Pharos - Leaderboard - May 2024

Lighting

Details
USA - Elation Professional is making it easy for lighting professionals to get 'on board' with the next step in LED technology. The company has introduced the Cuepix Series, a collection of blinders and strip lights powered by advanced Chip On Board or COB LED technology.

The Cuepix Series will debut with four models: Cuepix Panel- 25 x 30-watt COB LED Tri Color RGB matrix blinder; Cuepix Strip WW- linear strip with 5 x 30-watt warm white COB LEDs; Cuepix Blinder WW2- blinder with 2 x 100-watt warm white COB LEDs and Cuepix Strip Tri-- linear strip with 5 x 30-watt Tri Color RGB COB LEDs.

COB LEDs differ from surface mount (SMD) LEDs in that the multiple LED diodes are directly mounted on and electrically connected to its circuit board as one lighting module. Since there is no conventional device SMT (surface mount technology) packaging, interconnection lengths are shortened a

Details
Germany - Wonderland Open Air is an annual Trance Festival, held at Waldfrieden, in the Stemwede community of Wehdem in Germany. The music is electronic - mostly 'Psytrance' or 'Goa" - and this year the 17th edition of the event welcomed a record number of visitors (in excess of 7,000).

A top class line-up came to this special forest location, which was impressively decorated, and received the full approval of the festival-goers.

The challenge of lighting the location was represented by the large split main floor and the second stage, known as the Backyard. This challenge was accepted by the team of Provisuell from Bielefeld under the direction of Mathias Schindler.

In order to satisfy the dynamics of both the different dance genres and the corporate designs, the production company decided to deploy premium products from PR Lighting.

According to Pascal Vieregg

Details
UK - High Wycombe-based Dry Hire Lighting (DHL) has become the first UK rental house to take delivery of Showline's new LED linear SL BAR 640 luminaire - and will soon offer the SL BAR 660 as well.

Dry Hire Lighting's Nic Tolkien first became interested in the SL BAR 640 during the 2012 PLASA show in London: "We had been looking for the 'next generation' of LED batten fixtures for some time and the Showline SL BAR 640 seemed to tick all the boxes. We've had tremendous success over the past couple of years with the Philips Color Kinetics ColorBlaze and ColorBlaze TRX fixtures but felt that now was the time to enhance our offering and get into some of the newer technology and add a fixture with the homogenized RGBW. Of course we were very happy to be able to do this with another Philips product. The SL BAR 640 looks fantastic as a direct view fixture and is phenomenally power

Details
Belgium - Around 250 Robe moving light fixtures were deployed site wide for the 2013 Tomorrowland EDM festival, staged in the normally sleepy town of Boom, Belgium, which saw 180,000 EDM fans entertained at the De Schorre National Park site for three days.

This was presented across 14 live stages with visual environment designed by Event organisers ID&T under the technical and artistic direction of Jurgen Nuytemans and Christophe Van Den Branden.

The Robes were supplied by several major Belgian rental companies, and production lighting designs for all the stages - mostly hosted by different clubs, people and organisations across the three days of the event - were created by a combination of the best LDs in the country.

The Creative Factory (TCF) provided their mobile visualisation suite on site, which was at the disposal of all guest LDs and operators to programme their show

Details
UK - Bristol UK creative visual design practice SMASH Productions provided technical production, stage and architectural lighting and video designs for the Electric City area of the 2013 Eastern Electrics Festival, staged at Knebworth Park in Hertfordshire.

They collaborated closely with the George Made That collective to meet the brief which was to make Electric City look and feel "amazing, be as environmentally sustainable as possible and work to a tight budget".

All these challenges were relished by SMASH's Tim Smith and his team whose ingenuity and lateral thinking produced some remarkable results.

There were two main aspects of Electric City - an outside collection of impressive palette pyramids designed and constructed by George Made That ... and a Marquee housing the Secret Stage.

The structures needed to come alive at night, and with the area being called

Details
China - The location was especially selected, the scenery perfectly prepared: FAW-VW Audi Sales Division China celebrated a spectacular show for their annual Ice & Snow Experience event with a spectacular outdoor staging. This year it took place in the Chinese ski resort Changbaishan in 1'500m above sea level in January 2013. Nearly 500 spectators from Europe and Asia were present and enjoyed the outdoor snow performance - at -30°C air temperature.

For the presentation of different Audi cars of the Q and Quattro series, a complete slope was prepared with snow-hills, big illuminated brand and car model signs and a gigantic lighting setup. This helped in changing the scenery quickly and put additional focus on the very model presented.

