Russia - This month, some of Russia’s best eSports gamers descended upon Cyberspace, a new event venue located at Moscow Riviera shopping centre to play League of Legends RT CyberCup. There are lots more tournaments, competitions and events planned in the pipeline over the upcoming months. During the day, these competing gamers have regular day jobs or study. Rather than battle in the office or on the sports field, the battles are fought in cyberspace. At night time and in spare time, they aim to win big-figure prizes and prestige not known to their real-world colleagues. Videogaming giants’ Vega Squadron, ASUS Republic of Gamers, MSI and Acer are just a few of the latest partners of the new Cyberspace venue which opened on 1 July, that is equipped with the very latest presentation technology innovations. A 16m wide main stage in front of a spectator audience
UK - The Robert Juliat DALIS 860 LED cyclorama batten fixture has been added to the extensive lighting inventory at White Light as technical director Dave Isherwood explains, “The decision to invest in the Robert Juliat DALIS batten lights was part of our strategy of continually updating and renewing the WL catalogue. The product is a natural progression of what has come before and, as a result, there is a vast improvement in technology. After seeing the capabilities of the Dalis I had no hesitation in placing an order through Ambersphere Solutions.” With a total of eight coloured LED emitters (red, green, blue, royal blue, amber cyan, warm and cool white), the 860 opens the door to an extraordinarily broad palette of colour choices as Isherwood acknowledges, “This is a unique product that doesn’t really have a rival on the market. Robert Juliat have incorporated a g
UK - Jeremy Lechterman and Jackson Gallagher of production design and creative direction partnership FragmentNine selected the dense light beams of the Claypaky Mythos2 to add texture to their lighting design for Mercury Prize-winning indie rock band alt-J in their first arena show of 2017, held at The O2 Arena in London. FragmentNine's design has since been nominated for a prestigious Knight of Illumination award. The design was an upscaled version of the production's touring lighting design, also by FragmentNine, for The O2 Arena's 10th anniversary showcase. "As a band, alt-J fly fairly under the radar in terms of their visual appearance and personalities; we set out to create something that wraps them and shrouds them in mystery," reveals Lechterman. "The catch phrase 'immersive' was always on the tip of our tongues, and we feel the end result is quite evocative of
UK - A Zero 88 FLX lighting console has been chosen by Cardiff’s popular St David’s Hall venue, primarily to control lighting for their Foyer Stage (also known as the L3 Lounge). The venue hosts a wide variety of shows and events encompassing all types of live performance, from R ‘n’ B, jazz, folk rock, and classical music to comedy, children’s shows, musicals, spoken word events, conferences, presentations and even darts competitions. The FLX was selected by stage technician and main house lighting operator Emma Nicholson, who until recently was part of a technical team of five running all the in-house audio, lighting and staging requirements, which involved working with WIFI, CCTV, phone integration and other IT systems. St David’s Hall has lighting rigs installed in all three of its main spaces and fixtures can be coloured and re-focused as needed
USA - Shure has again been recognised by the Global Presence Alliance (GPA) as a recipient of the 2017 Vendor Excellence Award. This year, Shure scored among the very highest within categories that are stringently reviewed and voted on by more than 28 companies in 40 countries. Members evaluate the leading audio, visual, and UC manufacturers and vendors. Shure first joined the GPA Accredited Vendor Programme in 2016 and was also awarded the Vendor Excellence Award that same year. “Providing a consistent world-class service and support experience for integrators and end users around the globe is of the utmost importance to Shure, and a business focus where we have invested significant time and resources.” said Chris Schyvinck, president and CEO at Shure. “This prestigious industry award validates Shure’s commitment to all of our global markets, and we are proud
Germany - The Open Air classical concerts in Ingolstadt are a cultural institution for German music-lovers. The summer season, sponsored by Audi, brings 22,000 to the Klenzepark in Ingolstadt to picnic and listen to the orchestral performances, amplified by Nexo STM modular line array systems supplied by Showem. A regular feature of the summer concerts are the performances of the Audi staff orchestra: this year, nearly 60 musicians of the Audi Bläserphilharmonie played for conductor Christian Lombardi. Another concert was headlined by the Georgian Kammerorchester, playing the melodies of Georges Bizet and conducted by Ruben Gazarian. Showem Veranstatungstechnik is one of the leading suppliers of Nexo systems in Germany, and the Ingolstadt open-air concerts are one of its largest single deployments of the STM M28 modular line array. Designed by Dieter Mantzel, th
