Lighting

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20 August 2024

UK - Showlight 2025 will be exhibiting at PLASA Show London (1-3 September 2024) at Olympia London in Kensington.

If you want to know more about Showlight, what it is and how to attend, members of the Showlight Committee will be waiting to meet you on Stand A34 to answer all your questions.

Whether you want information on becoming a Showlight exhibitor, sponsor, speaker or student, or what to expect when attending as a delegate, here’s your chance to find out more.

Organised once every four years, Showlight is an event with a rich history. Aimed at anyone involved in the many disciplines of lighting design, each Showlight is organised entirely by volunteers, literally from the ground up - a new country, a new venue, every time.

Showlight 2025 will be heading to Dijon in France where lighting practitioners from across the world will

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20 August 2024

Malta - The Mediterrane Film Festival, hosted for the second consecutive year in Malta from 22-30 June, culminated with the Golden Bee Award Ceremony hosted by David Walliams at the Fort Manoel, Gżira.

Over a dozen awards were presented to international actors, directors and cinematographers across a variety of categories. The awards were interspersed with performances from artists including Mercury Prize winner, Heather Small, Britain’s Got Talent singer Calum Scott, Maltese opera singer Joseph Calleja and the Golden Bee Awards Orchestra.

BAFTA-winning writer-director Mike Leigh was awarded the career achievement award, and Maltese production coordinator Rita Galea was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The evening was rounded off with a speech from the President of Malta, Myriam Spiteri Debono, who emphasised the importance of

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20 August 2024

Spain - In the final four shows of superstar Karol G’s 62-date Mañana Será Bonito Tour, it was the “details” - even the most painstaking ones - that gave rise to some looks that enthralled the sold-out crowds at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

Working with a production design by Travis Shirley, lighting designer Ignacio ‘Iggy’ Rosenberg of Lightswitch artfully pixel mapped every cell of 310 Chauvet Professional Color Strike M fixtures to add an extra level of depth and continuity to the massive set.

“We did a ton of pixel mapping,” said Rosenberg. “Every cell was really used individually to get as much flexibility throughout the show. Given the overall arc of the design, we constrained the palettes we used for the first two sections of the show, so we needed all the tools we could have to create different looks.”

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16 August 2024

Croatia - Over 200 Robe moving lights graced the stage in a lighting scheme designed by Sven Kučinić of LumiLas LLC for a show by Serbian superstar Milica Pavlović at the Zagreb Arena.

Sven was asked to light the high-profile concert after Pavlović’s show producers saw his lightshow for Croatian artist Gibonni - the previous year at Belgrade Arena - and decided they wanted to work with him. They talked to the artist who also checked out Sven’s work for herself and was suitably impressed.

Sven, who has a busy schedule combining working as a commercial pilot with designing creative lightshows, was also contacted by the local show producers Ivan Jurić-Kaćunić, Katijan Knok and Goran Hucaluk, with whom he’s worked on other projects and was able to slot this one into his diary.

His starting point for the production lighting design was

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16 August 2024

USA - Bandit Lites is supporting country music rising star Megan Moroney, who was recently named New Female Artist of the year at the 59th ACM Awards.

Bandit Lites founder Michael T. Strickland witnessed the raw potential and passion for music early in Moroney’s career saying, “I first saw Megan when she was just out of college and was not even a club act. After one show, you knew she had it. There are very few entertainers that have that magical combination of talent, songwriting, charm and charisma and they instantly draw you into their soul.”

Lighting designer Tim Keller crafted a supplemental package that would meet the size limitations of the truck pack, utilising Martin MAC Vipers and Cyc FX fixtures. With venue sizes ranging from intimate theatres to massive stadiums, simplicity has been the key to consistency.

I

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16 August 2024

UK - At this year’s PLASA Show at the Olympia Exhibition Centre in London, the Adam Hall Group will be presenting the latest products from Cameo and LD Systems at stand B13.

The focus will be on event technology highlights such as the pioneering Cameo Oron H2 IP65 hybrid moving-head with phosphor-laser engine and the battery-powered ANNY PA systems from LD Systems. In addition, the Adam Hall Integrated Systems team will also be presenting the audio and lighting installation solutions developed under the Cameo and LD Systems brands to AV visitors.

From the portable ANNY 8 Bluetooth PA speaker and the scalable Maila sound reinforcement system, to the compact Azor SP2 Spot Profile Moving Head and the new Cameo top model Opus X4 Profile with 1,400W white-light LED - the range of event technology solutions with which the Adam Hall Group travels to the P

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15 August 2024

Canada - The team at Onedot designed the lighting rig for Fuego Fuego, Canada’s largest Latin Music festival.

