USA - Jon Pardi’s Ain’t Always The Cowboy tour features a towering lighting rig, industrial influenced riser, and scenic design. Chris Reade, KYVA’s lighting designer, credits Jay Ballinger, the company’s set designer with turning their client’s vision into reality. “Jay and Jon really came together on this,” said Reade. “The idea was to project strength through masculine steel beams and rugged structural elements.” Reade designed a potent Elite Multimedia supplied lighting rig that featured 190 Chauvet Professional fixtures to accentuate and enlarge the evocative set design. “The lighting architecture is boxy to be consistent with the set; and there are some angles that make it feel larger overall,” he said. “Jay's overall concept changed within our process, but we wanted to have a “wall of light” within the set. We have contrast bet
Columbia - German lighting designer Dennis Feichtner was delighted that the Robe moving lights specified on his production lighting plot were available at each show on a recent Latin American tour with black metal gurus, Emperor. The band, spearheaded the Norwegian inspired second wave of the genre in the 1990s, and now reform occasionally for special performances and festivals playing hits from their three seminal albums of that era. These are always sold out. A loyal cult following of dedicated fans worldwide are renowned for their enthusiasm and nowhere was that more evident than in Latin America. Dennis enjoys the theatrical and dramatic potential of black metal was very excited to land in the LD ‘hot seat’ for Emperor earlier in 2021. The Latam shows were the first gigs of the year for the band, the first time Emperor had played the territory outside of
USA - Rapper and singer Jelly Roll is out on the road performing with a lighting system from Bandit Lites. The Southern hip hop country rock breakout artist recently hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart, leading as the top emerging act in the US for the first time thanks to his new album, Ballads of the Broken. The Son of a Sinner singer has been touring with Shinedown on their Planet Zero World Tour. As Jelly Roll’s sound crosses multiple music genres, his team called upon lighting director Nate Cromwell to program a show that wouldn’t resemble a traditional hip hop, country or rock show, but instead showcase a performance that is as unique and dynamic as he is. “They also didn’t want him, or the message to get lost in all of the visual noise that can be achieved these days,” said Cromwell, “therefore my approach was to try to
Poland - Established for over 50 years, the renowned Musical Theatre in Poznań, west Poland, has premiered a remarkable number of hit shows across the decades, many of which were written especially for the theatre and proceeded to become celebrated productions performed across the country. With an audience capacity of approximately 400, the specialist venue prides itself on production values, and with a new high-profile play coming to the theatre, the venue made the timely decision to upgrade its long-serving DiGiCo console from an SD5 to a dedicated theatre model, the SD7T. Among recent productions was Irena, a newly authored play that explores the story of Polish woman, Irena Sendler, who saved over 2,000 Jewish children from the holocaust during World War II. The English-language libretto was written by Polish-born US-based journalist, Piotr Piwowarczyk, an
Romania - A large array of Claypaky fixtures illuminated the eighth edition of Flowers of the Soul: Remember Florian Pittis, a two-day tribute concert held in Bucharest last June honouring the Romanian stage and television actor, folk singer, writer and director who died in 2007. “It can be tricky to create something for an already installed simple stage, but with the help of Claypaky fixtures we managed to design a friendly folk music festival in the heart of the city,” reports lighting designer Bogdan Gradisteanu from Marbo Trade, a Bucharest-based production and rental company and Claypaky distributor. For the rig, he used a selection of Claypaky Sharpy, Mythos 2, HY B-EYE K15, Scenius Profile, Mini-B and Stormy CC fixtures. “We chose them for their versatility to accommodate all the different performances during the festival,” Gradisteanu explains.
World - Michael Bublé’s ongoing Higher Tour could best be described as an intimate party on a grand scale. It’s a full-tilt production in every respect, replete with a massive four-tier stage set to accommodate a full orchestra and backup singers – augmented on occasion by strings and a 10-piece choir – plus extensive lighting effects and four giant video screens. For audio support, Bublé is again carrying a ‘dual hybrid’ Meyer Sound reinforcement system, comprising both main stage arrays plus massive centre-hung arrays which function as an over-specified delay system when Bublé is on the main stage and as an in-the-round system when he occupies the B-stage. This time, however, the tour has slimmed down its audio footprint by replacing most former Leo Family and all M Series systems with 76 new Panther large-format linear line array loudspeakers.
