Italy - Elisa's L'anima vola (my soul flies) tour is a three-hour-plus marathon, during which the Italian singer-songwriter entertains her audience with the naturalness she has got us used to. It is a sort of long journey that covers all stages of her career, from her début in English and her victory at the Sanremo Music Festival, right up to her total conversion to the Italian language, which features throughout her latest CD.

Elisa is one of the few artists who love to supervise the whole design and creative process involved in artistic/musical projects. She came up with the original tour concept and then handed it over to a well-established creative team, consisting of lighting and show designer Mamo Pozzoli, set designer Igor Ronchese, and artistic director Mauro Simionato, with Edit Art in charge of the visual art.

The stage looks deceptively simple and uncluttered

Europe - 'Striking, stylish and slightly strange' are the words that established lighting designer Rob Sinclair uses to describe his eerie lighting design for musical duo Goldfrapp's latest tour. Similar words could also describe the effects that he gets from the Philips Showline SL NITRO 510 strobe luminaires, which Sinclair has specified to deliver cinematic, crisp, cross stage washes alongside stark, ice white strobe effects.

Inspired by the 'film noir' artistry of Goldfrapp's latest album Tales of Us, Sinclair's high contrast lighting design uses 10 x Philips Showline SL NITRO 510's to create unadulterated up-lit washes and acid-flash strobe effects that accompany some of the band's most haunting tracks.

"We worked hard to create a lighting design that would complement Alison Goldfrapp's double exposure photography, which is currently used as the artwork for th

The Show Goes On - AC/DC have said they will not retire following news that guitarist and founding member Malcolm Young is taking a break "due to ill health". It had been rumoured the Australian band would split after a career spanning more than 40 years. However, a statement on AC/DC's website confirmed: "The band will continue to make music."

The band are one of the highest-grossing rock acts of all time, selling more than 200m albums. A message on the band's website confirmed that Young would be taking a break after "forty years of life dedicated to AC/DC", but did not reveal details of his illness.

On Tape - One in 10 young people has bought a music cassette tape in the last month, a new survey done to coincide with Record Store Day suggests. The research suggests that physical formats are still more popular than digital downloads. In t

UK - Commissioned by the National Trust, designer Mike Blacker of East Grinstead- based Blacker Design was asked to mastermind a refurbishment plan for lighting in the museum area of Bateman's - for over 30 years from 1902, the home of author Rudyard Kipling, near Burwash in the Sussex Weald.

Bateman's is now dedicated to the memories of Kipling's life and work. When Blacker Design needed a neat, energy efficient lighting solution to complete the modernisation of a number of period exhibition display cases in one of the upstairs rooms ... they approached Hastings based lighting specialist CLD Distribution for assistance.

The collaboration saw CLD design and install a bespoke slimline warm white LED strip, made from Osram LEDs into each of the cabinets of varying sizes. This illuminates the contents in a fabulous crisp, clear high CRI lightsource that looks really natural and i

UK - As PLASA Focus: Leeds 2014 fast approaches, exhibitors are preparing to fill the show floor with the latest entertainment technology. Having grown its reputation over the last five years, the north of England edition of PLASA Focus has cemented its importance in the industry as a platform for building relationships and showcasing new products.

Chris Toulmin, director of PLASA Events, comments, "We're looking forward to welcoming exhibitors and visitors to both exhibition halls, as well as to the extensive seminar programme. The show is known for its vibrant atmosphere and with such a strong line-up of exhibitors, showcasing so many innovative products, we're certain that legacy will continue."

On Tuesday 29 and Wednesday 30 April, The Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, UK will come alive with the latest audio, lighting, video and rigging technologies. With the sho

UK - The ETC's Source Four LED Series 2 luminaire, ETC Source Four Mini LED fixtures and ETC Nomad lighting control, along with SmartPack ThruPower products, are set feature at this year's PLASA Focus Leeds show (New Dock Hall, stand number C06).

The Source Four LED Series 2 fixture were first seen in public at Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt, where they got a great reception. ETC fixtures product manager Jim Uphoff and his colleagues were busy throughout the show giving demonstrations on the new luminaires and their incredible output. By adding lime green emitters, the gaps in the visual spectrum are evened out, which means that a greater range of colours and more powerful output are achievable.

The Source Four Mini LED is now available in addition to the tungsten version of the Source Four Mini and provides greater energy efficiency for lighting architectural details and in si

South Africa - DWR Distribution is to host an Avolites User Training Course for operators of Titan One, Titan Mobile and Tiger Touch consoles.

The three day course, from beginners to advanced training, will be presented by Nick Britz from DWR.

