South Africa - With top lighting designers asking for it, MJ Event Gear has upgraded from the grandMA full size to a grandMA2 Lite.

"It was time we got one and Olebogeng Boinamo from our offices has been pestering me!" commented Mike Jones, owner of MJ. "It's a great product."

Ole is a talented lighting designer and technician at MJ and having worked on the grandMA full size for numerous years, he developed the MA mind set. "I am ecstatic and enjoying the console very much," said Ole. "I have not taken it on a show as yet, but I have been playing with it at the warehouse and received training from DWR's Nick Britz. The desk is perfect and just what I needed."

Nick Britz from DWR says Olebogeng took to the desk like a duck to water. "Ole was brilliant on the training. He was a very quick learner and I was extremely impressed. MA is

USA - Seattle's Parlor Live comedy club is bringing national headliners like Kevin Hart, Rob Schneider and Loni Love to the city. At the same time, it's also cultivating up-and-coming regional comics by giving them the chance to perform on a spacious stage illuminated by a collection of Ovation and COLORado fixtures from Chauvet Professional.

In keeping with the creative streak that characterizes Seattle (this is the city that gave us grunge, Windows and Amazon), Parlor Live is no ordinary comedy club. Aside from its 200-seat comedy club, this two-story venue also houses a sports bar, cocktail lounge/restaurant and meeting facility.

"From a lighting standpoint, this was really three or four different projects in one," said designer Stephen Weeks of Morgan Sound and Audiovisual who was responsible for creating a design that met the diverse demands of this venue, while

South Africa - The Ghoema Awards, described as South Africa's own Afrikaans Grammy Awards, took place at the magical State Theatre, Pretoria on 24 March 2015. The spectacular event, the initiative of Barry Pretorius, was filled to capacity and lit by Mauritz Jacobs of Dream Sets with the full technical supply awarded to EPH Productions.

This was the second year Mauritz was commissioned to design and operate the show and he worked on the State Theatre's grandMA2 Light, having some 80 Robe fixtures and a further 30 Clay Paky Sharpys, at his disposal.

"Being in the theatre took me back quite a few years," said Mauritz, recalling his student days at Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria. "It was very nice to be in this theatrical environment again."

Mauritz was chuffed with his compliment of lighting, some of which belonged to the theatre. The total comp

Germany - LSC Lighting Systems has announced a strategic partnership with German based company EL4EN (Elements for Entertainment), for the training and support of its Clarity based products across Europe.

EL4EN is a recently formed company of industry veterans with vast experience of lighting control and operation. EL4EN will take on the responsibility of supporting the LSC Clarity range of products including the LX range of consoles, VX wings as well as the software product from a technical perspective as well as offering training courses for all levels.

Pete Floyd, international sales manager for LSC commented, "We are having more and more success with Clarity and the appointment of EL4EN is a great addition allowing us to provide better and more responsive support for the products across Europe."

EL4EN will be on the LSC booth at this year's Frankfurt Pro Light

UK - Kings Place is a buzzing hub for music, art, dialogue, social and cultural interaction, events and food and drink in the heart of central London's vibrant Kings Cross area. The multi-purpose venue is ensconced in the contemporary elegance of a large mixed space building designed by architects Dixon Jones backing onto the Regent Canal.

Recently, Robe's DL Series LED fixtures have been installed in its two auditoriums as part of a lighting refit and upgrade.

As well as a leading creative live art and performance forum presenting around 600 arts events a year, Kings Place is a world class, award-winning conference and events venue, hosting leading brands across 10 event rooms and spaces. In the past 12 months, Kings Place has managed around 350 corporate events from small meetings to multi-day conferences for over 1000 delegates.

The latest lighting installation continues

USA - Boston USA based lighting designer Jeff Maker relished the chance to use 135 Robe moving lights including 18 x BMFL Spots for a super high profile and very special one off / DVD shoot show at Wembley Arenafor lively US punk rock band, All Time Low.

The gig - their biggest ever to date in the UK - sold out in just a few days and was preceded by a short seven-date jaunt around Europe. It also came just a month after All Time Low finished a double headline UK arena tour with You Me At Six, so, with the proximity of this still in fans' minds, Jeff designed a completely new overhead lighting scheme for the Wembley event ... and retained the core high-impact floor package from the co-headline tour, adding some new elements so he could create an eye-popping new visual extravaganza that would feel great live and look awesome on camera!

