Multiple award-winning lighting designer Ed Warren called on a range of GLP’s products when it came to lighting Idles’ tour – despite the fact that this Bristol-based noise-rock band have historically kept their stage lighting to a minimum.

Warren has worked with the band since their first album, Brutalism, back in 2017, through to a landmark gig at Ally Pally and the Glastonbury live stream last summer. “Previously they only brought me in for the bigger shows as they wanted to stay true to their DIY roots,” he explains. “But now they recognise that lighting makes a big difference and are stepping up their game with every album.”

This time around they again played a number of O2 Academy-sized venues, moving to multiple nights at the larger capacity Brixton Academy, Victoria Warehouse Manchester and Cardiff Motorpoint Arena, where the basic house rig/floor package combination made way for a full production show, involving 20 GLP JDC Line 500, 28 X4 Bar 20s and 18 JDC1 hybrid strobes on the floor.

GLP impression-x4-bar-20

GLP JDC Line 500

GLP JDC1

“I have used GLP since the initial Impressions as they make great lights; this time I wanted to give the JDC Lines a whizz,” continues Warren. He contacted rental company LCR, and it supplied full inventory and support.

Explaining his design rationale, Warren says: “When a band is playing various-sized rooms, I look at the venues we are going into and produce a rig that will work everywhere. By working from the ground up it gives the tour manager and production manager less of a headache.”

The last tour was largely tungsten-based, but the latest album, Crawler, with its sparser sound, required an augmented approach: “I wanted to complement that with something low-key but powerful such as a big strip of lights behind the band to provide colour and replace the video wall from the last tour. That just wouldn’t have worked practically this time.”

Enter the JDC Lines, set on a crossbar at the rear of the band, while the remainder of the trusses are on Kinesys-automated motion control.
The GLP X4 Bar 20 battens are fixed to a trapezium-shaped truss, while the 16 JDC1 strobes carry out a basic function on the floor.
Additionally eight X4 Bars were placed horizontally and used as side light.

“I didn’t want to over complicate things, so I programmed the floor JDCs in normal mode,” Warren explains, “whereas the X4 Bar 20s and JDC lines were set in full pixel mode. They were pixel mapped as there’s some jazzier stuff going on such as a full rainbow chase.”

However, the tour was not without a hitch, as Ed Warren explained. “I was meant to be at Brixton for production rehearsals and the first four shows, but I tested positive for Covid-19 a few days before. As a result I programmed the whole show at home and sent the file to [board operator] David McIntyre.

It was a squeeze to programme 32 songs in three days, but everything turned out okay. As I’m a ChamSys user, Dave agreed to use an MQ500 on tour, otherwise he would have needed to re-programme on site. Everything was fantastic: the GLP fixtures, were bright, colourful, uncomplicated, perform well and are rock solid. The band and management were delighted.”

In closing, he gives full credit to LCR. “Ryan and Steve Bliss have been brilliant, with lots of suggestions on the best way to rig, and were very hands on. It’s the first time I’ve used LCR and I’m extremely happy.”

More on the GLP website

Slovenians got revved up for the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest with their own selection event which was organised by Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTV SLO) and staged at their main studios in capital city Ljubljana over three weekends, featuring two semi-finals and a final, all broadcast live on National TV.

Lighting designer Crt Birsa utilized 66 x Robe moving lights including 13 of the new high-powered Fortes, to ensure the challenge of lighting his seventh ESC selection offered plenty of vibrance and flair. He was tasked with creating 24 unique and stunning environments in which the contestants could perform their entries, for which he collaborated closely with set / scenic designer Greta Godnic, video content creator Den Baruca and director Nejc Levstik.

Crt was using Fortes for the first time. These were supplied – together with all the supplemental show lighting which also included 53 other Robe fixtures – by leading Slovenian rental specialist, Event Lighting. Crt’s design also took advantage of lights in the TV studio’s house rig. He had been wanting to use Fortes for a while, and this presented “a perfect opportunity” as they were also a new purchase for Event Lighting.

The director’s brief included wanting to see a lot of contrast between the different artists, so Greta hit on the genius idea of having two totally different setups – offset by 90 degrees to one another – on the same stage, allowing performers and cameras to simply turn around to present a dramatically different ‘stage’ and visual picture in the background.

The first look had a large upstage LED screen that set the visual aesthetic, with all the light sources present but hidden from view, which contrasted sharply with architecture on the other scene that was more defined by lighting beams and looks, again with the physical hardware largely concealed, but the sources and effects extremely present.

The Fortes were positioned on the floor, filling the background area of both spaces and blasting powerful beams and gobo looks in from upstage. As the only lights deployed on the floor, they also had a very strategic role, hidden behind the horizon of the 1.8-meter-high stage piercing all the camera shots with their fabulous fat beams.

“I loved the beams, the intensity, the colours as well as the general smoothness, and they worked very reliably and accurately through all the broadcasts,” he elucidated, adding that he also appreciated the refined colour mixing – both the CMY system and the colour wheels – and he enjoyed the new contemporary gobo selection. “For live events I think they are a brilliant moving light,” he confirmed.

