UK - For The Prodigy's Invaders Must Die world tour, lighting and visuals designer Andy Hurst has created one of their most exciting and memorable shows to date, utilising 32 i-Pix BB4 LED fixtures.

A selection of LED lighting products feature in his design, of which the BB4s are prominent. They are mounted in eight custom built floor frames - carefully spaced out between Atomic strobes in the same frames - which form the lower part of Hurst's multi-layered design.

Hurst chose BB4s for their brightness and because he likes the softness of the light output. "A lot of LED sources are harsh and intrusive... And I wanted something refined that was nice and easy to look at." The BB4s blast right into the audience at eye level, reaching out and beaming the vibes and spirit from stage to auditorium.

Hurst test drove the original prototype BB4s (BB16s) at the Isle o

The Netherlands - In early 2007, JVH gaming contacted Dutch systems integrator, Hecla Professional Audio & Video Systems BV, to talk about promotional screens for an outlet of its Jack's Casino brand at the new Dukenburg shopping centre in the Dutch town of Nijmegen. This was to be completed in early 2009 and had to adhere to many stringent requirements.

"The architect designed the building with a number of areas on the exterior walls that the retail outlets in Dukenburg can rent for advertising purposes," explains Hecla's new business manager, Jos den Hartog. "JVH believed that LED screens were the perfect visual medium for two of these areas, with one screen situated next to the main entrance of the centre and opposite the bus and train station, whilst the other is close to the busiest roundabout in Nijmegen. Both are ideal for maximum exposure."

However,

Norway - projectiondesign has supplied three of its DLP projectors to Japanese artist Ryoji Ikeda for use in the major retrospective of his work.

Best-known as Japan's leading composer of electronic music, Ikeda uses both sound and visual imagery to produce intensely physical experiences for his audience. His new retrospective is being hosted by Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, which opened on 2 April and will continue to 21 June 2009, is titled '+/- [the infinite between 0 and 1]', and includes new commissions, sound works and large-scale audio visual projections.

Three F32 series will be used to power 'data.tron [3 SXGA+ version]', an expanded edition of Ikeda's floor-to-ceiling screen of art, which seeks to physically overwhelm visitors with a staggering array of binary data such as the numbers 0 and 1.

Ken Sampei, director of Mix Wave, comments: "In today's

UK - Paul Weller rocked the O2 Arena in London last week with a set encompassing tracks from his new album, 22 Dreams as well as classics from his extensive back catalogue.

The show's video design was the work of creative director Justine Catterall, who also produced custom content for 12 songs of the set. All the hardware - including MiTrix LED screen, Catalyst control, 2 camera systems, projection and PPU - plus crew were supplied by XL Video, project managed by Des Fallon. Matt Askem directed the live IMAG mix and Stuart Heaney crew chiefed. The playback content was programmed onto two high spec Catalyst digital media servers, operated by Richard Stembridge.

Catterall's design brought a quirky and fragmented look to the stage using 36 panels of MiTrix LED screen arranged at jaunty angles, suspended on three overstage trusses, providing additional depth and dimension

USA - Production designer Daunte Kenner, recently created an explosive show for Lil Wayne's I Am Music World Tour, a collaboration between Kenner and production manager Maceo Price - the brief was to achieve a concept never seen before in hip-hop.

Kenner explains: "We discussed conventional set styles but we agreed none were edgy enough. I proposed the idea of flying the entire five piece band - I thought a completely empty stage prior to Wayne's appearance - would make for a dramatic intro. Maceo loved it, but still wanted to include a complementary basic static set."

The finished product was five 8'x8' risers with clear plexi bottoms flown by a computer controlled system with a stationary ground set to match. The dramatic moving design fabricated by BRS Rigging, incorporated intense flame effects that demanded an entirely grated stage - a rolling 60' wide x

USA - It's been 20 years since Mackie introduced the CR-1604. The company is now marking its 20 years of production by asking Mackoids to submit their Mackie stories and photos or Mackie video.

"We want to hear about your beer-drenched VLZ Pro that still works; the time you dropped your SRM450 off a building by accident and it powered up for your gig the same night; your original CR-1604 you still use religiously; your world-record for the largest collection of Mackie vintage swag; your Running Man tattoo that you had to get to show your devotion for Mackie," said Shaunna Thompson, Mackie media and pr manager.

