UK - Lighting designer James Scott specified 96 impression X4 Bar 20 battens from GLP when London-based rapper / producer AJ Tracey played two shows at Alexandra Palace recently.
The gigs were the culmination of a long year in which Scott, director of multi-disciplinary creative design studio Suluko, had been an essential part of the artist’s creative team, headed by Tawbox. AJ Tracey toured first the UK Academy circuit followed by the festival season, with a simple floor package.
Lighting inventory for the tour had been supplied by Siyan but when it came to the Ally Pally shows production manager Joel Stanley awarded the project to Neg Earth.
The creative for the show was devised by Tawbox, who designed the screen layout and the concept of AJ performing in the round. “This was a specific show design for Ally Pally,” explains Scott. “The concept of the sh

UK - Music producer George Moorey likes to weave a little historical magic into his recordings, by taking his mobile setup - which now includes an Audient iD14 audio interface - into some of the ancient buildings of his adopted home. Capturing the spirit of the city in the form of samples, he showcases them in a surprising variety of genres including choral, classical, folk, hip-hop, electronica, grime and rock.
His most recent project is a prolific songwriting collaboration with fellow musician and lyricist, Shane Young, called The Powdered Earth. The first single Hold Your Breath is released on 31 January and incorporates piano samples he’s been recording all around the city.
Moorey says: “Piano is crucial to the sound of The Powdered Earth. The parts are simple and repetitive, so I record them as MIDI using

UK - Established over 60 years ago, Belfast-based Niavac has grown steadily to become one of Northern Ireland’s most successful systems integrators, covering the corporate, healthcare, hospitality and education sectors. The acquisition of audio company Loft Sound in 2016 expanded Niavac’s portfolio into the live event industry, a business which is proving every bit as successful.
The company has invested in a Yamaha Rivage PM7 digital mixing system to continue its commitment to high quality service and it has already been out on tour.
“We used Yamaha digital mixers from the beginning,” says Loft Sound’s Steve Corr, who became Niavac events manager at the time of the acquisition. “Our first mixer was an LS9 and our inventory went on to include M7CL, PM5D, all three CL series mixers and smaller analogue boards for conference work.”
He continues: “We

UK - White Light has supplied the lighting for You Stupid Darkness!, which recently opened at the Southwark Playhouse in London.
Presented by Paines Plough and Theatre Royal Plymouth, You Stupid Darkness! is a new play set within the Brightline Call Centre. It focusses on four colleagues who try to keep their lives together whilst the outside world falls apart.
The lighting designer on the show is Peter Small, who comments: “My brief for this production was that it shouldn’t feel ‘lit’; meaning I wanted it to feel as natural as possible to the audience. The concept was that you had sort of peeled the wall off this strange office and were peering in from a dark place, somewhat ‘fly on the wall’. This concept meant working closely with set designer Amy Jane Cook and adding in masking which would allow me to drop the rig very low and hide it away

USA - The ninth annual iHeart Radio Music Festival landed in the Nevada desert with stars including Alicia Keys, Miley Cyrus and Green Day. The event, held at the T-Mobile arena, was broadcast live on FOX, complete with energetic sets and an array of musical talent. Green Hippo was at the iHeart of all things visual, with Boreal+ Media Servers powering pre-made content.
Jason Rudolph was at the helm as screens producer, using the in-built Hippotizer toolkit to manipulate content to fit each artist’s performance, in front of two ‘SuperWall’ LED screens, one on each side of the stage.
“We used four Boreal+ servers, as two redundant systems - an A and a B system for the A and B screens,” explains Rudolph. “Each main server was doing four outputs to drive all the content for the show. Everything feeds into two linked E2 frames to get onto the screen and allow

Thailand - Since their debut album in 2001, Potato have steadily grown to become one of the most admired Thai rock bands, attracting a strong following among teenagers in South East Asia.
Their latest two Potato Magic Hours concerts were a testament to their popularity, with thousands of fans coming together to enjoy the band’s performances at the Impact Arena, Muang Thong Thani, with an L-Acoustics K1/K2 system helping to bring the magic to life and ‘kick out the jams’ at the second largest exhibition and convention venue in Asia.
For Potato Magic Hours, Thai AV rental partner MediaVision (1994) Co was chosen to deploy the PA system. The venue presented the team with challenges from the outset.
“Even though the venue is very popular with concerts and live shows, the acoustics were our major concern,” says MediaVision chief system engine