Peru - He has been called the “heir to Pavarotti”. Dazzling crowds with his immaculate, crystal clear voice, he is universally regarded as “one of the greatest tenors in history” Still, even as his celebrated career has taken him from La Scala to Royal Albert Hall, Juan Diego Florez has kept his heart in Peru. So, when his homeland was struck by a series of natural disasters this spring, the famous operatic star stepped up and announced that he would hold a benefit concert to help those afflicted by these events. On 1 July, this benefit took place at Lima’s national stadium. Produced by Tito Vattuone and Milagros Florez, Homenaje al Peru featured stirring performances by Florez and the Orchestra and Symphony Chorus for Peru. Supporting this unforgettable music was an evocative lighting design by Gianfranco Di Vitto that captured the spirit of the Peruvian la
World - Two Door Cinema Club are currently embarked on one of those arduous festival circuits that sees them perform on three continents in as many weeks. As the band’s sound engineer for several years, Ian Laughton is not just adding to his air miles tally: he’s actually found a better way to tour. “We’ve just done five in a row here and in Europe and have three more before we depart for Australia where we do four shows in six days, crossing the country from West to East and then South. A quick gig in the Philippines and then back to Europe for another stint before we’re off once again, this time to the US. “Britannia Row provides our control package, a pair of Midas Pro2c’s and a line system and that’s a job well done but choosing them has proved even more important than usual. I have my basic rack which now goes with me world-wide, I’ve managed to
UK - 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 85,000W 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 lumens. (Jim Evans)
France - Full audio-visual service company, Polygone Equipement, were recently brought in to provide auxiliary sound reinforcement for the prestigious European Athletics Team Championships at the 18,000-seat capacity Lille-Métropole Stadium. Formed in 1994, Polygone Equipement has been an RCF partner for most of that time, and working on the event for the first time they had no hesitation in picking a combination of high premium TTL33-A active line array and HDL20-A, RCF’s popular and huge selling composite system to supplement the stadium PA. They used 12 of the TTL33-A, supported by eight elements of HDL20-A, underpinned with four TTS28-A subs, while a pair of TT25-A were detailed for monitoring purposes for the official speaker out on the central field. The TTL33-A’s were arrayed in four main stacks, spaced around the stadium, each containing three enclos
UK - As part of its summer programme, English National Opera appeared at the Royal Festival Hall for a captivating production of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius. Multi-award winning lighting designer Lucy Carter used light – controlled with ETC Eos Ti and RPU3 – to create an additional layer of emotion and energy to support and reflect the music. Widely regarded as Elgar's finest choral work, The Dream of Gerontius relates the journey of a pious man's soul from his deathbed to his judgment before God and settling into Purgatory. To evoke an otherworldly feel, Carter opted for simple staging with abstract lighting energies that combined with the music to create an ethereal quality. “When I was researching this production and arrived at my eventual design decisions, I knew that in order to create the complex and detailed environments to match the ex
UK - Bryan Adams is the latest touring act to hit the road with Adamson E-Series and S-Series loudspeakers. Canadian, multi-platinum recording artist, Bryan Adams performed a series of special outdoor dates this July at Powderham Castle, Exeter, Sixways Stadium, Worcester, Bitts Park, Carlisle and Bught Park, Inverness. The shows promoted by LCC Live were a continuation of his on-going Get Up Tour. Adamson's UK partner The Warehouse Sound Services working with promoter LCC Live and production manager Mike Kerr to design a substantial Adamson sound reinforcement system for the dates. Bryan Adams latest studio album Get Up has received much acclaim. Produced by famed ELO front man Jeff Lynne it features nine new songs and four acoustic versions, highlighting Adams’ unique voice and depth. The tour featured a full complement of Adamson E and S Series
