Pharos - Leaderboard - May 2024

Lighting

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USA - The Manor Complex is located about 32 miles north of South Beach, but the crowds that jam pack this spacious 20,000sq.ft venue don't feel a compelling need to journey south on I-95. Why should they? There isn't much that can't be found at this very well-appointed superlative nightclub that features a jolt of eye-popping new energy, courtesy of Rogue and ÉPIX Series fixtures from Chauvet Professional.

Owners Paul Hugo and Brett Tannenbaum added the Chauvet fixtures to the already powerful lightshow in the bi-level nightclub, because they believe it's important to keep their establishment ahead of the entertainment curve.

"Being in Fort Lauderdale, we draw visitors from all over the world, so we hold ourselves to the highest international standards" said Paul Hugo. "There are a lot of good clubs that are always pushing ahead with new technology, so we

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UK - i-Pix's new db1 video / beam light-source made its UK dance event debut at the 2015 Manchester International Festival (MIF)'s 10x10 Day & Night, a special two night collaboration between MIF and The Warehouse Project (WHP) to celebrate 10 years of both events in the city of Manchester.

Manchester based lighting specialist dbn was providing lighting and visuals. When the organisers confirmed they wanted something inventive and different, the db1s were proposed by dbn and i-Pix' Chris Ewington ... and they found the additional production budget needed for the 23 fixtures to grace the main stage at the Mayfield Depot.

Jon Drape, MD of Ground Control which co-ordinates all production for the WHP organisers, commented, "We've been waiting to get the DB1s on a show since Chris first invited us to see the fixture in development. The collaboration between the Warehouse Proje

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Jamaica - Lake Tahoe is 2,964 miles from Jamaica. That may seem like a long way, but it's a mere hop, skip and a jump compared to Hawaii, which lies over 5,200 from the Caribbean island. Still, in a testament to the universality of music, the Nevada resort hosted a wildly popular Reggae Festival headlined by Iration, a Billboard chart-topping group that hails not from the island of Jamaica, but from other islands in Hawaii.

Keying the lightshow for the group's Lake Tahoe performance, which took place at The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, was a collection of pixel-mapped Chauvet DJ COLORbar SMD strip lights. Lighting designers Chris Boardman and Cullen Noon, working for LIT Lighting (Phoenix, AZ), used the intensely bright fixtures to engage the large enthusiastic festival crowd with audience lighting and dynamic pixel-mapped chases and animations.

The band's festival rig was buil

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USA - Rock band R5 is out on their Sometime Last Night tour using an Elation Professional rig of Cuepix Panels, Rayzor Q7 LED moving heads and Platinum Beam Extremes. Made up of four siblings and a best friend, R5 hit the road in Florida in early July and are making their way across the country on a seven-week summer leg in support of their new Sometime Last Night release.

Lighting and video vendor for the tour is Toucan Productions of Oklahoma City, their second tour with the band after supplying a smaller tour last year. "On this tour, the band chose to forego LED panels for the big pixel look that the Cuepix Panels give," stated Brad Meyers, director of show operations at Toucan, who handles lighting programming and lighting direction duties while band family member Ryland Lynch conceived the lighting design and serves as board op. "We have two ho

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Italy - Fedez's tour follows the success of his album Pop-Hoolista, which was a permanent fixture in the top 20 for more than 24 weeks, earning him a double platinum award. His tour of arenas and clubs included challenging venues, like the Mediolanum Forum just outside Milan and the PalaLottomatica in Rome.

Lighting designer Francesco De Cave reports, "Fedez impressed me with his way with words. He knows just what he wants. I conceived the tour and the ideas for the set design with Mario Zappa, from F&P Group, in response to Fedez's own ideas. Fedez wrote the show himself. In my role as lighting designer, I looked for several ways to fill the interludes, some with lights and some with visual effects and sounds. These interludes are necessary transitions between one piece and the next to allow costume changes and glue together the different parts of the show Fedez ask

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Italy - During the first stage of the latest edition of the Giro d'Italia, the Royal Hotel Sanremo asked Pico Service to illuminate part of the hotel building's façades. The lighting service company proposed an uncluttered solution designed to avoid disturbing hotel guests.

The Royal Hotel was built on a privileged site in 1872 . The Hotel rises towards the sky with its white façades and overlooks the sea, just a short walk from the centre of Sanremo. It is surrounded by more than 19,000 square yards of lush subtropical park.

It is therefore necessary to make sure normal hotel business can go on as normal while the lighting control systems and lights are installed around the selected façades, and - at the same time - ensure the lighting gives spectacular results.

