When country trio Lady Antebellum wrapped the North American leg of its We Own the Night World Tour earlier this summer the band had played to a total of more than one million fans. Two dozen Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures helped light up the successful tour, which recently concluded with three dates in Australia.

Lady Antebellum debuted its third studio album, also called We Own the Night, in September 2011. It debuted atop The Billboard 200 making it the band’s second No. 1 release. It went on to top the magazine’s Top Country Albums and Canadian Albums charts.

For the tour, creative director and designer Baz Halpin along with Chris Nyfield of Silent House delivered the band’s concept of a fan-centric experience by creating a stage which placed a portion of the audience inside the center of the stage area so Lady Antebellum could “immerse themselves in the audience and vice versa – the audience essentially became the backdrop of the show.”

Halpin’s goal was to keep the lighting complement’s truck count low. “We were carrying our own rolling stage, so that meant we needed a compact but powerful lighting system,” he explains.

The stage was designed with three 18×24-foot fast-fold projection screens upstage and four vertical hard ladders, containing 24 Sharpys, between them. “The Sharpys provided the power and dynamic punch,” says Halpin. “Their intensity coupled with speed gave us the ability to create a variety of looks. The main function of the Sharpys was to highlight the musical cues and dynamics. We used them both as gobo fixtures and as a soft wash with the frost in place.

“In terms of truck space, weight, power and cost the Sharpys ticked all the boxes.”

Halpin reports that the Sharpys performed “very reliably” on the tour. “They have been consistent on all the shows we have done. We constantly experiment with placement and position, but you can use such a versatile fixture almost anywhere.”

A.C.T Lighting is the distributor for Clay Paky in North America.

Francesco Romagnoli, Clay Paky Area Manager for North and Latin America, comments, “Baz is a big fan of our lights and we’re please to see that he’s specified them for this tour as well. It sounds like the Sharpys provided the look he needed.”

High Resolution Systems has introduced a new licensing approach for integrators and resellers of its UDC Software, a product designed to allow people of all technical skillsets to quickly and easily build complex pro AV control system with advanced and powerful features.

The UDC Software Membership Program provides access to all UDC Software updates and support while offering a low barrier to entry to the pro AV control market. Participants gain a cost-effective control solution now and in the future whether they purchase one or multiple units in a given year.

“The UDC Software Membership Program is a win-win for us and for our customers,” says Applications Engineer Drew Taylor. “The program allows us to offer more relationship-based sales and support. And it gives customers a low-cost solution that fosters long-term relationships. They get a real sense of the support that we provide; we’re not interested in churn ‘em and burn ‘em sales

The two-tiered program offers UDC Software licenses at two different stages of usage.

The UDC Pro Configuration Dongle enables integrators to build, test, debug and run systems prior to installation. It includes all features of the UDC Software, such as UDC Software basic, Custom Controllers, We Server, Listen and Learn, Security Package and Response Handling SDK, Scheduling and UDC-Remote; Broadcast Translation Protocols are not included. Any hardware is optional; the UDC server can be purchased separately.

The UDC Pro Installation Dongle allows integrators to load at the job site the configuration they’ve already built. It includes all the features of the UDC Pro Configuration Dongle but is designed for playback/execution only. No configurations or changes to a configuration can be made with this license. Only a backup configuration file created using a UDC Pro Configuration Dongle can be loaded.

Taylor expects the membership program to be in effect by November 1. Quantity discounts for the Installation Dongle will be available. The program is being launched in tandem with the release of UDC 4.0, which offers many new features to users of the popular device control software.

About High Resolution Systems
High Resolution Systems, a member of the Society of Broadcast Engineers is a company with a strong systems engineering and applications background. Its founders have decades of experience in the audio visual rental and staging industry, broadcast applications, A/V installations and system design. This combined experience allows them to provide the highest possible quality solutions to its customers in the most efficient manner. For more information, visit www.hrscontrol.com.

Electrosonic’s projector lamp website www.ElectrosonicLamps.com, which was launched last year as an efficient, hassle-free way to buy projector lamps, can now service customers in the UK and throughout Europe. In addition to US dollars, the website now supports the Euro, the British Pound Sterling and the Swedish Krona.

