UK - To provide Scottish customers with a hands-on experience with their products, Ambersphere Solutions is heading to Glasgow. The open day workshop is on Wednesday 26 June and is held in partnership with the Royal Conservatoire Scotland. The latest entertainment control and lighting products from Astera, Ayrton, MA Lighting, Robert Juliat and zactrack will be on hand. Visitors will be able to try out the consoles and fixtures in a real-world environment with assistance and guidance from Ian Green and the Ambersphere technical team. Products will include the grandMA3 range, the Ayrton LED moving light range, 100% wireless range from Astera, 3D tracking solutions from zactrack and the Dalis Cyc and Footlight range as well as the latest LED Followspots from Robert Juliat. Philip Norfolk, sales director of Ambersphere comments, “Here at Ambersphere it’s very im
Singapore - Concept Systems Technologies recently upgraded The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia, Singapore grand ballroom with a Martin by Harman lighting system for conventions, weddings, celebrations and more. Concept Systems Technologies recommended the Martin MAC Quantum Profile, MAC Quantum Wash, Rush MH 1 Profile Plus, MAC Aura and the JEM Hazer Pro. “The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia, Singapore wanted to upgrade their old discharge lamps with dynamic, intelligent LED fixtures to make their events more immersive,” said a spokesperson for Concept Systems. “Thanks to the wide array of diverse fixtures from Martin, we were able to design a custom lighting solution capable of creating a visually impactful experience for any event.” Concept Systems outfitted the ballroom with four MAC Quantum Profile fixtures and four RUSH MH1 Profile Plus fixtures to create crisp, clea
UAE - Prolights feature in the installation of the newly opened restaurant Wavehouse in the iconic Atlantis The Palm, Dubai. Since opening in early 2019 the Wavehouse entertainment venue has been acknowledged as one of Dubai’s premiere entertainment destinations and a jewel in the crown for the landmark Atlantis The Palm Hotel. Wavehouse delivers entertainment over three floors including a multi-level soft-play area, two floors of arcade gaming with a dedicated Fortnite suite, multifunction room and VR experiences, a four-lane bowling alley, indoor restaurant & bar and a large terrace area with live stage, bars, casual seating and a view out over the Aquaventure Waterpark. Prolights dominates the lighting installation with over 800 fixtures throughout the venue. The range of IP-rated and track-mount fixtures varied depending on requirements from their locat
Europe - Lighting designer Jacopo Ricci made a fundamental contribution to staging Fedez's recent tour by selecting a high-impact lighting system, consisting of 52 Mythos 2 units and 20 Claypaky B-EYE K20s, all supplied by Mister X service based in Grumello Cremonese. Jacopo Ricci said: “I chose Mythos 2 units for the versatility they allowed me. With these units, I could go from beam light to spotlight depending on the needs during the individual parts of the show, and I could program the fixtures differently during the show while exploiting the same installation points. I don't normally use beam lights very much, but in this case, the ability to switch to beam mode was really important. I can safely say that I made the most of the hybrid features of these units.” The three front and two side trusses were all fitted with Mythos units, which Jacopo said he "used 90
The Netherlands - Dutch singer and TV presenter Jan Smit has been at the forefront of show business for over 20 years. After being discovered by Dutch boy-band Volendam MWN back in 1996, Smit has since gone on to work as a solo artist, in addition to his work as a TV presenter. For his current theatre tour of the Benelux, Smit's long-term creative collaborator Martijn Steman was once again tasked with providing refreshing and versatile tour visuals. After much pre-tour deliberation, Triple Showtechniek supplied Steman and his team with 30 Chauvet Professional Rogue R1 FX-B fixtures, which were incorporated within Steman's lighting concept to award Smit’s energetic rock ’n roll songs with an explosive visual energy. Positioned in three horizontal rows running the width of the entire stage, the R1 FX-Bs play a pivotal role in creating energetic bursts of colour and
