World - Ayrton has announced that it will continue to support the Women In Lighting project throughout 2022 via its exclusive WIL Entertainment Lighting Partnership. Founded in 2019 by Sharon Stammers and Martin Lupton of Light Collective, and already well-established in the field of architectural lighting, WIL exists to provide an inspirational digital platform that profiles women working in lighting and lighting design, celebrating and promoting their work and career paths. It challenges the underrepresentation of women within the industry and aims to support and encourage the next generation. Ayrton’s primary aim is to raise awareness and broaden the reach of the WIL project to include women working in entertainment lighting - not just lighting designers, but women working in all aspects of entertainment lighting. “We are thrilled that WIL has chosen to wo
UK - To ensure a concert-quality audio experience for new West End theatre production Get Up Stand Up!, Stage Sound Services deployed a JBL Professional VTX Series line array sound reinforcement system. Premiered in October 2021, Get Up Stand Up! is a musical theatre production that tells the life story of Bob Marley. Based at the Lyric Theatre in London’s West End, the show has earned both critical and commercial acclaim, with performances routinely playing to sold-out audiences. Because Marley’s music plays such an integral role in the production, sound designer Tony Gayle required a modern audio system that would deliver concert-like sound quality. At the same time, he needed the sound system to provide natural-sounding speech intelligibility and balanced coverage to ensure a comprehensive theatre experience. At Gayle’s request, the show’s prod
France - Jean-Michel Jarre recently premiered his latest opus Oxymore in a series of headline performances at the inaugural edition of Radio France’s Hyper Weekend Festival in Paris. Creating the definitive environment for an immersive experience, the concerts were staged in the round at the Radio France headquarters, la Maison de la Radio, surrounded by a seated live audience while also being broadcast and live VR streamed to tens of thousands of viewers. The show was made possible by L-Acoustics’ L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound technology, specified by sound design engineer, Hervé Déjardin. “I was involved with Jean-Michel Jarre’s epic virtual concert Welcome to the Other Side last year, during which Jean-Michel and I spent a lot of time discussing how to best present his compositions. We agreed that the most important thing is to compose for
USA - Team PixMob scored its third consecutive Super Bowl win at the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show, featuring performances by hip-hop icons Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California. Montreal-based PixMob dazzled fans in the stands and TV viewers alike with an epic halftime spectacle, one that had to overcome a significant production hurdle. PixMob’s Super Bowl Halftime Show experience this year was their third straight, and fourth overall, at North America’s biggest annual sporting event. It follows unforgettable success at last year’s halftime show featuring The Weeknd, and at the Jennifer Lopez and Shakira performances the year before, both shows together totalling over 200m viewers. The Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals weren’t the only ones aiming to light up the field during the aft
Finland - The University of Applied Sience of Savonia in Finland is marking its 30th anniversary in 2022 and wanted to light Kuopio’s landmark Puijo Tower in pink and white. For this purpose, the executing company Viking Pro Rentals relied on products from Iridium. A total of 33 different devices were used for a wide variety of lighting tasks on the ground and on the 75m high tower. The devices from Iridium ran over a period of three weeks, each for 18 hours a day, with outside temperatures down to -25° C, harsh wind and snowfall. “We have been using Iridium products for years and have only had positive experiences with the products so far,” says Juha Jäppinen, managing director of Viking Pro Rentals. “There were no problems with the devices in this project either. We only had to occasionally clean the lights if it had snowed during the six hours the un
UK - Singer-songwriter and BRIT Awards nominee Joy Crookes has captured hearts with her debut album, Skin. Her current European tour, which started in the UK last year and continues until May, is proving equally successful, with festival appearances secured for the summer. For its theatre-sized venues, Triplex Productions is providing an audio system that centres around DiGiCo’s SD9 and SD11 consoles. This compact yet powerful set-up is ideal where space it at a premium. “I was invited to join the team last summer by the producer of Joy’s album and the creative on this show, it’s the same live production team as British rapper, Kano, who I was working with previously,” says Triplex technical manager, Joe Hawley, who is manning the SD11 at the FOH position. “As the tour is visiting intimate venues, the SD11 and SD9 are an obvious choice given the power of t
