Sweden - The 2024 Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) featured an innovative set design at the Malmö Arena where Claypaky Tambora Linear 100 high-power LEDs and Skylos white-laser source searchlights supported the dynamic look of the event’s first 360º stage.

Fredrik Stormby from Stockholm-based Green Wall Designs, the lighting and screen content designer for this year's event, selected the Claypaky fixtures. Stormby is best known as part of the creative team behind Beyonce's 2023 Renaissance tour, Loreen's winning 2023 ESC performance and ABBA Voyage in London. He joined production designer Florian Wieder and the senior production team to help create, design and deliver the large-scale, spectacular show to a global audience of more than 160m people.

The set was a 360-degree experience placed in the middle of the audience and shaped like an eq

India - Spectrum Audio Solutions, an event equipment solutions provider based in Goa, has evolved into a significant player in the market, delivering sound experiences for a wide range of events. Recently, Spectrum Audio Solutions made a substantial investment to expand its existing loudspeaker inventory.

The recent acquisition includes 24 units of Kudo line array modules, known for their large-format, high-performance capabilities that ensure precise coverage and exceptional sound quality. Additionally, the company has added 12 more dV DOSC line array modules, complementing their existing inventory and maintaining their reputation for unmatched sound clarity. To cater to versatile event needs, Spectrum Audio Solutions has integrated 24 units of ARCS multi-purpose loudspeakers into their arsenal. These speakers are designed to deliver powerful audio across a

South Africa - La Parada is a restaurant chain bringing the vibrancy of the Mediterranean to South Africa. Finished with sandy pastels and palm trees, the restaurant’s newest location is in Johannesburg’s day-to-night dining and shopping destination, Cedar Square.

La Parada has installed an audio system using technology from Audac and Xilica.   The project was a collaboration between AV Distribution and South African installation company Sonic AV. For Cedar Square, La Parada wanted a sound system that catered to DJs and bigger parties, offering something different to its predominantly dining-focused venues.

“La Parada wanted to make the shift to a more music-orientated restaurant with this opening,” says Richard Edwards, CEO of Sonic AV. “They wanted more of a bar vibe with DJs so we knew that a solution from Audac would be an ideal fit,

Romania - On 25 May at the main national stadium of Romania, Arena Națională in Bucharest was the setting for Golden Generation vs. Legends of the World (Generația de Aur vs Legendele Lumii). The spectator stands with a capacity of 55,000 were completely filled with football fans. For the entertainment and ceremonial parts of the event, JSA provided and installed special stage structures.

The original design and engineering of the stage platform structure was created by JSA partner Adrian Vișenoiu. The customer and organiser of the technical part of the production was the Salt Box Studio agency. Since there was little time before the event, it was decided not to manufacture special structures, but to install all structures based on universal and quickly available Layher systems.

A special feature of the installation of stage structures was the ti

Germany - Boothaus in Cologne, ranked as the #5 EDM club in the world, has switched to L-Acoustics. “Upgrading to L-Acoustics helps us keep our coveted position as one of the best clubs in the world. Bootshaus has always been recognised for prizing sound over visuals. Sound is super important to us,” states Tom Thomas, managing director at Bootshaus.

For 20 years, Bootshaus has curated a mix of electro-house, dubstep, and drum’n’bass for clubgoers. Its brand extends beyond club walls to curated festivals throughout Germany. Within those 1,900-cap walls, which include three dance floors, each with its own DJ booth, and a large outdoor area overlooking the Rhine. clubgoers have danced to the likes of Skrillex, David Guetta, Diplo, and Avicii.

Getting sound to each of the dance floors has been difficult, and the previous system, installed over a

UK - London-based AV and IT integrator, Tateside has announced an ongoing project in collaboration with the MoneyGram Haas Formula 1 team. Tateside is set to support the F1 team’s digital signage requirements throughout the 2024 racing season. Having been introduced to the Haas team back in 2018, Tateside has provided installed solutions both within the team's factory in Banbury and trackside.

MoneyGram Haas F1 Team sought to rebuild and update their garage in 2023 and the team’s creative services manager, Peter Julian, enlisted Tateside to support the team in distributing its marketing visuals and live-streamed data across the garage.

“We were looking for a reliable solution for displaying content, such as sponsorship material or timing data, on the garage screens,” explains Julian. “Having known Tateside for several years, we trusted the

UK - Mark Simcock at Progression AV is fast gaining a reputation in Scotland for highly successful church sound system designs and installations. When the core leadership team at Pitlochry Baptist Church took the decision to address the problems of poor intelligibility and coverage gaps from their existing system, they contacted Mark to propose a new one.

