USA - Chris Stapleton’s All-American Road Show is back with a stage design featuring 400 VL800 Eventpar luminaires from Vari-Lite, supplied by concert touring specialists Premier Global Production. Taking conceptual direction from Stapleton himself, creative director Becky Fluke and lighting designer Calvin ‘Mac’ Mosier created film-like lighting, centred around a wall of light, which comprises 388 VL800 Eventpar RGBA and 12 VL800 Eventpar WW. Mac, who has previously worked with Prince, Tina Turner, Madonna, Lady Gaga and James Taylor, explains: “When I first saw the VL800 back in 2019, I thought it was great, so I got one and showed it to Chris and Becky and they both loved it, particularly the colours it produces. Soon after that, Chris came up with the wall of light idea.” The show design, which uses lighting and video in the most integrated way Mac
Israel - Named after Frank Zappa and founded in 2004, Israel’s Zappa Group is a live show chain of clubs with an ethos of respect for music, musicians and listeners. From its first venue in Tel Aviv, it has grown to include clubs and outdoor venues in Herzliya, Jerusalem, Haifa ,Beer Sheba, Zappa Amphi Shuni and Zappa live Park, and hosts top Israeli and international music acts. Following a change of ownership, a new technical manager was appointed to supervise the venues and raise their technical standards. Having worked as technical producer on large-scale concerts, he recognised their ubiquitous use of DiGiCo consoles. This prompted the start of a major move for all Zappa venues to install DiGiCo. Supplied by Israeli distribution company, Gidron Levitan, the main Tel Aviv venue now boasts a DiGiCo Quantum 338, with Herzliya and Haifa upgrading to Quantum 225s, an
Switzerland - In creating his evocative looks for the nine-hour presentation of Goethe’s Faust at the Goetheanum School of Spiritual Science in Dornach, Klaus Suppan drew on the colour rendering and performance features of seven Chauvet Professional Maverick Silens 2 Profile fixtures that were recently added to the theatre’s lighting system. With the new staging of Faust characterized by a simple stage design with clear, minimal lines; light was consciously selected as the main tool with which to draw emphasis upon various scenic elements. Because the stage design only suggests the respective situations and locations, Suppan deftly used light to outline entities of shape and form - a technique that was greatly aided by the framing-shutter mode of his profile fixtures. "My professional colleagues and the directors of this Faust production were t
Belarus - For over a decade, Minsk Arena has been the epicentre for all things sports and culture in the Belarus capital. The venue’s main space is an ice arena dedicated to hockey and skating which can also be converted to host other sports events, as well as concerts, conferences, and forums Minsk Arena hosts some of the most notable sports tournaments, including IIHF World Championship and SU World Junior Figure Skating Championships, as well as musicians like Elton John, Sting, and Shakira. In September this year, the facility completed a large-scale renovation which included a tour-grade audio system from L-Acoustics, installed by BelCultProject. Known for its contemporary design, Minsk Arena also prides itself on implementing the latest technology, including being the first arena to install a cable roof system capable of withstanding loads of up to 120 tonnes,
UK - Between April and August, Foals played a number of festival shows, which saw live engineer Nigel Pepper using a Yamaha Rivage PM7 digital mixing system for the first time. Supplied by Adlib, the experience was so positive that he has already specified it for the band’s 2022 UK and European shows. “I had reached the point where I was ready to change from the system I was using,” he says. “On paper the Rivage PM series seemed attractive and the specifications would fit my workflow. I tried different systems, which included using Rivage PM7 in rehearsals, and quickly found it was the one for me. It really fitted the way my brain works.” Nigel was introduced to Yamaha’s Tom Rundle, who visited Foals production rehearsals and talked Nigel through the system. “I wanted to really see what I could get from it and make sure I wasn’t missing anything,
USA - UK-based Audiologic has announced its collaboration with Technically Creative, to deliver an immersive experience at the Harry Potter Flagship Store, New York. Technically Creative, specialists in creating immersive audio-visual solutions, worked together with Audiologic to deliver an exciting brief to bring to life the magic of Harry Potter, in an immersive in-store experience. The experience store is billed as 21,000sq.ft of magic, housing the world’s largest collection of Harry Potter merchandise. The main aim of the project was to deliver a store-wide sound system with visuals and special effects. Due to differing styles of room and ceiling spaces, Technically Creative and Audiologic needed to be mindful of the carefully curated aesthetics adopted for visually discrete speakers. The entire site is run on the Q-SYS ecosystem, namely the Core 110f pro
