UK - Pearce Hire has shared the news of the passing of team member and friend, John Huson.
“John dedicated over 20 years to Pearce Hire and was an invaluable part of the team. His deep knowledge and love for lighting and event technology, coupled with his skills in the digital world made him an exceptional part of the team.
Beyond his technical expertise, John will be remembered for his unique ability to inject humour into every situation, brightening even the most challenging times. His quick wit and warm personality made him not just a colleague, but a cherished friend and he will truly be missed by us all.
As we remember John, our thoughts are with his family whom he was extremely proud of and loved enormously.
If you would like to share your memories of John with the family then please use this form

USA - Mickey Sabbath, an aging, manipulative and sex-obsessed puppeteer is the subject of Sabbath’s Theatre, a new play by Ariel Levy and John Turturro, based on the Phillip Roth novel of the same name.
The play, which recently concluded its run by The New Group, evokes the eerie pathos of Sabbath’s life as he approaches death, and his own reality frays, evidenced by his imaginary encounters with people from his past. Supporting the play is a lighting design by Tony Award winner Jeff Croiter that relied on the Chauvet Professional COLORado 2 Solo Batten for part of its haunting effect.
Describing the overall mood conveyed by the production, Croiter noted: “The set is very simple, and not realistic, so lighting and video take the audience from one place to the next. At times, it was more important to have a dynamic shift, even if that meant breaking with r

Europe - Robe Lighting enjoyed a busy and lively ISE 2024. New products on show included a selection from Robe’s award-winning IP rated iSeries - the iForte and iForte LTX, iPainte, iESprite, iBeam 350TM, iTetra2TM, iT12 ProfileTM and Robe also previewed its new iBolt - soon to be launched - plus a variant of its T32 Cyc, as well as the Footsie Slim, a compact version of this ingenious footlight solution.
The eye-catching and contemporary Robe booth featured areas for Robe’s other businesses - architectural brand Anolis, lighting control solutions specialist Artistic Licence and lighting console and media server manufacturer, Avolites. It attracted many visitors and was constantly busy throughout all four days, primarily functioning as a meeting and networking space.
Those wanting to see the highlighted products in more depth could walk or catch a shuttle bus a s

Germany - The FlexDistro rack has been developed to meet the frequently changing requirements in the event and touring sector.
Designed for quick and easy swapping of modules, the Indu-Electric FlexDistro can be equipped for the specific requirements of any project or production in an instant.
Each module has up to 24 channels, and each channel is protected with its own 30 mA RCBO (RCD/RCCB). The list of standard features includes a network-capable meter, USB port, mains indicator, switchable LED strips and utility outlets.

Portugal - Ayrton has announced the appointment of NAN Audiovisuais as a distributor for Portugal, with immediate effect.
Founded in 1995, NAN Audiovisuais has established itself as a leading distributor of professional lighting, sound and video equipment in the Portuguese market. NAN's commercial structure, back office and technical support teams work every day alongside lighting designers, rental companies, and technical teams from theatres, cultural spaces and multipurpose spaces, organising demo and training sessions, and providing the best technical support for a wide range of prestigious brands and manufacturers.
"We are excited to become a new Ayrton distributor for Portugal,” says Correia Neves, CEO of NAN Audiovisuais. “In recent years Ayrton is the moving lighting brand that has grown the most on a global level.
“We have been absolutely amazed by

UK - Panalux has announced the hiring of lighting-industry veteran Sandro Leone as the company’s long form sales director. In this role, Leone will focus on serving feature and series productions in London and Southeast England.
“Sandro brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in lighting rentals,” said Panalux managing director Mark Furssedonn. “Additionally, his previous roles in camera rental give him a keen perspective on how the equipment and service offerings of the larger Panavision group can further support our customers’ needs. We’re thrilled to welcome Sandro to the Panalux family.”
Leone previously served as head of sales at Procam Take 2 Films, and prior to that as head of film and drama at Filmscape Media. Those positions followed 17 years with Arri Lighting Rental.
“I feel lucky to be part of the incredible team here at Panalux,

USA - Brentwood Baptist Church was officially constituted on Easter Sunday 1969 in the Nashville suburb of Brentwood, Tennessee. In the past half a century, it has grown to nine campuses around the region and has consistently averaged over 5,000 worshipers in weekly on-campus attendance, along with an estimated 4,000 additional online viewers.
The current main campus’ church was built in 2002 and had a few updates along the way, but last May it completed a complete refresh of the sanctuary’s audio, video, and lighting systems, in concert with leading AVL systems integrator Diversified. And the finishing touch on the updated audio infrastructure is a new KLANG:konductor, the most powerful and versatile immersive in-ear mixing processor ever.
“We had a few periodic updates to the systems over the years, such as going from analogue to digital audio and upgrading ou

