all ages for their inspiring work and leadership within their local communities. For this year’s event, which took place at Manchester’s Victoria Warehouse, Jonny Billitt was tasked with providing stunning visual support for the evening. This included an awards ceremony dinner with accompanying live music performances. To fulfill both of these roles, Billitt specified a number of Chauvet Professional fixtures, including eight Maverick MK2 Washes, eight Maverick MK1 Hybrids, 12Next NXT-1 fixtures, 108 PVP S5 LED panels, eighteen Rogue R1 Beams, 24 Rogue R2 Washes and 21 Rogue R2 Spots. Performing key lighting roles in Billitt’s overall illumination concept were the Maverick Wash and Hybrid fixtures, and Rogue R1 Beams, which fulfilled a variety of roles including front and ambient stage ligh
UK - Visually there has always been a sense of fantasy and science fiction to Jeff Lynne’s ELO while musically his massively successful song catalogue inhabits a clear fusion of pop, rock and classical. It’s proved a happy combination on record and, as a live act, led to an epoch defining tour with a flying saucer in 1978. Bringing that sense of scale and sci-fi to stadium stature for 2017 has been the task of production manager Chris Vaughan and a creative team lead by Tim Routledge. Like Lynne himself, they have plundered several genres, not least by recreating the flying saucer for the twenty-first century to ‘fly’ above the stage and by using video on an epic scale. “The stage is wrapped in a back wall of seven very tall and closely packed portrait LED screens derived from the Muse Haarp tour,” Is how Video Design’s Alex Leinster describes it. “Add
UK - Utopium supplied a range of lighting, rigging, staging and screens to create an electric atmosphere in Bristol’s Lloyds Amphitheatre for two consecutive weekends, July 2017. Utopium was entrusted to create the perfect setting for thousands of music-lovers when Bristol Sounds (21-24 June) and Grillstock (1-2 July), headed to Bristol’s Harbourside. Both weekends welcomed some impressive music performances from the likes of Bonobo, Craig David and The Manic Street Preachers at Bristol Sounds and Pharcyde, The Darkness and Hot 8 Brass Band at Grillstock. With different stages in different positions and a variety of genres on offer over the course of the two events, Utopium had to be creative and astute when creating their base concert lighting systems for each event. For Bristol Sounds, Utopium utilised a range of new equipment which included Martin Sceptron VDO
Russia - Robert Juliat’s award-winning Dalis 860 LED cyclorama lighting fixtures are currently playing a key role in Snégourotchka (The Snow Maiden) by Rimski-Korsakov at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. The opera premiered on 15 June on the 1740-seat Heritage Stage on a set designed by Vladimir Arefiev, with lighting by Damir Ismagilov. In the largest installation of Dalis to date, Ismagilov chose to use 92 Dalis 860 asymmetrical LED units to illuminate three enormous lightboxes – the largest features of the set in this spectacular production – which form the backdrop to the Russian folk tale that tells of the Snow Maiden’s ill-fated love for the human, Mizgir. The lightboxes, each of which measure 22m wide x 15m high, are suspended 3m above the stage, and positioned upstage and on each side to form a box, covering the whole stage in width
South Africa - With the aim to make operators familiar with the functions of the dot2 lighting control console, the interface, main features of the software and operating philosophy, Jannie de Jager from DWR Distribution will be presenting dot2 User Training in Cape Town from 31 July to 1 August and in Durban from 3-4 August. The two-day course will cover groups, presets, storing cues, chases, effects and back up. Delegates are requested to supply their own dot2 console and laptop for the MA 3D Visualizer. Bookings can be made on line. Visit: http://dwrdistribution.co.za/register/dot2training-august/ (Jim Evans)
Belgium - With a string of hit singles, numerous sell out tours and countless appearances as a television host, Niels Destadsbader is one of Belgium’s most popular all round entertainers. On his Niels Confesses All (Niels klapt uit de biecht) tour, the versatile star combines his musical and acting talents to create an intimate and highly personal connection to fans as exemplified by a church-like confession booth on stage. The main task for the K-Events lighting design was to create a church-like atmosphere with a minimal set-up. Chauvet Professional Rogue R1 Washes, which were supplied by SLV Rent, were ideally suited for this purpose, thanks to a number of creative and practical factors which helped create the appropriate mood on stage. A group of six Rogue R1 Washes were positioned above the central confessional booth on stage, with a further six fixtures positio
