UK - Lighting designer Will Potts found inspiration in the subtle shapes of nature for his current lighting and show design for award-winning singer Rag'n'Bone Man (see LSi April 2018 for a detailed report). Potts' design incorporates 'sacred' geometric shapes and an illustrated backdrop of personal significance to the singer. To carefully light these elements, he chose the Claypaky Scenius Unico. Having worked with the singer for little over a year, the designer delved deep into the psychology of Rory Graham's (a.k.a Rag'n'Bone Man) music, drawing on recurring themes within the artist's debut album 'Human' to inspire and craft his detailed show design. "There's lots of religious and spiritual references in
UK - Following a three-month business review, specialist LED lighting manufacturer GDS has announced management changes at its Bristol HQ, “to assist in the long-term growth of the business”. Richard Cuthbert will take on the role of managing director, whilst Matthew Lloyd will now occupy the position of sales director for entertainment. Ian Colquhoun will continue in the role of finance director. Lloyd comments: “During the 14 years of the company’s history, Richard and I have overseen the growth and success of ArcSystem, BluesSystem, CueSystem, GDS-Korea and the business as a whole. I feel now that Rich should take GDS forward with his strategic view, allowing me to focus on the sales and international business so core to our roots.” Cuthbert adds: “It has always been a pleasure working with Matt to create great solutions for the industry and we wil
USA - Building on the success of the SixBar series of colour-changing LED battens, Elation Professional now offers the Seven Batten, a new line of linear lighting effects using the latest seven-colour multi-chip LED technology for an even more flexible colour wash solution. The Seven Batten Series house individual 25W 7-IN-1 RGBAW + Lime + UV LEDs and boost an improved optical design for better colour mixing and smoothness of field. The fixtures can also project uniform colour onto any surface, whether lining the downstage edge or flown in a truss. Available in 1ft (0.3m), 4ft (1.2m) and 6ft (1.8m) lengths, Seven Batten fixtures produce nearly 80% more lumens versus comparably sized SixBar series fixtures. An updated rugged die-cast aluminium case design provides improved thermal control and heat management, ensuring stable, improved performance and extending the fixt
Germany - Media solutions and control specialist ArKaos revealed its new An-Ki scheduling system at Prolight+Sound and highlighted MediaMaster 5.2, the newly-launched latest release of its popular real-time video control platform. Managing director Agnes Wojewoda comments: “We experienced another very busy show this year and saw a good mix of high quality European and international visitors, with people from the US, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa as well as Pan Pacific regions. I am impressed with this international flavour. “Particularly interesting to us was perceiving an increase in professionals and practitioners working in the architectural and ‘architainment’ sectors which - to us - reinforced the belief that there is a hunger for new technology in these markets.” This trend tied in with the launch of An-Ki, which addresses the ne
Germany - Claypaky presented a new concept in theme booths as it introduced its stage lighting products at Prolight+Sound in Frankfurt. The Claypaky booth concept was based on three theme showrooms. Demos were performed in each one by alternating lighting techniques with evocative visual effects, creating an absorbing multimedia mix enjoyed by the almost 3,000 visitors who came to the showrooms over the four days. "We saw enormous interest," comments CEO Pio Nahum and marketing manager Davide Barbetta. "The theme itinerary through the three showrooms worked in a continuous cycle, yet there were visitors waiting to enter at every time of day, and their numbers even increased on the last days. We think word got round of a highly detailed demo, put together by our technical team consisting of Claypaky's lighting designers, Marco Zucchinali and Giulia Sabeva, and visual de
USA - Stars from all musical genres came to headline shows and after parties during the Masters Golf Tournament this month. Among this stellar group is rapper and film star Nelly. The double Grammy winner, who has sold 21m records in his career, got a jump on the festivities this year, when he came to Augusta in early March to perform a Masters warmup concert of sorts at the city’s popular Country Club live music venue. With an artist of Nelly’s stature visiting his mid-sized venue, house LD John Berret wanted to go all out to create some special looks on stage. He did just that, with help from a collection of ground stacked Chauvet Professional Rogue fixtures, supplied by Quest Sound & Productions LLC. “Normally, we keep a lot of intense lighting on the dance floor, but with Nelly we wanted to pull everyone’s attention to the centre of the stage,” says
