Vari-Lite have announced Neo 4.1 software for all current and legacy Neo Series products. The new update brings features first seen on the Neo X Series consoles to the entire Neo family, eliminating the need to ‘unlock’ universes and adding an updated user experience. “The Vari-Lite Neo X5 and X15 consoles ship with the full 100 DMX universes possible by the hardware out of the box. Many consoles, including others in the Neo Series, require universe upgrades to ‘unlock’ the full capabilities of the hardware they have purchased,” explained Jon Hole, Global Product Manager, Vari-Lite Systems and Control at Signify.…
Author: Alicia Pollitt
A number of CHAUVET Professional Rogue Outcast 1L Beam fixtures were supplied by The Design Oasis for the recent Floyd Mayweather fight at the FLA Live Arena, Florida. “The 1L beams really created an impact throughout the arena,” commented Abbas Ritscher, of The Design Oasis. “They were small, which allowed our Lighting Designer John Hollingshead to bunch a lot of them together, keeping the cables clean but still creating impact by directing beams of lights across the entire venue. They have a very tight 1.4ﹾ beam angle, so they looked thick and bright even when their light was a hundred…
SIXTY82 has appointed Progear OÜ as its exclusive distributor for Estonia. Progear OÜ quickly emerged as a significant player in the Estonian market, they have built up a comprehensive stock of SIXTY82 products, ready for distribution. “We are thrilled to collaborate with Progear OÜ and extend our market reach in Estonia,” stated Rainier Smeding, Sales Director of SIXTY82. “Progear OÜ mirrors our dedication to delivering top-tier products and services. Their industry knowledge, resources, and passion position them perfectly to represent our brand and fuel our growth in this region.” Brand Manager for SIXTY82 at Progear OÜ, Andreas Reinula, will be…
Las Vegas-based independent Lighting Designer Gregg Maltby is using 15 Claypaky Xtylos laser-source compact beam moving lights on Peter Frampton’s Never Say Never tour. The legendary artist’s North American tour kicked off in June in Huber Heights, Ohio. OSA International in Nashville, the lighting vendor for the tour, provided the Claypaky Xtylos to longtime customer Maltby. “When I designed the tour I drew in Claypaky Sharpys, which I use a lot,” emphasised Maltby. “Then I went to OSA and Vice President Mark Fetto said, take a look at these laser-source lights, and he gave me a demo.” “Gregg has been…
Italian singer-songwriter, Massimo Pezzali has been captivating audiences during his Italy tour, accompanied by his Sound Engineer, Michele Nicolino, who utilises a DiGiCo Quantum7 digital mixing console at the monitor position. The decision to choose the Quantum7 for this year’s tour was the result of a selection process and consideration of various factors, one of which was the desire to preserve a configuration as closely resembling the setup employed by Morson during two of Pezzali’s major productions at San Siro Stadium in the summer of 2022. “By maintaining a setup closely akin to Morson’s, our aim was to ensure a…
For the last 21 years, Rock band Marillion has staged biennial two and three-day summer convention events for fans, which include special live performances plus additional Marillion world activities. Lighting Designer Yenz Nyholm’s specification for the 2023 Marillion convention included nearly 100 Robe moving lights – 31 Robe ESPRITES, 22 LEDBeam 150s, 16 MegaPointes and 30 Spiider LED wash beams. Conventions were staged in the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and Canada. For the shows at Berlin Tempodrom, Leipzig-based rental company Konteg supplied the full Robe package, so Yenz was delighted. Marillion treat the conventions as a chance to up…
The FIFA Women’s World Cup Fan Festival features giant live streams for watching the World Cup games, a variety of fun football-related activities, a cornucopia of street food, and live performances by popular Australian artists like Jessica Mauboy, Jack River, Mia Wray, and JACOTÉNE. Enhancing the festive atmosphere and providing unforgettable visuals at the event, which began 20 July and runs through 20 August, has been a bold and colourful lighting setup by dplr that was anchored by 108 CHAUVET Professional fixtures from Showtools International. Included in this collection are 16 Maverick Storm 4 units, 20 Outcast R2X Washes, eight Colorado PXL…
On The End of the Movie tour, Lizzy McAlpine used a set that was designed around her actual living room space with the help of CHAUVET Professional. “All the items in the room were chosen by Lizzy, and were very specific to her inspiration and interests,” said Kat Borderud, the tour’s Lighting and Scenic designer. Borderud intensified the effect of this living room set by accentuating its various elements with light and shadows.” Bordered continued: “Darkness and shadow play are incorporated in this design for bringing the room to life as another character in Lizzy’s show. Shadows and light move…
Nordlite Veranstaltungstechnik is a regional provider of event technology and set construction solutions. The Hamburg-based company offers various complete solutions in the event sector, from conception and design through technical planning and implementation to dry hire. In the spring of 2023, managing director Wolfgang Frahm’s attention turned to GLP’s new impression X5 Series: “From our point of view, the impression X5 and X5 Compact are currently the best products on the market,” continued Frahm. “The X5 Series definitely sets new standards. We have always had the best experiences with GLP products. The devices have a long service life and the manufacturer’s product cycles are also reassuringly…
