Europe - In anticipation of Brexit, ADJ has re-assigned two of its key personnel to continue the company’s growth in the UK and mainland Europe. Kris Dawber will take on the role of UK and Ireland sales manager while Sebastian Mobers will move into the position of EU sales manager. ADJ Europe recently celebrated its 15th anniversary and the company’s European arm is a significant part of its global business with showrooms at Kerkrade in the Netherlands and Greater Manchester in the UK. Having worked for ADJ in Europe for almost 15 years, Sebastian Mobers is an integral and highly valued member of the team. Having most recently served as the company’s European purchasing manager, before previously gained valuable experience in the sales department, he will take on the role of EU sales manager. This role will involve supporting and overseeing ADJ’s regional sales
USA - John Castelino has been appointed vice-president of global marketing at Chauvet. In his new position, Castelino will be responsible for Chauvet’s entire brand portfolio which includes Chauvet Professional, Chauvet DJ, Iluminarc, Trusst and ChamSys. Castelino joins Chauvet after a distinguished career at Stanley Black & Decker, where he served as vice-president of product management and marketing. During his time at Stanley Black & Decker, Castelino led some of the company’s largest brand portfolios such as DEWALT and Mac Tools. “John’s experience, leadership and passion for brand building make him a valuable addition to our management team,” said Berenice Chauvet, shareholder and senior advisor to Chauvet. “We have built Chauvet into a leading and trusted name in the entertainment and architectural lighting industries. The insights and exper
USA - ETC has released the ColorSource CYC, a new addition to the ColorSource fixture family. The fixture produces a wide range of colours using an all-LED mix of red, green, blue, indigo and lime, eliminating the need to replace expensive lamps and highly saturated coloured gel. According the ETC, these fanless LED fixtures consume a fraction of the power of other standard CYC fixtures without compromising the light output, so it’s possible to light a full cyclorama with a fraction of the fixtures typically required. With a compact and lightweight design ColorSource CYC can be quickly set up on a stage floor or hung from a pipe with ease. Each fixture includes an optional hanging yoke, power in and thru connections for easy installation, and standalone presets and sequences. With the new ColorSource CYC fixture comes an update to ETC’s CYC Tool , which can calcu
USA - Little Ceasars Arena in Detroit opened in September, with nearly 1,700 custom LED strip lights from Elation Professional mounted to the venue’s vast wire grid. Designed by HOK architects, the $863m, 20,000-seat arena is part of District Detroit, a major new development in the city centre. Lighting and multi-media design firm, Illuminating Concepts (IC), was the lighting designer on the project, responsible for lighting the public spaces through to the theatrical lighting in the bowl. The dynamic ceiling is just one part of the arena’s large integrated lighting network in which all lighting is interconnected – indoors and out – to act as one themed environment. Illuminating Concept’s design for the arena uses lighting to create a space that engages, guides visitors, creates moods and disseminates advertiser information. IC brought in production d
UK - Persian-language broadcaster Marjan Television Network has just upgraded its four-studio complex with new LED lighting rigs featuring Chroma-Q, Spotlight, ProLights and Quasar Science fixtures - supplied, along with all associated cabling, by A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET). Designed so that all four of the studios can be controlled from a single gallery, the facility needed to be flexible to accommodate the wide range of productions, whilst maintaining a contemporary aesthetic. The installation had to be energy-efficient with a multi-purpose lighting package that delivered good colour rendition on camera. Ian Muir, who heads up AC-ET's specialist Film & TV sales division, oversaw the supply and specified a variety of LED lighting solutions, including 22 Chroma-Q Space Force soft light fixtures; over 100 Spotlight Fresnels; and Quasar Science Q-LED li
Europe - Lighting designer Steve Bewley has been deploying GLP LED moving heads on the tour of Dizzee Rascal. Over the course of his career, Bewley has turned to successive generations of GLP LED moving head solutions, starting with the original impression 90, before moving onto Volkslicht and X4/X4 S. Explaining his preference, he said, “I’ve always liked the products that GLP release as they are always of a premium nature.” Bewley works across a range of music genres from grime to hip-hop, soul and even rock. He notes: “I could instantly see an application for [GLP products] across the board,” he admits. “I have seen X4’s on multiple tours and at trade shows - and as for the JDC1 [GLP’s new versatile hybrid strobe], I had a little play with one at Christie Lites and loved them straight away.” the JDC1 have become a central part of his design