South Korea - In common with many older houses of worship, modern expectations have meant that the audio quality of sermons in the 1936-built Changsin Church in the Gangnam district of Seoul, South Korea was no longer good enough. A replacement sound reinforcement system was needed and, after a direct comparison with systems from other major manufacturers, an Alcons Audio LR14 pro-ribbon system was chosen by the church.
The church formed a committee which appointed Jang Young-wook, a church sound engineer and executive director of the Korean Church Acoustics Association, as the project consultant. He contacted the representatives of eight leading audio system manufacturers and asked them to participate in a briefing to be held at the church.
The companies included audio contractor Sky Sound, based in the city of Daegu, which had previously worked with Alcons Audio’s

South Africa - Truck and bus manufacturer Scania recently launched its new product line for the African market at a much-anticipated launch event, held at Montecasino in Johannesburg.
Blue Moon brought on board Dream Sets, one of South Africa’s prominent set and technical services companies, to manufacture the set and exhibition areas and to deliver technical services for the event.
Toni Van Oostenrijk of SpaceCadet, who took the lead role in designing the look and feel of the set for the event, drew inspiration from the front grill of the new Scania trucks, which he worked into the design of the bar and reception area. “When we first proposed this idea to the client, they seemed a little sceptical. However, as with so many of Toni’s designs, as soon as they saw it, they instantly fell in love with the concept,” says Dream Sets project manager, Billy van der M

France - Creative lighting artist / designer LeRoy Bennett utilised 91 Robe BMFL WashBeam high powered moving lights - nine working in conjunction with RoboSpot remote operation systems - to help deliver the opening ceremony (OC) complete with holographic projection effects, for the of the Riot Games’ 2019 League of Legends World Championship Finals, staged at the Accor Arena in Paris.
Roy collaborated closely with the creative team from Riot Games and Possible Productions who briefed him on the look and style of lighting that they wanted to achieve for the in-the-round OC show. It energised an arena packed with eSports fans ready for a thrilling seat-edge final.
Drawing on his previous experience of working with Kaleida Holonet screens, projection and multi-layered imagery shows, Roy knew he needed mega-bright moving lights with super-accurate shutters - and the BMF

USA - This week at Los Angeles’ Ahmanson Theatre, Sting takes centre stage to bring his musical, The Last Ship, to the West Coast deploying a d&b Soundscape immersive sound system. The show tells the story of two childhood sweethearts set to the backdrop of the collapse of the shipbuilding industry and features an original Tony-nominated score with music and lyrics by Sting, who will also perform for the month-long duration of the show’s LA residency.
Providing the sound experience to create the various scenes and acoustic moods for the performance is a system designed by Sebastian Frost and supplied by Stage Sound Services. It continues to utilise d&b En-Scene object-based mixing and En-Space room emulation software running on the DS100 system processor and a comprehensive d&b A-Series loudspeaker system.
Frost has been associated with the produ

UK - The International Convention Centre Wales (ICC Wales) is a joint venture partnership between the Welsh Government and Celtic Manor Resort. The centre provides 26,000sq.m of floor space for up to 5,000 delegates, which includes an auditorium with tiered seating for 1,500, a 4,000sq.m pillar-free space that can be divided into six sections creating up to 25 different configurations, and an additional 15 flexible meeting rooms.
Architecturally, it is a refreshing departure from standard conference centre fare, with a triple height atrium at its entrance and a light and airy feel throughout. It has been designed to engender a feeling of well-being, and many of its spaces have impressive views out across the adjoining woodland.
This open, progressive approach has also been applied to the centre’s AV design integration, and installation processes, which gave technica

UK - White Light has supplied the lighting for Magic Goes Wrong, which recently opened at the Vaudeville Theatre in London’s West End.
Created by Penn & Teller, Magic Goes Wrong focuses on a hapless gang of magicians trying to host a charity fundraiser – with entertaining results. It features a lighting design by David Howe, who is lighting several of Mischief Theatre’s other shows. He comments: “The basis of the show is that it’s very much a slick variety show where everything should technically run smooth. However, the magicians and acts who perform aren’t the most skilful which results in everything going wrong.”
Set designer Will Bowen created a ‘variety-looking’ stage, complete with glossy floor, big theatrical tabs and glitter-drapes. There is also a large video wall at the back of the space which is used to introduce the acts

