USA - Fans of US rapper A$AP Ferg are treated to dynamic live footage and effects on his current Mad Man tour, through a slick stage design that features custom-built onstage robot cameras and a large HD video wall powered by Avolites Ai RX8 Servers. Lighting designer, video director and programmer for the tour is Michael Smalley of Twin Designs, who in the past has worked with artists including Pitbull, Shakira and Bassnectar. Smalley collaborated closely with production design company Vita Motus and LA-based technology design firm VT Pro Design to deliver the show. "The artist wanted a clean, runway look, like a high-end music video shoot," explains Smalley. "The cameras on the robot arms capture intimate and close-up shots so the audience can really see every moment on the big screen. This is mixed in with high impact effects to give a dynamic range to the sh
World - Currently touring their fifth studio album, Wonderful Wonderful, The Killers are travelling the world with an Americana-inspired show design, lit by long-term lighting designer Steven Douglas, who selected the Claypaky's Scenius Unico as the production's workhorse lighting fixture. From the start, the band, Douglas and the rest of the creative team decided against a fixed creative brief for this production. Instead they worked on growing the show design organically during the recording of the Wonderful Wonderful album. The resulting production features The Killers' idiosyncratic Vegas styling, alongside theatrical small-town Americana set-pieces, inspired by the nature and feel of the album's music. "Building the show whilst the album was still being recorded felt more natural, as the songs influenced the design process," says Douglas, who worked
Spain - An invitation-only masquerade ball takes place each year in the Liceu Theatre within the historically ornate ballroom known as Sala dels Miralls. Live musicians perform while attendees dance and drink and laugh, each person a mysterious character for the evening. Unfortunately, in the past, because of the mirrored and marbled room’s highly reflective sound quality, the details of the music and the vocals were often equally mysterious. So, in its third year in 2018, the promoters of the Círculo del Liceo Masquerade Ball decided to fix the issue once and for all - with Clair Brothers. VTècnics, Clair Brothers distribution partner in Spain, recommended using the new C12 speaker system to combat the daunting acoustical challenge. Explains Josep Maria Serra, VTècnics production manager, “An event that caters to high-society elite is expected to have everyth
USA - The Richard E. Berry Educational Support Centre in Houston, Texas recently completed a major update to its AV systems featuring seven Allen & Heath dLive S Class Digital Mixing Systems and an ME Personal Mixing System. Serving the Cypress Fairbanks Integrated School District, as well as the Houston area at large, the Berry Centre hosts 4000 yearly events in its five multi-purpose venues (arena, conference centre, theatre, and two stadiums). Ford Audio Video Systems provided the Berry Centre’s new AV systems. David Shriver, Ford AV’s Houston Division job centre manager says, “Our big goal in all of this was flexibility because the centre defines ‘multi-use facility’.” Ford AV installed an Allen & Heath gigaACE network and a second Dante network to supplement the existing Dante network. Together, the three networks allow several of the dLi
USA - Esports Arena Las Vegas, which celebrated its grand-opening on 22 March at the Luxor Hotel and Casino, features a Harman Professional installation. The new Esports Arena Las Vegas is a 30,000sq.ft multi-level arena with a competition stage, telescopic seating, daily gaming stations, VIP room, two bars, and state-of-the-art streaming and production studios. The facility also features an interactive area known as The Dome that includes retro games, and a front lobby equipped with gaming stations, a streaming booth and a virtual reality station. Harman Professional Solutions provided a custom audio, lighting, and control solution made up of JBL Professional loudspeakers, Crown amplifiers, BSS audio processors, AMX control systems and Martin lighting fixtures. “Esports Arena Las Vegas is the flagship location of our growing global network of Esports propert
UK - After over half a century of memorable theatrical productions, education programmes and workshops dedicated to upholding the art form of puppetry, it’s perhaps little wonder that the Little Angel Theatre in Islington, London, was championed by Time Out in 2016 as "nothing less than an icon of north London childhood”. For the theatre’s latest show - a puppet adaptation of the children’s picture book, The Singing Mermaid - LD Sherry Coenen incorporated Chauvet DJ’s Festoon fixture into her lighting concept to provide dynamic looks. Coenen utilised the fully pixel mappable LED Festoon to provide visual support for the lyrical picture book adaptation, which tells the story of a singing mermaid who is tempted away from her home at Silversands to join the circus. “The theatre required a solution which would give us a great deal of flex