USA - When promoting the Cali Vibes festival, organiser California Vibrations, promised fans a chance to step into the SoCal reggae scene with a “stacked line-up” of stars. That’s what they delivered for three days in early February, as their outdoor festival featured 54 performers, from stars like The Marley Brothers and Wu-Tang Clan, to newcomers eager to showcase their talents. The event may have been a feast for reggae fans, but for the production crews responsible for setting up the stage for the various artist, it was also a steep challenge, defined by 10-15 minute change overs and a revolving platform deck. Justin Casey, who designed and setup the show for one of the festival’s headliners, Slightly Stoopid, met this challenge by creating a distinctive and compelling look for his client with a rig that loaded in and out with ease. Key to helping hi
Germany - Global medical technology company Olympus moved into its new Hamburg headquarters for the EMEA region and for Olympus Deutschland last summer. The sustainably constructed new building focuses on interaction as well as new ways of working and offers space for more than 1,200 employees on 11 floors and an area of 35,000sq.m. To promote flexible and hybrid collaboration, Olympus relies on efficient media technology and activity-based working in the new office building. Whether areas for collaborative working or variable conference areas - by means of innovative AV media technology, a future-oriented environment was created that fully supports the collaborative working approach at Olympus. In the new building in Hamburg-Hammerbrook, Amptown System Company GmbH (ASC) equipped more than 400 rooms with media systems. Crestron as the central media control system n
USA - Casas Church launched in the Tucson area in the early 1960s and has kept moving forward ever since, pacing the vibrant region’s own continuing growth. They’ve done the same with their audio technology, becoming an early adopter of the KLANG:fabrik monitoring solution several years ago. Most recently, however, the church became the very first user in North America to acquire the new KLANG:konductor immersive in-ear monitor mix processor. The system, which was purchased through AVLX in Franklin, Tennessee, is now paired with the church’s existing Yamaha Rivage PM5 front-of-house console and Shure PSM 1000 in-ear monitor system. “We upgraded our audio systems in 2020 with the new console, and we integrated three KLANG:fabrik units into our workflow, and they were great,” says Casas Church production director Tyler Moss, who mixes the church’s worship mus
UK - Dance Passion returns to the BBC in early 2022, celebrating all forms and genres of the UK’s vibrant dance sector, in a special collaboration between BBC Arts and One Dance UK, supported by Arts Council England. Nick Jevons was brought onboard by technical production supplier JHAV to light and production manage one of the competition’s regional rounds, staged over two days at TR2 (the Theatre Royal Production Centre) in Plymouth. Nick specified Astera Titan Tubes as a core element of the lighting rig. The Titan Tubes were rigged on their floor mount stands around the dance floor, running fully wirelessly. “The performances all had to look great on multiple cameras,” explains Nick, “and the Titan Tube was a perfect solution that was completely versatile and very easy to re-position which ensured that all the performers had distinctive and differe
USA - Bandit Lites has installed the lighting system for the theme park attraction SkyFly: Soar America. Located in The Island in Pigeon Forge entertainment park in the Great Smokey Mountains of Tennessee, the attraction transports guests to an immersive adventure as they join explorer Peter Wilder and his daughter Hannah on a steampunk airship. They are then whisked away on a flight created by a 50-tonne ride platform that lifts guests into the air before a 50ft spherical screen that showcases America’s most beautiful and iconic locations. The ride was named the # 1 Best New Attraction in the US for 2021 by the readers of USA Today. “It was crucial for us to have a first-class lighting programme that not only defined that world but integrated with the dynamic special effects to make it engaging and magical throughout the guest journey,” says Clay McManus
USA - On 13 February, all eyes were on SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles for Super Bowl LVI where hip-hop stars Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, and Mary J. Blige took the stage, with surprise performances from 50 Cent and Anderson .Paak. Super Bowl halftime veteran Al Gurdon of Incandescent Design was back lighting the show and had a large lighting package at his disposal. This was the Emmy-winning designer’s sixth time lighting the event and with ambient lighting conditions to contend with chose a powerful package that included Proteus Maximus, new Proteus Excalibur, and Protron 3K Color luminaires. Entertainment design group 22 Degrees supported Gurdon in his design including lighting direction. The lighting system, made up of over 600 lighting fixtures, was supplied by PRG. Executive producer of the show was Roc Nation. In terms of what is most impo
