USA - Syncrolite played its part in the 57th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, working with Full Flood, Inc. Full Flood's Bob Dickinson, lighting designer for the 2015 Grammy Awards, chose Syncrolite fixtures for the opening act of this year's show. Dickinson remarked after the show that "the crisp clean look and the punch provided by the Syncrolite fixtures complemented the energy of the AC/DC performance and set the mood for the night." AC/DC's hard rock medley was backed up by twelve SXL 7k luminaires hitting the Staples Center audience with Syncrolite's signature solid beam of light.

Joining Dickinson in making the evening a non-stop avalanche of lighting artistry were Jon Kusner and Noah Mitz as lighting directors; Andy O'Reilly, Harrison Lippman and Patrick Boozer as lighting directors/programmers; and Mike Berger and Madigan Stehly as associate lighting direc

USA - Back in the 1950s, noted psychologist BF Skinner grabbed headlines by using controversial behavioural modification techniques to teach pigeons to play ping pong. Today Pigeons Playing Ping Pong is making waves again, not with psychology, but with psychedelic riffs along with some funky rock and extended jams that are attracting an ever-expanding flock, as their fans like to call themselves, to this up-and-coming band.

Lighting designer Aaron Kovelman (aka Ronny RedRocks) is having fun keeping pace with Pigeons Playing Ping Pong's improvisational performances with the help of eight Rogue R1 Spot fixtures from Chauvet Professional.

Kovelman worked with 4Wall Entertainment Lighting to include the powerful LED spots on his client's national tour for reasons both practical and passionate. "For sure, there are a lot of things about the Rogues to like, and 4Wall helped con

UK - VisionEvents, an event production agency offering full design, management, and audio visual talent for events across the UK, produced the annual Scottish Sports Awards event at Glasgow Thistle Hotel in December 2014. Hosted by journalist Jim White, the ceremony celebrated excellence throughout Scottish sports, recognising athletes and teams for their outstanding achievements throughout the year.

The stage consisted of three LED screens at 5.4x2.3m each, resulting to an impressive 17m wide LED backdrop. The three LED screens worked independently to showcase graphic animations, video clips and live camera footage, and together to display moving content across all three for dramatic effect. Screen content was driven by two Avolites AI media servers (main and backup) distributing the content across three separate outputs. Other sources included VT playback from various Macs and

UK - Who Dares Wins, the prime time Saturday night quiz show, hosted by Nick Knowles, sees two teams of complete strangers compete by completing a series of lists. The team who names more correct answers on a list gets the chance to play...and win £50,000.

Martin Kempton has lit the show for a number of years, with the help of Richard Martin Lighting (RML). The set and grand design of the show doesn't make it easy to make changes or freshen up the look. However when RML announced last autumn the investment in the new Vari-Lite VL4000 Spot, Martin knew this was the perfect new fixture for him.

"The VL4000 Spot includes all the tools needed to create dynamic and useful lighting on any stage. Every aspect of the luminaire has been designed with performance in mind," he says.

With low ambient noise, high lumen output, amazing optics and a full feature set anythin

Germany - Experienced German lighting designer, Henning Schletter (of Imaginary Lights) has become one of the first creatives in the world to adopt GLP's new impression X4 Bar 20 LED batten lights - deploying them at a major product launch for Jaguar, in front of a star-studded audience that included British actor, and Hollywood star, Idris Elba.

In addition to starring as Luther and Nelson Mandela (in Mandela - Long Walk to Freedom Elba is also a rapper and DJ. And tasked with launching the new Jaguar XE by driving the new sports sedan personally from London to Berlin, Elba later co-hosted a party behind the decks at the Umspannwerk Alexanderplatz, alongside Noah Becker.

It was here that Schletter set up his impressive lightshow, working for production company, die veranstaltungsmacher, in cooperation with Norbert Zitzmann Communications, the brand communication specia

Russia - In November 2014, Alexey Zhivanov, lighting designer for Russian stage rental and install firm Grand Show, was tasked with supporting two distinct events: a rock concert at a nightclub and a ballet staged in a traditional opera house. To accommodate the needs of each production, he brought along the versatile Martin Professional M2GO lighting controller.

Maximilians, the Siberian restaurant and venue where Russian rock band Chizh & Co performed, is equipped with a small array of fixtures including projectors, LED Wash Zoom fixtures, LED spots, strobes and smoke machines. Zhivanov didn't need any additional touchscreen monitors or gear to control the lighting fixtures. He simply connected the M2GO to his laptop.

