UK - After months of planning, the first phase of work to secure the future of Lighthouse, Poole as a world class arts organisation and venue is underway.

Poole-based construction specialist Stepnell is undertaking a £116,000 programme of works this summer at Lighthouse, the UK's largest regional arts centre, as the first phase of a £5.3m project to improve, update and make the venue more energy efficient.

The initial works, due for completion in September, will see improved sound insulation for the Cinema with the creation of a new lobby between the Cinema and Studio theatre, a new staff room and duty manager's office on the ground floor and improved security to the first-floor bar.

"Lighthouse is delighted to have appointed a local company, Stepnell, to undertake the first phase of building works this summer. This is the start of a series of improvements w

Italy - Tones on the Stones has renewed its partnership with Clay Paky for the third year running. The Festival was held in the Cava Bianco Montorfano (White Montorfano Quarry), near Verbania. The main attraction this year was Cavalleria Rusticana, directed by Alberto Paloscia. Sergio Licursi was theatrical director and lighting designer. The leading actors were Maddalena Calderoni, who was also the festival's artistic director, and Hamadi Lagha as Turiddu.

Lorenzo Pagella, who stood out in last year's lighting designer contest organized as part of the Festival by Clay Paky, worked with Sergio Licursi. We spoke to him about the difficulties he encountered and how they were solved: "There were problems with the power supply, so we had to give up on using high positions. Our first choice was therefore to put all the lights on the ground and leave the backdrop completel

USA - A milestone in music history took place at Soldier Field in Chicago as legendary band The Grateful Dead celebrated their 50th anniversary with the three final Fare Thee Well shows, produced by Paul Shapiro over the 4th of July holiday weekend, playing to record crowds of 70,000 each night. This followed two gigs the previous weekend, each pulling capacity audiences of 65,000, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

Lighting was designed and directed by the band's long term LD Candace Brightman, who started with them in 1972. Paul Hoffman of Pulse Lighting LLC provided programming, equipment selection and moral support. The pair have collaborated on the Grateful Dead since 2004. Central to the large lighting rig were 50 x Robe BMFL Spots and 32 x Pointes supplied by lighting vendors Felix Lighting in Santa Clara and Bandit Lites in Chicago respectively.

Candace and

China - PR Lighting will again present a dynamic display at the 24th annual PALM Expo in Beijing (19-22 August).

A number of new effects - some of which are being previewed or the first time - will dominate the China International Exhibition Centre (CIEC), where they line up alongside more than 1,000 other exhibitors.

The only products that will previously have been seen by visitors are the XR 330 Framing and XR 470 Beam - both previewed at the Chinese GET Show back in April.

The XR 330 Framing is the latest in the XR 330 family. This high output (12,300 lumens) moving head has adopted PR patented technology, combining advanced 330 watts lamp technology with superb optical system. The framing system consists of four framing blades that can all individually adjusted +30° while the entire system can rotate 90°. Lightweight (at just 22.5kg) it also has an impressively f

The Netherlands - Elation Europe invites lighting professionals to a new PRO Theme Day to be held 26 August at its European headquarter office in Kerkrade, The Netherlands. PRO Theme Day will be filled with insightful seminars and discussion with participants learning about some of the industry's latest technology developments. It is an excellent chance to gain hands-on knowledge of Elation products and lighting professionals are encouraged to register while there is still space.

The 26 August PRO Theme Day will cover four main topics: The Future of Entertainment Lighting Technology by Ad van den Brandt from Philips; HedgeHog 4E - New software 3.0 innovations make programming easier; Capture Argo - Virtual stage design has never been easier, and Shoot-Out - Test us! Tell us what fixture you want to compare with our products and we'll arrange a shoot-out.

Registration is requir

USA - Go Live Productions is a complete turnkey concert and event production company that enjoys the challenge of creating a unique live experience for each of their clients. As the longtime production company behind the annual K-LOVE Fan Awards, their desire to make each show different is often put to the test. When preparing for the 2015 awards ceremony, production manager Scott Moore created a custom LED video display that needed a special solution, which he found by using 175 PixelFLEX FLEXCurve LED video screens.

"At the 2015 K-LOVE Fan Awards we really expanded our video components and actually used the LED screens to create a series of presenting and performances spaces," began Moore. "Going into pre-production we knew that the artists would be excited about this therefore we requested they send us their custom content ahead of time. With only two exception

UK - The Almeida Theatre is a charity, it actively seeks ways in which it can fundraise the £1.5m required (one third of its total income) to deliver its programming each year. Amongst various other initiatives, the Almeida Theatre holds a regular fundraising gala which has played a key role in its fundraising strategy for more than 10 years. This year was no exception and White Light was asked to provide the lighting equipment as a show of its support for such an important occasion.

