Lighting

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05 July 2024

Poland - The award-winning Opera Baltycka (Baltic Opera) in Gdansk, on Poland’s north coast, has invested in new Robe lighting fixtures with the purchase of 18 x TX1 PosiProfiles and four Paintes which have been installed into its current building.

The opera house has a colourful and varied history and was originally built and opened as an equestrian sports hall in 1915. It went through various other iterations, and the first opera was performed there in 1950, and since then the building has undergone several renovations. While the cozy 476 capacity makes it Poland’s smallest opera hall, The Baltic Opera has a formidable reputation for excellence, high production values and world class performances.

Lighting specialist Marek Lebida has been working full time at the Opera since the Robe fixtures arrived last year, supplied by Robe’s Polish distr

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05 July 2024

UK - Theatre Lighting Design: Conversations on the Art, Craft and Life, a new book offering fascinating insights into the design processes, work and lighting lives of 14 leading lighting designers, will launch on 25 July 2024 – and is available to pre-order now.

Written by lighting designers Emma Chapman and Rob Halliday, the book features individual interviews with lighting designers Neil Austin, Natasha Chivers, Jon Clark, Paule Constable, Rick Fisher, Richard Howell, Howard Hudson, Jessica Hung Han Yun, Mark Jonathan, Amy Mae, Ben Ormerod, Bruno Poet, Jackie Shemesh and Johanna Town.

A final interview talks to the lighting team responsible for creating the hit musical Billy Elliot about how the lighting design evolved as the show was created and then how it has been maintained as the show has been remounted over the last 18 yea

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05 July 2024

Belgium - “The atmosphere during a concert in a theatre hall is very different from that at a festival or in an arena,” Tourist LeMC said at the start of his Onrust tour. That is why the Flemish hip-hop-folk artist eschewed his usual venues and built this 23-show tour around more intimate theatres.

Communicating with the audience was critical to Tourist LeMC’s vision for this tour.  Building on the theme of his recent hit The Other, he wanted to emphasise the importance of people overcoming the boundaries that separate them, an especially important ideal in times like these.

Setting a supportive tone for Tourist LeMC on this tour was an engaging, intimate lighting design by Maarten De Man of MDM Productions that featured Chauvet Professional fixtures supplied by Splendit.

“This was the very first time that Tourist LeMC playe

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05 July 2024

Belgium - The Royal Conservatory of Antwerp recently undertook the transition from conventional to LED lighting with a lighting system upgrade that features Elation KL and Fuze series luminaires. The new lighting system, supplied by Ampco Flashlight, supports a large variety of projects that play out on stages in several of the school’s performance spaces.

The Royal Conservatory is renowned for its excellence in music, dance, and drama, attracting students of the performing arts from across Europe and beyond. Like any institution of advanced learning, the school provides high-quality facilities for its various programs and seeks to keep them updated with the latest technologies and resources to ensure a top-tier educational experience.

Seeking an up-to-date lighting package for the Conservatory’s many performance spaces, Rik Suijs, technician at

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05 July 2024

Germany - On the back of a successful exhibition at Euro Cine Expo 2024, Astera received the Best of Show award conferred by film-tv-video.de. The award was given for Astera’s new addition to its lighting portfolio: the LunaBulb, launched at the beginning of June. The win follows on from their previous success last year, in 2023, when Astera was shortlisted for their PlutoFresnel.

The LunaBulb mimics the appearance of a traditional bulb, but incorporates all the benefits of LED technology, meaning a lower power draw and full wireless control with incredible levels of precision when adjusting colour and brightness. With a focus on technological and design innovation, Best in Show judges were particularly impressed with how the LunaBulb granted gaffers both the creative and practical potential of a traditional and mainstay lighting solution, but incorporated

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04 July 2024

Austria - ARRI Rental has announced the expansion of its service offerings in Vienna with the opening of a new facility supplying lighting and grip equipment as well as logistics to productions of all types and sizes. Camera equipment will continue to be offered through the existing ARRI Rental Vienna office.

Located at 7 Haidequerstraße 6, 1110 Wien, the new ARRI Rental facility is located on the premises of the hq7 studios complex, which will open this summer as a premiere European production centre, capable of accommodating major international film and TV productions. The area is ideal for easy access to the airport, central station, and city centre.

