USA - Situated in the heart of New York’s Times Square, seven floors up amid the luxury of the new Edition boutique hotel, is nightclub and performance space Paradise Club. The ‘brainchild’ of Studio 54’s Ian Schrager and home to an immersive dinner theatre and modern-day cabaret called The Devouring: A Marriage of Heaven and Hell Paradise Club hosts an Elation Professional lighting rig specified by AVL design and integration firm Clair Solutions with input from Yossy Marquez of J. Marquez Consultants. Paradise Club is a fully-immersive experience with an attention-grabbing starburst LED ceiling, depth-producing upstage video wall, enchanting décor, and atmosphere-generating dynamic lighting system. Following the multi-sensory Devouring cabaret show, performed by resident artist company House of Yes, the space transforms into a colourful nightclub with
USA - A light rain was falling intermittently on the July evening when Citizen Cope took the stage at the Stony Creek Brewery, an outdoor music venue just off the Long Island Sound. The weather didn’t affect the large crowd that turned out to see the widely acclaimed singer-song writer who was in the middle a national tour in support of his Helicopters and Heroin album. It did however, present his lighting designer, Peter Spadaro III with an inspiration. Seeing the mist roll in off the sea on a drizzly night, Spadaro directed his rig’s Chauvet Professional Maverick MK1 Hybrid fixtures into the crowd. Using the natural elements as a giant hazer, he filled the air around the stage with an immersive panorama of refracted light and patterns. “The music and the atmosphere of a venue really dictate my design, so I keep things free flowing,” says Spadaro. “D
Cyprus - A.L.A. Equipment, founded in 2001 by Andrea Piemonti and Tony Lyssiotis has been appointed distributor for Prolights in Cyprus. Andrea Piemonti, managing director for A.L.A. Equipment, comments: “I have worked in this industry for more than 30 years but when I first approached Prolights I was pleased to join a partner who shares our commitment in delivering the best solutions. It’s a well-rounded company, a breath of fresh air in the AVL market. Prolights’ wide selection of products offer enormous advantages suited to any kind of needs, from broadcast and live shows, right through to the architectural projects. I’ve seen closely the hard work behind Prolights solutions and their long-term vision of strong brand establishment. I have no doubts that the future will be bright for this brand. We’re looking forward to starting this collaboration”. Paolo A
USA - OSA has announced Mark Fetto as vice-president of lighting. Fetto will oversee the company’s new lighting division, which will be based in OSA’s Las Vegas and Nashville offices. Fetto started working as a lighting technician in 1978. Working his way through the ranks at the Obie Company and Vari-Lite, he then became a lighting designer and senior programmer. In 1989 Fetto opened Vari-Lite’s satellite office in Las Vegas. He went on to become general manager of Vari-Lite’s corporate events division and later general manager of their North American operations. Following a 16-year career at Vari-Lite, Fetto joined Stage Rigging as the national sales manager before moving to his most recent position of 14 years at Morpheus Lights. As chief operating officer at Morpheus Lights, Fetto oversaw touring systems, new inventory, infrastructure, and operational stra
USA - Bandit Lites provided the lighting for Dave Koz’ Christmas tour, featuring Jonathan Butler, Melissa Manchester, Michael Lington and Chris Walker. Koz’s tour and newest album, Gifts of the Season, features a smorgasbord of styles, ranging from an electronic rendition of Winter Wonderland, a whimsical It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas as well as an emotional Mary Did You Know and powerful original song from Koz, A Prayer for Peace. “As we sat down to begin concepting the production design, we knew that it needed to be versatile in creating moments for each of the emotions that the band is creating audibly,” explains lighting designer Erik Parker of Chris Lisle Lighting Design. To create the moments, Parker knew the rig would need to be outfitted with well-rounded fixtures that would also integrate with the vi
UK - Specialist hire and events company SLX has made a number of new stock announcements, including a £250,000.00 spend on SGM fixtures. The investment places SLX as a major stockist in the South West of the SGM IP rated LED fixtures used for professional stage lighting, broadcast lighting and architectural installations. Chief executive and owner of SLX, Alastair Currie, says: “The new roster of SGM fixtures now on the shelves of our warehouse or already out on hire include the P-6 Flood, Q-7 Strobe, G-7 Spot and even the brand new much anticipated G7 BeaSt. That’s a spotlight we’re sure will very rarely be sat on our warehouse shelves, as lighting designers and production managers around the country seem very keen to utilise it. “We’re delighted to become the biggest stockist in the region of SGM fixtures. The SGM fixtures we already had, including the P-
