Turkey - Clay Paky has announced a partnership with Asimetrik Sound, Light and Display Systems. The Turkish company, which specializes in the marketing and installation of technology and systems for show, corporate and architectural environments, said it was delighted to forge a partnership that involves marketing and providing technical assistance for all Clay Paky products.

Asimetrik is based in Ankara and Istanbul and can count on a close network of partners throughout Turkey, with branches in Antalya and Izmir.

This partnership replaces the previous contract between Clay Paky and Samim Mutluer's SF Ses ve I??k Sistemleri A.?., considering the existing agreements between SF and the Harman Group.

Alberico D'Amato, Clay Paky's sales manager, said,"Asimetrik is a solid and dynamic company with a strong presence throughout the country, and we are sure it will be able to

Australia - Robe is supporting UK based light artist and creative director of Dark Art London, Simon Brockwell at the 2014 Vivid Festival of Music, Light & Ideas in Sydney, Australia, in the realisation of his bold and innovative light sculpture, Sky Flower.

Robe is working in close collaboration with its Australian distributor The ULA Group and leading Australian Robe rental partner Elite Sound & Lighting from Canberra to supply and coordinate the equipment for Simon's interactive installation which can be experienced live between 23 May and 9 June.

Sky Flower is one of two installations at a new site for the festival in Martin Place, right at the core of Sydney's buzzing CBD, adjacent to the Cenotaph and also near to Channel 7's downtown TV studio, so it will attract a huge amount of attention.

The equipment being utilised by Simon includes one Robe MMX Blade, four 600E Be

USA - Czech Republic-based LED lighting manufacturer Anolis, the architectural division of Robe Lighting, has appointed Darin Fowler as national business development manager in the US, effective 5 May 2014. Fowler, most recently with Kreon Inc., will be based in New York.

This recent hiring is due in part to increased demand by U.S. customers as business continues to grow under new CEO Bob Schacherl. This is the latest of several new US appointments announced in the past months in order to provide the best sales support and customer service.

"It's exciting to see the level of customization and competitive lead times available throughout the ANOLIS product line," said Fowler. "The robust quality and innovative nature of the product is remarkable.

"Additionally, I've always had respect for Bob Schacherl and it's great to be part of his talented team."<

UK - Avolites has announced a restructuring of the board of directors, with managing director Richard Salzedo stepping back into the role of director, and Steve Warren ascending to the role of Avolites Group MD.

Founder shareholders Steve Warren, Richard Salzedo and financial director Meena Varatharajan purchased Avolites from previous owners Carlton TV in 1991. Since then Richard has worked for Avolites as research engineer and R&D director, overseeing hugely successful projects such as the Sapphire and industry changing Avolites Pearl console before moving on to become managing director. He now hands the reigns of control to Steve who has started with Avolites in 1984 and in his 30 years with the company has been employed as electrical wireman, test engineer, service engineer, technical sales, and ultimately sales director.

Steve's passion for integrating video with lighting

USA - Devoted 311 fans swarmed to New Orleans this year for the ultimate celebratory concert experience on 11March, better known as 311 Day. Showcasing a culmination of eleven albums, including their most recent studio album released earlier this year, titled Stereolithic, Martin Professional Atomic 3000 DMX strobes (10) and M6 lighting console were deployed by Joe Paradise, lighting designer.

311, an American rock band from Omaha, Nebraska formed in 1988, created 311 Day in 2000 when the band played 47 songs straight. Since then, the band has consistently increased its set list, including over five-and-a-half hours of music this year.

"The biggest challenge is being able to programme at a high rate of speed and to be able to have most of the songs programmed 'cue to cue'," Paradise said about the M6 console. "I have used Martin consoles since the Maxxyz

UK - Relationships that have had a big influence on Gary Barlow's latest tour. Barlow is a master of his genre, as he has amply demonstrated by selling out all 17venues around the UK. His first solo outing onto the arena circuit, show director Kim Gavin along with designer Tim Routledge and production director Chris Vaughan, elected for a minimalist approach to staging, but with an emphatic widescreen approach to video.

Tim Routledge comments, "Gary wanted to keep as close to his audience as he had on last year's theatre outing. At the same time we needed a bigger show to suit the scale of venue. Kim is the show producer, he and Chris Vaughan set the guidelines; the resultant stage design has barely changed from my first renderings. The stage is a neatly defined smooth oval with the band wrapped around one step up behind Gary. An über-wide 100 foot screen forms the back wa

USA - Alternative rock band The Pixies have made quite the comeback after their revival 10 years ago, and are now on a worldwide tour with a full lighting rig from Martin Professional.

