UK - Creative production supplier Hawthorn has announced its recent appointment as an approved supplier to the historic Royal Courts of Justice.

Hawthorn's general manager, Simon Wood, commented, "The Royal Courts of Justice is a stunning building which lends itself so well to events. We have worked at the Royal Courts of Justice many times in the past, so becoming an approved contractor was the logical next step for Hawthorn and we look forward to offering innovative solutions and to building a strong working relationship with the venue's events team."

"The quality of suppliers we have complements the first-class events we produce at the Royal Courts of Justice, most recently for Vivienne Westwood, Anish Kapoor and the British Fashion Council," said Royal Courts of Justice head of events for seasoned events, Gavin Marshall.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Leona Lewis's new arena tour takes the concept of David Bowie's 1986 movie Labyrinth, bringing with it many set rotations (and four costume changes) during the heavily scenic show.

The production was conceived by a top team of creatives, with Alan MacDonald designing the set, Stufish's Nicoline Refsing the props - and the currently much in-demand Baz Halpin originating the lighting scheme (which was later carried forward by Nick Whitehouse).

All the lighting production (including 20 GLP impression 120RZ RGB LED Zooms) were supplied by Bandit Lites - and it was left to experienced LD Graham Feast to animate the set.

Having originally intended to use the impression heads to function on elliptical arms - similar to his design for the Alicia Keys 2010 Freedom Tour - a late concept change saw the lighting designer redeploy the GLP heads as floor effects.

&quo

China - Returning late at night through whirling snow by the noted playwright Wu Zuguang is a magical story that has captivated Chinese audiences for over a century. It has run several times in the main theatres in the country such as the Beijing Opera and the Guangdong Opera, and it has also been broadcast on television. Now, to mark the 9th China Art Festival, the same story has been made into a ballet.

The Guangzhou Ballet has just finished its tour of over 100 performances in the most

important theatres in China.

The lighting designer of the event, Sun Tianwei chose to use the Infinity Spot XL by Coemar. Tianwei adopts a simple clean-cut style using black and white as the main colours: the key to the show is the emphasis on the spectacular effects of the ballet, the movements and forms of the bodies on stage.

The Infinity Spot XL meet all the requirements

USA - Clay Paky Alpha Beam 1500 fixtures dazzled a complete sell-out crowd at the recent Ultra Music Festival - billed as 'The World's Premier Electronic Music Festival' held 26 and 27 March in Miami, Florida. The event won Best Music Event 2010 at the 25th Annual International Dance Music Awards, which celebrates the best dance records, CDs, DJs, website, producers, promoters and more.

AG Light & Sound supplied 24 Clay Paky Alpha Beam 1500 fixtures used by lighting designer Stephen Lieberman. The fixtures were spread over a 60m stage span. The fixtures that weren't under the protection of the main roof were covered with custom inflatable bubble domes. The rest of the stage was a towering back wall of high resolution video screens accompanied by lasers, fog machines and special effects to pulse with the high energy music. AG provided lighting and video for the mai

UK - Claire Sodergren (formally Bromhead) has joined Edinburgh-based Black Light to front its customer relations work. She brings with her experience working as a freelance lighting and sound engineer for companies such as the National Theatre of Scotland and with the Edinburgh International Festival. She is already working with old and new clients to review and improve Black Light's services and product offering.

"I knew about Black light 'from the other side' as a customer, so I'm perfectly placed to understand our clients' challenges and requirements and so help Black Light respond," says Sodergren who joined the company to provide maternity cover in a sales capacity, but who has only recently taken up her new permanent job.

Her duties involve meeting and talking with existing clients to review how Black Light is performing and to meet new clients to discuss how B

USA - When Jimmy Kimmel's production team needed a high-quality LED display for the set of their Lostseries' finale show, they turned to LG CNS for a solution. "We wanted a large indoor display system that would really standout and pop in the studio during then broadcast and our friends at LG CNS had just the right technology.

"In fact, the standing room-only studio audience watched the entire evening's Lost episodes on the display and were completely in awe of its brightness and high-resolution," said Doug Deluca, the co-executive producer for Jimmy Kimmel Live. "On short notice, they really came through for us and helped us put together a state-ofthe art stage production."

"As the commercial display and digital signage industry adopt more energy-efficient and brighter LED display technology, LG CNS is poised to usher in a ne

Australia - Gold Coast Arts Centre (GCAC) recently upgraded the dimming systems within its venues to LSC Lighting Systems' EKO Dimmers.

