UK - Farming showcase event Cereals should have been taking place in Duxford this week. However, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, it has been unable to go ahead in its physical form this year. Instead, the event’s organiser Comexposium is holding virtual event Cereals LIVE 2020 with a programme that covers all the key demonstrations, exhibitors and seminars. Regular exhibitor, John Deere is participating and shared an exclusive preview to select customers earlier this week. The online demonstration highlighted key feature updates to three of its best-selling machines and the benefits of its ‘My John Deere’ technology live to an audience of 250, utilising a purpose-built studio, presenters, cameras and live streaming technology, delivered by its long-standing exhibition and audio-visual partner OneBigStar. With several new technological advancements added
USA - In accordance with City of Chicago guidance, Sensaphonics has reopened its Chicago headquarters. After nearly three months of required closure, all facilities are back in operation, including the Musicians Hearing Clinic and the adjoining manufacturing lab. All Sensaphonics operations are being conducted under the social distancing guidelines suggested by the CDC and City of Chicago. The company has issued a simple set of rules for its staff and visitors, designed to protect employees and clients by minimizing any possible virus exposure. For the Musician Hearing Clinic, only one client will be permitted in the building at a time. All visits are by appointment only, and all guests must pass a temperature scan before being admitted. Visitors must bring and wear their own facemask, and the use of gloves is encouraged, though not required. Sensaphonics staff will w
UK - Technical event production company Sterling Event Group has created Sterling Studio, a Manchester based studio space designed to boost the production value of webinars and other virtual events, over video conferencing and online meeting platforms such as Zoom, Go To Meeting, Skype and Webex. The studio, supported by UK distributor PSCo, boasts an impressive digital backdrop from LED display manufacturer Absen. The idea to create a studio dedicated to virtual events was curated before the COVID-19 lockdown, just as the need for an events space with the capacity for high production quality was rising - a need that has only increased since. “The studio space allows us to use our rental equipment and create a space for users to virtually present to their audience using state of the art technologies, without the obvious limitations that come with presenting from home
USA - With its 76 fixtures and 18ft by 10ft video wall, the rig set up inside the Harford Sound warehouse in Joppa, MD, looks like it’s being prepped for a live event. But the impressive collection of Chauvet Professional lights and F4IP LED video panels isn’t going anywhere, nor was it ever intended to. Instead, it has remained inside the company’s 10,000 sq. ft. warehouse since early March, turning out a series of immersive livestream shows at a clip of three to four a week. Harford Sound owner Evan Kirkendall and his team didn’t pull any punches when they created this 30ft by 25ft performance space following the COVID-19 lockdown. Rather than limiting themselves to providing a “scaled down studio” that bands could use for livestreams, their goal was to offer something that would have a far more lasting impact, allowing clients to create videos that would benef
UK - A call has gone out for people to nominate their hero to feature as a portrait, digitally projected onto one of 33 trees in and around Manchester City Centre, as part of a project being delivered by Greater Manchester charity City of Trees, Hits Radio and projection artists, Illuminos. Hits Radio launched their Hero Hour to promote the people who are going out of their way to keep us healthy, safe and fed during this time. Greater Manchester-based projection artists Illuminos - the force behind many large scale art projects including the Lunar Loops Blue Dot festival illumination at Jodrell Bank last year, and the ‘Momentous’ projections on Leeds Civic Hall - were inspired by Hits’ Hero Hour. They have teamed up with charity City of Trees, who aims to plant and nurture at least 3m trees - one tree for every person living in the city region, fo
UK - Technical solutions specialist White Light (WL) recently hosted an exclusive digital session for the 2020 graduates of Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance, in collaboration with key industry partners. Senior representatives from disguise, Royal Albert Hall and The Society of British Theatre Designers remotely joined the panel for the insight and Q&A discussion, delivered from WL’s SmartStage studio in London. The session aimed to inspire the next generation of skilled creatives starting their careers at this unsettling time of Covid-19. The panel explored some of the new opportunities arising from the different corners of the industry, as businesses are adapting and pivoting their services due to the pandemic. A key theme was the rapid advance we have seen in recent months, immersing everyone even further into a digital world of work, communicati
