USA - While the Grateful Dead celebrated their 50th anniversary last summer with five Fare Thee Well stadium shows, true Deadheads knew that in real life The Music never Stops.

This has been demonstrated loudly and clearly by the sold-out shows being put on throughout the fall and holiday season by Dead & Company, featuring original band members Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann. Playing to sold-out audiences, the 10-stop coast-to-coast tour is serving up some tasty new arrangements of classic Dead songs with renowned rock guitarist John Mayer filling the role of the departed Jerry Garcia on the guitar and vocals.

Contributing to the immersive experience is a beautiful lightshow anchored around a collection of Nexus 4x1 linear fixtures from Chauvet Professional provided by Upstaging.

Jon Pollak designed the lighting rig, but all the looks were fabri

Spain - Matadero de Madrid welcomed the first Spanish masterclass with lighting designers Al Gurdon and Peter Canning, who have illuminated shows like Eurovision, the halftime of Superbowl or the opening and closing of the Sochi Olympic Games. The event was organized by Clay Paky and its Spanish distributor Stonex.

Javier Latorre, Stonex CEO, opened the conference commemorating the 35th Anniversary of Stonex. "We are happy to share with all of you this seminar. Al Gurdon and Peter Canning's Masterclass is the best scenario for sharing knowledge and experience in the lighting field."

Francesco Romagnoli, area manager for Clay Paky, presented their latest products including Scenius, Spheriscan and Mythos, among others.

Al Gurdon opened his speech by highlighting the importance of a good light. The tours of Madonna, Kylie Minogue and Beyonce were some of the shows

USA - Elation Professional is a new sponsor of the AV Alliance (avalliance.com), a network of the world's leading event technology rental specialists.

Active in 47 countries on six continents, the AV Alliance acts as a quality seal with AV Alliance members involved in over 100,000 projects a year. The AV Alliance is committed to professional service at the highest quality and is devoted to creating synergies among members to further professionalize the industry. Of the many sponsor benefits is the opportunity to network with AV Alliance member companies, which includes AV rental companies from all over the world.

"We are pleased to have Elation Professional on board as a sponsor of the AV Alliance," stated Nico Ubenauf, member of the AV Alliance Board of Directors and CEO of German production company satis&fy. "Elation continues to become a more visible player

Malaysia - Acoustic & Lighting System (A&L) successfully held an open-house event on 17 November 2015 to introduce Clay Paky's The Projectors series: the Scenius, Mythos, Supersharpy and Stormy. A&L held a similar show in Singapore earlier this year, and chose to repeat their success in Kuala Lumpur to welcome the Scenius, the latest member of the series. The open-house event was held in conjunction with Clay Paky at Bentley's Auditorium, located in the heart of Mutiara Damansara.

A&L put special effort into carefully selecting the venue. "It took us quite a while to find the right place. We had to consider some special factors when choosing the venue," explained Eric Loo, who was in charge of finding the site for this event. "We knew the capabilities of these lights. In order to show off their full potential, the height and length of the venue were crucial. Acce

UK - In 2015, White Light reaffirmed its position as the leading lighting supplier to West End and UK touring theatre by working on a vast array of theatre productions. The complete production solution specialist is continuing to support shows throughout the festive season by providing the lighting equipment on more than 40 pantomimes all across the UK.

Since its formation 44 years ago, WL has built a strong reputation of supporting pantomimes, with this year being no exception. One of the most popular Christmas shows is the classic story of Snow White, which is currently playing at the Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre. Nev Milsom is the lighting designer on the production. He comments, "Snow White is such a lively, busy show so it was important that the lighting rig not only worked with the cast and scenery but also produced vivid colour and texture throughout. Pantomi

USA - Asbury United Methodist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma has chosen an ArKaos PRO Stadium Server running ArKaos MediaMaster 4.0 software to handle the environmental projection mapping at their church. Lighting director, Tim Ottley, uses it to present some stunning visual backdrops across their 300ft wide/30-60ft tall walls to enhance both modern and traditional services.

This Christmas season sees the interior of the church awash with imagery, produced by Jason Yang of Invisible Element, based on the Christmas story and depicted in colourful visuals reminiscent of stained glass. Advent is a season of anticipation and Ottley's theme is to present a beautiful and welcoming environment as the congregation enters each week in the build-up to Christmas.