Also on the rig were 19 x Robe MegaPointes and 15 x Pointes which are solid favourites of Crt and ‘must haves’ on his lighting plots. The Pointes were positioned on three vertical sections that provided side lighting on one stage view and strong bursts as a central vertical for the second one. Nineteen MegaPointes were rigged and hidden above the LED screen on three slightly asymmetrical trusses.

Two Robe BMFLs were used for the key lights on each stage view and 11 x ParFects were used for lighting the lower sections of set. Crt also used six Robe Square 5×5 matrix moving LED wash fixtures as specials, which were flown and hidden upstage behind the scenic, providing a surprise factor. “In the right context these are really great looking lights,” he commented.
Crt, Greta and the creative team started work on the project in November. Their workflow included visualising the set, lighting and video in wysiwyg allowing all to properly see the juxtaposition and synergies of the different elements as they received music from the different artists and decided on the base looks for each piece.

On site, lighting was programmed by Crt, a complex task due to the asymmetric design and the shared and individual lighting aspects for the two different set-ups.
Each contestant’s song was timecoded for precision and the camera shots and vision mixing were pre-programmed using CuePilot, so they arrived on set well-prepared enabling the time to be used efficiently.
For the first time this year the key lighting was under the creative team’s direct control rather than the studio’s, and this was operated by Klemen Krajnc working alongside Crt … both using their own consoles.

The results looked spectacular, with Crt proving that a well-executed minimalist approach to lighting with well-chosen fixtures coupled with the innovative set and visual design produces the diverse and vibrant looks that everyone wanted. “Shows like this can easily slip into being formulaic, so we needed to ensure that it was a totally stand out production,” concluded Crt.
Slovenia’s winning entry was “Disko” by LPS who will represent the country in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest Finale in Turin, Italy in May.

For more info, you can visit www.robe.cz

Gala evening at the Cadre Noir de Saumur © B. Lemaire – Cadre noir IFCE.

The Cadre Noir de Saumur IFCE (Institut Français du Cheval et de l’Equitation) recently took possession of a large number of Zep2 LED luminaires and Robert Juliat followspots as part of the renovation of the stage lighting of the Grand Manège.

A true institution of international renown, the Cadre Noir is one of the four top riding schools in the world and as such, is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Heir to an illustrious military history and based on an ancestral equestrian culture, it perpetuates its mission of training and showcasing the French Equitation tradition for almost two centuries.

This prestigious venue will open its 2022 season beneath Robert Juliat’s LED luminaires. One hundred and twenty Zep2 360LF2 Fresnel lanterns, six Zep2 660SX2 profiles and two Super Korrigan followspots have just been installed in the Grand Manège by Geste Scénique, Robert Juliat’s regional partner.

The Grand Manège du Cadre Noir de Saumur IFCE © Geste Scénique, Christian Desaivres.

Gala evening at the Cadre Noir de Saumur © B. Lemaire – Cadre noir IFCE.

“The collaboration with the Geste Scénique teams has proved very efficient,” comments Benoît Lemaire, Cadre Noir’s Sound and Lighting Manager. “We now have top quality stage lighting that allows us to illuminate the different formats of gala presented in the Grand Manège, and also on tour.
Thanks to this new installation, we will also be able to design creative lighting for the ‘matinales’, a special format show for visitors based on the intricate disciplines of the Institute’s horsemanship.”

“The 120 Fresnel Zep2 360LF2 fixtures are distributed over three bridges and the structure of the Grand Manège,” Benoît Lemaire says.

Robert-Juliat ZEP 360LF

“The central bridge forms an artery alternating warm white and variable white Fresnels. This allows us to create paths of light in which the riders and their mounts move with elegance.

I was a little concerned about the strength of the light output at the beginning of the project, but I’m now convinced that we made the right choice, especially considering the power and the beautiful homogeneity of the lights on the track.”

Robert-Juliat Super-Korrigan

The two Super Korrigan followspots were chosen to enhance the venue’s needs and complement the two Super Korrigan units that have already been in service for many years.

“We are delighted to support the French excellence promoted by the Cadre Noir, by having our lighting products, designed and manufactured in our factory in France, associated with such an emblematic venue,” concludes François Juliat, General Manager of Robert Juliat.

For more information on Robert Juliat’s range of lighting solutions, visit www.robertjuliat.com

Rapidly recognised as one of Japanese capital’s leading theatre venues, the Tokyo Garden Theatre is located in the city’s waterfront area within a major new development that also includes a retail mall, hotel, spa facility and housing complex.

In a country where most theatres and halls operate on weekends only, the Tokyo Garden Theatre is designed to stage events every day of the week, where shows can load in out quickly, with easy access to a versatile, world-class, and permanently installed sound system.

