USA - Signify Entertainment Lighting has announced the return of Philips Vari-Lite veteran George Masek. Based at the company's Dallas office, Masek will look after business development for the Philips Vari-Lite, Philips Strand Lighting, Philips Selecon and Showline brands.
A well-known figure in the international show lighting business, Masek has specialised in automated lighting for almost 30 years. Beginning his career in 1990 as a Vari-Lite road technician, he toured the world with leading artists, providing on-site support for Vari-Lite products from the renowned VL1 onwards. He later moved into technical support and sales, becoming Vari-Lite product manager in 2002.
In 2012, Masek left Philips Vari-Lite to take the role of VP of automated lighting at ACT Lighting. In this position, he represented a range of leading manufacturers to the US market, gaining further invaluable experience with a broad variety of new customers and product lines.
Masek comments: "I'm thrilled to be able to return to a company where I've had so much history. Working with all the talented people there over 22 years to create, sell, and support cutting edge, industry changing luminaires, was a great pleasure. Since the first time I saw Vari-Lites on their early tours in the 1980s, it was my dream to work for this amazing company. I'm honoured to be able to come back and see that dream continue to the next stage."
Welcoming the appointment, Brian Friborg, business leader at Signify Entertainment Lighting, adds: "We could not be more delighted to welcome George back

Italy - API has named Digiland Srl as its new distributor in Italy. Founded in 2001, Digiland sells recording equipment, provides technical support, designs and manufactures audio cables, and offers sound-proofing and acoustic treatments.
Digiland owner Massimo Biasibetti comments: "We are proud of having earned this strong recognition. We feel honored by the chance of helping API grow and fulfill their great potential in the Italian market. As new API Italian distributors, a whole new set of creative chances await our customers.
“API is a milestone which every serious audio engineer simply can't avoid. When you are able to hear and test API gear for yourself - you will simply get it. That's how bright we see our immediate future working together with API.”
(Jim Evans)

UK - Event production and equipment specialists Light Fantastic Production Services (LFPS) has welcomed three Elstree University Technical College (EUTC) students at its Borehamwood base.
EUTC, a university technical college for 14-19 year-olds, delivers an academic curriculum as well as specialist courses in creative arts and media production. Those, who benefited from work experience at LFPS, are Key Stage 5 (16-19 year-olds) students on the school’s BTEC Production Technology course.
During their spell with the company, Luca DeLauri, Drew Topping and Ellis Montgomery were given a hands-on introduction to the busy LFPS lighting, audio, video and scenic construction departments, along with the chance to be part of the crew servicing ‘real world’ productions.
Speaking about the placement, Montgomery says: “My time spent with Light Fantastic really has helped my studies as it has given me more experience in a real working environment along with a wider understanding of different equipment. It has helped provide me with the skills to enter the workplace with a higher level of knowledge.”
Drew Topping adds: “Having a passion for set design and construction I had the most fun in the workshop getting hands-on experience and learning a few tricks from the carpenters that I will surely use. The experience has created opportunities for me as I now have a relationship with a high-end production company that is always eager to embrace new talent.”
Along with providing work experience opportunities, LFPS assist the school with equipme

UK - EM Acoustics recently put their new HALO-A large format line array system through its paces during two days of intensive demos at London’s LH2 rehearsal/production studios (see LSi July’s event report). In addition to HALO-A, the company also took the opportunity to show off the compact HALO-C line array – the inspiration behind HALO-A – as well as several EMS Series models, including the new, award-winning EMS-41.
EM Acoustics’ operations director Mike Wheeler, comments: “The venue was amazing. We had enough space to demo HALO-A properly and compare it to the much smaller HALO-C system to prove to visitors that we really have managed to take HALO-C to the next level – the natural EM Acoustics sound that they have always loved is replicated in HALO-A, just with much more power.”
Of the response to the event, he adds: “Indeed, the comments that came back to us time and again over the course of the two days were that people were genuinely gripped by the system’s effortless power and headroom, clearly demonstrating that that HALO-A is force to be reckoned with in terms of output.”
EM Acoustics’ R&D director Ed Kinsella adds: “It has taken many years to get to this point, and the results are very gratifying. I honestly think this is a system that will provide not only a powerful commercial solution for a wide range of customers, but also something that is

