South Africa - Lighting designer Francois van der Merwe incorporated 16 Clay Paky Mythos fixtures to his spectacular design at the 14th Metro FM Music Awards, hosted at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Conference Centre (ICC) in Durban on 28 February 2015.

Dream Sets were the set and technical supplier of the event, which had a live broadcast on SABC1, while rental companies Black Coffee supplied 12 newly purchased Clay Paky Mythos units and Insane Sound & Lighting made available another four.

"I like the Mythos," commented Francois van der Merwe. "I prefer them to the Sharpys and they are nice and bright. The beams and gobos make a difference and they are fast. I would use them again." Robert Hoey from Dream Sets shared his sentiment.

The Mythos units were placed standing on the stage deck and created brilliant beam work, punching upright through the air. They

USA - H&M, one of the world's largest retailers, opened its latest New York flagship at Herald Centre where the illuminated storefront gets a dynamic look from lighting designer Christien Methot who used Clay Paky's new Show Batten fixtures and a grandMA2 onPC system to wrap the structure in a dance of colour and light. A.C.T Lighting, Inc. is the exclusive distributor of Clay Paky and MA Lighting brands in North America.

Located at the southwest corner of 34th Street where Broadway and Avenue of the Americas converge, Herald Centre is set to become a fashion destination for millions of New Yorkers and visitors who pass through busy Herald Square. The 63,000sq.ft store will showcase all of H&M's fashion brands as well as H&M's Home Collection. The renovated structure is topped by a bank of low-resolution Barco LED fins flanking a bullnose elevator shaft.

"They had wanted

Belgium - Painting With Light headed by Luc Peumans has crafted the eye-catching design for the current Holiday On Ice touring production, Passion, which highlights some of the dreams, trials, tribulations and dedication required by those pursuing ice skating careers.

Playing to enthusiastic reviews and audiences, it's the first year that Genk based Painting With Light has produced a fully comprehensive creative concept encompassing all the disciplines - lighting, set and video - one of many strengths enabled by Luc and his talented team of associates.

This scenario allowed Luc to maintain a complete visual harmony for the work, and also gave the scope to design several new and bespoke lighting elements including wireless controlled LED soles that clamp to the base of the stakes.

Says Luc, "With Passion being partly autobiographical in relation to t

USA - Robe moving lights took centre stage along with an eclectic mix of new and emerging musical talent at Hype Machine's Hype Hotel venue during the 2015 SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas.

UK-based lighting designer David Wolstenholme was engaged as lighting consultant for the event by Hype Hotel's production designer / manager Brian Kim. The two previously worked together for Cirque du Soleil production. David helped create the lighting scheme using the Robe fixtures. He also liaised between any incoming artist LDs and his team which included assistant LX Eric Kim and lighting intern, Lila Neiswanger.

Hype Hotel featured two live sessions a day with five artists per session, complete with lightening quick changeovers, so the lighting requirements were extremely demanding. David likened the incredible vibe of this event to the craziness and buzz of the Edinburgh Fringe Fe

USA - Upfront Week in Manhattan may well witness the most intense series of sales presentations anywhere. For a few frenetic days, broadcast and cable television networks pull out all the stops in an effort to convince advertisers to sponsor their programmes. The stakes are high: up to 75 percent of advertising time is sold during these negotiations; so is the glitz and glamour as TV stars appear on stage and at after parties to pitch their shows to potential sponsors.

Any network that hopes to stand out during this ad bazaar had better create a strong visual impression on potential sponsors. The red-hot and rapidly growing Spanish Language Azteca Network did just that, thanks in part to an inspired stage lighting design by Barrett Hall that featured Chauvet Professional Next NXT-1 moving LED panels provided by WorldStage.

Hall used a collection of 12 Next NXT-1 panels to surp

USA - In the spring of 2015, the University of Southern Indiana opened the doors to its new 300-seat thrust theatre, the USI Performance Centre. With a design by Theatre Projects, the new theatre houses some of the most intricate lighting technologies available today. Wanting a single console that could offer control for all the lighting technologies inside, the design team found their answer in the NEO lighting control console from Philips Strand Lighting.

