South Africa - Hendrick Nemalili of Murangi Productions collected 12 new Claypaky Axcor Beam 300s and four Robe LedBeam 150s from DWR Distribution which went straight onto the 16th Crown Gospel Music Awards held on 26 November at the 10 000-seater Dome marquee based at the FNB Stadium in Nasrec, Johannesburg.
The Crown Gospel Awards celebrates excellence in the South African gospel music industry. Traditionally taking place at the Durban ICC, it was hosted in Johannesburg for the first time. Having worked on the production on two different occasions, Hendrick was appointed to design the set and to provide the full technical comprising lighting, audio (including backline) and screens.
With three months to plan and prepare, he came up with the concept. “As the Crown Gospel Awards were making a debut in the City of Gold the idea was to integrate a suspended crown centre

USA - Lighting for the recent legs - including the USA and Canada - of popular and prolific Indian singer Shreya Ghoshal’s All Hearts world tour was programmed by Manu Jacob using an all grandMA3 control system solution for this section of the tour, and the first time on a touring project.
Brought onboard as programmer by Mumbai based show producers BToS Productions, he worked closely with the lighting design team from LAGFL Designs on ensuring that the show they had crafted was programmed in the most efficient, logical, and flexible way, enabling the showfile to be swiftly updated to deal with different sized venues.
“It was to facilitate this and also for the networking capabilities that I decided to make the switch to all grandMA3 for this project,” he stated, adding that he has been working on the grandMA platform for the last 10 years, and appreciates its

The Netherlands - De Tocht is a new ice-based musical production staged in the purpose-built 1475-capacity Friso Theatrein Leeuwarden. Directed by Eddy Habbema and choreographed by Marc Forno, the production design was created by Luc Peumans, artistic director of Painting with Light (PWL), whose brief encompassed lighting, video and scenography, an ambitious collage of visual disciplines to capture all the skating action presented in “spectacular” style.
Luc utilised over 200 Robe moving lights for the show including 120 Esprites, 83 LEDBeam 350s, 16 T2 Profiles and 13 iFortes running on a remote follow spot system, supplied to the production by RentAll.
The Dutch-language De Tocht story follows five former skating friends on their adventures skating the Elfstedentocht - an 11-city, 200 km long-distance tour on natural ice over rivers and canals in the Netherlands

UK - After the release of her sophomore album The Good Witch in June this year, Maisie Peters, a British artist and songwriter signed with Ed Sheeran’s Gingerbread Man Records, embarked on a tour to support her album. She has recently completed the latest UK leg, with further dates across Europe and Australia scheduled for 2024.
FOH engineer Nathan Kennedy and monitor engineer Michael ‘Fitz’ Fitzsimons, both seasoned DiGiCo users, utilised a DiGiCo SD10 and DiGiCo Quantum 225 respectively, benefitting from what Kennedy describes as “natural and uncoloured sound”, while Fitzsimons highlights the console's customisable programming, which he believes surpasses any other console manufacturer in the industry.
Kennedy started using DiGiCo consoles in 2012, and says the workflow immediately resonated with him, stating, “What goes in, comes out exactly as yo

USA - A combination of Holoplot’s sound control capabilities and creative sound design by Jonathan Deans let the vocals shine for this new off-Broadway production. Based on the true story of the legendary Cuban ensemble, Buena Vista Social Club (BVSC) brings the 1966 Grammy-winning album to the Atlantic Theatre Company.
Produced by Cuban American playwright Marco Ramirez, the show debuted mid-December at the Linda Gross Theatre and has received rave reviews. Sound designer Jonathan Deans, known for work on Broadway hits and Cirque du Soleil productions, collaborated with music supervisor Dean Sharenow and director Saheem Ali to create the auditory experience, with global technology provider PRG furnishing a comprehensive audio and lighting solution for the production, including the first Holoplot X1 system to grace a musical theatre production.
Working with a

Saudi Arabia - Prolights fixtures have transformed the Wonder Garden amusement park in Riyadh into a spectacle of light and colours. The park now boasts a captivating illumination setup featuring the Astra fixtures.
The project features 150 Astra Beam260IP and 50 Astra Hybrid420IP units, arranged to enhance both large and small stages. This extensive installation ensures a comprehensive and immersive lighting experience, highlighting the park's magical and whimsical themes.
The fixtures have been provided by Prolab, Prolights’ distributor in Saudi Arabia, and the lighting project, overseen by lighting designer Houssein Ramadan.
The client expressed their utmost satisfaction with the project's outcome: "The ambiance achieved through our strategic use of Prolights' fixtures has exceeded our expectations, creating an unforgettable experience for our visitors."

