UK - Boutique hotel The Londoner located in the heart of London’s Leicester Square, with six of its 16 storeys extending over 30m underground. The Londoner combines aspects of a luxury boutique hotel with a range of bespoke meetings and events spaces. Its award-winning AV installation was designed, supplied and installed by Visual Systems (part of the Myriad Audio Visual Group and CP Partnership), with Arup acting as consultants for the client. To equip the hotel’s ballroom - the largest pillarless ballroom in London's West End - Visual Systems turned to the Martin by Harman lighting catalogue for a lighting system, featuring Martin ERA Series, MAC Aura Series and ELP Series. All Martin products were supplied by Martin’s UK distributor Sound Technology. “We’ve operated in the hospitality sector for over 35 years, but this is by far and away the most
USA - Following a successful installation at La Grande Boucherie in Midtown Manhattan last year, Bond Applied Technology has again installed Martin Audio’s CDD speaker series in another top New York restaurant. This time, the action moved to the TriBeCa district of Lower Manhattan, and a new boutique Mexican restaurant called Casa Carmen, which has been equipped with 10 ultra-compact CDD6 enclosures and four concealed SX110 subwoofers. Collaborating once again with interior designer Julien Legeard (of Legeard Studio) -as at La Grande Boucherie - Bond director, Christopher Mayes-Wright, once again adopted the coaxial differential dispersion technology of Martin Audio’s tried and trusted CDD. “My experience with CDD speakers has been nothing but amazing every time,” says Mayes-Wright. “I’ve been able to compare them in situ with other similar speakers
UK - Andrew Cushin, Beabadoobee, James Bay, Digga D and the Reytons are among the first acts confirmed for Electric Group’s NX Newcastle, which opens in September. Formerly an O2 Academy venue, NX Newcastle’s substantial refurbishment will equip it to bring the best out of live music, DJ sets and club nights, emulating Electric Group’s multi-purpose model at Electric Brixton and SWX Bristol. Enhancing the customer and the performer experience is a crucial element in Electric Group CEO Dominic Madden’s plans for NX Newcastle, where he’s working with creative architectural practice Design At Source to improve sightlines and deliver a sense of intimacy on stage and front of house. Dominic Madden comments: “While our vision for NX Newcastle fully respects the history of the venue, it’s about putting the artist and fan experience front and centre, clos
Czech Republic - Robe was a sponsor of the Nové Město na Moravě stage of the 2022 Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, where one of the toughest parts of the XCO (cross country) course was designated Rock ‘n’ Robe, and Robe’s new Show Truck concept - providing a fully mobile studio space / meeting hub / demo area / roof deck - was also a major success, attracting considerable excitement. “It was great to be back with a full audience this year,” comments Robe’s international marketing manager, Pavel Nemec. “It gave us an opportunity to show our support for a fantastic sporting event, to have our branding visible everywhere and appreciate the performances of some of the best cycling athletes in the world, simultaneously demonstrating how our Show Truck can be provide a vibrant and practical event space, a public gallery and a VIP deck.” B
France - Located only 30 minutes from Paris on a “farm at the end of the meadows,” as its website proclaims, Cabaret Du Bout Des Près transports visitors to another world, beyond the reach of the hustle and bustle of the city, where they can enjoy rustic French cuisine and fine wines in a relaxed setting, while taking in music and dance productions that represent the best of France’s can-can tradition. The original stone walls and exposed beams of the converted 17th century stable where the cabaret revues are performed take guests back to an earlier, simpler era, while also providing an evocative backdrop to the contemporary and ebullient shows, making the experience at Cabaret Du Bout Des Près all the more memorable. Enhancing the visual impact of this setting and providing the production teams behind the shows with broader and more powerful creative options i
Costa Rica - PAS Church recently embarked on the task of selecting and installing a new FOH console to manage an increasingly demanding weekly schedule. With multiple services each week, a range of group meetings, broadcast services and a thriving music department, the Church needed a new console that could manage the technical demands of this varied programme. Enlisting the services of local audio specialist, Mas Música Internacional S.A, the church settled on DiGiCo’s compact, SD12 digital mixing console. “We were looking to replace our incumbent console, and we needed a robust replacement, capable of withstanding daily use thanks to the Church’s hectic weekly programme of live, virtual and musical events,” explains PAS Community Church’s sound manager, Luca Frugone, who has been in charge of the Church’s audio requirements since 2016. “The brief was t
