USA - Chicago’s three-day Riot Fest, held annually in the city’s Douglass Park, again proved a triumph for Martin Audio’s MLA PA and the company’s long-serving rental partner, Technotrix. With five stages set within a relatively small site, tight sound control to avoid spillage into the surrounding neighbourhood is paramount. Technotrix audio dept manager, Brent Bernhardt has long known that he can depend on the manufacturer’s proprietary ‘Hard Avoid’ and cardioid pre-set adjustments to ensure cancellation and rear rejection on the three stages populated by the Martin Audio systems, to prevent sound bleeding into areas where it’s not required. As one of the largest independently owned music festivals the line-up this year included My Chemical Romance, The Original Misfits and Nine Inch Nails. For Technotrix, who were originally tasked with equippi
USA - The 2022 MTV VMAs (Video Music Awards) was staged at the Prudential Centre in Newark, New York, and lit for the third year by Tom Sutherland of DX7 Design. Tom, known for his fresh and innovative approach, utilised 229 Robe moving lights among others on a vast lighting rig that helped emcees Nikki Minaj, LL Cool J and Jack Harlow bring the onstage action – featuring 11 live performances – alive in a megamix of beams, colour, textures, and movement. Tom worked closely with set designer Heather Shaw from Vita Motus, camera director Liz Clare, creative director Paul Caslin, screens producer Trevor Burke from Visual Noise Creative and executive producers Bruce Gillmer, Jesse Ignjatovic and Barb Bialkowski to help craft the hi-energy show. It featured two identical triangular-shaped stages built at the long ends of the arena, both with LED floors and each with la
USA - Established in 1871, mainly by the diaspora of Danish farmers flocking to Cedar Falls, Iowa, for the territory’s fertile soil, Nazareth Lutheran Church has undergone various changes over its past 150 years. Like many other houses of worship, one of those updates was a choice to host both traditional choir/organ and contemporary worship services on Sundays to better cater to parishioners’ preferences in worship style. Just this year, Nazareth Lutheran sought to stay current in another way - by updating its PA system to one that would not only deliver exceptional sound for both musical genres but also position the church for its next generation of worshipers. That decision was made manifest with the installation this summer of an L-Acoustics immersive sound system featuring the new L-ISA Processor II, which was critical in bringing the next generation of sonic techno
UK - Many in the UK start their day with Morning Live, a topical live morning programme on the BBC that has resonated with audiences since first airing in 2020. The programme, which airs on BBC One, moved to a new studio in the heart of Manchester earlier this year. ELP, a trading division of White Light, was asked to supply the lighting for the show at the new Versa ABC Studio and turned to Elation Professional’s KL Fresnel 8 FC PO LED fixture as a key component of the rig. ELP has worked on a multitude of live broadcasts and has a reputation of fulfilling the lighting requirements of a diverse range of customers. ELP sales director Darren Fletcher comments: “We were approached by Versa to supply the lighting for Morning Live, which would be filmed live within their 11th floor ABC Studio. Our job was to work closely with the lighting designers, Dave Evans and lat
Denmark - Skive Kulturcenter (Cultural Centre) is a vibrant multipurpose entertainment hub in the city of Skive, that serves all the Jutland region with music, films, arts, and sports activities. Its main Concert Hall which stages international gigs and events accommodates 1200 (seated) and 1800 (standing). The complex also has three handball arenas, a swimming centre, a gym and a cinema hall for movies, and the Skive Theatre, a separate venue in the city, is also run by the same team. The Kulturcenter is known for its state-of-the-art production facilities, and the complete building was further refurbished during the pandemic, including an investment in Robe moving lights which was integral to this project and saw the purchase of 10 x T2 Profiles, 12 x Tarrantula LED wash beams and 12 x LEDBeam 350 FWs, all for the Concert Hall. The fixtures were specified by
UK - This week, 11 October, sees Andy May, long-time front of house engineer for Status Quo and other high-profile artists, hosting a free live sound masterclass to celebrate the launch of the new Yamaha PA demo space at the guitarguitar store in Glasgow. With branches in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Birmingham, London and Epsom, guitarguitar is a key destination for musicians throughout the UK. As well as instruments, the company also sells a comprehensive range of equipment for every aspect of both live and studio production. The new PA demo space is the result of a shared vision between guitarguitar and Yamaha Pro Audio, showcasing Yamaha’s full range of powered D-series PA speakers, alongside TF, MG and EMX series mixers. A bespoke switching system, using Yamaha’s ultra-flexible ProVisionaire Touch app, lets users quickly switch between systems by simply to
