Germany - British American Tobacco launched glo, a Tobacco Heating Product (THP) utilising new tobacco heating technology, with a display in the sky over Hamburg’s waterfront on 19 September. Tasked with creating a drone light show as a guerrilla-marketing action by agency Inovisco Mobile Media, Jens Hillenkötter deployed 30 Claypaky Xtylos fixtures, the first moving head light with a laser light source, to light up the sky with a dynamic backdrop for an intricate drone ballet. Hillenkötter, a well-known designer and creative director for international shows, is no stranger to big events having been involved with the ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China and the Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia. The glo display, which ran parallel to Hamburg’s salute to club culture known as Reeperbahnfestival, featured 150 drones equipped with LED lig
Germany - AO Drones’ fleet of drones lit up the sky above Munich’s Olympic Park in October to mark the launch of Deutsche Telekom’s 5G network in the city. The GPS-guided, 300-strong swarm of drones performed a 10-minute night-sky performance, creating Deutsche Telekom’s logos and messages in white and Telekom’s brand colour, magenta for the video cameras below. Tasked with creating the launch event, Düsseldorf-based event management company DO IT! brought in their regular production technology partner, AO Creative. They in turn called on their Dubai-based AO Drones team to deliver the state-of-the-art drone technology. Responsible for the overall production design was Jerry Appelt of JALD (Jerry Appelt Licht Design). The AO Creative team, including show producer Marco Niedermeier, technical director Matthias Meyert, and project manager Tim Klopp, work
China - Out Board’s TiMax TrackerD4 precision stagetracking recently made its Hong Kong debut in a new musical play, The Originals, staged at the territory’s Hong Kong Cultural Centre. The tracking accuracy of TiMax TrackerD4 delivered real-time control of vocal localisation throughout the musical’s fast-paced staging. Provided by Hong Kong’s L-Supply, TiMax TrackerD4 precision stage-tracking enabled the principle eight performers, all eminent stars of Hong Kong musical theatre, to move freely across and around the stage without working strictly to pre-assigned cue-points. Discreet TTd4 Tags worn by the performers are small enough to be secured into virtually any costume location with no interference. Meanwhile, the accuracy of TiMax TrackerD4 not only gives peace of mind to performance directors, but substantially reduces rehearsal times, providing not
USA - After more than 12 years of growth and success, West Kendall, Florida, chef Adrianne Calvo, the owner and manager of Chef Adrianne’s Vineyard Restaurant & Wine Bar, decided it was time to move to a larger, more customised location. Chef Adrianne took over and completely renovated an existing 8,000sq.ft restaurant space. The new space features a large indoor dining area, two private dining rooms, and a social-distance-friendly terrace outfitted with a large retractable projection screen and other AV tools throughout to accommodate special events. The new space has been designed with a warm, modern, Napa Valley wine country décor featuring tall ceilings and wide-open spaces. It can accommodate 270 patrons - a sizable jump from the old location's capacity of 60. With audio support playing an essential part of the restaurant experience, Calvo turned to audio
USA - Normally, the intimate theatre at the Firehouse Centre in Derry is bustling with activity, as it hosts a wide variety of performances from violin recitals to Broadway revivals. Sometimes, even major stars like Howie Day and Tom Rush drop in to support the non-profit with benefit shows. Since the arrival of COVID-19, however, the stage at this 191-seat venue has fallen largely silent. The absence of shows has not only cut off a vital source of funds for the centre’s far-reaching programmes, it‘s also deprived the talented young people that Firehouse Centre supports with an opportunity to perform in public. This October, the centre’s organisers did something about both issues, when they journeyed 37 miles from their coastal Massachusetts town to Studio Lab in New Hampshire where Events United produced Firehouse Ignites, a fundraising livestream that re
Sweden - Lighting designer Fredrik Jonsson - like all on the crew and cast of Funny Girl at the Malmö Opera – was ecstatic to be back working on a live show, as the Opera’s production of Funny Girl went ahead and is playing to socially distanced audiences of 50 per show. Fredrik used Robe’s little LEDBeam 150 luminaires to provide an ingenious solution to a complex staging requirement Recognising the critical social and cultural value of live entertainment, especially during the pandemic, Funny Girl, which runs through until mid-December, is part of the Opera’s autumn / winter repertory programme. It was planned over two years in advance and completely sold out many months in advance, So Malmö Opera thought laterally and decided to push ahead in delivering all their acclaimed seasonal main house productions as budgets were already allocat