GCAC, located on the banks of the Nerang River in Australia's iconic Surfers Paradise, is the region's premier cultural facility, bringing visual and performing arts to residents of South East Queensland. The complex houses the Arts Theatre, Gold Coast City Gallery, two cinemas and the Arts Cafe as well as several function rooms, a chapel and two smaller performance spaces.

A total of 588 channels of LSC's EKO Installation dimmers have been installed throughout the various venues with 516 channels of EKO TruPower dimmers for the Arts Theatre alone. Chris D'Bais, venue operations manager for the Arts Centre commented, "We selected the EKO TruPower dimmer as it gave us seamless selection of true 240 volt output and dimmable power per channe

South Africa - Cape Town- based C&S Audio is a busy rental operation run by Donald Clark who has recently invested in over 80 new Robe fixtures - a mix of ColorSpot and ColorWash 700E AT moving lights - and the first of the new LEDForce 18s - in the country.

Delivered by Robe's South African distributor DWR, the new Robe moving lights - have replaced all C&S's previous mid range units from another manufacturer.

The first major gig for the new kit is Cool Britannia, a month-long music & football festival staged at Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), celebrating the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

The venue - a concept by Global Icons - provides a space for football fans and music lovers to enjoy the matches live on big screens, followed by performances onstage throughout the day, culminating in a headline act after the last match of the evening. The line up inclu

South Africa - Gearhouse South Africa supplied full technical production for the FIFA World Cup Kick-Off Celebration Concert, staged at Orlando Stadium in Soweto, Johannesburg.

The show was broadcast to tens of millions of music and football fans worldwide on 10 June, the night before the first match.

The eclectic mix of African and international artists was executive-produced by Los Angeles-based Control Room whose technical director, Jim Baggott, and Gearhouse's project manager Bill Lawford oversaw all technical disciplines offered by the Gearhouse Group.

Gearhouse Audio supplied all audio equipment along with Britannia Row with whom Gearhouse has a long-standing relationship. These elements included racks-and-stacks for the main stage and B stage, with Britannia Row supplying front-of-house and monitor consoles, all the RF equipment - mics and IEMs - plus a crew of

Sweden - The wedding between H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel on June 19 in Storkyrkan in Stockholm used LumenRadio's CRMX wireless lighting controls to make the fairytale wedding come true. The marriage between the couple was an historic unique event in the Swedish monarchy, with 1200 guests attending the wedding in the church and tens of thousands of people waiting outside the church to congratulate the royal couple.

Originally built in the 13th century and rebuilt in the 16th century, Storkyrkan has been the scene of countless royal coronations, weddings, baptisms and funerals. The lighting in Storkyrkan was upgraded for the televised wedding by Hofmann Teknik and Ljusdesign Sverige. Due to the location and the historic, fragile interior, Ljusdesign and Peder Lindbom decided to avoid cables and go wireless with CRMX Nova.

"Choosing LumenRadio's CRMX Nov

USA - Two acts broke big this year, each after having spent time building a solid base and both chose Bandit Lites to serve as their lighting vendor.

Skillet, a 13-year-old act from Memphis Tennessee has long been very successful. In 2008, the hit single Comatose won the Dove Award for Rock Song of the Year. Skillet has built on their loyal fan base and is now a major headline attraction drawing fans in both the Christian and secular markets. The twice Grammy nominated act is currently touring on their latest album, Awake.

Tour manager/ lighting designer Scottyrock and lighting director Cale Wetstein work with Bandit's Brent Barrett. The system incorporates MAC 2000 Profiles and HES Studio Beams, controlled by a Jands Vista S 3.

NeedToBreathe, managed by industry veteran Kip Krones, has skyrocketed to prominence in 2010. This year, the band has won three Dove A

UK - The Forestry Commission's 2010 Live Music Tour kicked off earlier this month with power, lighting and audio specialists Pearce Hire making a concerted effort to reduce its carbon footprint.

The tour consists of 22 shows running for six consecutive weekends in June & July, bringing live music to seven forest locations for an evening of entertainment for all the family. This year's broad spectrum of acts includes Keane, Simply Red, Blondie, JLS and The Saturdays.

