USA - The high flying 2013 Tony Award-winning coming-of-age musical Pippin revels in the thrill of a touring troupe’s adventures. Still, as the play’s lead character discovers, life on the road is not without its trials and tribulations. In a classic case of life imitating art, Prather Touring is currently in the midst of a six-month 73-city cross-country US tour that has it performing Pippin in Spokane, WA, one week, Springfield, IL, the next, and Shreveport, LA, the week after that. This relentless traveling schedule places a unique set of demands on a touring company – and its lighting rig. To address the latter, Prather Touring’s lighting director and production manager Russell Thompson has replaced the company’s old incandescent ellipsoidals with 12 Ovation E-260WW LED fixtures from Chauvet Professional. “Anything we can do to simplify ou
USA - First opening its doors in November of 2011 with a gala concert featuring Rod Stewart, Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center (WNPAC) is an $81m, state-of-the-art music and theatre complex at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin. Home to a 1,800-seat performance hall, intimate 200-seat recital hall and the University’s music department, the facility is a visually striking beacon for the arts for the communities of Midland, Odessa and beyond. However, the main hall’s original PA system - modern as it was - was never able to match the venue’s acoustical needs: the sweeping balconies that ring the interior right up to the stage previously made proper sound coverage virtually impossible using conventional sound reinforcement technology. That’s why WNPAC recently turned to AV systems integrator LD Systems, which designed and installed a new L-Acoustics K2 audio
Germany - PMC Speakers is taking its popular Hear More Tour to the next level in Germany and Austria during April and May, giving musicians and producers the opportunity to explore the intricacies of its high end professional monitoring systems. The events are being held in conjunction with renowned recording studio group Dorian Grey. UK console manufacturer SSL will also be taking part in the German leg of the tour by hosting demo sessions on its XL desk and Matrix systems. PMC’s new MB3 XBD-A main monitor system, which won a Best of Show award when it was launched at NAMM earlier this year, will be the centre-piece of each seminar. All attendees will get hands-on, both physically and sonically, with these world-class monitors which are typically only found in the most exclusive and highest quality studios around the world. Tailored for a wide range of attende
UK - The Cure recently completed a 76-date world tour, with lighting, video and rigging supplied by PRG XL Video. The lighting and video design was by Angus ‘Mac’ MacPhail, with creative input from lead singer and founding member of The Cure: Robert Smith. Mac explained the creative process behind bringing the production to life, and how they dazzled the expectations of die-hard Cure fans: “It’s important to note that Robert Smith was very hands-on with the design for the show—he’s been as much a member of our creative team as he has a band member. When Robert and I first discussed the design, we wanted a very simple look, where the set is the lighting rig, and it’s a very clean, uncluttered stage. “We started off with the idea for a curved screen at the back of the stage, added a curved riser and pulled the ends of the truss back to extenuate the curve
UK - The UK event industry’s biggest recognition ceremony, The M&IT Awards, returned to Battersea Evolution on 3 March 2017, celebrating 30 years of Conference & Travel Publications. For the fifth year running, Hawthorn designed and delivered full technical production for the largest networking event in the event industry’s calendar. Organised by Meetings & Incentive Travel magazine, the annual awards bring together agency and association organisers and suppliers, from the UK and overseas, to recognise excellence of service and product within the industry. Themed around ‘pearl’ in a nod to the 30th anniversary of CAT Publications, Hawthorn created a production design that captured the glitz and glamour of the occasion. Guests entering the reception were met with an impressive display of projected logo strips, projected on with two Christie 10
UK – The Audio sales division of A.C. Entertainment Technologies Ltd. (AC-ET) is hosting showcase events in April for the Allen & Heath dLive digital mixing consoles range. As a recently appointed dLive specialist reseller, AC-ET is hosting the free events at its Northern sales office (Leeds) on Tuesday, 25April 2017, and UK headquarters (High Wycombe) on Thursday, 27 April 2017. The dLive events will provide a comprehensive introduction to the consoles, featuring models from the S Class series and new C Class series, plus the related MixRacks. In addition to covering the range's innovative feature set and differences between the two series, attendees will have the opportunity to get 'hands-on' with the consoles and discuss their requirements with members of the sales team. Steve Eaton, AC-ET’s Audio divison’s senior audio sales executive said, “In m
