Stay up to date with the latest happenings in the live events and technical production industry. From product launches and training sessions to behind-the-scenes stories and project highlights, our news section is where you’ll find it all.
Get the scoop on what’s new at DWR, follow our journey with industry partners, and discover the people and moments that make our community so unique. Whether you’re looking for inspiration, information, or innovation — this is the place to be.

Fineline Enjoys Eden Sessions
Bristol based lighting and visuals rental specialists Fineline supplied lighting, LED screen, rigging and crew to the 2014 Eden Sessions, a diverse series of music performances staged at the Eden Project in Cornwall, UK, one of the most atmospheric and magical settings in the country. For the second year, Fineline

Avolites to showcase brand new ‘Quartz’ compact console at PLASA
UK – Avolites is going down the ‘size matters’ route at this year’s PLASA London, showcasing new wings to enlarge its industry-leading consoles, and unveiling a brand new, compact console aimed at the touring market. The Avolites team will be on stands M10 and M20 at London’s ExCel for PLASA,

Goodbye to Pasquale Quadri
Pasquale Quadri, Founder and Chairman of Clay Paky SpA, the world leader in show lighting, passed away Seriate, 7 september 2014 – Pasquale Quadri, Founder and Chairman of Clay Paky SpA, the world leader in show lighting, passed away in his home in Torre De Roveri. Pasquale “Paky” Quadri was

Clay Paky lights in CBeebies show “Swashbuckle”
UNITED KINGDOM – Kids have the wildest imaginations and so what better concept for a children’s game show (whether filmed in a studio or not!) than one that involves pirates and treasure! CBeebies show Swashbuckle is back for a new series! The idea is for the audience to join Gem

Avolites Basic to Advanced training in JHB, DBN and CT
You are invited to join DWR Distribution for a Basic to Advanced three day training course. The course will be held in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. See details below. Save As PDF

Robe BMFL World Tour Announced
The global launch of the hugely anticipated new lighting fixture from Robe – the Bright Multi-Functional Luminaire – BMFL – took place on 2nd September via a worldwide multi-lingual video broadcast across three time zones. Watched by nearly 11,000 people who pre-registered on the special Robe Premier launch website, complete

Philips Vari-Lite VL4000 Spot luminaire’s exciting showcase at PLASA 2014
UK – The latest addition to the Vari-Lite range, the VL4000 Spot, is set to take this year’s PLASA London by storm where it’ll be showcased on the Philips Entertainment stand L80 at ExCeL exhibition centre. PLASA London visitors will be able to see the VL4000 Spot in action during the

Angus & Julia Stone mesmerise capacity crowds with Titan Mobile & Fader Wing
UK – London’s stunning Wilton’s Music Hall welcomed brother and sister folk-pop duo Angus and Julia Stone for a pair of sold out shows, featuring LD Toby Hoggarth controlling lights from an Avolites Titan Mobile and Fader Wing. The Stone siblings, hailing from Australia, delivered a powerful and emotive set that,

Robins 100 LEDBeams for Rivers Church
The Rivers Church in Sandton recently purchased 26 x Robin 100 LEDBeams wanting a discreet fixture that could be used for effect and mood lighting. Rivers is part of the Hillsong Family and the church is active with worship services, various projects and seminars and community outreaches. “There are many

MJ light up Slots Factor Media Launch
Carol Thorns and her special bubble, a clear glass-like luminescent sphere attached to a glowing stage base, created a magical contribution to the Slots Factor Media Launch, hosted at 3 Sixty° Liquid Lounge at Montecasino. MJ Event Gear used Robe Robin fixtures to enhance the lighting already in the venue.

The Clay Paky B-EYE creates spectacular looks for Norwegian band Postgirobygget
Norway: The triple award-winning Clay Paky B-EYE has been dubbed a ‘fixture without limitation’ due to its ‘100% perfect’ performance whilst on tour with popular Norwegian pop-band Postgirobygget. The A.Leda B-EYE is the latest LED effects light to be released from Clay Paky and has already accrued a PIPA 2014

New Tobin Center for the Performing Arts Chooses Robert Juliat followspots
When San Antonio’s Tobin Center for the Performing Arts opens in September its H-E-B Performance Hall and Alvarez Family Studio Theater will boast Robert Juliat Cyrano and Buxie followspots, respectively. The new Tobin Center rises behind the façade of the former San Antonio Municipal Auditorium along the famed River

