India - PP Sound Light Productions delivered the soundscape for Mumbai’s India Cocktail Week with technologies from Meyer Sound, DiGiCo and d&b Audiotechnik.

India Cocktail Week is a celebration of sensory experiences, and sound plays a crucial role in amplifying the audience’s connection to the event. Our goal was to deliver an immersive and consistent audio experience across the expansive festival grounds, ensuring every attendee enjoyed impeccable sound quality, regardless of their location,” says Prasad Parkar, founder-director of PP Sound Light Productions.

India Cocktail Week (ICW) returned for its fifth edition on 30 November and 1 December 2024 at Mumbai’s Jio World Garden.

A vibrant community platform, ICW has long established itself as more than just a festival. It is a melting pot where spi

Spain - Barcelona’s Palau Sant Jordi is the largest indoor arena in Spain, but even this sleek 18,000-capacity venue couldn't contain all the energy and excitement generated by the 19th edition of the annual Los 40 Music Awards held there this November.

First there was the music: with 17 international artists performing 40 songs, the ceremony celebrated virtually every facet of Latin and urban music. There were also the awards presentations – and this year an extra dimension, as Los 40 served as a telethon, partnering with The Red Cross to raise money for those affected by the 2024 Spanish floods.

Designer Alain Corthout with help from operator Timothy Demets supported the various dimensions of Los 40 by serving up a range of lighting looks that were equally at home pulsating to the music of performers like Rauw Alejandro, Ana Mena, Lola Índigo,

Mexico - The newly inaugurated Potosí Arena stands as a symbol of innovation in support of culture. With a capacity of over 20,000 people, this venue is set to host concerts by national and international artists and various sports and cultural events. The governor of San Luis Potosí, Ricardo Gallardo, officiated the opening of this new space, which is expected to boost the city's tourism and economic appeal after 23 years without a venue of this scale.

The construction of the Potosí Arena took approximately 22 months and involved more than 4,000 tons of steel. This arena was designed and built entirely by engineers and architects from the University of San Luis Potosí, making it a testament to the ingenuity and capability of its local talent.

The lighting system installation played a key role in the arena's opening, combining advanced technology

UK - Blue Thunder Sound provided full production for the London Film Music Orchestra concert at St Paul's Cathedral, using over 200 lighting fixtures, including 102 Prolights Smart Bat units.

Blue Thunder Sound strategically placed the lighting fixtures to enhance the architectural features of the cathedral, minimising cable runs by employing wireless signals for lighting and audio control. The setup focused on achieving stunning stage effects without the use of haze machines, utilising the power of the Smart Bat to create an immersive visual experience that highlighted the historical beauty of the structure.

"The Prolights lighting system played a crucial role in transforming St Paul's Cathedral into an immersive space, emphasising every architectural detail with extraordinary precision," commented the Blue Thunder Sound team. "Thanks to the flexibi

USA - The McAllen Holiday Parade presented by H-E-B helped kick off the festive season in South Texas’ Rio Grande Valley. This nighttime holiday parade featured over 60 illuminated floats, 38 larger-than-life character helium balloons, 16 school bands and dance teams, and appearances by international and local celebrities.

The 2024 theme, Noche Mágica (Magical Night), was hosted by TV personalities Mario Lopez and Julian Gil, with special guest appearances by players from the Dallas Cowboys and the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders.

This year’s parade drew over 265,000 attendees along the 1.5-mile route, with over a million more television viewers. It began at the McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium, where spectators of all ages filled the stands for an evening of entertainment.

When approached for the project, Jeff Krebs, presi

Germany - Founded in Ibiza in 1973, the international club brand Pacha has had a presence in Munich’s city centre since 2000. As is the case for its other sites around the globe, the Munich venue regularly hosts world-famous DJs from the techno and house scene including Sven Väth, Fat Boy Slim, DJ Hell, and Carl Cox. Naturally, given the club’s status, its audio system is of the utmost importance.

Munich-based TAPS Media has been responsible for Pacha’s sound technology for two decades and was recently involved in an upgrade to the venue’s system which relied on Coda Audio’s HOPS (high output point source) range of loudspeakers.

The TAPS team, led by managing directors Alexander Mayr and Manfred Heilmaier, installed a comprehensive system comprising six HOPS12i-Pro three-way dual 12” units, eight HOPS8i two-way dual 8”, and three G15-S

South Africa - Lifted – Let the Blind Sing returned by popular demand this season, playing at the South African State Theatre in the capital, Pretoria, with video mapped imagery driven by tvONE's Green Hippo brand of Hippotizer Media Servers.

