Lighting

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19 June 2024

Europe - Marking the 80th anniversary tour of Holiday On Ice, the 2023-24 No Limits tour was created by AED Studios in Lint, Belgium and played 174 performances in 21 cities across Germany with Claypaky Volero Wave and Scenius Profiles, from tour lighting provider Rentall Europe, lighting the figure skating spectacular.

No Limits and its 40 skaters and artists spanned many imaginative settings, from monster battles to Roman chariot races to the Wild West. The show also pushed the technical standards of live entertainment with an impressive three-dimensional, 200sq.m LED screen, approximately 300 projectors and a customised kinetic lighting installation.

Lighting designer Tim Routledge and lighting programmer James Scott focused on crafting a visually stunning and immersive environment that elevated the performances with inn

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19 June 2024

USA - Songs from Scott McCreery’s new album, Rise & Fall, feature alongside older material on his 16-city tour.

The power of McCreery’s performance is reflected in a richly textured production design by Drew Hornback, which, like the music it supports, features a strong narrative element. At its heart is a three-panelled blow-through video wall displaying captivating content created by filmmaker Jeff Ray, the Austin, Texas creative responsible for many of McCreery’s videos.

Adding visual impact to the video panorama are 18 Chauvet Professional STRKE Array 2 fixtures supplied by Blue Crew Productions of Nashville. Hornback positioned six of the high output warm-white blinders behind each of the blow-through walls. Turned on and off at different points in the show, and run at different levels of brightness, the high-output blinders c

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18 June 2024

Europe - Showlight 2025 is calling for speakers to present papers at the next Showlight, slated for 19-22 May 2025 at Le Parc des Expositions et Congrès de Dijon, France.

The Papers Programme is the heart and soul of Showlight and we want to present our delegates with a wide variety of interesting subjects to educate and entertain. This will be the first in-person Showlight since 2017 and we are looking for exciting new projects from all disciplines of lighting and lighting design to include in the 2025 Papers Programme.

Have you worked on a fabulous new project recently? Have you tried out some new technology and got something to share? Does your design really cut the mustard? We want to hear from you in Dijon! 

The papers committee has already begun the process of selecting papers for the programme. If you have an idea, a story or an expe

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18 June 2024

UK - ETC has announced plans to expand its business with the relocation of its London operations to a new, state-of-the-art eco-building. The move supports ETC’s expanding business and service offerings as well as planning for future growth.

The new space – which is located in west London’s Greenford – is more than double the size of ETC’s existing building and will feature enhanced facilities to accommodate the needs of its customers and workforce.

The design of the new building is being developed by ETC with its own in-house team, in-line with the company’s global design approach. There will be more capacity for training, logistics, meetings, and dedicated areas for ETC’s customers and employees.

The company’s dealers and end-users will benefit from having access to an expanded training program and bigger demo spaces. The ad

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18 June 2024

Europe - Ayrton has announced the appointment of Briony Berning as its new design, training and business development engineer as part of the continuing expansion of its international team. The appointment takes place with immediate effect.

Berning’s multi-faceted role will be to formalise Ayrton’s product training on fixtures, key technologies and developments to the markets and its global network of distributors. Alongside this she will develop the theatre markets on a global scale, paying close attention to the specific needs of these sectors and the relevance of Ayrton products within them. Finally, she will maintain a close relationship with her specialism, the theatre market, to keep abreast of developing trends and technologies and ensure Ayrton product development continues to answer these needs.

UK-born yet spending her formative years in

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18 June 2024

USA - The 11th Annual K-LOVE Fan Awards celebrated the best in contemporary Christian music, showcasing heartfelt performances and uplifting messages at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry. Fans voted on top honours to award to artists who made significant contributions to the genre of faith-based music including Brandon Lake, for KING + COUNTRY, TobyMac and Anne Wilson.

Go Live Productions partnered with Bandit Lites to provide a lighting system that would dazzle the in-person audience in addition to those watching from home. The awards aired exclusively on Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN).

Lighting designer Mark Carver drew inspiration from the angles of the side LED walls and the forced perspective of the LED header close down.

“Our goal was to create a contemporary linear and forced perspective look utilizing both wash, strip/strobe fixtures

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18 June 2024

USA/Europe - Elation has merged ‘explosive strobe power with design creativity’ in the new Pulse series and has announced that two versatile effects in the line - the Pulse Panel and Pulse Panel FX - are now shipping.

