South Korea - Hansam System Co recently installed an array of Martin MAC Quantum Wash fixtures at Lotte Concert Hall to achieve 360° coverage and near-silent operation in the leading venue. Lotte Concert Hall is a contemporary 2,036-seat auditorium, newly built by the Lotte Corporation and located in Seoul’s elegant Lotte World Mall. The hall was designed by renowned international firm Nagata Acoustics, and features terraced, wrap-around “vineyard style” seating for optimal acoustics in every seat. The hall needed a modern lighting solution to ensure consistent coverage for all viewing angles, as well as minimal noise during delicate classical and opera performances. They hired Hansam System Co., who installed an array of Martin MAC Quantum Wash fixtures to meet the hall’s needs. "We trusted the experts at Hansam System Co. to help us create an engaging
China - Lighting and visual artist Christopher Bauder from Berlin-based WHITEvoid was asked to reimagine his ground-breaking Mirror Mirror kinetic lighting installation for the 2019 world premiere of the new BMW 7 series which took place in Shanghai. He used 52 circular shaped Kinetic Lights mirror disks which worked in conjunction with 42 synchronised Robe Pointe moving lights plus one MegaPointe to stun the 500 VIP guests in the majestic former industrial environment of the West Bund Art Centre, Shanghai. Christopher was commissioned by show producers China Kingway for whom he’d previously delivered the initial Mirror Mirror in 2018 as a stand-alone segment making up Apologue 2047/2, a work directed by Chinese film director and former cinematographer Zhang Yimou. This time, the show was directed by Mr Bao, CEO of China Kingway assisted
Italy - As the site of the Rome Film Festival every October, the Auditorium Parco della Musica has played host to many of the brightest movie stars. Last year, Martin Scorsese, Nicole Kidman, Sigourney Weaver and Julia Roberts were among the celebrities participating in the festival’s events. Given its association with the film industry, this Renzo Piano-designed complex just north of Rome’s ancient city, made an appropriate setting for a recent retrospective by one of Italy’s favourite actors, Gigi Proietti. Cavalli di Battaglia takes a moving, contemplative look at Proietti’s over 60-year career on stage and in internationally acclaimed films like Sidney Lumet’s The Appointment and Robert Altman’s A Wedding. Supporting the retrospective at the Auditorium Parco della Musica was a lightshow created by prominent theatrical designer Umil
Slovakia - Music & Lights has appointed Showmedia S.R.O as its distributor for Slovakia. Košice-based Showmedia has extensive experience throughout Eastern Europe and already had Music & Lights brand Prolights in its portfolio. Installations completed by Showmedia have included the lighting design of the RTVS broadcast station in Bratislava as part of Nuit Blanche - the biggest festival of art in Slovakia with over 200,000 people attending. Other notable installations or productions include the entire Encore Club and the Old Bridge structure. Fabio Sorabella, M&L MD, comments: “We are so excited to have Showmedia join us as our Slovakian distribution partner, their track record and reputation speak volumes throughout the area and we are excited to see what the future holds.” Branislav Bernár, Showmedia director, adds: “The Music &
UK - Paul Roughton has been appointed as national sales manager for Stage Electrics. Previously regional sales manager for London and the South East, Roughton has been with Stage Electrics for 13 years. Working for Stage Electrics’ sales director Anna Western, he is responsible for communicating new product developments with prospective clients, whilst offering one to one sales advice and product demos to both existing and potential customers and line managing technical sales consultants. “Due to increasing demand nationally, we are expanding the sales team, and as a result we needed a manager who could oversee the process,” comments Anna “Paul, with his extensive experience and thorough understanding of our operation, was the perfect candidate for the role.” She adds: “this is an exciting time for Stage Electrics, we are seeing opportunities to expa
Germany - At Prolight + Sound 2019, ETC and High End Systems (HES) will be joining together to showcase the latest line up of product innovations across four stands in Hall 12.1: Stands B40, B41, B46, B47. This includes the debut of a new product which will be revealed at the show. Visitors to the stands will see ETC’s first automated fixture in over a decade, the award-winning Relevé Spot. Specifically designed for theatre, this moving light boasts a calibrated four-colour additive mixing system and an Ani-gobo wheel. HES will showcase a selection of pioneering automated lighting technology, including the SolaFrame 3000, SolaFrame Theatre and the new SolaFrame 1000 and SolaSpot 3000. The recently launched SolaFrame 1000 offers a diverse feature set and is available in Ultra-Bright and High CRI versions. SolaSpot 3000 boasts more than 37,000 lumen output with a Brig
USA - Musician, music producer, composer and DJ, Martin Vogt - known by his stage name of Haywyre - hit the road this February with his Discovery + Form tour to mark the release of his latest series of EPs, Panorama, in November 2018. Having kicked off at The Crocodile in Seattle on 22 February, the tour runs for 17 dates culminating on 22 March at the U Street Music Hall in Washington DC. The venues throughout the tour vary in size from the 350-capacity Catalyst Atrium in Santa Cruz to the 800-seat EchoPlex in Los Angeles. To maintain the visual integrity of the production between venues, lighting designer, Taylor (Brotay) Copp chose Ayrton MagicBlade-R fixtures, supplied by Hivemind Lux LLC, as his highly versatile key lights. “We mount the MagicBlade-Rs on to black poles on either side of the stage,” says Eric Bindman, Haywyre’s tour manager. “
