Lighting

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USA - The light show during the performance of alt-rock group Big Something at Big What Festival in the Shakori Hills Park featured a range of Chauvet lighting fixtures.
Designed by Daniel Thibault of Life Is Art Studio and Big Something LD Cameron Grogan, the show featured 36 Chauvet DJ luminaires, including 12 Intimidator Scan LED 300 scanners, eight Intimidator Spot LED 350, eight SlimPANEL Tri 24 IP and eight COLORband PiX LED linear fixtures, as well as four Hurricane 1600 foggers.
All of the lights in the rig were called upon at one time or another to provide audience lighting. “Given the nature of this festival, we wanted to engage the crowd as much as possible with lighting,” said Thibault. “Big Something has a very loyal fan base and has some strong ties with that base. The band wants to see their fans, and the fans want to see the band, so audien

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Keeping Music Live - Campaigners fighting to preserve Cardiff’s live music scene have heralded a breakthrough after plans to develop flats in the heart of the city’s entertainment district were withdrawn.
A campaign to protect the city's grassroots music scene has been underway since the start of this year, with campaigners fighting in particular to preserve the entertainment venues on Womanby Street, which is home to several live music venues but has seen a string of closures in recent times.
The campaign attracted thousands of signatures, and calls on Cardiff Council to protect the area as a cultural hub. Venue owners and music fans also condemned a planning application to create a hotel to be built above a Wetherspoon’s pub on Womanby Street.
Plans for a residential housing development comprising six flats had been submitted for the street, however these

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USA - Nashville-based lighting design company Ardee Design Group (ADG) was contacted to relight Plaza Mariachi, a former supermarket converted into a 60,000sq.ft multi-purpose facility.
ADG chose to use Elation Professional dynamic ellipsoidal, Par and moving lights.
“The Plaza Mariachi project is a mix of entertainment techniques in an architectural application, and we utilized quite a bit of Elation equipment to achieve our goals,” said Richard Davis, president and senior designer at ADG, the 30-year design collaborative that combines years of experience in entertainment lighting with a practical knowledge of architectural lighting techniques.
The Plaza’s main courtyard and five streets, each storefront with a themed, theatre-like façade, all required illumination. ADG uses colour, contrast and lighting effects to enhance the space, focus attention and c

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USA - LD Rob Sinclair is using BlackTrax to control the lighting during Queen and Adam Lambert’s 2017-2018 tour.
BlackTrax is a vision-based system that connects to a range of third party applications, such as robotic lights, media servers, and any other device that uses the RTTrPM open protocol, capturing and passing positional 3D (X,Y,Z) and 6D rotation (yaw, pitch, roll) data to them.
Sinclair said: “I’d seen what Dark Art Creative had done before, and was blown away by the creativity and precision of the lighting I knew that Oli Metcalfe was the owner and responsible for lighting the shows and, as I’d known him for decades, contacted him and asked him how he’d done it. He pointed me in the direction of BlackTrax.”
Sinclair used Clay Paky Scenius Uncio and controlled them with BlackTrax, with all seven band members being tracked.
“Followspo

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USA - The lighting at the 20th IYRS Gala, an annual fundraiser benefitting the International Yacht Restoration School, featured 22 Chauvet Professional Rogue fixtures.
Supplied by JDI Productions, the fixtures were part of the event's lighting design created by Megan Alksninis.
“The first part of the night was a dinner and auction where I chose to stick with select colours. I tried to create a warm look through magenta and amber that was not too distracting,” said Alksninis. “In transitioning to Kool and the Gang, I used the four Rogue RH1 Hybrids in my floor package to create a rock-and-roll feeling. All the while, I wanted to keep my lights harmonious with the surroundings. Newport is one of the most beautiful places to work.”
In addition to four Rogue RH1 Hybrids, Alksninis’ rig featured 12 Rogue R2 Washes and six Rogue R3 Washes. The wide zoom range

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Argentina - A top Argentinian creative team including director, set and lighting designer Ariel del Mastro, award-winning lighting director Ariel ‘El Gato’ Ponce and video designer Maxi Vecco have created the production design for Green Day’s rock opera American Idiot, currently playing at the Broadway Theatre in Buenos Aires.
Robe moving lights are central to creating the raw vibe with Spiiders, Spikies and Squares prominent on the rig, and being used to the maximum by the two Ariels.
These products were chosen for the flexibility and creative scope they bring to lighting two other shows also playing at the Broadway Theatre – the cirque-musical extravaganza Mahatma and the erotic show Taboo.
All shows utilise the same rig but look completely different, so some of the fixtures are re-positioned and re-rigged while Mahatma als

