Israel - Busy Israeli lighting and audio rental specialist Mor Kol is supplying Robe moving lights for the current Shimon Buskila tour, one of the country's best known and most popular singer / songwriters.

Twelve new Pointes were bought especially for the start of the tour and they join 12 of Morkol's existing stock of MMX Spots right at the essence of the eye-catching lighting scheme designed by Amit Freeman, himself a rising star on the ever-active Israeli live performance scene.

Tel Aviv based freelance LD Amit has worked with the artist for the last five years and his tours will typically last three years playing several high profile gigs per month in a variety of venues, for which the lighting needs to be adaptable and scalable to deal with the different stage spaces.

The Pointes are all positioned on the floor - dotted around in between the 10-piece band, with eigh

USA - Since its opening in 2014, Miami's E11EVEN has featured a procession of superstars from Drake to A-Trak on its stage - and that has been during normal times! During Winter Music Conference last year, the chic two-story downtown Miami club was a magnet for hip hop, house music and EDM heavies. There were so many artists slated to perform at the club that its management decided to expand stage space by booking some acts to perform up on the open, airy cabana style Rooftop Terrace over the second floor.

This decision ultimately led to a new look being created on the terrace by world-renowned club designer Michael Meacham of iDesign, using a collection of LED moving fixtures from Chauvet. "The club knew it had to create a different atmosphere up on the roof to support the acts it was bring there during the Winter Music Conference This is when they brought me in," sa

USA - More than 50 GLP impression X4 LED moving heads made a recent TV appearance on Legends: OWN at the Apollo, a four-part prime-time special featuring icons such as Gladys Knight, Smokey Robinson, The Isley Brothers and Earth, Wind & Fire.

Created and produced by Ron Weisner Entertainment for the Oprah Winfrey Network, the programmes transported viewers to the Apollo Theatre in Harlem for four nights of classic soul music as well as personal thoughts on how this historic and world famous theatre has helped nurture and develop their careers.

From a technical perspective the event brought together the respective lighting skills of Matt Shimamoto (Volt Lites) and Mark Butts - both highly experienced in handling TV productions of this nature. With Shimamoto taking design duties and Butts overseeing the programming and operation, the brief was to create a rich and taste

USA - Part of the LA-based Full Flood collective of lighting designers, Matthew Firestone has been responsible for illuminating the National Christmas Tree, set in front of the White House, for the past three years.

While this year the 50ft high tree twinkled in amber and warm white, along with the various state territory lights, the performance stages featured a series of guest artists, along with GLP's new and versatile X4 Atom.

Each year America's first family attends the event, and following a countdown, the President throws the switch to begin the show, which was this year hosted by Reese Witherspoon.

In order to light the entire area, including the host stage, located in front of the tree and the White House, the performance stage, housing an orchestra from a different armed forces each year, along with an audience of around 12,000, a large inventory of fixtures was

The Netherlands - Avolites will be at on stand 8-K330 at ISE to launch its powered up new range of Ai R Series media servers and preview the feature-rich new Titan V10 software.

The company's redesigned, bespoke booth will feature a 'Media Integration Focus' area where visitors can get hands on with the latest in integrated lighting and video.

A highlight of the stand will be the new Ai R Series - Avolites' most powerful Ai servers yet, utilising a 6 Core i7 processor running at 3.5Ghz with 16Gb of fast RAM, solid state drives throughout, 1.2TB of Media Storage and benefits from up to 25% increased performance from the AMD W7100 due to twice as much GDDR5 memory and a significant increase in Bus speeds.

"We've packed the very best technology into the Ai R Series so we can be sure it satisfies even the most demanding of applications," says Avolites MD, Steve Warr

UK - Wavelength Stageco Ltd (WSL) in Redditch, UK, is a full service rental company near Birmingham with an expansion programme that continues to see the company moving into the dry hire realm of the entertainment technology industry in 2016.

As an important piece in that strategy, WSL has invested in Elation Professional lighting products over the past few months, a list that includes Elation SixPar 200 LED PAR lights, Colour Chorus 48 LED battens and Opti Quad Par LED colour changers, as well as Platinum Beam 5R, Platinum Spot 15R Pro and Platinum Wash ZFX moving heads.

"The quality of the Elation product is extremely good," stated WSL managing director Glen Brazil on why he turns to Elation lighting. "We've been buying Elation for the last four years, originally with Platinum 5R Beams and now with some of the newer product, and I'm glad that we have. It's b

China - Hangzhou, the capital city of China's Zhejiang Province - a growing e-commerce hub on the country's eastern coast - is set to host the 2016 G20 Summit, and is preparing with a series of infrastructure projects.

