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Lighting

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USA - Goth metalcore band Motionless in White performed last month against the backdrop of the abandoned Pennhurst Asylum in southeast Pennsylvania for Deadstream #2, an atmosphere-filled livestream show lit by Mike Null using Elation Artiste Picasso, Dartz 360 and SixBar 1000 luminaires supplied by Squeek Lights.
Motionless in White are one of the leading acts in the genre with an explosive sound and captivatingly macabre stage presence. A troubled and abandoned state-run school and hospital, Pennhurst Asylum, a frightening place with a sordid history of suffering and paranormal presences, provided the backdrop for a heavy hitting dose of horror-themed metal.
“I feel that if Alice Cooper or Rob Zombie or Marilyn Manson were to know where we shot this they would be very jealous of where we were and what we got to experience,” stated lighting designer Mike N

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Canada - The Montreal Canadiens wanted to give fans an experience they would never forget, as they returned to the Bell Centre for the first time in over a year. And not just by reaching their first finals since 1993.
Montreal-based PixMob reached out to the team to design a shared experience for the 3,500 fans in attendance and the millions cheering on from home - making a limited capacity arena feel full and helping unite a fanbase that had been starved of live hockey since March 2020.
"We’ve illuminated the world’s biggest sporting events and some of the highest-grossing musical tours of all time, but working with our hometown Canadiens at the Stanley Cup Finals is extremely special to us,” said Jean-Olivier Dalphond, president, PixMob.
Given that this is the Canadiens’ first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in nearly 30 years, there was no better time t
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Italy - This complex spirit lives on in the Italian rock band, as they rip comfortable, preconceived notions to shreds and challenging fans with their impassioned, unsettling brand of music. The Criminal Chaos, led by founder and singer Nik Bergogni, from Parma brought the full force of their sound to Fumasoli Audio & Lights Rental’s studio in northern Italy’s Aosta Valley to record their latest music video.
Like the furtive, menacing music of The Criminal Chaos, the lightshow that Patick Iavarone designed for this production conveyed an air of simmering suspense and lurking unknown danger, along with the possibility of discovering something new and redeeming in the end.
Making ample use of shadows to add a sense of mystery to the recordings, Iavarone pierced these dark spaces with bright, boldly coloured light, often in monochromatic hues. Providing these inte

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Australia - Multi ARIA award-winning singer-songwriter Amy Shark’s Cry Forever national tour kicked off in Newcastle this month and is one of the first arena tours nationally since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tour is the Gold Coast local’s most ambitious live undertaking yet in some of the largest venues Australia has to offer and it was down to the lighting designer Tim Beeston to create a show that looked big on a budget.
“All of the design tricks had to be deployed and our suppliers delivered a high amount of value for a carefully balanced expenditure,” he says. “What we did use, I feel we used pretty well. The show had no content-driven video element which always makes an arena-size show more demanding to design.”
Chameleon Touring Systems supplied the eclectic rig of Robe, Martin, GLP, Chauvet and Portman fixtures with Tim commenting that

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UK - Broadcast on 26 April as part of BBC4’s Lights Up season, J’Ouvert is the second in Sonia Friedman Productions’ Re:Emerge season. Set amid the colourful backdrop of London’s Notting Hill carnival, it is the story of two best friends battling to preserve tradition in a society where women’s bodies are frequently under threat.
J’Ouvert was first produced at Theatre503, before transferring to the Harold Pinter Theatre, where it was filmed for the BBC prior to its West End run. Lighting designer, Simisola Majekodunmi, chose two Ayrton Karif-LT fixtures as major workhorses in her design. “The play takes place from dawn until dusk and has moments of realism and surrealism throughout, so I needed a fixture that could deliver a representation of the colour and vibe of Carnival as well as the sombreness and isolation of the spiritual moments,” she s

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USA - Victor Zeiser has developed a natural feel for David Summers’ lighting style. For years, Summers has toured with rigs designed by Zeiser’s Squeek Lights.
When Zeiser and his partner Steve Kosiba created a rig for Summers to use on a recent pay-for-view livestream by metal giants August Burns Red, they knew exactly what to do to bring out the best in his work.
“Victor and Steve deserve a lot of credit,” said Summers. “The rigs they put together elevate your lighting. In my case, they know I love symmetry, so it’s there in the rig. Everything is done to facilitate the creation of big patterns, which is something I love to do.”
Bigness and boldness were everywhere to be seen in the Saturday night livestream, which was done to mark the 10th anniversary of the band’s seminal album “Leveler.” Shot at Aurora Film's studio in Rock Lititz, the li

