“It needed to be bright, versatile, bold and strong,” says the designer, one of three partners at Woodroffe Bassett Design (WBD). And so Ridgway recommended GLP’s impression X5 IP Maxx, promptly arranging a shoot-out. Terry Cook’s conclusion: “It brought meanness, real character and was unapologetically angry. It was definitely an AC/DC light,” he exclaims unequivocally. “We have history of embracing new technology on AC/DC tours and the Power Up tour was no different.”

At the same time he noted a further advantage: the fixture’s IP rating. In fact, its waterproof qualities would prove vital during the tour, even though every fixture would be located under the roof.

Neg Earth had been contracted as tour vendors by the band’s production director, Dale ‘Opie’ Skjerseth. As soon as the designer had greenlighted GLP’s powerful washlight, it wasted no time in ordering 172 of the fixtures – the first rental company in the world to do so. “Dave [Ridgway] knows I take nothing as guaranteed and so we looked at each fixture twice, using light meters to measure it, and to understand what each light could do and how they balanced together,” reports Cook.

Lighting designer Patrick Woodroffe, who originally set up WBD, has an association with both AC/DC and Neg Earth stretching back decades. “The band hadn’t toured for a while for various reasons,” notes Terry Cook. “We were contacted about them returning for a one-off show at Power Trip Festival in California – and they would then try something in Europe.”

WBD immediately witnessed the signature rawness and WBD were soon back at the drawing board once the European tour was confirmed. “There were to be no gimmicks, it was very much about connecting the band, the music and the fanbase,” continues Cook.

The lighting designers worked closely with Stufish, which was responsible for the stage design and size of video screens: “I realised I could replicate the shapes of the video with five large lighting pods, filled with one type of light. Stufish suggested putting a video frame around the pods so we could drag the video off the screens and immerse it into the roof and sides of the stage. Suddenly the idea was born and we knew we had a winning combination.”

Three identical overhead pods – four units wide, eight units high – were offset by two further pods, stage left and right, aligned on the vertical plane. Each contained a matrix of impression X5 IP Maxx – which made up the bulk of the 168 units that toured. The remainder were set on the upstage side of the front truss to illuminate the band’s iconic 8ft high signature wall of Marshall amps, stacked three high.

The challenges in bringing this to fruition were many, not least ensuring the vast inventory of X5 IP Maxx could be shipped in time. “We also had to work out how we were going to build these lights within the trusses, even-spaced in a matrix and at the same time get the correct beam angles. The rig was something of a throwback to a parcan rig of yesteryear, when we were specifying the Molefay,” suggests Cook. As for the trusses, individual custom bracketing had to be produced for each piece, with a custom [load] spreader built into each hang.

The next decision was the DMX programming mode for the X5 IP Maxx. Cook recalls: “When I first turned one cell on, at just 3 percent, I knew immediately it was going to work. We wanted to have cell control so that we could change the shape of these lights and so choosing the correct mode was vital.”

Explaining further, he says:, “There’s one moment in ‘Thunderstruck’, an iconic song, when we wanted 168 linear stripes of light, rather than circles, to loosely represent a lightning bolt delivering real sparkle and flare across that big iconic intro.” After consideration, they opted for the fixture’s Mode 4 Multipix Advanced mode. “This gave us an incredible 141 DMX channels, with two lights per universe. It may have given Neg Earth a heart attack, but we wanted the flexibility to create the pixel effects.”

Terry Cook also knew “from the get-go” that he wanted to integrate the GLP washlight into the Follow-Me follow spot system “and so at a moment we could sweep all 168 lights onto [frontman Angus Young] if we wanted a big guitar moment and pull a vast section of lights down to him.”

And when he needed to perform a fast zoom there is none finer than the impression X5 IP Maxx, with an enormous range from an extremely narrow 3.3° beam out to a wide homogeneous 66° wash.

Terry Cook paid tribute to a number of people for bringing the show to fruition, led by the head of GLP UK, Simon Barrett. “We must have used every fixture in GLP’s catalogue over the years. I can’t tell you how good Simon and GLP’s customer service are. To have direct access to the manufacturer was really useful.

“We worked very closely with the set designer Ray Winkler [of Stufish] and Jeremy Lloyd at Wonderworks, who did the technical design, working out how to rig it safely, putting the engineering side of the pods together. Finally, there was Sam Patterson’s team at Treatment, who do video creation.”

To the many superlatives already levelled at the X5 IP Maxx, Terry Cook adds “reliability”, explaining: “By the halfway stage of the tour the team hadn’t swapped out a single light – despite them getting extremely wet in atrocious weather, particularly at load-in and load-out.