The Hangzhou Grand Theatre (HZGT) was awarded approximately 7.5m Yuan (about £790,000) to upgrade its stage lighting system, 11 years after the theatre opened with an ETC lighting system. ETC's Chinese dealer, Hangzhou YiDaShi Lighting Equipment Co. Ltd. (YiDaShi), supplied the theatre with ETC's latest innovations, including Source Four LED Series 2 Lustr luminaires, Eos Ti and Gio lighting control consoles, and a Sensor power control system.

The 55,000sq.m HZGT is made up of five venues: the 1,600 seat Opera House; a 600 seat Concert Hall; a 400 seat Multifunction Hall, an open air stage; and a 700 seat Cultural Square. As an international performing a

Denmark - AV Center is a busy Danish full technical production design and rental company with five bases across the country - in Odense, Aarhus, Copenhagen, Aalborg and Kolding - which means they can quickly and practically service any project anywhere.

The independently owned company was founded 20 years ago and now has 35 full time staff and a large team of regular freelancers engaged on an array of jobs in all sectors reaching across Scandinavia and the rest of Europe - from music concerts to conferences.

AV Center owns 17 x new Robe DL4S RGBW LED profile fixtures which were delivered by Robe's Danish distributor, Light Partner.

AV Center's Jens Hansen is one of the rental technicians based in Odense and is also a lighting designer. He explained that they were impressed by the finesse and style of the DL4S Profile as well as all the traditional Robe characteristics lik

USA - Automated lighting manufacturer High End Systems has announced a new global sales team for 2016. With a potent mixture of experienced industry personnel and newer talent, the company is in their best position to date to support the company's wide range of lighting and control products on a global level.

Leading the 2016 High End Systems sales team is general manager Chris Ferrante, joined by HES veterans Jeff Pelzl (APAC/Oceania regional sales manager), Sean Hoey (Eastern US regional sales manager), Bobby Hale (director of fixed installations) and sales administration manager Betsy Childers.

Rounding out the new sales force are Paul Hancock (Central US regional sales manager), Noel Garcia (Latin America regional sales manager), Ruediger Haeming (Western US regional sales manager) and Scott Kinnebrew (Eastern US technical sales manager) and Shayla Johnson (inside sales)

UK - UK - Nitelites' lighting designer Shaun Moore controlled a 'punk rock 'n' roll' show for English folk singer Frank Turner's headline gig at London's Alexandra Palace recently utilising Avolites' Titan V9 Multi-User feature to network a Sapphire Touch and Tiger Touch II.

To create a high-octane show, Moore's rig included Martin MAC Viper Profiles, MAC Auras and Atomics, Clay Paky Mythos, and Par 64 Can CP61/62s.

The Sapphire Touch served as the main console, with the Tiger Touch II (TTII) used as Multi User and Back up. The system ran Artnet through a Main and Back Up Luminex System.

"Avolites consoles are always my first choice, and now with the introduction of the V9 software I can easily network so my TTII is constantly backing up my Sapphire Touch, so in the unlikely event of my main going down I can jump straight onto the TTII with no need of changing any ca

Germany - Airstar was recently involved in a lighting project from notorious artist Rafael Lozano Hemmer to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Ulm church tower spire in Germany.

A gigantic balloon measuring six metres in length and animated by eight Panasonic projectors was hung for three months in the middle of the Lutheran church nave. The projected images provided a faithful representation of the activity in the sun's surface. The Hannover office of Airstar European Network (AEN) provided and installed the balloon.

For this artistic performance, Airstar proposed a custom made air-filled Pendulair 600 balloon. Because of the historical dimension of the church and the need to keep it intact, the artist was looking for a structure which he could project onto that wouldn't be too heavy. Once filled with 113m3 of air, the six metre wide balloon weighed only 25kg.

As the

UK - Rose Bruford College in Sidcup, Kent, is hosting a free Stage Lighting Workshop on Tuesday 16 February, enabling attendees to explore the creation and presentation of a lighting design, from initial concept through to programmed presentation.

The workshop will be led by an experienced lighting lecturer and hosted by 2nd and 3rd year lighting students from the college.

The programme includes:

10.00-10.30 - Meet and Tour Campus

10.30-13.00 - Lighting Design Workshop: A practical workshop in creating a design, with a focus on the process of design and the context of light. We will explore how ideas are translated into lighting schemes as well as the nature of light and how we use it as an artistic medium.

