Italy - WIcreations provided StageCo with specialist automation services to move four massive towers onstage at the epic Vasco Rossi concert and spectacle in Modena – the Italian rock superstar’s only scheduled live appearance in 2017 - attended by 250,000 rapturous fans on a blisteringly hot summer’s day in Modena Park. As well as working closely with StageCo, who provided all the black steel for the event, WI’s project manager Hans Willems liaised with Claudio Santucci from Gioforma, the show’s creative director. WIcreations has a long history of collaboration with IK Projects from Milan who provided automation operators and crew for this project. The show was also televised live by national broadcaster RAI and streamed live to selected cinemas, extending the reach yet further as well as being recorded for DVD. It was a BIG deal! The four towers that
USA - Southcrest Baptist Church in Lubbock, Texas has built a new 1600-capacity Worship Centre with two SSL Live L300 consoles at the heart of its sophisticated audio production operation, for PA, live streaming, and TV. One L300 console manages both Front of House and Monitor duties for the live services, while another is used for a live-streamed broadcast mix, recording, and post production for archived services and TV syndication. Southcrest Baptist Church is a long standing and popular member of the Lubbock community, and as such its original Worship Centre - now called 'The Venue' - had been operating at full capacity for every service, for some time. "The new Worship Centre was long over-due," says Rusty Trowbridge, the technical director at Southcrest. "The project has taken two years to complete and has doubled the square footage of the church, as well as incre
USA - After three Grammy Awards, over 100 shows with the Grateful Dead, and 11m record sales, Bruce Hornsby hasn’t lost his taste for touring. The singer-songwriter is crisscrossing the US with his band The Noisemakers this summer and enjoying every minute of it. Touring is fun, Hornsby told an interviewer, because he and the band “keep the spontaneity factor high.” This free-flowing spirit was very much in evidence when the Hornsby tour bus pulled into the Columbia County Amphitheatre in June. The owner of Quest Sound & Productions, Berret created a bountiful range of looks to reflect Hornsby’s eclectic set list with a rig that was anchored by CHAUVET Professional Rogue and COLORado fixtures and run with a ChamSys PC Wing. Even a sudden summer storm, which wound up cutting the concert short, didn’t damped the pure exuberance of the concert or the lightshow.
USA - On 9 July at Marlins Way, adjacent to Marlins Park (home of the Miami Marlins baseball team), the 2017 MLB Allstar Pre-game Celebration took place. The event was a pre-party for the MLB All Star Game and featured GrammyAward winning Latin Reggaeton artist Nicky Jam as the headlining entertainment. This was both a concert and a party for the celebrity-filled crowd in town for one of baseball’s major events. To ensure the best possible sound, loudspeakers from Valencia, Spain-based D.A.S. Audio were placed into service. The Design Oasis, specialists in lighting, video, audio, staging and related AV equipment and applications, were contracted to provide sound for this year’s MLB Allstar Pre-game Celebration. The event’s designer, Marc Gambello from Event Management Group and Producer Barry Kates of Innovation Group were very clear on the need to have excellen
Europe - The Manchester band Stone Roses completed their European tour last month, highlighted by a sold-out performance at London’s Wembley Stadium. For their 2017 tour, lighting designer Paul Normandale of Lite Alternative Design included two Solaris T-Light 85,000 Watt Lightning Machines. “Two were plenty,” says lighting director and programmer Glen Johnson. “These over-the–top strobes are reliable and daylight bright. We needed something for maximum impact against a huge amount of video surfaces. The back screen alone was 35 x 6 meters, with an additional seven screens of IMAG. The T-Lights provided defining moments when used and dramatically ‘altered’ the stage surface each time. Love them!” Provided for the tour by Lite Alternative, Solaris T-Light Lightning Machines have a flash length from 1/30 to 3.5 seconds and an output of up to two million l
UK - Two Avolites Ai R6 media servers and an Arena lighting console running the latest Ai and Titan software were chosen to control the high-energy light and video package for the design relaunch of Glastonbury's dance stage, The Temple. The British media server and lighting controls manufacturer was called in for the third year running by Alan King of Rockin Horse - technical coordinator and production supplier for Block 9 and The Common - who designed and sourced lighting and lasers for The Temple, whilst also keeping an overview on video production. "In 2015, Rockin Horse got Avolites involved in the Temple's projection mapping as they needed a solid, industry standard server capable of complex projection to be central to the system," says King. "This year we selected the Avolites Ai R6 media servers as they allowed all of the outputs to run from a single graphics c
