Lighting

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01 July 2024

Germany - Just before the start of UEFA Euro 2024, Frankfurt, one of the 10 host cities, set the stage for four weeks of international football fever with a spectacular multimedia show. The show, a collaboration between bright! studios and spatial experiences agency Atelier Markgraph on behalf of Tourismus + Congress Frankfurt, transformed one of the city’s notable bridges over the Main River (Flößerbrücke) into a gigantic musical instrument. 

The bridge, covered in the colours of the 24 participating nations for the duration of the European Championship, became the centrepiece of the football world for the 25-minute show. Lighting designer Thomas Giegerich from bright! used 96 Proteus Excalibur, 48 Proteus Maximus and 48 of Elation’s new Pulse Bar L linear lighting solutions to visually bring the concept to life. Kaiser Showtechnik was responsible f

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01 July 2024

Australia - Adriano Candeloro is a founding director and technology guru at Sightline Productions – a busy and successful NSW-based AV and rental company that covers a range of corporate and B2B clients across Australia, New Zealand and much further afield with a variety of international work.

Joe Murray is also a founding director, and they and the team are all big fans of Astera, having first started hearing about the brand a few years back when the neon lighting look was very popular in Australia.

The first Astera products to arrive at Sightline were AX1 PixelTubes that joined the inventory in 2019, a figure that’s now jumped to over 50 fixtures.

In addition to these, they also have AX2 LED battens, AX3 LiteDrops, AX5 TriplePARs, AX9 PowerPARs, as well as the 2 metre Hyperion Tubes and the half metre Helios Tubes, totalling over 200 As

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01 July 2024

USA - This year’s Bonnaroo festival was hot. During the three-day event, temperatures were consistently in the 90s (+30°C), sometimes reaching 100°F, with plenty of humidity and one thunderstorm thrown in.

These conditions made the covered This and That Tents welcome places to cool off. These shaded venues offered much more than more than thermal relief; they also served up “some of the best sets of the weekend”.

Anyone who caught Dashboard Confessional’s Superjam emo performance with a bevy of special guest stars on the This Tent Stage would readily agree with that assessment. So too would those captivated by Thundercat’s thunderous bass on the That Tent Stage. Throw in performances by GWAR, Eggy, Taking Back Sunday, Interpol, IDLES, and more, and there was plenty to get swept up by in the shade of the tents.

Adding to the energy

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28 June 2024

UK - BPM Show, originally re-scheduled for 9-10 November 2024, is now postponed to a date to be confirmed in 2025.

This decision, taken in collaboration with PLASA, Headliner, SEDA, Mastermix, AVSL, Chauvet DJ, NADJ, Paladin Innovations and Promo Only, reflects our commitment to providing an unmatched experience for our attendees.

The team at PLASA – alongside our esteemed partners – have decided to take this extra time to completely revamp the BPM Show, including a brand-new venue. This is so that we can deliver a world-class event that sets new standards in the UK for the DJ and electronic music community.

BPM Show 2025 will focus on several key areas:

Music: Featuring some of the biggest names in the electronic music industry.

Technology: Creating a hands-on tech playground with cutting-edge DJ equipme

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28 June 2024

UK - The Isle of Wight Festival 2024 is setting a benchmark in sustainability by integrating hydrogen-powered generators into its power infrastructure. GeoPura's hydrogen powered generators (HPUs) replaced traditional diesel fuel to power crew and artist catering and part of the guest village; supplying zero-emission electricity from hydrogen for the first time at the festival.

This initiative is part of the festival's commitment to becoming the most sustainable in the UK. By introducing hydrogen power, the festival is making a significant leap towards reducing its carbon footprint and setting an example for other events.

Caroline Giddings, director at The Isle of Wight Festival, said: "By introducing hydrogen-powered generators, we are taking a proactive step towards our goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030. This initiative is jus

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28 June 2024

Bahrain - ShowTech Productions, based in Riffa, has recently added to its extensive Robe moving light stock with the purchase of 12 x iFORTE LTX luminaires. These were delivered by Robe Middle East in Dubai.

The company is a leading event production and technical services provider working across multiple sectors including concert touring, live events, and corporates. They also have a base in Saudi Arabia, and work across the GCC region.

These join several hundred Robe products including Spiiders, MegaPointes and BMFLs already owned by ShowTech, following steady investments in recent years. “Robe products have consistently been on all the international riders we have seen in the last 10 years” commented owner and CEO Lawrence Rodricks, adding that this plus the brand’s reputation for quality and well-made products has driven the purchases.

