He has just concluded the first leg in small town venues (named Piccole Città after an old song by Luciano). It consisted of a series of concerts that were in some ways "back-to-basics". It was a way of re-establishing a more direct contact between the artist and his audience, and it was no coincidence that day one of the tour took place in Correggio.
VGL was founded 21 years ago and already represents several premium brands including Grass Valley, Telestream, Rohde & Schwarz, L-Acoustics... and now Robe.
With world leading audio brands like Avid and L-Acoustics already on-board, VGL wanted to be able to offer its clients lighting of a similar quality and calibre as part of a complete technical solution, and were looking for the right brand with which to partner.
Guillermo Traverso, Robe's regional sales manager for Latin America explained that this project started at the end of last year when several professional audio colleagues offered high level references for VGL.
"Then we discussed VGL's Daniel Vinagre's business vision of expansion - keeping in mind all the risks this takes in the very competi
The IIFA Awards is a week filled with events based on Indian film, fashion, music, business, and culture, with the climax being the IIFA Award ceremony. The weekend is typically as big as Super Bowl weekend, drawing in 30,000 or more visitors, and the ceremony being broadcasted to 600 million viewers in 108 countries. It showcases the elite Bollywood 'Royalty', with this year featuring Hollywood actors as well, includ
The 13 episode show - presented by sports commentator Marcel Merciak and currently being broadcast on RTVS1 - sees the wits and knowledge of three celebrities and 200 students in the studio pitted against one another during knock-out rounds and then the finalists competing for money. The unique twist is that the watching public can also join in to the action via a smartphone app ... also potentially winning prize money.
The set was a combination of high tech and traditional elements, with a large central LED screen surrounded by multiple LED screen panels flanked by scenic book-backs. This was designed
Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis says, "[Metallica] wanted to play for a long, long time and they're one of the most amazing rock bands in the world, everywhere I go people say 'When are Metallica going to play?' I said, 'They will be here one day' and this is their time now...We've done it before (with Rage Against the Machine in 1994). People think that we're prone to have Radiohead and Coldplay and Oasis but when we had Jay Z a few years ago, people said he wasn't a Glastonbury act but we have al
Dave Keighley, chief operating officer/executive vice president sales, said this anniversary year at the company has come with a "fantastic start". Along with a slate of high-profile events and concert tours, Syncrolite is expanding in all the right ways.
"Since January 2013, we've expanded the management team and now it's logical to expand our sales efforts," Keighley said.
To meet the demand for their large format lighting products, Syncrolite is partnering with Greg Smith at ArcLight FX in Burbank, California, for an equipment depot.
"We already have a product depot to make equipment available on the East Coast with Brad Hafer at Atomic Lighting in Lititz, Pennsylvania.
Lighting designer Scott Huston obtained a dozen B-EYEs from Main Light Industries, Inc. in Wilmington, Delaware, which he counts on for "always having the latest and greatest - they let me know when they have cool stuff and have a good sense of what I can use. I'm really interested in checking out new technology."
Huston positions eight B-EYEs on four truss towers and four more on the stage. "They have an amazing output," he says. "That 4º fat beam is very impressive."
Huston was looking for a moving light that offers a direct view effect. "I didn't want to have a videowall, but I wanted to do a direct view effec
Founded 18 years ago, the company started purchasing from the Chinese manufacturer five years ago. "We liked the quality and price of the products, with features similar to the top European brands," said MOS director, Hussain Faizal. "We always receive great after sales service and a quick response to any questions."
Consequently, when they were contracted by event management company, Wizcraft Colombo, to provide a technical infrastructure (including rigging) for the 4000 fans who attended the Yanni show at Sugadathasa Indoor Stadium they were able to dip heavily into their PR Lighting hire fleet. This now
Located in the central business district of Singapore, the convention centre recently underwent a massive renovation that included an advanced LED lighting solution for the centre's fourth level. Suntec Singapore originally had a different plan in mind, however, when Bo Steiber Lighting Design introduced Suntec Singapore to Martin Professional VC-Dot 1, the project took a different, positive turn.