USA - Martini Bar, a new Florida nightlife venue, boasts three LED-lined spaces controlled by one Avolites Ai Miami Licence dongle.
Martini Bar is situated just a short trip from Miami International Airport in the CityPlace Doral retail and entertainment complex and offers a nightclub and an outside lounge.
Upscale entertainment lighting experts idesign Productions served as the speciality lighting and video designers for the project. Owner and lead designer Michael Meacham worked with the idesign team to create a diamond-shaped LED wall upstage, a LED-lined DJ booth and a large LED façade for the external lounge.
"The Martini Bar's owner, Joe Delaney, allowed us to have creative freedom for the spaces. We wanted a unique design that brought the rooms to life, rather than a usual video screen shape," says Meacham. "In addition to creating the unique video screen layout, we designed a cohesive package that includes intelligent lighting, pixel ceiling lighting and custom vertical LED strips surrounding the front face of the inside and outside bars."
The Martini Bar promotes itself as a 'contemporary experience of nightlife entertainment with a blend of gourmet American cuisine' which 'achieves the perfect nightlife synergy by providing live entertainment, world class DJs, and original works from its performing artists'.
"We needed video capabilities that would best showcase the video features installed in the three areas, especially in the larger LED wall with its multiple zig-zag-shaped screens," Meacham continues. "We know that Avolites' Ai

Australia - The Mel Brooks musical Young Frankenstein has been a popular staple in regional theatres across the globe since its 2007 Broadway debut. At a recent production of the musical comedy at the Devonport Entertainment & Convention Centre, designer Nick Glen supported the fantastical story of an American doctor who finds his body parts in Transylvania with a lighting design that smoothly balanced comedic and dramatic elements.
Glen, of Nick Glen Lighting Design, was aided in his effort by a collection of Chauvet Professional Maverick MK2 Spot and COLORdash Par-Quad 18 fixtures, supplied by Show Systems Australia. “The performance features of the Mavericks and colours of the COLORdashes allowed me to create a range of looks,” he says. “We needed this diversity to support the show, both as a comedy and as a more straightforward story.”
Hung from upstage and mid-stage electrics, the 12 Maverick MK2 Spot fixtures in the rig were controlled wirelessly through Chauvet DJ D-Fi Hub units. The 440W LED fixtures were moved throughout the show, their quiet operation eliminating concerns about distractive noise.
Drawing on the wide beam angle (13° to 37°) of the Maverick MK2 Spot, Glen had them fill a variety of roles during the freewheeling musical comedy, from creating broad crisscrossing patterns for show-tune-style dance numbers to more focused down spots for dramatic moments. The dual rotating gobo wheels of the Maverick MK2 Spot also came into play, as Glen relied on speckled gobo patterns to underscore a lurking sense of dang

Denmark - Nordic Rentals has recently made its first major Robe investment with the purchase of 50 x MegaPointes and 26 x Spiider LED wash beams for rental stock, a decision driven purely by “demand” explained senior sales and project manager, Tue Knudsen.
The Veile and Copenhagen-based company already has around 800 moving lights on board, but wanted to keep pace with the latest innovations from Robe. Knudsen comments: “It’s a big investment, however, the massive demand for the fixtures enables a quick ROI, making the products very attractive.”
He also mentions Nordic Rentals had been looking at ways of reducing its annual sub-hired rental costs - and owning more of the products being spec’d is one approach.
The MegaPointes were out of the warehouse door the day after they were delivered by Robe’s Danish distributor Light Partner and are currently not due back until the autumn.
This initial batch of Robe fixtures is servicing summer tour projects, including for Danish pop singer-songwriter Rasmus Seebach, whose LD Jacob Baekman specified both Spiiders and MegaPointes.
The Robe fixtures were also feature prominently on the summer floor package design for heavy metal heroes Volbeat by LD Niller Bjerrgaard as they blast their way around Europe playing a mix of festivals, own headliner shows and a few opening slots for Guns ‘n’ Roses.
(Jim Evans)

