Germany - The annual New Year's Eve show on broadcaster ZDF (Silvestershow) is a fixture of the German TV calendar. Moderator duo Andrea Kiewel and Johannes B. Kerner welcomed the New Year with numerous musical guests, yet this year everything was different. Instead of the traditional fireworks display, a stage light show with no audience took place. As technical service provider for the event, AMBION was faced with the challenge of setting up and dismantling an open-air TV show in the cold, wet December weather. The show took place in the middle of the capital under the strictest hygiene regulations and used over 800 lighting fixtures. Some 130 weatherproof moving lights from Elation’s Proteus series were an essential part of the solution, supplied by Motion Rental. In addition to the Proteus fixtures, 16 new KL Panels with RGBWLC array were used for white light on
UK - The Grand Brighton hotel, a landmark on the seafront in UK south coast city and resort Brighton, is highlighted by an Anolis LED lighting installation illuminating its majestic front façade. Designed by architect John Whichcord Jr. and built in 1864, originally as a hangout for the smart set of the day, today it offers over 200 rooms, many with spectacular panoramic sea views and full conference facilities while its distinctive Victorian and Italian features remain almost unchanged. The Anolis lighting scheme was installed as part of a wider modernisation programme happening along Brighton’s Kings Road seafront which is a collage of historical and modern architecture. Anolis UK was initially approached by the hotel’s management and asked to specify a suitable, more energy conscious and cost-efficient luminaire to replace their ageing discharge lighting
UK - Originally slated to reopen Leicester’s Curve Theatre as part of a season of socially distanced ‘in-the-round’ shows, Sunset Boulevard in Concert was forced to become a streaming event due to continued lockdowns in the UK (see the full production report in our latest issue, out now). Nevertheless, the technical production continued to be supported by new generation Profile, Spot and Wash lighting from GLP, as originally planned, which now took on an increased role. Theatre lighting designer Ben Cracknell, an associate artist at Curve with a long list of credits behind him, specified a large quantity of the new impression 350 series from GLP. The multi-camera film version - which was scheduled to stream over an 18-day period starting 22 December - brought even more out of the
Belgium - During the pandemic, when so many activities have been cut off, the municipality of Herentals made its magical streets even more inviting to walkers by adorning them, as well as some of their most beautiful landmarks, with richly textured lighting displays created by The Creative Factory (TCF) with Chauvet Professional fixtures. Kristof Van Mensel, lighting designer for TCF, deployed Maverick and COLORdash fixtures, supplied by Studio Haifax, throughout the city of Herentals and the adjacent towns of Morkhoven and Noorderwijk. In the process, he created “an atmospheric walking environment” for locals and visitors alike. Among the highlights of this walking panorama was the illuminated Lakenhal (Cloth Hall) an impressive structure dating back to the 15th century in the city centre. Once the heart of the region’s thriving textile trade, the sandstone and
USA - When the live music industry ground to a halt in early 2020, rock band Styx quickly pivoted away from their planned tour to focus on direct engagement with their more than one million fans who are members of the online Styx Lounge. As the band increasingly made remote collaboration and fan outreach a daily practice, bassist and self-described gearhead Ricky Phillips noticed that one component in his Austin, Texas home studio was limiting the experience: a barebones webcam. “Music is my life, and video communication has brought artists and fans closer together than ever before” Phillips says. “From websites where we can share or post videos, music ‘magazines’ that host performances, online video fan clubs, the ability to record master classes and more, video has become a crucial tool for musicians to connect with fans and create new opportunities. My $100 stor
Thailand - Mahajak Development Co recently equipped Naresuan University’s new multi-purpose building with Harman Professional Solutions AV system. Located in the heart of Phitsanulok province, Naresuan University is one of the top government universities in Thailand. Originally established as a College of Education in 1967, the school was later renamed the Phitsanulok Campus of Srinakharinwirot University in 1974, and again in 1990 to Naresuan University, in celebration of the 400th anniversary of King Naresuan’s ascension to the throne. Recently, The university completed construction on a massive 3,200sq.m facility than can function as a single 4,000-capacity hall or be split into two smaller rooms. To deliver audio and video quality for seminars and exhibitions in their new multipurpose educational facility, Naresuan University hired Mahajak Development Co to i