Visitors to the website can browse the largest and most comprehensive inventory of original equipment manufacturer lamps (OEM). Also available are high quality OEM equivalent lamps for xenon and UHP projectors at savings of up to 50%. The “Sapphire” xenon projector lamps are made in Japan and designed to meet or exceed OEM quality and specifications. The “Diamond” UHP lamps utilize OEM bulbs and offer a 120 day warranty.

Electrosonic’s volume buying power and knowledge of the lamp businesses allows the company to procure lamps through many different channels, ensuring the best prices are passed on to its customers. Volume buyers can achieve special account status, which is reflected in the pricing they see online. Special discounts are also available for education, government, entertainment and corporate buyers who join Electrosonic’s buying group for their sector.

Electrosonic’s lamp customers receive a 30-day satisfaction guarantee and an enhanced 90-day warranty on their lamp purchases. For complete peace of mind, Electrosonic offers its exclusive Lamp Replacement Program. The program eliminates the hassle of procuring, storing and purchasing projector lamps. The program is fully customizable and offers installation and calibration services, and guaranteed availability.

“The new lamp website offers our clients a quick, efficient and cost-effective way to source new projector lamps for their business,” commented Sarah Joyce, Electrosonic’s VP EMEA. “This new service expands upon our existing portfolio of service solutions across the EMEA region, providing our clients with a comprehensive audio-visual service”.

Electrosonic’s lamp sales and technical support team is based out of London, UK, Stockholm, Sweden, and Minneapolis, USA. Electrosonic also has a large network of audio-visual service support staff throughout the US and Europe. They are available to provide local support and can also provide projector calibration and lamp installation services.

Beyond projector lamp sales, ElectrosonicLamps.com provides information on a wide range of Electrosonic service solutions, including priority maintenance and support, and on-site staffing.

Electrosonic’s lamp customers can ship their used lamps to Electrosonic for free lamp recycling and disposal. Lamps containing hazardous waste are recycled through a certified waste management company.

As customers in the UK and Europe will quickly discover, ElectrosonicLamps.com is the go-to destination for competitive pricing, quality customer service and the best inventory of OEM lamps.

About Electrosonic
Electrosonic is an international audio-visual company that creates tailored, state-of-the-art solutions for a wide range of markets including theme parks, museums, video conferencing and control rooms. Since its founding in 1964, Electrosonic has built a strong reputation for working on complex projects, both large and small, and has developed lasting partnerships with customers and suppliers. Beyond complete integrated systems, Electrosonic provides a comprehensive scope of services including technical design, projector lamp sales, maintenance and operational support.

Learn more about Electrosonic. Visit http://www.electrosonic.com

Country rock singer-songwriter Brantley Gilbert kicked off his Hell on Wheels Tour in late September hitting the road with a complement of Clay Paky Sharpys from Digital Console Rental, Inc. in Nashville.

Gilbert has had two No. 1 hits as writer, Jason Aldean cut “My Kind of Partyâ€� and “Dirt Road Anthemâ€�, the later co written with Colt Ford, both making it to the top of the Country Charts. Gilbert has released two albums of his own, “Modern Day Prodigal Sonâ€� which he released by himself and “Half Way to Heaven – Deluxeâ€� released on the Valory Music label. Gilbert’s “Country Must Be Country Wideâ€� reached No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart last fall, and this summer his follow up, “You Don’t Know Here Like I Do,â€� also hit No. 1.

Gilbert has been a long-time client of Digital Console Rental, Inc., company president Howard Jones even served as his tour’s lighting designer. Tony Fransen handled the programming and Matt Kilgore is the LD / PM. Digital Console Rental, Inc. is handling all of the audio and lighting for the Hell on Wheels Tour.

“I wanted to come up with something that was iconic to Brantley,� Jones explains. “He’s big into motorcycles and has a bad boy image. I had the idea to have the truss over the stage be a giant pair of brass knuckles, we placed a Sharpy in the center of each circle of brass knuckle. We needed a fixture with the fire power to punch through, and Sharpy delivers.� Jones chose eight Sharpys from his inventory deploying four in the truss and four wrapping around the top of the set.

Jones says that most of the lights on the show are LEDs and the Sharpys “fit into the high output-low power profile, which we like. They are working great.� A Grand MA console controls the show lighting.

He recalls the first time he realized how bright the Sharpy fixtures are. “We had heard stories about the Sharpy so when we first got them in we had to see for ourselves. We opened one of the shops dock doors and aimed the beam outside, to our surprise we were lighting up trees over 700 feet away like daylight! In a concert situation they can shoot all the way to the back of the arena. The fact that Clay Paky can get a beam to stay that tight and that intense from a 185W lamp is amazing.�

A.C.T Lighting is the distributor for Clay Paky in North America.

