Austria - Earlier this year, Viennese BMS Production Group, a client of German Follow-Me partner LMP, was responsible for the technical production of the live ORF broadcast from holiday village Kirchleitn Kleinwild in St. Oswald. “Since we had already covered the stage situation with a Follow-Me 3D TWO system in summer 2021, we decided to integrate the entire site into the system in winter 2022,” explains Fritz Staudinger, managing director of BMS. “We installed the camera on the top floor of an adjacent building, protected from the weather, so that we could capture the entire area, including the open-air stage.” Director Fabienne Pinter made good use of the newly created 360° situation. In addition to the classic open-air stage, that the Follow-Me 3D system was originally based on, new viewing angles and performance areas were introduced throughout the locat
France - Comedian Maxime Gasteuil’s show Arrive en Ville is playing to sold out houses and is now the subject of an Amazon Prime programme. The show is more a comedic narrative than a standup routine, as it contrasts Gasteuil’s life in his hometown, with its historic Romanesque churches and famous vineyards, to the fast pace of 21st century Paris. Helping this entertaining narrative unfold is a richly textured theatrically flavoured lighting design by the G!theimagineers team of Vincent Rautureau and Andreas Monschauer that was powered by a ChamSys MagicQ MQ500M console. Involving close to 300 fixtures and 50 universes when it debuted at Casino de Paris for nine sold out shows, which were recorded for the Amazon Prime, Arrive en Ville reflects the various situations, humorous and thought provoking, that Gasteuil finds himself in on his cultura
Australia - Harman Professional Solutions recently partnered with Prestige Group and MadisonAV to outfit Cali Beach Club on the Gold Coast with weather-resistant audio solutions for “top-notch sound in outdoor conditions”. Cali Beach Club is a $10m Ibiza-inspired beach club in the heart of Surfers Paradise. Surrounded by residential development, the venue showcases a new type of beach club with pools, open-air spaces, outdoor deck areas and cabanas overlooking the picturesque Gold Coast beach. In order to deliver immersive audio experiences for its guests while minimising noise pollution for its neighbours, Cali Beach hired MadisonAV and the Prestige Group to design and install a complete Harman audio distribution system consisting of JBL Professional loudspeakers and Crown amplifiers. “Cali Beach is the first of its kind,” said Matthew Keegan, partner, A
Italy - The new Harley Davidson Bergamo building extends 2,000sq.m, with showrooms, offices, rental spaces, and a customer service shop. The style of the new structure includes architectural elements that combine steel details with wooden elements, giving it an exceptionally bright atmosphere. The new headquarters building also features a spacious relaxation area that is available to its customers. Shared spaces and the showroom feature new RCF audio systems, with over 20 high-power speakers installed in the ceiling. All speakers, part of the RCF Business Music Series, are two-way wooden cabinets with 10-inch woofers in white, perfectly discreet, and suitable for the style of the environment. “A brand like Harley Davidson trusts RCF when it comes to power and acoustic detail,” comments Yuri Casi, RCF Installed Sound Italy sales manager. “With our range of options
USA - The Seattle Space Needles’s New Year’s Eve fireworks and light show is arguably the most notable NYE celebration on the West Coast. This year, in spite of a recently-upgraded lighting system, organisers called upon Illuminate Production Services (IPS) and Elation Professional products to once again illuminate the legendary NYE show. IPS were the first worldwide to debut Elation’s new Proteus Excalibur beam moving head as part of a larger Elation lighting package and were excited for the opportunity. “We received the first 12 units in the country and put them to use two days later,” says IPS president, Rick Franke. “Supply chain issues caused it to be a close connection between product arrival, QC and deployment but Eric Loader and his team at Elation made it happen. We could not ask for a better partner.” After two years of cancellations - high win
Germany - The vision of founder Ariel Schiff, the Amano Group of hotels, bars and restaurants relies on sound design as the basis to transport interior design, bar and culinary concepts. This recognition that sound plays a key role in curating a memorable customer experience in a hospitality setting is evidenced by the fact that the group has its own sound designer on staff. When the group first approached experienced German AV technology specialists Raum+Schall to design and install a sound system in the soon-to-open restaurant of the prestigious Hotel Amano East Side in Berlin, CTO Markus Lienhart knew that he wanted to use the Nexo ID Series. “When I first saw and heard the Nexo ID24, I thought, wow, this is installation loudspeakers v2.0. In terms of design, performance and the versatility of its HF directivity, it gives us the tools we need to realise a whole new leve