UK - Technical production and LED screen hire company, iMAG, has recently pioneered a mobile Virtual Production facility, offering a 360° workflow, from in-house drawing team and rigging, to full LED set up controlled by Brompton Technology Tessera processing. iMAG has joined forces with film production company Treehouse Digital, which works with major episodic streaming companies such as Netflix and Amazon, as well as on films and commercials, for the project, combining their extensive experience in filmmaking with iMAG’s hardware, knowledge and expertise gained through years of working in high pressure live environments. “The true-to-life colour accuracy and image bit depth of High Dynamic Range (HDR) is becoming extremely popular, particularly within virtual production,” says iMAG MD and technical director, Alex Strachan. “We had already invested in ROE Vis
UK - AV integrator Torpedo Factory Group has installed a new K-array loudspeaker system at the City of London Academy, elevating audio performance to be capable of the largest theatrical productions while remaining visually minimalist. Opened in 2003, City of London Academy is one of four City of London Corporation sponsored academies and moved to its present location in the south-east London borough of Southwark in 2005. The Academy’s main auditorium is a large purpose-built hall with raked seating designed for speech and music, assemblies, lectures and large-scale theatrical productions. In order to meet the demands of these multiple and diverse functions, Torpedo Factory Group (TFG) proposed a full range, high SPL solution in the form of K-array Kobra line array elements complemented by Thunder subwoofers, and supplied by the Italian manufacturer’s UK distributo
Finland - Helsinki’s Visual Monkeys design agency ramped up the visuals for Finland’s popular The Masked Singer TV show using Hippotizer Montane+ RTX and Karst+ Media Servers in December. Visual Monkeys' founder Mikko ‘Bob’ Enäkoski, who says he is on a mission to bring stadium looks to Finnish TV, designed the show’s set and visual set up and was looking for a solution to create what he likes to call ‘a kick ass show’. This passion led him to the Hippotizer Media Servers. “We are a team of around 20 people at Visual Monkeys and we like to deliver,” says Enäkoski. “For this season of Finland’s The Masked Singer, we went all-out, with pyrotechnics and scaled-up video content. Some of the biggest challenges we face are getting the balance right with the lights and the video, and ensuring the focus stays on the performer, backed up by
China - Canton Tower, formerly known as Guangzhou TV and Sightseeing Tower, is a 604m observation tower in Guangzhou, China. It is reportedly the second tallest tower in the country and the fourth tallest freestanding structure in the world. The structure was topped-out in 2009 and became operational in 2010 for the Asian Games. Advanced Communication Equipment Co. Ltd (ACE), MA Lighting’s exclusive distributor in China, recently installed one grandMA3 light, one grandMA3 replay unit, six grandMA3 processing units and 16 grandMA3 8Port Nodes, all using grandMA3 software to run the tower’s architectural lighting, which was previously controlled by a grandMA2 system. “One challenge was the tower’s height,” the company says. “Achieving smooth lighting in real-time and stability were key to the project. The main body of the Canton Tower is 454m high, so the ne
USA - Immersive experience experts PixMob scored with both football and music fans alike at the Super Bowl LV Halftime Show featuring a performance by R&B star The Weeknd at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. Following on the heels of PixMob’s success lighting up last year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show - which featured Jennifer Lopez and Shakira and drew over 104m viewers - PixMob were tapped once more (their third time overall) to provide an epic game-day experience. Employing over 22,500 LED wristbands for live audience members (and some 30,000 adapted LEDs for the cardboard cut-out ones), 500 ‘flares’ (ultra-powerful LEDs) for the performers on the field, 75 LED masks, and 150 ‘light-up eyes’ (on face shields) for the choir, PixMob demonstrated their ability to turn audiences into part of the show while creating a pulsating, colourful and entranci
Australia - Occupying a premium waterfront site, Howard Smith Wharves (HSW) in Brisbane has been developed as a multiplexed, family-oriented leisure village overlooking the Brisbane River. The development has taken five years and cost between 200m-250m AUD. Featuring some 20 different hospitality zones, ranging from a series of bars and restaurants (including a microbrewery), a full blown 1700-cap events space and even a boutique hotel (Fantauzzo), acoustic acts and DJs perform in various pop-ups and in outdoor communal park areas at the hub of the complex. This complex is also one of the biggest single deployments of Martin Audio loudspeakers, with nearly 250 CDD series enclosures alone - including IP-rated weatherised ‘WR’ versions installed. Everything is connected to a QSC Q-Sys backbone on which all the individual venues are networked, allowing any audio sour