TUT backs Community Theatre Arts Festival
by Wandile Mgcodo and Hardus Koekemoer The Tshwane University of Technology’s Faculty of the Arts, in partnership with the City of Tshwane and DWR Distribution, will launch “HELLO,” a Community Theatre Arts Festival this weekend. The Festival aims to expand the boundaries of theatre by interacting with local and emerging

MJ glow at Neon Run
South Africa’s most Electric Night Event, where individuals run, cycle, skate or walk a five kilometer route at night covered in neon accessories and body paint is taking the nation by storm! Events are held across the country, and when recently hosted at the Wanderers Stadiumin Johannesburg, MJ Event Gear

Robe Premiere on-line launch and a product demo
The whole industry is chatting about the upcoming worldwide Robe Premiere taking place on 2nd September – a global live broadcast to launch something very special. Robe reports an unprecedented interest in registrations for the anticipated event… anyone wanting to catch the action should check www.robepremiere.com soonest! Registration closes on

Robe MMX Blades for Royal Court Theatre Production
Story by Louise Stickland, photos thanks to Johan Persson Lighting for the recent edgy Royal Court Theatre (RCT) production of Tim Crouch’s ‘Adler & Gibb’ was designed by award winning and leading theatre lighting designer Natasha Chivers, who included two of Robe’s MMX Blade fixtures in her lighting scheme which were

Robe Pointes Tour with Chris Young
Courtesy Louise Stickland, photos thanks to Kevin Fisher Twenty-two Robe ROBIN Pointes enhance the set for country music star Chris Young’s U.S. tour in support of award-winning country singer / songwriter Dierks Bentley. Bandit Lites are supplying the lighting equipment to Production Designer Chris Lisle, and the Pointes were specified as

Vari-Lite VL3500 Wash FX on One Direction
Worldwide – Global phenomenon One Direction embarked on their worldwide ‘Where We Are’ tour this spring, performing in some of the biggest stadiums around the globe to millions of screaming fans. For shows of this size and scope, go-to lighting designer for the live music industry Paul Normandale needed a mind

Avolites and Avolites Media deliver the magic at Secret Garden Party
UK – The busy summer of festivals has shown no signs of slowing down just yet, with Avolites and Avolites Media storming onto the scene for another fantastic weekend at Secret Garden Party 2014 with five stages controlled by Avolites, and Avolites Media featured on the main stage. The festival,

New address for DWR Durban
The Durban office of DWR Distribution has relocated to Springfield Park. Besides the welcome parking bays for clients – it really was a tight fit at the previous address – Nick Barnes from DWR Durban is pleased to have the additional office space and a facility for future training. “The

Prime Circle Biography
Since they first burst out of Witbank some 11 years ago, Prime Circle’s career has been an inspiration that has spawned hundreds of garage bands across South Africa, with starry-eyed young rockers hoping that one day, they might make it big the way Ross Learmonth, Dirk Bisschoff, Marco Gomes, Neil

About Prime Circle’s latest album Let the Night In
SA Music Award-winning South African rock outfit Prime Circle are excited to be exploring adventurous new musical horizons on their sixth studio album, Let the Night In, which was released recently. Denholm Harding, the producer of Let the Night In, describes it as “the most stylistically diverse record Prime Circle

Gearhouse Group supplies Armin Only Intense
Gearhouse Group has become the premier supplier of technical production services to the events staging industry in South Africa over more than 20 years of the company’s existence. Their range of services, turnkey solutions and cutting edge technology ranks the company among the world’s leading companies of its kind.

Vectorworks available from DWR
DWR Distribution is pleased to be an agent of Vectorworks in South Africa. “This really is awesome,” said Nick Britz of DWR. “Vectorworks has become a standard in the South African industry for technical drawings and it also integrates very well with ESP Vision.” Training of the product will be

AVS light up Nelspruit
The first recorded pioneers to settle in Nelspruit – around 25 kilometers of the Kruger National Park in Mpumalanga – were the three Nel brothers. It is documented that they migrated to this tropical climate with their livestock in the cold winter months around the 1860s, and during those