Left to right : Mr. Katsushi Kamuki, Operation Group at the Theater Operation Department, Mr. Hiroyuki Honda, General manager of the Theater Operation Department at Sumitomo Fudosan Retail Management Co., Ltd. and Mr. Yasuto Terada, sound manager.

“At my previous job, I was in charge of establishing Sendai PIT, a small live club in the city of Sendai” explains Katsushi Kamuki from the theatre’s Operation Department.
“We used NEXO speakers there, and I felt that their bold and powerful sound would be well-suited for the sound at Tokyo Garden Theatre. So, I took everyone involved in making the decision to Sendai PIT for a test listen before deciding to use NEXO.”

Two hangs of NEXO STM M28 and B112 are rigged either side of the stage as the main speakers, with adjacent hangs of GEO M10 and MSUB15 subs as outfills. STM S118 subwoofers are located under the stage and PS15-R2s are used as frontfills.

The stage right hang of 18 STM M28 topped by 4 B112 with a hang of GEO M10 and MSUB15 sub as outfills.

Small clusters of STM M28s are installed on the ceiling as delays, and NEXO’s compact and powerful ID24s are used to extend coverage under balconies.

The FOH Rivage PM7.

Amplification and processing come from a bank of NEXO’s 4-channel, networkable NXAMP4X4MK2 powered controllers, and Yamaha RIVAGE PM7 digital consoles are used for FOH and monitor mixing.

Commenting on behalf of the Theatre Operation Department at Sumitomo Fudosan Retail Management Co., General Manager Mr. Hiroyuki Honda says “On weekdays, we aim to be like a large live music club that you can just pop into when the mood strikes you and, on weekends, a hall that major artists can include in their arena tours.
We wanted to cut down on set-up time by preparing permanent equipment that performers can use as much as possible. Performers use our permanent speakers even more than we expected. I believe that this percentage will increase even more in the future.”

The engine room of the Tokyo Garden Theatre, we are still looking for an apparent wire!.

Despite a capacity of 8,000 seats, the venue is relatively intimate, with a maximum viewing distance of just 54 metres. “Performers have praised the closeness to audience seating, saying that it’s easy to feel the energy from the audience” continues Mr Kamuki.
“On the stage, it feels as if the audience surrounds you. One artist who came to see the hall before their performance said, ‘This is amazing!’ when they stood on stage.”

More information on the NEXO website

Zonda 9 Wash

Zonda 9 FX

Ayrton is very proud to launch Zonda 9 Wash and Zonda 9 FX, the first luminaires in a new family of products devised for stage lighting. Equipped with a high-performance 40W LED source with RGB+W additive colour synthesis, these new products fit into Ayrton’s Multi Sources 9 Series category.

AYRTON – Zonda 9 – Presentation from Ayrton on Vimeo.

Zonda 9 Wash

The beam of the Zonda 9 Wash.

Zonda 9 Wash is a radical luminaire intended for stage lighting in the true sense. Ayrton has developed a silent ventilation mode specially for this fixture to accommodate the quieter environment often required by stage lighting.

Zonda Wash’s inter-lens areas are typically black.

The careful colour mixing of the sources allows for perfect colour reproduction, and each concentric circle can be controlled independently to adjust the size of the emitting surface and the luminaire’s power. A complete library of pre-programmed colours – created in collaboration with lighting designers – is instantly accessible.

Zonda 9 FX

Zonda 9 FX is a versatile fully-equipped luminaire designed for a multitude of applications. It borrows from the main features of the Wash version and offers infinite continuous rotation on the pan and tilt axes (I.R.S.™). Individual control of each LED allows you to achieve 3D volumetric effects.

The Zonda 9 FX animated in pixel mapping.

Zonda 9 FX can produce a high-definition liquid effect from between its main lenses to create complex graphic effects, known as LiquidEffect™. This effect can be used alone or in combination with the main LED matrix.

Zonda 9 Wash and Zonda 9 FX share the same proprietary optical system which consists of a wide, 384mm diameter, dial of 37 lenses in PMMA, combined with 37 glass light guides with an output surface made of an optical micro-structure.

The translucent inter-lens veining is illuminated by a network of 588 video LEDs.

This LED/optical system combination can produce powerful light output of 25,000 lumens and a perfectly homogeneous mixture of pastel and saturated colours, regardless of the colour mix chosen, with a CRI of <86.

The perfectly crisp separation between the light sources helps to reinforce the level of contrast. Endowed with a 50mm truncated transmitting lens with an optical surface equivalent to that of a 70mm round lens, Zonda 9 Wash and Zonda 9 FX can obtain a highly intensive beam with a zoom ratio of 14:1 and a wide zoom range of 4° to 56°.

A new optimised cooling system, simplified lens guidance systems, and ever smarter design of the internal structure have made it possible to reduce the size and weight of these luminaires considerably, in keeping with Ayrton’s Slim-21 programme which miniaturises and reduces the weight of its fixtures.

Zonda 9 Wash and Zonda 9 FX are true marvels of technology geared for creativity.