UK - Autograph Sales & Installations has recently supplied a DiGiCo SDT9 for LAMDA (London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art) as part of an extensive sound reinforcement system for its brand new £28.2m facility. The 220 UK and overseas students who take part in LAMDA’s seven validated degree courses (which include acting, direction, production and technical arts) will now benefit from a transformative 5,500m2 redevelopment which includes the 200-seat Sainsbury Theatre, the 120-seat Carne Studio Theatre, the Manny & Brigitta Davidson Foyer, the Sackler Library, a screen and audio suite, ten training/rehearsal studios and full technical and wardrobe facilities. Autograph has a long history with LAMDA, not only working with them on their own technical facilities, but providing in-house training for LAMDA students at Autograph’s London headquarters. They re
South Africa - The SOS Charity Fund, an initiative by DWR Distribution, hosted it’s very first auction dinner, raising a remarkable R97,500 from the event’s auction alone. With a focus on the SOS campaign during Mediatech, the charity fund raised over half a million Rand during July. Some 230 people - a mixed bag from rental companies and the entertainment market in Africa and Namibia, as well as a number of international guests - attended the SOS Fundraising Evening held at The Venue in Melrose Arch on 20th July 2017. As competitors sat side by side, both Jason Goliath (compere and comedian) and Dr Victor and the Rasta Rebels, provided top class entertainment, free of charge, in unison of the SOS. “Huge gratitude extends to The Venue’s Tony Raciti and Trudie de Kock, who hosted the event and went out of their way to provide a beautiful setting complimented wi
Something for the Weekend - With Glastonbury taking a year off in 2018, there's already one new festival hoping to fill the mud-and-music gap. The BBC has announced plans to host The Biggest Weekend while Glasto has its traditional fallow year. The four-day festival will take place in May across four sites in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Biggest Weekend is scheduled for the late May bank holiday weekend (25-28 May) - earlier than when Glastonbury normally is. More than 175,000 tickets will be made available, which is more than the number sold for Glasto, but this one is across four locations.The BBC said it will bring "the biggest artists in the world" to the event - but headliners won't be announced for some time yet. Radio 1, Radio 2, Radio 3 and 6 Music will all broadcast live sets from the weekend, while BBC Two and BBC Four wil
USA - The value of one million dollars in 1956 is equivalent to over 899m today. However, even that lofty figure doesn’t come close to doing justice to the success of the four superstars who are the subject of Million Dollar Quartet. The Tony Award nominated musical takes audiences back to 4 December 1956, a day when budding stars Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley got together for a jam session at Sun Records Memphis studio. A recent revival of the musical at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, New Hampshire captures the magic of that long-ago moment, thanks in part to a transformative lightshow designed by Carl Rajotte, who also served as artistic director and choreographer. Using a collection of Chauvet Professional fixtures supplied by Events United, Rajotte created big, engaging looks that took audiences out of the small recording
Malaysia - The Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios was the scenic setting for the TM Group Awards 2017, and AC Lighting Services Malaysia (ACLS) took charge of the prestigious event’s video design and programming. The annual gathering sees up to 2,500 TM Group staff, from across Malaysia, come together to recognise achievements from all divisions in the company. The TM Group is Malaysia’s leading telecommunications company, having launched in 1946 and since evolved to become the country’s largest broadband services provider. ACLS is Malaysia’s Green Hippo dealer as well as a lighting and visual creative. Charged with designing and planning projection coverage for the event, ACLS also handled media server solutions. The team, led by visual programmer Kumar Shan, specified a pair of Hippotizer Karst, a single Hippotizer HD V3, plus a Hippotizer Grasshopper V4. AC
UK - UK - Adam Young and Finn Ross, founders of Olivier Award-winning visual storytelling outfit, FRAY Studio, are the creators of the much-talked-about video environments showcasing in the current Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) production of The Tempest, now on at The Barbican in London. FRAY worked in collaboration with Intel and in association with The Imaginarium Studios on the production's highly-acclaimed stagecraft, described by The Financial Times as 'State-of-the-art', and by the Daily Telegraph as 'true to the hype of breath-taking order'. Known to have a considered approach to modern stagecraft, FRAY has designed for critically acclaimed theatre productions including The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. For The Tempest, FRAY designed, produced and mapped the show'