UK - Distro Design has been working with long-standing customer BBC Studioworks to upgrade the dimming system for Studio D at BBC Elstree Centre. BBC Studioworks selected Distro Design’s most advanced dimming system for the project, which features GEN VI lighting controls from LSC Control Systems. This technology provides greater flexibility for the user. A permanent 400A Powerlock output panel, with variable and switchable RCD and rotary 400A MCCB, was designed by Distro Design for the initial installation to provide a new, clean power supply to the six dimmer racks on the gantry. Over two kilometres of new cables were supplied, with various connectors, from the incoming supply, via the dimmers right out to the lighting fixtures. The cables were built to BBC Studioworks’ exact specification by Distro Design. The system features 4 x 24 ways of LSC C
UK - Audiologic has announced completion of a project with Taunton School, working with Practical Audio Visual on a design and installation project for the education facility including a sound reinforcement system. The audio-visual integration company, Practical AV, have been in charge of the project design for the main dining room, consisting of two rooms that can function as independent areas or as a single space. The team was led by Owen Finney, alongside Audiologic’s application support team. Together, they designed and specified a sound system centralising around an Ecler MIMO processor, with Ecler loudspeakers and amplification, as well as Shure wireless microphone systems. Owen Finney comments: “Audiologic is our exclusive distributor for audio products with a particular focus on the high-end market. The Ecler and Shure products used were a perfect fi
China - The team at French seating manufacturer Quinette Gallay was a contributor to a major project in China recently – the Shangyin Opera House in Shanghai. The Opera House is part of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music – an institution which has been at the forefront of musical education in China since 1927. It has strong links to musicians and musical institutions worldwide. In 2019, the Conservatory began work fitting out the new opera house, intended as an unmatched resource for both students and teachers. The venue would provide a place to practise and perform opera which would match the quality of a world-class opera house, with the very best interior, equipment and acoustics. Embracing the concept of an opera house as a musical instrument, architect Christian de Portzamparc worked together with acoustician Albert Xu on this stunning space. The desig
Mexico - Lighting designer Delher López harnessed the power of 50 Claypaky Sharpy Plus fixtures to create striking spot/beam lighting effects for a TD Bank commercial for the Mexico City region. An industry veteran with more than 19 years’ experience in lighting design, López has many live music credits, including the Juanes’ Mis Planes son Amarte tour, Maria Leon’s El Sargentour and Unbreakabletour and DLD’s Primary and Future tour. For the TD Bank spot, López chose a 50 Sharpy Plus to meet the request of the director and DP for lighting effects that gave depth and spot/beam looks to a minimalist set. He tested Sharpy Plus for their focus and functionality before making his pick. López says he selected Sharpy Plus “for their versatility, speed, solid colors, and uniform projection as well as their constant, stable light temperature. They could wor
New Zealand - Music fans in New Zealand kicked off their 2020-21 summer festival season with the Downtown Shakedown event in Wellington where a diverse line-up included Fat Freddy’s Drop and rising star singer-songwriter Benee who joined popular favourites L.A.B., Ladi6, Sola Rosa and Sunshine Sound System to welcome everyone to Waitangi Park. The new event – which celebrated being able to stage live music shows again due to New Zealand’s containment of Coronavirus – was organised by Precision Live which is run by Andrew Tuck who also produces Homegrown, one the country’s major annual music festivals. Stage lighting, rigging and site power was supplied by Wellington-based rental company Grouse Lighting, project-managed for them by Steve Sanders, and Robe moving lights were at the core of the production lighting system. The 350sq.m of stage space (incl
Sweden - Malmö Opera has recently invested in Out Board’s TiMax TrackerD4 (TTd4) precision stagetracking system via Out Board’s Swedish distributor, Electrosound AB. The decision to buy was a simple one as the TiMax automation system was needed to ensure the precise audio localisation of both moving performers and static mic positions within the theatre’s immersive sound system, upgraded earlier in the year. Malmö Opera sound engineer, Svante Axbacke, claims, “TiMax TrackerD4 is very important to our sound system upgrade because previously we had not been able to program and chase all the audio objects through the show, so it saves both time and manpower.” The purchase decision was reinforced by the specification of TiMax TrackerD4 by Autograph’s Avgoustos Psillas in his sound design for Funny Girl, which was Malmö Opera’s first production on r