The production and visuals have been designed by Wilhelm Disbergen – a multi award-winning production designer designing theatre productions for more than 20 years – who was appointed to deliver a dynamic visual backdrop for the show. The staging features a white cyclorama with suspended plastic corrugated sheets that are painted white, adding visual texture and an unusual projection surface, onto which Disbergen is projecting content using a 12,000 lumen Panasonic PT-RZ12K laser projector.

Zakhele Mabena, band leader and composer on many of the biggest theatre musicals staged at the South African

USA - Diana Kesselschmidt is creating a captivating setting for the Winter Village at Bryant Park in Midtown Manhattan this season with a richly coloured lighting design at the popular attraction’s 17,000 sq.ft ice skating rink.

PRG supplied over 100 Chauvet Professional fixtures, including 95 Colorado 2-Quad Zoom LED Wash lights, and eight Ovation E-260WW ellipsoidal units for this transformative display.

“In addition to performance, weather resistance was key to selecting fixtures,” said Kesselschmidt, of Diana K studio. “The fixtures are out for an extended time in New York City. Also, all the cabling to the towers gets loaded in about a month ahead of time, before the deck is put in, so there is no access to those cables once the deck is in place. Some years we focus outdoors during a hurricane. Many years I have focused on full weather g

Germany - For more than 40 years, Germany's Wige Solutions has been providing companies with event technology for corporate events, as well as advanced broadcast solutions, dynamic live graphics, and millisecond-precise timing for sporting events. To achieve this, the company operates its own digital studios at its headquarters in Bonn-Meckenheim, equipped with live control systems and specialized, high-speed cameras.

The company often works on-location and its on-site teams have found Elation’s KL series of full-colour, high-CRI LED Fresnel lights to offer the flexibility needed to meet a wide range of on-camera requirements. After years of successfully using the popular KL Panel, Wige Solutions expanded its inventory in early summer by adding Elation’s KL Fresnel 8 FC, a powerful full-colour softlight featuring a 500W RGBMA engine. They then sought a s

UK - The University of Manchester's Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama has long been a cornerstone of the institution’s performing arts and education programmes. Home to two key performance spaces, being the Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall and the John Thaw Studio Theatre, the Centre recently underwent a significant AV upgrade to meet evolving teaching and performance needs.

The project was led by Stage Electrics, a trusted audiovisual partner of the University for over two decades, in close collaboration with British loudspeaker manufacturer EM Acoustics. The focus was on integrating high-quality audio systems tailored to each space to improve the audio experience for students, faculty, visiting performers and audiences alike.

Stage Electrics was tasked with upgrading the trusted existing EM Acoustics audio systems to match current standards and

UK - A heartwarming Christmas story told through projection-mapped animations in the run-up to Christmas is being driven by tvONE's Green Hippo brand of Hippotizer Media Servers onto the façade of The Queens Hotel in Leeds.

The animation, To Leeds, With Love, is brought to the city by LeedsBID (Leeds Business Improvement District). It is a reimagining of The 12 Days of Christmas song, featuring a cheeky gingerbread man who is on a mission to decorate the hotel for a festive party.

Two Hippotizer Karst+ MK2 Media Servers are powering video onto the front of the historic hotel via seven Panasonic projectors – five RQ50K, one RQ25K, and one RZ21K, with one other RQ50K backup being stored off-site in the event of a hardware issue. They are positioned in two 7.5m tall towers constructed in Leeds City Square, in front of the hotel buil

UAE - Prolights fixtures shone brightly over the Swan Lake on Ice performance by The Imperial Ice Stars, held at the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation. The award-winning show captivated audiences, blending Tchaikovsky's timeless music with breathtaking visual displays on ice. Lighting, designed by Level Production, played a crucial role in creating a visually stunning atmosphere on the skating rink.

For the lighting setup, Level Production collaborated with Pro Lab, the Prolights distributor for the MEDA region, selecting a range of fixtures that included Astra Wash19Pix, Astra Hybrid420, and RA2000HB Profiles from Prolights. These fixtures were chosen for their exceptional versatility, delivering the perfect balance of lighting power, colour precision, and creative flexibility. This ensured a uniform illumination across the entire rink, enhancing the v

USA - The Latin Grammy Awards celebrated its 25th anniversary in a big way on 14 November, putting on a glittering show that was impressive even by the exalted standards of awards festivals. Every genre in the galaxy of Latin music shined at Miami’s Kaseya Centre, which resonated with performances by Marc Anthony, Pitbull, Eladio Carrión, Becky G, Sivia, DJ Khalid, Luis Fonsi, Jon Bon Jovi, and multiple other artists.

