Lighting

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30 August 2024

UK - LDR’s Lisa and Marco will be present at the trade show, thanks to the support of distributors Gobo Plus (Stand E80) and Prolight UK (Stand G28). They will be available to anyone who wishes to learn more about the new Astro Followspots or any other product showcased at the event.

“Our products, particularly the entire range of followspots, are considered the best in their specific category, and we are very keen to illustrate their excellent features and clearly explain the technical features,” says Lisa Papi, managing director of LDR. For this reason, we always strive to be present at significant events.”

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29 August 2024

UK - A new partnership has been announced by lighting designers Ross Chapple and Nick Jevons. Auratecture brings together the combined creative talent of these two lighting and production designers to offer a “design house” with a bold artistic vision for clients seeking “dynamic, unique, and innovative lighting and stage concepts”.

“We have a historical friendship stretching back over a decade, during which time we have admired each other’s creativity and work ethos. Our individual artistic visions are contrasting yet complementary, and we felt the time was right to bring our thinking, skills and resources together to build something really special – a design partnership where our creativity could nurture exciting new collaborations,” explains Jevons.

“Nick and I are both musically driven people,” expands Chapple. “Creating imp

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29 August 2024

Europe - Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres world tour has received widespread acclaim since launching in 2022, not only for the band’s celebrated music and engaging onstage presence, but also for their efforts in ushering in a new era of sustainable touring. Award-winning lighting designer Sooner Routhier has been working with Coldplay since 2019 and, keeping with the environmental ethic, she chose to light the shows using greener, more eco-friendly fixtures. The lighting vendor for the tour is a long-time partner, Upstaging.

Routhier’s original tour design launched in 2022 in support of the Music of the Spheres album, and the band is continuing the current stadium tour with the same design. For this summer’s European leg, which launched on 8 June at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, she was looking for the most effective way to add a se

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29 August 2024

Romania - The Sibiu International Theatre Festival, which is put on by The National Theatre Radu Stanca Sibiu, has just celebrated its 31st year.

This year the June festival featured indoor and outdoor theatre, music and dance, as well as street acts, and drew more than 100,000 international visitors who enjoyed over 830 performances, involving 5,000 artists from 82 nations. Among those performers was American actor John Malkovich, César Award-winning French actress Isabelle Adjani, and Romanian theatre director Silviu Purcărete.

Adding to the magic of the 2024 edition of the festival, which was built around the theme of ‘friendship’, was a massive collection of over 250 Chauvet Professional fixtures supplied and installed by Andrei Popea and his team at Backstage Production Group.

The Backstage team deployed 106 of these fixtures, as w

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29 August 2024

Germany - Open Beatz is the largest open-air festival for electronic music in southern Germany and attracts tens of thousands of visitors to the 50-hectare site in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, every year.

Performers on the five creatively designed stages in 2024 included Afrojack, Nicky Romero, Felix Jaehn, Lilly Palmer, and many more. Eventures GmbH was responsible for the lighting, sound, and video equipment on the three largest stages. Tobias Reinartz (visualprime) was responsible for the lighting design, working with the new Cameo Oron H2 Hybrid Phosphor Laser Moving Heads for the first time.

The Oron H2, which Eventures sourced entirely from NicLen’s dry hire stock, was the central element of the lighting design this year. “The Oron H2 is the brightest and most powerful beam moving head I’ve seen to date,” says Reinartz. “It offers everyth

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29 August 2024

Germany - For more than 20 years, the Airbeat One festival has entertained fans with the harder side of electronic music with an event that features cutting-edge stage design, epic light shows and leading international DJs. 

Airbeat One 2024 was recently held at Flugplatz Neustadt-Glewe, where lighting designer Christopher Rostalski, CEO of CR Lichtdesign, used 130 Claypaky Tambora Linear 100 LED pixel-mapping bars designed for versatile lighting effects and artistic set decoration. 

The annual event is one of the largest EDM festivals in Germany, drawing some 100,000 visitors. Every year has a different country theme with France being highlighted in 2024, and the stage designs and presentation of the festival reflecting that choice: the main stage was a faithful replica of the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre in Paris.

Rostalski selected 130

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29 August 2024

Europe - Highlite has announced the expansion of the popular Infinity Raccoon Series with the introduction of four new members to the family: Raccoon P7/7, Raccoon Junior P4/7, Raccoon Junior P7/4, Raccoon S420/4 and Raccoon W40/4.