UK - Alfresco Disco in Bristol is a group that organises roving rave music and art events. One recent event was staged inside a 3,000sq.m warehouse owned by event specialist Pytch. The Pytch crew used 50 Chauvet Professional fixtures to light Alfresco Disco, which, true to the underground origins of the early rave clubs, only announced that it would be taking place at the site on the day of the event itself. Nevertheless over 2,500 ravers showed up. When they did, they were instantly immersed in an ‘80s metro, subterranean vibe. The people from Pytch transformed the empty warehouse into a full-scale party venue in a mere two days. Central to infusing the creative energy of those incendiary early raves into the space was their creative use of eight Rogue Outcast 1 BeamWash fixtures, which were hung from trussing structures. Thanks to each fixture’s seven 45W RGBW L
USA - Drawn to Life, the first collaboration between Cirque du Soleil, Walt Disney Animation Studios and Walt Disney Imagineering, has opened in Disney Springs, Florida where Robert Juliat Dalis 860s take centre stage with an impressive 80 x 45ft cyclorama. In Drawn to Life, the stage is transformed into a giant animation table where drawings come to life. The art of classic Disney animation is reinterpreted through Cirque du Soleil’s innovative design and costuming, mesmerising acrobatic performances and dazzling choreography and combined with all-new Disney animation and an original score. Drawn to Life is the new permanent show at Disney Springs, where the previous production from Cirque du Soleil ran for 18 years. Montreal-based lighting designer Martin Labrecque is using 58 Dalis 860 300W LED asymmetric cyc/wall wash luminaires for the show
UK - ETC has worked with BAFTA and the redevelopment of its home and headquarters in London. The revamped BAFTA 195 Piccadilly is now officially open again and will be the central hub for BAFTA’s UK-wide, and global, learning and talent development programme. Technologically advanced equipment has been used in the redevelopment including ETC products which have been installed in the new theatres within the space. This includes several lighting fixtures – fos/4 Fresnels, Source Four LED Series 2 profiles and Irideon wash lights. Eos family consoles with network infrastructure including Response Mk2 DMX Gateways are also used to control the lighting, with a stage engineering package involving ETC’s Prodigy P2 hoists and QuickTouch Preset controls. By improving facilities and doubling the building’s capacity, the redevelopment has enabled BAFTA to dramatically inc
Italy - Broadcast live from Pala Alpitour in Turin, Eurovision 2022 featured 40 international artists and attracted more than 100m viewers globally. The sound of Eurovision 2022 was designed by Rai Radiotelevisione Italiana and supported by Agorà Srl, the service company for audio, lighting, and video service, by De Amicis Wolfango and Vittorio brothers. The Shure Axient digital wireless system was selected to deliver audio throughout one of the largest live music events in the world. Well-known artists Laura Pausini and Mika hosted the evening with Italian presenter Alessandro Cattelan. During the voting period to select the best Eurovision song, Mika performed some of his most famous music, including Love Today, Grace Kelly, and Happy Ending. He relied on a Shure ADX2FD Beta 58 handheld wireless microphone transmitter before announcing Ukrainia
Hungary - Budapest’s Rumbach Street synagogue, designed by Viennese architect Otto Wagner and completed in 1872, has recently been restored to its original Moorish revival style exquisiteness and glory. It has re-opened to the public after decades of dereliction following a partial reconstruction in the late 1980s / early 1990s which ran out of funds, and this more recent effort which was finished during the pandemic. In addition to being used for prayers and other spiritual activities, the main chamber (sanctuary) and other related spaces have been reimagined and kitted out with the latest technologies. AVL Trade was chosen to integrate a full lighting and AV system into the synagogue as the final detailing of the restoration project which has transformed the venue into a set of stunning modern event spaces for Hungarian Jewish umbrella organization, Mazsihisz. AVL
USA - Lighting and visual designer Rob Ross of New York and LA based technical production company Rob Ross Design used over 500 Astera Titan Tubes to highlight architectural and industrial areas at Tesla’s new Gigafactory in Austin, Texas for the automotive giant’s recent facilities launch party, Cyber Rodeo. Covering 2,500 acres along the Colorado River and offering over 10m sq.ft of factory floor, Gigafactory Texas is a manufacturing hub for Tesla Model Y and the future home of Cybertruck. Rob and his team were asked onboard by the Cyber Rodeo event’s creative director Stefan Beckman and producer Mark Seed and tasked with designing a creative illumination scheme for the vast environmental spaces involved in the event, including interiors and the building exterior. This epic mission saw close collaboration with LD Tom Sutherland and his team from DX7 Des
