UK - In 2020, the first #ILoveLive prize draw raised £546,000 for the charity Stagehand helping music and road crew in desperate need. Launched this month is #ILoveLive 2, featuring more prizes from artists, promoters, venues and festivals.
Artists involved include Foo Fighters, Mumford & Sons, Iron Maiden, Muse, Spice Girls, Simple Minds, Passenger, Fleetwood Mac and many more.
David Stopps, Ian McAndrew and Tom Schroeder, alongside Andrew Lenthall and Mike Lowe from Stagehand, began the #ILoveLive Prize Draw campaign to help raise funds for all the music stage and road crew in the live music events industry that have been affected by the pandemic.
David Stopps said: “When I heard about the tenth suicide among stage crew in late August, I knew I had to do

Japan - The Finnish Embassy in Japan is located in the cosmopolitan district of Azabu in Tokyo. The area has a distinctly global feel, due in part to the large number of foreign embassies that have chosen to make Azabu their home. The Finnish Embassy has recently renovated part of their buildings. A Genelec Smart IP loudspeaker solution was installed as part of the project.
Mikke Kinnari, Vice Consul and 3rd Secretary of Administrative Affairs at the Embassy was in charge of the renovation project. “We wanted the best possible experience for our guests, ideally using Finnish products,” he explains. “Having studied several options from a variety of suppliers, we decided that the Genelec Smart IP solution with its easy, single-cable installation and high-quality audio offered the best possible solution for our requirements.”
The buildings of the Finnish Embassy

Finland - Harman Professional Solutions recently partnered with Studiotec Oy and Turku Energia to illuminate the recently renovated Piispantorni building’s façade and its new whale mural with Martin Exterior Projection 1000 fixtures.
Originally constructed in 1973, Piispantorni is the tallest building in the Finnish city of Kaarina and offers a dazzling view of the nearby Gulf of Finland from its upper floors. Formerly owned and utilised by Finnish brewing company Hartwall, the building’s new owner recently renovated the building to offer commercial office rentals to professionals in the Turku region of Finland. As part of the renovation, the building received a completely new steel façade featuring a stunning, 82-foot-long mural of a life-size blue whale titled Big Blue by artist Mauri Kosonen.
In order to enhance the effect of the mural, Piispantorni

France - For more than 20 years, Mvision has been providing its service as an audiovisual technical expert to its customer base in France and beyond. The company’s regular investments in new equipment allows it to set up innovative solutions, such as its studio for filming, capturing, and dissemination of eventsat the Palais des Congrès in Paris, which is the third space Mvision has equipped for creative content production in France. The 300sq.m set features a curved LED wall, controlled by two Brompton Technology Tessera S8 LED processors.
“Mvision invested in its first LED screens more than eight years ago, and our first cylindrical screen was awarded a prize at the innovation show, Heavent Paris,” says Meziane Lounis, Mvision’s owner. “Since then, we have been building up our experience and expertise in LED technology, with our latest opening of a studio and in

USA - This January, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu passed up a long list of other possible sites, and delivered his inaugural address at Studio Lab, a production facility created by Events United.
The address marked a milestone for Events United, which formed Studio Lab before the pandemic, but began pouring renewed energy into the space once the lockdown brought live events to a halt. “For us it was a matter of trying to stay busy,” recalled Messina. “But Studio Lab tapped into a strong demand for professional livestream studios and surpassed everyone’s expectations.”
Outfitted with a lighting rig anchored by Chauvet Professional Maverick fixtures and featuring a massive 52’ wide by 14’ high curved video wall made with F2 LED panels, the production space has produced a steady flow of livestreams during 2020. Among these events was a Greater Manchest

Australia - Lighting designer Trudy Dalgleish appreciated the quietness and other features of Robe T1 Profiles and T1 Fresnels that are part of the new house rig at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Adelaide, which reopened in June 2020 after a major two-year redevelopment.
The State Opera of South Australia’s production of Australian drama Summer of the 17th Doll was the first show to utilise the new facilities in the 1467-seat main auditorium – which includes the 24 new Robe moving lights, 12 of each type.
The Summer of the 17th Doll action is set in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton in 1953, focussing on the lives of six central characters.
Director Joseph Mitchell already had some very clear ideas for how he wanted the production to look and feel, so Trudy and set designer Simone Romaniuk worked closely to evoke the ambience and period feel of the pi

USA - Marc Janowitz of e26 design chose 30 Mistral-S - Ayrton’s LED spot fixtures as key features of his lighting design for Trey Anastasio’s The Beacon Jams. The eight-week ‘virtual residency’ was live-streamed weekly from New York’s historic Beacon Theatre throughout October and November 2020.
In an unusual twist, since no audience was present, the filming took place on stage in a reverse set-up, with the musicians facing the back wall and the auditorium acting as a backdrop. “The jam sessions were aimed specifically at the home audience, for which we wanted to create an intimate connection that felt like we brought a series of music sessions into the viewers’ own home,” explains Janowitz. “The reverse angle gave us something more like a studio environment into which Mistral fitted beautifully – it was very much in keeping with the look we were trying t

