UK - The Association of Lighting Designers (ALD) has launched #SaveStageLighting campaign to seek an exepmtion for stage lighting from the EU’s proposed Ecodesign Working Plan 2016-2019, which would require all light sources across venues and theatres in the EU to meet a notional efficiency target.
The organisation says in a statement: “The #SaveStageLighting Campaign must demonstrate to the EU Energy Directorate the widest possible cultural opposition to these proposals. Theatrical performances rely on theatrical lighting - it is the glue that binds every aspect of a performance together. Theatre lighting relies on having the right tools available to create just the right effect at just the right moment.
“A successful outcome to the #SaveStageLighting campaign is essential to secure exemption for stage lighting from these proposals. The consequences of failure w

USA - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) is out on the road with a lighting package provided by Bandit Lites. The British electronic music band, comprised of Andy McCluskey, Paul Humphreys, Martin Cooper and Stuart Kershaw, has been a staple in the synthpop scene even nearly 40 years after their debut performance in Liverpool.
With 13 albums under their belts including the most recent release, The Punishment of Luxury, the OMD (so named to refute any potential punk band assumptions) has offered their insight on society ranging from the relationship of man and machine to a commentary on modernism. And with a decidedly contemporary sound, it is only fitting the lighting complement the music while keeping focus on the band.
Bandit Lites supplied Showline Nitro 510C LED Strobes, Elation Paladin Strobes and Clay Paky Sharpys for the tour where lighting designer

USA - 2018’s Monster Energy Outbreak Tour is on the road with DJ Kayzo headlining and a full complement of new Elation Professional lighting fixtures hyping the rhythms of one of dance music’s newest and most sought after EDM DJ’s.
Outbreak tours showcase emerging artists on their breakout tours and are an opportunity for young talent to get exposure. After DJ Kayzo released his debut album Overload on 19 January, he hit the road on the Monster Energy Outbreak Tour, his first national tour. Production includes a light show from Pin Point Lighting featuring some of Elation Professional’s newest luminaires - DARTZ 360 LED beam/spot fixtures, Paladin hybrid LED lights and Chorus Line 16 LED pixel bar wash luminaires.
Production specialists Pin Point Lighting of Philadelphia provided the lighting rig and design for the show. “The artist wan

UK - Over 700 international television buyers from across the globe recently headed to ACC Liverpool for BBC Worldwide Showcase, the world’s largest international television market hosted by a single distributor. Taking place on 18-21 February, the event brought together producers, talent and BBC executives as well as Britain’s most successful creatives. For the 12th year running, creative technical event production expert Hawthorn supported BBC Worldwide to showcase its premium programmes, delivering two hotly-anticipated evening events.
Putting premium British content right at the centre of the global stage, the evening events showcased the best of BBC talent and creativity to an audience of TV executives and producers.
Led by the BBC Worldwide team, Hawthorn’s group creative director Peter Harding helped to produce and deliver the production design

UK - Bristol-based lighting and video rental specialist Fineline was the LED screen supplier for the 2018 Teenage Cancer Trust (TCT) shows at the Royal Albert Hall, which has seen another series of show-stopping performances and collaborations which help raise awareness and funds for the charity.
This year’s line-up included Kasabian, The Courteeners, Def Leppard, Ali Campbell, Astro and Mickey Virtue from UB40 who appeared as a trio, Nile Rogers and Chic, comedy from Russell Howard as well as The Who’s Roger Daltry, who has been instrumental in driving the annual RAH concert week since it started in 2000. This year he curated an evening of special guests including Muse frontman Matt Bellamy leading a super group including Graham Coxon who performed some of the Beatles’ greatest hits.
Says Fineline’s Rob Sangwell, “It has been a fantastic experience all roun

Estonia - Built in the 14th century, the unusually shaped Hobuveski building in Tallinn, Estonia, originally served as a mill and was later used for storage. In 2003, the circular structure was converted into a theatre and events venue and has since become recognised as one of the most extraordinary theatres in Europe. A recent refurbishment saw the installation of modern technology, including a Gio @5 console, ColorSource luminaires and Sensor3 power control from ETC.
Until recently, the 140-seat venue relied on makeshift solutions for performances. With no real infrastructure, changing from one production to another involved building a new, temporary lighting and sound system, almost every time. In 2017, the Hobuveski received the investment and permission it needed to proceed with a major refurbishment. The revamp included a much-longed-for permanent installation of light