Zonda 9 Wash and Zonda 9 FX will make their tradeshow debut at Prolight+Sound, Frankfurt (26-29 April 2022) on the Ayrton stand in Hall 12 Stand D74-D75.

For full technical specifications and to view the new Zonda 9 Wash and Zonda 9 FX videos, visit www.ayrton.eu

Slovenian lighting designer Crt Birsa and rental company Event Lighting’s CEO Jernej Gustin thought laterally – with the help of 48 x Astera Titan Tubes – when lighting a livestream event staged at the impressive Cultural Centre of European Space Technologies (KSEVT) in Vitanje, Slovenia.

The spectacular award-winning circular building – designed by four dynamic architectural practices – is a concrete monolith comprising two low cylinders that create an impression of levitation and rotation. Inside, the central hall is surrounded by a main exhibition area, and both are connected by a round opening in the middle – a feature that makes it a hugely challenging space to light, and one that Crt also used to his advantage in this case to imagine a very cool-looking lighting scheme.

Forty of the Titan Tubes were hung on steel wires between 1 and 3 metres in length attached to the ceiling, arcing 270 degrees around the circular space, and rigged utilising the venue’s own exhibition hanging system which made it straightforward to rig and fly. However, it was due to the light weight of the Titan Tubes that this was possible.
The remaining 8 x Titan Tubes were positioned on the floor to provide back-fill for one of the main camera positions which was from a balcony pointing down onto the presentation space.

“I love Titan Tubes and I would have used more,” enthused Crt, “but … there was no more space to put any!”
Forty key personnel from the client company were in the building and involved in presenting the stream which was broadcast to several thousand staff and workers watching online around the world.

Crt explains how the Titan Tubes were a ‘no-brainer’ in this situation. “They are light and with the wireless control there are no cables, they were easy to hang in the roof and they filled the space beautifully with quality and great looking light sources.”
Furthermore, the Tubes were addressed and the modes selected beforehand, so they arrived on site pre-prepped which also speeded up the set-up process. “We positioned them, turned them on and they worked brilliantly!” he declared. He also mentioned the latest Titan software which displays the lamp number when the unit is switched on.

Crt has been a keen Astera fan since first using the products – also Titan Tubes – in 2020 for a streamed gig by Lukas Šulić (one half of the 2CELLOS duo) at the Union Hall in Maribor, Slovenia. The next time was for another digital gig, this time in Trieste, Italy, for crossover Italian guitar quartet 40 Fingers.
Crt puts serious thought into how he uses a product like Titan Tubes to ensure that his designs will always look “new, different and fresh” and he also doesn’t use them all the time or on every show for these same reasons.
He usually uses them in full pixel / 64 channel mode with 8 x units per DMX universe, and invariably he will programme and run them via his own ChamSys console, together with other lights on the show or event.

He observes that Titan Tubes have become a firm favourite in Slovenia amongst the film and TV community because of versatility and quality of the output which means they work equally well and efficiently for key, set or general lighting. The AsteraApp and the fact that the fixtures can be used in stand-alone mode adds to that flexibility.

For more information about Astera, you can visit astera-led.com

Lighting designer/director, Brian Jenkins of Flicker Designs, who has worked with Maroon 5 for nine years, specified two of MDG’s, dual haze and fog generators – aptly named, theONE – for the band’s 2020 tour before it was postponed due to the pandemic.
After an 18-month enforced break, the tour resumed last summer with the band visiting many of North America’s largest outdoor amphitheatres playing to 15,000 – 30,000 capacity crowds.

Photo Steve Jennings

Rehearsals for the 8-week tour, which was in support of the band’s seventh studio album, Jordi, started in late July with the first show slated for 10th August 2021 at the White River Amphitheatre in Auburn Washington. The final date took place in October at the Concord Pavilion, Concord California.

Jenkins chose theONE for both its versatility and powerful output capabilities: “We specifically needed a hefty, high-output unit for the outdoor amphitheatre shows. And theONE’s ability to produce both haze and fog is a great feature for touring. We kept the haze mode constantly running and used the fog mode frequently throughout the shows.”

Producing both fog and haze from a single generator, theONE is capable of generating 308 hours of haze and 20 hours of fog. It is specifically designed to give maximum, non-stop hours of haze/fog, and automatically refills its internal fluid reservoir from an external 20L (5.3 US gallons) container of MDG neutral fluid as required, so is perfect for filling those big venues.

The controllable output provided ideal coverage to accentuate the multitude of beam looks, strobes, lasers and heavy colour saturation that were a signature of Jenkins’ design during Maroon 5’s high energy songs, and equally perfect for the gentler colours used on the slower tempos, all in all, brilliantly visualizing the post-apocalyptic theme of the revamped show.

theONE generators travelled in their specifically designed touring cradles which made deployment and transportation a breeze: “We used them upstage left and right and with those touring cradles they simply rolled-in and rolled-out! Easy!”