A central element of the performance, however, was the use of especially controllable snow cannons: Not only did they provide a special refle

Details
South Africa - To commemorate the 1976 Soweto Uprising, the 16 June, also known as Youth Day, is a public holiday in South Africa. Events aimed at young South Africans are held across the country and this year a draw card was a concert by Zakes Bantwini held at the Durban ICC on Friday, 14 June.

Zakes Bantwini returned to his home province for the Upfront with Zakes Bantwini live concert. The show was brought to fans by the Ethekwini Municipality and Mayonie Productions. Black Coffee was commissioned to provide the full technical for the event.

"The only challenge was getting in on that morning - actually at midnight - to set up and be ready for the rehearsals at 2pm," commented Llewellyn Pieters from Black Coffee. "But we planned crew shifts and it all worked out. The gear worked very well and everything was pre-addressed at the workshop and labelled for

Details
USA - The Rolling Stones have wrapped the US leg of their 50 and Counting world tour with Clay Paky lighting fixtures along for the ride. The Stones sell-out 50th anniversary tour is their first in six years. They opened the US leg on 3 May in LA and concluded their 18 dates on 24 June in Washington, D.C. The band performed on a stage set featuring a giant set of psychedelic lips and a tongue-shaped walkway that riffed on their iconic logo.

Lighting designer Patrick Woodroffe included Clay Paky Alpha Wash 1500s in his design for the show. Co-lighting director Ethan Weber comments: "They're a very impressive, bright, good-looking light."

They also scattered a complement of Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures around the trusses. "You see Sharpys on every show now," Weber points out. "It's a turnaround from a few years ago when we were all using large format

Details
Sweden - Held yearly, the East Coast Party is an open-air event held in Östhammar, north of Stockholm. Deployed throughout the entire venue by Adapt event planners, Martin RUSH Beam MH 3 lighting fixtures helped create the party scene.

"We had plenty of reasons to choose the Martin RUSH Beam over other lighting fixtures, but in short, RUSH lighting provided the long distance reach we required with the stage setup," stated Viking Grandin, senior project manager, Adapt. "RUSH's small fixture size, high output and narrow beam capabilities allowed us to shoot out over the 5000-capacity crowd and the dance floor without any brightness issues."

Adapt placed 16 of the Martin RUSH Beams on the stage floor and above a backdrop Martin LC-Series LED wall to create the spectacular effects. The rig also included a Maxedia Compact, numerous Atomic 3000's, Jem Roadie Com

Details
Australia - Global Creature's new multi-million dollar production of King Kong has taken Melbourne by storm. It's an all-out spectacle.

Peter Mumford's stunning lighting design has just won him a Helpmann Award, a verdict that surprised no one.

Pivotal to his design are 86 ETC Source Four LED Lustr+ profiles, 50 positioned out front at the Regent Theatre with another eight on the side balcony trusses and the rest in the gantry.

"I've been using ETC Source Four LED Lustr+ profiles quite a bit in London and I really do like them," commented Mumford. "Although they are generic in one sense, they also have internal colour mixing so they have a remote aspect to them in terms of colour changing.

"They are quite beautiful, you can do very subtle colour changes with them over five or 10 minutes which I often do in productions. Although I haven't done thi

Details
Australia - Over 500 Anolis LED fixtures have been installed by The ULA Group at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre (GCCEC), Australia, as part of the venue's continuing investment in sustainable and energy efficient lighting.

The latest power-saving Anolis ArcLine and ArcSource full colour spectrum units illuminate the foyer and corridor areas of the venue, which is Australia's largest regional convention centre. It specialises in all types of events from small meetings to large-scale presentations, accommodating up to 6,000 guests and offering over 10,000sq.m of floor space for conferences, exhibitions, awards shows and banquets, etc.

The GCCEC's decision to invest in the latest Anolis follows the highly successful Stage One supply of Anolis LED Lighting fixture to the common foyer and function areas, also completed by The ULA Group.

Incorporating new mood lig

Details
USA - ETC has released a range of video presentations from their successful CUE 2013 event, which was held in Wisconsin last month.

The event, which was attended by some 150 users from around the globe, aimed to help them Create, Understand and Experience.

The event began with a full day of training on Eos and Congo family desks, followed up by three days of hands on classes led by ETC employees and other lighting experts. The classes covered 75 different topics, including lighting live shows on the fly, working with media servers, the theatre renovation process and proper ETC equipment maintenance.

Throughout CUE, attendees got to try out new tips and tricks in ETC's labs.

The keynote addresses delivered by ETC CEO Fred Foster and Tony Award winning Broadway lighting designer Donald Holder were highlights of the event. In his address, Foster told his emotional firs

Details
Belgium - Lighting designer and operator David Smeets of TCF placed Robe moving lights at the heart of his design for the Main Stage at the 2013 Reggae festival in Geel, Belgium. Headliners included Pentateuch, Iba Mahr & Dubtronic Kru, Ironites, Freddie McGregor and many more.

