Europe - LED technology not only turned the industry on its head, it also created new complications in power-control system design. ETC has developed the ColorSource ThruPower cabinet for 230V lighting systems with this concept in mind. ColorSource ThruPower gives customers a relay and dimmer on every one of the cabinet's 12 or 24 circuits.

Changing settings from switched to dimmed power, or vice versa, can be done locally with the cabinet's user-friendly interface, while remote configurations are possible with integrated Remote Device Management (RDM) functionality. Customers can also expand the cabinet's capabilities by adding DIN-rail accessories - such as Ethernet, Echo Control Stations or Mosaic Show Controllers - for added system functionality.

ColorSource ThruPower is a solution for transitioning lighting systems between tungsten and LED on a daily or weekly basis. &q

UK - Colour Sound Experiment supplied lighting and LED screen to a series of recent UK concerts by Public Service Broadcasting, supporting the release of their Sputnik/Korolev EP via lighting designer Francis Clegg.

Francis, part of creative visual design and programming collective MIRRAD, produced a lighting design for the short but popular and much anticipated UK tour which followed on from summer festival work. A completely new live show concept was evolved for this, with production based on the Brixton Academy gig and adaptable to fit the other venues.

The band plays instrumental music, taking samples from classic public service information films, archival footage and propaganda material to (in their own words) "teach lessons of the past through music of the future" with a satirical and humorous edge.

Visuals are fundamental to the performance, and wi

USA - It was a record-breaking evening for Jack Daniel's Bash on Broadway: New Year's Eve in Music City where 143,000 people lined the streets of Nashville to ring in 2016. Performances included Kings of Leon, Chris Stapleton and Kelsea Ballerini while Bandit Lites once again provided the lighting for both the Music City Stage and the 150ft tower adorned with the massive music note that ushered in the New Year.

Lighting designer John Lucksinger focused his attention for the evening on that quintessential tower which utilised Martin Atomic strobes, Aryton Magic Panels, and Robe cycfx 8s being controlled by a MA2 console networked with a MA NPU.

With the event now needing two stages to accommodate the seven musical guests, Lucksinger found he could simply not be in two places at once, and after designing the lighting for the Music City stage, he handed the controls to Bandit l

South Africa - The Uthungulu Last Dance festival in Richards Bay includes picnicking and partying on the beach on 1 January, after enjoying a sizzling series of concerts to ring in the New Year the night before. This year, in addition to enjoying the South African summer sun, visitors to the festival got to bask in the warm white light of STRIKEs 4 fixtures from Chauvet Professional.

Lighting designer Shaniel Laloo of Sounds Ideal (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa) used the STRIKEs 4s and a collection of Legend 230SR Beam moving fixtures to engage the massive crowd at the celebration. The high output of both fixtures was essential to the designer achieving this goal, given the large size of the outdoor uMhlathuze Multi-Purpose Sports Complex, where the festival performances took place -- and the size of the crowd, estimated at 40 000.

"The STRIKEs are nice for eye candy e

Theatre Funding - Arts leaders have warned that cuts to local funding will be the biggest issue facing the theatre industry in 2016. This comes after the government announced a total reduction to local authority grants of £6.1 billion, which will be implemented between now and 2019/20. David Brownlee, director of theatre consultancy firm BON Culture, said pressures on council funding would mean the difficulties faced by regional theatre move "from a drama to a crisis". He added that mid and small-scale venues would be most at risk, especially those run directly by local authorities.

It Was 25 Years Ago - On Christmas Day 1990, Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau (in collaboration with CERN) communicated between a web browser and a webserver for the first time - thus the world's first website went live.

Honours List - The music world is repre

Belgium - d3 Technologies has named FACE, Foundation for Audio-Visual Commerce & Engineering, in Boom, Belgium, as its new reseller in the Benelux region. FACE recently supplied an exciting 3D mapping project in Bokrijk, Belgium with d3 gear and hosted a d3 open house last month.

A full-service provider for the entertainment industry, FACE was formed in 2010 to supply audio, lighting and video hardware, software and services.

"d3 and FACE share a lot of the same values - We both believe in innovation through technology," says Karel De Piere, CEO of FACE. "d3's solutions are a great addition to our existing portfolio and fit right into our catalogue of professional solutions. We are confident that both parties will benefit from this new partnership, and we look forward to working with d3. With our established sales and installation team we expect to create some

Croatia - Hrvatska Radio Televizija - Croatian Radio Television holds the largest stock of W-DMX devices in Croatia. The lighting department is now stocking 14 Blackbox series transceivers and receivers, used across different TV shows and outside broadcast assignments. These wireless systems are also used on the popular show .

