Belgium - The word ‘individual’ comes up often when Martin Thomas talks about lighting his long-time client Alan Parsons. It isn’t necessarily Parsons himself that the Tucson, Arizona-based LD is referring to, but each of the musicians that make up the pioneering Grammy winner’s band.
“The music of The Alan Parsons Project has always been founded on a variety of musicians based on their individual strong suits - and the live show is no different,” said Thomas. “All members have specific harmony parts in the music; and lead vocals shift throughout the show. Because everyone sings, key light and backlight for all musicians is critical. So, layers and atmospheric architecture make up most of the production with several negative space moments in the performance.”
At the last stop of the band’s European tour at the iAncienne Belgique in downtown Brussels

UK - Elation Professional’s Artiste Monet LED Profile luminaire won a PLASA Award for Innovation at PLASA 2019. Recognised as exceptional innovation at a ceremony held 16 September in London, the judges singled out the Monet’s wireless continuous-rotation framing and SpectraColor colour mixing systems.
“We are both honoured and proud to have won our fifth PLASA Award for Innovation yesterday for the fabulous Artiste Monet,” enthused Elation sales & marketing director Eric Loader. “The Artiste series is breaking new ground with innovation that opens up for greater creative possibilities. Lighting professionals on both the production and installation side are discovering how exceptional the series is and the Monet is a great example. We are thrilled to again be recognised as an R&D leader and innovator in entertainment lighting.”
The 45,000-lumen Arti

Poland - Elation Professional has announced that specialty stage technology company Przedsiebiorstwo Specjalistyczne TEATR has been named the new distributor for Elation products in Poland. Based near Warsaw in the town of Piaseczno, TEATR is one of Poland’s oldest and most respected entertainment technology companies.
“We’re excited to be partnering with such an experienced company in one of Europe’s fast developing and important growth markets,” states Marc Librecht, head of sales and marketing for Elation in Europe. “The Polish market is distinct and offers unique opportunities. Our cooperation with TEATR will be a key step in expanding the Elation brand there and we look forward to working closely with their team.”
TEATR has been involved in the implementation of state-of-the-art stage technology solutions for many of Poland’s top theatres, concert

UK - Inspired by the launch of its new PLASA Innovation Award-winning Esprite moving light with fully replaceable LED engine and a host of other features and the Back to The Future movie franchise, Robe presented the first in a new trilogy of expo live performance concepts at the PLASA 2019 expo in London.
The show #ReturnToTheFuture was created to highlight Robe’s newest technologies in the context for which they were designed.
With an original DeLorean MMC12 as the set centrepiece, six dancers – and around 200 Robe lights - including Esprites, Tetras, T1s, SilverScans, MegaPointes, Spiiders, Tarrantulas and LEDBeam 150s – rigged in the roof and all around the sides of the booth, plus stunning special effects and a pool of water containing Robe IP rated iPointes - the eight-minute 428-cue (that’s one every 1.12 seconds) show was performed to a sp

USA - Bandit Lites once again provided the lighting package for the fourth annual 2019 Black Music Honorus, where Xscape, Freddie Jackson, Arrested Development, Tamia and Yolanda Adams were honoured for their contributions to African American culture and American music.
Held on 5 September at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre and produced by Central City Productions, the television special was hosted by Rickey Smiley and LeToya Luckett and featured performances by Jagged Edge, Jekalyn Carr, Tevin Campbell, Kelly Price, Naughty By Nature, Le'Andria Johnson, Tony Terry, Travis Greene, 702, Smokie Norful, Jade Novah, Dee1, June's Diary, Mali Music, Mumu Fresh, Major, Keke Wyatt, Jessie Woo, Leon Timbo and Avery Wilson.
Veteran lighting designer Mark Carver illuminated the two-hour affair and utilised the gear to provide a stylised, contemporary look.
Bandit

USA - The St Malachy church outside Detroit recently installed a modern colour-rendering LED lighting system that features Chauvet Professional fixtures.
“Colour and lighting have always been critical elements to the Catholic mass even before lighting fixtures were invented,” said St. Malachy LD Dave Corbat. “This parish takes a proactive role in reaching out to worshippers. This led to the idea of introducing colourful lighting to create an immersive environment in the sanctuary.”
St. Malachy engaged system designer Nathan Cole of Sound Planning Communications to create and install a new lighting system that augmented the 800-seat church’s existing rig with LED fixtures. His design adds four Rogue R2 Wash fixtures to the main lighting pipe, and called for two more units to be arranged on the ground near the altar. A collection of COLORdash Batten-Quad 12 lin