Myanmar - Total Electronic Solutions recently equipped mCube Family Karaoke’s two locations in Yangon (formerly known as Rangoon) with JBL KP Series loudspeakers and Crown XLi amplifiers. mCube is a popular karaoke chain with two locations in Myanmar’s largest city. Their Waizayandar location features 18 karaoke rooms of varying sizes, while the City Mall St. John location features 10. To provide loud and dynamic music, clear and intelligible vocals and consistent, focused coverage for large and small groups, mCube required cutting-edge sound systems tailored specifically for karaoke establishments. Total Electronic Solutions outfitted both locations with complete Harman audio solutions featuring specialised JBL KP 4000 and 6000 Series karaoke loudspeakers powered by Crown XLi Series amplifiers. "As the seating capacity for karaoke rooms ranges from 4 to 30 p
Belgium - Gaant?! is a Belgian events organiser based in the city of Lokeren, whose name in the local Belgian-Dutch dialect Lokers, means “Are you ok?!” In the light of the current impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the question has perhaps never been more relevant, and the creative team at Gaant?! recently reached out to locked-down music fans by staging a livestream event featuring DJs DEEDEE, J.Roots and Hakimm. The charity event, aimed at getting people to dance at home, took place at Cultuurcentrum, Lokeren’s 400-capacity multi-use theatre, although for obvious reasons, no fans were present in the building... Production specialist LJKE is Gaant?!’s exclusive rental partner, and works on a wide range of the brand’s events, featuring top Belgian bands like The Van Jets and Goose as well as a number of top DJs. On this occasion they supplied audio, lighting, vis
USA - The weather in eastern Maryland never got much past 70° on 23 May, but the vibe in the improvised studio at Showtime Sound’s Baltimore warehouse was decidedly tropical. Aaron Kovelman, the company’s director of design and production, saw to that by creating breezy, colourful, beach-like visuals for its one-hour Virtual Island Festival featuring Jah Works. “From a design perspective, it was very important for me to consider the audience point of view given the platform they would be watching the performance on,” explains Kovelman. “I wanted to give viewers the feeling of an intimate performance, as if this stream was being done straight for them. Yet, at the same time, I wanted to deliver large enough landscapes through the video looks and depth of lighting to make the audience feel as if they were outside on lawns listening to music amidst summe
Switzerland - Founded in 1982, Swiss private broadcaster Teleclub is considered one of the oldest pay-TV stations in Europe. Following the dawn of the digital era, a modern broadcast and production centre was built in Volketswil in 2002, featuring a playout centre, live broadcast control, digital archiving, transfer, editing and encoding/transcoding. The centre in Volketswil is connected to another Teleclub studio in Fribourg, where the French version of the content is being produced. Recently Martin Reich and Gregor Baumann from Audioconsulting AG were commissioned with the audio extension of the production centre in Volketswil. Just a few weeks ago the studio in Fribourg received its latest upgrade. A PRODIGY.MP replaced an older ANDIAMO.XT unit in order to convert a huge number of analogue commentary signals to the Dante network. Thanks to the powerful and flexible DSP p
Belgium - Creative director and lighting designer Koert Vermeulen wanted to do something extra special to celebrate 25 years of his Belgian-based creative design practice ACTLD, so he and his team crafted ‘a fluid and mesmeric large scale spectacle of lighting art’ - A2C5T - which was presented to the public for three weeks at the See U event space in Brussels. The 45,000sq.m former police barracks provided an atmospheric backdrop for this multi-level light art experience, which was inspired by the core tenets at the heart of ACT - Art, Concept and Technology. Within the installation, these three values were represented by three abstract intersecting works of creative lighting, carefully curated by Koert to offer a different but equally compelling immersive experience for guests. The three elements could be enjoyed individually or as one, or as a user-definable mi
USA - Lighting for comedy has its own special characteristics and lighting designer Marc Janowitz, who recently lit comedian Jimmy O. Yang’s debut stand-up comedy special on Amazon Prime - Jimmy O. Yang: Good Deal - using Elation Rayzor 760 and Fuze Z350 LED wash lights, knows all about them. “In the concert industry, you can end up with a thousand different ways to use a light in a single show but in comedy you work hard to come up with a perfect look that stays throughout the entire show and needs to look right from a multitude of camera angles.” Recorded last fall at the Neptune Theatre in Seattle and aired in early May on Amazon’s paid subscription service, the Silicon Valley and Crazy Rich Asians star laid down a hilarious hour of comedy in a blossoming career as a stand-up comedian. “When lighting a comedy special, there is typically an int
Hungary - The Magdolna Ruzsa Band recently played two concerts at the Papp László Budapest Sportarena through a Martin Audio MLA PA, supplied by their Hungarian partner, BG Event. Magdolna ‘Magdi’ Rúzsa herself won the title of Megasztár (Megastar), Hungary's nationwide talent search, back in 2006, and now she was filling the 12,500-capacity venue for two consecutive nights, supported by a classic five-piece rock band line-up. To ensure sound was broadcast evenly to all corners of the venue BG Event used a total of 46 MLA cabinets, and four MLD Downfill enclosures as main PA and side-hangs. They also provided monitors. But this doesn’t tell the full story. In achieving this exceptional coverage BG Event’s Balázs Szentiványi notes the inherent challenges faced. "This is a difficult venue compared to an average arena in Europe due to its larger
