Austria - One of the latest additions to the Clay Paky product line, the Stormy CC strobe, proved a hit with the lighting designers as it made its debut on Austria's high-altitude music festival Snowbombing this April.

Taking place in the stunning alpine location of Mayrhofen, the festival boasts a line up of some of the world's biggest dance acts, including Fatboy Slim, Sub Focus and Rudimental.

Event production house Audile, who has had an on-going relationship with the festival since 2002, supplied 12 of the Stormy CCs to the event, alongside 40 Sharpys, 12 Alpha Spot HPE 700 and

UK - Aurora Lighting kept a watchful eye over for the latest series of live evictions with LD Gurdip Mahal at the Big Brother House.

Hosted at Elstree Film Studios, the live eviction shows required the full showbiz treatment with plenty of movement and razor sharp spots. Aurora were on board for the weekly events with gaffers Richard Shout and James Tinsley who loaded the set with Aurora's newly acquired Clay Paky Mythos automated heads to keep things looking lively. Moving Light Console Op, Ross Williams also had the SGM P5 Wash at his disposal for added effect.

To keep things clea

France - Novelty is an industry leader in France that brings technical audio-visual solutions for the fashion, luxury, live performance, event, exhibition and TV industries. Thanks to the company's experience, Novelty works on more than 6,000 projects each year. Due to this fact, Novelty is always looking for new, reliable and efficient products.

The very first trial between Novelty and SGM was with the G-Spot. They carried out a so-called crash test, using the G-spot on the ice rink of Paris City Hall during three cold winter months.

After this period, Jérôme Gasselin, tech

UK - In a major investment programme, event technology specialist Blitz|GES has significantly expanded the capacity and capabilities of its lighting department. The investment programme was executed in instalments, with the most recent consignments arriving in July 2015.

With the appointment of a lighting project manager late last year, and progressively larger capital investments in equipment, software and control systems, the Blitz|GES lighting department has expanded quickly with a programme of continuous investment in the most versatile and reliable lighting technology on the mark

USA - In a lakeside New Jersey community, Pompton Lakes High School prides itself in providing opportunities to meet the needs of a diverse student population. With an award-winning fine arts programme, the high school recently underwent a renovation to upgrade its performing arts space. To guide them during the project, Nelson Enterprises was brought on board as the systems integrator and to control the new lighting system they chose the NEO lighting control console from Philips Strand Lighting.

"In the beginning we were actually provided a sales lead from another company that b

UK - The UK's entertainment technology industry is mourning the tragic loss of Dave Cartwright, who passed away in July after suffering a stroke in late June. He was just 46 years old.

Dave's employer, Stuart Gibbons of Le Mark, issued the following statement on behalf of the company:

"It is with the greatest of sadness that Le Mark announce the death of a respected colleague and friend. Not only within the company but also the UK entertainment industry. David Cartwright passed away on Sunday 12 July 2015 at Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge. Dave suffered a severe stroke on the

USA - It was a celebration of epic proportions as the four original members of The Grateful Dead (Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, and Bob Weir) reunited at Soldier's Field, almost 20 years to the day after they played their last concert with Jerry Garcia. They were joined onstage by frequent musical comrades Trey Anastasio, Bruce Hornsby and Jeff Chimenti. Seventy thousand Deadheads filled the stadium each night on 3, 4 and 5 July, while millions streamed the show online and watched on Pay Per View to say goodbye to one of the most iconic bands in history.

2015 also marked th

South Africa - The Mediatech Africa 2015 trade show was an outstanding success for Audiosure, the company reports. The South African company drew large crowds to see its extensive collection of audio and AV products as well as lighting from Chauvet Professional and Chauvet DJ.

However, beyond being drawn by the opportunity to get their hands on some of the latest gear, show visitors were stopped in their tracks by an eye-popping lightshow Audiosure created using a collection of Chauvet Professional fixtures.

Designed by Sean Crawley with the assistance of Stefan Van Der Walt, the sh

USA - The Rolling Stones embarked on their Zip Code Tour visiting 15 cities in North America from the kick-off in San Diego in May to the wrap in Quebec City in July. The band's lighting rig featured Clay Paky Mythos and Sharpy Washes.