USA - The metal bar structure that runs across the front of the stage on KoRn’s current tour suggests images of incarceration, and the loss of freedom it brings. This serves as a foil for the metal band from the instant they kick off their show and blow that suggestion out of the water with a ferocious rendition of Rotting In Vain. Reflecting the spirit of KoRn and their music is a potent, rapid-fire 20-universe light and video show run by Thomas ‘Church’ Christmann on his ChamSys MagicQ MQ500, that features blinding back lighting, a blow-through video wall, bold color palettes, and big, often theatrical, looks. “I’ve been told I have a very aggressive, but still theatrical, way to do my shows,” said Christmann, who has been working for KoRn since 2016. “This is a perfect way to work with KoRn. My goal is to support the show without distracting fro
The Netherlands - Held between 19-21 August 2022 at Evenemententerrein Walibi Holland in Biddinghuizen, Lowlands Festival is the largest and multi-day festival in The Netherlands. Themed as “A Campingflight to Lowlands Paradise”, the festival is spread out over a natural area which includes its famous campsite and a variety of stages offering a wide variety of bands, DJs, speakers and theatre. Headliners for 2022 included the Arctic Monkeys, Stromae, Sam Fender, Amelie Lens and Tash Sultana, and attracted over 65,000 visitors. The festival’s technical supplier, Ampco Flashlight Rental, catered for the audio and lighting for all stages with Ayrton taking a prominent place on each stage. “Every type of Ayrton fixture was present from Mistral to Huracán,” says Ampco Flashlight Rental’s account manager, Mathijs de Vries. Of the main stages and venues, the Alp
Finland - Rapper Pyhimys staged a three-hour performance at Helsinki’s Ice Hall in September, designed to celebrate his 20 years of industry success. Key to the show was categorised themes recalling milestone career moments, with cleverly created graphics taking the audience on a journey through time. At the core of the visuals was a Hippotizer Boreal+ Media Server, expertly programmed and operated by the team at Visual45. A focus of the stage design was a large, semi-transparent upstage LED screen made up of ROE Vanish8 panels, with two samller IMAG screens stage left and right, consisting of ROE MC9. The back screen was raised to reveal Pyhimys and his musicians, before being lowered down into place to display graphics created by Visual45 and driven through the Boreal+. The IMAG screens were used mainly for live feed. “We were asked to design Pyhimys’s concert
USA - Chicago’s three-day Riot Fest, held annually in the city’s Douglass Park, again proved a triumph for Martin Audio’s MLA PA and the company’s long-serving rental partner, Technotrix. With five stages set within a relatively small site, tight sound control to avoid spillage into the surrounding neighbourhood is paramount. Technotrix audio dept manager, Brent Bernhardt has long known that he can depend on the manufacturer’s proprietary ‘Hard Avoid’ and cardioid pre-set adjustments to ensure cancellation and rear rejection on the three stages populated by the Martin Audio systems, to prevent sound bleeding into areas where it’s not required. As one of the largest independently owned music festivals the line-up this year included My Chemical Romance, The Original Misfits and Nine Inch Nails. For Technotrix, who were originally tasked with equippi
USA - The 2022 MTV VMAs (Video Music Awards) was staged at the Prudential Centre in Newark, New York, and lit for the third year by Tom Sutherland of DX7 Design. Tom, known for his fresh and innovative approach, utilised 229 Robe moving lights among others on a vast lighting rig that helped emcees Nikki Minaj, LL Cool J and Jack Harlow bring the onstage action – featuring 11 live performances – alive in a megamix of beams, colour, textures, and movement. Tom worked closely with set designer Heather Shaw from Vita Motus, camera director Liz Clare, creative director Paul Caslin, screens producer Trevor Burke from Visual Noise Creative and executive producers Bruce Gillmer, Jesse Ignjatovic and Barb Bialkowski to help craft the hi-energy show. It featured two identical triangular-shaped stages built at the long ends of the arena, both with LED floors and each with la
USA - Established in 1871, mainly by the diaspora of Danish farmers flocking to Cedar Falls, Iowa, for the territory’s fertile soil, Nazareth Lutheran Church has undergone various changes over its past 150 years. Like many other houses of worship, one of those updates was a choice to host both traditional choir/organ and contemporary worship services on Sundays to better cater to parishioners’ preferences in worship style. Just this year, Nazareth Lutheran sought to stay current in another way - by updating its PA system to one that would not only deliver exceptional sound for both musical genres but also position the church for its next generation of worshipers. That decision was made manifest with the installation this summer of an L-Acoustics immersive sound system featuring the new L-ISA Processor II, which was critical in bringing the next generation of sonic techno
