Lighting

Details
USA - There aren't many towns of 1,200 that attract over 4m tourists a year, but then few things about Wisconsin Dells are ordinary. Billing itself as the 'Waterpark Capital of the World', this rural hamlet is home to 20 waterparks, including the largest in the United States. For drier fun, there's also go cart racing, safaris, skydiving and similar attractions.

Knuckleheads Bowling and Indoor Amusement Park fits right into the fun-filled spirt of Wisconsin Dells. Measuring 80,000sq.ft, it offers tourists and locals alike a chance to escape, with bumper cars, trampolines, virtual reality games, 4-D movies - and, oh yes, bowling. Ensuring that its bowling lanes keep up with its other attractions, Knuckleheads illuminates them with an ever-changing richly coloured lightshow created by Tracy Roudebush using 80 COLORband H9 USB fixtures from Chauvet DJ.

Roudebush, owner of Cyg

Details
USA - Surf was up this year at LDI, and the beach could be found at the ENTTEC Americas booth. "The design of the booth was a team effort. The original concept came from our technical director Tim Parrish. Then Jeremy Kumin [ENTTEC Americas general manager], Brandon Mitchell [technical sales and support] and I took the design through its various phases of change and into finalization. Kaitlin Gill was the overall project manager," explains Crystal Lee, business development manager at ENTTEC Americas.

The beach themed booth was also home to Nic's Place, a fully stocked beach style bar that was also a nod to ENTTEC's founder Nic Moreau, who was also in attendance at the booth. o help visitors get into the beach feel, ENTTEC was handing out Pacific blue ENTTEC flip flops and wrap-around sunglasses.

Some LDI exhibitors created a walled off black space to demo their wares; othe

Details
Europe - Continuing a long working relationship with production executive, Andy Derbyshire, event manager, Maggie Mouzakitis, event production manager, Lisa Shenton, and show lighting designer, Tom Kenny, PRG XL Video has supplied lighting for the 2016 MTV EMA.

This year's event was held on 6 November at the Rotterdam Ahoy and was hosted by US artist Bebe Rexha. The event opened with glamorous red carpet arrivals from the star presenters and performers, hosted by Laura Whitmore and Sway Calloway, and PRG XL also supplied lighting, rigging, and video technology for the red carpet event.

PRG XL's account managers, Kelly Cornfield and Mat Ilott were initially contacted by line producer, Sophie Huda, and Red Carpet event manager, Sean McNally, to supply an outdoor video wall, high impact lighting, and supporting rigging for the red carpet area. Working with set designer, Adam

Details
USA - The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) chose ArKaos MediaMaster PRO to drive the visual content for its production of Green Day's American Idiot. MediaMaster PRO was chosen for the ease with which it handled the demanding artistic concept, its speed of mapping and its easy-to-understand processes for editing content and operation.

The ArKaos software was supplied by IED, whose principal partner, Jeffrey Brown, is also adjunct instructor for theatre/event media and video at CCM. Brown built three media servers specifically to take advantage of the MediaMaster software. "I have had a relationship with the people at ArKaos for years, and I have been a huge fan of their software since before I knew them personally," says Brown.

"Aubrey Berg, the director for Green Day's American Idiot, had certain desires for this production, most

Details
New Zealand - A prominent rocky outgroup in Tasman Bay, Nelson's Fifeshire Rock was once known and feared as a shipping hazard. In the years since, it has become one of New Zealand's most treasured national landmarks. Standing some 14m above the high tide mark, it cuts an imposing and beautiful shape in the distant horizon and is often the subject of photography and artworks.

Recently, Nelson's Civic Trust desired to make the rock a round-the-clock attraction by lighting it during the hours of darkness. To illuminate the famous outcrop, MDR Sound & Lighting supplied AV Architects Ltd with a Chauvet Professional Rogue RH1 Hybrid fixture.

A spot high above the waterfront drive was selected by Nelson's Civic Trust to house the lighting source. However, since this spot was 236 metres from the rock itself, AV Architects Ltd recognized that any fixture placed there would have to

Details
The Netherlands - The MTV Europe Music Awards delivered another spectacular production 6 November at the Ahoy Rotterdam Arena in The Netherlands, where Europe's favourite artists were honoured and a star-studded line up of today's hottest acts performed on a massive stage lit by top lighting designer Tom Kenny.

This year Kenny had an immense and extremely artful set to light designed by Julio Himende. Included in the correspondingly large visual package was Elation Professional ACL 360 Matrix LED moving head panels, which Kenny employed throughout the show.

As music awards shows go they don't get much bigger than the MTV Awards. Hosted by Bebe Rexha, this year's list of performers was impressive and included top acts Bruno Mars, Green Day, Afrojack, Shawn Mendes, The Weeknd and others.

