Belgium - Luc Peumans of Belgian creative design practice Painting With Light produced the full visual design - set, lighting and video - for Music Hall Events' striking new production of Grease which recently played shows in Brussels and Antwerp.

Peumans worked in close collaboration with the ceative director Bart Colby-Doerfler with whom he had also worked on the Holiday On Ice Speed show in 2012, and together they developed the concept for this highly visual, contemporary version of Grease.

The idea was to take Grease into the 21st century offering up a really rock 'n' roll version of the classic 1950's high school musical romance, complete with lots of cars, action, energy and excitement. The show also involved some elaborate props, and all elements of the production had to be made tourable for potential work in the future.

Technical Production was i

UK - Michael Starr, Satchel, Lexxi Foxx and Stix Zadinia, collectively known as Steel Panther, launched their new album with a bang as they kicked it off with a sold out European tour, March 2014. The success of the spandex-clad 80's rockers continues to soar, they are now currently touring in the US. PRG supported them along the way.

Production manager Gary Crosniak and lighting designer Ali Pike toured through mainland Europe with a PRG supplied floor package of GLP X4s and RZ 120s. This grew into a full-scale production with a full lighting rig and complete video and camera system as they hit the UK on their S.T.D world tour, with award winning Video Director Chris Keating joining them for the ride.

"PRG came to play when I needed them the most," comments Gary, "they put together an affordable package that we dragged through the all of Europe, that looked ama

USA - Bandit Lites continued its charitable giving with Red, White & Rock: an Evening of Music benefitting the American Red Cross. The event, which featured a performance by country music super star Sara Evans, was held 24 April at Scripps Networks Interactive headquarters. Bandit's director of philanthropy, Allison Burchett was the event chair this year following being on the Red White & Rock committee last year.

"Since it is named red, white and rock, I really wanted to step it up this year musically, and I think we nailed it," explained Allison Burchett.

The event, whose funds all stay local to the Knoxville area, took place at a television studio at Scripps Networks Interactive, home to HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, and the Travel channel.

Lighting designer Giff Swart utilized the wide array of house lights, and then added White Spandex truss socks and White

UK - Hot on the heels of its UK debut at PLASA Focus: Leeds, Chauvet Professional has announced a day of hands-on introduction to launch the groundbreaking Chauvet Professional Rogue range of fixtures, to be held at the Leighton Buzzard premises of Leisuretec Distribution, on Tuesday, 13 May, 2014.

The four models of the Rogue series comprise two power output levels of moving head spot fixtures and moving beam luminaires. Chauvet Europe General Manager, Michael Brooksbank, illustrates, "Rogue is unique in offering such outstanding performance with so many features for its price. Rogue will allow designers on a limited budget to create some very intense, high-impact designs with crisp beams, bright colours, aerial effects and split colours that may have been out of reach to them in the past because the budget wasn't there."

Rogue R1 Spot is powered by a 140W LED for a

Italy - After the release of his latest album entitled Mondovisione, Luciano Ligabue left on a tour of Italy consisting of a series of live concerts. They are hosted in several different types of structure ranging from low capacity provincial indoor stadiums to huge spacious big city stadiums, with a possible future extension abroad. The events are structured in two completely different ways for obvious reasons, which are technically adapted to the needs of these two almost diametrically opposite types of venue.

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.

Chile - Robe lighting has confirmed VGL Integracion de Sistemas based in Santiago, as its new distributor for Chile.

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

USA - The SGM XC-5 Colour Strobe played a leading role at the recent International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards, held in Tampa Bay, Florida at Raymond James Stadium. The IIFA Awards, also known as the 'Bollywood Oscars', has been held annually around the world in cities including London, Amsterdam, Johannesburg and Toronto, to name a few. The 2014 extravaganza marked the show's 15th year, as well as the first time the event has been held on United States soil.