This year's gala took place on 11 June and was entitled A Feast with the Gods. It was held at the opulent private home Bridgewater House in St James, London. Sally Noonan, development director at the Almeida Theatre, comments, "Although the purpose of the evening was to raise vital funds for the theatre, we wanted it to reflect the spirit of the Almeida and be as playful as possibl

UK - Onyx Presentations deliver a premier bespoke package of AV, sound and lighting to a wide range of events, be they corporate clients, elite private functions, trade shows, gala dinners or sporting events. The company has recently become a customer of Ambersphere Solutions and has invested significantly in a variety of the newest lighting fixtures from one of the Ambersphere family of brands: Ayrton.

In addition to the purchase of the MagicBlade-Rs, Onyx became the first UK rental company to buy the NandoBeam S3s and to have the MagicDotTM-R available to rent. Lighting hire manager, Phil Joyce explains the background, "I first saw the MagicBlades on a BBC 6Music Festival and was instantly blown away by the versatility and stunning looks the lanterns added to the show. It required a bit of investigation to put a name to the units but LD Neil Johnson had already used them

USA - When the Miss Kansas 2015 pageant ended, the crew from Douglas Production Group received an unexpected surprise. The crew from The Texas Tenors, who performed at the event, left a note praising the show's lighting director. For Kirk Longhofer, general manager of DPG, it was not only flattering, it also represented validation of their decision to go with an LED rig made up primarily of Chauvet fixtures.

"This was the first time we had nearly 100 percent LED lighting," said Longhofer. "We knew an LED rig would offer a lot of practical advantages, particularly in terms of generating less heat, which is important in a Kansas summer. We also were confident in the performance of the Chauvet fixtures from previous experience with them. Still you're always a little apprehensive when you do something for the first time. But when we saw the brightness and even coverag

Germany - One of the leading country music crossover acts in recent years has been Nashville-based Lady Antebellum, whose rising popularity means they can now comfortably fill 20,000-seat amphitheatres.

This year's Wheels Up tour, presently on its North American leg, has seen experienced LD Paul 'Arlo' Guthrie (of Minneapolis based Toss Film & Design) providing an inspired and sensitive concept - one of two tours he has designed for the trio. Significantly, in so doing, he has become the first LD to take out GLP's new impression X4 Bar 20 high performance battens - the latest addition to the popular X4 family.

Having been heavily in demand this past two years, with work ranging from Fleetwood Mac tours to the Red Bull Crashed Ice North America Events and an Emmy award winning TV show, Guthrie returned to work with the band he first engaged with on 2013's Take Me Downtown tour.

USA - The Manor Complex is located about 32 miles north of South Beach, but the crowds that jam pack this spacious 20,000sq.ft venue don't feel a compelling need to journey south on I-95. Why should they? There isn't much that can't be found at this very well-appointed superlative nightclub that features a jolt of eye-popping new energy, courtesy of Rogue and ÉPIX Series fixtures from Chauvet Professional.

Owners Paul Hugo and Brett Tannenbaum added the Chauvet fixtures to the already powerful lightshow in the bi-level nightclub, because they believe it's important to keep their establishment ahead of the entertainment curve.

"Being in Fort Lauderdale, we draw visitors from all over the world, so we hold ourselves to the highest international standards" said Paul Hugo. "There are a lot of good clubs that are always pushing ahead with new technology, so we

UK - i-Pix's new db1 video / beam light-source made its UK dance event debut at the 2015 Manchester International Festival (MIF)'s 10x10 Day & Night, a special two night collaboration between MIF and The Warehouse Project (WHP) to celebrate 10 years of both events in the city of Manchester.

Manchester based lighting specialist dbn was providing lighting and visuals. When the organisers confirmed they wanted something inventive and different, the db1s were proposed by dbn and i-Pix' Chris Ewington ... and they found the additional production budget needed for the 23 fixtures to grace the main stage at the Mayfield Depot.