ARRI Rental’s new Vienna facility covers 750sq.m of floor space and can supply lighting and grip equipment, including the latest ARRI lighting fixtures such as SkyPanel X and Orbiter, as well as AR

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03 July 2024

USA - Four-time Grammy Award-winning guitar player and singer/songwriter Gary Clark Jr. has embarked on the North American leg of his 2024 world tour with Claypaky Sharpy X-Frames and Midi-B FX fixtures filling the lighting rig.

Lighting designer John Adamo, who co-designed the show with Robert Fuller, selected the fixtures, which have been supplied by Bandit Lites, the tour’s full-service lighting and effects provider. Both designers have long histories with Clark and previously have used Claypaky Sharpy Plus fixtures for his shows. The tour, in support of Clark’s new album, JPEG RAW, kicked off in Fort Worth, Texas on 8 May and will play more than two dozen dates, including Radio City Music Hall, Wolf Trap and Red Rocks.

“I view Gary’s music as complex and modern yet timeless and classic” says Adamo.  “We wanted the lighting r

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02 July 2024

France - Alain Corthout’s production design for Black Eyed Peas show at La Défense Arena in Paris reflected the music and stage persona of the LA band with a transcended visual panorama that wove light and video together in concentric patterns.

“The lighting and video concept aimed to create a seamless fusion of elements, utilizing expansive curves and circles to present a unified visual experience,” said Corthout. “By integrating concentric rims extending from the video screens, we sought to evoke a sense of grandeur and cohesion within the large venue setting.”

Using this canvas, Corthout unfolded a narrative over a show that spanned more than two hours and featured a 24-song set list. “The narrative of the show centred on encapsulating the joyous, ecstatic, party atmosphere synonymous with the Black Eyed Peas' music,” he explained.

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02 July 2024

Chile - MA Lighting International has announced MMT as new exclusive MA distribution partner in Chile. From this month, MMT will offer the entire MA Lighting product range, support & service for hardware and software, as well as training.

Stephan Saremba, managing director of MA Lighting International comments, “We are excited about joining forces with MMT to develop our brand in the Chilean market. Both companies have a clear focus on providing high-quality products, excellent customer service and solutions to address customer needs in the various markets we are active in.

“With the commitment and expertise of MMT a strong sales force present in many regions and a well-trained and dedicated technical service we are aiming to resume and strengthen relationships with existing MA users as well as to expand into new markets. We are delighted to

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02 July 2024

Spain/Chile - zactrack has announced new distributors for Spain and Chile – SeeSound and MMT respectively.

"We are delighted to partner up with SeeSound for the distribution of zactrack in Spain.”, says Stephan Saremba, managing director for zactrack International. “With their wide product portfolio of audio, lighting and video solutions as well as an extremely passionate team of professionals in each market sector, we find SeeSound to be the right partner for us to bring fully automated tracking technology into the Spanish market.

“We are looking forward to work hand in hand with SeeSound, strengthen relationships with existing users and to expand into new markets. We are truly excited to continue to drive tracking solutions and creative tools to our users in Spain."

Nacho Alberdi, CEO of Seesound adds, “The tracking system is some

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02 July 2024

New Zealand - NW Group is New Zealand’s largest live event technology and full production – lighting, audio, and video – specialist in New Zealand, where it’s represented by the Oceania and Spyglass brands with bases in Auckland and Wellington on the North Island.

The company has recently invested in 24 new Robe Spiider LED wash beams which are added to their 56 x Robe BMFLs (32 x Spots and 24 x Blades), delivered via distributor, Jands New Zealand.

NW Group’s work encompasses arts, performance and entertainment shows, concert touring, all types of corporates, special projects and they are also service providers to some of the busiest venues including the New Zealand International Convention Centre in Auckland.

They were looking for value and solidly reliable LED wash beam that could be used in any environment explained head of ligh

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01 July 2024

Germany - Just before the start of UEFA Euro 2024, Frankfurt, one of the 10 host cities, set the stage for four weeks of international football fever with a spectacular multimedia show. The show, a collaboration between bright! studios and spatial experiences agency Atelier Markgraph on behalf of Tourismus + Congress Frankfurt, transformed one of the city’s notable bridges over the Main River (Flößerbrücke) into a gigantic musical instrument. 

The bridge, covered in the colours of the 24 participating nations for the duration of the European Championship, became the centrepiece of the football world for the 25-minute show. Lighting designer Thomas Giegerich from bright! used 96 Proteus Excalibur, 48 Proteus Maximus and 48 of Elation’s new Pulse Bar L linear lighting solutions to visually bring the concept to life. Kaiser Showtechnik was responsible f

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01 July 2024

Australia - Adriano Candeloro is a founding director and technology guru at Sightline Productions – a busy and successful NSW-based AV and rental company that covers a range of corporate and B2B clients across Australia, New Zealand and much further afield with a variety of international work.