“Music is at the heart of the celebration at Pitlochry Baptist Church and the minister, the band and, indeed, the congregation are very discerning about sound,” comments Mark.

“We proposed two systems of which a Nexo solution was the less expensive. Nexo’s ePS Series hits a budget-friendly price point while still delivering high levels of performance, which it makes it possible for smaller churches to get great sound without spending a large sum of money.”

The system at Pitlochry c

USA - DraftKings’ new Sportsbook facility has opened in Scottsdale, Arizona, featuring 3,400sq.ft of video walls driven by two tvONE CORIOmaster2 video processors. For the first time ever, two powerful CORIOmaster2 units are being ‘cascaded’ to offer DraftKings more inputs and outputs.

Constructed during 2023, the Scottsdale DraftKings Sportsbook is located adjacent to the 36-hole TPC Scottsdale golf complex. The modern building offers 13,000sq.ft of indoor space, which includes 32 betting kiosks, six windows to place bets, and wraparound LED screens, allowing customers to watch live sports action and related video from practically any seat or space.

Agility AVL’s Art Martinez and his team were engaged to specify and install a complete AV solution for the project, designing and delivering audio, LED, control, video processing and displays.

Greece - The Royal & Imperial Belvedere Resort in Chersónisos, Crete, has had its Blue Lounge - pool bar, pool area, lobby and exterior revamped. Highlite's exclusive distributor Sivko Electronics and their regional partner George Solakis were entrusted with the design, supply and implementation.

When Sivko Electronics' partner in the Chersónisos region, George Solakis, contacted them to supply the appropriate equipment for a refurbishment of the Royal & Imperial Belvedere Resort, they immediately switched into high gear to get the project off the ground. George Solakis and crew member Pantelis Nathenas designed the concept, while Kostas Poulis and Sivko Electronics supplied the equipment. Programming was entrusted to Lefteris Katakis.

The redesign also included the external appearance of the hotel, for which they added architectural lighti

UK - Ministry of Sound Classical at the Royal Albert Hall featured a set list inspired by the popular Ministry of Sound Annual Volume II. Released in 1996, the album remains one of the biggest selling dance compilations ever made and is performed on stage by the 50-piece RG Live London Concert Orchestra with guest synth players and vocalists.

Sound designer Phil Wright chose a DiGiCo Quantum 338 for the front of house position and a Quantum 225 for on stage monitoring due to their powerful processing and compact footprints.

“Audiences don’t realise that the songs they love are all sampled from classical orchestrations, so when they hear them played by a real orchestra they’re blown away,” Wright states. “They really go crazy and that’s testament to the work of Tom Player, the creative lead behind bringing the orchestrations to th

Italy - The Marina Fountain is the latest addition to Palermo Marina Yachting Park. Every evening the lake transforms into a stage, showcasing majestic water and light choreography set to captivating music.

RCF has provided a centrally installed audio system on the lake to ensure optimal sound enjoyment along the entire promenade. The Marina Fountain is named after the mermaid child from Gianni Rodari's story, The Mermaid of Palermo, a tale of love and inclusion. The mermaid is embraced by a poor fisherman's family in Palermo, where she unveils her remarkable talent for telling stories, "from all peoples and all times". Similarly, the Marina Fountain enchants passersby, visitors, and the workers of the Port of Palermo with its magical display.

The fountain project was commissioned by Cler - Cooperative of Roman Electrical Workers - and creat

USA - Brown Note Productions, the Denver-area company specialising in 360º full-service production for concerts, tours, music festivals and special events, has invested in 150 Ayrton Rivale Profiles. The new fixtures were quickly dispatched for two back-to-back dates at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison for dance music star Black Coffee and artist Illenium.

The IP65-rated Ayrton Rivale Profile projector delivers creativity, subtlety and power – the most versatile fixture created by Ayrton to date. It offers ‘unprecedented’ performance for its size and weight and features continuous rotation of the pan and tilt movement.

“We already have Ayrton Diablos, MagicPanel FX and Perseos in our inventory and were looking for additional fixtures in a smaller form factor than Perseo,” says Brown Note president Ryan Knutson. “I spend a lot of ti

Poland - Rental company Gondek Sound provided the audio infrastructure and sound design for Dreamstate, one of the largest trance music festivals in Eastern Europe.

