USA - Premier Productions’ stellar 2019 Worship Tour is running across the USA this fall. Earlier this year, Seth Jackson was approached by Josh Chambless of Premier Productions to create a unifying design for a tour that would feature three of worship music’s most prominent groups: Casting Crowns, Elevation Worship and Hillsong Worship. Multiple Dove Award nominees all, and in two case Dove and Grammy winners, each band has its own distinct look on stage, created by its own talented production team. Jackson’s mission was to come up with a design that would pull together each band’s stage persona, while still presenting a smoothly flowing and harmoniously balanced look on stage. Working with his partner Nate Alves, Jackson met this challenge, creating a sweeping panorama that embraces the visuals of each band, while also projecting a unified image that is uniqu
France - The French Open tennis tournament is held in Paris at Roland Garros Stadium, a complex of three main courts with a total capacity of over 30,000 spectators. The largest of the courts, Court Philippe-Chatrier, was rebuilt between the 2018 and 2019 tournaments and now accommodates over 15,000 spectators. For the 2019 tournament, two Danley J3-94 Jericho Horn supported by four Danley THmini15 subwoofers covered Court Philippe-Chatrier’s seating cleanly and with unprecedented intelligibility. “The sound reinforcement system at Roland Garros is used mainly for speech reinforcement for the referee, players and organizers, as well as for advertising and the national anthem,” explained Etienne Bérard, director of Demoa, a French AV distribution company. The AV consultant on the project, Creaprag, asked Demoa to find an efficient, high-intelligibility sound re
Belgium - Painting with Light (PWL), working for television producers Dedsit, supplied lighting and video content design, creation and control for De Battle – a co-production between Belgium’s SBS and Netherlands broadcaster, RTL – which was recorded at the Pop Up Theatre in Puurs. The TV series is billed as ‘the next level of studio entertainment’. Four celebrity contestants, divided into two Belgian and Dutch teams faced brain-teasing quizzes, gravity-defying stunts – from drifting cars to traversing a high wire plus a host of manual dexterity and physical exercise skill tasks – testing them to the max in front of a live audience. Studio 100’s Pop Up Theatre includes eight moving seating tribunes to fit 1600 people and eight remote-controlled LED screens which can be moved into any position and configuration. These large moving assets ena
USA - Brown Note Productions, a full service production company based in Thornton, Colorado, has purchased a large fleet of Elation Professional IP-rated outdoor lighting fixtures and immediately had the gear out on a fall run of music festivals. “We chose to go with IP rated fixtures to be part of the solution for our industry,” stated Ryan Knutson, president of Brown Note Productions. “With the changing climate and the desire to be outdoors listening and seeing your favourite performers, the stakes in the game have changed. The visual designs now call for non-traditional stage layouts to complement the artists’ performances. These visual platforms require lighting and other production technology to be directly exposed to the elements.” Knutson says that Brown Note’s historical approach was to bag fixtures with bulky, expensive weather domes but that was
USA - Rock band Sum 41 embarked on their US and Canadian Order In Decline Tour with a JRLX touring lighting package onboard. Lighting designer Nick Stabile of Helm Projects specified a rig of Elation Professional Dartz 360s, ACL BAR 360s, Cuepix WW2 Blinders, and GLP JDC1 Strobes. Nick Stabile Explains, “Sum 41 has moved past their pop-punk days. Their set is a lot of straightforward rock - quick and heavy songs with slow and beautiful moments peppered in. There is a lot of dynamism in the show, so I needed a lighting rig that was super punchy, yet able to accommodate the more theatrical points in the show. “The fixtures I selected are small, yet powerful and multifaceted. The Cuepix WW2s have been my go-to for years now for stage blinders. The ACL BAR 360s can give me utter madness on stage for those crazy moments -and pixels. But it is the Dartz 360s that are rea
Taiwan - The 3201 Multi Hall in the Taiwan Traditional Theatre Centre (TTTC) at the National Centre for Traditional Arts (NCFTA) in Taipei became the first theatre in the country to use moving heads and be equipped with all-LED lighting with the installation of a complement of Claypaky and ADB products. The NCFTA’s mission is to cultivate talents in the traditional arts and to conduct investigation, research, conservation, transmission and development of the traditional arts. The GuoGuang Opera Company, Taiwan Bangzi Opera Company, National Chinese Orchestra Taiwan and Taiwan Music Institute operate under its authority. NCFTA oversees the TTTC, which is also known as the Xiqu Centre of Taiwan. The Multi Hall is a small venue seating about 130 people. It hosts traditional Chinese and Taiwanese opera and Palmadrama (Taiwanese hand-puppet theatre) as well as press confe
South Africa - Olive Tree Church in Florida Road, Berea, established in 2008, has a vision not to build a big church, but to pastor a big city and they have various branches scattered throughout Durban. The church recently invested in a DiGiCo SD9 with D2 rack and an Orange Box, purchased from DWR Distribution. Stephen Bagwell, technical director at Olive Tree has been with the church since 2014. Kyle Robson of DWR recalls “When I started working at DWR Distribution in 2016, we did our first DiGiCo training sessions around the country and Stephen was there. He was so determined that he would one day have a DiGiCo console, and now his dream has become a reality.” The new gear, consisting of an SD9, D2 rack and Orange Box, was initially sent down to Durban, where DWR’s Nicholas Barnes got the system up and running. It was followed up with training by Kyle.
