USA - Elation Professional has appointed Erich Meitzner as a regional sales representative for Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana. Meitzner, who hails from Kansas, has a broad knowledge of the lighting world and brings with him a wealth of real-world experience as a touring lighting designer/director for acts like Grouplove, Walk the Moon, Liz Phair, and Bleachers. John Dunn, Elation national sales manager, comments: “As an experienced touring professional, Erich brings important on-the-road insight to the position and knows what it takes to deliver a designer’s vision. He also has excellent hands-on product knowledge and is already well-acquainted with the Elation product line. He will fill an important role in helping support our dealer and customer network and we are excited to have him onboard as a valued member of the Elation team.” (Jim Evans)
USA - ADB Stagelight, Claypaky's theatre brand, won the LDI Award for the Best Debuting Product for lighting with its new ART Centric Lighting line for museum lighting. The judges wrote: “ART Centric Lighting has created a tuneable white light fixture for lighting works of fine art with sensitivity and class. The spot or wash with a CRI of 97 is controllable via Bluetooth, changing the way you’ll look at works of art.” Simone Capeleto, ADB's CEO, comments: "The basic principle of ART Centric Lighting is to respect the works of art, which become leading players like actors on a stage. It is no coincidence that the small ART Centric Lighting units are true miniaturised theatre lights: they are made by ADB, a well-established company in the theatre world. They are not just luminaires with an elegant, non-invasive design - they are fixtures with professional optical
USA - Claypaky debuted five luminaires, including two newly-launched fixtures, at the recent LDI trade show. Claypaky also celebrated the inaugural edition of Knight of Illumination Awards USA, which the lighting manufacturer sponsors. LDI saw the launch of Claypaky’s Axcor Spot 400, a moving LED spotlight for the medium power market. Axcor Spot 400 features two rotating dichroic glass gobo wheels with a total of 14 rotating gobos, an animation disc, a rotating prism, a power-driven iris, a 16-bit dimmer, and a 5.5° to 55° zoom. It also boasts advanced tools for colour management based on a CMY system with linear CTO and six-colour wheel. Also launched at the show was the Sharpy Plus, a hybrid unit that can be used as a beam moving light or a spotlight. The fixture houses the Osram Sirius 330W X8, a new high-output discharge lamp, and weighs only 21.6kg (abou
Hungary - Located on the banks of the Danube near the Chain Bridge with a view over the famed Buda Castle, the Marriot Budapest is a popular tourist destination. Earlier this autumn, the hotel hosted a gala for Russian pharmaceutical company Garant Optima in its main ballroom. Lending an extra air of glamour and excitement to the event was a bright, fast-moving light and video show featuring Chauvet Professional Maverick fixtures supplied by Mobile Audio and Light kft. “The goal of the organisers was to create a bold international nightclub atmosphere,” comments Mobile Audio and Light technician András Praksch, who installed and ran the lighting system for the event. “We were able to do this with help from the Maverick MK2 Spot, which provided a lot of colour and brightness.” A total of 10 Maverick MK2 Spot fixtures were used to energise the gala. Praks
USA - At the entrance to Bassrush Massive AZ was a massive art display that featured two cubes, a smaller one wedged inside a larger version of itself. Emulating the signature artwork of the festival’s promotional material, the object attracted the immediate attention of fans, most of whom stepped inside the mesmerizing cubic structure for social media photos. It was the first, but certainly not the last, immersive experience they would enjoy that evening. Kicking off the Sun Valley’s Fall Music Festival season on Saturday 25 August 2, the event took fans on a head-banging journey deep inside the heart of bass-heavy sound, serving up a relentless sonic barrage from the likes of Zeds Dead, Nightmre, HEKLER and other artists. Keeping pace with every bass drop and trapstep was a searing, fast-moving lightshow designed by Joe Musico and run by lighting director Luis Torres t
USA - City Theatrical’s new Multiverse wireless DMX system was recognised as the 2018 Best Debuting Product in the Lighting Accessories and Integration category at LDI 2018. The Multiverse system can to broadcast up to 10 universes of DMX data from a single transmitter while producing less radio energy than present-day single universe systems. Every product in the Multiverse system is built around a tiny radio called the Multiverse Module. Products in the range include Multiverse SHoW BabyTM, City Theatrical’s fourth generation of the original plug and play wireless DMX transceiver system, Multiverse Node, the primary receiver in a multiple universe system and a single universe transceiver, Multiverse Transmitter, a transmitter that provides multiple universe control, and Multiverse Gateway, a transceiver that delivers multiple universe DMX with data distribution.