UK - Spotrack is at this year’s PLASA Show at London’s Olympia. Spotrack enables an operator to remotely control from any location, up to 50 moving lights as follow spots. It works with any moving light and any lighting console, in any performance space and can be used in all entertainment sectors for live production from anywhere in the venue.
The Spotrack team will be on hand to explain and discuss all aspects of the hardware and software that comprise a system which is revolutionising the lighting industry’s approach to spotlight control. Spotrack systems are to be found in action all around the globe at high profile events, as more and more lighting designers and production managers acquaint themselves with the clear advantages the system delivers.
Spotrack CEO Liam Feeney comments, “We’re excited to be bringing TracMe to PLASA. We’ve witnessed an amaz

UK - More than 500 entertainment industry professionals celebrated the best in lighting and video design on Sunday night as The Knight of Illumination (KOI) Awards announced this year's winners at a glittering ceremony at the Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith.
The annual industry awards honour the achievements of lighting and video designers working across the sectors of Theatre, Television, and Concert Touring & Events, and are chosen by a panel of independent judges.
The 2019 KOI Award winners are:
Theatre
The PRG Award for Projection Design: Jack Phelan for The Second Violinist, Landmark Productions & Irish National Opera
The ADB Award for Plays: Jessica Hung Han Yun for Equus, English Touring Theatre, Theatre Royal Stratford
The Robert Juliat Award for Opera: Mark Jonathan for Vanessa, Glyndebourne
The

The doors have opened for day two of PLASA Show 2019 at London Olympia, with Platinum Sponsor Robe, Silver Sponsor d&b audiotechnik and Technical Sponsor Hawthorn. The show floor is already brimming with business as visitors explore the latest products and solutions from 220+ brands from across audio, AV, lighting, rigging and staging.

The show’s platinum sponsor Robe have unveiled an expansive theatrical stand based on the classic 80s movie, Back To The Future. Live performances run every 90 minutes, with a viewing area on the show’s gallery level for visitors to watch from above. The creative duo behind the stand, Nathan Wan and Andy Webb, comment:

“Robe’s stand this year features a fully time coded show called ‘Return to the Future’ which is centred around a time travelling DeLorean car. During th

Germany - Dry hire specialists, HELi Showequipment GmbH supply technology for events of all types and sizes. The company, based in Bodenheim near Mainz, continually invests in new equipment from leading brand manufacturers, as well as offering full service back-up.
with a three digit quantity of impression S350 Spot and Wash from GLP - and is thus opting for white light solutions of the highest quality.
“While we already have sufficient quantities of the powerful, larger moving lights, it was the smaller, more compact fixtures that interested us,” explained CEO Uwe Heinrich. “The S350 series struck me immediately because it is dHELi is currently expanding its inventory of LED moving lights designed to be very compact, in keeping with the GLP design ethic of having no bulky base. Also, the important electronic shutter capability on both the Spot and Wash is impres

Egypt - Jennifer Lopez played her first-ever Egyptian concert in August in New Alamein as part of her It’s My Party tour to celebrate her 50th birthday.
Lighting for the occasion included 60 Chauvet Professional Rogue R3 Wash fixtures supplied by Prolite.
“Rabih Mokbel, one of the most prominent concert organizers in Egypt, retained Prolite to provide the rig for this event because of our reputation,” said Baher George, general manager of Prolite. “We recommended the Rogue fixtures for this project because of their output and colour and Mr. Mokbel and the LD agreed. Ahmed Aziz did a magnificent job bringing the fixtures into Egypt so we could use them for this show.”
LD Shaheem Litchmore flew the Rogue R3 Wash fixtures on midstage truss, and positioned them on Stage Right and Stage Left truss ladders. From these positions, the fixtures covered the stag

UK - Vari-Lite has announced that its new Vari-Lite VL800 Series of fixed and moving head LED fixtures is now shipping. The new series of fixtures can be seen at the PLASA Show (stand E60) at Olympia.
“The VL800 Series has been very well received,” says Martin Palmer, senior product manager, Vari-Lite and Strand Luminaires at Signify. “We’ve taken great care in their design to ensure that they look, move and feel the way you would expect from Vari-Lite, but with a cost profile and feature set that fits installations and smaller rental applications. We’re committed to delivering the tools that our customers need for the wide variety of lighting design environments that they work in, so it’s great to see such a warm response to this cost-effective, complementary, scalable family of event lighting fixtures.”
Comprising three new fixtures designed to work sea