UK - It’s been a tough time for all performance venues and especially for community theatres like The Congress in Cwmbran which cancelled all its shows in March as COVID-19 took hold, mid-way through one of its busiest seasons. However, through successive lockdowns, the venue has been reimagined as The Congress Virtual Studio, a fully equipped streaming facility encouraging local artists and businesses to record and broadcast music shows and engage in events, generating interest and at least some income during this period. Cwmbran is also the home of Zero 88’s manufacturing facility. There are close ties between the popular lighting control brand and the 300-seat venue, which has Zero 88 Chilli dimmers installed, and furthermore, Zero 88’s international sales manager Tyler Holpin is actively involved as a volunteer on the technical side. The Congress Thea
Taiwan - While the pandemic has forced millions of music lovers into their homes across the world, the appetite for live shows was clearly demonstrated when Eric Chou’s 2020 How Have You Been concerts sold all 42,000 tickets across four concerts in Taipei, and Kaohsiung in just 15 minutes. Thousands of fans gathered together under the roof of Taiwan’s biggest venue, Taipei Arena, to enjoy the magic of Chou’s performance, brought to life by an L-Acoustics K Series sound system delivered by the team at Winly Engineering & Trading, who had previous experience of working with Chou on his first concert at the arena last year. “It was an absolute pleasure to be working with Eric once again on what became the first large-scale live event in Asia since social distancing measures were first introduced,” says Winly system engineer, Mike Lee, who has contributed to
USA - For the seventh year in a row, the biggest stars of country music performed in a celebration of all things country at the 2020 iHeartCountry Festival presented by Capital One. Taking place at the Steel Mill with a lighting rig supplied by Bandit Lites, the main stage was hosted by Bobby Bones and featured performances by Dierks Bentley, Lady A, Sam Hunt, Kane Brown, Kelsea Ballerini, Dustin Lynch, Jon Pardi, Riley Green, Morgan Evans and Gabby Barrett. The festival was originally set to take place at the Frank Erwin Centre in Austin, Texas on 2 May, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The virtual show took place Friday, 23 October, and country fans were able to enjoy their favourite artists performing live (from the comfort and safety of their own homes). Lighting designer Tom Kenny utilised a package with more than 100 fixtures, including Ayrto
Belgium - Over recent months, the drive-in movie has been very evident throughout Europe, as drive-in theatres have popped up this year from the Baltic to the Mediterranean. In East Flanders, the government of Wichelen took a somewhat different approach. Instead of creating a single drive-in movie site for people to visit, it brought the concept to its citizens. Under the leadership of mayor Kenneth Taylor, a Flemish TV and film director, it organised drive-in events at different locations throughout the community. The Lokeren- based event company D-Dream set up the drive-in sites for the Wichelen municipal government. “We were directly contacted by the city,” said Elke Scheirs of D-Dream. “They told us they wanted to bring a new live event to entertain their citizens in a safe way during the Corona pandemic. Since the shows were to be held at different locations
USA - When Athens First United Methodist Church in Texas decided to transform an old and seldom-used fellowship hall into a new contemporary worship space they selected an all ADJ, all LED-powered rig. Then, pleased with the quality and reliability of their lighting, the church again chose ADJ when it was time to replace the aging projectors in their main sanctuary with modern LED video walls. A former paramedic/firefighter who then spent 10 years working in the oil and gas industry, Wes Akin felt a sense of calling to serve others again and began volunteering as the technical director at Athens First. Over time this simultaneously led to a full-time role at the church, overseeing business and operations, and a rekindling of his passion for technical production. Wes founded Gain Stage Productions to offer live audio and visual services to local venues as well as to provide i
USA - Global design firm, DX7 Design, recently embarked on its second season of lighting the hit American TV dance competition Dancing With The Stars, shot at CBS Television City in Hollywood. Production loaded in at the end of August and the show runs for 11 weeks, culminating in the final over Thanksgiving weekend, at the end of November. After featuring GLP fixtures heavily on the last series, LD Tom Sutherland has raised the bar even higher this time, deploying 150 GLP fixtures, predominantly X4 Bars and JDC1 hybrid strobes, in his ever-changing landscape. “We reprogramme weekly,” he explained. “Then we bring in extras for certain dances week-to-week if the creative team call for them.” The lighting brief is heavily dictated by the set design. “[Production designer] Florian Wieder has created a modern take on an art deco ballroom. It’s esse
