International News

AARHUS, Denmark – LD/Lighting Director Francesco Calvi is using 150 Martin MAC 101 wash lights as the foundation of his design for Cold Chisel’s “Light the Nitro” tour, which plays venues from arenas to circus tents. He’s controlling them on a Martin M1 console.

LONDON, UK – Entec Sound & Light supplied lighting, sound and video production and crew for the recent Friends of the Earth’s star studded comedy sold-out extravaganza at the HMV Hammersmith Apollo, “Laugh or the Polar Bear Gets It.”

BRUSSELS, Belgium – To mark 2011 as the centennial anniversary for China’s Tsinghua University, a ceremony was organized in Beijing, which was attended by most of the Chinese political leaders. LD Sha Xiaolin designed a large stage show driven by
ShowPower’s MTL media servers running ArKaos MediaMaster Pro with 3D animations and visuals that entertained the audience.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – Protea Court, which houses 70 new international and luxury retail outlets, was inspired by the shape of South Africa’s national flower, the Protea. A lighting install of Anolis LED fixtures accentuate the curvy roof and girders of the structure, allowing the architecture to “breathe” with color and movement.

TORONTO, Ontario  – CAST Software’s Wysiwyg was the “steering” force of a celebration marking the 125th anniversary of the first car. The event, named “Autosymphonic,” was held Sept. 10 in Mannheim, Germany, the birthplace of the car.

MASCOT, Australia – Oceania Audio & Lighting has devoted equipment and crew the past few months to the Rugby World Cup and its associated events. Now that the final is over, corporate gigs and touring events which deferred until the World Cup was over are now underway. Oceania’s General Manager Lighting Simon Garrett prepared in advance by purchasing new Jands HPC12 series dimmers as well as additional Jands power distribution units and HPX dimmers.

REGGIO EMILIA, Italy –  SGM’s new X-5 LED white strobe is debuting not the conventional way – on a concert tour – but rather with a stand-up comedian from Germany, Bulent Ceylan. Wanting to add visual punch to the punchlines, German LD ‘Tobi’ Deuring specified 12 of the X-5s. They add a dramatic “flame” to the arena tour visuals.

AUCKLAND, New Zealand – The Sept. 9 opening celebration of IRB Rugby World Cup drew an estimated 200,000 people to the waterfront precinct to take in the visual spectacle, “All Lit Up.” LD David Eversfield relied on a grandMA2 system for control. While the show’s lighting design in the stadium was created by Paul Collison, who worked with a grandMA2 system as well, Eversfield and the Opticshock team used a grandMA2 light, a grandMA2 on PC and three grandMA 3Ds for the lights spread across the city.

LONDON, UK – The Shine 2011 Benefit Dinner, staged at Old Billingsgate Market, featured a gala dinner for 500 guests, charity auction and a performance by 1970’s disco stars Chic. Lighting and event design group Renegade designed the night.

LONDON, UK – Neg Earth included Robert Juliat followspots in its inventory of lighting equipment on a number of large-scale musical events across Europe this year, including tours with Take That, George Michael, Batman Live and Muse.

AARHUS, Denmark – Jyske Bank BOXEN is one of the country’s largest indoor concert arenas. Shaped like an isosceles trapezoid, the venue’s features all but disappeared after sundown. Wanting the outside to match the lighting displays on stage indoors, the venue management sought help from Martin Professional for an attention-grabbing lighting scheme on the outside of the BOXEN.

GYDNIA, Poland – Europe’s largest permanent installation of Philips Selecon energy efficient, high output PL3 LED luminaires helped open the production, Shrek, at the Musical Theatre. Philips says this marks a real transition in the use of LED fixtures in theatre lighting design.