Italy - Jo Campana is with Francesco Renga on his L’altra metà (The Other Half) tour. The name refers to the hidden part of every one of us which can only be seen by looking into the mirror.
On the basis of this idea, lighting designer Jo Campana came up with his Uno Nessuno Centomila (One, No One and One Hundred Thousand) concept. The set features several panels with reflective surfaces and columns with concealed video elements, which can only be seen when reflected in the back wall, also covered with mirrors.
“The tour is remarkable for its rather small number of lights. So I decided to create a concept with mirrors to make the stage look visually wider and increase the number of light rays," Jo Campana said.
The impact is surprising. With only 13 Claypaky Mythos units for the effects, we came up with a varied, engrossing light show. Jo Campana went on to

France - On 8 December, 1852, the city of Lyon’s large Catholic population had planned a spectacular firework display to mark the installation of a statue of the Virgin Mary on the bell tower of Fourvière.
A violent thunderstorm intervened, forcing a cancelation of the outdoor celebration. Undeterred, the Lyonnais lit candles in their windows, endowing their city with a radiant, hopeful glow, and giving rise to an annual celebration that today attracts some two million visitors from across the world.
The light displays that enthrall Fêtes des Lumières visitors today, could scarcely have been imagined in the pre-Edison era of the original celebration. Contributing to the rich tapestry of vibrantly coloured LED lights at this year’s four-day festival were panoramas at the Place des Célestins and Grand Hotel Dieu that featured Chauvet Professional COLORado Panel Q

UK - A K-array loudspeaker solution has been deployed at London’s Royal Society as part of a major upgrade of its AV systems. Supplied by UK distributor 2B Heard and installed by Whitwam AV Integration, the loudspeaker system provides uniform audio coverage of the Society’s multi-purpose lecture theatre while blending discreetly into the venue’s environment.
The Royal Society is the world's oldest independent scientific academy, dedicated to promoting excellence in science. Founded in 1660, it was granted a royal charter by King Charles II and today fulfils a number of key roles: promoting science and its benefits, providing scientific advice for policy, and fostering international and global co-operation.
Many of the Society’s events take place in the main lecture theatre, a 180sq.m multi-use space which they felt was in need of modernisation. The existing so

The Netherlands - When Dutch rock band Krezip reunited after a 10-year hiatus they wanted to make a big impact, so their management Friendly Fire asked Andre Beekmans of The Art of Light to create a signature lighting and video production design for three epic shows at Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome.
Assisting him in the task were over 150 Robe moving lights - a mix of Spiiders, BMFL Spots and BMFL Blades.
The stage design, including a thrust connecting main and B stages, was already decided on when Andre joined the team, but he had an open brief for lighting and video.
Six 9m high by 2.5mwide upstage video columns defined the upstage area, and these moved sideways on a tracking system making up multiple configurations. While the show narrative was evolved from the band’s music and history, another wish was to move the whole production up several levels from where th

Austria - For more than 20 years, Allen & Heath has provided audio support to Viennese rockers, Wiener Wahnsinn, who perform around 120 gigs each year from local shows to some of the biggest open-air festivals across Europe.
Freshly equipped with a dLive C3500 and an SQ-6 for FOH and monitor duties, Wiener Wahnsinn have recently wrapped up their latest Doppelt oder Nix (Double or Nothing) tour, where the new systems were deployed for the first time.
Having previously toured with an iLive T112, technical director and FOH engineer, Tom Deimbacher adds, “The band decided to stay in the A&H family as the mixers are just the easiest things to use. The dLive user interface is so well designed, and I love being able to route whatever I want to wherever I want. Plus, they sound amazing.”
Supplied by Allen & Heath’s Austrian distributor, ATEC Pro, the ba

USA - Victory World Outreach has been ministering in Colorado Springs and around the world for 40 years. A ministry with churches in the US and in 10 different countries, Victory World Outreach has resided in their current building - a remodelled grocery store - for 27 years and in that time has made no significant changes to their main sanctuary. That all changed in 2019 however when they decided to modernise their AVL set-up and chose integrator and Elation Professional dealer Second Opinion Audio (SOA) for the audio, lighting and video upgrade.
With an enduring focus on helping others and after years investing in their satellite churches, the time was right to renew their local house of worship. “With fluorescent lights an eyesore and our main worship space feeling dated, it was time to make some big improvements,” says Paul Jones, lead pastor at Victory World Outrea