Exceeding PLASA rigging standards, theONE’s touring cradle is designed for rigging, rolling and stacking and sized to fit standard trucks and containers. They are built to withstand the rigours of touring and contain everything that’s needed in a single, transportable unit: theONE, its fan, a convenient tool drawer, MDG’s own 20L (5.3 US gallon) fluid container and, uniquely, all known sizes of 9kg (20lb) CO2 or N2 gas bottle.

Photo Steve Jennings

Jenkins added, “the MDG units are really tour friendly – we carried a spare unit just in case, but normally used this when visiting larger venues or when the wind was crazy! Because the units create such a fine haze and atmosphere, I try to spec them for most of the shows that I do – it’s honestly a fantastic product.”

theONE generators were supplied for the tour by Upstaging with support from account rep, John Huddleston. The tour’s production manager was Alan Hornall and its crew chief was Michael Green.

For more information on MDG’s theONE dual haze and fog generator and all MDG fog, low fog and haze products, visit www.mdgfog.com

RCF presents the 10th edition of the Sound Engineering University Course, which will be held from May to October 2022. From the roots of electroacoustics to the complete design of live audio projects based on real case studies, the course is developed on 105 hours of e-learning lessons and hands-on at RCF facilities in Italy with the best experts.
Deadline for submission – April 6th.

The primary goal is to provide engineers with specific knowledge of state-of-the-art technologies related to sound, transducers and speaker systems and their applications in the professional market. An international reference project carried out by RCF engineers will be used as a studying guideline to be followed during the course.

Organized in modules, the course takes the participants through the basis of electro-acoustics components like transducers, amplifiers and digital processors till the design of a complete audio project based on a real case study.

All technical contents provided in this University course will be completed by the direct experience of RCF laboratories. The course is organized by the Department of Sciences and Methods for Engineering of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, in collaboration with RCF.

More information on:

– Department of Sciences and Methods for Engineering
– University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy
– RCF SpA, via Raffaello 13, Reggio Emilia, Italy
– Sound Engineering Course Tenth Edition May-October 2022

ETC is pleased to introduce Cyberlight LED, a moving mirror fixture born from industry feedback and built in Austin, Texas.
Cyberlight LED is a new moving head luminaires which competes with other fixtures in a variety of uses including high-speed pan / tilt movement and the ability to hide lighting fixtures in permanent installations.

Customers with existing mirror fixtures in the themed entertainment market and elsewhere can retrofit those products with Cyberlight LED for more energy-efficient operation and service.
The 470 W Bright White LED engine and the high-quality optical system delivers 12,750 field lumens with 90+ CRI for superior color rendering capabilities.

A full complement of features are included on Cyberlight LED for creative design possibilities, including color mixing plus color wheel, dual rotating pattern wheels, zoom, focus, iris, prism, and diffusion.

Automated Lighting Product Manager Matt Stoner commented, “The lighting industry has been approaching us for years regarding an LED version of the Cyberlight. We took this opportunity to bring the entire fixture up to date with modern automated luminaire technology.  By introducing a smaller gate size, we have provided a fixture with a much broader feature set, wider zoom range, and encoded pan and tilt system. In addition, the fixture includes a transferable LED engine, and a maintenance design that prioritizes longevity and precision.”

Themed Environment Specialist Scott O’Donnell said, “The super-fast speed of the Cyberlight is beyond any other fixture in the market. And since you can neatly stow the fixture away in the décor, Cyberlight is exactly the kind of light needed to create a dazzling themed environment. What an awesome fixture!”

For more information on Cyberlight LED

Ayrton is very happy to announce the appointment of Nikolay Berenok as its new brand ambassador, with immediate effect. Co-founder of the visualising software company, Light Converse Ltd., Berenok brings a wealth of industry experience and contacts to Ayrton.

Nicolay Berenok

His new role entails making use of his extensive network and superb recognition to drive interest in the Ayrton brand, and to support the work of its global sales team.
“I’m really happy and excited to take on this new role,” says Berenok. “It’s a great honour and opportunity to become part of the wonderful Ayrton team and a company with such a great history and reputation.”

“We are excited to welcome Nick to the Ayrton family,” says Ayrton’s global sales director, Michael Althaus. “This is a new role within the company and we are very excited about its potential – which is showing itself already. Nick is extremely knowledgeable across all sectors of our market and we anticipate he will be very busy!”

Visit Nikolay Berenok and all the international Ayrton team at Prolight+Sound, Frankfurt (26-29 April. Hall 12.0 Stand D74 & D75.)

More information on Ayrton and its full range of LED lighting can be found at www.ayrton.eu

On 12 February 2022, the Academy of Film Arts and Film Sciences presented the best Spanish films of the year at the 36th Goya Awards. The award ceremony, which is broadcast on television and streamed live from Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia, brought together the who’s who of the Spanish film scene and was lit up by over 130 Cameo moving heads.

Adisar Media from the Mediapro Group, in collaboration with lighting designer Iñaki Irastorza, was responsible for the lighting technology implementation.