Local distributor Georges Toutounji, CEO of Scen-The comments: "The Voice, which premiered the first season in January 2015 and is currently in production for a second season is such a global brand that it needs very little introduction. The exciting part is showing people how limitless the system is, and then seeing how they use it on their shows. We have seen a lot of young adopters and now setting the standard in Wireless DMX transmission in the Croatian market. This was exactly the case with HRT."

For The Voice, a Blackbo

UK - The full programme for London's first Lumiere light festival has been revealed, a "brand new event that is set to transform the city's streets and buildings across four evenings this month".

Developed by creative producers Artichoke and supported by the Mayor of London, Lumiere London runs from 14-17 January 2016, 6.30-10.30pm. Free to attend, the festival will re-imagine London's urban landscape and architecture in 30 artworks across four main areas: King's Cross; Mayfair and Grosvenor Square; Piccadilly, Regent Street, Leicester Square and St James's; and Trafalgar Square and Westminster.

With founding support from Atom Bank, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Heart of London Business Alliance, London & Partners and King's Cross, plus additional support from a host of partners and sponsors, including Westminster City Council, Lumiere London will "transform parts

UK - One of this year's festive television highlights was the ABBA Party which was aired on Christmas Eve and what a party it was!

Stars from across music and TV performed their favourite ABBA song and shared personal Abba memories. The show was set in a special Scandinavian Christmas lodge, as ITV helped celebrate 41 years since the release of the band's Greatest Hits album.

Chris Kempton designed the lighting with help from Richard Martin Lighting (RML). Chris's list included MAC Aura's, Alpha Wash 700's, Pointes, Pixelline 1044, Sharpys, VL1000TS, VL4000 Spots, B-EYE K20's, Nexus 4x4 panels, Robin 600 LEDWash.

Despite there been a lot of blue lighting used (think snow, ice, all things Scandinavian) there was still a real warmth to the look of the set. That was probably a combination of the trees, sparkles and presenter Paddy McGuinness

In an exclusive

Slovenia - Pro Plus is the leading media company in Slovenia, which constantly generates new trends through the two TV channels with the greatest audience shares in Slovenia - POP TV and Kanal A, as well as through its topical TV channels - BRIO, KINO and OTO. Pro Plus has recently invested in 12 x Robe LEDWash 800s and eight MMX Spots for its main facility in Ljubljana.

A wide variety of talent, reality and talk shows are produced by Pro PLUS together with their acclaimed 24-hour news services. They own several studios, with the largest - Studio 4 - accommodating up to three separate productions simultaneously. This is where the Robes are currently installed.

The lighting department is primarily responsible for the white light elements of the shows - which is the main reason the LEDWash 800s were purchased.

The fixtures were supplied via Slovenian distributor MK Light So

USA - LED video display manufacturer PixelFLEX has appointed Alexander Williams as its new director of project management.

"I am very excited to announce Alexander in the newly created position of director of project management," said Monty Rains, PixelFLEX president and COO. "In this role, Alex will lead a team of talented technical and production management professionals who will provide client support for events, installations and direct sales of our PixelFLEX line of products and services."

As a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, Alex has travelled the world working with a number of corporations and touring artists. Prior to joining PixelFLEX, he made his start in the entertainment industry as a video engineer, and has also worked as a video director, sales engineer, and in project management for other corporations.

(Jim Evans)

Italy - Lighting designer Giovanni Pinna is the man behind the light setting of Tiziano Ferro's (TZN) latest indoor tour in second half of 2015. He opted for the SGM Q-7 multi-purpose LED luminaire even before realizing the full potential of the fixture.

The popular Italian singer-songwriter within the genres of Latin, Pop and R&B, and known to sing also in Spanish, English, French and Portuguese obtaining his current sales figures of 15m records worldwide, toured the Italian stadiums during the summer with great success. Subsequently, Tiziano Ferro decided to do an indoor tour, maintaining the very strong concept of the video graphics dominating his show. Requiring a totally new lighting rig to support the video screen setup, production company Live Nation called upon lighting designer Giovanni Pinna to join the team adding his strong portfolio of developing quality designs.

