Germany - Wireless LED lighting specialist Astera has launched the AX9 PowerPAR, billed as ‘a high-intensity, rock-solid, all-purpose everyday LED lighting fixture with all the advantages of Astera, including battery operation, wireless control, and quality engineering’.
AX9 is the ‘big brother’ of Astera’s successful AX5 TriplePAR. AX9 is bigger, brighter and benefits from all Astera’s latest innovations, like the Titan LED engine, an optimised bracket with Airline Track, a Titan-style keypad for fast and easy local control and direct control via the versatile AsteraApp.
Effectively it is a three-in-one solution. Offering a wireless PAR light source that can also be run as a wired PAR for longer-term installations and an elegant up-lighter, with the fixture’s 105 Watt output offering over 3000 Lumens of beautifully homogenised light.
Being wireless, AX9 can be used anywhere – on set, onstage, in the studio or on location – and at short notice, quickly deployed as and when needed.
The benefits of Astera’s outstanding Titan LED engine include its high CRI and the wide range of tuneable colour temperature whites, plus that rich and diverse gamut of colours encompassing the whole spectrum.
The inbuilt battery offers up to 20 hours of reliable runtime which can be programmed to maintain optimal output over the designated period. Direct control via the AsteraApp removes the need for an AsteraBox, further optimising and making setup simpler.
The keypad on the rear has a logical and easily navigable menu resembling

UK - When the regulatory moment arrived for Data Strategy’s QC-Check customer, Universal Pixels, to inspect its StageSmarts power distribution systems, QC-Check’s comprehensive RCD inspection process was implemented with an unexpected outcome.
Universal Pixels, takes a robust approach to electrical safety, relying upon Data Strategy’s QC-Check to inspect its electrical inventory to a level of integrity beyond that required statutorily. The company also favours StageSmarts power distribution systems, which incorporate new technological safety and protection systems.
When a safety indicator of the StageSmarts system conflicted with QC-Check causing a test fail, the two suppliers got together to provide an effective solution.
The answer to the issue was an update to the StageSmarts safety feature included in its power distribution systems with the change integrated into future production. A simple bypass has been incorporated for the purpose of testing that allows indicator LEDs to disengage whilst an insulation resistance test is performed.
Universal Pixels’ operations director, Oliver Luff, said, “We were really pleased with how the complication was handled. Data Strategy was able to help us immediately counter the ‘fail’ situation and the two companies worked cooperatively to find a long-term solution.”
“We’re really happy with the result. QC-Check performs an integral part of our quality and safety checks for our customers. It makes us feel confident that our equipment is in the best possible condition.”

New Zealand - Six60 became the first ever band to play Auckland’s Eden Park stadium in a landmark show in front of 50,000 wildly enthusiastic fans.
Show and lighting designer Ben Dalgleish from Human Person designed a high impact lighting show fitting for the occasion – utilising over 200 Robe moving lights – helping to create a spectacular and stand-out event that was also televised live.
Six60 hit the road with a dynamic new show back in January, one of a handful of artists in the world able to do so at the time, and the Eden Park performance was the culmination of that tour.
The pressure was on to create a production design – which included over 550m of LED screen – in just five weeks from the show being confirmed to the gates opening to allow fans onto the hallowed turf of New Zealand’s biggest sports stadium. Production manager Leon Dalton did a “fantastic” job of pulling everything together in this timeframe”, observed Ben.
Ben, working with visual designer Ian Valentine, his partner in Human Person, was delighted to have this mega canvas on which to work, and set about filling the venue with light sources including the Robe fixtures which were supplied by rental company Spot-light Systems.
In order to fill New Zealand’s largest stadium, Ben needed a large number of high output fixtures, so the lighting plot included 97 Robe BMFLs, a mix of Spots and Blades, which were dotted all over the trusses above stage, along with a row of 36 across the stage deck.
A further eight BMFL Blades were rigged on the two

