UK - UK festival industry group Powerful Thinking launched an incisive environmental impact report, 'The Show Must Go On', detailing a cross-industry response to the global environmental challenge, with a vision for change, on November 26th, 2015.

The Show Must Go On was introduced at the 'Sustainable Strategies' panel at the UK Festival Conference in London's Roundhouse, which focused on how festivals can minimise their carbon impact. It is subsequently being presented to the UN Convention on Climate Change, Paris, Nov 30th to December 11th 2015, where 196 countries will meet to sign a new climate change agreement.

The report's authors hope that by presenting a concise overview and proposed roadmap for reduced carbon impact at festivals in-line with international targets and that the UK festival industry sector can lead by example in achieving impact reduction targets by 20

USA - Dan + Shay wanted to do something out of the ordinary for their Just The Right Kind Of Crazy tour. It was, after all, their first headlining tour, and the rapidly rising country duo -- who made their Grand Ole Opry debut only a year earlier -- were looking for a design that would stand out over their previous supporting act rigs. For this they chose the Nexus 4x4 LED panel from Chauvet Professional, provided by 4Wall Lighting Entertainment as the centrepiece of the design.

Dan + Shay once again turned to LD Taylor Price for their design. The LD had created an impressive design for their spring/ summer tour earlier this year supporting various artists. "I began working with the band in the spring of 2014, when they were opening for one of my other clients," said the LD. "We've had an excellent rapport since. The guys brainstormed some ideas, and tour

USA - City Theatrical has launched the latest version of its popular wireless DMX/RDM transceiver, SHoW DMX SHoW Baby 6.

"SHoW DMX SHoW Baby 6 gives users a sixth SHoW ID to broadcast on, for the first time allowing SHoW Baby users access to CTI's innovative Maximum Bandwidth Technology," the company says. "Maximum Bandwidth Technology allows SHoW Baby 6 to broadcast in the area of Wi-Fi channel 14, which is not used in the U.S. and is not heavily used in other countries, thereby allowing users to avoid the more crowded areas of the 2.4GHz band."

City Theatrical developed Maximum Bandwidth Technology to create more ways to avoid interference in an increasingly crowded 2.4GHz spectrum. The 2.4GHz portion of the spectrum is the optimum area for wireless DMX broadcast, allowing signals to pass through objects better than the 5.8GHz area, and able to carry mo

UK - Verbatim's hi-tech LED candle lighting is being used as a safe, realistic and practical alternative to open flame candles by the producers of War and Peace, a TV adaption of Tolstoy's classic Russian novel to be screened by the BBC in 2016.

The TV series is being made by BBC Cymru Wales Drama in partnership with The Weinstein Company and BBC Worldwide/Lookout Point. During filming in Russia, local production company Globus Film Studio took the decision to install over 1200 Verbatim LED retrofit lamps to create appropriate lighting when shooting important scenes such as those in a historic ballroom.

The chandeliers of the ballroom were equipped with Verbatim LED VxRGB Natural Vision Candle lamps which deliver up to 50lm output and offer up to 25,000 hours of guaranteed lifetime. These lamps provide a warm candle-like glow that closely matches the colour spectrum o

Peru - Moving heads from PR Lighting have been out in force at a number of high profile events in the Peruvian capital of Lima, reports Julio Vidal, general manager of Layset, the manufacturer's territorial distributor.

With bases in Peru and La Paz (Bolivia) the stage lighting specialists have enjoyed a particularly busy Autumn - thanks to their rental company partner, Cocolight Productions,

It started in August at the Gran Teatro Nacional in Lima where Peruvian musician, Lucho Quequezana presented his show, Ludofónica, with the National Symphony Orchestra. With 60 musicians performing the stage was decorated with 14 XR300, and 12 PR5000 conventional heads as well as popular and powerful LED fixtures in the shape of 12 XLed 590 and eight XLed 1037.

This was followed by Reunión de Sonidistas, Luminotécnicos y Afines at Discoteca Habana, the Latin Salsa club in Li

USA - Good Morning America took to the streets of Nashville to kick off the 49th Annual CMA Awards with a performance by Tim McGraw and appearance by Chris Stapleton.

Bandit Lites once again provided the lighting for the stage where host Lara Spencer greeted thousands of eager fans who had braved the rain. In addition to the musical performances, the first two awards of the night were presented with Maddie and Tae taking home Best Music Video of the Year for Girl in a Country Song and Keith Urban and Eric Church winning Musical Event of the Year for their collaboration on Raise 'Em Up.