Designed to meet the demanding requirements of high-end lighting applications, the Infinity Raccoon Series offers “unparalleled performance, advanced control options and rugged IP65 construction, making it a serious contender for professionals in TV studios, theatres, museums and more”.

The Infinity Raccoon Series features meticulous attention to detail in colour calibration, advanced control features and robust build quality. Each fixture in the range offers a wealth of features designed to deliver exceptional lighting experiences, setting new standards for the industry.

The series has been intelligently struc

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29 August 2024

UK - ETC Ltd has announced the newest addition to its growing sales force with Joe McDonald joining as field project coordinator for the UK and Ireland. In his new role, Joe will be managing sales projects and building customer and end user relationships across the country. He will support regional sales manager Jeremy Roberts and associate regional sales manager Matt Cowles in working with ETC’s dealers, distributors, and customers.

McDonald previously worked as assistant head of lighting at Curve Theatre in Leicester where he gained in-depth knowledge and insight on ETC’s equipment and how best to use the products to meet the needs of the shows. Over a number of years his experience led him to work as a production electrician for the theatre’s own shows such as A Chorus Line (UK tour) and Evita. McDonald has also worked on musical p

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28 August 2024

Europe - Neg Earth supremo Dave Ridgway came to the assistance of creative director and lighting designer Terry Cook when he was seeking the kind of raw power from a new-generation washlight that audiences at an AC/DC show might expect.

“It needed to be bright, versatile, bold and strong,” says the designer, one of three partners at Woodroffe Bassett Design (WBD). And so Ridgway recommended GLP’s impression X5 IP Maxx, promptly arranging a shoot-out. Terry Cook’s conclusion: “It brought meanness, real character and was unapologetically angry. It was definitely an AC/DC light,” he states. “We have history of embracing new technology on AC/DC tours and the Power Up tour was no different.”

At the same time, he noted a further advantage: the fixture’s IP rating. In fact, its waterproof qualities would prove vital during the tou

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28 August 2024

The DALI Alliance has announced that the annual DALI Alliance Lighting Awards are officially open for 2024, including a number of new categories. This is part of a refresh of the renowned awards to better recognise diverse innovations and applications from across the lighting industry. Interested participants have until 7 October 2024 to make their submissions.

The traditional application categories have been consolidated to a list of five awards: Residential, Commercial Interior, Commercial Exterior, Industrial & Infrastructure, and Horticulture. Alongside the updated application categories this year’s DALI Lighting Awards will include the following innovation categories:

Best Use of D4i: Recognising innovative applications of DALI D4i technology in lighting systems, including enhanced data communication, energy management, and advanced control capabi

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28 August 2024

Europe - Riku Kauppinen, director of business development for MA Lighting, died on 16 August. He was 52 and had been battling cancer. MA Lighting paid tribute:

“It is with profound sorrow that we announce the passing of Riku Mikael Kauppinen, who died peacefully on Friday, 16 August 2024, at the age of 52, after a courageous battle with cancer. Riku was surrounded by his family and friends at the time of his passing.

Riku was a highly respected and beloved figure in the lighting industry, known for his innovative approach, technical expertise, and unwavering passion for his work. Riku held a Master of Arts in Theatre and Drama with a specialisation in Lighting Design from the Theatre Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki. His education and early experiences shaped him into a leader who was not only skilled but deeply connected to the art a

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27 August 2024

France - Creative design practice Concept K employed 100 Elation SŌL I blinders at the Solidays Festival in Paris at the end of June, one of the first uses in Europe of the creative blinder and effect light. Lighting supply was by Dushow, a festival provider for many years, with lighting design by Frédéric ‘Aldo’ Fayard of Concept K.

Solidays is an annual music festival held at the Longchamp Racecourse in Paris. Organised by Solidarité sida, it brings together more than 150 artists and 170,000 festival-goers for three days with proceeds going to organisations fighting HIV/AIDS.

Aldo, founder and artistic director of Concept K, used the SŌL I blinders to artfully adorn the festival’s main stage, commenting: “Lighting designers have been looking for a source capable of replacing the FL650 and the SŌL I from Elation is the answer to this r

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27 August 2024

USA - LightParts, the parts and repair source for entertainment lighting, is celebrating surviving for 20 years in the entertainment lighting business. And a pandemic too!