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

Slovakia - The new RTVS (Radio & Television Slovakia) quiz show series Co Ja Viem?! (What do I know?!) was recorded at Mlynska Dolina film studios in Bratislava and featured a lighting design by Martin Kubanka, with Robe moving lights right at the centre of the visuals.

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

Rural Mayhem - US metal veterans Metallica have been announced as the Saturday night headliners on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury. They will join the previously announced headliners Arcade Fire and Kasabian at the event in Somerset on 25-29 June. It marks Metallica's debut appearance at Worthy farm and it is the first time a heavy metal band have headlined the event.

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

USA - Syncrolite marks its 30th anniversary as an entertainment/architectural lighting manufacturer with postings of a jam-packed first quarter and more expansion news for 2014.

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.

USA - The instrumental electronic jam band Lotus is continuing its cross-country tour this spring and summer as they debut a complement of Clay Paky A.leda B-EYE K20 innovative, LED-based moving lights for key effects in the show.

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

Sri Lanka - As Sri Lanka's premier sound and lighting provider MOS Sound & Light recently provided full production services for a major concert by Greek composer/keyboardist Yanni - using fixtures from their PR Lighting inventory to create stage dynamics.

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

Singapore - As a leading venue for meetings, trade shows, lectures and other events, Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre is an award-winning multilevel space that is home to the world's largest HD video wall.

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

USA - Lighting designer and head of New York City-based Levy Lighting, Ira Levy, has a reputation for experimental, cutting-edge designs and has amassed an impressive list of prominent clients over the last 20 years. Elation fixtures have also found their place on his designs, most recently at the prestigious H&M flagship store in New York's Times Square.

"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

USA - Not every theatre can go all LED, but Sunnyvale Theatre in California has made the bold choice to do so. Thanks to a lot of careful research, the right conditions and the advanced features of ETC's LED luminaires, the theatre's new LED-only lighting system has been a major success.

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

Germany - Astera LED Technology has uncovered its new wireless control solution for event lights, the AsteraBox (ART6). This Bluetooth receiving, RF-transmitting device overcomes the inconsistency and quality issues of Astera's previous controller, the AsteraTouch, by offering more flexibility and variety to the user. The advantage of the AsteraBox over previous controllers is that it works with the AsteraApp; a free Android-based application designed for use with users' Android tablets or phones to control Astera lights

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

UK - HSL supplied lighting and LED screen to the UK leg of the new You Me At Six Cavalier Youth tour, featuring an inventive lighting design by Louis Oliver who has worked with the indie rockers for the last five years, in which time they have steadily gained a solid live fan base and a cult following.

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

Romania - LumenRadio and SYMPH Electronics have announced a partnership between the companies. SYMPH Electronics will now distribute LumenRadio's wireless CRMX products across Romania.

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

South Africa - The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), featuring Phil Bates, brought four decades of their blend of orchestral rock to South Africa recently, playing concerts in Johannesburg and Cape Town - with Robe moving lights featuring on both shows.

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

USA - Czech Republic-based lighting manufacturer Robe Lighting has strengthened its technical service department in the United States with the addition of industry professional Ambrose Gumbs, who has joined the company as technical service department manager.

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

USA - To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the appearance of The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Recording Academy, AEG Ehrlich Ventures and CBS presented The Beatles: The Night That Changed America - A GRAMMY Salute.

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

UK - This year, popular British TV series Celebrity Big Brother evicted each voted out participant along a 'catwalk of shame' under the piercing, bright spotlight of the Clay Paky Sharpy.

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

Portugal - An Allen & Heath GLD digital system, comprising a GLD-80 mixer and accompanying AR2412 and AR84 remote I/O racks, have been installed in Casa da Cultura Mestre José Rodrigues auditorium in Portugal's Douro Valley.

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

Adding to the "experience" in Justin Timberlake's 20/20 Experience World Tour are 75 Solaris LED Flares. These award-winning, RGBW wash/strobe/blinders - in a single unit! - provide over 33,000 lumens each in a variety of applications.

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

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