Europe - Appropriately on Europe Day, the European Parliament held the opening ceremony for its 2021 Conference on the Future of Europe entitled The Future is in Your Hands. This theme was clearly reflected in the event’s setting, the modern hemicycle of the European Parliament Building in Strasbourg.
Accentuating the architectural features of these surroundings, while also adding a warm, inviting touch to the proceedings, was a Dimi Theuwissen lighting design that featured a collection of Chauvet Professional Maverick and COLORado fixtures supplied by Splendit.
Theuwissen, of Hasselt, Belgium-based ID2Q, was retained by DB Video to light the conference, which included a limited number of socially distant live guests, including French President Emmanuel Macron, who delivered the opening remarks, as well as online participants.
“COVID influenced everything about this event,” said Theuwissen. “The number of people working at the same time was limited during load in and load out. We also had a limited number of people at the event. However, we installed giant LED screens that featured images of the on-line audience to create a connection between them and those at the conference.”
Whether they were involved in the conference live or online, all those who participated were engaged by the immersive lighting. Theuwissen relied on a collection of Maverick MK3 Profile CX and MK2 Profile fixtures for key lighting. As he does with all projects today, he was careful to balance his design to create looks that worked well for both live an

USA - Taking the stage at the Coweta County Fairgrounds, Newnan, GA, Alan Jackson led a line-up of artists in the Where I Come From Tornado Benefit Concert. In addition to raising over $2m dollars to help people affected by the storm, the show was a celebration of hope in the wake of a disaster, as the country superstar performed hit after hit from his stellar career accompanied by iconic video images.
Accentuating the upbeat mood of the show and strengthening the connection of the 20,000 fans in attendance to Jackson’s performance was an immersive Mason Felps lighting design that featured 36 Rogue R2X Wash fixtures from Chauvet Professional.
Positioned on upstage ‘lighting ladders’, the high output moving fixtures, which, like the rest of the rig were supplied by Bandit Lites, were used to create a wall of light behind Jackson.
“This was a hybrid of our touring rig designed for this benefit show,” said Felps. “Aside from lighting for the live audience, we also had to light for television since the show was carried on a local station. So, we wanted to fill the stage with light with no dead space around the LED wall. The wide zoom of the Rogues was important in this respect.”
During the concert, the large LED wall was often used to show iconic images from Jackson’s legendary music videos. “Most of Alan’s music videos have a certain style or colour to them, so I tried to match that as close as possible,” said Felps, who relied on the colour-rendering capabilities of the RGBW movers to create a smooth flowing look tha

USA - Stryke Percussion ensemble has often taken things a step further. In 2018, for example, the ensemble used an actual airplane in its show, its members weaving their way around wings and fuselage as they executed their precise beats.
Unfortunately, as a result of protocols that restricted crew sizes in the wake of COVID, it became impossible for Stryke Percussion to incorporate any props into the group’s latest show, When No One Is In The Room, an apt title, given that they had to perform in an empty gymnasium as a safety precaution.
Nevertheless, the group was still able to deliver a beautifully textured performance rich in narrative quality thanks in large measure to a Clifford Michael Spulock lighting design that featured a collection of Chauvet Professional Maverick, Rogue and COLORado fixtures.
“These indoor percussion shows usually don’t go hand-in-hand with lighting, as they have big sets and other objects to tell their stories,” said Spulock. “Since that wasn’t possible in this case, they turned to lighting. I really drew on my background in theatre to advance the narrative in light.”
Just as he’s often done in theatre, Spulock used shadows and dark space as a storytelling device in the group’s video, turning the vast empty gymnasium into an advantage. He deliberately lit up the room’s empty bleachers to create a haunting aura around the percussive performance. During some solo performances, the film crew did 360-shots around the individual percussionist to accentuate this feeling.
“Matt Kuhlman

UK - LED lighting manufacturer, Chroma-Q is supporting Version 2 Lights with their low energy Space Force fixtures.
Developed as an energy efficient alternative to the traditional space light, Chroma-Q Space Force is continuing to raise the bar with its blend of versatility, bi-colour functionality and output. Having been welcomed by crews, both on location and in studios around the world, the Space Force has established itself as a ‘workhorse’ for some of the industry’s leading rental houses.
Investment in the fixture by television lighting rental specialists, Version 2 Lights (V2), has allowed the company to expand its inventory of low energy solutions.
Version 2’s managing director, Nick Edwards says, “We chose the Chroma-Q Space Force as part of our investment in power efficient technology. Our commitment to providing production with access to effective, reliable low energy solutions has been ongoing since we first launched the company - our Chroma-Q products have proven themselves to be a worthwhile part of the V2 inventory, and are included in lighting packages with crews working on all manner of productions.”
One such recent application saw the fixtures being put to highly effective use, with lighting director Mark Gardiner, for an infomercial style product launch for a major international electronics manufacturer.
Featuring a crisp, bright look, the Space Force was used to add a naturally soft, balanced ambient illumination to the production. The result was a smooth, even light which highlighted the bold colouring of

