UK - You Me at Six (YMAS) have recently returned to the road with a live show two years in the making and a streamlined audio package courtesy of Britannia Row Productions. Although FOH engineer Phil Jones had already managed to escape his temporary, Covid-19 enforced position as a delivery driver for a handful of shows with another artist, his return to life with YMAS gave him the chance to overhaul his audio setup and help sculpt the band’s sound as they reach new heights in both creativity and popularity. “The You Me At Six sound has changed a lot since the release of their latest album, Suckapunch,” says Jones. “It went to No. 1 – which is great – but the sound is richer than ever too, with a lot more track and electronic elements. Of course, there’s still ripping guitars, but the overall sound has more depth to it now, and more dynamic range
China - Malo Ma, a young gaffer in Hong Kong, has selected ETC’s fos/4 fixtures to light several new video productions. With over a decade of research realized in these studio fixtures, the fos/4 series of luminaires are specifically dedicated to the studio and broadcast market. The fos/4 Panel was used in a recent music video production by the rising female Hong Kong singer Cheronna Ng. Malo leads the lighting of this video production. The music video portrays how the girl pulls herself together from failures and challenges. A fos/4 Panel Daylight HDR (8” x 24”) is used in a few shots in this music video. “The colour is very natural. I like how the colour-mixing with deep red LEDs makes the skin colour tone and other scenes look real and delicate,” commented Malo Ma. “The lightning strikes effect is surprisingly real. It flashes naturally and makes t
UK - September saw 80six host the first series of Virtual Production Discovery Days at its new VP studio in Slough, Berkshire. As Brompton Technology’s processors are an integral part of so many virtual production infrastructures, it was an important partner, along with ROE Visual, Mo-sys, Cooke Optics and 3LR Lighting. This impressive line-up enabled one of the UK’s leading creative technical production specialists to provide attendees with insight into the workflows and the real-time technologies required to power both live and on-set productions. The interactive and informal programme attracted directors of photography, film and TV producers as well as a variety of 80six’s event partners, with live demos allowing them to experience the creative possibilities of virtual production and how this technology is shaping the future of storytelling and content creation.
USA - Martin Castañon and Victor Ortiz of Darvik Productions provided lighting at the recent Tequila & Taco Festival. Before Vanilla Ice appeared at the popular event, the two met with the multi-platinum rapper’s team to discuss his show. As the conversation progressed, one thing became clear, the star’s team wanted flash, “the flashier the better” specifically strobing. Not having any dedicated strobes on hand, Castañon and Ortiz turned to their rig’s Chauvet Professional Rogue R3X Washes, using the high output (up to 18,260 lux at 5-meters) RGBW fixtures to cover the stage and audience at the Ventura County Fairgrounds with a flurry on intense flashes. “You have to be flexible when working a festival,” said Castañon. “The R3X Washes were great for strobing. We had seven of then flying on upstage truss and seven on midstage. They were stagger
UK - Event and show technical specialist CPL created an all-encompassing production design and supplied set, rigging, lighting, audio, video – cameras, screens and PPU / control – plus SFX for a high profile three-hour live broadcast for cosmetics brand Tropic Skincare, which combined product launches, awards presentations and recognition for top distributors and advocates plus reports and updates on the organisation’s charitable work. Staged at Kinetic Studios in Corby, UK, the design was turned around and approved in a short timeframe for the biannual event, known for its razzamatazz and high production values, which has been delivered online since the start of the pandemic. All production elements were sourced by the CPL including the location and a crew of 30 headed by Lee Gruszeckyj. The client was keen that absolutely no compromises were made in pre
Germany - Bold, bright, vivid with the assistance of Robe moving lights was the look central to Lucas Conradi’s lighting design for the Volkswagen booth at the IAA Mobility 2021 expo in Munich. This was the first international automotive expo open to the public to be staged since the pandemic triggered global lockdowns in March 2020. The client and booth designer was Mutabor Brand Experience, and the lighting equipment was supplied by Cologne Hunters. Lucas, from creative and technical event planners IXPI, was both project and technical manager as well as LD for this booth, and he picked the 15 x Robe Fortes and 36 x Esprites to be a major part of the stand’s lighting art. Four Robe RoboSpot remote follow spotting systems, controlling four of the Fortes, were specified for the flurry of events and presentations during the expo’s press day, and there were a
