Lighting

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08 November 2024

Europe - Formerly known as Groupe Novelty-Magnum-Dushow, the European provider of technical solutions for the event and rental staging market has announced its rebranding as Groupe Novelty.

The move, which includes a new logo and fresh corporate identity, positions the rapidly expanding Groupe for further growth and underlines its position as a 360° provider of technical services in France and on a global scale, says the company.

"Our new name, Groupe Novelty, unifies our diverse stable of specialist businesses and sets the stage for further international expansion,” says Jacques de La Guillonnière, founder and president of Groupe Novelty. “With over 40 years of experience and hundreds of thousands of events under our belt, all of our companies already enjoy an extremely strong reputation in France and abroad; with this rebrand, we want to shar

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08 November 2024

USA - The cruise ship industry has changed dramatically throughout its history, from being simple ocean liners to all-in-one floating resorts with fine dining, shopping malls and vast entertainment options. In the early days of cruise ships, entertainment was often quite limited and usually consisted of basic activities and evening shows.

As passenger expectations and technological advancements have grown over recent decades, so has the sophistication of the entertainment offered. Designers Alex Taylor and Travis McHale from Q-L Lighting used the power of BlackTrax from CAST Group of Companies to elevate the theatrical productions on Regent and Oceania ships. This innovative technology has transformed the way lighting design is used on these ships, creating immersive and dynamic experiences.

The partnership started in 2019, when McHale led the design

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08 November 2024

USA - Bandit Lites once again delivered at the 55th Annual Dove Awards, a night showcasing the power of live performance with a visually stunning lighting design. This year’s production, led by lighting designer Mark Carver, featured a carefully crafted system from Bandit Lites that combined technical precision with artistic creativity to elevate every moment of the show.

Hosted by Tauren Wells, the Dove Awards – an event celebrating Christian music – featured performances from Anike, Anne Wilson, CAIN, CeCe Winans, Crowder, Forrest Frank, Joseph Habedank, Maverick City Music with Naomi Raine and Chandler Moore, Natalie Grant, Tauren Wells, Tye Tribbett, and a special multilingual performance of Holy Forever from Brian and Jenn Johnson, Miel San Marcos, and Gabriel Guedes.

Scott Moore of Go Live Productions, production manager for the

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08 November 2024

USA - Max Wolf Friedlich’s play, Job, recently made its Broadway debut at the Helen Hayes Theatre after a critically acclaimed off-Broadway run.

In the play, Jane, a former high tech company employee, who lost her job after exhibiting bizarre behaviour, and Lloyd, her therapist, are figuratively trapped in his office for the entire show. Both carry dark, troubling pasts with them. Confined to a narrow space that seems to grow tighter as the play unfolds, these two conflicted hearts collide, setting off a chain reaction of powerful emotions.

Reflecting the human drama that defines Job is an emotionally unsettling Mextly Couzin lighting design that encompasses the play’s complex world.

“There are two realities this play works in – the therapist’s room and the inside of Jane’s mind, populated with panic attacks and

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08 November 2024

Europe - The Showtec Octostrip Flex is designed for creating ‘immersive atmospheres and mesmerising visuals at all sorts of events’.

The Octostrip Flex is an IP65-rated linear LED fixture consisting of eight LED strips, eight cables and a controller. Each LED strip has individually controllable RGBW LED sections, allowing the creation of intricate, dynamic lighting effects. Available in two different lengths, the 50cm version has four controllable sections per strip, while the 100cm version has eight controllable sections per strip.

The ability to flex your creative muscles begins during setup. With four 2.5m cables and four 5m cables to work with, there are countless configuration options. The strips can be mounted easily using the dedicated Octostrip Mounting Bracket or the QuickLock Bracket.

The RGBW LEDs are capable of producing a spe

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07 November 2024

Europe - Elation has delivered two additions to the SŌL Blinder series: the SŌL II and SŌL IV. Equipped with the same RGBLAW LED engine and accepting the same front lens accessories as the popular SŌL I Blinder, these new models have exponentially expanded the common blinder’s creative potential, says Elation.

With ultra-bright two- and four-cell configurations, the SŌL II and SŌL IV represent the next evolution in the SŌL series, offering ‘enhanced power, flexibility, and durability’.

