UK - The Blue Butterfly Dance Company has selected Le Mark Nocturne dance floor for its new studios. The Blue Butterfly Dance Company, based in Eastleigh, Hampshire, recently opened new studios in the town centre. Built in a previously derelict site, they required new, versatile flooring for all the performance spaces. “Before we started work, the unit was run-down and empty,” said Amy Fern, principal, Blue Butterfly Dance Company. “It was in a terrible state, so we had lots of work to do and only 12 weeks to do it in, before we opened. Our floors are used for all types of dance - ballet, tap, modern, contemporary, as well as fitness and yoga, so we needed a hard-wearing, multi-purpose floor. “We chose Le Mark flooring as we felt it was much better value for money compared to other dance flooring. Now we have three beautiful studios, all with Le Mark N
Honduras - Reggaeton singer and Latin Grammy Award-winner, Nicky Jam, took his Intimo tour to the city of San Pedro Sula in Honduras for a show at Morazán Stadium that featured an Elation Professional lighting rig designed by Juan David Guerrero. Setting the party atmosphere with colour and high-energy visual excitement was a dynamic lighting rig made up of 36 Platinum FLX moving heads, 48 ACL 360 Bar LED battens, 16 Protron 3K strobes, eight DTW Blinder 700 IP and eight DTW Blinder 350 IP blinders with atmospheric haze from a pair of Antari F-7 Smaze machines. Production and operation of the event was by PRO504, a leading Honduras-based production company that gave the more than 20,000 people who attended the show an unforgettable audio-visual experience. “In Honduras, I used Elation thanks to the excellent service that John Lopez gave me,” stated Juan Dav
The Netherlands - Located in Amsterdam’s Nieuw-West district, where a major programme of urban renewal has been carried out in recent years, De Meervaart is a multi-purpose venue which includes two theatres, three foyers, two studios and 10 further meeting rooms of different sizes. Between them they can host a diverse range events for between two and 2,000 people. With many international artists performing at the venue, alongside the needs of extreme flexibility and portability, De Meervaart technical head Martin Keereweer has relied on Yamaha digital mixing consoles. “About 13 years ago we invested in Yamaha M7CL-32 and LS9-16 consoles, which still work flawlessly,” he says. ”But with the busy schedule of events here, there was a constant demand for more equipment. We will continue to use the M7CL and LS9, so it made sense to invest in Yamaha again.”
The Netherlands - The Kunstlinie Almere Flevoland (KAF) in Almere has installed 16 Claypaky Axcor Spot 400 fixtures in its theatre. Claypaky distributor AED Nederland provided the LED moving spotlights. KAF is a theatre and exhibition centre which opened in 2007 and was renovated and took its current name in 2016. The complex features three performance spaces in the theatre and an exhibition hall. “We were looking for lights that would work with a wide range of theatrical performances, concerts and event rentals,” say Maarten Bolt and Menno van Houten, Light technicians at KAF. “We did a long shootout of fixtures, and the Axcors stood out from the competition for their design, performance and attractive price. Plus, we had used the Axcor Spot 300s once and liked them, so we opted for the new Axcor Spot 400 models.” While lighting usage at KAF varies from
USA/Europe - Ohio-based hardcore act Beartooth, are currently touring around the world, taking on festival season with two dLive Wings set-ups. Danny Harvey (FOH engineer) reports, “The size of the C1500 is ideal for travelling, being able to fly with it is amazing and having that much power in two fly cases is perfect for international acts, making their sound consistent all over the world. “I love the way dLive sounds and how easy it is to customise everything. At the bigger festivals I always manage to get positioned front middle on the FOH tent due to the C1500’s small footprint.” Supplied by V2 Productions for their US dates and Captured Live for shows in Europe, the band’s set up consists of two dLive C1500 surfaces, paired with two DM48 MixRacks, covering both FOH and monitors. Additionally, the FOH console is equipped with a Waves card, used for
UK - BishopSound is making its debut at the Glastonbury Festival 2019. BishopSound speakers are to be used exclusively on a new stage being run by the long-established Glastonbury suppliers, Bristol based A1 Entertainments. For the stage, which will be used to host up and coming DJs, BishopSound has supplied four Beta BB118 enclosures and four Beta BB215s. The BB118 is a passive sub-woofer particularly popular with DJs for its tight, well-defined bass frequency response. Each speaker will handle 1,000 Watts RMS from 35-100Hz with 107dB sensitivity. The BishopSound Beta Twin 15 BB215 is a passive, upright full range speaker fitted with 'Easy Move' wheels. Like the BB118 it will also handle 1,000 Watts RMS, offers 101dB sensitivity and a frequency response from 56Hz-20kHz. Andrew Bishop says: “We're thrilled and delighted to be bringing a British sound back to G