“But they are a great fit for an AC/DC show and the biggest compliment that I can give is I’d spec them on a show in a heartbeat!”

The show itself was naturally piloted by the band’s veteran and ever-present touring lighting director, Cosmo Wilson, while Joe Bay and Michael Hankowsky were brought on through Early Bird to handle the lighting and video programming. The last, and newest, member of the FOH team is WBD’s own Fraser Walker who, like Cosmo, runs the video screens live each show, with no timecode used, “it’s lovely to see Cosmo and Fraser operate this show,” remarks Cook.

One final footnote: Opie and WBD made the decision that, having been so impressed with the young crew appointed by Upstaging on a recent American show, to request similar from Neg Earth. The rental company delivered, providing another young, fastidiously professional team with an average age of just 28. Other crew members included Jim Mills, Lewis Willding, Niccolò Grigolato, Ben Tinniswood, Zac Saleh, Euan Odd, Charlie Strangeways and Holly Brightman working under crew chief Alan Fotheringham. Neg Earth’s team who assisted with all the prep, comprised Joao Magalhaes, Jack Prior, Fiore Fillarini and Greg Gadomsk.

Terry Cook credits the impact that the crew’s energy and teamwork made to the overall result of the show.

Photo credit: Ralph Larmann.

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The exhibit’s lighting design was entrusted to Freddie Bonfanti from Raiden Studios, who integrated over 250 PROLIGHTS EclMiniProfile fixtures. These were strategically placed to enhance the thematic presentation across some of the main chambers, providing optimal illumination, accentuating the brilliance of the displayed items while maintaining a minimalist and modern aesthetic befitting such an elegant exhibition.

The lighting installation was executed by system integrator Gemini Luci s.r.l., whose team was thoroughly impressed with the performance of PROLIGHTS fixtures: “The EclMiniProfile projectors delivered unmatched flexibility and precision. Their compact dimensions and powerful lighting output ensured the desired result without compromising the visual integrity of the exhibit spaces.”

The post Swarovski Masters of Lights shines with PROLIGHTS appeared first on A1 Lighting Magazine.

Sven was asked to light the high-profile concert after Pavlović’s show producers saw his lightshow for Croatian artist Gibonni – the previous year at Belgrade Arena – and decided they wanted to work with him. They talked to the artist who also checked out Sven’s work for herself and was suitably impressed! This show was extremely important, and all involved wanted to ensure it was a world class production.

Sven, who has an extremely busy schedule combining working as a commercial pilot with designing creative lightshows, was also contacted by the local show producers Ivan Jurić-Kaćunić, Katijan Knok and Goran Hucaluk, with whom he’s worked on other projects and was able to slot this one into his action-packed diary!

His starting point for the production lighting design was a set concept by Igor Barberić and Nebojša Milojević, which included three interconnected runways coming out from the front of the stage allowing Pavlović to get close to her fans. The screen design was an adapted version of the set developed for a Milica Pavlović gig staged at Belgrade Arena a couple of months before this one, but adapted versions of these were the only elements retained for Zagreb.

A troupe of dancers choreographed by Helena Janjušević boosted the visual dynamics of the performance, for which there was a good production budget.

Sven took this opportunity to specify his moving light brand of choice … which is Robe!

The lighting equipment and crew were delivered by MOJO Rental South-East Europe (ex-Promo Logistika), and this show was the first time that Sven had a chance to use Robe’s PAINTE moving light and Tetra2 and TextraX linear LED batten products.

Initially, the 24 PAINTES were not on the spec as Sven thought he would need something larger to cut through the LED video screens from the 20-metre trim height. However, after in-situ testing, he saw for real that the PAINTES were perfectly up to the job!

They were hung on front trusses and used for key lighting and positioned along the catwalks.

22 Robe FORTES were hung on the mid truss in a cluster formation and made excellent effects fixtures for special moments in the set. FORTE has been a go-to powerful luminaire for Sven whenever possible for the last couple of years.

Once these PAINTES and FORTES were in their designated positions, Sven started placing the various other lights and positions around them.

36 MegaPointes were dotted around the upstage trusses, together with 24 Pointes. MegaPointe is still one of Sven’s – and many other LDs’ – all-time favourite fixtures, and MegaPointes in some quantities are still on 99 percent of his designs.

Spiiders are another must-have.

On this show, 24 of Robe’s famous LED wash beams were dotted around the overhead trusses with some on the floor and used for washing the stage – exactly as designed – as well as for additional and secondary key lighting. “They worked harmoniously with the PAINTES in this context,” commented Sven noting that the Spiider’s zoom also allowed them to really cut through the MegaPointe beams.