Italy - The 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest was held by the EBU at the PalaOlimpico in Turin, attracting a TV audience of 200m and - for the first time in three years - there was an almost full audience at the venue. RAI RadioTelevisione Italiana, as host broadcaster, took the lead in setting up the stage, which this year revolved around The Sun Within designed by Francesca Montinaro, an ambitious new stage concept based on the light of a kinetic sun. The multilevel stage set-up was complemented by spectacular waterfalls, large LED video walls and - as always - an impressive array of lights ready to set the competing artists' shows on fire. Claypaky was there with over 400 lights, including 120 Sharpy X Frame, 64 Xtylos, 25 Mini Xtylos, 42 Arolla Profile HP, 25 Stormy CC and 144 Sharpy Wash units. Particularly prominent among them all were the new Cl
UK - Pale Waves was formed in 2014 by lead singer and guitarist Heather Baron-Gracie and drummer Ciara Doran while they were at university in Manchester. The band was later joined by guitarist Hugo Silvani and bassist Charlie Wood, completing the lineup. Eight years later, the English indie rock band released their second album, Who Am I? in February this year, that peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart. Currently touring across five countries and with more US concerts coming up, Patchwork London is providing tour and production management services to the band, which includes two DiGiCo Quantum 225 consoles for FOH. “Due to a massive increase in touring projects we support, we needed to invest in new, high quality consoles,” says Calum Mordue, touring director at Patchwork London. “The Q225s ticked all the right boxes. They’re next generation co
Portugal - Teatro Garcia de Resende was recently renovated and selected ETC lighting solutions including ArcLamp luminaires, ArcMesh Drivers and an Echo control system to upgrade the space. The theatre, which is recognised for its interior ‘Italian-style’ architectural beauty, was built in the 19th century and is a part of the European Route of Historic Theatres: a route around Europe which distinguishes the most beautiful, historic theatres that represent European cultural heritage. The theatre’s technical director, António Rebocho, was in search of LED lighting to replace the existing tungsten lights in the building. He particularly wanted an LED solution which would not compromise the quality of the light or increase maintenance costs. After researching various options, António decided to go with ETC’s ArcLamp luminaires commenting that he had “never see
USA - The Church at Sterchi Hills is enhancing its mission with immersive worship experiences, delivered by Avolites and its fully integrated Synergy package. The growing ministry in Knoxville, TN has continually upgraded its A/V infrastructure since splitting off from Second Baptist Church in neighbouring Clinton, TN in 2019. The church believes that effectively communicating a message begins with embracing new technologies to create a high-energy, highly engaging worship environment. For its latest growth project - building a new worship centre - the church turned to Andre Huff, a veteran lighting designer with national touring experience and also the architect of Second Baptist Church’s lighting system. The Sterchi Hills team had a vision for converting its stage area’s back wall, 55 feet wide and 20 feet high, into a giant video surface. Realizing the possibili
UK - Stage Precision (SP), and technical business development specialist, Neutral Human, have announced a strategic partnership alongside the launch of Stage Precision to the wider market. SP is an independent data and control platform that enables users to build complex control-systems and previsualise or pre-programme technological workflows for the global live events market. “The industry’s creative technologists have adopted SP as part of their trusted workflows. It has enabled the high-end projects to develop with pioneering complexity, so now it’s time for the wider industry to discover such this ground-breaking tool,” says Neutral Human’s founder, Sarah Cox. “What drew me to working with SP is the fact that the product is community-led. Its development comes from working alongside its userbase on real world challenges and finding solutions to
France - The 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival is, for the first time, hosting a virtual production space powered by disguise - marking a new milestone in virtual production’s expansion into the European film and television industry. Film and television group Film Soho, is partnering up with virtual production innovators disguise, ROE Visual, global video solutions provider CVP and content studio ZOAN to showcase a virtual production stage in the garden of the Grand Hotel in Cannes - hosting many of Cannes Festival’s A-list participants. Visitors will step into a virtual production volume, powered by disguise and will become fully immersed into rich environments such as expansive city scapes and lush Icelandic country scenes - all designed in Unreal Engine and Notch. Visitors can drop by the space during the festival to receive demonstrations of the techno
