Singapore - Sands Expo and Convention Centre has upgraded its inventory of AV equipment with the first Meyer Sound Lyon and Leopard linear sound reinforcement systems in Singapore. Located within the Marina Bay Sands resort, the centre has invested in 156 total Meyer Sound loudspeakers to support large-scale corporate events and concerts, representing the largest investment to date in Leo Family technology by any hotel/MICE operator in the world.
"Our Lyon and Leopard systems can be configured for precise sound distribution and powerful projection - even at continuously high output levels," notes Mike Lee, Marina Bay Sands' vice president of sales. "They also provide superior vocal intelligibility and a consistently linear response. From an operational standpoint, we also apprec
UK - Based in the Grade II* listed former Holy Trinity Church, Trinity Centre is a multi-space community, performance and arts venue which plays a key role in Bristol's contemporary cultural scene. An ongoing major conservation and renovation programme has recently seen an L-Acoustics Kara audio system installed in its main space.
The Trinity Centre is one of Bristol's main live music venues but, when funding was made available for a new sound reinforcement system for the 600-capacity main hall, there was a lot to consider for Paul King - proprietor of King Sound Reinforcement, one of the main professional audio installation and rental companies in the UK's south-west.
"We have worked as the venue's audio contractor for over a decade. There was an existing house system but, to be honest, it was so unsatisfactory that for every live show we were bringing in our own rental e
UK - The Theatres Trust has announced the recipients of the Theatres Protection Fund's Small Grants Scheme. Successful theatres in this round are: the Theatre Royal Winchester; Friargate Theatre in York; Tron Theatre in Glasgow; Bridgwater Arts Centre and the Marine Theatre in Lyme Regis.
In Round Eight, the Theatres Trust has awarded the following projects:
Theatre Royal Winchester receives £5,000 towards its 'Tower Street elevation - urgent fabric and structural repairs' project, to restore the weather-damaged Tower Street fa
Europe - The production that underpins A-ha's Cast in Steel tour has been driven by the band's predilection for steering the use of entirely contemporary technology, as video director Julien Hogg explains.
"The one thing they didn't want was clean camera images. The show is a mix of carefully chosen content and IMAG, though not the style of IMAG most concertgoers are accustomed to. There are a couple of numbers that are clean, the big crowd friendly songs that everyone would expect and the band realise you have to do that sometimes. But otherwise we work the images hard."
The video system is supplied by Video Design, a total of seven LED screens, all 4.8m square, three across the stage, a pair stacked each side, and a camera package of four operated cameras, minicams and robocams to feed the IMAG.
"I put the tour out to tender and received bids from all over Europe," s
Germany - Creative director JoJo Tillmann brought his vast experience to bear on the recent tour by Lena Meyer-Landrut, the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest winner.
After working with the artist last year, the TV and concert lighting specialist decided on a new approach when the club tour resumed in early 2016, enlisting the help of GLP and its LED portfolio.
Knowing that Lena is one of the faces of L'Oréal, and that the light should be concentrated on haloing this feature, he had the Karlsbad manufacturer produce special versions of the X4 atom, replacing the high output quad colour purely with cold and warm white LEDs.
He explained the rationale thus, "I like to approach the design from a 'content' perspective, and in this case not use any colour - and she immediately bought into the idea of using [the atom] as a low, floor-based front light.
Japan - A fully integrated and networked Nexo-Yamaha theatre sound system has been installed in a prestigious new arts and cultural centre in Kawagoe city, just an hour from Tokyo.
The versatile system, under full digital control, has both fixed and portable elements and features GEO S12 and STM Series line array and Alpha and PS Series point-source loudspeaker systems, with Yamaha CL5 and QL1 digital consoles, installed by Yamaha Sound Systems Inc.