Both fixtures incorporate zone-controllable RGB and cool-white LEDs, 1152 1.5W RGB LEDs establishing the foundation with 288 5W cool-white LEDs at its centre, and 96 1.5W RGB LEDs at its core. Some 144 5W cool-white LEDs line the perimeter. When combined, output is over 100,000 total lumens. 

“We saw what existed in the market with the standard tilting strobe and knew we wanted to create a more visually dynamic effect with higher impact,” comments Bob Mentele, associate product manager at Elation. “We added the CW LEDs on the outer edges to offer more output and visual impact and then capped those with a custom linear prismat

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18 June 2024

UK - Robe UK enjoyed a busy, successful, and positive ABTT (Association of British Theatre Technicians) expo, staged at Alexandra Palace in London, where the company presented two dynamic exhibition areas – a stand upstairs in the main hall, together with a large demo area located downstairs in the venue’s Palace Suite.

Robe also delivered four presentations that were integral to the ABTT’s extended 2024 seminar and discussion programme, which touched on topics related to sustainability and creative lighting.

The main Robe booth occupied a prime position in the main exhibition hall and featured some of Robe’s newest lighting technologies designed for theatre, performance, TV, and broadcast scenarios, together with selected Anolis, Avolites and Artistic Licence products. Atmosphere and haze specialist MDG, which is distributed in the UK by Rob

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17 June 2024

USA - The exterior of Philadelphia’s 21,000-person capacity Wells Fargo Centre has been lit up with rainbow colours installation to mark Pride Month, with ClearLED X-BAR LED bars driven by tvONE's Green Hippo brand of Hippotizer Media Servers.

Lighting and projection designer Rachael Cady was asked by Mark Fink at Green Hippo dealer and integration expert Barbizon Lighting to create the installation in collaboration with the Wells Fargo Center team. It will run throughout global Pride Month.

As part of a recent upgrade of the exterior lighting, Barbizon specified a Green Hippo Hippotizer Amba+ MK2 to run the LED bars, with surround screens that for June are displaying the Progress Pride Flag LGBTQ+ colours. The effect is further augmented by Acclaim Linear One DMX uplighter fixtures reflecting the rainbow theme. The LED bars were supplied by Jones

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17 June 2024

The Netherlands - The 29th edition of the free Mama’s Pride Festival took place in Burgemeester Damenpark in Geleen on Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 May. Reflexion Evenemententechniek supplied the lighting equipment and T.Y.S signed for the design.

Mama's Pride has been known for years as the most convivial pop festival in the Netherlands. The free festival takes place annually in the Burgemeester Damenpark in Geleen, the historic site where the renowned Pinkpop festival once began. At the 2024 edition, 66 acts performed across six different stages. In total, as many as 19,000 visitors enjoyed acts such as Roxy Dekker, STONE and Meltheads.

T.Y.S was responsible for the technical production and Reflexion Evenemententechniek supplied the technology for all stages and the site lighting. An arsenal of fixtures from Infinity and Showtec were used for the en

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17 June 2024

USA - Astera’s new LunaBulb debuted at Cine Gear LA Expo 2024, held at the Warner Bros Studios in Burbank, California last week.

LunaBulb is suitable for cinematographers – for on-camera practicals or to highlight faces with perfect skin tones – and is also handy for events, offering designers, organizers, and décor specialists a myriad of creative possibilities.

The IP44 rated LunaBulb looks like and can emulate the effect of a traditional incandescent light bulb but works like a professional luminaire. The IP44 rating means LunaBulbs can be used outside, even in wet conditions, if the socket they are screwed into is also IP44 rated, making them perfect for statement lighting – such as festoons – or anywhere where lighting might be used to shape moods and atmosphere.

Drawing just 3.5 watts, the LED-based LunaBulb is available with

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14 June 2024

Sweden - At Eurovision 2024, senior technical director Ola Melzig and his team, including designer Florian Wieder, accented the lines of the stage in the Malmö Arena in bright, bold and brilliant colours with 524 COLORado PXL Bar 16 motorized battens from Chauvet Professional.

Acquired through the company’s Swedish distributor Interlite, and supplied by Niclen through Creative Technologies, the IP65 rated, pixel mappable RGBW battens were “pretty much everywhere” according to Melzig. Lighting designer Frederik Stormby used the fixtures to outline the arena on three different levels, in addition to accenting the contours of the set from the ground to the ceiling and providing backlighting for the acts.

“Fredrik’s design was all straight lines, so these fixtures were perfect to outline it with lovely colours and dynamic looks,” continued M

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14 June 2024

USA - Attendees can explore the capabilities of CAST Group’s BlackTrax at two manufacturer stands: Fulcrum Acoustic and d&b audiotechnik.