13.00-14.00 - Lunch

14.00-15.30 - Creative Lighting Controlled Workshop: A practical workshop in how a realised design is communicated to an audience.

Germany - Robe's philosophy of smaller-brighter-lighter reaches new levels at Miniatur Wunderland where BMFL Spots, Pointes and LEDWash 600s are prominent on the lighting rig for German music superstar Helene Fischer's show-stopping performance at the Berlin Olympiastadion.

The actual concerts were staged in July 2015 during Fischer's Farbenspiel tour and were enjoyed by around 110,000 people. Anyone who missed the show can catch the experience at the Miniatur Wunderland attraction in Hamburg where a 1:87 scale model of the complete venue, stage, functioning lighting, sound and video production plus capacity for a full audience - has been constructed.

This includes a quantity of 1:87 scale Robe fixtures which have been replicated in painstaking detail by Sven Hinzmann and the Miniatur Wunderland technical teams which included around 40 engineers, planners and creatives.

M

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) Ltd. Will be showcasing the latest product highlights from their extensive brand portfolio at the PLASA Focus Glasgow 2016 Show - SECC, Glasgow, UK, stand B1, 20 - 21 January.

A leading one-stop provider of professional equipment to the entertainment industry, AC-ET will be showcasing a selection of the very latest lighting, audio, rigging, video, and film & TV solutions available from their vast portfolio of over 200 leading brands and five specialist sales divisions.

The award-winning Chroma-Q® range of premium performance solutions is designed and built to exacting standards in North America, and has been adopted by many leading designers and specifiers for some of today's most demanding and prestigious lighting applications. The stand will represent a number of product ranges, including the Color One 100 and Inspire full c

UK - London's first Lumiere light festival closed on Sunday 17 January having transformed the city's streets and buildings with 30 spectacular artworks. First estimates put the numbers of visitors at over 1m attending the festival over four evenings.

Developed by creative producers Artichoke and supported by the Mayor of London, Lumiere London turned King's Cross and London's West End, including Leicester Square, Piccadilly, Regent Street and St James's into a magical pedestrian playground and encouraged Londoners and tourists alike to explore the heart of the capital and view it in a new light.

With founding support from Atom Bank, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Heart of London Business Alliance, London & Partners and King's Cross, plus additional support from a host of partners and sponsors, including Westminster City Council, Lumiere London presented installations by 30 intern

Star Tribute - The life of David Bowie was celebrated with a tribute concert at a London chapel. Hundreds of fans packed out Islington's Grade I-listed Union Chapel to pay homage to the musician who died of cancer on 10 January. The service saw an eclectic mix of artists, including the Magic Numbers and ex-Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock, perform the star's music.

Fans filled the small north London chapel as Bowie's best-known tunes, played by an organ, echoed around the hall. A huge screen showed images of the star in his many guises, before the part gig, part remembrance service kicked off with a rousing mass sing-along of Starman. Maggie Ronson, sister of late Bowie guitarist and collaborator Mick Ronson, was joined by The Featherz to sing Ziggy Stardust, paying tribute to Bowie's "massive influence".

Black January - A month of depressing n

UK - Over the past couple of years the iconic Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, home of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, has undergone a major £14.5m refurbishment. This has included the building of a brand new smaller-scale venue, Music Room, on which Stage Electrics and Northern Light worked closely together to supply and fit out, as well as being major contractors for the 1700-capacity main auditorium.

The project was split into two phases. Phase one focused on the main Hall whose 1939 art-deco style architecture has earned it Grade II*- listed status.

It included works to the auditorium, all public, front of house spaces, and backstage dressing rooms and warm-up areas.

Phase two was a new-build project including Music Room, for which Stage Electrics supplied the lighting, sound and staging equipment. Located at the rear of the main Hall, Music Room is a 16

USA - Fast rising country star Justin Moore set a real challenge on his recent US tour, with venues ranging from state/county fairs up to 20,000-seat arena shows.

For production designer Sooner Routhier (of SRae Productions) and touring lighting director Aaron Luke it was a case of developing easily portable, truckable and scalable scenography that was quick to rig and derig.

Sooner also lights stages for Motley Crue to Bon Jovi and it was on a previous tour with the latter that she started using GLP's popular impression X4 heads, quickly sensing the speed of the fixture and the number of beam shapes that could be achieved using the pixel patterns. "I needed a good wash light to generate effects that would give each song a different look - and GLP impressions seemed to be the perfect fit."

