Europe - MIRRAD lighting designer, Jamie Thompson, has been accompanying Irish rock band, The Script, for most of the 12 years they have been touring. And for much of that time GLP’s LED automated lighting solutions have formed a central part of his inventory, dating back to the original impression 90. By the time the band’s second album was released they were already playing arenas, and now, with the release of their sixth album Sunsets & Full Moons late last year, they were recently back playing Europe’s major venue circuit. For the production designer, GLP’s new generation of products has provided scope to depict the geometry and vivid colour suggested by the album title, enabling him to build a set with a lot of curvature and concentric arcs. “When the Script write an album they will generally produce good imagery,” says the former KOI awa
USA - With the world uniting in social distancing efforts, friends and families are relying more on social media to connect and engage. Bandit Lites reports that it has surpassed more than 120,000 Facebook followers, 54,000 Instagram followers and 16,000 Twitter followers. “This is a community unlike any other,” says Bandit Lites media relations coordinator Sharon Gross. “On any given week we’re seeing nearly 1m people reached in the touring industry, from veterans to students to people who simply like to see the behind-the-scene looks of their favourite artists’ tours.” In addition to sharing the goings on of their shops, tours and installations, Bandit’s team has made available tips and insights through the blog Bandit Dimmer Beach (banditdimmerbeach.com). Bandit Lites general manager Mark Steinwachs has written more than 250 posts ranging f
USA - As a long-standing customer of TSL Products, NEP Group has relied on the company’s MPA1 units as their audio monitoring solution of choice for live broadcasts. When TSL introduced its new MPA1 V Series audio monitor, designed to directly address the needs of those in live production, NEP was the first to realise the benefits and place its order. NEP Group integrates TSL’s MPA1-MIX MADI-V audio monitor as a cost-effective solution to improve operator workflow within its fleet of OB trucks. “We are always looking for ways to enhance the workflow of operators within our OB trucks,” says Michael Naugle, design engineer for NEP’s U.S. Broadcast Services team. “The newly designed TSL MPA1-MIX MADI-V units feature an extremely intuitive layout. The left to right ascending order of the knobs is very user-friendly as the operator can easily find the channel they nee
UK - One of the highlights of the music industry’s calendar, the annual NME Awards, took place last month in London with its most ambitious AV design to date, centred around a 158 panel ROE Black Onyx staggered LED display lining the perimeter of the stage, and employing four Tessera SX40 high capacity processors combined with eight Tessera XD data distribution units from Brompton Technology. After a year off, the NME Awards returned to London’s O2 Brixton Academy to celebrate the best of 2019’s musical talent. It was attended by Taylor Swift, who picked up the award for Best Solo Act In The World, and featured live performances from AJ Tracey, FKA Twigs, rising stars Yungblud and Beadadoobee, a collaboration between rapper Slowthai and Mura Masa, and a five-song closing set by The 1975. UK LED screen and video production company, IMAG Displays, was tasked with d
Spafford’s Winter Music Tour got off to a fast start, as the Arizona-based jam band played to one sold out house after another on its western swing. In support, they decided to shoot a promotional video of their Saturday 7 March show at 10 Mile Music Hall in Frisco, Colorado, the idyllic Rocky Mountain theatre that holds the distinction of being the highest permanent live music venue in the USA. As it did with so many other things, COVID-19 brought Spafford’s popular tour to a screeching halt. With no tour to promote, the band re-purposed its video, streaming it as a taped show over Facebook and YouTube. “The guys in the band and I figured this would be a great opportunity to give fans a chance to experience a full concert,” said lighting designer Matt Collier. “Rather than just post the video on our website, we made it a streaming event to give it the excitement of a li
USA - The Best Man at the historic Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia squeezed in a handful of preview performances before shutting down to wait out the Covid-19 pandemic. Set at the national convention in Philadelphia, and altogether a fitting production for an election year, lighting designer Jimmy Lawlor lights a set that takes us into the back rooms and onto the convention floor where two candidates vie for their party’s nomination. Lawlor sought a quiet yet versatile luminaire for the production, one he could use to light scenes both stark and soft. “From the outset, we knew we wanted the audience to experience the kinetic energy of a presidential convention,” he explains. “As such, I knew I wanted a lighting fixture that could move and change colours. Since this is a play, and the front of house positions in the theatre are limited, I needed fi