USA - Transformation Church (TC), a multi-ethnic, multi-generational, mission-shaped community outside Charlotte in Indian Land, South Carolina, has added Ayrton Levante fixtures to its inventory of equipment used in producing worship services.
TC acquired the Levante fixtures from SES Integration, a division of Special Event Services located in North Carolina. Levante fixtures are a dramatically miniaturized version of Ayrton’s Bora wash light offering outstanding performance capabilities in an ultra-compact format. Levante’s optics produce an extremely uniform flat beam with no hot spot, ensuring a perfect colour mix regardless of the colour combination selected.
Jeff Cranfill, owner and lighting designer at Special Event Services, recommended the Levante to TC. "The entire line of Ayrton fixtures is very well constructed with high output and great features,” he says. “I have had great results using the Levante wash fixtures in concert and video settings. The beam is very smooth edge to edge, and the framing shutters make it easy to create a video-friendly wash across the entire stage down to a single spot.
“Colour temperature adjustments are very consistent fixture to fixture, and the range of colour temperature is large. This makes the fixture very usable in many environments. All of the Ayrton fixtures have very good optics along with even colour mixing and a great variety of gobos. They are some of the best LED source fixtures I have worked with, and I highly recommend them for touring and installs.”
Zach McCrorey, lighting

Europe - Robe has introduced Cuete, a moving head spot light fixture designed for use in small- to medium-sized productions, performance spaces or installations.
Cuete’s features include fast pan and tilt movement that is so essential for lighting all genres of electronic music, for highlighting the creative work of DJs and enhancing club environments.
“Creating dynamic effects and projections is quick and simple with the Cuete, which offers a quality CMY colour mixing system and an impressive 4,200-lumen output of sharp, clear white light, making it stand out on any lighting rig,” says Robe.
To achieve this output and maintain the light quality and consistency across any lighting rig or inventory, Cuete utilises Robe’s patented TE 120W White LED Engine which is at the core of the manufacturer’s Transferable Engine technology.
The Cuete’s 16° fixed beam lens has remote control focus and can be swapped to the optional 24° lenses for shorter throw and low ceiling scenarios.
Also included is CPulse flicker-free management system for setups using HD and UHD cameras, for live streams / broadcasts; the L3 Low Light Linearity dimming software for smooth fades to black and the AirLOC (Less Optical Cleaning) technology which keeps the optical elements in condition over long time periods.
The fixture’s effects package includes a colour wheel with 13 dichroic filters; a gobo wheel with nine fully indexable, rotating, replaceable gobos; a static gobo wheel with 10 fixed gobos including four beam reducers: there is an eight-fac

Dominican Republic - The Voice Dominicana, a singing national competition and part of the international TV series, has begun airing on the island’s Telesistema 11 with a large roster of Claypaky fixtures lighting the show.
The series features a panel of four coaches who critique and guide the artists' performances throughout the season. As part of a worldwide franchise, The Voice Dominicana was tasked with maintaining the high broadcast standards of the series while showcasing the Dominican Republic’s unique musical style.
AV equipment supplier and Claypaky distributor BM Eventos (BME), which also designed the stage set, provided 24 Mythos 2 spots, 36 A.leda B-EYE K20s, 20 Stormy CC strobes, 60 Glow Up battery-operated luminaires, 24 Show Batten 100 LED moving bars, and two Axcor Spot 300s.
“When I was invited by Edwin Belliard of BME to participate he suggested doing the show with 90 percent Claypaky fixtures,” says lighting designer Paulinho Lebrao. “I was very happy about that because I know the quality and versatility of Claypaky fixtures.”
Versatility is a must on the set where Lebrao says the B-EYE K20s are employed for lighting effects, strong beams and all the TV lights. The hybrid nature of the Mythos 2 fixtures, with their spot and beam modes, also comes in handy.
“Although we only have two Axcor Spot 300s, they work beautifully, too,” Lebrao adds. “We use them like a back followspot and love the quality of the beam, the colors and the fact that, at 300w, they are small and perfect.
“I a