Singapore - Lighting for the second Garden Beats Festival organised by Sunshine Nation and staged in the pastoral green environs of Fort Canning Park in Singapore was designed by Craig Burridge. He included an interesting mix of Robe products on his plot including 24 x Linees, six ColorStrobes and six LEDBlinder 148 LTs, all of which contributed to a lively and colourful scheme for the one-day event for which the lighting vendor was locally based CSP Productions Pte Ltd. Craig’s main objective was to have a flexible and adaptable rig to provide good general stage, set and audience lighting for the line-up of dance orientated artists – with a few surprises up his sleeve. The 9 x 8m stage was fitted beneath a 10 x 9m ground-supported roof structure with 10m of headroom and this had to be squeezed in between a selection of heritage trees which grace the park, al
Germany – Alan Parsons and his band were back in Germany for 13 dates throughout the country in May. Playing a mixture of indoor and outdoor shows with his nine-piece band, Alan Parsons Live Project was mixed by Emmy-nominated FoH engineer and production manager Ross Pallone. Ross states that “the sound of the show has to be very high quality, as the fans expect that”. To achieve maximum quality and perfect coverage in all the different venues, 24 modules of RCF HDL 50-A were used as the main system, 12 per side, plus 18 RCF SUB 9007-AS for the low-frequency coverage, six TT052A as front-fills and four TTL 6-A for the out-fill coverage. “I was invited to use the RCF HDL-50 system for the Alan Parsons Live Project tour in Germany back in May 2017. I had never heard of or used any RCF PA systems before, so I was sceptical - but the sound company assured me that i
France - Held in the stunning Cour Marly of the Louvre’s museum, the Louis Vuitton Autumn/Winter 2017 show at the recent Paris Fashion Week featured Vuitton’s models showing off the fashion house’s new collection amongst white marble statues from the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV. Usually, the specification for such a show’s audio is that it should be heard and not seen, but on this occasion, L-Acoustics’ new Syva system took a starring role. Audio company De Préférence has collaborated with Louis Vuitton for many years and has become a master of invention, conjuring up new ideas for each event. “Each time the Vuitton team does a show, they want something different,” says De Préférence’s Alain Français. “But one thing is always the same - they never want to see the loudspeakers! This means I’m always looking for new equipment and new ways of
USA - During the late 80's and 90's, New Kids On The Block took the world by storm with their super-catchy songs and clean cut good looks. Selling out concerts in record time, Danny, Donnie, Joe, Jordan and Jon gave birth to the boyband phenomenon. Today, New Kids On The Block is proving it still has the right stuff. The band sounded better than ever as it sold out arenas on its 2017 Total Package Tour. Because of his long history and record of success, legendary FOH Mix Engineer Kevin Elson chose DPA Microphones for the tour. "I was first introduced to DPA by my friend and colleague Eddie Caipo a few years back when we worked together on Christina Aguilera's shows," says Elson. "He had some DPA capsules with him and the first one I tried was the d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphone on the toms. I was also able to use the d:facto 4018 Vocal Microphone on the New Kids On The Blo
UK - An ambitious production of Sir Edward Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius - a collaboration between the English National Opera, Royal Festival Hall and BBC Singers, was described by lighting designer Lucy Carter as “dramatic, soulful, beautiful, calm and overwhelming”. Her aim “to map the emotions of the music in order to give the audience a visceral sensation, with all lighting textures complementary to the music” was achieved with 160 of GLP’s award-winning X4 Bars, which were used almost exclusively in the set. These fixtures formed the main component of the show, featuring full orchestra and chorus, as the LD mapped every single pixel individually on an ETC EOS desk - with programmer Jenny Kershaw setting up over 500 cues on the console. This exercise required not only major support from ETC’s Andy Davies but also GLP’s Simon Barrett, w
UK - While Blackpool’s Winter Gardens is perhaps most famed for its varied programme of visiting musical acts, during three days in March, the complex attracts a whole different kind of audience for the International Fitness Showcase (IFS), the UK’s largest event for fitness aficionados. To provide suitably dynamic lighting for the three energy-packed days of dance, aerobics, lectures, workshops and mind/body sessions across the 14 rooms of the Winter Gardens, LD and assistant production manager Ollie Wilkinson and Thomas Beattie, production manager at Arranpaul, came up with a lighting concept spearheaded by a collection of Chauvet Professional Rogue R2 Wash, COLORdash Batten-Quad 6 and Rogue R1 Spot fixtures. “As this was the sixth year that Arranpaul provided production for the IFS, we wanted to make this year’s design special,” commented Wilkinson. “Wit