The dates are: Johannesburg (6 - 8 May), DWR, Block C, Unit 1, Kimbult Industrial Park, 9 Zeiss Road, Laserpark, Honeydew; Durban (13 - 15 May), Vineyard Church, 22 Salisbury Road, Durban, and Cape Town (20 - 22 May) DWR, Unit 74D, Platinum Junction Business Park, Marconi Beam, Milnerton, Cape Town.

Delegates are requested to bring their own console and a laptop. The cost is R2250.00 - delegates will be requested to pay a 50% deposit to secure their booking.

www.dwrdistribution.co.za

(Jim Evans)

USA - Combining technology from Elation Professional's successful Platinum and Rayzor series of professional moving heads comes the Rayzor Beam 2R, a small and speedy beam luminaire with an intense and extremely narrow long-throw beam for spectacular mid-air looks and effects.

The Rayzor Beam 2R houses the powerful yet efficient 132W Platinum 2R lamp with high precision reflector for a bright, compact and efficient light beam. Its sharp and ultra-narrow 3-degree beam is powerful enough to work alongside larger fixtures and won't get lost in ambient lighting from LED backdrops.

Capable of projecting 49,470 Lux @ 42.9' (15m), light output is comparable to an MSD lamp of 300W for an energy savings of more than 50%. Average lamp life is 6,000 hours in an energy efficient package that consumes a maximum of 210W.

The Rayzor Beam 2R punches out a variety of colours and effects usin

USA - When Pollstar announced the ticket sales for the first quarter of 2014, the number one most attended concert wasn't a pop star or a rock god, but instead a tour that makes ministry its main focus. The Winter Jam Tour Spectacular, or Winter Jam as it is popularly known, just capped off its most successful year ever, with more attendees than ever before and included performances by NewSong, Newsboys, Lecrae, Tenth Avenue North, Thousand Foot Krutch and Plumb.

Bandit Lites worked with production manager and lighting designer Jerry Holcomb to illuminate the event.

"I tried to create an in the round end stage design, trying to leave as much line if sight as possible," explained Holcomb. "I used one 60ft diameter circle truss, but I broke it into several sections and flew them at different heights. Because all the trusses were covered in LED strips on both the f

UK / USA - Raising money for industry charities both sides of the Atlantic, By Design Day returns this year supported by a galaxy of well-known champions.

Neil Austin; Gregg Barnes; Ken Billington; Paule Constable; Rick Fisher; Wendall Harrington; Howard Harrison; Don Holder; David Korins; Rob Milburn & Michael Bodeen; Ken Posner; Jennifer Tipton; and Hugh Vanstone have all put their name behind the one day in the year when our industry gets together to raise money for Light Relief in the UK and Behind The Scenes in North America.

To date Light Relief has awarded more than £60,000 in grants to help lighting professionals and their families, while Behind the Scenes has issued over $450,000 in grants to professionals working in all disciplines. And calls for our assistance are increasing on a daily basis. Without your support, our work would not be possible.

By Design Da

South Africa - A Robe MiniMe starred alongside Scrooge, played by Marc Lottering, in Lara Foot's adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol held at the Baxter Theatre, which forms part of the University of Cape Town.

On a visit to Johannesburg, Patrick Curtis, production manager at the Baxter Theatre Centre, enquired about a fixture that would assist him to create a phantom effect. "I asked Rob Izzett from DWR Distribution what I could use to project a ghost-like image that could move around the set," explained Curtis. "He suggested the MiniMe which at that stage had not yet arrived in South Africa."

Curtis felt this was a very well-priced moving head projector compared to the larger, more powerful units already in the Robe armoury.

The unit arrived days before the set-up, and with the assistance of Gerda and Philip Kruger, lighting designer

UK - The latest products from Philips Entertainment's premier brands - Selecon, Showline, Strand Lighting, and Vari-Lite - will make their UK debut at PLASA Focus, Leeds, stand NA-12 from 29-30 April.

Showline is exhibiting a plethora of new products. The SL NITRO 510C follows on the success of the original SL NITRO 510 LED strobe. The SL NITRO 510C LED strobe adds full RGBW capabilities into the same compact size luminaire while maintaining similar massive output, multiple zone control and continuous-on abilities.

Also debuting in the UK is the Showline SL WASH 350, a compact moving washlight with three independent zones of homogenized RGBW control. In addition, budget minded projects will appreciate the new SL ePAR 180 and SL eSTROBE 130. These two luminaires offer high output and innovative features in a compact size.