The MTV EMA's has set a high standard of production, performance and excitement, bot

Details
Bolivia - Rental and production Company Spectrum, based in Cochabamba in the centre of the country nestled in a valley amidst the magnificent peaks of the Andes mountain range has invested in 12 x Robe LEDBeam 1000 fixtures and 16 x Pointe multi-purpose moving lights.

Purchasing a premium brand like Robe helps establish Spectrum as one of the most significant and serious players in the Bolivian production industry.

The company works across all sectors and is particularly well known as a lighting provider for concerts, festivals, tours and live events as well as TV and theatre productions and corporate activations.

Spectrum's owner Gonzalo Hermosa is a well-known singer / songwriter, successful composer and founder of famous Bolivian folk band Los Kjarkas. He has long had a vision of driving the quality of production for shows, tours and events in the country upwards to

Details
UK - The new musical adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's classic The Wind in the Willows is bound for London's West End next year following a hugely successful tour. Full service technical production company Hawthorn was called upon by producer Jamie Hendry to provide the lighting equipment for the initial performances of the ambitious production, with the company now supplying kit for the show's London Palladium season.

For the tour, Hawthorn supplied lighting from its extensive hire range to meet the specification of award winning Lighting Designer Howard Harrison. This included 24 Claypaky Sharpy Wash, fifty-two ETC Source 4 LED LUSTR2 Profiles and 28 Martin MAC Viper Performance fixtures. The vast rig also features 20 of Hawthorn's ColorForce 72 LED Battens and sixteen Robe BMFL moving lights.

"It's a big show with a lot of scenery and a large lighting rig" says How

Details
UK - Rental specialist Colour Sound Experiment made some serious investments for the current Placebo Retrospective arena tour which features a stunning visual design by Jvan Morandi for which the west London company is delivering the full lighting, video and rigging package.

This includes a new Kinesys automation system; new robo and static video cameras and new Robe Spiider WashBeam moving lights amongst several other purchases.

Colour Sound's Haydn "H" Cruickshank says, "We were delighted to win this tour which presented a perfect opportunity for us to expand our video department, invest in comprehensive and sophisticated motion control and expand the extensive moving light stock with the latest Robe technology, together with smoke machines, fans, cabling infrastructure and much more. As always it is a pleasure to work with Jvan and help realise his ambitious and demandi

Details
USA - Hard rock band Shinedown is out on an epic tour run with a striking lighting package provided by long time vendor Bandit Lites and designed by Sooner Routhier. With more than 10m albums sold, the band is comprised of vocalist Brent Smith, bassist Eric Bass, drummer Barry Kerch and guitarist Zach Meyers.

Bandit supplied Shinedown with a layered lighting rig that consists of VL 3000s for front wash and specials, while Clay Paky B-EYES wash the stage and add powerful accent effects for songs. Phillips Nitros and Chauvet Rogue R1 FX B's placed in ladders provide accent and back light along with Elation ACL 360i fixtures. The ACL 360i are placed behind a diffused plexiglass, giving them different effects.

Bandit recently added Martin Sceptrons that play video content, while Martin MAC Vipers round out design with big beam looks, texture and special effects.

Lighting d

Details
UK - They seem to have been a part of the Coldplay arsenal of live audience participation forever but in fact the very first Xylobands were used on 6 October 2011 for Coldplay's launch show for Mylo Xyloto in Madrid.

Deanie Thain and Jason Regler were the brains behind the hardware. Thain recalls how it all unfolded, "We have just celebrated our five-year anniversary. The first wristbands had a timer, so each one had to be programmed individually to go off at exactly the same time - quite a challenge and very time-consuming and a lot of friends and family helped to get them done on time.

"The original idea came from Jason Regler seeing Coldplay perform at Glastonbury 2005," continues Thain, "He wanted something to unify the crowd with lights and make them part of the show. After the first trial event, we then had another short time to create a radio-controlled version of t

Details
Korea - Grammy-nominated, industrial hard-rock legend Marilyn Manson returned to Seoul for the first time in eight years as part of his solo world tour, delivering an energetic show for a legion of ardent fans at the Yes24 Live Hall. Lighting designer Corey Stewart drove the performance's intense lighting using an Avolites Pearl Expert console and wing.

For the South Korean date, Stewart hired the console from Seoul-based rental company TKLS. His dynamic rig consisted of Claypaky Sharpys, Martin MAC Viper Profiles, Martin Viper Wash DXs, Martin Atomics and Fay Blinders.

Stewart is new to the Manson production family, having taken over as lighting designer in the summer for the Slipknot/Marilyn Manson North American tour. Using Avolites consoles since 2011, Stewart has also worked with the likes of Trivium, Misfits frontman Danzig and Of Mice and Men.