USA - Bad Sport is a new documentary series covering the most infamous misdeeds in the sports world. Sound mixer Nico Pierce recently wrapped work on its debut episode Hoop Schemes, which chronicles the 1994 point-shaving scandal that engulfed Arizona State University basketball. For the episode’s many interviews, Pierce relied on Lectrosonics Digital Hybrid Wireless, chiefly SMV and SMDWB transmitters paired with SRc receivers slot-mounted in his audio bag. “I went to school at DePaul University in Chicago and actually got my degree in audio post-production,” recalls Pierce. “I had to take a lot of production classes as well. When I moved out to L.A., probably the first year I was doing 50/50 production and post. After that, I realized I liked being on set and working with people instead of hunkering down in the studio all day. At DePaul, I used a lot
Germany - Film composer Ennio Morricone died in 2020 after a storied career that featured over 400 scores for film and television, more than 100 classical works and musical compositions for artists such as Paul Anka, Zucchero and Andrea Bocelli. He won over 40 awards including three Grammys, three Golden Globes and six BAFTAs. For his 2017 world tour, where Morricone directed the Czech National Symphony Orchestra for arena-sized audiences, he became an early adopter of L-ISA immersive sound, using the technology for shows in Bologna and Milan. The unmistakable melodies of Ennio Morricone were heard in all their immersive splendour at a spectacular tribute concert on 1 August n Berlin's Wuhlheide, played by the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. LITT event-technik GmbH was responsible for the implementation of the L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound-System, with Ulf Oeckel as system engi
Switzerland - The region of Emmental in Switzerland is doubtless better known for its holey cheese than for its music output; nevertheless, the gently rolling hills of Langnau provided the backdrop for the first edition of the Modular Festival organised by DJ and producer, Michelle Kelly Leeman. For four days from 10-13 September, the lowing of cattle gave way to the sounds of psytrance and techno from an international roster of over 50 artists and DJs with music running non-stop across two stages. Michelle has been a fan of KV2 systems for a number of years and she opted for the flagship VHD5 system for the main stage and SL412s supplemented by SL2.15 subs for the second stage. “It took over a year of planning and 160 pages of information were submitted to the relevant authorities in order to obtain all the necessary permissions to go ahead,” recalls Michelle. “
UK - A festival in Cardiff Bay is being seen as the precursor to reviving a once popular venue at the City’s Alexandra Head. The four-day extravaganza, promoted by Live Nation, combined the two-day electronic Titan Festival at the weekend, book-ended by Bay Series on the Friday and Monday. In residence throughout the entire event and broadcasting sound from an all-star line-up, ranging from Biffy Clyro and Frank Carter And The Rattlesnakes on the opening night, to Eric Prydz and Chic featuring Nile Rogers, was the Martin Audio MLA loudspeaker array - provided by Stage Audio Services (SAS) under the project management of Nat Hopking. In addition to the above, Pendulum presented their spectacular Trinity show, reuniting all three original band members for a rare UK outing on the Friday, and another popular act was CamelPhat, supporting Eric Prydz on the Saturday.
UK - Respected theatre lighting designer Neil Austin has again relied heavily on Martin Professional’s MAC Encore Performance moving heads in lighting the West End production of Frozen The Musical for audiences at London’s famous Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He is using 115 Martin MAC Encore Performance CLD fixtures as part of a fully moving rig, quipping that “I chose the CLD units as I predicted there would be quite a lot of cold white light on Frozen!” The inventory was supplied by White Light, whom Austin says he has been renting from “since I was a 15-year-old schoolboy.” White Light were supplied by Martin’s exclusive UK distributor Sound Technology. As the predominant fixture in his rig, the MAC Encores are set on five overhead bars and six ladders either side of the stage in a virtually all-LED rig. “They’re basically everywhere
Colombia - The historic Teatro Pablo Tobon Uribe in Medellín sets a high bar for anyone creating visuals on its stage. For starters there are the elegant contours of the building itself, the work of famed architect Nel Rodriguez. Then there is the curtain that covers the stage, graced by the art of post-modern master Dora Ramírez. When that curtain rose on Circular, an evening of Colombian and Caleño music, the captivating visuals continued, thanks to a vivid lighting design by Juan Pablo Marulanda that drew on the colour rendering power and brightness of Chauvet Professional fixtures that were part of the theatre’s house rig. With no LED video wall, Marulanda used 31 COLORado Batten Quad-9 IP linear fixtures, arranged vertically and horizontally to create a geometric background that added depth and texture to the stage. He complemented the patterns that h
