International News

DUBLIN – HSL supplied lighting, rigging and a Kinesys automation system for the European leg of Chris Brown’s “One Hell of a Nite” tour, working for production designer and manager Tom E. Marzullo from Out Of Our Minds Creative Services, LLC. HSL project managers John Slevin and Jordan Hanson coordinated everything for the Blackburn, U.K.-based rental company and ensured that the production design, created collectively by Tom E with input from Christie Lites’ Robert Roth and Robert Achlimbari from All Access, was supplied with all the lighting, rigging and automation elements it needed. The Europen shows took place in May and June, 2016.

SAARBRUCKEN, Germany — LD and production designer Bertil Mark has been crafting the looks for German pop and R&B singer Sarah Connor’s recent shows using a combination of GLP’s X4 (Tunable White) LED fixtures and 32 of the new X4 Bar 20 battens. Connor has been touring in support of her most recent album, Muttersprache (Mother Tongue), which has gone triple platinum since its release in May 2015.

MANNHEIM, Germany — The Scorpions are out this year promoting not just an album, but a 50-year legacy that includes 18 albums in all. LD Rainer Becker and Manfred Nikitser, associate LD and lighting director, are using grandMA-controlled Clay Paky fixtures for the tour, which included a series of dates during May at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas. The photo here captures a moment from the band’s performance in Mannheim, Germany in late March.

MANCHESTER, U.K. – Commemorating 100 years to the day of the start of the First World War’s Battle of the Somme, “Somme 100 Manchester” was a massive public art and performance event that took place in Manchester, U.K.’s Heaton Park on July 1. That battle, between British and French allies against German troops, would prove to be far more costly than anyone anticipated, killing or injuring nearly a million soldiers in less than a five-month span. dbn Lighting, working for Somme 100 and Manchester City Council, provided lighting, LED screen, rigging and set elements for the event.

UTRECHT, The Netherlands — Housed in a former industrial plant, the DeFabrique canal-side event space’s eight rental halls combine the preserved industrial elements with an immersive lighting design by Bijman AV. Ramon Bijman used 400 Robe PARFect 100 fixtures to light the rental halls, which can accommodate events ranging in size from 50 to 3,500 people. The PARFect 100s were Bijman AV’s first Robe purchase, sourced via Robe’s Benelux distributor, Controllux..

PADERBORN, Germany – For the Jugend Forscht (Young Scientists) competition held at the Schützenhof Paderborn events venue, locally based lighting company Jansen Lichttechnik provided the rig and lights including 20 Clay Paky Sharpy Wash 330s, 16 A.leda Wash K10s, 8 Alpha Spot 800 QWOs and 6 A.leda B-EYE K10s, as well as dot2 products. Marcus Krömer served as lighting designer and on-site operator at the event. Others crew members included Herbert Löser, video production manager; Nils Weber, technical manager; Juri Zitzer, rig manager; and Markus Fuest, “live cutter.”

MEXICO CITY – Ha*Ash, the Mexican sister duo of Hanna Nicole and Ashley Grace, have been out on their “Primera Fila” tour with visual support from Chauvet Professional fixtures. LD Jonathan “Goofy” Galicia used 12 Next NXT-1 moving LED panels supplied by Meridian Pro.

VIBORG, Denmark – For the 2016 edition of Snapsting, a 10-day festival held in Viborg, Denmark every June, local rental company Lystek provided Robe moving lights for the main entertainment stages. Kristoffer Neilsen, a lighting designer who heads up Lystek, worked with Johan Kvartborg to light the event’s main stage with eight Robe MMX Spots, 12 LEDBeam 100s and two ColorStrobes and four LEDWash 600s. For the smaller Nytorv stage, Jesper Levin ran a rig including eight LEDBeam 100s and four Pointes, and eight LEDWash 600s lit that stage’s Skyliner roof structure. Lystek deployed more Robes, including DLS Profiles, more Pointes and LEDBeams, for the festival, which featured 260 performances and activities, mostly for free, around the city.

BERLIN, Germany – Freelance LD Rick Kay used GLP X4 S and X1 fixtures to light British poet and spoken word performer Anne Clark on a tour through Germany, with stops in Belgium and the Netherlands. The “Wasted Wonderland” tour, which also featured co-collaborator herrB, traveled with a minimized lighting rig suited to the 300-to-800-capacity clubs where Clark and herrB performed.

ANTWERP, Belgium – For an event at the Lotto Arena in Antwerp celebrating Belgian venue Cherry Moon’s 25th anniversary, LD Steven Couliez designed the lighting, video and structural set elements to go with an evening devoted to techno, trance, house and retro sounds. Nachtcollective created the video content, and Belgian lighting rental company Splendit supplied a rig that included Robe Pointes, CycFX 8s and LEDBeam 100s. 

MANCHESTER, U.K. – Before resigning in mid-July, former U.K. prime minister David Cameron championed a plan to create three million new apprentice positions by the year 2020. Announced last summer, the plan is designed to encourage the development of a better-skilled work force, which could help the U.K. compete in the global economy. As part of that larger effort, the U.K.’s National Rigging Advisory Group (NRAG) announced a trial program called the Live Event Rigging Apprenticeship. It provides formal training to new recruits, supporting them beyond the National Rigging Certificate Level 2. Key rigging leaders from Blackout, UK Rigging, RTM Rigging, PSI Production Ireland and NEC Group attended the trial run of the newly-created LERA program to test the assessment format and marking system before it is formally launched to the industry in September.

INTERLAKEN, Switzerland – For the annual Greenfield rock festival, LD Nico Müller of technical supplier Go Audio used more than 150 Clay Paky fixtures. The Main Stage was equipped with 39 Alpha Wash 1200 fixtures, 36 Mythos and 18 Stormy CC strobes. Müller’s rig design for Greenfield’s smaller stages included 18 A.leda B-EYE K10, 18 Mythos, 16 Alpha Spot 800 QWO and eight Stormy CCs. The festival, which ran from June 8-11, welcomed more than 40 international rock, punk and metalcore bands including Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Prodigy, Dropkick Murphys and Bullet For My Valentine (BFMV). More than 100,000 people from across Europe attended the four -day event.