Europe - The 2019 arena tour of Saveus, a Danish electronic pop/soul act, featured an impressive setup that featured CLF Orion fixtures. LD Theis Wermuth from Create This was asked to create a spectacular look for the 2019 arena shows in Copenhagen and Aarhus. With the idea of creating big pods of light, needed for an electronic/digital look, he included ladders with 24 CLF Orion hybrid moving heads and 32 CLF Ares LEDwashes as main light. Theis Wermuth explained, “I wanted a powerful hybrid fixture that could make beams and nice breakup looks. The CLF Orion was more the answer. They were used for creating nice, subtle looks, but also for powerful highlights. For strobe effects I searched for a powerful LED fixture. I was hugely impressed by the output of the CLF Ares when using them before, so I decided to use them as LED strobe.” Both fixtures will be deployed f
Europe - Released through Prolight Concepts Group, the LEDJ Spectra QX40 Pixel “gives the wow factor to any indoor or outdoor space”. This IP-rated exterior fixture will withstand the elements, illuminating event spaces, stages or facades in all weathers, says the company. Utilising quad-colour technology from its 40 10W RGBW LEDs the Spectra QX40 Pixel can produce a wide colour spectrum from rich, primary colours through to subtle pastel hues. This, coupled with five segment pixel zone control, allows lighting designers to create stunning effects. This multi-use fixture can also be truss mounted via the included Omega clamps, making it suitable for use as a blinder, strobe or stage wash panel. The QX40 features a heavy-duty alloy chassis with precise 180° tilt angle adjustment, quick release omega brackets, powerCON TRUE1 connectors and IP rated 5-pin XLR connect
USA - The Aiken Bluegrass Festival held this May at the Western Carolina State Fairgrounds featured a healthy dose of rock-infused newgrass sounds alongside traditional bluegrass. Lighting this year’s festival, John Berret reflected the spirit of both branches of bluegrass music. Aiding him in this endeavour was a collection of Chauvet Professional Rogue fixtures, supplied by Quest Sound Productions. “I really needed to be aware of the relatively limited space I had available while designing the festival rig,” says Berret. “At the same time that it had to be compact, my rig also needed to be versatile enough to create unique looks for 19 different groups representing different generations of bluegrass.” With limited height and room for his design, Berret optimised the placement of all fixtures to enhance the impact of his lighting. He hung six Rogue R2
Colombia - Obsidian Control Systems has appointed Audio Concept as its exclusive distributor in Colombia. The Bogota-based company, which has provided professional and high-end consumer audio, lighting and video products in the region for over 30 years, will offer support for the entire line of Obsidian hardware and software lighting control solutions. Audio Concept has already held training sessions dedicated to the Onyx system and the latest Obsidian consoles in Bogota, with further workshops coming up in other locations in July. Jean Paul Gaspard, president of Audio Concept, comments: “We are excited about the opportunity to offer Obsidian controllers to lighting professionals across Colombia. We believe the intuitive nature of the new Obsidian products combined with training of lighting programmers will help position Obsidian as one of the top control bra
France - High End Systems’ new SolaFrame 3000 has been selected by French dealer Texen to join its fleet of lighting products. Twelve units have already been ordered and shipped for use in upcoming projects by the rental company. Officially launched last year, the SolaFrame 3000 remains in high demand by several venues in search of an automated fixture with such a powerful lumen output. Established venues across France including the Opéra Bastille, Opéra National de Lyon and Théâtre du Châtelet have chosen the SolaFrame 3000 for their respective productions. Managing director of Texen, François Mondié, comments: “We have carried out several tests and compared different automated fixtures on their movement, effects and noise-level. The SolaFrame 3000 has been the clear winner. It is the only LED machine that is comparable to HMI and ticks all of the boxes.”
