International News

UK – Lighting designer Yenz Nyholm ran the Main Stage lighting at Coventry’s Godiva Festival this year from an Avolites Sapphire Touch, with a host of visiting LDs using the console as their acts performed. “The Sapphire Touch works well on a festival due to the many faders and easy to read touch screens,” says Nyholm. “It’s very intuitive, so any LD can use it within a few minutes of turning up. The many faders work well on a festival/busking situation, where you need to be able to grab anything very quickly.”

Viewed through 3D glasses, Multiverse is an extraordinary new work that combines the power of live dance with the wonder of 3D graphics from one of the great innovators of Australian dance. The show also uses infrared technology that enables sound, video, and lighting to respond live to the actions of the dancer. To accommodate the infrared technology, lighting supplier Jands supplied an LED system comprised of twenty-four ETC Source 4 LED Lustr+ profiles, and ten Vari-lite VLX LED washes.

WARRINGTON, UK – Adlib supplied lighting, sound and rigging to two main arenas and the Hospitality / VIP area at the 2014 Creamfields EDM festival staged at Daresbury Estate near Warrington, UK. Crew chief Kevin Byatt, working with Dave Eldridge at the company’s office/warehouse, supported Arenas 04 (hosted by Pete Tong / London Warehouse Events), 05 (Revealed / Super You & Me) and the VIP (Hospitality Audio System).

TORRE de ROVERI, Italy – Pasquale Quadri, founder and chairman of Clay Paky SpA, passed away in his home here shortly before midnight on Sept. 6. He was 67. Quadri, who is survived by his wife, Antonella; his daughters, Alessandra and Francesca; and granddaughters, Melissa and Martina; is credited as the driving force behind one of the world’s most prominent manufacturers of entertainment lighting fixtures.

TOKYO – Tokyo is busy – ok make that frantic- by day, but it’s when the sun goes down that this city takes on a level of intensity unique in the world. New York may be the city that never sleeps, but Tokyo never even slows down. “Time moves in its own special way” at night in the Japanese capital, as novelist Haruki Murakami wrote, aided no doubt by thousands of jam-packed clubs. Standing out in this neon sea of nightlife is a tall order for any new establishment; yet ELE Tokyo met this challenge with flying colors, not to mention split beams, intense strobes and a plethora of pixel mapped effects from Chauvet Professional used in a stunning fashion by LD Michael Meacham of iDesign Productions (Miami, FL).

CHAGUANAS, Trinidad — For the revamped 800-capacity Club India here, Michael Pereira of Trinidad & Tobago based creative design and engineering practice Streamline Systems specified Robe and Anolis lighting fixtures. The club is now equipped with 10 Robin LEDBeam 100 moving lights, two Robe Faze 800 FT Pro hazers and 88 Anolis ArcSource 4MC LED fixtures.

LONDON — Colour Sound Experiment, based here, supplied lighting to Festival Republic for several stages at the 2014 Reading and Leeds festivals — Lock Up, Dance, BBC Introducing, Silent Disco 1 & 2, Piccadilly Party, the Action Aid and Oxfam tents plus all of EBCs Bars — plus LED screen for the Dance arena.

AARHUS, Denmark — Issuing an Ice Bucket Challenge to its competitors, SGM CEO, Peter Johansen, touted the company’s G-Spot fixture’s IP65 rating by dousing the moving light with a bucket of cold water. Unlike the CEO, who also underwent a “soak test,” the working fixture appeared to be unfazed by the stunt, which had the side benefit of promoting ALS awareness and support.

LONDON — The Stones performed at Wilton’s Music Hall here recently, and the concert sold to capacity — with the audience knowing full well that they were paying to see an Australia-based brother and sister folk-pop duo, Angus and Julia Stone — not the legendary British rock group. LD Toby Hoggarth controlled the lighting rig with an Avolites Titan Mobile and Fader Wing.