And so she approached long-term vendor SES from North Carolina for a simi

World - American punk rockers Fall Out Boy are on a world tour in support of their American Beauty/American Psycho album with a perspective-bending lighting design by Robb Jibson using Clay Paky Mythos and A.leda B-EYE K20 fixtures.

Robb Jibson - who serves as lighting and show designer for the tour - is using the highly advanced beam and spot light hybrid, Mythos, for effects, backlight, in delay systems and even as follow spots. With them, he projects dynamic aerial effects out across the audience, creates collimated looks and washes areas with vibrant colour.

"Clay Paky has created a really bright fixture in the Mythos," says Jibson. "It has a small footprint that's easy on both weight and power consumption and there isn't a better optical system out there in my opinion. I think its best feature is the ability to have it in a 20° to 30° beam

USA - Winter Jam Tour Spectacular, Christian music's largest annual tour, has returned to the road with lighting provided by Bandit Lites. Artists this year include For King and Country, Matthew West, Crowder, Lauren Daigle, Red and Newsong.

Production manager Jerry Holcomb worked with Bandit's project manager Matt King and business development officer Brent Barrett to make the 360 degree stage lighting design a reality. "Brent and Matt always help me achieve my vision and design to actual workable rigging plots and fixture patch," said Holcomb. "We even set up a couple days at their Nashville location to pre-program and get ready for the tour."

"We appreciate the opportunity to work with Jerry each year from his initial concept through the finished product," said Barrett. "Jerry's temperament along with his experience and knowledge promote

UK - Central Presentations Ltd (CPL) delivered full production, including lighting, sound - featuring brand new d&b Y8s and V-SUBS - video and rigging to an impressive end of year party for technology designer / manufacturer Dyson - which was staged in the grounds of Bowood House in Wiltshire, where a large elegant Trispan marquee was giving a 45m deep and wide party space.

CPL have been the event's technical supplier for the last five years, and there's always an exciting and ambitious brief to be fulfilled from production company Bright. This year their production designer and technical manager was Nick Diacre who liaised closely with CPL's PM Mike Radford.

Luminescence was the theme of this year's event, putting a big emphasis on lighting and visual presentation and treatment of the whole environment.

CPL flew a 10m diameter circular truss in the middle of the m

USA - Multi Latin Grammy-winner Fonseca has been described as one of the easiest artists to like and one of the most difficult to categorize. Colombian born and educated at Boston's Berklee College of Music, the singer-guitarist, who now lives in Miami, began his career in rock. As he evolved as an artist, his music grew to include elements of Colombian 'Tropipop', as well as a variety of other sounds from ranchera to salsa and even classical.

Lighting designer Churry Lafuente reflects Fonseca's diverse musical message in light on the artist's current Conexión tour, thanks to some help from a collection of Chauvet Professional fixtures provided by rental company Línea Estratégica.

Churry, who began designing for the international superstar almost three years ago during the Ilusión tour, created an intense, bright and very flexible rig for the multi-national tour, w

USA - Located in Houston, Texas, the Alley Theatre is a nationally recognized performing arts company that creates a wide range of innovative productions. Recently undergoing a $46.5m renovation which included improvements to the Hubbard Theatre, associate director for design Kevin Rigdon was asked to also serve as the principal designer for the project.

Working with theatrical consultants Bill Connor & Associates as well as Philips Strand Lighting aauthorized dealer StageLight, Rigdon was tasked with creating a more intimate relationship between the audience and the actors on stage, and he did so using 68 Showline SL PAR 155 ZOOM LED luminaires.

"During the renovation, we actually changed the configuration of the theatre which created two zones of house lighting, said Rigdon. "We were committed to using LED lighting technology for the power consumption and heat ad

USA - American alternative rock band X Ambassadors are touring North America through March on their VHS tour using a fully MIDI-triggered lighting rig designed by Cour Design that includes Elation Professional SixPar 200 LED PAR colour changers and Platinum Beam 5R beam lights.

Cour Design handles production design, lighting programming and production coordination on the tour, their first time working with the band. "We met with their management team when we first started our business," stated Gordon Droitcour, co-founder and designer along with Erik Anderson at the Nashville-based design house that can take a project from napkin sketch to full production. "We had never heard of X Ambassadors but they've been one of our most exciting bands to date."

Cour Design specializes in intricate visual designs that literally run themselves. They have developed a sy

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