USA - Elation Professional has expanded its line of IP-rated products with the new Cuepix 16 IP. An IP65-rated 4x4 matrix LED blinder and effect panel, the Cuepix 16 IP is an updated version of the company’s Cuepix Panel, a 5 x 5 LED matrix panel launched five years ago. Lighting fixtures mounted on a downstage truss like blinder/effect lights, or general area wash fixtures, are especially exposed to the elements - designers can now add high-impact colour or white light, eye candy or pixel-mapped effects, to productions of all types, indoors or out, without the worry of weather and cost and inconvenience of protective coverings, says the company. Cuepix 16 IP houses 16 30W RGBA COB LEDs for a full spectrum of well-balanced, custom colours (saturates to pastels) with no pixelated rainbow shadows. The amber LED compared to the RGB-based Cuepix Panel extends the possibl
UK - Aurora has opened newly upgraded pre-visualisation suites at their North London base. Located directly adjacent to the company’s extensive lighting store in Whetstone, Aurora’s new pre-viz and programming facility provides lighting directors and crews access to a range of lighting tools installed specifically to assist in the creative design and technical planning of all manner of productions. Forming part of an on-going pan-company programme of investment, this newly upgraded installation features MA and Hog lighting desks, dedicated computers running both WYSIWYG and MA3D software and 4K monitors. Created with the customer in mind the self-contained area offers relaxed, informal surroundings, including a smart breakout lounge. Conveniently situated at the company’s North London complex, the suites also benefit from direct access to the huge on-site l
UK - Illumination specialists LED Creative supported set designer Rudi Thackray and lighting director Gurdip Mahal, providing LED and control systems to help create the look for the recent London run of The Late Late Show with James Corden. Making a welcome return to the Central Hall Westminster, The Late Late Show with James Corden once again staged its mix of interview, sketches and live performance in front of a studio audience at the impressive venue. With a set designed to mirror the feel of the US show, Rudi Thackray re-created the look with plenty of vibrant, bold colour, which perfectly complemented the lighting installation and provided the ideal juxtaposition against the imposing backdrop of the Central Hall. One of the key features in the design was the inclusion of over 40 LED Creative Sigma Pulse Wands, which Thackray positioned through
The Netherlands - Pinksterfeesten in De Moer festival has consistently delighted fans for 37 consecutive years. Looking to keep the festival experience fresh for performers and fans alike, Mercury Audiovisueel and Oetelaar Sound Service incorporated 24 Chauvet Professional Rogue R1 Spot and 8 Rogue RH1 Hybrid fixtures into their visual concept on the main stage at this year's festival. "One of the main challenges with this festival is to keep the visuals and the energy fresh and interesting year after year," comments Mercury. "The Rogues were the perfect tools. They provided surprisingly large and intense output for a fixture of such compact size and weight." To craft a number of energy-inducing looks for headliners such as the Dirty Daddies and Buren van de Brandweer, Mercury positioned the Rogue R1 Spot units on a lattice of trussing pillars behind the stage. As a r
Chechen Republic - A new dolphinarium has opened in the Chechnyan capital of Grozny - the centrepiece of a major new complex that also includes several parks, attractions, race circuit, restaurant, theatre and an equestrian park. The total area of the facility is more than 300,000sq.m. The Grozny Dolphinarium itself measures around 10,000sq.m. and includes eight swimming pools for training and a recreation area for animals where they can engage in water performance. In the centre is a 12m diagonal screen where up to 665 people can watch the water show. The LTM Group was tasked with developing project documentation for the sections of stage lighting, electro-acoustics and suspension system, as well as the installation of acoustic and lighting equipment. A high technical specification was set for the audio visual, with particular attention given to the central pool, and
USA - Currently performing at festivals across Europe, American rap and hip hop artist Vince Staples spent the first quarter of the year in the USA opening for headliner Tyler, the Creator. To give each of the artists a dramatically different visual definition for their respective parts of the show, two contrasting designs were devised, with Staples’ performance taking place in front of a dramatic backdrop that juxtaposed cold white, stark and graphic looks, which then gave way to Tyler, the Creator’s set that featured a magical forest with lots of saturated colour, Kabuki drops and star drop visuals. Add to that mix a rig that has to be moved away quickly to accommodate the set change to the headline act, and it’s easy to see the challenges that Staples’ lighting director and programmer, Tyler Santangelo, and manage r/ show director, Corey Smyth, had to overc