Philips Selecon premieres the LED RAMA Fresnel, which

UK - West London UK based lighting and visuals rental specialist Colour Sound Experiment has invested in nearly 100 new Robe lighting fixtures for its upcoming summer season including 60 multi-purpose Robe Robin Pointe luminaires ... in readiness for a mega busy summer season ahead.

Last year Colour Sound supplied lighting production, LED screens, LED festoon lighting and crew to over 50 festivals and music events across the UK, and their 2014 summer season looks to be equally busy, kicking off at the end of May with We Are FSTVL in Upminster, east London.

Also included in the order with the 60 x Pointes were 16 x Robin MMX Spots and 16 x LEDWash 600s, together with four of Robe's award-winning Robin MiniMe effects units.

Colour Sound's Haydn Cruickshank (H) explains that the MMXs and LEDWash 600s were to top up their existing stocks of these workhorse products. With this la

UK - Some of R&B's most successful '90s artists were reunited at London's Wembley Arena in February for a mega-concert, lit by Tom Grant using Clay Paky Sharpys and Alpha Wash 700s.

The R&B Superstars show - which featured En Vogue, Blackstreet2 and Teddy Riley - offered up an evening of soul and smooth tunes in the capital's 12,500-capacity venue.

Birmingham-based DMX Productions managed the project, with support from LD Tom Grant who provided a high-impact, super-star style lighting design that reflected the size and popularity of the show and Siyan Ltd, which supplied the lighting equipment.

"I was tasked with designing a rig with considerable of depth and flexibility to it," explains Grant. "The show featured a sizeable number of acts. We also had a specific request from the organisers for the individual sets not to 'all look too similar'; I took the view

UK - Designed to meet the demands of concerts, theatrical productions, theme parks, film sets, photo shoots and safety training exercises, Rosco's new Vapour Series fog machines offer "the perfect balance of performance, durability and cost".

The Mini-V is the most affordable, professional-quality fog machine available. This compact machine delivers a powerful, solid, continuous stream of fog thanks to its hassle-free, simple controls and its energy-efficient, durable heat exchanger.

A revolution in fog technology, the Vapour Plus produces a massive blast of fog! Designed to fill large venues or create impressive CO2 like bursts of fog, the Vapour Plus is small enough to mount in box truss and power from a single mains circuit.

Whether you need to create a light haze for a theatrical production or a dense haze for a concert tour, Rosco's V-Hazer will produce the sm

UK - Entertainment lighting specialist White Light returns to the Royal Armouries in Leeds this month for the annual PLASA Focus exhibition April 29-30. On stand N-C24 in New Dock Hall, visitors will find the latest lighting and effects solutions including White Light exclusive products from manufacturers Altman Lighting, ArKaos Pro, Chromlech, CORE Lighting, Interactive Technologies, Look Solutions, LSC Lighting and Wireless Solution. White Light's display of products will focus on TV lighting, LED lighting, show control systems, and special effects equipment.

White Light staff will be on hand throughout the show to answer questions and offer advice about hire, sales, installation, and service for your production, tour, or venue. Visitors will also want to stop by the White Light stand to enter to win a new iPad Air courtesy of Wireless Solution - makers of W-DMX product line.

USA - Robe Robin Pointe moving lights hit new highs in a series of rooftop concerts at the 2014 South by Southwest (SXSW) music conference in Austin, Texas.

Felix Lighting of La Mirada, California, provided the Pointes for The Guitar Center Sessions at SXSW which took place in March. The event captured a series of incendiary live performances by Soundgarden, Snoop Dogg, Damon Albarn, Phantogram, The Wild Feathers and many more for exclusive future viewing on the Audience Channel.

The show's longtime lighting designer/director of photography, Victor Fable created the lighting design for the event.

Fable has been with The Guitar Center Sessions, which started in 2010, since the third episode. Once a year, the show travels from its Los Angeles home in the GC Hollywood Vintage Room to new locations, and this year's destination was the rooftop of the historic four-story Starr Bui

Italy - After years without shows and fairs devoted to the business, the Italian world of show technology can finally count on an event that brings together some of the most important international companies in the industry. Several of the top Italian companies in the fields of lighting, sound, video and rigging were at Live 2014, which took place at the Pala de André in Ravenna on 13 and 14 April. Among these, Clay Paky is definitely one of the most representative Italian brands in the world. It is the Italian company that has been setting the benchmark for show lighting technology for nearly 40 years.

LIVE has a special format that distinguishes it from all other international events. The companies showcase their technology in the most direct way possible: live on stage. Visitors have the chance to see and try out the technology on a real stage, with performing artists.