LightParts was founded in 2004 by Don Pugh and Robert Mokry as the worldwide support centre for High End Systems’ legacy products like Intellabeam and Emulator. Industry support and demand quickly led to support for most all major entertainment lighting products.

In 2018, LightParts introduced its line of metal halide lamps, then expanded into tungsten lamps like the discontinued Strand Leko lamp. In response to customer requests LightParts started selling new, manufacturer B stock and used gear, all with warranty.

Robert Mokry of LightParts comments: “We’d like to thank our customers, our fantastic staff, past and present, along our supplier partners for making Light

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27 August 2024

USA - Electricity was in the air (quite literally) on 11 July, as fans made their way to Ruoff Music Centre in Noblesville to attend the second show in the I Prevail-Halestorm co-headline 24-city summer tour. The display of light overhead matched the mood. All this was the result of a violent storm blowing across the Midwest that delayed the start of the show by 90 minutes.

When fans finally made their way into the 24,000-capacity amphitheatre, just north of Indianapolis, the vibe was just as kinetic, and the lightshow on stage gave Mother Nature’s lightning a run for its money. A dynamic design by Chris Denholm featured 40 Chauvet Professional Color Strike M motorised strobe-washes from PGP.

Denholm worked on his design with Mathes Kuhn who designed the Halestorm floor package and co-programmed their show with Rodger Pugh, Anthony Tran who did mos

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23 August 2024

UK - ETC will be returning to Olympia London for the 2024 edition of the PLASA Show from 1-3 September. On stand B29, visitors will be able to explore the company’s latest lighting solutions and technologies and receive expert advice from ETC specialists about upgrading their venue to LED.

This year at PLASA, ETC’s stand will feature a systems corner with specialist staff on hand to help answer any questions about upgrading to LED. Visitors are encouraged to bring details on their venue’s technical requirements to get tailored advice from ETC’s team. Whether it is advice on upgrading power and data infrastructure to support LED, how to phase transitions to get the most out the budget, or advice on what fixtures suit the installation, ETC’s experts will be available to help.

ETC will also be hosting a seminar on the Balance of Power

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23 August 2024

Germany -This summer, the Großer Sendesaal of Hessischer Rundfunk witnessed a special performance. In the Lorenz Foundation’s inclusive dance project Babylon: Miteinander Reden ist Gold, 150 people - professionals and amateurs, people with and without disabilities - took to the stage and demonstrated what can happen when people come together without boundaries: participation for all, enjoyment of art and a strong sense of community.

Working closely together, all those involved created an extraordinary live experience with powerful images and stirring music - supported by the technical team from eCon GmbH and a sound and lighting setup from LD Systems and Cameo.

Babylon: Miteinander Reden ist Gold (talking to one another is golden) tells an old biblical story, adapted to the challenges of modern times: a lack of understan

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23 August 2024

UK - Elation will feature the latest live entertainment technology on Stand C26 at the upcoming PLASA Show at Olympia. Elation’s team of experts will be on hand to provide demonstrations and insights into the advanced features and versatile capabilities of its latest fixtures.

Highlights in the market-leading Proteus series of multi-environmental luminaires include the Proteus Odeon, a framing profile fixture with industry-first TruTone technology. TruTone is a variable CRI system that allows for custom selection of the best blend of light output and colour accuracy and is seamlessly adjustable from CRI 70 to CRI 93. With CRI adjustable from a single fixture, the Odeon caters to a wide range of applications, but designers do not require multiple fixture variants to achieve accurate colour representation.

The Proteus Atlas IP66 Beam FX with Solid-St

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23 August 2024

Europe - Kyle Evans has joined Robe’s creative team, which is led by Nathan Wan. Evans will be working as junior lighting and media programmer alongside Wan and the current team of Jordan Tinniswood and Andy Webb. He will generally be assisting wherever needed, including console configuration, programming, creating Capture previsualisation models, and many other tasks including as in-house AI wrangler.

Evans will also be working worldwide with Robe’s Theatre Workshop as a systems tech, as well as sharing support duties at Robe HQ’s showroom in the Czech Republic.

His first live events experience was at Coleg Cambria’s Yale site where he studied backstage theatre production, after which he went to university at The Academy of Live Technology in Production Park, Wakefield, studying live event production and specialising in lighting design and p

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22 August 2024

Germany - Nature One is an established festival for techno, house, trance, hardstyle and all other varieties of electronic dance music. In 2024, tens of thousands of EDM fans again flocked to the Pydna Kastellaun missile base to party for three days with the scene’s best DJs.