UK - Colour Sound Experiment prepares for the 2017 summer festival season with its new custom-designed stage system with high weight-load capacities which has been manufactured by Litec to the London based rental company’s specifications. This enables Colour Sound to supply a complete visual productions package – lighting and video and staging – for indoor or outdoor arenas of up to around 10,000 capacity. It was designed with dance festivals in mind, which will frequently feature this size of self-contained venue within a larger event. Its actual debut was at Lollapalooza Berlin 2016 where it provided Perry’s Stage in Treptower Park, right in the centre of this vibrant and buzzing event. The stage and roof system can support weight loadings of up to 10 tonnes and comes complete with Litec’s popular EXE-Rise motors. It can either be supplied as a
UK - Currently playing at the Salisbury Playhouse, Echo’s End tells the story of a young couple in 1915 Wilshire who find themselves caught up in the turmoil of troubled times. It is written by award-winning playwright and novelist Barney Norris, directed by Alice Hamilton and features a lighting design by Howard Hudson. White Light was called upon to provide the equipment. Echo’s End marks Howard’s fifth production at the Salisbury Playhouse. He comments, “Salisbury is a great venue and this is a brilliant new play that tells a story about that part of the world. The entire play is set outside on the Salisbury Plain, so one of the main requirements was to achieve a sense of natural light and the epic undulating scale of that area at different times of day.” As with most of his designs, Howard had to work closely alongside the set design, which
UK - New in stock and available for immediate hire, Extreme Rigging has announced the purchase from A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) of a number of new line 0.5-ton CM Lodestar D8 hoists with 21m height of lift. With over 130 years of rigging and material handling experience, Columbus McKinnon Entertainment Technology (CM-ET) is one of the leading manufacturers of lifting and positioning equipment. With precision-machined gears, internal chain guide, 110 Volt for long cable runs without voltage drop, H-4 duty rated for heavy duty application, IP66 protection class, overload protection and black powder coated cast aluminium housing that is both durable and lightweight, the D8 truly is a world class product. In addition, and also available for immediate hire, Extreme Rigging has purchased from AC-ET's specialist Rigging sales division, brand new Out Board L
USA - Country singer/songwriter Jamie Lee Thurston has travelled a long and winding road since his first performance at age three in the Green Hill Mountains, sitting on the lap of his father, the legendary local band leader Jimmy T Thurston. After a brief stint playing guitar for the family band, the gravelly voiced singer struck out on his own, first to LA and then Nashville. A couple of hits came next, followed by success as a songwriter, penning tunes like Rodney Atkins' Top 20 single 15 Minutes. Then there was a Warner Bros. contract and endless road tours. Recently, the Vermont prodigy returned home to perform an emotional concert at Burlington’s Higher Ground music hall. Welcoming him was a warm, immersive lightshow created by Kyle Rose that drew upon the intense colours and gobo capabilities of 34 Rogue series fixtures from Chauvet Professional.
Germany - Dutch company, Think! AV, has updated its stock of audio equipment with the addition of a new Vero sound system. It comes ahead of a hectic summer period for the company, which has enjoyed considerable growth over the last five years. Vero by Funktion-One is a vertically arrayable sound system which delivers point source sound for live and touring applications, while utilising the deployment advantages of a vertical array. Think! AV’s owner, Remco van der Werff, said, “We’ve provided sound for some incredible events here in The Netherlands and that increasingly involves a Vero system that we’ve been hiring in up until now. Event organisers love Vero and audiences do too, so it makes complete sense for us to have our own system and push Think! AV on to the next level at the same time.” Vero is a large format touring sound system. It is a comple
Germany - Adamson Systems Engineering is now officially operating out of its recently expanded, 40,000 sq. ft. Canadian headquarters in Port Perry, ON. Full details were outlined at a press conference at ProLight+Sound in Frankfurt. Driven by three years of rapid growth, the new expansion will allow Adamson to meet the increased demand of its growing sales network. While the new addition has been dedicated entirely to production and R&D, the original facility has also been revamped to shape the future of research, product development, and education. Along with the architectural improvements, Adamson has also invested heavily in machinery and manufacturing technologies to guarantee efficient production of performance loudspeaker systems in Canada. These include new CNC routers, milling machines, and semi-automated production lines, all aimed at maintaining Adamson
