France - APG’s versatile Uniline series lent its power and precision to the 20th anniversary edition of Raismes Fest, which is held every year in the town of Raismes near Valenciennes, in the North of France. The event has been organised by the Raismoise Association of Culture since 1998 and returned once again to the park of the Château de la Princesse d'Arenberg for another weekend of hard rock and metal. This year saw a variety of international acts such as Rose Tattoo, L.A. Guns and prog metal supergroup Sons Of Apollo bring a wall of noise to the festival’s dedicated fanbase. Established French rental supplier ACS Sonorisation has provided the festival’s full AVL and trussing package for the last 10 years - and enjoys a relationship with APG that spans 20. Whilst the audio requirements for Raismes Fest tend to stay the year-on-year; with the number o
UAE - The International Defence Exhibition & Conference (IDEX) opening ceremony took place in a 60m x 350m custom stage set built over a car park overlooked by a grandstand in Abu Dhabi. Protec delivered everything from the initial creative concept and narrative to the original set design, graphics, build, complete show delivery and coordination completely transporting the audience to an active ‘war zone’ where the story takes place. Engaged for the fourth consecutive time to create and produce this grand opening ceremony for IDEX, Protec pulled out all the stops to ensure that the 14th edition of IDEX was one to remember. The show began with a mix of local heritage performances followed by local and international military parades to welcome the crowd before the main part of the show. The scene was set for a battle enactment of a fictitious scenario where an el
UAE - MediaPro International LLC recently provided full technical production in Dubai for The Assembly: a Global Teacher Prize Concert, including lighting, audio, processing, backline and control. The event, which was held at the 15,000-capacity Dubai Media City Ampthitheatre, featured Little Mix, Rita Ora and Liam Payne, with Hugh Jackman as a special guest (along with Loren Allred). Lighting designer Marno Snyman specified a large number of PR Lighting fixtures in his complex rig, including 42 Phantom 440 and 16 PR XLED 3019. All were taken from the large MediaPro inventory that includes around 100 x PR Phantom 440; 60 x PR XR330 Beam; 60 x PR XLED 3019 and 30 x PR 4022. Explaining his choice Snyman, who doubled as the event’s lighting programmer and operator, said, “I chose them specifically for their features. Phantom 440 is a true hybrid, producing stron
UK - Old Barn Audio (OBA) has completed a large sound installation in a Cheltenham hotel complex, using a Martin Audio CDD solution. No 131 Hotel complex is owned and operated by The Lucky Onion Group, owned by Superdry founder Julian Dunkerton, and the extensive work was carried out in three separate stages. Situated on Cheltenham’s Promenade, the hotel itself is a classical Georgian townhouse. According to OBA director and project manager, Phil Clark, “The facility already had an effective sound system installed within the hotel, but the client wanted some weather resistant speakers situated outside the front of property.” His solution was to specify four Martin Audio CDD8-WR, the manufacturer’s weatherised version of the hugely popular CDD Coaxial Differential Dispersion range. At the same time, the former Crazy 8’s Bar - originally fitted by OBA in Septe
USA - When The Commodores appeared at the 39th annual Ostrich Festival in Chandler, AZ, outside Phoenix in March, they didn’t disappoint, treating the large, appreciative crowd to an upbeat, free-flowing show that celebrated the full range of their music. Providing visual support was a Creative BackStage-supplied lightshow that reflected the many facets of the group’s sound by running through a rainbow of colours. “The Commodores team relied quite a bit on changing colours at this festival, not just to convey the festive mood of the event itself, but to change the atmosphere on stage in support of the music,” said John Garberson of Creative BackStage. “The Commodores’ LD did this for them, and we did the same for the other headliners, Flo Rida and Andy Grammer, as well as all the local bands. There was a lot of great music on stage, and we wanted to give each so
Australia - The biggest Transmission dance event to date – in terms of audience numbers and Robe moving lights – was staged at Sydney Showground in Australia, where thousands of fans absorbed the music of The Awakening plus visuals courtesy of lighting designer Bas Kemper and the Vision Impossible collective. Over 200 Robe moving lights - 78 x Pointes, 90 x MegaPointes, 10 x Spiiders, 20 x LEDBeam150s and 19 x BMFL Blades - on the rig ensured that this replicated the seminal moments of the Awakening cycle which started in the O2 Arena in Transmission’s ‘home’ city of Prague, Czech Republic last October and was another memorable visual extravaganza. Transmission’s originators, United Music, worked closely with local promoters Symbiotic, whose Janette Bishara and Richard McNeil understood the importance of recreating the defining spirit and esse