Qatar - The Mall of Qatar is a shopping centre that opened in December 2016 in Doha, Qatar. The mall, which is the equivalent size of 50 football pitches with over 500 stores, is the nation’s largest mall. It also features mall-wide live entertainment with a professional live theatre and 360 degree acts and shows performed on a multi-lift rotating stage. For the stage’s lighting control, one grandMA2 light, one grandMA2 replay unit, one MA onPC command wing, one MA VPU plus MK2 (Video Processing Unit), four MA Network Switches, two MA NPUs (Network Processing Units), 12 x MA 2Port Nodes and two MA 4Port Nodes are used. The technical design was completed by LichtUnit GmbH with Stephan Floeren as lighting designer, assistant LD Udo Rath and operator Desimir Skoracz. Floeren explained the product choice: "As reliability and easy show control was crucial, MA Lighting w
UK - Located at the St Paul’s Church in Covent Garden, Iris Theatre creates bespoke productions specific to that space. The company’s aim is to develop the next generation of professional theatre practitioners and produce a vibrant repertoire of varied work. This year marks the company’s 10-year anniversary which will be celebrated with a summer season of immersive productions. One of these is Macbeth and White Light was called upon to provide the lighting equipment. Iris Theatre was originally formed in 2007 and has grown considerably over the years, having won Best Production for Young People at last year’s OFFIE Awards. General manager Sofi Berenger comments: “As an organisation, we seek to produce a fresh and vibrant repertoire of varied work which results in accessible and affordable theatre which caters for all ages. We are also extremely lucky t
UK - The annual London Club and Bar Awards has been celebrating the city’s thriving hospitality industry since 1994. This year’s event, which was held at The Intercontinental Park Lane, served up more sizzling glitz than ever, thanks to a stunning lighting design by Halo, which featured eight Maverick MK2 Spots, eight Maverick MK2 Washes, four STRIKE 4s and 12 Rogue R1 FX-Bs from Chauvet Professional. At the heart of the design was the main stage that was used for the awards ceremony. Yann Guenancia, Halo project manager, drew on the intense output, rapid movements and colours of the Maverick lights to create a compelling sense of on-stage excitement. Positioned from ceiling truss above the stage, Guenancia made use of the 440W superior brightness of the Maverick Spot fixtures to ensure excellent illumination of the award presentations. “The Maverick Spots provid
UK - The recent edition of Polish Idol featured a distinctive filmic styling emanating from the visual influence of LD Artur Szyman, one of the country’s leading lighting and scenic designers, who was assisted by 96 x Robe Spikies and 80 x LEDWash 800s among other lights on his plot. Artur has been an LD for 17 years and was a renowned film and TV DoP for 10 years before that. He’s known for taking creative risks and delivering new and invigorating designs, and for this show - returning to Polish national TV prime time after a 13-year break - his mission was to ensure that the lighting and scenography worked consistently from all camera perspectives. This approach informed every aspect of the lighting, video and scenic design, bringing a cool cinematographic ambience to the studio. A reasonably open brief by producers Freemantle Poland meant it didn
Germany - Ayrton MagicPanel-FX, AlienPix-RS and MagicBlade-R fixtures starred alongside the catwalk models during the grand finale of Germany’s Next Top Model on 25 May 2017. The spectacular, full-scale production – now an eagerly-awaited climax to the annual competition – was broadcast live from the König Pilsener Arena in Oberhausen by Germany’s ProSieben channel, and presented by the show’s regulars, supermodel Heidi Klum, and judges Michael Michalsky and Thomas Hayo. Expectations for the finale remain high and this year’s show did not disappoint. The set featured long, serpentine catwalks that wound from the main stage into the audience to accommodate the final fashion show and ‘Walk-Off’ runway challenges for the competitors. The whole was brought to colourful, dynamic life by an impressive lighting design from the imagination of Manuel da Costa,
UK/Australia - Mandylights has announced the company’s expansion into the UK, with the opening of a new office headed by UK designers Liam Tully and Tom Edwards. Operating since 2006 from Sydney, Australia, Mandylights has delivered lighting, visual and production design projects in over 50 countries across touring concert, broadcast, special event, theatre and corporate markets. The company’s recent touring and Vegas residency designs for the Backstreet Boys are recent additions to an impressive list of credits including multiple tours for artists including Ricky Martin, Taio Cruz, Cats - The Musical, China’s G.E.M. and numerous others. Mandylights has also designed shows for Dubai’s Burj Khalifa New Year’s Eve celebrations and the 15th anniversary main stage of Ultra Music Festival in addition to countless festivals and special events around the worl