The Westa Kawagoe centre is a new multipurpose centre, located in Saitama Prefecture's rapidly developing City of Culture. The Main Hall of the centre, with approximately 1,700 seats, is capable of supporting a range of different concerts, theatrical, and other performing art programs. In addition to this Main Hall, Westa Kawagoe is made up of lifelong learning and other such facilities operated by Kawagoe City and by Saitama P
UK - In September 2015 New Order released their tenth Music Complete album and started the live tour to support the work, which to date has included tours of the UK, Europe, Asia and is set to visit the US, Japan, Australia and then festivals this summer.
The band formed in 1980, and their long term New Order lighting designer Andy Liddle has also been a collaborator in the New Order live experience almost since then, joining in 1981!
This tour, he has used 16 x Robe BMFLs as the backbone of the lighting rig, together with other lights, controlled via an Avolites Arena console.
Andy chose BMFL Spots for their "amazing brightness, speed and optics" and positioned four of the lights on each one of four over-stage trusses, along with other lighting and GLUX video panels, trimmed at 7, 6, 6.5 and 1.5 metres, and positioned at 3, 6, 9m upstage, respectively.
France - Rental company RégieTeK recently took delivery of 24 boxes of CODA Audio's AiRAY system, marking a significant moment in the establishment of new distributor CODA Audio France.
Since its launch in 2015 AiRAY has performed strongly in the global market, offering as it does an extremely compact and lightweight, yet phenomenally powerful output.
RégieTeK now possesses a full complement of CODA's line-array products and its purchase of AiRAY underlines the esteem in which this fast-growing German brand is held. It was in fact, RégieTeK who had distributed CODA products in France until it was agreed that the brand required a stronger and more streamlined commercial structure through which to access the French market. RégieTeK's continued faith in CODA, speaks volumes.
The inception of CODA Audio France came about as a result of a conflue
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High End Systems Halcyon Silent builds on ETC’s legacy of fanless automated fixtures by incorporating features from the highly sought-after Halcyon family. Halcyon Silent perfectly balances silent operation with brilliant output of 18,400 lumens and high-impact features.
USA - Phil Collins hosted the second annual Little Dreams Foundation Benefit Gala in South Florida and performed at the charity event backed by a line of Elation ACL 360 Bar colour-changing battens with 360-degree rotation.
Collins and his wife founded the Little Dreams Foundation in 2000 to provide mentoring and financial support for children who aspire to be musicians, artists and athletes. The Benefit Gala, which took place at the Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theatre on 11 March to raise money for the aspiring artists, closed with a special acoustic performance by Phil Collins with additional performances by Diego Torres, DJ Irie and Lou Gramm.
Lighting design for the event, which was produced by ACT Productions, was by John Hollingshead with The Design Oasis providing lighting and projection gear, their second time being involved with the project.
Denmark - NEXT-proaudio, recently supplied the sound reinforcement setup for the Club Awards in Denmark. The whole sound system was provided by the Danish Rental Company Showtech Event Group.
Showtech Event Group from Denmark increased its NEXT-proaudio inventory two months ago, having recently purchased a large quantity of NEXT LA212x and Las418 cabinets from the Portuguese manufacturer.
Sound reinforcement for the Club Awards comprised models from the manufacturer's LA Series, with a total of 16 LA212x, 16 LAs418 as FOH, 28 LA122 as out-fill and delay system, eight LA122W, two Las218 as front-fill and DJ Monitoring, eight Lam112x as stage monitors were used on this edition of Club Awards which was staged at Ballerup Super Arena in front of more than 8000 people. The event was broadcast on MTV the following week.
"This show is the biggest of its kind in Denmark. ShowT
USA - In the first week of May, the cluster of live entertainment companies located in Lititz PA partnered with the non-profit Keep The Beat Alive in order to certify over 60 staff members in CPR, AED device and active shooter training.
"Rock Lititz is on the leading edge of reducing cardiac deaths in touring professionals. Rock Lititz gets it," said Dr. Damian Brezinski, president of Keep The Beat Alive.
