Pharos - Leaderboard - May 2024

Projects

Details

Europe - Within Temptation has sold close to 200,000 tickets for their European co-headlining Worlds Collide Tour, on which they played alongside US rock band, Evanescence. It also saw their monitor engineer of 17 years, Bennie Veenstra, deploying a KLANG immersive in-ear monitor system to add control and spatial quality.

Formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt, Within Temptation is a popular Dutch symphonic metal band. Over the years, they have garnered a massive following thanks to their fusion of symphonic elements, heavy guitars, and haunting vocals, resulting in more than four million record sales and numerous international awards, including a World Music Award, MTV Europe Music Awards, and a Metal Hammer Award. They have also headlined major European festivals such as Download, Hellfest, Wacken Open Air and Grasp

Details

UK - Johnny Marr had some very definite ideas about the kinds of looks he wanted on stage for his Greatest Hits tour, which kicked off at Newcastle’s O2 City Hall on 2 April, with lighting design by Ed Warren.

“Johnny and I have a really good relationship,” said Warren. “We spent a fair bit of time hanging out and chatting before coming up with any kind of plan for this tour.  Once we had this decided, I programmed the entire show at home on my MQ70 using Capture over the course of a couple of weeks.

“Since Johnny’s studio is so close to me, I would pop round to see him every few weeks and talk about life, love, football and of course music. He would explain to me the moments he felt things should happen and would even give me background behind meanings of songs. This really helped me interpret them into light. Of course, this was pretty

Details

Denmark - Performing arts centre Musikhuset Esbjerg has upgraded with advanced dimming and power management solutions from Australian lighting controls manufacturer LSC Control Systems. The new system has delivered faster workflows, increased flexibility, space-saving, and greater peace of mind to this busy, multi-faceted venue.

Musikhuset Esbjerg serves a broad programme of performing arts to the Danish city – including plays, musicals, opera, comedy, and conferences. (Interestingly, this is not its only link with Australia: architect Jørn Utzon, who oversaw the building’s design along with his son, Jan, back in the late 90s, also designed the Sydney Opera House). Today, the building attracts over 150,000 visitors each year, including 80,000 for cultural events and 30,000 for conference and meetings, the remainder being tourists and visitors to non-pay

Details

Italy – Last month, From the Heart to Hands: Dolce&Gabbana opened its doors at Palazzo Reale Milano. Supermodel Naomi Campbell opened the proceedings, inaugurating an evening of celebrations, from a tour of the rooms hosting the display to a fine dining experience.

Every detail of this exhibition has been ‘meticulously orchestrated from ambient and theatrical lighting to scented rooms’.

Produced by IMG, From the Heart to the Hands: Dolce & Gabbana, curated by Florence Müller is an exhibition that pays tribute to the values of Fatto A Mano (hand-made), and delves into the creative imagery and cultural references that underpin the essence of the iconic fashion house that have been essential since its founding.

ERCO helped bring this vision to life, working closely with IMG to provide innovative lighting solution

Details

Australia - Tim Goodacre is a busy and in-demand freelance gaffer and lighting specialist based in Sydney and working all over Australia, primarily on TV dramas.

He has invested steadily in Astera to help drive his business over the last two years, most recently purchasing one of the new LeoFresnel products from Astera’s Australian and New Zealand distributor – ULA Group, which is added to his existing stock of AX3 Lightdrop and NYX Bulb kits and workhorse Astera Titan and Helios Tubes.

He immediately utilised the LeoFresnel on season two of the award-winning Netflix Heartbreak High reboot, specifically for a forest night scene shot on location with the students camping out under the moonlight.

In a different scenario, a moving light might conventionally be used, however the practicalities of the location essentially demanded a w

Details

UK - Point Source Audio’s Series9 lavalier microphones were centre stage for Just for One Day - The Live Aid Musical, as the show completed its debut run from January to March at The Old Vic in London. Nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Contribution, the musical has earned acclaim for the performances from its show band and cast, all relying on Point Source Audio’s latest microphone technology.

Gareth Owen spearheaded the sound design for the production. "My approach was to imagine what the songs from the concert would sound like with today's technology," he explains. "The goal was to maintain the essence of the original performances while infusing modern production values. 

"The Point Source Audio mics performed exceptionally well. We had ample opportunity over the run to compare them to various other microphones an

Details

UK - Britannia Row’s specialist comms department Surfhire oversaw a large Cisco network backbone, Riedel comms and Motorola radios to the globally watched live sporting event.