France - ROE Vanish V8 LED panels were used to build a massive screen for the DJ Snake show at the La Défense Arena in Paris. Performing in his hometown Paris, DJ Snake set up a massive show for his 40-thousend fans. Set designer Romain Pissenem from High Scream raised the bar, designing a set on a huge scale. The opening of the show, revealing DJ snake on the top of a life-size Arc de Thriomphe amidst a dazzling combination of lighting, visuals and special effects created a spectacular moment. Paris based S Group, well-known for providing audiovisual, technical and scenographic solutions for large-scale live shows and events, was responsible for the technical design of the show, supplying all equipment and crew. A massive amount of ROE Visual Vanish V8 LED panels were used to create a huge cube of video screens. This opened in an L-shaped video canvas, using the Wi-
Russia - Sleeping Beauty Dreams is a fusion of contemporary dance, real-time digital avatar technology and hypnotic electronic music. Based on the Grimm Brothers fairy tale, the spectacular production explores The Princess’s – often haunting – dreams, passions and temptations during her hundred-year slumber. Sound and movement achieved stunning cohesion as Noisia’s Thijs de Vlieger’s futuristic score was presented in L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound technology, with every movement of The Princess, performed by celebrated dancer Diana Vishneva, tracked in real time with BlackTrax motion tracking. Conceived by Miami-based Magic Reality Group (MRG), Sleeping Beauty Dreams (SBD) combines visual art, contemporary dance and avatar-mapping projection, set to an immersive sound of harsh and, at times, darkly ambient electronic music, to create a unique
Thailand - The Office of the Permanent Secretary for Defence recently upgraded its headquarters with Harman Professional Solutions AV, lighting and control systems. Part of Thailand’s Ministry of Defence, the Office of the Permanent Secretary is responsible for determining strategic goals, executing plans, drafting policy and the inspection and monitoring of the Royal Thai Armed Forces. Occupying a grand, nine-story building with multiple wings outside Bangkok, the organisation’s headquarters includes a multipurpose hall which can seat 1,500 and be divided into two separate spaces on demand. To ensure world-class sound, video, lighting and control for presentations and events, the Office of the Permanent Secretary deployed a range of solutions from JBL Professional, Crown, Soundcraft, BSS, Martin Professional and AMX. "The client needed cutting-edge AV and st
South Africa - Days before lockdown, thousands of fans gathered at the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria to celebrate the 2020 edition of RAMfest, South Africa’s music festival for all things alternative. This years’ line up included some of South Africa’s most popular alternative bands, including Facing the Gallows, Peasant, Man as Machine, Newtown Knife Gang, The Valley, Stoker, and Truth & It’s Burden. Highlights of the event included a much-anticipated reunion show by South African rock legends, The Van Coke Kartel and USA-based death metal giants, The Black Dahlia Murder, who headlined the one-day festival. Festival organisers Real Alternative Music (RAM) once again contracted Stage Effects and Blue Array Productions to provide technical services for the event. Stage Effects’ Erik de Bruin has been working with RAM on the festival for several years a
USA - Mirror balls have been used to create atmosphere in dancehalls and nightclubs for almost a century, and became synonymous with the ‘70s disco explosion. Dance Studio Vol. 1, the latest new addition to the nightlife scene in Chicago’s River North neighbourhood, takes this lighting staple to a new level by filling the ceiling above its dancefloor completely with ADJ mirror balls of various sizes. The new nightclub and event space is a renovation of the ‘dearly departed’ Studio Paris, which closed in January 2019 after an eight-year run. With a totally redesigned interior, Dance Studio Vol. 1 is a 350-person venue that hosts live music, DJs and ‘surprise entertainment’. It features a lighting system that was designed and installed by Craft Lighting, a Chicago-based AV design and integration company. Craft Lighting supplied and installed a total of 470 A
USA - High End Systems has announced new live events via its Study Hall programme, featuring webinars, Q&As, and round tables led by both employee experts and friends around the industry. “The content will be geared toward all our audiences around the globe, including dedicated events for just our dealers and reps - so be sure to log in to MyETC to see all the upcoming listings!” suggests HES. This week’s schedule includes: Thursday, 2 April, 10:00 am CDT - Intro to Controls Networking - “It's all about making meaningful connections... between the components of your lighting system! ETC NYC's Nick Gonsman presents a special intro to the theory and practice of controls networking.” Thursday, 2 April, 12:00 pm CDT - Let’s Go Hog Wild - “Join Maegan Wilson and Noah Allen, product support specialists for High End Systems, as they will cover
UK - Stage Electrics has won the contract to complete the technical fit out of production lighting, sound, video, comms and stage engineering systems at the new purpose built, fully accessible, Brixtonhouse Theatre (formerly Ovalhouse Theatre) which forms part of the Somerleyton Road Project in the heart of Brixton. The new building will have two performance venues and seven multi-use accessible studios and a whole new inventory of equipment and is set to at the end of 2020. Stage Electrics will again be working with main contractor Galliford Try with who they previously completed the Southampton New Art Complex.