UK - ADI are set to bring innovative sports presentation, AV technologies and creative staging to the World Gymnastics Championships Liverpool 2022. From 29 October to 6 November, Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena will play host to over 500 of the world’s greatest gymnasts from over 75 countries, and after an extensive consultation process, ADI have been chosen to lead the transformation of three venues across the ACC Liverpool complex. With the event theme, ‘Welcome to our World’, ADI will be managing all of the digital engagement platforms throughout the M&S Bank Arena, Fan Zone and Athlete’s After Party, including the technical delivery of dynamic content, audio and lighting for the sports presentation elements. In addition to this, 750sqm of modular LED will be installed, creating 15 digital touchpoints for spectators to interact with. The platform
France - The art of lighting design lies not only in how it heightens an audience’s visual experience, but also (sometimes), in what it shields an audience from seeing. Guillaume Fournier and Victor Lagiewski from Chromatik mastered both ends of this artistic spectrum recently at the Fous Chantants d’Alès concert, featuring Pascal Obispo. A thousand-member choir joined the superstar singer/songwriter on a 50m open stage for his performance. To preserve the dramatic impact of their arrival, they had to step on to the stage unseen by the audience in the Arènes du Tempéras arena. This was not a simple endeavour, given that the venue’s big stage has no curtain. Nevertheless, Fournier and Lagiewski, along with AD Fabrice Schwingrouber, were able to cloak the choir’s entrance in secrecy by expertly practicing the art of concealment. During the seven or so minutes
UK - The Reminisce Arena at 90’s dance music festival Reminisce in St Helens, Merseyside, boasts an impressive line-up of dance legends including 2 Unlimited, Baby D, Rozalla and Tall Paul, with Alice Deejay, 5ive, Fatman Scoop, Whigfield, Phats and Smalls and Pat Sharp appearing on other stages. oXyFire Media has been supporting Reminisce for a number of years, and uses the Blackmagic URSA Broadcast G2, Blackmagic HyperDeck Studio HD Mini and the Blackmagic Constellation 8K to broadcast the Reminisce Arena. “It’s great fun, but the weather and the distances can make it an interesting challenge,” said Jay Rozanski, oXyFire Media. “But it also gives us the opportunity to keep improving how we operate.” oXyFire Media chose a mixture of equipment for the festival, including the Blackmagic URSA Broadcast G2 on a 30ft jib and the Blackmagic HyperDeck Stud
Australia – A flightcase full of Green-GO headsets and beltpacks kept TV crews connected for Australia’s first commercial space launch recently, as NASA launched from Arnhem Space Centre (ASC) in the sparsely populated Northern Territory. Broadcaster BIE Creative was challenged with producing a livestream of the build-up to the launch and of the launch itself, which was hosted on the Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA) YouTube page. It was ELA’s first collaboration with NASA, which chose their spaceport to fire a BBIX rocket, carrying an atmospheric observation/sensing platform to observe the AlphaCentauri constellations. The milestone moment for Australia required the BIE Creative team to maintain reliable, continuous contact with each other. A Green-GO system comprising HS200Single and HS200Dual Headsets, and WBPX wireless and BPX wired Beltpacks, interfacing to
Japan - On 25 September, Skymagic delivered a one-of-a-kind drone light show in Yumeshima, Osaka for the Expo 2025 three year countdown event, attracting around 15,000 spectators from the ground below. Consisting of 800 drones, the display was one of the largest drone light shows Japan has ever seen. The start of the show saw the official character of the Osaka Kansai Expo, Myaku Myaku, illuminate the sky as a 135m-high image, followed by a dynamic countdown and the vibrant Let’s Go Expo 2025 logo. The rest of the show depicted stunning formations of life in a diverse array of forms, including creatures from nature, symbols of traditional Japanese culture and motifs unique to Osaka, collectively telling the story of the Expo’s theme: Designing a Future Society for our Lives, and celebrating the brilliance and diversity of life. Some of the formations
USA - Bad Bunny enjoyed a celebrated sold-out tour earlier this year and is currently repeating the success, this time in stadiums across North and South America on his World’s Hottest Tour. Production/show designer for the tour is Travis Shirley, who is using Elation Professional’s new Proteus Rayzor Blade linear light as an effect workhorse on the show. With his latest album Un Verano Sin Ti breaking records, ticket sales for the tour have been through the roof with the Puerto Rican superstar selling out across the U.S. A Latin American leg is set to kick off this month. Shirley first worked with Bad Bunny last December on two triumphant shows in Puerto Rico. Following that success, he was enlisted to start design work for the World’s Hottest Tour, an ambitious trek across the Americas that launched on 5 August in Orlando. Lighting vendor for the tour i
