USA - USA – More than 150m fans around the world witnessed pop stars Shakira and Jennifer Lopez perform a Latin-inspired concert at this year’s Super Bowl LIV halftime show, on a huge circular video floor powered by Green Hippo Hippotizer Tierra+ media servers.
Lighting director Jason Rudolph took the helm for the visuals for the prestigious halftime show, which was produced by Touchdown Entertainment on behalf of the NFL. It took place at the 65,000-capacity Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
With a plethora of aerial shots on the camera angle agenda, the team devised the large, round stage as an eye-catching centrepiece for the action, which was broadcast live in the USA by Fox and around the world by multiple networks.
“We used two of the new Tie

USA - Bon Iver supported the release of their latest album, i,i with a tour of arenas in select North American cities, with Red Hook, New York-based Firehouse Productions supplying an L-Acoustics K2 and Kara PA for the trek. But the second and latest leg of the tour was even more special - and spatial - thanks to Firehouse’s deployment of L-ISA Hyperreal Sound technology.
According to Firehouse Productions account rep Chris Russo, the tour’s L-ISA configuration featured three central arrays each composed of 16 K2 plus three Kara down, flanked to the left and right by hangs of 24 Kara as the Scene system, which extended over the full width of the stage. Farther out to the left and right, two per side, 12-enclosure Kara arrays served as the Extension system, while two fill-arrays of 12 K2 expanded out-fill coverage to 180° of seating.
Two hangs of 10 KS28 e

Philippines - The New Clark City Athletics Stadium is an Olympic Grade Class 1 multi-purpose stadium located at New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac, in the Philippines.
High-profile events hosted recently by the 20,000-capacity venue have included the athletic events and closing ceremony of the 30th Southeast Asian Games and the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2020 ASEAN Para Games.
The Athletics Stadium’s architecture with its hinged roof, which takes inspiration from the crater of the country’s Mount Pinatubo volcano, now hosts an impressive new Outline Stadia PA system composed of 30 loudspeaker enclosures powered by eight Outline GTA Otto (Dante) power amps, installed by Amigo Entertainment Technologies, Outline’s distributor for the Philippines.
Amigo also installed an Outline Stadia PA in the New Clark City Sports Hub’s IAAF-certified Class 1 Aqua

Europe - Powersoft has scheduled further additions to is online training programme.
Says the company, “It's a pleasure to share with you the updated programme of our free training sessions. Join us from the comfort of your home to learn more about ArmoníaPlus, our experts will guide you through the creation of a project, its set-up, networking, and monitoring options.
“We are also offering free webinars that focus on Powersoft products network connections and Dante/AES67 integration, Powersoft HealthPlus, and to discover the features of our multimedia device, Deva, from advanced networking capabilities to its integrated applications.”
The training sessions are offered in English, Spanish, and Italian.
The programme includes: Armonia Plus 1.4 How to set-up your project using all options (7 and 9 April); Deva multimedia system for safety and

USA - On Saturday, 18 April, Rock Cellar Productions, in association with the Get Together Foundation, will present All Together Now! – an online concert event helping the City of Los Angeles during the coronavirus pandemic.
Keeping with the strict ‘stay at home’ regulations of health authorities and the guidance of local, state, and federal government officials, this virtual streaming event will give fans their music fix in the comfort of their own homes. The concert will feature an array of singers, songwriters, musicians, actors, authors, comedians, and celebrities of all sorts “coming together” to perform and send positive messages out to the City of Los Angeles and the world.
Early participation includes Jeff Bridges, Mike Love (The Beach Boys), Lisa Loeb, Steve Lukather (Toto), Vonda Shepard, Peter Beckett (Player), Alan Parsons Live Project, and
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World - Chroma-Q is offering free Vista by Chroma-Q lighting and media control training. Aware and saddened by the current market situation, they will be hosting weekly webinars to help you develop your knowledge and skills, from the comfort of your own home.
Says the company, “Understanding the importance to continue to support loyal clients and to continue education in the wake of cancelled events and one-to-one meetings, last week Chroma-Q hosted the first round of one-hour Vista 3 webinars, with an overwhelming 260 attendees. Each session ran twice, once each in BST and CDT time zones, making the training accessible to a wider audience.”
“Nurturing and developing the skills of our new and existing customers is so important to us. During a time where people may be unable to get on with their ‘usual’ jobs, we wanted to provide learning opportunities that w

USA - As Covid-19 impacts almost every aspect of the entertainment industry, ETCP Certified Technicians, with support of the IATSE (The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees), are stepping up to put their expertise and available equipment to good use.
Michael Barnes, IATSE international vice-president and business agent for Local 8 said, “This is spreading way too quickly, and we felt like we have to do something to help. If you are helping you can’t feel helpless, and that is not where we want to be. IATSE Locals across the country are contacting governors state-by-state to offer their expertise in the installation of temporary structures to assist in the development of emergency field hospitals for Covid-19.”
Barnes continued, “I sincerely believe the model that is traditionally deployed in situations like this can be drastically improved upon
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Cameo's P6 is a future-proof LED profiler with a powerful 600 W RGBACL engine and 16,000 lumens. It’s an energy-efficient replacement for 2.5 kW halogen profile lights in theatres and venues. With excellent light quality and natural colour rendering, it fits perfectly in theatres, musicals, TV studios, congresses, and live events.