Pearce Hire works across the whole tour, coordinating two teams and sets of equipment to provide all the site power and both site & stage lighting. This year has seen a significant change in the lighting design for the stage with the company utilising i-Pix BB4 LED Washlights instead of the PARcans previously used, halving the power consumption of the lighting rig from previous years. The rig also includes MAC 700

USA - StockerYale, Inc., the designer and manufacturer of LED systems and diode-based laser modules for OEMs, has announced its change of name to ProPhotonix Limited, with immediate effect. The name change is "to reflect the company's track record for innovations in optics technology for both LED systems and diode-based lasers".

"Following last year's sale of the company's North American operations combined with our increased focus on leveraging our LED technology into new, much larger markets not previously addressed by the company, we believe adopting a new name and brand identity is a logical next step in our growth strategy," said Mark W. Blodgett, chairman and CEO of ProPhotonix.

"The new name gives customers, suppliers, and investors a clearer definition of what we do and the direction we intend to pursue. While the StockerYale brand is well know

Italy / Singapore - Confirmed at the PALME show in Beijing in late May, LDR has appointed Synergy as agent for its theatrical and architectural lighting product line in Singapore.

LDR's Fabiano Besio comments, "Synergy is a very fast growing company and I'm pleased, to come to an agreement for the distribution of the whole LDR range for Singapore. Synergy is not just a distributor but a company that really understands applications and how to support its customers, with strong knowledge of the local market and its requirements."

Henry Saravannan from Synergy adds, "With more than 12 years of experience LDR manufactures high-end quality products for the professional market. The Singapore market is opening up, and people are looking for quality and we foresee great opportunities for LDR."

(Jim Evans)

UAE - The Ultimate Fighting Championship landed in the Emirates capital, Abu Dhabi, the first time in this region. Usually an indoor event, this was also the first time the UFC, comprising some of the world's greatest mixed martial artists, was held in an outdoor arena.

Held at the Concert Arena of Ferrari World in the area adjoining Yas Marina Circuit on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, the event was organised by Think Flash Entertainment.

Creative Technology Dubai, continuing its ongoing relationship with Think Flash and Lee Charteris, operations director at Flash, was contracted to supply the video requirements for this event.

Creative Technology Dubai, supplied four 6.10m x 4.57m Lighthouse R7 LED screens and an equal number of 6m x 3.37m rear projection screens with Christie HD18 projectors to enhance the spectators' experience. All signals were transmitted by the broadcaster and

USA - Justin Hayward, John Lodge and Graeme Edge, otherwise known as The Moody Blues, are in the midst of their The Day We Meet Again Tour. Tour manager Udo Wolf, tour Mark Hogue and lighting designer Mick Thornton use a system of MAC 2000 Spots and Washes combined with Chromabank LED strips, all run by an Avo Pearl.

Bandit San Francisco GM Dizzy Gosnell has worked with the Moodys team for years and assures their every need is met. He says, "Mark, Mick and I have a great relationship and we work together as a hand in glove. The Moodys and their staff are true gentlemen and make the business a real pleasure."

(Jim Evans)

UK - e:cue lighting control - An Osram company, has introduced the Lighting Control Engine (LCE), its high-performance lighting control server, which combines the interactivity of the previous Media Engine 2 and the optimum performance of the Lighting Control Server (LCS1).

Designed to control large and complex projects, the LCE is a high-performance server with the new e:cue Lighting Application Suite 5.2 installed. A central control unit, this versatile lighting control server orchestrates all devices and fixtures within a project.

With the ability to output DMX/RDM, e:net, and other protocols such as Art-Net and KiNET, and the capability to integrate various audio/video, external triggering, and other desired devices and content, the LCE can cope with the most demanding projects, says the company.

A built-in touch screen monitor housed on the front panel of the attractive

USA - Medtronic, a leading medical device company, wanted to communicate an innovative, sophisticated image to its target market of doctors and health care professionals at the recent Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) exhibition in Denver. Medtronic attended with a large, environmental booth that was focused on innovation yet featured an element of artistic sophistication and used an animated ceiling of Martin LC Series LED panels to get the message across.

"Every year, Medtronic likes to do something that is environmental and technology focused yet a little more art installation and less straight corporate branding - something that raises the intellectual component of the booth," says John Featherstone of lighting and visual design company Lightswitch.

Lightswitch consulted with long-time collaborator and exhibit producer Group Delphi on the booth's lighting design to crea

Bahrain / UK - A Scottish company has scooped a top industry award for its innovative project to light up one of the world's most iconic modern buildings. Edinburgh-based lighting design specialists Lighting Design Partnership International (LDP International) won the accolade for its work in illuminating the Bahrain World Trade Centre - a striking 240m twin tower complex that dominates the Arabian Gulf.