"Our aim was to create a short video clip as an opening sequence to the services over the five week period of Advent,"

Romania - Inspired by William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet, the American Broadway musical West Side Story has been successful ever since its production start in the 50s.

In Romania, West Side Story has been adapted by choreographer and show director Razvan Mazilu to be presented at the Sibiu International Theatre Festival (FITS) for the organisation Uniter - Theatre Union of Romania.

SGM's Romanian partner FIVE'S International supplied a SGM package consisting of 12 x SixPack blinders, four P-5 wash lights and two G-Spot moving heads. For the outer theatre building, the IP65-rated Q-7 RGBW flood lights were deployed for architectural illumination.

Lighting designer Alin Popa reports, "We needed the clean colours of the P-5, the fine dimming of the SixPack, the power of the G-Spot and its large pallet of colour temperature control settings. The SG

USA - Bandit Lites has announced the addition of two new team members, Allana Duyungan to the technical service department and Mark Mistal to sales and systems integration.

Prior to joining Bandit, Allana oversaw the lighting for the rehearsal of a dance troupe in Chicago, before moving to Orlando to attend school for lighting. Now as one of Bandit's essential lighting technicians, she will repair, clean and maintain Bandit's vast inventory of moving fixtures.

Mark Mistal's career in the lighting industry spans multiple settings including theatrical, film and television in addition to architectural installations. He also brings with him experience in stage rigging and automation. Previously, Mark was with Carnival Cruise Lines and most recently with Tait.

(Jim Evans)

USA - There is a plethora of different experiences to enjoy in Manhattan. Now a singularly exceptional one has been added to the list: the chance to enter the world of an aquarium fish. This opportunity takes place at Seaglass Carousel, a domed spaceship-like structure located at the southern tip of Manhattan in Battery Park.

Unlike typical carousels, which feature ponies, unicorns and the like, Seaglass takes visitors on a ride inside giant tropical fish with shimmering colourful bodies made all the more vibrant by the intense output of 50 COLORado 2-Quad Zoom IP LED wash fixtures from Chauvet Professional that were used in a design by Technical Artistry of New York.

A collection of 30 mechanical 'fish,' including a 14' high angel fish, 11' beta, 12' yellow lionfish and similar specimens designed by George Tsypin, set designer for the Broadway version of The Little Merma

Germany - The Frankfurt Motor Show (Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung or IAA) is 118 years old this year. It all started back in 1897 at the Hotel Bristol in Berlin, when eight motor vehicles were put on public display. From those beginnings, a regular show came into being. In 1991, the event was split into a car show, which is held on odd-numbered years in Frankfurt, and a commercial vehicle show, held on even-numbered years in Hanover. Several Clay Paky lights were again present at the show's 66th edition.

One of the most significant uses of Clay Paky lights at this year's IAA was at the Mercedes-Benz stand, but Lightpower equipment was used to illuminate the cars of several other manufacturers at the show.

Rgb gmbh studio für lichtgestaltung und technische konzeption dealt with the lighting design and rig programming, on behalf of Daimler AG, for the Mercedes-Benz Med

USA - Denver-based lighting designer and programmer Andrew Cass has been a fan of the f multi genre blues-rock-jam band String Cheese Incident (SCI) from Colorado since his schooldays. In April 2014 he was lucky enough to land himself in the hot-seat of designing their lighting - a long term dream job.

String Cheese are known for their intricate compositions, spectacular live shows and great connections with their audience - all parameters giving Andrew plenty of opportunity to focus on lighting for a client that appreciates his vision and gives him the creative freedom to do what he thinks will look best.

On the new design for this latest fall tour, he decided to use 18 x Robe BMFL Spots, which were supplied by lighting vendor, Upstaging.

The tour ran for three weeks around the U.S., concluding at the Suwannee Hulaween experience at Live Oak Music Park in Florida, and wi

UK - Grenfell Housing & Training has teamed up with local businesses, including drapes and rigging expert Blackout, in a bid to offer work experience placements to support local youngsters and help tackle unemployment.

Established in 1985, Grenfell has been providing housing, training and support to those within the local community for the last 30 years. Specifically, the association houses single homeless people aged 16 to 30, provides training to the local community and offers housing advice to families with young children at risk of losing their home.