Sven had always held back from using Tetras before, as he really wanted an appropriate project to materialise … and this was it, so 26 Tetra2s and eight TetraXs were added to the design, and he found the pixel mapping capabilities “completely mind-blowing!”

The Tetra2s were rigged in an arc around the main video screen and used sparingly – only around 10 times throughout the whole set – but when they did fire up, it brought maximum impact.

“The audience gasped with amazement every time!” declared Sven, clearly delighted with the effectiveness of his careful placement, meticulous programming and thoughtful execution of the ‘less-is-more’ philosophy of lighting.

This allowed the creation of moving seamless walls of light for accenting, a style of effect that is new and still rare for shows in the Balkans.

“It’s incredible to be able to take a fixture like an LED bar and create ‘beam-of-light’ effects that work in an 18,000-capacity arena – that’s just really special!” he stated.

The TetraXs were rigged on small trussing sections flown just below the PA arrays. They were also utilised for some of the darker and moodier songs where even just eight fixtures offered serious punch!

Sven admits that he would have liked more TetraXs, but they were simply not available for the dates due to demand for other events!

Thirty CycFX8 fixtures (Tetra’s still popular predecessors) were used as the main floor up lighters and along the catwalks, a mission-critical task especially for illuminating the dancers.

Aesthetically, it was essentially a big glossy-floor pop show. Director Igor Barberić is also a choreographer with plenty of theatrical work under his belt, so A LOT of dynamics and plenty of drama was in play throughout the set, and having the CycFX8s on the stage in these specific positions really helped light the movement and flow of the show, commented Sven.

He has worked with Robe products for over 18 years now, and enjoys an excellent relationship with Croatian distributor, Davor Vujic of LAV Studio, who ensures he is kept updated with all the latest news and tech from the Robe universe.

He observes that while the LED chips have evolved and Robe’s concepts have changed over time, aspects like the fixtures’ colour configuration from the first LEDs to the current ones remain constant.

This consistency is particularly noticeable to him as he always does all his own programming and show console operation. “That excellent colour collaboration between the Robe ranges saved me at least 2 hours on site for this show,” when time was – as always – tight, and delivering to everyone’s high expectations was a major challenge.

Also on the rig were 24 LEDBeam 150s and 10 LEDBeam 350s which worked brilliantly as back of shot fillers for the multicamera shoot. The 350s placed upstage crisply sliced through the 150 square metres of LED screen.

Sven enjoyed many things about the concert including the scale of it and the theatrical moments even when it went dark. “Crafting a show that has a real emotional impact on the audience is also about knowing when to turn all the lights off!”

Photo: Benny Gashi.

The post Robe in the rig for Milica Pavlović show in Zagreb appeared first on A1 Lighting Magazine.

In a special area of the show named after the popular, long-running LSi column, archive equipment will be showcased via a display of vintage consoles and fixtures. Additionally, a range of guest experts set to join Halliday and Hewitt on-stand throughout the event to share memories of tech-gone-by.

Kit set to be displayed includes:

• The custom Cadac mixing console created for Starlight Express in 1984, which pioneered the computer-controlled VCA mixing approach followed by all theatre shows since.

• The Strand Galaxy lighting console, which is the first to be fully restored by a Galaxy restoration project led by members of the team who first created the console for Strand in 1980. Furthermore, PLASA Show will see the formal handing over of this console to its new home at Rose Bruford College in London.

• The automation control console from the original 1986 production of The Phantom of the Opera.

• The OptiKinetics Solar250 projector, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

• The Zero88 Sirius lighting console, which introduced generations of users to memory control at an affordable price, to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of Zero88.

• The Whole Hog lighting console, which will be controlling a selection of contemporary moving mirror lights including the Martin 518 and the Claypaky Goldenscan.

• The return of Vari-Lite Artisan VL2 and VL4 lighting fixtures from last year’s PLASA Show.

The neighbouring display by CH Vintage Audio will include treasures from the rock’n’roll archives, such as a fully-functioning Allen & Heath (A&H) 28 channel mixer, as used by Pink Floyd during their Live at Pompeii and Dark Side of the Moon shows in the early 1970s.

A large selection of Pink Floyd’s PA from the same period will also be on display, along with gear used by legendary artists such as David Bowie, whose Ziggy Stardust PAS rig from 1973 is also confirmed to make an appearance.

Visitors can also hear from – and speak with – visionary professionals who helped this history unfold, including:

• Pioneering sound designer Martin Levan who will talk about sound design – then and now – with fellow sound designer Gareth Owen, in one of our dedicated seminar sessions.