USA - Eastern Lighting Design has been relying on Chroma-Q products for many years and many projects, including their most recent lighting design project for WGN’s News Nation studio. Specialising in TV and broadcast studios, Matt Gordon, president of Eastern Lighting, along with VP of design Mick Smith, and supported by Barbizon Lighting Company, worked through the COVID-19 pandemic to provide the lighting for the Chicago based facility. “Working through a pandemic has been a real learning experience and adjustment.” explains Matt “I am still surprised how quickly we were able to turn around the project within the given time-lines considering that most of the world was in lockdown. We opted to work during the night in order to practice social distancing from other trades.” News Nation is a new national newscast programme that was going into WGNs old, 3,500s
USA - Nestled in the Highlands neighbourhood of White Plains, New York sits Bet Am Shalom Synagogue. In 2016, systems integrator Shadowbox Design Management installed a Prism 12x12 at Bet Am Shalom as the heart of a public address/reinforcement system with four main zones - the main synagogue, chapel, multifunction room, and library. In the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 global pandemic caused historic changes to common gathering spaces necessitating strict social distancing rules. This unexpected event imposed new rules and restrictions on how the synagogue could utilize their floor space and ultimately resulted in a mandatory halt in services and activities for their congregants. Leaders of Bet Am Shalom contacted Shadowbox Design Management to find a way to upgrade the audio system throughout the facility so the synagogue could continue their services while foll
Denmark - Vejle Musikteater, in the fjord-side town of Vejle is usually a bustling hub for live entertainment, offering a mix of band concerts, dance and DJ events, theatre production and conferences, events and presentations. Like most venues, it closed as COVID-19 spread worldwide, stopping the industry in its tracks in March. However, far from becoming a ghost-like shell of its former self, staff, management and crew have been busy in the last six month overseeing a complete technical refit and the Musikteater has just cautiously reopened for shows and business to reduced capacities and a new set of COVID-compliant operational rules and regulations. During this long ‘dark’ period, the venue’s technical manager Rasmus Primdahl explained, they purchased 16 new Robe Esprite LED Profiles which have been added to the existing 16 x Esprites - selected after extens
UK - In these difficult times for the live entertainment industry, Yamaha is working with both practical measures and its #BringingLive2Life campaign to help audiences and performers alike to experience live entertainment again. One of its first successes was playing a key role in helping Boisdale of Belgravia - the first live venue in London to reopen. Boisdale is a chain of four themed restaurants, located in London’s Belgravia, Bishopsgate, Canary Wharf and Mayfair. Before lockdown they featured live music every night, with a number of well-known artists - including Alexander O’Neal, Mica Paris, Natasha Hamilton, Rebecca Ferguson and Omar - booked for the Canary Wharf restaurant. Boisdale managing director Ranald Macdonald has previously worked with Yamaha Music London and, as the national lockdown began to ease, contacted retail operations manager Stephen Davie
USA - Los Pentecostales de Newport News is a Pentecostal church serving the Hispanic community in Newport News, Virginia. Pastor Mario Zunzunegui delivers impassioned services and encourages strong community bonds. When local production and integration firm Sound Ideas provided a Danley rig for an outdoor Covid-19 service, Pastor Mario and the rest of the congregation saw new possibilities for clarity and impact. After a successful indoor demo, the church now has its own high-impact Danley system composed of SM80F full range loudspeakers FLX12 monitors, and a DNA 20k4 Pro amplifier. Los Pentecostales de Newport started out years ago with an MI-grade sound reinforcement system and upgraded significantly three years ago with the help of Sound Ideas (design and installation) and Winter Sound (the actual sale of the equipment). Sound Ideas owner Paul Popadak continued his
USA - Full Sail University, the media arts and technology educational institution located in Winter Park, Florida, has purchased a DiGiCo Quantum338, which has been installed in Full Sail Live 1. The console is also equipped with the new DMI-KLANG in-ear mixing expansion card, bringing immersive audio capabilities to the Quantum338. Further, the school has also upgraded its existing DiGiCo SD7 console with a Quantum engine, endowing it with many of the same features as the Quantum338, including Mustard and Spice Rack processing. The SD7’s metamorphosis into a Quantum7 will allow all of the school’s DiGiCo components to operate on an Optocore network, including a newly-acquired DiGiCo SD-Rack with Ultimate Stadius 32-bit microphone pre-amp and DAC output cards. “The Quantum338 will become our new flagship console for our Show Production degree programme students,