UAE - Stage One Creative Services delivered stage engineering for the hero centrepiece at UAE’s 50th National Day celebrations. The show, which took place on 2 December, marked the country’s Golden Jubilee as the largest celebration to date. The floating theatrical experience, designed by award winning artist, Es Devlin, is situated on Hatta Dam in the Hajar Mountains. Stage One engineered, fabricated, installed and operated the hero rotating stage which hosted the cast. The floating disc-shaped sculpture, which is 19m tall at its highest point, doubled up as a performance area and projection surface. The key challenge was engineering a heavy steel structure that will remain balanced in a cantilevered state on a floating pontoon. This was achieved through judicious structural and marine engineering and a hefty serving of ballast. To allow the disc to revolve, it wa
UK - With his repertoire of music blended with comedy, Tim Minchin’s UK tour, which began back in 2019, resumed after lockdown with a further eight-week stint. Titled Back . . . Encore, this took him through a number of sold-out UK theatre shows, interspersed with a handful of arena dates. The Australian was supported onstage by a seven-piece band - three brass players, bass, guitar, drums and percussion. Masterminding the sound production was Martin Audio’s rental partner, Capital Sound, with Dave Roden mixing once again to his favoured Wavefront Precision WPS. Capital drew on their inventory of 32 WPS line array enclosures, but purchased six additional multi-channel, Dante-supporting iKON amplifiers for the tour, enabling the system to be driven in the optimum one-box resolution. Explaining the need for the expanded WPS inventory this time around,
USA - To bring the Tony Award-winning musical Hadestown to life on stages across the US for its national tour, lighting designer Bradley King implemented a versatile lighting rig featuring Martin Professional LED fixtures, provided by Christie Lites. Written by singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell and directed by Rachel Chavkin, Hadestown is an American blues and folk-infused version of the Ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Mitchell first premiered Hadestown in 2006 with a DIY theatre group in Vermont and recorded a concept album based on the show in 2010 before the final version debuted on Broadway in 2019 at the Walter Kerr Theatre. This year, Hadestown embarks on a national theatre tour that debuted at the Kennedy Centre in Washington, D.C. Lighting designer Bradley King, who won a Tony for his work on the Broadway production of Hade
USA - Lighting designer Tim Deiling used 35 Ayrton MagicDot SX fixtures to help construct the visual narrative for the Broadway production of Six The Musical when it transferred from London’s West End in October (see LSi December, out now, for detailed production report on the musical). Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss’s multi award-winning musical follows the story of Henry VIII’s six wives, expanding on each of their stories and translating their historic power struggles into a modern day pop contest which breathes dynamic new life into the story. Tim Deiling’s associate lighting designer, Tim Reed, reports: “The show takes place on a standing set with no set moves throughout. Instead, we chose to use a rock concert style of lighting with lots of beam looks at all times
UK - Overcoming the somewhat inauspicious climate created by the global pandemic, Legoland Windsor Resort has continued to invest in its infrastructure. Part of that investment has included the upgrade of their 4D cinema as well as the implementation of a new ride, the UK’s first Flying Theatre attraction, Ride of the Sky Lion. The new attraction forms part of Legoland’s most recent development, Mythica, an area that was inaugurated for the park’s reopening in early 2021. The Legoland production team overseeing the design and installation of the new ride called on their long-term audio supplier and consultant, Dave Shepherd of D.S. Audio to ensure the audio experience was the best possible. Shepherd specified a system based on EM Acoustics’ new flagship Reference Series R10 system. Shepherd’s brief was straightforward enough – to design a world class
UK - A daredevil walk the plank challenge which kicked off this year’s I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here on ITV, was designed and rigged by Unusual Rigging. ITV bosses are no strangers to the feats that Unusual is able to pull off, having contracted director Robin Elias as crew chief on several stunts for various different shows. Robin said: “Pre-pandemic, ITV had brought me on board to work with them on the show in Australia. Then when Covid hit in 2020 and the show hurriedly relocated from Oz to Wales, none of the trials involved any rigging - there simply wasn’t the time to devise them. We fully expected to be back in the jungle in 2021, but because of the continuing pandemic, it was once again re-routed to Wales, and I was retained as a consultant.” This year’s opening trial – the one which sees the celebrities first enter the camp was called