Suntec Singapore takes pride in being an industry pioneer by using cutting-edge technology to improve business and minimize its carbon footprint for both Suntec Singapore and its clients. For the level 4 modernization, Suntec Singapore sought to change the way atte
"I decided wherever possible in retail to stay away from discharge lamps. For the H&M store, I needed an LED-based spot fixture and chose to use the Platinum Spot LED II," Levy says of the efficient LED-based colour and effect spot moving head.
Levy created an all-white moving light grid with custom-painted white Platinum Spot LED II units. "They are sending moving beams around the store all day long, creating energy and excitement for shoppers as they enter," he explains. "The idea is that the store
The venue's previous lighting system was installed in 1992, but after 20 years of service, the theatre had trouble with its control desk, transformers needed replacement, and the power supply in its 140 dimmers no longer worked and couldn't be serviced. Staff began looking at new solutions, and considered three different systems: conventional (tungsten) only; hybrid (both tungsten and LEDs); or all-LED.
They worked with ETC dealer Musson Theatrical, got support from ETC representative Wunder Lighting and Controls, did cost analyses, tried out a lot of different equipment and assessed the needs
The AsteraApp can be downloaded from the Astera website for free, and then installed on any Bluetooth-enabled Android device (optimized for 1024x600 and 1280x800 resolutions). Users should then link their Android tablet or phone to the AsteraBox to initiate control. Acting as the middleman, the AsteraBox receives commands from the user's tablet via Bluetooth, an
It's the first time that Oliver - whose other current clients include Plan B, Chvrches and Five Seconds of Summer who just hit number one in the UK charts - has worked on a full production tour with HSL as a supplier. His account was project managed by the inimitable Mike Oates.
Oliver discussed various visual concepts ahead of the tour with tour manager Mike Finn and the bands documentary videographer Tom Welsh. The band wanted a 'video look' to the stage, and as Oliver wanted to make a bit of a statement with this, they decided to go for a high-impact upstage screen, ch
Established in 2013, SYMPH Electronics is a young company with a passion for modern electronics and specializes both in the development, implementation, testing and maintenance of electronic products for its partners in the industry. As a secondary activity, SYMPH Electronics also provides repair and service of a wide variety of manufacturers products.
Commenting on the partnership, LumenRadio's sales & marketing manager Jessica Björk says, "We are very excited to partner with SYMPH Electronics, a company that shares our vision and desire to achieve products and services of exceptional quality. We believe in their strong commitment and their great knowledge of the market."
SYMPH Ele
The Johannesburg gig was staged in the 2,800 capacity Centre Court venue at Emperor's Palace Casino, Kempton Park, with Kevin Stannett from Crosslight asked to light the show by promoters AfroAsia Events.
Although Kevin - also the regular LD at Emperor's Palace - had last year specified 12 Robe Robin DLX LED Spots for their main venue, for concerts in the arena there is a bare stage, so all technical production has to be outsourced. For this show, lighting kit was supplied by Pan Tilt Lighting run by Kurt Du Preez.
Four 15m wide trusses were installed overhead and four upright trussing sections were positioned onstage behind th
With increased sales and product recognition, Robe's goal is to provide clients with first-rate technical support as the company continues to expand.
Gumbs was most recently with Martin Professional for nearly 14 years, where he started out as bench technician and soon specialized in lighting console and PCB repairs. As a member of the technical support and training team, Gumbs has extensive industry experience and is excited to be joining the Robe family.
"This is an awesome opportunity for me to be part of something great that is happening within this Industry." Gumbs said. "I'm very happy to be here at
Featuring many of today's top artists performing songs made famous by the seven-time GRAMMY Award-winning group, the production also included footage from that landmark Sunday evening along with various presenters discussing the worldwide impact of The Beatles. Behind the scenes, it was designer Matt Firestone who was charged with bringing the events lighting to life while working on an extremely tight production schedule; which he did relying on VL3500 Wash, VL3000 Spot and VL3500 Spot luminaires from Philips Vari-Lite.