USA - Known colloquially as RodeoHouston, The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (HLSR) is the world’s largest livestock show and richest regular season rodeo, dedicated to benefiting youth, supporting education, and facilitating better agricultural practices through exhibitions and presentation. It draws more than 1.4m people each year to the 72,000-capacity NRG Stadium and over 2.5m people to NRG Park to enjoy the entire festivities. Running for 20 days in February-March, it attracts the very top names in country music, from Garth Brooks through to Brad Paisley, who perform after the main rodeo event each day. Such high calibre artists demand top concert production values and this year the Rodeo boosted its technological infrastructure by purchasing a new stage - built by TAIT in Lititz, PA. Working closely with TAIT, and leaning heavily towards GLP fixtures, were H
UK - Lighting and visuals rental specialist Colour Sound Experiment supplied lighting and video for the recent UK tour by Welsh rockers Feeder, who are back on the road with their Arrow album tour. Bryan Leitch is the band’s LD and visual designer and the person who took the tour to Colour Sound after previous excellent experiences with the west London based company. “It was a video-based tour so ideal for Colour Sound,” he comments. Colour Sound also invested in some new lighting fixtures to ensure that Bryan had exactly the rig he wanted. Bryan has worked for Feeder since 2004. On this tour he was joined on the road by technician / crew chief - and Colour Sound regular - James Hind. His creative inspiration for the design started with three festival shows last summer where they used an upstage screen split into three sections, a format that lead si
Poland - The Leonardo da Vinci Energy of the Mind exhibition, which recently opened in EC1 Łódź City of Culture in Poland, is being lit with 120 x Robe ParFect 100 LED luminaires. Taking centre stage in the EC1 building, an impressive fusion of industrial art, heritage and modern design that sees the original power station of Poland’s third city reimagined as a vibrant science and technology centre. The acclaimed exhibition - which has previously appeared in Paris, Munich, Brasilia and London - is a collaboration between EC1 Łódź, the Cité des Sciences et de l’industrie in Paris and producers, the Muzei Nazionale della Scienza et della Tecnologica Leonardo da Vinci. Installed in the majestic former turbine hall of EC1, over 70 exhibits include historical models, interactive installations, films and contemporary examples of bio-inspired robotics,
Germany - ROE Visual enjoyed a successful Prolight + Sound 2018, introducing new team members, as well as two new products. Roelof Bouwman, managing director of ROE Visual Europe, comments: “Prolight + Sound is an important exhibition for our industry, all the major players come together to share experiences and look for new products and innovations. The quality of the visitors visiting our stand has been outstanding. We were happy to illustrate our innovative drive, by showcasing both the new Diamond 2.6 series and the Vanish 18 panels. These new products, have received very positive feedback from our customers and users.” Bouwman continues: “As commercial partner of the AV Alliance, we were asked to participate in a panel discussion on The future of LED during the annual meeting here in Frankfurt. This offered a unique opportunity to discuss the developm
UK - Housed on the UK's largest broadcast entertainment set, Revolution is Sky One’s new extreme sports show which pits skateboarders, BMXers and skaters against each other across a custom-built course. Filmed in front of a live studio audience, the show is centred around an extensive track layout, constructed at Cardington Studios against a super-vibrant set created by scenic designer Dominic Tolfts and art director Ben Telford. Working alongside the production crew, illumination rental and installation specialists LED Creative provided their Sigma 60 and BYTE Control system to the show, allowing the team to create the fast-paced mix of electric-bright colour and movement that encircles the on-track action. The BYTE Controller units have been developed by the company specifically to work in unison with their Sigma product range, allowing maximum artisti
USA - The stage was set up to resemble a wrestling ring, but the 1000 or so students from four states who gathered at suburban Naperville North High School recently didn’t “duke it out”, they belted it out, in the form of beautifully sung and choreographed musical arrangements. Their spirited performances were part of the third annual Clash of the Sequins, a competition involving 22 show choirs from across the Midwest that raises funds for performing arts programs. Providing a sparkling and rocking high-energy visual backdrop for the day of non-stop singing and dancing was a Garrett Vander Veen-designed lightshow, anchored by 48 Rogue R2 Wash fixtures from Chauvet Professional. Vander Veen, owner of V2 Productions, covered the entire 48’ wide by 32’ deep stage with his Rogue fixtures, flying eight of them on upstage truss, 24 on the mid-stage ‘claw’ and