UK/USA - Rising British rock band Don Broco have finished a UK arena and club tour, and now head to the States. Dominating their stage production have been impression X4 Bar 20 LED battens from GLP, specified and programmed by Ben Inskip. Ben was asked to join the band’s team in 2017 when they announced a one-off show at Alexandra Palace to kick off their new album campaign, which at the time was the biggest full production show they had done. “Since then we have done shows of all shapes and sizes, but this arena tour was another big step up for them and a fitting end to the Technology album cycle,” says Ben. In keeping with the Technology name, the LD set out to give the shows a futuristic look throughout the cycle “using a lot of straight lines to create interesting shapes”. “The design evolved over many revisions to a point where I
UK - Colour Sound Experiment collaborated with lighting designer Miles Weaver as the lighting supplier for the intimate soul-y funk sounds of UK singer/ songwriter Nao, who has just completed the first UK and European leg of her Saturn tour following the release of her second album last autumn. The tour was project-managed for Colour Sound by Alex Ryan, who comments: “It’s the first time we’ve worked with Miles as a supplier and it was an excellent experience. His design was original and interesting, and it is always exciting to be involved with an LD and artist with a great future ahead.” Miles took a floor package on the tour, stepping up to a full rig for the London showcase at Brixton Academy. The floor package had to offer max versatility yet pack down into a trailer, so Miles chose 12 x Robe Spiider LED wash beams for this. He wanted to achi
Italy - There will be an opportunity to see and hear some of Italy’s leading DJs close up during Music Inside Rimini next month. They will discuss “the fascinating world of musical entertainment”. The event, dedicated to lighting, sound, visuals, integrated systems and broadcast, organised by Italian Exhibition Group takes place at the Rimini Expo Centre from 5-7 May. On Sunday 5 May, the DJ Zone, located in the expo’s Hall C6, will host a series of meetings such as Club Culture’s new venues, from clubs to festivals. The conference, promoted by MIR and SILB (Italian Dancehall Owners Syndicate) and organized by DOC Servizi, will attempt to explain the numerous facets of this trend. The guests will include organisers of events, such as the Nameless Music Festival, Ortigia Sound System Music Festival and Terraforma Festival. The session titled DJs and
Greece - Thessaloniki, Greece’s second largest city, has established itself as a leading entertainment centre in the eastern Mediterranean with a thriving nightclub scene, a highly regarded film festival, popular theatres and a seemingly never-ending schedule of live music concerts. Indicative of the city’s current entertainment panache was the winter concert series at the Pyli A Performance Stage. A highlight of the series was a concert by multi-platinum contemporary Laïkó singer Antonis Remos. Supporting the star’s passionate performance was a majestic George Porros-designed lightshow that immersed the audience with a stunning display of 144 overhead light tubes. Suspended over almost the entire stage and extending out over the audience stage left and stage right, the tubes created an impressive image. Constantly morphing into different configurations as di
Europe - Tears for Fears are back on the road in style, kicking off 2019 with a sold-out UK and European arena tour for which lighting designer Alex Reardon, from LA-based creative design practice Silent House, delivered the lighting scheme. Alex utilised 66 x Robe MegaPointe moving lights as a key element of the rig - among other fixtures - to imagine a memorable looking and flexible lightshow as the band delighted enthusiastic audiences - original and new - and fans with their diverse catalogue and multiple hits. He positioned the multipurpose MegaPointes everywhere in the rig. Thirty - 10 each - were rigged on three overhead trusses, some were positioned upstage behind a row of LED video pixel battens, there were three per side on the deck for low-level cross lighting and another six in the air each side for high-level effects. He described the MegaPointe as
The Netherlands - With a change of frequencies to Europe’s 4G network, one of the oldest and most respected universities in the Netherlands needed help updating its audio equipment system. Utrecht University was the setting for an ambitious three-year audio installation of Shure equipment, with ULX-D Digital Wireless systems being deployed across three main areas: Utrecht Science Park/De Uithof, the University Quarter in the city centre of Utrecht and the International Campus Utrecht (ICU). With more than 29,000 students, 5,500 faculty and staff and 100 buildings – including 45 buildings used for educational purposes and lecture halls – updating the audio equipment to a digital system that delivered superb audio clarity, along with flexibility and ease of use was essential. Award-winning integrator JNV, with support from AV specialist distribution company O
