The Netherlands - The Festival de Nederlandse Dansdagen (Dutch Dance Festival) is recognised internationally as a leading event for dance in the Netherlands and 20 ETC Source Four LED Series 2 luminaires were used to light the performances during the festival this October.
The six-day event invites dance companies from all over the country with styles varying from ballet to urban, avant-garde to modern dance and performance art. It welcomes a national and international audience and also presents its own productions including Bloedbanden, dansMuseum and Club Tweak.
Theater aan het Vriithof, based in the south east city of Maastricht, hosts performances such as the National Ballet as well as a youth dance day that caters for all ages and audiences throughout the festival.
The venue traditionally used 10 booms with conventional tungsten profiles as side lights but t

Belgium - Group-PDA, which provides sound, video and lighting rentals for the events industry, has become the first company in Belgium to acquire Claypaky Mini-B LED beam fixtures. Group-PDA purchased the Mini-Bs from AED Distribution.
The Mini-B is the smallest LED beam light ever made by Claypaky for the professional market. It weighs in at just 7Kg and measures only 34cm but the Mini-B features the most advanced, modern optical and electronic technology.
Group-PDA quickly put its new Mini-Bs to work on an elegant 90th anniversary party for H.Essers, a logistics service provider headquartered in Genk, Belgium. Group-PDA provided eight Mini-Bs, 18 Claypaky Sharpys and eight Claypaky Alpha Spot HPE 300s for the stage in an old factory venue, which was outfitted for a gala sit-down dinner and evening of entertainment and dancing.
Positioned above the stage to lig

Slovakia - One of Europe’s premier air shows is the annual Slovak International Air Fest (SIAF) and, this year, the Slovak Aviation Agency added a new air festival to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of celebrated Slovakian politician, diplomat and aviator General Milan Rastislav Štefánik. Yamaha audio systems were an essential part of both events.
The Slovak Aviation Agency stages SIAF at Sliač airport every August. The crowds enjoyed flying displays by aircraft from Slovakia and 12 other NATO and EU member states.
Before this, in May the new Aviation Fest Piešťany (FLP) was held at Piešťany airport, located between Sliač and the Slovakian capital Bratislava. Systems integrator MediaTech was asked to supply the public address systems to both events, trusting Yamaha systems for these safety critical applications.
“At both events, the mai

Portugal - A High End Systems Hog 4 lighting console was already declared a winner while contestants battled it out on Portugal’s Game of Games TV show.
Lighting designers Marco Silva and Ricardo Maia and lighting director Miguel Valerio shared duties on the Hog 4 with the first taping of a premiere season of Jogo De Todos Os Jogos for Warner Bros. Portugal. Based on the American version of Ellen’s Game of Games, the show is taped at the Valentim de Carvalho’s Studio 3 in Lisbon, and premiered 12 October on nationwide TV.
Silva chose the Hog console as he’s been using the platform since 2000. “I love it.” he declares. “Hog 4 is an easy and fast console to program. Just think: Source, Mask, Action, Destination.”
Each game had a customized logo, which was displayed on the LED screens. “That was our guidance in terms of colour.

Italy - Performers at The Lucca Summer Festival included Take That, Toto, Macklemore, Tears For Fears, New Order, Elbow, Mark Knopfler, Janelle Monáe, The Good the Bad and the Queen, Scorpions and Sting, as well as Italian stars Eros Ramazzotti, Giorgia and Francesco De Gregori, all of whom performed in Piazza Napoleone, the main square of the ancient Tuscan city’s centre.
To satisfy the sonic needs of such a wide variety of genres, an Outline PA was chosen for the second consecutive edition, supplied by this year’s audio contractor, Target Sound, one of Poland’s largest full-service production companies and an Outline GTO Partner based in the southern Polish city of Chorzów.
Lorenzo Patellani and Paolo Calza were the Outline system engineers at the event and the former explains, “Ensuring all the spectators an unforgettable sound experience was no easy tas

UK - Technical production specialist Adlib supplied lighting for two arenas at Creamfields 2019 and audio to four arenas, plus lighting and sound for the hospitality zone.
Creamfields attracts 70,000 dance fans each day for three days with a DJ line-up representing the diversity of dance culture and sounds. Merseyside-based Adlib worked directly for creative production specialist LarMac LIVE and their team led by Ian Greenway.
The logistics and planning of the lighting side of this highly detailed project were coordinated and project managed by Adlib’s Jordan Willis. The designs for arenas CF07 and CF09, for which Adlib supplied the full lighting packages, were created by Ian Tomlinson from High Scream.
A curved layered structure clad with LED video panels set the aesthetic tone for CF05, making a complete curve but with some strategic gaps left in between th

