Europe - Harman Professional Solutions is extending its distribution agreement with Fairlight to include tour audio solutions in Benelux. Fairlight was initially appointed to distribute lighting brand Martin by Harman in the region. Under the new agreement, the Dutch company will also distribute Harman’s full range of tour audio products, including JBL, Crown, Soundcraft, dbx and BSS. Scott Aslett, regional director at Harman Professional Solutions (Northwest Europe), comments: “We are delighted to extend Fairlight’s distribution rights to Harman audio brands. We already have a strong established partnership with Fairlight, and given their prominence in the touring industry, this expansion of our partnership will support the great demand for Harman solutions and yield improved service to our customers in the Benelux region.” Michael Arntz, general manage
UK - Stage Electrics has welcomed a new apprentice to its buying team in Jemma Dove. Previously studying A-Level business, Dove will be working at Stage Electrics’ HQ five days a week alongside studying for a qualification in business administration. She comments: “I am eager to get into the world of work. I am looking forward to the opportunity to further develop my professional skills in such a great company.” The apprentice will report directly to Stage Electrics’ head of procurement, David Friend. He comments: “Holding over £1.2m in sales stock here at Stage Electrics, the buying department have seen continuous growth over the last few years. We are pleased to welcome Jemma to the team, to help manage stock. We have recently had one apprentice in our department who graduated to a full-time roll here. Employing a team member through an apprenti
Australia - Staged annually for the last 14 years, Queensland’s Creative Generation (CGEN) event was the biggest yet, with almost 2,000 schoolchildren being given the opportunity to perform in a professional environment on an enormous arena stage measuring 20mx 18m, with a 38m x 6m rear projection screen behind it. Content delivery and projection mapping specialists IKONIX - who are based on Australia’s Gold Coast - were asked to help deliver the desired wow factor for the fifth successive year. At the heart of the solution they created were two Avolites RX8 Ai media servers to deliver images to the rear screen, and two additional units controlling projection onto the stage. Equally central to their vision of the production were Notch real time content generation and BlackTrax real time tracking system, the latter provided by Atlanta-based Visional Productions, an
USA - Fans who catch AFI on the current Mourning In Amerika tour as they open for Rise Against have no doubt what the multi-platinum band’s initials stand for. Slamming the stage with the power of a thunderbolt, and burning through their songs with reckless abandon, the iconoclastic quartet seems to be driven by some internal combustible force, or “A Fire Inside”. Matching that fire with light is an intense, sometimes foreboding and fast-moving Kelsey Gonzalez and Cort Lawrence-designed lightshow that utilises a rig supplied by Premier Global Productions. Gonzalez, who is also lighting director on the tour, works through a set list that varies each night (she has over 90 songs programmed) to reflect the music with ever-changing patterns and colours. Helping in this endeavour are the eight Chauvet Professional Rogue R1 FX-B fixtures in her rig. “We have
USA - Slamhammer recently deployed a full complement of Martin by Harman lighting fixtures to illuminate three nights of musical performances by major headlining artists at the 2018 X Games in Minneapolis. The X Games is an annual sports competition produced by ESPN that brings together the best athletes in skateboarding, BMX, motocross, snowboarding, inline skating and more. The 2018 Summer X Games were held at the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, a with three nights of official concerts at the 8,400-capacity Minneapolis Armory. In order to provide stunning visuals and immersive lighting for headlining performances by Ice Cube, Zedd and Kaskade, ESPN hired live production company Slamhammer to deploy a world-class lighting rig on the Geico Music Stage at the Armory. Slamhammer selected a full complement of Martin lighting fixtures for their versatile features, relia
Spain - The visual design for popular chart-topping Spanish singer and musician Pablo Alborán’s current Prometo tour has been created by LD Chus Fernandez working closely with artistic director Salva Alborán. It is a fine-tuned fusion of lighting, video and automation that brings a diverse look to the show, which will be on the road for at least a year on this, Alborán’s fourth studio album cycle. Chus chose to work with Robe moving lights, picking 40 x MegaPointes, 48 x Spiiders and 32 x BMFL WashBeams as the work-horses of the rig, all supplied by rental company Fluge. It is Chus’ second year as LD, lighting director and operator for Alborán, and he and Salva - who also creates the video content - worked out numerous multi-level ideas and looks to ensure that all the different visual elements had their chance to shine. With a large upstage 4.8m