Jon Drape, MD of Ground Control which co-ordinates all production for the WHP organisers, commented, "We've been waiting to get the DB1s on a show since Chris first invited us to see the fixture in development. The collaboration between the Warehouse Proje

Jamaica - Lake Tahoe is 2,964 miles from Jamaica. That may seem like a long way, but it's a mere hop, skip and a jump compared to Hawaii, which lies over 5,200 from the Caribbean island. Still, in a testament to the universality of music, the Nevada resort hosted a wildly popular Reggae Festival headlined by Iration, a Billboard chart-topping group that hails not from the island of Jamaica, but from other islands in Hawaii.

Keying the lightshow for the group's Lake Tahoe performance, which took place at The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, was a collection of pixel-mapped Chauvet DJ COLORbar SMD strip lights. Lighting designers Chris Boardman and Cullen Noon, working for LIT Lighting (Phoenix, AZ), used the intensely bright fixtures to engage the large enthusiastic festival crowd with audience lighting and dynamic pixel-mapped chases and animations.

The band's festival rig was buil

USA - Rock band R5 is out on their Sometime Last Night tour using an Elation Professional rig of Cuepix Panels, Rayzor Q7 LED moving heads and Platinum Beam Extremes. Made up of four siblings and a best friend, R5 hit the road in Florida in early July and are making their way across the country on a seven-week summer leg in support of their new Sometime Last Night release.

Lighting and video vendor for the tour is Toucan Productions of Oklahoma City, their second tour with the band after supplying a smaller tour last year. "On this tour, the band chose to forego LED panels for the big pixel look that the Cuepix Panels give," stated Brad Meyers, director of show operations at Toucan, who handles lighting programming and lighting direction duties while band family member Ryland Lynch conceived the lighting design and serves as board op. "We have two ho

Italy - Fedez's tour follows the success of his album Pop-Hoolista, which was a permanent fixture in the top 20 for more than 24 weeks, earning him a double platinum award. His tour of arenas and clubs included challenging venues, like the Mediolanum Forum just outside Milan and the PalaLottomatica in Rome.

Lighting designer Francesco De Cave reports, "Fedez impressed me with his way with words. He knows just what he wants. I conceived the tour and the ideas for the set design with Mario Zappa, from F&P Group, in response to Fedez's own ideas. Fedez wrote the show himself. In my role as lighting designer, I looked for several ways to fill the interludes, some with lights and some with visual effects and sounds. These interludes are necessary transitions between one piece and the next to allow costume changes and glue together the different parts of the show Fedez ask

Italy - During the first stage of the latest edition of the Giro d'Italia, the Royal Hotel Sanremo asked Pico Service to illuminate part of the hotel building's façades. The lighting service company proposed an uncluttered solution designed to avoid disturbing hotel guests.

The Royal Hotel was built on a privileged site in 1872 . The Hotel rises towards the sky with its white façades and overlooks the sea, just a short walk from the centre of Sanremo. It is surrounded by more than 19,000 square yards of lush subtropical park.

It is therefore necessary to make sure normal hotel business can go on as normal while the lighting control systems and lights are installed around the selected façades, and - at the same time - ensure the lighting gives spectacular results.

Pico is the Royal Hotel's official lighting service firm. It knows all the hotel's needs and all the features

UK - Well known lighting industry professional Karl Lawton has joined the team at TSL as head of production engineering.

Karl was originally bitten by the lighting bug at school and subsequently graduated from Rose Bruford College with a BA Hons degree in lighting design. Karl has built a reputation as a highly skilled freelance crew chief and engineer, over the past 12 years, with involvement with a wide variety of concert, touring projects and large scale special events.

Karl will be taking overall responsibility for the coordination of TSL's full time and freelance crew and resources and overseeing all aspects of pre-production and project planning. Karl will also be actively involved on-site with the delivery and implementation of TSL's full service projects.

(Jim Evans)

South Africa -The Hollard Insurance Group, South Africa's largest privately owned insurance group, has invested in low consumption Anolis LED lighting to enhance the exterior signage at the Hollard Campus, a landmark property situated in Parktown, Johannesburg.

HKLM were the brand agency of the upgrade and commissioned DWR Distribution to install eight Anolis ArcPad 48 RGBW integral fixtures to illuminate four Hollard signs. This was Grant Joubert's first lighting assignment as the new architectural sales consultant at DWR.

The project consisted of two separate buildings, each with their own balcony. Each balcony was equipped with two Anolis ArcPad 48 fixtures which had to produce a 5m throw to reach a Hollard sign mounted on the opposite building.