UK - Christie's RGB pure laser projector D4K40-RGB has been installed at the Legoland Windsor Resort, the company has reported. The Christie D4K40-RGB is a key part of the technology set-up for the resort’s newest attraction, The Flight of the Sky Lion. The Flight of the Sky Lion is billed as the UK’s first ‘flying theatre’ ride and is the main attraction in Legoland’s new £20m imaginary land Mythica: World of Mythical Creatures. Inspired by the ideas of children, the focal point is the Sky Lion that is created out of 685,530 Lego bricks. The ride itself stands 25m tall and visitors are transported below the Sky Lion’s wing to Mythica, where Lego creatures, such as the two-headed Hydra and Fire and Ice Bird come to life. The adventure is projected onto a 20m high concave screen, and the gondola, in which the audience sits, is capable o
USA - Super Bowl LVI attracted 70,000 fans at LA’s SoFi Stadium, with more than 100 million TV viewers tuning in from around the world. The event’s RF coordinators, referees and performers relied on Shure gear. The line-up featured the Axient Digital Wireless System which captured uninterrupted audio from the game’s most meaningful moments, including the pre-game show, key parts of the half-time performance, and crucial fourth-quarter referee decisions. Off the field, Shure technology was counted on to bring memorable events to life, including Budweiser’s Super Bowl Music Fest and NFL Honours broadcast. “Shure Axient Digital microphones have been a key part of our Super Bowl wireless system for the last five years,” comments Gary Trenda, lead RF technician for Professional Wireless Systems (PWS), which was hired by ATK Audiotek to handle wireless microphon
USA - LEA Professional supplied the owners of a large residential property in Houston with network-based audio through the company's Connect Series amplifiers. A long-time customer of Texas-based AV integration company Sound Lab Designs, the homeowners were looking for an entire new AV system across their six-bedroom home which is set over five acres of land in the middle of Houston. Sound Lab Designs designed and installed a new system from scratch to cover the interior and exterior of the large property. For Ernie Blumenthal, owner at Sound Lab Designs, this project was different from other residential installations he’s worked on because, for the first time, he used LEA Professional amplifiers. Blumenthal mapped over 20 audio zones in the property, many of which were external zones including the pool, patio, front and near lawns and balconies. Initially for Blumen
Germany - Large-scale tradeshows have been profoundly affected by the pandemic since 2020, many having to be cancelled or postponed, or rely on hybrid formats of attendance. For Automechanika Digital Plus and Hypermotion 2021 in Frankfurt, live events and technology companies Gahrens + Battermann and Freaksound implemented a communications solution to enable both live and virtual elements of the shows. Clear-Com’s HelixNet Digital Network Partyline, LQ Series of IP Interfaces, Agent-IC Mobile App, and the new Station-IC Virtual Desktop Client assisted with event management and live streaming at the events. The first independent shows of their kind in Germany, Automechanika and Hypermotion brought together numerous players from the automotive, transport and logistics industries to discuss the future of the mobility industry as the world trends toward digitalization an
China - DJ Wengweng, well-known electronic musician, the main founder of Acupuncture Records and the Lantern Club, has recently opened Solo, a new electronic music room in Bejing, with the help of Van Damme Cable. Measured at only 18sq.m, the music space will be used to record live sets of or other artists, and make their musical talents and ideas better known through the internet. The key aim is to establish increasingly strong relationships with domestic artists, labels and club operators, start discussions around the development of electronic music culture in China and create development opportunities together. Despite its size, the sound, lighting, DJ and acoustic processing equipment are all professional standard. Installation was achieved with the help of Phoenix Audio, Van Damme’s Chinese distributor. The audio configuration uses Funktion-One seri
The Netherlands - Utrecht’s majestic TivoliVredenburg music complex hosted a live session by celebrated Dutch musician Niels Broos recently, with an effects-rich lighting design by Jolijn van Iersel using the features of Vari-Lite VL5LED Wash, VL10 Beamwash and VL6500 WASH luminaires from Signify. Niels Broos’ performance saw renditions of some of his biggest hits as well as improvised, immersive sound design pieces. It was part of the Gaudeamus festival – staged for young music pioneers – and was streamed to fans. “Niels wanted something special for the show, so we tried to look for some interesting new ways to light his performance,” says LD Jolijn van Iersel, who is also a lighting technician at TivoliVredenburg. “The VL5LED WASH and its LED ring gave us the visual extra we were looking for. It was able to not only be a fixture, but also create a déco