Held at Montreal’s Parc Olympique, the two-day event featured an impressive list of stars, including Maluma and Rauw Alejandro. The Onedot team’s goal was to put together a rig that was versatile enough to express the style of each artist. To do so, they had to summon their creative powers to overcome the limitations posed by their stage.

“The stage brought a good deal of challenges regarding limited rigging loads, rigging trims and wind bracing,” said Jean-Sebastien Guilmette of Onedot. “With a total trim height of 28ft, we had to be very conscious of every inch of the stage, and needed to ensure that small details were taken into account.”

Original thinking helped Guilmette and lighting director Louis-Xavier Bonneau co

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15 August 2024

Slovenia - The Lent Festival in Maribor (21-29 June) is the largest open-air festival in Slovenia and, each year, attracts tens of thousands of visitors to the former European Capital of Culture. National and international artists from all musical genres perform on the large and small stages, which are strewn about the city centre.

In order to cover the stylistic diversity in terms of event technology, the organisers - together with the numerous local service providers - once again relied on a wide range of Cameo lights and a Maila array system from LD Systems.

Top stars of the Slovenian and national music scene, including Magnifico and the vocal group Perpetuum Jazzile, performed on the Main Stage in the centre of Maribor. Lighting designer Matevz Giganovič relied on an almost identical setup to the previous year: Opus X Profile, Opus H5 IP65 beam-

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14 August 2024

France - Those who watched the Paris Olympics on Eurosport had their experience enriched by some extraordinary behind-the-scenes breakthroughs at the Warner Bros network’s studios.

Recently remodelled, the three Eurosport studios in Boulogne that broadcast coverage of the Paris Olympics employ the latest in TV technology. Designed and installed by Arkrys, working with Georges Krystkowiak (director of photography) and Baptiste Arnaud-Benaïs (gaffer), along with the TD of Eurosport France, Florent Marquer, the fully automated studios aired coverage throughout the Olympic sites with 10 commentary positions embedded in a virtual setting.

Controlling the lighting setups at the studios were the ChamSys MQ250M Stadium console, along with two GeNetix 10Scene Gateways and two 10Scene Wall Plates. The performance of the ChamSys products made the transition

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14 August 2024

USA - When veteran lighting designer Tom Kenny was called on to light a reimagined NHL Draft at the Las Vegas Sphere - the first live TV broadcast from the venue - he chose multi-dynamic Pulse Panel FX lights from Elation to back the all-important look.  

Evolving from a traditional convention-style draft to a 21st century show at arguably the most talked about venue in the US, the NHL dazzled players and fans 28-29 June with a visually striking broadcast.

“The NHL Draft at the Sphere was just amazing and out of this world,” Kenny enthused. “This was really a historical show and we needed a modern look for this new way to hold a draft. I knew I wanted something that was epic and futuristic looking in that main television shot, and even though you’re up against the biggest backlight in the world with its amazing content, the Pulse looked bea

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14 August 2024

UAE - Perfect Ovation is a family-run company with a busy Dubai dry hire facility and a full production operation in Oman supplying lighting, sound, and LED screens to a diverse mix of shows and events. The company is headed by entrepreneur and music lover Baltazar Fernandez who comes from Goa.

Since 2019, Perfect Ovation in Dubai has been investing in Robe moving lights with the latest purchases being 160 fixtures - 40 x iFORTES, 40 x Tetra2s and 80 x LEDBeam 350s plus four RoboSpot systems, all delivered by Robe Middle East.

These were added to their existing inventory which already included 80 x Robe MegaPointes and 80 x Spiider LED wash beams.

Baltazar and his team chose the Robe route as they were confident that the products are well made, and offer great quality solutions, but apart from anything else, their brand choice was driven by i

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14 August 2024

USA - Vectorworks is preparing to release the 2025 version of its product line. Vectorworks 2025 focuses on ‘redefining 3D interactivity and visualisation, providing innovative methods for users to enhance the way they visualise their models, design intent, and data within the working environment’.

"At Vectorworks, we're dedicated to creating usability wins for our customers, ensuring that our software doesn't dictate the limits of what's possible,” said Vectorworks CEO Dr. Biplab Sarkar. “Our latest version is a testament to this commitment, providing powerful tools that seamlessly integrate into your workflow, allowing you to focus firmly on your ideas without obstacles."

This latest release focuses on intuitive visualisation and interactivity, with tools that empower designers to bring their visions to life with ease.