Fulcrum Acoustic will showcase their immersive audio solutions by integrating BlackTrax's real-time tracking with their Fulcrum One software. Fulcrum One is a complete software environment for designing and modelling sound reinforcement systems, immersive audio installations, and room acoustics. Its user-friendly interface also allows for the tuning, optimization, deployment, and control of conventional and immersive audio systems in one application. This integration will demonstrate the seamless synergy between advanced tracking technology and sophisticated audio design, offering attendees a glimpse into the future of immersive sound experiences.

Meanwhile, d&b audiotechnik will highlight the integration

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14 June 2024

France - The Royal Opera of Versailles, part of the famous Palace of Versailles, was inaugurated in 1770 and is also known as the Théâtre Gabriel. The interior decoration by Augustin Pajou is constructed almost entirely of wood – for enviable acoustics – and painted with a faux marble technique.

After years of neglect, the venue was transformed by two complete restorations – the 1,200-capacity main room was re-gilded in 1957 and the stage and machinery were revamped in 2009. Since then, it has been busy hosting an annual programme of concerts of baroque music, operas, and ballets.

More recently, a major lighting upgrade comprising 40 x Robe T2 Profiles was delivered in two batches by Robe France, an initial purchase of 30, followed by another 10 x T2 Profiles, which they liked so much that they purchased 12 x TX1 PosiProfiles.

Hosting

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14 June 2024

Belgium - Since its establishment in 1965 as the city theatre of Ghent, NTGent has maintained a prominent role in the Flemish theatre scene. The venue delivers high-quality productions that are both artistically challenging and socially relevant, utilising lighting solutions from ETC.

Operating across two distinct realms, NTGent (also known as Nederlands Toneel Gent) crafts original theatre pieces and hosts external performances at its venues. For their original creations, which frequently tour internationally, NTGent prioritises a versatile lighting setup capable of adapting to diverse venues worldwide. Conversely, visiting performances rely on more traditional equipment, albeit with a preference for cutting-edge technology.

During a recent interview, Dennis Diels, head of lighting at NTGent, shared insights into the theatre's operations and its dec

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13 June 2024

USA - LynTec, a wholly owned subsidiary of Chauvet has announced the acquisition of Juice Goose, a company that manufactures and distributes electric power distribution, conditioning, and control equipment.

“LynTec couldn't be more excited about the reputation and deep customer relationships Juice Goose brings, with solid products that perfectly complement our existing lineup,” said Mark Bishop, president of LynTec. “Now, regardless of how big or small the installation, we have the power solution for the job, whether that’s four circuits for a conference room or 500 circuits for an arena.”

Juice Goose was founded in 1983 and was one of the first companies to provide power conditioning products specifically for the audio industry. Since, the company has developed and maintained a reputation as a reliable supplier of electric power management

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13 June 2024

Belgium - Arto Company is a rental and full technical production, based in Wavre, the French-speaking region of Belgium and working across the concert touring, festival, live event, and corporate sectors.

Their first Robe purchase was in 2019, and since then the inventory has expanded dramatically with the latest purchases being 16 x iFortes, 48 x LEDBeam 350s and 18 x Tetra2s, which join over 100 other Robe fixtures in the house, including 24 x Esprites, 48 x LEDBeam 150s, 18 x T1 Profiles and two RoboSpot systems.

“We started observing that Robe was a clear market leader, and the products were increasingly appearing on artist riders,” explained Arto’s lighting team manager Alain Meys, “and so that constant demand for the products made us take notice and realise that we needed to invest in what people were requesting.”

He and the l

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13 June 2024

USA - Taking Back Sunday lighting designer Eric Price is the first to tour with Elation’s new SŌL I Blinder, integrating the tiny yet impactful LED light into the rock band’s set on their current North American outing. Celebrating their new album, 152, the tour kicked off on 19 May in New Orleans and continues through the summer.

“I was looking for a low-profile blinder to skirt the risers, set pieces and steps -something powerful, functional, and small enough to put on a pipe for easy travel, install and pull - and the SŌL fit the bill,” Price said. First shown at the LDI tradeshow in December, the SŌL I Blinder is not only compact and versatile enough to seamlessly integrate into virtually any stage setting, its RGBLAW LED engine offers full-spectrum colour and packs a punch at over 8000 lumens. Its modular design, coupled with a variet

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12 June 2024

UK - The inaugural Profile Awards were held on Thursday 6 June at the Alexandra Palace Theatre. The event was attended by some 200 guests, of which half were reportedly lighting designers or members of their teams.