Much of the special atmosphere at Nature One is thanks to its main stage. Here, visitors don’t just dance in front of the stage, but in the middle of an elaborate truss construction with numerous light and video elements. Marek Papke from Gerdon Design has been responsible for the stage, lighting and content design for the main stage for many years and once again relied on the IP65 lights from Cameo this year.

“I’m always amazed at how easily the Otos H5 survives an outdoor techno festival lasting several days,” says Marek Papke, impressed by the IP65 beam-spot-wash hy

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22 August 2024

USA - After more than 40 sold-out headlining shows in 2023, country music superstar Jason Aldean extended his Highway Desperado Tour with a lighting system from long-time vendor, Bandit Lites.

For the tour, named after Aldean’s 11th studio album, lighting designer Matthieu Larivée of Luz Studio wanted to avoid LED and instead focus on warm looks. “The start of the design was the band layout and riser fascia,” he said. “I like to get bright fascias for the focus of the band and the background of the pictures for socials.”

Larivée sought fixtures that would be able to provide colour washes as well as dynamic effects (noting the high-octane nature of Aldean’s concerts).

Bandit Lites supplied more than 250 fixtures including Ayrton Khamsin-S, Chauvet Maverick Storm 2 BeamWashes, Chauvet Color Strike M, Elation CuePix WW2, E

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21 August 2024

Italy - Max Pezzali's first real stadium tour in over 30 years of his career, Max Forever, sold out across all venues, drawing fans of all ages eager to sing along.

The 10-date tour was a nostalgic journey through time, uniting different generations with the trends of the 1990s. The former 883 frontman performed over 30 songs, including timeless hits, rarities and his new single, released a few months ago after a four-year hiatus.

All the visual elements created a nostalgic, celebratory atmosphere, highlighting the milestones of Pezzali's career.

Jordan Babev from Blearred Milano, the studio which dealt with the show's lighting design, shared his insights:

“For us, it was a great opportunity, which we seized immediately. We have always had great confidence in Claypaky lights, and they did not disappoint this time either, on

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21 August 2024

The Netherlands - Patronaat is a live music venue in Haarlem, just outside capital city Amsterdam, and one of the music hotspots of the northern Netherlands, with two busy live performance halls and a small stage/club operating over weekend nights. Music fans can enjoy a lively mix of rock and pop shows, plus club nights as well as more diverse music-based festival events.

The venue has featured a Robe moving light rig in-house since 2012, which has been very successful and also upgraded in recent years to include some of the newest Robe technologies. The most recent addition to the inventory is 36 x TetraX 360-degree rotating LED battens to the inventory, which are primarily being used in the 950-capacity main hall.

Head of lighting Robin van der Plas explained how they were initially looking at LEDBeam 350s, but then saw the TetraXs and thought the

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21 August 2024

UK - The Hilton London Olympia is just around the corner from the Olympia Events convention centre. There, ChamSys will be conducting a series of learning sessions in the Warwick and Napier Rooms during the first two days of the three-day show.

The sessions will cover a variety of topics, from an introduction to MagicQ, to a guide to achieving faster programming with Group Cues and Group FX, as well as learning experiences with guest LDs like David Howard and Simon Horn. Some sessions will involve a nominal fee but will provide gift bags that include a MagicDMX worth £15. For a complete training session schedule and registration form, click here.

Visitors at the events centre are also invited to see ChamSys at Booth D10 to get hands-on experience with th

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20 August 2024

Portugal - Rock in Rio Lisbon 2024 marked the festival's first edition at the newly inaugurated Parque Tejo. The two-weekend extravaganza, held on 15-16 June and 22-23 June, featured Ed Sheeran, Scorpions, Evanescence, Europe, Calum Scott, and Jonas Brothers.

With the opening of Parque Tejo, which debuted during the World Youth Day in 2023, the festival needed a lighting design that could match the venue's state-of-the-art infrastructure. Enter Woodroffe Bassett Design. WBD is no stranger to Rock in Rio, having been involved as the main lighting designers since the festival's inception.

The design team included Terry Cook, John Coman, and Aiden Bromley of WBD. The lighting team in Portugal consisted of Pixel Light as their main suppliers, with Ramiro Martins, a renowned Portuguese lighting designer, acting as the bridge between WBD, Pixel Light, and