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18 November 2024

USA - The Playground creative team called upon an artful blend of dramatic colour changes and various set and video configurations to endow each chapter of the Megan Thee Stallion narrative for The Hot Girl Summer tour.

“The tour consists of three main acts that really drive the creative intent,” explained Curtis Adams, who, along with Sooner Routhier and Trevor Ahlstrand was the co-production designer of the tour. “Act 1 featured Megan's hard-hitting Snake beginnings with sharp lines, powerful silhouettes, and stark colours. Act 2 centred around Megan's Butterfly era and had a dichroic colour palette. The softer pastel-like colours were a vast departure from the hard-hitting show open, which culled a difference in mood and helped emphasise her metamorphosis.

“Act 3 focused on Megan's human embodiment,” continued

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18 November 2024

Australia - Production company Chameleon Touring Systems has made a significant investment in Elation’s Proteus Maximus and Proteus Brutus power luminaires, greatly expanding their ability to deliver robust lighting solutions for high-profile tours and major events across the region.

The new fixtures, supplied in late September through ULA Group – the exclusive distributor of Elation products in Australia and New Zealand – have already seen action.

In early October, Chameleon upgraded the lighting rigs for two landmark events: the 2024 National Rugby League (NRL) Grand Final at Accor Stadium in Sydney and Knockout Outdoor, Australia’s largest outdoor music festival at the Sydney Showground.

Chameleon sought to replace several outdated lighting fixtures in their inventory from brands that no longer offer this category

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15 November 2024

UK - Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Starlight Express, re-envisioned for the 21st century, has taken to the stage in the specially designed Starlight Auditorium at London’s Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre.

With new orchestrations, choreography and songs, the story of a child’s train set that magically comes to life retains all its original wonder, with thrilling roller skate races around the auditorium and powerful performances from the 40-strong company of ‘rolling stock’ (engines and carriages) in an immersive production that begins from the moment the audience steps into the theatre. The audience is closely entwined in the action which takes place on a near in-the-round main stage with racing track ‘spokes’ leading off between sunken areas of seating and around the auditorium.

In anticipation of a long run, the show’s producers, Mi

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15 November 2024

UK - Paolo Nutini’s world tour recently wrapped after 130 shows, where DPA Microphones brought clarity, reliability and a powerful impact to each performance.

Leading the sound team for Nutini’s tour were three industry veterans: Front of house (FOH) engineer Ben Findlay, monitor engineer Grace Howat and stage technician Chad Chadwick. Together, they harnessed DPA’s microphones to capture Nutini’s signature sound in every venue.  

“For the tour, we integrated an array of DPA microphones across the stage,” says Findlay. “We tailored the setup to meet the demands of a nine-piece band. The equipment chosen reflected the needs of each instrument and artist.

“Four DPA 4011 Cardioids were positioned to enhance the detail and precision of the snare drums, while four 4099 Instrument mics provided coverage across hats, rides and toms.

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15 November 2024

Europe - Highlite International has announced the new Furion Series from Infinity, a collection of IP65-rated, high-performance moving heads. The Furion Series combines power, precision and versatility with a comprehensive range of high-end features.

The Furion line-up offers eight models that span the essential categories of spot, profile, beam, hybrid and washbeam. Each is designed to enhance creativity and provide a comprehensive set of tools for lighting designers.

Each specific Furion model has its own strengths and is optimised with many built-in features for creative freedom to push the boundaries in professional environments.

The Furion Spots and Profiles (S602, S402, P602 and P402), for example, feature a 'flat field LED' light source that produces a uniform field of light with very little loss of brightness towards the edges. The Pr

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15 November 2024

Estonia - Kuressaare Castle on the island of Saaremaa provided a magical backdrop and a beautiful setting for the 2024 Saaremaa Opera Festival, staged in a 68m-long 29m-wide 2000-capacity temporary arena elegantly butted up to the castle.

This year’s host company, Fundació Òpera Catalunya (The Catalan Opera) from Spain produced a week of special back-to-back opera shows and related events, with lighting equipment and crew supplied by Tallinn-based rental specialist E&T, comprising almost all Robe luminaires.

The Robe moving lights included eight MMX Blades, 23 x LEDWash 800s, 16 x MMX Spots and four LEDBeam 350s, joined by 24 x ParFect 100 SWs, all rigged and tech’d by a crew of five led by Andres Sarv working closely with the Catalan Opera’s lighting designer David Galvez.

Catalan Opera’s technical manager Raul Vilasis

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15 November 2024

UK - Lighting designer Phil Supple utilised 56 x Astera Tubes – 40 x Titan and eight each Hyperion and Helios – to illuminate 137 windows across 57 rooms at the George Heriot School in Edinburgh, Scotland, for Where to Begin, the opening event of the 2024 Edinburgh International Festival (EIF).