Australia - While Australia’s national day might be a little different this year it is still, however, a day of reflection, respect, unity, gratitude and a celebration of many achievements.
The day is a national holiday and celebratory events take place country-wide. In Sydney, the harbour is a focal point for a day-long of events but thanks to Covid-19, many activities were cancelled. Fortunately, the popular Australia Day concert was still held on the Sydney Opera House forecourt along with a spectacular fireworks display, a flotilla of yachts and jet-skis. The event was produced and managed by The Department of Premier and Cabinet.
This year’s audience was capped at 1,200 with specially invited, social-distanced frontline workers.
Chameleon Touring Systems supplied the lighting for the concert, lit by Stuart Anderson, and the surrounding lighting lit by Pa
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Mexico - Mexico City’s Auditorio Nacional’s (AN) was built in 1952 as a site for equestrian events. The building is made of riveted iron - the same technique featured on the Eiffel Tower - and has undergone extensive redesigns throughout the years. The Auditorio Nacional is known equally for its intriguing architectural design and for housing the largest pipe organ in Latin America.
The venue’s main hall consists of nearly 10,000 seats raised above and around its 23m stage, primarily used for national and international music concerts, song, dance and film festivals. Since 2013, the Auditorio Nacional has been ranked top selling venue in the world according to Pollstar Magazine.
Lunario, Auditorio Nacional’s alternative stage, seats 1,200 and is used for small and medium-sized events. Both spaces have hosted notable companies such as the Vienna Philharmonic, LA

UK - The UK government is being urged to recognise the “human and economic devastation” inflicted by the pandemic on the live events supply chain as part of a new awareness campaign launched by #WeMakeEvents this morning.
The Government Can’t See Us, Can You? unveils the devastation the pandemic has wrought on the live event supply chain as told through the stories of industry professionals. The movement has issued an open letter to Rishi Sunak asking the government to support out-of-work individuals and businesses and engage with the sector to develop a re-opening plan and a government-backed COVID-19 cancellation insurance.
The initiative is also calling on the public to join the conversation on social media by using #GovCantSeeUs and by writing to their MP.
Al

Spain - Amate Audio has announced the availability of the T-G7, a design solution to enable instant conversion of the all-new G7 commercial audio loudspeaker from low impedance to 100V line level operation.
The easily swappable connector plates enable changeable low impedance / 100 V line operation with the same stock unit. The T-G7 is the optional plate incorporating high performance transformer circuitry and a facia mounted selector switch for 5W, 10W, 20W or 40W 100V line power settings, or a switch back to ‘Direct’ 16 ohm operation, and can be fitted in the field in just a matter of minutes.
This design feature reduces potential waste, eliminating the need for redundant circuitry and associated additional weight in facilitating optional 100 V line operation. Additionally, it offers contractors efficiencies in providing all modes of installation from a single st

USA - Tracktion Corporation has upgraded its Waveform Free for 2021 with a host of new additional features and a focus on performance.
Waveform Free, the free digital audio workstation based on the essential features of Waveform Pro 11, is known for its efficient workflow, streamlined user interface and its intuitive useability.
New to Waveform Free 2021 is the Welcome Screen allowing users to get up and running with the minimum of fuss. It offers quick set up for audio devices, a range of project templates, training materials and the latest product news. This newest version makes editing quicker, more natural and intuitive with features like Range Selection, Ripple Delete and Heal / Consolidate / Silence. Plus, a Dedicated Step Clip Editor makes clip programming even easier.
The Actions Panel allows users to favorite their most used actions and create custom act

Germany - Following the recent announcement of their collaboration, DirectOut and Vivivaldy have introduced ViViD, a customised service that permits audio professionals to easily setup remote productions using standard internet connections.
The increasing demand for remote interaction of artists and sound engineers has led the two companies to offer consultancy and turn-key packages to address these applications.
ViViD packages include Vivivaldy VPN solutions combined with DirectOut products supporting Ravenna, such as PRODIGY.MP and EXBOX.RAV. DirectOut’s Ravenna implementation allows uncompressed real-time audio over IP transmission with ultra-low latency or with buffer times all the way up to 500ms.
PRODIGY.MP is used in ViViD packages equipped with microphone pre-amplifier modules to collect analog audio signals at the artists’ locations while the headph

Germany - GLP's Creative Light 1 (CL1) and Creative Light 1 Plus (CL1+) are billed as ‘the first battery-powered and completely wireless creative LED systems on the market’. They are designed for ‘maximum flexibility in an almost unlimited range of applications for professional and semi-professional users alike’.
Both feature 24 RGB LEDs and offer many design possibilities with features such as main colour control, colour patterns, a sound-to-light feature via an integrated mic and three dynamic pattern macros.
The Creative Light 1 (CL1), offers the same performance as the Creative Light 1 Plus, but is aimed more at the semi-professional user with its intuitive control options (Manual, IR Remote Control, and Android and iOS app).
The Creative Light 1 Plus (CL1+), also features an integrated LumenRadio CRMX module. This makes it ideal for use in professio