Joe Murray is also a founding director, and they and the team are all big fans of Astera, having first started hearing about the brand a few years back when the neon lighting look was very popular in Australia.

The first Astera products to arrive at Sightline were AX1 PixelTubes that joined the inventory in 2019, a figure that’s now jumped to over 50 fixtures.

In addition to these, they also have AX2 LED battens, AX3 LiteDrops, AX5 TriplePARs, AX9 PowerPARs, as well as the 2 metre Hyperion Tubes and the half metre Helios Tubes, totalling over 200 As

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01 July 2024

USA - This year’s Bonnaroo festival was hot. During the three-day event, temperatures were consistently in the 90s (+30°C), sometimes reaching 100°F, with plenty of humidity and one thunderstorm thrown in.

These conditions made the covered This and That Tents welcome places to cool off. These shaded venues offered much more than more than thermal relief; they also served up “some of the best sets of the weekend”.

Anyone who caught Dashboard Confessional’s Superjam emo performance with a bevy of special guest stars on the This Tent Stage would readily agree with that assessment. So too would those captivated by Thundercat’s thunderous bass on the That Tent Stage. Throw in performances by GWAR, Eggy, Taking Back Sunday, Interpol, IDLES, and more, and there was plenty to get swept up by in the shade of the tents.

Adding to the energy

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28 June 2024

UK - BPM Show, originally re-scheduled for 9-10 November 2024, is now postponed to a date to be confirmed in 2025.

This decision, taken in collaboration with PLASA, Headliner, SEDA, Mastermix, AVSL, Chauvet DJ, NADJ, Paladin Innovations and Promo Only, reflects our commitment to providing an unmatched experience for our attendees.

The team at PLASA – alongside our esteemed partners – have decided to take this extra time to completely revamp the BPM Show, including a brand-new venue. This is so that we can deliver a world-class event that sets new standards in the UK for the DJ and electronic music community.

BPM Show 2025 will focus on several key areas:

Music: Featuring some of the biggest names in the electronic music industry.

Technology: Creating a hands-on tech playground with cutting-edge DJ equipme

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28 June 2024

UK - The Isle of Wight Festival 2024 is setting a benchmark in sustainability by integrating hydrogen-powered generators into its power infrastructure. GeoPura's hydrogen powered generators (HPUs) replaced traditional diesel fuel to power crew and artist catering and part of the guest village; supplying zero-emission electricity from hydrogen for the first time at the festival.

This initiative is part of the festival's commitment to becoming the most sustainable in the UK. By introducing hydrogen power, the festival is making a significant leap towards reducing its carbon footprint and setting an example for other events.

Caroline Giddings, director at The Isle of Wight Festival, said: "By introducing hydrogen-powered generators, we are taking a proactive step towards our goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030. This initiative is jus

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28 June 2024

Bahrain - ShowTech Productions, based in Riffa, has recently added to its extensive Robe moving light stock with the purchase of 12 x iFORTE LTX luminaires. These were delivered by Robe Middle East in Dubai.

The company is a leading event production and technical services provider working across multiple sectors including concert touring, live events, and corporates. They also have a base in Saudi Arabia, and work across the GCC region.

These join several hundred Robe products including Spiiders, MegaPointes and BMFLs already owned by ShowTech, following steady investments in recent years. “Robe products have consistently been on all the international riders we have seen in the last 10 years” commented owner and CEO Lawrence Rodricks, adding that this plus the brand’s reputation for quality and well-made products has driven the purchases.

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28 June 2024

USA - Ben Gilbert was called upon to light the 31 city North American leg of LANY’s Beautiful Blur tour in support of their fifth album. Not endowed with a great deal of time to do their thing, Gilbert and his team came up with a design that used a curved truss configuration to engage audience by changing the depth and shape perceptions of the stage and its runway.

“The biggest challenge on this for us was time,” said Gilbert.  “We managed to pull this whole show together in under a month and programmed it all in about 10 days. Coming up with the design and getting it to work with the music of the show in such a short space of time was challenging, but working with a great team we got it done.”