"This was a new construction project which was phase two of the University Center renovation," began Eric Cope, USI assistant professor of lighting design. "In the new space everyone wanted a visually dynamic environment which led to the design of two large LED walls flanking the stage of the theatre that we could use for both performances and educational purposes. To control it, we needed a console that would

USA - As LED video wall technology has improved in quality, it's becoming the new standard for displaying video images - in applications ranging from concerts and productions, to nightclubs and sports arenas - thanks to the superior efficiency, reliability and flexibility it offers compared to traditional projection video. Now Chauvet Professional is meeting the rising demand for sharper, more detailed LED video displays with the PVP X3, a modular indoor LED video panel with a high-resolution pixel pitch of 3.9 mm.

In addition to having a tight 3.9 mm pixel pitch, the PVP X3 utilizes SMD 2121 black body Tri-Color (red, green, blue) LEDs to produce the highest in class contrast and exceptional clarity of images. Each panel's 500mm square display surface is densely outfitted with 16,384 LEDs, which emit a standard total illuminance of 1,560 NITS (which can easily be adjusted up to

UK / USA - How do you turn common but necessary stage gear into an integral part of the set design? Lighting designer Steven Douglas solved the dilemma by creatively mounting Solaris LED Mozarts, the versatile pixel-mapping RGBW fixtures, on key equipment for The Killers lead singer Brandon Flowers' Desired Effects tour.

"We mounted Mozarts on the downstage edge of Brandon's floor monitors," explains Douglas, "as well as attaching them to mic stands and the back line. We used iPad holders to rotate them into a diamond orientation."

Douglas adds, "After using the Solaris LED Flares for The Killers, I heard about the Mozarts and tried them on a shoot for the new Guitar Hero Live video game. I like the superior quality of light and their compact size - we can put them pretty much anywhere!"

The European leg of the tour ends this month, followed by

The Netherlands - Elation Europe will be holding another round of its popular PRO Service Days at its European Headquarter office in Kerkrade, The Netherlands. This is an oportunity to gain hands-on knowledge of Elation products and lighting professionals are encouraged to register while there is still space.

Elation invites technicians and all interested service professionals to PRO Service Days to be held 21 July (beginner) and 22 (advanced). July's PRO Service Days will focus on providing in-depth technical knowledge of Elation's most popular products with a detailed look at technological construction while covering important service guidelines.

A 30€ hospitality fee covers food and drinks and registration is required. There is only room for 15 participants each day so early registration is recommended.

(Jim Evans)

Ukraine - When the American Christian rock band Kutless from Portland, Oregon, visited Odessa in Ukraine on 23 May, more than 3,500 people showed up to enjoy a high-energy rock show. The concert took place in Molodaya Gvardiya amphitheatre, where the modern worship band performed songs from their latest 2014 album Glory.

Odessa-based rental company, Grand Master, was brought in as technical partner of this event, providing stage, light, sound and special effects as well as control of light and sound. Previously acquired rental stock from SGM's distributor ART-R was put to use, when implementing no less than 20 x SixPack blinders, six X-5 LED strobes and 16 x Idea Moving LED 300 to ensure a special atmosphere to accompany the band's performance.

General director and owner of ART-R, Mr. Sergey Rusnak, informs, "I would like to emphasize that this dynamic lighting sho

USA - Lighting designer Mike Lurz provided the artists with the various looks needed for their individual performances at the M3 Rock Festival, utilising VL4000 BeamWash and VL4000 Spot luminaires from Philips Vari-Lite.

"I've been involved with the M3 Rock Festival since 2009 and putting the design together for this type of event is actually two parts," began Lurz. "First, we use the Merriweather Pavilion house rig to give the bands as many lighting options as possible with profile and wash fixtures, colours, patterns, etc. Then, for this particular genre of music, we need to look at providing a lot of contrast and movement to make the rig look big through the layering of beams. To accomplish this, versatility in your lighting instruments is essential and that's where the VL4000 BeamWash and VL4000 Spot luminaires truly excel."

As Lurz began to put togethe

UK - On Tuesday 2 June, the leading names in fashion, film, music and television gathered at Berkeley Square Gardens in London for this year's Glamour Awards. Hosted by Claudia Winkleman, the awards ceremony honours the most extraordinary and inspirational women working across a variety of fields. Now in its twelfth year, the annual star-studded event continues to grow in prominence and White Light was once again approached by Timebased Events to provide lighting for the occasion.