UK - Fisher Productions, one of London’s leading event production companies, has invested in Surrey-based Setsquare Staging, the event construction business founded and run by managing director, John O’Gorman over the past 25 years. Chief executive officer of Fisher, Graham Beswick says: “We are extremely excited to embark on this new venture. Setsquare is a creative and technical hub, that has been manufacturing extraordinary work for over a quarter of a century. This is an exciting opportunity for both Fisher Productions and Setsquare Staging to develop a staging capability second to none.” John O’Gorman, founder of Setsquare says: “I first met Graham when I was approached by Fisher Productions ‘to do more business together’…By the end of our first meeting, I had an investor in the company. Graham is everything that myself and the staff at Setsquar
Italy - Tuscany recently expanded its boundaries with the Milan opening of Toscanino, a concept store developed with the intent to spread Tuscan culture, values and traditions outside of its region. Created to meet the growing demand for quality, Toscanino promotes and cultivates items made in Tuscany around the globe by providing top-of-the-line products and craftsmanship typical from the region manufactured by 150 of the most reputable brands and artisans in the gastronomic and home furnishings sectors. Located in the heart of the fashion capital, the store includes a restaurant, a food market and a kitchen for teaching as well as tasting. The project was developed by Tuscan Simone Arnetoli, founder of Galateo Ricevimenti, who aims to open another 8 outlets in Europe by 2020 and distribute worldwide to countries like Japan, China, the United States and Russia.
UK - Featuring over 53,000 performances across 300 venues, this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe promises to be the busiest year ever; none more so than for full technical production provider Hawthorn, who are supplying more equipment to the festival than ever before. Celebrating 70 years since its inception, the world’s largest arts festival returns to Edinburgh this August for another celebration of creative freedom. Attracting thousands of artists and many more spectators, the festival’s programme is jam packed with theatre, comedy, dance, music and cabaret performances. Heading to the festival for the 28th time, Hawthorn will this year be working with new client, Summer Hall as their full technical supplier providing lighting, sound, rigging, power and drapes. Describing itself as a vibrant cultural village in the heart of Edinburgh, Summer Hall will host 140
France - The Ecole du Louvre is a very prestigious higher education institution, one of the most important in the art history world, and situated at the heart of that world in the Louvre museum in Paris. Created in 1882, the school was originally dedicated to archaeology but soon expanded to related disciplines such as history of art and anthropology. With a long-standing tradition of providing lectures to the general public as well as an education to students, the Ecole du Louvre’s four lecture theatres play a vital part in the school. AV installation company Lagoona Lyon was chosen to renovate the audio speciifcation for these amphitheatres, choosing a mix of Nexo and Yamaha elements to create a visually low-profile high-performance technical standard for the Ecole. Astell Design, specialists in large-scale installations, was in overall charge of the renovation of
UK - CPL (Central Presentations Ltd) enjoyed another glorious Glastonbury Festival, supplying projection to Arcadia’s giant recycled metal spider, which hosted their Metamorphosis show. The west Midlands based rental specialist also supplied a lighting and rigging package which was utilised across the lively Shangri-La late night area - which this year saw the Truth main stage emerge from the embers of the previous Hell, and the site expanding its daytime activities via the Shangri-La International Television Centre (SHITV) transmitting debates and discourse on DIY culture and a range of other topics. A third area of the festival for CPL was delivering projection to the movie theatre at Williams Green, working with The Live Firm which screened Supersonic, a British music documentary directed by Mat Whitecross detailing the formative years of super-group
Europe - Swedish singing sensation, Zara Larsson, is currently on tour around European venues and festivals with an interchangeable dLive mixing system from Allen & Heath to manage FOH and monitor sound. Performing at venues across Europe, as well as on the festival circuit, the team wanted an audio system to suit both full concert and fly-in festival production. Consequently, PA company, Parashoot, provided an inter-changeable dLive system with S and C Class units to cater for both scenarios. “From experience, I know that dLive is trustworthy, and the fact that Parashoot was able to support us with a fly-in option meant dLive was the right choice for this tour,” explains monitor engineer, Sebastian Meyer. “dLive sounds great, and is really intuitive to use - I found everything I was looking for almost instantly when I started programming the system, and I ha