Germany - APG, the French manufacturer or high end professional loudspeakers will unveil its full range of subwoofers from the SB Series at Prolight + Sound 2017 this week on a dedicated stand (Hall 3.1, stand F32). Consisting of four models – the SB110, SB112, SB115-M2 and SB118 – the new SB range provides flexibility for both rental stagers and integrators. All subwoofers were engineered using the same acoustic load based on the variation of band pass design to maximize performance: 300W for the 10” SB110, 600W for the 12” SB112, 1000W for the 15” SB115 and 1400W for the 18” SB118. Designed for low to very low frequency reinforcement of small to high power sound systems, the new SB range from APG stands out with its compactness and sonic performances in infra bass frequency range. All four models feature excellent accuracy in low frequency reproduction an
China - Audient has announced that the first ASP8024 Heritage Edition console to arrive in China has been installed at Shanghai’s Music King Studio. Sitting at the heart of the upgraded studio complex, the 24-channel British analogue console completes the studio’s upgrade, which has seen a number of prestigious clients pass through its doors. Associated with Sing! China and The Voice of China, Music King Studio boasts a healthy list of engineers and clients. “Others who use our studio - or are affiliated with our engineers - are Luca Bignardi, Anthony Kilhoffer, Kanye West, Jay Chou, James Li, Vicki Zhao, Jeno Liu, Della, Darren Wang and lots more,” clarifies marketing manager, Mr Lin. One of the champions of the flagship desk with was mix engineer Weiwei Jin, who used Music King Studio for recording and mastering the sound effects for the opening cerem
Germany - Czech lighting manufacturer Robe has acquired the rights and IP (intellectual property) from well-known US lighting designer / programmer Seth Robinson of Sightline Design Group for RoboSpot, a remote controlled follow spot system. Seth originally developed the RoboSpot concept a few years ago working with automated luminaires. Initially he used scanners due to the fast response time of the mirror and as the technology of moving heads improved, he then turned his attention to utilizing them with his system. His system comprised a moving head pan/tilt camera mounted on the truss adjacent to the moving light which gave a first-person-view to an operator standing at FOH or at side / back-stage looking at a monitor and operating a user-interface that communicated with the moving light. Multiple moving lights could be controlled using one system with the offset ca
UK - To mark the launch of their highly anticipated new album Humanz, Gorillaz performed a secret one-off show at Printworks, London, and Mojo Barriers showed it’s not all about big tours and festivals by supplying its world-class stage barriers to this prestigious event, 24 March 2017. The world’s most successful virtual band celebrated the release of their new studio album with a very special performance which saw Gorillaz play Humanz live for the first time in a ‘’triumphant comeback gig’’ (NME) supported by Telekom Electronic Beats. As the Gorillaz live band took to the stage, Mojo Barriers ensured artist and audience safety, highlighting that a big artist launch in a small venue still needs detailed attention. Held at new London venue, Printworks, the show saw Gorillaz joined on stage by a stellar rollcall of talent including Del La Sou
Ukraine - Elation Professional has announced that over 800 of the company’s lighting products will feature in the lighting rig at the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest to take place in Kyiv (Kiev), Ukraine from 9-13 May. As an official technical event supplier to the 2017 show, Elation lighting will be utilized by lighting designer Jerry Appelt and Eurovision Song Contest head of production Ola Melzig in what is certain to be a spectacular lighting design. “Being a part of the Eurovision Song Contest is a tremendous opportunity for Elation, not only for us in Europe but around the world,” stated Elation director of sales & mrketing Eric Loader. “Our team is very excited to be involved in this year’s production and honored to be selected by the world-class design team which is certain to dazzle audiences around the globe and help us show how well Elation product
UAE - Martin Audio has appointed Dubai-based audio-visual integration company, Delta AV Solutions, as its new distributor for the GCC countries. The new arrangement came into effect from 1 April. Set up three years ago as a division of Delta Sound, who have bases in the UAE, Qatar and Hong Kong, Delta AV Solutions specializes in the sale and distribution of pro audio and control to the local rental and integration markets. Contracts manager Gareth Armstrong, a veteran of running special projects in the region, says that Martin Audio plugs an important gap in their portfolio of Tier 1 brands. “Nothing compares to products like the BlacklineX and CDD ranges; as Martin Audio is now being specified a lot on BOQ’s [Bill of Quantities] we are optimistic that these will slot in quickly.” Another factor that impresses him is the manufacturer’s support. “Their b
