Portugal - The new cultural district in Porto, known as World of Wine (WOW), comprises a cluster of museums, restaurants, and bars that form an immersive journey through the region’s port production heritage. WOW’s management team decided they wanted to install a comprehensive, premium audio system to guide people through the various exhibits and deliver the immersive soundscapes that help make the venue different. Genelec loudspeakers were chosen for studio-quality sound, flexibility, and reliability. Over 400 Genelec loudspeakers are utilised across all the spaces. The brief was simple; to build an interactive experience that would attract, entertain, and educate tourists on various aspects of Portugal’s cultural history. Local Genelec distributor Garrett Audiovisuais secured the contract and specified an extensive list of Genelec equipment, working in tandem
Thailand - Standing more than 40 stories above the bustling city of Bangkok is Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok rooftop bar, equipped with ethereal gardens, live DJs and stunning views. The rooftop bar, Bar.Yard, mirrors the beauty of the city through futuristic designs and technology. With an abundance of ambient noise from the lively city below, the needs of DJs to foster an entertaining space for guests and the threat of inclement weather, Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok relied on Renkus-Heinz sound solutions to meet its needs while not distracting guests from the architectural beauty of the space. Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok is named for the maa-lai flower bouquet, a traditional gift given to guests in Thai culture. Working with Bangkok-based AV integration firm Vichai Trading 1983 and AV consultant Atkrist Co., Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok upgraded the rooftop bar’s audio, visual and con
UK - The Chai Wallahs stage has proved popular with up-and-coming acts as it tours around UK festivals. With a self-contained setup and its own roster of artists, Chai Wallahs has built its reputation around a quality experience for both bands and crew. The sound system has played a major role in developing this reputation, with sound engineer and system designer, Harry Bishop central to this process for nearly 15 years. “The stage is quite famed for its audio,” says Bishop. “The big feedback from the audience and from the bands has always been the quality of the sound.” Bishop had been using a solution from one manufacturer since the independent stage first hit the festival scene. However, he had grown increasingly disillusioned with the sound quality he was getting and started to explore different options. During this process he was introduced to TW Audio.
USA - Surrounded by the scenic views of Alamogordo, the 800-seat Christ Community Church was struggling to provide quality audio with their aging and original PA. With the decision made to upgrade their system, the task of finding a modern solution capable of delivering great sound evenly to every seat was given to technical director Jacob Pierce. With a big assist from industry experts Michael Garrison Associates (MGA), Pierce found the solution he was looking for with a custom Anna and Otto ADAPTive system from Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW). The new EAW upgrade consists of a total of 12 Anna loudspeaker arrays, four Otto subwoofers and eight EAW JF8 2-way loudspeakers. The eight JF8’s are used as front-fill speakers and are spread out evenly from the back of the platform in a trapezoidal pattern. The new EAW ADAPTive PA system is run through an Allen & Heath dLive con
USA - Nate Haber of Extraterrestrial Visuals believes in serving the client. “I think it’s important to note that design and programming are part of a service industry,” Haber says, in the middle of working with Lorna Shore on their national The Pain Remains Tour. “My main goal is to align my vision with that of my client. They know what they like and don’t like. Of course, on this tour, it helps that my design preferences line up with their vision. “This is a metal band, and an extremely heavy one at that,” said Haber. “So yes, our show is dark and moody, but in the age of social media, it’s also important that fans be able to see the band, especially one that’s as well-known to them as Lorna Shore. It’s also important that they be able to take good photos and videos. So, I try to strike a balance and add a higher level of light at different moments.
