International News

ULM, Germany – To commemorate 125 years since the completion of the 530-foot-high Ulm church tower spire, once the tallest man-made structure in the world, artist Rafael Lozano Hemmer worked with Airstar on a custom made air-filled Pendulair 600 balloon representing the sun. The balloon, six meters in diameter, weighed only about 55 pounds.

LEEDS, U.K. – Lighting rental company Zig Zag, based here, provided a rig centered on Robe fixtures to fulfill LD Mick Thornton’s design for Swedish progressive metal band OPETH. The band marked 25 years this past autumn with a European tour. Thornton has worked with the band since 2005.

CAMBRIDGE, UK – Lighting designer Jordon Cooper armed himself with an Avolites Tiger Touch II with Fader Wing to control a series of dynamic UK ‘Homecoming’ gigs for alt-rock band Mallory Knox following their American tour.

MANCHESTER, UK – Lighting designer Oliver Suckling served up the visuals for a NYE lineup at Sankeys Warehouse in Manchester that included Fat Boy Slim and Basement Jaxx (pictured here), among others. Suckling made good use of ADJ fixtures in the rig, including 40 Vizi Beam 5RXs and 38 Inno Color Beam Quad7s.

GLASGOW, Scotland – HSL supplied lighting for more than 30 holiday pantomime productions all across the UK. Many of the shows were produced by Qdos. In addition to lighting gear, HSL supplied rigging and a Kinesys automation system for the largest show, Peter Pan, which was staged at the 3,000 seat Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow.

ZURICH – Two leading Croatian music acts – rock band Prljavo Kazalište and pop singer Tony Cetinski – double headlined in a special annual concert event in Zurich’s Stadthalle Dietikon. Sven Kučinić, who works regularly with Prljavo Kazalište, designed the lighting for both acts, using Robe fixtures. The event was organized by Croatia-Media Organizacija (Croatia Media Organization).

NASSAU, Bahamas – For the Albany resort’s White New Year’s Eve Party, Paul Francis Aranha and his team used Nexus 4×4 panels and Rogue fixtures from Chauvet Professional. They chose the fixtures in part for their bright output and brilliant colors.

HERTFORDSHIRE, UK – Drapes, ‘softs’ and special effects specialist S+H Technical supplied large amounts of red velvet drapes and a substantial custom Pea-light installation for the most recent series of the BBC’s prime time show, ‘Strictly Come Dancing.’ More than 4,000 Pea-lights bulbs were ensconced in custom set panels covered in red drape that served as an integral part of the production design created by Patrick Doherty.

ELSTREE, Hertfordshire, U.K. – DLM Events, production riggers for the last series of the BBC show, Strictly Come Dancing, supplied various Kinesys automation and flying elements for the production, recorded at the George Lucas 2 Stage at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire.

MONTERREY, Mexico – Pro Audio Producciones del Norte, a busy full production solutions provider led by Victor Gutierrez, provides lighting, audio, video, rigging, staging, generators and power for a wide variety of tours, festivals and events. Recently Pro Audio has invested in 24 Pointe moving lights, their first investment in Robe products, which were supplied by Mexico City based distributor, Vari Internacional. Pictured here, from left, are Victor Gutierrez and Alberto Garcia from Vari Internacional, Robe’s distributor for Mexico.

LONDON – For the recent Star Wars premiere event, which took place in Leicester Square, Colin Bodenham of Utopium used Chauvet Professional’s Rogue RH1 Hybrid spot/beam fixture to light key areas. Bodenham positioned 24 of the Rogue fixtures at ends of the red carpet, on the cinema canopies and the portable stage that was set up for the event.