Indonesia - Acoustic Sound Image Integrated Solution (ASIIS Indonesia), distributor and system integrator of hi-end audio, LED, sound and lighting systems, has successfully staged promotional expos in three cities - Jakarta, Semarang and Surabaya. ASIIS Indonesia under the leadership of Andy Mulya Sutikno is the organiser of the ASIIS NEX GEN Sound and Lighting Expo 2019, which aims to provide the latest technological updates on sound and lighting products. In this expo, ASIIS Indonesia exhibits many of the brands it represents, including Waves eMotionLV1, Audio Focus, ChamSys, Minuit Une and VMB Lifts. During the Waves session, Ebenhaeser (sound engineer and Waves specialist) and sound engineer Tommy Utomo explain the benefits and technology of the eMotionLV1, a revolutionary live digital mixer. During the ChamSys session, Tommy Hartono (lighting desig
USA - Special Event Services (SES) has sent a large complement of Claypaky Scenius Unico, Claypaky Mythos 2 and Claypaky Sharpy fixtures on tour with American country group Zac Brown Band. ACT Lighting Inc. is the exclusive North American distributor of Claypaky. Zac Brown Band has commenced the second leg of its Down the Rabbit Hole Live tour, the group’s fifth headlining concert tour, in support of its fifth studio album, Welcome Home. Down the Rabbit Hole Live launched last summer; the new 15-date leg kicked off I March in Tulsa, Oklahoma and wraps in Peoria on 27 April. Zac Brown Band won’t be idle for long – their Owl Tour begins in Indianapolis at the end of May and will play 36 dates in North America through October. SES is the lighting vendor for the band; its sister company Special Event Transportation (SET) serves as the truc
Poland - Portman Lights, the Polish manufacturer of decorative stage lighting fixtures, has received new investment from The French Team (Xavier Drouet, Jérôme Bréhard and Alain-René Lantelme) the original founders of the successful brands of Axente, Ayrton, Sixty82, and others, in a move that will allow the company to expand its R&D potential, service its clients more efficiently and develop new products more swiftly in response to market demand. Established in Gdansk in September 2016 by lighting designer, Łukasz Sztejna and business development manager, Dominik Zimakowski, Portman Lights enjoyed immediate success. Now, just 30 months later with three highly specialised, patented products in its portfolio and another due for launch at Prolight+Sound, Frankfurt 2019, Portman Lights has a distribution network of 25 distributors covering 35 countries. It boasts a por
Belarus - Since the mid-2000s J:Mors has been one of the most enduring Belarusian rock bands, with a long list of hits, tours and awards behind them. More recently, J:Mors played a concert called Kryly (‘Wings’ in Belarusian) after the single of the same name in the in the Prime Hall concert hall in Minsk. The programme included both new songs and the most popular songs from their archive The lighting design was handled by the band's long-time collaborator, Alexander Bobel, director of the GrandLight Studio. Vladimir Pugach had asked for something unusual and GrandLight Studio developed the entire concept, starting with the ideas, equipment and implementation, ending with a final flash of blinder. Assisting him were numerous products from the PR Lighting portfolio. The designer's partnership with PR Lighting equipment began several years ago, with equi
USA - When leading folk music venue The Ark in Ann Arbor, Michigan, recently upgraded their audio system, they also decided replace some older incandescent fixtures with an Elation Professional LED lighting package of Fuze PAR Z60 IP luminaires and SixBar 1000 IP battens. Designer and programmer of the new lighting system is Kent Cubbage, who specified the lighting console and Elation fixtures in co-operation with lighting vendor and installer Fantasee Lighting of Belleville, Michigan. “When you’re dealing with The Ark, you’re dealing with a piece of history,” says Cubbage of the intimate 400-seat venue steeped in decades of American music narrative. “My goal was to create a rig that visually emulated the classic PAR rig it was replacing.” To mimic that vintage PAR look, Cubbage used 30 Fuze PAR Z60 IP single source PAR luminaires, which have a lens face t
Germany - MA Lighting will highlight the latest features and functionality of its grandMA3 and dot2 lighting control solutions at Prlight+Sound, taking place 2-5 April in Frankfurt. Visitors will experience the latest preview version of the grandMA3 software as it progresses towards the V1.0 launch later this year. All grandMA3 models will be available for hands-on demo in Mode2 and Mode3. Recent developments including new ways of colour control, visual ways of Phaser control, enhanced 3D visualisation or networking protocol implementations and much more are on display. MA’s product experts will be on hand to answer all of your questions. Visitors will also find a detailed overview of MA’s networking solutions illustrating different user scenarios for events and fixed installations. At the same time MA will premier its new grandMA3 xPort Node DIN Rail versions.
