USA - Harman Professional Solutions has opened the Harman Experience Centre in Los Angeles. The facility joins a worldwide network of Harman Professional Solutions Experience Centres in Singapore, China and soon in London, designed to demonstrate how Harman solutions address customer needs across multiple vertical markets. The new 15,000sq.ft. multi-functional facility showcases Hartman Professional Solutions product solutions in a variety of entertainment and enterprise market applications. The Experience Centre demonstrates the integration of brands including JBL Professional, AKG Acoustics, AMX, BSS Audio, Crown International, dbx Professional, DigiTech, Lexicon Pro, Martin, Soundcraft and Studer. “With the opening of our flagship Experience Centre, we are bringing the Harman Professional Solution proposition to life while giving visitors a glimpse into the inves
USA - City Theatrical demonstrated their innovative technology by presenting the first live broadcast of nine universes of wireless DMX using a single transmitter. This demonstration was made to a live audience of over 100 lighting professionals at LDI 2017 in Las Vegas. The demo was part of a seminar featuring Multiverse wireless DMX/RDM technology entitled, How Advances In Wireless DMX Will Change The Way We Do Lighting. The seminar was led by City Theatrical founder and president, Gary Fails, and showcased the company’s vision of a future of wireless lighting control. The Multiverse family of wireless DMX/RDM products gives lighting users a new range of options for performing their lighting tasks more easily than ever, while producing less disruptive radio energy than ever. City Theatrical’s vision of the new lighting world is one in which every DMX devic
USA - UK automation and motion control manufacturer Kinesys enjoyed a busy and successful LDI exhibition in Las Vegas. It was the first time that the brand has hosted its own booth at the show, reflecting a growth in business in North and South America and Canada. The three-day event kicked off to a great start with Kinesys’ new Apex motion control system being presented with a 2017 PLSN Gold Star Product Award for Best New Motion Device. The Apex system incorporates the best of Kinesys’ extensive experience working with variable speed chain hoists, and the result is the pinnacle of chain hoist technology. David Bond, head of Kinesys’ USA operation commented, “It was a great move to come to Las Vegas this year. It has been a fantastic LDI show, meeting and engaging with many of our current contacts and making lots of new ones. There’s been a real mix o
Australia - As part of Hobart’s annual Dark Mofo festival, the Red Bull Music Academy returned to present an industrial-scale, transcendental warehouse rave titled Transliminal. Held in Hobart City Hall, the event showcased the dark, electronic underbelly of the subterranean club scene, and featured a stunning light show by audio-visual artist Robin Fox. Known for his mesmeric, future-forward, laser-driven light installations, Robin collaborated with Melbourne’s Additive Lighting who designed, pre-visualised and operated a disorientating and atmospheric light installation for the late-night music venue. “Robin had been approached by Dark Mofo to create a very streamlined, dark and moody nightclub,” commented Tom Wright of Additive. “Robin is a laser artist, but he soon realized the project was more suited to a lighting installation. “He
South Africa - In mid-October 2017, South African audiences enjoyed the return of the celebrated musical production of Evita – seen for the first time on South African stages since the 1980’s. After its premiere at the Montecasino Teatro in Johannesburg the production will be at Cape Town’s Artscape Theatre, before embarking on an Asian tour. The creative team has striven to create a faithful recreation of the original West End production in all aspects – from the direction, choreography and musical direction to the building and creation of set, wardrobe and props. But while remaining true to the original, there is a great deal that has been updated technically, to make the current production a spectacular theatrical experience. An extensive lighting rig, and state-of-the-art PA system recreate the imagery and feel of the original, coupled with projectio
USA - How many gigs can a 19-piece rockabilly band do in 48 days? The Brian Setzer Orchestra’s 14th Annual Christmas Rocks Tour is on a 35-date tour from 10 November to 28 December, which will be followed by concerts in Japan early next year. Highlighting the set is a 12-foot high marquee featuring 172 IMS Mk2 RGBW lamps. “The IMS LED lamps are very easy to address,” says Joe Golden of Gallagher Staging. “They are extremely bright, with rich, warm colours and are extremely durable – a must for a rapid-moving tour such as this one. Driven by two IMS Universe Drive DIN Rail units, conveniently mounted in the set, the IMS lamps work seamlessly with incandescent lamps on a 3-channel chase. With so many load-ins and strikes in a short time, the reliability of IMS was as much a consideration as its versatility. The clients are extremely happy with the results. We