South Africa - The Suncoast Casino in Durban KwaZulu-Natal has a new Anolis lighting scheme which was designed and specified by Joao Viegas and Paul Pamboukian of PPALD. While Paul and Joao presented and drove the project, it was a collaborative effort involving the entire PPALD design team working in conjunction with DWR Distribution, who supplied the Anolis fixtures, and commissioned the system. The project was overseen for DWR by Johnny Scholtz. They were subcontracted to Edison Power, working for South African hotel group, Tsogo Sun, the end client. The brief was to replace the building’s tired old coloured metal halide [sodium] lighting installation which was outlined with coloured neon with something vibrant, colourful and contemporary to match the cosmopolitan vibes and energy of Durban. PPALD proposed the colour changing lighting scheme, complete
USA - Premier Production Services (PPS) of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania has taken delivery of Ayrton Mistral-TC (True Colour) spot luminaires for its inventory where they have been in active use since their arrival from ACT Lighting, Ayrton’s exclusive distributor in North America. PPS offers lighting and audio packages and production assistance for corporate meetings, school dramatic arts and other live events in central Pennsylvania. “We had replaced our older static fixtures with LED and wanted to replace our moving intelligent lights with LED as well,” says PPS vice president Rocco DiBacco. “ACT Lighting brought us some Mistral-TCs for a demo and a shootout with another fixture brand, and we really liked a lot of things about the Mistrals.” Mistral-TC has been created for applications that require perfect colour reproduction. It is equipped with an en
USA - The Cult have been making their way across America celebrating 30 years of their 1989 album, Sonic Temple. They're touring light: just a bus and a trailer in tow to transport the band, consoles, backline, control package, and touring team, which is just two engineers. At FOH position, Stephen McGuire is working from an SSL L300. McGuire has been mixing The Cult for four years and used an L500 console for FOH duties on their previous outing. “It's literally just me and the monitor guy on this tour; I needed to get a desk that is powerful, phenomenally quick to set up, sonically geared for The Cult and can fit in the trailer. The SSL L300 was the perfect choice.” McGuire says he loves mixing The Cult, and describes them as a good old school rock and roll band: no tracks, no click, everything is in the moment, and they give him license to mix. “
Singapore - Concept Systems Technologies recently upgraded The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia, Singapore grand ballroom with a Martin by Harman lighting system for conventions, weddings, celebrations and more. Concept Systems Technologies recommended the Martin MAC Quantum Profile, MAC Quantum Wash, Rush MH 1 Profile Plus, MAC Aura and the JEM Hazer Pro. “The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia, Singapore wanted to upgrade their old discharge lamps with dynamic, intelligent LED fixtures to make their events more immersive,” said a spokesperson for Concept Systems. “Thanks to the wide array of diverse fixtures from Martin, we were able to design a custom lighting solution capable of creating a visually impactful experience for any event.” Concept Systems outfitted the ballroom with four MAC Quantum Profile fixtures and four RUSH MH1 Profile Plus fixtures to create crisp, clea
UAE - Prolights feature in the installation of the newly opened restaurant Wavehouse in the iconic Atlantis The Palm, Dubai. Since opening in early 2019 the Wavehouse entertainment venue has been acknowledged as one of Dubai’s premiere entertainment destinations and a jewel in the crown for the landmark Atlantis The Palm Hotel. Wavehouse delivers entertainment over three floors including a multi-level soft-play area, two floors of arcade gaming with a dedicated Fortnite suite, multifunction room and VR experiences, a four-lane bowling alley, indoor restaurant & bar and a large terrace area with live stage, bars, casual seating and a view out over the Aquaventure Waterpark. Prolights dominates the lighting installation with over 800 fixtures throughout the venue. The range of IP-rated and track-mount fixtures varied depending on requirements from their locat
Europe - Lighting designer Jacopo Ricci made a fundamental contribution to staging Fedez's recent tour by selecting a high-impact lighting system, consisting of 52 Mythos 2 units and 20 Claypaky B-EYE K20s, all supplied by Mister X service based in Grumello Cremonese. Jacopo Ricci said: “I chose Mythos 2 units for the versatility they allowed me. With these units, I could go from beam light to spotlight depending on the needs during the individual parts of the show, and I could program the fixtures differently during the show while exploiting the same installation points. I don't normally use beam lights very much, but in this case, the ability to switch to beam mode was really important. I can safely say that I made the most of the hybrid features of these units.” The three front and two side trusses were all fitted with Mythos units, which Jacopo said he "used 90