France - Lighting designer Thomas Dechandon of the 4eleven collective created a stunning show for pop-rock band Indochine’s recent tour, including over 200 Robe moving lights on the rig – with MegaPointes, Spiiders, LEDBeam 150s – plus a six-way RoboSpot remote follow spotting system that was run by three operators.. These were part of an impressive kit list supplied by leading French rental specialist Dushow, and it was the greatest number of RoboSpots to date on a French tour. Each RoboSpot operator positioned behind the stage controlled two BMFL WashBeam moving lights running in conjunction with two RoboSpot MotionCameras. The compact moving head cameras were rigged in front of the BMFLs on a ‘magic arm’. Three BMFL WashBeams being used as follow spots were positioned on the front truss and the other three on the central ring of a large circular vid
UK - As announced by the #SaveStageLighting Campaign, the period of public consultation for the proposed ECO design regulation – that will affect lighting products of all types – has expired. The EU DG Energy department has passed on a revised draft to the next stage of the legislative process. Expecting to know its content within a few weeks, it will progress through the committee stages of the process of turning it into a law. Ruari Cormack, SLX business development manager, comments: “Following on from the recent news from the #SaveStageLighting front we at SLX would like to applaud the efforts of those involved to date, including our sister company Stage Electrics, and echo the sentiment of the most recent articles published on this challenge. “Certainly, as an industry we have been slow to respond to the initial proposals. However, the efforts of all areas
USA - Hard rock band Stone Sour recently wrapped their Spring touring leg with a lighting package provided by Bandit Lites. The group released their sixth studio album Hydrograd last summer and are currently on tour in Europe. “I wanted the rig to be compact so we wouldn’t have to take off 36 fixtures every night,” said lighting designer Scott Warner. “I asked Bandit to come up with a way to mount them on pipes which could lifted quickly, and stay wired,” said Warner. “At load out, they’d drop down into the pods. Bandit did a great job in building the pods so it all worked seamlessly.” Bandit’s preproduction team handled building the pods before Stone Sour’s team made their way to Nashville for rehearsals. “I would get pictures sent from Bandit to myself and Stephen Shaw (PM/TM) to look over. When we loaded into rehearsals in Nashville
South Africa - Joshua Cutts once again lit the Miss South Africa beauty pageant event, which this year selected the country’s delegates for the Miss Universe and Miss World contests. The show was staged for the first time at the new Sun Arena venue at Times Square in Pretoria, and Cutts chose to illuminate the show – produced by Entertainment and directed by Gavin Wratten for live broadcast on M-NET (DSTv channel 101) and Mzansi Magic (DSTv channel 161) – with a substantial Robe moving light rig of 170 fixtures. Josh is a leading South African lighting and visual designer and has used Robe products extensively in his work for some time, however this was the first time he had the chance to use MegaPointes on a live show. The event’s overall lighting and technical vendor was Dream Sets, and their production manager Eben Peltz ensured that everything ran smo
USA - The inaugural American Knight of Illumination Awards (KOI-USA), has announced the full judging panel for the five awards in the Concert Touring & Events category. Concert Touring & Events judging panel: John Featherstone, principal lighting designer and founder of Lightswitch and chair of the judging panel, has worked with The Pretenders, Van Halen, Duran Duran and Bryan Adams Barry Lather, creative director, began his career starring as a dancer in Michael Jackson's film Captain EO, and has since gone on to direct world tours for Usher, Mariah Carey, Rihanna and Carrie Underwood Angie Warner, touring manager for Guns'n'Roses, has more than 18 years' experience in the industry and has previously worked with NSYNC and Imagine Dragons Yelena Filipchuk, artist and co-founder of installation art collective HYBYCOZO, creator of large-scale,
New Zealand - Wellington’s Te Auaha is a new university campus that provides a home to students of creative disciplines such as photography, film production, performing arts, visual arts and music. Supporting the wide variety of productions at the school’s 200-seat theatre auditorium is a carefully planned LED lighting rig that features a large collection of Chauvet Professional fixtures installed by MDR Sound and Lighting, including 12 Ovation F-915FC Fresnel, 12 Ovation F-165WW, 10 Ovation E-910FC LED and 10 Maverick MK2 Spot fixtures. "The Ovation F-915FC is a remarkable LED Fresnel," comments James Kearney, technical manager of Te Auaha. "One of the most impressive features is its ability to reproduce true theatre colours with near perfect CRI – astonishing, considering the fact that the LED source has none of the drawbacks of traditional tungsten Fresnels.<