UK - Like many public events, the outlook for the Edinburgh International Festival in 2021 was a little different. With restrictions limiting the use of indoor venues, the festival looked to d&b Soundscape - and its acoustic shell - to unite the disparate worlds of classical music and sound reinforcement; to recreate the comfort and quality of the concert hall in a temporary open-air environment. On the grounds of Edinburgh’s Junior Academy and the city’s Old College Quad, two custom built pavilions, a hundred metres long, were installed like giant bubbles, roofed, but open sided for free-flowing fresh air. Striking in scale and appearance and, as it turns out, entirely capable of the intimacy and focus essential to the arts. Knowing they had a long-standing reputation for delivering exceptional classical performances, Edinburgh International Festival initiate
South Africa - Idols South Africa 2021 underwent its most substantial visual transformation for a few years with a shift of venue, from the State Theatre in Pretoria to Studio 10 at the Urban Brew complex in Johannesburg. This moment was seized by the show’s long term lighting designer Joshua Cutts of Visual Frontier, for a radical re-think, and for the first time in 17 Idols seasons, he presented a lighting co-design created collaboratively with Andre Siebrits, also from Visual Frontier. The pair relied heavily on Robe moving lights – over 200 were specified on the rig, plus two RoboSpot remote follow spotting systems – to assist with a fresh new aesthetic that takes the SA edition of the show production to “next level” status. Owing to Covid regulations, a large live audience was still not possible this year, so Josh and Andre embraced this effecti
Denmark - Vejle Musikteater, one of the busiest and liveliest multi-purpose live performance venues in Jutland, has reopened fully after the pandemic period, complete with a new Robe Esprite house lighting package comprising 32 x Esprites in total. Sixteen of these have been added as front lighting to the existing over-stage rig of 16 in the Main Hall. Head of lighting Rasmus Wiberg explained that during the Covid closure they used the time constructively to activate various renovations and changes needed in the venue, including the complete removal of the ‘advanced’ lighting bridge – the one nearest the stage – above the auditorium to fit in a new PA system. This also seemed an ideal opportunity to replace the old discharge profiles with new LED moving lights for greater versatility. Having had a great experience with the first batch of 16 x Esprites and the
UK - The full scope of the Faridabad, India-born Sonu Nigam’s talent was on full display this November at his UK shows at SSE Arena Wembley in London and Resorts World Arena in Manchester. On stage for over three hours at each venue, Sonu Nigam performed 37 songs and medleys that included his own compositions as well as songs from legendary singers Mohammad Rafi and Kishore Kumar. Reflecting the vibrancy and versatility of the multi-faceted performance was a Roosevelt Dsouza-designed lightshow that featured Chauvet Professional fixtures supplied by DMX Productions. The lighting followed the singer through every twist and turn of his performance, peaking at intense moments, then becoming gentle for softer songs, all while never repeating a look. This was no small accomplishment, given the all-encompassing nature of the multi-award winnings star’s work. Helping
Indonesia - A major new development at Universitas Katolik Parahyangan (Parahyangan Catholic University) in Bandung, West Java, has seen the inclusion of a high specification, multipurpose auditorium for choir performances, presentations and lectures. An Alcons Audio system has been chosen for sound reinforcement. The university tasked design and build contractor PT Esa Sinergi Selaras Indonesia (PT ESSI) with delivering the audio in the new auditorium. PT ESSI also chose Alcons knowing that the company’s pro-ribbon technology would ensure minimal ear fatigue for audiences. Jakarta-based KC Sound - Alcons Indonesian representative - would also be on hand to offer full support, including tuning the system to deliver its full potential. The chosen system for the 1000-seat auditorium comprises compact hangs of two single 12” VR12/90 mid-size versatile monitors
Canada - Before any entertainer ever sets foot on its stage, Club Regent Event Centre is already equipped to put on a show with its computer-automated flexible seating system, which can adapt in minutes into over a dozen seating configurations for any kind of show: theatrical, concert, meetings, and more. This 1,400-seat venue in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which is part of the larger Club Regent Casino features a new L-Acoustics K3-based sound system. “This is a fairly complex sound system for a very flexible environment,” explains Martin Van Djik, senior consultant and partner at Toronto-based Engineering Harmonics, which designed the Solotech-integrated system. The system comprises L/R hangs of eight K3 loudspeaker enclosures each, with six 12 KS21 subs per side, eight arrays of three Kiva II as delays, eight coaxial X8 frontfills, two larger X12 out-fills, four A
