China - Christie has announced that its Inspire Series 1DLP laser projectors have been selected by visitor attractions in China’s southern Guangdong province as their preferred projection system. Over 80 projectors, including the Christie DWU760-iS, DWU860-iS, and DWU960-iS models have been fitted in the China Qiaodu Museum of Overseas Chinese and Jiangmen Local Chronicles Hall in Jiangmen City, as well as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Talent Hub in Guangzhou.s These projectors, supplied and installed by Christie’s partner Jianye Display, are equipped with a fixed motorised zoom lens and an IP5X dust-resistant optical engine. “AV technologies, including projections, have been increasingly embraced by visitor attractions in China to bring exhibits to life with dynamic visuals,” said Zhongliang Li, technical director at Jianye Display. “
USA - Bandit Lites has announced the hiring of Grayson Bowron to the production team in Nashville. As a moving light technician, Bowron will be responsible for diagnostics, repair of fixtures where needed, cleaning and learning about new fixtures when purchased. “We were looking for some help in the warehouse and he came in and just got to work,” shares Bandit Lites vice president of business and innovation Jake Tickle. “There was never a project he wasn’t up for. As time went on, he naturally started taking on more responsibility. When talking to him about his future and what he wanted to do as a career, he mentioned he was interested in electronics, I immediately moved him to the technical services department. There, Grayson really showed his capabilities. He has a great intellectual curiosity and precision about him.” “With a focus in the last six month
South Africa - Peter Lambert owns and runs a busy independent medium-sized camera and lighting system rental company based in Cape Town, whose clients work across a broad spectrum of broadcast and film/recording sectors including music videos, commercials, and streaming events. They also have a healthy cross rental business. Three years ago, Peter started investing in Astera with the purchase of Titan Tubes, and since then demand continues to outstrip supply resulting in further purchases of Titans and Helios Tubes which have kept flowing steadily and now also include several sets of NYX Bulbs and Hydra Panels. “I absolutely can’t get enough of the Astera kit,” declared Peter, who started the company in 2016. The first Astera’s joined in 2020, supplied by South African distributor DWR, and Peter now has 10 sets of the 4ft Titan Tubes and two of the 2ft
USA - Vari-Lite has announced the ZerOS 7.14 update for FLX Series consoles. The update includes support for Open Sound Control (OSC), RS485-based Vision.Net and DMX Input. “In small to medium-sized applications, where ZerOS-based consoles are most often found, users need multiple ways to adjust their lighting system quickly and easily,” says Jon Hole, global product manager, Vari-Lite Systems and Control at Signify. “Non-traditional entertainment lighting applications in theme parks, conferences and breakout rooms and museums need ways to trigger lighting effects in sync with the rest of the production. That’s why ZerOS 7.14 includes several new features designed to make it easier to control your lighting system without ever touching the console.” The OSC input support in ZerOS 7.14 allows ZerOS-based consoles like the FLX Console, FLX S Series, and ZerOS Se
Germany - Sefa Jeroen Vlaarkamp, known by the stage name Sefa (pronounced Sèfa), has been making waves in the music scene with his high powered hardstyle and hardcore scene music, with Frenchcore as a subgenre. Joined by a group of guest artists at Cologne’s Die Halle Tor 2, Sefa shook up the famed venue during a four-and-a-half-hour show with a blend of musical influences coming together in a multi-sensory experience that combined the fiery intensity of hardstyle with the melodic influences found in Frenchcore. With the technical support and lighting design of Guido Schütz of Laser Frame and Patrick Hirt of Creative Sounds Veranstaltungstechnik, the show captivated the audience. Commanding attention at the centre of the stage was a grand piano. Adding to the visual impact of that piano, which was set up on a rolling platform, were the four Chauvet Profession
USA - Behind the Scenes has announced that GLP German Light Products has joined its Pledge-of-Support Programme. The company will contribute a portion of the profits from their new Creative Light products to Behind the Scenes. GLP German Light products provides designers around the globe with environmentally friendly and energy-optimised lighting solutions that are both uncompromisingly creative and powerful. Creative Light products are the first battery-powered and completely wireless creative LED systems for maximum flexibility in an almost unlimited range of applications. Director of sales and marketing for GLP German Light Products Tyler Wise states: “Partnering with the Behind the Scenes Pledge-of-Support Programme is important to GLP because we believe so much in the organisation and its value to the industry. BTS provides direct positive impact to colleagues a