In the last 12 months, Grenfell has helped over 250 people gain in excess of 400 qualifications, with many of these individuals progressing into further learning, work placements and volunteering. Recently, the association teamed up with one of the boroughs largest employers, Blackout, which supplies drapes and rigging to so

UK / USA - d3 Technologies has appointed Matthew Cotter as Technical Sales Specialist based on the US West Coast. Cotter has been a lighting director and media programmer for the past 15 years, primarily working in television and on theme park spectaculars. He shared an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Variety Series" with his colleagues for Dancing with the Stars in 2014.

Cotter joins a growing US team representing d3 nationwide. "Matthew is a very strong addition to the team, and we're excited to welcome him," says Hans Beijer, Vice President of Sales for d3 Americas. "Matt came highly recommended by mutual friends in the industry and I fully understand why. He's bright, quick, committed and very much hands-on. His start with our team has been both impressive and very pleasant. I'm looking forward to a strong

UK - Aurora, the television and entertainment lighting rental has announced the appointment of Ben Taylor as project manager at their West London operation.

Ben's complete understanding of equipment and production is the result of many years working within the lighting industry in both 'hands-on' and customer support roles.

Having graduated from the Central School of Speech and Drama, Ben gained invaluable experience early in his career working as a freelance lighting tech on a wide variety of production types, from panto to film. Following three years with Trafalgar Lighting, Ben went on to join leading equipment supplier AC Entertainment Technologies ltd, progressing to a senior technical sales position where he was able to further expanded his product knowledge and hone his customer support skills.

As project manager at Aurora, Ben will be liaising with lighting design

USA - Located in Wayne, NJ, the Passaic County Technical Institute (PCTI) is a national award-winning high school with a 200 course curriculum which includes their School of Performing Arts. With a focus on the student's artistic development in preparation for life after graduation, the PCTI theatre recently underwent a systems renovation highlighted by the desire to immerse the audience into each performance.

To complete the project, Thea & Schoen was brought on as the systems integrator and they designed an energy-efficient Philips Strand Lighting retrofit installation that included PLFRESNEL1 and PLPROFILE4 LED luminaires along with a NEO lighting control console, Vision.net Touchscreens, an A21 Dimming System, and CD80SV Retrofit Dimmer Modules.

"We were originally brought into the project by Generations Electric who works on energy co-ops with a lot of schools in t

Sounds of the City - The city that spawned The Beatles has been recognised as a City of Music by the United Nations. Liverpool earned the accolade due to music's "place in the heart of the city's life", following a bid by Liverpool City Council. Unesco noted especially a commitment to a "clearly defined" music, education and skills strategy for young people. It is the second city in the UK to be given the Unesco honour, which Glasgow received in 2008. A further 10 global destinations have also been given the title, including Kingston in Jamaica, the home of reggae. The City of Music award is part of Unesco's Creative Cities Network, which was created in 2004 to promote "cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development."

Billy Leaves London - Billy Elliot the Musical<

South Africa - When 24 year old South African R'n'B singer, music producer and rising star Cassper Nyovest blew everyone away at the 2015 Metro FM Awards in the Spring, scooping five trophies - including Best Male Album for his debut Tsholofelo work released last year and the popular Listener's Choice category - that was just the start of a truly stellar year.

Recently, his #FillUpTheDome concert on 31 October featured over 130 Robe lighting fixtures and played to an ecstatic sold-out audience of 20,000 in the Ticketpro Dome in Johannesburg, making history as the first 'local' artist to ever sell out the venue.

Nyovest himself approached Cape Town based design agency Formative to provide creative direction and technical production, including video content design, for the epic show. The pressure was on to do something awesome production-wise, and the realisation was le

Russia - Clay Paky's lights were the big stars of the Circle of Light Festival. The distinguishing feature that determines the success of this major international event, which is held annually in Moscow, is visual technology (video and lights) applied to the metropolitan context. In 2014, the event drew no less than six million people.

This year's Circle of Light was held from 27 September to 4 October and entailed setting up several stages all over the city of Moscow, including one that consisted of a bridge over the Moskva River, and another at the Ministry of Defence Building.

Aleksey Zhuravlev, Anton Maltsev, Sergey Pankovets from Global Show Trade were the Circle of Light Festival's lighting designers.

Alex Zhuravlev explained that the importance of the event has grown exponentially in recent years. His work was so highly appreciated last year that he was asked to pl

Laos - Earlier this month, a spectacular light show created entirely with DTS moving heads, was the peak of the celebrations of the 40th National Day of Laos.

