Australia - Multi ARIA award-winning singer-songwriter Amy Shark’s Cry Forever national tour kicked off in Newcastle this month and is one of the first arena tours nationally since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tour is the Gold Coast local’s most ambitious live undertaking yet in some of the largest venues Australia has to offer and it was down to the lighting designer Tim Beeston to create a show that looked big on a budget.
“All of the design tricks had to be deployed and our suppliers delivered a high amount of value for a carefully balanced expenditure,” he says. “What we did use, I feel we used pretty well. The show had no content-driven video element which always makes an arena-size show more demanding to design.”
Chameleon Touring Systems su

UK - Audiologic, in partnership with GVAV, has delivered a hybrid teaching space at the University of Birmingham, providing a seamless learning experience for students, whether they are in person or remote learning off campus.
The University of Birmingham has recently developed a new purpose-built Teaching and Learning Building. Developed as an education hub, the facility provides spaces for teaching that adhere to the University’s modern learning experience standards.
The Teaching and Learning Building includes a 500-seat lecture theatre, a 250-seat interactive lecture theatre, ten seminar rooms, as well as individual study sections, collaborative group workspaces, and areas that accommodate creative break-out sessions.
The entire teaching facility has been fitted out with hybrid teaching in mind. Now, more than ever, it is essential that lecture theatres ar

UK - Broadcast on 26 April as part of BBC4’s Lights Up season, J’Ouvert is the second in Sonia Friedman Productions’ Re:Emerge season. Set amid the colourful backdrop of London’s Notting Hill carnival, it is the story of two best friends battling to preserve tradition in a society where women’s bodies are frequently under threat.
J’Ouvert was first produced at Theatre503, before transferring to the Harold Pinter Theatre, where it was filmed for the BBC prior to its West End run. Lighting designer, Simisola Majekodunmi, chose two Ayrton Karif-LT fixtures as major workhorses in her design. “The play takes place from dawn until dusk and has moments of realism and surrealism throughout, so I needed a fixture that could deliver a representation of the colour and vibe of Carnival as well as the sombreness and isolation of the spiritual moments,” she s

USA - Victor Zeiser has developed a natural feel for David Summers’ lighting style. For years, Summers has toured with rigs designed by Zeiser’s Squeek Lights.
When Zeiser and his partner Steve Kosiba created a rig for Summers to use on a recent pay-for-view livestream by metal giants August Burns Red, they knew exactly what to do to bring out the best in his work.
“Victor and Steve deserve a lot of credit,” said Summers. “The rigs they put together elevate your lighting. In my case, they know I love symmetry, so it’s there in the rig. Everything is done to facilitate the creation of big patterns, which is something I love to do.”
Bigness and boldness were everywhere to be seen in the Saturday night livestream, which was done to mark the 10th anniversary of the band’s seminal album “Leveler.” Shot at Aurora Film's studio in Rock Lititz, the li

USA - The entertainment technical and production industry has risen to the pandemic challenge with so many prescient and imaginative responses of how to present art, entertainment and stimulate emotional engagement during a time of separation and isolation. None was more innovative than DesignSpace, the brainchild of John Featherstone of US-based design collective Lightswitch.
DesignSpace was an immersive drive-through visual extravaganza of light and video art, presented and curated in close collaboration with John’s contacts at Arizona State University (ASU), and utilising over 160 Robe lighting fixtures, among others.
Working in conjunction with Jake Pinholster, associate dean of ASU’s Herberger Institute for Design & The Arts, plus several student artists, designers, and technicians plus his own team at Lightswitch, John’s concept transformed four levels
featured content

ETC Halcyon Silent

High End Systems Halcyon Silent builds on ETC’s legacy of fanless automated fixtures by incorporating features from the highly sought-after Halcyon family. Halcyon Silent perfectly balances silent operation with brilliant output of 18,400 lumens and high-impact features. 