UK - Gamesys London, an international online gaming operator, wished to modernise and collaborate in their office space. The plans for the new office included 30 meeting rooms and two all-hands meeting rooms, as well as corporate messaging throughout the building.
Everything had to be compatible with Gamesys' existing platforms and programmes. They required a dependable and experienced partner who could collaborate with them throughout the construction process, deliver high-quality products and services, and meet their deadlines.
Marquee One, a company that provides audio-visual solutions to various industries, was recommended by a previous client who had worked with director of Marquee One, Luke Nowacki.
Marquee One created a variety of audio-visual solutions for Gamesys London, including video conferencing and collaboration systems for all meeting rooms, enab

Italy - Milan-based production service Moviechrome has recently introduced its Moviechrome Pixel Reality Studio LED Volume, a cornerstone in virtual production and the first studio in Europe that features Absen PR technology with a 2.5 pixel pitch resolution. Powered by Brompton Technology LED processing, it is suited for a wide array of productions, from high-budget blockbusters to indie films, automotive inserts, packshots and consumption shots.
“The idea for the Moviechrome Pixel Reality Studio LED Volume stemmed from a desire to revolutionise the film and production industry with cutting-edge technology combined with our SFX team and Bolt robot motion control,” says Edoardo Mari, CEO at Moviechrome (Milano). “The initial concept was not solely client-requested but emerged from our foresight into the evolving needs of the industry. We recognised the increasing deman

Sweden - Established in 1941, Stockholm-based Berghs School of Communication offers an advanced curriculum that covers everything from brand strategy to content design, illustration, marketing and art direction. When the school made the move to the newly developed Gasverket – a former gas plant in Stockholm that is now home to a growing community of cultural, educational, and social enterprises – it required a reliable and flexible audio solution. Working alongside Stockholm-based integrators Scan AV, Berghs chose a Genelec Smart IP loudspeaker system for its new venture.
“We moved to a new building and needed high-quality audio in the open areas,” begins Bosse Hjerpe, facility manager at Berghs. “We turned to Scan AV for a solution that was flexible and – due to cost reasons – networked. The building was empty and needed to be equipped with everything, so a ne

USA - When lighting designer Mitch Mueller wanted a profile fixture for key and front lighting for country singer Lainey Wilson’s debut performance at the outdoor Red Rocks Amphitheatre, he chose VL3600 Profile IP luminaires from Vari-Lite.
The Red Rocks Amphitheatre is an open-air performance space built into rustic natural surroundings in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Mueller’s design included 32 Vari-Lite VL3600 Profile IPs, whose high output and premium features made it ideal for the design of the outdoor performance.
“When I was programming the show, I was looking to do a lot of spot breakup looks with gobos layered with big pan and tilt effects, and the VL3600 played the role perfectly,” explains Mueller. “Not only are they relatively quick for their size, they also have a multitude of different ways to add that texture I look for.
“The most

UK - The National Theatre has extended its long relationship with GLP fixtures by becoming the first theatre in the world to take delivery of the manufacturer’s new impression X5 Bar 1000. This has been added to the rig in the Olivier Theatre in time for the staging of The Witches – a musical version of the timeless Roald Dahl tale – which runs until 27 January 2024.
The X5 Bar 1000 is a linear LED batten with 18 powerful 40W RGBL LEDs, a wide zoom range and the new GLP iQ.Gamut colour calibration algorithm, which creates ‘perfect white spectrums with excellent colour rendering’.
The new squared lens design ensures maximum lumen efficiency and gives an unprecedented curtain of light at its narrowest angle of just 3.5°, while delivering smooth and homogenous washes all the way out to its widest 60° wash.
These were among the features that caught

USA - UK manufacturer Prism Sound will be attending NAMM 2024 with a range of audio conversion products to suit the demands of professional users in music, broadcast, film and live sound.
On booth 16016 at NAMM, Prism Sound will be showing its recently launched Dream ADA-128 modular audio conversion system, along with its award-winning range of interfaces such as the Titan, Atlas and Lyra. In addition, it will highlight the recent – and significant - price reductions across these products, which means that there has never been a better time to invest in Prism Sound technology.
“These savings are substantial, and we have only been able to make them by looking carefully at our own costs to see where we could streamline our operation and improve efficiency,” says Prism Sound’s sales director Mark Evans. “What we haven’t done, however, is reduce the quality o