UK - Equipment hire software companies Current RMS and InspHire have been acquired by integrated ERP solutions provider Kerridge Commercial Systems (KCS). The deals will allow KCS to strengthen its presence within the rental industry. InspHire and Current RMS will operate as independent business units within KCS, under their existing management teams. Current RMS will remain tailored to the needs of the AV, production and events industries. InspHire, which supplies software to companies that rent heavy plant and construction vehicles, will be backed to expand into the US market. Chris Branson, managing director of Current RMS, comments: “I’m delighted that a company as prestigious and well regarded as KCS Group has chosen to invest in Current RMS. We’ve achieved so much in the four years since we launched and through this acquisition we’ve now got th
UK - New York post-hardcore band Glassjaw rocketed to success in 2000 and has had a strong European following ever since, especially in the UK. Following the release last December of their first full length album since 2002, Material Control, the band returned to the UK this summer, playing a much-anticipated show at London’s O2 Academy Brixton on 18 August. Lighting designer for a short run of European dates was Hayden Borgars (Night Flight Orchestra, The Pineapple Thief, et al.), who had an Elation lighting rig of 12 Platinum Beam Extreme beam lights and 12 Platinum Wash ZFX Pro LED moving head washes at his disposal for Glassjaw’s Academy Brixton show. Rooted in the intensity of the New York hardcore scene, Glassjaw are notorious for their exciting live shows and aggressive performance style. Their music is experimental and multi-stylistic, powerful and
Czech Republic - Vratislavice nad Nisou is a district in Liberec – the fifth largest city in the Czech Republic - and their forward-thinking municipality led by Mayor Lukas Pohanka wanted an extra special touch for its landmark Church of the Holy Trinity, a well-preserved and now protected single baroque building dating back to 1700. In recent years, a new stone road and stone steps were built and complemented by stylish lamps and benches adjacent to the church, new trees and flowers were planted around the building when it was refurbished, and. “illuminating the Church was the next logical step“ he stated. This was an intricate task to get just right. Locally based architectural lighting specialist ArchLights, was asked to propose an appropriate lighting scheme that highlighted its attractive architecture, and their team led by lighting designer Pavel Holzknecht
USA - Held each August at the Ohio Dream Park, Machine Gun Kelly’s EST Festival has a giant waterslide on its grounds. Good thing, too. A quick dunk in the massive pool was probably the only chance fans got to cool off during this two-day event. The NPi-produced festival featured the sounds of Asking Alexandria, 2 Chainz, We Came As Romans, Trippie Redd and other stars. Supporting these performances was a lighting rig created by Alex Kay that was anchored by Chauvet Professional Rogue fixtures. Machine Gun Kelly’s long-time designer, Kay ran the lightshow for every one of the festival’s acts, except for Asking Alexandria, which brought their own LD. His watchword for the entire event was “intensity.” Creating an arch upstage, he loaded it with fixtures, the better to make power statements. Kay and his techs Nino Spadaro and Jacob Thompson positioned e
USA - Lighting designer and creative technology expert Marty Postma is coming off the road and joining Robe North America’s sales force as regional sales manager for the Northeast. Marty has over 20 years’ experience on the front-line of concert touring and live events, working as a lighting designer, director, programmer, operator, and technician. Marty’s recent design portfolio includes interesting and edgy clients like Alice in Chains, Evanescence, and two ice skating shows aboard Royal Caribbean's newest ship, Symphony of the Seas. Bob Schacherl, CEO of Robe North America comments, “I’m delighted with Marty Postma’s decision to join the Robe North America sales team. With his prestigious design career, he brings a wealth of lighting experience, product knowledge and contacts throughout the North American market. Historically the Northeast territo
Canada - To support and grow its rapidly expanding user base, global design and BIM software solutions provider Vectorworks has opened a new corporate office in Canada. To facilitate this new office, Vectorworks has acquired Resolve Software Solutions and the assets of Paxar Technologies Corp, both long-time distributors of Vectorworks software. The Vectorworks Canada office is located in Vancouver and led by Geoff McBeath, former director of Resolve Software Solutions, who has more than 20 years of experience in Vectorworks support, training and sales. “The opening of a Vectorworks office in Canada will allow us to better serve our growing community of users in North America, offering improved resources and a direct connection with our product development team,” said Vectorworks CEO Dr. Biplab Sarkar. “Geoff McBeath has provided significant contributions to the