UK - Laserworld, manufacturer and distributor of show laser systems, is holding a general laser training day in the West Midlands. Taking place on 14 January 2020 in Solihull from 10am, the training is conceived as a workshop, considering not only laser safety aspects but providing a general overview of how show and event laser light systems are used. There will be technical background information as well as hands-on training with different laser systems. Laser safety will be one aspect included. This workshop is primarily designed for DJs, smaller production companies and lighting designers. Attendees receive a certificate of participation from the Laserworld Academy that states the contents of the training. Topics include: Laser Safety - legal aspects, basic physics, technical safety aspects, safe laser operation in public, safe laser control; Setting
Poland - The award-winning TurboRay fixture from High End Systems recently made its latest TV appearance on the 17th edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest (JESC, broadcast live from Arena Gliwice in Poland. JESC is designed to draw people together from all over Europe and Australia through light entertainment and healthy competition. It’s an increasingly spectacular and technically complex event, transmitted live to millions of viewers. This year, 19 participants aged between 9 and 14 years old took to the stage to battle it out for the trophy. The stage, designed by Giorgos Stylianou-Matsis, comprised a design featuring an eye-catching LED ribbon element symbolising floating kites. The ribbon gave the stage a spacious, light and simple design form. To complement the impressive stage design, a series of 26 TurboRay fixtures were positioned on stage and used
UK - Stage Electrics has announced three seminars to take place during its January 2020 showcase event, to be held at the SS Great Britain in Bristol on Wednesday, 29 January 2020. The programme features Artistic Licence’s Wayne Howell on lighting control and future of data in your venue, Sennheiser’s Kevin Gwyther-Brown talking about “is your venue is ready for the 700MHz band radio mics spectrum clearance” and Stage Electrics’ Dan Ryan guiding you through making sure that electrical / mechanical infrastructure and equipment used within your venue have an appropriate maintenance regime and schedule in compliance with relevant your legal obligations. Le Maitre will also be returning to Bristol to host a harbour-side pyrotechnic demonstration
Germany - The RTI PIKO RGB 28 has been released by Ray Technologies as the first product with the latest RTI laser module generation. “This new laser module technology really changes the way professional laser systems are built. The compact form factor and the great visibility combined with the quality of the beam profile make those new laser systems stand out even more,” states Jordi Luque, head of R&D at Ray Technologies. The new RTI diode modules are designed in a way to keep both spot size, as well as divergence equal on both x- and y-axis. The beam specifications of the new RTI PIKO RGB 28 are given with only 4mm diameter and less than 0.9mrad divergence - which applies to both axis, so it’s an actual value not an average and provides higher quality results than specifications with mixed calculations. The extremely small beam diameter allows for the use
The Netherlands - ADJ lighting and effects equipment was used exclusively to create the party atmosphere in the Tiroler tent at this summer’s vast Zwarte Cross festival in the Netherlands. Vizi CMY300 moving heads, 12P HEX IP pars and Encore FR150Z Frenels were all part of the package that illuminated the line-up of live acts performing in the tent across the four-day event. The Zwarte Cross Festival, which takes place each year in the Dutch town of Lichtenvoorde, is the largest paid festival in the Netherlands. This event combines live music, theatre and stunt spectaculars with the biggest motocross event in the world. This year, it attracted 220,000 visitors and featured more than 150 bands and 1000 theatre artists performing across a variety of themed stages and tents. A popular regular fixture of the festival is the Tiroler tent, which is an Oktoberfest-themed area tha
UK - West Midlands-based event technical production specialist CPL has invested in 40 new Robe LEDBeam 150 moving lights, the company’s first Robe purchase. These will extend the lighting department’s rental stock and will help service CPL’s busy schedule. In addition to a diverse range of corporate and industrial clients, the company provides design services plus lighting, video, sound, rigging and staging to a selection of music and arts festivals and shows including Arcadia Spectacular. Elrow Town, The Hay Festival, Boomtown and Camper Calling. Getting the LEDBeam 150s onboard was a decision taken by the whole lighting and visuals team at CPL, all of whom had an input. “We needed a good, fast, reliable, versatile and small moving light and all roads led to the LEDBeam 150 which fills a gap in our stock of small moving lights,” commented events direct