Singapore - Pixotope brought augmented reality (AR) technology into the 2021 Singapore National Day Parade for the first time. In collaboration with Anomalyst Studio, the televised show used visual illusions that ‘blurred the lines between reality and virtual’. Pixotope was used to generate all of the AR overlays for five segments of the large-scale TV event, with the AR elements conceived as part of the show’s main narrative, including notable segments such as five stars rising up from a physical stage prop, transitioning to form a virtual display of the Singaporean national flag. To ensure visual consistency throughout, there was a constant collaboration between Anomalyst Studio and the graphics team for the LED and floor projections. The various animated elements were created in Maya before being imported into Pixotope for playback in the main show, and after
Germany - The Immanuel arts centre, housed in the rededicated church building of Immanuelskirche in Wuppertal, impresses with a versatile and innovative programme that also features experimental events. The stage design in the house itself is as varied as the centre’s programme. To prepare for all event possibilities, the venue management opted for permanently installed loudspeaker systems from RCF and combined them with mobile components. As a long-standing partner, taking care of day-to-day operations in the areas of audio and stage technology, Guido Ogrzewalla’s company Safe in Sound was commissioned with planning and installation of the new system. “All components are connected to RDNet and can be controlled perfectly, and in great detail, so we can achieve the best possible sound result for every event situation.” The Immanuelskirche has been an arts
USA - After years of lighting Ryder Cup press areas with standard Lekos and PARs, the team at NMR Staging and Events decided to add Elation’s KL Panel LED softlight to their bag and the results were impressive. NMR has been involved in the Ryder Cup for years, the Professional Golf Association’s biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. This year’s event played out 24-26 September at Whistling Straits Golf Course in Wisconsin, and, as always, the rivalry and its post- match press conferences were followed closely on both sides of the pond. NMR, who has nearly 40 years of experience providing technology for a wide variety of events, purchased the full-color-spectrum and colour temperature-adjustable KL light panels last year for use on tradeshows and NMR’s in-house studios. Daniel Gerstenhaber, head of lighting at NMR, say
UK - For a company better known for supplying club sound systems around the world, there has been a recent ‘sugar-coated’ opportunity for Void Acoustics to make an appearance on the high street. Kingdom of Sweets is a multiple retail sweet-shop operation with outlets around the UK in addition to a number of flagship stores in major European cities. It is the first time Void Acoustics has supplied Kingdom of Sweets with their quartet of new shop locations in Bath, Windsor, Leeds and London’s high-end Knightsbridge shopping district. Alan Smith, business development manager for AT&C takes up the story. “We’ve been aware of Void Acoustics for many years, and when we got the brief from our client, it was evident that this was a quirky and demanding project which had Void written all over it!” he recalls. “We had been asked to specify a sound syste
Lithuania - Audiotonas recently won a tender to renew the audio system at the 400-capacity Juozas Miltinis Theatre in Lithuania. Situated in Panevezys, the fifth largest city in the country, the Grand Hall has been upgraded with a Martin Audio Wavefront Precision (WPM) line array. According to Audiotonas chief audio engineer (and system designer), Vytautas Stasiukaitis, an old-school point source PA system, more than 20 years old, was no longer fit for purpose. “The performance was not acceptable by today’s standards, and so the theatre wanted a high-tech sound system in which performance features could be optimised according to the architecture of the room,” he explains. “As the most cost-efficient system which met all the requirements of the Theatre Wavefront Precision was the way to go.” It was the facility’s first experience with Martin Audio and the so
Slovenia - Lighting designer Crt Birsa and set designer Greta Godnic created the visuals for the 40th annual MMS song contest, which this year was built around the appropriately titled theme Festival of the Melody of Sea and Sun. “The whole idea for the general look of the set and lights was to create the sensation of waves spreading from a central point,” said Birsa of Blackout Lighting Design. “MMS was held at a seaside town, and most of the songs performed were about the sea, so connecting the stage design with water was essential. At the same time, since this is a song contest, we wanted dramatic looks to be part of each performance.” Working on his ChamSys MagicQ MQ70, Birsa programmed a seven-universe show with 14 pages of cues and cue lists that accentuated the deepest elements of his collaborator’s set design. “I am working with Slovenia’s b