Canada - Julien Clerc is currently on the Canadian leg of his his 50th anniversary Piano et Voix tour. Supporting him is a powerful Eric Lapointe lighting design that features Chauvet Professional Maverick fixtures supplied by LSM.
The Quebec-based Lapointe’s theatrical background has played a prominent role in his design for Clerc’s Canadian shows.
“This tour is held in leading theatres, most of which have massive stages, so we wanted to trim high, as high as 30ft,” said Lapointe “Thus, I needed an instrument with the output to cut through the haze and still deliver gorgeous texture even in saturated colours. The saturates are essential to this show. Each song has its own flavour and visual mood with the lights only moving in two of the more than 20 songs performed. Instead of movement, we treat the audience to incredible colour fades and quiet textured zoom

USA - In Netflix’s new reality TV show Hyperdrive, car racing meets obstacle course in a type of American Ninja Warrior with cars. Lighting is in the capable hands of two long-time industry pros and Warrior lighting veterans, Ed Motts (lighting director) and Adam Biggs (director of photography).
Motts says it was through their work on Warrior that the team was brought onboard to light the new reality competition. “We’ve really developed a niche reputation for doing outdoor TV shows,” he says of the lighting team. “Whatever Mother Nature can muster we’ve been through it. Hence we’ve gone with Elation gear because the IP rating is tremendous for us.”
The inaugural season of Hyperdrive was released by Netflix to a worldwide audience in August. The series was filmed at the Eastman Business Park in Rochester, N.Y. The complex was transformed i

UK - London-based Spiritland Productions recently commissioned its new large-format Spiritland One sound and video OB truck, featuring a BroaMan point-to-point fibre transport system running between the truck and the stagebox.
The luxury mobile production vehicle, built by Megahertz, contains an end-to-end IP infrastructure, and audio runs entirely on a Dante network, which the BroaMan environment supports. Their system is based on two new Repeat48WDM-24 with 2Fiber boards, the layout allowing BNC SDI ports to be combined with SFPs, with all signals able to be multiplexed into common fibre.
Spiritland Productions co-directors, Gareth Iles and Antony Shaw, adopted this solution following a meeting at IBC 2018, and the order was duly placed with BroaMan UK dealers, HHB.
Built around a single 1RU device, the BroaMan architecture allows bi-directional multi-format,

The Netherlands - Dutch national airline KLM celebrated 100 years this month, making it the world’s oldest airline and the first airline still operating under its original name to reach its centenary.
To mark this landmark occasion, Hangar 10 at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam was cleared out to host multiple days of a spectacular KLM Experience event, where guests were treated to an impressive overview of KLM’s past, present and future.
WIcreations, working for technical production suppliers United Productions, used their new WImotion system and new proprietary MCA automation control to animate a massive LED video wall which split into three sections and tracked across the stage. The screen was the centrepiece of the event’s show.
A special movie was screened taking an in-depth look at KLM’s development over the decades and its pivotal role in the hi

France - The Cartel des Mines is an annual three-day sporting event that was created in 1962 at the initiative of the École des Mines de Paris engineering school. The occasion brings together teams from European Mining Schools (Paris, Douai, Nantes, Alès, Albi, Saint-Etienne, Nancy, Madrid, Vigo, Oviedo, Turin, Bochum, Krakow and St. Petersburg), as well as the Emines-School of Industrial Management in Benguerir (Morocco), to compete in different sporting disciplines before enjoying evenings of entertainment.
The 2019 edition of the Cartel took place in Albi and drew some 2,000 students each night.
French technical services company, SC Management, was on hand to provide the audio reinforcement for the associated festivities, which included a rousing opening ceremony at the Sainte Cécile cathedral square and evening parties at the Parc des Expositions exhibition cent

Czech Republic - The opening ceremony of the 2019 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) featured a gravity-defying vertical dance performance with large-format projection and eight aerialists from Jednotka Rychlého Nasazení (Rapid Action Unit) who were creatively directed by brothers Michal Caban & Simon Caban, universally known as ‘Cabani’.
To light this choreography, they chose 24 x Robe MegaPointes, which were installed, together with custom trusses, motors and a bespoke people flying system into the Great Cinema Hall at the Thermal Hotel in the Czech spa city.
The MegaPointes were delivered by Prague-based rental / production company, AudioLight Service and operated by LD Ladislav Horak.
Cabani is an innovative boundary-challenging dance and physical theatre group founded by the brothers whilst they were at college 25 years ago. Since t