Full service lighting, sound and rigging rental company based in New York, See Factor, worked with Myles Mangino, lighting designer for The Pixies, to create a rig featuring 15 MAC Viper Profiles, 12 MAC Auras, four RUSH MH3s and three Jem K1 Hazers.

The Pixies, who recently stopped at the renowned Coachella Music Festival after their reunion tour began nearly 10 years ago, needed a versatile lighting solution designed for different venues, stages and festivals.

"The real challenge was to have a show that could be as closely as possible duplicated in markets across the world," stated Mangino. "Having a kit that was small enough to fit in a container, and also using fixtures that

UK - The stars of ETC's stand (number 53) at this year's ABTT show, 11-12 June in London, will be ETC's newest lighting system, Cobalt, along with the Source Four® LED Series 2 luminaire. Stand visitors will also be able to take the opportunity to see a range of other new and improved products that have been designed with theatre users in mind.

The new Cobalt system that will be on display has an all new operating style that allows operators to keep their eyes on the stage and not on the controls. The Cobalt line - which includes Cobalt 20 and its smaller, but no less powerful sibling, Cobalt 10 - has been receiving great reviews from users for its speed of operation, with lighting designer Rob Halliday writing, "once you get yourself into the Cobalt mindset, you can achieve very much very quickly."

Also being shown will be the Source Four LED Series 2 luminaire,

Sweden - Over 150 Clay Paky fixtures were used on this year's popular Melodifestivalen tour with the Sharpy Wash 330 being singled out as a 'mind-blowing' fixture by lighting designer Fredrik Jönsson.

The Melodifestivalen tour is part of Sweden's national competition to find out who will be representing the country in Europe's annual Eurovision Song Contest. Jönsson had to create a high-spec touring lighting design that captured the imaginations of the contest's live and at-home audiences.

"The brief for the show was to create a visually stunning environment for the performance of the 32 songs," explains Jönsson. "I went for a 'Metal meets Eurovision' look with an old-school 'ACL-look' lighting rig but with ultramodern technology. My first inspiration for the look of the rig was actually an old Def Leppard logo since the first drafts of the stage and set remi

Denmark - When Austrian drag act Conchita Wurst was crowned the winner of the 59th annual Eurovision Song Contest in the Danish capital of Copenhagen, it brought to the end a spectacular show, in which SGM's pioneering LED lighting was a clear highlight of the rig.

In a groundbreaking design, the show's creative director, Per Zachariassen and lighting designer Kasper Lange (with whom he has worked for ten years) ensured that content throughout the 26 artistes performing could be delivered to four different surfaces, allowing the stage to be transformed from act to act. This included the huge, classic SGM LED back wall - measuring 110m wide by 13m high - and it was here that over 350 SixPack blinders were used to such dramatic effect.

Once again, SGM had been appointed an official technical event supplier as the evergreen event arrived in the company's own back yard, tak

Denmark - 46,320 parameters, 138 universes 1,380 moving lights, 1,500 spot (conventional, LED, effect), 10kms of data cable, 12kms of power multicore cable, 6kms of power cable - numbers like these hint ... that it was Eurovision Song Contest time again.

The 2014 event took place in an old shipyard at Refshaleøen, Copenhagen, Denmark and once again set new standards for production technology and as an eye opener.

Danish lighting designer Kasper Lange relied on seven grandMA2 full-size and two grandMA2 light consoles, 19 x MA NPU (Network Processing Unit) and 9 x MA 8Port Node for control.

Amongst numerous Martin Moving Lights and PRG Bad Boys, 178 x Clay Paky Sharpy Wash 330, 32 x Clay Paky Alpha Beam 1500, 30 x Philips Vari*Lite VL3500 Spot, 24 x Philips Vari*Lite VL3500 Wash and 212 x Philips Vari*Lite VL5 were in the lighting rig. Furthermore six Robert Juliat Cyra

Ivor Novello Awards - Fleetwood Mac's Christine McVie has been honoured with a lifetime achievement at this year's Ivor Novello songwriting awards. McVie played with Fleetwood Mac for 28 years and wrote some of their most famous songs, including Don't Stop and Little Lies. Other winners at the ceremony in London included London Grammar, The Chemical Brothers and Nile Rodgers. The annual awards, now in their 59th year, are voted for by songwriters.

Picking up her award, McVie confirmed she had rejoined Fleetwood Mac after a more than 15-year absence and would join them on a world tour. "We are in the process of making another studio album which should be out next year," she added.