Malta - Luxury cruise line Seabourn introduced its newest vessel, the Seabourn Ovation, with a naming ceremony in the harbour of Valletta in Malta in May. The ship is the fifth ultra-luxury vessel to join the Seabourn fleet over the past decade and the second of two ships designed by Adam D. Tihany.
The event was managed by Belinda King Creative Productions and saw the ship's Godmother, Elaine Paige perform to an exclusive audience on the cruise ship’s pool deck and a debut of the Seabourn anthem entitled We Sail to See the Lives of Others by Tim Rice was performed. The evening was capped with a fireworks’ display that lit up Valletta Harbour.
Belinda King Creative Productions brought Push the Button on board to handle the technical aspects of the project and they, in turn, asked Unusual to deal with the rigging elements.
Jim Dugan, production manager at Unusual, comments: "Ian Tregaskis, production manager for Push the Button, approached us to provide a truss structure for the main screen which was to be used on board the ship as well, as to assist with the crane operations. While a local crane company was employed in Valletta, the Unusual team was tasked with making sure that everything was lifted onto the ship and removed in a timely manner."
Jim and his colleague Tom Berry flew to Malta to work on the event. "It was an extremely tight schedule to get everything on board. We had a day of quay side pre production before The Ovation arrived at 7am on event day, we had only eight hours to install, then the naming ceremony took plac

Switzerland - Geneva-based event production company Skynight SA chose six pieces of the ARX Systems ISO Balancer VC as part of an extensive AV setup at the Montreux Jazz Festival in July. Supplied to Skynight by Tonspur AG, the Swiss distributor for ARX Systems, the ISO Balancer VC’s were used primarily for straightforward volume adjustment.
Eddy Broquet from Tonspur comments: “At certain places within the festival there are some TV screens with a live feed from the concert. Yvan Barone (Skynight project manager for the Montreux Jazz Festival) was looking for something of high quality that was easy to use to adjust the audio volume in these areas. As it can be the waiter of the bar in charge of the volume he really wanted to avoid putting in a small mixing console. As Skynight already use the ARX USB-DI they asked if ARX had a product that might fit their demand and the obvious choice was the ISO Balancer VC.”
Designed as a solution for any consumer to pro interfacing and level setting issues, the dual channel ISO Balancer VC converts stereo unbalanced low impedance audio signals to stereo balanced, low impedance signals that are suitable for use with professional equipment and long cable runs.
(Jim Evans)

The Netherlands - Technical production company 4light Showprojects chose various CLF lighting fixtures for the 10th edition of 7th Sunday Festival in Erp. All fixtures were supplied by Dutch dry-hire company Rent-All.
 Light designer Joep van Bree of 4Light Showprojects picked 50 CLF Aorun beams in his design to outline the impressive stage. The fixtures were selected because of their impressive output, fast movements, big lens design and very smooth frost effect.
To illuminate decorative items, the CLF Ares was used. Most of them were placed behind plexiglass windows. 4Light Showprojects uses the Ares during the majority of their events, including the Untold Festival in Romania and Daydream Festival in the Netherlands.
4Light Showprojects owner Ronnie Santegoeds comments: “I really like the CLF Ares, mainly because of the high output but also the colour mixing is impressive.”
(Jim Evans)