With an LED life of 50,000 hours and low power use, the P6 cuts energy costs and supports the EU’s ‘Green Deal’ goals for climate neutrality by 2050. It also meets updated eco-design rules for lighting.

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UK - LW Theatres has committed to paying all staff – including those employed on a show-by-show basis – and has confirmed no redundancies are currently planned while the coronavirus outbreak continues.
In related news, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musicals are to be screened on a new YouTube channel called The Shows Must Go On.
Lloyd Webber sent an email to staff in which he acknowledged “how very difficult it is to be denied the ability to be together, not only with our theatre community, but more importantly with many of our loved ones” at this time.
Rebecca Kane Burton, chief executive of LW Theatres, also wrote to all staff outlining the company’s plans for the foreseeable future. “Our priority is to steer our staff and the company through these unprecedented times, so that we can continue to serve customers and provide jobs in the West End for

UK - A team of entertainment technology professionals have joined forces to form People Powered UK in a bid to help relieve the pressures of the NHS during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The initiative was started by LDs Katharine Williams and Jono Kenyon and has so far amassed 915 members and counting from across the entertainment and live event industries. Williams previously worked on Crew for Calais, a project that saw event professionals build shelters for refugees, whilst Kenyon has first-hand insight into the pressures of the UK’s health service thanks to his partner, an ITU worker.
A statement from People Powered UK says: “People who usually work at venues such as the London Roundhouse and provide production services to festivals are working together across the entire UK. They’re using skills and ingenuity honed building festival infrastructure to provide structu

UK - PLASA, the Professional Lighting And Sound Association, has urged businesses and individuals to get in touch with more evidence on how the ongoing COVID-19 crisis is affecting their operations.
The information is sought by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and will help the Treasury to better understand the devastating impact the situation is having on the events industry.
To gather the evidence, The Events Industry Forum - of which PLASA is a member - has created a survey, which can be completed here until 5pm on Tuesday, 7 April.
"We are working hard alongside other industry associations and organisations to ensure the voice of our industry is heard," says PLASA in a statement. "We hope that through this work we can secure measures already gifted to leisure and hospitality to be extended to events and the events supply chain."
(LS

UK - The country may be on lockdown, but one sound designer has found a way to teleport listeners straight into the heart of London.
Will Cohen, co-founder of the String and Tins collective and the person behind the Silent London project, visited some of London's most popular destinations to capture their soundscapes before the UK lockdown took place.
He used a binaural microphone technique to capture the sound of each place - from Leicester Square and Covent Garden to Charing Cross and Oxford Circus - to create a 360-degree soundscape that everyone can now immerse themselves in from home.
“In the final days before London was shut-down, I made sound recordings of areas that I care about as a Londoner," he explains. "From documenting spots that I skated at as a teenager, through to areas I have worked in - I wanted to see what familiar sounds still resonated at

USA - Grace Primitive Baptist Church in Pearl, Mississippi supports a close-knit community of believers with very traditional services. Spoken word and sung vocals are the focus, with occasional support from backing tracks. Its long, rectangular sanctuary can accommodate approximately 300 congregants, but until recently, many of them had difficulty understanding what was being said or sung.
AV integration firm Sound and Communications (SoundCOM) of Flowood, Mississippi solved Grace Primitive’s intelligibility problems by designing and installing a new sound reinforcement system led by a single, unobtrusive Danley Sound Labs SM100 full-range, point-source loudspeaker.
“The old loudspeaker they had in there was original to the building, which is 17 years old,” explained Allen Cotton, solutions architect with Sound and Communications. “They weren’t pleased with

Germany - Hamburg rapper Samy Deluxe did not choose to celebrate his birthday privately, but instead filled the Hamburg Barclaycard Arena with around 12,000 fans last December. The show, which also marked the end of his successful SaMTV Unplugged tour, was attended by numerous guests. On top of that was the unexpected release of his new album Hochkultur, which was also given as a present to all birthday guests.
LD Bertil Mark, who has been working on the artist’s tour design since 2019 (after handling various festival engagements in previous years), was given the task of transferring the ‘living room’ atmosphere endemic to an unplugged concert to Hamburg's largest concert location. In terms of lighting technology, he included 24 GLP impression X4L, 12 X4 Bar 20, 22 JDC1 hybrid strobes and 18 Highlander Wash lights, in his set design.
“’Unplugged’ alw

Spain - Marea has been rocking for over 20 years as one of the most popular Rock en Español bands around. In 2019, the band released their first album in eight years, El Azogue and promptly hit the road in support with renowned Spanish lighting designer Miguel González on board to define the visual concept.
Gonzalez has worked with a variety of high-profile acts over the years, including Marea since 2007, and incorporated 52 Elation Chorus Line 8 LED battens in his design. Seeking a linear light that was something more than a static wash light, he chose the Chorus Line 8 for its 4 to 40-degree zoom and 220-degree tilt axis movement, dynamism that allows it to fulfill a number of roles in a single show from directional stage wash to dynamic eye candy effect.
“I chose the Chorus Line for its versatility and the short 50cm length, which gave me plenty of possi