Europe - Over the past 15 years, country & western band, The BossHoss, have built their reputation effortlessly, year after year. This Spring, they returned with their eighth studio album Black Is Beautiful. And from mid-March to early April the band toured Germany, Austria and Switzerland. mdc licht.gestalten. GmbH & Co. KG from Mettmann was responsible for the lighting, video and set design of the tour as well as the programming of the show. The lighting design was created by the company’s Jonas König, who also accompanied the tour as an operator. The design brief was typical BossHoss: a classic rock ‘n’ roll stage with plenty of unconventional elements, in which a variety of different looks could be created. "The stage didn’t want to be too 'clean', but at the same time had to be able to carry the rock 'n' roll feeling," recalls Jonas. "Accor
UK - Illumination specialists, LED Creative is supporting production designer Alex Craig on the new series The Ranganation, produced for the BBC by Zeppotron. Recorded in two stints at Elstree Studio D and Television Centre, the show is hosted by comedian Romesh Ranganathan who is joined by a studio panel, comedians and expert guests to take a humorous look at the week's biggest talking points. Working alongside award winning lighting designer Gurdip Mahal and art director Ben Telford, LED Creative provided a selection of products to help create Designer Alex’s vibrant, neon-esque look that accompanies the show. A key feature within the design is the artistic use of LC Alpha Neon LED. Blending the convenience and versatility of traditional neon with LED technology, the product proved the solution for shaping the oversize graphic icons mounted against gia
Belgium - RTL-TVI, a Belgian television station owned by the RTL Group, is the most popular television channel within French-speaking Belgium. Amongst its highlights is its coverage of Champions League football which it delivers from a versatile virtual studio in Brussels, filmed against a green screen background created by Zero Density. For the successful creation of this virtual studio, director of photography at RTL Belgium, Filipe dos Santos, searched for a high quality, low energy lighting solution which would allow him to create a green screen environment suitable for the high standards of broadcast and the exacting demands of a highly technical augmented reality system. After extensive research, Dos Santos chose a combination of Robert Juliat Dalis 860 Cyclights, Dalis 861 Washlights and Dalis 862 Footlights due to their exceptional control and light quality, qu
Italy - The Galli Theatre in Rimini, a historic venue on the Romagna Riviera, has now reopened 75 years after it was hit during bombing in December 1943. The famous theatre, which was inaugurated by Giuseppe Verdi in 1857, came back to life on 28 October 2018. The reopening took place to the sound of the voice of mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli. She performed Cinderella in a semi-staged version, accompanied by the Musiciens du Prince. The reconstruction and modernization of the mechanical stage equipment and other systems was entrusted to Decima 1948, a leading firm in the field of design, development and implementation of technological solutions for the theatre and show and exhibition venues. Decima 1948 has carried out work on prestigious stages such as the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the Verona Arena, the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania, and the Teatro Regio in Par
UK - Almost 30 years after the release of the original animated musical film Aladdin, the remake of the Walt Disney classic recently had its London premiere at the Odeon Luxe in Leicester Square. Director Guy Ritchie walked down the ‘magic’ carpet at the glamorous event, as did stars Will Smith, Naomi Scott and Mena Massoud. Lining their route was an enthusiastic crowd of fans, as well as 72 Chauvet Professional F4IP LED video panels from IPS. Arranged in seven separate portrait-shaped sections, each measuring in at 1.5m wide by 2.5m high, the IPS-supplied panels were used to display promotional materials related to the film, as well as to spell out the name Aladdin letter by letter in gold font against a deep blue background. The exacting client requirements from the Limited Edition Event Design team required that a fully customised, 27m long Layher r
Denmark - Ayrton has appointed Matrix as its new exclusive distributor for Denmark with immediate effect. Matrix has quickly established itself as one of the leading sales and distribution companies for the entertainment industry in Denmark and enjoys strong relationships with customers and suppliers. “Ayrton was the obvious choice for us, as we needed a high profile moving light brand to complete our lighting program,” says Jakob Hansen, sales manager for lighting and staging at Matrix. “The arrival of Ayrton’s new line of profiles, spots and wash fixtures was the deciding factor for us - they fit perfectly into our range of professional sound, light, stage equipment and audio-visual products.” Matrix will focus on bringing the full Ayrton range of LED lighting products to the Danish market and the sales team are already out on the road with the new
UK - London-based technical event specialists Light Fantastic Production Services has announced six appointments at its Borehamwood base. Five of the new additions have taken up technical roles in the company’s warehouse and fabrication workshop, whilst the sixth new team member has joined the project management team. Jed Burns and Taylor Bunn have joined to expand the capabilities of the LFPS in-house fabrication workshop. Lauren Tanner, Joe Bentwood and Pius Yiga have become warehouse technicians, whilst Ned Lay has taken up the role of a project manager. LFPS managing director Rob Myer comments: “It’s always a pleasure to welcome new talent to the Light Fantastic family, particularly during what has been an extremely busy period for us. Adding these new faces to our team adds strength throughout key areas of our business - we are really looking forward t