The Netherlands - The Panama nightclub in Amsterdam has been at the forefront of the Dutch music scene for more than 16 years, presenting a wide variety of styles and featuring a balanced mix of global and local DJs. The venue has a capacity of over a thousand and as well as its essential nightclub function, acts as a multi-purpose events space that puts on a diverse programme of events. The production team at Panama has progressively improved the sound system at the club over the years. Although happy that its existing system was good and met most of its needs, the club’s management wished to take the club’s audio provision forward and introduce even greater clarity, power and detail, to further enhance every aspect of its offer. Seeking a more immersive solution, Panama choose Pioneer Pro Audio XY Series loudspeakers and appointed AVL Rent under the leadership of
The Netherlands - Dutch singer and TV presenter Jan Smit has been at the forefront of show business for over 20 years. After being discovered by Dutch boy-band Volendam MWN back in 1996, Smit has since gone on to work as a solo artist, in addition to his work as a TV presenter. For his current theatre tour of the Benelux, Smit's long-term creative collaborator Martijn Steman was once again tasked with providing refreshing and versatile tour visuals. After much pre-tour deliberation, Triple Showtechniek supplied Steman and his team with 30 Chauvet Professional Rogue R1 FX-B fixtures, which were incorporated within Steman's lighting concept to award Smit’s energetic rock ’n roll songs with an explosive visual energy. Positioned in three horizontal rows running the width of the entire stage, the R1 FX-Bs play a pivotal role in creating energetic bursts of colour and
Europe - The 2019 arena tour of Saveus, a Danish electronic pop/soul act, featured an impressive setup that featured CLF Orion fixtures. LD Theis Wermuth from Create This was asked to create a spectacular look for the 2019 arena shows in Copenhagen and Aarhus. With the idea of creating big pods of light, needed for an electronic/digital look, he included ladders with 24 CLF Orion hybrid moving heads and 32 CLF Ares LEDwashes as main light. Theis Wermuth explained, “I wanted a powerful hybrid fixture that could make beams and nice breakup looks. The CLF Orion was more the answer. They were used for creating nice, subtle looks, but also for powerful highlights. For strobe effects I searched for a powerful LED fixture. I was hugely impressed by the output of the CLF Ares when using them before, so I decided to use them as LED strobe.” Both fixtures will be deployed f
Germany - Wireless audio system engineer Victor Lang recently helped The Voice of Germany improve its wireless in-ear monitoring coverage with new Wisycom solutions. With a reliable RF signal that extends from the stage all the way to the back of the audience and backstage into the green room, Lang turned to the Wisycom’s MTK952 Wideband Dual transmitter, MPR50-IEM Wideband Receiver and MAT288 Matrix Combiner. For The Voice of Germany, Lang employed the Wisycom IEM system – the MPR50-IEM and MTK952 – along with 40 channels of Shure Digital Axient for all the wireless mics through the MAT288 to create multiple antenna coverage/zones. “One of the big reasons the producers wanted to try out the Wisycom IEM system was because of the difficulty they had in the past in getting full coverage in each of the key zones,” he says. “I was confident that
USA/UK - Following the release of her second studio album, The Sun Will Come Up, the Seasons Will Change, Scottish singer-songwriter Nina Nesbitt has recently completed her headline North America and UK tour, accompanied by an Allen & Heath SQ-5. With a compact footprint, SQ has rapidly found favour with touring acts, as Curtis McKenna (FOH / mons engineer) explains: “I was looking for an easily transportable fly-rig and I love the fact that with SQ, I can have my entire show in a case, jump on a flight and then show up anywhere around the world and not only have the same great sounding show as the night before, but have it up and running within five minutes. It just works right out of the box.” Having been an Allen & Heath GLD user for the past four years, McKenna found the decision to purchase his own SQ-5 an easy one. “I came across the SQ
UK - In May, the Call of Duty World League (CWL) Championship took place at the multi-sport venue, Copper Box Arena in Hackney, London. Creative Technology supplied live event facilities for client Gfinity on the event. The CWL is the official eSports league developed around the Call of Duty game franchise and this highly regarded event in the eSporting calendar saw the best players in the world complete live on PlayStation4 in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 from developer Treyarch Studios. In the Amateur Stage area, Creative Technology supplied three Epson EB-L1755Q 15k projectors with backups and 3 front projection screens that were 6m x 3m. All content was shared via a disguise gx 2 media server and a Barco E2 screen management system was used to control all content distribution. One of the challenges faced was dealing with the sheer volume of content being sent from bac