Italy - With its light and airy Neo-Renaissance forms, the Nicolò Bruno-designed Politeama Rossetti theatre affords excellent views from each of its 1,531 seats. Regardless of where visitors find themselves in the historic venue, however, they can only see the stage from one angle at a time.
No such limitation exists for livestream viewers, though, and that, believes Crt Birsa, changes the fundamental trajectory of a lighting design. “The live audience has just one point of view,” he explains. “But in a livestream each camera is a new point of view that has to look good. The viewer sees things from all angles, so your design has to present a very consistent image from one end to the other.”
Birsa provided an example of this principle in December when lighting a one-hour livestream at Politeama Rossetti for the Trieste-based guitar quartet 40 Fingers. Covering

USA - Guests at Wisconsin’s Wilderness Resort are getting an aerial view of US National Parks, national landmarks and the Wisconsin Dells, onboard the new FlyRide Take Flight adventure ride. Developed by SimEx-Iwerks, the ride uses four Christie D4K40-RGB pure laser projectors with Christie Mystique, a camera-based multi-projector alignment and blending system.
Wilderness Resort is located on over 600 acres of forest, where guests can stay at three properties, enjoy golf, indoor and outdoor waterparks, dining, and a range of activities for the whole family. Take Flight opened in September 2020, expanding the list of exciting activities for guests to enjoy.
Take Flight begins as guests enter an airport-themed lobby, with ‘windows”’ looking out onto the National Parks. Guests are then queued at an ‘airport’ featuring airplane seats, before entering the ride.

Australia - Dave Weir has worked as a freelance professional audio engineer and educator for the last 10 years. As a teacher, he draws upon wide experience of the industry to deliver audio courses at Oxygen College, a multi-disciplinary training organisation in Geelong West, Victoria, Australia, that specialises in the creative arts.
His role as an educator dovetails neatly with a full spectrum of audio duties, from studio mixing to live sound engineering, including touring the length and breadth of the country with notable bands such as Thirsty Merc, Rival Fire and Teramaze. In addition to his work with bands on the road and in the studio, Dave also runs arena audio for the Australian Open Tennis tournament, controlling court audio feeds for broadcast, running music between points, and managing post-match interview audio.
As is the case for many audiophiles, the boun

Europe - Elation continues the Elation Coffee Break webinar series on Thursday, 18 February at 11:00 a.m. CEST with technical sales specialist Alistair Smyth and international sales manager Frederik Afif looking at the innovative qualities of the Paladin series of versatile wash/blinder/effect lights
Since its debut on the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest, the IP65-rated Paladin range has emerged as industry staple luminaires useful for a wide variety of applications from vibrant stage wash and dynamic uplight to flexible effect light, audience blinder/strobe and eye candy effect. Valued for its versatility, as well as its all-weather toughness, the range encompasses the Paladin, Paladin Panel, Paladin Brick and Paladin Cube.
The Elation Coffee Break is an online presentation series from Elation’s European office in Kerkrade, the Netherlands that takes an up-close look

USA - Roy Bickel will receive the ESTA Lifetime Technical Achievement Award on 6 April, 2021, at the virtual New World Rigging Symposium.
The ESTA Board of Directors and Technical Standards Council created this award in 2017 to recognise individuals whose technical contributions have had a significant impact on our industry. The criteria include significant and sustained technical contributions for at least 25 years. The 2021 award will be presented by Rocky Paulson and Chris Schmidt, who have made the following statements about this year’s winner:
Rocky Paulson writes of Roy’s storied career, “Roy was a circus rigger and performer prior to being hired as the head rigger for the first Disney on Parade show in 1969. He continued until 1974 when he left for Broadway to work for Pete Feller. After a time there, he went on to do the Rolling Stones tour in 197

USA - Prior to 2020, The University of Miami redesigned its live sports production workflows to ensure all audio feeds were on the network with Audinate’s Dante. From field mics to mixers - and from basketball to soccer - the university made the choice to trust Dante for all audio-over-IP capabilities.
“We don’t have a single XLR patch anywhere in our workflow,” said Anthony Lestochi, director of production services at the university. “Moving to Dante was clearly the better way to operate. It made building out our production really easy and effective. And, when COVID happened, Dante made it easy to quickly adapt.”
Dante has also proven its flexibility over the course of 2020. As productions needed to drastically alter their approach to adhere to COVID-19 safety guidelines, the ability to use Dante audio-over-IP as a connective fabric was a crucial enabler.<

Italy - DTS Lighting is set to reveal its new look company website (www.dts-lighting). The improved platform, on-line from March 2021, will be easy to use and navigate and will give the users a fast way into the world of DTS, says the manufacturer.
The website is now a renovated hub for data besides being a new practical instrument for clients, distributors, architects, designers, and users all around the professional market. “Everything will be presented in a new way that will recall what has been already seen during 2020: the graphical restyling which highlights the orange and gray colours of the new company image.”
Sales director Raffaella Scaccia comments: “For us it is always more and more important that information and instructions regarding solutions and services can be easily

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