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USA - The entertainment technical and production industry has risen to the pandemic challenge with so many prescient and imaginative responses of how to present art, entertainment and stimulate emotional engagement during a time of separation and isolation. None was more innovative than DesignSpace, the brainchild of John Featherstone of US-based design collective Lightswitch.
DesignSpace was an immersive drive-through visual extravaganza of light and video art, presented and curated in close collaboration with John’s contacts at Arizona State University (ASU), and utilising over 160 Robe lighting fixtures, among others.
Working in conjunction with Jake Pinholster, associate dean of ASU’s Herberger Institute for Design & The Arts, plus several student artists, designers, and technicians plus his own team at Lightswitch, John’s concept transformed four levels

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UK - A Cornish event production company has completed its busiest ever period, working simultaneously on seven separate events over the G7 Summit week.
Liskeard-based JHAV was appointed to help deliver multiple events associated with the G7 Summit for clients including Spaceport Cornwall, Virgin Orbit, the University of Exeter, and surfing brand Finisterre.
The team also created a press conference suite to be used by US president Joe Biden in the Spaceport Cornwall hangar at Cornwall Airport Newquay.
JHAV managing director Jamie Hedges explains: “We’ve been involved in all kinds of events since starting JHAV, but working on all of these projects revolving around something as high profile as the G7 Summit has to be one of our biggest accomplishments to date.
“The top-secret nature has meant we have been under embargo since the event, and I am so proud

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Switzerland - Tempest enclosures have enabled an eye-catching lighting display for the public to enjoy in Zurich. In Tactile Lights (Tastende Lichter), designed by artist Pipilotti Rist, slow moving lights ‘float’ atop the picturesque city streets and buildings, drawing attention to the striking architecture and surroundings at Heimplatz square, ahead of the opening of the recent extension to the Kunsthaus museum.
The lighting equipment - Martin Allure fixtures protected by five Tempest Tornado 1925 lighting enclosures - is housed within a vibrant, custom built 17m high mast structure, forming its own artistic focal point at the centre of the square. The project was funded by the City of Zurich and the Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft art association.
“One of the biggest challenges for us was where and how to place the moving light devices,” says Kaori Kuwabara, inde

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USA - Will drive-in concerts fade away now that COVID-19 restrictions are easing? Anyone who automatically responds 'yes' to this question might want to drop by the Frederick Fairgrounds, MD on a weekend night this summer.
There, they’ll find a large drive-in stage featuring the likes of The Disco Biscuits, Goose, Grace Potter, and Umphrey’s McGee, to name a few. It’s all part of Showtime At The Drive In, a series of outdoor shows sponsored by Showtime Sound and Auto Flex Entertainment.
“We began this series last year as a way of bringing our community together through a socially distant movie and concert sets,” says Marc Chauvin, director of technical operations for Showtime Sound. “Based on the feedback we received from fans last year we’ve continued the concept this year.”
Although continuing to operate under state and county guidelin

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USA - An island oasis in the Hudson River west of Manhattan, Little Island @Pier55 is receiving praise as an arts area and green getaway from the hustle and bustle of urban life. Made up of 132 pot-shaped planters suspended above the water, the park’s topography holds a lush landscape of rolling hills, walking paths and open lawns. Nestled among the island’s more than 390 species of flowers, trees and shrubs are performance spaces outfitted with Elation Professional IP-rated automated luminaires.
Designed by Heatherwick Studio and landscape architecture firm MNLA, the 2.4-acre artificial island park, funded by the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation, is a new public park with performing art as an integrated component. A 687-seat amphitheatre with views across the Hudson, a smaller stage for 200 visitors, and an open plaza, are all designed to host a range of progra

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USA - The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) 2021 March Madness tournament is a single-elimination college basketball tournament played each spring with 68 teams competing for the national championship. It has been lit - seven courts across six venues in total - for the last three years (preceding 2020 which was cancelled due to COVID-19) by broadcast live events specialist, Bill Brennan.
The 2021 Final Four was staged at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Bill specified 60 x Robe BMFLs - a combination of BMFL Spots and BMFL Blades - for the supplemental rig this year, which were supplied, together with other lights, by Nashville-based Pulse Lighting, whose Paul Hoffman was also the event’s lead lighting programmer.
Pulse has been working with Bill since 2007 on a diversity of sporting events. Naturally, everyone was delighted to be b