• Neil Rice of OptiKinetics, will talk about the Solar250 projector and lightships in general.

• David Bertenshaw of Strand will talk about the creation of Galaxy and the process of restoring and preserving classic lighting consoles for the future.

• Andy Voller will explain the pioneering Vari-Lite system.
• Allen & Heath founder Andy Bereza who will be on-hand to reminisce and demo the restored A&H mixer

Find Classic Gear Live at the rear of Olympia London during the PLASA Show on stand D55.

Don’t forget to sign up for your free PLASA Show ticket by 30th August!

The post Classic Gear Live is back with vintage technology display at PLASA Show appeared first on A1 Lighting Magazine.

Originated and designed by Arcadia’s Pip Rush (creative director) and Bert Cole (technical director), the 30-metre-long, 8.5-metre-high biomechanical Dragonfly is built from an ex Royal Navy Sea King helicopter and was surrounded by a 50,000-capacity evolved geometric ‘energy field’ at the festival.

The sculpture ‘awakened’ every night of Glasto at 23:30, presenting “Warraloo” a breathtaking 9-minute show developed by Arcadia in collaboration with the Wadjuk Noongar nation of Western Australia and based on the Dragonfly’s pupation cycle.

The Dragonfly head is covered with over 200 custom hexagonal and pentagonal LED screens, the legs were pixel mapped, the body was projection mapped, and over 200 lighting and LED pixel fixtures were rigged on the construction and dotted around the Arcadia arena, all vital elements of the production lighting scheme created by Dave Cohen from design studio, MIRRAD.

MIRRAD was also responsible for designing and supplying the full lighting and visual control system and all the related integration.

Music lovers were treated to a sizzling hot lineup of local and international DJs who played well into the night throughout the three-day festival, and Arcadia also presented its new 9-minute ‘spectacular’ timecoded performance show – complete with aerialists, fire, lasers, other SFX and massive excitement.

In addition to the Dragonfly, four sets of scenic bull-rush podiums, also created from recycled scrap metal, circled the space, two of them doubling as performance areas for elements of the timecoded show. Six 11-metre-high lighting towers were positioned around the outside of the arena, rigged with – among other lighting fixtures – six of Robe’s new searchlight style laser-lightsource iBOLTS.

Dave explained that lighting for the event was 95 per cent operated live or busked – only the Arcadia shows were timecoded, so with operating sessions of five hours or more, the Avolites D9-330 was his desk of choice for this style of operation.

“It is absolutely the best option” to combine both these operating MOs (busking & cue stack) as well as facilitating the seamless live operation of both lighting and video, he stated.

A major creative challenge was ensuring that the Dragonfly was well lit and getting plenty of light into the arena and amongst the crowds to help keep the atmos pumping whilst maintaining the structural integrity and look of the Dragonfly as an impressive piece of industrial art.

He and MIRRAD’s Sam Werrett operated Arcadia’s lighting for all artists across the Glastonbury weekend working in close conjunction with the live visuals team featuring Australian artists Peter Walker and Brad Hammond. They used Touch Designer and Unity to bake these (visuals) onto a UV map, which was mixed by Joe Crossley from Astralprojekt using a MIDI controller.

Sam – thrilled to be working on his first Glasto – explained that D9 features like Timeline, Timecoded Cue Lists, Pixel Mapper plus several others created especially for this Arcadia event were invaluable.

Other features like Align made it extremely straightforward to copy all the positional and other fixture information from – in this case – one tower and apply it to another, which saved time when dealing the parts of the lighting rig hidden from the FOH position which was side-on to the Dragonfly – rather than having to adjust every light!

The D9 console’s rotary playback faders were utilised to execute some on-the-fly safety parameters like dimming strobes or lighting that might inadvertently get in performer faces during the live shows.

Using Avolites Synergy to unite the worlds of video and lighting control enabled Dave and Sam to see the NDI previews of the visuals being created and instantly match or contrast colour-wise with lighting and crossfade between outputting lighting and video feeds.

“Avo’s history is in live operation,” noted Sam, “and the D9’s versatility meant we could keep the show fresh and invigorated with new looks and combinations even after a five-hour plus operating shift.”

While those long operating stints were part of the challenge of this event, they were also what Dave and Sam relished.

All the timecoded parts were pre-vizzed in WYSIWYG – using a model of the helicopter – and fine-tuned on site, and they also had a WYG set up on site, networked to the FOH which enabled video and lighting and video to be processed in the same previz environment.

The two D9 consoles – live and backup – were run in multi-user mode, allowing looks, combinations and effects to be prepared and trialled on one and then output on the other as the evening progressed.