UK - Alan Ayckbourn’s The Divide, staged at London’s Old Vic theatre features sound design by Bobby Aitken, who declares, “The sound design was defined by the use of TiMax. We could never have produced that without TiMax.” Directed by Annabelle Bolton with the score composed by Chris Nightingale, Aitken recognised the potential for an immersive spatial sound design. The music is delivered via a 40-piece choir and five-piece music ensemble comprised of woodwind, strings, piano and electronics. In addition to the score, the piece is supported by the extensive use of immersive sound effects. Out Board director Robin Whittaker provided design and programming support on-site to help Aitken realise his spatial vision. Aitken was able to use TiMax to strategically create space within the music for the actors’ voices to be heard clearly. Instead of rais
Croatia - The Zagreb Festival, the oldest entertainment music festival in Croatia, was modelled on the famous Sanremo Festival and is a significant event on the calendar for composers and songwriters and attracts a wide range of national and local singing talent. Lighting, set and visuals were designed this year by Miro Hrg, with the full production technical package - including a complete Robe moving light rig - supplied by one of the top Croatian rental companies, Promo Logistika. The show was broadcast live on Croatia’s National TV station, HRT (Hrvatska Radiotelevizija). Miro worked closely with their lighting director / designer Vesna Gregurević to create a stunning looking show that thrilled both a live audience in the Conference Hall at the Plaza Event Centre, Zagreb and engaged hundreds of thousands of TV viewers. They had two full days of rehearsals
Denmark - On 23 December 2017 and throughout this January, the 18km long fixed link between East and West Denmark was illuminated in BroBizz’s logo-coloured green to mark the beginning of a lower bridge toll. At the same time, the eye-catching installation on the world’s third largest suspension bridge was an experiment with energy-reducing LED fixtures. The lighting for the occasion was designed by ÅF Lighting for client Sund og Bælt, the owner of the bridge. “We wanted to create a professional architectural façade lighting, with beautiful even lighting from the roadway and all the way up to the top of the pylon, while leaving out unwanted highlights. The pylons are 254m high and the luminaires was placed next to the roadway at 68m height, which resulted in an approximately 186m vertical structure to light up,” said ÅF Lighting’s electrical and lighting
UK - Blackmagic Design reports that IMAG projection for the 2018 X Factor Lve arena tour was produced with a PPU, built around an ATEM 2 M/E Production Studio 4K with ATEM 2 M/E Broadcast Panel. Live acquisition was delivered by an HD multicam set up which included the URSA Broadcast. The tour, produced by live specialist, PRG XL Video, took the talent show’s winners to 15 cities across the UK in just three weeks. Vis a Vis Video’s Stuart Merser led on all video production for the tour and collaborated with X Factor’s studio director, Diccon Ramsey, to ensure the live set up matched the format and feel of the popular television series. “The live set-up is similar to the Saturday night show, with a presenter and acts performing for the audience’s vote each night, so Diccon was responsible for editorial consistency between broadcast and arena content,
UK - The transformation of the vacant former Bradford Odeon cinema into a 4,000-capacity live music, entertainment and events venue has been further bolstered with an extra £4m confirmed from the Government’s Northern Cultural Regeneration Fund. The funding has been secured by the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership. The 1930s cinema has been vacant since 2000. The redevelopment will be one of the biggest of its type in the country outside of London and will bring Bradford back on the national touring circuit. The venue, due to be run by NEC Group International, will aim to put on around 225 events to more than 270,000 people every year, creating 50 jobs in the city. The project is being led by a not-for-profit social enterprise, Bradford Live, assisted by Bradford Council. Programme manager, Kirsten Branston from Bradford Live, said: “We would like t
UK - Video Illusions won the Festival Supplier Award 2018 for Best Screen Supplier, impressing judges with the scale of the installation and the technology deployed at Boomtown. The Festival Supplier Awards, held on 25 January at London’s Hurlingham Club, recognise the achievements, hard work and dedication of outdoor event and festival suppliers. The award categories cover a multitude of outdoor event essentials, from staging, crowd management, temporary structures and crewing to crowd barriers, toilets, power, technology and screens. There are also specific awards for the green supplier and production teams. Submissions for the 2019 edition of the awards run from 3 September to 31 October, with The Festival Supplier Awards 2019 set to return to London’s Hurlingham Club on Thursday 31 January 2019. (Jim Evans)