The National Day is the most important event in the country, in commemoration of the abolition of the monarchy and the proclamation of the Democratic Republic of Laos.

The lighting system, installed by rental company ProPacific (Thailand) Co., included 200 x Raptor moving heads, 40 x XR1200 WASH, and 60 x XR3000 Spot.

The ceremony was held at the Laos National Stadium in Vientane, on 2 December LD Karin Chaisompongpan divided the stage into four zones, each with a different setup.

Chaisompongpan comments, "From my experience using DTS products for this event I was impressed by the reliable performance of the Raptors and also by the light quality of its beam. It is really bright enough to light the football f

Australia - October saw the United Nations' 70th anniversary celebrated around the world with key global landmarks including the Empire State Building and the UN headquarters in New York, Tokyo's SkyTree Tower, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Athens' Temple of Zeus and Edinburgh Castle, lit in celebration. The international Turn the World #UNBlue campaign aimed to unite global citizens by promoting the UN's message of peace, development and human rights.

More than 25 Australian landmarks turned blue, including the Sydney Opera House, the MCG, Perth's Bell Tower and Canberra's Old Parliament House. However the most notable event was held at the iconic red rock Uluru, the only icon to have the UN logo projected onto it.

The event was held with the cooperation of the traditional owners - the Anangu people - and was the first time an image had been projected onto the rock face. The p

USA - As Production Resource Group LLC, (PRG) continues to grow globally PRG has continued to extend its senior leadership team. As previously announced, Scott Hansen, who had previously served as both chief financial officer and chief of asset strategy will focus on the asset side of PRG's business. Today, PRG is announcing the appointment of Ryan Schroeter as its chief financial officer.

As CFO, Schroeter will oversee all of the company's financial affairs and work closely with Scott Hansen and the other members of PRG's senior leadership team directing the company's strategic growth and assisting in the Company's capital market transactions.

Prior to joining PRG, Schroeter was vice president corporate finance at Intrepid Aviation, a commercial aircraft leasing company, where he was instrumental in the company's growth and debt origination activities. Previously he held th

USA - When Lord of Life church was built in 1997, its leaders wanted to create an open uplifting atmosphere inside its spacious worship area. With this in mind, they included plenty of windows and skylights in the design of their building so the sanctuary would be flooded with natural sunlight. The clear rays of a Minnesota morning sun played off beautifully against the oak wood stage and sandstone walls of the church during Sunday services, just as its designers had planned.

Unfortunately, the ample splashes of solar light also made it impossible for Lord of Life to incorporate video displays into its services a few years later when that technology became available to churches. That changed recently though when Excel AV Group provided the church with a video wall that was bright enough to stand up to the sun by installing PVP X3 modular indoor 3.9mm pixel pitch LED panels from

UK - The Minack open-air theatre in Cornwall, built on a craggy cliff overlooking the sea at Porthcurno, is the last place you would expect to see SGM's award-winning G-Spot strutting its stuff. Situated just four miles from Land's End, and constructed above a gully with a rocky granite outcrop jutting into the sea, this unique theatre has been staging performances in front of up to 800 people for 85 years.

One theatre company that visits regularly is the Cambridge University Gilbert & Sullivan Society, and for this year's week-long presentation of The Sorcerer they decided they would light the stage from vantage points up in the cliffs entirely with LED - the first time it has been done at the theatre.

Lighting designer Jon French, who had been part of general crew last year, immediately turned to SGM's IP65-rated G-Spot, having seen its features and weatherproof pro

USA - Lighting designer Jason Ayala was understandably excited by the thought of doing an event for the Global Spin Awards at Manhattan's Metropolitan West, not just because of the prestigious client, but also because of the venue itself.

Like many New Yorkers, the LD had a special affinity for the sturdy two story building at 639 W. 46th Street in the city's Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood. Prior to becoming the go-to place for chic events like Versace's NY Fashion Week Runway Show, the 12,000 square foot building had achieved iconic status in the city as the home of H&H Bagel, the world's largest bagel factory, which at one time turned out over 80,000 of the hard circular rolls a day. The closure of H&H facility after its owner was indicted for tax fraud and its subsequent rebirth as a premier event centre only enhanced its mystique.

As Ayala and his production manager Jeffry

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