USA - Tomcat launched a new Lighting Pod at LDI 2018. The product offers lighting designers a much broader canvas for their creations and affords them the opportunity to present 'walls of light' on a much larger scale than with traditional truss profiles. Extreme adjustability and flexibility allow for the use of multiple lighting options within one framework that can be utilised both vertically and horizontally. The Lighting Pod is constructed from 2” x 1/8” and 1 ½” x 1/8” tubes for strength and durability, and measures a healthy 6ft x 2.6ft x 6ft for extending your lighting wall possibilities. Stable stacking and convenient transport are ensured with steel spigots, forklift pockets and heavy-duty casters. Also unveiled at LDI, Tomcat’s new Zig-Zag Truss is a unique concept that combines the advantages of pre-rigged truss - efficient truck packing and sp
Europe - Neutrik AG launched the new mediaCON product family at the recent IBC show in Amsterdam. mediaCON includes lockable USB Type-C cables and panel sockets, with all components designed for data rates up to 10 GB/s (USB 3.1), 100W power and 10,000 mating cycles. Fabio Röllin, product manager at Neutrik AG, states: “With increasing digitisation, the demand for high-quality and robust data connectors is steadily increasing. More and more manufacturers rely on USB Type-C technology. However, a lockable and reliable interface to connect professional audio components, storage media, cameras, monitors and computer hardware has been missing. The new mediaCON series now offers the perfect solution for professional AV and broadcast applications, live rental, system integration and industrial applications.” For ease of handling, the space-saving, flush-mount panel so
South Africa - Technical supplier Ultra Events reports that it supplied Philips SL Nitro 510 and Philips SL Nitro 510C fixtures to deliver a punching performance at a popular African boxing broadcast event. Kings of the Castle staged in Cape Town, was part of the Friday Fight Night series of broadcast boxing dates, staged in different African cities on the last Friday of every month. Ultra Events is the show’s regular technical supplier. “We wanted to get away from the typical 24 fresnel or Par64 set up of the boxing ring,” explains Ultra Events owner, Costa Champanis. “After much deliberation, we decided on the SL Nitro 510, eight positioned to light the ring in white, with four SL Nitro 510C firing blue light into the audience of around 1200 people.” “The lights worked perfectly, that’s the only way to describe it,” says Champanis. “The cam
USA - Three teams of lighting programmers competed in High End Systems’ annual Hog Factor USA Collegiate Competition held during LDI on Friday 19 October in the Las Vegas Convention Centre. With three Hog 4 lighting desks up for grabs, the finalists performed a lightshow to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody using the latest in HES LED technology on the stand rig. The performances were judged by a panel comprising Howard Ungerleider (LD, Rush, Rod Stewart and Van Halen), Seth Jackson (creative director and production designer for Barry Manilow, Toby Keith, Carrie Underwood), Scott Barnes (film lighting programmer) and Patrick Hayes (LD/programmer with The Decemberists). Team Sola Tartan (under the leadership of professor Todd Brown) claimed first prize - a Road Hog 4 console – for Carnegie Mellon University. Runners-up Brown Sugar of Southern Methodist University r
UK - Electronic music duo The Chemical Brothers played a busy festival schedule followed by a week of headline shows, complete with a visual experience created by show designers Adam Smith and Marcus Lyall. Smith and Lyall spec’d 50 units of Robe’s Robe’s MegaPointe, its newest multifunctional moving lights, from Blackburn lighting rental company Lite Alternative. The essence of the show design was about connecting with the audience and helping move the energy coming offstage out and all around the space. For this run of own-shows, all in arena venues, a large 20 metre-wide by 11 metre-high LED screen was placed in the upstage area, with the 50 MegaPointes – which were also part of their festival package – used as the main lightsources. “We wanted beam lights,” explains Lyall, “the show is all about beams, and MegaPointes are the perfect lig
Sweden - Around 50 Chroma-Q Inspire XT LED house lights have been fitted in the Västerås concert hall in Sweden. The concert hall is home to an orchestra that requires a quiet environment to perform in, a key aspect that had to be considered during the upgrade of the existing house lights. Stage technical manager Per Andersson comments: “I chose the Inspire XT because there are no fans, which is a must for us since we house a classical orchestra, The orchestra is really happy with the brighter lights when they are rehearsing, and from a technical point of view, it is very easy to change the colour when I am asked. The other benefit for me is that they are more energy efficient; we went from 47 fixtures at 575W to 47 at 120W, and most of the fixtures are just on around 60%.” (Jim Evans)