"I wanted to establish multiple layers

Belgium - Chauvet has opened a full-service subsidiary in Ghent, Belgium. The facility, which follows in the steps of a Chauvet branch in the United Kingdom, acts as the Chauvet distributor in the Benelux area serving dealers of Chauvet Professional and Chauvet DJ brands in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, while supporting Chauvet distributors and strategic partners elsewhere in Europe.

"Given the success of our operations in the UK, it made sense to expand to an inland facility so we can better serve customers not only in the Benelux area but also throughout the continent," said Chauvet President Albert Chauvet. "With high profile products like our Chauvet Professional Nexus and ÉPIX being seen worldwide, and the widespread following of Chauvet DJ in multiple countries, we've established globally recognized brands. This facility will help bring the

Germany - Green-GO, the digital intercom over Ethernet system from ELC Lighting is set to launch its professional wireless system at Frankfurt this week (Stand 9.0 E71).

The latest development comes just months after having launched the iPhone which made the full capacity of beltpacks or table stations (32 full duplex channels, 250 groups and 3000 users) available from an iPhone/ iPad or iTouch. The app has revolutionised the way the Green-GO intercom system is used, but the launch of the professional wireless system is an exciting new development for the product range.

Speaking prior to the official launch of the system which is being showcased at Prolight+Sound, Silvio Cibien, sales manager at ELC Lighting, explained, "Unlike all other wireless intercom systems, our wireless beltpack and HF base stations are simply an extension of our Green-GO wired Ethernet network. Wh

South Africa - When Johannesburg based Emperors Palace upgraded their control desk, they decided on a new grandMA2 Lite system. This forms part of an entire revamp as Emperors Palace Theatre of Marcellus has been transformed from a multi-purpose venue to become a complete state of the art, permanent 1,008-seater theatre.

"Basically we redeveloped the theatre from a multi-functional venue to a permanent theatre capable of handling large scale, long running quality theatre productions," said JP de Vernon, entertainment technical manager at Emperors.

After consulting with Dream Sets and Effective Events, a decision was made by Emperors Palace to build a stage out of stage decks that would fit into the venue perfectly and come within a reasonable budget.

"We have proper comfortable theatre/cinema seating, the theatre is warm and inviting and the team itself is ver

Germany - Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is celebrating five years of Platinum lamps. The range's razor-sharp light beams have revolutionized the entertainment industry in a relatively short amount of time. To commemorate the anniversary, Philips will be exhibiting the range at Prolight+Sound 2015 in Frankfurt.

The first innovative Platinum lamp, the MSD Platinum 5 R, was launched in 2010. Today, in 2015, Philips offers a broad range including the 2 R, 14 R, 15 R, 16 R, 17 RA and 20 R. Platinum lamps have been used at many major events, worldwide. Platinum lamps were designed to cope with the demanding on-stage conditions in modern entertainment.

LED walls are increasingly being integrated into stage lighting design, creating a sea of homogeneous light. A new generation of lamps with powerful beams is needed to cut through in these situations and provide addition

Sweden - LumenRadio AB has launched Mira - the solution to deploying large scale Internet of Things (IoT) installations in machine to machine (M2M) and building communications applications. Built on years of experience in creating highly reliable wireless lighting controls, the LumenRadio Mira platform offers best in class radio performance, unmatched reliability and most importantly - is easy to integrate, shortening your time to market, says the company. Mira can be used to link practically any device - light, energy, environment, security, transport, weather, presence and just about anything else you can think of.

LumenRadio has been developing wireless lighting controls for more than six years, and their products have been used around the globe on high profile events including the Coachella music festival, London Eye New Year's celebrations and the world tour of Wicked th

Germany - Martin Professional today announces the RUSH Club Smoke Dual, part of a new line of atmospheric effects from RUSH by Martin. The new fog and haze hybrid machine will be on display this week at Martin's stand A93 in Hall 9 at Prolight+Sound 2015 in Frankfurt, Germany and is available now for pre-order.

The RUSH Club Smoke Dual features six heads across three zones via DMX or an on-board digital display. This versatile multi-head system allows the user to deploy fog, haze or a combination of both thanks to a specially formulated fluid. The unit's separate base can be installed in a convenient remote location and holds up to 10 litres of fluid to ensure uninterrupted use during busy nights.

Based on the Magnum Club Smoke system installed in prestigious venues around the world, the RUSH Club Smoke Dual is a stalwart new companion for lighting designers and ideal in clubs

Europe - Steven Wilson, four-time Grammy nominee, celebrates the launch of his new album Hand. Cannot. Erase with a UK and European tour in March and April 2015. The tour and album follow his runaway success of his third solo album The Raven That Refused to Sing and his sell out shows at London's Royal Albert Hall in 2013. The UK gigs kicked off at Cambridge Corn Exchange and continue on throughout his 10-country European tour until heading off to the USA and Canada.