Since Britannia Row Productions acquired Surfhire in 2019, Comms and IT capabilities have become an integral part of the company’s services. In alignment with the wider Clair Global rental offering in North America and the Middle East - where recent projects include the Superbowl and Qatar Web Summit - the UK’s powerful equipment inventory is being deployed by trusted teams across major live and broadcast events.

Held in Glasgow over three days in early March, the 19th edition of the World Athletics Indoor Championships saw 586 athletes from 128 countries compete for 26 titles as 22,000 spectators watched.

To ensure uninterrupted coverage of these high-octane perf

Details

Slovenia - Singer-songwriter Nina Pušlar played a major sold-out show in Ljubljana’s 14,400-capacity Stožice Arena which was recorded for broadcast on national TV and celebrated the release of new music from Nina, for which her team including creative director Anže Škrube wanted a spectacular production.

Lighting designer Amadej Šuperger from design studio Blackout specified large quantities of Robe moving lights which made up 75% of the lighting. The positions were facilitated by an angled triangular truss in the centre with four bracing trusses flanked by raked grids of crisscrossing trusses in the roof above the stage, which brought a structural look and industrial tone to the performance area. It also amplified the depth of the performance space.

Amadej has been working with the artist for some time. He already had a show designed for smal

Details

USA - The former university of Michelle Obama, New Jersey’s Ivy League Princeton University is one of the top schools in the United States. At the centre of its religious and ceremonial endeavours sits Princeton University Chapel, an elegant house of worship that gives nod to the architectural style of the English Gothic Cathedrals of the 14th century.

Constructed in 1928 after a fire destroyed the previous worship site, the cruciform chapel cost over $2m to construct and was the largest university chapel in the US. For years, the venue has been relied on to carry congregations, host events and offer an oasis in the centre of the university campus for people of all faiths. Complete with seating for almost 2000 worshippers, the nave features sandstone walls with limestone highlights and towering 80ft-high ceilings, but its admirable aesthetics compromised t

Details

South Africa – Hit TV series The Masked Singer kicked off its second season in South Africa in April with 16 celebrities battling it out in flamboyant costumes to hide their identities. The production team ramped up the staging, lighting, and visuals for the 2024 contest using tvONE’s Green Hippo brand of Hippotizer Boreal+ MK2 Media Servers alongside a grandMA3 console to create epic projections and LED screen animations.

On stage, a 11m x 4m 2.9 pixel pitch Absen LED main wall backed each performer, displaying custom-made content designed in collaboration with The Masked Singer South Africa creative director Barry Pretorius, and set designer Michael Gill. In addition, there were two 2m x 4m LED walls for Unreal Engine 3D effects rigged behind two stage left and right mask-shaped surfaces, which were projection mapped using the Boreal+ MK2 via

Details

UK - The Backlot Cinema in Blackpool aims to ‘offer a cinematic wonderland, blending local stories with global narratives offering a diverse selection of films’.

The Backlot is also a community hub, committed to bringing people together through the power of entertainment media. Beyond the big screen, The Backlot actively engages with the Blackpool community through local partnerships, community events, and educational outreach programs.

Lancashire based AV integrator, AV2events was appointed to design and install the audio system for this venue.

Lee Wilson, managing director of AV2events, remarks, "With its complex structure and multiple zones, we needed equipment that was not only reliable but also capable of mass flexibility, to meet the customer’s needs. We turned to Audiologic for their guidance, support, and in-depth knowledge, to

Details

South Africa - Stage Audio Works was recently enlisted to reinvent the video infrastructure inside South Africa’s Moreleta Church. Known for housing one of the largest auditoriums in the country – with over 7,000 seats for the congregation - Moreleta welcomes both in-person and online worshippers every weekend.  

“We had been talking to the client for several months about upgrading their current video system,” says Stage Audio Works’ Lee Thomson. “They were considering an overall video upgrade for centre, left and right screens, so the first phase of the project included two new side screens, two cameras and a new video-switching solution.”  

Moreleta Church opens its doors twice every Sunday – at 9am and at 5pm. Additionally, the church also hosts dozens of external events across the calendar year, so having a video system that w

Details

USA - The Coachella Festival’s Do LaB electronic music stage beat stronger than ever this year, thanks to a new open-air stage design featuring a Meyer Sound Panther large-format linear line array loudspeaker system.

Since 2005, Do LaB, created by brothers Dede, Jesse, and Josh Flemming, has brought elements of underground culture, spontaneity, and community-driven experiences to Coachella, drawing on its founders’ roots in Southern California’s festival and art scene to provide a prime destination for festivalgoers and headlining artists alike.