Making waves in the desert
When they work, they work hard and when the play they go fishing. But now, Namibian rental company, Mikel-Jes Productions, have purchased a 10m x 8m Prolyte MPT Roof with Wings, 16 x StageDex, Prolyft Motors and Robe fixtures including 12 Pointes, 6 Robin 300s and 12 LED Beam 100s

Chilfest 2014 A Huge success
Courtesy Louise Stickland Chilfest 2014 – the three day music extravaganza staged in Tring, Hertfordshire, UK and produced by leading production industry technical solution specialist Universal Event Productions (UEP) – was another resounding success! The event, compered by the legendary Keith “Cheggers” Chegwin brought two days of the very best

PRG Provides Lighting, Rigging and Crew Solution for Arcade Fire at Earls Court
Here’s a nice one to read and it includes former South African, Jason Dixon PRG UK worked closely with Arcade Fire’s Design Team and Touring and Production Management to supply the lighting, rigging and crew package for the indie rockers’ headline European Tour, including the fantastic shows at Earls Court in

Europa Lighting upgrade
By Schalk Botha From humble beginnings, JMVR restaurant owner, Mike van Reenen, had the right idea when he opened his first venue “Soccer Shack” in Pretoria 15 years ago. Today he owns and manages five very successful venues in Pretoria, one of which is Europa Night Club situated in Sunnyside.

Miss South Africa 2014
Story courtesy Pro-Systems Joshua Cutts of Visual Frontier relishes creative challenges, so being asked to design lighting and set for his first beauty pageant – Miss South Africa 2014 at Sun City Superbowl – ticked a few boxes and presented some aesthetic challenges. – Which were a long way away

A Handful of Keys 20 years on – we chat to Hutch
Nobody, least of all it’s set and lighting designer Denis Hutchinson, had an inkling that twenty years down the road, A Handful of Keys would be South Africa’s most successful musical to date, clinching at least nine international awards along the way. This year the much loved performance, featuring two

Robin 100s & Titan Mobile for Spirit Word
Spirit Word in Stilfontein, 8km from Klerksdorp in the Northwestern province, South Africa, recently purchased 6 Robin 100 LEDBeams and an Avolites Titan Mobile to be used for their live broadcasts and church services. The ministry was established in 1980 by Pastor Kobus van Rensburg. He sadly passed away at

Robe is a Winner at the 2014 Metro FM Awards
Words by Louise Stickland – Photos by Dreamsets The 2014 Metro FM Awards were staged at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Conference Centre in Durban, South Africa in March celebrating 20 years of democracy as a country through music and the very best of the urban genre, with 19 Awards and

Clay Paky is up ‘all night long’ with Lionel Richie
UAE – Seasoned lighting designer Debbi Fowler made excellent use of an arsenal of of Clay Paky lighting fixtures to illuminate world famous Motown man Lionel Richie during his open-air gig at The Media City Amphitheatre, Dubai. Fowler worked closely with Dubai based hire outfit Eclipse, which recently supplied equipment
Black Coffee Techie memories
Brandon Bunyan from KZN rental company, Black Coffee, submitted these photos and writes: “The back in the day Black Coffee Super-technicians. What we used to be able to do with that technology. Note the AV set-up – a laptop and a wired projector remote to switch to camera. Lighting –

Avolites Expert Pro controls live visuals at rooftop club WHITE Dubai
WHITE Dubai is a large open-air venue and caters to the Middle East’s partying elite. The club, which is located above the city’s famous Meydan Racecourse, offers guests the latest in live audio-visual technology, aiming to immerse guests in visual environments that vary from event to event. Dubai-based professional lighting,

Philips Vari-Lite VL3500 Wash FX luminaires deliver mesmerising lighting for The 1975
UK – Critically-acclaimed indie pop four-piece The 1975 have been driving fans wild on their world tour, including a sold out show at London’s majestic Royal Albert Hall where the power and brightness of 12 Philips Vari-Lite VL3500 Wash FX luminaires provided spectacular illumination for the Manchester-born boys. Show and lighting designer

Philips Selecon PL LED range is focus of future lighting at Youth Theatre seminar
South Africa – The next generation of South African theatre lighting designers have got hands on with Philips Selecon’s industry-leading PL range of LED luminaires as part of a two-day seminar focusing on the future of LED technology at The Savoy theatre in Adcockvale. Dave Whitehouse of Philips Selecon dealer DWR

