Germany The Mega Rave Party in Dortmund integrated 48 SGM XC-5 RGB Colour Strobes into the main arena lighting design

Some 23,000 dance fans partied all night long to the sounds of more than 54 internationally renowned DJs, including top names such as Paul van Dyk, Armin van Buuren, Carl Cox and Sven Väth.

Production company schoko pro installed more than 360 tonnes of audio visual equipment for the party, designing a four-fingered Truss-Claw and a Monster-Mirrorball as the major centrepiece from the ceiling. A special trick was the ability to move and tilt the Claw above the audience's heads, to create permanently changing lighting effects.

Lighting designer Thomas Gerdon, who was responsible for the design of the main floor for the second time, knows the key ingredients for such mega techno events and how to enthuse the masses. However, a lot of restraint and sensitivity

Belarus - When Russian pop rock band Zveri played in front of between 3,000-4,000 fans at Minsk Sport Palace recently Blackout Studio (part of FE Belimlight) were appointed by the tour promoters to provide the lighting.

Given a fairly open rider, and based on their successful experience with PR Lighting fixtures in the past, they created an exciting show based around 25 XL1500 Wash and Spot fixtures; these were deployed as overhead effects.

Drawing heavily on the fixtures' library of gobos, and making creative use of the zoom and dimmer effects, they were able to deliver an exhilarating stage show.

FE Belimlight's Igor Piotrowski said: "These products offer great feature-sets with good colour rendering and are easy to rig. They proved very popular with the artists' production and tour promoters."

The company has also been using PR Lighting fixtures on the second

Qatar - The Doha-based Creative Communications Group (CCG) has invested in its first Robe moving lights - 48 x LEDWash 600s. CCG, headed by Jalal Dudin, is one of the leading lighting and sound rental companies in the Gulf region and is renowned for its high quality equipment, crew and service. Over the years, Jalal has invested heavily and regularly in innovative premium brands. The deal was coordinated by Elie Batah, Robe's regional sales manager for the Middle East, following several demonstrations.

"I needed a good quality LED wash light for rental stock and Robe has the best fixtures," confirms Jalal, who considered several options before making his choice. He adds that the LEDWash 600 is now on virtually every technical rider that they are seeing when it comes to specifying a moving LED wash light. "They are reliable, lightweight, the output is amazing and t

UK - Lighting and visuals rental specialist Colour Sound Experiment kicked off what's set to be a spectacularly busy 2013 summer season, with a weekend supplying lighting to major festivals and two high profile EDM events plus a plethora of specials packages for specific artists performing around Europe ... as well as a major corporate event.

The festivals were Run To The Sun in Newquay, Cornwall; Field Day and As One in The Park at Victoria Park, Hackney, east London; We are FSTVL, a brand new 15,000 capacity dance music festival at Damyn's Hall Aerodrome in Upminster, Essex ... and down on the Brixton frontline at the O2 Academy, offering the best of drum 'n' bass, was Hospitality.

Over 700 moving lights were deployed by CSE across the weekend - mix of Robe, Martin, Clay Paky and GLP plus others - together with around 200 strobes and an eclectic bunch of other effects

UK - The Anvil Concert Hall in Basingstoke, Hampshire is something of a regional gem that serves the leafy southern Home Counties. With performances that range from stand-up comics like Jack Dee, through to the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Sir Andrew Davies and Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells 'For Two', the in-house lighting system needs to flexible to say the least. The venue has been designed to transform into various configurations: as an orchestral concert hall it has 1400 seats and when it becomes a theatre with a proscenium arch, an open stage or a flat floor extended stage it can accommodate up to 1150.

Ian Jones is head of technical services at Anvil Arts says: "When we made the decision to purchase Clay Paky and MA Lighting products, our primary aim was to raise the bar for our house production lighting and take the first steps toward future proofing th

UK/USA - Manchester based, Lumonic Ltd, the designers and manufacturers of the ilumo range of LED lights have confirmed StageLight as distributors. StageLight, which is based in the mid-south of the USA, became distributors following a successful launch of ilumo LED fixtures at the USITT conference in March.

Mike Edwards, Director of Lumonic Ltd comments, "We are delighted that Jerome Dunn, president of StageLight, has chosen to take our products in the US. StageLight is a long-established, very successful company with four branches in three states in the mid-south of America. They pride themselves on their service and desire to offer new technology, allowing their customers to stay ahead of the game. This exciting development for both parties coupled with our new product development plans fits beautifully with StageLight's future business aspirations. We look forward to a

France - Ayrton's latest products to hit the market are the new MagicPanel 602, NandoBeam 302 and MADesign luminaires.