UK - ADJ has announced the expansion of its UK-based sales team with the recruitment of Ryan Mattin who will serve as ADJ UK’s new southern sales rep. Ryan’s focus will be developing new business in the south of England as well as providing sales support to existing ADJ dealers.
Having worked in the audio and lighting retail industry for over 10 years, as purchasing manager for Audio Visual Commodity, Ryan has a keen interest in entertainment technology.
“Working for ADJ has been a dream of mine for quite a while, so it really is a pleasure to now be representing the company in the south of England,” says Ryan. “With an ever-growing product range for any size event, I am excited to be on board and part of this great team.”
Ryan has already begun his new role and is out on the road meeting customers and demonstrating the latest new ADJ products, with h

UK - City Theatrical is expanding its line of QolorFLEX LED tape, dimmers, and accessories with five new LED tapes: QolorFLEX HiQ High CRI LED Tape (available in three colour temperatures), QolorFLEX UV LED Tape, and QolorFLEX 5-in-1 LED Tape, RGBACW.
QolorFLEX HiQ High CRI LED Tape has a Color Rendering Index (CRI) of 95, making it a suitable high CRI LED tape for the needs of the film industry. Available in three types (3200K, 6000K, and 2700K to 6500K in a single chip), QolorFLEX HiQ High CRI LED Tape offers “exceptional on-camera colour rendition and the ability to match the light sources already being used on set”.
QolorFLEX UV LED Tape was designed to accentuate the fluorescence of surrounding objects or paint, providing a “glow in the dark” effect. With a wavelength of 395nm just outside the visible spectrum, QolorFLEX UV LED Tape works similarly to a

UK - High End Systems lighting gear illuminated Leith Theatre for the duration of the recent Edinburgh International Festival. The fully LED rig comprised a selection of Sola Series fixtures, but the real highlight was High End’s latest innovation – TurboRay – which made its international debut at the event.
In his role as lighting designer for Leith Theatre’s contemporary music programme for the 2019 festival, Grant Anderson facilitated the lighting needs for a diverse roster that included poetry, rapping and alternative rock. He designed a rig that offered flexibility and a multitude of possible looks for the featured artists including Jarvis Cocker, Teenage Fanclub and Neneh Cherry.
“It’s been great fun having access to the world’s first TurboRay fixtures,” Anderson states. “I put eight of them on one truss and positioned it so the audience could

UK - The team behind the six-minute immersive mental health installation Blackout will be running a pioneering industry evaluation alongside their exhibition experience at this year’s PLASA Show at London Olympia from 15-17 September 2019.
Bringing academic analysis to the exhibition, research director in clinical psychology at the University of Surrey Dr Paul Hanna has devised a questionnaire to undertake the first evaluation on mental health awareness specifically within the UK technical backstage entertainment industry. Dr Hanna has worked closely with the Blackout creative team since the project launched at Guildford School of Acting (GSA) in May.
Mig Burgess, GSA tutor and creator of Blackout, said: “This is an extremely important first step to address mental health awareness in the UK technical backstage entertainment industry and we are delighted th

UK - Martin by Harman UK distributor Sound Technology has announced UK shipping of the new Martin MAC Allure Wash PC, with its first UK appearance being at PLASA 2019 (Stand U75).
This washlight variant of the MAC Allure Profile features a solid-state RGBW light engine with unique 7-segmented beam control. With instant colour control and pixelated beam, the MAC Allure Wash PC enables dynamic diffused projection and mid-air effects, previously not possible.
The light and colour engine are divided into seven full colour pixels. Pixels can be focused on projection or in the beam for aerial effects. You have full colour and intensity control over each pixel via DMX or create effects via the fixture’s effects engine.
On top of DMX, Art-Net and sACN, MAC Allure fixtures can be controlled via P3. This allows a rig of multiple fixtures to deliver cohesive content that

UK - ADJ will use this year’s show to demonstrate the latest additions to its range of professional moving head luminaires, including beam, wash and hybrid fixtures as well as the much-anticipated Hydro Series of IP65-rated models. Visit ADJ at stand H38 during PLASA 2019 (15-17 September, London Olympia).
ADJ’s Hydro Series brings the advantages of weatherproof IP65-rated enclosures to the broad mid-market of the entertainment technology industry. Designed for rental houses, tours and production companies, as well as permanent installation, the Hydro Series fixtures can be used outside in any weather. Their sealed casing design also means that, even if the fixtures are used indoors, their optics are protected from dust, dirt and humidity, resulting in an extended operational life and reduced maintenance requirement.
The flagship of the Hydro Series is the Hydro Be