Monster’s Passion for Light at Momentum
Monster Productions & Events kicked off the year by adding to their lighting retinue. They purchased 6 Robin Pointes, 4 Robin 600 LED Washes, 8 Philips Selecon Arena 3K Fresnels, a LumenRadio Wireless DMX kit and an Avolites Titan Mobile. The gear arrived in perfect timing , allowing some of

“The Venue” that covers all bases…
Article courtesy Pro-Systems News Africa Words by Greg Bester To be clear, Tony Raciti’s ‘The Venue’ in Melrose Arch is not a club. It is so much more which is exactly what has made its longevity in the business and its reputation for comprehensive event solutions a key part of

Kilowatt AV delivers SA’s first choreographed dance video mapped sequence
Cape Town, (2 June 2014): a Kilowatt AV, a premier technical solution partner to the live event industry, recently handled all the technical production requirements for what is believed to be South Africa’s first choreographed dance video mapped dance routine. The visual display formed part of Nissan South Africa’s three-day trade

Avolites Webinar Training every Thursday all welcome
Avolites and Avolites Media offer regular training sessions online via Go-to-Meeting, every Thursday, completely FREE! The interactive webinars will cover a different topic each week, addressing the latest features of both Titan and Ai software in an easy to follow step-by-step demo. Go-To-Meeting also provides you a tool to view

Clay Paky Sharpy is ‘diamond choice’ for detailed lighting looks on Drake world tour
The Clay Paky Sharpy was lighting designer Guy Pavelo’s first choice for his hi-tech rig on hip-hop star Drake’s latest world tour. Pavelo, who has lit the likes of Pharrell Williams, Rihanna and Beck, designed a diamond-shaped rig peppered with Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures, supplied by global hire outfit PRG,

Robert Juliat Victor Followspots Light Up Broadway Hit, “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”
Wallingford (Date, 2014) – The unconventional rock musical “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” is lighting up Broadway, and its lighting designer, Kevin Adams, is using Robert Juliat Victor followspots to light up the stage at the Belasco Theatre. Neil Patrick Harris stars as Hedwig Robinson, who’s described as the “internationally

Robe Has the X-Factor in the Czech & Slovak Republics
Robe moving lights once again proved they had ‘that special something’ for the X-Factor – this time the final of the Czech and Slovak edition of the popular talent competition reality TV show, which was staged at the Incheba Expo Arena in Bratislava, Slovakia. The Lighting and Visuals Designers were

Taikang Conference 2014
All you need is Robe! This was the case for the Chinese Taikang Conference held on 23 April, where the Edwardian arches and high ceilings of the City Hall in Cape Town were lit in “green” by Robin DLX and DLS fixtures. The technical was supplied by CCPP and the

Beginners on Stage – A Must Read
With 40 years experience in the professional theatre industry, students can look forward to learning from Miss B, Debra Batzofin, in the pages of her first book titled, “Beginners on Stage… Ask Miss B”. South African born Batzofin is recognized for her association with Richard Loring, The Sound Stage, African

Ghoema Afrikaans Music Awards 2014
Robe continues to be a popular choice of moving light for leading South African LDs and events, and the latest in a long string of high profile Awards shows to feature Robe in the rig … were the 2014 Ghoema Afrikaans Music Awards. Staged at the Big Top Arena in

CRC lights up beautifully
Courtesy Louise Stickland The new and recently opened 6,000 seater auditorium at the Christian Revival Church (CRC) in Silver Lakes, Pretoria, South Africa is benefitting from an all-Robe moving light rig, which was specified and installed by DWR Distribution. DWR’s Robert Izzett was contacted by CRC’s Head of Media Clinton

AV Unlimited shine at Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone launch
Photos courtesy Craig Owen. Words by Louise Stickland LD Renaldo van den Berg and Production Manager Victor Vermaak from Johannesburg based design and technical production specialist AV Unlimited created a spectacular lighting scheme utilising Robe moving lights for the South African leg of the Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone launch. The

Girl Power and Tamia
When Canadian singer-songwriter Tamia came to South Africa on her three city tour, six Robe Pointes were used for the Johannesburg leg of the tour hosted at the Carnival City Big Top Arena. Magz Schoeman, head of lighting at Carnival City was the lighting designer for the show hosted on the 27th