"The rock concert focused mainly on slow compositions, so I programmed scenes filled with warm colours and smooth effects", said Zhivanov. "The

UK - Le Maitre Ltd is sponsoring fireman Scott Butler on his intrepid Journey To Elbrus challenge in what will hopefully gain him a place in the Guinness Book Of World Records.

In June this year Scott will be cycling 1800 miles across Europe then rowing solo 750 miles across the Black Sea. If that wasn't enough of a challenge he will then climb Mount Elbrus in Russia, the highest peak in Europe. Scott will be raising money for three charities - Firefighters Charity, The MS Society and Facing Africa.

Scott, a firefighter with the Royal Berkshire Fire & Rescue Service has a history of challenging himself. He has run marathons and adventure races, cycled from John O'Groats to Land's End, driven the Nurburgring and also written a book. This will be his first ever attempt at a world record. Sponsorship details are available at www.journeytoelbrus.com.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Sunday night was the annual Oscars Ceremony and Richard Martin Lighting (RML) were on hand to provide the lights and more than a little sparkle to the Sky Movies coverage hosted by Alex Zane.

Joining Alex on the sofas were a panel of celebrity guests from different sectors of the entertainment industry, giving their thoughts and opinions on fashion, the night's winners and any celebrity gossip that was circulating.

Malcolm Reed designed the lighting show which worked around an impressive set made to resedmble the Hollywood Hills. It's not a vast studio and there is so much already going on that you don't need a big lighting rig.

After many years of lighting the show, Malcolm knows this only too well and chose a simple yet effective spec including Sharpys, Alpha Spot 700's and XTC 1.

(Jim Evans)

USA - The night of 25 February 2015 was a celebration of innovation in the LED and solid-state lighting (SSL) industry sectors with the awarding of the LEDs Magazine Sapphire Awards.

Being named Illumineer of the Year continues an impressive streak of both recognition and breakthroughs for Lumileds. In addition to this award, Lumileds recently won a prestigious LFI Innovation Award, introduced the world's first hot colour targeted LEDs, and announced the world's first chip-scale packaged LED that can be directly surface mount reflowed onto a luminaire board. LUXEON CoB with CrispWhite Technology is another quality of light breakthrough in the Lumileds portfolio.

"This is extraordinary validation of the tremendous work we have been doing here at Lumileds. I could not be more proud of our entire team. 2014 was a historically good year for Lumileds - and with all the excitin

UK - Martin Manufacturing UK has been crowned champion of skills investment at the Semta Skills Awards 2015. Martin Manufacturing UK, which employs 48 people in Louth and makes a range of smoke boxes for the entertainments' industry, won the SME Investment in Skills category, sponsored by Pera Training.

They were presented with the award at a gala dinner in London's Park Plaza, Riverbank at an event hosted by TV presenter Michael Underwood and where Minister of State for Business, Enterprise and Energy, Matthew Hancock, gave the keynote address.

Jason Andrews, general manager of Martin Manufacturing, said: "Skills are important to our business - competing in the international marketplace we need to stay ahead of the game so we need the most skilled workforce we can muster.

"Some of our employees have worked for us for over 20 years and we need to ensure their knowl

Qatar - W-DMX by Wireless Solution and lighting fixtures by Griven are now on display on one of Qatar's premier five-star hotels - the Sheraton Doha Hotel & Resort. This hotel structure has been a landmark in Doha for more than 30 years, so when it was time for renovation, every detail was considered to bring the building up to the highest technological standards while still maintaining its original look and charm.

In addition to the interior, the upgrade involved the exterior lighting design of the hotel that would not only enhance the waterfront skyline but the three-sided pyramid shape of the hotel as well. The close Al Majlis Congress Centre, a secondary lower building with four-sided pyramidal section, needed a complementary lighting scheme. Its smooth, concrete surface proved to be quite difficult to be evenly lit up as the lighting fixtures could only be installed at a ve

USA - 48 of Robe's LEDWash 1200s are in action on the current Garth Brooks US tour, specified by the country megastar's longstanding LD Dave Butzler, and purchased specially by leading rental house Bandit Lites. Brooks - whose staggering popularity continues to pack out arenas - has released his first studio album in 13 years Man Against Machine to coincide with the tour.

Butzler explained that Brooks was fully involved in creating the stage design, and while he wanted to wow the crowds for this one, he wanted to keep the music - rather than the production - centre stage. To satisfy ticket sale demands and remain close to his audiences - for which he is famous - Brooks elected to play multiple dates in more intimate medium-sized arenas, rather than massive stadiums.