Francesco Romagnoli, Clay Paky Area Manager for North and Latin America, comments, “It’s great that our Sharpys could provide the right tone for this very cool tour. I’m sure that they supplied the ‘punch’ Brantley and DCR, Inc needed for the brass knuckles that comprise the truss.�

Philadelphia’s former Egypt Nightclub has been reincarnated as SoundGarden Hall, the newest addition to the city’s concert and live music scene, with help from Ian Hoffer using an MA onPC command wing. SoundGarden opened this fall and will host electronic dance, alternative, rock, pop and R&B artists for an all-ages live music experience. A.C.T Lighting is the exclusive distributor of MA Lighting in North America.

Hoffer, SoundGarden’s technical designer and contractor, is a long-time fan of grandMA consoles and specs them exclusively for his projects. “onPC command wing provided the perfect solution for this venue,” he says. “Everything is controlled by it,” including over 100 lighting fixtures, and all three onboard universes are fully utilized.

MA onPC command wing is designed to be deployed wherever it is physically difficult to use a grandMA2 console. Used in conjunction with free of charge grandMA2 onPC software, the onPC command wing permits programming or playback within the grandMA2 world for a powerful control solution on the road or in smaller theaters, shows and clubs.

“I coupled the onPC command wing with a Midi Fighter MIDI controller to give it all the x keys and married it with an ELO 22-inch touch computer,” Hoffer explains. “I fully utilized the console and am controlling over 120 fixtures, including 54 moving lights and 60 LED PARs. The onPC command wing has the onboard DMX I needed,” he adds, “as well as analog-in.

“I’ve always loved using MA products and the MA onPC command wing is no exception!” Hoffer declares.

About A.C.T Lighting

A leading importer and distributor of lighting products, A.C.T Lighting, Inc. strives to identify future trends and cutting-edge products, and stock, sell and support their inventory. The company provides superior customer service and value for money to all of its clients.

For more information call 818-707-0884.

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LUMINEX Network Intelligence, a Belgium-based developer of lighting control, pro audio and video data distribution equipment for the entertainment industry, will make its debut in the U.S. by showing its new range of Gigabit Ethernet switches at Booth 1138 at LDI 2012.

“We’re proud to be attending LDI 2012 with the latest in our popular GigaCore line, a family of products that has reenergized the industry,” says Bart Swinnen, Director at LUMINEX. “LUMINEX is a young, ambitious company that has made a name for itself in Europe. Now, with our debut at LDI, North Americans will be introduced to our company’s high-performance products, which are known for their high reliability, excellent service and support. We’ll be meeting the growing interest and demand for our products by showcasing the GigaCore line.”

The next generation of Ethernet switches, the GigaCore line is designed to cope with the most demanding lighting and AV installations. The three new models – GigaCore 12, GigaCore 14R and GigaCore 16Xt – are managed through a web interface. They meet and support all industry protocols and offer a user-friendly experience with an industry-specific outlook and optimized defaults. The products come with a built-in redundancy system providing a reliable and easy-to-set-up backbone for users’ networks.

GigaCore 12 offers 12 Gigabit ports on shielded Neutrik Ethercon ports, making it a rugged, environmentally-friendly device. It features wire-speed layer 2 switching, port status, cable test, three LEDs per port (PoE,RLinkX, Link/Speed) and four status LEDs (OK, PoE, RLinkX, Power). A PoE supply unit, Group License for better network isolation and MultiLinkX license to increase available bandwidth between two GigaCore switches are optional.

GigaCore 14R includes all of the features of GigaCore 12 and adds two SFP cages for fiber connections. It comes with a built-in redundancy system enabled on the fiber ports, called RLinkX, providing a reliable and easy to set up backbone for the user’s network. RLinkX can also activate redundancy on other ports to create secured links; it also boasts redundant fans. It adds backup PSU to the list of available options.

GigaCore 16Xt extends the functionality of GigaCore 14R with four SFP cages, which allow users to create complex network topologies over the fiber link, such as mesh or ring. Its feature set includes a front-end display for basic configuration and the ability to create groups within the network for better network isolation. A backup PoE supply unit is optional.