USA/Europe - ETC’s 2018 PLASA Award for Innovation-winning automated fixture is now shipping. The LED fixture, launched at the PLASA Show last September, boasts an additive colour mixing system that “creates colours so bright you’ll be blown away”. The custom Ani-gobo wheel features a seamless pattern that flows from one graphical element to the next. Using this in combination with the customisable, five-position gobo wheel gives “infinite texturing and theatre-ready effects”. An additional feature is the Whisper Home technology. Relevé Spot enables you set the physical movement limits of each fixture, keeping it from ever having to spin a full rotation at start-up or re-homing. Because Relevé Spot never has to move more than 1° to find its home position, it can be installed in tight rail positions, narrow box booms, and other space-restricting locations
USA - Liberty University of Lynchburg has invested in a complement of Ayrton Mistral and Ghibli LED spot luminaires for a variety of uses on its campus. The Mistrals were delivered last autumn to the Event Production department, which provides audio, video and lighting support for any event on campus, including concerts, conferences and speaking events. The Mistrals are mounted in truss in a multi-use event space, which hosts a wide array of entertainment programmes and gatherings. “We were looking to replace the venue’s spots with an LED option,” recalls Amy Caun, lighting director/production technician with Event Production. “We didn’t want to worry about lamp life, power and heat, and we needed a fixture that was flexible enough for all of the events held in the event space. “One of our technicians had seen Mistral at a trade show. Doug Mekanik, o
USA - Supporting her new album, Scenery, Emily King toured a string of clubs this winter. An intimate club environment is the perfect setting for the New York artist’s soulful blend of ‘80s pop, contemporary R&B and a hint of light jazz. For the club tour, Marc Janowitz of E26 Design was lighting designer, and Pat Hayes of Patrick Hayes Lighting Design was lighting director and programmer. In their collaborative design, Marc and Pat specified Solaris Flare Rayzrs to help add dimension and vitality to intimate club environments. “The Rayzrs are very compact, yet super punchy, says Marc Janowitz. “We needed something that would fit in tight spaces yet offer a lot of diversity for different looks. We used 12 of the 100cm and three of the 50cm models. Both worked great. The Rayzrs really added so much depth and energy to what might have otherwise felt l
USA - Founded in 1789, Georgetown Prep is one of the oldest preparatory schools in the US. The halls of its leafy campus outside Washington DC resonate with tradition, as Erik Morra discovered when he signed on to light a production of Newsies at the school’s student theatre in February. The play chronicles the heroics of New York’s newspaper boys during their late 19th century strike against two of the most powerful publishers of their era. “I was familiar with the play, but never really appreciated the David-Goliath backstory behind the strike until I dug into it for this production, which made me extra determined to capture the world of these kids in light,” says Morra, owner of Baltimore-based LumenCUE. Helping him convey the gritty 1899 New York City streets that defined the newsboys’ life was a collection of Chauvet Professional Rogue R2 Wash and Rogue
USA - Held at the Gila River Arena outside Phoenix, Jurassic Fight Night drew an enthusiastic crowd of about 4,000 to see eerily realistic-looking dinosaurs with names like Spinecrusher Spinosaurus and Rowdy Roddy Raptor do battle in a full production setting evocative of a televised wresting or boxing match. Lending an air of excitement and authenticity to the proceedings was a dramatic John Garberson-designed lightshow that featured Chauvet Professional Maverick, Rogue and STRIKE fixtures, supplied by Creative BackStage. “The idea was to create a fight night-like atmosphere at the event,” says Garberson. “We wanted to have some very punchy stage washing in the ring to build anticipation and convey intensity. I feel the lighting really helped the crowd get immersed in the action.” Garberson and his team of lighting programmer Elliot Knight and L2 Jonath
UK - Lighting and video rental specialist Colour Sound Experiment supplied lighting equipment, rigging and crew to the latest UK and European leg of Good Charlotte’s Generation Rx tour, working with lighting designer Paul McAdams who is based in Belfast, Northern Ireland and started designing for the band last year. The tour, which culminated in a show at London’s Alexandra Palace - was project-managed for Colour Sound by Alex Ryan. Colour Sound’s Hadyn Williams was the touring tech, whom Paul has requested several times to be his main person on the road, due to his experience and willingness to 'go above and beyond' each day to ensure that everything runs smoothly and efficiently. Encapsulating the gritty lyrics and reflections of Generation Rx, an album inspired by the current opioid crisis in North America and dealing with inner and outer pain,