North America - More than 30 years ago, Mexican music legend Antonio Aguilar toured the American continent accompanied by his family with the first equestrian show in the history of Latin show business. Now, his son, Latin singer Pepe Aguilar, has revived the tradition with his Jaripeo Sin Fronteras equestrian show, steeped in three generations of Aguilar performers and updated with dynamic lighting effects.
Pepe Aguilar’s nine Grammy awards and star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (his father has one too) are testament to the Mexican singer’s appeal, on both sides of the border. On 26 May in Mexico City’s Palacio de los Deportes, Pepe Aguilar presented his Jaripeo show with lighting accompaniment from 40 Elation Platinum FLX hybrid moving heads and 22 Elation SixPar 200 IP colour-changing Par lights with Antari F-7 Smaze units used for atmospherics and a thin layer of mid-air projection haze.
The Jaripeo – a Mexican equestrian show that includes horse riders and bull riding, traditional Mexican costumes, and regional music like Mariachi or Banda – has been modernised using video mapping and dynamic lighting effects. Jaripeo Sin Fronteras mixes tradition with modern technology to re-invent the great shows of the past and create a new show to remember.
Responsible for the lighting design was Ricardo Ortiz with technical production by Equipos Apolo. The Elation equipment was chosen for its power and range of colours, while an IP65 multi-environmental rating was important for fixtures located alongside the arena itself.

UK - PLASA Show, the world-wide event for entertainment technology, is returning to London Olympia from 16-18 September, and the seminar programme is beginning to take shape. Attendees will have access to back-to-back professional development sessions across the three days, delivering content from all sectors of the industry including lighting, live sound, AV, rigging and staging.
Only a slice of what’s to come has been announced, but many hot topics are already covered, from immersive audio and the latest AV technology, to pioneering design software and electrical updates.
Audio experts from Britannia Row Productions are hosting a series of seminars to help both the younger generation and seasoned professionals. As well as discussing the future of immersive audio and outlining their training courses, Britannia Row will run a demonstration of speaker system prediction software to create a system design for an arena, and legendary sound engineer Simon Hodge will build a mix from scratch using a multitrack recording.
The SoundGirls make their debut at PLASA Show with a future-focused panel looking to bring the audience closer with live mixing apps, immersive sound systems and a whole new generation of technology. Furthermore, freelance recordist Richard Merrick and Jonathan Edwards from Terry Tew Sound and Light will present a session on wireless audio, in association with the Institute of Professional Sound.
AVNU Alliance representatives Genio Kronauer of L-Acoustics, and Henning Kaltheuler of d&b audiotechnik will present

USA - The Knight of Illumination Awards USA (KOI-USA) has announced the judging panel for the Live for Broadcast category.
Panel chair Jeff Ravitz comments, "I'm very lucky to have been able to assemble a stellar panel of judges. I wanted a well-rounded mix of experienced eyes working with me to select this year's KOI-USA Live for Broadcast Award recipients, and well-rounded they are." KOI-USA Full Live for Broadcast panel:
Jeff Ravitz - lighting designer and chair of the judging panel who has turned innumerable live performances into broadcast ready television shows, including for Bruce Springsteen, Lollapalooza festival, and Canadian pop star Justin Bieber
Amy Tinkham - creative director, producer, and writer, Amy has previously worked as a choreographer for artists including Madonna, Aerosmith, and Earth Wind and Fire, and has directed events including America's Got Talent Live in Las Vegas
Dennis Size - lighting designer and vice president of design team Lighting Design Group, Dennis spent 18 years as senior lighting director for Disney/ABC TV Network lighting everything from soap operas to variety shows
Cameron Barnett - director of photography, Cameron has worked as extensively as DOP primarily in large sensor capture in the UK, USA, and Australia on shows like The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, Kevin Hart's What Now stand up special, and was the film consultant on Beyonce's US tour
Alana Billingsley - Emmy Award-winning art director with more than 10 years' experience on high profile live television eve