Overall, 24 Cameo Opus X Profile Moving Heads were used as front lights, which, with their light output of 33,000 lm and >90 CRI value, were the ideal choice of front light.

Irastorza also used a total of 48 Cameo Opus H5 Beam Spot Wash Hybrid Moving Heads, supplemented by 16 Cameo Evos W7 Led Wash Moving Heads, while 24 Cameo Opus X Wash Moving Heads provided the basic lighting for the award show.

In choosing Cameo, Irastorza and Adisar Media set an example for the Spanish event technology industry.
And, following on from the resounding success of the moving heads from the Adam Hall Group’s lighting technology brand at the Goya Awards, Adisar Media is already planning to use Cameo at future TV and major events.

Further information on:

– adisar.com
– mediapro.tv
– cameolight.com
– adamhall.com
– event.tech

LD Howard Hudson commends their linear power, colour and intensity. Six years after working at Leicester’s Curve Theatre for the premiere of the new musical The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, lighting designer Howard Hudson has returned to the venue to light the new production of A Chorus Line. Both shows have made heavy use of GLP’s award-winning LED moving heads.

The LD notes that the iconic musical changed Broadway in the 1970s but that it was time “to look at the piece through slightly more contemporary eyes.”

He explains: “Grace Smart’s design is beautifully simple. It embraces the large, cavernous Curve stage and allows us to fully utilise their extraordinary technical capabilities and automated flying system.

Everything overhead is electric, and we rig along the side cages of the stage, the fly floor gantries, above the grid and even into the dock at the back. The overhead bars spend the show coming in and out to break up the space for particular moments, and the lights are very much on show.”

To exemplify this, he has deployed 18 of GLP’s impression FR10 Bars, each of which contains 10 sources of 60W RGBW LEDs. He has positioned 10 above the chorus line itself to form a vertical ‘sheet’ of light from a steep angle just above the heads of the company. “Zoomed down, even at 9m trim, the intensity of light and colour they give is fantastic.

FR10

But when brought in at 2.5m they really do pop. We also use the cell control to do swipes back and forth across the line at times, and use their tilts individually for more uptempo moments,” says Hudson.

The remaining eight FR10s form a curtain of light upstage on a shortened truss, which moves constantly through the show, and can drop all the way to the floor.
This creates a wall of backlight “gridded as high as possible, since they will fly at nearly 20m, really enhancing the scale of the space,” he continues.

Hudson had first seen a prototype of the impression FR10 at Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt a couple of years back and was immediately impressed with the large lens, punch and colour. “I remember thinking at the time what a great fixture that could be,” he says.

“The X4 Bars, which we had all come to love, had offered designers a new look unlike any other fixture. And the possibility to have that, but with a thicker source and even more punch, was always going to be a winner. The ability to individually zoom each cell also offers a completely new way of thinking about a light curtain.”

A Chorus Line provided the perfect opportunity to test them. “I always knew this show would require a linear feel,” explains Hudson. “The FR10s had just been released, and I discovered they were available.”
Hudson couldn’t be more effusive about his decision to use the impression FR10, and sees it becoming a staple in future theatre productions. “It’s such a joy to have units which can join so closely, to really make that line of light,” he concludes. “I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to spec them again on my next show, where appropriate.”

The inventory was supplied by Christie Lites. The head of lighting at the theatre is Jonny Laidlow and the programmer was David Hately.

For more info about GLP, you can visit the GLP website

Lighting director Nick Chang is one of the dedicated ones. Not only has he been on the road with the Kane Brown tour for the last four months, handling lighting on shows across America on the country-pop stars “Blessed and Free Tour,” the touring schedule allows him to travel back to his hometown of Nashville where he oversees lighting for services and other events at Church of the City.

On staff at the church since March of 2021, Nick was called on to light Church of the City’s 2021 Christmas services and specified a rig of Elation Artiste Mondrian and Artiste Monet LED moving heads, as well as Platinum Seven wash fixtures, all rented through Elite Multimedia.

Five services

Nick has been contracting with Church of the City since 2020 and handled a Christmas project for them that year. This year, the church held five Christmas services – two on December 23 and three on December 24 – in their 3000-seat auditorium at their main campus in Franklin, Tennessee, just south of Nashville. Nick co-designed lighting for the services with Church of the City Production Manager Jori Johnson. Nick also handled the lighting programming.

Nick says that the goal was to be entertaining and engaging in the early segments of the service, then to slow it down to focus on the message.
“We like to have fun and engage with the crowd for the first 13 minutes of the service with 5 or 6 songs then move into slower moments with worship songs before moving into the sermon,” he explains.

“At the end is a beautiful Silent Night moment with a nativity scene, candle lighting, and kids in angel outfits. I utilized the rig we had to make it feel as though you were outside and it was nighttime with stars in the sky. It’s a touching way to end the service.”