"Whatever your story, funny or heartfelt, long or short, old school or new school... we want to hear it. Send in a photo too. If you really want to wow us, create a video on You Tube."

The entrant with the best Mackie story, based on creativity, ori

UK - London's Westway A40 flyover has been illuminated and the area made safer by a joint venture between Light Projects, arts organisation Urban Eye and TFL. The result is a transformation of the dark and dangerous areas under the flyover near the communities of Ladbroke Grove and Portobello Road.

This major structure, which was previously underlit and one of the two main police crime 'hotspots' in the Borough, has been completely transformed into a pleasurable scene of activity between North and South Kensington. The new work includes striking artwork on some of the walls designed by Miles Watson, and a colourful lighting scheme by a creative partnership of Miles Watson and Lightscape Projects, part of the Light Projects Group. The innovative combination of art and lighting has transformed the oppressive and uninviting area into a safer, warm and visually-appealing street scen

UK - A Stage Technologies automation system has set the scene for the European première of the musical Spring Awakening. The rock-and-roll, coming-of-age show (winner of 8 Tony awards including 'Best Musical 2007') has taken London audiences by storm, playing to packed houses when opening at the Lyric Hammersmith. The UK production involved the original Broadway creative team; further tours are planned worldwide and a major film version is also in development.

Stage Technologies was on site at the Lyric for installation, commissioning, show programming during technical rehearsals, operator training and the press performance. The equipment installed consisted of an Illusionist console, a Maxis PTS control system, eight BigTow Classic winches, four counterweight assist winches (used to propel in-house flying bars), two point hoists installed in the grid (used for a platform eleva

UK - Nestling against the dramatic backdrop of the Cornish coast, almost at Britain's most southerly point, lies the Minack Theatre - a gloriously visual outdoor performance venue. Northern Light has recently completed the upgrade of the venue's house lighting, which included cabling infrastructure, fixture renewal and DMX distribution.

Chris Watts, who had overall responsibility for project management on behalf of Northern Light, said: "It truly has been a joy to work on such an exceptional venue. An open air theatre presents its own unique challenges, particularly in terms of Mother Nature. The bulk of the installation took place in January during extremely inclement weather, but we stood up to the wind and rain and finished the job on time and on budget. The only other real issue was the distraction provided by the beautiful scenery."

New Blues System LED fittings

UK - The Lighting Hospital is a unique new concept developed by production industry technical maverick Dik Welland to take care of, treat, offer TLC, counselling and repair of specialist lighting equipment elements - with a fast, efficient, cost-effective and personal service, says the company.

The primary products repaired and serviced are electronic switch mode lamp power supplies up to 7Kw. Welland comments: "There was a definite gap in the market for the quick and efficient repair of these, especially when out of warranty, and that's initially why I have set up the company".

Additionally, The Lighting Hospital also caters for a far wider range of products, including low voltage switch mode power supplies and control boards covering a whole gamut of moving light brands including Vari*Lite, High End, Martin Professional, Robe lighting and others.

Xenon 7Kw and 5K

UK - The hit revival of Oliver!, starring Rowan Atkinson, has opened in London's West End using ETC lighting and controls. And not only has the show received acclaim from the critics, but the Eos lighting desk has also received acclaim from lighting designer Paule Constable.

"We looked at other desks to use on this show," explains Constable, "but the Eos is definitely the most theatre based, with the best support available. I was really impressed. Eos is establishing itself in the lighting world as the best board for the theatre."

Programmer Nick Simmons says: "Paule and I first experienced the Eos two years ago, when we worked together at the National Theatre on War Horse, and the desk has come a long way since then. We worked with the Eos product design team and provided feedback which resulted in changes to the way some features work w

South Africa - Robe DigitalSpots took their share of the limelight at a special concert staged in the Big Top Arena, Carnival City Johannesburg, ZA, to celebrate 10 years at the top for leading South African singer/songwriter, Juanita du Plessis.

Lighting for the event - also recorded for DVD and enjoyed by a live audience of 3000 - was designed by Francois van der Merwe from MJ Event Gear, the company contracted to supply all the lighting and AV equipment.

The over-stage lighting rig was based on three trusses - front, mid and back - and the four DigitalSpot 5000DTs were placed on an additional V shaped truss, positioned centre stage front. Video footage ran for every song, so it was a vital component of the look and feel of the show.