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UK - The ABTT has announced the Virtual Ideas Platform. Set up in collaboration with Guildhall School of Music & Drama, the platform will serve as an informal introduction service between independent creative innovators and commercial developers behind the sectors’ leading brands, products and services.
The platform is open “to anyone and everyone with an idea” and aims to recognise and help realise new ways of making theatre work.
The ABTT says: “We know when backstage people are faced with a technical challenge, they get inventive and creative, cook up ideas and find solutions. The Platform is here to recognise, salute and honour those innovators in our midst.
“By its very nature, theatre is a dynamic working environment in which to invent and develop new and better ways of doing things - in special effects, costume and wardrobe, wigs, make-up and

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USA - Main Light, LLC. has announced that it will be expanding its operations with a location in Las Vegas, NV as of August 23, 2021. The new 40,000sq.ft shop, at 6435 South Valley View in Las Vegas will allow the dry hire service to better support the western US
Pairing with Main Light’s Delaware shop, the Las Vegas operation will duplicate the depth of new and well-maintained equipment available.
“Having a west coast shop is something that our clients have been asking about for some time,” states Randy Mullican, general manager of Main Light, LLC. “As the entertainment and event industries are re-opening, many of clients are asking us to step-in and support them across the country. Though we always would provide gear wherever needed, the Las Vegas location will allow us to respond to those needs more efficiently, and very-importantly, cost effectively.”

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Germany/UK - Last month, SUSE made its initial public offering debut on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. In response to the limitations of physical events brought on by the pandemic and in lieu of being at the Deutsche Börse in person, SUSE reinvented the entire listing day experience with a digital-first approach.
SUSE collaborated with Deloitte Digital, using technical solutions specialist White Light (WL’s) SmartStage in London, to create an entirely virtual experience that could reach its global audience.
Bespoke virtual worlds, and overall storyline, created by Deloitte Digital / ACNE, together with their production partner NSYNK, using Unreal Engine, were seamlessly integrated into the SmartStage environment and remotely edited via VPN from Frankfurt.
The environment was further enhanced with extended reality (XR) features, such as a virtual drone to visual

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The Netherlands - This year’s Eurovision Song Contest has been recognised as a pivotal moment in the return of large-scale entertainment events in a post-COVID world. Performed in front of a live audience of 3,500 plus delegates in the Greenroom on the arena floor, ESC captivated both the live audience and the 183m watching on television from 234 countries worldwide.
The entire event was under the supervision of Eurovision’s head of production, Erwin Rintjema.
At the heart of lighting designer, Henk-Jan van Beek’s dynamic design were the tools to guarantee that the Multi-camera directors received all the key lighting required to bring the performers to the small screen exactly as they would wish.
The Netherlands-based Follow-Me 3D SIX remote tracking system (as part of the lighting specification delivered by the official technical supplier, Ampco Flashli

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USA - For all six seasons of Fox’s award-winning television series Empire, lighting programmer Jared Moore used a variety of Hog control products for the show’s diverse performance settings and other scenes. The American musical drama was one of the most-watched series during its long run through 2020. After a quick run on the US shoot for Warner Brothers The Batman, Moore next turned his focus to work on Power Book IV: Force, Starz's spin-off based on original Power character Tommy Egan.
Jared began his career in 2002 as a freelance LD in Chicago, coming of age through the theater scene and designing for a modern dance company on ETC desks. In 2013 he transitioned into television and film work, where he learned of the Hog platform. He says, “I was told by another programmer that all the film guys used Hog. I worked on the ABC show Mind Games where

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UK The landmark Nottingham Castle reopens this month following a £30m refurbishment which started in 2018. Part of the new look is an Anolis exterior LED lighting scheme illuminating all four sides of the building, comprising 17 x Anolis Divine 160 fixtures which was designed by Ian Forrow of IJF Lighting and commissioned by On Event Production from Castle Donnington.
Electrical installation and fixtures were supplied by Amptron Electrical Services who were the appointed electrical contractor for the whole project which included the external lighting.
The original fortified castle dates to Medieval times but that structure was largely demolished by the mid-17th century, with a mansion built on the site in the 1670s by the first and second Dukes of Newcastle. This was burnt down by rioters in 1831 and rebuilt in the 1870s to house an art gallery and museum which remain

