Europe - Lighting designer Tom Campbell has used Showline's powerful LED strobe, the SL Nitro 510C, to add vibrancy and punch at key moments on Australian progressive rockers Karnivool's European tour.

For the run of shows which saw the band play dates in countries such as France, The Netherlands, Germany and the Czech Republic, Campbell specified just four of the Showline strobes from Siyan. "The units are bright and impressive enough for this amount to be ideal," he explains. "I would normally have used at least double that with older fixtures."

The tour was an

USA - Vividly dynamic lightshows weren't the only thing only on display at the Second Annual Student Lighting Showcase. Also shining brightly was the creative bond that connects generations with a shared passion for lighting, as students from four colleges got the opportunity to have their designs evaluated by some of the most respected LDs in the industry.

Held at the Chauvet Professional Showroom in Burbank, the one-day event drew students from California Institute of the Arts, the University of California Irvine Claire Trevor School of the Arts, LACC Theatre Academy, and the Univer

USA - Godsmack's US tour marks the debut of the Meyer Sound Lyon linear sound reinforcement system recently purchased by Rainbow Production Services of Atkinson, N.H. The touring Lyon system is part of Rainbow's new Leo family inventory, which also includes 24 Leo-M loudspeakers for long-throw applications.

"I've always liked working with Meyer rigs, but Lyon is something special," says Scott Tkachuk, FOH engineer for Godsmack. " When the band's pushing hard and I'm going for it, I've still got 30 percent of my headroom still available. I also like the way it tracks eve

Germany - Rental company Headroom Media Service GmbH has recently acquired a large number of Elation Professional Cuepix Panels and has used the versatile RGB matrix luminaires on several outings in Germany and elsewhere.

After their first live tests, including productions with UK pop sensation Jessie J and US megasellers BoyzIIMen, as well as some corporate shows, Headroom Media CEO Andreas Adelhofer stated that he is very pleased with both the quality and versatility of the latest addition to their lighting rental pool.

"We were able to include the Cuepix Panels in the lighti

Germany - Lighting designer Manuel da Costa has chosen to use a significant number of Clay Paky A.leda B-EYE and Sharpy fixtures on the latest series of hit TV show The Voice of Germany.

Spanning four seasons, the talent show is extremely popular with viewing figures in the millions. To make sure season four packed a huge punch with fans, da Costa specified 99 x Clay Paky A.leda B-EYE K20 fixtures and 108 x Sharpys from Cologne-based supplier Magic Light and Sound.

"The biggest challenge this series was to find a set-up that allowed me and my team to change the stage vis

UK - Northern Stage Services Ltd has unveiled a new corporate brand following the acquisition of the business of Lancelyn Lighting and Lancelyn Theatre Supplies in February this year.

Now operating as National Stage Technology Ltd the company is able to offer UK-wide services for specialist lighting, sound and stage solutions for the theatrical, architectural and construction markets. National Stage Technology, based out of Manchester, Wirral and Oxford, boasts access to world-class manufacturing, highly trained and experienced lighting specialists, sound and stage engineering experts

USA - Area sales managers for international trade distributers John Hornby Skewes & Co. Ltd., recently visited the Massachusetts headquarters of pickup, preamp, and amplification manufacturer Fishman, and were welcomed and hosted by company founder and president, Larry Fishman and his team.

As well as a tour of the factory and office complex, the team received advanced sales training on the full line of Fishman products.

The JHS team were accompanied by Fishman European brand ambassador, Steve Fairclough who is working alongside JHS to produce dealer training and sales focused in-st

USA - In Lewis Carroll's classic Through The Looking Glass, Alice steps into a mirror to enter an incredible world where flowers talk, chess pieces come to life and characters like the Red Queen tickle the imagination with enchanting feats. The 257 guests at the JCC New York's White Hot Night Through The Looking Glass fundraiser didn't have to do anything nearly as dramatic as Alice to be treated to a magical evening.

