Lighting

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17 September 2024

The Netherlands - Dutch pioneer of the hard techno industry, Verknipt, has been known for its wild techno music events for over a decade, hosting multiple festivals at a number of locations across the Netherlands. With a growing worldwide following, the events are a melee of wild lighting and laser shows combined with ‘freaky’ performances to the tunes of stellar line-ups of hard rave artists.

Verknipt ArenA, which took place on 20 July 2024, was the biggest yet: a record-breaking gathering of 40,000 ‘slaves to the rave’. Classed as ‘the world’s biggest hard techno rave’, the sold-out event was the first ever for Verknipt at Amsterdam’s Johan Cruijff Arena.

Netherlands-based Martin Ciesluk of Outside the Circle, the company that designed and ran the light show for Verknipt ArenA, ensured that Ayrton Cobra was one of t

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17 September 2024

USA - Mega-Lite has introduced two new fixtures: Drama EW 200 and Drama EC 200 luminaires.

Drama EW 200 offers daylight white light (6,024K) with 9,053 lumens at 19°, suitable for bright, natural illumination and perfect for gobo projections and creating vibrant atmospheres.

Drama EC 200 provides a mix of lime, amber, red, green, and blue colours, improving lumen output and efficiency without sacrificing colour saturation.

Both fixtures, featuring a 200W quietly cooled LED, are designed for versatility. They have a four-blade shutter system to project light where you want it and interchangeable 19°, 26°, 36°, and 50° lenses, making them ideal for churches, theatres, and other noise-sensitive spaces.

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16 September 2024

Puerto Rico - When Marcos Efraín Masís Fernández, known professionally as Tainy, and Lex Borrero teamed up to launch their music company Neon16, “a multifaceted talent incubator” in 2019, they adopted the motto “fear nothing, impact everything”.

This attitude was on full display at Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot during Data Loading, the highly anticipated show from Tainy. The multi-Grammy winning songwriter and sound engineer mesmerized the sellout crowd with “a full throttled performance”, during which he was joined by stars like Bad Bunny, Rauw Alejandro, Jhayco, Young Miko, Arcángel and Álvaro Diaz.

Helping to rev up the energy on stage was a relentless, fast-moving lighting design by Richard Vicens and ShowVault that utilised an impressive 450-fixture rig from Musique Xpress Lights.

Most of the rig w

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16 September 2024

UK - Offering considerable hands-on experience and the first steps into a technical career in the arts, applications are open again for Lighthouse Young Technicians, organised by Lighthouse Poole arts complex. It is a nationally recognised training course for young people aged 13-19 eager to get to grips with lighting, sound and stage management in a variety of indoor and outdoor settings.

“Since its launch in 2018, the Young Technicians course has proven to be a valuable, real-world route into a career in technical theatre,” says Charles Shenton, Lighthouse creative engagement producer.

Guided by industry specialists in a structured 12-week course, the budding technicians navigate all elements of technical theatre to gain the experience they need to pursue a future career, working alongside all technical departments in the build up to opening ni

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13 September 2024

UK - Elation has announced that Sound Technology has been appointed as the exclusive distributor for Elation and Obsidian products in the UK and Ireland, effective now. In addition to its existing portfolio, Sound Technology will manage all aspects of Elation and Obsidian sales, service, training, and support in the region.

Located in Letchworth Garden City, north of London, Sound Technology is a leading distributor of high-profile brands in the professional audio, lighting, and MI retail sectors. The company is part of the Midwich Group, one of the largest specialist audiovisual distributors in the UK and Europe.

Marc Librecht, sales and marketing director for Elation and Obsidian in Europe, emphasised the partnership: “We are excited to have found a dedicated partner who can help us expand the Elation and Obsidian brands in this extremely importa

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13 September 2024

Vietnam - Acoustic & Lighting System (A&L) Group’s Vietnam team recently hosted an industry meet and greet with Vietnam’s creatives at Revons Studio in District 4, Ho Chi Minh City. The event, titled Spatial Visualisation, invited Vietnam’s top show designers, production directors, choreographers and technical directors to touch, experience and experiment using the BlackTrax real-time tracking and automation solution. 

Acoustic & Lighting System (A&L) Group is a value-added event technology distribution network, with a regional coverage across six countries in South-East Asia, including Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and certified BlackTrax reseller for the region. 