Held at the PreZero Arena Gliwice, one of the largest and most modern multipurpose entertainment venues in Poland, the event attracted over 15,000 fans from around the globe.

Dreamstate Europe 2024 featured an impressive lineup of international and local artists, spanning ‘various subgenres from uplifting to psytrance, progressive to tech’.

Headliners included ATB, atDusk, Ben Gold, Craig Connelly B2B Factor B, Electric Universe presents Laser Harp, Giuseppe Ottaviani, John 00 Fleming, Joint Operations Centre, Robbie Seed, Will Atkinson, and Yoshi & Razner presents Genesis, among others.

Gondek Sound designed and deployed an Outline audio system comprising GTO C-12

Brazil - A colossal 624-loudspeaker concert sound system powered by 212 amplified controllers projected the Queen of Pop to the largest audience ever assembled for a standalone concert.

“Madonna is a creature of comfort and habit, so the first and foremost challenge of mixing her sound is to recreate her experience exactly, night to night, venue to venue, on every stage. That’s where L-Acoustics made all the difference,” shares Madonna’s FOH engineer, Burton Ishmael. He’s been mixing for the star from October 2023, at the O2 Arena in London to the massive, record-breaking show on the beach in Rio de Janeiro on May 4, 2024, when an estimated 1.6m fans took in what Pollstar described as “the largest audience ever assembled for a standalone concert”.

The Celebration Tour, supplied by vendor Eighth Day Sound, a Clair Global brand, visited a

Sweden - The Eurovision Song Contest, a broadcast seen by over 160m people worldwide, relies on wireless DMX. When Creative Technology, official event supplier, reached out to discuss the challenges of this year’s production, the LumenRadio team along with its OEM partners jumped into action.

Eurovision deployed seven Steadicams and shoulder cams to capture the performance for the broadcast. Each camera was equipped with Aputure MC Pro battery powered pocket lights that featured LumenRadio’s TimoTwo OEM modules for their DMX data reception.

With the concert-style lighting constantly changing, the cameras needed to have an adjustable light source to maintain the video quality being captured. Controlling them wirelessly allowed for full movement of the Steadicam Ops, freeing them to focus on getting the best shot. Using cables was never an option

Australia - The 2024 PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival celebrated some of the best of Australian fashion design with a main show space at the Royal Exhibition Buildings in Melbourne – recognised by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee as a prime example of 19th century international exhibition architecture.

All Lighting and AV equipment for the week-long festival was supplied by full production services provider, Harry the Hirer Productions led by technical producer Marcus Pugh.

He worked closely with lighting designer Hugh Taranto who used 28 x Robe Esprites to craft a flexible lighting aesthetic for the space that would deliver great looking shows for all the diverse and different collections.

The event also featured numerous associated off-site shows, business-related seminars, workshops, entertainment, and music performances across the c

Côte d'Ivoire - Located in Port-Bouet on the Atlantic coast of West Africa's Côte d'Ivoire, the Abidjan Exhibition Centre is the largest exhibition centre in West Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, with a capacity of 6,000-seated and 10,000 standing.

Designed by architect, Pierre Fakhoury, it first opened its doors in July 2023 to host trade shows, fairs and major events in the region. Its elegant sweeping exterior is matched by its advanced technology within. Its halls are equipped with a consignment of Ayrton Zonda 9 FX, Eurus and Huracán LED fixtures, specified by G.S.L lighting designer, Guillaume Sarrouy and supplied by PFO Construction and the State of Ivory Coast for installation by G.S.L of Avignon, France.

G.S.L. explains the reasons for its choice of Ayrton fixtures: “G.S.L. has worked with Ayrton products on several occasions and we find

UK - Stage Electrics has joined forces with Admiral Staging to deliver a key enhancement to Birmingham’s Resorts World Arena. Together, they have developed and implemented a new, dynamic disability viewing platform, significantly improving accessibility and convenience for patrons at one of the UK's foremost event venues.

The collaboration between Stage Electrics and Admiral Staging was initiated when Resorts World Arena sought a solution to enhance the mobility of their existing disability viewing platform. Recognising the challenges posed by the platform's weight and immobility, Stage Electrics' resident staging expert, Mike Clarke, devised a tailored solution to address the client's needs effectively.