UK - The Association of Lighting Designers (ALD) has voted to change its name to the ALPD - the Association for Lighting Production and Design.
The new title “demonstrates both the association’s breadth of membership and its appreciation of every lighting role in the design and production process”. The change is effective immediately and comes after ALD members voted in favour of it during a general meeting held on 17 July.
Johanna Town, chair of the organisation, explains: “While the ALD, which was founded 60 years ago for lighting designers, has for some time included production electricians, programmers, lighting managers, assistant electricians, associate designers, lighting educators and students, hire companies and manufacturers, we never acknowledged it in our name. It’s a real celebration of the association’s 60th year that our name now fully respects those we represent.
“Recent years have shown us the strength we can pull on as an association. Whilst Saving Stage Lighting or working to offer support to the whole lighting industry through the COVID-19 pandemic, we have played an integral role in mobilising everyone. We know we are stronger together as an association to support everyone in the lighting team and now we have a name that says that.”
Richard Pilbrow, the association president and Founder member no. 1, adds: “The ALD has had an amazingly successful run, in large part thanks to some brilliant leadership and passionate support. When we started the Association 60 years ago, we had no idea what it wo

Italy - Based in Conversano, Bari, TeleNorba SPA has been one of Italy’s principal TV broadcasters since RadioNorba TV production began in 2012.
The main studio at its headquarters, used for all TV production, was recently fitted with innovative new lighting effects from GLP - including KNV Dot and impression FR1 - supplied by its Italian distributor, Alto Lighting Srl.
Alto Lighting has enjoyed an extremely good relationship with RadioNorba. “Therefore, when they started to think about the new studio, we were asked to provide support with the lighting,” said Alto Lighting CEO, Cristiano Perandini.
He emphasised that since the studio was only three metres high, it had not been possible to create conventional beam effects. Therefore, designer Massimo Pascucci, one of Italy’s most experienced LD’s and DoP’s, looked no further than GLP’s KNV Dot modular strobe, which would be used in combination with special double, pixel controlled RGBW LED Bars - custom made by Alto.
He deployed 30 of the GLP fixtures, installed inside the scenography, which are used both for lighting effects as well as for back light. “This creates perfectly balanced whites at 180° and lights the studio homogeneously,” said Perandini. All are controlled in a matrix from the Resolume platform.
One particular advantage of the KNV Dot - particularly in a TV studio - is that the source can ‘disappear’ back into the set when used individually.
According to the Alto CEO, Massimo Pascucci was already experienced in using solutions from the GLP port

USA - A cheering crowd of more than 75,000 witnessed a choreographed Independence Day drone show in the Cincinnati suburb city of Blue Ash, as Verge Aero’s drones displayed patriotic symbols in the night sky.
Two hundred Verge Aero drones were programmed to deliver a coordinated display, which included a 300ft wide ‘waving’ American flag as the National Anthem began. Verge Aero’s director of show operations, Mason Hayes, piloted the drone fleet.
It was all part of the Red, White & Blue Ash show, held at the city of Blue Ash’s Summit Park.
Brian Kruse, director of parks and recreation for the City of Blue Ash, says: “The incredible accuracy and scope of the drone displays is something you just have to witness in person. Only then do you realise how large the displays are and the remarkable pin-point accuracy needed to make the shapes move like they do. The ability to time the displays with the simulcast makes for a dramatic and impressive dance between the music and the lights.”
Red, White & Blue Ash has been a cornerstone event for the city for more than 30 years and has become important to the entire Cincinnati region.
“The crowd’s reaction was incredible - 75,000 visitors were impressed in unison,” Kruse continues. “Our staff universally felt that this was the best part of the evening. We see technology advancing and drone shows becoming more accessible for event organizers as they reach the mainstream. However, at the time of our show it was something 99% of our audience had never seen in pe