South Africa - Semi Soet is a new music venue which opened its door in Centurion in 2018. The owners turned to DWR Distribution for their audio and lighting requirements and the effective solution included Quest loudspeakers, a DiGiCo console and Robe lighting. Jaco Beukes from DWR recommended four Quest HPI110 Compact High-definition loudspeakers and two Quest HPI18BP Bandpass 18” Subwoofers as the main audio system. “We had to install a system that would offer quality, and it certainly helped that Quest comes at a reasonable price,” said Beukes. The audio installation also included two Quest QM450A Lightweight Active 12" loudspeakers for the monitor requirements. The centre-fill and out-fills comprise of two Quest HPI111 Compact Hight-definition speakers. To cater for the audio upstairs, three HP15 5” High Output Loudspeakers were added. Semi Soet deci
Poland - The first half of The Stand-Up Show 2019 Tour took in the largest indoor venues across 13 major Polish cities, playing to sold-out crowds in every location. Audio production was provided by Poznań-based Gigant Sound Letus who did the initial dates with their Outline GTO C-12 system before introducing their newly-acquired Superfly rig mid-tour. Jakub Mikołajczak fulfilled the dual role of system technician and FOH sound engineer on the tour. He commented, “My first contact with the Outline Superfly system was during the BAJM tour in 2018. I was truly impressed with how powerful and great-sounding the Superfly was. “We changed the C-12 system to Superfly more or less in the middle of the tour and to be perfectly honest, very little changed in the quality of the sound despite the much smaller physical size of system. Coverage, dynamics, and tonality
Spain - Twenty-four Astera AX1 Pixel Tubes were utilised for one of 20 site-specific lighting installations created by individual artists for the first UMBRA Light Festival in Vitoria-Gastiez, Spain. The vibrant and highly multicultural historical capital city and seat of government of the Basque Autonomous Community in Alava, northern Spain, came alive for three days, offering creatives, visitors and lighting enthusiasts from all over Spain, Europe and much further afield a chance to redefine the city and see it in some new, exciting and reimagined urban contexts. UMBRA was organised by ARGIA 3 Asociación Cultural and curated by a new collective comprising Rafael Gallego, the principal of Aureolighting, Joaquín Pérez-Goicoechea, founding partner of AGi Architects and stage lighting designer, light artist, and founder of Studio & Light Carlos Torrijos – three
Spain - The Bass Valley music academy is renowned for its first class music production facilities and has opened a ground floor nightclub called The Garage in Barcelona. The space was designed and built for sound lovers and Pioneer Pro Audio’s XY series was the chosen system. The Garage at the Bass Valley enjoys a four-point system with XY-3B three-way full range speakers either side of the stage, XY-2 mid-high speakers at the rear of the room and a trio of XY-218HS dual 18-inch horn-loaded subwoofers supplying powerful low-end. Using presets on the mixer, the club’s management can easily switch to a live gig configuration which uses only the boxes at the front. Local rental and installation company Moduspro Audiovisual Services was enlisted to find the answer. “We knew they wanted the best sound in town,” remembers CEO Jordi Buscà. “We were sure we could ac
Norway - Storstova Culture House is a 400-seat venue in Bryne, just south of Stavanger on Norway’s ruggedly beautiful west coast. Having first opened its doors in 1964, Storstova has hosted thousands of cinema shows and has been home to hundreds of performances of all types. When the time came to renew the sound system, owners Time Kommune turned to pro audio specialists, Norstage, who supplied and installed a complete EM Acoustics system based on the compact HALO-C line array system. “Our old PA had served us well, but it was a large, cumbersome system from the 80s,” explains Storstova’s operations manager and head of sound, Bård Ystanes. “It was still going strong, but it was time to replace it with something smaller and more modern that gave us better sight lines and more precise coverage.” Ystanes and his team looked at systems from most of the major
Belgium - For the recent incarnation of the infamous Nacht van de Schlagers, organisers decided upon a ’90s music theme marrying ’90s pop hits with performances from the biggest pop musicians and bands of the decade. Having provided production and set design for the Nacht van de Schlagers since its inception, Creative Rental Solutions was tasked once again with creating a memorable visual backdrop for 2018’s ’90s extravaganza. Aiding them in this endeavour was a collection of Chauvet Professional fixtures that included 12 Maverick MK2 Spot, 32 Rogue R2 Wash, 120 ÉPIX Strip Tour, 60 STRIKE P38, 6 MK2 Profiles, 22 Rogue RH1 Hybrids and 56 COLORdash PAR H12IP units. In order to reinforce this central focal point while adding to the grandeur of the stage setting, Thomas Vandekerkhove, CEO of CRS incorporated the ÉPIX fixtures within the architecture of the comple