Featuring RGB+Lime+Amber+White LED engines with 93+ CRI and an IP65 rating, both fixtures deliver ‘stunning brightness and precise colour accuracy’. The SŌL II’s two 350W LED engines radiate a combined 30,750 lumens of output, while the SŌL IV takes it up a notch with four 350W engines delivering 59,830 lumens. Whether used as standalone units or i

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06 November 2024

UK - Critics who have seen previews of the upcoming remake of Alfred Zinnemann’s classic 1973 political thriller Day of the Jackal have universally praised it for its suspenseful tautness. According to them, viewers who tune in to this globally broadcast television series, which begins in November, will be on the edge of their seats throughout the entire show.

The team at Milton Keynes-based Impact Production Services (IPS) had no such nail-biting experience when they set up the production for the London Premiere of the reimagined classic at Queen Elizabeth Hall (formerly Royal Festival Hall) at the Southbank Centre in the British capital. Everything went according to plan for them on 22 October, as they put up the lighting rig and video wall for this Limited Edition Event Design project, which was designed by Richard Godin.

Helping to en

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06 November 2024

Czech Republic - SMART Productions, headed by Josef ‘Pepa’ Ženíšek, supplied all the technical elements required for the two venues – Prague’s O2 Arena and Ostrava Arena – involved in hosting the 2024 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF)’s World Championship tournament. They also co-ordinated technical production in the Prague FanZone area.

As if Czechs were not already proud enough to see their national team beat Switzerland 2-0 in the final to become world champions for the next 12 months, the event’s lighting designer Ondrej Burian worked closely with game experience director Martin Zahálka from Livebros and leaned extensively into Robe moving lights to make an impact for that final event in Prague.

24 Robe BMFL Blades, 24 BMFL WashBeams, 12 Spiider LED WashBeams and 12 Tetra2 LED battens were deployed to illuminate the int

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05 November 2024

UK - LSi is saddened to report the passing of Jack Thompson, long-time technical director of the Manchester International Festival and one of the key forces behind Factory/Aviva Studios, the Festival’s new home base in the City.

Well known and hugely popular throughout the industry, Jack’s early years were spent in the lighting department of theatres including the Birmingham Rep, the Belgrade in Coventry, the Derby Playhouse and Manchester’s Library and Royal Exchange theatres, as well as freelancing across the country. He was the lighting designer for DV8 Physical Theatre through most of the 1990s, and was a project manager for White Light North from the mid 1990s to mid 2000s. Amongst his many projects at White Light was delivering the Northumberland Lights outdoor winter lighting scheme, the precursor to the many popular winter light trails of today

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05 November 2024

Australia - Intense Lighting has expanded its inventory with Prolights EclProfile CT+ fixtures. This upgrade allowed the company to support the world premiere of Gilgamesh, a production by the Sydney Chamber Opera in collaboration with Opera Australia.

Ian Garrad, director of Intense Lighting, stated: "The Prolights EclProfile CT+ fixtures have proven essential to our work. Not only do they offer superior brightness, but the integrated homogeniser ensures flawless colour mixing, simplifying on-site operations. Their compatibility with our existing accessories was another key factor in the success of the installation."

The EclProfile CT+ model was selected for its optical performance, featuring optimised light output and advanced colour management through its six-colour LED source with a high CRI. These features enabled versatile lighting tha

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04 November 2024

USA/Italy - Princess Cruises has chosen Robe Lighting for Sun Princess, the latest addition to the Princess fleet.

With a capacity of 5,900, the Sun Princess boasts various entertainment venues and concepts. The ship has been equipped with a comprehensive Robe Lighting package, including four Forte FSs, four RoboSpot systems, 27 Esprites, 76 Paintes, 22 Spiider LED wash beams, 24 LEDBeam 350s, 43 LEDBeam 150s, 57 Spikie+ and 14 T11 Profiles with gobo modules, plus 21 ParFect 150s, 42 Tetra1s, 30 iPaintes, 13 iSpiiders, 17 iBeam 350s, 5 iTetra2s and 19 iBar 15s.

The Princess Arena, the most technologically advanced Princess Theatre design, offers three configurations to maximise sightlines and deliver a truly captivating experience. The Dome, featuring a pool by sunlight and a stage for shows by starlight, is a glass-enclosed space inspired by the hil

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04 November 2024

USA - Claypaky Xtylos played a key role in Limp Bizkit’s 2024 Loserville Tour, the nu-metal band’s 24-stop North American summer road show. Las Vegas-based OSA International provided the full production package for the tour, including audio, lighting and cameras.

The Loserville Tour kicked off in Wisconsin in July and wrapped in San Bernardino, California at the end of August. Justin Wade, who has worked with Limp Bizkit for about two years, served as lighting designer, programmer and operator for the tour.

“I was looking for a punchy beam that would cut through outside natural elements for this all-amphitheatre tour,” Wade explains.  