Pico is the Royal Hotel's official lighting service firm. It knows all the hotel's needs and all the features

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UK - Well known lighting industry professional Karl Lawton has joined the team at TSL as head of production engineering.

Karl was originally bitten by the lighting bug at school and subsequently graduated from Rose Bruford College with a BA Hons degree in lighting design. Karl has built a reputation as a highly skilled freelance crew chief and engineer, over the past 12 years, with involvement with a wide variety of concert, touring projects and large scale special events.

Karl will be taking overall responsibility for the coordination of TSL's full time and freelance crew and resources and overseeing all aspects of pre-production and project planning. Karl will also be actively involved on-site with the delivery and implementation of TSL's full service projects.

(Jim Evans)

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South Africa -The Hollard Insurance Group, South Africa's largest privately owned insurance group, has invested in low consumption Anolis LED lighting to enhance the exterior signage at the Hollard Campus, a landmark property situated in Parktown, Johannesburg.

HKLM were the brand agency of the upgrade and commissioned DWR Distribution to install eight Anolis ArcPad 48 RGBW integral fixtures to illuminate four Hollard signs. This was Grant Joubert's first lighting assignment as the new architectural sales consultant at DWR.

The project consisted of two separate buildings, each with their own balcony. Each balcony was equipped with two Anolis ArcPad 48 fixtures which had to produce a 5m throw to reach a Hollard sign mounted on the opposite building.

A DMX cable ran between the fixtures, connecting them to a controller. Control was via Nicolaudi SLESA-UE7. "With this cont

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USA - Dallas-based rental and production company Gemini Light, Sound & Video recently added 480 Elation EPT6IP LED video panels to its inventory and immediately took the 6.7mm pixel pitch panels out on a major summer tour and high profile event with more to come.

"We had been searching for quite a while for a good touring LED panel and visited the InfoComm show in 2014 with the goal of finding one we could use in 2015 and beyond," stated John Stem of GeminiLSV, whose criteria for the panel included high resolution, IP65 rating and sturdy touring frame. They were also looking for a panel that was just as comfortable indoors as out. "Prices continued to drop after the InfoComm show and when product specialist Red Walter from Elation showed us the EPT6IP, it fulfilled our needs," John says.

It was a previous positive experience with Elation LED panels that pro

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UK - West London based rental company Entec continues its working relationship with Portishead. Entec first started working with Portishead through their previous lighting designer Tony Austin, who also originally asked current LD Niall Hannell to come on-board, initially as a programmer in April 2008. Niall took over as LD last year.

This summer Entec supplied a floor specials, control and WYSIWYG package to Portishead's three latest high profile shows at Montreux Jazz, Benicassim in Spain and Latitude festival in the UK along with a surprise bijou show at Cardiff University.

The whole rig was a really tight design based around the innovative cinematographic work of video director John Minton. The band like it dark and stark, a lighting aesthetic ideally suited to the overall look and feel they wanted to evoke, and the rig was also designed to be as simple and practical as po

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UK - Rap superstar 50 Cent and his group G-Unit returned to London on 17 July for a one-off gig at the O2 Arena. Produced by Musicalize, they approached White Light to act as lighting supplier.

White Light's project manager Josh Yard comments,"This concert ticked every box for us. Not only were we working at a prolific venue but also supporting one of the most notable names in the music industry today." During the concert, White Light worked closely with lighting designer Fraser Elisha who was tasked with constructing the lighting set-up for the evening. He comments, "For this particular show, I wanted an edgy look that would suit the style of music being played. I wanted the whole production to be as immersive as possible and for the lighting to play a holistic role in the overall experience for the audience. Fortunately White Light was able to help me achieve th

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Czech Republic - Robe helped launch Yaron Abulafia's new book The Art of Light on Stage: Lighting in Contemporary Theatre at the 2015 Prague Quadrennial. Robe is sponsoring this work by the artist and award winning lighting designer.

The launch - attended by over 300 guests - took place at the Hybernia Theatre in central Prague. The book is the first history and analysis of theatre lighting design that brings the story bang up to date, with Yaron exploring the poetics of light and charting the evolution of lighting design against the background of contemporary performance.

The book launch - presented with a conversation between Yaron and Nick Moran, senior lecturer in lighting for live performance, BA Theatre Practice Course Team at London's Central School of Speech & Drama - was a success and one of the highlights of the 2015 PQ.

Says Robe's CEO Josef Valchar, "

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Namibia - The National Theatre of Namibia has taken delivery of an ETC Ion control desk, thanks to ETC's South African dealer Prosound.