Czech Republic - Robe BMFL moving lights were used to light the first Laver Cup international tennis tournament. The new indoor hardcourt men’s tennis tournament is staged for the first time in Prague’s O2 Arena, with the action broadcast worldwide. The fixtures were a mix of 108 x BMFL Spots, WashBeams and Wash XFs, plus 80 x Spiider LED wash beams. The BMFLs were the primary light sources for the main show court, which saw two teams - Europe (captained by Björn Borg) and World (captained by John McEnroe) - battle it out for the trophy. The full lighting production was designed by SMART Productions, providing a team of 28 riggers and lighting technicians on site led by SMART’s Josef ‘Pepa’ Zenisek who was also the event’s overall technical director for the Local Organising Committee (LOC) and the host broadcaster. It was Pepa who suggested uti
USA - High End Systems has announced the addition of three new employees. Terry Heisler is joining as West Coast regional sales manager and Clint Wingrove has signed on as south eastern regional sales manager. In HES Engineering, Ian Clarke has become a R&D product development manager. With over 30 years of industry experience, Terry Heisler was on the touring circuit for many years before starting a lighting design company in Canada. After moving to Chicago in 2007, Terry has combined design, management and sales with such companies as Lightswitch, ILC and VER. He comments, “I started my design and programming career using High End fixtures and Hog desks. The product line is now stronger than ever, and I’m very excited to be working with such great people at HES/ETC.” Clint Wingrove worked as sales manager for Oasis Stage Werks and lighting consultant for U
Europe - Audio-Technica has unveiled a limited edition of its M50x studio monitor headphone, the first special release of the M Series model. Finished in a red colourway with gold accents, the M50xRD follows in the footsteps of the limited versions of the original M50. The M50x delivers solid low frequency definition, with its proprietary 45mm drivers ensuring clarity throughout an extended frequency range. Sound isolating earcups, folding design and robust construction make the M50x a perfect choice for recording, tracking, mixing, DJ monitoring and personal listening. As with the standard M50x, the new limited model ships in a protective carrying case with a choice of three detachable cables – 1.2m and 3m straight and a 1.2m to 3m coiled – and gold-plated screw-on ¼” adaptor. (Jim Evans)
USA - From a wash-beam effect with a ring of nine LEDs and continuous 360° pan/tilt movement, to an indoor/outdoor video panel with magnetic LED modules, Chauvet Professional will be showcasing a wide array of solutions for lighting professionals at this year’s LDI show. Certain to attract instant attention at the company’s LDI booth (1415) is the new Maverick MK Pyxis, featuring a design that includes an outer ring of RGBW LEDs, a powerful zooming centre pixel, 360° continuous pan and tilt movement and a host of other performance features. At the centre of the Pyxis is a single homogenous 60W RGBW LED with a fixed 3° beam angle. Surrounding this pixel is an outer ring made up of nine 15W RGBW LEDS with a 7° to 45° zoom angle. A built-in virtual gobo wheel with background colors can be used to make the outer ring appear as if it’s spinning. With a combined c
USA - Elation Professional will be carrying momentum from a successful PLASA show to LDI Booth 2315 in Las Vegas, where the company will again be a Front Row sponsor of North America’s leading trade show for entertainment technology. Elation will be showcasing three luminaires in the Artiste Series of full-featured theatrical-grade LED moving heads. The Artiste Dali features a new LED / Laser Phosphor light engine that gives greater spot and beam capabilities from one fixture while the Artiste DaVinci delivers a combination of power, colour and projection possibilities. The third in the series, the Artiste Picasso, one of the brightest and most feature-rich profile LED fixtures to hit the market, will see its world premiere at LDI Elation will also be showing the new Dartz 360 for the first time on American soil. A full colour-mixing LED beam/spot fixture with gobos
Portugal - Lighting production company FX Road Lights has announced their first purchase of Core Lighting ColourPoint Mini uplighters as part of their investment into corporate markets. The Lisbon-based company has invested in 48 units to go immediately into production and dry-hire stock. The ColourPoint Mini debuted this year, complementing Core Lighting’s product range as a smaller and cost-effective version of the ColourPoint, a best-selling uplighter in the UK, and a standard among the major rental companies. Agostinho Carvalho, sales manager for Lightset and dealer in Portugal, commented: “Core Lighting has a great reputation as a manufacturer of LED uplighters, and it had the ideal solution to FX – we’re thrilled to debuting the first units in our country.” FX Road Lights, who celebrate their 15th year in the business, have grown rapidly in