UK - Ed Warren’s lighting design for The Lottery Winners’ recent homecoming show at the 02 Apollo Manchester featured a strong floral element.
Warren had two rows of daisy set pieces arranged across the stage. Each had at its centre a Chauvet Professional Strike 1, single source 230W warm white LED blinder, ready to rock the house and transform the stage with intense strobes, audience lighting and immersive washes.
“The concept of the flowers came about from a creative meeting with the band,” said Warren. “They mentioned their logo/branding is daisies, so I had the idea of having some daisy set pieces built. The plan was that we would mount lights in the centre disc of the flowers. The Strike 1s seemed like the perfect solution since they provided natural looking light and a killer strobe. The daisy set pieces were custom made to suit a Strike 1 fixture. The

Italy - Prolights Mosaico series illuminated the main facade of the Naval Academy of Livorno with the colours of the Italian flag. Spazi Sonori Live, the company responsible for implementing the project, faced numerous technical challenges to complete this emblematic initiative, showcasing the versatility and effectiveness of Prolights products.
The request was to permanently illuminate a 25x25m facade with LED lights in the green, white, and red colours of the Italian flag while adhering to strict technical and environmental constraints, including resistance to marine conditions and the need for angular projections without compromising uniform coverage.
After careful evaluation, Spazi Sonori Live chose the Prolights Mosaico series. They used two Mosaico L projectors for the green and white colours and one Mosaico XL projector for the red colour, harnessing their pre

USA - Fan experience innovator PixMob returned to the Super Bowl for a fifth consecutive year. The entertainment lighting tech experts delivered a crowd-captivating immersive experience during the much-anticipated halftime show.
This year’s PixMob activation set out to elevate the halftime show to ‘unparalleled heights’, enhancing the performance of Usher by outfitting performers on stage with their X4 Wristbands. PixMob’s signature sustainably-sourced LED wearables lit up the field with synchronised visual effects to match the performance.
In the crowd, 60,000 spectators were equipped with PixMob’s LED badges, transforming the audience into a dazzling canvas of light and immersive effects.
"PixMob is honoured to mark our fifth consecutive year partnering with the Super Bowl, a testament to our commitment to pushing the boundaries of immersive lighting

UK - Stage Electrics Group has announced that the company’s present managing director, Dave Coull, has been appointed as the company’s group chief executive officer.
Announcing the change, the company’s chairman, William Rogers, said, “Given the tremendously strong recovery the business has made from the trials of Covid and the positive transformation that the company has been undergoing over the last three years, this appointment not only reflects upon the outstanding job that Dave has done, but also highlights the ambition we have as a business to build our company into a group of operations that sit at the professional heart of our sector.
“We have a simply outstanding team of people at Stage Electrics Group, and it is fitting that one of our next steps is to establish the foundations upon which the ambitions we have can be built. This appointment is one

Europe - Building upon the success of the recently introduced PlutoFresnel, Astera has announced the launch of ProjectionLens that will add capabilities to its battery-powered, LED-based light, allowing to convert quickly into a powerful profile spotlight.
The lightweight, portable PlutoFresnel - which operates on a completely wireless basis with built-in battery pack – can be transformed in less than a minute simply by slipping on the ProjectionLens, which then allows the light to become a Profile Spotlight with a range of 16° to 36°. Projection zoom can be controlled manually by twisting the lens barrel or two Focus Wheels.
An E-size Gobo holder also enables custom logo projection. Built with the precision and durability that Astera applies across its entire range, the Profile Lens allows for close control of the light over any distance, with crystal clear optics

Germany - Rea Garvey is one of the best-known musicians in Germany and is a guest on the biggest stages and festivals year after year. An arena tour for his new album Halo has already been announced for 2024. Prior to this, the Irishman took the opportunity to feel the intimate audience proximity of smaller clubs again with the Roots tour.
Chris ‘Rocketchris’ Glatthor, who has accompanied Garvey as a production designer since 2014, was also on board. Rocketchris relied on the Cameo PIXBAR G2, AZOR and ZENIT Series – among others – for the minimalist stage designs.
According to the experienced production designer, who is responsible for the entire visual realisation of the shows, the Roots tour was something special in more ways than one: "It's the first real tour in several years. What's more, there is no new Rea Garvey album, hence the name Roots. We pl