For more information visit us at www.etcconnect.com

UK - This year’s BRIT Awards was a landmark event for live music. As part of a government-led research programme to assess how mass-participation events can safely resume, a socially distanced audience of 4,000, consisting mainly of NHS key workers, took their seats at London’s O2 Arena for the first indoor live music event in the UK since the beginning of the pandemic.
DiGiCo consoles were once again deployed at both front of house and monitor positions by the show’s long-time audio supplier, Britannia Row Productions.
Britannia Row’s Josh Lloyd took on the audio design and FOH artist mixes, with Chris Coxhead in charge of presenter audio and Colin Pink assuming his recurring role as Live Sound Supervisor.
“After 15 months of very few live events, The BRIT Awards returned to the 02 Arena as one of the governments COVID Test Events,” says Pink. “It

UK - L-Acoustics rental network partner, West Midlands-based Tour-Tech / Stage Audio Services has invested in a K3 system, the first to land in the UK.
K3, launched in October 2020, is the latest in the touring reference K Series. Designed to deliver big sound for mid-size events by providing full-range bandwidth without the need for a flown companion subwoofer, its design reduces amplification needs. According to Tour-Tech / SAS’s Kevin Mobberley, these benefits meant that K3 would be a profoundly useable tool and ultimately solidified their commitment to invest in the new loudspeaker.
Although, like most of the industry, the company’s business has been seriously curtailed over the past 16 months, the management team foresaw a limited window of time to financially secure a new system. “We want to be ready when the big restart comes,” Mobberley notes. “K3 fit
featured content

Create new traditions – Cameo P6 - High Output Full-Spectrum Ellipsoidal

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.

www.cameolight.com/p6profile

UK - A Cornish event production company has completed its busiest ever period, working simultaneously on seven separate events over the G7 Summit week.
Liskeard-based JHAV was appointed to help deliver multiple events associated with the G7 Summit for clients including Spaceport Cornwall, Virgin Orbit, the University of Exeter, and surfing brand Finisterre.
The team also created a press conference suite to be used by US president Joe Biden in the Spaceport Cornwall hangar at Cornwall Airport Newquay.
JHAV managing director Jamie Hedges explains: “We’ve been involved in all kinds of events since starting JHAV, but working on all of these projects revolving around something as high profile as the G7 Summit has to be one of our biggest accomplishments to date.
“The top-secret nature has meant we have been under embargo since the event, and I am so proud

USA - Christie has launched the Captiva DWU500S 1DLP ultra short throw laser projector, designed for classrooms, conference rooms, museums, retail stores and other small-midsize applications.
The DWU500S is the third generation of the Captiva Series, and it delivers ‘a host of improvements over its predecessors’, including a larger maximum screen size, a significant brightness increase and upgraded WUXGA resolution for sharper all-round performance. The new Captiva is available at the same cost as previous models and provides 20,000 hours of reliable operation with laser illumination.
“We’re pleased that we’ve been able to provide significant enhancements to our popular Captiva Series while ensuring value to our customers; delivering more brightness and better performance at no extra cost,” says Chris Kee, executive director, enterprise product management,

UK - The Neutrik Group has announced the launch of Rean, a global brand ‘marrying over 45 years precision engineering know-how with the group’s own dedicated state-of-the-art production facilities’.
Rean offers designers of audio, video and lighting products a comprehensive range of connectors featuring’ robust, high-reliability designs, that promise unrivalled cost-performance ratios, backed by a truly global supply-chain and experienced regional sales network’.
An extensive worldwide portfolio of connectors incorporates a full range of ’standard’ professional XLR, ¼” Jack, XLR/Jack combo, ethernet, power connector, 3.5mm, phono, DIN, and dual banana plug solutions, and the new Z Series of IP65 rated XLR and RJ45 ethernet connectors. These are specified for outdoor applications, resistant to water and dirt, and optimised for use in lighting and digita