UK - Sparks Theatrical Hire has recently added an additional 16 Martin MAC Ultra Performance fixtures to their existing rental inventory as a direct result of LD demand in theatre. “We have been extremely pleased with the feedback we have had from designers and technicians in the field, and the fact that they have proved so popular means we were pleased to add even more units to our rental inventory.” says Sparks director, Paul Anderson. All units were purchased from Martin's exclusive UK distributor, Sound Technology. Since taking delivery, the MAC Ultras have proved extremely popular with Sparks’ clients. The first units went onto the production of Straight Line Crazy at The Bridge Theatre designed by Jessica Hung Han Yun, and subsequently they have been deployed in the West End transfer of Oklahoma lit by Scott Zielinski, Operation Mincemeat
Italy - Vasco Rossi decided to delight his many fans again in 2023 with a short concert tour that criss-crossed Italy. As always, Giovanni Pinna was in charge of lighting, and made extensive use of Claypaky fixtures. “The set design changed radically this year," says Pinna. “We mainly used 70-by-26m stages based around a triangle: there were three triangles of automated battens of different dimensions around a large central triangular LED wall. Each batten was fitted with a modular rig complete with all the lights.” Pinna told us he deliberately chose to use only three kinds of moving light so that the stage was as uniform as possible. The ultimate goal was to achieve a high-impact, fully consistent visual result. Pinna used 148 Claypaky Hy B-EYE K25 units and 70 Claypaky Tambora Batten Squares as key lights, along with a few brand new Claypaky Skylos fixtures.
Denmark - Soundwise is a busy Aarhus-based full production rental company which was founded by Lars Thorsager in 2001, initially as an audio specialist. Their client base includes music and cultural shows and events, touring and corporates, the latter being a rapidly expanding sector. It’s that growth in premium industrial shows over the last year that has fuelled a new investment in Robe moving lights, with 12 x Esprites and 12 x LEDBeam 350s joining the rental fleet. These were initially purchased with an event at the Clarion Hotel at Copenhagen Airport in mind. “The design featured 100sq.m of LED screen, so we needed lights that could punch through and excel even with all that ambient light onstage,” explained Lars. He noted that many of the awards show designs for which Soundwise supplies production have LED surfaces prominent on the stage, so intensit
Australia - Production company Krank'd relied on Show Technology, Prolights distributor in Australia, to expand their rental inventory with Prolights fixtures. The new selection includes the EclProfile CT+ LED profile and the EclCyclorama 100 soft-edge linear projector. Wes Bluff, CEO of Krank'd, explained that the decision to invest in these new devices was driven by the need for a high-quality LED colour Profile solution: “Having used the Prolights EclProfile CT+ in high-level Queensland venues, and in discussion with local designers and crew, it was clear that everyone was raving about the EclProfile CT+.” Wes says that it wasn't the fixture's extensive list of features that caught his attention, but rather the quality of light that they produce: “You can achieve the natural effect of a traditional incandescent fixture, yet they also produce an excellent range
Italy - With a wealth of platinum and gold records to his name, Italian singer-songwriter and ‘father of Italian blues’, Zucchero Fornaciari, affectionately known as Diavolo in Reggio Emilia, celebrates his 40-year career this year with his World Wild Tour 2023. The tour kicked off in New Zealand in April, before returning to Zucchero’s home- town of Reggio Emilia on 9-10 April where he played to capacity crowds at the RCF Arena, formerly known as Campovolo. With these two shows, Zucchero inaugurated the new-look Campovolo, which now has a 35,000-seat capacity, and a purpose-built 5% slope that ensures optimal views and acoustics across the whole site, making the RCF Arena the largest outdoor music venue in Europe. Zucchero’s lighting designer, Daniele De Santis, chose 60 Ayrton Cobras for the key feature of his lighting design for these two special show
USA - A new Anolis external lighting scheme is illuminating the facades of The Godfrey Hotel in Boston, picking out the detail and architectural intricacies of the former Blake & Armory Building, a historic commercial site at the corner of Temple Place and Washington Street in the city’s Downtown Crossing pedestrian shopping zone. Ron Kuszmar of PORT led the project and explained that the hotel’s owners brought them onboard to specify, design and install a new LED lighting scheme that would highlight the building in all its glory and replace the previous system dating back to when The Godfrey originally opened in 2016. Based in Seabrook, New Hampshire, an hour out of Boston, PORT is well known as a theatrical, stage and architectural lighting and control specialist. The client found them via a Google search and was impressed with some other commercial lighting