They simply walked into a gym-turned-ballroom on Manhattan's upper West Side and were dazzled by a menagerie of ornamental zebras, lions and fanciful creat

UK - Thorpe Park, one of the UK's largest theme parks, has decided to use White Light's services to upgrade its audio infrastructure. The entertainment production supplier was approached by Thorpe Park to provide both advice and ultimately the equipment required to ensure that their sound system was not only cost effective, but helped to achieve maximum impact.

Further to a long standing relationship with White Light, Thorpe Park has now invested in audio equipment that can be tailored to their specific future event needs. Thorpe Park's entertainments technical coordinator Martin Swai

France - Following a convincing recent demo in Paris, Meyer Sound has confirmed three new orders for the Leopard linear sound reinforcement system, including two French rental system purchases and an installation going to a nightclub in Marseille.

"This is the first time we have purchased a line array system immediately, before any of our rental clients have had a chance to ask for it, because we are certain that it will be requested as soon as they hear it," notes Marc de Fouquières, general manager of Dushow, who purchased 24 Leopard loudspeakers and 10 900-LFC elements.<

UK - Lighting manufacturer GDS has re-structured its UK distribution network to widen access to market for its products.

Existing partners, Hawthorn, Stage Electrics, and White Light have become GDS's stock-holding, main distributors, supplying the GDS range on a large scale across the board.

Alongside the distributors, GDS continues to work with installation partners LSI Projects and Push the Button.

As part of the review of its distribution network, the company has appointed Black Light, Enlightened, National Stage Technologies (formerly Northern Stage Services and Lancelyn Thea

USA - The stakes were high for more than just the boxers during the 2 May fight between Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. Televised live, the pay-per-view event was a rare collaboration between Showtime and HBO, and both networks expected technical perfection.

Handling the selection, deployment, and coordination of wireless microphones, IEMs, and intercoms for the event was the team from Las Vegas-based Soundtronics, led by managing partner Mark Barbuti. "For a major live televised event, there can't be any mistakes," he notes. "This fight was such a high profil

UK - West London rental specialist Colour Sound Experiment supplied lighting and video for the latest leg of Glasgow alt rockers Twin Atlantic's ongoing Great Divide album tour, working with lighting and visuals designer Paul McAdams who has evolved an edgy and vibrant show to match the band's massive energy.

This latest run of gigs - which included London's Brixton Academy and their largest headline show to date at hometown Glasgow's Hydro Arena - saw Paul build on the design he had created for the autumn 2014 tour - also supplied by Colour Sound.

The concept evolved around

USA - When working in the world of live television production, the lighting rig stands at the forefront called upon to provide a wide variety of creative looks. Nowhere is this more important than on two of television's most-watched events, the Grammy and Academy Awards, where both productions showcase a number of artists with individual lighting needs. As a veteran of both productions, lighting director and programmer Andy O'Reilly knows exactly what it takes to bring all these performances to life, and this year, he and his team got to do so with the assistance of VL4000 Spot luminair

USA - Franklin High School in Franklin, Wisconsin recently seized the opportunity to build a proper fine arts auditorium, both for use by its rapidly-growing student body (currently 4,300 students) and for use by the larger Franklin community.

The new 25,000sq.ft, 850-seat auditorium propels the school to the cutting-edge of live performance technology and infrastructure, not the least of which is an impressive Danley Sound Labs sound reinforcement system. An exploded left-sum-right configuration of Danley SH-60 full-range loudspeakers deliver point-source fidelity and imaging, while

Belgium - Event organisers VTM Television and the Ethias Arena in Hasselt, Belgium asked the Painting With Light team to add some extra special visual flair to the 10th annual edition of the Schlagerfestival, a live show highlighting some of the best Flemish and Dutch 'schlager' genre of pop music.

The Genk based creative practice led by Luc Peumans as show designer, designed lighting, video and set for the event which featured five sold-out shows playing to over 60,000 fans over the course of a week as people flocked to hear Laura Lynn, Tom Waes, The Lynn Sisters, Matthias Lens, The

Mexico - They may be on a smaller scale than the Olympic Games but the 22nd Central American and Caribbean Games packed just as much glitz and glamour into their opening ceremonies in Veracruz, Mexico last November. Lighting designer David Grill, of David Grill and Associates, Inc. (DGA) in Mahwah, New Jersey, used Clay Paky Sharpys and A.leda B-EYE K20s to illuminate the festivities.