USA - Slightly Stoopid may have two decades of touring under their belts, but the genre-busting band still keeps shows fresh and energetic for audiences around the country, pulling from their 12 albums including their recent release Meanwhile… Back at the Lab. Bandit Lites is providing a lighting package for their current tour. Lighting designer Scott O’Connor created a stellar design for the funk, reggae and punk rock band by capitalizing on equipment that would fill the stage with dynamic, audacious looks, while still allowing for versatility across the various venues and emphasizing a ‘less is more’ mindset. “Bold, solid and minimalistic looks are what the band is looking for this summer,” O’Connor said. “More textures and shapes using angles and colour have been the ultimate goal for this project. I’ve been having a lot fun fulfilling that
UK - As Blind Date returns to prime-time television, illumination specialists LED Creative is supporting the crews at the legendary, iconic dating show and the Big Brother’s themed housemate challenge. Filmed in front of a live studio audience at ITV London Studios the new Blind Date stays faithful to the winning formula of the original. Hosted by Paul O’Grady and featuring the sliding panel and three question format, the show pits three hopefuls against each other, fighting to win the attention of a mystery date. Created by scenic designer, Chris Webster and lit with LD Oli Richards, the suitably fabulous set balances a blend of cool neonesque LED against a warm tungsten glow provided by an array of cleverly housed LED practical fixtures that form the backdrop. LED Creative’s Alpha 60 RGB system has been put to good use, adding crisp accents
Namibia - Walvis Bay, an extraordinary city on Namibia’s coast, with the contrast of sand dunes on one side and the ocean on the other, was the location for the 2017 Namibia Annual Music Awards which was both a livestream and live broadcast on the NBC platform. Micky Lehr from EventPlus has headed the technical production for the NAMAs since 2015 and had a clear vision of what he wanted the show to look like in 2017. A substantial amount of Robe gear, with 12 Robe Squares being a predominant feature, ran off a grandMA2 control system. With over 42 years’ experience, Micky Lehr is a leading technical producer, production manager and designer to the live event and entertainment industry. “This year’s production design relied heavily on lighting as the set mostly consisted of scaffold structures,” Micky explained. “I believed that Joshua Cutts from Visua
Germany - GLP’s subsidiary for The Americas, GLP Inc., has been experiencing continued growth since starting its operation eight years ago. As a result, they have recently moved to new, and larger premises in the Los Angeles district of San Fernando. With a total area of 37,000sq.ft, the new building is around three times the size of the previous location, also in Los Angeles. According to GLP Inc. president, Mark Ravenhill, “This represents a big step forward for us as a company and increases our commitment to our markets in The Americas.” Already fully operational, the new facility has given GLP the opportunity to expand on the administrative side in order to support its customer base at a higher level, and the company is currently in the process of adding more personnel. There are also plans to increase the warehouse, service and support areas in order to impr
UK - Aurora lighting has partnered with automobile manufacturer, BMW, to carry out its first smart lighting pilot scheme following the recent announcement of its new enterprise connected lighting platform, AXiO. BMW is focusing on challenging and testing new experiences in which customers select, enjoy and purchase ‘the ultimate driving machine’. With a customer’s lighting design experience needs at its core, Aurora’s projects and IoT division will be working in partnership with BMW to develop and test a customer-centric retail lighting hardware platform and IoT experience, all powered by Gooee, to help BMW achieve its goals. With the AXiO lighting platform, BMW will receive much more than just a bespoke lighting design. The car manufacturer will have the ability to manage and deliver an engaging end-to-end customer experience that immerses the user at the leve
Aruba - Too often, events that receive a lot of accolades don’t seem to live up to their press clippings. This was most definitely not the case at the 2017 Soul Beach Music Festival in Aruba’s capital, Oranjestad. The five-day event exceeded even the highest expectations this year, serving up a plethora of charismatic performances from superstars like Usher, The Roots and Mary J. Blige in a paradisiacal setting. Adding extra sizzle to the proceedings was the seemingly endless variety of intensely coloured big looks that Erik van Oorsouw of Elite Productions created with help from over 100 Chauvet Professional fixtures. “I have been the designer for the Soul Beach Festival for some years,” said van Oorsouw. “It is a wonderful festival with so much talent on stage. The challenge from a lighting design standpoint is to create different looks over the course of t