Festival Lent is the largest open-air festival in Slovenia and one of the biggest city centre festivals in Europe, To stage the broad spectrum of genres, the lighting designers of the respective stages relied on moving lights, LED bars and flood lights from Cameo. On a total of five of the seven stages, including the Main Stage, Jože Skarlovnik, Technical Director of the festival, relied on Cameo fixtures. The focus was primarily on IP65-capable outdoor spotlights, with which those responsible did not have to make any compromises in terms of performance, weight and flexibility, even in inclement weather. In addition…
Summer 2023 in the US has been extreme, when several outdoor festivals and events are on the program, this creates a challenge for any production company: “This is a very current issue,” stated Ryan Knutson, President of Brown Note Productions. “We’ve seen some really intense changing weather patterns and IP fixtures have become critical in outdoor applications.” Knutson credits Danny Wimmer Presents for initiating it’s move to weather-resistant lighting solutions: “DWP was really the first client we worked with who stressed that the dynamics of weather and shows had changed and therefore a change was needed in how we approached…
Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) has announced that the 2024 edition of the show will mark its 20th birthday, as the trade show returns to Barcelona on the 31 January to the 3 February next year. “Over the last 20 years, ISE has been at the forefront of audio-visual innovation, industry trends, and global collaboration,” said Mike Blackman, Managing Director, Integrated Systems Events. “Our new branding, reflects not only the evolution of our event but also our commitment to continuously push boundaries and shape the future of the industry. As we step into this significant milestone of 20 years of ISE,…
Almost a decade since his first London gig, Romeo Santos headlines The O2, with Bigabox Productions delivering a turnkey solution. With US singer-songwriter Romeo Santos making his long-awaited return to London for a one-off show at The O2, Bigabox Productions was brought in to provide a turnkey solution, scaling down the star’s usual stadium setup to deliver a realistically sized arena show. “We only had around a month to pull this all together, and given the time of year, this posed challenges with available kit,” reflected Bigabox’s Sian Teasdale. Robe and CHAUVET Professional fixtures featured heavily throughout the lighting rig,…
Production Futures, the initiative which creates opportunities for young people to learn and develop careers in production across the live event industry, has announced Martin Audio, as its latest high-profile partner. “It’s wonderful that Martin Audio have seen the potential of Production Futures,” said CEO, Hannah Eakins. “We’re particularly delighted to welcome them as a British manufacturer.” Production Futures is in the process of transformation, including the announcement of a new audio learning zone. Along with Martin Audio, this will debut at the 28 September event, which takes place at Production Park in Wakefield. The step change for Production Futures has been brought about…
The Backseat Lovers were on the road with interesting production and lighting design created by Meagan Metcalf, with 22 Robe ESPRITES and 24 Tetra2 moving lights at the heart of the lighting rig. Metcalf was offered an initial short tour with the band in early 2022 but as The Backseat Lovers are now on a much larger full production tour playing up to 5,000-capacity rock clubs, she was brought back into the fold. Metcalf’s starting point was that the band had desired projection as a part of the show, from here the idea of the ‘pillowfort’ drape design evolved as…
A circle served as a design motif for the main stage at Lake Festival and encompassed a diverse mix of artists across the three-day festival. LD Anđelko Popić and team at Chameleon Rental opted to build the production design around three concentric circles that expanded outward from the stage’s center. This arrangement gave designers the freedom to create different settings for the festival’s various acts, allowing them to move from the intimate, when almost all light came from the smaller center sphere, to the more elaborate, when crossing beam patterns from fixtures on different circles created complex patterns. The Chameleon…
The Mission concluded their 33-date European tour with Wires & Lights which featured the use of two Allen & Heath dLive S5000 consoles for FOH and monitors, along with a DM64 MixRack provided by TDA Germany. Looking after the mixes for the tour were Marek Komenda, FOH for The Mission, Thomas Neidhardt, FOH for Wires & Lights, and Pavol ‘Pogy’ Pogany, Monitors for The Mission delivered their expertise to the sold-out venues on the tour. Neidhardt commented: “Mixing on the dLive was very comfortable. The DEEP plugins are brilliant, and I love the analogue characteristics of the Bucket Brigade Delay.…
DAS Audio has appointed Jeff Taylor as the company’s new Senior Sales Engineer for the North American territory. His new position comes on the heels of DAS Audio’s continued investment in the US market, including the recent purchase of an additional 9,000 sq ft facility to augment its existing 24,000 sq ft facility that is home to a fully functioning demo room, training area, and service centre. Taylor brings a wealth of industry acumen and experience to his new position. He joins DAS Audio from his previous position with CODA Audio as Sales Director. Taylor played an intrinsic part in…