The training was held on site at Rock Lititz Studio where some of the world's largest tours come to prep before hitting the road. With companies such as ATOMIC, Beame, Clair Global, PEDG and Rock-It Cargo all based in Lititz, it was the perfect match for Keep The Beat Alive.
"Our ultimate goal at Rock Lititz is for every tour to hit the road with a crew that is fully prepared for their tour, which includes being certified in CPR and AED devices. In fact, Keep The Beat
UK - Show designer Bryan Leitch and lighting director Jamie Thompson from creative visual design specialist MIRRAD chose over 120 Robe moving lights among other fixtures to light YesLive 2016, a hi-energy showcase music performance and awards event staged at the London Roundhouse.
The annual YesLive show helps inspire 15 - 17 year olds to get involved in once-in-a-lifetime activities via the National Citizen Service (NCS) initiative. Bryan worked alongside CC Labs who commissioned MIRRAD to produce the show design and co-ordinate the visual production including lighting, set and video.
He and Jamie started with a series of four 3 x 2m 'scenic' screens curving around the back of the stage mimicking the curvature of the venue's famous architecture. A downstage centre video screen 6m wide by 3.5m high came in and out on a Kinesys system shielding the stage for changeovers.
Australia - Specialist lighting company, Chameleon Touring Systems has invested in a fleet of Solaris Flares from TMB, the powerful and flexible RGBW LED fixture that can wash, blind and strobe all at the same time. With around 1000 watts of LED generating more than 30,000 lumens of output at a 1200Hz refresh rate, lighting designers are loving the practical capabilities and creative possibilities that the Flare gives them.
"We first started looking at the flares when we saw them on a couple of specs," says Tony Davies, owner of Chameleon, "and a lot of the lighting designers we regularly work with were also expressing interest." Chameleon were impressed with the Flare's specs and unique capabilities, and invested heavily; a move that has more than paid off, as the company are poised to expand their Flare inventory further.
UK - Leading pro-audio provider The Warehouse Sound Services has enjoyed a hugely productive PLASA Focus in Leeds this week. The event provided the organisation the opportunity to announce its exclusive UK partnership with Adamson Systems Engineering and a new UK partnership with Nexo.
It also provided a platform to showcase the company's range of products from major brands including Shure, Allen & Heath and Sennheiser. PLASA Leeds delivered two days of constant activity, high quality visitors and high interest in The Warehouse's products.
PLASA was also a platform to announce the opening of The Warehouse's new office in Chorley, Lancashire.
Derek Blair, director of The Warehouse comments, "It's an exciting time for The Warehouse! Not only have we just opened our third office in the North West of England, we have also secured new major brand partnerships with Adamson a
USA - Located in Las Vegas, NV, Calvary Chapel Spring Valley is a growing worship family that is also dedicated to building a strong educational foundation through the Calvary Chapel Christian School on site as well.
As the congregation has now outgrown their current facility, they have temporarily relocated to the school's gymnasium in order to hold their worship services. With a desire to bring LED video into the new facility as well, Calvary Chapel then took this opportunity to incorporate the technology into the gymnasium environment and they did so using FLEXLite 3.99mm LED from PixelFLEX.
"When we began our capital building campaign, we knew we wanted LED video in our new worship facility, but we also needed it to help create a more ideal environment in the gymnasium during our relocation," began Tony Monto, Worship and Young Adults Pastor.
UK - When the PR and communications team needed to promote the importance of voting in the 2016 London Mayoral Elections they came to SXS for an exciting solution.
"It was vital that the message of the 5 May vote for Mayor was communicated through social media, mainstream media and by passers-by seeing the message," says project director Tim Curwen.
"Working with the client we decided that a projection and lighting installation onto the iconic London city hall would be ideal," He reports. "This constituted a powerful colour wash and HD projection of the key message. The response on the night was fantastic with many photographers and interview teams from major news networks coming to see the installation."
