PLSN DESIGNER Watch – by Debi Moen –
Back in 1976, when Cosmo Wilson saw his first Aerosmith show, the shiny silver PAR Cans and the power of the music burned in his brain. It looked like rock. It screamed rock. He saw them every chance he got. So when Aerosmith summoned Wilson to present designs for their Global Warming 2012 tour, Wilson reeled through the years and went retro in his design.
This month finds me programming a rather cool show. It’s an Idol-type tour in which four contestants do their best to imitate Freddie Mercury while playing live with a Queen cover band. The “Queen Extravaganza” is an actual professional touring show conceptualized by founding Queen members. The show itself is quite different from any others I have done, as designer Rob Sinclair has a unique game plan and a simple set of rules that we must follow for the entire performance.
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FREDRIKSTAD, Norway – projectiondesign has supplied nine of its F32 DLP projectors to British artist Isaac Julien for his latest art installation ‘Ten Thousand Waves.’ On a worldwide tour, the exhibit landed most recently at the Norwegian Museum of Contemporary Art in Oslo. Says Julien, “When you are putting on a piece of work like this, you rely on a fantastic image. You need a certain color depth, color saturation and depth of field. Contrast ratio is also important. projectiondesign projectors give us all this and more.”
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MELBOURNE, Australia – Clearlight Shows in Melbourne has supplied St Leonard’s College in Brighton with an ETC Ion lighting control console for use in their main hall, where they produce three major musicals per year. Their aging console needed to retire, in favor of one that could control LEDs and moving lights.
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LONDON – Martin Professional’s new 1000 W MAC Viper Profile debuted on the first European stadium leg of Coldplay’s “Mylo Xyloto” world tour with lighting / production designer Paul Normandale. “The Vipers were used to light the LED screen fascias for which they needed to be bright and have a considerable zoom, which they did well,” Normandale said, adding that he plans to put more Viper Profiles on the rider when the tour returns to Europe in late August. Lighting vendor for the European legs is Lite Alternative while Upstaging is handling the North American leg.
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LOS ANGELES – About 90 Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures are on the road for Motley Crue’s North American Summer tour, co-heaadlining with KISS. “I first saw Sharpys at the Ultra Music Fest almost two years ago,” says lighting director Mike Cooper. “The lighting designer had a huge Clay Paky rig and a row of Sharpys on the stage, and I was blown away.” Since then Cooper has deployed Sharpys on the Godsmack/Staind tour and Motley Crue appearances in Europe.
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PARIS – Martin Professional lighting has increased visitor traffic into the Mercedes-Benz Gallery in Paris – where presentations of the latest models, themed exhibitions and special events draw international visitors along the Champs Elysees.The 16 MAC Aura LED wash lights – installed by All Events – lend a modern feel required for the brand’s image, and low energy consumption was another feature in its favor for specifiers.
Read More »BEIJING, China — Organizers of the Palm Expo, an annual exhibition devoted to lighting, pro audio and musical instruments, noted that its most recent show, staged at the New China International Exhibition Centre (NCIEC) May 24-27, was among the largest yet, with more than 1,700 exhibiting companies and brands from 35 countries in 10 halls occupying a total 110,000 square meters of floorspace. Nearly 50,000 attended the event, which is jointly organized by China Entertainment Technology Association, IIR Exhibitions and China Technology Market Management & Promotion Centre.
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SEOUL, South Korea – Robe moving lights have been installed in the E&M TV studio in Seoul, South Korea. The studio produces music shows – both pre-recorded and live – for the MNet broadcasting network’s 24-hour music channel. RGB services their lighting needs, and took into account the opinions and views of the various operators who work at the studio before laying down the final spec.
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SANTA ANA, CA – A special webinar targeted to the equipment rental industry is focusing on the growing threat of theft and insurance fraud. InfoComm teams up with Take1 Insurance to provide the online event Aug. 8, 2012 at 1 p.m. EST.
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