Spain - A sizzling 2017 Ibiza summer season saw new clubbing experience Hï burst on the scene with fresh energy and impetus mainlined into the heart of the Balearic dance scene via visual productions created by Romain Pissenem and his team from High Scream. Over 200 Robe moving lights helped Romain define Hï’s two spaces – the Theatre and the Club. These included 72 x Pointes, 24 x Spiiders and 36 x Spikies in the Theatre and 100 x Spikies and another 20 Spiiders in the Club, all supplied by their regular lighting rental partner, France based the SLS Group, who also supplied all Hï’s video. The building was previously known as Space for years by the clubbing fraternity, so a major aesthetic objective was the total transformation involving everything apart from the exterior walls. Romain teamed up with acclaimed show, lighting, set and video designer Will
Belgium - Creative agency ACTLD has been deploying SGM’s LED luminaires for a long time and used various fixtures across their recent projects. More than 60% of the projects ACTLD is involved in take place outdoors, and Koert Vermeulen, principal designer, founder, and managing partner of ACTLD, was lacking a specific product on the market. “SGM is for us a natural partner being the only company at that point to develop an IP65-rated moving head. I had been talking – begging on my knees – for the last 15 years for a fixture like this. Everyone said to me ‘the market isn’t big enough’ or ‘order a thousand and we’ll make you one’. So, when Peter Johansen came with the G-Spot, I felt that finally someone had listened to my prayers,” says Koert Vermeulen with a smile.” Some of ACTLD’s recent projects include Naked Truth for the Bright
UK - Ayrton fixtures were used in the lighting design of the 2017 Slam Dunk Festival. The alternative music event was headlined by rock band Enter Shikari and held in Leeds, Birmingham and Hatfield, with warm up shows at The Dublin Academy and Belfast Limelight and a further headline date in Barrowlands. LD Steve Bewley used Ayrton’s MagicBurst LED graphic strobe fixtures and MagicPanel-602 units to achieve the dramatic visual effects needed for the event. Bewley said: “For this show we designed four rotating towers which we wrapped in haphazardly-arranged LED strips, and used these to flank the drummer by deploying two towers either side of him. We then rigged three MagicBurst units vertically inside each tower towards the rear which, concealed within the towers, we use to shoot huge blasts of light out between the LED strips – much to the surprise and del
USA - ADJ Products has announced two new appointments to its growing network of sales associates within the United States. The first appointment is that of Aldridge Marketing, a manufacturer’s representative firm located in Austin, Texas. Since 1992, Randall Aldridge and the Aldridge Marketing team have represented AV and MI manufacturers in the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. Effective 1 November 1, 2017, Aldridge Marketing will represent ADJ Products (ADJ Lighting, American Audio, Accu-Cable and Accu-Case) throughout their territory. “We are very excited to welcome Randall and his team at Aldridge Marketing to the ADJ family,” said Alfred Gonzales, national sales manager of ADJ USA. “Aldridge Marketing’s expertise is exactly what we were looking for to represent ADJ’s growing range of professional lighting and video products for installation,
USA - City Theatrical will be demonstrating its new technology at LDI on 17-19 November 2017 at booth 2660. Multiverse is a breakthrough in wireless DMX/RDM technology that gives lighting users a new range of options for performing lighting tasks more easily than ever, while producing less disruptive radio energy. City Theatrical’s vision of the new lighting world is one in which every DMX device contains a a tiny, inexpensive Multiverse Module, and where legacy lighting products have a Multiverse Node near them, allowing entire productions containing hundreds of fixtures and dozens of universes to be operated wirelessly. Multiverse Node is the first building block of the Multiverse system. Each Multiverse Node is a transceiver. As a single universe transmitter, it functions in a similar plug and play manner to City Theatrical’s SHoW DMX SHoW Baby, but speaks the m
UK - Full-service technical production company Blitz, A GES Company has recently invested in 24 ProLights Luma 1500 LED luminaires for use on high-profile corporate and live events. Part of the global GES network, UK-based Blitz produces hundreds of events annually and has built up a loyal customer base over the past 25 years. The company provides production services for conferences, product launches, awards ceremonies, AGMs, exhibitions and road shows to a diverse range of global financial brands as well as aerospace and tech giants amongst others. When Blitz's lighting manager Nick Clarke was looking to invest in a new moving spot fixture for medium and large-scale events, he approached technology reseller, A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) for some options to look at. Nick commented: "The Luma 1500 is ideal for us. It provides a great output LED source