South Africa - Capetonians Alex Van Dyk from Solid Group and Alan Muller created Solid Studios that ran from April to the start of October this year. When the South African lockdown was first implemented, Alex and Alan initially started chatting over the phone about PPE, hoping to generate an alternative income. The conversation turned to how many people were now streaming, and they smiled, talking about newbies to the platform showing up with coffee in hand and dressed in slippers! It dawned on them that if they paired up, created a studio and ran it as if it were a tv paying client, they would achieve broadcast quality. Alex is the owner of technical supply company Solid Group and had the space to facilitate a studio and the necessary quality gear, including a Green Hippo Amba+ media server. Alan, in turn, is a lighting designer for EDM and Dance Around the World typ
Germany - Badensound event company has worked out a new concert concept that uses existing infrastructure to host performances complying with the local COVID regulations. This concept led to a partnership with Edeka Südwest supermarkets to create the ‘shopping cart festival’. Taking place from 31 August until 5 September in Offenburg, the festival featured famous German artists performing in front of 500 people, the maximum number of people currently allowed for large gatherings, in the parking lot of an Edeka supermarket. Shopping carts were used as social distancing tools to adhere to the COVID regulations. On the technical side, Badensound used the festival to give Dynacord’s new MXE5 matrix mix engine its German debut. "Now is exactly the right time to organize an attractive festival in the region, to offer artists a platform and to support the corona-impac
France - The Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille (PBA) - a public museum dedicated to fine arts, modern art, and antiquities - is one of the largest venues of its kind in France and, as such, welcomes thousands of visitors each year to enjoy its collections by Rubens, Van Dyck, Goya, and Delacroix among others. Despite the continual disruption caused by COVID-19 the museum unveiled on 15 July a new exhibition: the sixth edition of Open Museum Music. At the core of this exhibition sits a visionary creation, which has been developed by electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre in partnership with digital musical instrument and app creator BLEASS. The artwork, known as EōN, has been designed to immerse visitors in ‘an endless audio and visual experience thanks to constantly evolving music and an endless organic progression of the visual content’. The
China - Michael von Keitz started SE Audiotechnik back in 1980,. While the head office is still in Solingen, the production - 100% German-owned - has been taking place in the company's own factory in Jiashan (China) since 1997. This is where the annual Music Festival was held for the third time running; and this time to also celebrate the company’s 40th anniversary. The third SE Audiotechnik Music Festival in China took place as planned on 16 October this year, under strict safety and hygiene conditions. Although the weather was inhospitable, more than 750 guests, partners and fans gathered on the company's premises. They were able to network with the 600 employees on site, and learn more about the products from SE Audiotechnik and the other brands gathered under the roof of parent company Speaker Trade. They also had the opportunity to celebrate a festival with mu
Poland - Established in 1816, the University of Warsaw is the largest university in Poland with over 50,000 students, 21 faculties and a total of 126 buildings across the city. Located in the most famous street of Warsaw and surrounded by palaces from the 18th Century, the main campus consists of two spaces (Golden Hall and the Senate Hall) where the most important celebrations and events of the University take place. With a diverse events schedule that covers conferences, meetings, university readings and the annual meetings of the University Senate, a decision was reached to upgrade the AV solution within the Senate Hall, with the university opting for the performance and reliability of Shure’s Microflex Complete Wireless (MXCW) system. With the increasing number of devices communicating in the 2.4GHz band causing constant problems for the AV team at the uni
UK - Key to the Guildhall School of Music & Drama’s musical curricula is its annual award for The Gold Medal - a performance competition that began in 1915 and had taken place uninterrupted through 2019. Because of the global pandemic in 2020, the annual May performance had to be put on hold as teaching moved online during the summer term. “Because of COVID we needed to be swift in our response to ensure things like The Gold Medal could occur and, very importantly, that in-person classes could still take place with full scale participation,” says Julian Hepple, head of recording and audio visual at Guildhall School. “To make that happen we quickly turned to Dante and Dante Domain Manager. And, in September, as we returned to in-person teaching, we were able to hold The Gold Medal and broadcast the performance online." Dante allows audio, control, and all ot
