Italy - Francesco De Gregori has appointed lighting designer Andrea Coppini to design the lighting at his concerts for several years now. In recent years, Coppini has often relied on Clay Paky equipment.

How did Andrea get to know De Gregori? "I have been working with Agorà for more than ten years. I met De Gregori in the summer of 2008, when I stood in for his previous lighting operator, who was no longer available. From that moment on, I started working continuously with the artist and the production team. This means I present new designs whenever a new tour starts. I have been designing the lighting for De Gregori for six years.

"I have grown together with Francesco. In the early years, Francesco had a minimalist idea of show aesthetics: he preferred a plain stage,

USA - Austrian engineering company, AV Stumpfl will bring its largest ever line up of innovation to LDI 2015.

Selected by leading media designers and architects, Fullwhite screens will be demonstrated in an edge-blended multi-projector display on the AV Stumpfl USA Corp Booth 2017. The elegant Fullwhite screens are virtually borderless ensuring the projected image goes right to the very edge. They come with a range of powerful accessories, in a range of sizes and can be used in unlimited configurations including 360-degree curved projection environments.

The AV Stumpfl Monoblox is fast becoming the industry standard in mobile projection by large-scale rental and staging companies. Users benefit from fast assembly of screens without additional tools - a valuable asset when on location.

Additionally, the original VarioLock modular mobile projection screen will be shown in a va

USA - Le Maitre will be unveiling two new special effects technologies at this year's LDI at the Las Vegas Convention Centre, booth 455.

Le Maitre's G300-Smart is a professional smoke machine, designed with the future in mind. This innovative new machine features IoT capability via Wi-Fi, wireless set up and diagnostics, and an easy to read backlit LCD display.

Building on the solid foundation of Le Maitre's flagship smoke machine, the G300, the G300-Smart retains all the features that have made the G300 the industry-leading unit it is. It is rugged, versatile and durable, with an extremely high output of dense white smoke. In addition, the G300-Smart has a user-friendly LCD display, DMX in and out, 0-10V control, as well as fluid out and fluid low reporting.

Having Wi-Fi on board gives the user a whole new level of flexibility, being able to set and change the configuration

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ETC Halcyon Silent

High End Systems Halcyon Silent builds on ETC’s legacy of fanless automated fixtures by incorporating features from the highly sought-after Halcyon family. Halcyon Silent perfectly balances silent operation with brilliant output of 18,400 lumens and high-impact features. 

For more information visit us at www.etcconnect.com

USA - D.T.S. will showcase the new EVO at LDI 2015, stand 217, Las Vegas Convention Centre, from 23-25 October.

D.T.S. will also feature a range of architectural projectors, including the Delta, FOS and Drivenet lines.

(Jim Evans)

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New Touring Series by Gravity – Every Scratch Has A Story

When the stage heats up, you need equipment that can keep up without compromise. The Gravity Touring Series has been specifically designed to meet the highest demands – for rental companies, professional musicians, concert organizers, and large event venues. Premium materials, exceptional durability, and impressive longevity make these products stand out. Whether on tour, in constant use, or under the toughest conditions: the Touring Series delivers maximum reliability and performance – every day, on every stage.
FIND OUT MORE >>>

USA - Parasol has been working tirelessly for the last six months to create brand-new miniSTAR. This new product is the smallest system in the Parasol family by far. Measuring a convenient 47 inches in diameter, this system can fit in the back of an SUV for ultimate portability.

This system is the first in the Parasol family that can be mounted traditionally (i.e. horizontal) with a 300 pound payload or rigged vertically with a 150 pound payload (or anything in between). Plus, this system has 20 AMPs of power and can work with your existing moving lights, LEDs, or other electronics).

Hermann Fruhm, CEO of Parasol Systems says, "The market place demanded a more affordable system, so we did our best to deliver that with the miniSTAR. It's smaller, more affordable, and has a quicker lead time. You are basically getting a big-screen effect for a fraction of the cost."

