UK - Adlib provided design services, lighting, audio, custom drapes and staging elements for the most recent UK leg of The Specials’ Encore album tour, as the record topped the UK album charts, providing the band’s first ever number one album. Adlib’s Simon Pettitt was back as lighting designer, having lit the band since 2014. Simon was also instrumental in developing the stage design, and he was joined by their regular audio engineers, Marcos Ferrari at FOH and Marina Martinez Sebastian on monitors. Adlib’s lighting account handler was Dave Eldridge, while Phil Stoker looked after all things audio. Adlib offered the use of its full tour prepping facilities - a designated pre-production space in the company’s massive new Knowsley warehouse – to ensure that the production left the warehouse ready to roll. Simon received an outline brief from th
UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) has supplied the Acorn Theatre in Penzance with a Prolights LED lighting upgrade. For over 40 years, the Acorn has hosted a wide range of arts practitioners and art forms, including live music, theatre, poetry readings, story-telling, dance, film, lectures and the visual arts. These acts can scale all the way from international tours down to school plays. Looking to upgrade their house lighting rig to LED, theatre manager at the Acorn, Richie Cawley, researched all his options and found that the extensive Prolights range best met both their needs and their budget. Andy Mahaffey, external sales at AC-ET, visited the Acorn to discuss their requirements and show the Prolights fixtures that would be best suited to their venue. Impressed by the quality of the LED fixtures, and their ease of use, Acorn invested in a number
USA - Heavy metal rockers Lamb of God have been on four tours over the past year as support for thrash metal band Slayer’s long-running farewell tour, the latest leg in May beneath a rig of Elation lights. Lighting design was by Steve ‘Cowboy’ Stemac with lighting supply and support by Gemini. Stemac started with Lamb of God in May 2018, as lighting director, inheriting a stage set-up designed by tour manager Brian Griffin. After earning the band’s, and Griffin’s, trust over the following legs of the tour, the designer began to evolve the show, a process that eventually led to fixture changes. For the latest leg, a 16-date trek across, Stemac chose to reinforce the band’s signature sound and stage presence using Elation DARTZ 360 LED beam/spot fixtures and Elation ACL 360 Bars. “Lamb of God like a lot of backlightthe southern U.S. states and up th
South Africa - The Voice is now in its third season in South Africa and is proving as popular as ever. It has just entered the ‘live show’ phase, broadcast from Mosaiek Teatro in Fairland, Johannesburg and aired on M-Net, DStv 101. This year, this section of the TV show is bringing a new audio experience to its studio audience, courtesy of L-ISA Hyperreal Sound technology by L-Acoustics and DiGiCo mixing consoles, provided by the show’s full technical supplier, Mutli-Media. Multi-Media has worked with The Voice since the popular competition hit Africa four years ago. During this time, the company has grown and become more involved in live events. At the beginning of this year, it decided the time was right to invest in a top-end audio system, initially purchasing 30 L-Acoustics Kara, 12 SB18, four KS28 and seven LA12X amplified controllers, adding
UK - Grammy nominated punk rock hip-hop band Fever333 recently took the Electric Ballroom in Camden by storm. The Californian band commissioned lighting designer Hayden Borgars to design the atmosphere and electrifying show. Hayden has has worked with acts including as Hoodie Allen, Symphony X, Gang of Youths and Glassjaw. Having used Prolights fixtures on numerous occasions before, he was already familiar with the fixtures and explained how he found them “really reliable and innovative” therefore it was no surprise that the package featured a number of the compact-yet-powerful Prolights Diamond7 washes. Hayden reports, “The notes sent to me outlined specific moments and effects they wanted to achieve, particularly at the start. There were moments that required erratic and chaotic lighting and others where the lighting needed to be contemplative and moody.