UK - Grammy Award-winning global super star, Burna Boy, brought his Love, Damini stadium tour to the 80,000 capacity London Stadium last summer in front of his largest solo audience to date, simultaneously becoming the first ever African artist to headline a UK stadium.
The tour celebrated his sixth album Love, Damini, with his electrifying performances, and dramatic production and lighting designs from Anthony Hazelden of Live Lighting.
Hazelden chose a quantity of Ayrton Huracán LT, Eurus Profile and Domino LT fixtures as the mainstay of his London Stadium rig, which were supplied by London-based Colour Sound Experiment. Ayrton is distributed exclusively in the UK by Ambersphere Solutions.
“We went with all-Ayrton gear because their products are all LED-sourced,” he explains. “Another major reason for our choice was our need for high powe

USA - Lone Star Lights is a family-friendly Christmas light experience hosted at Carolina Creek, the Christian camp located an hour north of Houston, TX. ADJ was selected by Carolina Creek as the exclusive supplier of entertainment lighting for the event, with equipment supplied via Alabama-based Team Wilson Media. Its various areas, exhibits and attractions are illuminated by a variety of ADJ IP65-rated fixtures, including Hydro Series moving heads, HEX Series static washes and battery-powered Mirage Q6 uplighters.
Established in 2002, Carolina Creek offers overnight summer youth camps as well as year-round retreat facilities for churches, youth organizations and civic organisations, as well as corporate team building events. Hosting thousands of young people in the summer and busy most of the rest of the year, the holiday season has historically been a quiet time for the

Australia - Broadcast and streaming rental specialist Gameday Hire has expanded its Green-GO setup by investing in a BridgeX quad network bridge interface, enhancing its remote production capabilities.
The Sydney-based company, headed up by Australian broadcast industry veteran Andy Liell, has heavily invested in Green-GO products over the last year with support from Rod McKinnon at Event Communications Australia.
Gameday Hire’s team travels across Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific, often delivering outside broadcast technology in remote locations that require rock solid communications. Incorporating the BridgeX into their existing, extensive Green-GO comms system means that the company can massively improve comms for their remote production solutions.
One such project Gameday Hire provides ongoing solutions for is an Australian sporting code. With

New Zealand - A once-in-a-lifetime experience for 10,000 Chinese visitors was boosted by a top line PA system that has never been used in the ANZPAC region before.
The massive delegation was flown to New Zealand in 12 waves over two months from 9 October to 5 December for the 2023 Amway China Leadership Seminar, produced by Encore Event Technologies APAC.
The Amway Diamond top performers were treated to an extensive programme of events and excursions that rewarded exceptional performance and elevated brand allegiance whilst enjoying the incredible sights and adventures New Zealand has to offer.
The event highlight was a stunning final gala night dinner which was staged 15 times throughout the period to visitor groups of approximately 600 per event. Held at the Viaduct Events Centre in Auckland and Queenstown Ice Arena the galas, which took a year to plan, treated

UK - Those stuck in busy Christmas Eve M25 traffic as they drove home for Christmas were treated to the sight of Father Christmas as he began his delivery duties led by his faithful reindeer.
Celestial created a festive drone animation of Father Christmas flying over the M25 to spread Christmas Eve magic. Through technology, Celestial digitally displayed Santa and his sleigh using drones to delight and ignite imaginations.
Tony Martin, CEO at Celestial, comments, "At Celestial, we believe in creating experiences that defy expectations and leave a lasting impact. Our Christmas Eve drone animation is a testament to the endless possibilities that technology and creativity can unlock, with a touch of Christmas magic for families to enjoy."

UK - The Soho Kids Xmas Lights 2023 is now in its third annual edition. The project showcases the designs of pupils from the Soho Parish Primary School.
Soho Parish Primary School pupils, under the direction of Antonio Capelao, architect and founder of award-winning Architecture for Kids, a community interest company, coproduced 14 new street lighting panels this year to add to the 35 designed in the two previous years. Creating a total of 49 (and two commissions) luminescent installations that are lighting up the streets of Soho until 7 January.
The designs by the pupils were judged by a committee, formed of industry experts, including Ayça Donaghy, CEO, and Bob Bohannon, head of policy and sustainability, from The LIA. The judges along with Hannah Peaty, assistant head, Soho Parish Primary School and Antonio Capelao, founder and co-producer of Soho Kids Xmas Lights,