Coordinating the AI media server side of the control for MIRRAD was Arran Rothwell-Eyre, one of the original team behind AI, and Greg Haynes from Avo provided additional tech support.

The LED screen design and installation for the head of the helicopter was created by Ben Vaughan and Video Illusions.

The connection between Avolites, MIRRAD and Arcadia goes back to 2012 and the famous Spider and their “Metamorphosis” show. An Avolites console has been running their lighting ever since then, and they first implemented Synergy and the AI servers in 2015 which became a crucial part of their touring shows.

Arcadia’s technical production manager Katie Davies enthused, “It’s great to work with a team who just really get what we are trying to do, and with whom we can build on the knowledge and experience of previous years and stage designs.”

Utilising the Avolites D9 console, AI media server and Synergy for the live visual feeds, helped make Arcadia one of the most talked about areas of Glastonbury 2024.

Photos: Steve Bright.

The post Avolites Diamond 9 controls Arcadia Dragonfly lighting and video appeared first on A1 Lighting Magazine.

Boris Jacob, from Elation’s French distributor Best Audio & Lighting, handled lighting design on the project. He stated, “This show really gives pride of place to the Elation brand with the FUZE PROFILE and the KL PROFILE FC. The luminous flux and high CRI, the identical colorimetry between the FUZE and KL series, as well as the silence, make these fixtures the perfect choice!”

A flexible framing fixture for theatre and television, the FUZE PROFILE houses a 305W RGBMA LED engine with high CRI. Its 5-color homogenized LED array not only ensures accurate color reproduction with a beautiful mixed white, it also provides color manipulation features like virtual color temperature and Magenta/Green adjustment plus CMY emulation. Jacob used some of the FUZE PROFILES as keylighting to illuminate the artists’ faces using the built in framing blades and color temperature control with the remaining FUZE PROFILES set on stage to project gobos and cut out scenery elements.

Because the KL PROFILE FC ellipsoidal also houses an RGBMA LED engine, the designer was able to perfectly match color across the rig. Housing an integrated zoom that adjusts from 6 to 50 degrees, the KL PROFILE FC requires no additional lens tubes for fast beam angle changes. Its 93.5 CRI engine ensures accurate color reproduction, and full blackout manual framing eliminates any light spill. Both fixtures proved the ideal complements for “The Twist Years” production.

Atmospheric haze and mid-air projection canopy came courtesy of a THERMA TOUR 600 from Magmatic atmospheric effects. Producing an exceptionally fine, long-lasting haze, a water-based fluid was used to allow for total protection of the eight artists’ vocal chords, as well those of the accompanying musicians and technical crew. The 350W THERMA TOUR 600 creates a safe, clean and odorless haze effect that leaves no residue.

Stemming from the early 1900s, the Eiffel Tower Theatre was renovated in 2016 and reopened in 2017. Due to its exceptional historical heritage and a varied program of musical shows, comedy, and plays, it has managed to find a place among the pantheon of Parisian theaters. “The Twist Years” will be back at the Eiffel Tower Theatre in October and will be touring in 2025.

Production: Cabucho Production – Remy Caccia & Christelle Chollet.

Director: Lucy Harrison.

Choreography: Olivier Benard.

Musical Director: Gabriel Sarrou Vergnac.

Costumes: Claire Djemah.

Cast: Lou Nagy, Martin Heuzard, Marine Rouvrais, Quentin Aubert, Théophile Baquet, Victor Villafranca, Alexia Piovano, Pierre-Arthur.

Lemoine, Olivier Benard, Armonie Coiffard, Magali Bonfils, Thomas Boissy, Pierre-Alain Leleu.

Musicians: Gabriel Sarrou Vergnac, Frank Bessard, Maxence Naudet, Matthieu Durand Valerio, Edouard Dornier, Rodrigo Viana.

Photos:  Justine Lephay.

The post Elation FUZE and KL highlight “The Twist Years” at Paris’ Eiffel Tower Theatre appeared first on A1 Lighting Magazine.

At his side again were lighting designers Rob Sinclair and Gunther Hecker, who developed a new stage and lighting design for the tour. In a set dominated by large, transparent LED surfaces, 60 GLP JDC2 IP played a crucial role.

“In Dresden and Bochum we played in football stadiums where there are usually very large rooms behind the stage. In order to make these spaces visible and at the same time create depth, we chose transparent LED walls and used the enormous power of the JDC2 IP to occasionally illuminate the backgrounds and thus make them tangible for the audience,” explains Hecker.