Prosound's general manager Ian Blair says:, "We recently did an extensive upgrade for the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation, and on one of our follow up visits, we called in at the National Theatre of Namibia, where we met technical and IT manager Jack Francis Jnr and head of lighting Asser Kauazunda.

"Asser and Jack advised that their current old theatre console had reached the end of its life - but, with the upcoming Independence Theatre Festival, they really needed a new desk, and fast."

Blair recommended the ETC Ion control desk, plus fader wings for additional hands-on control.

"We couldn't offer an Ion straight away, because all our demo desks were out at theatres in South Africa - but we were able to get an ETC G

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UK - Paolo Nutini recently played a concert at Millennium Square in Leeds, UK, right in the city centre, for which the production (flown) lighting rig of Robe BMFLs, Pointes and LEDWash 600s was supplied by locally based Zig Zag Lighting for event promoter Futuresound Events.

Paolo's lighting designer Jason Hyne brought his touring specials package in 'underneath' this, and combined the two lighting rigs to create another stunning and dramatic show that thrilled the 7000 enthusiastic fans at the sold out show.

Zig Zag works regularly with the promoter and is familiar with the 14m square and 10m high stage / roof system which is owned by the council. It has only limited weight loading, and Nutini's production with its strong video elements required the accommodation of their large touring LED screen. So by the time this was installed, the weight left for lighting fixtures was t

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UK - UK - Jands Vista v2 has been specified to provide control for all lighting aspects of Lego Friends to the Rescue, an all-new live show spectacular which recently opened at the Legoland Windsor Resort.

Lego Friends to the Rescue 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. Dominating the effects is the harbour's lighthouse, which is pixel mapped with over 700 RGB LED emitters using a Traxon Dot media string wrapped around the structure.

Lighting contractor, A.C. Special Projects Ltd. (ACSP) specified the Jands Vista S1 console to control the lighthouse LEDs in addition to the stage lighting. ACSP Director, Lance Bromhead, co

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UK - In 1995, British electronic musician Goldie released the album Timeless, which made an impact on the UK bass music scene. The Heritage Orchestra and Goldie were commissioned for the James Lavelle Meltdown Season to recreate the album in full as part of a live performance at the Royal Festival Hall, London. Both Goldie and the Heritage Orchestra have since expanded and reworked the album for a full orchestra, band, choir electronics and guest vocals.

On 22-23 July, they returned to the Royal Festival Hall to once again perform the album for its twentieth anniversary. Lighting designer Richard Godin was tasked with devising an impressive spectacle that would help celebrate such an album. Following his long working relationship with White Light, which included the Glastonbury Festival earlier this year, he once again approached the complete production solution specialis

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USA - The stars were out in Harlem this summer as the legendary Apollo Theatre celebrated its 10th annual Spring Gala. Hosted by A. J. Calloway, the former 106 & Park co-host, the A-list benefit featured electrifying performances by the likes of Nile Rodgers and his band Chic, Ne-Yo, Luke James and Kimberly Nichole. Adding to the get-on-your feet excitement was a dazzling lightshow created by KM Productions that featured 20 Legend 330SR Spots from Chauvet Professional.

"We positioned the Legend fixtures throughout the venue for maximum coverage with their textured gobos," said designer Kevin Mignone, president of KM Productions. "The fixtures' rotating and continuous scroll gobo wheels gave us a lot of opportunities to create some great looks to reflect different moods at this important event and warm up different areas. Plus its output ensured that we'd cover a l

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Germany - Astera has partnered with Kaiser Showtechnik GmbH as a stocking dealer for Astera's wireless event lights in Germany. Kaiser is based in Augsburg, Bavaria, but will operate nationally. From September 2015, Kaiser will keep stock of Astera's core product line of Lightdrop (AX3) units, and SpotLite (AX7) /SpotMax (AX10) fixtures for its rental and sales stock (including accessories).

Commenting on the partnership, Sebastian Bückle, sales and marketing Director at Astera, said: "We look forward to the opportunity to partner with Kaiser Showtechnik, which provides a high-end platform for customers to appreciate our products. We are very pleased to have Kaiser as the third wholesaler of Astera products in Germany. Our wireless event fixtures are already available from Art Evolution, based in Frankfurt, and direct from Astera, based in Munich."