USA - The Directors Guild of America recently completed a renovation of its flagship motion picture exhibition space at the DGA Theatre in Los Angeles. Guided by a Guild committee of six leading filmmakers, the renewal project has moved the 600-seat theatre to the forefront of cinema technology with installation of custom-built Dolby Vision laser projection and a Dolby Atmos immersive sound system encompassing more than 70 Meyer Sound cinema loudspeakers. To translate their creative concepts into design specifics, the Guild committee engaged the noted Gensler architectural firm. In turn, Gensler assigned the critical role of AV specification and engineering to Tom Schindler, senior vice-president at the San Francisco-based Salter consulting firm. According to Schindler, from the outset the committee had insisted on the absolute highest level of audio reproductio
USA - Eric Cathcart begins the design process by forming an idea for a distinct look in his head. Then he goes to his rental company contacts, does his best to describe his vision down to the smallest detail, and asks which fixtures in their inventory can help him achieve it. This sums up what happened late last year when Cathcart envisioned expanding the look of his show to better reflect the free-flowing sound of Silversun Pickups. Understanding Cathcart’s inspiration as they did, his contacts at Upstaging recommended the COLORband PiX from CHAUVET DJ. “I have been working with Silversun off and on since 2016,” said Cathcart, owner of Bigtime Lighting Design. “The album cycle started June of 2019 with a very minimal floor package, consisting of strobes and small movers. For the new year, I wanted to create a wall of light to close the gap between the floor pa
Japan - With competitive sport now returning ‘behind closed doors’ in several countries, a key problem is how to recreate the experience of passionate supporters, both for sporting participants and those cheering them on. To address this, two of Japan’s top professional football clubs recently helped Yamaha to trial its Remote Cheerer powered by SoundUD system at the 50,000-seat Shizuoka Stadium ECOPA. The passion of a noisy crowd is an essential part of many sports, from team games like football, rugby and cricket, to racquet sports and all forms of racing. For the foreseeable future, returning sports will need to be played without supporters present. So, in May, Yamaha collaborated with the Júbilo Iwata and Shimizu S-Pulse football clubs to field test the new system in one of Japan's largest stadiums. Remote Cheerer powered by SoundUD allows fans following a g
USA - Over the last two months, Stage Right Lighting of Virginia Beach has been hosting a 6 Feet Together livestream concert series that has put some much needed joy and optimism into the live event community. Stage Right’s final livestream concert was held Saturday, 6 June and featured Celtic-inspired rock band The Fighting Jamesons. The 6 Feet Together benefit concerts are streamed live from Stage Right Lighting's own studio and are decked out using their extensive inventory of lighting gear including Elation Proteus Rayzor 760 moving heads, Seven Batten 72 linear lights, ZW37 II moving heads, Cuepix 16IP matrix panels and Protron Eclypse multi-effect lights. The 6 Feet Together benefit concerts raise money for out-of-work musicians and crews with donations going to Hampton Roads musicians and local stage technicians, as well as the technicians that make the 6 Fe
UK - Event production specialist Leisuretec UK, headed by Phil Jameson, has utilised imagination and resources to light up Wigan’s DW Stadium in a variety of vibrant colour combinations, showing support for the National Health Service (NHS), essential workers and various community initiatives as everyone pulls together to beat the coronavirus pandemic. The venue is used by both Wigan Athletic football club and Wigan Warriors rugby league club, and Leisuretec UK is the preferred event technical supplier, which entails providing kit, services and crew for numerous corporate activities happening there – around two to three a week for most of the year. With all that and other work on hold, the idea of firing up some lights started at the Leisuretec UK warehouse in support the UK’s weekly Thursday night Clap For Carers action which Phil illuminated with their 12 x Rob
USA - When the Coeur d’Alene casino, hotel and resort in Worley, Idaho, refurbished its technical facilities, Alcons Audio pro-ribbon systems were chosen. Established in 1993, Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort Hotel is a premium hotel and resort with a casino, spa, golf club, a large live events space and additional, more intimate entertainment lounges. The first phase of a major upgrade covered the main live performance space, which included an enlarged stage, new bleacher seating at the back of the venue and radically updated technical infrastructure. “Casinos like Coeur d’Alene attract international performing artists and the owners wanted to set themselves apart from other venues. They wanted a high end system that would meet rider specifications and be something that engineers were excited to mix on,” says Alcons Audio North American sales manager David Rahn.