Europe - From The Road to the Billboard Music Awards with NBC Universal, to the Thanksgiving Parade Celebrations in New York City, and a recent show in Las Vegas, Production Zync Entertainment are cementing their partnership in the world of design and production, and PRG has supported a diverse range of productions for them across the world.
Over the last seven months PRG has been working closely with newly formed Production Zync Entertainment, on the delivery and execution of a range of television, music, sport and live projects, from studio to arena across Europe, the US, and the UK.
PRG has provided Production Zync with a fully supported ‘one stop shop’ technical production solution across multiple territories, including equipment, crew, transportation, logistics, and pre-visualisation support.
With sites in London and Los Angeles, Production Zync combin

Poland - Glastonbury 2019 headliner Stormzy thrilled audiences at Open’er , one of Poland’s largest annual music festival.
Held in Gdynia on the north coast of Poland, this popular event has attracted a host of names over the years including The Arctic Monkeys, Depeche Mode, Bruno Mars and Radiohead.
This year’s headline acts were Kylie Minogue and Stormzy. Concept for the main stage was undertaken by lighting collective Green Beam Design.
The main stage rig, supplied by Transcolor, included a whole host of Prolights Sunblast fixtures. The external design team requested colour strobes on floor to complete the desired ‘colourful punch’ aesthetic and Prolights Sunblast3000FC were used. The fixtures have a track-record of providing the punch that this performance required, but also the flexibility of the 48 individually controllable groups of RGBW LEDs all

UK - The Zero 88 team fully embraced the buzz and excitement of the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe Festival where they were - again - on the ground with training and technical support for a range of their lighting consoles and control solutions.
They also introduced #behindthefringe - a ‘fun and informative forum’ for anyone into fringe performance and involved with a show using Zero 88 products.
Building on this success, #behindthefringe will be launched as a website later in the year as a hub and platform for comments, experiences and opinions, sharing information and connecting people through various Fringe projects linked via Zero 88.
Over 100 different Zero 88 consoles were in action site-wide at this year’s Edinburgh event, which is the largest arts festival in the world, producing nearly 60,000 new performances in over 300 venues across 25 hectic and vibrant

USA - The first annual Peak to Sky festival in Montana in early July featured Mike McCready (Pearl Jam), Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Duff McKagan (Guns N' Roses), Josh Klinghoffer (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters) on the bill. Local event producers Outlaw Partners and lighting suppliers Jereco Studios were at the sharp end.
“We knew going in that we would have to put together a package that would be fitting of some of the biggest names in rock n' roll,” says Frank Douglas of Bozeman-based Jereco Studios. With at least 75% of the live production done by Jereco Studios during the summer months outdoors, Douglas says that in southwest Montana at least 75% of those shows experience some degree of inclement weather. “From sustained high winds, to hail, to rain, to snow, our most exposed fixtures need to be able to withstand that. Elation has

USA - The Tony-nominated The Wedding Singer played Boca Raton’s Olympic Heights Performing Arts Centre this summer, with a lighting design by Clifford Spulock that featured Chauvet Professional fixtures.
“There are a lot of different emotions that go on in this show,” says Spulock. “It starts out with a massive party at a wedding. I light this with huge bump changes and big hits that play off the music. Light from my fixtures cut through the haze into the audience at this point to create a very immersive, energetic opening that encourages the audience to get up and dance to the music.”
Among the lights that Spulock had fun with were two Rogue R1X Spot fixtures that were positioned on the apron electric. Filling a variety of roles in the lighting design, the 170W LED fixtures were used for front light specials as well as to illuminate the mylar drop dur

Hungary - Robe moving lights helped keep pace with the demands of an eclectic mix of music and creative presentations on the main stage of Budapest’s Sziget Festival.
The stage saw performances from Martin Garrix, The 1975, Florence + The Machine, Foo Fighters and Ed Sheeran, who played to 80,000 fans a day for seven days.
The base main stage production / house rig was designed by Mark Kontra from rental company Colossal, who have supplied lighting for this stage of the event for the last several years.
The production lighting incorporated 172 Robe lighting fixtures which were a mix of BMFLs, Pointes and ColorStrobes.
It was designed to be practical, bearing in mind the amount of own kit coming in, offering all the breadth, fluidity and capabilities of a properly thought-through house lighting rig.
“We needed a powerful reliable rig with the flex

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