UK - Cirque du Soleil has reopened its spectacle, Luzia - A Waking Dream of Mexico, at London’s Royal Albert Hall for a seven-week run. The show transports audiences to an imaginary Mexico where light quenches the spirit and rain soothes the soul. With a combination of grand visual surprises and breath-taking acrobatic performances, Luzia brings the places, faces, and sounds of Mexico to the stage, taking its lead from the country’s extraordinary mix of influences and creative collisions. Alongside a host of carefully chosen suppliers, live audio rental specialist Britannia Row Productions was brought in to ensure that the sound design in London could match the variety of visually striking performance routines that appear on stage. Since 2007, freelance sound system engineer & designer, Sergiy Zhytnikov, has worked on a wide range of Cirque
USA - All Mobile Video (AMV) managed the pool feed for New Year’s Eve in Times Square, capturing audio and video of the crowd, its various stages, and the ball drop itself for the major broadcasters. The company worked closely with production directors from multiple networks, such as ABC and Univision, to capture key events, including Journey’s performance for Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. When AMV built out its new all IP, Dante enabled Eclipse truck this past year, the company relied on intercom solutions from Studio Technologies. AMV incorporated Studio Technologies Dante compatible beltpacks into the new Eclipse truck, including 25 Model 374A Four-Channel Intercom Beltpacks and eight Model 348 Intercom Stations. According to engineer-in-charge Ian Vysick, building a new IP-based truck meant AMV had to reinvent its entire workflow for
USA - Todd Weaver has mixed such hit productions as Good Girls, Doom Patrol, Stranger Things and I,Tonya. Throughout it all, Lectrosonics equipment has always been his trusted sound solution. For his latest project The Menu - a film in which a revenge-bound chef (played by Ralph Fiennes of Voldemort fame) invites unwitting guests to his island restaurant for more than a gourmet meal - he deployed a combination of the company’s time-tested Digital Hybrid Wireless all-digital line. On the Hybrid side were original Venue receivers plus SSM micro belt-pack, SMV, and SMWB wideband transmitters. Heading up the digital arsenal were DSQD receivers and DBSM transmitters. Thanks to Weaver’s Dante skills and Wireless Designer software, this diverse roster of gear functioned as a seamlessly integrated system. “The biggest challenge
USA - iHeartRadio’s ALTer EGO concert 15 January at The Forum in Los Angeles reflected the sold-out crowd’s joy to be back at a live event. Production designer Patrick Dierson of The Activity was delighted as well and lit some of the biggest names in alternative rock using a large lighting package that included Elation Professional’s Artiste Mondrian LED profile supplied by 4Wall Entertainment. Coldplay, All Time Low, Imagine Dragons, Kings of Leon, Måneskin, Twenty One Pilots and Willow all rocked the venue with a surprise appearance by Avril Lavigne. Presented by Capital One, the show was streamed live on LiveXLive and broadcast on iHeartRadio stations. The Activity was first engaged with the event back in 2017 in what Dierson calls “one of the most fun shows in which we were ever involved”. The Activity handles the overall production design of the show,
Ireland - Some 35 years ago, a young Irish singer was performing a gig when she met another aspiring musician who invited her to perform on one of his demo tracks. Decades later, Maria Doyle Kennedy and her husband Kieran Kennedy are still going strong with over 12 albums recorded, multiple awards, and their own record company. For good measure, Maria has also gone on to become one of the most prolific Irish actors, known throughout the world for her starring roles in hits like Outlanders and Downton Abbey. In February, the duo celebrated their musical odyssey with a two-person show at Dublin’s popular Button Factory. Supporting their performance was a light show by Steven Douglas of Craorag Lighting Design that created a deeply evocative mood aided by some Chauvet Professional ÉPIX Strip Tour fixtures from the venue’s house rig. For Douglas, whose
UK - Housed in a former sheep-trading market, now a grade II listed building, The Fleece is Bristol’s largest independent music venue and has welcomed the likes of Radiohead, Oasis, Muse, Jeff Buckley, Coldplay, Sea Girls, Amy Winehouse, Frank Carter & Rattlesnakes, Queens of the Stone Age, George Ezra and Ed Sheeran. When the Covid-19 pandemic forced The Fleece into temporary closure, it presented a rare opportunity for a complete refurbishment – one that the management seized with both hands. The Fleece has been offering live music and club nights seven nights a week since 1982. The ambitious project comprised a full interior redesign including a new, larger stage with new LED screens, new lighting systems and a comprehensive KV2 sound system. Technical manager Rich Munday explains that the previous PA had been in place and working hard for twenty years, so w