Serbia - With an impressive line-up of EDM stars, the Green Love Festival in Novi Sad has grown into a magnet for music fans, not just for its sounds, but for its visual treats as well. Aside from being located in a beautiful vibrant city on the Danube that was designated the European Capital of Culture for 2021 by the EU, the indoor and outdoor festival also wows fans with some stunning stage panoramas.
This was readily apparent in the looks that lighting designer Predrag Djordjević and stage designer Dragan Rajčin from Chameleon Rental conjured up for artists like Spartaque, Metodi Hristov and Fernanda Martins during the most recent incarnation of the festival. With its crossing patterns of beams set off against a massive wall of bright blinders and video panels, their design wrapped itself around the music, commanding attention without taking attention away from the art

UK - The Space is a theatre training complex for 16-19-year olds at Heathfield Community School, located next door to Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre in Taunton, Somerset, UK.
The complex includes an 85-seat performance theatre, dance and drama studios all kitted out to high technical specifications – including new Zero 88 Chilli Pro 24 Bypass dimmers.
This impressive facility offers young people in the south-west of the country opportunities for developing future careers in the performing arts. It specialises in a range of interrelated disciplines including dance, acting, film, production arts, makeup, set design / building and more, with an intake of around 80 students over two years.
The Space’s technical manager Tom Froom explained that the students from both years will produce between 10 and 12 shows over the course of the academic year.
Tom has been a

Australia - Canberra -based technical production and event specialist and rental company Elite Event Technology ensured that Horizon 2020 – the Friday Night Party event that was part of the Australian National University Students' Association (ANUSA)’s annual Orientation (freshers) Week activities in February – had appropriate lighting and sound for their main stage.
Staged at the Fellows Oval sports ground on the University of Canberra campus in ACT, around 3000 students enjoyed great weather and a line-up of young emerging talent including Cub Sport, Holy Holy, Wafia, Graace, Remi, Adrian Eagle and Hayley Mary.
Elite also provided a d&b PA system for the event. The company supplies lighting, sound and AV production for numerous other functions at the university.
The lighting rig was based around a festival lighting spec created by headliner Club Sport

Germany - In cooperation with the Sennheiser SoundAcademy, Neumann will be offering detailed webinars on the basics of microphone technology over the coming weeks. In three one-hour sessions, trainer John McGregor will discuss all important aspects of Neumann studio microphones: Starting with the most important theoretical principles, through practical tips and application hints, to product care and maintenance.
The first session will be available on Friday, 3 April at three different times (8.30, 13.30 and 18.00 CET). The other two sessions will follow on 17 and 24 April. All webinars will be presented in English.
Interested parties can register at: https://www.neumann.com/webinars
For an overview of all the free Sennheiser SoundAcademy webinars on offer, please visit https://www.sennheiser.com/webinars
Neumann has also created a new hashtag #AtHomeWithNe

Germany - The ARRI Academy has announced the launch of a new course designed for all levels of lighting and video production professionals. Lighting Systems Control with Richard Cadena is an 11-part video course that serves as a guide to get you up and running with digital lighting control, using DMX, RDM, Wireless DMX, and ethernet-based networks.
The series consists of short, informative videos with classes ranging in length from five minutes to 34 minutes. Course attendees will gain a working knowledge of standard and emerging technologies and will be trained on the latest lighting technology. The complete list of classes is as follows: DMX, Building DMX network, Troubleshooting DMX network, RDM, Wireless DMX, Intro to ethernet-based networking, Testing ethernet-based networks: PING and IPCONGIF commands, Art-Net, sACN, Consoles, and ARRI LED Ecosystem.
The s

USA - Working from home has become the new normal for many. It can require some adjustment but can be made easier with the right equipment for staying connected. Audio-Technica offers a variety of audio solutions that enable audio professionals to maintain productivity, increase their visibility and keep in touch with their colleagues and co-workers.
Audio engineers, now working from laptops and in less than ideal monitoring environments, are frequently relying on headphones for the monitoring resolution necessary to make edit and mix decisions. The familiarity of the sonic signature of the Audio-Technica M-Series Professional Studio Monitor Headphone line, including the ubiquitous ATH-M50x model and the enhanced performance ATH-M70x model, allow confidence and trust in production decisions with excellent translation to consumer distribution formats. For extended comfort in

China - Chinese industry is now back to work following the COVID-19 crisis, and Guangzhou-based PR Lighting marked the start of a new month by putting out a statement reassuring their global reseller and customer base that it is once again business as usual.
China was the first country to register the outbreak of the coronavirus (on 31 December, 2019) and while production remained temporarily idle throughout the country during lockdown, PR Lighting used the first quarter of the new year not only to fine tune new products already under development but to make some strategic changes to their global sales infrastructure.
“PR Lighting is back running 100% as normal,” confirmed company president, Dave Liang. “Our technical and marketing departments are fully operational, and production and shipment are back on schedule. We would like to thank everyone for their patien

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