Created and coordinated by Durham and Jennie Marenghi in association with the ABTT, the ALPD and the STLD; The Profile Awards recognise lighting design excellence in theatre and television in the UK. Headline sponsor for the 2024 event was Ayrton.

The Theatre Awards were judged by UK theatre critics and were not open to nominations whereas the Television Awards were judged by broadcast professionals and could be nominated by anyone.

Winners of the Theatre Awards are as follows . . .

Outstanding Achievement in Theatre sponsored by Chauvet Professional: Simon Wilkinson for Ragnarok,

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12 June 2024

Germany - PRG was one of the first users worldwide to use the Cameo ORON H2 IP65 hybrid moving-head with phosphor-laser engine in a live production. The laser moving head provided beams and effects on the main stage of this year's OMR Festival 2024 in Hamburg.

PRG and lighting designer Ben Marquardt (QConcept) placed eight ORON H2s on the floor in front of the huge projection screen on which all the talks and presentations in the large hall were projected. The ORON H2 thus accompanied the eagerly awaited appearances of OMR top guests Kim Kardashian, Robert Habeck, Jeff Koons, Rick Rubin and many more.

"The ORON H2 is a special spotlight," says Ben Marquardt. "With its razor-sharp, narrow beams, it is perfect for prominent stage looks and fan effects at the speakers' entrances, but also as a static 'spotlight' when the focus is fully on the talks."

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12 June 2024

USA - The University of New Hampshire Spring Concert, headlined by MTV Award nominate rapper Lil Tecca was backed up by a bold and intense light show created by the Events United team that featured 58 Chauvet Professional fixtures, and 30 F4 IP video tiles.

Matching the music of the artists on the 48’ by 64’ stage, the production featured a penetrating industrial look with stark colour contrasts, an ample amount of dark space, fog, and plenty of audience lighting.

“I wanted to create an edgier look using practical pieces on stage,” said production designer Rachel Fahey of Events United, who designed the show. “I included a decent amount of crowd lighting. I think it's important to include the crowd in what is going on stage. Crowd lighting can help them feel more comfortable to dance or sing along, and for some that's the best part about go

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11 June 2024

Europe - Ayrton has launched Nando 502 Wash, the latest in Ayrton’s Multi Sources IP65 6 Series and a brilliant evolution of the successful NandoBeam range.

Nando 502 Wash is a compact IP65 luminaire, specially designed for mixed use stage lighting, both indoors and outdoors, and even in salty environments.

In the wash light category there are some luminaires that will make the audience feel pure emotion, and the new Nando 502 Wash delivers a wash effect with finesse.

Suited to stage lighting, this new LED source offers the advantage of better integration into the colour space and facilitates colour reproduction. Nando 502 Wash is fitted with 12 high-performance 40W LED sources with RGB-L additive colour synthesis and a proprietary optical system made up of a unique 210mm cluster in PMMA. This works in combination with 12 glass light-guides

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11 June 2024

UK - Britain’s Got Talent contestants battle it out each spring to reach the top spot - this year won by singer Sydnie Christmas, to the tune of £250,000 and a coveted place on the Royal Variety Performance. Viewers tune in at an average rate of 5-6m per episode, with the first episode watched by over 12mviewers, making BGT ITV’s biggest entertainment show this year.

2024 marks the third year television, broadcast and event lighting specialist, Version 2, has supplied the lighting, distribution, cabling, control equipment and supplementary truss for the series’ fun-filled auditions, all of which were filmed over two intense week-long sessions at the London Palladium and Manchester Lowry.

The series was lit again by award-winning lighting designer, David Bishop, who was happy that Version 2 won the tender process for the series once mo

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11 June 2024

Spain - The newly-renovated Santiago Bernabéu stadium lit up on 18 May with the Telefónica 100 Live spectacular. This celebration of Telefónica’s centenary brought together over 60,000 attendees for a night of music and technology.

The night was a symphony of light and sound, where renowned artists like Alejandro Sanz, Hombres G, and Ana Mena delivered vibrant performances. Each act was accompanied by a top-tier audiovisual display that transformed the event into an unparalleled sensory experience. The mastermind behind this impressive setup was lighting designer Caco García. Known for his creativity and attention to detail, Caco turned Telefónica 100 Live into ‘an unforgettable visual and emotional spectacle’.

“Creating a show perfect for Telefónica’s centenary and the magnificent Santiago Bernabéu was an exciting challenge,” comm