UK - Lighting rental production company Lite Alternative has added the multi award-winning Chroma-Q Color Force II LED batten to its stockholding - using the fixture on a number of high-profile European concert tours and events to date. The Color Force II was central to lighting designer, Steve Baird's scheme for the 16-date European leg of the Day Breaks tour for nine-time Grammy-winning American singer-songwriter, Norah Jones . Playing to various sized venues and outdoor festivals, Color Force II 48 units were placed on the floor to uplight a huge white voile cyclorama in subtle pastel colours - providing the perfect visual backdrop in texture and mood for each song. In addition, during an 18-date European tour by American alternative rock band, Interpol to celebrate the 15th anniversary of their acclaimed debut album,Turn on the Bright Lights Color Fo
Finland - Kenneth Greve’s ballet production Land of Kalevala is currently being staged at the Finnish National Opera, with set, projection and lighting designed by Mikki Kunttu (profiled in LSi November). The performance focuses on milestones in Finland’s history and incorporates a combination of diverse art forms. For lighting control, Kunttu used the opera’s grandMA2 system and an MA 3D system for previsualisation. “I always work with grandMA2 because the console plays a very central role in the process of transforming the production from design to reality,” said Kunttu. “grandMA2 helps me to concentrate on the creative elements of the show, right through from the stage rehearsals to opening ni
Dominican Republic - Luxury resort Luxury Bahía Príncipe Fantasia needed excellent design skills along with reliable luminaires for a permanent light installation. Located at the heart of the Caribbean and focused on providing entertainment experiences, the resort turned to Javier Álvarez’ Madrid-based installation company Capicúa to create ‘magical’ lightshows. “With the Dominican Republic’s challenging weather conditions of constant humidity and severe rain, we had to use SGM luminaires,” said Álvarez. Faced with a job to transform this luxury resort into a hub for shows and international artists, lighting designer Manuel Vicente chose a mix between architectural fantasy spaces, show lighting, and video mapping. Especially thrilled about the versatile P-5 POI, Vicente and Álvarez were able to mount a magical fairytale light installation for th
Europe - Lighting designer James O'Neill and video designer Mark Cunniffe combined their extensive skills with the latest technology from Avolites to provide the production design for the current tour by Irish pop-rock band, Picture This. With O'Neill controlling his lighting rig with his tried-and-trusted Avolites Arena console, and the video content run through Avolites Ai media server operated by Tim Hornung, the band's European tour is showcasing the cutting edge of light and video control. O'Neill, who was responsible for both set and lighting design, created a raised performance area backed, flanked and fronted in LED screen. The production's wraparound surfaces featured a mixture of rich video content developed through a close collaboration between the band, Cunniffe and Tom Readdy of Yes Please Productions. "Looking at the stage head-on or from an angle
UK - Stage Electrics has supplied a custom-built Stage Management desk to The Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton. Located in the heart of the midlands, Wolverhampton’s oldest running theatre, The Grand presents a wide range of major touring productions every year. After their stage management desk of 20 years was no longer suitable for their needs, Ray Tizzard of The Grand, turned to industry experts Stage Electrics for a custom designed replacement. Stage Electrics’ Paul Lucas, liaised with The Grand to establish the requirements of their new Stage Management desk. Once specifications and drawings were signed off and an inspection of the existing infrastructure was undertaken, the Stage Electrics in-house team then went into production of the desk. The facilities of the desk are a Theatre Cue 16 channel cue light master station, 12 individually addressable cue light ou
South Africa - Technical production and rental company CCPP recently made a substantial investment in Robe moving lights for their ongoing production work and for general rental stock. The latest purchase - for over 100 fixtures - included some of Robe’s newest technology - 24 x Spiiders, 24 x Spikies, 48 x LEDBeam 100s and 24 x CycFX 4s, which join the DLS, DLX and miniPointes already in the rental inventory. The company was founded by Clint in 2000, then trading as Clint Cawood Professional Productions and focusing on technical consultancy in the corporate presentation world. The first Robe purchases were in 2012, and also delivered by Robe’s South African distributor DWR. “We really want to help enrich the industry with this latest purchase” commented CEO Clint Cawood. “Robe as a brand is very strong in Sou