For this event the Group’s Vietnam branch chose to showcase the company’s solution package of BlackTrax integrated with multiple

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13 September 2024

The Netherlands - The Schouwburg theatre in Lochem, eastern Netherlands, has selected 40 Source Four LED Series 3 luminaires, 12 High End Systems Halcyon Gold and 18 SolaPix 7 automated fixtures to upgrade its space.

ETC dealer Ampco Flashlight Sales delivered the fixtures to the theatre, which houses 400 seats for a variety of performances including cabaret and cover bands.

The venue originally housed tungsten lighting and following European legislations – which ban the use of halogen lights in the long run – decided to make the move to LED. Schouwburg’s team found that in comparison to their original tungsten lights, the addition of the Halcyon, SolaPix and Source Four LED Series 3 fixtures made a huge difference in saving power. The selected fixtures have been placed above the main stage, on the sides of the stage as well as above the audien

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13 September 2024

UK - Robe lighting enjoyed “a brilliant PLASA 2024” in London Olympia, tapping into the hustle and energy of the show.

Four new products were launched by the Czechia-based manufacturer – the iForte Fresnel, the Painte Fresnel, the Svopatt and the SVB1 WashBeam moving light, all attracting plenty of interest as Robe continued the celebration of its 30th year.

Robe also premiered its new live exhibition performance extravaganza, The Fifth Dimension complete with three live performers including aerial acrobat and dancer Oskar Skrypko, who caused such a stir at Prolight earlier in the year!

All of Robe’s businesses – Avolites, LSC, Anolis and Artistic Licence – occupied their own areas surrounding the main Robe stand, demonstrating the bi-directional synergies between all of these and capitalising on the buzz and positivity o

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13 September 2024

Germany - Arri has announced the Arri SkyPanel S60 Pro. The latest addition to the SkyPanel family combines the benefits of the classic SkyPanel S60-C with innovative updates that service the needs of today’s professionals while delivering cost-performance and versatility.

To satisfy the increasing demands of production workflows, SkyPanel S60 Pro offers new and enhanced technical features. The digital twin, an exact replica of the luminaire in Unreal Engine, developed by Arri Solutions, offers “unparalleled customisation and control throughout the entire production chain”. This digital twin reduces workloads and improves efficiency in preproduction, on set, and in post-production by allowing crews to quickly synchronise real-world and virtual camera and lighting systems for live collaboration.

Enhanced serviceability is also featured with Clou

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12 September 2024

USA - Rob Koenig and his team are working with Metallica on the second North American leg of the band’s M72 World Tour.

Elevating the show on this tour “to a new, and even higher level of engagement” is an innovative production design by Dan Braun, supported by an equally original lighting design by Koenig that features 144 Chauvet Professional Color Strike M motorised strobe washes supplied by Premier Global Production.

The design’s 360-degree stage brings the band closer to the crowd and affords clear views from anywhere in the big stadium. Those views are also bold, as Koenig pours volumes of bright light on the stage, impressively without having any truss-mounted fixtures, except for a small number around the drum riser.

“This kind of stage was all part of Dan Braun’s vision for the tour from the start,” said Koenig

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12 September 2024

UK - First performed on Broadway in 1964, in a production which won 10 Tony Awards, Hello, Dolly! is the classic Jerry Herman musical about Dolly Levi, a strong-willed matchmaker who travels to New York to find a match for the miserly, unmarried Horace Vandergelder. It has been revived countless times over the years, having first arrived in the West End in 1965.

Now, almost 60 years on, a new production has recently opened at the London Palladium, directed by Dominic Cooke and starring Imelda Staunton. It also features a lighting design by the Olivier Award-winning Jon Clark who approached White Light (WL), a d&b solutions company, to supply his lighting rig.

This latest production of Hello, Dolly! has been several years in the making. Initially intended to open in July 2020, it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has

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12 September 2024

UK - Avolites, a Robe business, chose this year’s PLASA Show to debut its new Diamond 7 (D7) console in the UK – the newest addition to the Avolites Diamond collection.

The two variants, the D7-330 and D7-215 received lots of attention across the show days from students and industry professionals. The console offers high-end performance that can travel anywhere you go.

Also making its debut at the PLASA Show was Prism One, the latest version of Avolites’ Prism media software (soon to be released) designed principally for lighting designers.

Key new features include an added preview window, cross fade on a layer, hardware decode acceleration for H.264/H.265, control over multiple banks and layers, live input and NDI input, as well as virtual return and region of interest on outputs.