France - For one month out of every year, the rhythm of life in French Polynesia becomes even more blissful as locals gather for Heiva, a rich and colourful celebration of ancient Polynesian customs. This May, as it has for the past six years, the spirit of this traditional holiday leapfrogged 15,706K over two oceans and one continent to create a vibrant display of South Pacific culture and community at Heiva i Paris. Started by Tahitian singer Ken Carlter, this combination festival and dance contest attracts visitors from throughout France and Europe, as well as from as from as far away as Japan. This year, over 200 people participated in its Heiva dance competition, a highlight of the event. Providing an immersive and supportive visual setting for their choreography as they swayed to the evocative sounds of traditional Polynesian music was a lightshow designed by Dav
USA - The 2019 Billboard Music Awards’ lighting designer Jon Kusner specified 140 Solaris Flares and 58 Solaris Flare LR Linears for a visual display, worthy of one of music’s most important nights of the year. The show broadcast last month on NBC, live from the Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena. “Flare LR linear fixtures made up a heavy part of our side walls in the performance stages,” says Kusner. “The Flare family of products - Flare, Flare Jr and LRs - in my mind has cracked the code. We also got some new Flare Rayzrs from Tony Ward at PRG to use offstage and we’re excited about having Flare performance in this new ultra-thin ‘blade’ format. Flares are the ideal LED product, and to find Flare technology in a smaller, discreet shape is a total plus.” “Solaris Flares have become a staple in our inventory,” says Tony Ward of PRG. “Whether for c
Canada - The Empire Theatre in Belleville, Ontario, recently invested in a new audio system built around Adamson’s IS-Series and sourced through London, Ontario’s The PA Shop Productions. The building, originally erected as The McCarthy Theatre in 1938, was purchased by Mark Rashotte in early 2002 with the goal of returning it to its original use. In September 2003, The Empire Theatre was open for business, and its team has been working hard to advance their shared vision of enhancing the community they serve ever since. In the autumn of 2018, ahead of a special show commemorating 15 years of operations, Rashotte and his team decided to invest in a new audio system to better cater to visiting productions and invited several manufacturers to demo their array systems in the Empire’s 700-seat auditorium. Kyle Schroeyens, VP and production manager with The PA S
UK - Since their initial investment in Outline point source systems in 2017, growing rental and installation company Novum AV has been deploying its Vegas 12CX and 8CX inventory in a wide range of work around the UK from their base in Tamworth, Staffordshire. Tim Jacques, managing director of Novum AV, explains the reasons for that investment: “Back in 2017, Outline was very new to us and a surprise choice. We ran blind tests with seven different manufacturers and Outline was unanimously chosen by our six technicians who all thought they had selected their preferred brands. The system has changed how we operate and design certain jobs as not only is there a like-for-like weight saving compared to our previous point source enclosures, but the HF throw is so great and the sound quality so clear that we have often needed fewer speakers to achieve the required results. The pur
Canary Islands - Around 600,000 people attended Las Palmas de Gran Canaria’s carnival this year. The Drag Queen Gala event, which had A Night in Rio theme, utilised a large complement of Claypaky fixtures to fill the stage with light and colour. Stonex is the official distributor of Claypaky lighting in Spain. “The Drag Queen Gala is seen everywhere in the world by large audiences,” says lighting and technical director, Jonay Diaz, who is a partner in RGB Canarias S. Coop. “This is reason enough to be careful when choosing lighting equipment.” Diaz selected 30 Claypaky Mythos, 16 Super Sharpy 2s, 16 Sharpys, 30 A.leda B-EYE K20s, 20 Claypaky A-leda B-EYE K10s and 16 Stormy CCs for the 21 shows that took place on the gala’s main stage. Jacinto Cabrera and Iban Negrin operated the grandMA2 lighting console. Diaz opted to use LED moving heads, c
USA - Laredo, Texas has broadcast its city council meetings via public access cable TV since 1984. The city updated its 10-year-old conference system with a DICENTIS Conference system from Bosch, providing significant upgrades in control, sound quality and ease of operation with IP connectivity. The public access centre manager of the city, Gerardo Leal, is responsible for operating the conferencing system during meetings, and porting the audio into the video feed. The programme is aired on large video screens within the meeting room, which accommodates about 100 people. In addition, the meetings are streamed online and aired on the city’s public access channel. Audio, data and power for the discussion devices all run over a computer-based IP network using Bosch-developed OMNEO media-networking technology. Laredo’s set-up features 16 DICENTIS Discussion devices wi