Key features

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13 August 2024

UK/Paris - A UK-based lighting and events company has defied the odds to become Europe’s leading sporting broadcast lighting business as an Official Supporter of Broadcast Lighting and Rigging for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, despite challenges faced from Brexit and the pandemic. 

SLX provided its services to light up 29 outer Paris venues, including the specially built Aquatics Centre throughout the duration of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Such is the scope of this project, SLX has had a dedicated team of 30 people working on the ground in Paris for the last 12 months. It has also opened a 25,000sq.ft space, equivalent to the size of two Olympic swimming pools, to store and supply the multiple venues with lighting, equipment, rigging and cabling to ensure competitors, spectators and media have the best visibility no matter the t

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13 August 2024

UK - PLASA Show has announced the first confirmed sessions in a bumper programme of seminars, masterclasses and panels taking place throughout the show at Olympia London from 1-3 September. 

Being held in three sector-specific theatres with dedicated content streams covering lighting and production, AV and audio, and business and industry initiative, the industry-leading programme is once again sponsored by Vectorworks.

Sessions will include audio and comms specialist James Henry-Breward (‘Brew’) outlining the systems and kit deployed this year’s Wimbledon tennis championship; and Dan Crompton from Tate Galleries discussing advancements in AV technology and its impact on museums and galleries.

Other expert contributors will include visual artist Frankie Boyle who will discuss how lighting affects human behaviour; and Jon Burton present

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13 August 2024

South Africa - DWR Distribution hosted its first mini exhibition at its offices in Johannesburg on 29 and 30 July. The goal of the event was to provide an opportunity for industry professionals, system integrators, and students to meet with international suppliers, see the latest technology, and most importantly, network.

Exhibitors included: Barco, Chainmaster, DiGiCo, Doughty, DSpecialists, Fenix Stage, L-Acoustics, Layher, MA Lighting, Neutrik Group, Prolyte, Quest Engineering, RCF, Robe Lighting, Sennheiser Electronic SA, Sharp NEC, Theatrixx, RAM Mountaineering, Special Industrial Suppliers, and Visual Productions.

A new warehouse at DWR, recently secured as the new home for the DWR Workshop and Manufacturing departments, was quickly transformed into a venue to host the expo. Visitors could attend daily workshops, see demonstrations and discover

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13 August 2024

Malta - Located in Malta’s nightlife capital, the Paceville district of St. Julian’s, The Playground is a well-established nightclub that specialises in techno and other genres of underground electronic dance music. The club has recently undergone a complete renovation of its audio and lighting system, carried out by local integration specialists FutureTech Pro. Designed to perfectly complement both venue layout and music policy, the new lighting system features ADJ’s Focus Beam LED automated luminaires, pixel-mapped Pixie Strip LED battens, and multi-functional Jolt Panel FX LED strobe/blinder/wash fixtures.

Located alongside the larger Sky Club, which also features an extensive inventory of ADJ fixtures installed by FutureTech Pro a few years ago, The Playground is an intimate venue that has been established in St. Julian’s for dec

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13 August 2024

South Africa - Within a stone’s throw of the Formula One Grand Prix circuit after which it was named, Ayrton’s laser-sourced IP65-rated Kyalami fixture was celebrated with a big South African launch party on 3 July at the Johannesburg premises of Planetworld, Ayrton’s South African distribution partner.

Over 80 guests attended from across the country, having flown in from as far afield as Cape Town and Durban, all of whom were gifted with Ayrton beanies and scarves to keep out the chill of a South African winter’s night. Representatives from rental and staging companies, houses of worship and lighting designers all gathered to discover more about Ayrton’s new fixture in a convivial and informal evening, which was themed to honour F1 racing driver, Ayrton Senna, the constant source of inspiration for Ayrton’s founder Yvan Péard.

Ayrton’

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13 August 2024

Germany - The Friedrichstadt-Palast has been a leading hub for cultural and artistic excellence in the heart of Berlin, with a history that dates back to 1919. One of the largest and most prominent theatres in the capital, its latest production Falling | In Love is a fantasy tale filled with colour, exuberant costumes and an ensemble of 100 artists. Visual design and technology studio, Bright! played a pivotal role in enabling lighting and audio technology befitting such a grand production.

“The Friedrichstadt-Palast team were searching for a tracking solution that could manage both the sound and light tracking needs for their newest Grand Show Falling | In Love,” recalls Philip Neyses, head of the technical department at Bright! “This was the first time the theatre had considered a tracking solution.”