Portugal - The Teatro Nacional de São João (TNSJ) in Oporto, has increased its inventory of Robert Juliat Dalis Access 863 cyclorama lighting with the addition of a further 20 units after a comprehensive tender process which saw the Dalis Access fixtures hold their winning position against a number of alternative options.
The purchase brings TNSJ’s total complement of Dalis Access 863 units to 34. This is more than sufficient to cover the theatre’s 12m x 9m cyclorama cloth and back wall from floor- and grid-mounted positions, plus fill in as ‘ribalta’ lighting when required.
“Dalis Access is a very versatile tool which can be used as both cyclorama and footlight,” explains TNSJ’s lighting department coordinator, Filipe Pinheiro. “This is a real advantage for multi-purpose theatres with an eclectic programme of shows, conferences, debates and dance, and at a price that makes it accessible to all budgets.”
The Dalis Access 863 were supplied by NAN AudioVisuals, Robert Juliat’s exclusive distributor for Portugal and the project supplier for TNSJ. The fixtures were chosen by TNSJ’s tender jury - lighting department coordinator Filipe Pinheiro, stage director Emanuel Pina, and stage director assistant Filipe Silva - following several demo sessions with similar products organised by NAN AudioVisuals. “The lighting team was unanimous in its decision that Dalis was by far the best product,” says NAN’s Jorge Santos.
“Our decision was based on the dimensions, brightness and colour mixing of Dalis Access,” explains Pi

Spain - An ancient olive oil factory near Seville was brought to life by lighting designer Yaron Abulafia in May, as contemporary Flamenco piece Agua was performed with a specially rigged array of fixtures from Vari-Lite.
Billed as a ‘visual piece that drifts between dance, visual theatre, and art installation’, Agua was performed at the ‘La Aceitera’ space by Israeli artist Adva Yer in collaboration with Andrés Marín. As the title suggests, it is a water-inspired piece that explores movement, colour, texture and sound – with a nod to the famous Matisse painting The Swimming Pool.
Leading the Vari-Lite luminaires was the VL5LED Wash, which beamed rich colour combinations across the derelict space, complemented by VL2600 Wash fixtures. A team of VLZ Profileand VL2600 Profile luminaires added front light and effects, with sidelight from the SL Bar 720ZT.
“I was very curious to try the VL5LED Wash for this production due to its retro look, which was very suitable for the site,” says LD Yaron Abulafia, who has designed productions around the world including at Deutsche Oper Berlin, London’s Royal Opera House and the Shanghai International Dance Centre.
“The rich colours - both saturated and subtle - and the colour mixing calibration were a pleasure to work with, and the accurate optics were outstanding. The exterior design is so appealing to the eye and the versatility of its light with blades open or closed had a very interesting impact on the look of the space.”
Abulafia says he used eight VL5LED Wash un

Finland - Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (New Music Contest), is an annual event in which Finland’s representative for the Eurovision Song Contest is selected in a live broadcast by Finnish television viewers and an international UMK jury. This year’s Finals on 20 February marked the show’s 10th anniversary. The evening was broadcast live in four languages from Mediapolis TV studios in Tampere and televised on Yle TV1 to an audience of 1.7m viewers, breaking all records.
Lighting designer, Pekka Martti of Aku’s Factory, turned to MDG haze generators to breathe life into his lighting design, using its pure white haze to show off a range of visuals that created a different look and mood for each of the seven contestants.
With the help of MDG’s Finnish distributor, MSONIC Oy, Martti selected an MDG ATMe haze generator and an MDG theONE dual haze and fog generator for this important, spectacular event. “I wanted a haze machine that I knew would make the beams of light look good on camera,” explains Martti, “and, for TV shows, MDG - which I have been using since 2006 - is a must. I love the haze quality I get from them in television and live shows. The haze is white so does not discolour the light beams, or make them appear brownish like some other machines do.”
Martti positioned theONE atmospheric (dual fog and haze) generator, set in haze mode, on stage behind the upstage curtain, and placed the ATMe haze machine in the auditorium (there was no live audience due to Covid restrictions). “This way we were able to show the beams to best advan

The Netherlands - The new Collection Centre of The Netherlands, or CC NL, is one of the most extraordinary repositories anywhere. Four different museums in The Netherlands, including the world-renown Rijksmuseum, use the new facility as a storehouse for a large proportion of their collections. The art archive is celebrating with a piece of art of its own, a permanent light installation across multiple façades of the building created by light artist Herman Kuijer using Elation Proteus Rayzor 760 luminaires.
In 2018, Kuijer, known for light installations around The Netherlands since the late 1970s, visited the Elation booth at the ISE fair in Amsterdam, where initial discussions of the project took place with Elation key account manager for Benelux Bert Schmeits. During a subsequent visit to the Elation showroom in Kerkrade, it became clear to the artist that he could realize the creative ideas he had in mind for the building using Elation lighting. After various tests and demos on location at the CC NL facility, the project was realised using 28 Proteus Rayzor 760 moving heads, a 7,200-lumen wash light housing seven 60W RGBW LEDs and 5- to 77-degree zoom.
The four-story, nearly 25m-high storage facility, often referred to as the physical memory of The Netherlands, is located in the city of Amersfoort. The building’s façade, made of Kalzip aluminium with vertical seams that create extra shades, proved an excellent canvass for Kuijer’s art.
Lined along multiple sides of the building and mounted on steel bases produced by CMS (Custom Made Steelp