Images from the DigitalSpots - 60% of which was supplied by du Plessis herself who took a very active interest in the overall show design - w

Fewer Freebies - About 200 fewer free tickets will be handed out to people living near Worthy Farm in Somerset, the home of Glastonbury Festival. A spokesman for the festival told the BBC a change had been made to the area in which people have to live to receive a free festival pass. He said despite that, more than 3,000 would still be given away. Those finding themselves just outside the boundary will be given a free pass for Sunday's performances. They will also be able to claim £60 off the price of a ticket for the festival.

Traditionally festival organiser Michael Eavis has given free tickets away to people living in the villages of Pilton, Pylle and Sticklynch. The idea behind the give-away is to make up for disruption to roads when about 200,000 people arrive for the event at the end of June. The spokesman said: "No other major festival looks after people who li

UK - Lightfactor Sales is taking two stands - RA-D6 and RA-D12 - at the 2009 PLASA Focus Show, in prime positions either side of the bar, a move anticipating that this should be a strategic meeting point for all visitors.

Both Lightfactor's stands will be replete with a wide selection of products aimed at core theatre and live performance orientated applications from high profile manufacturers like SGM, LDR and Novalight from Italy; SFAT from France and LightProcessor from the UK. Lightfactor is the exclusive UK distributor for all these products.

One of the highlights from SGM is the new Giotto Digital 1500 fixture. Using a special patented application of DLP technology, the Giotto Digital 1500 combines digital effects generation with a fully-featured moving head fixture. It offers the features of a moving light with an innovative all-digital system for generating graphic eff

UK - As part of Martin Professional's ongoing reorganisation, the company has announced that general management responsibilities in the UK will continue to be handled by Tony Browne, who has served as managing director of Martin UK since 2007.

As we reported in January, Martin Professional A/S is in the process of creating a regional sales organisation, Martin EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) based at Martin's headquarter office in Aarhus, Denmark. During 2009, Martin's current European subsidiaries will be integrated into the new structure while Martin's distributors within the area will be served by the new European regional organisation at a later stage.

Villads Thomsen, previously managing director at Martin Professional's Scandinavian subsidiary, heads the organisation as vice-president EMEA.

Browne commented: "These are challenging times that are creating man

UK - If you're an established freelancer or just starting out in the industry, you can take advantage of a free advice session being run as part of the programme of seminars at next week's PLASA Focus event in Leeds (28-29 April).

This one-hour session, which takes place at 12pm on Wednesday 29 April at the Royal Armouries in Leeds, will provide freelancers with an overview of a wide range of areas relevant to their working lives, including an examination of key legal requirements and responsibilities.

Its main focus will be an introduction to Health & Safety law for freelancers, including a review of risk management, individual levels of responsibility and risk assessment practices. It will also provide an understanding of financial issues such as IR35 and what it means for an individual's self employment status, outlining the measures that can be taken to protect it. There w

UK - MilTec (UK) Ltd will be exhibiting a wide range of LED products at the PLASA Focus exhibition in Leeds.

Featured on the stand will be the StageWash range of LED pars. With a massive 108 Watts of LED power in a compact housing, these units give unmatched light output in their price range, says the company. The StageWash 108 has 36x 3W LEDs with a 25 degree beam and the 108T tricolour unit gives a beam angle of 38 degrees. Both units are suitable for professional and school stage applications.

Also on display will be the PixStrip LED screen and PixFloor video dance floor. These units are designed for club installations and corporate rental work, being easy to install and strike after a show. The PixStrip screen uses ultra-bright 3mm LEDs, ideal for use in bright foyer and atrium situations.

MilTec will also be showing from the ranges of followspots and high-load wind-up t

UK - The National Theatre's award-winning, puppet-led production, War Horse, has transferred from the National's Olivier Theatre to the New London Theatre in the West End.

Adapted from the novel by Michael Morpurgo, War Horse is set at the outbreak of World War One and tells the story of Joey, the beloved horse of young Albert, who is sold to the cavalry and shipped to France. But Albert cannot forget his horse, and embarks on a treacherous mission to the trenches to find him and bring him home.

The story is told by actors working with spectacular life-size puppets created by the Handspring Puppet Company who, along with designer Rae Smith, won an Olivier Award for the show last year; the design is completed by an Olivier-award nominated lighting design by Paule Constable.