Mondrian – intensity to intimate

At Nick’s disposal were 20 Artiste Mondrian moving heads, an LED profile FX luminaire with full design package, SpectraColor color mixing system, large 226mm lens, and over 51,000 lumens of power. Ten fixtures worked from an upstage truss with ten positioned downstage.
“I wanted the intensity with beams and gobos but I also wanted to be able to use them at 5 or 10 percent to get nice eye candy looks on stage from that big lens,” Nick said. “I could use the upstage fixtures as a wash zoomed out to cover the stage in a red or blue or white, and use the downstage fixtures as a profile with gobos – or vice versa. They were really versatile. I found that they did all roles very well.”

Nick used the Mondrians throughout the service and describes two impactful but very different looks to illustrate their flexibility. “There is one moment, a drum breakdown, where I put them all at a 3-degree beam shooting throughout the room and at 51,000 lumens that was pretty powerful.
At another moment, I used two fixtures to downlight in white a cello and vocalist for an intimate acoustic part of the experience while the other 18 fixtures washed the stage.” In another stirring scene, he used four Mondrians to silhouette from above the manger as a bright light coming from the sky with star gobo used at just 10% intensity.

Artiste Monet

Working with the Mondrians from a floor position were 18 Artiste Monets, Elation’s award-winning 45,000-lumen LED Profile with SpectraColor and complete FX system.
“I used them for everything from a wash to a profile and really used every feature of them that I could.
What was nice about having the Mondrians and Monets together, because they’re so bright with zoom I could use them for everything from slow wash moments to beams everywhere to profile looks with a spinning gobo.”

SpectraColor

Nick says he also enjoyed the SpectraColor color mixing, a proprietary 7-flag system that combines CMY with seamlessly adjustable RGB flags and variable CTO that is found in both fixtures.
“I was very impressed with the saturated blues and reds we got out of them. With a lot of fixtures you’ll lose some of that color after 40 or 50 feet but I could shoot a saturated red with the Mondrians from the stage to the back of the house and up to the balcony and it stayed consistent all the way through.
One of my favorite looks was opening up to a lavender blue, a saturated dark color on the stage. I normally use a lot of intensity on that but with these, I didn’t have to and our cameras picked it up nicely for the live stream.”

Live stream enhancement

According to Nick, Video Director Ryan Smith enjoyed having the Mondrian’s on the stage as well. “A lot of time they’re not only looking for white on the stage but are looking for other eye candy that the camera can pick up visually,” he says. “Ryan commented that with the fat lens on stage and being able to see the gobo on the lens, with the fixture running at 5-10%, it added a lot to the live stream.”

Additional to the package were eight Platinum Seven LED wash fixtures, seven on each side of the stage that Nick used for sidelight, eye candy and occasional fat beam looks. “I wanted something I could do pixel looks with using the different rings of pixels without having to spend a lot of time laying it out and programming,” he said. “It was super simple to use the preprogrammed pixel macros while adding the effects that we wanted.
Also, the eye candy looks looked great with that big face.” Besides adding to the big wash moments, Nick would sometimes use the single pixel in the middle of the fixture as a shooting star across the stage.

Blown away

Nick reports that the church was thrilled with the services and that church personnel, including show producer Sarah Bible, were blown away with how everything looked. “I was blown away as well,” he confirms. “Based on the ability to use them as a wash, beam or profile, these are some of my new favorite fixtures.”

All of the Elation gear for the Church of the City Christmas services was supplied and supported by Elite Multimedia Productions of Nashville with account management by Kenny Mason. “Kenny made sure we were taken care of and we felt very supported the entire time.” Elite also provided Andrew Hunt as a lighting tech.

Nick Chang is looking forward to wrapping up the “Blessed and Free Tour” and moving towards planning Church of the City’s Easter Services to continue a busy year.

For more information, you can visit www.elationlighting.com

Located in the cosmopolitan port city of Seville, Cartuja Center CITE has emerged as one of Spain’s premier destinations for meetings, events, and the performing arts. The expansive complex houses multiple venues of all sizes, but the leading attraction for major concerts and theatrical events is the Main Hall, now fully equipped with more than 300 Meyer Sound loudspeakers.

48 Leopard and two five-each cardioid arrays of 900-LFC.

The main front system is based around five LEOPARD® line arrays while scores of smaller loudspeakers are distributed laterally and overhead throughout the auditorium to accommodate the Constellation® acoustic system and Spacemap® Go spatial sound design and live mixing tool. According to Alvaro Elena of RMS Proaudio, Meyer Sound’s Spanish distributor, it is the most extensive and sophisticated Meyer Sound system on the Iberian Peninsula.

Alvaro Elena of RMS Proaudio.

With flexible seating accommodating more than 3,500 people in its largest configuration, the Main Hall can be optimized both physically and acoustically for an extraordinarily wide range of events.
“They are hosting all kinds of shows and meetings here,” says Elena, “from classical music to pop and rock, cinema showings and corporate events. You could have a classical concert in the afternoon and a rock concert that evening with no acoustic shell to construct and disassemble.”