UK - Many in the UK start their day with Morning Live, a topical live morning programme on the BBC that has resonated with audiences since first airing in 2020. The programme, which airs on BBC One, moved to a new studio in the heart of Manchester earlier this year. ELP, a trading division of White Light, was asked to supply the lighting for the show at the new Versa ABC Studio and turned to Elation Professional’s KL Fresnel 8 FC PO LED fixture as a key component of the rig. ELP has worked on a multitude of live broadcasts and has a reputation of fulfilling the lighting requirements of a diverse range of customers. ELP sales director Darren Fletcher comments: “We were approached by Versa to supply the lighting for Morning Live, which would be filmed live within their 11th floor ABC Studio. Our job was to work closely with the lighting designers, Dave Evans and lat
Denmark - Skive Kulturcenter (Cultural Centre) is a vibrant multipurpose entertainment hub in the city of Skive, that serves all the Jutland region with music, films, arts, and sports activities. Its main Concert Hall which stages international gigs and events accommodates 1200 (seated) and 1800 (standing). The complex also has three handball arenas, a swimming centre, a gym and a cinema hall for movies, and the Skive Theatre, a separate venue in the city, is also run by the same team. The Kulturcenter is known for its state-of-the-art production facilities, and the complete building was further refurbished during the pandemic, including an investment in Robe moving lights which was integral to this project and saw the purchase of 10 x T2 Profiles, 12 x Tarrantula LED wash beams and 12 x LEDBeam 350 FWs, all for the Concert Hall. The fixtures were specified by
UK - This week, 11 October, sees Andy May, long-time front of house engineer for Status Quo and other high-profile artists, hosting a free live sound masterclass to celebrate the launch of the new Yamaha PA demo space at the guitarguitar store in Glasgow. With branches in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Birmingham, London and Epsom, guitarguitar is a key destination for musicians throughout the UK. As well as instruments, the company also sells a comprehensive range of equipment for every aspect of both live and studio production. The new PA demo space is the result of a shared vision between guitarguitar and Yamaha Pro Audio, showcasing Yamaha’s full range of powered D-series PA speakers, alongside TF, MG and EMX series mixers. A bespoke switching system, using Yamaha’s ultra-flexible ProVisionaire Touch app, lets users quickly switch between systems by simply to
UK - ADI are set to bring innovative sports presentation, AV technologies and creative staging to the World Gymnastics Championships Liverpool 2022. From 29 October to 6 November, Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena will play host to over 500 of the world’s greatest gymnasts from over 75 countries, and after an extensive consultation process, ADI have been chosen to lead the transformation of three venues across the ACC Liverpool complex. With the event theme, ‘Welcome to our World’, ADI will be managing all of the digital engagement platforms throughout the M&S Bank Arena, Fan Zone and Athlete’s After Party, including the technical delivery of dynamic content, audio and lighting for the sports presentation elements. In addition to this, 750sqm of modular LED will be installed, creating 15 digital touchpoints for spectators to interact with. The platform
France - The art of lighting design lies not only in how it heightens an audience’s visual experience, but also (sometimes), in what it shields an audience from seeing. Guillaume Fournier and Victor Lagiewski from Chromatik mastered both ends of this artistic spectrum recently at the Fous Chantants d’Alès concert, featuring Pascal Obispo. A thousand-member choir joined the superstar singer/songwriter on a 50m open stage for his performance. To preserve the dramatic impact of their arrival, they had to step on to the stage unseen by the audience in the Arènes du Tempéras arena. This was not a simple endeavour, given that the venue’s big stage has no curtain. Nevertheless, Fournier and Lagiewski, along with AD Fabrice Schwingrouber, were able to cloak the choir’s entrance in secrecy by expertly practicing the art of concealment. During the seven or so minutes
UK - The Reminisce Arena at 90’s dance music festival Reminisce in St Helens, Merseyside, boasts an impressive line-up of dance legends including 2 Unlimited, Baby D, Rozalla and Tall Paul, with Alice Deejay, 5ive, Fatman Scoop, Whigfield, Phats and Smalls and Pat Sharp appearing on other stages. oXyFire Media has been supporting Reminisce for a number of years, and uses the Blackmagic URSA Broadcast G2, Blackmagic HyperDeck Studio HD Mini and the Blackmagic Constellation 8K to broadcast the Reminisce Arena. “It’s great fun, but the weather and the distances can make it an interesting challenge,” said Jay Rozanski, oXyFire Media. “But it also gives us the opportunity to keep improving how we operate.” oXyFire Media chose a mixture of equipment for the festival, including the Blackmagic URSA Broadcast G2 on a 30ft jib and the Blackmagic HyperDeck Stud