With Good Morning America beginning literally in the early morning before the sun rises, lighting designer Mark Carver knew that the transition from night to dawn to would be a challenge. "I need versatile fixtures that would be clearly seen in both environment

Austria - Broadcast live on Austrian national TV channel ORF, the final 2015 edition of the Starnacht series of festival style outdoor pop concerts took place at the charismatic Durnstein castle ruins in the stunning Wachau valley, cut through by the River Danube.

Produced by IP Media, lighting for the show was designed and programmed by Chris Moylan of Berlin based Optikalusion, and featured 31 x Robe BMFL Spots - the first time these had been used on a Starnacht concert.

The Wachau show was the final of three site-specific based events in summer / autumn 2015 showcasing the best of current Austrian, German and Swiss pop talent which this year featured chart-busting Thomas Anders (singer of mega successful pop duo Modern Talking); 2014 Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst; the Radio Doria band; ex Kelly Family star Maite Kelly and singer-songwriter Johannes Oerding. The

UK - Black Light used its LED lighting expertise in delivering a large low resolution LED video facade for a carpark at the new Manchester First Street development. The success of this project demonstrates the company's experience in working with LED as well as being chosen as a supplier and installer of Osrams' Traxon LED products.

"This was a great project for us," says Phil Haldane, Black Light's company development manager. "We have experience in working with LED lighting and we worked closely with the manufacturer of the facade panels to ensure the interfacing of our systems to theirs was seamless." The team also had to think ahead to 'future proof' the new installation. Due to the amount of lighting that needed to be installed, the potential for cost savings were significant and this was a key driver for the project itself.

Traxon LED Dots were chos

China - The main banking hall of HSBC's headquarters is referred to as 'The Cathedral' for good reason; the modern resemblance to a grand abbey is undeniable. This vast space soars above the glass floor of the main banking hall and is accessed via escalators from the plaza below. The vaulted ceiling is crowned with the sparkle of an immense mirror. The office floors are the galleries and the bridges the cloisters. The eastern elevation contains a grand symbolic gesture, a vast unstained glass window complete with its tracery of mullions and transoms, which extends the full height of the vault.

The idea of lighting the atrium had been proposed more than a year ago by Mindseye Lighting Consultants from London. The impetus to develop and implement the concept came from the 150th anniversary of the Bank which would fall on 3 March 2015.

Illumination Physics was already engaged o

UK Selfridges is one of the best-known department stores in the world. Situated on Oxford Street, in the heart of London's shopping district, the store is also renowned for its extravagant Christmas décor. This year is no exception and as part of the annual celebrations, an Astrolounge has been created in order to provide customers with cosmic gifts along with out-of-this-world experiences. Having worked with Selfridges on numerous occasions, White Light was asked to provide the production support on this ambition project.

Located on Selfridges' ground floor, the Astrolounge incorporates an other-worldly, cosmic theme and allows customers to experience a range of mesmerising physic experiences, such as astrology, Aura photography, Tarot readings and workshops.

The idea of the Astrolounge came from the Selfridges creative team who devised Journey to the Stars as

Italy - The latest tour of renowned Italian artist Jovanotti kicked off with two concerts at the 105 Stadium in Rimini on 19 and 20 November.

32 concerts are scheduled, most of them in Italy with additional shows in Belgium, Germany, Slovenia and Switzerland.

Jovanotti is the only artist who has managed to fill the San Siro football Stadium in Milan over three consecutive concerts, during the previous Lorenzo negli Stadi 2015 tour which took place last summer.

Forty Evo moving heads, installed by the rental company Agorà, illuminate the entire tour which will end on 14 January 2016 with a concert at the Mitsubishi Electric Halle in Dusseldorf.

(Jim Evans)

Adele Live - Advance tickets for Adele's upcoming UK and Ireland tour went on sale this morning. Members of Adele.com were able to register for advance tickets on the singer's website, with tickets available from 9am this morning. General tickets go on sale on Friday 4 December, also at 9am. The tour kicks off in Belfast on 29 February and finishes in Antwerp on 13 June next year. It also includes four dates at London's O2 Arena. It will be the first time Adele has toured since 2011.