The Central American and Caribbean Games are held every four years with athletes from the region competing in a variety of sports, some of which qualify them for the Pan American Games. The 2014 Games we

UK - Blackout installed a kabuki drop system to reveal Paul Cummin's latest sculpture to the national press and her Majesty the Queen, as it was unveiled at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, 18th May 2015.

Inspired by the show's 2015 creative, the sculpture stands at 8m high and is covered in thousands of hand-painted ceramic tulips. Paul Cummins is well-known for the now-iconic Tower of London poppy installation.

Located in the 12,000sq.m Great Pavilion - filled with more than 100 beautiful floral displays - the sculpture was hidden from view by a large cylindrical drape, dropped via so

Hungary - Digital signal processing specialist Symetrix has announced a further strengthening of its presence in the Eastern European market with the appointment of Budapest's Audmax to serve as its distributor for Hungary.

Established 10 years ago, Audmax has maintained a solid focus on pairing a strong and evolving distribution roster with comprehensive technical expertise. Today, the firm represents many of the leading pro-audio and MI brands in the industry - including Allen & Heath, Audio-Technica, Avid, Genelec, Korg, Tascam and Vox - as well as participating in high-profile aud

UK - Ben Howard recently closed out his most recent UK tour, which included three consecutive nights at London's Alexandra Palace, with lighting designer Andy Rowe controlling a Nitelites rig using an Avolites Expert Pro running the latest Titan V9 software.

Devon singer songwriter Howard toured 11 dates around the UK and Ireland, in support of his latest album I Forget Where We Were.

"When I first started lighting for Ben Howard, Avolites was an easy choice," says Rowe. "I know the console inside out, it's easy to busk on, and it goes straight into festivals. It real

Italy - In the year UNESCO has decided to devote to light, Clay Paky has inaugurated MoMS - the Museum of Modern Show Lighting. MoMS is housed on the company's premises in Seriate, Italy, and is the first Museum in Europe specifically devoted to light, not regarded merely as a useful natural phenomenon, but seen as a means to arouse emotions. The exhibition aims to reveal and let visitors discover the playful, theatrical and evocative nature of this important aspect of the physical world.

MoMS officially opened its doors on Friday 15 May, as part of the ARTDATE artistic and cultural s

Israel - Since 1938, the Habima Theatre has officially been considered the national theatre of Israel. Among the first Hebrew language theatres, it is located in Habima Square, central Tel Aviv in an impressive building reopened in 2012 after four years of renovations, with architect Ram Karmi harmoniously integrating historic and modern in a complete redesign of the old building. The enormous project included the total rebuilding of Habima's four auditoriums - each of which is a different size and colour.

This was accompanied by a complete technical upgrade, at which point Habima hea

USA - PLASA's inaugural Kansas City Focus Show opened its doors this week showcasing the very latest live entertainment technology products, attracting major buyers and hosting truly inspirational industry speakers who shared their knowledge and expertise.

The seminar programme and training sessions saw a diverse range of topics with highlights including: Rocky Paulson - a master of rigging, sharing his expertise on the art of rigging safely with the right components; Daunte Kenner - a veteran in both lighting and video, enlightening the audience on the craft and workflow that goes be

UK - Audio-Technica (exclusive distributor of Allen & Heath products in the UK) is to host a free training event on 29 May, aimed at giving attendees an overview of the full range of Allen & Heath digital mixing consoles including Qu, GLD and iLive Series.

To be held at Wigwam Acoustics in Heywood, Lancs, between 10am-4pm (with refreshments and lunch provided), the training will be delivered by Rodrigo Thomaz, one of Audio-Technica's Allen & Heath product specialists.

Including a brief history of Allen & Heath and its product development over the years, the day will ensure that thos

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