Germany - Artistic Licence is set to unveil a number of new products catering for the Art-Net/sACN, DMX512 and DALI lighting control markets. Artistic Licence CEO, Wayne Howell, will be present throughout the show to answer questions, aided by German distribution partner, Soundlight.
On show will be the next generation of Artistic Licence ethernet-to-DMX gateways. Based on a more powerful chip technology, the range provides full support for the award-winning Art-Net 4 protocol, giving access to impressive new functionality not offered in earlier releases.
The dataLynx II is a 1U 19″ rack mount Ethernet to DMX512 gateway. It converts 12 universes of Art-Net (supports all versions up to Art-Net 4) or sACN ethernet into DMX512/RDM. The product features 12 DMX512/RDM outputs, using front mounted Neutrik connectors: a choice of XLR 3-pin, 5-pin or 8-pin (Ethercon) connec

USA - ADJ Lighting has announced six spring road tour dates to demonstrate its latest lighting, video and audio technologies. The company will highlight the latest lighting technologies that were on display at NAMM 2018, plus new products set to debut at Prolight + Sound 2018 in Frankfurt.
Four of the six tour stops are open to ADJ dealers and end users. These locations are Los Angeles, Englewood, NJ, Miami, and Nashville. The other two locations, El Paso and Salt Lake City, are end-user only events.
“We always get such great feedback directly from users during our ADJ On Tour events,” said Alfred Gonzales, national sales manager of ADJ USA. “There’s nothing quite like meeting one-on-one to demo ADJ products to installers, rental houses, event producers and mobile entertainers. ADJ has such a wide variety of lighting, audio and video technologies from almost ev

Germany - Eaton’s Zero 88 is looking forward to a busy Prolight+Sound expo in Frankfurt where, on Stand B50 in Hall 3.0, the specialist UK based lighting control manufacturer will highlight a range of innovative lighting control products including its award-winning, flagship FLX console range.
The all new FLX S24 and FLX S48 consoles, the original FLX and ZerOS Wing will be demonstrated on an action-packed stand, all running the latest version of console software - ZerOS 7.9.4.
Visitors can also see the Chilli Pro range including the new Chilli Pro 12 Bypass dimmer with RCBOs. A selection of data distribution and networking devices from Zero 88 will also be showcased, including Split2.8 RDM, EtherN.8 RDM and the SCD Server Pro DMX generator.
Zero 88’s PLASA award winning RigSync is an inventive time-saving feature available within the latest version of ZerOS

Abu Dhabi - Protec helped deliver the opening ceremony of the Special Olympics IX MENA Games 2018.
It opened in Abu Dhabi on Saturday 17 March. After taking a tour of the city, hitting some famous landmarks along the way, the Olympic torch finally arrived at ADNEC to the applause of the waiting 2000 spectators. Once the ‘Flame of Hope’ cauldron was lit, the show began.
A video entitled Welcome to my City was played and more than 1,000 Special Olympics athletes from 32 different countries entered the arena in a colourful parade.
Protec provided lighting, audio and video as well as some rigging for the show in ADNEC. HQ Worldwide provided their own lighting design and the video content. Project manager, Simon Travis reports, “Due to the openness of the venue, scaffold towers were erected around the grandstand area. For the three big ones on the open s

Sweden - Mårtensson Bil (auto) wanted a creative and cool visual and sonic solution to set apart their new Dodge Pickup showroom at their HQ in Helsingborg, Sweden.
The Peugeot dealer which is independently owned by Johannes Mårtensson contacted locally based AV specialist Fremlab and asked Björn Nilsson to propose some ideas. Sound specialist Björn contacted lighting designer Björn Arnason, also a technical sales specialist from Swedish distribution company Bellalite. The two often work as a team and have toured together in the past. In fact, they are quite a ‘double-act’ as well as making a well-balanced creative and technical team. Together they proposed a solution that embraced the stark industrial aesthetic that Johannes had in mind.
Björn Arnason’s lighting design incorporates 42 x Robe PARFect S1s which he chose because they were “perfect” for t

USA - Jimmy Davidson, the owner of Wiggly Lights started designing shows for bull-rider-turned-country-musician Cody Johnson. Things were lean at first, but Johnson’s career took off like a rocket with a string of Top Ten Billboard hits and sold out arena dates. Now, Davidson (who still works for Cody Johnson) has begun designing for another rising East Texas country star, Koe Wetzel.
On 28 February, Davidson created an intense lightshow for his new client. Unlike Johnson’s concerts, which take place at larger venues, the Koe Wetzel shows happen at smaller, but packed music halls. Size of the venue notwithstanding though, Davidson is delivering big-time excitement, running a non-stop lighting panorama with his new ChamSys MagicQ MQ500 Stadium.
“The first show I did for Koe was my third time out with my MQ500,” said Davidson. “I had been reading about this c