Motown Legend - A play about the life and death of Motown legend Marvin Gaye is to have its world premiere in Northampton. Roy Williams' Soul will open in May 2016 after several years' close collaboration with members of the singer's family. Gaye, whose hits include Sexual Healing and Let's Get It On, was shot dead by his father in 1984. "It's a dramatic thriller, n

USA - Apollo Design Technology has announced the appointment of Zane Sade as a customer care representative. In this role, Sade provides technical information, product recommendations and helps customers with quotes, processing orders and tracking deliveries. In addition to ensuring customer satisfaction, Sade supports the sales team at Apollo Design.

Prior to joining Apollo Design, Sade worked in various sales and customer service positions. He is also an actor, comedian, voice over artist and theatre technician and works extensively with local theatre groups.

"We are happy to have Zane join our team. He comes from a theatre background, a big plus when helping dealers and understanding our products," said Joel Nichols, president of Apollo Design Technology.

"Apollo is by far the best company I've worked for. I can't wait to develop relationships with my de

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) has announced the appointment of industry figure, Karen Fairlie to the newly created role of business development manager for Scotland.

Karen brings a wealth of local market knowledge and experience to the position, having forged strong relationships with customers and suppliers in Scotland over the past 20 years whilst working in sales management and various support roles.

A well-known figure in the Scottish theatre market, Karen has overseen the supply of leading entertainment technology systems to designers, specifiers, venues, rental and production companies. She has also worked on high-profile projects in the film & TV and public services markets.

Karen is based in the field, with support from AC-ET's Leeds office, and will work alongside the company's sales, marketing and purchasing departments to develop and implement th

UK - Creative producer Artichoke has revealed the scale of London's first Lumiere light festival, 14-17 January 2016.

More than 20 pioneering international artists have been commissioned to transform buildings and streets of the capital for the first Lumiere London festival, free event that will take place over four winter evenings.

Designed to chase away the January blues and show the city in a new light, this major new festival will feature installations for some of the city's most iconic buildings and locations on a grand scale. Lumiere London will explore London's urban landscape and architecture from Leicester Square to Piccadilly, St James's, Carnaby Street and Oxford Circus in London's West End, to the German Gymnasium and Granary Square at King's Cross.

Aimed at Londoners and visitors to the capital at what is traditionally one of the quietest times of the year Lu

UK - Regarded as the master of psychological illusion, Derren Brown recently returned to London's West End with his latest show Derren Brown: Miracle. Featuring astonishing illusions, unfathomable tricks and a magic spectacle, the show has already achieved mass critical acclaim. Following its work on Derren Brown's previous shows, WL once again provided the lighting support for the illusionist's latest outing.

Derren Brown: Miracle is currently playing at The Palace Theatre before it tours the UK, visiting cities such as Glasgow, Brighton & Hove and Bristol. Tim Mascall is the lighting designer on the production, having already lit four of Derren Brown's shows since 2006.

Tim comments, "Miracle is a really unique show. The aesthetic is led by Simon Higlett's beautiful set design and contains stunning video projection by Simon Wainwright. When lighting the

Japan - Clay Paky and PRG KK, the Italian company's sole distributor in Japan, held a workshop at the TFT Building Complex in Tokyo on 14 and 15 October. It was mainly focused on the Scenius, the Clay Paky spotlight that recently made its debut on the world market.

The Scenius features an exceptionally high CRI (96) and fits a 1400 W - 6000 K Osram discharge lamp. Together with the optical unit designed and developed by Clay Paky, this lamp ensures much higher light output than previous older 1500 W lamps. Thanks to its wide 8° - 50° zoom, modern focus tracking system (autofocus), extensive range of effects, and full colour and white light fidelity, the Scenius is a really versatile spotlight, essential for any top-ranking application.

The workshop was presented jointly by Alfonso Zarate Takano, Clay Paky area manager for the Asia-Pacific market, and Giulia Sabeva, a

Germany - The all-in-one Laser Show control software Laserworld Showeditor 2015 comes standard with the LAN interface Laserworld ShowNET and has a ready-to-go live laser show interface as well as professional timeline-show programming capability.

The software is delivered with 100 free laser shows plus pre-configured MIDI profiles for easy software control - in live mode as well as for laser show programming. The import and export of files in the ILDA (*.ild) standard protocol is supported, so the figures created in Laserworld Showeditor can easily be shared between different software and can be used for playback features.

Laserworld Showeditor supports both DMX input and output, so it can be remote controlled through DMX controllers or software, and it can control fixtures by itself - basic ones and intelligent lighting.