UK - Warner Leisure Hotels owns a chain of 14 rural and costal hotels around the UK. It boasts luxury breaks in Grade I & II listed manors with bespoke packages that include famous faces from the stage, screen and radio in West End-quality performances at Warner’s venues. With increasingly bigger productions, Warner’s focus is on providing an outstanding guest experience. To this end, it recently undertook a major upgrade to the sound system in the ballroom at its Cricket St. Thomas Manor Hotel in Somerset – reputed haunt of Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton and the setting for much of 1980s TV comedy To The Manor Born - selecting an L-Acoustics Kiva II system to improve audio coverage and fulfil rider expectations for the venue’s busy entertainment programme. “Billy Ocean, Aswad, 10CC and Jane McDonald have previously performed here, and we have an e
UK - In 2009 the 11-mile stretch of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal won the UNESCO World Heritage Status. Situated on the border between England and Wales is the Chirk Canal Aqueduct & Railway viaduct which is a part of the route. This aqueduct was finished in 1801 and has been an important landmark and way of transportation for the region ever since. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of being a UNESCO World Heritage Site the Welsh Canal & River Trust wanted to do something special. Enlightened Lighting was commissioned through winning a competitive tender process put forward by those leading the project: The Glandŵr Cymru, The Canal & River Trust in Wales on behalf of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct & Canal World Heritage Site Partnership. The project formed an exciting challenge for Enlightened Lighting and for their lighting designer, Ben Dodds. He in
UK - Lighting designer Steve Cameron utilised Vista by Chroma-Q’s Vista 3 lighting & media control system to deliver full concert production values for the Wella 2019 TrendVision Awards, held at London’s Roundhouse. The Awards are the pinnacle of the annual contest, which recognises some of the UK and Ireland’s most impressive hairdressing talent. Hosted by TV’s Vernon Kay and hairdresser Patrick Cameron, it was attended by 800 industry peers. With the event putting creative talent centre-stage in a venue steeped in rock ‘n’ roll history, and music’s inescapable influence on the fashion world, the occasion called for a concert-style lighting rig to give it an energetic, theatrical look and feel, whilst at the same time still delivering for its corporate AV requirements. As a long-time Vista user, Steve knew the control system would deliver his v
Germany - Nature One, one of Europe's largest festivals for electronic music, celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2-4 August. Consequently the event, which has been based on the former Pydna rocket base in the Hunsrück mountain region since the second year, was simply dubbed ‘The Twenty Five’. As always, at the centre of the festival site was the huge dancefloor, named Open Air Floor and as in previous years, Gerdon design was responsible for the entire production design. Here dancing takes place in the open air, while the majority of lighting technology - as in a real club - is above the heads of the audience, attached to a 26 x 26m truss construction which was raised to a height of 15m. Although Nature One does not rely on a lush and decorative backdrop construction like many other EDM festivals, the stage, which measures 46m wide, 18m high and 16m deep, was y im
Europe - Philips Professional Display Solutions and Hutchison Technologies worked together to bring transformational change to a leading fitness club with a UK and European roll-out of high impact LED video walls and digital signage. Founded in 1982, David Lloyd Leisure operates David Lloyd Clubs, providing family orientated fitness and leisure facilities across 99 UK sites and a further 15 across mainland Europe. Looking to meet the demand for HIIT (high-intensity interval training) and the explosion of boutique-studios, the fitness giant met the trend head on with the creation of Blaze. Housed in its purpose-built studio, the standalone instructor-led facility combines cardiovascular training with strength, boxing and martial arts skills to give an intense workout. Available in 54 sites (with more being added throughout 2019 and beyond), David Lloyd Clubs required a
UK - When John Legend and his 11-piece band performed at this year’s BluesFest for his only UK show of 2019, it was through a Martin Audio MLA loudspeaker array provided by Capital Sound at the O2 Arena. Introduced to the event by production manager Neil McDonald in 2017, Capital’s crew won plaudits both from Legend’s own production manager, Chris Stinebrink, and FOH engineer, Paul Klimson (Theory One Productions). “The MLA system caught my attention from the instant [system tech] Ben Turnbull started the tuning,” he explains. “Both he and [FOH tech] Dave Preston made me feel right at home, and even before Ben dug into the tuning, I noticed that the MLA rig was forward sounding. It didn’t sound like we were in the O2 but at an outdoor festival and I could only surmise that all the energy was coming out of the front of the array with very little spill off