"The band is playing as well as I've ever seen them," says Ethan Weber, who was crew chief for the Stones in 1994-95 and became their lighting director in 1998, a post he still holds today. The majority of shows on the tour were in stadiums, though they mixed in a couple of festivals and a theatre show in Los Angeles, where the band played the

Sweden / Italy - LumenRadio has announced the appointment of RM Multimedia as the exclusive distributor of LumenRadio's CRMX product portfolio in Italy. Based in the Cattolica, Italy, RM Multimedia is the distributor of high quality products for the entertainment industry across Italy. Their portfolio already includes brands such as Robe, Anolis and Litecraft to name a few.

Commenting on the partnership, LumenRadio's technical sales manager, Marcus Bengtsson says, "We are very pleased to partner with RM Multimedia, a company that shares our strong objective to provide reliable te

Singapore - grandMA2 was the control platform of choice for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the recent South East Asia (SEA) Games, staged in Singapore at the New Singapore National Stadium. Lighting designer was Mac Chan, who worked very closely with lead programmer Michael Chan and Muen Huang on the two impressive and highly visual spectacle ceremony shows which marked the start and finish of the 28th SEA Games.

Mac's lighting rig inside the stadium comprised about 900 moving lights - a mix of Vari*Lite, Clay Paky, DTS, Robe and Martin, spots - which were scattered over a seri

UK - PLASA London has announced a number of exclusive and exciting additions to its 2015 seminar sessions, including two new audio panel sessions chaired by industry journalist Phil Ward, three sessions from audio production power house Britannia Row, a further session from the Institute of Professional Sound (IPS), three demo sessions from Adobe and a keynote presentation from Pixar Animation Studios.

PLASA London is delighted to have secured some of the most informative and interesting speakers it has ever had for this year's show. Particular highlights include Britannia Row's sessi

USA - The 1966 album Pet Sounds marked a seminal moment in the Beach Boys' Hall of Fame career. It was fitting, then, that one of the Beach Boys' most spirited recent performances took place before a large and appreciative crowds of pet care givers at the American Veterinary Medical Association convention in Boston.

Held at the Blue Hill Bank Pavilion outdoor amphitheatre adjacent to Rowes Wharf, the 38-song set concert offered the audience everything it could hope for on a beautiful summer evening, from a warm ocean breeze to the band's famous tight three- and four-part harmon

USA - The New York City Center has given life to numerous Broadway productions and its Tony-honoured Encores! musical theatre series has received the highest accolades possible. Dedicated to making the best in theatre accessible to all audiences, the City Center recently completed their production of Zorba! telling the story of a shy American intellectual who befriends an irrepressible jack-of-all-trades. As lighting designer Ken Billington was challenged to transform the historic stage into an island off the coast of Greece, he found his ideal fixture to make this happen

The Netherlands - Gebr. de Nobel (Nobel Brothers) is a new live performance venue located on the busy, animated thoroughfare of Marktsteeg in Leiden, Netherlands, complete with a new Robe moving light rig specified and supplied by Benelux distributor Controllux to the delight of the technical crew led by head of production & technical affairs, Bart van der Smissen.

Owned and funded by the city of Leiden, Gebr. de Nobel has been cleverly designed by architect Ector Hoogstadt to maximize every centimetre of usable space and ensure that it functions practically and efficiently as a bustl

Chile - W-DMX by Wireless Solution Sweden distributor Iluminación Profesional Valook S.A. in Santiago, Chile has been hard at work with a beautiful variety of projects and installations in South America.

Niclas Arvidsson, CEO of Wireless Solution recently caught up with Francisco Yañez Valdivia, product manager for Valook to hear about two successful temporary installations using W-DMX on the Costanera Centre Tower in Santiago, one of the highest towers in South America.