Germany - Robe promises to deliver a spectacular stand design, complete with live plus an array of innovative new products.
Robe’s new MegaPointe ‘all-in-one’ fixture takes centre stage. Launched in September and enthusiastically received at PLASA, LDI and ISE, Prolight is another major European expo for this fixture.
Other highlights will include Tarrantula, a powerful LED beam, wash and effects luminaire; the latest developments in the RoboSpot range of remote follow spotting solutions; two new IP65 rated ParFect products and both RGBA and RGBW versions of the ParFect 150 which are also new.
Anolis, the architectural lighting division of Robe, will also have a presence and its own area adjacent to the main Robe stand. Anolis will be showing a selection of premium LED products for ‘architainment’ and architectural environments. The new ArcPar 150 Outdo

UK - Version 2 Lights supported LD Oli Richards with the return of The Generation Game, the classic game show which was originally hosted by Sir Bruce Forsyth, and later by Larry Grayson and Jim Davidson.
Recorded at BBC Elstree Studio D, the show returned for 2018, this time presented by Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins. The first episode of the returning format was broadcast on Easter Sunday evening on BBC One.
Reinventing a classic for 2018 was set designer Patrick Doherty who brought a fresh and vibrant feel to the studio. The set compromised of screen technology from Creative Technology which was fed by media servers from the lighting team. Scenic LED supplied by Light Initiative further enhanced the mood of the set, with scenic rigging being handled by DLM Events.
Richards’ design complimented the set, with multiple lamps contouring the shapely outli

USA - Every evening, a half hour before the curtain went up on ONCE during its January to March run at the John W. Engeman Theatre in Northport NY, the audience was welcome to step on stage for drinks at the “bar” that’s at the centre of this Tony Award-winning musical. That was only the beginning of the immersive experience that awaited them. With an enchanting, impressionistic set and actors who not only sang, but also played musical instruments on stage, the show invited theatre goers to set aside their normal expectations of a musical and embark on an engaging journey.
Critical to creating this captivating imagery was a richly coloured and subtly textured lighting design by Cory Pattak that featured Chauvet Professional Ovation E-910FC and Rogue R2 Wash fixtures from the theatre’s house rig. The New York City-based designer drew on the output and colour re

Germany - As the halls to the Messe Frankfurt Exhibition Centre open on 10 April, Altman Lighting will be in Hall 3.0 Stand B81 to showcase a number of innovative theatrical and architectural design solutions. With the show debut of the new AP-150 PAR RGBW luminaire, Altman Lighting will also be highlighting its popular Spectra Cyc family of wash luminaires, the versatile Chalice 70W LED downlight, the expansive Gallery LED Series, and their award-winning PHX LED profile and zoom spot ellipsoidals.
“We are always excited to exhibit at Prolight + Sound as it gives us a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate the performance capabilities of our lighting solutions to a broad audience,” said Jaime Friedstadt, Altman Lighting EMEA sales manager. “Recognised as the premier entertainment lighting exhibition in Europe, Prolight + Sound always draws a very captive audience who ar

China - PR Lighting has extended its AQUA range of IP65-rated waterproof units with the launch of the AQUA 350 BWS. This integrates three features (Beam, Wash and Spot) in a single unit.
The fully-featured fixture adopts PR patented technology, combining an advanced Ushio 350W lamp with a superb optical system. Thanks to its IP65 rating it is suited for all outdoor events and activities.
Features include: Strobe (0.3-25fps with macros); mechanical dimmer (0-100% linearly adjustable); three prisms (standard 2x6-facet circular prisms and linear prism - plus Frost and Open). Rotation is bidirectional with variable speeds. 3-facet, 16-facet and gradient prisms are optional. The three light angles are 0°-2.5° (Beam mode), 2.5°-42° (Spot mode) and 5°-50° (Wash mode).
In terms of movement the AQUA 350 BWS offers Pan of 540° and Tilt of 270°, with auto position

Germany - Currently on the European leg of their WorldWired tour, which opened in North America last summer, heavy metal heroes Metallica remain as fresh as ever. And a lot of that has to do with the imaginative set devised by production designer, Dan Braun and built by Tait Towers.
Meanwhile, experienced lighting designer Rob Koenig called on 16 of GLP’s new JDC1 multi-faceted strobes to light and punctuate the show, and at the same time minimise the amount of devices populating the stage floor. These were supplied by Premier Global Production (PGP) of Nashville.
Braun’s concept had been to do away with a conventional lighting truss entirely, and have a three-dimensional moving video on multiple plains, so that every seat in the house would see the show from a different viewpoint. Not only was he able to use kinetic movement, interacting between the video