USA - Front of House Engineer Sean Quackenbush and Maryland Sound International recently deployed JBL VTX A Series Line Array Loudspeakers at Brandi Carlile’s Madison Square Garden performance.
“The coverage is the most important thing, so everybody is getting the exact same show that I'm hearing at the mix position,” said Quackenbush. “We wanted to make sure there was coverage from the front row to the top row of the arena, and have the tonality stay the same from front to back. With some manufacturer’s boxes, they throw a long way but the actual sound of the mix drastically changes, whereas with this system, the sound was the same from Row 1 of the floor to Row Z of the balcony upstairs.”
For the performance at MSG, Quackenbush and MSI deployed a JBL audio system including 64 VTX A12 loudspeakers, 12 VTX S28 subwoofers, 12 VTX G28 subwoofers, an array of

USA - When creating the lighting design for Killswitch Engage on the band’s co-headline North American tour with Clutch, Cody James had a simple goal in mind. “I wanted to go back to the KSE’s roots,” he said. “My plan was to give the guys much more solid colours and bold looks.”
James’ plan was well-founded, given the retrospective nature of his Grammy nominated client’s most recent (and sixth) studio album Disarm The Descent.
James’ design included eight multi-functional Chauvet Professional Maverick MK Pyxis fixtures that were used to transform venues of widely different sizes and configurations.
“The idea was to create powerful looks that fit any location, whether it was a live music venue or a festival,” said James. “There were four different layouts for the floor backstage, and we would decide which design we would use for

USA - At the 1,300-seat sanctuary at Eastmont Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, pews wrap around a stage that is much wider than it is deep, and a large balcony overhangs much of the main floor in a similar wrap-around design. With the deep overhang, good sound reinforcement for Eastmont’s orchestra and choir would be challenging under the best of circumstances.
To replace a failing system, AVL integration firm Emmaus Media & Design, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, worked with Eastmont to design and install a high-fidelity Danley Sound Labs sound reinforcement system. Danley’s point-source pattern control allowed Emmaus to hit every seat with high-intelligibility, high-SPL coverage that varies by no more than 1dB.
“In addition to its regular Sunday services with orchestra and choir, Eastmont hosts a lot of touring acts,” explained Tim James, owner of Emma

UK - AV technology pioneer Peerless-AV and LED manufacturer Absen have teamed up to install an LED video wall in the showroom of Mulgari Cars, bespoke styling and tuning body shop for performance and luxury vehicles. Mulgari wanted a video wall solution that would enable them to advertise their services to new and existing customers via a medium befitting its supercar studio image.
LED was the most suitable choice for its design flexibility, narrow pixel pitch, high contrast in ambient light, 24/7 performance and low power consumption. Absen N Series high bright panels and an easy-assemble, custom LED mounting system from Peerless-AV were chosen for the project.
Bracknell-based Mulgari Cars is owned by Iain Campbell, a former director at AV distributor Midwich Group. “The LED video wall has successfully addressed our visual goals,” says Campbell. “We have an in-h

UK - This year’s Cool Britannia at Knebworth Park built on the success of last year’s inaugural event, and now looks to have become a consolidated festival.
Capital Sound were again brought in to work alongside production manager Keith Morris, with whom they have historically partnered on the Rewind festivals - and as was the case last year they equipped both the Main and Ministry of Sound stages.
Both presented star-studded line-ups with James, Embrace, Sleeper, Basement Jaxx, The Coral, Starsailor, Fun Loving Criminals dominating the main stage and Danny Rampling, Seb Fontaine, Goldie, Norman Jay, Phil Hartnoll and Graeme Park the MOS Stage.
Capital Sound’s Robin Conway noted, “The biggest upgrade this year was that we were able to fly the MLA side hang stage right, thanks to the redesigned structures, whereas it was ground stacked last year. This not o

USA - Kansas have announced the fourth and final leg of The Point of Know Return Anniversary Tour, with a lighting system supplied by Bandit Lites. With the third leg of the tour currently traversing the country, the group is performing the eponymous sextuple-platinum album in its entirety to near capacity and enthusiastic audiences through Spring of 2020.
“It’s exciting how popular the Point of Know Return Anniversary shows have been,” comments Kansas lead vocalist Ronnie Platt. “When we wrap up this fourth and final leg, we will have played nearly 100 of these shows over nearly two years. We have worked hard to give audiences a memorable musical experience with this tour. We are excited to continue it with the final leg of the tour, then see what we come up with next.”
Lighting designer Scott Pearson had no boundaries when building the lighting for the sh