This Edinburgh International Festival production was created by Pinwheel and delivered in partnership with The Macallan, for which Phil worked closely with creative agency Pinwheel under the artistic direction of Katy Fuller and co-director Simon Sharkey, together with composer Roma Yagnik and video artists, Yeast Culture.

Where to Begin celebrated the energy, vibrance and spirit of Edinburgh, Scotland’s heritage and mythology as well as the alchemy of invention, carefully blended in with a festival atmosphere evoking emotion, inspirati

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15 November 2024

USA - Dierks Bentley’s Gravel and Gold tour concluded with its 21 September show at the American Family Insurance Amphitheatre in Milwaukee.

The tour celebrated the landmark 10th album in Bentley’s successful career, and he wanted to make it memorable. Talking to a reporter, Bentley described how the concept behind this tour grew out of a single question. “What we do if this was the last time we were going to play this city? What kind of show would we put on?”

With a mandate like that, Bentley and his production team strove to create something special, which is precisely what they did on this 30-city tour with production design by Bruce Rodgers, lighting by Chris Reade, and video by Luz Studio.

Collectively this team created a massive, wide open panorama with minimal props and fixtures on the stage deck, a potent flown lighti

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15 November 2024

UK - Coda Audio has announced the completion of its premium and versatile HOPS-Pro range, with the launch of the new HOPS10-Pro. The HOPS10-Pro has been designed in two versions - HOPS10T-Pro for touring and HOPS10i-Pro for installation.

The HOPS10-Pro is a high output three-way point source loudspeaker with an advanced triaxial design, featuring dual 10” neodymium ultra-low distortion cone drivers, and LF drivers to provide power and accuracy across low frequencies, and a 1.4” coaxial neodymium mid/high driver in a compact enclosure. This alignment of the acoustic centres ensures a perfectly coherent and uniform wavefront.

Complementing CODA Audio’s existing HOPS7-Pro and HOPS12-Pro models, HOPS10-Pro completes the range to ensure that users have maximum flexibility in addressing the widest variety of applications.

HOPS-Pro Series prod

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15 November 2024

Germany - AV Stumpfl’s Pixera media server platform played a pivotal role in delivering an immersive gaming experience for the recent Red Bull Levels: Elden Ring event, conceived and created by Red Bull and delivered by German event technology specialist Neumann & Müller.

The high-profile event, intended as a showcase for the new Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, brought the fantasy setting of Elden Ring to life, bridging the virtual and physical worlds with a dynamic blend of haptic elements and high-definition visuals.

Part of Red Bull’s Levels video series, which takes fans behind the scenes of some of the biggest gaming launches, Red Bull Levels: Elden Ring transformed Atelier Gardens in Berlin in partnership with Bandai Namco, Elden Ring’s international publisher, and big-name streamers including MissMikkaa, eliasn97 and The_Happy_Hob.

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15 November 2024

UK - CrowdGlow has announced a new addition to the CrowdNet family of products. The CrowdNet Nano transmitter is a small USB-based transmitter that allows lighting designers to control up to 2,000 phones at smaller sized shows to create amazing light shows. The new Nano transmitter is available for purchase with a life-time usage licence, compared to the company’s full-size transmitters which are dry hire only.

“The CrowdNet full size transmitters are suited to larger arenas and stadium sized shows, however we wanted to create a new product to cater for the smaller end of the market,” says CrowdGlow. “We’re thrilled to be able to enable the same level of high-end crowd light shows, but making them more economically feasible for smaller shows.”

The CrowdNet Nano has all of the same CrowdGlow features available including: RGB screen colours

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15 November 2024

UK - Red Haute Glammies is the annual celebration of the ‘Glambassadors’ of the UK skincare brand, Tropic. Utilising over 500 ROE CB5 LED panels in giant video walls, CPL Enhanced Technology deployed Brompton Tessera SX40 processors and XD data distributors to power the ever-changing backdrop, chosen because of their extensive range of features and built in redundancy.

Tropic is a UK based company owned and created by Susie Ma, founder and CEO who has grown the company from 400 to 20,000 ambassadors, each selling the organic, sustainably sourced products to clients across the UK and beyond.

The Red Haute Glammie Awards is a celebration of this work and a moment to recognise the work done, not only for the company, but for charities, too. Working closely with event producers, Pandora Events, CPL Enhanced Technology supplied the s

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15 November 2024

Switzerland - The EBL Elefantehuus (Elephant House) in Liestal is a one-of-a-kind, 300-capacity venue, hosting events, from jazz performances to comedy evenings. It was originally designed to house two huge, grey, elephant-shaped generators in the early 1900s, from which the building inherited its name. By the mid-1930s, the diesel-generators were usurped, and the building became an under-utilised storage space.

It remained over-looked and under-appreciated until owners EBL (Genossenschaft Elektra Baselland, the main local electricity provider) decided that the storage space should be included in scheduled upgrades, happening across the entire EBL campus.