UK - Hawthorn has recently supported Status Quo for their Aquostic tour; a follow up to their 2015 album Aquostic II which includes the band’s biggest hits, reimagined in an acoustic setting. Running from 2 June to 1 July, the tour included a headline spot on the acoustic stage at Glastonbury and Suite Festival in Barcelona, before culminating in a sold-out show at the Royal Albert Hall. Hawthorn supplied a lighting and drapes package, which ranged from a console and visualiser to allow Status Quo’s lighting designer to programme the show during band rehearsals, to a floor package and variety of extras to supplement the in-house lighting systems for the warm up shows and festivals, and a full lighting rig for the Royal Albert Hall. Ewan Cameron, the band’s lighting designer said: ''Status Quo have had a very strong working relationship with Hawthorn
UK - Technical supplier and coordinator Liteup Events recently supported Mercury Prize-winning music stars, alt-J, at their first arena show of 2017 at London's The O2 Arena, as part of the venue's 10th year celebrations. The arena show comes at the beginning of alt-J's current worldwide tour, which also saw them headline The Other Stage at Glastonbury this year. Liteup began working with lighting and show design duo Jeremy Lechterman and Jackson Gallagher of FragmentNine on alt-J's last album cycle. Working alongside production manager Bennie Brongers and tour manager Maarten Cobbaut, Liteup is supplying all things visual, except for lasers, on their current EU tour. The company is also supplying the lighting and video control package worldwide. For the festival shows, which make up the bulk of alt-J's touring this summer, Liteup is supplying 84 x GLP X4 Bar 20, 18 x
UK - The Natural History Museum has re-opened its famous Hintze Hall event space following a transformation which welcomes a blue whale skeleton to take pride of place. The Natural History Museum reveals a new-look Hintze Hall which features a stunning 25.2 metre blue whale skeleton suspended from the ceiling and spectacularly diving into the space. This is part of the museum’s biggest transformation it its 136-year history which includes hundreds of new specimens which have been chosen to celebrate the wonder and beauty of the natural world, from the origins of the universe, to the story of evolution and the diversity in the world today.Ten choice specimens have also been arranged in ground floor alcoves – known as Wonder Bays – including a 4.5 billion-year-old meteorite and a Mantellisaurus skeleton. The new installation provides event guests with an opportuni
The Netherlands - Inspired by American blues festivals, where audiences enjoy a rich diet of blues music with a side order of spare ribs, Ribs&Blues is an annual event held in the Dutch town of Raalte. This year’s event saw an eclectic mix of blues, roots and rock acts mixed on a Yamaha Rivage PM10 system at Front of House. The free festival takes place each year over the Whitsun weekend, attracting over 45,000 people. This year it featured an international line-up which included blues legend Walter Trout, Golden Earring, the Beach Boys, Michelle David & The Gospel Sessions, the Red Devils, Barrelhouse and many more. Since 2011 the festival has featured a second stage, but it was the 15 acts on the on the main stage whose FoH engineers had the benefit of the Rivage PM10. Technical production for the main stage was handled by Focus Amsterdam, with the a
USA - Owing to high demand (with tickets selling out before the line-up was even announced), the Electric Forest Music Festival doubled its days and held its woodland adventure over two consecutive weekends, with thousands making their way back into the effervescent woods that feel straight out of a fairytale dream. Lighting designer Jeff Ravitz returned to design the lighting for the Sherwood Court Stage with a lighting package provided by Bandit Lites. In designing the stage where artists such as Lido, The Floozies, Tycho and Black Tiger Sex Machine would perform, Ravitz focused on updating the overall look while still maintaining the aspects of the design that made last year’s set up successful, foremost of which was ensuring the system was ‘all things to all bands’ (within reason and budget). “We have four or five of the artists’ LDs coming in daily
Australia - The Wombats are currently celebrating the 10-year anniversary of their first album, touring Australia with Groovin’ the Moo and performing a few side shows. For the past five years FOH engineer Pete Bartlett has worked with the band as well as his other main act The Pretenders. The band members and crew were delighted to play a couple of shows at the Sydney Opera House, performing memorable and joyous shows. Let’s face it, it’s not often you witness six full-grown humans dancing around in wombat suits on stage whilst confetti guns spray over the crowd. JPJ Audio supplied a control package that included an Avid Profile for FOH and another for monitors. “I always use an Avid Profile as I have loads of plugins and I’m not a big fan of anything newer,” says Pete. Pete explained that he tries to turn his Profile console as much as possibl