The Netherlands - Prolights DisplayCob TRWDFC illuminated the Dying in Beauty exhibition at the Drents Museum Assen, in an innovative collaboration with the National Archaeological Museum of Naples and the National Archaeological Park of Herculaneum.
The exhibition was illuminated with Prolights DisplayCob TRWDFC to tell the story of Pompeii's life before its destruction, showing how art and technology can merge to create a powerful visual narrative. The NorthenLight agency took care of the artistic design, relying on Lichpunt for the lighting setup and 50Lux for the lighting design.
Light was used as a narrative tool to differentiate life (white light) from death (red light representing lava). Lighting designer Frank Hulsebosch of 50Lux used 12 DisplayCob TRWDFC to achieve colourful, intense lighting effects, demonstrating the versatility of products in a complex exh

UK - LIVE (Live music Industry Venues & Entertainment) has partnered with Handle Freelance Solutions, The Back Lounge and UK LIVE Event Freelancers Forum to launch a survey, The Hidden Side of Freelancing 2024, to understand and identify the changes required to improve the experience of freelancers who are crucial to the success of the live music industry.
The new survey will explore pay transparency and the personal experiences of freelancers at live music events. It aims to help freelancers understand their true value and benchmark their own experience whilst also celebrating what makes live music a great industry for freelancers. The results will then be assessed, culminating in a publicly available report that will be published in April 2024.
Industry organisations such as Entourage Pro, Production Futures, NOWIE, Rego, and Power of Events are all key sup

UK - Singer-songwriter Callum Beattie captivated sellout crowds on his recent winter tour of his homeland, Scotland. Supporting him with some fiercely bold visuals was a power-packed light show by Steve Mccraken of Mac-Events, who programmed the show and ran it throughout the tour on his ChamSys MagicQ MQ500M Stadium Console.
Working with a kit supplied by Limelight Event Services, Mccracken busked some manual flashes, strobes, and other looks, but most of his show was cue stacked. “We kept the looks consistent from show to show to create the experience that fans expected,” he said. “Although we had to make some changes to accommodate some venues, we remained consistent overall.”
The looks that Mccracken designed seemed to be tailor-made for his client’s genuine up-from- the-streets stage presence. For example, Mccraken created some interesting effects mixing

The Netherlands - Attracting acts from across the world, Kerstcircus Ahoy recently completed its 51st season in Rotterdam. Supporting the performers and adding to the excitement of the circus was a colourful, and sometimes dramatic, lighting design by Ricky Bouckenhove of Live Systems that featured 70 Chauvet Professional fixtures.
Bouckenhove, who has been lighting the renowned circus for 24 years, relied on a mainly blue and white colour palette to highlight its 12 different acts, which featured performers from 16 different nations.
At the circus’ centre ring, he hung 24 Maverick MK2 Spot fixtures on the 19m circular truss. Drawing on the 440W light cannon’s 16-bit dimming, he was able to have smooth fades at the conclusion of acts. Moreover, the fixture’s tight zoom allowed him to focus light where he wanted it without spill over.
Bouckenhove also arran

USA - In a harmonious blend of cultural reverence, sustainability and modern entertainment, the Lāna‘i Ocean Theatre has emerged as a spectacular amphitheatre on the southeast coast of Lāna‘i, the sixth-largest island in the Hawaiian Archipelago.
This visionary project stands proudly within the lush grounds of the Four Seasons Resort Lāna‘i, overlooking the serene Hulopo'e Bay, and employs IP-rated Proteus Lucius and Arena Zoom Q7IP luminaires from Elation.
An entertainment space that organically conforms to its natural surroundings, the Lāna‘i Ocean Theatre is a Greek-style amphitheatre that pays homage to the historical roots of theatre. The project, initiated in September 2021, transforms a section of the hillside overlooking the bay, creating a venue that seamlessly integrates with the natural landscape and botanical garden setting.
Land and res