For Tom Kenny and the rest of the lighting team (LDs David Convertino, Felix Peralta and Joseph Vineyard), creating distinctive looks that reflected the individual musical personas of all these performers in the three-hour live broadcast show represented a challenge.

"We had to come up with a lot of looks over the course of the show, so the flexibility of our rig was key," said Peralta. "We usually end up doing 18 to 25 music perform

UK - With a capacity of 700 and located in the heart of Bilston, The Robin is one of the West Midlands’ premier live music destinations. Opened in 1998 and staging more than 20 shows a month, the popular venue hosts a varied programme of artists, including well-known names, up and coming original bands, and leading tribute acts.

Given its packed schedule, it is essential that the venue’s audio provision is of a high standard in order to cater for the variety of styles on stage and cope with the rigours of prolonged daily use. With this in mind, events manager Chris Meddings keeps all the venue’s technical requirements under constant review, and recently took the decision to upgrade and modernise the Robin’s amplification, choosing XTA amplifiers to replace the existing units:

“Our house rig is an excellent, tried and trusted EAW system, com

USA - The Liberty Public School District (LPS) is a cornerstone of the Liberty, Missouri community, dedicated to providing a high-quality education that prepares students for success in college, career, and life.

The school district has a rich history with STEM programs like Project Lead The Way, winning numerous accolades. However, LPS is also renowned for its commitment to the fine arts. For example, the high-school broadcasting programme operates cable channel 18 under the non-assigned call letters KLPS.

The district initiated an innovative programme three years ago to install mobile AV racks in every fine arts classroom, complete with speakers, an amplifier, microphones, a mixer, and a CD recorder so that teachers could record and send home CDs of student performances for parents and extended families to enjoy. Over time, district staff

UK - Overlooking the Tetris skyline of London, SushiSamba is an opulent rooftop restaurant and bar that takes diners on a culinary journey. Located on the top three floors of the Heron Tower – the second tallest building in the capital’s financial district – SushiSamba offers panoramic views of London through floor-to-ceiling windows. A full sensory experience, the restaurant sought the help of Cosmic Electronics to elevate its offering through an upgraded audio system. KV2’s ESD loudspeakers were chosen to bathe diners in high-quality sound. 

“SushiSamba has been a client of ours for a few years now and it’s a magical place,” begins Mark Damon, CEO of Cosmic Electronics. “They wanted a system that wouldn’t take away from the splendour of the restaurant – it needed to blend into the surroundings whilst sounding amazing and consistent acr

USA - TobyMac, MercyMe and Zach Williams, three of Christian music’s most popular acts, teamed up for a concert tour illuminated with Bandit Lites.

“When we had the dream of bringing these artists together, we knew it would be big, but we had no idea just how big,” shares Dan Fife, president and founder of Awakening Events. “The response was unprecedented and the demand from fans for more dates was impossible to ignore.”

“Being a huge fan of all three of these acts made a challenging opportunity a lot of fun,” said client representative Allen Deneau. “All three camps are absolute professionals and very easy to work with, which made the process much easier. Putting together a great lighting rig to accommodate three headline acts, on the same stage, is not always easy but, their willingness to entertain options and suggestions was just

USA - Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band are continuing their energetic performances and monumental live sets decades after their inception. On their current tour, which began in 2023, fans are enjoying the music of an extended 19-member E Street Band through a Cohesion PA system, provided by Clair Global. 

Led by tour director George Travis and production manager Sean Magovern, the touring audio team is a close-knit affair, and the synergy and respect seen on-stage – thanks to the professionalism of Springsteen – is reflected in this crew.

The tour’s three-hour set list has been hand-picked from an extensive music catalogue, built around their 2020 album (and Springsteen’s 20th studio album), Letter to You. The creative process to put this production together is revealed in Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band,

Finland - The rock-band sound of Finnish favourites Apulanta met the sweeping strings of the Sinfonia Lahti for a series of special concerts recently – with a stage-wide, wraparound LED backdrop powered by tvONE's Green Hippo brand of Hippotizer Media Servers.