All of these were demonstrated to an enthusiast

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11 September 2024

USA - The SC4 Fine Arts Theatre at St. Clair County Community College in Port Huron, Michigan, faced an urgent need for a lighting upgrade due to an outdated system that had been in use for decades. Japheth Boivin, director of integration at Mercury Sound & Lighting, an AV solutions company that had previously installed a video streaming system and digital signage for the theatre, spearheaded the lighting design for the renovation and chose Elation KL and Fuze series luminaires.

“The main impetus for the project was that the previous system was failing on all fronts due to its age and obsolescence,” commented Boivin, who says that the previous mix of conventional PARs and ellipsoidals dated anywhere from the ‘60s to the ‘90s. “They wanted a technology upgrade to something more reliable, more capable, and more versatile.” 

The 300-sea

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11 September 2024

Spain - 50 minutes of total immersion – that is the aim of Lumina Catedral de Toledo. Since December 2023, visitors have been able to experience the multimedia production in the Gothic cathedral of Toledo in the centre of Spain. The main components are large-scale project mapping, precise surround sound, and a lighting design that makes the architecture of the cathedral appear even more impressive.

As the technical service provider, Meraki Cultura Audiovisual SL relied on a combination of LD Systems Curv 500 array systems for the sound and Cameo lights from the Zenit, Opus, and Evos series for the lighting of the temporary installation.

“Lumina Catedral de Toledo is a globally unique multimedia and cultural experience,” explains project director Alfonso López Rivera, managing director of Meraki Cultura Audiovisual SL. “The

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10 September 2024

Sweden - Hov1 (pronounced Hovet) is a Swedish hip hop group formed in 2015 with 26 top ten hits in the Swedish Singles Chart, 12 of which reached the top spot. The band is currently undertaking a tour of Sweden visiting the major cities of Gothenburg, Malmo and Stockholm. 

French-born but Sweden-based lighting designer, Jonathan Rikner, of NCOAB Productions chose Ayrton Rivale Profiles – the first ultra-equipped luminaire in Ayrton’s Ultimate Series – as a major part of his lighting rig, all of which was supplied by CT Sweden.

Rikner described the size of the venues for this tour and how he uses the Rivale Profiles in his design: “The venues throughout the tour were full with an average capacity of 9,500 people, and we looked forward to the highlight show in Stockholm on 31 August which played to 18,000 people.

“With throw distance

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10 September 2024

UK - Kiss Me, Kate has made a much-anticipated return to the London stage at the Barbican Theatre. Starring Adrian Dunbar and Broadway legend Stephanie J Block, the show tells the story of two fraught ex-lovers who may or may not still have feelings for each other and who are forced to work together on a musical version of The Taming of the Shrew.

Directed by Tony Award-winning Bartlett Sher, this latest revival features a lighting design by the multi-award-winning Don Holder, who approached White Light (WL), a d&b solutions company, to supply his lighting rig.

Having originally been performed on Broadway back in 1948, Kiss Me, Kate first appeared in the West End in 1951 and has subsequently been revived countless times over the years. One of the most recent revivals was the Drama Desk Award-winning 2019 Broadway reviva

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10 September 2024

UAE - Creative Technology Middle East (CTME) is based in the UAE, KSA, and Qatar, and delivers technical design, planning and production for some of the most ambitious and dynamic live events and system integration projects in the region.

Creative Technology has been steadily investing in new Robe moving light fixtures over the last three years, including the recent purchases of 24 x Fortes, 80 x LEDBeam 350s and four RoboSpot BaseStations with Motion Cameras.

The latest purchases have happened since CTME’s head of lighting, Sam Connolly, started with CT three years ago, and were driven by him coupled with the company’s previous experience with Robe moving lights, including BMFLs.

However, the time had arrived to update these with newer technologies. Before joining the team at CTME, Connolly enjoyed 10 years working in the region on inter

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10 September 2024

UK - Event production company NL Productions has been awarded the contract opportunity to deliver Dundee’s Christmas Village for the next three years. This development promises to bring festive magic to the heart of the city, “offering a vibrant celebration that will engage the local community and attract visitors from far and wide”.

The contract will run for further years until Christmas 2026. Earlier this year Dundee City Council announced they were looking to partner with a professional event management company to run the festive attraction in December.

The Christmas Village will be designed to appeal to all ages, offering something for everyone. The centrepiece is a 10m x 20m real ice rink where visitors can glide into the festive season. The Christmas Market will showcase local traders and caterers, offering unique gifts and seasonal treat

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10 September 2024

UK - Australian manufacturer LSC Control Systems enjoyed a successful PLASA Show in London this year. The company showed its renowned solutions alongside its UK distributor, A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET), and also on the stand of its new owner (and headline PLASA Show sponsor) Robe lighting s.r.o.