This year was the third time in which White Light has worked on the event, collaborating closely with Timebased Events who organised proceedings. Katy Haile, client services director at Timebased Events, states: "The Glamour Awards expect a high quality level of service and we are constantly pushing ourselves in an attempt to make them the best they can possibly be. As it is important for us to ac

Australia - TDC, Technical Direction Company, returned to Vivid Sydney from 22 May to 8 June 2015. With an opening weekend attended by more than a quarter of a million people, TDC provided video expertise in cutting edge mapping techniques and key video technology across an unprecedented 10km distance as the 18-day festival expanded into new Chatswood and Central Park precincts.

Anthony Bastic, Vivid light curator says: "Vivid Sydney placed art into the hands of the public, giving visitors a visually triumphant feast of artistic and technical innovation."

Vivid Sydney is probably the world's largest festival of light, music and ideas and is owned and managed by Destination NSW, the NSW Government's Tourism and Major Events agency.

Michael Hassett, managing director of TDC, said: "We've worked with Destination NSW on Vivid Sydney for four years now, and it is s

UK - Adlib supplied full technical production - lighting, projection and audio - for the recent John Barrowman Raise Me Up UK tour which saw the multi-talented entertainer take his musicality combined with personal stories, into a mix of theatres, concert halls and arenas around the country. Steve Rayment once again headed up the tour as production manager.

It is the sixth JB tour in which Adlib has been involved. The first one was in 2008, and once again, the Liverpool based company won the business because they could offer all the resources and flexibility of a single source technical solution, making the package cost-effective as well as efficient to their client.

A Coda ViRAY system was chosen by FOH engineer Walter Jaquiss. He was one of the first engineers to take its predecessor LA12 out on the previous two JB tours and wanted a similar sound but in a smaller mor

UK - Lighting and video now go hand in hand when conceiving a concept for a show, so consoles need to speak easily and fluently with video servers - as MA Lighting have long recognised.

London-based d3 Technologies, creator of the trusted d3 platform, the integrated video production suite, has chosen an MA onPC command wing purely for the purpose of trying and testing new developments in d3. As director Ash Nehru explains: "Although d3 supports control by any of the lighting desks on the market, we opted for the grandMA2 command wing through Ambersphere Solutions for a very simple reason: it is the desk of choice for so many. It's the console that we encounter most frequently on large shows so it just made total sense for us to support it."

Currently d3 are using the grandMA2 command wing to test a new feature. "d3 has historically been a timeline-controlled sys

UK - Lighting and production designer Will Potts has chosen to use an array of Clay Paky fixtures for quadruple Grammy-award winning artist Sam Smith's In The Lonely Hour UK tour.

For his stripped back yet stylish design described by The Standard as 'spectacular lighting', Potts specified six Clay Paky B-EYEs, 12 Sharpys and 22 Sharpy Wash 330s from PRG. The tour covered such venues as the 02 Academy Brixton and Manchester's 02 Apollo.

"We wanted the show design to be simple and classy because Sam's the focal point the whole time, so it's key here to reinforce that and not over-embellish," explains Potts. "The original design was built for enormous arenas on the previous North American run so we have scaled that back while still making use of the full space with layers. As some of Sam's tracks are delicately intimate and others are more full and bo

Kuwait - Middle East lighting and sound company iLight of Dubai was called on to provide lighting, sound and stage design for this year's Hala Febrayer Festival and turned to Elation Professional lighting and LED video equipment to light performances by top Arabic artists.

Some 80,000 tourists converge on Kuwait in March to attend the annual Hala Febrayer Festival, a month-long event featuring cultural activities and entertainment that includes live television performances by some of the region's most popular singers. The most watched live TV show of the year in the Middle East, Hala Febrayer consists of five concerts over five nights with three artists performing each night. Produced by entertainment and production company Rotana Audio Visual, this year's show, broadcast on Rotana TV and held at the Kuwait Ice Skating Rink, was postponed until March due to the death of King Abd

UAE - Wireless Solution Sweden has announced its newest distributor of W-DMX products, ProCom ME Audio & Lighting System Trading LLC, with distribution in Middle East. The partnership was finalised during the PALME Middle East show in May.

Wireless Solution joins a well-respected group of products represented by ProCom including Clay Paky, Avolites, Eurotruss, Antari, Philips Showline, and Philips Selecon.