The starting point for Butzler's lighting was a large centre cluster of audio, so he designed around this

Italy - The show Illusion, with several Salamanders from Le Maitre entertained visitors at the Rainbow MagicLand in Valmontone close to Rome throughout the summer 2014.

The attraction combines music, fantasy and projection. With hundreds of lights installed on the fountains and special effects enhancing the show, Illusion had nine dancers interacting with the fountains and the projections.

One of the world's leading companies for aquatic shows and an internationally renowned video designer participated in the realisation of this show.

Mr. Bonsanti, technical representative at MagicLand, commented, "The show went on two to three times a night for a duration of 25-30 minutes and could accommodate 300 people. Thanks to a series of effects, the organisers were able to create true illusions with pirate and jungle themes.

"The stage on the water with the castle built o

Czech Republic - Robe welcomed 13 students and two lecturers - Phil Hughes and Clive Davies - from the University of South Wales, Glamorgan, to its HQ and factory in Valasské Mezirici, Czech Republic, all from the BSc Honours Lighting Design & Technology and Live Event Technology courses.

The trip was co-ordinated by Robe UK's sales director Ian W Brown with USW course leader Stuart Green, and it has become an annual date on the calendar. As usual, it was also completely over-subscribed, so the number of applicants had to be whittled down to those who would be likely to benefit the most.

Ian, whose relationship with the university started a few years ago, commented, "Both courses produce a high proportion of graduates who progress on to very successful industry careers - and that is what first prompted me to look further.

"The courses are based on equipping

UK - Another year has flown by, and it's time to start nominations for the Technical Theatre Awards 2015.

The nomination period is now open on the new website - head to www.technicaltheatreawards.com now to put your colleagues forward.

Says the organisation, "We have a great year planned ahead, including streamlining the voting process and bringing together a committee of industry leaders to finalise our shortlists.

"We are also heading to Europe for Stage|Set|Scenery, as well as our annual visits to PLASA Focus and the ABTT Trade Show.

"Our awards ceremony will be taking place on 5 October 2015, and all our nominees and sponsors will be invited to join us as we announce this year's winners.

To make all this possible we are putting together a bigger team than ever. We are currently looking for more sponsors to support our awards, including some brand new a

Sweden - The opening of AF's new office building in Gothenburg was marked by a spectacular light show, putting the 66m high building on the map. For one evening the façades of AF's new domicile were staged with a combination of colours, graphical patterns and images expressing AF's values in a festive manner.

Being Skanska's third most eco-friendly building in the Gothenburg region, and having received Platinum environmental certification by LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), it was important to AF Lighting to further communicate and demonstrate its green values. Selected for this purpose as the newest and most energy efficient LED fixtures on the market were the P-5 wash light and G-Spot moving head from SGM.

"Through lighting calculations in DIALUX, we were able to determine the optimum placement of the fixtures. The combination of the P-5 wash light

Finland - Kullervo, Op. 7, is a suite of symphonic movements by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. Although often referred to as a "choral symphony", the work avoids traditional symphonic structure, and its five movements constitute a set of related but independent tone poems.

Based on the character of Kullervo in the epic poem Kalevala and using texts from that poem, the work premiered to critical acclaim on 28 April 1892. Now lighting, screen and set designer Miki Kunttu has given the work, currently being performed at the Finnish National Opera, Helsinki, a completely new look.

Kunttu explained, why the grandMA2 was his favourite choice for the project: "grandMA2 and MA 3D were the perfect tools for the production. All the way from design table to the final cue lists. All lights and media servers were programmed and operated via the grandMA2 light.

The Netherlands - Visual Productions is technology partner of the 2014 Amsterdam Light Festival. For the third year in a row the Visual Productions' Solid State lighting controllers helped visualise the lighting designs of worldwide artists during this 10 week-long festival. The CueCore, IoCore and DIN Rail DMX Splitter were used to control the lighting for 12 exhibits of the festival. Light-works in both the Water Colors route and the Illuminade utilised the Visual Productions control solutions. These consisted of exhibits from around the world including, 'Water Fun' from New Zealand designer Angus Muir; Russian architect Vasili Popov's 'Rebicycledome'; 'House of Cards' designed by Israeli designer Gaston Zahr; and - back to the home territory - Dutch-based Frank Tjepkema's 'Light Bridge'.

