International News

HONG KONG – Hong Kong singers Alan Tam and Teresa Carpio put their talent on display amidst a classically simple and operatically-themed stage design draped in Martin MAC luminaires during a string of shows July 20-28 at the Hong Kong Coliseum. Event organizer Entertainment Impact used MAC III Profiles as the key fixture of the rig, along with MAC 350 Entour LED moving heads and MAC 2000 series moving lights.

LONDON – Entec Sound & Light’s lighting division renewed its long-term working relationship with LD Tony Austin for two acts: the Portishead tour of Europe and the Paloma Faith showcase in Peterborough. Portishead needed two looks: one for its headlining of festivals and the other for its own shows. Meanwhile, Paloma Faith is working on designs for her 2013 tour.

LONDON – The Summer Series at Somerset House featured an eclectic list of artists for its annual music festival. To accommodate all the visiting LDs this time, in-house LD Petter Skramstad chose the Clay Paky Alpha 700 HPEs for the backbone of his rig. Production manager for Somerset House Jon Howes agreed with the choice. “Every incoming LD commented on the flexibility of the in-house design.”

LONDON – UK LD Matt Mawdsley was one of the first LDs to use Martin Professional’s new MAC Viper Profile moving head. Supplied by Stage Electrics, Mawdsley used the 1000 W fixture on the Red Bull Badminton Super Final, painting the venue’s dome ceiling and stage with images and patterns.

OXENFORD, Australia – Robe moving lights have been installed for a new version of the ‘Spirit of The Horse’ show staged at the Australian Outback Spectacular, a Warner Village theme park on the country’s Gold Coast. Designer Clint Dulieu specified the Robe fixtures to add a new dynamic to the venue’s static lighting system.

LONDON -LD/programmer Steve Heywood chose to use Vista consoles, running Vista v2 software, to run two recent UK music festivals. Heywood likes the visual interface of the Vista v2 software, which he says makes it simple, quick and logical to program and is easy to busk in festivals.

BLACKBURN, UK – HSL supplied lighting, LED screen, rigging and a Kinesys automation system to Production North for street dance troupe Diversity’s first major arena tour. Designer Peter Barnes worked in conjunction with Diversity’s creative director and leader, Ashley Banjo. The show starts out with a futuristic Tron-styled and shaped stage, which sets the storyline as the troupe were sucked into a video game and ‘digitized,’ a serious situation from which they had to escape.

LONDON – Coldplay LD Paul Normandale is using the Philips Vari-Lite VL3500 Wash FX units to create a lighting experience to complement the band’s ultraviolet spectacular in Europe. At each gig, fans are being asked to wear a radio-controlled lighting device wristband that omit either blue, white, pink or yellow on cue to music, turning the entire stadium into a sea of dancing orbs.

WACKEN, Germany – Robe moving lights provided the heavy metal lighting dynamics for the two stages in the Bullhead Circus tented arena at the 2012 Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany. The Robe fixtures of 40 MMX Spots, 46 ROBIN 600 Beams and 30 LEDWash 600s were supplied by Crystal Sound. The two stages were side by side, allowing the bands to ‘flip flop’ performances to keep the music going.