UK - Stage Electrics has announced the addition of the complete range of MagicFX special effects to complement its existing stock of pyrotechnics effects, smoke and haze effects machines. “We already have a range of effects and effect machines in our product range and we wanted to expand on these with effects such as confetti streamers, bubble blasters and stage flames, which are so popular at events and festivals,” says James Cookson, product sales account manager at Stage Electrics. “Our policy is to only stock equipment from leading manufacturers such as Le Maitre, whose quality and safety standards we have absolute confidence in. MagicFX fits those criteria perfectly.” Stage Electrics recently made a very large sale of MagicFX product to laser show and laser system design specialist ER Productions, who purchased a range of Magic FX Confetti systems and st
UK - Lighting designer Michael Straun recently deployed a full array of Martin by Harman fixtures to create a dynamic lighting design to support James Arthur’s UK headlining Back From the Edge arena tour. James Arthur has scored numerous chart-toppers and awards since winning the ninth season of The X Factor in 2012. In support of his new album Back From The Edge, Arthur recently embarked on his first ever UK arena tour. Tour manager JP Firmin and creative director Meggan McKenzie from UK creative production company The Live Dept. hired Straun to join their team, and together created a fresh and exciting lighting design for the tour. Straun partnered with McKenzie, tour lighting director Dan Williams and lighting supplier Christie Lites to create a dynamic visual experience for the tour, powered by a robust selection of Martin fixtures. “Megga
USA - Charity Behind the Scenes reports that TMB recently reached a significant milestone as one of its Pledge-a-Product Partners. TMB has now donated over $100,000 to the charity from sales of its ProXS professional lighting fixture accessories. The ProXS line includes pattern holders, donuts, top hats, half hats, irises, barndoors, colour extenders, beam benders, spill rings, colour frames, and more. For more information visit http://tmb.com/proxs/. Colin Waters, CEO of TMB, explains why his company supports the charity, “Behind the Scenes is such a great programme. We are glad to do our part, helping this valuable work.” Rick Rudolph, the chair of Behind the Scenes, acknowledged the moment saying, “When Colin proposed becoming a Pledge-a-Product Partner we never dreamt that a line of fixture accessories could do so much to help industry professionals in need.
Germany - Laserworld has updated its Purelight Series so they come in a smaller housing, are lighter and built with enhanced laser sources. The company promises "great white balance and high power at low price". The Purelight Series units are available in 6W, 10W and 20W power and have graphics-capable scanners at 30kpps 8° ILDA, which makes them suitable for a large number laser show applications. The optics section of the laser systems has no air circulation, which significantly reduces maintenance efforts for the Purelight systems. The Laserworld Purelight Series, launched at PL+S 2018, are suitable for large nightclubs, festivals, outdoor stages and any kind of application that requires high power and good white balance, says the company. (Jim Evans)
Europe/USA - The new Philips VL2600 range of LED moving head luminaires from Philips Entertainment Lighting has been designed as a smaller, brighter and lighter LED alternative to the VL2500 Spot and Wash moving heads. The VL2600 range combines LED light source engineering with the quality, colour palette and performance of the Philips Vari-Lite brand. In terms of light quality, output power, reliability and cost, the three fixtures in the VL2600 range are simply the highest performing luminaires - and the most attractive investment proposition - in their class, says the company. Having listened to the wishes of customers worldwide, Philips Entertainment Lighting has exceeded the output of the VL2500, while expanding the available package and its potential applications with the addition of a dedicated Profile fixture, plus the added advantage of a beam-shaping system w
USA - In 1984, the US federal government added the Capitol Theatre to its National Register of Historic Places. When it comes to the history of rock music in the US, few venues have packed more of it into their confines than this 92-year-old former vaudeville/cinema house just north of New York City. Eric Clapton performed here; so did Bob Dylan, David Bowie and the Rolling Stones. The Grateful Dead played 13 dates here in a one-year span, and Janis Joplin debuted her signature Mercedes Benz song on its stage, much to the surprise of her band, after writing it in a hurry at a local bar. History wasn’t the only thing glowing at the 1,800-seat theatre on Saturday night 10 February, when Pink Talking Fish paid tribute to some iconic music from Capitol Theatre alumni with a concert that ran through Pink Floyd’s The Wall album, along with some juicy tunes
