USA - The University of Tennessee, Knoxville held 10 in-person commencement ceremonies 19-22 November at Thompson-Boling Arena for spring, summer and fall 2020 graduates. Bandit Lites supplied a lighting system for the socially-distanced event which included additional health and safety protocols, allowing graduates and their families the opportunity to safely gather to celebrate their momentous accomplishments. “Though the ceremonies will look a little different, we have worked to preserve the spirit of a typical commencement so we can celebrate all our graduates, who have worked so hard for this moment,” said Provost John Zomchick. Bandit Lites donated nearly 100 fixtures including VL 3000 Spots, CUEPIX Blinder WW4s, Chauvet COLORdash Block Lights and Bandit’s GRNLite Moving Washes. “Much of the lighting we do for commencement could be considered utilitarian,
USA - Like many churches adapting to conditions around COVID-19, Winter Garden, Florida’s Mosaic Church has had to limit the number of, and attendance at, its Sunday gatherings. However, the pandemic has not muted the church’s sizable and enthusiastic music complement for those services. Twice each Sunday, as many as 12 musicians and vocalists assemble on stage for an authentic worship experience before those seated, socially distanced, in the 1,500-seat auditorium. In December 2017, following the renovation of a 78,000sq.ft former big-box store into its new main sanctuary, Mosaic Church acquired its first KLANG:fabrik immersive in-ear mixing solution, installed by Altamonte Springs-based integrator AVnew. Much more recently, Mosaic Church has now added a second KLANG:fabrik unit, further expanding what those performers on stage can accomplish and substantially lig
Germany - Located on the river Rhine, the town of Oestrich-Winkel is perhaps best known for being at the heart of the Rheingau wine-growing region and its annual Rheingau Musik Festival. But in a quiet residential street, Studio 22 owner and audio engineer Stephan Weber is at the cutting edge of live and recorded sound with Yamaha Rivage PM5 and Nuage systems. Stephan started as a professional IT networking specialist but, like so many who graduate to the audio industry, worked as a musician in his spare time. A small home studio and mixing local bands led to more audio work, including mixing musical theatre and events at the Kurhaus resort, casino and conference complex in Baden-Baden. A request by cruise company Hapag-Lloyd for his IT skills led to Stephan being asked to assist with his entertainment technology knowledge, leading to the creation of Studio 22. Since t
France - In a positive sign for the French exhibition and conference industry, the Savoie Expo has completed a sizeable investment in Nexo sound reinforcement systems for its new auditorium, anticipating a return to large-scale live events in 2021. Savoie Expo is located in Chambéry, in the Alpine heart of France’s second tourist region. Strategically placed to take advantage of close links to Lyon and Geneva, as well as both winter sports and summer recreation, the venue organises a range of trade fairs and exhibitions and hosts major seminar and conference events. Hall E was opened earlier this year, a substantial and versatile auditorium which can offer 2000sq.m of exhibition area, conference facilities for 1000 people, or accommodate 1200 people for a formal dinner. Equipped with retractable seating, the auditorium required an audio system that would adapt to it
UK - London’s latest 1Rebel fitness centre features a lighting system, which was designed by Durham Marenghi of Durhamld Limited, and includes 54 Chauvet Professional COLORado 1 Solo and 11 COLORado 2 Solo LED fixtures supplied by Middlesex Sound and Lighting. “I was approached by Giles Dean and his team at 1Rebel to create some impactful night club style lighting for their gyms around London,” said Magenghi. “Working alongside Ryan Hopkins at Lights Control Rigging, we created a virtual animation to present the concept to our client. They were very supportive of the ideas we laid out.” The RGBW COLORado fixtures were suited for Magenghi’s plan to balance the fitness centre’s video walls and moving fixtures with intense fields of coloured light. “Our client was especially happy with the COLORados smooth, homogenous colour source,” he said. “In the p
Australia – Property developers, Cavcorp, recently completed the luxurious 15-storey Le Bain apartment complex, in the Brisbane suburb of Newstead. Described as an immersive experience that delivers a sub-tropical poolside lifestyle, it is redolent of the beaches of Southern France. Crowned by eight Penthouses and a private rooftop pool, it also includes a heated pool, music streaming, temperature-controlled spa baths, private dining room, sun deck with sunbeds, sauna, Technogym, barbeque and an alfresco dining area. To service this, the developers engaged AV integrators, Ampd to create a customized, reliable and robust audio visual system. And they turned to Martin Audio’s CDD series for the audio component. Commenting on the selection, Ampd’s Matt Hayes, said, “The stylish and discreet design, coupled with the consistent audio coverage, made the CDD ra