With the JDC2 IP placed behind the LED walls, the designer could freely play with the video content, the physical space behind the walls, or a translucent mix of both levels to keep the stage design vibrant and variable. To illuminate the large areas behind the stage, he needed a spot with very high power. After a trade fair encounter with the new JDC2 IP hybrid strobe, his ideal solution for the tour was found.

All JDC2 IPs were suspended on several ladders behind the transparent LED surfaces (both side and behind the stage) and distributed across the entire area, to create a “mega effect”, as the designer put it.

Even though the JDC2 IP sets a new standard in terms of creativity and playfulness, Hecker demanded one thing from the devices first and foremost: brightness! “We’re talking about really big spaces that we wanted to make visible. In addition, the shows began in daylight, which is why the lighting had to be very assertive in order to be effective from the first bar. A correspondingly high level of performance was required – and that’s exactly what the JDC2 IP offered us,” he says.

“They are very, very bright. I will have to explore all the other exciting features of the fixture in other applications, which I am looking forward to.”

The technical service provider for the tour was TDA Clair.

The post GLP JDC2 IP opens up new perspectives on Herbert Grönemeyer’s 4630 Bochum Live tour appeared first on A1 Lighting Magazine.

The Vienna Philharmonic invited audiences to the open-air Sommernachtskonzert (Summer Night Concert) for the 20th time this year – and a massive 50,000 spectators didn’t need to be asked twice. In addition, the free concert – one of Austria’s largest classical music events, set against the backdrop of the impressive Schönbrunn Palace – was set for broadcast in over 80 countries.

The Sommernachtskonzert has become an established tradition and for many Viennese it is impossible to imagine life without it. Lighting designer Jerry Appelt has emphasised in the past how much this concert means to him. Therefore, he and his team continue their work – and at the same time have created new highlights in the production, thanks to the help of some new GLP devices.

The GLP impression S350 Wash has been used for orchestra lighting for several years; this year 76 of the fixtures were deployed. The devices “impress with the lighting quality required by production for TV applications,” explains Appelt. “In addition, the light weight of these spots is an advantage, given the limited load-bearing capacity of the stage roof. That’s why they are an integral part of the lighting design at the Summer Night Concert.”

GLP’s impression X5 LED washlights have also been used for orchestra lighting for the past two years. As with all spotlights in the stage roof, the comparatively low weight also plays a role here. Sixty-one impression X5 Wash were part of this year’s lighting design.
However, 54 of the new, weatherproof GLP impression X5 IP Maxx were used for the first time, providing column lighting on the magnificent façade of Schönbrunn Palace. The impression X5 IP Maxx represents the much-praised colour quality of the X5 Series with an even higher output. The lighting designer favoured the new model in this application primarily for the “brilliant colours and the IP65 protection, which made it possible to forego additional rain protection in front of the historic facade”, he explains.

With 12 FUSION Creos, a completely new model also made its debut at the Summer Night Concert. The tiltable LED washlight with 18 40W RGBL LEDs, arranged in three lines, functions both as a single device and in combination with several other fixtures to create an overpowering LED bar. During the Summer Night Concert, all 12 devices were used on the Gloriette, which is around a kilometre from the palace, and is often seen by the TV cameras.

“The Creos impressed us both as architectural lighting and as single camera lighters,” says Appelt.

For the first time, the designer also used 52 of the ultra-compact and weatherproof (IP65) FUSION X-PAR 8Z LED PARs with zoom from FUSION by GLP to illuminate various statues in the extensive palace park. “The statues in the park were presented as decentralised highlights, concealing the necessary lighting technology in the foreground. The X-PAR 8Z can be used extremely effectively as small, inconspicuous uplights,” he explains. “They also have a very good zoom range for such a compact device in this performance class.”

Jerry Appelt’s design team additionally used eight GLP ArenaLED1 Touring for the ambient lighting at the Gloriette, which “were somewhat misused in this role, as they are actually arena floodlights, but nevertheless did a good job and were also very acceptable outdoor floodlights. We’re looking forward to actually using the fixtures in an arena context,” says the designer.

When a torrential thunderstorm began on the day of the dress rehearsal, the IP-certified fixtures from GLP demonstrated their reliability even under the presence of such heavy rain.

Finally, Jerry Appelt thanks the organisers of the event, as well as the Philharmonic Orchestra: “My team and I always look forward to the Summer Night Concert. This is not only due to the wonderful music in the unique open-air atmosphere, but especially to the constructive collaboration with the Vienna Philharmonic. In particular we thank Johannes Schneider, as our contact person, as well as the organisers, Anneliese Pontiller and Zigo Mutschlechner, who help make the Summer Night Concert a local highlight as well as a cultural export hit.” Appelt also thanks the ORF (the Austrian Broadcast Corporation), and particularly Roberto Berkembrock, for the close cooperation.