USA - Eastern Acoustic Work’s (EAW) MicroWedge stage monitors continue to take the spotlight at live sound venues throughout Chicago. T.C. Furlong, president of TC Furlong Inc, reports recent sales to Lincoln Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music, Lyric Opera of Chicago and Green Mill. “These are marquee clients that represent some of the more notable live venues in the metropolitan area,” explains Furlong. “The popularity of the MicroWedge does not seem to diminish. The small footprint is ideal for crowded stages and their high output makes them useful for any act that needs stage monitors. Plus, they are rider friendly - everyone that uses them loves them.” Furlong notes that Lincoln Hall increased their inventory by nine MW15, Old Town School Of Folk Music by eight MW12, Lyric Opera of Chicago added six MW12 while The Green Mill invested in two additional
UK - A.C. Special Projects (AC-SP) has assisted Madame Tussauds London in a full LED upgrade of its popular Spirit of London ride to the latest energy-efficient ProLights lighting solutions. Madame Tussauds London gives guests the chance to get up close to over 300 lifelike figures of some of the world's most famous stars, ranging from Hollywood to Bollywood, and The Royal Family to ‘Rock Royalty’. In addition to the nine themed areas and a 4D cinema experience, the attraction's Spirit of London ride provides an exciting and nostalgic black cab journey through London's history. Guests are transported in near darkness from Tudor England to the 20th century, travelling through scenes featuring figures of some of London's best-known characters. From the golden age of Queen Elizabeth I to the Great Plague and Fire of London, to Christopher Wren's re-building of the Cap
UK - Located in the heart of London’s Westminster, the Emmanuel Centre is a trans-denominational church serving the broad Christian community in the area. The 1,000-capacity venue - a Grade II listed building with a glass dome auditorium, marble columns, high-arched windows and oak panelled walls and seating - presented a sound reinforcement challenge. The reverberation time in the main auditorium measured around three seconds, a significant obstacle to speech intelligibility, and the building’s listed status meant drilling into the structure was forbidden, ruling out the installation of flying points. To bring the increasingly multi-purpose Centre up to date, Elvis Uriona, head of sound at the Emmanuel Centre, approached long-term sound system partner Autograph Sales & Installations. Peppe Mallozzi, who led the system design for Autograph, was fam
USA - The new wedding and reception chapel on Free Chapel's McEver Road site in Gainesville, Georgia received a sound system from Danley. Local AV company dB Integrations designed and installed the system for the Chapel on McEver and its outbuildings using Danley Sound Labs SBH-20 column form-factor, point-source loudspeakers, SM-100 synergy horns, weatherized GO-2-8CX loudspeakers, and TH-mini15 subwoofers. "The Chapel on McEver is a beautiful setting for a wedding, but its aesthetic also makes for some challenging acoustic conditions," explains Paul Lynch, inside sales associate at dB Integrations. "There's imported marble tile everywhere plus lots of glass and highly reverberant wooden pews. To compound the challenge, the church put off some acoustical treatments we recommended while also requesting that the sound system be 'invisible'. They don't want to see techn
UK - Harman Professional Solutions is supporting Teenage Cancer Trust’s 18th annual concert series at Royal Albert Hall with a complete Martin by Harman lighting solution. Conceived and curated by TCT patron Roger Daltrey CBE, frontman of The Who, this year’s line-up includes Daltrey, UB40, Nile Rodgers & CHIC, Corteneers, Kasabian, Def Leppard as well as an evening of comedy hosted by Russell Howard. As part of a long-standing pledge to support Teenage Cancer Trust, Harman, along with partners PRG and Fineline Lighting, is supplying a complete Martin lighting rig to provide a premium visual display for the performances. "Teenage Cancer Trust is extremely grateful to Harman Professional Solutions for all their support at our Royal Albert Hall shows,” says Jane Ashton, head of music and entertainment, Teenage Cancer Trust. “The Martin lighting solutio
Poland - The Christian Exodus Festival took place at Gdańsk's 15,000-capacity Ergo Arena in February, featuring inspirational effects lighting controlled by an Avolites Sapphire Touch console, supplied by Prolight. LD Tom Jones created vibrant and uplifting lighting for the four-day conference and festival, which featured talks as well as live performances. To achieve his challenging and ambitious design, Jones programmed and controlled the lighting for all events using the Sapphire Touch, powered by Avolites' effects-focused Titan 10.1 interface. "Despite some elements of the show being programmed using cue lists, such as the opener and some guest artists, most control was made on the fly as worship is a dynamic environment," says Jones. "Thankfully, the Sapphire Touch has an intuitive layout, which makes busking extremely fast and simple. Motorised faders and on-scr