Steven Wilson wanted to create "a show that I hope will raise the bar both musically and visually from my previous tours, with a set list based around the new album, as well as casting the net further back into my song writing past for a few surprises".

Steven Wilson's lighting designer, Matthew Jensen, came to Mick Freer of Hawthorn with an idea of creating a strong visual impact for the s

UK - Fisher Hires has invested in new lighting and AV stock following a major investment programme to the tune of £500,000. Fisher Hires is sister company to the prestigious event productions agency Fisher Productions, which this year celebrates its 30th birthday.

Fisher Hires supplies lighting, AV and technical expertise for all Fisher Productions events, and was launched as a separate company last year with the aim to widen the business and offer a full dry hire service.

Responding to client demand, Fisher has purchased a number of products from Clay Paky, MA Lighting, Avolites, Prolights and ETC and have significantly increased its stock of wireless uplights to include the Core Colourpoint.

Graham Beswick CEO of the Fisher Productions Group said, "Our upgrade of lighting and AV equipment comprises of over 110 product lines and thousands of pieces of kit, allowi

South Africa - The Ultimate X festival was staged for the first time this year at the Grand Arena in Cape Town, South Africa's GrandWest Casino, two days of adrenaline-fuelled, gravity-challenging, hi-energy stunts encompassing three breath-taking xtreme sport disciplines - FMX (freestyle motocross), BMX (bicycle motocross) and skateboarding - featuring the best athletes from around the globe.

The event, produced by Old School Productions, was staged in the round and lit by Sean Caie, the venue's head of lighting, using an all Robe moving light rig including BMFL Spots.

It was the first time that organisers had moved the event indoors and the first time it was extended to two days due to massive public demand.

The floor layout comprised a complete skate / BMX Park, with vert ramps and all the death-defying obstacles you'd expect in this raw and uncompromising environment.

Belgium - The most recent tour by Belgian girlband K3 featured a lighting and video design by Painting With Light's Luc Peumans which was based on the bold, bright, poppy and positive vibe that has characterised the band's remarkable 16 year career.

K3's impressive longevity - achieved without airplay on MTV and other standard music channels - was led by proactive direct marketing through youth and children's TV channels.

Luc has been involved with K3's live performance visuals for 12 years. His team from Painting With Light on this tour included programmer and lighting operator on the road Paco Mispelters and media server programmer and operator Katleen Selleslagh, and the design's starting point came from the band's hit TV show K3 Can Do It which is based on helping children achieve their dreams. The idea was to align the live show with the whole current K3 brand conc

UK - Aurora Lighting is supporting lighting director Oli Richards on the new ITV Saturday sporting comedy panel show Play to the Whistle.

Played out in front of a studio audience at Fountain Studios, Play to the Whistle features host Holly Whillouby presiding over team captains, Bradley Walsh and Frank Lampard.

Produced by Hungry Bear Media for ITV, the show pits two celebrity teams against each other with the aim of working out who sports the best knowledge of all things sporting. Helping to keep order, comedian Sean Walsh also joins the show in the guise of comic umpire for the series.

To assist in creating the show's polished, sporty look, Aurora supplied LD Oli with razor sharp Clay Paky Sharpys, which have been integrated into the set to create 'bars' of light that tower above the guests.

Elsewhere, Oli specified the innovative Doughty H Bar ladder syste

UK - OneBigStar supplied full technical production across eight sites at Aintree Racecourse for the 2015 Crabbie's Grand National Festival. Working directly with Accept Management who were appointed by Jockey Club Racecourses to provide an impressive programme of entertainment and production management for the prestigious sporting event.

Music acts performed in the Aintree International Equestrian Centre throughout the three days of the Festival. The line-up included local legends, The Christians on the Grand Opening Day, followed by X Factor and I'm A Celebrity star Jake Quickenden on Ladies' Day and The Stars from the Commitments on the day of the Grand National itself.

With many of the race goers staying on to enjoy the entertainment, it was vital that OneBigStar delivered the highest standards of production at this hugely popular event. They brought along a full festival s

USA - As part of the company's overall expansion of video touring production services, Production Resource Group (PRG) recently purchased 58 additional Fujinon lenses for use on its newly acquired Grass Valley LDX80 Première cameras.