South Africa - Core Productions, a Cape Town based company established in 2015 by Bernard Gramann, has taken ownership of a grandMA3 onPC command wing XT and eight Claypaky Axcor Beams 300s, all supplied by DWR Distribution. Business has picked up in the live events sector in SA. “I think all the companies that fought through the pandemic are doing well,” says Gramann. “The biggest change we have seen is that most live events now have a virtual element. We are doing more hybrid events than just standard meetings or events. In addition, we have had to upgrade our skills in content creating, editing and recording.” “The grandMA3 onPC command wing XT is a little console with the capabilities of a full-size console,” comments Bernard. “What more do I need to say? For us, it’s definitely the leading brand in the lighting world, can do anything required from
Germany - Prolights illuminated the world's largest inclusive sporting event, the Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023. The event was all about visibility, social participation, empowerment, and integration, as 7,000 athletes with intellectual and multiple disabilities stepped into the limelight to take part in 26 different sports. Under the artistic direction of Sven Sören Beyer, the collective phase7 performing arts was responsible for the creative concept of the opening ceremony, as well as its planning and implementation in collaboration with mediapool Veranstaltungsgesellschaft on behalf of the local organising committee. Technical services were provided by the POOLgroup and the lighting fixtures were provided by Lightpower, the Prolights distributor in the region. On behalf of phase7, Flo Erdmann (von | BERG) developed the lighting design for the impressive
USA - Environmental Lights has announced that it has acquired City Theatrical, Inc and City Theatrical, Ltd (UK). The acquisition continues Environmental Lights’ growth trajectory as it expands its footprint and product offerings in the scenic market. City Theatrical, based in Carlstadt, New Jersey, has been servicing the scenic and theatrical markets for over 37 years. Its Multiverse Wireless DMX technology is widely accepted as the standard in live performance globally, serving both Broadway and West End theatrical productions. “Environmental Lights is focused on being the lighting leader in each of our core verticals. The acquisition of City Theatrical combines two strong businesses in the scenic market under one roof, positioning us as the clear leader,” said Brad Tedder, CEO of Environmental Lights. “City Theatrical has established itself as a premi
Germany - On 18 May 2023, the sixth edition of the Tante Mia Tanzt Electro Festival took place in Vechta, Lower Saxony. Top DJs such as Netsky, Steve Aoki and W&W played on the 68m-wide and 14m-high stage in front of around 20,000 spectators. As in the previous year, Eventures was responsible for the technical event equipment of the open-air festival in 2023. Tante Mia also relies on continuity behind the lighting console: lighting designer Milan Spira previously used a lot of moving lights from Cameo for the 2022 edition, and this time opted for the Otos, Opus and Zenit series. For Milan Spira and his video partner Paris Yilmaz - who form the creative collective Clubkind Design - the challenge was to deal with the organiser's reduced budget: "We used fewer lights overall this year than in 2022 and also reduced the LED walls on stage. So the challenge was to make
Belgium - The impressive façade of the Theatre Royal de la Monnaie de Munt (Royal Theatre of the Mint) in central Brussels dates to 1818 and announces The National Opera of Belgium in style and presence. Belgium’s leading opera house is a federal funded institution taking the name of this theatre in which it is housed - ‘La Monnaie’ in French or ‘De Munt’ in Dutch - referring both to the building and the opera company itself. The theatre has just made a new lighting investment comprising Robe T2 Fresnels plus Robe Tetra1 and Tetra2 moving LED battens, which join its existing Robe T1 Profiles, two RoboSpot Systems running with T2 Profiles and 16 x Robe DL7S Profiles which were the first Robe purchases back in 2016. Head of lighting Koen Raes explains that the main house will typically stage eight opera productions per year in their 1200-capacity main house,
South Korea - Robert Juliat has announced the arrival of its first Arthur LT followspots in South Korea. Five of the 800W LED Long-Throw followspots were installed at the Seoul Broadcasting System Open Hall studios in Deungchon-dong by RJ’s exclusive distributor for the region, C&C Lightway. Established in 1990, SBS is the largest private broadcaster in South Korea, with a nationwide network of 10 regional stations, and three radio networks. SBS Deungchon-dong Open Hall is one of the region’s main production venues hosting a broad programme of entertainment and variety shows. The Arthur LT 800W LED followspots were installed in a bespoke followspot box located at a distance of approximately 20m from the production floor. They will primarily be used on SBS's flagship K-pop programme, SBS Inkigayo (The Music Trend), in addition to all other program