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USA - ACT Lighting has announced the launch of ACT Entertainment, a new entity formed by bringing together the brands of the ACT Lighting and RHC Holdings family of companies.
The new ACT is billed as a streamlined organisation that “takes a holistic approach to the industries it serves, curating critical entertainment technologies and bringing leading products and services to its clients across multiple distinct markets”.
“Offering exceptional products and services, ACT Entertainment gives the most exciting and valuable entertainment technologies in the world a single home in North America,” says Ben Saltzman, CEO of ACT Entertainment. “We are exclusively focused on empowering our customers with the tools and support they need to enhance their, and their clients’, creative visions. ACT Entertainment enhances live experiences by discovering, developing, an

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UK - The widely respected PLASA Awards for Innovation return to the PLASA Show for 2021, in association with LSi magazine. All PLASA Show 2021 exhibitors are invited to enter their new products by Friday 6 August to be in with a chance of winning one of the coveted awards.
The awards celebrate products from across live entertainment technology which demonstrate a new style of thinking, improve technical practice or safety, introduce new materials or techniques, or offer a new commercial advantage.
Each entered product will be judged by an independent panel of industry experts who have the authority to present up to eight awards of equal standing, plus a potential Gold Award for an outstanding new product.
Furthermore, an Award for Sustainability is reserved for a product that can demonstrate a significant reduction of power, utilises renewable energy, or has a po

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USA - The Kridel Grand Ballroom at the Portland Art Museum is a historic 9,000-sq.ft. space with soaring ceilings and rich architectural details that has played host to many of the city’s premiere events for decades. With its full proscenium stage, sound, lighting and projection systems, the venue is tailor-made for elegant gala fundraisers, corporate meetings, and weddings.
Chris Pitale, senior AV tech at the museum, oversaw a recent lighting upgrade in the Grand Ballroom that included Elation Professional Fuze Pendant LED downlights and Netron data distribution from Obsidian Control Systems.
“We set about planning an upgrade with Netron hardware and simultaneously had been eyeballing our aging house lighting system for upgrade,” Pitale explains, referring to an old system of 32 recessed 250W incandescent par cans that cast bad shadows due to placement of a trus

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USA - The outdoor stage at the Avondale Brewing Company in Birmingham, AL, was smaller than the ones Pigeons Playing Ping Pong normally plays on, probably not much more than 30ft in length. But adaptation is the order of the day as live music returns throughout much of the USA.
The size of the stage didn’t matter much; breaking rules and flying off in wonderfully unexpected creative directions can take place in any space. The popular jam band provided proof of that recently when they improvised their way through two upbeat sets filled with energy and original musical turns.
Flowing with them on this freewheeling journey was their long-time lighting designer, Manny Newman. Described by the quartet as “the fifth member of the band”, Newman also proved that limited space is no obstacle to limitless ideas. His expansive show filled the stage and the entire venue with

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UK - Zero 88’s RigSwitch is a remote controlled and synchronised power switching and surge control device that is proving to be a reliable, cost-effective, and popular solution for multiple venues and installation scenarios worldwide.
RigSwitch was launched in 2019. It builds on Zero 88’s reputation for designing solid and practical power, control, and switching products, like the Chilli dimmer ranges, and applying the user-friendly logic that has always characterized the brand. Its price point makes it accessible and adaptable, and RigSwitch is opening more new business opportunities for Zero 88’s core customers.
Before RigSwitch, ‘power management’ was a department largely co-ordinated by the electrical contractor of a new build or technical upgrade/re-fit project, “but utilising this product, can now be in the hands of the specifiers or integrators who

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Belgium - Adapting in order to overcome adversity is nothing new to Van Marke Plumbing Supply. Founded on the eve of the Great Depression in 1929, the family-owned business has met challenges, from stock market crashes to war over the past nine decades, as it’s grown from a single location in West Flanders to a global leader in healthy water and heating solutions with operations in Benelux, France, Malta, Switzerland and the United States.
In keeping with its philosophy of adapting in the face of adversity, the company is livestreaming to reach its 1,300 global employees during the lockdown. This initiative began with a colourful and entertaining event produced by Flexivent.
Contributing to the open and friendly atmosphere of the livestreamed event was an engaging lighting design by Cedric De Reu that drew on the colour-rendering prowess of Chauvet Professional COLOR
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