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28 June 2024

USA - Ben Gilbert was called upon to light the 31 city North American leg of LANY’s Beautiful Blur tour in support of their fifth album. Not endowed with a great deal of time to do their thing, Gilbert and his team came up with a design that used a curved truss configuration to engage audience by changing the depth and shape perceptions of the stage and its runway.

“The biggest challenge on this for us was time,” said Gilbert.  “We managed to pull this whole show together in under a month and programmed it all in about 10 days. Coming up with the design and getting it to work with the music of the show in such a short space of time was challenging, but working with a great team we got it done.”

Providing assistance to Gilbert in this task was Bandit Lites, which suggested the idea of using pre-rig gates for the curve design. Bandit also su

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27 June 2024

Europe - The Claypaky HY B-Eye K15 Aqua represents a significant upgrade from the latest HY B-Eye K15 in Claypaky's Shield Family of weather-resistant lighting solutions. These IP66-certified fixtures are designed to be high-performance, ultra-durable, and long-lasting. Also, they are dustproof, ensuring reduced maintenance costs and hassle-free operation.

The Claypaky HY B-Eye K15 Aqua original optical unit improves uniformity and light output efficiency. The rotating front lens and the individual LED control unleash a mesmerizing world of kaleidoscopic projections and captivating eye-candy effects, making it an all-in-one lighting solution: a powerful LED wash, a flawless beam, and a jaw-dropping visual effects projector – all in a single fixture.

The patent pending Advanced Layer Management system is an innovation that seamlessly blends three di

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27 June 2024

Poland - Organised and sponsored by LTT, a leading Polish entertainment gear distributor since 1992, LTT Free Light Workshops offer a variety of learning experiences and product demonstrations. The events have been staged across 14 cities, with 500 visitors participating.

The latest edition of the workshop series, which is now in its 12th year, featured over 60 different Chauvet Professional products. Among the most attention drawing was the Maverick Storm 3 BeamWash, a versatile, full-featured, colour-mixing moving fixture that has a 16-lens outer zone and 12-lens inner zone. The two zoom zones, stunning output, and in-built macros made the fixture a hit with visitors.

Also popular was the COLORado PXL Curve 12, a fully pixel mappable motorized batten that offers individual control of 12 independent heads, and the Maverick Storm 1 Hybrid, a 420W, 77

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26 June 2024

UK - The Olivier Awards 2024 took place on Sunday 14 April 2024 at the Royal Albert Hall, from where it was broadcast by ITV1, and streamed internationally on YouTube and by BritBox. It was presented by Emmy winner and multi-Olivier nominee Hannah Waddingham who opened the show, accompanied by the London Community Gospel Choir, with a performance of Anything Goes.

The three-hour long Awards show was interspersed with performances from the casts of West End musical theatre including Hadestown, Sunset Boulevard, Operation Mincemeat, and Guys and Dolls.

Lighting designer Ben Cracknell, lighting the Olivier Awards for his 11th year, chose 78 Ayrton Perseo Profile fixtures, provided by White Light, as his work horse fixtures. He wanted to modernise and unify under one fixture type his previously mixed rig, so h

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26 June 2024

UK - Currently running at the Ambassadors Theatre in London’s West End, Kathy & Stella Solve a Murder! is an award-winning musical comedy which follows Kathy & Stella – hosts of Hull’s least successful true crime podcast. However, when their favourite author is killed, the pair find themselves thrust into a thrilling whodunnit of their own.

The show features a lighting design by Peter Small who approached White Light (WL), a d&b solutions company, to supply his rig, having previously done so for the show’s Bristol and Manchester run. For the London production, an addition to the rig included the Macula remote follow-spot System – distributed in the UK by Sound Technology - making the show the first in West End history to use this technology.

Kathy & Stella arrived in London following its previous sell-out r

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26 June 2024

Finland - Mikki Kunttu brought Richard Wagner’s epic Der Ring des Nibelungen, also known as the Ring tetralogy, to a conclusion at the Finnish National Opera with the performance of the monumental, nearly six-hour-long Götterdämmerung featuring Claypaky Xtylos, the world’s first laser-based beam lighting fixture.