USA - With the use of a number of lighting fixtures from PR Lighting and their Texas-based distributor, MEGA-Lite, First Born Productions designed a successful concert touring rig for popular Puerto Rican, Latin trap and reggaeton artist, Bad Bunny. Having earned several top hits on different charts and previously been nominated for the Latin Grammy Awards Bad Bunny, and his fans anticipated a great show. And lighting designer, Krizia Velez, certainly didn't disappoint. She has been working with Bad Bunny for the past year and visited more than 100 cities, during which time she has worked with many lighting fixtures and well-known suppliers all around the world. Numerous PR Lighting units were featured among the product mix, including the XR Beam 300, XLED 1037, XLED 3019 and XLED 336 were specified by Krizia, enabling her to design a variety of different looks for ea
USA - For the current Newsboys United tour, lighting designer Matthew Brewer is doing the band’s evocative sound justice with an intense multi-layered lightshow that serves up a continuously changing array of looks to capture the essence of every tune. Aiding him in this endeavour is a collection of Chauvet Professional Rogue fixtures, supplied by Axxis. Key to Brewer’s flow of distinctive visuals are the myriad geometric patterns he creates with the 24 Rogue R1 FX-B fixtures in his rig. Like his clients, who have shown a knack for building on musical themes, his work with the five-headed moving linear fixture has become more inventive with experience. “Initially, my basic idea was to use the FX-Bs to frame the video walls in my rig, but when we got into rehearsals and started playing with these lights it became clear to me that the tight shafts of lights and al
USA - For nearly 50 years, the GMA Dove Awards have honoured those who have achieved excellence in Christian music. Held at the Allen Arena at Lipscomb University on 16 October, the night featured a lighting package provided by Bandit Lites and performances from Lauren Daigle, Tauren Wells, Rebecca St. James, Rascal Flatts and Tori Kelly. Due to the venue, the event is scheduled around the existing Lipscomb University athletic schedule, which requires the production team to rely heavily on pre-planning logistics from how trusses are suspended to how the crew will physically handle set changes between the artists’ performances. “Bandit Lites’ exceptional prep process was brought to bear to allow us to bring in a small but rather complicated lighting rig and support structure in a quick and efficient fashion,” says Scott Moore of Go Live Productions. “To faci
Russia - GLP’s impression X4 atom has only been available on the Russian rental market for less than a year, but the fixture has become an original element in some signature project designs. It was Leonid Poznyansky - a lighting designer who frequently uses compact GLP solutions in his lighting plots - who was responsible for their arrival in Moscow. He first saw the X4 atom at Prolight+Sound in Frankfurt in 2017, and immediately urged rental company Laser-Kinetics to invest in it. The LD also promptly placed an order for various mounting accessories, since he knew it was the entire package that would allow him to realise his vision. "When I first saw the X4 atoms, their power impressed me immediately,” he said. “These devices are unusually bright, given their small size. But what is even more interesting is that I can control the zoom remotely and change the be
UK - Henley Theatre Services (HTS) is hosting two open days on 1-2 November at its premises in Henley-on-Thames. Representatives from leading manufacturers, including Robe, Avolites, Electro Voice, Allen & Heath, Le Maitre and JTS Microphones, will demonstrate the companies' latest products, with a focus towards the theatre market. The event will also feature a live demo of Avolites’ PLASA Award for Innovation-winning Synergy platform and also offer visitors the chance to be the first people in the UK to demo the new Robe T1, along with live pyro, console and PA demos and informal training sessions. (Jim Evans)
[Europe] European entertainment industry bodies have proposed ‘small but essential’ amendments to the Ecodesign regulations ahead of key talks in December. The European Entertainment Ecodesign Coalition (EEEC) - comprising PLASA, PEARLE, the ALD, DTHG, the IALD, OETHG, SLF, STEPP and VPLT - and other national and international organisations have released a joint statement to highlight 'some serious concerns' about technical requirements that the bodies insist cannot be met by the industry. Meanwhile, the regulatory committee is meeting with the European Commission on 17-20 December to decide on the draft. The proposed amendments (