USA - The ambience, smells, tastes and cultural whiffs of traditional Italy and its Tuscany region can be sampled by diners delving into the cuisine offered at the Romanza restaurant in Reno, Nevada, USA. Part of the Peppermill Resort Hotel & Spa property, the whole Romanza eating experience is now newly intensified with an Anolis interior architectural LED lighting installation that has brought extra life and vibrance to this foodie hot spot. The new lighting scheme – comprising Anolis Eminere and ArcSource 4MC luminaires – was designed and specified by John Priebe, production lighting lead for the whole Peppermill complex, who co-ordinates lighting for all areas with color changing luminaires installed in addition to lighting the numerous events and conventions that are staged in the complex. The Anolis fixtures replace an older lighting scheme that
France - Parc de la Villette is both a park - the third largest in Paris - and a focal point for art, music, and culture, housing the city’s largest concentration of cultural venues, including the Philharmonie de Paris and Cité de la Musique. It’s also home to the physically and psychologically imposing Grand Halle de la Villette. A stunning example of 19th century cast iron and glass architecture, designed famous French architect Victor Baltard, the venue was originally an abattoir and was transformed into a multi-use space in 1985. The Grand Halle hosts diverse events including exhibitions, concerts, theatre shows and festivals. The annual Jazz à La Villette festival, hosted here, attracts more than 30,000 jazz enthusiasts every September. The Grande Halle, which includes the 5,000 capacity Grand Halle, the Salle Charlie Parker and the Nave, was one of the firs
UAE - The UAEFA President’s Cup took place at the Al Ain’s Hazza bin Zayed Stadium on 21 October 2022. Creative Technology delivered a spectacular projection which was mapped across the football pitch for the opening ceremony and distributed sitewide show communication for the annual tournament. One of the key highlights from the evening was the projection show that covered a 1200 sqm area. CT supplied four double-stacked Panasonic PT-RQ50K projectors, to achieve 600 lux projection, installed in a bespoke purpose-built structure that was fully enclosed and temperature-controlled. Projection was integrated on a fully redundant network ring controlled from FOH and utilised CT’s new 1G and 10G fibre networking solutions. Playback was powered by Disguise VX4 Suite and full 4k signal distribution. Carlos Aguilar, deputy head of video commented, “It's always a
UK - Coyote Ugly, the successful nightlife franchise that started in New York City’s East Village, has come to the UK, opening a new location in Camden, London. In order to emulate the well-known culture of the Coyote Ugly brand and energize the eager crowds, the venue turned to Renkus-Heinz for the sound solution to match the high energy of the bar known for its bartop dancing. For nearly 30 years, Coyote Ugly has been a source of entertainment in person and on screen. From the original New York Saloon to the cult classic of the same name, Coyote Ugly serves a wide following. Cardiff-based AV integrator Spartan AV and UK-based AV distributor CUK Group worked to specify and install a complete sound system. "Coyote Ugly's brand and its guest experience are both founded on music. Fans remember the songs that helped to make Coyote Ugly an iconic name," said James Lawfor
Ukraine - Emily Resort is a premium multifunctional complex offering a wide choice of recreational facilities, including a 166-room hotel, a wellness and spa area, and a medical centre and all-season pistes for skiing. Close to the historic centre of Lviv with picturesque views of the Vynnykivs’ke Lake, the flagship of the venue’s extensive list of offerings is the Emily Event Hall. It’s the largest concert hall in Western Ukraine, featuring the country’s most complex permanent 3D mapping projection weaved into the venue’s undulating indoor mesh wall, as well as the country’s first L-Acoustics K3 audio system, installed by L-Acoustics official distributor for Ukraine and Moldova, RealMusic. The 1,500m² event space has everything necessary to host world-class events, including a large stage with high-quality sound and lighting equipment, a well-organised ba
Germany - Munich’s traditional weekend of classical music, Klassik am Odeonsplatz, by Pro Events Veranstaltungs GmbH, which is held in the historic city-centre square named after the former concert hall on its north-western side, took place in mid-July 2022. Over two sold-out nights the event hosted a programme of classical music from the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra on the first night, conducted by Daniel Harding, and an evening of movie theme music played by the Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle ahead of his three-year residency as conductor of the Munich Philharmonic next year. The performances were enjoyed each night by an audience of 8000 people and broadcast live to 1.5million viewers on Germany’s premier ARD television station. Assistant lighting designer in charge of programming and key lighting, Nick Schmitt, jo