USA - Bandit Lites is supporting lighting design firm Pulse Lighting in supplying lights for Grace Potter. The multi-instrumentalist powerhouse is currently touring the country with songs her from her newest album, Midnight.

Pulse Lighting specializes in designing rigs that provide big looks with the most bang for a buck and a small trailer footprint. Lighting designer Preston Hoffman redesigned Potter's summer floor package with 12 GLP X4s for a compact wash that double as a beam when focused tightly, eight Robe Pointes for versatile graphic and textural looks, and 12 Cuepix Blinders.

Four towers of truss each features three X4s, two Pointes and two Cuepix Blinders, giving Hoffman the opportunity to build large looks both behind and through the band.

"Grace conveyed to me that she was looking for a highly versatile rig that can provide lots of different feels, a

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AZOR® SP2 IP - Compact IP65 Spot Profile Moving Head

Compact design and IP65 protection for indoor and outdoor applications: the new AZOR® SP2 IP is the ideal solution for open-air events and outdoor theatres that require a powerful, weatherproof lighting system. An optimal partner for lighting designers and event service providers looking for a versatile LED show light in a compact housing.

AZOR® SP2 IP – the next generation of robust, weatherproof, and compact lighting for maximum creative freedom, both indoors and outdoors.

READ MORE >>>

Belgium - Creative lighting, video and visual design specialist Painting with Light brought their imagination and flair to six special live recordings of popular Belgian comedy / impressionist TV show Tegen de Sterren Op, designing the set, lighting and visuals for producers Studio 100 and DEDS IT. To be broadcast on VTM, the action took place over three days at the 6000 capacity Lotto Arena in Antwerp.

The Painting with Light team was led by Luc Peumans, who has also designed set and lighting for the most recent series of Tegen de Sterren Op studio based shows.

Wanting to replicate key visual elements from the TV show, but enlarged to capture the scale of the arena sized production, the design featured a striking LED screen portal / pros arch measuring 8m high by 16m wide.

Upstage was a 9m high by 18m wide LED screen made up of two sections which tracked apart

USA - Robe underlines the importance of the American market by announcing a major new product launch at the 2015 LDI expo in Las Vegas - the BMFL Wash and BMFL Wash XF (Extra Features).

There will also be a host of other exciting new products making their US debut at Booth 2521 at the Las Vegas Convention Centre 23-25 October.

BMFL Wash and BMFL Wash XF are the ultimate 1700W lamp based wash lights, and the latest fixtures to be added to Robe's 'game-changing' BMFL range of luminaires. These are powerful workhorse wash lights, packed with innovative and creative features.

A large 200 mm diameter front fresnel lens provides a high quality traditional wash output ranging from a punchy and tight 4.5° to a super-smooth 55°.

Custom interchangeable frost filters offer three grades - light, medium and heavy - giving an extremely subtle and natural 'soft touch'.

Both CMY

USA - The new ACL 360 Roller from Elation Professional is a 4-bar moving head luminaire that casts an array of continuous 360° high-speed multi-coloured effects and is the newest luminaire in Elation's ACL Series of high-output narrow-beam LED effect lights.

The ACL 360 Roller houses 20x 15W RGBW 4-in-1 LEDs positioned equally across four bars and features fast and precise 16-bit continuous 360° pan and tilt rotation, perfect for adding eye-catching ACL beam looks to any stage, show or venue. Its advanced collimator optic lens produces a laser-like homogenized 4° color-changing beam from each LED, which combined produce a 21° beam angle from each bar.

Individual pixel control gives greater design options and built-in effect / chase macros make the unit quick to program when needed. Strobe effects and full-range dimming with dimming curve effects add to the desi

USA - LDI 2015 will see the North American premiere of the latest upgrade to entertainment motion control systems expert XLNT Advanced Technologies' CyberHoist II system on Booth #142.

The new incarnation of the world's first intelligent, variable speed, robust chain hoist and control system, CyberHoist II CH528 (2015), has been specifically designed to overcome the creative, logistical and physical rigours of automation design for entertainment environments, large scale events and touring.

Since the system's successful preview launch at Prolight+Sound Frankfurt 2015, XLNT's research and development team has continued to fine tune its pro-user-valued features.