Alt-pop trio London Grammar won the award for best song musically and lyrically for Strong. Last year's Mercury Prize winner James Blake received the best contemporary s

UK - As part of their support for education and training in the field of entertainment lighting, the Worshipful Company of Lightmongers (WCL) in conjunction with the Association of Lighting Designers (ALD) are offering an annual award for those who are at the start of their career.

The Worshipful Company of Lightmongers is one of the modern Livery companies and number 96 in order of precedence within the City of London. Being a modern company, it has all of its members involved in the lighting industry through engineering / manufacture, design, architecture, electrical installation and distribution. Two of WCL's main objectives are to foster the art and science of lighting and to encourage invention and imagination in the use of light through annual awards.

"The Lightmongers are pleased to have worked with the ALD in creating an award which will recognise the work of new

Italy - Multi-talented Italian superstar Luciano Ligabue - a prolific singer-songwriter, film director and award winning author - played a series of intimate concerts at the start of his 2014 Mondovisione tour which builds up to stadium shows in the summer, with lighting designer Jo Campana including 20 x Robe Robin Pointe moving lights on his rig.

Campana, who has worked with the artist since 2009, first saw the Pointes in action at this year's Sanremo Music Festival in March - where he was also working for the artist. The fixtures immediately caught her attention, so much so, that he decided to include the 20 Pointes for the initial show on the tour.

The gigs for this leg of the tour primarily visited smaller towns, and the whole vibe of the production was to present a 'back-to-the-roots' style of show where the singer could communicate in a close and personal way wit

UK - Visitor registration for PLASA London 2014 is now open and for a limited time attendees can register for free.

PLASA London is offering free four-day passes for attendees who register before Tuesday 1 July. The show, which has been a pivotal date on the international entertainment technology tradeshow calendar for more than three decades, will return to ExCeL London for the second consecutive year on Sunday 5 October until Wednesday 8 October.

Exciting developments to the show's format mean that the registration offer is just one of many visitor incentives for 2014, as PLASA's director of events, Christopher Toulmin explains: "Having relocated to ExCeL last year and enjoyed a very positive response from exhibitors and visitors alike, we have no intention of resting on our laurels. As an organisation we're always looking at ways of improving what we offer - this will

USA - Held at New York City's prestigious Radio City Music Hall, the 2014 NFL Draft was the highest rated ESPN Draft telecast in more than two decades. To ensure proper lighting of the players, audience and for the live television broadcast on both ESPN and NFL Network, Christie Lites and principal lighting designer, Michael Franks, deployed Martin Professional fixtures to provide light to the entire venue.

In total, more than four miles of cable were used to power 14 Martin MAC Auras, 20 MAC Viper AirFxs, 19 MAC Viper Performances and 24 MAC Viper Profiles throughout Radio City Music Hall from Thursday 8 May 8th - Saturday 10 May.

What began as a relatively quiet experience in 1936, the NFL's annual Draft has become one of the largest productions and most anticipated yearly events. As the NFL has continued to grow, so has the emphasis on production quality.

"This was o

USA - Elation Professional adds to its growing range of innovative LED luminaries with launch of the Pixel Bar 40, a one-meter-long pixel-controllable LED strip light that uses 3-in-1 SMD RGB LEDs to mix a nearly limitless variety of colors.

Useful as a pixel bar for displaying imagery or as a wash luminaire for floodlighting surfaces and stages, uniform washes of color from pastels to saturates and easy-to-setup design will be appreciated by LDs, rental houses and installers alike.

Bright at 850 Nits and 0-100% dimmable for brightness adjustment and balancing, the Pixel Bar 40's forty RGB LEDs are spaced at a 25mm pixel pitch and each bar has a 120° viewing angle.

Made of robust extruded aluminium with a slim design that will look great on any stage, multiple units can be easily linked together for customizable setups. Equipped with RJ45 CAT5e ports that make installati

Belgium - Maverick award-winning, chart-topping Belgian superstar rockers Clouseau are engaged in a 45 date tour of Belgium and the Netherlands until September reaching out to their enormous and eclectic fanbase.

The lighting and set is designed by Luc Peumans from Genk based creative practice Painting With Light, who was challenged to create a fully flexible rig that looks fabulous in a wide variety of venues, that is quick and easy to rig and de-rig ... and will fit - together with the rest of the technical production - into one truck!

His ingenious design includes eight DMX controllable electric ribbon lifts, sourced in the US, which have been customised and fitted with lights!

Peumans - also well known for his TV and musical theatre lighting and visual design work - has worked with the band since 1996, so there is a great creative dialogue and understanding between them

Russia - The ambitious Closing Ceremony of Sochi's Winter Olympics was a "bright and emotive" event featuring 7,000 performers under an 'LED Forest of Light'. This was made up of 204 LED tubes, each one 12-metres high with a 360-degree viewing angle, and powered by an Avolites Ai S6 Server and Tiger Touch II console.