Germany - Fischer Amps has teamed up with Sennheiser to create the FA 500 Custom. These in-ear monitors combine handcrafted custom earmolds by Fischer Amps with the transducer of Sennheiser’s IE 500 PRO. Featuring Sennheiser’s TrueResponse technology, the in-ears ‘open up a completely natural, clear and spacious sound stage, enabling musicians and engineers to fully focus and critically monitor their sound’.
Jochen Fischer, founder and owner of Fischer Amps, comments: “At the heart of each precisely crafted earmold sits a truly incredible dynamic wideband transducer, which allows you to precisely monitor the entire audio frequency range with a THD of as low as under 0.08%. Having just one transducer does away with the cross-over effects and phase differences known from balanced-armature types that operate with multiple drivers.”
He adds, “Custom earmolds

Switzerland - Tempest enclosures have enabled an eye-catching lighting display for the public to enjoy in Zurich. In Tactile Lights (Tastende Lichter), designed by artist Pipilotti Rist, slow moving lights ‘float’ atop the picturesque city streets and buildings, drawing attention to the striking architecture and surroundings at Heimplatz square, ahead of the opening of the recent extension to the Kunsthaus museum.
The lighting equipment - Martin Allure fixtures protected by five Tempest Tornado 1925 lighting enclosures - is housed within a vibrant, custom built 17m high mast structure, forming its own artistic focal point at the centre of the square. The project was funded by the City of Zurich and the Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft art association.
“One of the biggest challenges for us was where and how to place the moving light devices,” says Kaori Kuwabara, inde

USA - disguise has been selected among the technology partners for Illuminarium Experiences, an immersive entertainment initiative transporting you to the wildest corners of the world, from one location. The first venue opening on 1 July 2021 in Atlanta will take visitors on African Safari via a multi-sensory journey brought to life with the help of technology, including the latest disguise hardware.
Illuminarium’s immersive venues will transport millions to places they can only dream of by placing them “inside” another world with techniques used in traditional motion picture production and virtual reality. Visitors can experience real-world, filmed content (like a safari) and authentic, re-created worlds in an immersive environment.
Illuminarium has chosen disguise to provide media playback systems and video server technology - pushing 4K content on one of the l

USA - Will drive-in concerts fade away now that COVID-19 restrictions are easing? Anyone who automatically responds 'yes' to this question might want to drop by the Frederick Fairgrounds, MD on a weekend night this summer.
There, they’ll find a large drive-in stage featuring the likes of The Disco Biscuits, Goose, Grace Potter, and Umphrey’s McGee, to name a few. It’s all part of Showtime At The Drive In, a series of outdoor shows sponsored by Showtime Sound and Auto Flex Entertainment.
“We began this series last year as a way of bringing our community together through a socially distant movie and concert sets,” says Marc Chauvin, director of technical operations for Showtime Sound. “Based on the feedback we received from fans last year we’ve continued the concept this year.”
Although continuing to operate under state and county guidelin

UK - The British and Irish Lions rugby squad taking on reigning World Champions South Africa in an upcoming summer tour was recently announced via live stream, across multiple global broadcast networks. Global integrated marketing agency, CSM Sport & Entertainment produced and directed the full show and appointed technical solutions specialist White Light (WL) to deliver the broadcast services, via their SmartStage XR studio in London.
Working in close collaboration with FRAY Studio, a custom set was created using the Lions’ digital assets and imported into the Unreal Pre-Visualisation tool. This enabled the creative team to see exactly which shots could be achieved and make changes as needed to sponsor logos and other content, in advance of the live show.
WL’s strategic partner SFL captured outside broadcast footage from Cardiff, which included the full-body t