For installations 'Intrepid' and 'Campfire' product and programming support was via the V

UK - London based events production company PR Live ensured the Warner Music 2015 Brits After-party really rocked for 1,100 guests at the Freemason's Hall in Covent Garden, supplying all elements of the design and technical production - sound, lighting, video, rigging, set and staging, assorted custom built props - complete with lighting and sound design and bespoke video content.

The project - managed for PR Live by Justin Hammond - included spectacular large format projections onto the exterior of the building to welcome the guests, and pixel mapping a wall of LED battens in the main room, as well ensuring the seven different themed areas inside the building each had their own distinctive vibe and style, including private areas for double Award winning Ed Sheeran, Warner executives and VIPs.

PR Live designer Jenny Willard initially took a detailed brief from the client and t

Denmark - Martin Professional has announced the availability of the Rush Gobo Projector 1. The new member of the install-oriented Rush family is now shipping.

The Rush Gobo Projector 1 is suitable for permanent installation in club, bar, restaurant and shopping mall applications. Gobos can be changed quickly easy adjustment of focus, speed and direction make running the static fixture smooth and intuitive. It's also non-intrusive thanks to its silent operation and compact size, measuring 215 x 135 x 152 mm and weighing only 11 lbs. (2 kg).

"We designed the RUSH Gobo Projector 1 with ease-of-use in mind," said Mark Buss, product manager, Rush products. "Speed and direction are controlled by easy-touch buttons and it only takes a few seconds to change gobos with the magnetic gobo holders."

The fixture uses E-sized gobos with a maximum image diameter of 30 m

USA - Industry leaders from around the world descended into Nashville 21 February for the 26th Annual Pollstar Awards, where Bandit Lites received its 22nd Lighting Company of the Year Award.

Hosted by comedian Ralphie May, the Pollstar Awards occur during Pollstar Live and celebrates the music industry's movers and shakers. This year's event took place at the historic Ryman Auditorium, which was also awarded Theatre of the Year.

Bandit chair and founder, Michael T. Strickland accepted the award, crediting Bandit's wildly successful year to both its employees and clients, and dedicating it to the late Bob See of See Factor. The award was presented to Bandit by Cinderella lead singer Tom Kiefer.

Strickland said, "To again be named the best in the business by our peers is too much for words. The entire staff at Bandit Lites works tirelessly to deliver the highest quality

UK - Events production supplier White Light has announced the appointment of Alicia Earls as business development manager for events. Alicia joins White Light after more than seven years as communications manager for the Science Museum Group, where she helped develop the successful #StrictlySW7 event showcase involving the Science Museum and neighbouring venues the Natural History Museum and the Victoria and Albert museum.

Alicia joins the White Light Events team from April 2015. In her new role, she will focus on expanding the company's relationships with corporate clients and strengthening links with key events venues. She brings to the role more than a decade of experience in the events industry working with a broad range of clients including Coca-Cola, EE, Virgin Media Business, Friends of the Earth, Siemens and Condé Nast.

Having worked with White Light over the ye

China - PR Lighting has made an addition to its expanding XRLED series, with the announcement of the XRLED 700 Spot. This is due for shipment this month.

The fixture boasts a number of attributes, embracing all the features you would expect from a moving head spot but with a particularly impressive white light.

It has also been engineered to produce an even beam spread - and also a powerful one, as the output generated from the 320W white LED module equates to more than 700W from a conventional discharge lamp.

Other design criteria that the XRLED 700 Spot meets include light weight (just 24kg), compact and quiet operation. Low power consumption and low heat dissipation are further advantages, as you would expect from an LED source.

Specifiers will also notice that this fixture is fully featured, with a colour wheel incorporating six colours (plus white); fixed and rotating

UK - Lighting designer Louis Oliver of Okulus has used an array of Showline SL NITRO 510C fixtures as part of his colour-rich and punchy lighting design for You Me At Six's UK arena tour.

Specifying 29 of the powerful LED units from Zig Zag Lighting, Oliver rigged 18 on spines of truss in the air. Eleven of the strobes also made up his floor package upstage, where they lined the bottom of the vast video screen.

"I really like the SL NITRO 510C, it's my LED strobe of choice," says Oliver. "My design for this show was very video-heavy, however the units held their own against the 58' wide 20' deep video wall, as well as the other lighting in the rig."

Oliver's design was based on the band's previous touring campaign for the Cavalier Youth album. However he magnified it for the arena run, commissioning the slick video content from Pablo Beckett of Bry

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