UK - MilTec (UK) Ltd will be showcasing a wide range of new products at PLASA Focus: Leeds. In addition to the usual stand in the New Dock Hall (NCO-7), the company will have a live demo room in the Holiday Inn Hotel next door. Demos will be running all day and will give visitors an opportunity to listen the successful Blakite range of speakers and to see a selection of LED lighting products.

The Blakite speakers were designed by MilTec and are built in the UK. Most are loaded with British drivers. New additions to the range are a compact stage wedge, loaded with a 12" neodymium driver and concentric HF horn, together with a 6" trapezoidal speaker for installations and small conference work.

The success of the speakers has inspired the company to expand the UK manufacturing base to include amplifiers and LED Lighting products.

The new amplifiers will all be class-D

Germany - LumenRadio reports that their new tiny innovation, the CRMXchip, is now fitted as standard in Astera's latest product, SpotMax, and their forthcoming products. The cooperation between LumenRadio and Astera got off to a flying start when SpotMax was launched in front of thousands of visitors during the recent Prolight+Sound Show in Frankfurt.

LumenRadio's CRMX technology is increasingly becoming a standard feature in professional fixtures; thanks to the cognitive coexistence technology and superb performance under the harsh conditions found in many show environments. Hanan Yariv, technical director at Astera explains, "We were very honoured to be one of LumenRadio's launch partners for the CRMXchip. LumenRadio and their CRMX technology have an outstanding reputation when it comes to reliability and performance and their features are truly state-of-the-art that are

UK - Power management specialist Eaton's lighting controls business will exhibit at PLASA Focus, Leeds 2014 for the first time as part of the Eaton group of companies.

Presented on Stands D10 & D12 in the Royal Armouries Hall will be a selection of innovative entertainment and architectural lighting control products. These will be primarily from its Zero 88 and Cogent Lighting ranges, alongside the latest technologies from distributed brands including DTS & LDR.

The latest SCD Server and SCD Server Pro will be highlighted. These stand-alone event replay / show controllers are designed for the control of sophisticated permanent lighting installations and also to run shows on building facades, theme parks and in landscaped environments etc.

The SCD Server family can also be used as a full tracking backup to any ZerOS lighting console including ORB and Solution series consoles.

UK - A.C. Special Projects (ACSP) Ltd. will be on hand at PLASA Focus, Leeds 2014 (stand N-E01) to discuss how they can provide bespoke integrated solutions of lighting, audio and AV equipment to the performance, architectural, educational, corporate and retail sectors - including the very latest technologies showcased on the adjacent stand of their sister company (AC-ET, stand N-E02).

The company's highly experienced Project Managers can handle all aspects of a project and have a diverse portfolio of previous client examples ranging from theatres to nightclubs and bars, restaurants, schools, houses of worship, cruise ships and live performance venues.

With access to over 200 leading brands, ACSP can cater for any size of installation from a simple six circuit lighting bar with dimming and control, to a full blown multi-media theatre system.

Staff will be happy to discuss th

UK - PLASA Focus: Leeds 2014 will throw open the doors of Leeds' Royal Armouries Museum this week, welcoming more than 150 exhibitors and a raft of expectant visitors. On Tuesday 29 and Wednesday 30 April, the picturesque, canal-side setting of Clarence Docks will be transformed into an entertainment technology showcase. The industry will be out in force, making the show a must-attend event for lighting, audio, video and rigging professionals, both in the north of England and beyond.

PLASA Focus: Leeds 2014 offers unparalleled access to the 150 companies on show and to its Professional Development Programme, which comprises free-to-attend seminars delivered by expert speakers. The show, which is celebrating its sixth birthday, has become known for its friendly, upbeat atmosphere and for its growing importance as a platform

UK - Black Light has announced that it has achieved certification for the ISO9001, ISO14001 and OHSAS 18001 quality, environmental and health and safety management standards. The company reached these milestones in March after a comprehensive process of auditing and assessment.

"These certification awards mean a great deal to us," says Barclay Dakers, who leads the integrated management team at Black Light. "They prove that we have the systems in place to deliver internationally-recognised levels of management in the areas covered by the standards."

"I never thought we would need to have ISO accreditation within Black Light and actually thought it would hurt us. Well I was wrong," says Black Light's managing director, Gavin Stewart. "Without it we would not be able to offer the same quality and personal service we used to provide when we were

Latest Issue. . .

Save
Cookies user preferences
We use cookies to ensure you to get the best experience on our website. If you decline the use of cookies, this website may not function as expected.
Accept all
Decline all
Analytics
Tools used to analyze the data to measure the effectiveness of a website and to understand how it works.
Google Analytics
Accept
Decline
Advertisement
If you accept, the ads on the page will be adapted to your preferences.
Google Ad
Accept
Decline