USA - The Aiken Bluegrass Festival held this May at the Western Carolina State Fairgrounds featured a healthy dose of rock-infused newgrass sounds alongside traditional bluegrass. Lighting this year’s festival, John Berret reflected the spirit of both branches of bluegrass music. Aiding him in this endeavour was a collection of Chauvet Professional Rogue fixtures, supplied by Quest Sound Productions. “I really needed to be aware of the relatively limited space I had available while designing the festival rig,” says Berret. “At the same time that it had to be compact, my rig also needed to be versatile enough to create unique looks for 19 different groups representing different generations of bluegrass.” With limited height and room for his design, Berret optimised the placement of all fixtures to enhance the impact of his lighting. He hung six Rogue R2
Spain - Covering 81 hectares of Spanish countryside, Palmeral Resort is a prime location for weddings and other family celebrations. Aiming to create memorable experiences and lasting memories, a zoned Yamaha audio system is deployed. Situated at Talavera de la Reina in the province of Toledo, 140km south west of Madrid, Palmeral Resort is set amongst palm trees, fountains, attractive gardens and a lake. The resort’s management needed to deploy quality sound in all areas, but with the versatility to manage each area independently or as groups, depending on the needs of each event. El Palmeral owner Esteban Robledo reports, "In a resort covering such a large area and with so many different zones, the use of analogue technology would obviously have been a mistake. Digital audio networking gave us the opportunity to centralise the control and the possibility to manage t
Australia - As a long-term user of DPA microphones, the Sydney Theatre Company (STC) has been quick to adopt the Danish manufacturer’s Core by DPA amplifier technology, which has now been successfully incorporated into DPA d:screet Miniature, d:fine headset and d:vote instrument microphones. Already the owner of a substantial amount of DPA stock, STC recently added 75 d:screet CORE 4061 Miniature Omnidirectional Microphones to its inventory and is putting them to good use on a number of productions, including a new version of Tennessee Williams’ classic Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. Ben Lightowlers, STC’s head of sound and audio visual, says: “Once the new Core technology arrived, I was keen to put it through the rigours of a regular season at STC. The goal for us in theatre is to not distract the audience with an obviously mic’d tonality but rather aim for a
Denmark - Flipside Soundsystem has designed and installed a Yamaha-based audio system at a new bouldering gym in Copenhagen “Pretty much everyone at Flipside enjoys a fair amount of indoor bouldering, so we were both surprised and excited when Josh Glanville and Francesco Ragazzi of Beta Boulders asked us to work on the sound system for their new 10,000sq.ft bouldering gym,” says Flipside managing director James Cooper. “Our first instinct was to want to achieve something that sounded better than the gyms we all climb in.” Although Beta Boulders has climbing and training areas, it is also much more. With a yoga studio, cafe and co-working spaces, it is designed to bring people from all over the Copenhagen area together. “We connect people through climbing, work, culture and needed an audio system that could be used by any staff member, but flexible enou
France - High End Systems’ new SolaFrame 3000 has been selected by French dealer Texen to join its fleet of lighting products. Twelve units have already been ordered and shipped for use in upcoming projects by the rental company. Officially launched last year, the SolaFrame 3000 remains in high demand by several venues in search of an automated fixture with such a powerful lumen output. Established venues across France including the Opéra Bastille, Opéra National de Lyon and Théâtre du Châtelet have chosen the SolaFrame 3000 for their respective productions. Managing director of Texen, François Mondié, comments: “We have carried out several tests and compared different automated fixtures on their movement, effects and noise-level. The SolaFrame 3000 has been the clear winner. It is the only LED machine that is comparable to HMI and ticks all of the boxes.”
Japan - Cho Kabuki: Yoshitsune Senbonzakura (Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees) is one of the most popular kabuki plays in Japan. Senbonzakura itself, a ‘Vocaloid’ song launched on the Japanese video-sharing website Nico Nico Douga, originally became a major hit leading to live stage performances and novels, and creating a new collaboration - Hanakurabe Senbonzakura. This was a kabuki production first, bridging the past and the present, and premiered at the Niconico Chokaigi Festival in 2016. When the ‘Cho Kabuki supported by NTT’ event was held recently at Makuhari Messe Event Hall in Chiba, Martin Audio Sound Adventures system made an auspicious Japanese debut. This is known as one of the main event booths of Nico Nico Super Conference, which is annually held in Makuhari Messe during the May public holiday and is designed with the aim of reproducing