In 2021, after initial discussions with the operator of the venue, Eric Rütsche of Kulturhotel Guggenheim, and Architect Pascal Epple of Otto Partner Architekten, WSDG were entrusted with the acous

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15 November 2024

USA - The Vine Theatre, a 1,600-seat live performance venue located within the Del Lago Resort and Casino, has upgraded its concert system to a completely installed 1 Sound system.
The decision to upgrade the audio system came in response to ongoing concerns regarding sound quality, system reliability, and the deteriorating condition of the previous self-powered line array system. Tom Knauss, principal consultant at NV5 Consultants, was brought in to review the current system and provide recommendations.

"The existing system had reached a point where many components were beyond repair, and the overall sound quality was suffering," said Knauss. “We initially received three rider-friendly proposals generally based on the replacement of the existing line array system with new line array components.”

Within NV5’s review of the three proposals,

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15 November 2024

UK - Absen has once again partnered with carbon neutral digital sign specialist, EcoVista and retail & lifestyle destination media experts, Limited Space to transform digital advertising within Romford’s The Liberty shopping centre.

Located centrally in the heart of Romford, Essex, The Liberty, which welcomes an annual footfall of 23m, has recently embarked on a multi-year £7m renovation, including the introduction of innovative digital signage to its main South Street entrance and internal layout.

Centre owner, Redical, appointed Limited Space as media operator to oversee the management of the new digital signage. Subsequently, Limited Space chose long-standing partners, EcoVista to provide full turn-key and high-quality internal sustainable solutions, required to meet strict planning applications and sustainability objectives. To meet these

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14 November 2024

Spain - The AV community in Spain has announced the formation of #AVforValencia (www.avforvalencia.org), an initiative that aims to raise funds to support all those affected by the devastating floods that decimated Valencia in October.

#AVforValencia is working with other Valencia-based charities (including Fundación-In Jóvenes contra el Cáncer and Casa Caridad) to provide direct assistance to all those affected by this unprecedented natural disaster. All funds raised will be distributed through the Unidos por Valencia initiative, which connects victims with volunteers and aid resources.

Over 200 people are known to have lost their lives in this disaster, which has also destroyed homes, businesses and infrastructure and left countless families heartbroken and home

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14 November 2024

UK - ETC Ltd has officially moved to its new eco-building and base in the UK, in London. The new site is more than double the size of ETC’s former premises boasting over 35,000sq.ft of floor space. The move marks a significant milestone in the company’s growth and expanding business offering.

ETC’s own in-house team has developed the design for the new building, which includes larger demonstration spaces and increased capacity for training, logistics, conferencing, collaboration and more. There is also a new visualisation suite in the building available for industry professionals to use and prepare their shows in. The additional warehousing space also holds significantly more inventory to meet the growing demands of the business and support the needs of ETC’s customers.

The new building is lit and controlled

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14 November 2024

UK - Production Park has announced its first major TV commission after Warp Films, Plan B and Matriarch Productions chose it as the production base for new Netflix drama, Adolescence.

The one-shot crime drama will be fronted by an A list cast including Stephen Graham (Boiling Point, Bodies), Ashley Walters (Top Boy) and Erin Doherty (The Crown). Produced by Sheffield-based Warp Films, Matriarch Productions and Plan B for Netflix, Adolescence tells the story of a family’s trauma when a 13-year-old is arrested for the murder of a teenage girl.

Warp used Production Park near Wakefield as the main base for cast and crew, who spent a total of six months on site over the summer. The Park’s newest stage Studio 005 is normally used for large-scale arena tour productions, but on this occasion became th

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14 November 2024

Australia - The Hordern Pavilion, often referred to as ‘The Hordern’, is one of Sydney's most historically significant landmark venues. Originally opened in 1924, it now regularly hosts live performances, dance parties, sports tournaments, trade shows, conferences, and a variety of other events.

Recently, the venue unveiled a new house lighting scheme featuring 46 Anolis Ambiane RGBW XPs, specified and installed by SimpleMotion Lighting (SML), a specialist in venue infrastructure lighting.

With a portfolio that includes high-profile venues such as the Sydney Opera House and numerous other theatres, concert halls, and recital spaces, SML was approached by The Hordern’s operators, Playbill Venues, to reimagine the lighting of the venue. The aim was to replace the outdated halogen lighting system with a more modern, energy-efficient solution that

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14 November 2024

USA - Film composer Hans Zimmer brought his hit tour, Hans Zimmer Live, to North America this autumn with arena dates across the United States and Canada, supported by Orlando, Florida-based LMG Touring.

Audiences joined him on a journey through an array of scores from the multiple Academy Award- and Grammy-winner’s career, including Gladiator, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Dark Knight, Interstellar, The Lion King, The Last Samurai, and Dune. “I’m thrilled to return to perform in North America with my wonderful band and excited to share this phenomenal show,” Zimmer said on his tour’s website. “Ultimately, the music connects us all, and I promise you this: we will always play our best, straight from the heart.”

Helping Zimmer and company make that artistic connectio