Photo credit: Jack Langer.

The post More than 260 GLP fixtures illuminate the stage, Palace and park at the Summer Night Concert in Vienna appeared first on A1 Lighting Magazine.

The show was directed by Mari Pogrebynska and Pavlo Zakrevskyi and included eye-catching lighting designed by Anton Semeniuk who utilised 32 Robe Spikie moving lights, six ColorWash 575s and a BMFL Follow Spot controlled via a RoboSpot system … among other lights, all supplied by Ukraine’s largest lighting rental company, Alight.

Like everything in Ukraine, the show, production and entertainment industry has adapted to the realities of wartime, and while Alight has moved much of its equipment inventory to Poland for the moment – for obvious reasons – Anton explained that he was still very keen to use whatever Robe kit was available at the time of the show.

“The stage space was too restricted to realise our initial ideas, so we found ourselves needing small but multifunctional devices, and Robe’s Spikie immediately came into my mind,” he explained.

Mari, Pavlo and Anton collaborated on the stage set design which included LED tubes rigged to create an abstract but interesting space. Within this were the band and their music which captures some of the spirit and the moments of Ukraine in 2024. The set concept was to have the three walls of lighting wrapping around the band leaving the fourth wall open at the front, inviting the audience in to join them.

Anton used Spikies for several tasks, including in an almost architectural context … to change the shape and meaning of the performance space as the band played through their 18 album songs. “The fixtures were a brilliant solution for setting and changing the look and styling,” he declared.

16 Spikies were hung on two rear trusses rigged in the roof and the other 16 were deployed across four vertical truss towers – stage left and right – on the deck.

Having a good number of Spikes in these different positions brought great dynamics and vibrance to the stage which radiated out into the packed audience.

He appreciated the speed of the fixtures and their ability to “create impressive effects”. He loves Robe’s patented multi-coloured Flower Effect which “perfectly complemented” certain points in the song lyrics and show narrative, helping to make each song distinctive.

He notes that Robe’s colour saturation and colour mixing in general is excellent and nicely matched across all the different fixture types.

For smooth high-quality key lighting and specials on lead singer Ivan Marunych, the BMFL FollowSpot was another great result. A standard follow spot would have been impractical and consumed a lot of space in the venue, so RoboSpot was “a logical option,” confirmed Anton.

The BMFL FollowSpot was rigged on a separate front truss, with the RoboSpot operator located backstage.

The six ColorWash 575s – one of Robe’s best sellers from the noughties and still going strong so many years later – are a testament to their great build quality and Robe’s reputation for engineering excellence. They were hung on the front truss and used for general stage washes.

The biggest challenge for any show or performance staged in Ukraine right now is unwanted interruptions – typically by air raid alerts, missile and drone attacks or power outages.

Thankfully, none of these occurred during this show and the band delivered a fantastic set that delighted their fans.

The opportunity to work on this show alone was the most enjoyable aspect for Anton. “When the whole team unites to realise a great show and you see everything perfectly harmonised with band and audience on the same wavelength … it’s very special! It’s such a great feeling,” he says with passion.

He is also the first to compliment the great technical team from Alight who helped make everything happen, including crew chief Andrii Konovalyuk.

For audio and video, the band utilised the Bel Etage in-house systems.

Anton’s first interactions with stage lighting started when aged 9, operating a follow spot for his father Fedir, who is also an LD, and was a big inspiration for him to make lighting his professional career. In 2015 he became a freelance LD working with a variety of artists both in Ukraine and internationally, and he now designs lighting for clubs, bands and theatre shows.

He first worked with Robe in 2018 at a club in Prague, “It was an extraordinary experience!” he recalls, and he has specified Robe products ever that time since whenever possible.

He’s also recently used Robe fixtures on projects at the new Leoland complex in Lviv, installed last year by Robe distributor Sound House from Dnipro, and at the Lviv Opera and Ballet Theatre.

He thinks Robe’s marketing and communication channels are very strong in illustrating how the products are used worldwide – from small clubs and art installations to huge tours and television shows, “enabling everyone to stay abreast of the latest news and trends in our field!”

Photo by Andrew Kharlamov.

The post KARTA SVITU finds ‘The Space of Important Things’ with help from Robe moving lights appeared first on A1 Lighting Magazine.

Next to the vehicle itself, the highlight of the Team X-produced reveal, was a performance by Travis Scott. The Grammy-winning, platinum artist didn’t appear on any ordinary stage, either. Instead, he was driven out in the new Mercedes on a platform that appeared to be floating in the lake! For good measure, he performed some songs while standing atop the shimmering blue vehicle.