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UK - Stage Electrics has been appointed as a main dealer for ChamSys lighting products. The company is now selling and supporting ChamSys products nationwide.
Stage Electrics’ sales director Anna Western comments: “As ChamSys’ consoles are an industry favourite with a strong global presence, building a relationship with ChamSys was a natural progression for us. Since becoming a main dealer, Stage Electrics have already made considerable investments towards their commitment with ChamSys. As well as investing over £45,000 in stock, Stage Electrics has also held both staff and customer console training days, which proved to be well received by all who attended.
Western continues: “As a technical supplier with substantial stocks, adding ChamSys to our inventory makes perfect sense to meet the needs of our professional lighting clientele. We are now able to suppor

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USA - GLP US has appointed Jim Gregory as regional sales manager for the south east. He brings more than 25 years of industry experience to GLP, working with touring, local productions, house of worship, as well as special and corporate events.
Gregory comments: “When the opportunity arose, I jumped to work for such an industry leading company. GLP products are of the highest quality and hold up to the test of time. I wanted to work for a company with excellent products, first and foremost, and the quality of the GLP staff is top notch.”
GLP US president Mark Ravenhill adds: “We are very happy to welcome Jim to GLP. His experience, combined with his understanding of customer service are at the top level and he will be an absolute great fit to the team.”
(Jim Evans)

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UK - Ayrton exhibited at the 40th PLASA London 2017 with its exclusive UK distributors, Ambersphere Solutions, where it successfully launched three new products to the great delight of visitors to PLASA, which welcomed an increased footfall and more international visitors than ever.
Ghibli, MiniPanel-FX, and WildSun K25 TC were introduced to the market and received an “incredible response”.
“Ayrton is committed to providing the lighting designer with a complete range of lighting tools to suit every purpose and size of venue,” says Ayrton CEO, Chris Ferrante. “Our new releases are indicative of the breadth of our product range which constantly evolves to meet the requirements of our creative client base.”
Ghibli is Ayrton’s first LED spot luminaire and marks an expansion of Ayrton’s automated lighting range. Ghibli boasts high output, ultra-effici

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USA - Bandit Lites is providing the lighting package for American Country Award-winning artist Chris Young.
Young is rounding out the year with a new album and a tour run that covers the country as part of Jason Aldean’s They Don’t Know Tour.
Using Bandit supplied Elation CuePix Blinder WW2 fixtures, Robe Pointes, Ayrton MagicPanels, and Martin Atomic 3000 Strobes, lighting director Mike Stanley created a portable version of Chris Lisle’s 2016 tour design which did not have any floor lights conducive for an opening act position since most of the rig was in the upstage torms.
“Uprights were installed on the pyramid video carts, moving down about half of the Magic Panels and Pointes,” said Stanley of the reconfiguration. With 12 mi video on the carts, Stanley loaded strobes and CuePix blinders behind it to blast through while switching to the Roe L

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Germany - Lighting effects from Elation Professional Platinum 1200 Wash, Platinum FLX and Platinum Beam 5R Extreme provide the pre-game light show for German ice hockey club Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers.
Elation dealer and entertainment technology solutions provider sld mediatec GmbH has partnered with the team for the past seven years and the company’s head of lighting and rigging Sebastian Groß wanted to create ‘something special for the multisensory show that accompanies player introductions’.
The pre-game light show is used to create movement, energy and excitement before each home game. The Ice Tigers’ logo is illuminated in white light while the rink is awash in colors representing the team´s corporate design. Splayed beams of energetic light represent the players on the ice while the coloured ice rink reflects the dynamism of the Ice Tigers’ team.
A

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South Africa - The 2017 Hilton Arts Festival took place on the weekend of 15 September, writes DWR lighting designer Michael Broderick. Now in its 25th year, the festival continues to provide a platform for a wide variety of artistic disciplines.
The event doesn’t differentiate between main and fringe theatre productions and there are no venues dedicated to a single production for any length of time beyond their technical rehearsal time and actual performances. The festival technicians are most often turning around big productions in very short timeframes to cram as much entertainment during the three-day festival.
Black Coffee Productions was the festival’s technical supplier and DWR Distribution provided technical support and equipped every venue with a MA Lighting dot2 Console, with the company saying the ease of use and reliability of these consoles prevented th