USA - An island oasis in the Hudson River west of Manhattan, Little Island @Pier55 is receiving praise as an arts area and green getaway from the hustle and bustle of urban life. Made up of 132 pot-shaped planters suspended above the water, the park’s topography holds a lush landscape of rolling hills, walking paths and open lawns. Nestled among the island’s more than 390 species of flowers, trees and shrubs are performance spaces outfitted with Elation Professional IP-rated automated luminaires.
Designed by Heatherwick Studio and landscape architecture firm MNLA, the 2.4-acre artificial island park, funded by the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation, is a new public park with performing art as an integrated component. A 687-seat amphitheatre with views across the Hudson, a smaller stage for 200 visitors, and an open plaza, are all designed to host a range of progra

Denmark - Technological Innovations Group (TIG) has appointed Ben Lund as its new regional sales manager for Crestron in Denmark.
Representing Crestron's portfolio of commercial solutions, Lund's responsibilities will include assisting integrators, specifiers and end-users in deploying fully integrated, futureproof smart spaces with Crestron technology.
Stein Ramsli, TIG's regional sales director for Crestron in the Nordics, comments: "We're very excited to welcome Ben to the team. From his 30 years of experience supporting integrators and specifiers in the AV industry, Ben brings invaluable sales leadership skills, an advanced technical knowledge and superb project management skills. This ties in perfectly with our strategy of remaining the No.1 end-to-end AV and IT solution portfolio provider, preferred by the majority of ver

Norway - Pixotope has announced two senior promotions and a new hire within its leadership team. The appointments follow the continued expansion of the company’s global staff.
Ian Puszet joins Pixotope as its chief customer success officer after a decade working at Avid, where as vice president he led the global customer care team. Ian will drive customer success initiatives, align departments with a customer-centric culture and continue to construct relationships between Pixotope and its current and potential customers.
Already a key player at Pixotope, Karoline Storbråten has been promoted to regional sales manager for Southern Europe. Karoline’s new role will oversee the daily and long-term sales operations across key European hubs such as France, Spain, Italy and Portugal.
Another Pixotope veteran, Joachim Ringstad celebrates his fifth year in the compa

UK - Neutrik has issued an update of its FOC Controller app for its compact, NA2-IO-DPRO I/O Dante interface device, that enables connectivity of legacy analogue and non-networked digital audio equipment within Dante audio networks, in the most demanding application environments.
The DPRO Controller gives users remote control of device functions such as level, mute, gain, phantom power, input signal (including patching input signals to either output) and low-cut filter; as well as monitoring the status of the device and providing the ability to change the its network settings.
DPRO also enables save, recall and loading of user presets. V2.0 introduces a completely new device discovery mechanism that dramatically improves the response speed of the software and enhances the user experience by separating online and offline devices. For optimal performance DPRO Controller

USA - When the Pawtucket Red Sox, the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, relocated from Rhode Island to Massachusetts, the city of Worcester built Polar Park as the home field for the now Worcester Red Sox. The Polar Park design team hired consulting firm WJHW to design the needed sound system. Central Communications was awarded the installation contract and they selected Fulcrum Acoustic products for the bulk of the project.
Polar Park requested an efficient system with a full range of sound and strong intelligibility. WJHW created a distributed design, requiring high output, high fidelity, and good pattern control from a compact system.
Central Communications mounted 17 of Fulcrum Acoustic’s FH1566 Full-Range Coaxial Horns along the sunshade, wrapping around the stands from first base to third base. The FH15s produce high output using a single amplifier chan

USA - Orchard Hill Church, located north of Pittsburgh in Wexford, offers a striking architectural design around its 1,200-seat auditorium. And just as modern is the church’s new sound technology, L-ISA by L-Acoustics, integrated as part of a $1.3m design-build renovation of the main worship centre.
“It’s been clearly shown that when we can connect what we see with what we hear, the technology disappears,” says Josh Maichele, L-Acoustics application manager, house of worship. Specifically, he says, our eyes want to watch a pastor on stage but our ears draw our vision towards the PA speakers reinforcing their voice.
L-ISA technology effectively disconnects the sound from the sound source, allowing audience members to focus their attention on the stage, immersing themselves in the content. “L-ISA makes the connection between sight and sound more natural, and i

Latest Issue. . .