Seeing a world-class artist and a stunning car on a stage surrounded by water in a canyon that oozed natural beauty was a breathtaking experience. But, as always, this magical moment, was backed by a lot of hard work and brilliant technology.

Seth Bernstein, who led the lighting team, used 68 CHAUVET Professional Color STRIKE M motorized strobe-washes supplied by Volt Lites. He described what went into making this memorable experience a reality:

“This was an impressive accomplishment. Scuba divers built an elevated stage in the park’s decommissioned reservoir. This presented immense challenges, as we didn’t want to distract from the beauty of the environment with excessively visible fixtures or positions.  Also, the audience walked in during the last hour of daylight, so we wanted to keep the rig discrete so people would be highly surprised by all the show elements. Since this was the world premiere of the all-Electric G Wagon, lighting the vehicle reveal was a huge focal point for the show planning. Niklas Bildstein Zaar and his team at Sub Global in Berlin, our talented creative directors, chose a piece by lighting artist Boris Acket called “Sunrise For Sleepers” which consists of a simulated sunrise in an indoor environment.

“Boris and I collaborated on adapting this idea in the canyon setting, using a 24,000-Watt Tungsten Fresnel fixture on a 55’ techno-crane,” continued Bernstein. “As the car drove out, the ‘sun’ appeared to rise over the lake. The amount of technical planning and blind luck that went into making this happen was staggering. Boris was a pleasure to work with. Killswitch Rigging and Volt Lites put their heads together to mount and power the huge fixture on the crane and StrictlyFX provided all the atmosphere to render the sunrise and hide the techno arm and base.”

With the exception of a few selectively employed keys lights, Bernstein relied exclusively on color washes and strobes from his Color STRIKE M fixtures, along with laser effects. “The creative direction called for a huge amount of atmosphere, which needed to be colour toned for each song,” he explained.  “Because we were using these very pure and bold Laser effects, I wanted to be careful about using any fixtures that would create visible beams that would clash. The Color STRIKE Ms had that perfect brightness and colour range, but also didn’t distract the Lasers.”

Technical directors ST. ROBO, Nik Evers and Markus Eibl recounted how the fixtures helped make the even run smoothly, even with uncertain weather conditions. “Given that the Mercedes-Benz electric G-Class Premier took place at an outdoor venue by a reservoir, the weather was unpredictable — and indeed it went from intense sunlight to sudden rain showers. Thanks for the all-weather IP65 capabilities of the Color STRIKE M, we didn’t have to worry about covering or protecting them constantly. Their reliability and durability made the event seamless and visually stunning despite the challenging conditions. We frequently deploy and specify these fixtures, appreciating the consistent performance and robust design.”

The Color STRIKE M fixtures were positioned “everywhere they could possibly go given the complexity of the lake bed” noted Bernstein. There were only two spots where the soil could support towers being build. So, Killswitch constructed 24-foot towers in a space nestled between the trees on the shore. There were also some boom lifts on the access road where fixtures were lifted above the tree line. Aside from that, the production team installed a row of  “Color STRIKE M footlights” for Travis Scott on the base of the guest deck (which was also build in the lake), while other fixtures were scattered in clearings on the perimeter walking path.

Speaking of the Color STRIKE M units in his rig, Bernstein said, “How strong is this fixture? It took only 68 Color STRIKES to light an entire canyon. At one point someone standing on the access road told me that we changed the colour of the sky!”

The high output Color STRIKE M fixtures were used to create a variety of colour washes that played off brilliantly against the shadows and dark spaces. “Red was a huge element of the show, due to the artist material and the way that red makes water look other-worldly,” said Bernstein. “Cyan, amber and the white center cell of this fixture also played very prominently in the colour choices.”

With limited dark time available in the canyon, the entire production team had to bring its A-game to achieve these results. “We had no timecode and no artist rehearsal,” said Bernstein. “So, a huge credit goes to the programmers Joe Watrach on lights and Nick Meyer on Lasers, as well as our pre vis model builders at Earlybird. We also couldn’t have done this without Blue Revolver, our lead fabricator, and the Mercedes team, including Clair Global, ST. ROBO, and Bullitt Productions.”

Bernstein described the entire project as “a huge team effort.” That ingredient — along with some powerful technology, will make magic happen every time.

Photo credit: Jamal Eid/Getty Images.

The post Seth Bernstein lights Mercedes-Benz Electric Vehicle World Premiere with Chauvet Professional appeared first on A1 Lighting Magazine.