UK - Colour Sound Experiment supplied lighting and LED screens for the Wave Goodbye concert by UK synth pop duo Soft Cell, who reunited after 17 years for one final show at London’s O2 Arena. Award-winning lighting designer Rob Sinclair helped build the ambience and vibes for this sold-out pop music moment for the band who’ve occupied some hypnotically catchy and viscerally emotional space in the slightly darker echelons of 1980s synth pop. Once he was confirmed on the creative team along with set designer Ric Lipson from Stufish, Rob started imagining the lighting. It was also being streamed live to cinemas around the UK and Ireland and recorded for a live CD and DVD/Blu-ray release in 2019. Both Rob and production manager Kamal Ackerie agreed early on that they wanted Colour Sound to be involved in the event, “We needed a London company that
UK - HSL supplied the recent UK and European leg of Halsey’s ongoing Hopeless Fountain Kingdom tour with lighting equipment. The referral originally came through John Schirmer at DCR Nashville, lighting vendor for the US sections of the tour which started in 2017. Another connection was production designers Sooner Routhier and Robert Long from SRae Productions, with whom HSL worked for over a year as worldwide lighting supplier for Depeche Mode’s 2017-18 Global Spirit world tour. The Halsey project was managed for HSL by Jordan Hanson who commented, ““Working with John Schirmer, production manager Jimi Storey and lighting director/operator on the road Jose Antunes has been a pleasure - great show and great people.” He worked closely with Jose to match their original lighting spec. A key aesthetic feature of this visually edgy and interest
USA - Ancient Athens may be separated from California’s Venice Beach by 6,900 miles and 2,400 years, but that didn’t stop these two very divergent places from melding together on stage in the Jeff Lynne, John Farrar Tony-nominated musical comedy Xanadu. Inspired by the 1980 film of the same name, the show brings together a forlorn SoCal street artist with a group of perky Greek muses. The result is a rollicking adventure, culminating in the nonstop swirl of a disco roller rink that has left audiences laughing around the world since its Broadway debut 11 years ago. Supporting all the freewheeling fun at a recent production of the show at the Hangar Theatre in upstate New York is a colourful, punchy and fast-paced Cory Pattak-designed lightshow, featuring Maverick, Ovation and COLORado fixtures from Chauvet Professional. “Nobody is accusing Xanadu
World - Lighting designer Mathieu Poirier created the atmosphere of the grand hotels of the past for Hotel, the latest touring show for Montreal-based company Cirque Eloize. Poirier selected Claypaky’s new Axcor Spot 300 moving LED fixtures to help set the scene for the troupe’s very special 25th anniversary production. In Hotel, acrobatics, theatre, dance and live music guide the audience through an intimate refuge with an avant-garde look inspired by the elegance of the greatest hotels. The lives of transient travellers intersect briefly but long enough for tales and memories to be forged. “Early in the creative process the Belgium-based director, Emmanuel Guillaume, discussed with the creative team his strong visual interest in Wes Anderson’s film, Grand Budapest Hotel and Damien Chazelle’s La La Land,” recalls Poirier. “Th
Canada - Solotech has appointed Marie-Josée Primeau as business development director. In her new role, Primeau will work closely with the management of the sales and integration division to identify and develop new business opportunities. She has held multiple roles in sales over the last 25 years in companies such as Canon Canada and telecoms firm Telus. She also pursed her career for a few years with the Canadian Business Council in the United Arab Emirates and recently worked at Cognibox International Sales. (Jim Evans)
USA - Elation launched a new Artiste Series LED fixture while its latest luminaires continued to make an impression during this year’s LDI show. Elation launched the Artiste Monet, a new 45,000lm LED profile light with SpectraColor system that received an LDI Award honourable mention. Smarty Hybrid, the compact, CMY colour-mixing with efficient 6,000-hour lamp was also recognised by industry peers, receiving a PLSN award for Best Hybrid Fixture. Interest was also high in two other Artiste Series luminaires - the Artiste Van Gogh, a powerful framing wash LED luminaire, and Artiste Picasso, one of the brightest and most feature-rich profile LED lighting fixtures on the market. A host of other innovative products received significant attention at the stand, including the Proteus Profile, a new 45,000 lumen IP65-rated LED Profile fixture that houses the sa