Taking place at the city of Tampere’s 15,000-capacity Nokia Arena, the two-night extravaganza drew fans of Apulanta – one of Finland’s most popular groups – to experience the fusion of rock and symphony. New-kid-on-the-block Avantrum Visuals designed and delivered the visual elements of the show, including stage, lighting, video design and live camera feed storyboarding, and lighting programming and operation.

“At the very early stages, when designing the looks for each song, we were already imagining how we could utilise Hippotizer’s possibilities to deliver something special for

UK - Alton Towers Resort hosts its annual end-of-season fireworks extravaganza every November.

This year, lighting designer Olly Suckling, now in his eighth year working on the Alton Towers Resort Fireworks, elevated the display to new heights with a bold and vivid lighting design. His creation not only supported the pyrotechnic display but also built a cohesive visual architecture, connecting the spectacle more intimately with the large and appreciative audience.

Running his light show on two ChamSys MagicQ MQ250M Stadium consoles and a Mini Connect system, Suckling delivered a design that complemented every step of the fireworks display. By arranging much of his rig in horizontal rows of fixtures, he was able to create sweeping movements of light that extended from the main stage out to the larger left and right structures.

“The story beh

India - Martin Audio’s versatile loudspeakers have been tasked with reproducing many musical genres to optimum effect over the generations. But one of the most demanding must be the spirituality of Indian Sufi music, as performed by one of the leading exponents, Bismil ki Mehfil (Mohd Asif).

His recent concert outdoors at Delhi Technological University (DTU) was a spectacular showcase of Sufi fusion music. Having been studying since the age of five under the tutelage of maestros from the Moradabad and Delhi gharanas, he captivated an audience of between 8,000 people with soulful renditions, including his hit single Tere Bina and his popular cover of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s Kali Kali Zulfon Ke Phande. To capture the concert’s deep emotion and electrifying energy, leaving the audience spellbound, required all the powers of Martin Audio

Austria - 80 of Robe’s most powerful moving light fixtures – iBolt, iForte and iForte LTX – were used to great effect for a lighting scheme designed by Thomas Maier from event production company NoiseGate Eventtechnik to illuminate a special performance show celebrating the completion of the 305m-wide Danube Valley suspension bridge – Donautalbrücke – in Linz, Austria.

NoiseGate was working for event creative agency Brandmood who produced the show for its end client, ASFINAG Bau Management, the organisation that manages the country’s nationwide autobahns system. The artistic director was Beda Percht.

The steel-reinforced concrete composite bridge is part of a new four-lane western bypass on the A26 autobahn spanning the Danube, railroad tracks and two main roads while circumnavigating the city of Linz. Its main cables are 500m long, and

France - Madame Loyal Marseille, a two-day indoor festival that combined theatrical performances and electronic music from artists such as Acid Arab, Vitalic and Worakls Orchestra, took place at the Parc Chanot on 29-30 November.

Under the direction of production manager Aurel Quiévreux and audio engineer/consultant Probe (Sebastien Jovys) and in collaboration with Concept Group, Alive and Funktion-One distributor for France Solution One, the show featured Funktion-One systems in both rooms.

This included a Vero VX system in the main room (Grand Palais) with a 21 F124 cardioid bass array, Evolution X in-fill and PSM318 DJ monitors, and an Evo 7T system with a 14 F124 cardioid bass array and PSM318 DJ monitors in the second room (Palais de l'Europe).

Quiévreux, who has been involved in electronic music events since the 1990s, was keen to ele

China - Guangzhou Cantonese Opera Theatre, formerly known as the Guangzhou Cantonese Opera Troupe, was established in 1953. The building is located in Yuexiu district, Guangzhou city and has a total floor area of about 40,000sq.m, including a 1,200-seat Grand Theatre, a 500-seat theatre and three 60-seat cinemas.

DiGiCo has played a part in the co-creation of two new theatres for the space, Hung Sin-nui Theatre and Red Bean Hall. An SD5 is installed in the Hung Sin-nui Theatre and a Quantum 338 in the smaller Red Bean Hall.

Cantonese Opera is one of the traditional Chinese opera genres, with a history spanning more than 300 years. The building of these two brand-new facilities will form a cultural centre for the world of Cantonese Opera and ensure a solid base for its revitalisation.

In recent years, Guangzhou Cantonese Opera Theatre (GOH) ha

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