Switzerland – The Geneva International Motor Show attracts more than 700,000 visitors every year. This year, Source Four fixtures from ETC were among the luminaires selected to highlight the new models unveiled by premium car manufacturers Mercedes-Benz and Audi. German-based rgb GmbH was entrusted to supply bespoke lighting solutions for the exhibition spaces of Audi and Mercedes-Benz. In order to illuminate global premieres from Mercedes-Benz, the rgb team specified 141 Source Four PAR 750, 43 Source Four Profile 750 and three Source Four LED Series 2 Daylight HD from ETC. Meanwhile, a press event for Mercedes-Benz called for an additional 49 Source Four LED Series 2 Daylight HD fixtures, a further 25 Source Four PAR 750 and 28 Source Four PAR 575. Additionally, almost 140 ETC fixtures were positioned to complement the Audi exhibition area, including 54 Sou
USA - Jack White has kicked off his headlining tour of North America and Europe with a large complement of Claypaky Sharpy Wash fixtures supporting the show. White’s tour follows the release of his new solo album, Boarding House Reach. The Detroit native began the tour in his hometown in April and will play dates across the US and Canada before heading to Europe. Then he will return stateside for more dates in the fall and possibly into 2019. Montreal-based Luz Studio designed the show’s production, lighting and video elements. Using a blue-and-white colour palette and White’s penchant for the number three, or multiples of three, the design features “three column-shaped rotators upstage with video on one side and three rows of 12 Sharpy Washes on the other, which can be positioned individually allowing for a wide variety of looks”, explains tour light
Belgium - Belgian TV and stage entertainment producers Studio 100 asked Painting with Light to design lighting and video, including content creation, for their 2018 Ketnet (Children’s TV channel) musical Team UP, which played to sold-out crowds in four major cities around Belgium. Directed by Tijl Dauwe, the production starred musical actress Goele De Raedt and Ketnet-wrapper Sander Gillis in the lead roles, accompanied by a cast of 12 - 15 year-old new actors and singers who auditioned via TV series Ketnet Musical, a reality style competition devised to source potential new singing, dancing and acting talent. Painting with Light’s Paco Mispelters worked hard to deliver a tourable lighting design to meet everyone’s dramatic expectations and fit into an expedient budget. He took Studio 100’s impressive double-decker set design as a starting point
USA - The members of German supergroup Alphaville always dreamed of playing at Hollywood’s Whisky A Go Go. The synth-pop stars’ wish came true recently when they journeyed to the US and performed two Whisky a Go Go shows over the Memorial Day Weekend. Supporting their high-energy performance with fresh looks were eight Chauvet Professional Rogue R1 FX-B LED fixtures. “This was a dream come true not only for Alphaville, but also for many of their diehard fans in the US,” says Richard Kay, who has been with the band as its lighting designer since 1998 and has toured 91 countries with them. “The whole experience was a bit surreal – LA, Hollywood, palm trees, who wouldn’t love it? Marian Gold (the band’s lead vocalist) always wanted to perform at Whisky a Go Go. We were on tour in the US last year; we all knew about Marian’s dream so we did some sniffing, met s
UK - Star Events supplied the best seats in the house for Fly By Night, artist Duke Riley’s s show featuring 1,500 pigeons wearing tiny LEDs, which took flight in Thamesmead at the weekend. Part of LIFT 2018, London’s premiere festival of international performance, and more than 12 months in the planning, Riley adapted Fly By Night from its New York debut in 2016 for three shows in the capital. The performances paid homage to pigeons’ Great War effort, tiny LEDs replacing the messages pigeons carried between the lines from 1914 to 1918. Called from their purpose-built, illuminated coop at dusk by Riley’s whistle, the specially trained birds lit up the sky in an impressive display over Thamesmead, which was home to munitions factories 100 years ago. Rachel King, Star Events’ project manager, comments: "Alongside a 310-seat grandstand
Europe - Wireless Solution Sweden has announced that ADB Stagelight has joined W-DMX’s OEM family. ADB recently debuted the Klemantis, a new LED cyclorama light based on a six-colour module, with HCR, being able to deliver a wide selection of colours, from bold hues to pastel shades. The unit also comes standard with a W-DMX module, that allows it to wirelessly receive DMX data from a W-DMX transmitter. It includes an external 2dBi antenna in order to be able to achieve long-distances on 2.4 GHz. “We are very excited to be able to work with ADB,” says Niclas Arvidsson, CEO for Wireless Solution. “The company is in great shape and developing some of the most pioneering products for theatre, it’s great they have chosen our company to supply Wireless DMX. Giving the users the possibility to wirelessly control their Klemantis fixtures opens up a lot of pos