Australia - ARX Systems has recently supplied a large quantity of their USB Ultra I/O audio interfaces to multiple campuses of the Australian Catholic University (ACU). The USB Ultra I/O was chosen by the ACU as part of a series of campus wide AV upgrades designed to facilitate remote and blended learning from each lecture room. David Prentice, audio visual systems administrator for ACU, along with colleague Douglas Simpson, headed up the project. “What we wanted to achieve at ACU, which most other unis are also doing, is being able to use Teams/Zoom in our existing lecture rooms, to facilitate remote/mixed teaching. We are using the ARX DI Boxes to take microphone audio out of the Crestron DMPS (Digital Media Presentation System) and feed it to the PC, so that Teams/Zoom and other software can utilise the microphones in the space.’ The ARX USB I/O range has been a
USA - Latin music star Marc Anthony has returned to the stage with his Pa’lla Voy tour, taking in 26-dates across North America with an arsenal of VL10 Beamwash luminaires from Vari-Lite. The VL10 delivers speed, versatility and an impressive 28,000 lumens to lighting designer Travis Shirley’s bold stage design. Shirley developed his concept around six vertical lighting arrays that provide the tools necessary to create effective and functional stage focuses. “When the drawings of the show were completed, it was time to start discussing fixture choices. Good friend and production guru Roly Garbalosa mentioned to me that our preferred vendor ProColor was looking at purchasing the new VL10s and asked me to take a look at them. How does the saying go? It was love at first sight,” said Travis Shirley. The tour, which kicked off at San Antonio’s 18,500-capacity AT&
USA - On the south edge of Kansas City, a multi-story commercial building has been lighting its windows in special colours and patterns for decades. ETC’s Mosaic system, a pixel-mapping and show control solution, recently gave them a 21st-century upgrade to heighten the graphics and even provide a new revenue stream for the building. “The building is right near the interstate. For years, everybody drove past it and loved the decorative touch of the special lighting,” says Autumn Nieland, business development at Mercer Zimmerman. The patterns started with a holiday wreath, then expanded into other designs like the Kansas City Royals or Chiefs logo. But the building wanted something better. They wanted a system that could handle bigger designs but needed less time and people power to make happen. “They were still just using fluorescent strips lights, figuring out
UK - Home to a technically advanced film production complex, Garden Studios is a one-stop-shop for a wide variety of TV and film productions, designed specifically to support the latest technologies as well as decades of future innovation. Its in-house Virtual Production stage is driven by Brompton Tessera processing. Launched this year, the facility boasts three traditional sound stages, totalling over 3,700m2, as well as an array of supporting spaces. The jewel in its crown is its Virtual Production stage, which allows filmmakers to shoot live action footage within a pre-visualised virtual world, using 3D CGI modelling and precision camera tracking to make it all look as real as possible. “Whether our clients are looking to shoot a feature film, short-form promo, commercial or music video, Virtual Production can deliver a sustainable and cost, time, and travel-effe
Canada - Twelve Ayrton Domino-S fixtures, part of Ayrton’s IP65 multi-function luminaire family designed for intensive outdoor use, played a variety of roles at Les Francos de Montréal and the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, staged back-to-back in September this year due to COVID-19. Les Francos de Montréal is a large annual pop music and performance festival featuring French-language performers from around the world. It has been held for more than 20 years. The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal holds the 2004 Guinness World Record as the world’s largest jazz festival; every year it features about 3,000 artists in more than 650 concerts and welcomes 2m-plus visitors. This year’s 41st edition was reduced in size due to the coronavirus pandemic with all shows taking place outdoors. Both events were centred around downtown Montréal’s Quartier
The Netherlands - Located in the eastern Dutch town of Hengelo, the Metropool is a long-established live music venue featuring a wide range of acts and genres. It moved to its present home in 2009 and at that point its console stock was updated to include three DiGiCo SD8s and a large-format analogue desk, covering all its audio mixing needs across its Jupiler and Jack Daniels halls. They were one of the first Dutch venues to invest in DiGiCo technology as Teun Zekhuis, their Head Technician recalls: “We chose the SD8 for its sound, interface, workflow and overall look and feel. Being one of the first stages in the Netherlands with this first series of SD8s we were really pioneering in a new world of digital audio. The SD8s proved to be a great choice and served us very well.” Fast forward nine years to 2018 and through a series of events, Metropool found itself ta