"For the production, we mainly needed both backlight and a floor package that could compete against the large video wall
Prolific award winning lighting designer, Gurdip Mahal, was tasked with providing a stand out lighting design for the show, which was watched by more than 3m viewers across the UK. Mahal opted for the high-impact effect of the Clay Paky Sharpy in order to deliver a strong rock concert style atmosphere.
"When I set out to design Big Brother my brief was to make it look like a enormous and exciting outdoor event - a cross between a live concert and a TV show," Mahal explains. "I needed lights that would cut through the ambient lighting and be bright enough to make a dramatic impact outside. The Clay Paky Sharpys fitted the bill perfectly."
Mahal used 32 Clay Paky Sh
The multi-purpose venue, which hosts a variety of events including theatre, live shows, congresses and town hall meetings, needed to upgrade its audio system. The house engineer specified a digital console with recording capabilities that would be practical and flexible.
"After installation, feedback from the engineer was that there was a great improvement in sound quality and all the staff were very impressed with how easy it was to operate," comments Marcos de Matos from Allen & Heath's Portuguese distributor, Avitel. "The house engineer was also very impressed with how practical setup was, and as they host a lot of outdoor shows, t
By specifying the multipurpose Flares, lighting designer Nick Whitehouse reduced the overall fixture count for the tour, saving space, energy, labor, and freight, while at the same time gaining features and improved performance! Positioned on the stage, back wall, and overhead, the compact Flares can be used where conventional lights will not fit, e.g. hidden in the stage and other tight spots. The Flares were provided by Solotech of Montreal and Las Vegas.
"We tested the Flares on the JT-JayZ promo tour and loved the output and features," says Whitehouse. "Having used them to light the audience in entire stadiums, I knew they
The band's established lighting designer, Cormac Jackson helped to develop their artistic vision involving a different way video can light the stage. Production manager, Bob O'Brien approached long time friend Mark O'Herlihy of PRG Nocturne to supply the video and custom designed products for the creative video solution.
As on previous tours Franz Ferdinand show their personality by using various production elements. For this tour they chose to experiment with the way they use video on stage. There were three custom-fabricated screens made of a reflective UV material, Mark refers to them as almost like "rotating, vertical, venetian blinds". These were the main target for the projectors to hit. Adding to these reflecting screens, the backline amps were also covered with
The 'prize' was coordinated by the National's head of lighting resources, Huw Llewellyn - and a pair of SGM's G-Spot LED all-weather spots were ready to test the creative abilities of the fortunate students - selected by Llewellyn and provided by SGM UK.
The students were given advanced training to allow them to gain a more in depth understanding of the software used to light the iconic theatre on London's South Bank before being given full creative rein, as they lit up the Theatre nightly between 26 April and 2 May - in three-minute sequences starting at sunset.
Huw Llewellyn first saw the G-Spot immersed in wat
The 10 'final' performance episodes this year involve seven hand-picked choirs performing several different pieces of work each week. The show is being recorded in the Victory Theatre, Orange Grove, Johannesburg and is broadcast twice weekly by Mzansi Magic. It is again expected to be one of the 'most watched' series on SA television and highlights the country's propensity for vocal talent.
Lighting for this year's show is a co-design between Peter Rieck - who did the first series - and Ryan Lombard, both of whom specified the Robe Robin MMX Spots and Robin LEDBeam 100s.
The Victory Theatre, built in 1929 is a
The EDM extravaganza, headlined by Dutch producer and überstar Tiësto, was the eighth international edition of the festival and its first South African incarnation, with the chaos kicking off in Cape Town before moving on to Johannesburg. Fireworks for Africa teamed up with Yeatman to create explosive visual spectaculars that pumped up the party animal audiences, with Yeatman's Avolites Tiger Touch console as the control system.
The awesome pyro displays included the use of 12 Channel Red Back Dimmers for controllable hot power channels to trigger the CO2 jets and Stadium Shot streamer canons and the 6m flame units come
tn.jpg "The same in-house team that has built the company's locations in Las Vegas, Nashville and New York will set up the Chicago location")