The enhanced MIDI capabilities allow for the creat

Canada - wysiwyg R36 lighting design and previsualization software from CAST Software now has a completely revised and enchanting look as well as highly anticipated compatibility improvements.

wysiwyg R36 will deliver highly efficient and accurate looks to any design. Depending on requirements, wysiwyg R36 will be available as three, six or 12 month lease and also for purchase as of December 2015. The new release is free for all wysiwyg Members in good standing.

Key additions include a new graphical user interface, customizable work layouts, and many importing improvements.

Key to the new release, wysiwyg has increased compatibility with the latest Sketchup 3D modelling software SDK and associated file formats. Users can import drawings directly from Sketchup into wysiwyg, and textures, layers, surfaces and object groupings are now preserved as they were created.

In ad

USA - Getwell Road United Methodist Church in Southaven, MS, had clearly outgrown its stage lighting system in 2012, when Jeremy McCullough joined the vibrant house of worship as its technical director. "Stage design wasn't even an idea at that time," he recalls. "Yet the church was actively seeking to reach worshippers with dynamic new events that required a better stage presentation."

After trying to add isolated fixtures "here and there", McCullough decided something more had to be done, so he journeyed to the WFX conference seeking expert advice. He found it in the person of Greg Persinger of Vivid Illumination. What resulted was not only a new lighting system anchored by a collection of Chauvet Professional fixtures, but an expanded and more impactful role for the church in its community.

"I went to WFX Dallas in October 2014 and atten

Brazil - Lighting designer and director of photography (DOP) Carlos Nogueira specified almost 600 Robe moving lights for a recent DVD shoot by leading Forro singer / songwriter Wesley Safadao, staged at the Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha in Brasilia, Brazil.

The concert was attended by 50,000 fans who were all a part of the live experience as well as an essential element of the 24 camera - including a drone - DVD shoot, directed by Fernando Trevivan Catatau from UnicFilm.

The lighting kit was all delivered by Sao Paulo based Apple Producoes and included 160 Robe Pointes, a fixture which Carlos particularly likes for its brightness, power and versatility. One of the best known LDs and DOPs in Brazil, he is also a regular Robe user.

Also gracing the rig were 48 x BMFL Spots, 26 x ColorSpot 1200 ATs, 26 x ColorWash 1200 ATs, 120 x LEDBeam 100s, 60 x LEDWash 600s, 48

UK - The British Fashion Awards celebrate the breadth and depth of talent in the British fashion industry. This year's event took place on 23 November at The ENO Coliseum and was attended by some of the most recognisable faces in the world, including David Beckham, Lady Gaga, Naomi Campbell and Lewis Hamilton. Having already worked on several fashion showcases this year, White Light provided the lighting support, power distribution and project management for this event.

Across the evening, WL assisted with lighting of the building's exterior, the main auditorium along with the red carpet for when the high-profile guests arrived. This involved working closely with the Awards' lighting designer Petter Skramstad. He comments, "With the lighting, I wanted to keep it very clean and simple. We needed a few punchy effects for the actual award presentation yet we didn't want to cr

Sweden - When car manufacturer Volvo needed perfect illumination for their Design Centre in Gothenburg, they turned to full production company Primetec. Known for delivering turnkey solutions, and with a track record within temporary events and installations for Volvo, Primetec felt confident to solve this task.

With full focus on the object being designer cars, lighting designer and project manager Mattias Oslak from Primetec chose the SGM P-5 W as his tool for this fixed installation. The P-5 W is a high performance luminaire with 44 x 10W cool white LEDs offering a stunningly bright output of 33,100 lumens with a 43? lens.

Mattias Oslak explains, "We step into an environment where the ceiling is white, and we need equipment that is compact and able to blend in the best way. For this purpose, the SGM P-5 W really makes sense in every way."

Colour temperature w

Slovenia - Theatre and performance is right at the heart of Slovenian culture and entertainment, and Robe has made some serious inroads in this sector thanks to a good selection of products and the enthusiasm and hard work of its Slovenian distributor, MK Light Sound, based in the picturesque capital, Ljubljana.

Founded in 1949, Ljubljana City Theatre (Mestno gledalisce ljubljansko - MGL - also known as Ljubljana Municipal Theatre) is the second largest drama theatre in Slovenia and located right in the centre of the charismatic old town. It has recently invested in Robe's LEDWash range with the purchase of four LEDWash 600s and 9 x LEDWash 800s ready for the new season.

Andrej Koleznik and his colleagues Bostjan Kos, Aljosa Vizlar and Bogdan Pirjevec make up the four strong lighting department. All were involved, together with technical director Joze Logar in the collective

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