UK - Polar has announced the addition of AtlasIED to its portfolio. Based in the USA, AtlasIED is a global electronics manufacturer, providing comprehensive audio solutions for commercial business environments. The company manufactures mass notification, life safety, VoIP and speech privacy systems which interface with, existing and future analogue and IT-based infrastructures. AtlasIED offers around 2000 specialist products for every application in commercial premises, education, public transport hubs, sports arenas, hospitals, hotels and retail settings. Stuart Leader, director of Polar’s Integrated Services division comments: “AtlasIED offer an incredibly wide range of innovative, high-quality products, to which our customers will have full access. Their recently launched, award-winning Atmosphere️ signal processing platform, is a fine example of the seamless
South Africa - The newly refurbished Seabrooke’s Theatre at Durban High School (DHS) is making waves and delighting audiences with one successful comedy after the next. After a seven-month entertainment famine, the theatre was launched with Sylvia, presented by KickstArt Theatre Company, which ran from 23 October to 1 November. Seabrooke’s Theatre is a 100-seater auditorium used by the schools Dramatic Arts Department as well as by amateur and professional companies and groups. Thanks to a generous contribution by DHS old boy and theatre lover, Chris Seabrooke, a much-needed renovation and equipment upgrade was made possible and commenced at the start of the Covid-19 South African lockdown. The theatre has been repainted, seats reupholstered, a green room/dressing room is currently being built, and on the technical side, a lighting and audio system has been suppli
USA - After 15 years at their original location in Orlando, FL, Discovery Church outgrew their space's ability to effectively support their ministry. Purchasing a former Sports Authority retail space, the church renovated the building to support their needs for worship services. Headlining the new lighting rig are fixtures from Prolights distributed by A.C. Lighting Inc. “The Prolights fixtures are a major upgrade for Discovery Church,” says church lighting designer Anthony Stofflet. “We went from very simple systems that really put us in a box as far as creativity was concerned, to a lighting rig that significantly opens up the creative options for us. We weren't that familiar with the Prolights brand of LED fixtures, but A.C. Lighting Inc. set up a lighting shoot-out for us, and their fixtures truly blew the competitors away.” Discovery Church installed EclPr
USA - Signalling the start of its around-the-clock festive music broadcast, iHeartMedia New York’s 106.7 LITE FM marked its Flip to Christmas in the New York City skies with a dynamic, animated aerial light show from Verge Aero. The pre-recorded livestream aired at litefm.com on 13 November from 7pm-8pm. Verge Aero flew 200 drones in Manhattan from a safe launch zone on Governors Island in the New York Harbour. Accompanied by a medley of Carrie Underwood’s first Christmas album, My Gift, the drones created a spectacular visual celebration with the New York City skyline in the background. The show featured a series of colourful, precisely choreographed festive imagery and animations including a Christmas tree, a drummer boy, a snowman, opening of a gift, a ringing bell, a dove being released, the Empire State Building and concluded with Milton Glaser’s ‘
The need for music and connection between the artist and its audience is greater than ever - and Roisin Murphy chose this moment in time to get the band together for an emotional livestream from PRG’s Live Space! Rhianna Kenny-Wybrow, Roisin Murphy’s manager said: “For Roisin to build a show inside such an incredible space, that usually would be a hive of activity during the autumn touring season, felt very poignant. Roisin, her band and crew have been hugely restricted this year due to COVID-19. Live shows have been such a massive and enjoyable part of our team for so long; connecting with audiences around the world and working and traveling together as a family. This Mixcloud performance almost feels like an ode to what we have all missed out on. Working with PRG and Squire has been an absolute pleasure and we are incredibly happy to have collectively pulled this of
UK - adidas recently opened the doors to a new flagship store on London’s Carnaby Street. As well as housing the latest Originals products, the store creates space for London’s creatives to come together, whilst retaining a cultural aesthetic and design true to the heart of Soho. With London’s creativity front and centre, the store features installations inspired and designed by local creatives, including one-off pieces of furniture and art, as well as a studio for the use of its consumers. Reinforcing the brand’s commitment to sustainability, the store has been created with BREEAM-certified materials. In order to support the look and ambience of the concept, as well to provide high-quality audio for background music and frequent event performances, adidas’s creative team engaged Pioneer Pro Audio to supply a bespoke sound system to meet its retro-style requi