“Mark Fetto at OSA International steered me to Xtylos, whose laser source makes it a lot stronger than many other beams. And at a time when so many lights are getting bigger and bi

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04 November 2024

UK - Matt Pitman, founder of design studio Pixelmappers, and long-time production and lighting designer for Dua Lipa, employed a massive rig of Ayrton fixtures for the singer/songwriter’s headline appearance on Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage this summer.

Pitman chose a homogenous array of Ayrton fixtures that included the new Rivale Profile and laser-sourced Kyalami, supplied by Lights Control Rigging (LCR) as part of his touring rig, alongside Ayrton stalwarts Cobra, Bora, Perseo Profile and Domino LT, which formed the main house rig and audience lighting supplied by Neg Earth Lights. The Ayrton fixtures were purchased from Ambersphere Solutions, Ayrton’s exclusive distributor for the UK.

In one of the first major touring productions to use Kyalami since its release in May, Pitman chose 64 of the compact fixtures which – ‘due to some clever r

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04 November 2024

UK - Later this month, Chauvet and its family of brands will take part in Light24 (Light Expo, London) which is built around the theme Step Into The Light. The company will be at the expo to showcase a wide range of solutions that will not only invite visitors to step into the light, but also create and control it in myriad ways, by doing things like using advanced graze and cove fixtures, outputting up to 48 universes from a rail mounted system, and much more.

The entire Chauvet family of brands will be on display at Light24 booth 45, with much of the emphasis being placed on the latest lighting and control innovations from Iluminarc, ChamSys and GeNetix.

The Chauvet booth will offer demonstrations of products like The Logic line of interior architectural lights from Iluminarc. Featuring streamlined form factors that will fit beautifully in

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01 November 2024

World - British indie rock band Glass Animals continue their global Tour of Earth headlining some of the biggest venues of their career, including Madison Square Garden and London’s O2. The band’s show is supported by Ayrton lighting fixtures, a zactrack Smart automated follow spot system and grandMA3 consoles, all brands which are exclusively distributed in North America by ACT Entertainment.

The tour kicked off in Atlanta in August and will wrap up in Australia and Hong Kong at the end of the year. “Glass Animals are incredibly kind and humble people and are very involved with the creative process. Their input has allowed [Cassius Creative cofounders and lighting designers] Chris ’Squib’ Swain and Dan Hill to push the boundaries and design within a framework that has great creative identity,” says Alex Noel, tour lighting director and

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01 November 2024

USA - Whether you’re a golf enthusiast or have never swung a club, Atomic Golf in Las Vegas promises an exciting experience as you compete in interactive games that feel more like party activities than serious competition. Spanning four floors with over 100 high-tech golf bays and eight putting areas, Elation lighting effects boost the festive ambiance and enhance the interactive entertainment experience.

Atomic Golf is located on a seven-acre site next to the STRAT Tower, just north of the Las Vegas Strip. What sets it apart is its state-of-the-art technology, including advanced lighting systems, which prominently feature Elation’s Proteus Maximus LED profile luminaire, enhancing and supporting the venue's lively party atmosphere. Multiple fixtures are mounted above the top level of driving bays, providing bright light that projects hundreds of feet ont

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01 November 2024

USA - When lighting designer Rodger Pugh, his co-designer Craig Richter and production manager Joey Dileo began working on the lighting for Halestorm’s current tour, they collectively developed a clear vision for the show’s final design. Through this collaboration, they came up with a concept that was “somewhere between an ‘80s rock show and a ‘90s high school prom”.

“For a rock show, you naturally want those big, punchy, high-energy moments, but we also wanted to give the audience room to breathe during the softer, more introspective parts,” said Pugh. “For the high-energy, punchy parts, we leaned into bold, saturated colours – like deep reds, electric blues, and intense purples – to give the space a sense of urgency and power. At other points we went with more subtle tones. With this tour, we tried to balance the two elements.”

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31 October 2024

Europe - Avolites has announced three new distributors in key European countries – Austria and Norway, plus Serbia and the other Balkan countries of Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania.

Avolites’ managing director, Paul Wong, commented: “We have been working hard to boost our distributor network with new strategic partnerships worldwide and are thrilled to warmly welcome these three new distributor partners in Austria, Norway & Serbia and The Balkans. They will enhance our commitment to users in Europe and the Balkans and continue our strategy to strengthen the Avolites brand’s global presence.”