Italy - Italian singer-songwriter Vasco Rossi entertained 50,000 fans at the Stadio San Nicola in Bari as part of his Non Stop Live 2018 stadium tour. Lighting the tour was the artist’s long-term LD Giovanni Pinna, who included over 300 Robe moving lights on the rig - a mix of MegaPointes, Spiiders and LEDBeam 150s - all supplied as part of the lighting package by Rome-based lighting rental company, BOTW, and used to create plenty of excitement and hi-impact. The starting point for the tour design for Giovanni and the Vasco creative team - was the show-stopping event in Enzo Ferrari Park, Modena last summer, Vasco’s one and only live appearance to celebrate 40 years of mainly-thrills-with-a-few-spills in entertainment - in front of around 250,000 people, the largest rock concert in Italy to date. The Modena Park design presented a simple, bold, raw ind
USA - In the Netflix original comedy series Grace and Frankie, characters played by Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Martin Sheen learn to adapt to their worlds gone haywire. But for Scott Webb, lighting programmer from Local 728, all is in control in the studios with High End Systems’ Road Hog 4 and Hoglet 4s. Webb purchased and supplies the Road Hog 4, which runs lighting for the two main stages for the Emmy-nominated series. The show is now filming its fifth season at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles. In prior seasons, Webb rented a Full Boar 4, and purchased the Road Hog 4 at the start of season four. Webb also owns and supplies two Hoglet 4s with DMX Processor 8000s. One system runs lighting on a third stage, while the other is moved to other set locations when needed. Citing 500 conventional dimmers and various LED film lights in the rig, Webb not
UK - Specialist equipment supplier and production house Light Fantastic Production Services applies its stock of Robe MegaPointe fixtures to a variety of live events. Having made a significant investment in Robe MegaPointe fixtures to extend its lighting inventory, Light Fantastic has been keeping these versatile fixtures busy throughout the spring season. LFPS director, Rob Myer, says: “We have a long-standing relationship with Robe so naturally we are delighted with the performance of our MegaPointes. Over the past few months we have been making great use of them on a host of projects, from creating aerial searchlight effects and gobo projection across building facades to adding incredible theatrical looks to prestigious large scale live events, including a particularly spectacular product launch installation on a roof at Chelsea Harbour.” Working both on its own
USA - Technological innovation is nothing new at the Rio Grande Theatre. Opened in 1926, as a silent movie hall, the two-story building was retrofitted three years later with sound equipment, making it among the earliest theatres in its state to show ‘talkies’. It was also the first business in Las Cruces to be air conditioned. History repeated itself earlier this year, when the venue, which now hosts a diverse mix of theatrical productions, concerts and special film showings, took a technological step forward by replacing its old stage lighting with a new LED system that features a collection of Chauvet Professional fixtures supplied by Hubbard’s Music. “This project involved replacing the existing conventional fixtures that Rio Grande was using,” said Will Sadler, project manager for Hubbard’s Music. “The theatre wanted a more flexible lighting system
India - Madrix, the German lighting control solution developed by ionage, received a PALM Sound & Light award for Lighting Product Innovation at the PALM Expo India held in Mumbai on 31 May - 2 June. Madrix 5, the latest version, was recognised for “bringing in exemplary innovations in lighting technology and opening up lighting creativity opportunities for lighting design engineers.” The 64-bit Madrix 5 promises the biggest performance boost the software has seen since it was first released in 2005. The new software also improves any compatible system, so users may not need to deploy new hardware in order to take advantage of the speed upgrade. It offers a dark and light UI themes, new effects and filters, while VJing is enhanced thanks to the new capabilities to directly play back the audio track of videos. The annual PALM Expo, held across five halls a
Canada - MDG, Montreal-based haze and fog generators manufacturer, has won the 2018 ESTim Award for Best Manufacturing Company from the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Montreal. The award was accepted by MDG CEO Martin Michaud and vice-president of finances Jacques Foisy. The 30th annual ESTim Awards ceremony took place in Montreal on 3 May to celebrate the outstanding achievements of businesses and organisations across the city. The ceremony was followed on 14 May by the official signing of the visitor’s book in the Borough of Montreal-North where MDG is located. This honour was carried out by Martin Michaud at the invitation of Christine Black, accompanied by Jacques Foisy, in the presence of the Borough Council. “This is an occasion I would not have missed,” says Michaud. “One can never be tired in the face of such an honour.” (Jim Evans)