Spain - Singer Aitana first gained recognition in 2017 as runner-up of the Spanish reality TV music talent competition Operación Triunfo and she has enjoyed popularity and a number of hits ever since. This past summer, the 20-year old singer released her debut album, Spoiler, which topped the Spanish charts, then launched her much-anticipated Play tour with lighting design by SomosLuz, a Barcelona-based design studio who worked with Brutal Events on the creative process. SomosLuz turned to the Elation Rayzor 760 LED moving head to create a special design element for the show - four upstage Play buttons used for dynamic beams, eye candy looks and other special effects. Describing the show’s visual look, the design studio states: “The central element of the design is an inverted pyramidal LED screen with a staircase, which is used as a podium
South Africa - The University of Johannesburg recently invested in a grandMA3 compact console for the UJ Arts and Culture Centre, situated on the institution’s Kingsway Campus in Auckland Park. Jannie de Jager of DWR Distribution, MA Lighting’s sole distributor in South Africa, recently facilitated training at the institution to ensure that the theatre’s crew can make the best of the new console, as well as the newly launched MA3 platform. Jade Bower has served as the production manager at the UJ Arts and Culture Centre for several years and is very pleased with the theatres’ latest acquisition. “The UJ Arts and Culture Centre provides students at the university access to theatre and the performing arts, which is an important part of providing a holistic education,” Jade explains. “While we do not have a drama department at the university, our students
UK - Stage Electrics has supplied, installed and commissioned new LED lighting to replace the existing house lighting at Kings Place, London. Originally opened in 2008, Kings Place is a multi-purpose venue including a concert hall as well as the home to The Guardian and The Observer newspapers. Stage Electrics were contracted by Paul Russell, technical project manager for Kings Place, to replace the lighting in Hall 1 which is the main concert hall, a system originally installed by sister company Northern Light. The new feature Lighting in addition to general auditorium lighting provides illumination, with full colour mixing, of the acoustic void around the upper walls of the auditorium as well as the stage and seating areas. This additional feature allows the venue to offer corporate clients the ability to customise the room in their corporate colours so
Mexico - A crowd of over 7,000 waited eagerly for Ana Torroja to appear at the esplanade of the Chihuahua Desert Museum of Delicias. They immediately erupted into wild cheering when the former singer from Mecano stepped on the stage dressed in a striking blue outfit and surrounded by her four bandmates, all in white. As soon as the first notes were struck, the star and her backups were engulfed in a sea of intense back and side light that moved from white to blue. It was the beginning of a combination of music and light at this free concert sponsored by the state government as part of the XV edition of the International Festival Chihuahua. Contributing to the immersive visuals was a collection of 64 Chauvet Professional fixtures, which, like the rest of the rig were supplied by Chihuahua-based Pro Audio Soluciones S.A. de C.V. Making this civic stop as part of
UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET), in conjunction with Luminex, has hosted a number of sell-out network training events specifically for lighting, video and audio professionals. Held at AC-ET's training facilities in High Wycombe and Leeds, industry experts have been teaching the fundamentals of networking, plus the specifics of networking and data distribution for professional lighting, audio and video applications. The courses provided the chance to learn more about Luminex products - including the new LumiNode next generation Ethernet to DMX processor and the Araneo software tool that provides a complete graphical overview of a Luminex Gigacore Network. Application specialists from Luminex led the courses; one focusing on networking for lighting & video and the other on audio applications. Both saw a massive demand throughout the year, with eac
UK - Leicester-based provider of specialist electrical LED lighting installations, Ventola Projects, has completed a major project at the newly re-launched Cheshire Oaks Tenpin bowling centre near Ellesmere Port. Cheshire Oaks has invested more than £1m in the recent transformation which includes the latest technology, new attractions and will create more than 25 new jobs. Ventola Projects has helped to implement some of this latest technology. Managing director, Mick Ventola and his team have assisted the venue in achieving its ultimate objective; to change the dynamic of the existing design, ensuring high quality white lighting plus the inclusion of vibrant colours through the site. Functionality and controllability were high on the wish-list of the client and neither of these proved to be a challenge for Ventola who understood the wants and needs of the entertainme