UK – The summer season at Warwick Castle presented back-to-back challenges for Full Production, called upon by event producer Pixel Artworks to provide lighting, crew and expertise for the historic venue’s two big visitor attractions – Dragon Slayer and Sundown Spectacular. Warwick Castle, owned by Merlin Entertainments, hosted the two family-fun attractions in the spacious castle courtyard, just a few days apart in August. Pixel Artworks brought in Full Production having worked with them on a number of previous projects. Full Production’s director of live events and touring, Marc Thornton, served as lighting designer and led the company’s team under the guidance of Pixel Artworks’ production manager, Joe Kelly. The first show, Dragon Slayer, had two acts: the first - a live action extravaganza complete with knights on horseback battlin
USA - Martin Audio partner Soundworks of Virginia equipped the five main stages of the long-running Richmond Folk Festival, an annual celebration of American culture and roots music, with the manufacturer’s optimisable Wavefront Precision line array speakers. Promoted by Venture Richmond, a non-profit organization, this three-day free festival, with which Soundworks have been involved for more than a decade, is held annually in the city’s downtown Riverfront Plaza area - spanning an area of almost 20 acres. An offshoot of the National Folk Festival, it is one of the largest events in Virginia, drawing around 200,000 visitors from across the country and featuring more than 30 global artists. Some 130 Martin Audio components were specified across the site, and Soundworks’ founder and CEO, Steve Payne, notes that this exhausted all 124 available channels of their 31
The Netherlands – Event and broadcast comms specialist Green-GO is celebrating sales of its Wireless Belt-Pack X (WBPX) reaching the golden number of 10,000 – just as its wired counterpart, the BPX, had already done. To mark this milestone, the manufacturer, ELC, kept aside the WBPX unit with serial number 10000 – had it gold-plated, just as it had done with the 10,000th BPX - and presented it to ELC founder and Green-GO inventor, Joost van Eenbergen. The WBPX units with serial numbers either side of 10000 were dispatched as usual to Green-GO’s global customer network. As chance would have it, the shipment went about as far as it could go, to Green-GO’s distributor for Australia & New Zealand, Sydney-based Event Communications Australia. Opening the package was sales and marketing manager Rod McKinnon. “With that particular shipment,” he recalls, “
South Africa - Located in the heart of Sandton, Johannesburg, Zioux is a fusion of food, drinks and music with a funky lounge vibe and interior design inspired by South African wildlife. Zioux manager Dino Constantinou is into technology and knew lighting would be integral to creating the right ambience in the restaurant. He was delighted when DWR specified 18 x Robe moving lights – 12 x LEDBeam 150s and six Spotes fitted with wide angle lenses – to help make the atmosphere extra special. Johnny Scholtz headed the project for DWR. Dino already had ideas about what he wanted, which was lighting to create subtle effects and texturing around the room for general dining, which could be ramped up to generate excitement and hustle for the later evenings and live DJ sets at the weekends. The venue is also used for events which have different and additional lighting requi
USA - A festival celebrating the earliest form of aviation was complemented by the very latest in aviation technology, when drone show specialist Verge Aero flew a series of spectacular light shows for the 50th anniversary Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta (AIBF) in New Mexico. Known as “the most photographed event in the world”, the AIBF is a celebration of the oldest human aviation technique, the hot-air balloon, pioneered by the Montgolfier brothers in 1783 and capturing imaginations ever since. This year, the spectacle attracted around 900,000 visitors over its eight-day run in October – and the organisers were, as ever, pushing the boundaries of entertainment for their awe-struck audiences. “We’ve been interested in drones since we first saw them a number of years ago at Superbowl Half-Time,” says AIBF executive director Paul Smith. “The cost
USA - Panic! at the Disco kickstarted their Viva Las Vengeance arena tour at Austin’s Moody Center in September, with a 70s and 80s rock-influenced high-octane show. Conjuring up rich colours and sharp beams were 128 VL2600 Profile luminaires from Vari-Lite. Celebrated production designer Sooner Routhier worked closely with the band and their management to design and build the show, collaborating with Alex Specht as associate lighting designer/lighting director and André Petrus as associate production designer/lighting programmer. Together, they created a design that would take the audience back to the early days of large arena rock productions, as the band played their new album in its entirety in Act II of the show. (Acts I and III saw the group treat fans to their biggest hits.) “We resurrected pods of lights seen in vintage rock productions and added a
Portugal - Rock In Rio is a long-established part of the international festival circuit and one of the world’s largest, hosting around 100,000 fans each day across the 16 performance spaces at the city’s Cidade do Rock (City of Rock), originally built for the first Rock In Rio in 1985. The Brazilian version is the festival’s flagship event, a sister production staged periodically in Lisbon, Portugal. This year’s event was held over the first two weekends in September and featured a typically diverse range of headliners from heavy metal to pop and dance. Sao Paulo-based Gabisom Audio Equipment continued their long association with the event in 2022 and once again deployed part of their Outline Newton inventory to manage their sound systems. Freelance sound engineer / system technician Ewerton Leandro Manca was working with the Newtons throughout the event and c