"Our new products generated a fantastic amount of interest at Prolight and Sound 2013 which turned out to be the best trade show ever for Ayrton," says Ayrton's export manager, Valère Huart-Gyors. "Word is spreading as Ayrton develops as a company with more and more distributors across the world. It is not so common to be innovative in this industry and people like our unique concepts and projectors like the RollaPix, VersaPix and MagicPanel. MagicPanel 602 is really an eye catching projector which many lighting designers and rental companies are extremely keen to use.

"For the show we used a bank of 25 MagicPanels on the rear wall of the stand alongside 65 Nandobeams, and a floor constructed of 126 DreamPanel Floor HD18 tiles. The lightin

UK - The Knight of Illumination Awards 2013, organised by Clay Paky, ALD, STLD and Ambersphere Solutions, has announced this year's sponsors as Chroma-Q, Hawthorn, MA Lighting, Robert Juliat, OSRAM, and XL Video.

"Over the past six years, the Knight Of Illumination Awards have become much coveted and respected amongst UK lighting professionals," says Glyn O'Donoghue from Ambersphere Solutions. "The prestigious nature of these awards are truly reflected by the high calibre of our generous sponsors this year."

For six years the KOI Awards has celebrated outstanding achievements in British lighting design in the sectors of TV, Theatre, and new for this year: Concert Touring and Events (previously titled 'Rock'). And this year it is even better than ever. In recognition of the huge creative impact video now has on show design KOI has launched a new category acr

France - Manchester- based lighting, visual and rigging specialists dbn Lighting delivered the lighting design and equipment for clients Medex-Media at EuroPCR, a medical exhibition and symposium held at the Palais des Congrès in Paris.

An inventive approach was needed due to the overall height restrictions imposed on exhibitors and the limited rigging permissible (5Kg per point!) for lighting and other flown elements. This was provided by dbn's unflappable Nigel Walker.

An environment was created offering two seminar rooms to accommodate up to 20 delegates and three meeting rooms for groups of up to six people. These spaces radiated off a central 'social' area where delegates could mingle and enjoy refreshments in a calm, chilled atmosphere.

Walker used 25mm conduit as the hung lighting bars, and specified Chroma-Q ColorForce 12s LED units fitted with Lee 216 diffusion as

Germany - Niethammer, as well as Rainbow Colour Changers and Major are now distributed worldwide by Premier Lighting Product International. Michael Althaus, managing director of PLP International commented, "We are very excited to have with Niethammer, a well respected manufacturer in our portfolio, delivering high quality products that are strengthening and complementing our international distribution approach with a clear focus on theatres."

Niethammer offers profile spots in the 1kW, 2kW and 2,5kW class. The profile spots of the 1kW and 2kW class are also available as silent (without fan) versions - making them a suitable choice for noise sensitive projects. All Niethammer products have proven themselves on the market for years and are especially popular in theatres.

Rainbow is known worldwide as the synonym for the classic colour changer. Rainbow Colour Changers

South Africa - Keystone Productions were awarded the role of production company, and MGG Productions as technical supplier, for the Nestle Conference and Gala Awards, held in two different venues at Champagne Sports Resort which is surrounded by majestic mountains in central Drakensberg. With over thirty presentations, each with a unique theme, lighting could not take a back seat and included Clay Paky at a function where video predominantly featured.

This was the first time Nestle, which produces various prominent consumable products, hosted a single event for the entire company. It was aptly attended by a thousand employees who lodged at Champagne Sports Resort and nearby surrounds for the three day conference.

"It was a massively long project," said Christopher Bolton from Keystone Productions, who was appointed the position by client Dithatha Productions. Keyston

Estonia - Robe's Estonian distributor E&T Ltd has completed the largest supply to date of Robe moving lights for a theatre installation.

Over 200 fixtures have been delivered to the Vanemuine Teater in Tartu, Estonia's lively second city and the country's cultural and intellectual hub.

The deal - part of a much wider programme in which Robe luminaires have been supplied to all eight of Estonia's state supported theatres as part of a major national lighting upgrade - involves a mix of LEDWash 1200, 600 and 300s, MMX Spots, DLX Spots and ROBIN 600 and 300E Spot and Washes.