At this year’s festival, which took over Indio, CA’s Empire Polo Club on the weekends of 11-13 and 19–21April, Do LaB hosted nonstop performances from the likes of Chase & Status, Alesso, Anna Lunoe, and DJ Tennis, plus surprise appearances including back-to-back sets by Kaskade and Alison Won

Details

The Netherlands - Tilburg University campus which specialises in artificial intelligence, social and behavioural sciences, recently upgraded its DAF Technology Lab to revolutionise the way its students learn and collaborate.

Expanding the possibilities of immersive education and innovative research, two CAVE (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment) systems with VR opportunities and 360º sound from Genelec now call Tilburg home. In a project that aims to positively impact education and training, Genelec’s Smart IP series of networked loudspeakers brought real-life audio to a notably complex installation. 

Max Louwerse, professor of cognitive psychology and artificial intelligence at Tilburg University – and founder and scientific director of the DAF Technology Lab – has been a big advocate of this new type of immersive learning. In several publica

Details

USA - Working with lighting designer Roger Gant, Montreal-based visual design company Lüz studio oversaw the lighting design, creative design and video content for Billy Strings’ ongoing US tour and festival dates, which feature Ayrton fixtures, grandMA3 consoles and MDG theONE atmospheric generators provided by Bandit Lites in Nashville.  ACT Entertainment exclusively distributes all three product brands in North America.

The singer, songwriter and bluegrass star’s current tour commenced in Asheville, North Carolina in February. Dates are booked nationwide through April and May, there’s a break in June and July for a trio of festival performances, then the tour resumes for a summer leg that wraps at LA’s Kia Forum. Billy Strings’ 2024 tour is in support of his Grammy-nominated collaborative album with his father, ME/AND/DAD.

“

Details

Canada - For Winnipeg’s large French-speaking community, the Franco-Manitobain Cultural Centre (CCFM) serves as an important cultural gathering spot for events and celebrations. CCFM recently marked its 50th Anniversary in grand fashion with a dazzling show featuring a production design by Red Rover Entertainment and illuminated by Elation lighting.

With two large-scale shows as well as several smaller events on the schedule, the venue’s year-long anniversary celebration commemorates the rich cultural heritage of Winnipeg’s francophone community across five decades. For a special anniversary show that took place 19 April, several francophone artists who have graced the CCFM stage over the past 50 years, old and young talent alike, were invited to perform backed by a house band.

Jon Stanners, who has operated Red Rover Entertainment in Winnipeg

Details

USA - Don’s Seafood is an institution around Ascension Parish, famous for its Zydeco Shrimp, Fried Allegator, and other Cajun delicacies. But it’s been a long time since Don’s did the kind of business it did on 5-6 April. According to its owner, the 90-year-old restaurant saw more than $20,000 in additional sales that weekend.

The story at Don’s was repeated throughout Gonzales, a Louisiana town of roughly 13,000 people, as every place from the local hotel to the service station and cowboy boots store did more business. That’s exactly just what the folks at 46 Entertainment and Peach Tree Entertainment were hoping for when they put together Rock The Country, a series of two-day festivals intended to give an economic boost to seven hard-hit small towns across the South.

Appearing at the series inaugural event, which took place just a few mil

Details

Italy - After participating in Sanremo 2024, Roman singer-songwriter Gazzelle, exponent of Italian indie pop, left for the Inside X always tour, with a total of 12 dates throughout Italy.

Lighting designer Andrea Arlotti chose to use the innovative and powerful Ayrton Rivale Profile, the most versatile fixture in the Ayrton range, equipped with continuous rotation of the pan and tilt movement.

“I chose Ayrton because it is top of the range equipment, and supplied by Mister X,” he says. “I positioned the Rivale Profile in the hanging trusses and use them mainly for effect lighting during the songs. They have high definition and excellent beam brightness.

“The concept echoes that of Rome’s 2023 Olympic stadium repurposed as a sports hall. A simple but very direct concept, with large screens and linear trusses, to directly convey the e

Details

UK - ETC dealer Stage Electrics has supplied ColorSource Spot Jr fixtures to upgrade the lighting in London’s Park Theatre.

Park Theatre is a local venue in north London which houses two performance and rehearsal spaces that showcase a diverse mix of new and emerging productions. The team at the theatre were looking to upgrade the existing lighting rig to LED as part of an initiative to reduce tungsten and also make a more sustainable investment for the future. ETC’s affordable ColorSource Spot Jr was the preferred choice – with 14 of the fixtures being selected for the theatre.