UK - This summer, Creative Technology worked on a multitude of the UK’s largest and most popular major outdoor music events and festivals. May marked the start of festival season for Creative Technology’s audio team with the return of The Great Escape Festival, followed by BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Coventry, delivering LED main screens along with LED columns and a DJ Riser. June’s highlights included Liam Gallagher - Knebworth Park, where CT provided large I-mag screens and a control package for the singer’s largest solo gig to date – twenty-six years on from his show as part of Oasis back in 1996 where CT supplied LED screens, OB vans and cameras. The audio team headed to Red Rooster Festival in the heart of Suffolk, while the video team prepared for the British-created rock festival, Download, where I-mags and FOH screens were supplied – short
UK - A project of more than four years in the making, the University of Strathclyde has recently migrated from a collection of all-analogue-based, stand-alone sound systems to a new Dante audio network, bringing much needed flexibility and efficiency Campbell Jamieson, the learning support manager for the university, explained that over the last several years the university has been ambitiously transforming and upgrading its campus. Serious about creating and maintaining a world-class environment, investment for the transformation is set to reach £1bn by 2025. In 2018, Jamieson and his team were looking for a way to bring a unified audio experience to the campus and to make the system easier and faster to set up and use. Luckily for them, a Dante audio network platform was able to bring everything together and as soon as the pandemic hit in 2020, it took on even grea
USA - To provide Grammy-winning hard rock band Halestorm with simple but impactful lighting for their 2022 US tour, Bandit Lites deployed a dynamic rig using Martin Professional lighting solutions. Formed in 1997 by siblings Arejay and Lzzy Hale, Halestorm is considered one of the premier torch-bearers for hard rock and metal touring today. In support of their latest album Back From the Dead, Halestorm embarked on a summer US tour alongside The Pretty Reckless, The Warning and Lilith Czar. With budget and gear constraints still affecting the live music industry following the COVID-19 pandemic, the band wanted a lighting rig that heightened their classic-meets-modern rock sound and provided maximum impact for their fans despite the logistical limitations. To meet these goals, lighting designer Craig Richter worked with Bandit Lites and Scott Anderson from Marti
USA - The fifth annual Elements Music and Arts Festival took place at a new site less than a two-hour drive from Mid-Town Manhattan, adjacent to the NASCAR Pocono Raceway, but as far as fans at this three-day event were concerned, it could have taken place a million miles from anywhere. Nestled within the region’s Northern Hardwood Forest with its sugar maples and yellow birch trees, the festival immersed fans in a natural canopy that ‘transcended time and place’. In keeping with its setting, Elements drew power from an onsite solar panel farm and was fed with locally sourced organic foods. The lightshows that supported the acts, a group that included Liquid Stranger, Rezz, Kaskade, Duke Dumont, and Big Gigantic, reflected the natural setting and spirt of the festival. Aerial effects accentuated the tree lines of the woods, and in place of conventional strobes, there w
UK - In 2017 Redeemer Church Nottingham held its first service at the Beeston Youth Community Centre. The congregation has grown steadily ever since. In 2018 it was clear the church would expand beyond the community centres capacity and a search began for an alternative venue. In early 2019 Beeston’s local council were also in the process of finding potential bidders to buy the Old Town Hall. Redeemer submitted a strong proposal and following successful financial arrangements purchased the building. Since then, the building has undergone considerable renovation and modernisation, with a custom-built auditorium added to the rear of the site. Inspired Audio has had a long-standing relationship with Redeemer. In 2017 the church tried several high-end sound systems from major manufacturers before finally deciding on Inspired Audio. The compact AX8 and B210 system was cho
Thailand - Established one hundred years ago in Wattana Wittayalai School, Wattana Presbyterian Church moved to its current location in the centre of the Thai capital in 1958. This large and busy church sees worshippers coming together for a range of events and activities, with music almost always at the heart of the celebration. When the church decided to upgrade its audio technology, it was clear that the installer would have to specify a versatile and powerful new system, capable of handling everything from spoken word to live music, with clear and even coverage throughout the venue. With extensive experience in designing and installing sound systems in houses of worship in Bangkok and throughout Thailand, local system integrator Music Space Cowas an obvious choice for the job. And for Music Space, Nexo was the loudspeaker brand of choice. “Our partners Musi