Europe - This year’s tour with Jeff Beck is taking LD David “Gurn” Kaniski to some far-off lands - and some unusual venues, such as the outdoor gardens of a palace in Spain, or an ancient coliseum in Rome, for instance. “The Romans didn’t think about load-in back then!” Kaniski jokes. “Which makes it so nice that I can just carry my Full Boar 4 with me up the stairs!” It’s one of the many reasons why the LD has been a Hog console user – back since the Wholehog II days, he notes. The ease of travelling with it along with the ease of use has reduced his stress and added more time to his show day. “For this tour, especially, because I have so many changing house rigs, I’ve been really fast at changing fixture types and building my show,” he explains. “All the new software updates are great. I love the pixel mapping – it’s terrific, it’s s
Singapore - From a humble beginning in 1986, Faith Community Baptist Church has grown into one of the largest and most dynamic houses of worship in Asia. The vibrant spirit of this church was very much in evidence this August, when it hosted the G12 Asia Conference. Held at the Singapore Expo Convention & Exhibition Centre, the three-day event draws worshippers and church leaders from throughout Asia. Noted designer Nick Ho has been responsible for lighting G12 Asia since 2015. This year, he and his long-time collaborator Justin Poh took the event’s lighting to a new level of intensity and engagement with a 22-universe, multi-faceted lightshow that used over 500 fixtures. They ran the show on two ChamSys consoles: a MagicQ MQ500 Stadium and a MagicQ MQ100 Pro. “Each year, I am excited to come up with different looks based on the stage design,” said Ho. “T
Czech Republic - Colours of Ostrava (COO / Colours), the largest and most popular music festival in the Czech Republic is also now ranked among one of the ‘majors’ in Europe, with 20 performance stages offering over 350 live music acts and plenty of other creative engagement across four days, attracting a population of 50,000 fans from all over Europe. Each year, the Robe moving light count on this landmark event rises, and 2018 saw the most Robe on site to date. The organisers also invested heavily in the production and the basic festival infrastructure this year, upping the ante on every level and every stage. Site-wide technical production was co-ordinated and delivered by Josef ‘Pepa’ Zenisek and his team from SMART Production, a massive logistical exercise which involved several rental partners for sound, lighting and video, more for rigging and sta
USA - Celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2018, Showstopper is America’s largest and longest-running dance competition. Taking place across regional events in almost every state, and culminating in a series of large national finals, it provides dancers of all ages the opportunity to experience big stage competition with full on professional production. And, for the event’s anniversary year, this production has been taken to another level thanks to an investment in 136 ADJ AV6X LED video panels that made their debut at the recent series of national finals. Showstopper was founded in 1978 and has grown into a vast national competition that attracts teams and individuals of all ages from dance studios right across the US. Throughout the year over 100,000 dancers compete in front of professional judges at 45 regionals – taking place across the country from Fe
USA - As show lighting and video professionals prepare for the inaugural Knight of Illumination Awards USA (KOI-USA), to be held in Las Vegas on Saturday, 20 October, 2018, the organisers have revealed the shortlist. Following the launch of KOI-USA back in April, nominations were received from across the US and around the world. Nominations fall into three categories - Theatre, Live for Broadcast, and Concert Touring & Events - and the shortlist includes some of the world's best-known names in lighting and video design: Concert Touring & Events: LeRoy Bennett, Bob Bonniol, Gabriel Coutu-Dumont, Ben Dalgleish, Patrick Dierson, Cory FitzGerald, Bryan Hartley, Sarah Landau, Francis Laporte, Matthieu Larivée, Robert Long, Nico Riot, Sooner Routhier, Rob Sinclair, Tom Sutherland, Jim Tetlow, and Andi Watson. Live for Broadcast: Yves Bélanger,
UK - PLASA has said the 2018 edition of the PLASA Show has been ‘the busiest and most vibrant’ show since it moved to London Olympia in 2016. PLASA 2018, which took place on 16-18 September, saw a 4% increase in visitors with a palpable atmosphere that was reminiscent of its popular Earls Court days. The show welcomed a stream of exhibitors and attendees from around the world, primed to explore the leading edge of live entertainment technology. The expo also confirmed its importance for networking and trade, with 63% of visitors being final decision makers or specifiers, and a quarter being business owners, managers and directors. Jonathan Walters, UK sales and purchasing director from A.C Entertainment Technologies comments: “This third year back in West London has really confirmed PLASA’s decision to relocate to Olympia, each show here has worked consi