As part of PRG's recent acquisition of over $50m in new equipment for PRG Nocturne, part of its recently rebranded PRG Music Group, the company placed orders for 21 Fujinon XA99X8.4BESM ultra-wide field production lenses, 27 ZA17x7.6 BERM ENG-Style lenses, and 10 ZA12x4.5BERM wide-angle remote control lenses to service its continually expanding touring production business. PRG Music Group focuses on providing integrated video and lighting solutions for worldwide tours, festivals, concerts, and corporate events.

Mickey Curbishley, CEO of the PRG Music Group, stated, "We're making this initial investment of over $50m in new, state-of-the-art v

Germany - Laserworld has a major presence at this year's Prolight+Sound, not only on their own boot, but also in the Festhalle on the PRG stage, where 22 RTI laser systems are playing for the duration of the exhibition.:

The PRG LEA Awards marked their 10th anniversary on 14 April 2015. This anniversary was celebrated in spectacular style in Frankfurt. An impressive laser setup accompanied the celebration of the awards with more than 22 show laser light systems from Ray Technologies (RTI) - the high end laser manufacturer from Germany - placed all around the huge stage, the balcony and, in conjunction with video projection systems, for special mapping effects.

Overall, laser power of more than 300W emphasized the size of the lighting rig that PRG built for the LEA Awards. Laserfabrik was responsible for the laser show design and control.

There were many famous nominees for t

Germany - Martin Professional has announced Jorge Espinoza as the first prize winner of the 2015 Young Lighting Designer Contest. As part of his prize, Espinoza has been awarded a trip to the Prolight+Sound 2015 show in Frankfurt, Germany where he will be formally presented as the winner at the Martin Professional stand (A93, Hall 9.0) today.

In addition to his all-inclusive trip to PL+S 2015, Espinoza has been awarded a new Martin M-Touch controller and an M-PC kit. Commenting on his win, the 25-year-old from Mexico said, "I really enjoy working with the M-series as it offers the right tools to translate my ideas into real-life shows. I'm pleased and very humbled to be announced as the winner among so much talent. I wanted to share my show and my message, but I never expected to be announced as the winner. Thank you to the judges and everyone who voted for me."

Thro

Germany - High End Systems has announced the launch of the SolaWash Pro 1500, billed as "the brightest in a line of incredibly bright, white light LED products".

With an output, approaching 30,000 lumens from a 600w LED source, the SolaWash Pro 1500 comes packed with CMY, Variable CTO, two fixed colour wheels, framing and a nine to 55 degree zoom range.

Alongside this full feature set, the SolaWash Pro 1500 includes High End Systems' patented thermal control software ensuring that the fixture's cooling system is as efficient as possible while being whisper quiet. Further to this, there are various cooling modes in order to meet differing customer requirements such as opera and broadcast.

"Following on from the incredible success of the SolaSpot Pro 1500, launched at LDI 2014 it is exciting that we have, in such a short space of time, been able to set the bar e

Germany - With the G-1 Beam moving head, launched this week at Frankfurt, SGM is offering numerous cutting-edge features in a physically compact chassis.

A sharply defined, flat and uniform beam that operates rapidly in every movement provides intense mid-air beam effects through a high power white LED light source and a colour wheel as well as a gobo wheel. The results are high contrast levels and an extreme brightness. Adding to its uniqueness, this moving head is not only IP65-rated and maintenance-free, but also offers the choice of being either battery-driven with an impressive 10-12 hours operation in typical use or being connected wired mains power.

It provides an output of 61,910 lux at a 3m distance and a colour temperature of 6,500K on pure white light. The G-1 is equipped with a 2.8? fixed beam angle; however, it can deliver an aperture zoom adjustable down to 0.3?.

Germany - Leading into Musikmesse on Tuesday evening was the opening reception for the exhibition of the Lightpower Collection of Neal Preston's extraordinary photography In the Eye of the Rock'n'Roll Hurricane.

One of the highlights of the evening, attended by over 350 people, was the presentation by Ralph-Jörg Wezorke, owner of Lightpower, of the Lightpower Neal Preston donation of $50,000 to the Behind the Scenes charity. The donation, which represents proceeds from three previous exhibitions over the last year, will be split between BTS in North America and the newly launched BTS UK. Future showings of the exhibition are currently in the planning stages.

Neal Preston has spent more than 40 years capturing rock and roll, with unprecedented access to musicians ranging from Bruce Springsteen to Led Zeppelin, Mick Jagger to Queen, both on and off the stage.

Takin

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