When Cartuja Center CITE was still in the early planning stages, RMS Proaudio was consulted on what was then to be a standard reinforcement system, with acoustical variations accomplished by moving physical panels. At that time, the Constellation solution was introduced, demonstrating a drastic reduction in costs along with greater acoustical flexibility and lower long-term labor costs through elimination of a heavy and cumbersome stage shell.

The silver wires hanging from the ceiling are microphones that Constellation needs to detect ambient acoustics.

The main reinforcement system, expanded to five arrays for Spacemap Go’s panoramic placement effects, comprises a total of 48 LEOPARD line array loudspeakers with deep bass from dual, five-each cardioid arrays of 900-LFC™ low-frequency control elements flown behind the far left and right LEOPARD arrays. Two ULTRA-X40™ and six UPM-1P™ loudspeakers are deployed as fills, with drive, optimization, and Spacemap Go dynamic effects provided by seven GALAXY™ Network Platforms.

Meyer Sound Leopard

900-LFC

ULTRA-X40

UPM-1P

For the side, rear, and overhead spatial sound effects, and to create the Constellation acoustical environment desired for the event, more than 240 additional loudspeakers have been installed around and over the audience, including Stella-4C, Stella-8C, MM-4XP™, UPM-1P, UPJunior full-range loudspeakers, HMS-10™ surround loudspeakers, and M1D-Sub subwoofers. A total of 66 miniature microphones are installed for sensing the ambient acoustics, with 34 in the auditorium, 16 onstage, and 16 in the orchestra pit.

As with all Constellation systems, the one at Cartuja Center CITE had the inherent capability to create discrete spatial sound movements using the original Spacemap feature in the CueStation™ software. However, in 2021 the system was further upgraded to the more user-friendly, iPad-based Spacemap Go spatial sound design and live mixing tool.

Luis González, director of Cartuja Center CITE.

The quality and flexibility of the Meyer Sound systems has realized both artistic and financial returns, according to Luis González, director of Cartuja Center CITE. “The excellence of our equipment as well as our service is central to our strategic marketing,” he says. “Audio is one of the most important elements since we see it as an important differentiating factor.

In that respect, Constellation already has proven its value with classical music concerts and even with operas. We have had the Royal Symphony Orchestra of Seville and the Baroque Orchestra of Seville present concerts here. Despite some understandable initial skepticism, they expressed their full satisfaction. As Constellation becomes better known throughout Spain, we expect the clear advantages will help attract other types of shows, such as musicals, as well as corporate events.”

Spacemap Go capability is a recent addition, but González sees it as also holding great promise. “We are the principal host venue for the Alhambra Monkey Week Festival, which allowed us a unique opportunity to showcase both Constellation and Spacemap Go to key people in the Spanish independent music industry. They showed great interest in the operation of these technologies, adding to the number of shows offering to use this space. That will undoubtedly translate into increased income in the future.”

Cartuja Center CITE was built by the SGAE foundation and is managed by the EULEN Culture division of the EULEN Group, based in Spain but with operations in 14 countries.
True to its founding mission — SGAE is the Spanish acronym for General Society of Authors and Publishers — the Center also hosts a Vocational Center that offers specialized training in technology fields related to entertainment and the performing arts.

More information on the Meyer Sound website

Essex-based rock band Nothing But Thieves recently completed a UK headline tour, with experienced LD Sam Tozer (of Vision Factory) masterminding their stage look, having been brought in to create a new style. He was working alongside lighting director Ryan Dennett and production manager Andrew Sweeney.

“We wanted to create a show that matched the new art direction of the latest album,” he explains. “We used elements of the set to create a clean look and add dynamics to the performance, with the lighting being revealed progressively throughout the set.”
For this he turned to 30 of GLP’s super-bright FR10 battens, explaining, “We wanted to create an industrial look onstage, and these units, which are bigger [than the X4 Bar 20 he used previously] did just that.”

The FR10 Bar contains 10 sources, each with a high-output 60W RGBW LED that colour matches with the entire GLP X4 and FR series of fixtures. Each individual source features smooth, full-range colour mixing with strong, punchy output from a homogenised Fresnel lens. Along with individual colour control, the FR10 Bar contains a series of built-in colour macros and a large reference of industry standard colour filters.

Tozer had first been exposed to the FR10 at the Glitterbox live stream from the Royal Albert Hall. After using GLP’s award-winning impression X4 Bar 20 on previous productions, he said: “I could definitely see a set role for these.”

Aside from their sheer output, Sam Tozer has other reasons for favouring the FR10. “The narrowness of the beam allows me to create pixel-shaped beams across the stage, without worrying about them being blown out,” he explains.

Also in the rig are a large quantity of JDC1, GLP’s hybrid strobe, which are used to surround the set and band, with Christie Lites the lighting vendors.

Piloting and programming the show was the band’s long-term collaborator, Ryan Dennett, who had also co-designed the opening show at Birmingham Academy.
Sam Tozer now moves onto a succession of what he describes as other major projects. “There is some big stuff happening soon, and it will feature a lot of GLP products,” he promises.

More information on the GLP website