Thailand - Hotel Indigo Phuket Patong hired audio integrators Mahajak Development to design and install a Harman Professional audio solution that delivers quality sound throughout the property. Hotel Indigo Phuket Patong is positioned near Patong Beach in the heart of the city of Patong. Located in a touristy area with a property size of 6,400sq.m, the hotel includes 180 guest rooms, a fitness centre, an outdoor pool as well as entertainment and dining amenities. The hotel also marks the first collaboration between renowned hotel companies, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) and Kebsup Group Company Limited. The hotel required a premium audio system that provides excellent sound across the resort. Meeting those requirements, Mahajak selected a Harman Professional audio solution that includes JBL Professional loudspeakers, Crown amplification, BSS signal processing and
USA - Lighting designer Tom Kenny chose Ayrton Khamsin-S profiles as key lights in his design for this year’s iHeartCountry Festival, presented by Capital One, which was live streamed globally and broadcast on iHeartMedia’s country radio stations on 23 October. Bandit Lites supplied 24 of Ayrton’s Khamsin-S fixtures for this seventh annual celebration of country music which was rescheduled from its original slot in May at the Frank Erwin Centre in Austin, Texas, and relocated to The Steel Mill in Nashville, Tennessee. Kenny is a lighting designer with over 40 years of experience on both sides of the Atlantic who moves easily between lighting live music and television spectaculars. His client list includes rock superstars like Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, David Byrne, Eric Clapton, David Bowie and The Who, and his television credits number a multiplicity of music awa
South Africa - For the last few months, social media and the internet worldwide has been alight with The Jerusalema Dance Challenge - a TikTok challenge that originated in Angola and went viral after lockdown - with people sharing funny and uplifting videos of themselves dancing a series of moves often performed at African weddings to the hit song Jerusalema by South African DJ & music producer Master KG, featuring the voice of songstress Nomcebo Zikode. As they have generated millions of views, likes and laughs, these videos in different locations have boosted morale and spirits globally as people have also added their own costumes or elements of style and interpretation to the now-famous moves. Marius van Rooyen from Pretoria -based broadcast and streaming specialist EventCast was asked by Jaco Minnaar, CEO of their broadcast / IT partner ClearAccess, to
Germany - The Berlin Waldbühne Back to Live Concerts, a socially distanced event concept ran throughout September at the city’s famous open-air venue organised by promoter Semmel Concerts Entertainment. Berlin-based full production service specialist TSE was asked by the venue management team, CTS Eventim AG, to supply a flexible festival-style production lighting and video rig complete with visual design that would work for a wide range of performing artists. Lighting for this was specified by TSE’s Ronny Rud Reinhold and included Robe BMFL WashBeams, MegaPointes and Spiider moving lights among other luminaires. The venue has a large stage covered by a tensile roof that normally holds 22,900 guests, but this was revised – in relation to government restrictions at that time for outdoor shows - to 5,000 for Back to Live including staff, artists and crew, with
USA - When US President-elect Joe Biden delivered his long-awaited victory speech in his home town of Wilmington, Delaware on the evening of Saturday, 7 November, the exuberant celebrations culminated with a spectacular drone and pyrotechnic show from Strictly FX. “The creative on this originated with executive producer Ricky Kirshner, of Kirshner Events, who has been the nexus of all the work we’ve done with the DNC,” notes Ted Maccabee, CEO of Strictly FX. In partnership with Verge Aero, Strictly FX deployed a fleet of 200 drones for the event. As those below celebrated, the GPS-guided drones lit up the sky with precision choreography, synchronised to a soundtrack which began with Coldplay’s A Sky Full of Stars. The large-scale aerial imagery, created and refined in line with the Biden campaign’s vision, included red, white and blue stars, Bide
Portugal - Grupo Renascença Multimedia is among the largest players in Portuguese radio. The firm operates three major stations: Rádio Renascença - known colloquially as 'RR' - Mega Hits, and RFM - which constantly rates as the highest listened-to station in the country. Across its entire portfolio, Grupo Renascença Multimedia provides everything from news, sports, music and other entertainment. The stations also include a bit of religious programming as the primary owner of the radio group is the Catholic Church. “We actually have a chapel in the building,” said José Loureiro, assistant manager at the Radio Innovation & Technical Unit for the stations. “And even the chapel is connected to our audio system, because once in a while, we do use it for broadcasting religious events. But really, as unique as that is, it’s not that crazy or difficult to include it