European Theatre - Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) will acquire five new venues in Germany as it confirms a takeover of theatre operator Mehr! Entertainment. The deal, agreed for an undisclosed amount, brings the company’s global portfolio of venues to 51 and ATG’s first major international purchase since the 2016 management change and the stepping down of co-founders and joint chief executives Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire. ATG’s purchase of Mehr! Entertainment means it will operate the Starlight Express Theatre in Bochum, the purpose-built venue which has been home to the long-running musical since 1988. It will also take over the Mehr! Theatre in Hamburg, the Admiralspalast in Berlin, the Capitol Theatre in Dusseldorf and the Musical Dome in Cologne. ATG chief executive Mark Cornell said: “These major venues across Germany are each unique and captivating in the
Germany - PR Lighting presented one of its most expansive displays yet at this month’s Prolight+Sound in Frankfurt. With a dedicated booth adjacent to their German distributor, Focon Showtechnic, their theme was Water Proof Products in the form of a series of IP65-rated fixtures. Although they found the attendance generally lower than previous years, according to international sales director, Ernie Armas, due to their inspired and eye-catching water display units, they managed to drive a constant flow of traffic to their stand. “This allowed attendees to see a series of moving heads perform over the duration of the show under water conditions,” he notes. “Furthermore, the design of our booth allowed visitors to play with our units and get full hands-on experience, by using a simple controller attached to the pedestal.” PR Lighting displayed
Indonesia - Multi-platinum and Dove Award-winning recording group Hillsong United have told interviewers that their sixth studio album Wonder was inspired in part by the things they’ve experienced visiting new places. It is fitting, then, that the group recorded some songs on their new record in Bali, home of their church’s first campus in Asia. Located in a pleasant, low-key new building on a tree-lined street, the recently opened Bali campus embodies the warm, inviting and uplifting spirit that draws over 80,000 people each Sunday to Hillsong churches on five continents. Although the Bali church building itself is relatively simple in its structure, it quickly engages visitors with help from its immersive and colourful lighting, created with Chauvet Professional fixtures, supplied and installed by ASIIS. “The people from Hillsong first saw us at an exhib
Germany/UK - Data Strategy’s Iain Roche and White Light’s technical director Dave Isherwood shook hands at Prolight+Sound in Frankfurt on a deal for a total of four to six QC-Check workstations, incorporating PAT4 and CAB5 PAT and Cable Test Processors from joint-venture partners Out Board. QC-Check’s test database and logging software will be fully integrated into WL’s InspHire asset management system, which will provide real-time tracked test results for the company’s entire hire inventory. The first single-bay QC-Check workstation - custom-built by SES Entertainment Services - will arrive within weeks. The most complex of the order, the distro department’s QC-Check workstation, is designed for optimal workflow in the quick and efficient checking of multiple power distribution outlets. Heavier-duty distro connectors are positioned conveniently at the front, whi
UK - Jands Vista's flexible hardware and time-saving user interface provided the right tool to control a cutting-edge lighting design for Bury Court Opera's modern production of Handel's Giulio Cesare. Loosely based on historic events during the Roman Civil War, Giulio Cesare - translated as Julius Caesar in Egypt - tells the story of feuding family dynasties, revenge, and obsessive lusts of the most powerful figures of the ancient world. With Bury Court Opera's focus on using a young cast and production team to provide a fresh take on classic operas, the lighting was key to achieving their artistic vision. To deliver the show's innovative lighting design by Prema Mehta, lighting programmer Robert Price specified the Jands Vista control solution. He comments: "I use Vista as I love being able to tailor its software and hardware for an
South Africa - The new Steyn City School opened its doors in January 2018. DWR Distribution installed curtains and curtain tracks as well as a lighting, audio and AV in the auditorium which will be used by the Dramatic Arts and Music departments as well as for everyday use like assemblies. Steyn City School is situated just outside the Steyn City Parkland Residence. Interestingly, what is now a residential estate was once abandoned land which included an old mine quarry. A tender process saw DWR Distribution sub-contracted to supply the audio visual and lighting in the auditorium. Later, DWR were also awarded another tender, this time for the full curtaining system. “We were one of the last subcontractors appointed and it was a very tight schedule,” comments Kevin Stannett from DWR. “Working on a brand-new school from scratch and being involved with the co