A DMX cable ran between the fixtures, connecting them to a controller. Control was via Nicolaudi SLESA-UE7. "With this cont

USA - Dallas-based rental and production company Gemini Light, Sound & Video recently added 480 Elation EPT6IP LED video panels to its inventory and immediately took the 6.7mm pixel pitch panels out on a major summer tour and high profile event with more to come.

"We had been searching for quite a while for a good touring LED panel and visited the InfoComm show in 2014 with the goal of finding one we could use in 2015 and beyond," stated John Stem of GeminiLSV, whose criteria for the panel included high resolution, IP65 rating and sturdy touring frame. They were also looking for a panel that was just as comfortable indoors as out. "Prices continued to drop after the InfoComm show and when product specialist Red Walter from Elation showed us the EPT6IP, it fulfilled our needs," John says.

It was a previous positive experience with Elation LED panels that pro

UK - West London based rental company Entec continues its working relationship with Portishead. Entec first started working with Portishead through their previous lighting designer Tony Austin, who also originally asked current LD Niall Hannell to come on-board, initially as a programmer in April 2008. Niall took over as LD last year.

This summer Entec supplied a floor specials, control and WYSIWYG package to Portishead's three latest high profile shows at Montreux Jazz, Benicassim in Spain and Latitude festival in the UK along with a surprise bijou show at Cardiff University.

The whole rig was a really tight design based around the innovative cinematographic work of video director John Minton. The band like it dark and stark, a lighting aesthetic ideally suited to the overall look and feel they wanted to evoke, and the rig was also designed to be as simple and practical as po

UK - Rap superstar 50 Cent and his group G-Unit returned to London on 17 July for a one-off gig at the O2 Arena. Produced by Musicalize, they approached White Light to act as lighting supplier.

White Light's project manager Josh Yard comments,"This concert ticked every box for us. Not only were we working at a prolific venue but also supporting one of the most notable names in the music industry today." During the concert, White Light worked closely with lighting designer Fraser Elisha who was tasked with constructing the lighting set-up for the evening. He comments, "For this particular show, I wanted an edgy look that would suit the style of music being played. I wanted the whole production to be as immersive as possible and for the lighting to play a holistic role in the overall experience for the audience. Fortunately White Light was able to help me achieve th

Czech Republic - Robe helped launch Yaron Abulafia's new book The Art of Light on Stage: Lighting in Contemporary Theatre at the 2015 Prague Quadrennial. Robe is sponsoring this work by the artist and award winning lighting designer.

The launch - attended by over 300 guests - took place at the Hybernia Theatre in central Prague. The book is the first history and analysis of theatre lighting design that brings the story bang up to date, with Yaron exploring the poetics of light and charting the evolution of lighting design against the background of contemporary performance.

The book launch - presented with a conversation between Yaron and Nick Moran, senior lecturer in lighting for live performance, BA Theatre Practice Course Team at London's Central School of Speech & Drama - was a success and one of the highlights of the 2015 PQ.

Says Robe's CEO Josef Valchar, "

Namibia - The National Theatre of Namibia has taken delivery of an ETC Ion control desk, thanks to ETC's South African dealer Prosound.

Prosound's general manager Ian Blair says:, "We recently did an extensive upgrade for the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation, and on one of our follow up visits, we called in at the National Theatre of Namibia, where we met technical and IT manager Jack Francis Jnr and head of lighting Asser Kauazunda.

"Asser and Jack advised that their current old theatre console had reached the end of its life - but, with the upcoming Independence Theatre Festival, they really needed a new desk, and fast."

Blair recommended the ETC Ion control desk, plus fader wings for additional hands-on control.

"We couldn't offer an Ion straight away, because all our demo desks were out at theatres in South Africa - but we were able to get an ETC G

UK - Paolo Nutini recently played a concert at Millennium Square in Leeds, UK, right in the city centre, for which the production (flown) lighting rig of Robe BMFLs, Pointes and LEDWash 600s was supplied by locally based Zig Zag Lighting for event promoter Futuresound Events.

Paolo's lighting designer Jason Hyne brought his touring specials package in 'underneath' this, and combined the two lighting rigs to create another stunning and dramatic show that thrilled the 7000 enthusiastic fans at the sold out show.

Zig Zag works regularly with the promoter and is familiar with the 14m square and 10m high stage / roof system which is owned by the council. It has only limited weight loading, and Nutini's production with its strong video elements required the accommodation of their large touring LED screen. So by the time this was installed, the weight left for lighting fixtures was t

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