Vanemuine, Estonia's oldest theatre founded in 1870 by an amateur acting and singing organisation and named after the Estonian god of music and poetry, has three separate venues - The Big House, the Small House and the Harbour Teater (Sadamateater).

For many years, it has built a reputation for being at th

USA - The Logo Channel's NewNowNext (NNN) Awards celebrate the most fantastic aspects of pop culture in music, television, film, web, fashion, and just about everything in between. Produced in Hollywood, CA, inside the historic Henry Fonda Theatre, the annual awards ceremony is lively, fun and energetic. When LD Tom Kenny was asked to oversee the lighting design he leapt at the opportunity to create a complementary lighting rig full of Vari-Lite luminaires, including the new VL3015LT Spot from Philips Vari-Lite.

"I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to use the new VL3015LT Spot on the NNN Awards," began Kenny. "For the show we needed a bright, fun and classy look so amongst my usual Vari-Lite fixtures, I also designed 12 of the VL3015LT Spots into the plot. While we were initially excited about their high intensity and beautiful color palette, the zoom cap

UK - The seventh series of Britain's Got Talent culminated on Saturday 8 June with a stunning live show from Fountain Studios, presented by Ant and Dec for ITV.

Having supported the show since its creation in 2007, PRG worked with the production team, where this year's final dominated the ratings and attracted more than 13m viewers. Adding to the excitement, Simon Cowell was pelted with eggs by a suspected former BGT contestant.

The show was won by Hungarian shadow-dance troupe Attraction who performed a British themed routine including Land of Hope and Glory and the voice of Winston Churchill, and will get the chance to perform at the Royal Variety Performance.

PRG's senior account manager Kelly Cornfield collaborated closely with lighting designer Dave Davey to supply a lighting design that skillfully worked sympathetically with the strong LED set desi

USA - British lighting console manufacturer Avolites has signed an exclusive distribution deal with New York-based Group One Professional Audio and Lighting.

"This is a fantastic arrangement for Avolites," explains Koy Neminathan, sales director at Avolites. "It will enable Avolites to extend its product reach into the US market whilst being able to service already existing US clients more efficiently, obviously we are delighted."

Avolites' decision to partner with Group One Ltd was based on the US company's extensive industry experience as well as the opportunity for Avolites to be part of Group One's rapidly expanding lighting division.

"This is a great day for Avolites, Group One and the lighting industry," continues Avolites' managing director Steve Warren. "Jack Kelly and the team at Group One share our vision of growth in the USA driv

South Africa - Robert Juliat has announced that DWR Distribution cc has joined the Robert Juliat distributor family.

From 1 June 2013, DWR has assumed responsibility for sales activity across South Africa, promoting and supporting the full range of Robert Juliat lighting equipment.

"It is a privilege for us to be associated with Robert Juliat and the fantastic people who make up their team," commented Duncan Riley from DWR Distribution. "This appointment allows us to offer one of the best brands in the entertainment industry to our clients."

The Robert Juliat followspots will officially be launched by DWR at Mediatech. This is the official technology trade fair for Africa and will be hosted in Johannesburg from 17 to 19 July 2013.

These followspots will also be used on a followspot training course titled The Art of Followspotting, during Mediatec

UK - West London-based rental company Entec Sound & Light supplied lighting, rigging and crew for Paloma Faith's recent high profile one-off show at London's O2 Arena, preceded by warm ups at Liverpool Empire and Bournemouth BIC, once again working with lighting designer Tony Austin and the production team led by tour manager Neil Brighouse.

Entec's Noreen O'Riordan and Adam Stevenson project managed the massive one-off, which followed Faith's spring 2013 theatre tour, this time with an enlarged stage set and a more substantial lighting rig.

The O2 show required a completely new lighting design with versatility and flexibility at the core of the concept. The warm up shows utilised a smaller lighting rig, so only at the O2 did Austin have his full rig for the first time, adding extra pressures to the day.

An expanded version of Josh Grace's striking mirrored and gold palm lea

Canada - CAST Group has released the first few details of forthcoming new release of wysiwyg R31, which is due to launch within the next few weeks.

R31 is set to deliver "an array of stunning new features, enhancements and library additions, many of which were directly requested by accomplished wysiwyg professionals". These improvements will save huge amounts time and money by solving problems and delivering brand new functionality, consistent with CAST's mantra and its steadfast determination to dramatically improve the workflow and user experience of wysiwyg - Release 31 will be testament to this philosophy, says the company.