Europe - Following the recent expansion, Prolyte can now welcome AED Nederland as Prolyte distributor in the Netherlands, AED Distribution as ProLyft Service Point in Belgium and Controllux BE as both Prolyte distributor and ProLyft Service Point in Belgium. With the appointment of two new Service Points in Belgium and extra Prolyte distributors in the Netherlands as well as in Belgium, Prolyte Group has guarantueed full distribution coverage in both countries. Following AED Group’s acquisition of the Luxibel activities of former Prolyte distributor and Service Point in Belgium, Velleman BV, Prolyte needed to re-think its distribution options for Belgium and the Netherlands. With these recent appointments, customers in both countries have all the options at hand. “It’s really important for us that customers are served to our best ability” states Ralph Sto
Germany - Robe lighting has announced a new wholly-owned subsidiary - Robe Deutschland GmbH - which will be based in Munich and have a regional sales force covering the entire country. The new company hits the ground running in this key European market with an exceptionally strong, experienced and well connected ‘dream-team’ on-board. It will be headed by Dieter Gross, MD for Sales & Marketing and Martin Lönner, MD for Operations & Finances, a dual management framework that has worked so well in other Robe subsidiaries including Robe France and Robe North America. Stephanie Walloner is Deputy Sales & Marketing Director and Sales Managers include Olaf Nehrenheim who will be on the road in north Germany and Martin Opitz who will be covering east Germany and Berlin. Robe s.r.o.’s Sales Director Harry von den Stemmen explains that Robe Deuts
South Africa - Cape Town-based event technical solution company, C&S, has invested in an additional 12 Robe BMFL Blade fixtures to complement its existing stock purchased from DWR Distribution. The BMFLs have been out on rental and have never been back at the office since. Donald Clark, owner of C&S now has a total of 24 BMFLs, and the demand is so great that he sometimes has to rent in units from other companies. On one occasion, he had 66 units on a show. “I love the Robe BMFL,” Donald commented. “With the Blade, it makes it useful to do a variety of things. The lighting designers are loving them too because of the power of the fixture.” Said Duncan Riley of DWR, “We are very happy that these units are working so hard for C&S. The BMFLs are more popular than ever and I think once the creatives have worked with them, they want nothing else
Italy - The mainstay of the Showlight quadrennial is its Speaker Programme where illustrious professionals are gleaned from lighting disciplines across the world to educate and entertain, and generally have a very good time networking with other lighting enthusiasts from across the industry. The Speaker Programme has now been finalised and a full list of speakers can be viewed on line at www.showlight.org/speaker-schedule. This will also be useful to those delegates/Day Ticket holders who can only spare a day or two when choosing which days to attend. A special feature amongst the regular programme of events at Showlight 2017 will be the Neal Preston photographic exhibition, In the Eye of the Rock ’n’ Roll Hurricane from the Lightpower Collection. Neal Preston is one of the most outstanding photographers of the Rock ‘n’ Roll live and documentary genre with a ca
India - Nexo has announced the appointment of Yamaha Music India (YMIN) as its official distributor in India. Established in 2008 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yamaha Corporation, Yamaha Music India Professional Audio department provides the Indian market with the full line of Yamaha integrated professional audio products offering complete systems solutions for broadcast, sound reinforcement/installed sound, touring, commercial recording, and post production. By adding the Nexo line of high-end loudspeakers and amplifiers to its portfolio, Yamaha Music India aims to offer the Indian professional audio market a superior solution-based approach to sound reinforcement, supplemented by a high degree of support, education and training to the professional audio market of India. According to Harisha GN, business head of the PA department, Yamaha Music India: “Becaus
USA - ETC and High End Systems have confirmed they are joining forces as ETC completes the acquisition of the Austin, TX based company from Barco Inc. ETC CEO Fred Foster says, “We welcome the High End team to the ETC family. ETC will provide a supportive environment enabling High End to continue to innovate and make great products for the industry.” Under the ETC umbrella, High End gains the oversight of an experienced lighting industry team to grow its capabilities in service, support, and product development. “Bringing High End to the family furthers our goal of growing and diversifying ETC. We plan to help High End become a market leader for live event industry products,” says David Lincecum, VP of marketing at ETC. ETC will operate High End as a separate company located in its current Austin, Texas, USA facility. High End customers should continue