UK - Technical event specialists Light Fantastic Production Services partnered with FUTR Summit to produce its recent event at London’s Business Design Centre. Billed as Europe's only annual summit focused on fresh thinking and progressive change in the future of retail, marketing and commerce, FUTR brings together a diverse mixture of international brands and retailers. Featuring over 200 guest speakers, this high-profile event required planning and delivery of a comprehensive audio, video, scenic and technical support solution, to create the perfect environment in which to welcome both presenters and delegates. Keeping the main stage presentations crystal clear within the venue’s bright central atrium, LFPS deployed their new Panasonic RZ 12K laser projectors. In tandem with a main stage auditorium, the company also created a pair of ancillary stages
UK - The White Rock Theatre on the Hastings seafront is a historically significant cultural landmark in East Sussex, with origins dating back to 1927. As one of the region’s largest receiving houses, the theatre accommodates 1,066 seated and nearly 1,700 standing. Marquee AV recently installed an EM Acoustics EMS Series point source system to bring the audio up to the standards demanded by modern audiences. Adam Harkin, the venue’s technical and building manager says: “Sound is everything - without sound, there’s no show. Our new EM Acoustics system stands head and shoulders over what we had before which was old and no longer fit for purpose by modern standards. What we have now is simply amazing - it’s a proper theatre system and has made a huge difference - everyone can hear everything regardless of where they are sat in the venue.” When the decisio
Europe - Following the success of two acclaimed, chart topping albums, singer-songwriter George Ezra continues the momentum with a sold-out UK and European arena tour (see LSi May 2019). Created around a concept devised by Ezra himself, the aim of the production was to bring an intimacy to arenas, as if inviting the audience into the artist’s living room, with the show tracking his day from sunrise to sunset. Translating Ezra’s vision into a workable touring solution, show designers Bryte Design developed the idea, applying their creativity across all aspects of the lighting, staging and visual content to deliver a stunning, immersive audience experience.
USA - The Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre near St Louis, Missouri seats 7,000 people under its roof, but another 13,000 can sit on its vast lawn. However, the previous line arrays that covered the lawn - and thus the vast majority of patrons for a well-attended show - strained to provide the necessary volume, irritated neighbours and literally rotted under the stress of the summer humidity and heat in St Louis. Rather than replace the failed system with an equally doomed solution, Logic Systems Sound and Lighting completely re-conceptualised the entire approach. They installed four clusters of two point-source Danley Sound Labs J7-95 Jericho Horns each and opted for Danley’s fully-weatherised version that can be left out, not only all summer but, all winter as well, with no ill effects. “The Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre was on its third lawn sound reinforcement syst
UK - Illumination specialists, LED Creative supported the creative team behind series 1 of There’s Something About Movies, produced for Sky One by CPL Productions. Filmed over six episodes before a live audience at Pinewood Studios and hosted by comedian Alan Carr, the show features a pair of celebrity teams led by guest captains Micky Flanagan and Michael Sheen competing to determine which side are the champions of showbiz trivia. Working alongside production designer Andrew Gates and award-winning LD Chris, LED Creative provided a selection of proprietary products, including their Sigma 60 and Alpha 60 flex, which the crew applied to the construction of the spectacular set. Created with a nod to the architecture of the golden age of cinema, the design is a salute to the classic art deco style, framed with elaborate neon highlights and vibrant colour. T
Europe - Muse have embarked on their Simulation Theory’ World Tour in support of their eighth studio album. The tour began in February 2019 in Houston, Texas, playing 53 dates across North America, Europe, Asia and South America before concluding in Santiago, Chile in October 2019. A disguise gx 2 media server, provided by PRG, drives video and real-time Notch content for the show, which is currently on its European leg, playing at stadium venues. Creative director Jesse Lee Stout of Metaform Studio partnered with the band, and Muse’s frontman and lead vocalist, Matt Bellamy, on the concept and style of the tour based on the recent album. Sooner Routhier and Robert Long are the show’s lighting designers, Aaron Luke the lighting director, and George Reeves the production manager, with Tom Kirk as the video director. “Creatively, this show is a world of r
Belgium - Tumult, the Sanzaru Order techno/rave parties, are adding passion, energy and excitement to Belgian night life. Organised by Skippen Dam, Tumult events travel from club to club, with non-stop music by leading DJs. Adding to the immersive effect of the Tumult experience is an intense lightshow featuring Chauvet DJ Intimidator Hybrid 140SR fixtures, supplied by Sound & Co. “This is the fifth annual edition of Tumult, and the second year that we have lit the parties,” says Jonas Bellemans, CEO of Sound & Co. “Skippen Dam invests a great deal in bringing a lot of DJ talent to these events, which limits the budget for lighting. At the same time, you need a lot of intensity to support this kind of music. So you have to find fixtures that give the right balance.” Bellemans notes that the 140W Intimidator Hybrid 140SR, with its intense output, motoriz