USA - Criss Angel’s Mindfreak Live! at the Luxor Resort & Casino in Las Vegas upends people’s views of magic and awes spectators with a goth-horror vibe mixed with rock ‘n’ roll spectacle. The production has the largest number of moving lights on the Strip, and combines movers, lasers, video and more into one over-the-top vision. The large number of fixtures and media demands would tax the average console – but not ETC’s Eos Ti. ETC’s latest video follows lighting programmer Josh Selander and gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look at how he pulled together one of the flashiest, most technically demanding shows on the Strip and demonstrates why the Eos Ti, in the hands of a master programmer, delivers the magic. Some of the features of Ti that Selander calls out in the video include syncing the console
UK - Written by Jack Thorne, the Old Vic’s A Christmas Carol is a brand-new adaptation of Charles Dickens’ timeless classic. It tells the story of miserly Ebenezer Scrooge who is visited by four ghosts on Christmas Eve. Over the night, Scrooge is forced to confront his past and is given a final chance to see the error of his ways. The show opened this week to positive reviews and White Light provided the lighting equipment. A Christmas Carol stars Rhys Ifans and features a lighting design by Hugh Vanstone. Hugh comments: “This is a thoughtful and innovative take on the Dickens classic rather than an expensive, flashy stage production. This is reflected in the staging, which places the action in a specially installed-environment rather than a conventional proscenium production. A giant planked walkway stretches from the back of the stalls all the way into
UK - Sound Technology has been acquired by Midwich Group, becoming the latest wholly-owned subsidiary of the Group. The pro audio and lighting distributor will continue to operate as an independent company from its Letchworth Garden City base, with no changes to its board members, workforce or market approach. Sound Technology chairman, Robert Wilson MBE, comments: “After close to 40 years, Sound Technology has grown into a company operating on a large-scale in multiple market sectors. We continue to see exciting growth opportunities within all these markets, and the time is right for the company to enter its next phase in order to facilitate further expansion and success.” Stephen Fenby, Midwich’s Managing Director, says: “We have watched the success of Sound Technology over recent years and are delighted to have persuaded Bob, David and the
USA - Barbizon Lighting has appointed Tom Madden as president and CEO. Madden has a proven track record of success at Barbizon Lighting’s Mid-Atlantic operation as the general manager of Barbizon’s Capitol location. His previous experience includes leadership on an international level in roles ranging from stage and production manager to senior general manager & executive vice president. “Tom recognises and deeply values the Barbizon culture, something which initially drew him to the company and which he feels strongly about honouring and fostering,” read a statement from the Board of Directors. Madden’s appointment comes after Barbizon Lighting Company’s previous president and CEO, Jonathan Resnick, unexpectedly passed away. “It’s among the many reasons Jonathan thought the world of Tom and we are sure he w
USA - Chauvet Professional has introduced its first variable white LED ellipsoidal fixture, the Ovation E-930VW. Featuring a six-colour LED system, the new fixture can match ambient natural light at different times a day, making it suitable for broadcast applications that are exposed to sunlight. With colour temperature pre-sets from 2800 K to 8000 K, the Ovation E-930VW produces a flat even field of light with a very high CRI (88-92) and CQS. Each color temperature produced by the fixture can be further adjusted +/- green to fine tune the light. “We engineered the Ovation E-930VW to give designers tighter control over colour temperature, because the more precisely you can dial into the colour spectrum with white light, the better people will look on camera,” said Albert Chauvet, CEO of Chauvet. “The Ovation E-930VW will excel when used for film, television, pop-
USA - Visitors to the 2017 LDI Show in Las Vegas this November found ETC’s booth awash in colour, thanks to the new ColorSource CYC luminaire. Two 5.5m-tall cyc panels bookended the booth, each lit evenly and brightly in a range of tints and hues by the new LED fixtures. Show-goers were impressed – as were LDI’s judges, who honoured the ColorSource CYC with a Best Debuting Lighting Product award at a ceremony on Saturday night. Technical product manager Dave Cahalane accepted the award on behalf of the development team. “With the ColorSource CYC, we tried to provide a fixture that had a broad range of beautiful colour in a compact size,” he explained in his acceptance speech. The cyclorama light is the latest addition to the ColorSource family of products, which bring high-quality LED lighting and control to a more affordable price point. The ColorSource CYC