"I've been touring

Details
UK - Over a century ago, northeast England was the crucible of the burgeoning railway industry. Nowhere was this more evident than in Newcastle, where the Robert Stephenson & Co ruled as the pre-eminent maker of locomotive engines.

The rail industry has long since faded into the past, but now the area behind Newcastle's main station, or "Stevenson Quarter" as it is known, has come roaring back as a dynamic, hip multi-use urban space that features upscale hotels, over 340,000sq.ft of office and retail space, and a hot live music and art venue called the Boiler Shop.

Located in the former Boiler Shop of the original Stephenson & Co locomotive works, the new club features a contemporary high-octane lighting system created by Trylight Productions, using a collection of Chauvet Professional fixtures.

James Mounsey, project manager at Trylight Productions, and his team posit

Details
Czech Republic - Robe was a sponsor of the 2016 Signal Festival of Light, staged over four days in and around the city of Prague.

Twenty-three original and innovative pieces of light art drew estimated crowds of up to 400,000 into the city to enjoy the event which started in 2013, and is now recognised as one of the biggest as well as one of Europe's foremost festivals of light.

Robe provided 80 of their Pointe multi-functional moving lights and 40 ColorStrobes for an installation by Russian based collective TUNDRA.

Epicenter v2 was staged at the Palac Narodni, a retail and residential development which is currently still under construction and features with a large cylindrical two storey void right in the centre.

The work was designed especially to fit this space and create an extreme psychological experience with pulsating, flashing and exploding hotspots of ligh

Details
Ireland - Lighting designer Conor Biddle, known for lighting some of the largest acts in dance and electronica, selected an array of Claypaky moving heads to illuminate the return of Ireland's mega-rave, the Winterparty, at Dublin's 14,500-capacity venue 3Arena.

Biddle employed 12 x Mythos, 12 x A.leda K20, 16 x A.leda K10 and 19 x Sharpy which were provided by Dublin-based sound and light specialist Session Hire.

"The key with Winterparty was to create a signature look that would photograph well and go towards building a strong visual brand on social media," explains Biddle. "I wanted to create an immersive show that detracted from the cavernous feel of the 3Arena by bringing the lighting right to the audience."

One of the fixtures the designer most relied on to lead his effects was the Claypaky Mythos.

"Using Mythos I could create many different looks - from supe

Details
USA - Dave Koz is bringing his celebrated contemporary jazz sound to audiences around the country. The nine time Grammy nominee and acclaimed saxophonist has embarked on the Dave Koz and Friends Christmas Tour - Starring Dave Koz, Valerie Simpson, Jonathan Butler, and Kenny Lattimore.

The tour features a lighting package designed by Erik Parker of Chris Lisle Lighting Design and provided by Bandit Lites. Parker worked closely with both Koz and production manager Brian Foisy on the design and the show, a project Parker had looked forward to doing since he joined the show as lighting director in 2014.

While previous iterations of the show contained video elements, this year's direction featured a conscious effort to take the focus off "devices in our lives" and the screens that take attention away from things happening in the present, instead focusing on being in the moment

Details
USA - Art Basel is one of the leading art fairs in the world, showcasing works from over 270 galleries and private collections representing over 30 countries ranging from Argentina to Zimbabwe.

For many of the 80,000 or so visitors who descend on the five-day festival, Art Basel is about much more than just art. It's also a rollicking, joyful experience that turns life into art with street performances, acts of pure improvisation and boundary-free performances that stretch and pull preconceived notions in every direction, all while keeping audiences enthralled and entertained.

Such was the case on the evening of 30 November, when the Bass Museum, Miami's oldest art institution, celebrated its reopening after an 18-month expansion project by hosting an Intergalactic Disco during Art Basel by the legendary Sex in the City alum, Lady Bunny.

Lending an aurora of celestial

Details
Denmark - Ragnarock, the Danish museum for pop, rock and youth culture, opened its doors to the public in April 2016. The museum's gold-studded facade, the red carpet runway and the lobby are exclusively equipped with SGM lighting fixtures and these installations have just been nominated for the prestigious Danish Lighting Award 2016.

From the beginning, lighting was meant to be an essential part of the architecture and the visual expression for the museum. Ragnarock wanted to use lighting as a medium and as a means of communication to support the activities and the overall purpose of the museum.

Lena Bruun, chief of development at Ragnarock, explained, "We wanted lighting to almost speak for itself and to send a signal of life, openness and transparency. We envisioned that it would connect by-passers with the museum and give them an experience - even after opening hours."

Details
Singapore - The 2016 BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore tennis tournament was presented by SC Global and staged at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang over a seven-day period at the end of October.