Iceland - Harpa, the concert hall and conference centre, located in capital city Reykjavik - has invested in 48 x new Robe Forte moving lights which will be utilised in their 1600-capacity Grand Hall, home of the Icelandic Opera and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.
The striking Harpa building was designed by the Hanning Larsen Architects from Denmark in conjunction with Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson - well known for creating sculptured and large-scale installation art using elements like light, water, and air temperature - and opened in 2011. The structure comprises a steel framework clad with different coloured and shaped geometric glass panels inspired by Iceland’s beautiful and mineral-rich basaltic rock landscape.
Harpa stages numerous high visibility world-class productions and events as well as hosting meetings and high-rolling summits. Karl Sigurðsso

UK - PLASA Focus Leeds is gearing up for another successful year at the Royal Armouries from 14-15 May 2024, and you can now register for your free entry badge.
Attracting over 2,000 visitors, the popular regional event is known for connecting professionals with lead names in the entertainment technology industry across two friendly days of networking and discovery.
Boasting a fully booked show floor, PLASA Focus Leeds will feature 150+ brands in pro audio, AV, lighting, rigging, and staging. Attendees will have the chance to closely examine new products and engage in face-to-face discussions with potential suppliers.
Lighting professionals can look forward to meeting Ambersphere, Avolites, ChamSys, Chauvet Professional, Entedi, ETC, GLP UK, Prolight, Robe UK, TMB, and Vari-Lite.
Top quality pro audio is also on offer from Audio-Technica, Bose Professiona

Europe - CONTRIK showed a comprehensive range of new Power Multicore solutions for the first time at ISE; offering the professional AV and lighting, and broadcast and film location production sectors a wide range of power connectivity solutions from new multicore cable and stringer box series, optimising power cabling costs and complexity in the field.
The new range of Power Strip Multicore ‘stringer boxes’ launched at ISE, comprises six models with Harting E16 connectors, providing for 6 channel single phase breakout, or breakout and daisy chaining, on Neutrik powerCONTRUE1 TOP or Schuko Type F connectors.
Models are designated as offering either ‘X’ (Xtreme protection) or ‘XO’ (Xtreme Outdoor protection). ‘X’ providing high mechanical (IK) protection and ‘XO’ high mechanical (IK) and high environmental protection, allowing for the seamless connect

UK - Panto is a British performance genre that combines wit, slapstick comedy, double entendres, magic, fantasy and usually a bit of politics tossed together with the musical hits of the year.
“We like happy endings,” commented lighting designer Andy Webb, which is why he specified Robe for two key shows for producers UK Productions (UKP), Snow White & The Seven Dwarves at Aylesbury Waterside Theatre in Buckinghamshire directed by Chris Wilkins-Nelson, and Cinderella directed by Benji Sperring, staged at the Malvern Festival Theatre in Wiltshire, both produced by Martin Dodds.
The 1,200-capacity Waterside Theatre is the larger venue in terms of both stage and audience sizes, and here Andy utilised 60 x Robe luminaires - a mix of T1 Profiles, Spiiders, MegaPointes, BMFL WashBeams, LEDBeam 150s, Cyc FX8s and ParFect 100s, together with elements of

UK - Welsh National Opera's head of lighting and sound, Ben Naylor, was delighted to take possession recently of an MDG ATMe haze generator with a digital theFAN unit, both housed conveniently in MDG's purpose-built Vertical Flight Case.
Naylor explained his choice of MDG and this combination of equipment which was supplied by Robe/MDG UK. “We have been looking for a better consistency of coverage of haze for a long time, as the hazers we’ve used in the past have looked patchy and generally produced more haze in the wings than on stage! The MDG ATMe with flight case and fan not only gives us fantastic haze coverage on stage, it is a safe and efficient way to tour the equipment.”
The Vertical Flight Case is a bespoke design with fitted compartments that hold an ATMe haze generator (or any of the Me1, Me2 or MAX 3000 fog generators), theFAN, two, 9kg (20lb) CO2 bot

USA - Alobar's Lighting and Sound has installed a state-of-the-art lighting and lighting control solution at the Villa Duchesne school in St. Louis, Missouri. The new system, which features an NX1 lighting console from Obsidian Control Systems along with Netron signal distribution, includes an array of Elation KL series and Seven Batten lights, providing the school’s Pavich Theatre with a high level of control and creativity in their lighting design.
Alobar's Lighting and Sound, based in St. Louis, has been a long-standing partner of Villa Duchesne, having provided audio and lighting services for the school for over 20 years, including support for graduation ceremonies, Maypole celebrations, and various school events. When the school sought to revamp its theatre lighting system, they entrusted Alobar's with the task.
Ted Kretschmar of Alobar’s was instrumental in

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