(Lee Baldock)

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USA - Elation Professional's new EPT6IP high-resolution LED display panels played a key role at NY CityFest with Luis Palau, a free outdoor concert held 11 July on the Great Lawn in New York's Central Park. Boston-based rental and production company Audio Spectrum Inc. provided all of the LED video screens and staging for the event, some 280 EPT6IP panels in all, some of which were sub-rented from Elation dealer Gemini Light, Sound & Video. Lighting design for the event was by Gordon Painter and Kevin Shaw.

The Elation EPT6IP panels were used for large stage wing portrait walls on each side of the stage, as well as on delay towers, to show live video and graphics throughout the show. Each wing was eight panels wide and 14 panels tall (16' wide x 30' high) with each delay tower seven panels wide and four panels tall (15' wide x 9' high).

"There were approximately 60,000 at

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UK - White Light provided the production support on the Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of An Icon evening held at the National Portrait Gallery in Central London.

Taking place on 21 July, the evening allowed invited guests an exclusive viewing of the popular summer exhibition Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of An Icon. With support from the Audrey Hepburn Estate, this fascinating series of photos illustrates the life of actress and fashion icon Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993). Prior to the showing, there was an innovative drinks and canapé menu held by Table Talks; with the evening also allowing the gallery to both utilise and showcase their unique spaces.

Madolyn Grove, senior events manager at the National Portrait Gallery, comments, "This was a fantastic evening for the gallery. Not only did it allow us to invite key contacts to privately view the exhibition, but

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USA - More than 150,000 people turned out for what the city of Nashville hailed as the largest Fourth of July firework show in the country. Bandit Lites provided the lighting for Music City July 4th: Let Freedom Sing! where Martina McBride, Missy Ekko and the Nashville Symphony Orchestra performed.

Since the design process began long before the headliners were announced, lighting designer Chris Lisle knew to keep the look 'fixture neutral' while still keeping in mind the needs of the orchestra. "I try to lay out the rig in a way where the headliner will be able to come in and make something happen with a mixture of spot, wash, and beam fixtures," said Lisle.

The design this year consisted of six 'fingers' running upstage to downstage with alternating spot and wash fixtures on each of them. Additionally, several VersaTube frames had Sharpys above them to give h

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UK - Bristol-based lighting and video rental specialist Fineline enjoyed another Sessions season at the Eden Project in Cornwall, providing production lighting, LED screen, trussing and rigging for the 2015 Eden Sessions - seven high profile concerts with a diverse line up including Elton John (two shows), Paolo Nutini, Paloma Faith, Motorhead, The Stranglers, Spandau Ballet and Ben Howard.

The Fineline team led by Rob Sangwell, were delighted to be back at this very special location for the third consecutive year, and once again worked closely with the Sessions events' production manager Andy Cotton and his team from TAO Productions.

Using the Eden Project's eye-catching crescent shaped tensile structure as a roof for the stage, Fineline made some additional modifications to the ingenious hybrid part-flown-part-ground-supported system they have developed to facilitate the 17m

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Belgium - As part of the 2015 UNESCO International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies (IYL 2015), a cornucopia of educational events and installations are taking place around the world in a bid to raise global awareness about how light-based technologies promote sustainable development in energy, education, agriculture and health. Discover the Power of Light - a co-production with B-Phot, the photonics research group of the Vrije Universiteit of Brussels (VUB) - is one such event currently taking place in Brussels, Belgium with the aim of educating and entertaining international crowds of all ages.

Tasked with illuminating the experiential installation, Belgian install specialists Soundfield selected 12 Chauvet Professional Rogue R2 Washes to enrich the visual experience of the exhibition, involving an immersive 270° projection installation with video created

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USA / Denmark - Harman International, owner of Martin Professional, has announced its intention to relocate Martin's lighting production facility, currently in Frederikshavn, Denmark, to Hungary. Martin's smoke machine factory in the UK would not be affected by the relocation.

Opened in 2002, Martin's Frederikshavn facility was known throughout the industry as Martin's 'Happy Factory' - a sophisticated model of the ultra-efficient, intelligent, automated, staff-friendly industrial operation.

Lars Dige Knudsen, VP and general manager of Martin, says: "It has been some very tough considerations given Martin's history in this community and the goodwill we have enjoyed with our outstanding employees. Still, it was a necessary one to improve our leading position in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Importantly, the Martin Headquarters will remain in Aarhus and will beco

  1. PLASA introduces tools to fight equipment theft
  2. Felix invests in BMFLs for EDC and Dead shows
  3. Tyler Farr tours with Bandit Lites
  4. X-Laser USA debuts Aurora projectors
  5. dbn lights Manchester festival music nights
  6. Blitz banks on Clay Paky GlowUps
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