UK - Following a year of changes, PLASA is looking forward to a fresh new approach for 2016. With the de-merger from PLASA North America enabling the Association to re-focus its resources and push forward with plans to re-engage with its members, PLASA is now set to introduce a series of initiatives based on the constructive feedback gained from the industry.

Despite its difficulties, 2015 saw many positives for PLASA. At PLASA Media, Lighting&Sound International celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2015, having been confirmed by research completed by Fusion Insight & Strategy as the market leading magazine and by far the number one choice of readers in the marketplace. LSi also welcomed a new media sales team: commercial manager Andrew Organ and business development manager Greg Morley have quickly settled into their roles, and 2016 is shaping up to be LSi's most successf

USA - It is with great sadness that Syncrolite, LLC announces that Jimmy Page Henderson passed away on 5 January, 2016. Since 1969 Jimmy has been a fixture in rock 'n roll touring and concert promotion. His roots went deep into the heart of our industry starting with concert promotions, night club management and then joining founder Jack Calmes at Showco in 1972 as their first and only salesman. Jimmy saw it all and came to know everyone as he helped grow Showco from a simple two system sound company to a complete production company doing over 2000 live performances per year worldwide.

After leaving Showco in 1978 and working another round of concert promotion and venue management, Jimmy again teamed with Calmes to help build Syncrolite in 1991. Working at Syncrolite for the next 24 years Jimmy and Jack grew Syncrolite into the world leader in large format lighting for concerts

USA - Bandit Lites continued its tradition of kicking off the New Year with legendary jam band Widespread Panic. The American rock group closed out their three night run at the Fox Theatre on New Year's Eve and featured both their original songs and covers of Bob Dylan, David Bowie and Leonard Cohen with guest performances by the Megablaster Horns.

As with previous years' massive New Year's Eve shows, lighting designer Paul Hoffman altered the band's touring rig from the previous fall tour.

"This year marks Panic's first return to the Fox Theatre since 2011, and we wanted to make an impression," he said.

And make an impression they did, using MAC Vipers, Robe BMFLs, Robe Pointes, Elation 2 Lite LED and GLP X4S's to give psychedelic and vibrant looks that have become synonymous with the group's performances.

The biggest change to the lighting design was the ad

UK - Channel 4's Big Fat Quiz of the Year is hosted by comedian Jimmy Carr and filmed at London Studios. It's a panel show made up of A-list celebrities who are put to the test to see who can remember the most about the year.

Regular lighting designer Chris Kempton returned for another year, supported by Richard Martin Lighting (RML). The show has now been running for over a decade and neither the set nor the lighting rig has changed much in recent years. As the age old saying goes - if it aint broke don't fix it!

Chris uses VL1000TS, VL2000 Wash, Chroma Strips, Pixellines, Pixel Par 90's and LED Birdies to complete the bright and bold design.

(Jim Evans)

UK - S+H Technical supplied 360m of their ShowLED animation cloth, 20m of 1 and 2m Pea-light strings and 2000 x 4-channel DMX controlled Pea-lights - used to decorate three Christmas trees - for The Abba Christmas Party, a TV special produced by Thames, part of FreemantleMedia UK at the London Studios on the South Bank. The show was broadcast on Christmas Eve's ITV 1 prime time.

Production designer Joshua Grace created the 'Abba Lodge' - a super Christmassy, fun-filled Scandinavian inspired environment - in a nod to Abba's Swedish roots - and Festive Cabin for presenter Paddy McGuinness, who was joined by a host of music, TV and theatre stars.

They performed a wide range of Abba songs and shared their own personal Abba memories in a series of chat-style session, all celebrating of 41 years since Abba released their Greatest Hits album in 1975. An exclusive inte

UK - Snape Maltings Concert Hall is a world-renowned venue situated in the heart of the Suffolk countryside. Amongst its various performance spaces is the Britten Studio - a 350 seat venue that often plays host to full orchestral rehearsals, small-scale opera performances, piano concerts and literary festivals. Wanting to replace their previous dimmer system, Snape Maltings called upon White Light to provide the latest technology to fulfil their various lighting requirements, with the LSC GenVI Advanced Dimming System offering the perfect solution.

Geoff Spain, technical coordinator at Snape Maltings Concert Hall, comments, "We knew for some time that we needed to upgrade our current system as it hadn't changed since the Britten Studio first opened in 2009. As this was such a significant purchase, we needed to ensure that we made the correct decision hence we wanted to see

USA - The animated clock on the big building counted down as 2015 came to an end. A large crowd gathered in the streets to watch the glistening ball drop to welcome the new year. This was not Times Square, though - this was Baltimore. At GAME Sports & Spirits in the heart of the city between the Baltimore Ravens' M&T Bank Stadium and Horseshoe Casino, X-Laser projectors generated vivid laser effects to help create the atmosphere for Baltimore's first New Year's Eve ball drop.