USA - Fans flocked to cities across North America and Europe for a chance to see Beyoncé live during the Renaissance Tour: a 56-stop run to support her latest album.
Renaissance tour monitor engineer James Berry turned to DPA Microphones for a number of versatile solutions that would hold up rain or shine, including the new 2017 Shotgun Microphone.
“We did some beta testing with the 2017 and it ended up being a great crowd mic,” Berry explains. “The clarity and range of it was so full; we were able to cover more area with no distortion through the PA. I didn’t get any of that high-end distortion you hear with other shotguns. You can really ride it without getting any of that crunchiness you usually experience when the audience gets loud. I also didn’t have to high pass this shotgun as much as I do with others, which is rare.”
The 2017s were especial

France - Director of photography Jean-Louis Rousseaux has been responsible for lighting the sets of television network France 24 since 2008 and knows what type of high-quality light is needed to create the desired look and ensure a visually engaging viewing experience. Last summer, he and his team lit two France 24 TV news sets using Elation broadcast lighting supplied by Elation distributor Best Audio and Lighting.
As on most sets today used to produce broadcast news magazines, France 24 installed LED screens around the entire periphery of the sets. The space was also equipped with soffits and spandrels made of RGBW LED strips and treated with a night and day material which has the particularity of allowing saturated colours to be obtained.
“The surface area used on the sets being small (50sq.m), I was worried about the impact of this entire LED installation on the

Germany - The Kinderlachen Gala in Dortmund was illuminated by Prolights products, an annual event celebrating individuals distinguished for their humanity, altruism, and civic engagement throughout the year.
René Geißel, responsible for the technical implementation of the event's lighting, selected the LED moving heads from Prolights' Astra series, including the Astra Profile400, Astra Wash19Pix, and AstraHybrid330 models.
"My requirement was clear: I needed a spotlight for the light show and another for white light," René Geißel explained. "The Prolights Astra Profile400 were excellent for white light, maintaining colour stability even at reduced intensity levels and with various zoom settings." For this year's light show, Geißel first used the new Astra Hybrid330, which proved to be versatile and functional across different lighting setup configurations.

UK - Take one artiste, one hyper-cardioid wireless mic and 35 years of comedy history and you have Eddie Izzard’s Remix Tour Live. Take an unimaginably disparate collection of venues and halls, ranging from 2,200-cap down to 840 - some with tiered balconies, and some with no flying facilities - add in weird sound effects ranging from dinosaurs to Darth Vader (and a whisper to a scream) and you potentially have a mighty headache for the production team.
Eddie has toured with Martin Audio’s scalable, compact and versatile WPS line array previously, and her production crew are well aware of the system’s adaptability. In fact, Solotech senior account manager, Robin Conway, discloses that “the last Eddie Izzard tour [Wunderbar, in 2019] was part of the reason I bought WPS in the first place. This time around production and I wanted to try and provide the sam

USA - Virtual event production company, The Famous Group, are well-known for creating memorable virtual fan experiences. Harnessing the power of Stage Precision’s SP software, The Famous Group has stepped into a new era of virtual event control, thanks to SP’s camera calibration tools, which they recently deployed on projects at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“We’ve been working with the Carolina Panthers and Charlotte FC at the Bank of America stadium since 2022,” recalls Erik Beaumont, head of mixed reality at The Famous Group. “Unlike other projects, our work with these teams is ongoing, with mixed reality being used permanently. The mixed reality Panther has become an important part of games for the Carolina Panthers, and the need to recalibrate the system before every match was becoming a challenge in terms of resources and peoplep

South Africa - JP Ridgard is an avid user of Obsidian Control Systems’ Onyx lighting control platform and in 2023 turned to the growing brand’s NX4 lighting console for the Lowveld Gin Fest in Mbombela.
“The NX4 proved to be a game changer for me during this event,” reflected JP, who procured the console from Obsidian’s local distributor in South Africa, Electrosonic. “Its built-in touch screen and ample work surface made it the perfect tool for both programming and playback.”
The 2023 Lowveld Gin Fest took place 9-10 September at the Lowveld Botanical Gardens and featured a strong line-up of artists. JP, a freelance lighting engineer, orchestrated an array of dynamic lighting looks that complemented performances throughout the two-day festival.
The NX4 is a full-featured console in Obsidian’s ONYX lighting control platform. It offers 44 playbacks

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