USA - Grammy-nominated group Kaleo fuses Mississippi blues, old school country, up-tempo rock and a range of other styles into their creative cauldron to arrive at their particular brand of music.
Kaleo’s distinct style is also reflected in their ethereal stage presence. Minimizing the use of colours, they prefer to be lit in subtle variations of white light. Max Lenox, who has worked with the band in various capacities since 2016 and is the lighting designer for its current tour, has mastered the art of creating subtle white-light-dominated looks, while still providing the versatility needed to reflect his client’s eclectic music.
This balance was on full display in late June, when Kaleo headlined at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre, illuminated by a bright, evocative lightshow created by Lenox with help from a floor package that featured Chauvet Professional STRIKE and Maverick fixtures.
Lenox used six STRIKE 1 and 16 STRIKE 4 multi-formatted warm white fixtures, as well as six Maverick MK3 Washes supplied by 4Wall Entertainment. (Brown Note Productions of Denver supplied the flown rig). Working with these fixtures, he created a show that kept pace with Kaleo’s music through every twist and turn. Impressively, he did this while remaining true to his client’s preference to minimize colours.
“The band doesn’t like a lot of colour in their show, so I’ve always depended heavily on different hues of white,” he said. “CTO, CTB, and Open White are used extensively throughout my shows for Kaleo. The 16 STRIKE 4s in my rig have a colour

France - Nouvelles Pièces Courtes is a collection of short contemporary dance pieces, created in May 2017 by French choreographer Philippe Decouflé and his Compagnie DCA.
Each piece tells a different story, which in turn calls for a very separate visual identity to each work. “My interest in the short form comes to me via rock'n’roll: short, efficient tracks gaining in power what they lose in duration,” says Philippe Decouflé. “For me this system works well for dance, where the composition is often more poetic than narrative, where the format needs to be adapted to its subject, to go through different worlds in a same programme and take the pleasure to get lost.”
Lighting designer Begoña Garcia-Navas used Robert Juliat fixtures to complement each different dance piece through her use of lighting, choosing 20 Robert Juliat Dalis 860 Cyclight LED batten fixtures to light the massive cyclorama backdrop, and Robert Juliat profiles, including 613SX, 614SX, 713SX and 714SX fixtures, as conventional lighting.
Garcia-Navas also specified three RJ followspots, with the models changing according to which venues the company visits. “In France we use Robert Juliat equipment enormously,” she says. “They are so reliable, ergonomic and practical, and the light rendering is of good quality.”
For Nouvelles Pièces Courtes, Begoña Garcia-Navas positioned 10 Dalis 860 Cyclight LED battens in the grid and a further 10 at stage level, with a minimum distance from the back wall of 40/50cm depending on available space at each v

UK - Stormzy, headlined the Saturday main stage in spectacular fashion at this year’s Wireless Festival in London’s Finsbury Park. The London-born superstar performed in a full, bespoke production in six acts, created by Bronski and Amber Rimell of Tawbox.
It was clear that lighting designer, Tim Routledge, would need a giant-sized fog generator when lighting Stormzy’s set, and specified two MDG Me8 fog generators to take on the job.
“I’m very familiar with MDG’s TheONE dual fog/haze generator which I specify for most of the tours I light,” says Routledge, “but when Matt Wiseman brought the Me8 to my attention at the ABTT show last month and highlighted the sheer volume of controllable fog it can produce, we decided to try it out. Stormzy’s set design called for vast quantities of dense fog for a couple of numbers, which is always a challenge in an outdoor setting where environmental factors make it difficult to keep a decent level of fog for a protracted amount of time. It was an ideal opportunity to put Me8’s output and control to the test.”
The production for Stormzy’s show involved 48 crew, 75 performers and six trucks of equipment.
“We had an enormous thrust stage with inbuilt lifts, 200 strobe lights, a cage with 20 performers clinging to it, and a full orchestra for the final song,” says Routledge. “At one point a screen was flown in - which is really unusual at a festival - from behind which we wanted to produce fog to reveal the next scene. So we really needed a fog generator that could match the huge pro