X-Laser supplied the laser projectors and custom content to create a 20-by-40ft outdoor digital laser sign visible throughout the city. "Lasers are uniquely suited for long-distance, high-contrast projections and can render very large, high-visibility content quite easily," Dan Goldsmith, president of X-Laser, said. "The organizers of Baltimore's first ball drop were able to achieve their vi

UK - This week sees the launch of a new antiques quiz show, For What It's Worth. The series, for BBC One and produced by Tuesday's Child, is "a strategic quiz with simple games plus the thrilling play-a-long of guessing the value of interesting antiques".

Fern Britton takes on the role as quiz master and will be joined by a different antiques expert each week. Over three rounds, three pairs of contestants will compete to collect as many of the antiques on offer, hoping to bag the most treasurable items and avoid the tat.

For What It's Worth is filmed at Dock 10, Salford and lit by Roger Williams, supported by Richard Martin Lighting (RML). This type of show needs a modest lighting rig and the main unit used for this series is the MAC Aura.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Chroma-Q has announced the appointment of Jessica Allan, in a new international business development role.

With immediate effect, Jessica is responsible for overseeing development of the Chroma-Q brand in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East & Africa) and APAC (Asia-Pacific) international sales territories. This position is a result of Chroma-Q's continued strong ongoing growth in the global entertainment and commercial lighting markets.

Based in the UK, Jessica will work closely with Chroma-Q's brand manager, John Fuller, to promote their fast-growing portfolio of lighting solutions designed for entertainment, film & TV, architectural and other key market segments.

Jessica established her career at Martin Professional, progressing during her 14 years from their UK subsidiary to the company's Danish headquarters. She then moved into an events and production-focussed busines

USA - The ESTA Control Protocols Plugfest, the event where manufacturers and developers can test their products for interoperability with other manufacturers' products, is scheduled to take place 29 January 29 through 1 February at the D/FW Marriott Solana in Westlake, Texas. Everyone is welcome to attend!

Attendees bring controllers, intelligent lights, control protocol analysers, and various other tools and devices, in an effort to seek out and resolve interoperability challenges. People attend from all around the world to plug into this network and improve their products.

The Plugfest was originally created to support the Remote Device Management protocol (ANSI E1.20 RDM), but covers all ESTA Control Protocols Working Group (CPWG) standards, including the popular ANSI E1.31 Streaming ACN protocol.

The scheduled hours are 4:00-11:00pm on Friday, 30 January, 9:00am-11:00

Indonesia - A cutting-edge package of Clay Paky fixtures has been installed into a new super club in Jakarta that promises partygoers "an unrivalled audio-visual experience".

Owned by one of Jakarta's most prominent nightlife companies Alexis Group, Colosseum is a huge 1000sq.m arena with 16m high ceilings that hosts world class DJs, international artists and vast themed parties.

Spain-based multimedia production company and supplier LEDsCONTROL supplied and installed 30 of the award-winning Clay Paky Mythos, 16 A.leda B-EYE K20s, 16 Sharpys and 10 Alpha Spot 700 HPE fixtures into the space.

"Alexis Group approached us to support their vision of creating the most spectacular and trailblazing venue in Jakarta's club scene," explains project manager Miquel Perez de Hita. "We immediately put forward a lighting package of Clay Paky fixtures as we were

South Korea - Clay Paky A.leda B-EYE K10 luminaires are part of a sophisticated lighting system that provides visitors with an immersive viewing experience at Grévin Seoul, the first Asian location of the famous waxwork museum Grévin Paris.

Located near one of Seoul's busiest shopping districts, Myeong-dong, Grévin Seoul opened in July this year. It offers visitors the chance to take selfies with 80 life-size wax models of world-renowned public figures and celebrities. The exhibit is spread over four floors in different themed rooms.

Korean distributor Tongsuh Technology Co. supplied and installed 19 of the Clay Paky fixtures into the museum's Hall of Fame room. Situated on the second floor, this section displays waxworks of stars such as Angelina Jolie and Korean pop sensation Psy. It invites visitors to 'make unforgettable memories with your favourite

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