Providing assistance to Gilbert in this task was Bandit Lites, which suggested the idea of using pre-rig gates for the curve design. Bandit also su

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27 June 2024

Europe - The Claypaky HY B-Eye K15 Aqua represents a significant upgrade from the latest HY B-Eye K15 in Claypaky's Shield Family of weather-resistant lighting solutions. These IP66-certified fixtures are designed to be high-performance, ultra-durable, and long-lasting. Also, they are dustproof, ensuring reduced maintenance costs and hassle-free operation.

The Claypaky HY B-Eye K15 Aqua original optical unit improves uniformity and light output efficiency. The rotating front lens and the individual LED control unleash a mesmerizing world of kaleidoscopic projections and captivating eye-candy effects, making it an all-in-one lighting solution: a powerful LED wash, a flawless beam, and a jaw-dropping visual effects projector – all in a single fixture.

The patent pending Advanced Layer Management system is an innovation that seamlessly blends three di

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27 June 2024

Poland - Organised and sponsored by LTT, a leading Polish entertainment gear distributor since 1992, LTT Free Light Workshops offer a variety of learning experiences and product demonstrations. The events have been staged across 14 cities, with 500 visitors participating.

The latest edition of the workshop series, which is now in its 12th year, featured over 60 different Chauvet Professional products. Among the most attention drawing was the Maverick Storm 3 BeamWash, a versatile, full-featured, colour-mixing moving fixture that has a 16-lens outer zone and 12-lens inner zone. The two zoom zones, stunning output, and in-built macros made the fixture a hit with visitors.

Also popular was the COLORado PXL Curve 12, a fully pixel mappable motorized batten that offers individual control of 12 independent heads, and the Maverick Storm 1 Hybrid, a 420W, 77

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26 June 2024

UK - The Olivier Awards 2024 took place on Sunday 14 April 2024 at the Royal Albert Hall, from where it was broadcast by ITV1, and streamed internationally on YouTube and by BritBox. It was presented by Emmy winner and multi-Olivier nominee Hannah Waddingham who opened the show, accompanied by the London Community Gospel Choir, with a performance of Anything Goes.

The three-hour long Awards show was interspersed with performances from the casts of West End musical theatre including Hadestown, Sunset Boulevard, Operation Mincemeat, and Guys and Dolls.

Lighting designer Ben Cracknell, lighting the Olivier Awards for his 11th year, chose 78 Ayrton Perseo Profile fixtures, provided by White Light, as his work horse fixtures. He wanted to modernise and unify under one fixture type his previously mixed rig, so h

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26 June 2024

UK - Currently running at the Ambassadors Theatre in London’s West End, Kathy & Stella Solve a Murder! is an award-winning musical comedy which follows Kathy & Stella – hosts of Hull’s least successful true crime podcast. However, when their favourite author is killed, the pair find themselves thrust into a thrilling whodunnit of their own.

The show features a lighting design by Peter Small who approached White Light (WL), a d&b solutions company, to supply his rig, having previously done so for the show’s Bristol and Manchester run. For the London production, an addition to the rig included the Macula remote follow-spot System – distributed in the UK by Sound Technology - making the show the first in West End history to use this technology.

Kathy & Stella arrived in London following its previous sell-out r

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26 June 2024

Finland - Mikki Kunttu brought Richard Wagner’s epic Der Ring des Nibelungen, also known as the Ring tetralogy, to a conclusion at the Finnish National Opera with the performance of the monumental, nearly six-hour-long Götterdämmerung featuring Claypaky Xtylos, the world’s first laser-based beam lighting fixture.

The first instalment of The Ring Cycle, Das Rheingold, was performed at the Finnish National Opera in August and September 2019. The Covid pandemic delayed the second opera, Die Walkure, until autumn 2022, with performances of Siegfried following in March and April 2023. Over these past years, The Ring played to full houses. Its visual aspect and direction, the Orchestra of the Finnish National Opera, and the soloists’ world-class singing have been acclaimed by audiences

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25 June 2024

UK - We are sad to announce the death of Mick McManus, who has died at the age of 73. Although he left the sound and lighting industry many years ago, Mick was among the founding fathers of what became known as the disco industry, during his time as a director of pyro and effects giants, Le Maitre.

Jerry Gilbert writes, “An outrageous, larger than life character Mick generally kept the first generation of disco troops upbeat with his non-stop volley of jokes.

Like so many, Mick started as a DJ with Roger Squire’s agency, where he was booked out as ‘Barry Martin’ to avoid confusion with the popular wrestler of the same name. He first came into contact with sound and light manufacturers during his time at Wing Disco Centre in Bromley, the popular retailer.

He also ran Croydon-based Tulip Music with his colleague and lifelong fr