Although the system still features its signature strength, smooth operation, intuitive plug and play interface and compact design, under its hood is a range of improved software and hardware features, each steered by X

USA - Avolites' family of consoles, dimmers and networking products will be showcased at LDI Las Vegas on booth 2004, hosted by Group One Ltd. Avolites Media will be on booth 2216, exhibiting its industry-leading range of Ai media servers which work intuitively with the entire Avolites family of products.

Key members of the Avolites team, including MD Steve Warren and sales director Koy Neminathan, will join Group One, its distributor and US partner.

One of the stars of the showcase is the Avolites' Arena console with Optical Titan Net Switch, both of which are now shipping. In addition, new software in Titan version 9.1, featuring enhanced pixel mapping functionality, fully custom Key Frame Shape engine and fully featured theatre functionality.

"The Arena console has attracted a huge amount of attention since launch - we've been inundated with lighting designers, renta

UK - Pearce Hire will be showcasing their production services and rental business at this week's Showman's Show taking place at the Newbury Showground, Berkshire.

The Cambridgeshire-based company has been a regular participant for many years as the show provides an important platform for promoting their expertise in the provision of services for the outdoor and special events market.

This year the show's timing falls just as the corporate event, exhibition and concert business is already taking off for the winter months, and with an upturn in their business the company has not seen the downtime they usually experience at this time of year.

Pearce Hire operates nationally and internationally and their expertise covers all aspects of project management, production management and production solutions and bespoke installations, in addition to an extensive inventory of rental equ

Germany - In order to make people aware of the achievements of those working behind the stage and of their frequent ingenuity the Karlsruhe Chamber of Industry and Commerce has set up an award that recognises Germany's best and most creative trainees.

On 4 December 2015, taking place for the seventh time, the Baden Baden Awards 2015 will be honouring outstanding final papers by recently graduated set artists and set sculptors, make-up artists, sound and image media designers, event representatives, event technicians and property masters.

The creative industries are among those affected by demographic change and are faced with falling numbers of young people taking up technically skilled and administrative jobs. With competition for specialists increasing on the home and international employment market the situation demands that the industry react. From 20 to 22 June 2017 Stage

Denmark - Cirkus Dannebrog is a circus with much history dating back to the second half of the 19th century and thus holds an important role in the Danish circus traditions. However, this circus is following the technological developments and hence using the latest innovations within lighting.

Since 2001, Cirkus Danneborg has been focusing and working with lighting as an important element for the audience experience in relation to artists, animals and the overall circus tent atmosphere. Lighting designer Liza Van Der Voorn has been working with the circus troupe for the last three seasons, designing and programming light for a circus solely deploying LED technology.

As a new acquisition this year, Liza Van Der Voorn has introduced six SGM G-Spot moving heads to the circus lighting rig. She is very enthusiastic about these luminaires, their quality and flawless operation, night

USA - NBC's 2015 Sunday Night Football Open with Carrie Underwood features 34 x Robe BMFL Spots which were specified by Los Angeles based LD Benoit Richard from Millennium Lighting Design, Inc. who was charged with creating all the theatrical and effects lighting for the shoot. This follows his success utilizing Robe Pointes and CycFX 8 fixtures for last year's intro.

The high energy 2015 SNF Open features another new and rousing rendition of Waiting All Day for Sunday Night sung by Underwood. The shoot location changed this year as the production team took over one of the large sound stages at Warner Brothers Studios in L.A.

The creative concept revolves around showing numerous behind-the-scenes situations including player interactions with Carrie and even a cameo of Benoit weaving his magic at the lighting controls. The build-up leads to Carrie's exciting perfo

UK - Having just celebrated its 13th anniversary the Green Man Festival - held in the Brecon Beacons in August - has built a reputation as one of the UK's best music events. Typically featuring a line-up of alternative, indie and folk and dance acts, Green Man 2015 included Leftfield, Hot Chip, Super Furry Animals and Television among the highlights.