The compact yet powerful nature of ColorSource Spot Jr was just one of the reasons that made it a good solution for the venue as the theatre space features a thrust stage whereby many of the fixtures hang in close proximity to the audience. The fixture’s built-in zoom

Details

New Zealand - Lighting designer Jo Kilgour created the lighting design for Hatupatu / Kurungaituku: a forbidden love, a new aerial dance work produced by Aotearoa’s kaupapa Māori theatre company, Taki Rua Productions. The work, written by creative director Tānemahuta Gray and Kapa Haka by Wētini Mītai-Ngātai, premiered at the Tãwhiri Warehouse in Wellington as part of the 2024 Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts.

Eighteen Robe T1 PCs and 10 x LEDWash 600 wash beams made up an integral part of Jo’s lighting rig, which was supplied to this production by Wellington-based rental company, Grouse Lighting, and project managed by Cameron Nicholls with the assistance of Riley Gibson.

The immersive storytelling was presented in traverse, with the audience standing either side of a central 1.5m-high runway stage, relating the tale of w

Details

The Netherlands - When Easter is approaching, many people are busy trying to decide how they want to spend their long weekend off, but for the employees at Stagelight, they are already busy working on one of first major music festivals in the Dutch calendar. Paaspop is a three-day festival that takes place in Schijndel on Easter weekend each year, but the build-up starts much earlier.

Each stage at the festival not only has to be built from scratch, but also equipped with sound and lighting equipment worthy of some of the biggest national and international acts. This year’s event saw names like Anouk, Editors and Tiësto among the headliners.

Stagelight has been providing Paaspop with lighting equipment for a long time and this year was no exception. In total, project manager Hermen Klerks selected a grand total of 1,310 light fixtures from Infinit

Details

South Africa - Cape Town’s nightscape has been enriched with the recent addition of Halo; a premium nightclub experience that combines opulent design with cutting edge technology, including a Funktion-One sound system from the loudspeaker manufacturer’s distributor for South Africa, Phuture Sound.

Completed at the end of 2023 and opened shortly after, Halo is Cape Town’s newly envisioned nightclub that combines world-class sound, custom acoustic treatment (by Supersonic), and opulent interior design (by Conduit Interior). Stepping into the space offers partygoers sensory immersion and removal from the everyday, with leading domestic and international DJs providing the soundtrack.

“There is typically a tug-of-war in setting up a new venue between what sounds good and what looks good,” says Phuture Sound’s Anton Sinovich. “But Halo is pro

Details

Kenya - Located near the centre of the city, the new five-star Kwetu Nairobi is a Curio Collection by Hilton hotel. Opened this spring, the hotel offers wide-ranging facilities which cater for guests and businesses alike. Kwetu boasts more 100 guest rooms and 10 meeting rooms, complemented by a fitness centre, bars, restaurants, and entertainment spaces.

To fully meet the demands of its broad range of users, an investment in high-quality technology was essential. The audio element covered an extensive remit, and was entirely supplied by UK-based specialist Audio Feed, who worked closely with integrators Frontier Audio Africa to deliver the systems.

The project deployed a range of MC² Delta amplification, with and without DSP, throughout.

Oz Jefferies of Audio Feed comments: “We have a longstanding relationship with MC² Audio and have used

Details

UK - When Belfast Distillery Company set out to preserve the legacy of McConnell’s Irish Whisky - a brand that dates back to 1776 - they decided to take over the A-Wing of Crumlin Road Gaol, and convert it into a visitor attraction to run alongside its production activities.

Built in 1845, the Gaol was renowned for housing a number of key figures during The Troubles, but this listed building has now been carefully restored and converted, with a modern AV installation - including end-to-end Martin Audio loudspeakers, designed and specified by the manufacturer’s partner for over 40 years, Rea Sound.

Martin Audio had in fact been requested by the clients themselves - notably their master distiller & head of supply & operations, Graeme Millar. According to Rea Sound director, Roger McMullan, as a gigging musician, Millar had fallen in love wi

  1. Ayrton Eurus Profile on tour with Kontra K
  2. Students light Winter Works with Elation
  3. Void Acoustics elevates HP’s new headquarters
  4. Chauvet shines on slopes of Blue Mountain
  5. Prolights Astra lights State Opera Ball 2024
  6. Immersive exhibition brings Leonardo da Vinci to life
Page 1 of 380
GLP - MPU - May-June 2024
Robe - Large MPU

Latest Issue. . .