Lighting equipment was provided by L&L Stage Services from Herentals and capacity crowds of 35,000 enjoyed the summer heatwave, picturesque and funky location and a sizzling line up of the coolest local and international reggae artists in Belgium's only such reggae event. The festival bills itself as the 'most laid back' in the country!

Smeets has lit Reggae Geel's Main stage for the last four years. His design this year was based on being flexible and appropriate for lighting ten different live artists a day and also adding a distinctly reggae vibe to the aesthetics.

This year, Smeets utilised 18 Rob

Details
UK - PLASA Events has announced the launch of the 2013 PLASA Awards for Innovation, which will be presented in the new AudioLab Arena during PLASA London at ExCeL on Monday 7 October at 6.00pm.

The PLASA Show is regarded as a major international launch-pad for new products. During its history, it has seen hundreds of product innovations introduced to the market - a trend which we expect to see continued at the 2013 event. The PLASA Awards for Innovation aim to emphasise this focus on true innovation. The procedure for entry ensures that all nominated products are vetted to show that they offer something new to the industry:

"The PLASA Awards for Innovation recognise products which advance the industry by demonstrating a new style of thinking, improving technical practice or taking a key step forward in terms of safety."

All successfully vetted products are judged a

Details
Fringe Figures - Ticket sales at this year's Edinburgh Fringe are up by an estimated 5%, according to its organisers. The Fringe Society said more than 1,943,000 tickets were issued, with some shows still to have their final performance. It follows a slight drop in ticket sales last year caused by a clash with the Olympics being held in London. Many individual venues are reporting even higher increases, with established venues up between 20% and 30%.

The 2013 programme for the Fringe, the biggest arts festival in the world, featured 45,464 performances of 2,871 shows at a total of 273 venues across the city. The programme contained 713 free shows which do not sell tickets but asked the audience to contribute at the end of the show. These shows were not included in the box office ticket sales. Kath Mainland, chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said,"Our

Details
UK - Named in memory of Tony Gottelier, the industry innovator and commentator who passed away in 2006, the Gottelier Award aims to recognise product developers who have made significant and sustained contributions to the advancement of entertainment, presentation or installation technology - whether in audio, lighting, rigging, staging, or any other related field.

The shortlist of nominees is generated from invited suggestions from a panel consisting of PLASA team members, PLASA Regional Board & Governing Body members, regular contributors to LSi and LSA magazines, and past winners of the Gottelier Award.

All PLASA Members and pre-registered visitors to PLASA 2013 are eligible to vote, and will receive an email inviting them to place their vote at the PLASA Show website. Voting closes on Friday 20 September and the winner will be announced at the PLASA Show on Monday 7 Octobe

Details
USA - During his recent North American tour, rapper, songwriter and record producer Pitbull ignited the audience with his high-energy performance not only rapping live, but also incorporating his famous duets with renowned artists like Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, Mark Anthony and Chris Brown, who entered the stage via recorded tracks on massive video displays.

Video director for the Pitbull US Tour Nate Selvidio and production designer Justin Geiger of Impulse Creative Group conceived a simple yet striking design using 263 Chauvet Professional MVP Ta8 Curve and MVP 12 video panels for the tour's 24 shows. More Chauvet Professional Nexus 4x4 pixel-mapping wash lights were used on tour as blinders above the video walls. Orlando-based Complete Production Resources production company supplied the gear.

"One of the big requirements for any show that Pitbull does is hav

Details
USA - The Band Perry is on the road with another country trio, Rascal Flatts, and the group, comprised of Kimberly Perry, Neil Perry and Reid Perry have been enjoying the success of their second album Pioneer, including their current chart-topping single Done.

Lighting designer Jay Waddell, who recently wrapped a successful tour with Needtobreathe and Bandit Lites, worked to match The Band Perry's energetic sound with dynamic illumination. The package he required included fixtures with plenty of impact, ground stacked, and capable of getting on and off the stage quickly.

To meet those needs, almost 100 fixtures make their way on stage in less than 12 minutes. Multiple video carts are rolled out with four Clay Paky Sharpys on top. Additionally, two pods with Bandit 5x5s topped with Martin Mac Auras and Vipers are utilized. Finally, two more towers with Auras, Vipe

Details
UK - Utopium supplied lighting for the BBC at this year's 24 day Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 2- 26 August 2013.