USA - The Denver Centre Theatre Company (DCTC) is a busy troupe. Noting its 412 productions, 159 readings of new works, 138 world premieres and 27 commissions, it likes to say, “After 35 seasons, we’re just getting warmed up”. The production company primarily uses the four theatres of the Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex housed at the massive 12-acre Denver Performing Arts Complex, itself home to 10 theatres and 10,000 seats. So, the compact and flexible DiGiCo SD10T, which was acquired through Colorado Springs’ Second Opinion Audio was an appropriate choice for the peripatetic ensemble, whose performances will move between the complex’s four theatre spaces and, sometimes, beyond. “We’ve had the console in all of the theatres we use regularly so far and it’s been very successful,” says director of sound Craig Breitenbach, sound designer for many of the c
USA - Among the qualities that make Tanzanite a much-sought after gem is its remarkable colouration, which changes from blue to violet to burgundy, depending on its crystal orientation. It is altogether fitting, then, that this stone lent its name to the Tanzanite Stage at the recent Gem and Jam Festival, which was held at the Pima County Fairgrounds. Aside from the procession of jam band stars that appeared there from 25-28 January, the stage served up an array of beams and washes in ever-changing colours, thanks to a multi-faceted lighting rig that Matt ‘Jonezy’ Jones drove with a new ChamSys MagicQ MQ500 Stadium console. “Some of the artists brought their own LDs, but we handled the majority of acts with the MQ500,” said Jones. “We had a diverse range of bands like Endoplasmic, Railroad Earth, Truth Cartel, Masego, and Breaking Biscuits (a side project by
Europe - Thrash heavy metal megastars Metallica are in the middle of a world tour following the release of their number one album Hardwired … to Self-Destruct at the end of 2016, featuring a provocative in-the-round production design by Dan Braun for the arena section, with creative lighting by Rob Koenig and 72 x Robe BMFL WashBeams from Premier Global Production as the main lighting fixtures on the rig. Rob has worked with the band for around nine years, and in that time, they have performed several in-the-round tours. It’s a format they prefer for getting physically and psychologically closer to their fans. For this one – which started with a stadium section and is currently playing arenas – Dan’s idea was based around 52 video cubes suspended above the stage, 36 of which are on steel cables and a custom motion-controlled hoist system developed by T
Vietnam - The Voice Of Ho Chi Minh City’s People (VOH) is the official radio station of Ho Chi Minh City. For over 40 years, the radio station has hosted programme broadcasts and live performances from its VOH Music One Theatre. In addition to station-organised concerts and tapings, the theatre hosts receptions, state delegations, business meetings, private events and more. In order to keep up with the increasing demands of modern live productions and strict broadcast standards, VOH hired Ba Sao Investment to upgrade its aging sound system with a complete Harman audio solution. “We wanted to upgrade from the previous system to better meet the latest production standards for audio, lighting and video,” said Mr. Le Cong Dong, Director, Voice of Ho Chi Minh City’s People. “The new system that Ba Sao Investment installed ensures the station’s rich legacy remai
China - First Club is a new brand of nightclubs, commissioned by the Nuochuang Group, with its sights set on evolving the Chinese nightclub scene by combining art, fashion, music, sound, lighting and high-end social sophistication. Both Mr. Wei, vice president of Nuochuang Group and Mr. Wu, president of the First Club Brand, agreed on the vision to create a nightclub that delivers high-octane EDM experiences unlike any other. Clair Brothers was the unanimous choice to provide the brand’s signature sound. “Their reputation for audio innovation and excellent service is world-renowned,” says Mr. Feng Min, First Club general manager. Integral to the brand architecture is the Clair Brothers custom-designed sound system that includes the Clair Brothers kiT12, kiTCurve12, FF2-HX, CS-218, CB-FP14000/10000+ and CB-LM26 models. “Our goal is to give club patrons a f
USA - Grammy-nominated August Burns Red kicked off its winter tour in January in support of its seventh studio album Phantom Anthem. From Montreal, where the tour began, to the House of Blues in San Diego and everyplace in between, fans are packing venues. The deep transformative lightshow is designed by LD Victor Zeiser of Squeek Lights. Working with his lighting director Dave Summers, Zeiser has created a seamless flow of big multi-faceted looks that draw audiences into the captivating music of his client. Impressively, he and Summers conjure up this magnetic visual aura with a relatively small rig anchored by Chauvet Professional Rogue fixtures. “We have six Rogue RH1 Hybrids, four Rogue R1 Washes and three Rogue R1 FX-Bs, along with four NEXT NXT-1s and some strobes, that’s about it,” said Zeiser. “We applied the same design aesthetics to the rig as