In Austria, Signal, a Robe distributor for several years, is taking on the Avolites distributorship. “Distributing Avolites really makes sense regarding turnkey solutions where before we could only offer lig

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31 October 2024

USA - Willis Underhill, Diamond Rio’s Tennessee-based lighting designer, creates a party atmosphere for the band’s live shows, aided by a ChamSys MagicQ MQ250M Stadium Console.

The ChamSys MagicQ MQ250M (supplied by CLD Corp), which Underhill takes with him on the road, made it easy to busk portions of his show. “This console allows me to add busking to a cue show seamlessly,” he said. “I am using Execute Screens and Changing Banks on the fly, which is really great.”

At the start of a tour, Underhill finds that his MagicQ MQ250M aids him immensely when programming shows. “ChamSys makes importing patch information and cue times easy with minimal effort,” he said. “Also, the Timeline feature provides me with a simple way to fine-tune cue timing. Helping me create greater depth within the programming of the MQ tracks.”

At the

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31 October 2024

World - The Sharpy X Frame hybrid fixture – housed in a lightweight, compact design – features a powerful 550W arc lamp for extreme brightness and vivid, uniform colours.

Giovanni Zucchinali, Claypaky project support, says: “Hybrid floodlights were, and still are, a kind of fixture where LED light sources have not yet matched the performance of arc lamps. When we decided to develop this model, we chose to enhance an arc lamp-powered fixture with all the most advanced technologies our industry could offer in terms of optical features, effects, colour production and beam shaping.”

Alberico D'Amato, Claypaky's commercial director, says: "The Sharpy X Frame combines the features of a spotlight with a powerful, uniform beam, a beam moving light with an ultra-focused penetrating beam, a versatile, precise beam shaper and, when needed, a wash light.

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30 October 2024

USA - Sphere Entertainment Co has announced the return of the Sphere XO Student Design Challenge and this year’s theme: Earth Day. In its second year, more than 100,000 Clark County-based students will again be invited to create art for the Exosphere as part of the collaboration between Sphere, the Clark County School District (CCSD) and University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). The winning students’ art will debut on the Exosphere on Earth Day - 22 April 2025.

The Second Annual Design Challenge comes on the heels of the inaugural Sphere XO Student Design Challenge, which was centred on the Fourth of July and culminated with a community event to unveil the winning students’ art. The Earth Day theme for this year’s challenge will encourage students to think creatively about the intersection of art, technology, and planet Earth.

“We are proud o

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30 October 2024

The Netherlands - De Bosuil is a buzzing 850-capacity live music venue in Weert, southeastern Netherlands, AKA ‘The Gateway to Limburg’ due to its close proximity to the Belgian border. It has been voted the greenest city in the Netherlands.

The venue has recently received a new Robe moving light package – 16 x Paintes, 12 x LEDBeam 350s plus eight LEDBeam 150s – which is a substantial upgrade to their previous system of older Robe moving lights fixtures. These are all still working 11 years later but needed upgrading to newer tech to satisfy the string of local and international artists and lighting designers frequenting this popular venue.

Head of lighting Bart Mesman is a freelancer who has worked at De Bosuil for over 15 years, so he knows the venue inside out, and has enjoyed numerous memorable moments along the way.

De Bosuil it

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30 October 2024

Poland - The Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music, one of Poland's most prestigious cultural and educational institutions, has upgraded its auditorium's lighting system with energy-efficient solutions from Prolights.

Show Design, Prolights distributor in Poland, oversaw the installation, replacing the outdated halogen fixtures with a fully modern Prolights LED setup. The new system includes Astra Profile400, Astra Wash19Pix, EclProfile FWVW, EclPendant JrFC, and EclPendant SFC, delivering uniform, high-quality lighting.

With advanced features like adjustable colour temperature and dynamic gobo projection, the system works for both institutional events and artistic performances. “The versatility and reliability of Prolights products allow the academy to adapt to the diverse needs of its events, from concerts and performances to formal presentations,

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29 October 2024

Canada - GLP has appointed DataVisual Marketing as its new Canadian distributor. The move was formally announced at the recent CITT conference and trade show in Saskatoon.

To underpin this move, DataVisual recently appointed Rob Deslauriers as its first vice-president of strategic growth. With a sales background in rental staging and concert touring spanning more than three decades, he says: “I’ve been a part of just about every major entertainment lighting manufacturer throughout my career.

“From my perspective GLP is completely in line with our visual offerings. Although everything today is about ‘visual’ rather than pure lighting, this is the first company we’ve represented from a lighting background.

“What excites me about GLP is their commitment to quality and some of the uniqueness of their products, which is paramount in