ProCom CEO Raja Harfouche said, "W-DMX from Wireless Solution Sweden is number one in Wireless lighting control, we work with the best and to choice was simple to make."

Niclas Arvidsson, CEO of Wireless Solution added, "ProCom Middle East is the best distributor in the region with great focus on customer service and fast delivery."

(Jim Evans)

Germany - Show designer Gunter Hecker brought a flourish of industrial style to the lighting, video and stage environment that he created for the latest tour by German superstar Herbert Grönemeyer, prolific singer, composer, musician and actor and one of Germany's most successful ever recording artists.

Once again Gunter worked closely with Marc Lorenz as his lighting director and technology integration specialist, and together they brought a unique look and energy to the show with a centerpiece comprising six automated pods containing video screens and a total of 96 Robe Pointes.

These can move on multiple axes into a variety of positions, and completely transform the shape and feel of the performance space.

Gunter and Marc often use Robe products for their work, the last time being earlier in the year, for the 2014/15 tour by rappers Die Fantastischen Vier for which they

USA - The 67th annual Parsons Benefit fundraiser-fashion show took place at the River Pavilion at Manhattan's Jacob Javits Convention Centre. A multi-faceted lightshow energized the runway during this prestigious event, thanks in no small measure to a collection of Chauvet Professional Next NXT-1 panels provided by WorldStage.

Lighting designer Shawn Kaufman of CS Lighting arranged 44 of the moving LED panels on the sides of the runway to heighten the visual impact of the fashion show and benefit dinner, which raises money to support scholarships at the New School which has served as an incubator for many famous fashion designers at the start of their careers. The New York-based LD used the intensely bright moving fixtures to accent the models on stage, change looks to fit the varied moods of the show and create aerial effects that dazzled the audience, which included A-list fas

USA - Country super group Rascal Flatts is back on the road for their latest headlining tour with lighting provided by Bandit Lites. As one of the hottest-selling acts on tour in any genre, the trio recently kicked off their Riot Tour 2015 with special guests Scotty McCreery and Rae Lynn.

Drew Gnagey of Magneto Live Design and Raj Kapoor of Raj Kapoor Productions collaborated on the production design, where the core concept focused on everything wrapping around the band. By utilizing curved trusses, curved band risers and a curved video wall to encapsulate the band, they mimicked an engrossing look that could be communicated to audiences even in large arenas.

"Since the band was looking for a more intimate looking show, it really changed how we had to look at the design," Gnagey explained, who acted as lighting designer and Co-Production Designer. "Instead of be

Poland - ARAM Poland was in charge of the design and technical production of the largest gaming event in the world, the ninth World Final of the Intel Extreme Masters, and Clay Paky Mythos played a significant role in lighting this game show for the first time ever.

The event was held in Katowice for the second year in a row, but this time it was split between two venues: the Spodek arena and the newly built International Convention Centre. The show broke all audience and visitor records. The official figures will be released shortly, but it is said that more than a hundred thousand visitors attended and millions of others followed the games online.

ARAM was in charge of designing and putting on the four-day show, and dealt with its production, full logistics, supervision and implementation.

The company has several years' experience in successfully producing events "fro

USA - Synthe FX has announced the immediate availability of Luminair 3 for iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch. Luminair is a professional-grade lighting control app that gives lighting designers, creative professionals, and other enthusiasts advanced wireless control over DMX lights, as well as the next generation of 'smart' lights like Philips Hue. The app utilizes open standards to send lighting control commands Art-Net or sACN E1.31 compliant lighting equipment from any manufacturer.

Luminair 3 is a new universal app which has been optimized for 64-bit processors, and introduces a redesigned user-interface focused on increased productivity. The modernized UI scales to any iOS device resolution, and presents the user with a cohesively designed feature-set and experience across all device types.

The new FX-engine in Luminair 3 is a feature for lighting control on mobile devices, an

USA - Elation Professional will be launching Emotion, billed as "a ground breaking new digital moving head luminaire", at a special VIP event Thursday, 18 June during InfoComm and invite interested lighting professionals to be the first in the world to preview the new product.

Emotion was developed in cooperation with High End Systems and features their patented technology and industry-leading innovation. Emotion will be sold worldwide exclusively through authorized Elation dealers.

(Jim Evans)

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