Singapore - For the second consecutive year Singapore welcomed the new year with Shine a Light, an inspirational light display that illuminated the Marina Bay skyline and this year featured 60 Claypaky Mythos 2 spot and beam lights arrayed in a circular formation around The Promontory. Shine a Light was part of the Marina Bay Singapore Countdown 2022 presented by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) in support of the Singapore Together movement. It is also a collaboration with local philanthropic organisation The Majurity Trust to raise funds for people struggling in the community. The light display represented strength in diversity as Singaporeans supported one another during the pandemic. It also shone the spotlight on frontline workers, ground-up groups and charities meeting the needs of communities during these difficult times. Each week in
Poland - As hip-hop group PRO8L3M returned to the stage last December, the Prolights Astra Wash7PixIP and Astra Wash19Pix made their arena debut at the COS Torwar in Warsaw. The production was supervised by lighting studio Źle i Tanio, who usually deal with highly complex productions. The project included fixtures including the Sunblast 3000FC, the Astra Wash19Pix and Astra Wash7PixIP. “We knew these were solid fixtures,” explains the team from ŹiT, adding: “We used the 19Pix as the main wash on stage, sometimes using it also as a beam thanks to its large zoom range and high output. We also used the pixel ring as a standalone effect during some blackouts.” The 7PixIP fixtures were placed on each side of the stage to create beam and colour effects. “We were surprised by their performance as well as the speed of movement,” says ŹiT. “It is a relati
India - Christie has announced that its high-brightness 3DLP laser projectors are employed for a projection mapping showcase on the newly inaugurated Statue of Equality in Hyderabad, which commemorates the 11th-century Bhakti Saint Sri Ramanujacharya. The spectacle, which highlights the life journey and teaching of Sri Ramanujacharya, is accomplished using eight Crimson Series laser projectors and four Griffyn 4K32-RGB pure laser projectors. They were installed and commissioned by Christie’s longstanding partner, Tricolor India Schauspiel, a systems integrator specialising in architectural 3D projection mapping and son et lumière. The Crimson Series projectors were installed within two towers to deliver bright and intensely colourful images on the statue’s surface, while the Griffyn 4K32-RGB projectors were used to display captivating imagery on the gates and walls surr
Romania - To provide the International 2021 Dota 2 World Championship in Bucharest with a dazzling visual display and premium broadcast lighting, lighting designer Alex Berry partnered with Christie Lites and THiNC Worldwide to deploy a complex Martin by Harman lighting rig, including Martin MAC Ultra Performance fixtures. The International is a major annual championship tournament dedicated to Dota 2, a popular multiplayer online arena battle (MOAB) video game from developer and publisher Valve. Since its inaugural event in 2011, Valve has hosted The International every year (with the exception of 2020, due to COVID-19) in global cities as diverse as Shanghai, Vancouver and Seattle Originally scheduled to be held in Stockholm’s Avicii Arena, the 2021 championship had to be relocated to Bucharest’s National Stadium on short notice when it became clear that many of
USA - In 2021, Zac Brown Band (ZBB) hit the road again with their Comeback Tour, re-energising a live campaign that had originally started in 2019, rolled into 2020 and then was abruptly halted due to the pandemic. Lighting designer Chris Cockrill of Livelight Design updated his original design for the fall 2021 tour, keeping Robe Spiider LED wash beam moving lights as a major element of the aesthetic. The initial Spiider count of 64 fixtures in 2019 (plus another 16 for the stadium dates) was revised to 40 for the 2021 version, where they again assumed the same role as the primary wash luminaire on the rig. Chris, who has worked with ZBB since 2016 and has designed lighting for the artist since 2019, chose Spiiders for “the strong output, tight zoom and general versatility, including being able to pixel map the entire fixture for additional looks and effects,
UK - Words like “upbeat” and “ebullient” come up often in reviews of KC Lights’ songs. It’s easy to understand why too. With its bright bursts of energy and soaring crescendos, his brand of house/techno music invariably lifts spirts, whether on or off the dancefloor. Perhaps this is why his release Girl became the unofficial anthem for locked out and house-bound clubbers in 2020, connecting them to better, pre-pandemic times. In the process, it also helped push his all-time streams past 100m. With lockdown restrictions eased, the Scottish born artist has once again been able to connect to fans in person. The long hiatus has done nothing to diminish the energy level and fan connection at KC Lights’ live shows, as evidenced by his performance on Night Two of the Belsonic Festival in Belfast, where the crowd seemed to be dancing in the air to his kinetic m