UK - Technical services provider White Light (WL) has taken delivery of a number of Powersoft’s T Series amplifier platforms from the company’s UK distributor, CUK Audio. The purchase, which took place between July and October of last year, included 31 T604s and three T602s, and was made after the company had a chance to get some hands-on time with the products at WL’s warehouse. WL’s senior audio technical project manager, Harry Saxton McCann, says: “CUK’s product demos were brilliant, and the training was ideal to bring our freelance and full-time staff up to date with Powersoft’s latest offerings. A lot of the engineers have commented on how clean the PA sounds when being driven by Powersoft amplifier platforms, and the ability to keep everything digital over Dante and AES has been very beneficial.” Available in both 4-channel and 2-channel ve
The Netherlands - Jack-Rotterdam is a restaurant where 30 years of dance music and fine food coalesce. When former techno DJ-turned restaurant and hotel concept developer Jack planned to open to his own house concept eatery, Amate Audio’s Benelux distributor, Imagination AV (also based in Rotterdam) was charged with specifying and installing a sound system throughout the long beautifully arched venue, that would meet the demands of both dining and dancing with equal measures of quality. Power and performance on the dance floor come courtesy of eight Nítid N6P 2-way systems and a pair of N12WP subs. The most compact Nítid series model, the N6P’s frequency response and high SPL output is astounding for cabinet of its size, due to a combination of advanced design and components that includes a 6” carbon fibredriver that enables the N6P to deliver a response akin
Poland - One of the most spectacular and well-equipped theatres in Europe, with a seating capacity of over 2,000, The Grand Theatre - National Opera (Polish: Teatr Wielki - Opera Narodowa (TW-ON)) is a ‘must-visit’ cultural hub in Warsaw, housing a theatre complex, museum, opera company, and the Polish National Ballet all under one roof. Most recently, its Młynarski Hall, also known as the Chamber Music Hall, has been updated with an L-Acoustics Kiva II system, offering “unparalleled sound” versatility to the venue’s extensive programme of concerts, ballets, operas, and special events. When it was time to upgrade this notable venue's PA system, the team invited the top AV suppliers to participate in the tendering process. The team consisted of the theatre's Zdzisław Staszewski, Łukasz Baska and Michał Polański. They were responsible for conducting
USA - Community Christian Church in Tamarac, FL, has been livestreaming Sunday services for over two years, but until recently, they always were conducted before a room filled with worshippers. When concerns about Covid-19 prompted the church to hold services inside an empty building, its tech team, which includes media pastor Bill Kelly, director of communications Vinny Cesar and visual arts director Kevis Mulchan, began revising its streaming strategy. “We felt that not having people in the church would necessitate some changes,” said Mulchan. “Our initial thought was that it would not be good to show a room full of empty seats on our online broadcasts. However, by the second week of doing this, we reversed course, coming to realise that it was actually a good thing to show the vacant space, since this emphasized that the church is not the building itself, but the i
World - Challenging times call for extraordinary responses and for DJ EZ, a man not unfamiliar with marathon sets, what could be better to put smiles on faces than to set up, plug in and play for 24 hours on the spin? DJ EZ’s response to the current unprecedented worldwide circumstances, was to team up with the My Kind Deed website to lift people’s spirits whilst they observed social distancing and self-isolation due to the Covid-19 pandemic. From 6pm GMT on 28 March through to 6pm GMT on 29 March, DJ EZ streamed a 24-hour set via Boiler Room TV. My Kind Deed is a project that encourages positivity and kindness as a way to promote better mental health and general wellbeing in society. It wasn’t the first time that this hugely respected DJ has put himself out there to give something back to his community. Four years ago, DJ EZ raised £60,000 for Cance
Australia - Progressive metal band Tool have just completed the southern-hemisphere leg of their extensive and technically ambitious arena touring schedule, supporting the launch of the album, Fear Inoculum. As they headed to Australia and New Zealand, it was confirmed that the tour’s TiMax SoundHub-driven 3D surround sound system - that started out as something of an experiment - would continue for the rest of the tour as it had ‘become part of the show’. The system design - a distributed d&b arrangement of main left and right, plus overheads focused vertically down forward and back, rear surround hangs and upper seating ‘front’ channels - is the result of extensive research by the band’s system engineer, Liam Halpin, to realise the suggestion of FOH engineer, Alan Hopkinson, that their audience would love ‘sounds to appear from different places aro