The installation required both high-impact lighting and some easily-readable text images. In order to achieve both in a way that could compete with high levels of amb
World - The lighting design for Adele's Live 2016 - World Tour was realised by Patrick Wodroffe with Adam Bassett as associate LD and Roland Greil working as programmer and lighting director on the road.
For lighting control the tour is using 2 x grandMA2 full-size, one grandMA2 light and five MA NPU (Network Processing Unit). Neg Earth supplied the lighting equipment for Europe, while Upstaging covered the US.
Woodroffe described his lighting design: "The stage design consists of a series of gauzes and projection surfaces that are constantly changing in position and purpose throughout the show. Sometimes Adele's face is seen on a rear screen, sometimes it appears in a much more abstract way on the front gauze and sometimes she is simply glimpsed through a video or lighting effect.
"The lighting supports this concept, not just in the way that it sets the mood and the f
Indonesia - As part of a major AV refurbishment, Bethany Salatiga Church has become one of the first Indonesian houses of worship to install Allen & Heath's dLive digital mixing system, along with a ME personal monitoring system.
Located in the city of Salatiga in Semarang, Indonesia, the large capacity Church needed a system to manage FOH and monitors in the main sanctuary, which hosts several different traditional, modern and youth services each day, as well as broadcast feeds for its radio station.
"The church had the opportunity to update its AV equipment, and after much research, dLive came out on top," explains member of Bethany's technical staff, Samuel Aderiel Susanto. "Our church has been using a GL3300 every day for the past 13 years without any problems, so we know A&H is reliable. With the demands of a growing church community, dLive's digital features ensure w
UK - PRG XL Video, the UK operation of Production Resource Group, has announced a significant investment with Area Four Industries UK to upgrade its hoist stock with EXE Rise units.
In a continuing commitment to update its inventory with the latest rigging, lighting, and video technology, PRG XL Video has chosen the EXE Rise range of chain hoists to update its rental offering.
During the development of the Rise hoists, PRG XL Video worked with Area Four Industries UK to give feedback on the design and specifications. The selection of the EXE Rise units followed extensive evaluation of different hoists by a team of PRG XL Video's rigging experts including Chris Walker, account director, Q Willis, head of rigging services, and Richard Gorrod, head of event services.
The units are the new 8:1 EXE Rise Chain Hoists, which are both CE and LOLER (Lifting Operations Lifting E
USA / Europe - At 82 years young, singer, recording artist and frontman of The Four Seasons Frankie Valli is still playing live and touring two weekends a month for most of the year - with Robe as the first choice of moving light on the rider. Valli has had multiple chart-topping singles and albums throughout a six-decade career and has also been inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.
Los Angeles-based Dean Egnater is lighting designer and tour manager and has been working for Valli for 15 years since originally being hired for a three-week period in 2001. Their touring schedule includes a variety of venues encompassing theatres and arenas which are always sold-out, and for which the largest version of their lighting plot includes around 46-48 moving luminaires - Ideally an equal split between profiles and washes.
Dean has been using Robe fixtures for at least 10 ye
Sweden - Barco was the technical event supplier for the Eurovision Song Contest. During the semi-finals and finals in Stockholm, a full stack of high-brightness Barco projectors, 10 of which are equipped with Barco's High End Systems' MMS-200 moving mirror systems, and Barco's E2 screen management system helped create the audiovisual experience in crisp, clear detail.
The stage of the 2016 edition has been described as "rock 'n roll meets Eurovision". Through its highly-defined scenography with straight lines, strong perspectives and a background in different geometrical patterns, the set-up enabled dramatic effects and optical illusions, and gave each performance a different look.
Barco provided a total of 13 HDQ-2K40 projectors - complete with XLD 2.8-5.5 lenses - through its rental partner Mediatec. Ten of the HDQ-2K40 projectors - four flown on an FOH truss and six sta