Germany - At the eighth Electro Magnetic open air festival , almost 60 DJs and live-acts performed on different floors in the UNESCO World Heritage Völklinger Ironworks, a large industrial compound, developed at the end of the 19th century. In 2019 and for the first time the Electro Magnetic Festival celebrated two nights at Völklinger Ironworks. RCF audio-systems were used on all floors. German event company Triacs was responsible for the technical implementation of the main floor and implemented a RCF HDL 50-A system. Triacs used several RCF modules on the main floor. Two 10 HDL 50-A line array modules (hanging) together with 16 SUB 9007 (Sub Arc Cardioid) were in place as the main PA. Additionally eight HDL 30-A were used as near-fill. Four TT 1-A covered the VIP zone. TT 052-A modules in combination with In-Ear acted as the monitoring for the control rooms (light
USA - Chris Hoff, FOH engineer for rock band Styx, relies on JBL 7 Series Master Reference Monitors to help him dial in studio-quality sound during live performances. Styx released The Mission, their 16th studio album and first original release in over 10 years in 2017. When the band began touring to support the new record, they enlisted the help Chris Hoff. In order to deliver consistent sound in a wide range of venues, including some with less-than-desirable mix positions, Hoff relies on JBL 7 Series Monitors to make sure his live mixes stack up to Styx’s studio recordings. “We multi-track every show and I needed a way to compare the live mix I’m doing to the albums,” says Hoff. “The only way to really replicate what's going to be coming out of a PA is to have reference monitors in front of you. It makes it easier for me to bounce back and forth betw
Europe - Alan Parsons is probably one of the most demanding artists. In the late '60s / early' 70s, he worked as a sound engineer on milestones in music history, including the Beatles albums Abbey Road and Let it be, as well as on Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother and Dark Side of the Moon. As a musician he experienced in the 80's the highlight of his career with his Alan Parsons Project. At that time, however, he barely performed live, as the technology at that time was unable to reproduce the sound of his songs as he had produced them in the studio. Meanwhile, professional audio technology has caught up, and so dared Alan Parsons to tour again with his recent album The Secret. PM Blue from Hamburg was responsible for the eight-day tour of the musician through Germany. The lighting concept was realised in cooperation with AVM from Schwanewede
Indonesia - Guns N’ Roses, continue on their Not in This Lifetime tour – the third highest grossing tour of all time. The 48,000 fans at their GBK Stadium show in Jakarta were treated to a set of new and classic songs from the band’s extensive library. The crowd was also treated to the clarity of the Clair Brothers i218 speaker system, which was the first choice for sound reinforcement and also happens to be the largest format system available in Indonesia. Clair Brothers’ audio consultant in the region, Wayne Grosser reports: “The i218 system has been the first choice for touring artists in the GBK Stadium - it’s been a great success for many of the local promotors and production companies. I would particularly like to thank Indonesian production company and Clair Brothers rental partner, Total Audio, and its sound director, Sadat Effendy, along wi
Switzerland - In the summer of 2019, the Béjart Ballet Lausanne gave new performances of Dixit, the ‘cinema-ballet-theatre’ show written and directed by Marc Hollogne, in tribute to its founder, Maurice Béjart. To take the audience on the choreographer's story and work, the company relied on Modulo Kinetic and its real-time tracking module, KineMotion. To pay tribute to its creator, the Béjart Ballet Lausanne worked with Marc Hollogne to write and direct Dixit, a show that combines dance, acting and video projection to tell the story of Maurice Béjart's life and work. To bring this show to life, the Béjart Ballet Lausanne used Modulo Kinetic, Modulo Pi's media server solution, as well as KineMotion, its real-time tracking plug-in. Lucas Borgeaud, technical director of Béjart Ballet Lausanne, reports: “We had already used video in some