Australia – A flightcase full of Green-GO headsets and beltpacks kept TV crews connected for Australia’s first commercial space launch recently, as NASA launched from Arnhem Space Centre (ASC) in the sparsely populated Northern Territory. Broadcaster BIE Creative was challenged with producing a livestream of the build-up to the launch and of the launch itself, which was hosted on the Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA) YouTube page. It was ELA’s first collaboration with NASA, which chose their spaceport to fire a BBIX rocket, carrying an atmospheric observation/sensing platform to observe the AlphaCentauri constellations. The milestone moment for Australia required the BIE Creative team to maintain reliable, continuous contact with each other. A Green-GO system comprising HS200Single and HS200Dual Headsets, and WBPX wireless and BPX wired Beltpacks, interfacing to
Japan - On 25 September, Skymagic delivered a one-of-a-kind drone light show in Yumeshima, Osaka for the Expo 2025 three year countdown event, attracting around 15,000 spectators from the ground below. Consisting of 800 drones, the display was one of the largest drone light shows Japan has ever seen. The start of the show saw the official character of the Osaka Kansai Expo, Myaku Myaku, illuminate the sky as a 135m-high image, followed by a dynamic countdown and the vibrant Let’s Go Expo 2025 logo. The rest of the show depicted stunning formations of life in a diverse array of forms, including creatures from nature, symbols of traditional Japanese culture and motifs unique to Osaka, collectively telling the story of the Expo’s theme: Designing a Future Society for our Lives, and celebrating the brilliance and diversity of life. Some of the formations
USA - Bad Bunny enjoyed a celebrated sold-out tour earlier this year and is currently repeating the success, this time in stadiums across North and South America on his World’s Hottest Tour. Production/show designer for the tour is Travis Shirley, who is using Elation Professional’s new Proteus Rayzor Blade linear light as an effect workhorse on the show. With his latest album Un Verano Sin Ti breaking records, ticket sales for the tour have been through the roof with the Puerto Rican superstar selling out across the U.S. A Latin American leg is set to kick off this month. Shirley first worked with Bad Bunny last December on two triumphant shows in Puerto Rico. Following that success, he was enlisted to start design work for the World’s Hottest Tour, an ambitious trek across the Americas that launched on 5 August in Orlando. Lighting vendor for the tour i
UK - This summer, Creative Technology worked on a multitude of the UK’s largest and most popular major outdoor music events and festivals. May marked the start of festival season for Creative Technology’s audio team with the return of The Great Escape Festival, followed by BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Coventry, delivering LED main screens along with LED columns and a DJ Riser. June’s highlights included Liam Gallagher - Knebworth Park, where CT provided large I-mag screens and a control package for the singer’s largest solo gig to date – twenty-six years on from his show as part of Oasis back in 1996 where CT supplied LED screens, OB vans and cameras. The audio team headed to Red Rooster Festival in the heart of Suffolk, while the video team prepared for the British-created rock festival, Download, where I-mags and FOH screens were supplied – short
UK - A project of more than four years in the making, the University of Strathclyde has recently migrated from a collection of all-analogue-based, stand-alone sound systems to a new Dante audio network, bringing much needed flexibility and efficiency Campbell Jamieson, the learning support manager for the university, explained that over the last several years the university has been ambitiously transforming and upgrading its campus. Serious about creating and maintaining a world-class environment, investment for the transformation is set to reach £1bn by 2025. In 2018, Jamieson and his team were looking for a way to bring a unified audio experience to the campus and to make the system easier and faster to set up and use. Luckily for them, a Dante audio network platform was able to bring everything together and as soon as the pandemic hit in 2020, it took on even grea
USA - To provide Grammy-winning hard rock band Halestorm with simple but impactful lighting for their 2022 US tour, Bandit Lites deployed a dynamic rig using Martin Professional lighting solutions. Formed in 1997 by siblings Arejay and Lzzy Hale, Halestorm is considered one of the premier torch-bearers for hard rock and metal touring today. In support of their latest album Back From the Dead, Halestorm embarked on a summer US tour alongside The Pretty Reckless, The Warning and Lilith Czar. With budget and gear constraints still affecting the live music industry following the COVID-19 pandemic, the band wanted a lighting rig that heightened their classic-meets-modern rock sound and provided maximum impact for their fans despite the logistical limitations. To meet these goals, lighting designer Craig Richter worked with Bandit Lites and Scott Anderson from Marti