During the event, Audio-Technica supplied an array of microphones from its Artist Elite, Artist Series and 40 Series ranges and an Allen & Heath Qu-24 digital mixer for the filming of The Green Man Sessions - intimate live performances of acts appearing at the festival. In charge of proceedings was Charlie Allen from video production company Naked Noise, who faced both a challenging schedule and technical hurdles during the project.

"The Green Man Festival had commissioned us to film and record 14 artists over three da

USA - Drew Carey mentioned it in his autobiography. KISS mounted their comeback by playing on top of its bar. Jamie Foxx liked to celebrate New Year's Eve there. Ben Affleck was a regular. Even by the standards of Las Vegas nightspots, the Center Bar at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino has been a celebrity magnet. Perched under a domed ceiling in the middle of the hotel's 30,000sq.ft casino, it has long been the place to see and be seen.

However, even icons need updating to remain fresh and vibrant., which is why this June the Hard Rock Hotel had a "Final Call" party for its famous bar, and promised to reopen the 20-year-old landmark with a new design that would make its future as glittering as its past. This goal was accomplished in stunning fashion, thanks to a massive and dazzling abstract design by LD Robert Athey of All Things Integrated that drew on the pixel mapping

Spain - Proaudio Granada recently debuted its new Meyer Sound Leopard linear sound reinforcement system at two major outdoor music events in the Spanish city - Jazz en La Costa (Jazz on the Coast) Festival and a concert by the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada (City of Granada Orchestra).

"Ninety percent of our work is supporting classical and jazz music, and Leopard is the perfect system for these applications," says Henry Gómez Rey of Proaudio Granada. "At a Leopard demo in Paris, we listened to a recording of Diana Krall. I closed my eyes and thought, 'It's impossible, it's like she's playing right here in front of me.' It was not like a recording at all.

"With jazz music, people know good sound, and they are very critical," Rey continues. "They loved the sound of the Leopard at Jazz en La Costa. With no delays, we had uniform coverage of the whole a

UAE - The eclipse Group's success over the years is credit to their continuous investment in talent and staff, which in turn is testament to the level of quality experience and education that is available in the region. As a result, the group has begun an initiative that is focused on contributing to the advancement of education in the industry by helping to develop the skills of young and enthusiastic students. The initiative is a combination of the recruitment of young graduates, participating in local awards programs and conducting college seminars and demonstrations.

This initiative meant seeking graduates looking to expand their technical knowhow and gain extra experience within the busy events environment and also in some cases, individuals willing to re-locate. The search to hire interns began before the summer to coincide with the break for college students locally and i

Italy - The Fraschini Theatre in Pavia, Italy, has recently purchased two dot2 consoles (a dot2 XL-F and a dot2 core) to use for their touring shows. The theatre hosts several visiting companies and is also an opera house. Furthermore, like most Italian theatres, the venue is hired out for dance exhibitions and other events during the season.

The technical staff decided to look for a solution which could meet their many requirements, namely a versatile console on which they could programme complex cue lists even when programming time is very short, or that was ideal when the operator has to improvise a show in a professional manner. Therefore they decided to invest in the dot2.

Intuitive operation is at the core of the dot2 philosophy, and with a comprehensive set of connectivity hardware on all console models, the dot2 range is suitable for most theatre, touring, corporate, t

UK - Edinburgh-based rental and event production specialists Blue Parrot have continued their investment in world class equipment across a busy summer. The company has now added a GrandMA2 Light as the flagship desk for lighting rental and a DiGiCo SD10 fulfilling the same role in sound.

The MA2 was busy across August as the Scottish capital welcomed the world to its Fringe and International Festivals. The desk was used on shows at the Playhouse theatre and Magners Summer Nights concerts in Princes Street Gardens.

Headline acts James, Flaming Lips and The Waterboys all specified MA2 and Blue Parrot supplied a robust control system with a fully tracking back up MA2 onPC fader wing. The Flaming Lips show also saw the company provide a stunning 96 panel 5mm pitch video backdrop using their Chauvet PVP modular system. The band and crew were particularly impressed by the brightness

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