LDP International was awarded first prize in the 'Best Use of Exterior Lighting' category at the PALME Middle East awards, which celebrates achievements in the categories of AV, audio technology and lighting design.

The towers were built in 2008 by the multi-national architectural firm Atkins. It is the first skyscraper in the world to integrate wind turbines into its design - the turbines produce up to 15% of the towers' electricity.

Douglas Hamilton, lead lighting designer

UK - Sunpower's rugged new PLEC-035S035DT power supply provides up to 100 VDC output at 350 mA. Its constant current capability makes it suitable for driving large LED lighting arrays. This 35 W supply automatically delivers a consistent, optimum current into a series string of any length from 9 to 28 LED lamps. Parallel LED strings can also be added, subject to the total output current capacity of the power supply. LED brightness can be set by a dimming control using a potentiometer or 0 - 10 Vdc input signal, says the company.

The PLEC unit's input voltage range of 90 -305 Vac is suitable for use in US and worldwide industrial installations, including those using 277 Vac . Its high efficiency of up to 88%, high input power factor of up to 0.99 and potted interior allow cool running operation with a service life greater than normal products.

The PLEC-035S035DT is just one mem

Australia - For a number of years LSC has been listening to the requests, particularly from larger venues, for a way to allow the easy conversion of any dimmer channel into a simple switched power outlet. One solution is to offer 'hot swap' modules that allow 2,4,6 or 12 channels to be quickly interchanged from dimmer module to switch module and back again. However the cost, complexity and low flexibility of these systems often preclude them as a viable choice; so LSC went to their R&D department to find a better way.

The result is TruPower, an affordable technology where every individual channel of the dimming system contains both a dimmer and a bypass contactor circuit to allow any channel or combination of channels to be instantly changed from one mode to the other.

A TruPower channel can be switched to provide either standard dimming or direct power. This means that any ci

Europe - Bandit Lites reports a busy European summer season, with systems supplied for the Sugababes for LD Matthew Jensen and PM Andrew Thornton as well as Thievery Corporation's European tour for LD Eric Cathcart. George Benson's UK tour with support from Marti Pellow once again relied on Bandit to supply a Martin Nicholas designed rig. Kenny Rogers has just completed a successful UK trek with Jeff Metter in the LD saddle.

Bandit's other upcoming and current work includes the Once in a Lifetime UK tour, Al Green & Michael McDonald's UK shows, the Schools' Supersing Liverpool choir event, Pure's fashion show, The Saturdays' UK dates, Seal's forthcoming European tour, Westlife's outdoor summer shows, plus festival dates with Faith No More as well as European tours with ZZ Top, Jackson Browne and Crosby, Stills & Nash.

(Jim Evans)

South Africa - Robe lighting did its bit to represent the Czech Republic in the absence of the country's football team from the World Cup tournament - with Robe moving lights used extensively for the official Kick Off Concert, staged in Orlando Stadium, Soweto, Johannesburg.

The show featured a star studded line up, headlined by Shakira, The Black Eyed Peas, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Vusi Mahlasela, Blk Jks, Juanez, Tinariwen, The Parlotones, Big Nuz & DJ Tira and many more. There were also addresses by South African President, Jacob Zuma and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

All the lighting equipment was supplied by Gearhouse South Africa, the lighting design was created by Patrick Woodroffe and the show was programmed by Tim Routledge. The final three-hour section was broadcast live via the South African Broadcasting Company (SABC) and syndicated wor

USA - Theatrical Lighting Systems (TLS) brought 'new light'to a long established event at Thalia Mara Hall in Jackson, MIss. The USA International Ballet Competition, (USA IBC) calls Jackson, home thanks to a 1982 Joint Resolution of United States Congress. Every four years, dancers from around the globe come to Jackson to compete and learn.

This year, locally operated TLSMississippi contracted with USA IBC to provide the additional lighting system requirements for the competition which began 12 June.

David Milly, owner of the Huntsville, Ala., based TLS, says, "We are glad USA IBC chose to use a local company for this world renown competition. It's a great thing for the state of Mississippi when large events such as this use local small businesses as a resource. It benefits all of us."

Andy Prince, project manager for rentals at TLS worked with USA IBC lighting de

Latest Issue. . .