USA - Multi Emmy Award-winning lighting design company Darkfire Lighting Design has found its 125 Claypaky K-Eye K20 and K10 HCR wash lights with LED light sources to be workhorse fixtures for an extensive roster of television shows, including the long-running competition series, The Voice. Oscar Dominguez, Darkfire’s founder and head designer, remembers being impressed with the K-Eyes when he saw them in a demo. “We had been talking about HCR fixtures, and these lights didn’t have a lot of gimmicks: They were a straightforward, beautiful wash light – robust, bright, with exceptional colour and without things we didn’t need,” he says. “They’ve been an excellent addition to our inventory and become a popular tool among our designers.” LA-based Dominguez, who has been the lighting designer for The Voice since it premiered in 2011, thought
USA - Opera Philadelphia recently presented An Evening of Vocal Fireworks: Amici e Rivali (Friends and Rivals), a socially distanced outdoor concert held at the city’s Mann Music Centre for local music lovers, conducted by Maestro Corrado Rovaris. While the amplified event was viewed live, outdoors on large-scale screens at the Mann Music Centre, the crew also recorded the performance for archival purposes. Producer Joe Hannigan of Weston Sound & Video selected DPA Microphones to ensure a cclear, rich, full and intelligible sound for both the House PA and multi-track recording. The soloists, tenors Michael Spyres and Lawrence Brownlee (pictured), were arranged on either side of the conductor and miked with legacy 4023 Compact Cardioid Microphones on flamingo stands (today known as 4011 mics with floor stands and modular booms). Hannigan and Maestro Rovaris
USA - The 380-seat McLaughlin Theatre at St. Ignatius Prep is long on charm and character. With an interior modelled after the Chicago theatres of the late 19th century, it provides an evocative setting for audiences. But its Bob Newhart Stage isn’t the most capacious in the city, measuring only 28ft wide by 18ft deep. This relative lack of space can create issues when staging a musical that’s as grand as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. But these challenges can be easily met, as director Kevin Bellie and his crew demonstrated at a recent production of the Tim Rice-Andrew Lloyd Webber classic. Helping to capture the ebullience of the show on the small stage was an immersive and colourful lighting design by Dustin L. Derry that featured Chauvet Professional COLORado 2-Quad Zoom Tour fixtures. “This was a fun project, getting to work wit
Belgium - Guitarist Isaac Delahaye says music is “in his genes” and, looking at his history, there’s no denying that. Raised in a musical family, Delahaye spent his childhood and teenage years learning, teaching, and performing with different hometown bands. After going to school for music and touring internationally through his 20s, he settled down as a guitarist with Epica, a Dutch symphonic metal band. Delahaye has been performing with and mixing demos for the band for the past 13 years, but it wasn’t until recently that he discovered the KRK V-Series 6 Studio Monitors, which he now relies on for all his home studio mixing needs. The guitarist was first introduced to KRK while visiting Gibson’s showroom in the Netherlands. Having heard good things about the brand, he wanted to test some products himself, and eventually settled on the V-Series. “Compared
Australia - When global streaming provider 5stream needed a configurable solution to streamline their scheduling and resource management, they discovered MediaPulse was the right fit. 5stream deployed Xytech’s MediaPulse to streamline the operations of their Broadcast Services division. “5stream is a rapidly growing business. We previously relied on a homebrew system of Google Calendars, spreadsheets and custom CSV scrapers to manage over 1000 events each month,” says Mitchell Kalika, general manager at 5stream. “With increasing resource requirements and complexity across all our jobs, our existing system is no longer suitable, and we needed a solution to streamline our operations. MediaPulse allows us to effectively book and manage the large quantity of work and helps streamline and visualise complex broadcast workflows to reduce setup time for our MCR and Presentat
UK - Tower 42, one of the tallest buildings in London, recently enlisted Light Fantastic Production Services (LFPS) to upgrade the control system powering its LED display. The top three floors of the distinctive skyscraper, visible from all sides of London, are lit up year-round with still images and animations representing charitable causes and topical dates in the calendar. These images are shown on a screen made up of 5,905 bespoke RGB pixels, which are programmed and maintained by the LFPS team. LFPS were enlisted in 2021 to carry out a complete overhaul of the control system which powers the display. Having been in situ for over 10 years in a hostile environment 40+ floors above London, it was beginning to suffer occasional failures. The building’s owners were keen to maintain the screen in great condition, in line with its status as a London landmark. The