From 4 June 4 to 4 July, 2015, Valook worked with customer Icardi Producciones to light the Costanera Centre To

UK - 2015 marks 10 years since Billy Elliot the Musical first opened at the Victoria Palace Theatre, London. Following its first performance on 11 March 2005, the show has gone on to become one of the most popular and successful musicals in the West End. During the past decade, it has won numerous awards, opened in countries such as Australia and South Korea, and has branched out to nationwide tours across America and Canada. During its entire West End run, the show has only ever had one lighting supplier - complete production solution specialist White Light.

The musical has wo

USA - Recently, the Zac Brown Band launched their Jekyll + Hide North American stadium tour presented by BAI. Production designers Louis Oliver and James Scott from Okulus worked with Special Event Services (SES) that provided grandMA2 full-size and grandMA2 light consoles. With offices in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and Nashville, Tennessee, SES is marking its 28th year offering full production services, audio, video and lighting equipment. It has been providing lighting for Zac Brown Band for more than five years.

James Scott and Louis Oliver are co-founders of London-based Okulus

Azerbaijan - Over 670 Clay Paky fixtures amazed two sold-out audiences of 68,000 at the first European Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies, held 12 and 28 June at the Olympic Stadium in Baku, Azerbaijan. The fixtures were the backbone of the lighting design by Bob Dickinson and Ted Wells, assisted by lighting director Travis Hagenbuch. Assistant lighting director was Charles Dabezias. Executive producer was Scott Givens of Five Currents.

The newly built 225,000sq.m stadium was embellished with 437 units of Clay Paky Sharpy Wash 330, 66 units of Sharpy and 174 units of Clay Paky Mytho

USA - The Cunard Line was looking for a way to celebrate the 175th anniversary of its first transatlantic crossing, when Kelly Easterling approached the company with an idea that was outside the box - or perhaps more aptly outside the ship! Easterling, the creative director and principal designer at Quantum Theatricals, proposed creating a dynamic lightshow set to music off the side of the 1,132ft Queen Mary 2, the company's flagship ocean liner. Much to the delight of the massive crowd in New York harbour on 14 July, this is precisely what he and his dedicated team wound up doing with

USA - Nashville-based rental and production specialist Elite Multimedia has made its first Robe purchase. Twenty CycFX 8 fixtures are going out on country star Luke Bryan's new tour as specified by lighting designer Justin Kitcheman from FadeUp Design.

Jason 'Cannonball' Jenkins, Elite's head of lighting, says: "I like the fact that the fixture has a variable zoom, which is more unusual on an LED batten and brings greater flexibility, both as a scenic light as well as for aerial and audience effects."

The Elite team and Justin received a demo from Robe Lighting Inc. to mak

UK - A.C. Special Projects (ACSP) have specified, supplied and commissioned a complete LED lighting and visual effects solution for LEGO Friends to the Rescue, an all-new live show spectacular which recently opened at the LEGOLAND Windsor Resort.

The show is set in the resort's new land, Heartlake City, which recreates the fun and colourful world of the popular LEGO Friends toy range. During the show, guests join Heartlake City's five female characters on an action packed adventure which is full of music, dance and special effects.

SGA Productions were commissioned by the LEG

USA - Bandit Lites is providing the lighting for Brian Wilson's summer tour, where he and his band, featuring Al Jardine and Blondie Chaplin, continue to play the greatest Beach Boys and Brian Wilson songs.

Lighting designer Chris Stuba looked to Wilson's own music for inspiration in creating an elegant looking show. "I love the man and I love the music," said Stuba. "His band is one of the best out there working today."

Stuba utilized VL500D fixtures as the main wash, with VL3500s as key lighting in addition to four the floor with MAC Auras to light the drapery.

UK - At the start of 2015, Current RMS became an Add-On Partner for cloud accounting software Xero. Now the system has just released a seamless, real-time integration with QB Online, another popular cloud accounting software in the AV, Production and Events industry.

"Post invoices and credit notes from Current directly to QB Online and effortlessly keep you customer data in sync, reducing duplication of data and time spent updating multiple systems - streamlining the rental cycle that one step further," says Current RMS.

"Using cloud solutions to manage your business

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