USA - Big concert tours were back in a big way this past summer and The Weeknd’s ambitious After Hours til Dawn outing is perhaps the best example. Lighting designer Jason Baeri is using over 450 Elation Proteus Hybrid and Proteus Excalibur moving head luminaires as workhorse fixtures on the tour, an elaborate, visually striking show that has been selling out major stadiums across North America since July. The first leg of the all-stadium tour kicked off on 14 July at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia and concludes on 27 November at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The tour is also scheduled to visit South America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Australia. After Hours til Dawn is a monumental show that reflects the artist’s status as one of the world's best-selling music artists and is his most ambitious production to date. The conceptual show,
UK - Owned by the True North Brew Co, The Old Grindstone in Crookes is a popular Sheffield pub which recently underwent an extensive programme of refurbishment. Essential to the overall refurbishment, particularly in the light of the pub’s commitment to a wide programme of events, was to install a high-quality, versatile and flexible zonal audio system that could fulfil a wide range of demands. The pub needed to be able to separately control audio for four music zones, five TV screens, meeting room, and two recently installed upstairs karaoke pods. Any solution needed to be powerful enough to meet all the requirements whilst being simultaneously easy to operate for the venue staff. Sheffield-based Audio Engineering Services was engaged to install the new system. Audio Engineering Services’ Andy Fisher consulted with Polar’s Integrated Solutions team about a pote
Austria – Guitar player Nita Strauss has played and toured with Alice Cooper for years and is currently with Demi Lovato. Earlier this year, Strauss became the first female rock solo artist in 32 years to hit number one on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart with her song Dead Inside. She’s also had a successful solo career, including her album Controlled Chaos. She is believed to be a descendant of Austrian composer Johann Strauss on her father’s side and keeping in concert with her Austrian connection, Strauss has been using Austrian Audio microphones on stage. "Austrian Audio checks all the boxes for a working musician - pristine, clear sound in a stylish package,” says Strauss. “We have been using them on our recent tour with Black Label Society." The band, completed a 17-stop US tour earlier this year, putting the microphones to the test -
Belgium - Completed in 2002, the Paul Robbrecht and Hilde Daem designed Concertgebouw Brugge has been hailed the world over for, as one critic wrote, “its acoustic wizardry,” the result of a series of technological innovations that reduce the length of reverberations. In keeping with its commitment to providing the most pristine acoustical experience possible, Concertgebouw Brugge replaced its traditional tungsten moving fixtures with the Chauvet Professional Maverick Silens 2 Profile, a completely fan-less LED fixture designed to operate in total silence. Concertgebouw Brugge installed the first eight of its 20 Maverick Silens 2 Profile units during the COVID lockdown; the remaining dozen were added just recently. “We went ahead and acquired more of the fixtures, because we were so impressed with the original eight,” said stage manager Geerolf Jacques. “Ove
Estonia - Robe was the moving light of choice for the 2022 Saaremaa Opera Festival staged in a purpose-built tented arena erected beside the charismatic Kuressaare Castle in the south of Saaremaa Island which was the dramatic location for five days of popular opera and other performances, all presented this year by the Silesian Opera (Opera Śląska) from Bytom, Poland. The substantial venue measured 30m wide by 60m long and accommodated 8000 guests over five days. The event was organised by Eesti Concert and saw a repertoire programme comprising operas Romeo & Juliet and La Traviata, a gala show, a Mozart evening with a ballet production of his Requiem and a specially created children’s opera. Polish LD Dominik Ksol created a production lighting design to cover all five shows, and was assisted in Estonia by Andres Sarv and Tõnis Järs from
Malaysia - When a retailer staged its first public exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, it kicked off the event with a party for 300 VIP guests capped by a light and drone show in the heart of the city. Lighting designer Michael Chan of Singapore-based Lighting Insomnia designed the lights and lasers for the event using 120 Claypaky Mythos 2 fixtures mounted on the 6th Floor of Suria KLCC (the rooftop), which is connected to the Twin Towers on both sides. Guests attending the party at the nearby Sky Garden at Permata Sapura were invited into the garden at the close of the evening to enjoy the surprise of a thrilling aerial show. “As the first private event to be held at the Petronas Twin Towers, the idea was to have power light beams emit from the towers and create an awe-inspiring light and drone show in the heart of the city,” explains Michael. “I believe it was the fi