UK - Technical manager and vision engineer John Steele has joined Blitz, a GES company, as technical director. Prior to joining Blitz, Steele specialised in providing engineering support, planning and technical solutions for large-scale, multi-camera mobile broadcasts. Steele has engineered and managed in most areas of the video industry, including corporate presentations, concert tours and international sports coverage. Steele is responsible for running the Blitz technical teams, including video, sound, lighting and set and staging, as well as the project management team. In this role, Steele is part of the Blitz senior leadership team and reports to Blitz managing director Mike Phillipson. Phillipson commented, “As Blitz grows, we need to bring in the very best talent and John Steele certainly fits that bill. His wide-ranging technical experience an
UK - Robert Juliat was awarded a prestigious PLASA Award for Innovation for its SpotMe, a creative tracking system that works in association with followspots. The Innovation Awards took place at the PLASA Show (16-18 October) amid huge competition, with 47 entries and only eight Awards at stake. SpotMe is Robert Juliat’s bespoke, 3D tracking system for followspots and the only performer tracking system to be driven via a real followspot. The SpotMe system communicates the X, Y, Z positions and the beam size parameters to the console. All parameters are then used by the console to control any automated or static lights, and coordinate stage lighting to follow performers, without the need for on-stage/performer sensors or cameras. It is a unique bolt-on system that can be added to existing followspots without the need to invest in complete new systems. The judges consi
UK - Data Strategy says its stand was ‘buzzing with activity’ as it exhibited at PLASA 2018. The company’s new VeriCal, which verifies that the Out Board PAT-4 testers are within their operational specifications, received particular attention. VeriCal is the latest Data Strategy product to combine hardware with intelligent software. The new product ensures the appliance test units within the QC-Check Workstation produce verified and accurate results. Data Strategy MD, Iain Roche, comments: “We had a very busy show, seeing a combination of existing customers, contacts who have shown protracted interest and brand-new prospects. VeriCal attracted much interest especially from potential oversees customers who perceived its purpose, which is to ensure the Pat-4 remains in its operational specifications. “Power-Check, the QC-Check distro test module, also a
France - Lighting design studio, LightLab, headed by lighting designer and art director Alexandre LeBrun, created a flexible and impactful lighting and stage design for French rapper Nekfeu’s summer tour based around mobile walls of light and used Elation Professional’s new multi-functional Smarty Hybrid CMY colour mixing moving head, supplied by Dushow, to realise the stunning look. Nekfeu toured across France this past summer, playing a dozen concerts including festivals such as Lollapalooza, Solidays, and Marsatac. LightLab, who also worked with Nekfeu and his S-Crew on last year’s Zenith tour, developed what LeBrun calls a “very simple yet radical” design for the 2018 summer tour. “I wanted to create a panoramic light design, horizontal and low,” he explains, “so I designed walls of light with the idea of only using it on the stage. The idea
UK - MDG enjoyed a successful PLASA London where it presented its latest products. These included the new IP55-rated Me2 WPE fog and ATMe WPE haze generators, a standard Me2 fog generator, theFAN digital fan, and the ICE FOG Compack HP low fog generator alongside two award-winning products theONE dual mode haze and fog generator, winner of the LDI Best Debut product in 2010, and the RFP (Round Floor Pocket) which won the ABTT Engineering Product of the Year 2018 in June. Alongside its regular stand, MDG had two of its new ATMe WPE weatherproof hazer generators and an ICE FOG Compack HP involved in the spectacular dance and light show on the adjacent Robe booth. Inspired by Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider movies, the show environment emulated tropical forests, caves and volcanoes. Here the ATMe WPE machines showed their true mettle as they stood for three days under torre
USA - Over 60 worship bands took to the stage at Soulfest in early August in Gilford NH. Not all of them were as famous as the festival’s headliners (a group that included for King & Country, Skillet, and Toby Mac.), but each was supported by a lightshow worthy of a star, thanks to a main stage rig that featured over 75 Chauvet Professional fixtures. “We designed this rig to be complete so it could provide big looks for the opening acts, while also complementing the floor packages brought in by the headliners,” said Tim Messina of Events United, which also supplied a “world class sound system” for the event. “As Soulfest has continued to grow over the years, Events United’s role has grown with it - from first providing production for a few smaller stages, to this year providing full production (audio, video, lighting, and backline) for the lar