USA - Proline Entertainment LLC, which provides lighting production for the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks in the Fiserv Forum, has installed 16 Ayrton Khamsin-S LED profile luminaires for the team’s current season.
The Khamsin-S fixtures mark Proline’s first Ayrton acquisition products. “We were in the market for LED-driven fixtures that had the capability for multipurpose functions and the ability to outperform the standard lamp fixture,” explains Proline’s owner and lead lighting designer, Aaron Zimmermann. “Our long-time ACT Lighting representative, Aaron Hubbard, brought almost the entire Ayrton product line to our shop. We did a shoot-out with the Khamsins and some other brands, and the Khamsins outperformed them all. We fell in love with them.”
Zimmermann notes that the fixture proved to be “plenty bright with a lot of punch, which is important when yo

USA - There’s more to the NAMM Show than expansive product displays and informative educational sessions. The annual winter gathering at the Anaheim Convention Centre also serves as a showcase for musical talent.
This was clearly evident last week as recording artists from a wide range of genres like Animals As Leaders and country music’s Josh Gallagher took to the Grand Plaza Stage in the pavilion at the convention centre entrance for a series of day and night performances sponsored by Yamaha.
Endowing the stage with brightness and colour to give it a tour-like feel for the 100,000 or so show attendees was a powerful rig supplied by 4Wall Entertainment that featured a collection of 58 Chauvet Professional Maverick MK3 Wash fixtures.
The wide zoom range (7° to 45°) and colour rendering capabilities of the RGBW moving LED fixtures were critical to keeping lo

Saudi Arabia - A Swedish House Mafia show staged by Live Nation Middle East at the Diriyah Festival in Riyadh featured a specially designed touring stage. It was created by SHM show designer Samuel Tozer, working under the Vision Factory brand, recreated in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by Gabriel (Gabe) Fraboni, founder and creative director of LA-based design studio PHNTM LABS.
Full technical production - audio, video, lighting, rigging, trussing - for the Diriyah Season Stage, the Festival’s headline stage and international music venue, was supplied by Dubai-headquartered mediaPro International.
This included a Kinesys automation system, used to move three 5m diameter signature circular trussing rings made from Alutek 40x40cm heavy duty product, each symbolizing the three artists - Steve Angello, Axwell, and Sebastian Ingrosso - making up the Swedish House Mafia.

Belgium - An ArKaos Stage Server Pro and Kling-Net protocol were used to save thousands of DMX channels and provide a realtime harmony between lighting and video effects onstage for a massive Viva for Life concert fundraiser event organised by Belgian national TV channel RTBF.
The visual design for the stage that ran for multiple days in Tournai city square, featuring a diverse line up of top Belgian artists, was created by RTBF’s Didier Piron.
Selected highlights of the event were broadcast live on TV and it attracted massive crowds into the heart of the city each night to enjoy the entertainment. Also integral to the fundraising efforts was a 144-hour non-stop RTBF radio broadcast with the presenters locked into a glass-fronted studio adjacent to the stage!
Didier’s production design for the stage involved several strips of LED video screen surface

Czech Republic - Klub Letka, a multi-purpose venue in Prague, recently installed a Martin Audio BlacklineX powered system as it sets out to host a programme of live theatre and music, movie nights and more.
According to Jirka (Jiri) Hes, programme manager at the venue, the site was formerly a dedicated puppet theatre and later turned into a acting school theatre. “But we wanted to deliver a broader scope of performance and arts, including folk, alternative and jazz, to a wider public, so refurbishing the place and installing a professional sound system was essential.”
The BlacklineX Powered system, comprising four Blackline XP12 loudspeakers and a single Blackline XP118 subwoofer, fitted their budget and immediately exceeded their expectations.
They had been introduced to the platform by Larson Haakenstad, who has been assisting Martin Audio as a consultan

Qatar -UK lighting specialists Ventola Projects has completed a high-profile project in the Middle East at the Sheikh Abdullah Palace in Doha.
Business in the region has been booming for Mick Ventola and his team since they supplied and installed lighting to the Royal Palace of Sheikh Al Thani back in 2016.
Secured via Ventola’s Egyptian distributor, this latest project brief was to provide an all-in-one lighting effect within the palace’s leisure facility, using white lighting, UV and colour change to create the right mood and atmosphere.
Mick and his team chose to use the VAvR Lighting System, along with LED48RG-UV-W fixtures and CS16 LED spotlights - a combination which provided the right effect to complement the luxurious surroundings, whilst adding a touch of fun and excitement.
The entire installation was completed in 10 days. Efficiency was key

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