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USA - House of worship lighting designer and technical director Bobby Dennis will be conducting an educational session for Chauvet Professional at the WFX Conference on Thursday, 12 October at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Texas. 
Dennis will conduct the learning session, 5 Steps To Greater Engagement With Light, with Michael Graham, the engagement and education manager of Chauvet Professional, and discuss simple cost-effective ways of using lighting systems to create more immersive worship environments.
“We’re honoured that someone of Bobby Dennis’ experience and stature will be participating in our learning sessions,” said Albert Chauvet, CEO of Chauvet. “Bobby’s reputation as a thoughtful and knowledgeable lighting designer is known to virtually every person involved in church lighting. We are looking forward to learnin

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USA - Earlier this year when Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney approached Jeff Mathews of Borealis Stage Lighting about designing a floor package for their upcoming tour, they asked him for something that looked large yet compact.
Mathews, who has been lighting the pop-country duo since early 2016, gave them the bold look they were after by creating a power-packed video and lighting package that he runs with a ChamSys MagicQ MQ 80 and an extra wing. Despite the memorable impression that it’s making on the international tour, Mathews’ 79-universe rig is compact and flexible enough to fit a wide variety of venues.
“Our clients wanted a large package for the summer and fall tour, as well as the spring 2018 tour, that could fit in two trailers alongside the backline,” said Mathews. “Since they play a variety of sized venues -- from clubs and large theatres, to arenas, a

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USA - Over the past two years, SGM Lighting and Deep South Productions have worked together building a strong business relationship and Deep South Productions has invested heavily in a variety of SGM LED fixtures keeping their inventory at the cutting edge. Located in Louisiana, Deep South Productions is gearing up the southern states with a large SGM stock ranging over wash lights, strobes and moving heads.
“I have been using SGM products since 1996 and had a bunch of Giottos and Flashers. When we needed to move towards LED, we became very enthusiastic about these products,” says Rich Barrett, head lighting designer and programmer of Deep South Productions.
Products available for rent include G-Spot, G-Wash, Q-7, X-5, G-1 Beam, and G-1 Wash with the option of being battery-driven. With this wide range of fixtures and a stockholding of nearly 200 units, end-users

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Estonia - Robe moving lights were specified for major international opera festival Opera Days held on the island of Saaremaa.
The festival saw the world premiere of Nurjatu Saar (The Evil Island) by Estonian rock musician, pianist and composer Rein Rannap, which was performed at a 2,200-capacity structure erected in front of Kuressaare Castle.
Lighting was designed by Margus Vaigur, who, in addition to his freelance design work, heads the lighting team at the Endla theatre in Parnu, a high-profile repertory house. He’s lit the Saaremaa Opera Days event in 2013, and this year was asked back by director Vahur Keller.
He specified 84 x Robe moving lights to assist with an eye-catching lighting scheme to accompany the drama unfolding onstage.
Inspiration for the lighting started with the music and ambience of the piece, explained M

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Switzerland - Seventy Robe BMFL moving lights – 48 BMFL Blades and 22 x BMFL WashBeams were used on the 2017 Basel Tattoo, one of the leading military tattoos in Europe, which is staged for a week in a temporary structure erected in front of the Kaserne former military barracks in the centre of the city in northwest Switzerland.
The BMFLs were part of a lighting scheme by Rolf Derrer for the week-long Tattoo which features 10 shows and capacity audiences of 7500 for each one. Working closely with Rolf was programmer and his right-hand person Reto Engler, who has worked on the event since 2013.
The BMFLs were supplied by Winkler Multimedia Events AG from Wohlen together with the rest of the lighting kit and the full technical production. Winkler’s technical director Roni Huber first started looking for new and more powerful fixtures after the 2016 show, when Reto an

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USA - SGM’s G-Spot LED moving head fixtures can be found poolside at the Orlando World Centre Marriott hotel in Orlando, Florida.
Enduring the Florida climate year-round was a main concern when choosing a product for this installation and SGM’s patented dehumidifier works consistently to keep all unwanted moisture out of the fixtures.
For the installation, K-System’s Mitchell Piper was contracted to put together an entertainment package that would suit the permanent Light Up the Night show that was to take place over the pool area. The nightly spectacular has four rotating shows as well as unique holiday and special occasion shows. The shows originally planned to have only lasers, but quickly morphed into a spectacle that required moving heads, audio and more. Piper then reached out to his business partner, Ken White of Millennium Waves for assistance wi