UK - This year’s Buckinghamshire Music Trust (BMT) Battle of the Bands (BOTB) contest for young aspiring musicians saw two leading pro audio manufacturers provide a top tier concert touring spec. By being able to broadcast their sound through a premier touring PA, on a Dante backbone, will have taken the 12 bands competing in the final into new territory. The two High Wycombe-based manufacturers concerned were Martin Audio and Focusrite Pro, both now under the umbrella of parent company, Focusrite plc. It was Stephen Button, Focusrite’s EMEA channel marketing executive, who established the relationship with Buckinghamshire Music Trust (BMT) several years ago. It started when he helped them out as a local musician with their monthly event Guitari Lounge, an open mic night created for under-18-year-olds. BMT evolved from teaching young people ‘traditional’
USA - Boston is a town with many traditions and one festive custom that Bostonians have enjoyed since 1975 is First Night Boston, New England’s biggest New Year’s Eve celebration. Produced by Conventures, Inc., this past season’s festivities were lit by Port Lighting Systems using Elation weatherproof luminaires. First Night Boston is an event the New Hampshire-based lighting specialists have worked for many years. As veterans of First Night Boston and other outdoor events, Port Lighting Systems knew the secret to its success would be carefully selecting equipment and crew. “We tapped team members with experience lighting in all weather conditions, and chose a combination of outdoor-rated fixtures, equipment designed to protect fixtures from the elements, and back-up gear should anything fail,” says Port Lighting’s Graham Edmondson, who serve
Canada/Europe - Montreal-based visual design practice Luz Studio, headed by Matthieu Larivée, created the eye-catching production design at the core of French-Canadian singer and impressionist Véronic DiCaire’s Showgirl tour, which had a very successful launch in Canada in December 2019, then toured arenas in Europe, before the coronavirus pandemic took hold and curtailed all live events. The Showgirl concept saw the artist delivering material written / performed by around 50 female vocalists - from Dua Lipa to Celine Dion - in their style and voices, backed by six dancers and four musicians. Matthieu proposed a harmonious and integrated set, lighting and video design which featured Robe moving lights at the centre, with 28 MegaPointes and 12 Spiiders, plus six BMFL Blades and two BMFL Spots being used with a RoboSpot remote follow-spotting system. <
UK - Back to the Future The Musical arrived in 2020 at the Manchester Opera House on 20 February. The 1985 movie and pop culture phenomenon has been transported to the stage by the film's original creative team of Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis. Sending audiences on a ride through time with a hit music score, and featuring the famous DeLorean, production manager Simon Marlow, brought Unusual Rigging on board to handle the complex rigging requirements of the show. Unusual Rigging was contracted to supply all the rigging - both for the load in and the run of the show. Marlow explains: “Unusual's Emily Egleton has been at the helm; we have a great relationship, having worked closely on a number of shows together including Bat out of Hell the Musical and And Juliet. She was tasked with designing all the diversions and the hanging plot for Back to the Future
USA - For those missing the comradery and exuberance of a live concert experience, long-time Bandit Lites client Garth Brooks offered some words of encouragement amidst a one-hour Facebook live stream that was so popular, it apparently kept crashing the social media site. Brooks was recently honoured as this year's recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. “Garth stands alone in music at this point,” said Bandit Lites founder and chair, Michael T. Strickland. “Never has anyone been so impactful, yet so giving to the world as a whole. There is never a cause or a moment that Garth does not only rise to the occasion, but he sets the bar. Garth and Trisha provided a free concert for anyone that cared to listen, an incredible move that was 100% them giving of themselves to a public in need of a moment of relief. Thank you Garth and Trisha; we ca