Gibraltar - Zero 88 has provided lighting consoles to the new Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) purpose-built TV and radio studio facility and HQ at Gibraltar’s South Jumpers Bastion. The lighting systems were designed, specified, and commissioned by UK-based lighting specialist, The Projects Department, with the two Zero 88 FLX consoles at the heart of the control set up. The newsroom FLX is controlling around 50 lights which are primarily generic white light fixtures, with a mix of conventionals, LED fixtures, and moving lights. GBC purchased its first Zero 88 FLX console for its previous main studio in 2015, soon after the product was launched. It was such a hit that GBC soon added another console for the second of their two TV production studios. “They absolutely loved it,” comments Projects Department’s Peter Daffarn. “It was simple, powerful, a
UK - Cheltenham’s Imperial Gardens became a cinematic hotspot of international sport, films and music over the summer as the town’s Big Screen Festival took place, utilising Production AV’s substantial stock of Desay M6 outdoor LED screen panels to make up the visual display. Production AV’s Nathan Dunbar project managed the supply, delivery, build and operation of the screens. The main screen was made up of 18 panels of the modular Desay M6 outdoor LED screens, which the team fitted together to create the large-scale LED wall. A host of content was shown to audiences enjoying the summer weather, including live BBC streams of the Tokyo Olympics and Channel 4’s Paralympics, BBC Proms as well as family films and local business advertising. The event was part of a drive by Cheltenham Borough Council to bring residents back into the centre of the town and drive s
UK - New Order played two one-off shows ahead of a London O2 Arena show scheduled for November, which also celebrated the re-opening of full-capacity live shows and performances in the UK. Lighting designer Andy Liddle - who celebrates his own landmark of 40 years as the band’s LD this year - specified 66 Robe MegaPointes as the only effects moving lights on the rig for these two outdoor shows, the first staged at Piece Hall in Halifax, followed two days later by Heaton Park in Manchester. To make a visual impact, lighting was combined with lasers and video, and Andy wanted one fixture that would work equally well as a spot, wash, and beam light … and MegaPointe was an easy choice! The lighting kit was supplied by rental company Siyan. The MegaPointes were rigged on three overhead trusses above, below and around the sides of the screen, effectively framing
Australia - To set the scene for the QLD Junior State Gymnastics Championships, Theatre Safe Australia (TSA) supplied over 2000sq.m of wool drapes across the complex, which became a striking backdrop for the sporting event. In addition, TSA supplied 13 EXE chain hoists (250kg) with 250m of hoisting chain, 780m of control cables, 99m of Tri-Truss, Admiral Strong Boy dollys and an Atlas System Controller. Audio visual & technology officer, Nat Thornton comments: “TSA has provided top quality products over the years, including truss, chain hoists and drapes. I know by choosing TSA as a supplier we receive our products on schedule and quality is second to none.” TSA has supplied 36 drapes, 3.5m wide with a 11.5m drop, over a two-year period for use in the Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre. The drapes were manufactured in Australia by TSA utilising high quality f
UK - Recently established lifestyle restaurant and bar, Socialite has worked alongside Flipside Soundsystem to create an enticing musical atmosphere in the heart of Brighton’s Lanes. The building, which used to be a Cath Kidston store, benefits from an open concept layout with; a lavish cocktail bar, a private dining area, a generous performance space and topped off with a casual roof terrace. With the aim of being an all-in-one bar, the space was in need of an AV system that could occasionally simmer into the background, allowing conversation to flow, while also being able to support live music and DJ events. “After having a brief look around the site, working out its functionality and what the concept was – I knew, pretty much from the get-go, that musicality was the main focus of this place,” recalls Flipside managing director, James Cooper. “From then, we
USA - The Life is Beautiful Music & Art Festival returned to Las Vegas 17-19 September, transforming 18 downtown city blocks into a hub of music, art and culture. The event roared back to life, drawing a record 170,000 attendees for its three-day line-up of performances by Billie Eilish, Megan Thee Stallion, A$AP Rocky, Green Day, and more than 100 additional acts. Between shows, festivalgoers took in comedy events, culinary demonstrations, and multidisciplinary creative installations by local, national, and international artists. Life is Beautiful planners couldn’t were thrilled that music festivals are back. “We were the first festival to put a line-up out and say ‘We’re going to do this’,” Craig Nyman, the festival’s head of music and live performances said. “I think that really sparked a bit of hope and energy in the industry and let people feel that.