USA - Fans of US rapper A$AP Ferg are treated to dynamic live footage and effects on his current Mad Man tour, through a slick stage design that features custom-built onstage robot cameras and a large HD video wall powered by Avolites Ai RX8 Servers.
Lighting designer, video director and programmer for the tour is Michael Smalley of Twin Designs, who in the past has worked with artists including Pitbull, Shakira and Bassnectar. Smalley collaborated closely with production design company Vita Motus and LA-based technology design firm VT Pro Design to deliver the show.
"The artist wanted a clean, runway look, like a high-end music video shoot," explains Smalley. "The cameras on the robot arms capture intimate and close-up shots so the audience can really see every moment on the big screen. This is mixed in with high impact effects to give a dynamic range to the sh

World - Currently touring their fifth studio album, Wonderful Wonderful, The Killers are travelling the world with an Americana-inspired show design, lit by long-term lighting designer Steven Douglas, who selected the Claypaky's Scenius Unico as the production's workhorse lighting fixture.
From the start, the band, Douglas and the rest of the creative team decided against a fixed creative brief for this production. Instead they worked on growing the show design organically during the recording of the Wonderful Wonderful album. The resulting production features The Killers' idiosyncratic Vegas styling, alongside theatrical small-town Americana set-pieces, inspired by the nature and feel of the album's music.
"Building the show whilst the album was still being recorded felt more natural, as the songs influenced the design process," says Douglas, who worked

Indonesia - ChamSys has been spreading the word about the benefits that its line of lighting consoles offers programmers and designers. Aziz Adilkhodjaev, the company’s international business development manager, has just completed a four-country tour that took him to Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and South Korea to conduct training sessions on the ChamSys MagicQ MQ500 Stadium and other consoles offered by the company.
Adilkhodjaev comments: “We had an enthusiastic response to our training sessions wherever we went. There is a strong desire at all levels of the lighting industry everywhere for affordable, user-friendly consoles that are both flexible and powerful enough to run any kind of lightshow or display.”
Aziz credits ChamSys distributors ASIIS in Surakarta, Indonesia, Forerunner Technologies in Manila and Live-Lab Company Ltd. in Seoul with contr

USA - Hog 4 lighting console range manufacturer High End Systems has launched Season One of Hedgeucation, a new online video series that demonstrates how easy it is to learn and use the Hog 4 platform. All episodes can be found on a new landing page on the HES website, www.highend.com/learnhog4.
The first season of many, Season One gets viewers up and rocking quickly, focusing on use of the compact HedgeHog 4 console to patch, programme and operate a live show.
High End Systems’ Joe Haller hosts the series, offering practical Hog tips and tricks along with a true Texan sense of humour. A nail biting season finale shot at the Majestic Theatre in Madison, WI shows programmers how to use what they’ve learned to light a live performance. Extras including Hog 4 show files and additional course material can be downloaded from www.highend.com/learnhog4.
Senio

UK - Sound Technology, distributor of Martin by Harman professional lighting products in the UK, has announced the immediate availability of the Martin RUSH MH 11 Beam.
A replacement for the successful MH 3 Beam, the new RUSH MH 11 Beam is a high-intensity beam moving head designed for high end installations and rental applications.
The RUSH MH 11 uses the same 250W Platinum 11R lamp found in the Martin RUSH MH 7 Hybrid but with refined beam optics that provide excellent intensity and sharp mid-air effects in a beam-only fixture. When this lamp is combined with the class-leading optics of the MH 11, the fixture achieves sharp, high-output beam effects with a super-tight 2.6° beam angle.
“The new Martin RUSH MH 11 Beam truly has the best intensity and optics capabilities in its class,” says Mark Buss, product manager. “Because it has the same colour tempe

Germany - LSC Lighting Systems will once again be exhibiting at the forthcoming Prolight + Sound show in Frankfurt.
This year will see the official launch of the new UNITY 48ch and 96ch installation racks, a large-scale power switching/dimming system that can control virtually any load from traditional tungsten lamps, through to LEDs, neon and fluorescent fixtures. UNITY has already been installed into a number of high profile venues around the world.
There will also be a first showing of the new data distribution range aimed at the installation markets − a new four-way, DIN-Rail mount version of the popular MDR DMX Splitter with RDM as standard.
Also, for 2018 will be a new DIN-Rail mount LED driver for the professional user. The LED-CV4 is a 4ch LED dimmer with constant voltage, a 5A per channel output and is a True 16-bit dimmer that is controlled via DMX

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