Slovenia - Nearly 300 Robe moving lights were utilised by lighting designer Žiga Krajnc for the televised 2018 Noč Modrijanov Slovenian folk festival held at the Dvorana Zlatorog Arena in Celje and directed by Marjan Kučej. Over two days, around 100 different Slovenian singers, folk troupes and dance ensembles presented a range of pieces that were enjoyed by around 12,000 people watching live as they performed on an elaborate scenic stage designed by a collaboration between Andrej Šifer, Miha Prosen and Blaž Podpečan, which depicted a typical Slovenian village. The shows were recorded and broadcast on RTV1 in the first week of the new year, so lighting - supplied by rental company Event Lighting - needed to work live and on-camera. Ziga has lit the event twice before, and this year his brief was to highlight the set - comprising seven different styled Slov
USA - In early February, lighting design firm Enlumen utilised 62 Elation Professional Artiste Picasso LED profile luminaires for New York Fashion Week: The Shows at Industria Super Studio, owned, operated and produced by IMG in downtown Manhattan. The design team of Pamela Kupper and Shawn Kaufman employed an all Elation rig of LED luminaires supplied by 4Wall to light a total of 16 runway shows and 2 presentations. New York Fashion Week: The Shows is a platform for international designers to show their newest collections and, along with London, Paris and Milan, is one of the four major fashion weeks in the world. Enlumen served as the lighting vendor for the location, providing design, equipment and labour. As a lighting environment, the Industria venue posed a number of challenges; namely, an abundance of windows and power and weight limitations – all constraints
UK - Hundreds of television buyers from across the globe headed to ACC Liverpool for BBC Studios Showcase 2019. Taking place on 17-20 February, the event brought together producers, talent and BBC executives as well as Britain’s most successful creatives. For the 13th year running, creative technical event production company Hawthorn supported BBC Studios to showcase its premium programmes, delivering two hotly-anticipated evening events. Previously known as BBC Worldwide Showcase, the 2019 event marked a new chapter for Showcase, the first year under the Studios banner. Celebrating British creativity, the exclusive events previewed some of the BBC’s new programmes including Top Gear, The Planets and One Planet: Seven Worlds. Led by the BBC Studios team, Hawthorn’s group creative director Peter Harding helped to produce and deliver a production des
Mexico - Insomniac’s Electric Daisy Carnival Mexico took place Saturday and Sunday 23-24 February, attracting an audience of 230,000. The two-day event featured over 120 international artists, treating fans to everything from the thumping bass sounds of Skrillex and RL Grime, to the dirtybird beats of Claude VonStroke, Justin Martin, Dateless and more. Supporting proceedings were some awe-inspiring scenic designs, thrilling rides, and (on the popular circuitGROUNDS and neonGARDEN stages), two potent Steve Lieberman-designed lightshows that reflected the intensity of the music. Providing a vivid outline of each stage to define the performance area, while adding to its impact, movement and colour, was a collection of Chauvet Professional ÉPIX Strip Tour fixtures supplied by Serpro Producciones. Lieberman of SJ Lighting deployed 251 of the 1m long RGB LED strips on the
Europe - The ADJ Group of Companies has announced the recruitment of Laurent Paulussen as the new director of finance for the company’s European division. With a strong background in both finance and strategic leadership, Paulussen will become an integral part of ADJ Europe’s management team and help the business to continue its growth in this important region. An experienced finance professional and qualified CPA, Paulussen spent the early part of his career working for PwC and KPMG in the Netherlands. Progressing to the position of senior audit manager. Since 2002 he has been an independent financial consultant, based in the Netherlands. “The new director of finance role at ADJ Europe is significant as we continue to develop our brands and extend our market share in this key territory,” commented Toby Velazquez, president of the ADJ Group of Companies. “Hav