LUMINEX Network Intelligence was formed by Bart Swinnen and Jan Renckens as a branch of parent company LUMINEX Lighting Control Equipment nv, which has an extensive technical background in the lighting industry. LUMINEX Network Intelligence launched its successful Ethernet-DMX8 node in 2004 when it ran 32 DMX lines at the Paralympics in Athens. Their complete DMX and Ethernet solutions range debuted at Siel 2005 in Paris. The GigaCore switch family opened the doors to the digital pro audio and AV markets for the new company and broadened their commitment beyond their traditional customer base.

LUMINEX is represented in North America by LS Media in Montreal. “We’re looking forward to the positive response to LUMINEX’s products at LDI and its introduction to the North American market,” says Hugo Larin, national sales director for LS Media. “LUMINEX has extensive technical background and knowledge in lighting and we expect to see them do very well in the coming year.”

About LS Media

Based in Montreal, LS Media prides itself in bringing technologically advanced professional products to its customers. It specializes in providing state-of-the-art equipment of unprecedented reliability for the demanding environments of live performance, broadcast and production.

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Pop legend Peter Gabriel gives a rare glimpse of his nostalgic side in his new Back to Front Tour, which recently opened in Quebec City with a full performance of his classic 1986 album, “So.” Many aspects of the show hark back to the past, and lighting and show designer Rob Sinclair is using Clay Paky Alpha Spot QWO 800 fixtures in an application employed 25 by him years ago.

Gabriel wanted to bring back some of the elements from the tour that launched “So,” including camera booms with lights mounted on the end, one boom for himself and one for each of the original touring band members who have reunited with Gabriel: bassist Tony Levin, guitarist David Rhodes, drummer Manu Katche and keyboardist David Sancious.

“We brought the technique up to date by having five manually-operated camera booms with three Alpha Spot QWO 800 fixtures on each of them,” says Sinclair. “They pretty much carry the show: The show is about those booms and the lights on them.”

Clay Paky’s Alpha Spot QWO 800 uses the latest MSR Platinum lamp, an 800W light source that produces an intense sparkling light – brighter even than older 1200W lamps. The Alpha Spot QWO 800 is equipped with optical features placing it at the top of its class, including a very wide zoom range from 7.6º to 55º, a uniform beam distribution at all zoom angles and a unique Stay-Sharp-Zoom feature that locks images in focus while zooming.

Sinclair selected the Clay Paky luminaires after conducting a test earlier this year. “I wanted something that was bright and had a wide zoom on it so when it was on the floor it would light Peter,” he explains. “In the shootout we were looking for a combination of brightness, zoom angle and weight: The lights have to be counter-weighted with four times the weight on the back of the booms. The QWO’s delivered the perfect combination of brightness and weight, and I preferred the zoom on them. The brightness carries to the back of the arena when they’re zoomed in and when they’re zoomed out they can be a foot away from Peter.”

The show is broken into three sections with part three being the complete performance of “So.” “So” is being reissued on October 22 in an extensive boxed set, which includes a making-of documentary and book. The stand-alone re-mastered album will also be released on the same date.

Sinclair reports that the Clay Paky QWO 800s are “working really well. They are an impressive light. I’m very happy with them and the decision to run them.”

Alcorn McBride’s Digital Binloop HD multi-channel video player plays a key role in the attention-getting 105-foot videowall spanning the lobby of the new Chicago headquarters of WMS Gaming Inc., a leading global innovator in the design, manufacture and distribution of electronic and digital gaming entertainment and gaming machines for the casino industry.

The impressive videowall consists of seven HD displays each of which is comprised of nine 60-inch Sharp monitors. The displays are separated from one another by about two feet of space. Mounted above the lobby’s wood-paneled walls just under the ceiling, the videowall measures nine feet high and stretches 105 feet across the lobby.

Environmental Systems Designs hired Sound Inc. to handle the AV install for the videowall. Sound Inc. deployed 7 channels of Digital Binloop HD to play the changing video content, which attracts attention from visitors and employees alike.

The Digital Binloop HD provides up to 8 channels of HD video in a compact, economical and highly-reliable package designed for continuous daily use with no maintenance. Video clips are stored on CompactFlash media so there are no moving parts to wear out; each card can hold hours of media.