The Ceremony started with a countdown, with the numbers appearing on the screens above the stands. When the scoreboard hit zero, the LED forest in the centre of Sochi's Fisht arena exploded into bright colours, directed by world-renowned director Daniele Finzi Pasca.

Throughout, the Forest of Light provided the stage architecture that gave scale and perspective for much of the action that unfolded. TAIT Technologies designed and built the custom LED tubes, with each rod boasting an impressive 360 degree viewing angle enabling all 46,000 of the audience m

Germany - After the huge success of the 27 Club at the St. Pauli theatre in Hamburg, the show has embarked on a tour that will stop off in Vienna and Berlin before returning to Hamburg once again. The 27 Club embodies the milestones of the history of music. Patrick Woodroffe and Roland Greil have been appointed as lighting designers, as they were at the St. Pauli theatre.

Greil, who is also in charge of programming, has chosen nine Clay Paky Sharpy Washes, a grandMA2 light console, an MA Network Processing Unit (NPU), grandMA2 onPC software as backup, and a Robert Juliat Aramis.

He commented, "As far as the grandMA2 is concerned, I can definitely say that it has no rivals on the market at the moment in terms of reliability, efficiency and effectiveness. For precisely this reason, it was my first choice once again! The same goes for the Clay Paky Sharpy Washes, which are u

Russia - Clay Paky and Doka will celebrate 20 years of partnership in Moscow on 4, 5 and 6 June.

"It was 1994 and Clay Paky was exhibiting at SIB in Rimini, Italy, at that time one of the most representative fairs for our industry," said Pasquale Quadri, chairman of Clay Paky. "A young man turned up and suggested the company he worked for, Doka, should become Clay Paky distributor on the Russian market. He was Alexander Fokichev, the current General Manager of Doka."

Doka was already a well-established company in Russia at that time. Their target was almost exclusively the theatre market. Fokichev was impressed by the quality of our lights and the innovative nature of our products, especially the moving lights, like the Golden Scan. He therefore proposed a partnership to help Clay Paky develop on the Russian market. This allowed the Italian company to estab

Czech Republic - Five times world champion deaf skier Tereza Kmochova was awarded the title of the Handicapovany Sportovec Roku 2013 (Czech Paraplegic Athlete of the Year) during a high profile event staged at the Top Hotel in Prague, Czech Republic in April.

The annual event was broadcast on CT4 Sport, Czech national TV's dedicated sports channel, attended live by 400 VIP guests and lit by Pavel Jelinek using Robe Pointes and LEDWash 600s. These were supplied, together with other lighting equipment, by Prague based rental company, TD Promo.

Jelinek worked closely with Director of Photography Filip Havelka - the two have collaborated on this show for several years, and Havelka also designed the stage set.

As well as the Awards presentations, the show - presented by Ivana Chvatalova and Jakub Bazant - featured live performances by Czech singers Kamila Nyvltova and Josef Vagne

Germany - The Richard Wengenmeier Hall at the Bavarian Academy of Music in Marktoberdorf, Germany, recently replaced its outdated tungsten lighting system with a new lighting rig of Elation Professional TVL Series white light LED luminaires and the benefits have been exceptional as well as economic.

The Bavarian Academy of Music (Bayerische Musikakademie) is part of the Bavarian Music Council (Bayerischer Musikrat), which represents and supports musicians and musical activities across Bavaria.

The main purpose of the new lighting is to provide the Hall's orchestra with smooth even white light illumination with a requirement that all luminaires be noiseless to avoid interfering with the artists.

In fall 2013, Benjamin Sonderwald of Pro Lighting E.K. of Aschheim, near Munich, was contacted by Johann Schmid, lighting technician at the Bavarian Music Council. "He was lookin

UK - Lighting and visuals rental specialist Colour Sound Experiment kick started another crazy busy festival season this year supplying lighting equipment and design, LED screen, rigging and crew to We Are FSTVL which made some serious noise at Damyn's Hall Aerodrome, Upminster, east London.

It was the second event after bursting audaciously onto the EDM scene last year and this year the organisers upped the ante on several fronts, expanding the event to two days, increasing the level of production and securing an action-packed line-up with main stage headliners Richie Hawtin (Saturday) and Fatboy Slim (Sunday).

Colour Sound deployed five trucks of kit, 26 crew, around 500sq.m of their proprietary BT LED screen, over 350 moving lights and a shed-pile of strobes, blinders and atmospheric effects to the site, where all their elements were co-ordinated by crew chief Andy Melleney

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