France - Amate Audio’s new X212AF advanced three-way line array was FOH for Boris Brejcha at the Positiv Festival on 5 September in the Roman Théâtre antique d'Orange in southeastern France.
Sound hire company DIDO Music supplied an all Amate Audio FOH system, comprising left / right stacks of just five X2121AF line array elements together with two further X212AF / X218WF pairings for front-fills, flooding the 9000-capacity filled Roman amphitheatre with sound.
The festival line up, featuring Nicolas Cuer and Reinier Zonneveld, was headlined by Berlin DJ and producer Boris Brejcha: purveyor of his own genre of ‘hightech minimal’ techno and man in the Viennese carnival mask.
(Jim Evans)

USA - This summer, Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry unveiled a new daytime backstage tour based around the new, purpose-built Circle Room theatre. Hosted by Opry members Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, a 14-minute long immersive media experience takes fans on a journey through nearly 100 years of Opry history, seen through the eyes of the musicians who played on the famous stage, and features archival footage and concert-like special effects.
The Circle Room serves as the centrepiece of a $12m Opry House expansion and renovation project aimed at enhancing the guest experience. This production marks the opening of the new backstage tour, which continues into the renovated Opry House Lobby, featuring a custom lighting element made with Gibson guitars and a special media presentation.
As the introduction for the new tour, The Circle Room experience is dominated by LED conce

UK - British pop-rock band The 1975 embarked on a two-year world tour, A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships, with a firm focus on the fan experience: what they see, hear and feel – whether in the front row or the gods – is paramount.
With drum and bass, ethereal pop and pulsating rock performed in venues ranging from regional halls to big city arenas, the production team required a flexible, powerful and clear sound solution. As a result, the tour is one of the first to take the d&b KSL System on the road.
“Musically, this band is very eclectic, so you really need a sound system that covers all of those genres and styles,” says Jay Rigby, front of house engineer for The 1975. “Lead singer Matty Healy and drummer George Daniel produce their own albums - they know exactly how they should sound live and they have the technical expertise to communicate

China - The Mida Performance Store in Changsha, the capital city of China’s Hunan province, is a new concept that offers a high-spec live performance venue, bar and social media experience for music lovers. It provides an open stage for anyone wanting to give free rein to their singing talents in front of an appreciative audience of their peers, and the entire performance space is equipped with Genelec 1032C and 4030C loudspeakers for a high quality audio experience for both performers and audience members alike.
The concept has proved hugely popular with customer flow reaching 120,000 in the first month of opening followed by 200,000 in the second month. On the Store Member’s Day, performance waiting time exceeded three hours. Much of the popularity is attributed to the superlative quality of the Genelec audio experience that forms an integral part of the concept. From

Spain - Since starting the business in 2015, the group of young entrepreneurial friends who formed Madrid’s successful Lalala Group has already opened 12 bar/restaurants. The latest, on the city’s fashionable Calle de la Princesa, features a Yamaha audio system which is keeping both customers and the city council happy.
Lalala Group calls its venues ‘modern beer houses’, which all follow a core theme, but each has a different personality. Located in one of Madrid’s most popular areas, the latest Lalala Group venue - Alboroto - has a spacious dining area, two bars and a cocktail menu complemented by a choice of music which encourages patrons to enjoy upbeat, celebratory nights out. DJs maintain a lively atmosphere from Wednesday to Saturday, with live performances at weekends.
Being in an area with many bars and clubs, Lalala Group wanted to ensure that Alboro

USA - As part of ongoing renovations, Nashville’s Hutton Hotel recently completed work on a new live music venue, alongside Writers Studios production rooms conceived by musicians Dierks Bentley and Ryan Tedder.
Spearheaded by L.A.-based GreenLight Media, Nashville-based British acoustician Michael Cronin was hired to bring the venue and the two production rooms to fruition. Cronin subsequently brought in Clair Solutions, who worked closely with Cronin and the venue to spec the AV system – a key part of which involves components from Bose Professional, including ShowMatch and RoomMatch Utility modules.
The 5,000sq.ft Analog music venue and cocktail lounge, which takes up the footprint of a former parking facility and is two stories high in the centre section, usually seats 160 but has a maximum capacity of 300. The hotel wanted the venue to reflect its intimate vib

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