Australia - Northern Beaches Christian School (NBCS) In Sydney, Australia, has recently completed an AV upgrade of its key performance and worship spaces, anchored on Allen & Heath’s dLive mixing system. The school’s Marina Pryor Centre for the Performing Arts (MPC) and CITY indoor / outdoor meeting space each have a capacity of 800 and play host to an ever-changing programme of student assemblies, worship services, musicals, concerts and celebrations. Alan Schutz, the school’s general manager, explains the decision to update: “The MPC systems were designed in 2009 and the CITY systems in 2012. Technology has forged ahead and some of our needs have changed since that time. The age of some components was apparent in the difficulty of operation. There were major differences between the MPC and CITY infrastructure and gear and the complex systems required sign
USA - The concept was key to everyone behind Keith Urban’s Nashville drive-in concert on 14 May, not just for the Vanderbilt University Hospital medical heroes, in whose honour the event was held, but also for the team that managed to create an immersive stage setting for the one-hour show on short notice. “The paramount thing about this gig for Keith and everyone else was being socially distant and as safe as possible,” said Brent Maxon, Urban’s lighting director. “Our goal was to involve the fewest people possible in setup, while still putting together a quality show for this very important audience of special guests.” Maxon and the rest of the team began working on a plan to achieve this goal only five days before the surprise show was scheduled to begin. They had no precedent to draw ideas from, since this was the first drive-in theatre concert by a maj
Australia - Lighting designer Brenton Slattery from Scene Change Brisbane chose Astera AX1 and Titan Tube wireless battery-powered LED fixtures to create a memorable light sculpture and high-impact messaging for the 2020 Anzac Day commemorations. The sign spelt out ‘LEST WE FORGET’ in bold, bright, positive letters and was highly visible on the waterside lawn at Howard Smith Wharfs in the Queensland state capital. Brenton is based at the Howard Smith Wharfs multi-venue site comprising a series of regenerated – and now heritage-listed – riverfront buildings on the Brisbane River, overlooked by Story Bridge which was constructed around the same time, between 1934 and 1940. He took up his post in February after three years of freelancing, and now he and his team coordinate technical requirements for Scene Change Brisbane’s diverse events schedule that incl
Israel - A star-studded line of music stars and artists performed during a protest concert in Charles Clore Park, Tel Aviv, titled Behind The Scenes: An Assembly of Solidarity to draw attention to the plight of freelancers, backstage technicians and all the zero-hours contract workers in the Israeli event industry whose livelihoods have been decimated as the music and live event industry has been paused in the fight to control COVID-19. This solidarity rally was initiated and produced by Tali Yaacobi Events Production and backed by Inbar and Marius Nacht – an Israeli entrepreneur, social activist, and philanthropist – who made a generous donation to all the crew working on the show. The lighting and audio were supplied by Argaman Systems – including a large Robe moving light rig which was designed by Cochavi & Klein and operated by two of Israel’s b
USA - Roger Sharp is proud of his region’s music tradition. His upstate New York stomping grounds have nurtured a wealth of talent in virtually every genre, from Lana Del Ray, the Goo Goo Dolls, and Ani Di Franco to Moe, Rick James, Lou Gramm, 10,000 Maniacs and Chuck Mangione. The owner of High Peaks Event Production, Sharp has always entertained the idea of putting on a summer festival honouring this local tradition, even starting a Facebook page dedicated to this mission. But keeping up with the demands of his growing business prevented him from getting around to realizing this dream. He finally found the time though after the COVID-19 lockdown put all events on hold. With his event business halted, Sharp built a lockdown-safe recording studio and stage in his warehouse, and launched a weekly Sunday night livestream, NY Rock N Roots Festival to highlight lo