South Africa - Technical supplier, Stage Effects Group, has purchased a grandMA3 full-size. Company owner Theo Papenfus and director Erik de Bruin recently took ownership of the console from DWR Distribution. “While we are definitely buying rider orientated gear to at least have the market on our side, this is also for our shows,” explained Erik. “We’ve had a grandMA2 console for quite a while now and it will also be used as our backup desk should we run a show in Mode 2. If you look at the MA history, both grandMA and grandMA2 desks are user friendly and grandMA3 will be too. We look forward to enjoying this desk the same way we did our previous console.” Robert Izzett from DWR adds, “There are only a few grandMA3 full-size consoles in the country and generally, when there is a big international act, at least two are specified. Stage Effects are an awesom
UK - Gary Numan’s three-night, “one thousandth celebration show” residency at the Electric Ballroom featured an evocative David Howard lighting design that often split the stage into two sections. “The design took inspiration from the concept of us living with, or living against, machines,” said Howard, of David Howard Lighting Design. “A lot of Gary Numan’s tracks explore this theme, and much of our design inspiration comes from this aesthetic. Being able to split the stage in two creates an immediate visual juxtaposition. So, for example, we did things like divide the stage between a Cadbury purple with an electric green and had a constant bass note of low-level fizzling strobe to mimic machine workings.” Balancing this duality on stage was a distinctive triangular-shaped video wall made with Chauvet Professional F4IP LED panels, which, like the rest
USA - The Suzanne and Walter Scott Aquarium in Omaha Nebraska features a stunning environment and a spectacular after dark light show, controlled by ETC’s Mosaic system. The Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) added special citation for ‘playful use of integrated colour to its outdoor lighting award’. The playful element starts with the re-designed entry canopy that established the aquarium as the focal point of the Omaha Zoo. Blue stainless-steel panels with a rippled surface texture and a front canopy of perforated metal suggest a coral reef seen from underwater. The theme carries upwards to a roof decked with eight stainless-steel wave sculptures. The stainless steel oceanic-inspired structures reflect sunlight in daytime and become a pallet for dynamic lighting after hours. Lighting designers Steve Gollehon and Jeff Frank of Morrissey Engineering were part
UAE - Lighting designer Aaron Russ of ARLD turned to Elation Professional’s Proteus Excalibur and Proteus Maximus as the building blocks of a lighting design for the closing ceremony of the 2023 Dubai World Cup, a Thoroughbred horse race held at Meydan Racecourse each March and the world's richest horse race. The brief for the large-scale production called for something spectacular and different, a show that highlighted the horse race, its creators and Dubai as the host city. The creative team delivered a spectacle with pyro glider planes, drones, lighting, video and fireworks all working as one choreographed scene to the delight of onlookers both live and on television across the globe. Technology solutions provider Creative Technology Middle East (CTME) worked as a key supplier for the closing ceremony event, delivering a full turnkey solution of audio, video, li
South Africa - Andrea ‘Dray’ Fowler has joined DWR Distribution’s sales team in Johannesburg. For the past nine years, Dray has worked for a company that specialises in signage lighting while her career has seen her operate in business finance, office automation and sales. “I knew about DWR Distribution from my husband Clint who also works in the live events industry, and from our friend Kyle Robson who works at DWR,” said Dray. “It always sounded like a vibey organisation where I've heard they work hard, play hard and fight hard. To me it seemed like a company where if I looked after them, they would look after me.” “It’s wonderful to be able to expand the sales team and we are already impressed with Dray’s energy and the way she so easily fits into the team, almost as if she has always been part of it,” said Robert Izzett, sales director
UK - Electric Airshows has announced its success in winning funding from The Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) for ongoing innovation projects. The specialist provider of drone light show services to the UK’s outdoor events market, which launched last year, made its application for funding as part of the UK government’s Create Growth programme. Designed to help creative businesses explore new innovation projects as a stimulus for growth, the Create Growth programme provides targeted support for SMEs in the creative industries in six appointed UK regions outside of London. Run by Innovate UK EDGE, part of UK Research and Innovation, it makes significant sums available for such projects. To be successful, eligible businesses must demonstrate both a clear growth opportunity and their proposed innovation which will address it. Electric Airshows, founded by e