Mike Clarke comments, "Our team's dedication to finding innovative solutions is at the heart of what we do. We were thrilled to provide the team a

USA - Built in 1917, and situated in the village of Hamilton, New York, Colgate Memorial Chapel provides the centrepiece of Colgate University’s campus activity.

Since it is a multi-use facility - incorporating a range of on-campus activity from university interfaith church services to lectures, presentations and orchestral concerts - it was vital that the public address system was sufficiently flexible to reproduce spoken word and full dynamic range alike, with absolute clarity.

The chapel’s long-term AV contractor is Syracuse-based TSH AV, who specialise in the House of Worship sector. They recently met the university’s requirement for a loudspeaker upgrade by specifying Martin Audio’s award-winning O-Line micro line array, with scalable resolution. This was designed not only to optimise the sound in the challenging space, but with its comp

Austria - Prolights Arena Cob4FC lit Christina Stürmer's MTV Unplugged concert, an event celebrating the 20-year career of the Austrian pop-rock singer. The live broadcast from the Volkstheater in Vienna was produced by Das Rund, set in an environment evoking the intimate atmosphere of a rehearsal room, creating a welcoming and relaxed ambiance.

Under the artistic direction of Thomas W. Kiennast from Das Rund, Manfred Nikister designed a lighting setup that included 29 Arena Cob4FC units from Prolights, strategically positioned to maximize visual impact both on stage and in the surrounding scenery.

These LED blinders, supplied by Prolights distributor Lightpower, stood out for their ability to visually define the stage space and provide quality lighting - essential qualities for television filming.

"When designing for an unplugged s

USA - In the space of just over a month, Salem, Oregon-based church sound specialists Alpha Sound has designed and installed Nexo Geo M6 line array systems in two houses of worship: Salem Heights, a gospel-centred church with music at the heart of the celebration and, on the other side of the country, St. Catherine of Siena in Wake Forest, North Carolina, a traditional Catholic church.

“Geo M6 proved to be the perfect solution for both, even though the worship spaces and requirements for the systems were very different,” says Alpha Sound’s lead engineer Devin Sheets. “In fact, we put 36 boxes of Geo M6 in both churches, within 36 days.”

At Salem Heights, the significant expansion of an existing Alpha Sound installed Nexo system coincided with a major building renovation, with the new system required to perform with the punch and SPL require

USA - Elation lighting has long been a staple of Coachella shows, and this year’s edition of Southern California’s premier music festival was no exception, with the event awash in Elation lighting technology. The newly revamped Sahara Tent, an anchor of the festival’s electrifying atmosphere, was adorned with over 950 Elation lights, while Elation gear also graced the Main Stage, Quasar Stage, and Outdoor Theatre.

Coachella delivered yet another diverse and eclectic experience across two weekends in April, featuring 147 acts across eight stages. Todd Roberts, of Production Design Works, spearheaded the production and lighting design for the Sahara Tent, incorporating a myriad of Elation lighting fixtures supplied by Aspect Lighting.

Roberts is a Coachella production original, having worked the festival since its inception. Shifting from the Out

USA - Empowered by X-Laser fixtures and Mercury Laser Control firmware, Ben Jarrett of Squeek Lights in Sayreville, N.J. designed the lighting for metalcore band Beartooth on their 2024 North American tour.

“In our early design meetings, Caleb [Shomo, lead singer for Beartooth] talked about bringing an arena-style show to smaller and mid-sized venues,” Jarrett said. “Whether that night’s stop was at a 3,000-capacity theatre or a 900-capacity club, he wanted every show to come at you and feel like it was taking place in a much larger setting.”

To accomplish this, Jarrett and the Squeek Lights team knew the Beartooth stage had to generate immense lighting output to provide that big arena feel from a smaller footprint. The band wanted numerous special effects as part of the design, and lasers played a major part in creating those big, impactfu

UK - Despite having a population of less than 5000, the North Yorkshire town of Malton enjoys top quality music, comedy and touring theatre shows at its much-loved local venue and community hub The Milton Rooms.

First built in the early 1800s, the venue is now run as a not-for-profit organisation by an active team of volunteers and features a 300-seat main theatre space with a new, world-class Nexo sound system supplied by Nexo distributors A.C. Entertainment Technologies, in collaboration with installers North Star Engineers.

After an independent assessment concluded the venue needed expert advice to overcome its poor acoustics, AC-ET calculated the best options for the new sound system using Nexo's NS-1 acoustic prediction software, which enables users to configure their speaker placement in any venue setup, and then predict the optimal sound cover

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