Among the extensive list of the additions to R31 are some striking visualization enhancements - perhaps most significantly the new Material System in Shaded Views, which will allow material properties to be applied on a per-element level to an

UK - The 2013 National Stage Management Awards Ceremony was held recently at the Old Truman Brewery in London, during the ABTT Theatre Show. The award for 'Stage Management Student of the Year' is sponsored by GDS, itself an award winning manufacturer, and was won this year by Alex Bradford of Rose Bruford College.

The award honours outstanding student achievement and Alex was considered to have truly risen above the competition, fully demonstrating her ability to take responsibility and apply herself skilfully and passionately to her work.

MD of GDS, Matt Lloyd expressed great pleasure in sponsoring the award: "This is the third year that we have been the proud sponsors of this award. As manufacturers of essential stage management equipment, some of which has been developed directly in conjunction with educators in the stage-management field, we are only too well aware o

USA - Leading UK lighting designer Dave Byars has put his new Avolites Sapphire Touch to work on Brit-pop band Blur's heavily atmospheric 2013 tour, which has smouldered under the stars in venues and at festivals, including Coachella, California.

Dave Byars - who has been in charge of lighting Blur since the band first formed - had quite a challenge on his hands. Maintaining his high design values, while coping with the varying set ups of festivals, and arenas around the world is no mean feat. This is especially true in Byars' case as he is not touring his own rig but rather using festival house rigs or hiring locally at each venue. This means he often ends up with very different set ups or equipment types for each show.

"Being able to programme and design on the fly is essential for a tour like this one," stresses Byars. "I've been an Avolites console user for

USA - Grunge rockers Alice In Chains are in the midst of a five-week national tour, and Clay Paky Sharpy Washes are shedding light on 22 dates coast-to-coast as the band plays festivals, theatres and small clubs.

The band began their spring tour in Miami and will finish in San Antonio, TX to generate buzz for their latest studio album The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, their first since 2009.

Main Light provided 14 Sharpy Wash 330 units to lighting designer and director Marty Postma. "They're part of the floor package for effects," says Randy Mullican at Main Light. "We compared the Sharpy Wash to 1000-watt units and found the Sharpy's intensity, size and feature set to be better. They're a beautiful light in the right size package. This was the first rental the Sharpy Washes went out on for us, and A.C.T has been fabulous; their service and support has been s

UK - Continuing a long-standing relationship with the Rod Stewart team, that spans nearly three decades, Tait was eager to produce customised staging elements for the artist's widely- anticipated Live the Life tour. Working alongside set designer Paul Staples, production manager Lars Brogaard and lighting designer Mark Payne, the team integrated Tait's fully-optimised stock assets into the set design.

Tait supplied six custom Periaktos, which are positioned on the mainstage and manually rotated throughout the performance. Each of the three-sided Periaktos contained a multi-faceted mirror face, a 12mm CT Flyer video screen and a grill-plated surface backlit with LED PAR fixtures.

Tait's automated helical trussing provides one of the main, artistic focal points of the set design. Powered by Tait's Nav Hoist system and hung from 10 half-ton chain hoists, the elements featu

UK - White Light was recently chosen to supply lighting equipment and solutions for the Journey and Whitesnake 2013 UK Arena Tour. The widely popular bill featured the two superstar bands, along with musical guest Thunder, together in concert for the first time in the UK.

For the tour, which opened in Belfast and finished in London, White Light worked closely with production manager Rob Kern and lighting designer Kevin 'Deuce' Christopher, supplying a full production service including lighting fixtures, cabling, rigging, and power distribution.

The nine-venue tour in the UK is a continuation of Journey's worldwide tour with previous stops in North America, New Zealand, Japan, and Singapore earlier this year. Christopher, who has been the touring LD for Journey since 2004, worked with Lester Cobrin, head of concert touring at White Light, to accommodate the addition of double h

UK - Nick Gray of London-based creative visual design practice Renegade worked his lighting magic on the latest Eddie Izzard Force Majeure arena tour which has just finished an intensive three-month tour around the UK and Europe.

It's the first time that Gray - well known for his work in the fashion world and as LD for rockers Kasabian - has designed lighting for the 'surrealist' funny-man, a task on which he collaborated closely with Izzard's artistic director, Sarah Townsend.

The stylistic theme for the tour included flourishes of classic 1960s Avengers and Austin Powers, and another important aesthetic starting point was the large portrait format LED screen onstage.

This all needed careful and thoughtful lighting.

Gray wanted to introduce depth and architecture into the performance space and also make large arena spaces with one person onstage look and feel inter

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