The first instalment of The Ring Cycle, Das Rheingold, was performed at the Finnish National Opera in August and September 2019. The Covid pandemic delayed the second opera, Die Walkure, until autumn 2022, with performances of Siegfried following in March and April 2023. Over these past years, The Ring played to full houses. Its visual aspect and direction, the Orchestra of the Finnish National Opera, and the soloists’ world-class singing have been acclaimed by audiences

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25 June 2024

UK - We are sad to announce the death of Mick McManus, who has died at the age of 73. Although he left the sound and lighting industry many years ago, Mick was among the founding fathers of what became known as the disco industry, during his time as a director of pyro and effects giants, Le Maitre.

Jerry Gilbert writes, “An outrageous, larger than life character Mick generally kept the first generation of disco troops upbeat with his non-stop volley of jokes.

Like so many, Mick started as a DJ with Roger Squire’s agency, where he was booked out as ‘Barry Martin’ to avoid confusion with the popular wrestler of the same name. He first came into contact with sound and light manufacturers during his time at Wing Disco Centre in Bromley, the popular retailer.

He also ran Croydon-based Tulip Music with his colleague and lifelong fr

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25 June 2024

Europe - Lighting designer Andre Beekmans from design studio The Art of Light buckled up for hardcore techno rave action with Scooter on their Thirty Rough & Dirty tour celebrating 30 years of dance music!

Andre’s technical rider specifies several Robe moving lights – 78 x Pointes, 45 x Spiiders, 82 x Tetra2s and three Fortes used as follow spots on a remote follow system – all picked for their speed, functionality, and robustness for a genre of music that seriously challenges the build quality of any piece of lighting kit!

Andre – whose clients include Armin van Buuren, Afrojack and a string of other high profile dance artists – started working with Scooter in 2022 on a stadium tour of German-speaking countries.

One of Andre’s starting points for Thirty, Rough & Dirty’s production lighting design was M

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25 June 2024

USA - Guitarist and singer/songwriter Gary Clark Jr. is out on his Hyperwave tour in support of his most recent album, JPEGRAW. Bandit Lites provided the lighting for the North American dates, which covered nearly every type of venue, from mobile stages to Red Rocks to Radio City. When assembling the scalable lighting system, designers John Adamo and Robert Fuller took inspiration directly from Clark Jr.’s music.

“We really wanted to try and pay respect to the sonic diversity and range we felt was such a standout feature of the project,” explained Adamo. “We wanted the lighting design to try and reflect what we heard in the music: A combination of strong, defined layers that stand strong in their own right but really shine when woven together.”

The modular rig had a baseline width of 41’ that would need to compress inward or even have ent

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24 June 2024

India - Australian manufacturer LSC Control Systems has appointed Integrated Entertainment Solutions (IES) as its distributor for India. The latest addition to LSC’s international sales network, IES will provide full support and service for all of the company’s advanced power management and lighting control systems across the country.

Mumbai-based IES has 28 years’ experience as a distribution and trading company, serving the fields of intelligent lighting, pro sound and control systems. It is the sole distributor for a strong portfolio of leading entertainment production brands, including Robe, Avolites, LumenRadio, Madrix, Ashly and Pangolin, among others. It also provides turnkey solutions from concept and design, through to supply, installation and maintenance for intelligent lighting and pro sound applications in a wide range of entertainment and

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24 June 2024

USA - Lighting designer Tom Kenny utilised Elation lighting for both the indoor and outdoor stages at the 2024 CMT Music Awards earlier this spring. The lighting package, supplied by 4Wall, included Proteus Excalibur, Artiste Mondrian, and Dartz 360 luminaires, among other fixtures.

Broadcast live from the Moody Centre on the University of Texas campus in Austin, performances took place inside and on an outdoor stage in front of the University of Texas Tower. Lighting direction for the indoor show was by Felix Peralta, David ‘Fuji’ Convertino, and Michelle Griesmer, with Han Henze and Matt Piercy handling lighting direction on the outdoor stage. Production design was by Anne Brahic, her 15th year working the awards show.

Kenny was in his 12th year designing for the CMTs and his experience and proven approach are integral to the successful team ef

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24 June 2024

USA - The architectural design of the Insomniac Events Electric Daisy Festival’s bassPOD stage is impressive by any measure. With a 65ft high trim and a width of approximately 250-feet, it is clearly massive. But there is more than size to this impressive metallic structure designed by Stufish Studios. With its shapes and forms extending in every direction, and at multiple levels, it presents a labyrinth of possibilities, inviting all who look at it to let their imaginations run wild along its myriad paths.

Erik Mahowald spent countless hours delving into every nuance of this stage design long before it was ever constructed. He was tasked with making it come alive and accenting all its compelling power with light.