USA - Disney+’s popular High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (HSMTMTS) returned to TV screens for a much-anticipated third season, with producers Skot Bright and Zack Lowenstein asking Hisham Abed to join the production team as director of photography. Shot over four months in the spring, 12 x Robe SuperSpikie moving lights were specified by Hisham and the producers to help provide flexible and efficient solutions for lighting ‘permanent’ sets in the Burbank, California, studio where the season was recorded in addition to assorted locations in and around Los Angeles. The Season 3 narrative is set at Camp Shallow Lake, a sleepaway camp in California, as theatre kids the Wildcats and fellow campers are primed for an unforgettable summer ripe with romance, curfew-less nights and a taste of the great outdoors. Skot and Zack have worked together
Italy - The summer tour of Jova Beach Party 2022 saw Italian songwriter Lorenzo Cherubini, aka Jovanotti, performing from June until September along Italian beaches, in front of stadium-size audiences totalling 550,000 spectators. This was a project that wanted to break the mould, leaving behind the usual live circuits to collaborate with an ambitious ecological initiative that aims to clean up 20m sqm of beaches, lakes, rivers and seabeds. "The beach is the most significant frontier line that exists, and bringing the party there is, for me, the most beautiful and difficult undertaking, and the most exciting," says the singer. This is an ecological philosophy also shared by Ayrton, whose products were chosen for the main lighting design of the tour which featured two large sailing ships as its central motif. Lighting designer, Paul Normandale, with the collaboration o
USA - What used to be Discovery, a party-themed space in Midtown Ventura, the heart of that coastal suburb north of Los Angeles, tried to be all things to all customers, offering distractions like bowling, foosball, and shuffleboard, as popular for kids’ parties as any of the music events it also hosted. But Covid and other circumstances made that scattershot strategy much less tenable, and the venue closed up in 2020 after seven years. In its place, Ineffable Music Group, an Oakland-based “independent coalition of artists, managers, and promoters” that organises music festivals focused on “smaller, secondary markets” re-opened the space as Ventura Music Hall this past March as part of its mission to bring first-class concerts to those markets. “Our focus is music,” Thomas Cussins, co-founder and president of Ineffable Music Group, said. “We’re not party pe
UK - There can be few production companies more familiar with the challenges of east London’s Victoria Park site than sound specialists Capital Sound (part of the Solotech UK Group). Often working alongside Loud Sound they have supported many of the music events and festivals at this location for more than a decade. It was here in the summer of 2011, first for Deadmau5 at the LED Festival, followed by other back-to-back events including Field Day, that they proved that even within a densely populated residential area, they could achieve enviable levels within the performance area without disturbing the neighbours. It was at these events that Capital debuted, and established the controllability of Martin Audio’s MLA technology, and a further propagation test at Hatfield House duly led to its adoption at another challenging site, Hyde Park, for BST, which persists to
Europe - Deep Purple is delighting its long-time and new fans alike as they embark on their latest European tour. For their triumphant return to European stages, Ian Gillan, the band’s lead singer, has adopted the new Shure KSM11 Wireless vocal microphone capsule. From Finland to Spain, Deep Purple will be playing across the European continent in a tour that will last several months. The acoustic conditions on stage are particularly special and delicate, as the band works entirely with conventional monitoring. Tobi Hoff, the band’s front-of-house (FOH) engineer, tested the Shure KSM11 during Deep Purple’s rehearsals in May. After hearing the KSM11, Tobi decided to work with the new microphone capsule combined with Axient Digital AD2 handheld transmitters throughout the whole European tour. “We just finished the first months of the tour, and we have onl
Europe/USA - Five-time Grammy-winning singer and multi-instrumentalist Jacob Collier has released a collection of improvised re-imaginings of famous songs from Queen, ABBA, James Taylor, Frankie Valli, Elvis Presley, Dougie MacLean, Cole Porter, The Beatles and more. Piano Ballads – Live From The Djesse World Tour 2022, is released via Hajanga Records/Decca/Interscope. Jacob Collier says, "Ever since I can remember, I have derived a vast amount of comfort and joy from sitting at the piano and improvising. I have long dreamed of sharing an album that lives in that world. This year, I set myself the challenge of playing a spontaneous rendition of a different song every night on tour - with the help of my extraordinary musical audience. These 11 are amongst my favourite postcards.” The performances for this album were captured in high-resolution, studio-qualit