UK - On 27 May, The Courteeners took to the stage at Emirates Old Trafford cricket ground, less than a week after the bombing atrocity at the Manchester Arena claimed so many victims. Supported by The Charlatans, Blossoms and Cabbage, this was meant to be Courteeners’ step up from theatre and arena shows to stadium size venues but events conspired to turn the gig into something else entirely. Dan Hill was in control on a grandMA2 Light operating a lighting rig that was heavy on Ayrton and Claypaky fixtures as specified from Dan Hill and Chris ‘Squib’ Swain’s design house, Cassius Creative. “The tour and the new show design started life back at the end of 2016,” says Hill. “Up to that point, the band’s look had been with more traditional tungsten fixtures so this was a real remodelling of the entire production. We wanted a more modern feel to this campaign and
USA - Started 60 years ago by a small group of ordinary people coming together, Calvary Church has thrived and grown into a much-valued part of the multi-cultural community in Dover, Kent County, Delaware. As its congregation has grown, so has the construction and development of its buildings and its audio has recently been updated to meet the church’s current and future needs. For its new systems, Calvary Church sought quotes from a number of companies before commissioning the services of AV integration specialist, JD Sound & Video. Joe DiSabatino, president and lead design engineer of JD Sound & Video explained, “Audio was required in both the main sanctuary and a basement room. We knew Community loudspeakers would provide the best solution for both areas, so arranged a demo to enable the church to hear the systems and be completely satisfied before the p
Europe - In recent years, Bruno Mars has evolved from talented performer to Grammy-winning global megastar and, from his performance at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris (formerly The Bercy) this month, it is easy to see why. The 24K Magic World Tour oozes quality, from the artist's outrageous voice and musicianship to the show's epic production standards, the core of which is driven by two DiGiCo SD7 mixing consoles. Bruno Mars has just completed a three-month European leg of his 24K Magic World Tour. In that time, the crew has barely been able to catch a breath, explains FOH engineer, Chris Rabold. “We've been all over Europe, and that's only the end of this part,” Rabold reports, adding that the US is next – and probably a couple of one-off shows and TV performances will happen in between. The PA for this tour is the flagship Clair offering - the Cohesion
UK - Star Events supplied the cavernous Mayfield Depot with seats in two custom-built arenas for the Manchester International Festival (MIF), which wrapped on Saturday. The first was for the world premiere of Yael Bartana’s What If Women Ruled The World, the second for choreographer Boris Charmatz's 10,000 Gestures, one of MIF’s final fixtures. Set opposite Manchester Piccadilly, Mayfield Depot is the under platform area of a semi-derelict Victorian railway station. Boarded up for years there was minimal natural light as Star Events built a single stand of 430 QP Grandstand seats. To accommodate Saygel & Schreiber’s What if Women Ruled The World set design, the system included a 166mm rake onto the existing ‘stage’ plinth and around the venue roof support columns. The solution for 10,000 Gestures’, ‘thrilling blizzar
UK - Hosted in the Idyllic spa town of Buxton, huddled within the Peak District National Park, the Buxton International Festival is a celebration of theatrical and literary excellence which attracts speakers, acts and audiences in coveted numbers. PRG XL Video supported lighting designer Mike Gunning, and production electrician Tim Ball, with a theatrical lighting package for the three operas headlining this year’s festival at the Buxton Opera House: Verdi’s Macbeth, Britten’s Albert Herring, and Mozart’s Lucio Silla. Although its heritage can be traced farther back, the current format of the Buxton Festival has been running since the refurbishment of the opera house in 1979 - and has grown to become the highly respected cultural event it is today. Drawing crowds from far and wide, patrons of the Buxton Festival know what they want to see,
Europe - Phil Collins - was on the road last month (June 2017) for his Not Dead Yet mini tour, named as per his autobiography published in October 2016. Collins’ long term lighting designer Patrick Woodroffe has created a stylish, animated lightshow, which is directed and operated on the road by Roland Greil, who also acted as the associate designer for the show - the two have collaborated on a number of projects in recent years including Adele last year, and on this one they worked closely with set and scenic designer, Misty Buckley. On the rig are 48 x Robe BMFL Spot moving lights, a Robe RoboSpot remote control system and two PATT 2013s, all being provided by leading UK lighting rental company, Neg Earth. Patrick has worked for the artist for nearly 20 years and this tour celebrates his return from ‘retirement’, It plays London’s Royal Albert Ha
