International News

LONDON – After the 2016 Brit Awards took place at London’s O2 Arena, Warner Music staged an after-show event at the Freemason’s Hall in London’s Covent Garden area. Maestra London, led by Justin Hammond, production designer Jenny Woollard, project & event manager Aisha Tarayan and technical managers Adam Jones and Edwin Higgins, worked with event designer Jason Morais from Warner Music on the set, lighting, rigging, audio and all the scenics and décor for the gathering.

KARBEN, Germany – Full-service production company satis&fy, based in Karben, Germany, has added more than 100 Elation Platinum FLX hybrid moving heads to its inventory, along with a number of EMOTION moving head digital lights. Pictured here is Elation’s Marc Librecht (left) with satis&fy’s Martin Heuser (right).

LISBON, Portugal – The Voice Portugal, a Portuguese language version of the well-known TV singing competition, has incorporated d3 Technologies’ 2x2plus media servers in its production setup for on-stage visuals.  The 2x2plus is designed to meet the needs of smaller shows and fixed installations with 2U solution that incorportates the d3 creative software suite.

LAUSANNE, Switzerland  – Swiss digital signage software specialist Navori Labs will release new modules for its QL digital signage engine this May. They promise to strengthen robustness for content management and delivery over large digital signage networks. The new QL Load Balancing, Failover and CDN modules, to be shown at Digital Signage Expo (March 16-17, Las Vegas Convention Center, Booth 2218), are intended for digital out-of-home networks comprised of 1000 or more Windows or Android media players. As pictured here, Navori Labs’ CDN module establishes a connection between QL Professional and Microsoft’s Azure global cloud network.

JOHANNESBURG – For the new 3,000 capacity auditorium at Rivers Church’s Sandton Campus in Johannesburg, South Africa, technical manager Ed Helliwell opted to install a Robe-centered rig. There are now 18 LEDWash 1200s, 10 Pointes, eight DL4S Profiles and eight miniPointes. They join  26 LEDBeam 100s purchased a few months earlier from Robe’s South African distributor, DWR.

TRENTO, Italy – Singer/songwriter Nek toured through his native Italy in October, November and December on his “Prima di Parlare” (Before You Talk) tour.  Sponsored by Radio Italia, the shows featured a set by Giò Forma’s Claudio Santucci that included a large LED wall and a lighting design by Francesco De Cave. The LD chose Clay Paky fixtures in the rig, including Sharpys and Alpha Spot HPE 700s, supplied by Agora.

FRANKFURT – Philips Entertainment Lighting noted Pro Light + Sound highlights for 2016 that include the first Platinum lamp-based luminaire in the company’s formerly LED-only Showline group – the  SL HYDRUS 350. The SL HYDRUS 350 will be joined by some of the latest Philips Showline products, including the SL PUNCHLITE 220, the SL STRIP 10IP, SL BAR 510 and the SL BEAM 300 FX.

WEST MIDLANDS, U.K. – Central Presentations Ltd (CPL) supplied full technical production – video, sound and LED lighting – to the 2016 SEMTA Awards, staged in the Ballroom at the Park Lane Hilton hotel in London. The Senior Skills Council for Science, Engineering & Manufacturing Technologies (SEMTA) is a not-for-profit organization specializing in engineering training in the UK, and this prestigious annual Awards event recognizes excellence within their various nationwide apprenticeship schemes.

PARIS – Robe’s French subsidiary, Robe Lighting France SAS, is reporting strong sales to a range of high profile theatres, particularly for its DL series of LED luminaires. Robe’s DL4S Profile is pictured here.

LONDON – Twenty-seven axes of Kinesys automation were in action on the 2016 ‘Strictly Live’ U.K. arena tour, produced by Phil McIntyre Entertainments. The completely sold out tour was presented by the Great British Bake Off’s Mel Giedroyc and once again provided a highly successful tie-in to the BBC’s show, Strictly Come Dancing.

BRISTOL, U.K. – For the third BBC Radio 6 Music Festival, staged in Bristol, U.K. Feb. 12-14, Utopium handled lighting and rigging within Colston Hall, where more than 50 acts performed. The interior and exterior lighting design included Martin, Chauvet, SGM and other fixtures controlled from grandMA control desks and Avolites Art 2000 dimming.