Singapore - Signify reports that its Philips Vari-Lite stage lighting fixtures have helped to conjure the magic of the big-top for the sumptuous Circus 1903 - The Golden Age of Circus. The dazzling show, complete with life-sized elephant puppets, thrilled audiences at its most recent run at Singapore's Marina Bay Sands Grand Theatre.
Lighting designer Paul Smith utilised the dual functionality of the VL4000 BeamWash to fulfil two important lighting roles from a single unit. He says, "The VL4000 BeamWash performs well as a wash, and as a spot too - much better than I ever expected a hybrid fixture like this to perform."
With life-size mother and baby elephant puppets central to the show, floor space was at a premium. The mother elephant alone has four puppeteers inside. This gave Smith a challenge. "The BeamWashes have helped me to reduce the number of units I need in the low side positions," he says. "Previously, I had a VL3500 Wash and a VL3500 Spot in the same area, but as space was tight I opted for the hybrid. I've not been disappointed. The producers are happy that I've been able to cut fixtures and the director is happy we are delivering the best possible audience experience."
Also playing their part in creating this magical Circus environment were Philips Vari-Lite VL4000 Spot luminaires. "The Spots have been particularly useful for their framing shutters, the theatre-friendly gobo selection and the massive zoom range," says Smith.
And uniting both fixtures is the r Philips Vari-Lite colour capability. Smith says, "We have two ve

UK - De Montfort University in Leicester has recently undergone a major investment in their lighting and staging capabilities for one of their largest on-site facilities, The Venue. With the help of Stage Electrics, the university now possesses more trussing and some of the most up-to-date lighting kit available.
Created to host a wide range of events, The Venue is often used for music events, conference work, performances, and celebrations. As the university hold all their graduation ceremonies here, they can now give each graduate the moment in the spotlight they deserve.
The university has invested £5 into transforming the building. After installing a number of improvements including retractable bleacher-style seating and a full sound rig, they have now added the lighting equipment to truly showcase the capabilities of this space.
Stage Electrics were approached by the university to supply lighting and truss. “We have a long history with this client, so we were thrilled when they got in touch with us to upgrade their lighting and truss solutions” explained Andy Elsegood, Stage Electrics account manager “Knowing this particular venue is multipurpose I knew the client would require a very flexible solution.”
With lighting being a key part of this project, Andy arranged for the client to see a range of Chauvet fixtures. “The client already had several fixtures from Chauvet installed and were looking to add Hybrid type units to their rig, we worked with them to evaluate the options available” he commented.
Simon Cox, Cha

Italy - The former railway station of Porta Romana is one of the historic areas of Milan waiting to be renovated with a project of urban revaluation.
Since 2015, Social Music City has enhanced that unused space with its tensio-structure, attracting thousands of young people thanks to the DJ sets and spectacular themed events.
The lighting system for Social Music City consists of 78 moving heads by DTS: 46 Raptor, 12 Evo and 20 Wonder units.
Daniele Campanaro, resident programmer at Social Music City, comments: "This is the second year that Feliciano Musillo (Felix) of Expect Nothing has asked me to programme the stage lighting. The lighting project of SMC is by Felix, with whom I collaborate on different projects programming the light shows.
“A lighting design that satisfies the variety of SMC events - from electronic dance to corporate events - is certainly not easy to create; in this case the use of a ‘matrix’ setup greatly facilitates the programming of the effects.”
Felix's idea was to create this matrix to obtain a ‘squared’ effect. it is made of two rectangular trusses containing 24 Raptor on four rows of six; 20 Wonder on four rows of five; and four Evo units used as keylight.
Also, there are four Evo laid down vertically on the internal sides of the layers to compact and highlight the matrix.
Twenttwo Raptor fixtures on two parallel trusses suspended above the audience round up the setup.
Daniele Campanaro is a lighting programmer particularly active in the television sector; among his most recent