Poland - Blues rock band Dżem celebrated a landmark 40 years of live performances with a massive show at the Spodek Arena in Katowice. The lighting was designed by Michal Parzych from design collective Green Beam Design who has been involved in all Dżem’s special events for around the last 10 years, and on this one he again worked in collaboration with the band’s regular LD, Market Gubata. Together, they specified 131 Robe fixtures - 30 MegaPointes, 56 Spikies and 45 LEDBeam 800s, all of which were delivered by rental company, Transcolor. Green Beam Design (GBD)’s founder Jacek Chojczak explained that the starting point for the lighting was a request from Dżem’s management to have a large upstage LED screen, and apart from that, they left Michal and the GBD team to produce a spectacular solution for presenting the band and their special guests for thi
Belgium - Europeans went to the polls on 23-26 May to elect a new European Parliament, with citizens in 28 countries casting ballots in the second largest democratic election in the world. Although the election takes place across the continent, the geographic focal point is the European Parliament building in Brussels, which was decked out in blues for the occasion, courtesy of Elation Paladin LED luminaires. Elation’s Belgian distributor IDD Concept of Brussels illuminated the outdoor Esplanade, the mall, often used as a backdrop for election television coverage, and the European Parliament buildings, the Espace Léopold, in a wash of European Union blue. IDD Concept provided all of the outdoor technical lighting for both sides of the building, including specification of the Paladin luminaires for the main Esplanade front. IDD Concept initially considered u
USA - After venturing into neonGARDEN, it was easy for Electric Daisy Carnival fans to forget they were standing under a desert sky. With its redolent neon signage, metal posts and intense, dark techno beats reverberating off its walls, this patch of land on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway grounds was transformed for three days in May into something evoking the vibe of an underground warehouse club that would be right at home in Brooklyn. One of the keys to creating this atmosphere was an intense SJ Lighting video and lighting design that served up a crisp, precise, hard-edged visual accompaniment to the no-nonsense techno beats of DJs like Fisher, Idris Elba, Eats Everything, and Green Velvet. Steve Lieberman and assistant lighting designer Max Robin included 48 Chauvet Professional STRIKE Saber fixtures in their rig. Supplied by Aspect Lighting, the batten-style fixtur
USA - Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City has installed 30 Ayrton Ghibli LED profile luminaires with framing shutters in its Sound Waves theatre. Full Production Services in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, provided the fixtures, which are distributed in North America by ACT Lighting. Sound Waves is a 1,500-seat venue that features stand-up comedy acts from Monday to Thursday, headline acts Friday and Saturday and production shows on Sunday. It has hosted Broadway shows, nationally-known headliners and corporate events since the hotel and casino opened in June 2018. “The theatre had no intelligent lighting fixtures prior to adding the Ghibli fixtures,” says entertainment Lead, Ben Lynford. “The lighting rig consisted of incandescent PAR cans and lekos. Our goal was to create a flexible and capable LED house rig that could meet the needs of such a busy, mul
USA - Entertainment technology industry veteran Nils Thorjussen has helped develop key lighting control solutions, including the Flying Pigs’ Wholehog lighting console and Elements Lab’s VersaTube LED tube. Now, he’s back as the CEO of drone show company Verge Aero. Thorjussen comments: “A lot of beautiful and outstanding work has already been done with drones in entertainment, but what’s lacking is a fully integrated system making it easy for designers to create and deploy their creative vision via hundreds of drones. For the past two years, I’ve been working with a team of former aerospace engineers to create a comprehensive control system with a straightforward programming interface, effects generation algorithms, full 3D visualisation, and automatic flight path calculation. “When my lighting friends ask me what I’m up to, I say I’m building Drone
UK - White Light has recently acquired the assets of Imax Lighting, a London and Bristol-based dry hire company. Imax Lighting’s inventory will now be available through WL, and the acquired company's founder, Gary Churchill, will be joining WL as a consultant. Also joining WL is Rodney George, who will oversee the sale of used equipment to small businesses, theatres, colleges and live music venues in the role of used equipment manager. WL has also made three key appointments, bringing in Carmelo Amenta as technical account manager responsible for broadcast projects, large-scale award ceremonies and live music concerts; Ian Charlampowicz has joined as senior account manager and will work within the broadcast media sector; and Jade Harrison has been appointed as business development manager. WL has also expanded the teams within its managed venues. This includes
UK – Lighting designer Jon Trincas of design house Co1ab used Prolights LumiPIX 15IP LED battens to create powerful effects lighting for British dance duo, Third Party’s LIIIVE show at the Eventim Olympia, Liverpool. The all-nighter event formed part of Third Party’s 2019 Together worldwide album tour, and featured a full roster of artists from the progressive house scene. LD Jon had been impressed by the LumiPIX 15IP fixture’s performance on previous live events, so decided to put it centre-stage in his lighting design for the Third Party show. He utilised 24 fixtures, arranged in two vertical columns either side of the stage, and pixel-mapped content onto each battens’ 15 separate RGBW LED cells, to create impressive, powerfully bright ‘eye candy’ looks to emphasise the artists’ euphoric and anthemic dance sets. He commente