Europe - To celebrate Aarhus as European Capital of Culture 2017, Danish artist and lighting designer Tine Bech from Tine Bech Studio in London developed We Believe, an interactive lighting project taking place in Denmark and the UK simultaneously over a period of 10 days. Using SGM wash and flood lights, participants in Aarhus controlled the facade lights at both Aarhus City Hall Tower and The Royal Danish Embassy in London. “We have been very pleased with the corporation with Tine Bech, who, from the beginning, set extremely high demands to both colour mix and colour calibration. In Aarhus, we mixed P-5s with P-2s, and we could not see any difference in neither colourmix nor dimming,” said Christian Vigsø, CEO of VIGSØ, who supplied and installed the lights. As part of the larger “playable cities” initiative, We Believe was chosen in relation
USA - Halsey has embarked on the North American leg of her Hopeless Fountain Kingdom World Tour and Claypaky Scenius Profile lighting fixtures, provided by 4WallPA, are lighting her way. The electro pop/synth pop singer-songwriter launched her arena tour at the end of September in Connecticut and will wrap up this leg in November in Cleveland. The biggest tour Halsey has ever done supports her eponymous second album and includes special guests Party Next Door and Charli XCX. Production designers Sooner Routhier and Robert Long of S Rae Productions collaborated with the artist, who conceptualized and sketched out the original idea, to design the show, which incorporates lots of LED video. Craig Rutherford is the lighting director. “There are very large stairs with LED video on the risers, and there’s a large LED wall upstage comprised of two screens split at
Finland - Scandinavian lighting creative MOBB Helsinki counted on a legion of Notch-loaded Hippotizer Media Servers to help deliver Finland’s biggest domestic arena production. Profeetat is the project of Cheek and Elastinen, Finland’s two biggest hip-hop artists. Formed in 2016, this year the duo marked their rapid rise by selling out three arena shows in their homeland. First filling the Turku’s Gatorade Centre and then maxing out two nights at Helsinki’s Hartwall Arena, Profeetat’s shows stacked up to be Finland’s biggest domestic indoor arena production, one to be designed by creative outfit Mobb Helsinki, headed-up by the Finish firm’s Ari Levelä. The gear and personnel required to run the nights mounted up, and the lighting tech armoury included two Hippotizer Boreal Media Servers and one Hippotizer Karst Media Server to run the main show, pl
Morocco - Lighting designer Chris Binks selected an Avolites Tiger Touch II and Tiger Touch Fader Wing to facilitate his authentic live control and design approach for the third edition of Oasis Festival, an electronic dance festival held at The Source Marrakech Private Resort Music & Spa in Morocco. Chris, whose design method relies on live, intuitive control, selected the Tiger Touch II and Fader Wing to ensure easy access to all his programmable elements throughout the festival. "When I was specifying a desk for Oasis one of the main things for me was ease of access," says Chris. "Avolites consoles are the only consoles that tick all the boxes for me, especially when busking a show. The line-up at Oasis is mainly DJs and they can change their set at any time. The Tiger Touch II has a clear layout and intuitive software features that make it perfect for m
France - Airstar has announced the appointment of Thierry Beynet as the new CEO of Airstar European Network. This strategic hire is a major step in Airstar’s plan to strengthen its presence in the European market, as part of the overall business strategy instigated by the company in 2016, says the company. Airstar European Network (AEN), a commercial subsidiary of Airstar, represents 30% of the company’s turnover in lighting balloon solutions. Thierry Beynet recently took on the role, managing and extending the nine subsidiaries which form the European network. Indeed, AEN is responsible for marketing the entire range of Airstar lighting balloons in this region. Beynet’s relationship with Airstar goes back many years. He worked his way up through the company, starting in 1998 as a technician, before taking on a commercial role. He then worked as AEN’s accountan
France - Chauvet has announced that Martin Fournier has joined the company as its European sales director. Fournier is an experienced lighting industry figure in Europe, having spent the last 22 years serving the professional lighting market in Europe. He comes to Chauvet from Harman International, where he most recently served as that company’s sales director for France and Benelux Professional Solutions. Fournier began his career in 1995 with Martin Professional. “Martin is a very valuable addition to our team, and we are excited to welcome him,” says Albert Chauvet, CEO of Chauvet. “He shares our passion for excellence and has spent 100 percent of his career focused on lighting.” Michael Brooksbank, Chauvet’s managing director of Europe, adds, “Martin brings a diverse range of skills and experiences to the table. He has excelled in many facets of the l