“With a videowall of that size the question is what to put on it,” notes Hank Schulz, Sales Engineer of Sound Inc. “A friend of mine who shoots commercials and does product branding helped us put together some ideas. We have footage of the Chicago skyline shot by seven HD cameras; we compressed 18 hours of material to 40 minutes. We also have waves on Newport Beach and an animation of hot air balloons in a blue sky. We even have amazing HD footage from the Boston Aquarium that makes the videowall look like a 100-foot long fish tank.”

Schulz reports that the Digital Binloop HD’s “reliability and performance has been good – it’s delivering video without any hiccups and working very well.” The two-foot gap between each display is accounted for in the system’s raster.

The WMS headquarters building is part of a new Technology Campus on the north side of Chicago designed by architect SCB. The campus master plan features six new high-performance buildings integrated into an existing manufacturing district along the shore of the Chicago River. The first phase of development includes the LEED Platinum HQ, which boasts four levels of offices plus a penthouse and landscaped rooftop garden.

About Alcorn McBride:
Founded in 1986, Alcorn McBride is the leading manufacturer of show control, audio and video equipment for the themed entertainment industry, and a rapidly growing provider of audio and video systems for retail environments and transportation applications. Staffed by some of the industry’s best engineers and backed by outstanding customer support, the company has demonstrated great agility in bringing new designs to market. A hallmark of Alcorn McBride products is their durable, zero maintenance design. The company’s products provide consistent, reliable operation for audio and video playback applications worldwide. For more information, visit www.alcorn.com.

There were Spyders in the house at Budweiser’s Made In America Festival in Philadelphia on Labor Day weekend, and the 100,000 or so people who turned out to hear Jay-Z and Pearl Jam were glad they came. Austin-based J3 Productions LLC, a leader in multi-source and destination management for corporate events and large-venue live entertainment, selected Vista Spyders to pixel map LED content and handle live background media on the main stage during the two-day concert series on Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Jay-Z headlined the first night of the Made In America festival performing for 90 minutes before a crowd estimated at nearly 50,000; Pearl Jam led off the second night with a two-hour set for fans. The festival benefited United Way.

A long-time Spyder user, J3 didn’t think twice before choosing the system for the media-rich main stage. “Spyder is the most powerful and versatile high-resolution pixel mapping system on the market today,” declares J3 applications engineer John Mims III. “We have been using Spyder since 2006 and have been on the cutting edge of this technology evolution.”

J3 deployed three Spyder X20 1608 systems running in parallel to meet the challenge of mapping over 1,700 LED panels that formed the backdrop for the main concert stage and to handle the live background media displayed. “Spyder was a great choice for its mapping and live control abilities,” says Mims. “By running the three systems in parallel we could map the outputs to LED processors to create one virtual image. A total of 12 media servers were used to stream content through the Spyders to paint one very large contiguous image at 11520×2160 resolution.”

The LED panels were configured as a pair of tall vertical panels that flanked the stage and sprouted upswept wings evoking the iconic symbol of America – and Anheuser-Busch’s (Budweiser) eagle logo. A thin ribbon of LED panels also ran across the top of the stage. The LEDs displayed IMAG and other graphical images that lit up the night and supported the powerful musical performances on stage.

A.C.T Lighting continues to expand its technical support team with the addition of Esteban Caracciolo. In his new role he will support the company’s entire range of products, including MA lighting and Clay Paky, as well as train customers on the use and operation of those products.

“Our tech support specialists have shown themselves to be a team of best-qualified professionals,” says A.C.T Lighting Executive Vice President Ben Saltzman. “We’re pleased to welcome Esteban aboard as we grow tech support to enhance our ability to service our customers.”

For the last five years, until the company’s closure in August, Caracciolo was product manager for PRG Distribution North America handling ChamSys lighting consoles and Arkaos media servers and software in the U.S. and Canada.

Prior to that he was a lighting designer and programmer for various touring acts, including a five-year run with the band Fall Out Boy. Earlier, Caracciolo worked locally in live venues with lighting and staging vendors in the Kansas City area. He has played in many bands himself; he began his musical career at age six at the piano and ended up a bass player.

“I’m excited to be joining the A.C.T technical support team,” he says. “Their stellar support model along with the familiar, proven and top notch product line that A.C.T Lighting offers make a recipe for success.”

About A.C.T Lighting

A leading importer and distributor of lighting products, A.C.T Lighting, Inc. strives to identify future trends and cutting-edge products, and stock, sell and support their inventory. The company provides superior customer service and value for money to all of its clients.

For more information call 818-707-0884.