USA - Last July in the middle of the pandemic, Northlands, a popular concert venue in rural New Hampshire began life as Drive In Live, offering fans a chance to enjoy live music from their cars. Today, with lockdown restriction easing, the site has changed its name and policy, allowing customers to take in shows by national acts from 10’ x 10’ pods following CDC safety protocols.
The new setup creates a more engaging environment for enjoying live music, according to Brian Courchine, lighting designer at Northlands. Also enhancing the fan experience this season is a lighting rig that has been upgraded with the addition of eight Chauvet Professional Maverick Storm1 Wash fixtures.
“As an outdoor venue, we placed a lot of importance on the Storm 1 Wash’s IP65 rating,” said Courchine, noting that the RGBW units are hung on downstage truss. “But the benefits go way beyond that. The ability to zoom and really focus the best positions to shed light on band members is a game changer. No more adjusting the wash with a ‘pokey stick!’ So, it’s a great improvement over the static washes we had before.”
In addition to the new Storm 1 Wash units, the Northland rig features Rogue R1X Spot fixtures (split evenly between mid and upstage truss) and Rogue R1 Washes, evenly spaced on upstage truss. “We added the Rogue R1 Wash late last season,” said Courchine. “Other than the addition of the Mavericks this year, we kept last season’s rig in place, but re-arranged things based on our experience.”
A big motivator behind this rearrangeme

Europe - The pre-launch presentation of the PixlDrive Pro 8 from Lucenti has resulted in an immediate order from Tom Pardon’s AV rental company Screenit.
In recent years, Tom Pardon and his crew have been creating and installing eye-catching lighting setups with over 1,000 Blackwave LED bars in the Kara Savi stage on TML, Amelie Lens’ All Night Long events and Exhale livestreams.
“The advanced technology that puts these controllers ahead of every other alternative on the market is created by KLSTR and natively integrated into the device,” says Lucenti. “We are convinced KLSTR will revolutionise the lighting industry and we are proud to be the first manufacturer that is pushing this cutting-edge technology to market.”
Tom Pardon adds: “We are very excited to start using this technology, it is a huge leap forward in the implementation of pixel control and our video setups in lighting design. It will simplify the installation process, save us time, reduce human error and it will enable even more creative possibilities.”
Those who want to experience the technology are invited to visit the showcase setup in Boom, Belgium before 2 August.

Israel - Singer-songwriter Hanan Ben Ari kickstarted his tour in April after a long hiatus during COVID-19 lockdown, selling out the biggest venues in Israel. Hanan was the fourth most listened artist in Israel on Spotify at the end of last year and is now back on tour with his band.
The tour's lighting rig was designed by Ronen Najar, co-designer at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2019. The tour features twenty-four Prolights Pixie WashXB spread around the back truss, giving depth and a range of colours to the show.
“I was looking for a lighting fixture that will be small in dimension without compromising on quality,” said Najar. “The Pixiewash XB had all the qualities I was looking for - perfect size, a very wide range of colours, great light output and precision when working with it.”
The Pixie WashXB has 280W single lens RGB and warm white source, with a frontal planoconvex lens and a zoom range from 7,6º to 43º, high CRI and TLCI values.