The key requirement wa

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13 August 2024

UK - When Yes Events’ Tom Chennells became the first customer for the TT+ Audio GTX line array back in the spring, it was precisely with shows such as the Waddesdon Manor summer concerts that he had in mind.

The Victorian venue - a French Renaissance-style château in Buckinghamshire - provided the perfect backdrop for four nights of concerts featuring various tribute acts. Yes Events provided not only the premium sound, but the complete technical infrastructure, including lighting, video, all rigging and staging, barriers, as well as booking the acts, in what was a total turnkey operation.

TT+ Audio is from the home of Italian loudspeaker giant RCF, with whom Chennells has enjoyed a long relationship.

When GTX, the flagship of the new brand, was demoed earlier in the year he recognised that the smaller GTX 10 would be the perfect replaceme

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12 August 2024

UK - Visitors to this year’s PLASA Show (1-3 September, Olympia London) can once again get up close to vintage technology used by iconic recording artists and theatre productions, courtesy of lighting designer and LSi journalist Rob Halliday, and Chris Hewitt of CH Vintage Audio.

In a special area of the show named after the popular, long-running LSi column, archive equipment will be showcased via a display of vintage consoles and fixtures. Additionally, a range of guest experts set to join Halliday and Hewitt on-stand throughout the event to share memories of tech-gone-by.

Kit set to be displayed includes:

• The custom Cadac mixing console created for Starlight Express in 1984, which pioneered the computer-controlled VCA mixing approach followed by all theatre shows since.
• The Strand Galaxy lighting console, which i

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12 August 2024

Hungary - In the Hungarian capital city of Budapest, the Széchenyi Chain Bridge has been given a new lease of life following extensive renovations and the introduction of a decorative lighting system controlled by solutions from Pharos Architectural Controls.

The bridge, which opened in 1849, crosses the Danube River and connects the western ‘Buda’ to the eastern ‘Pest’ parts of the city. The refurbishment works dealt with large areas of rust and deterioration, treating the painting and the railings. The structural elements of the bridge have also been replaced and repaired. Furthermore, the bridge will no longer allow for cars to pass over - instead, traffic is limited to taxis, buses, cyclists and pedestrians.

The improvement works have also seen the modernisation of the bridge’s lighting, with the replacement of 1,180 outdated luminaire

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12 August 2024

USA - 21 June marked a momentous day for fans of extreme metal music. On that evening Dimitri Minakakis returned to join The Dillinger Escape Plan for the first of three shows at the Brooklyn Paramount Theatre, held to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the band’s seminal Calculating Infinity album, a work hailed by critics as “capturing a major shift in extreme music sensibilities.”

Minakakis, a potent force in the multi-award-winning band’s early formative years, hadn’t performed with the group since 2001, other than a few guest appearances at shows, the most recent of which was in December of 2017.

Given his compelling guitar riffs and fierce, unmistakable vocals, Dimitri Minakakis’ homecoming made huge waves in metal circles. Also making a return on that unseasonably hot night in Brooklyn, though it was after a far shorter h

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12 August 2024

Australia - In 2023, Opera Australia (OA) brought Wagner’s groundbreaking production of the Ring Cycle to life at Brisbane’s Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC). Renowned as the pinnacle of opera, Wagner’s Ring Cycle spans 15 epic hours performed over four nights, featuring a collective of 83 musicians and 102 voices performing some of the most transformative music ever written.

The visionary behind this epic was Chinese creative theatre director Chen Shi-Zheng, who challenged traditional opera boundaries by introducing the world’s first digital 'Ring' into the performance. The production was a fusion of futuristic storytelling and cutting-edge technology, featuring giant LED panels that spun, tracked, and flew to create an immersive, mesmerising virtual world for the audience.

At the heart of this technological marvel

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09 August 2024

UK - International production practice Wonder Works has launched WowAxis, a custom design and fabrication service intended to enhance the efficiency of live event productions. Born out of a growing demand from Wonder Works' clients for bespoke design and fabrication work, WowAxis is dedicated to providing safe, innovative, and intuitive solutions for touring equipment and productions worldwide, the company says.

Led by industry experts Piers Shepperd, Jeremy Lloyd, and Dave Williams, the WowAxis team boasts over 75 years of combined experience in live events. Piers Shepperd, director of WowAxis, says: "WowAxis was created to address the evolving needs of our clients and the industry as a whole. We saw an opportunity to provide a one-stop solution for design, fabrication, and assembly, allowing us to deliver high-quality products that enhance the efficiency a