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USA - Covering 650,000sq.ft and rising eight stories above the ground, the new Little Caesars Arena stands as a symbol of the comeback taking place in America’s Motor City.
On 12 September, Detroit’s hometown hero Kid Rock christened the multi-use complex by performing its inaugural concert as part of a six-night home stand that sold out in one day. Just before he took the stage, the big arena’s house lights went dark and Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ (the city’s unofficial anthem) blared over the sound system. When the song’s famous line Born and raised in South Detroit came on, the entire hall erupted with cheers and, as if on cue, the darkness was simultaneously blown away by intense bright light.
This lighting salvo would be the first of many ballyhoo moments in the rollicking Little Caesars Arena kickoff concert that designer Nook S

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Germany - Robe Deutschland officially opened its new HQ in Ismaning near Munich last week in an event which also showcased Robe’s brand new MegaPointe moving light.
Guests, including lighting / visual designers, programmers, technicians as well as professionals from various venues, TV studios, theatres and rental companies, could tour the new office, warehouse and Light Lab facilities, then experience a specular lightshow designed, programmed and operated by top Swiss LD Ronald Huber, illustrating the many features and functionality of the new MegaPointe and fixtures from Robe’s current ranges.
In addition to enjoying the spectacle, guests could see products close-up and engage in a number of full demonstrations including the DL Series, the VIVA CMY and the RoboSpot series of follow-spotting products.
“We are extremely happy that all our German customers h

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USA - In San Jose, California, the Cathedral of Faith has been providing powerful and encouraging worship services for its congregation since its inception in 1965. Believing in the power of multimedia arts to help convey their message, the technical team behind those services is asked to create the ideal worship environment each week.
Knowing that they needed to renovate their production design with LED video to maintain a high level of creativity and performance, the church recently worked with Nashville-based PixelFLEX and installed a new FLEXTour 3.9mm LED video system.
“I initially looked at LED video technology about 10 years ago, but at that time it was too cost-prohibitive so we ended up installing anLCD TV wall for our worship design,” began Kurt Foreman, director of operations, Cathedral of Faith. “It worked well, but it had its limitations, and we cou

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Germany - Elation moving heads were specified for this year’s German EDM festival Parookaville held in Weeze in July.
The POOLgroup, who once again acted as general contractor for the main stages, as well as the Cloud Factory and Centre Shelter stages, was responsible for the conception and implementation of the media and lighting design, in coordination with the stage concept and content creation, as well as a successful ‘show control and ceremony’.
POOLgroup’s Robert Sommer, who was responsible for the lighting design and concept, took the opportunity to test Elation’s hybrid Platinum FLX moving head under live conditions, where a total of 60 units were used on the main stage.
He said: "The Elation Platinum FLX was introduced to me at LMP and sparked my interest. As a result, I decided to test the fixture under real-world conditions,” recalls Somme

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UK - Technical producers LarMac LIVE once again chose to bring in PRG XL Video as a supplier of video, lighting and rigging technology across multiple stages at this year’s Creamfields 2017.
PRG XL’s team supplied rigging, indoor and outdoor video screens; a broad variety of lighting; LED signage; media servers and content manipulation technicians; and broadcast equipment and support.
For all the video elements, PRG XL senior account manager Paul ‘Macca’ McCauley took care of the specifications, with project manager Ian Jones taking care of the technical delivery. For lighting, account manager, Gordon Torrington, and event services coordinator, Chris Scott, took care of the design and implementation on site.
On the main Arc (CF01) and Horizon (CF02) stages, PRG XL Video supplied festival technology including lighting, rigging and video across both struct

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The Netherlands - A custom stage setting designed by RF Shows and featuring hard-hitting visuals from Chauvet were used at Crave Festival 2017.
Central to this design were 14 Chauvet Professional STRIKE 1 fixtures, which provided hard-hitting visuals in support of the industrial theme of the electronic music festival held in The Hague. Positioned within the metallic shipping containers placed around the central stage area, the STRIKE 1 fixtures provided RF Shows with multiple blinding, strobe and wash looks - perfect for the aggressive and sparse techno beats of headliners such as Octave One and Deniro.
“Given that everything about the festival design revolved around an industrial theme, we wanted to create the same feeling with the lighting design,” commented Jeroen Kwakernaak, project manager from RF Shows. “The single source of the STRIKEs was instrumental in
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