The Edinburgh Fringe is renowned for being the largest arts festival in the world, show producers, ACP Productions Ltd, commissioned Utopium to supply lighting rig for the BBC stage as well as outside screen supports and entrance way arches for its festival garden.

The festival showcases multitudes of talent from big name artists, such as comedians Ed Byrne and Dara O'Briain alongside complete unknowns who perform live from various stages around Scotland's capital city. The BBC stage was used as the hub for radio stations to broadcast live from the festival, which included Radio 1 DJs Phil Taggart and Alice Levine, the Today show and Just a Minute.

To create the desired atmosphere, Utopium utilised a wide range of equipment including 40 Showtec Sunstri

Details
UK - A new product has been designed, manufactured and launched in the UK to "totally transform the way stage and set backdrops are created, representing substantial savings on crew and transport costs".

LIGHTset, which has worldwide patents pending, is the brainchild of Kent-based Prominence Production Services Ltd and is an 'all-in-one', fabric set solution which combines 3D printed images, creative lighting and crisp front or rear projection. Comprising a specially developed, polyester fabric substrate with a patented coating, LIGHTset enables set images to be printed directly onto fabric whilst the luminescence of the material gives the freedom to light a set from the front and rear simultaneously, with excellent definition.

"After spending 20 years designing, building, loading and unloading sets and stages around the world, I was determined to create an alt

Details
USA - The acclaimed Matilda The Musical packs the house at Broadway's Shubert Theatre while backstage a grandMA2 full-size controls the conventional and moving lights, scrollers, LEDs and video cues for Tony Award-winning lighting designer Hugh Vanstone.

Matilda The Musical, based on the novel by Roald Dahl, tells the story of an extraordinary girl who dreams about a better life and changing her destiny. It won Tony Awards for best book, featured actor, scenic design and lighting design and special Tony honours for the young actresses who portray Matilda; the show also netted Drama Desk and New York Drama Critics Circle Awards for Best Musical. A Royal Shakespeare Company production, the show was transferred to Broadway after its West End London debut.

"It's the second time I've worked with Hugh Vanstone on a transfer from the West End," says lighting p

Details
UK - Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, first built in 1812 in the heart of London's West End, has recently completed a £4m restoration. A key component to restoring the historic venue's Grand Saloon Bar to its original regency-style décor was keeping the look and feel of the space as theatrical as possible.

Architect Norman Bragg and Theatre Royal's Steve McAndrew, the team responsible for illuminating the space, wanted to install efficient LED lighting to showcase the restored architectural elements, but it was imperative that the modern-day fixtures didn't distract from the 19th century style of the design.

Provided by lighting specialists Stage Electrics, who supplied a full architectural LED lighting solution into the theatre, Rosco's new Miro Cube LED fixtures were chosen because of their compact size and high light output.

"The bright output realised from th

Details
UK - Students at Wakefield's Backstage Academy have gained hands-on experience with a variety of today's lighting technology thanks to the growing support from lighting professionals, manufacturers and rental companies.

There are 52 students currently studying the training academy's16-month Foundation Degree in Live Events Production, which was independently written in collaboration with industry practitioners, (validated by The University of Bolton) and places emphasis on practical experience.

The month-long Lighting Module teaches students about the theory and art of lighting, basic lighting design principles for different types of event, lighting equipment and systems, visualization and pre-programming, and includes WYSIWYG certification.

For the second annual degree course, Backstage Academy received more support from lighting manufacturers, resellers and rental companie

Details
UK - Birmingham-based sound and lighting production company DMX Productions supplied their new Robe Pointe moving lights for a high-profile one off concert by popular Nepalese Himalayan folk/rock band Nepathya, at London's Wembley Arena.

SJ Grevett of DMX Productions managed the show's production and the lighting/video design was overseen by Tom Grant, working on behalf of rental company Siyan Ltd. Siyan provided the rest of the lighting and rigging equipment, including Robe LEDWash 600s and MMX Spot fixtures.

Formed by three students studying in Kathmandu, Nepal in the early 1990s, Nepathya fuses folk melodies with new and exciting pop and rock tunes and formats and have consistently gained popularity and acclaim.

The starting point for the lighting designs was Nepathya's 2012 Australian tour. Some elements of this were replicated for this show, including three upstage/down

  1. Vari-Lite & Showline board the Mermaids train
  2. Clay Paky adds FX to Berlin's Summer Rave
  3. Bandit illuminates Forecastle Festival
  4. Robe LEDWash 800s sales boom in Germany
  5. White Light supplies Wild Oats at Minack Theatre
  6. Bandit Lights invests in Robe for Gomez tour
Page 973 of 1141
GLP - MPU - May-June 2024
Robe - Large MPU

Latest Issue. . .