UK - Full service production company Stage Production is supplying all the production for a new multi-purpose event space in Birmingham called Crane and has turned to Elation Professional products to fulfil the lighting brief. Crane, which opened on 29 September is a large space with a raw industrial feel in the heart of the Digbeth district of central Birmingham. Along with elevated ceilings, iron beams and exposed brick work, the space is defined by two 5-ton rolling cranes that span the width of the building and roll down its length on steel girders. The venue is run by The Rainbow Venues, which own a complex of other converted warehouse event and club spaces in the area, many of which Stage Productions has also been supplying production for over the last eight years. Every week, a DJ or other artist performs at the 3500-capacity venue. Crane’s stage changes per
Argentina - In their hit single At Dawn, Argentinian rockers La Beriso sing about the undying resilience of dreamers. It is an apt theme for this hard-rocking group of seven musicians who struggled for some years after they formed their band in the gritty port city of Avellaneda, before breaking through as one of South America’s hottest artists, an accomplishment that led Rolling Stone Argentina to proclaim them “the new hope of street rock”. The band’s intense passion was on full display in their 2 September performance at Rosario’s Metropolitan concert hall, not just in their unflinchingly honest music, but also in the vividly coloured lightshow that supported it note for powerful note. Lighting designer David De Martin anchored his high-octane rig around a collection of Chauvet Professional fixtures supplied by Deligio - Producciones Técnicas.
USA - UK manufacturer Avolites will be joining with its US distributor Group One to show visitors the latest developments from the Avolites control and Ai media server product ranges at LDI 2017 in Las Vegas. LDI 2017 will see the official release of the latest version of Avolites Ai media server software. Ai v10.1 continues to build on the freshly redesigned Ai user interface and introduces a variety of powerful new features for all Ai users. The new features of Ai v10.1 include updates to Notch live effects integration, native 3D projection mapping and simultaneous timecode playback and live improvisation - all with effortless compatibility with the rest of the show system. The Avolites booth will showcase Ai's close integration with Notch, the providers of real-time, interactive, creative video tools. Visitors can meet with members of the Notch team and see a
Germany - If the six musicians of PUR keep their fans waiting for a whole year, there has to be a very good reason. And a gigantic, one-off concert provided the answer, as for the sixth time at the Veltins Arena, 65,000 fans flocked to the PUR & Friends concert. This gave them the chance not only to celebrate their band, but also a number of high-profile guests. Among them were Andreas Bourani, Daniel Wirtz, comedian Bülent Ceylan and Max Giesinger. The success of this mega event was assured at the beginning of the year, when all tickets were sold out in a very short time. What the sold-out arena would be offered over the 150 minutes could only be described as ‘excitement’ - as the six musicians entered the venue to a fanfare and took to their gigantic stage in the centre of the arena. Lighting designer Günter Jäckle, who has been one of the permanent associates o
UK - Utopium has invested in new energy efficient lighting fixtures. The company has added the SGM G-4 Wash fixtures, compact DMX-controlled LED Fresnel wash lights with superb colour mixing abilities and low power consumption. Contrary to most conventional wash lights, the G-4 comprises red, green blue, amber and mint LEDs, which mix directly in the light source. The fixture also contains a dichroic enhancer to create a deep blue which delivers a highly saturated backlight effect. Utopium’s other recent acquisitions include: Martin VDO Sceptron 10, Hippotizer Amba Media Server, Avolites Tigher Touch 2 and Chauvet Colarado 2 Solo. Utopium’s Colin Bodenham remarked: “By constantly reinvesting in our stock we can be sure that we are able to support our clients’ creative requirements. These fixtures are great additions to our dry hire and event lighting inve
USA - Lighting designer Butch Allen created a stunning visual design for American rock band Paramore’s Tour Two US tour using a bevy of Elation Professional’s compact ACL 360i beam effect lights. Supplied by LMG Touring for the fall leg of the band’s US tour, which wrapped up on 17 October, 72 of the single-beam moving effects formed the aerial lighting focal point throughout the show. “I needed a very small fixture with big output,” Allen said. “The lights were in the projection field for video and minimizing shadows without sacrificing the lighting look was a challenge. The ACL 360i fit the bill perfectly.” Allen, who was using the fixture for the first time, praised its intensity and named its small size and low weight (33 cm/13 in tall and 5.2 kg/11.5 lbs) as important factors in its choice, as well as the ability to fit the budget. LMG Touri