USA - With its open-air amphitheatre built into the surrounding sandstone, Red Rocks is one of live music’s more distinctive venues. From 24-27 September, the fabled venue west of Denver was the scene of four nights of in-person and live-streaming music experiences. Red Rocks partnered with video streaming service Nugs.net to cap the summer off in style with local Colorado production house Brown Note Productions providing a full Elation IP-rated rig for the limited capacity 4-night run. Tiësto, Fitz and the Tantrums, Billy Strings and Lotus headlined the four nights respectively with all but Billy Strings performing before a live audience limited to 175 fans per Colorado’s COVID-19 guidelines. As a guarantee against any weather issues, notably Colorado’s notorious cloudburst rain showers, Brown Note dipped into its inventory of Elation all-weather IP65 luminaires to l
Canada - 7thSense’s Medialon Showmaster LE show control solution has been installed by Production Resource Group (PRG) at the at heart of the new Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit in Toronto. The five-storey immersive show brings the Dutch master's paintings to life using light, sound and movement. The Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit has become the world’s first immersive drive-in art experience after producers adapted the digital art show for the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. Before its public launch in July, the exhibition’s artistic director, Massimiliano Siccardi debuted his plans to make the experience COVID-friendly by designing space for up to 40 cars to visit the exhibit at any one time, as well as welcoming visitors on foot with social distancing circles in place once lockdown restrictions had been eased. The experience features a 35-minute show that showcases 40 pie
Australia - The fourth season of Australian Ninja Warrior heralded a new era with Ninjas coming face to face with mind-blowing new obstacles and for the first time, Ninja versus Ninja on the almighty Power Tower. Filmed at Melbourne Showgrounds, the show was once again lit by Hugh Taranto with Chameleon Touring Systems supplying gear and crew. For the first time, Hugh had house power instead of generators and he relished working on a site set up for production. COVID-19 reared its head just as filming started, but thorough planning and advice saw the production through. Being able to continue filming without an audience as well as outdoors, certainly helped. “We were there for three weeks setting up and just as we were about to start recording, Covid-19 started to happen,” Hugh said. “There was a lot of making changes on the run. We started with a full audi
Germany - Martin Audio's German rental partner, Kotsch-Showtechnik from Nessetal near Gotha, recently supplied a sound reinforcement solution for the faithful reproduction of classical music at the Schlosshofkonzert 2020. In order to meet the COVID-19 requirements, the Gotha Thuringia Philharmonic Orchestra moved for three evenings into the courtyard of the baroque Friedenstein Castle in the City. Here, taking into account the rules of distance, a baroque evening, an operetta gala and a concert with violin and grand piano were able to take place in front of an audience of 400. Torsten Kotsch, owner of Kotsch Showtechnik, implemented the sound and lighting design with his team and explained the special features required of classical music reinforcement: "The dynamic range of a classical concert is far greater than at many rock concerts,” he said. “Since the concert
Finland - Nestled between two lakes, Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi, Tampere is listed on MoveHub’s world’s most popular hipster spots and, with the most saunas in one city, is considered the sauna capital of the world. The city is also home to the Tampereen Työväen Teatteri (Tampere Workers’ Theatre), fondly referred to by locals as the TTT-Theatre. This is one of the county’s main theatres and its recently updated sound system features L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound technology, chosen both with audio excellence and the future in mind, as well as to address historic localisation issues caused by the venue’s extremely wide stage. Originally, a standard L-C-R system had been specified for the theatre’s major audio overhaul, until Pauli Molnár, sales manager at L-Acoustics certified provider distributor, Audico Systems Oy, introduced them to the concept of L
South Africa - The Acts Christian Church, Midrand Campus, is a modern auditorium where technology plays an important role. The past seven months have seen the church invest in four Strand 300 S LED Softlights and two Strand 150 S Softlights for their live streaming studio and video material, a platform which has caught the attention of thousands of viewers. The church has also purchased 16 Showtec Pixel Strip 40 for their main stage, fixtures that create an eye-catching background for both the live congregation and those watching from home, accompanied by a new Arkaos MasterPro 5 licence. On the audio side, a Waves Soundgrid System consisting of Waves SuperRack and a Waves SoundGrid Server One-C will complement their Midas console. Pastor Peter de Fin was a guitarist and sound engineer who travelled across the globe for six years with Vinesong, a team of international