The Netherlands - Full production company Events Light has made a major new investment in Robe’s latest T2 moving lights - among the first to be delivered in Europe.
The 32 x T2s together with 60 x Spiiders also from Events Light are being used for lighting Zodiac, a new musical production which is being lit by Marc Heinz. The show is staged at the Koepelgevangenis, a former prison in the same city. It is set to open next month in this domed venue, a heritage protected architectural masterwork designed by Johan Frederik Metzelaar that opened in 1886 and is based on the panopticon model.
Due to the pandemic, Zodiac’s production schedule has been somewhat fluid, but everyone has been equally determined to make it happen.
Towards the end of 2020, Robe’s Benelux distributor Controllux and other manufacturers conducted several tests and shoot-outs - one of them on-site at the venue - so that Heinz could evaluate all options and choose his optimal luminaires for the show.
The T2, a larger and brighter version of Robe’s very successful T1, was a prototype at the time of the demo but was nevertheless impressive enough to be selected for its power and for its colour mixing plus additional refined theatrical features.
Zodiac’s producers - the Zodiac Foundation - had worked with Events Light on previous projects and when they pitched to be a technical supplier on this, instead of substituting a fixture to make Marc’s design fit their existing stock, they agreed to supply the T2s he wanted and were subsequently a

USA - Bluegrass and orchestral music might come from vastly different places, but the two genres can happily share the same lighting rig, provided it has enough versatility designed into it. This was readily apparent on the banks of the Ohio River in Louisville this Independence Day weekend, as foot stomping shows by Greensky Bluegrass were followed by a rousing performance by the award -winning Louisville Orchestra.
Taking place at the city’s Waterfront Park, the bluegrass and orchestral shows were supported by a powerful and flexible rig anchored by 14 Maverick Storm 1 Wash and six Maverick MK3 Spot fixtures from Chauvet Professional.
Supplied by C&H Audio Visual Services (the event’s production company), the IP16 rated RGBW washes were evenly spaced across 40ft downstage truss. The high output 820-watt spot fixtures, which were rented from 4Wall Entertainment, were spaced throughout the upstage truss.
From these positions, the fixtures performed different functions for the bluegrass and classical music shows. For example, when Greensky Bluegrass performed on Friday and Saturday, the Storm 1 Washes bathed the band in an array of colours, while during the classical music concert on Sunday the 4th they were relied on to wash the orchestra in 4200 Kelvin for the video cameras. The spots, meanwhile were used for intense specials with the bluegrass band, and then were counted on to create engaging frost washes over the front rows of the orchestra.
“Andrew Lincoln, the LD for Greensky Bluegrass did a wonderful job designing the rig, not

France - Follow-Me B.V. has announced the appointment of Axente S.A.S. as its sole distributor for France with immediate effect.
Since 1996, Axente has been providing installation and support for entertainment lighting and audio, providing solutions and support across the professional rental and installation markets.
“Axente is a well-established name in France, having built a strong reputation as a solution provider for the entertainment technology industry, both for rental production as well as for installation and integration,” says Gary Yates, with Erik Berends, founder of Netherlands’ based Follow-Me. “We see Axente as the perfect partner for supporting Follow-Me products towards our growing client base in France. It is a great step to expand our network with this partnership, becoming our 12th partner worldwide”.
Since its inception in 2013, Follow-Me has developed a cost effective, flexible and easy to implement followspot and tracking solution. The fixture-independent product allows you to track performers on-stage both manually and automatically, making it the only hybrid tracking system on the market. In addition to announcing Axente as its dealer for France, Follow-Me has also recently added ACE Lighting as its distributor for China, expanding on their worldwide distributor network.
Follow-Me has recently introduced a new licensing structure to provide its customers an even more flexible and cost-effective offering, with two choices of manual packages with an upgrade to automatic tracking. The company is also working hard

UK - Bob Bohannon has joined the management team of the Lighting Industry Association (LIA) in the role of head of academy and policy.
“This is a key role for the LIA and will provide strategy and leadership in the academy, as well as enabling a forward-looking handover, of Peter Hunt’s excellent work in his role as Chief Policy Officer,” says the organisation.
Bob will oversee and coordinate all those supporting policy within the LIA, head up many of the key relationships, create wider and effective cross-industry links and work closely with the newly created Government Affairs committee, chaired by Dave Ribbons.
Bob brings a wealth experience to the LIA, the immediate past president of the Society of Light and Lighting, he had 20 years in manufacturing working on major projects such as St Pancras Station and Heathrow T5, before returning to lighting design and sustainability; being the recipient of industry awards for both.
LIA CEO Matt Sturgess comments, “I am excited to have Bob join us, strengthening our management team, spearheading growing the academy and representing our members in key industry and government forums.”
Terry Dean, president of the LIA adds, “Having Bob come on board, takes us a big step forward on our journey to develop the LIA and support our members’ businesses.”