“Once we received the architectural design from Stufish Studios, my team and I closely evaluated the size and material of the structur

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24 June 2024

USA - In 2024, rockers 311 from Omaha, Nebraska, celebrate 34 years as one of America’s most popular indie bands with a massive ‘cult following’. The band celebrates biennially with a ‘311 Day’ concert event - two nights of ‘unapologetic 311-core music’. Since 2018, this has been staged at The Park Theatre at Park MGM, Las Vegas.

Lighting designer Bobby Grey of Notan Creative has been working as their production designer since 2018. But before then, he had completed his first ever 311 tour as a fresh-faced fresh out of school lighting tech, back in the day when Joe Paradise was pushing the buttons.

The 2024 event featured a completely new production design – which will be followed up by a heavy touring schedule – and Bobby took the opportunity to spec nearly 200 Robe moving lights – a mix of Fortes, Esprites, Tetra2s and MegaPoint

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21 June 2024

USA - LD Systems has invested in 26 Ayrton Rivale Profiles. LD Systems has two main divisions, event production services and audio-visual systems integration, and is headquartered in Houston, Texas with a second location operating in San Antonio.  ACT Entertainment is the exclusive distributor of Ayrton lighting in North America.

The purchase marks the first by LD Systems in the current Ayrton product line; the company already has Ayrton WildBeam effects lights. The acquisition, the first IP-rated profile fixture for LD Systems, will be used for its own production work and be available to rental clients.

The IP65-rated Ayrton Rivale Profile is a projector that delivers creativity, subtlety and power – the most versatile fixture created by Ayrton to date. It offers unprecedented performance for its size and weight and features continuous rotation o

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21 June 2024

Norway - The newly launched Grandeur is the sixth luxury ship to come from Regent Seven Seas Cruises. With 10 decks that can host up to 744 guests, the cruise ship promises a deluxe vacation experience with beautiful design throughout. The ship landed on many ETC solutions to outfit its lighting plot.

Filling many roles on the vessel, Travis McHale shared his experience working with ETC. Part of Travis’s responsibilities includes working as a contractor for Norwegian Cruise Lines, designing the light plot, producing paperwork, and creating the layout of all the networking, as well as specifying the equipment. Additionally, for Norwegian Creative Studios, he was the lighting designer and programmer for most of the production shows on board.

This is the third vessel in the class of ship. Prior to Grandeur, Travis worked on the second ship with a Gio

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21 June 2024

USA - Paul Maloof says he’s the kind of person who loves a challenge. He’s also always open to new experiences. He’s getting his share of both with indie icons Say Anything on their 27-city Is A Real Boy 20th Anniversary Tour.

Although they’ve recorded nine albums, in addition to appearing in films and on network TV shows over the past two decades, the popular six-member band has never carried their own LD with them on tour. For his part, Maloof, though admiring their music, was not very familiar with Say Anything’s songs.

“From the get-go, I knew that this was going to be a show of firsts for all of us,” said Maloof. “I started building a show file based on the album track listing and was not very confident it was going to be successful. I decided to take on the challenge of busking the show. It seems to have been the right choice.

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20 June 2024

Sweden - CAST Group of Companies has announced its exclusive partnership with Intersonic AB, taking BlackTrax’s real-time tracking technology to the Swedish market.

Per Anderhagen, sales director at Intersonic, comments, "We are delighted to join forces with BlackTrax, a global leader in real-time tracking technology. As the exclusive distributor in Sweden, Intersonic is dedicated to providing unparalleled support and expertise to our clients, enabling them to leverage the full potential of BlackTrax in their productions."

David Ferraz, international business development manager at CAST, adds, "We are thrilled to welcome Intersonic to our growing network of distributors. With their deep industry knowledge and commitment to customer satisfaction, Intersonic is well-equipped to drive the adoption of BlackTrax technology in Sweden."

"We are ea

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20 June 2024

USA - Elation supported the British Music Embassy (BME) stage at this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) conference and music festival in Austin, Texas. Partnering with the Academy of Live Technology at Production Park, Elation lighting was used to illuminate the stage and artists while serving as a valuable training ground for the next generation of lighting technicians and operators.

The BME stage is a high-profile platform at the renowned festival and is run on behalf of the UK Government International Department for Business and Trade. It provides a valuable showcase for the UK's best emerging acts and has played host to a number of artists who went on to global fame such as Amy Winehouse, Sam Fender, The 1975, and more.

As an ongoing partner of the Academy of Live Technology, and Production Park, Elation was pleased to supply 18 Proteus Lucius,