Supplying the lighting rig for Paule Constable's design, entertainment lighting supplier

UK / USA - With just days to go to Light Relief and Behind the Scenes By Design Day on 24 April, it's not too late to join the host of international designers who have come together to raise money for these two industry charities. This year, for the first time, Light Relief is joined by the US and Canadian charity, Behind the Scenes, resulting in a record number of designers donating their day's royalties, plus many leading lighting designers and others in the industry are giving individual donations.

Already pledging to donate their royalties for 24 April are the lighting designers of some 40 international shows, many of them - like Howard Harrison's Mamma Mia! and Mary Poppins - in several different productions. Joining Rick Fisher, Ken Billington and Ken Posner, the day's co-sponsors, are Neil Austin, donating his royalties from the Frost/Nixon US tour; M

USA - Seminal rock band Fleetwood Mac is touring North America with high flying Martin Professional LC Series LED panels incorporated as dynamically dominate set pieces.

Production designer is Paul Guthrie of Toss Film & Design Inc. of Minneapolis who handled lighting, set, video and content for the tour. "I decided early on that I wanted a clean, simple look that complemented the band," he says, "and I wanted to use technology in a way that enabled us to create modern versions of retro themes. We wound up using a lot of high tech equipment to try and make it look low tech."

He commented on the decision to use the Martin LC panels in the design, "I spoke very early on to Brad Haynes at Martin US about incorporating EvenLED (LED panels) into six large scale curved light boxes that are the centerpiece to the design but ran into some logistical obstacles

Israel - Compulite has announced that Creative Stage Lighting is now the North American distributor of its products which include the Vector series of lighting consoles (which are available to Creative Stage Lighting's Dealer Network immediately).

"The Creative Stage Lighting approach taking on new products, along with its strong dealer network has made CSL a natural choice for Compulite. We are delighted to establish together a significant presence for our products in the market," said Compulite CEO Yehuda Shukrun.

"This relationship with Compulite is very exciting and rounds out Creative's portfolio of the high quality products we distribute." said CSL president George B. Studnicky III.

Creative Stage Lighting recently announced its hiring of Michael Nevitt as product manager. Nevitt's responsibilities at CSL include supporting Compulite products sold i

UK - The 12 100m steel masts of London's O2 Dome can be seen from far and wide. Jutting from the venue's iconic 365m wide roof, the masts have been set aglow in colour changing light from Martin Professional Exterior 1200 Wash luminaires.

O2 owners, AEG Europe, sought a new lighting scheme for the successfully revived multi-purpose venue. After an original lighting proposal proved cost prohibitive, Philips Lighting was contacted and their creative director Rowena Preiss tasked with creating a new solution based around the latest technology and energy savings.

Animation and colour wash schemes across the roof were subsequently proposed but the vastness of the structure made those solutions impractical. "We decided to concentrate the colour inside the masts which are fundamental to the design of the Dome," Preiss says. Although the original intent of the owners was to

UK - The A.C. Entertainment Technologies Ltd. stand (S-D2) at the PLASA Focus show in Leeds will feature new innovations from leading brands including Chroma-Q & GLP and product highlights from the ranges exclusively distributed by the company in the UK.

The A.C. Lighting division will be displaying a selection of products from the Chroma-Q LED range. Following the success of the Chroma-Q Color Block LED fixture with rental companies and end users alike, the manufacturer has combined the product's core elements of modularity and versatility with new single colour RGBA optics, 530 lumens output (almost double the original model) and theatrical grade dimming to create the exceptional feature set of the Color Block 2 fixture.

Other Chroma-Q LED products featured include the Color Punch fixture for a 'punchy' light output from an extremely compact unit. In addition, the stand feat

Australia - In March 2009 Mandylights' designer Richard Neville was once again charged with the task of designing the entire party site for the infamous Mardi Gras party - the largest gay and lesbian dance party in the world. Working with the Nations United theme of the festival, Neville's designs for the five rooms reflected the international theme of the party and scenic items found around the site.

Neville chose to use a purely Vari*Lite moving light rig for the main venue - Royal Hall of Industries (RHI) - which looked spectacular for all ten hours of the party. The venue took on the theme of It's a gay world after all complete with elaborate set and giant rotating technicolour globe in the centre of the space. The RHI's lighting design took a different turn this year, with Neville choosing to lower the trim height of all the trusses to create a less cavernous

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