Over 100 Robe moving lights illuminated the court as part of a lighting scheme designed by Michael Chan and Tom Langridge. While Tom ensured that the court was lit specifically for the TV cameras and special requirements like slomo, Michael looked after lighting for the Opening Ceremony and then for general ambience and effects lighting throughout the schedule of matches, including creating WOW-moments for the player entrances.

To assist with this, he used 40 x BMFL Spots, 40 x Pointes and 21 Robe Squares, all supplied to the event by The Show Company, together with other moving lights and LED PARs mostly rigged on trusses in the roof.

Eight of the Squares - a 5 x 5 LED ma

Details
UK - A.C. Special Projects Ltd. (AC-SP) has recently specified, supplied and installed premium performance lighting fixtures, complete with a truss ground-mounted structure, for John Lewis's new content production studio in London.

This modern, purpose-built facility is used for photoshoots and filming, to generate content for the websites, mobile apps and magazines of what is one of the UK's leading retailers.

Underwood Carpenter Ltd., who project managed the setup of the new facility, approached AC-SP, requesting an installed lighting rig to suit the wide variety of applications the space would need to cater for.

AC-SP proposed a full turnkey solution to meet the requirements for a flexible system, which would allow the operator to create high quality lighting scenes for numerous subject types, quickly and easily.

AC-SP senior project manager, Andy Holmes comment

Details
Italy - Lighting manufacturer Osram, which celebrates its 110-year brand anniversary this year, is joined by another famous institution: the Westin Excelsior Hotel in Rome was opened in 1906 and is also celebrating its 110 years anniversary.

To mark the occasion, Claypaky - a company of the Osram group - illuminated the venerable hotel, whose past guests have already include celebrities like Pablo Picasso, Elizabeth Taylor and the Rolling Stones, in a particularly spectacular fashion from 5-20 November. Following the video projection shown at the Patent Office in Berlin during the Festival of Light in October, this was the second lighting installation being presented by Osram for its brand anniversary.

One hundred luminaires from Claypaky illuminated The Westin Excelsior Rome, designed by the famous architects Emil Vogt and Otto Maraini. The lighting installation was desig

Details
Europe - Lighting designer Francis Clegg of London-based design house MIRRAD turned to control technology by British manufacturer Avolites to drive his atmospheric lighting for electronic retro-rockers Public Service Broadcasting's (PSB) 'The Race for Space' album tour.

The band's unique sound features samples of vocals from old public information films and propaganda material with a goal to "teach lessons of the past through the music of the future". This is reflected in the live show's black and white archive video content by Gerrad Blyth, which Clegg cleverly juxtaposed with vibrant colours and dazzling aerial effects in a design that won him a Knight of Illumination Award 2016.

Clegg opted to use the highly tourable yet sophisticated Avolites Quartz running Titan version 10 to programme his winning design: "The Quartz fit the bill perfectly as I run everything in cueli

Details
UK - White Light has worked on an array of shows over the past 12 months and the company is now preparing for an extremely busy festive season, in which it will supply the lights on over 40 pantomimes.

Pantomimes remain some of the biggest shows for theatres across the country and this year is proving to be no exception.

One of the most popular titles is Cinderella and WL is supplying five different productions of this all-time classic. One of these includes the Bracknell Wilde Theatre, where the lighting designer is Chris Withers. He comments, "Pantomime is a very distinctive art form. The lighting is usually very bold, colourful and bright - which often matches the performances! For this show, I'm working with a range of ETC Source Four Lustr 2s and Desire D60s, which allows for an extremely flexible rig. I am also using four Martin MAC 600s for backlight specials

Details
Diplomatic Spat - South Korean pop stars appear to have become pawns in an escalating diplomatic spat between Seoul and Beijing over the deployment of an American missile defence system.

Entertainers from the colourful Korean music scene, K-pop, have been mysteriously barred from entering China to perform, Korean TV shows and films have been blocked, and actors replaced by Chinese stars in advertising campaigns, say local press reports.

Wembley Bound - Adele has added two further dates at Wembley Stadium next year, after the initial concerts sold out. Dubbed The Finale, the four shows will see her play to more than 300,000 fans as she wraps up her world tour. The new shows will be on 28 June and 2 July, 2017, with tickets on sale from 7 December to members of her fan club.

Take That hold the record for playing the most dates at Wembley, having staged eight night

  1. Yes Events invests further in Elation
  2. VER London supplies Disney Broadway Hits
  3. Chauvet shines at the CrossRoads in Casa Grande
  4. Penn Elcom LED saves energy for All Saints
  5. OneBigStar delivers 60-minute makeover
  6. DWR establishes freelancers' charity
Page 471 of 1201

Latest Issue. . .