UK - The recently launched Exhibition London event space is situated in the heart of London’s White City and Westfield London, one of the capital’s premier shopping destinations. This multi-purpose venue is housed in a Grade II listed building built in 1899 and originally used as an engine house for Central London Railways. A complete renovation of the space combines sensitive architectural restoration with 21st-century technology, which features an L-Acoustics K Series loudspeaker system, to help establish the new space as a major music venue and cultural hub. The venue is a collaborative venture between Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield and Broadwick Live, operators of Printworks London, The Drumsheds, Depot Mayfield, and Magazine London, which also boasts an L-Acoustics sound system. Both Magazine and Exhibition audio systems were designed by Simon Jones of Simon Jones
USA - Billy Bob’s bills itself as ‘the world’s largest honky tonk’. The former World War II airplane factory in Fort Worth’s Stockyard District, covers over 100,000sq.ft, features a 2,000sq.ft dance floor, 20-acre parking lot and 30 bar stations. This information is shared in an introductory video near the venue’s entrance narrated by George Strait, one of the many superstars who has performed at this Goliath of a club. Despite its massive size and stellar pedigree, the stage at Billy Bob’s is relatively small. Mason Felps was aware of this “limitation” when he signed on to design two recent socially distant concerts at the club for Josh Turner. He was able to meet this challenge and create big looks for the chart-topping country artist with help from the Chauvet Professional Rogue R1 Spot. “This is a great venue, and it’s an honour to work
South Korea - TechDataPS Co recently equipped the new Vans Brand showcase store in Seoul’s Gangnam district with a Harman Professional Solutions audio system spanning two floors and featuring JBL loudspeakers, Crown amplifiers and dbx zone processors. In addition to being a retail outlet for the brand’s extensive footwear and apparel line, the Gangnam store aims to immerse visitors in the company’s history and style. The first floor features a “shoppable timeline” of historical merchandise, books, vinyl records and more, as well as a DJ booth and a functioning wall of vintage loudspeakers. The second floor houses a “customisation zone” where customers can design and personalize their own shoes and apparel, as well as space for hosting weekly workshops and events. To provide balanced audio coverage for background music and special events on both levels of
UK - A.C. Special Projects (AC-SP) supplied lighting and control for a feature within the new Silverstone Experience, which is an educational 4000m visitor attraction, overlooking the Silverstone racetrack. The project to create an educational centre for British motor sport began in 2012 with the charitable mission of creating a museum to exhibit and preserve precious motor racing artefacts, archives and collections. The seven-year project of turning a former Second World War RAF hangar into an impressive experience for motor sport enthusiasts cost in excess of £20m and required multiple teams of specialists to pull it all together. AC-SP was approached by M4 Electrical and worked alongside them and designers Max Fordham to deliver a range of lighting and control solutions, including for a bespoke cut out replica of the historic Silverstone track to run at high level
Belgium - Creative lighting and multimedia design specialist Painting with Light (PWL) was commissioned by the city of Leuven to imagine and realise an eye-catching, living, breathing light artwork to tie in with popular Belgian Radio station StuBru (Studio Brussel)’s 2020 De Warmste Week (Music for Life). Usually, a highly visible charity fundraising extravaganza, this year’s De Warmste Week concept was reinvented and presented in a more subtle format due to pandemic restrictions. While the city of Leuven broadcast StuBru from 20 ‘warm places’ around the town for this week, the light art display became a visual focal point that tied in with this action. The designated site for the lighting feature was the front of Leuven’s Catholic University Library. The building features neo-Flemish-Renaissance architecture and holds over 4m books and manuscripts.
Cyprus - A virtual charity event recently took place on the island of Cyprus to help families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Featuring local DJs and performers, United We Can was filmed on top of one of the tallest buildings in the city of Limassol. A lighting rig comprised exclusively of ADJ fixtures was used to not only illuminate the performers, but to fill the whole sky above the city. Cyprus relies heavily on tourism to fuel its economy, which means that it has been seriously impacted by COVID-19, resulting in many families struggling to pay their bills and feed their children. In direct response to this situation, the United We Can fundraising livestream took place last Friday evening (29 January), which not only collected donations for those in need but also provided entertainment for a community under strict lockdown measures. Broadcast by Cyp