South Africa - DWR Distribution hosted a Robe Roadshow during the first week of December. “It has been a while since a product has made such an impact in our market, and both the Esprite and Tetra2 have blown us away,” said Duncan Riley, managing director of DWR. “While the roadshow - hosted in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg - coincided with the busiest time of the year for many in our industry, we were pleased to demonstrate the fixtures to several key industry players. We were very grateful to those who were able to join us, and for the positive feedback that they gave. A big thank-you to the Roxy Revue Bar at the GrandWest Casino in Cape Town and the Grace Family Church in Durban for hosting us.” Demonstrations were held on the hour between 10am and 4PM throughout the Roadshow by DWR’s Jannie de Jager and Harry von den Stemmen, international sales dire
USA - In January 1922 the Orpheum Theatre in Marion, IL, opened its doors for the first time. The flagship location of a vaudeville chain, the theatre offered locals a wide array of entertainment options, even hosting stars like Harry Houdini and the Ziegfeld Follies who performed before standing room only crowds. Although the Orpheum is long gone, having been purchased by the city and renamed from a variety of genres. Only today, performers on its stage are supported by a modern LED lighting system that would have been unimaginable in the Orpheum’s incandescent era. Anchoring that rig is collection of 46 Chauvet Professional Maverick fixtures that were added to the theatre’s rig earlier this year. “We purchased the Mavericks after some extensive research and testing against competing fixtures, led by our executive director Josh Benson,” said Kyle Upchur
UK – Australian three-piece alt dance group Rufus Du Sol headed to London’s Alexandra Palace for the headline performance of their Solace tour and their biggest UK show to date. In a statement, the band said: “We wanted to find somewhere big enough to host a night of electronic music with all the bells and whistles.” TSL Lighting was brought in to make this happen, specifying their latest investments to provide the pizazz befitting of Matthew Smith’s ambitious lighting design and production manager Jonathan Nelson’s requirements. Senior TSL project manager James Davies oversaw the equipment package creation and delivery, which included 25 of GLP’s award winning JDC1 hybrid strobe and control via the company’s new grandMA3 Light consoles, NPUs, a Luminex networking solution and a full rigging package utilising EXE Hoists. “TSL has heavily
The Netherlands - Highlite International will be present during CUE 2020 from 13 to 15 January at Rotterdam Ahoy (NL), hall 1, stand 1.402. Here, they are going to showcase a wide array of lighting, audio and video applications from DAP Audio, DMT, Showtec and Infinity. The biennial exhibition offers a comprehensive overview of the latest technical facilities for indoor and outdoor stage presentations. Infinity will show the Furion Series: powerful and intelligent LED-based moving heads, equipped with wireless DMX. There will be special attention for the Cue 2020 Audience-award nominee Furion B401 Moving head Beam. The B401 is equipped with a multicolour bump functionality. This feature gives light engineers sheer endless possibilities in combining colours. Besides Furion Infinity will also show the Chimp light controllers and the Signature LED based theatre luminaires.
Belgium - LED lighting manufacturer Lucenti has appointed Jeroen Carette as brand manager. With over 16 years of extensive experience in the professional lighting industry, Carette will implement the development strategy, focussing on the optimisation of the distribution channels and taking the brand’s identity to a next level. Karel De Piere, co-owner of Lucenti, comments: “We’ve known Jeroen for many years as a true professional and experienced export manager. His approach will be appreciated by our professional customers and leading designers. A firm sales structure will support our valued and trusted distributors worldwide.” Carette adds: “ Finding this truly innovative state of the art technology in a company I’ve known for years , has been a pleasant surprise. Being able to work within this team of excellent developers and product specialists is absolu
USA - St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church of Newport Beach, California has added Ayrton Khamsin-TC profile luminaires to its equipment inventory for worship services and special events. St Andrew’s has been in the Newport Beach community for about 70 years and is known as a neighbourhood church with global impact. It holds three weekend worship services, both modern and classic, and maintains a staff to handle AV production needs. “It’s been our long-term goal to offer live streaming on the internet, and our recent camera and lighting purchases are designed to aid us in live streaming services and events,” says Erik Alkire, lighting designer at St Andrew’s. The church has six Panasonic cameras, four of them remotely controlled by the technical director and two manned on tripods. Its extensive lighting complement includes 90 conventional fixtures plus some