“PLASA this year was a really positive experience,” said LSC’s founder and managing director, Gary Pritchard. “Being in two such high-profile locations allowed us to get the full benefit of the show’s top-quality visitor base. The level of interest in our products, and the awareness of their advantages, was very satisfying.”

As a leading specialist in data distribution, power and lighting control, LSC’s increasingly popular solutions offer advanced protections and monitoring capabilities, giving the benefits of safety, reliability an

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10 September 2024

Europe - Follow-Me has announced the appointment of Thijs Bruins as global sales manager. Bruins will oversee the Follow-Me global sales network, aligning existing partners, expanding the network to improve customer experience and providing a strong base for the company’s future growth.

“We are really happy Thijs is joining Follow-Me,” Marc van der Wel, managing director says. “He brings lots of technical and commercial knowledge, industry experience and enthusiasm to our growing company.”

Bruins has a wealth of technical expertise. Starting out at a young age as a lighting technician and continuing to juggle this freelance work and training, his early experience underpins his deep understanding of the live events, theatrical and AV industries.

After years of freelancing, Bruins moved on to the role of manager of special projects at

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09 September 2024

USA - Texas-based rental and event production solutions company LD Systems has invested in 32 new Robe iForte LTX moving lights, purchased specifically to pair with their existing 14 RoboSpot remote follow spotting control systems.

“The iForte LTX is a proper ‘Swiss Army knife of fixtures’ – highly versatile and very robust,” commented LD Systems’ lighting operations manager, Nathan Brittain.

The company already has substantial quantities of other Robe products – Pointes, MegaPointes and Spikies – in its rental inventory which are in constant use on touring, concert, and festival systems as well as special events, spectaculars and one-offs, plus the RoboSpot Systems which up to this point had been working with BMFL LT fixtures.

Brittain explains that they were looking for an IP-rated high-powered moving light, especially for t

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09 September 2024

USA - Production/lighting designer Rob Sinclair is using Elation Proteus Maximus LED Profile lighting fixtures to support country star Zach Bryan on his ongoing Quittin’ Time tour. Playing North American dates in support of his fifth studio album, The Great American Bar Scene, which was released in July, the Proteus Maximus has been instrumental in supporting Bryan’s live performances in the challenging conditions of outdoor stadiums.

The Quittin’ Time tour marks a significant milestone in Zach Bryan’s career. His rise to country music stardom has been meteoric, and his production has grown alongside him. The artist took a big step last year when Rob Sinclair came on board as lighting designer as the production grew from a bus and a trailer to playing arenas in-the-round to now sold-out stadium shows.

Sinclair has h

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09 September 2024

UK - At the PLASA Show 2024, Highlite showcased a wide range of products from several of its brands including Infinity, Showtec and DAP. The range included some of Highlite’s most popular products as well as some impressive new offerings.

New additions to the Infinity Raccoon range included the Raccoon S420/4 strobe with over 70,000 lumens strobe power, Raccoon W40/4 wash with over 41,000 lumens RGBW wash light, Raccoon P7/7 high-end par with 7 RGBCALDB LEDs, Raccoon Junior P4/7 high-end par with 4 RGBCALDB LEDs and Raccoon Junior P7/4 high-end par with 7 RGBM LEDs.

Showtec's new products included the Titan Strobe Flex FX and the Octostrip Flex Set - 1 m. The Showtec Titan Strobe Flex FX is a set of eight high-power LED strobes and a dedicated controller, each pod containing a powerful 100W cold white COB strobe LED and a ring of 12 individually co

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09 September 2024

The Netherlands – “Delivering innovation and connecting communities” is a rallying cry for IBC 2024 on the show’s website. The Chauvet family of brands – Kino Flo, ChamSys and Chauvet Professional – will be embracing this concept at the convention by showcasing a selection of products developed around the company’s goal to “reach across worlds and see the physical and digital converge.”

Among the first things visitors will encounter at the booth is the special demo area created to showcase the multi-award-winning Kino Flo Mimik image-based video lighting tile. Using patented technology to connect ‘worlds’, Mimik projects light that mirrors video content while applying a higher tonal and colour rendering range.

With its capacity to translate incoming RGB video signals into five individual colour emitters, Mimik generates synchron