Slovenia - Cankarjev dom is one of Slovenia’s leading cultural venues, offering seven diverse and different performance and event spaces located right at the heart of the capital city Ljubljana. For several years the lighting department has been investing in Robe moving lights and earlier in the year Robe’s new Spote moving light became the latest fixtures to be added to their growing inventory. While the pandemic has been a difficult time, with all the venues closed to the public, Cankarjev dom has managed to maintain a small income via streaming and staging hybrid and socially distanced business events, and regular staff, crew and technicians have been able to take advantage of a flexible furloughing scheme. Despite the massive challenges faced over the last year, Cankarjev dom proceeded with the investment in eight Spote fixtures, which have joined around
South Korea - Christie laser projectors are delighting visitors with an array of mesmerising nighttime projections in an outdoor park located in the northeastern part of Seoul. Known as Nowon Light Garden, it is situated in an area surrounding the old Hwarangdae Station, which was one of the stops along the now-defunct old Gyeongchun Line. During the day, the park’s biggest attractions are old steam locomotives and narrow-gauge trains that used to ply this route. When the sun goes down, a 400m section of the railway park is transformed into a garden of lights. Decorated with themes of Secret Garden, Tree of Life, Music Garden, Fantasy Train Station, Milky Way Garden, and Forest Fairyland, Nowon Light Garden is the first permanent night lighting park in South Korea. Adding to the illuminations are projections on the façade of Hwarangdae Station using a Christie D16WU
USA - The Twelve Thirty Club in Nashville, a modern take on the supper club, was developed by James Beard Award nominee Sam Fox alongside pop superstar Justin Timberlake, with architectural and entertainment lighting control designed by Energy Systems Design. The project was only possible because of ETC’s control systems and infrastructure. “This was a fantastic opportunity to create beautiful lighting in a storied location – Broadway in Nashville, right across from the former home of the Grand Ol’ Opry,” says David Empey, technology and design department head for Energy Systems Design. “We designed the lighting, lighting controls, and network for the entire venue. As the designs for the building were developing, I knew I needed the flexibility of ETC systems so we could handle whatever architectural or entertainment needs came up. I also knew I could rely on ETC
USA - Any production sound professional is familiar with the range and reception challenges of car-to-car recording. Rob Smith, however, may be the only mixer to take on helicopter-to-helicopter audio and achieve high-flying results. Smith, whose credits include Preacher, Queen of the South, and Duck Dynasty, faced this task while filming Starting Strong. Produced by Ricky Schroeder’s Old Post Films beginning in 2014, the series looks behind the scenes at careers in the U.S. Army. To make his mission possible, he relied on Lectrosonics Digital Hybrid Wireless - specifically UCR411a receivers paired with SMV and SMQV transmitters and HMa plug-ons for booms, plus R1A receivers for producers’ and directors’ IFB monitoring. “Cairns Army Airfield at Fort Rucker is where aspiring young pilots train to fly helicopters,” begins Smith. “T
Sweden - As part of an ongoing partnership, Effektgruppen AB recently equipped multiple O’Leary’s restaurant locations across Europe and Asia with AMX SVSI networked AV solutions to provide the international chain with a powerful and scalable solution for controlling dozens of TV screens in each facility. Based on a Boston pub, O'Learys is a Swedish restaurant chain with operations across Europe and Asia. Featuring an abundance of screens constantly airing a variety of sporting events, the restaurants provide an American sports bar experience where patrons can watch their game of choice while socializing, dining and playing traditional pub games such as darts and bowling. In the 25 years since O’Leary’s opened its first venue in Gothenburg, new franchises have been added in places like Singapore, China and the United Arab Emirates. To provide each location with
South Africa - The Brixton community, young and old, came together for the Brixton Light Festival parade hosted on 6 February 2022. Residents dressed up as Creatures of the Light, and the 232m-high Sentech Tower, commonly known as the Brixton Tower, was lit with Robe lighting fixtures and graced the Johannesburg skyline. Named after the London suburb, the Johannesburg-based Brixton dates to 1902 and is located near the suburbs of Auckland Park and Melville. The light festival is a celebration held free of charge by Brixton residents for local residents. The community-led parade winds through the streets and is highlighted by singers, dancers, bands, mimes, art and photographic displays. The African Reclaimers Organisation (ARO) whose trollies are usually used to collect recyclables, pulled floats made from recycled materials by Shade. Tamzyn Botha from Shade, members of the
