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
Europe - Production manager Will Wilkinson engaged the services of Video Design, Negative Earth lighting and SSE for sound during Lady Antebellum’s recent European tour. The band visited the Netherlands, England, Scotland and Ireland during the European leg of the tour comprising six dates between 1 October and 10 October, with the crew and band arriving on the continent on 27 September. Wilkison says: “When you tour with such a tight schedule at an arena level, the key is being able to source close what we use in the US. In that sense of matched equipment, it was a very smooth transition from the US into Europe. As far as Video Design was concerned, our biggest concern was over the video content. With almost no time for production prep ahead of our first show in Amsterdam we needed to send our content over before we arrived and have it loaded onto the server.
UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies recently supplied Edinburgh-based rental & production company Black Light with Luminex GigaCore switches to provide a dual redundancy fibre network for the reveal of the new £1.35bn Queensferry Crossing bridge. The lighting scheme, designed by event production company JMP Productions and supplied by Black Light, was switched on by First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon to commemorate the completion of one of the biggest infrastructure projects in Scotland in a generation. With the structure spanning 1.7 miles / 2.7 kilometres over the River Forth, and the launch event attracting a huge amount of media interest, Black Light needed to ensure that the technical infrastructure for the ambitious lighting scheme performed seamlessly. The ultra-reliable system they chose consisted of Luminex GigaCore network switches, plus
UK - Rental company Ian Livie Concert & Corporate Lighting helped set up Paul Rodgers’ Free Spirit Tour with a minimalist rig of moving light and Leko fixtures and video content on Resolume controlled from a grandMA2 console. Ian Livie and LD Jared Trinnaman are committed MA Lighting control aficionados. Livie says: “I had worked with Warren Cracknell for many years on Joe Bonamassa, the US blues guitarist so when he discussed the option of working with Paul Rodgers on the Free Spirit Tour I knew I had to invest in a console I was confident would stand the test of touring time both now and into the future. The LD, Jared Trinnaman felt the same way; I saw the show at the Royal Albert Hall and was so impressed with what he did with the console.” Trinnaman himself had already invested in MA control. He says: “I’ve been an MA user since 2012. I
Czech Republic - Czech pop rock band Kryštof celebrated their 25-year anniversary with a sold-out arena tour and a two-night concert at the Stadion Evžena Rošického in Prague, where they played two shows to over 70,000. Full production – including around 100 Robe moving lights – for the tour and the stadium shows was supplied by ZL Production who have a long association with Kryštof. The band’s lighting designer Jiří Rouček is also a long serving crew member, and since 2010 he has also been working as head of lighting for ZL Production based in Plzen and Prague. A number of LED screens were involved in the stage design – both on and around the stage itself and across the PA wings each side widen out the overall picture and ensure that all in the venue, even those at the very back, could get a good view of the action. The strong video presence and
France - Airstar became an official partner to the Régates Royales Cannes this year after five consecutive years of cooperation. Airstar’s lighting solutions were once again installed at the heart of the historic classic yachting event - the 160th edition of which took place between 23 and 30 September. Airstar’s Crystal lighting balloons took pride of place, with two 160cm and three 200cm envelope balloons in situ on the docks around the boats and at the stands in the exhibiting village in the centre of Cannes opposite the Palais des Festivals. Some were then relocated to Palm Beach for the evening’s festivities. With a set up time of just 15 minutes, yet designed to withstand tough outdoor conditions including wind gusts of up to 70 km/h, the Crystal range is perfectly suited to an event of this nature and are maintenance free. The Crystal lighting ballo
New Zealand - MDR Sound and Lighting installed 12 Chauvet Professional Maverick MK2 Spot fixtures to replace the incandescent fixtures in the Auckland War Memorial Museum The Mavericks were deemed well suited for this project for their CMY + CTO colour mixing capabilities and their 440W output. “We found that the Mavericks were the only fixtures we tested to render all colours perfectly even at 100% output,” commented Auckland Museum’s Liam Brown. He added: “This is a foyer space that receives indirect sunlight most of the day through its south facing glass ceiling, but the brightness and intensity of the Mavericks overcome this without any problem.” He adds: “When they’re not providing general coloured wash lighting in the evening or early morning, the Mavericks function as pin sharp spot lights to focus on the objects on display at ground level,
USA - Altman Lighting is preparing a showcase of its theatrical and architectural lighting innovations at LDI 2017. At booth #2236, the company will present the complete family of Chalice LED recessed and pendant downlights, the line of Gallery LED architectural luminaires, and also the award-winning Pegasus LED Fresnels and PHX LED profile ellipsoidals. The Chalice LED Series range of downlights is available with mounting options that include pendant, recessed, aircraft cable, wall and yoke mount; and dimming choices ranging from Mains Dimming to DMX. Designed for museum, art gallery, hotel, restaurant and retail lighting, the Gallery LED Series offers a 92+ CRI and dimming options that include Mains Dimming, DMX, 0-10VDC and DALI. With variety of colour temperatures, this scalable family produces 4000 lumens of white light output, and can be used to build your soluti