USA - Clearwing Productions once again selected Harman Professional Solutions’ JBL Professional loudspeaker, Crown amplifier and Martin lighting products to kick up the excitement at Summerfest 2019 in Milwaukee. The deployment at Summerfest comes months after Clearwing made a significant upgrade to its audio inventory with a multi-million-dollar purchase of JBL VTX A-Series line arrays. More than 200 JBL Professional loudspeakers, fills and subwoofers are featured, including the new JBL VTX A8 and A12 line array loudspeakers. The Martin MAC Allure made its debut this year, along with support from the Martin Atomic, VDO, and RUSH lines. “We are really enjoying the flexibility that the new JBL A8s offer for our various stage configurations as well as the versatility that we’ve come to enjoy from the A12s,” comments Bryan Brunclik, Clearwing Productions Mi
USA - The recently-opened Mandrake has already established itself as a popular staple of the Miami Beach dining and nightlife scene. In addition to a variety of sushi and pan-Asian cuisine prepared by executive chef Jimmy Gallagher, the restaurant is known for its over-the-top décor, including a life-sized gorilla to greet the patrons and bright fuchsia-coloured lighting. Equally important for the restaurant’s ambiance, it also features a Martin Audio CDD sound system installed by Miami’s AVL Innovations (AVLI). Asked about the audio component, AVLI’s James Reed explains: “Mandrake has several floors and multiple rooms. There’s a sushi bar in the front room where we used eight Martin Audio CDD8’s mounted on the wall along with four SX210 subwoofers built into the banquettes; then there’s a hallway leading to the main dining room with two CDD8’s.” The
Spain - With over 50 albums recorded and the unusual distinction of being awarded a ‘uranium’ disc, singer Raphael is one of the most successful Spanish performers in in the country’s recent history. Still touring in his mid-1970s, a Yamaha Rivage PM7 digital mixing system is currently showcasing his greatest hits in a new orchestral tour. Since his career began in 1962, Raphael’s distinctive voice and performance style have made him an iconic figure amongst Spanish performers. 50m sales of compilation album Ayer, Hoy y Siempre saw record company Hispavox award him a ‘uranium’ disc for the achievement. Having performed in most of the world’s leading venues over nearly 60 years, he is still a very popular live performer. His current RESinphónico tour began in December 2018 and is booked to continue into 2020, with shows at major venues in Spain, Russia,
South Africa - Wireless LED lighting manufacturer Astera has announced DWR Distribution as its exclusive distributor in South Africa. It is understood that the agreement will include other southern and central African countries. DWR is headquartered in Johannesburg and has bases in Cape Town and Durban as well as extensive contacts across southern and central Africa. The company is headed by Duncan Riley, Robert Izzett and Bruce Riley and supplies an array of brands and products and equipment for the entertainment and architectural sectors which includes lighting, audio, AV and staging. “I am hugely excited,” comments Astera’s sales and marketing director, Sebastian Bückle. “I think the African and South African markets are vibrant and full of potential and I have heard so many great things from around the industry about DWR and their incredible custome
USA - Dustin Klein has the philosophy that the primary goal of a lighting designer is to bring music to life by creating a visual space for the band. For his recent work on Papadosio’s second annual Summer Sequence at the Pisgah Brewing Company, part of creating this space relied on weaving the lighting around the band’s music to tell a visual story. Klein relied on a variety of Chauvet DJ fixtures to transport the audience to another dimension, one ruled by the genre-bending music of the band. Placing six Chauvet DJ Intimidator Wash Zoom 450 IRC fixtures on the upstage truss facing outward allowed for an even spread of wash that created depth and shaping on stage. “I ran the Intimidator 450s in their highest channel mode, in order to chase the individual pixels and tie together the different sections of the light in full rig color wipes and
USA - Kelly Clarkson, the singer-songwriter who rose to fame after winning the 2002 American Idol, has recently been a regular coach on The Voice and is set to host The Kelly Clarkson Show in September. She also hit the road earlier this year to play venues across the US on her first tour in nearly four years. Lighting design for the Meaning of Life outing was by Roy Bennett, who employed an overhead grid of 120 Elation DARTZ 360 LED fixtures to accentuate nearly all aspects of the highly entertaining show. Key design elements of the set included a VIP bar that surrounded the B-stage to enhance the party environment, and a large upstage video screen that displayed a variety of content including heavy amounts of I-Mag. The DARTZ, housed in 10 overhead lines of truss, 12 fixtures per truss, complemented both in Bennett’s cohesive design. "Th