Australia - Now in its 12th year, Vivid Sydney will transform the Harbour City into an illuminating fusion of creativity, innovation and technology. From 27 May to 18 June, it will host more than 200+ events celebrating the essence of Sydney’s soul including its diversity, beauty, resilience, First Nations culture, and vibrant creative community. Providing insightful access into what exactly goes on is TDC - Technical Direction Company, a team of project managers, creative technologists, designers and engineers. Alex Rendell, technical project manager at TDC, takes up the story: “After 12 months of planning, our team are so excited to be back working on Vivid Sydney again. The project is a huge logistical and technical rollout for us. It is going to be bigger and brighter than ever. Vivid Sydney will showcase the largest projection mapping display at any single event eve
Brazil - The 2021 Copa América tournament was the 47th edition of the international men's football championship organised by South America's football ruling body, CONMEBOL. Clear-Com’s Brazilian partner, Savana Comunicações, in conjunction with Mediapro Group Paraguay, were charged with providing the video assist referee (VAR) equipment and expertise for the Copa América games taking place in five different stadiums in Brazil. Clear-Com products can be configured in multiple ways to meet the communication requirements of VAR, and each of the five stadiums used a different combination of Eclipse HX Digital Matrix System, HelixNet Digital Network Partyline, FreeSpeak II Digital Wireless Intercom, Clear-Com Encore Analog Partyline, LQ Series of IP Interfaces and V-Series Iris Panels to make VAR implementation possible during the tournament. A video assist referee is
Spain - The Auditorium de Palma de Mallorca is a multifunctional building that accommodates theatre, opera, ballet, musicals and concerts, welcoming around 100,000 total visitors annually to its large, 1,700-seater hall. Emulating its inspiration, the Royal Festival Hall in London, the hall is designed in such a way that the stage is optimally visible from all seats. The theatre’s latest investment is Cameo spotlights from the Zenit and Opus series for use in the hall, as well as for the exterior lighting of the building. Four Zenit W600 outdoor LED wash lights are currently lighting the theatre’s main facade. Three further units are to be added in the future for the side facade. In the hall itself, 12 Zenit W600 wash lights (which feature interchangeable lenses) are used on the cyclorama screen at the rear of the stage. In addition, 16 Cameo Opus Spot Moving Heads are u
USA - Last year, David Beebe became one of the first house LDs to add Chauvet Professional’s Maverick Force S Spot to his rig when he took shipment of six of the then-new 350W lightweight movers from JRLX at The Birchmere club, where he’s been looking after the lighting since 2004. At the time, Beebe explained the move by saying he was expecting the new fixtures to add “another dimension” to his lightshows, allowing him to incorporate new looks to reflect the diverse mix of artists that take to The Birchmere’s stage. This April, he provided another example of how the fixtures have exceeded his expectations when he created a deeply evocative show that morphed from psychedelic to old school rock, to jazz looks. This time, the show has an extra-special personal touch for Beebe, as the band he was lighting were the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, The Zombies. “I
France - Christie is the official projection technology partner for the 75th Cannes Film Festival. The event, which runs 17-28 May, will see projectors from across Christie’s broad portfolio powering screens throughout all venues. The festival is set to welcome approximately 35,000 guests, a significant increase over last year’s 24,000. Christie will provide installation and show support for the occasion, as it celebrates its 16th year as technical partner. “It is a tremendous honour to continue our association with Festival de Cannes, with its renowned prestige and rich history making it a truly unique celebration, year after year,” says Adil Zerouali, senior sales director, Cinema EMEA, Christie. “We will aim to showcase this year’s outstanding line-up of films in the most visually impactful way possible with our leading projection technology. It’s great to s
Europe - Hans Zimmer hit the road this spring on a much-anticipated tour. Delayed due to the pandemic, his 19-piece band and an orchestra delighted fans all over Europe. The lighting design was delivered by John Featherstone from lighting and visual design studio Lightswitch. John and his team pushed for an all Robe moving light rig for the tour which started production rehearsals in Berlin with 250 Robe fixtures onboard ahead of the first European leg, with lighting equipment supplied by German rental specialist, Satis & Fy. Featherstone explained how the design process originally started back in 2019 / 2020 with Hans curating his creative ‘dream team’ which included renowned Broadway set and scenic designer Derek McLane, video designer Peter Nigrini, choreographer Barry Lather, and of course, himself. “Hans is a master at putting collaborators together,”