USA - Patrick Dierson called it “the chandelier”. For the fans who packed Brooklyn’s Barclay Centre on Monday night October 21 for the TIDAL X Rock the Vote Show, it was a massive piece of eye candy that riveted their attention as it glittered over the stage in support of the upbeat music being performed below. Anchoring this stunning centrepiece and endowing it with its distinct vibrancy and colour, were 58 Chauvet Professional Maverick MK3 Wash fixtures supplied by 4Wall Entertainment. Although the sheer size of this colossus was impressive, its true impact as a design element went far beyond its physical dimensions. “It was one of my favourite looks,” says Dierson, owner of The Activity, who served as production designer for the event. “Sure, it was massive, but that was just the beginning. The chandelier looked great on camera, and it gave us this ver
UK - Adlib supplied a full production package incorporating lighting, video, sound and rigging for the recent UK leg of comedian Russell Howard’s Respite stand-up tour, performed in-the-round. The Liverpool UK-based production and rental specialist had previously presented Howard performing in the same format in 2017. Neil McDonald from Clockwork Productions oversaw production and brought Adlib on board, having worked together on many previous projects. Kumar Kamalagharan was again Howard’s tour manager working closely with on-the-road production manager Andy Grey from Clockwork Productions. The lighting was designed by Adlib’s Tom Webber, while the kit and logistics were coordinated by Dave Eldridge. The technical infrastructure included a circular stage that was located centrally in the venue with four trusses just off the stage to fly the LED scr
UK - Will Young’s new show An Evening with Will Young visited 21 cities around the UK throughout October, with a complete audio infrastructure provided by London-based Capital Sound Hire. Young released his seventh studio album Lexicon in June of this year, the latest milestone in a career which started with his win in the inaugural series of Pop Idol in 2002. Since then he has won two Brit Awards and achieved global sales in excess of eight million albums, several of which have achieved multi-platinum status in the process. Young is also an author and actor, having appeared in film, in television and on stage. Shortly after the final date Martin Connolly, senior project manager at Capital remarks: “The Will Young tour has just completed and the Superfly system we supplied was faultless throughout. Will Young proved he is a consummate performer
UK - Situated in London’s Covent Garden, the Grade I listed Royal Opera House (ROH) is one of London’s largest theatres. Housing both The Royal Opera and The Royal Ballet, the site’s rich history dates back to 1732 when the (then) Theatre Royal was opened. Earlier this year, prior to staging The Munich Opera’s production of Handel’s opera Agrippina, directed by Barrie Kosky, the ROH received a specific request from lighting designer Benedikt Zhem for the placement of moving head LED units in the front of house. Historically, similar requests for moving heads have created issues in terms of a lack of space, sound control and certain restrictions placed on the auditorium by English Heritage. In an effort to meet the designer’s wish, the team at the ROH carried out some research into a possible solution and concluded that Elation’s Artiste Picasso pro
China - Solid German engineering and innovative IP technology are behind the Suzhou Municipal Government’s selection of a Lawo mc²36 mixing desk and three Compact I/O stageboxes for the Suzhou Folk Orchestra’s new concert hall. The Lawo systems were installed by Chinese partner SWS, who acted as the main contractor for the new facility in Suzhou, close to Shanghai, handling the system integration and infrastructure design. The choice of the Lawo systems alongside d&b audiotechnik loudspeakers and amplifiers gives the installation a strong German sound, as well as an assurance of quality. It is also the first installation of a Lawo mc²36 audio mixing console in a concert hall in China. The 40-fader, 192-crosspoint and 192-DSP-channel console with three Lawo Compact I/O stageboxes is accompanied by Waves SoundGrid integration. Lawo has established a very
UK - Nearly 100 Robe LED lighting fixtures - T1 Profiles, Spiider LED wash beams plus Divine 160 RGBW LED floods - are at the heart of the house lighting package at Magazine London - a new event space, located in North Greenwich. It has been just 300 days since ground was broken in North Greenwich for Venue Lab’s newest venture; Magazine London has now officially opened its doors. This purpose-built destination offers a blank canvas across 3,205sq.m of industrial-style space for up to 3,000 people standing. The site also features a 7,000-capacity outdoor showground with unbroken views across the river towards Canary Wharf. Space 1 has an impressive eight-metre-high, floor-to-ceiling glass window and access to a private balcony that allows guests to view the verticality of the Canary Wharf cityscape. This area can be used for a reception, as well as being an att