UK - Martin Audio partner, Penguin Media Hire, recently provided production, including a Martin Audio WPC scalable resolution line array, for the main stage at the all-day Mutations Festival. The event took place at the 900-capacity Hansen Hall on the outskirts of Brighton, and was staged by promoters One Inch Badge and Small Pond. Describing the venue as “a hidden gem of a venue, crying out for a day of live music,” Dylan Thompson, system technician and technical project manager, Penguin Media Hire, reports that the WPC line array was arranged in three ground-stacked elements each side of the stage, with a pair of Martin Audio SX218 subwoofers per side. The system, along with five Martin Audio XD monitors, was powered by four iKON iK42 4-channel amplifiers. An Allen & Heath mixing desk was used at FOH and a comprehensive mic, stand and cables package was also provid
USA - Integration specialist MC2Solutions has completed the design and installation of a powerful new Community loudspeaker sound system for the World Overcomers Outreach Ministries Church in Memphis, Tennessee. The church’s impressive main sanctuary can seat a congregation of up to 4,000 and is built in the round. Carl Woodard II, the owner and designer of MC2Solutions, explained, “The system was required to provide very high quality speech and full-range music, with intelligibility being key. With such a large space, more akin to a theatre than a traditional church, we designed a system based on wide dispersion column line arrays with under-balcony fill, to ensure absolute coverage with no dead spots.” Woodard continued, “I chose Community based on previous experience and the new IV6 modular vertical array was the ideal solution. I prefer passive loudspeakers
Australia - Australia Day is celebrated and every year on 26 January when the nation celebrates in spectacular style. The flagship event is Australia Day Live held at Sydney Opera House and in 2019 it was bigger and better than ever. Australia’s musical stars, including Kate Cebrano, Jon Stevens and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, took to the stage in a concert, featuring dazzling firework displays and a maritime extravaganza. Australia Day Live in Sydney is produced by the NSW Government through the Australia Day Council of NSW and is supported by Big Picture. Big Picture is a part of the NEP Worldwide Network. This year, Big Picture supplied a turnkey technical solution of outside broadcast facilities, LED screens, event communications and network backbone which included a significant amount of Riedel equipment with 68 Riedel Artist Panels across OB tr
UK - The newly installed d&b audiotechnik permanent sound solution in London’s Royal Albert Hall made its public debut with last weekend’s Olivier Awards show (see LSi April). Driven by a vision to provide its audiences with life enriching, unforgettable experiences, the hall has installed the world’s largest single room audio system with over 450 individual loudspeakers from the d&b audiotechnik range. The Olivier Awards, celebrating British theatre, served as an appropriate showcase for the system’s coverage and flexibility, significantly enhancing the overall listening experience inside the auditorium. “Previously, our control over the audio experience was limited and often didn’t meet our high standards,” explains Oll
USA - A recent ballet production of C.S.Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at Pine Crest School, Boca Raton, Fl, featured a Clifford Spulock lighting design, anchored by a collection of Chauvet Professional Rogue fixtures. “Lighting the ballet opened me up to a lot of different opportunities to make choices and looks that would not normally be done in the stage version of this story,” said Spulock. “Happily, the director of the show, Kimberly Vlcek, has a great understanding of production and gave me a lot of freedom. Along with a strong score and great dancing, my lights really brought a lot of energy and emotion to the show. I really wanted to bring out the precision of the dancers when they were wolves or the Ice Witch, etcetera to help portray their characters more.” Spulock’s rig for the ballet, which was performed by Pine Crest Schoo
Germany - #reflection is an innovative laser performance presented by tarm Showlaser in Bochum, which is based on an array of static and computer-controlled, motorized mirror surfaces and diffraction gratings, multiplying the full-colour RGBYC laser sources and creating a spectacular scenography that “plays with shapes and colours, dance to selected sounds and create sculptures out of laser light, far from traditional laser stereotypes”. "Laser beam deflections via mirrors and diffraction gratings have been used for over 30 years, but so far only with small static tiles, usually in the format of 15 x 15cm. The use of motorised units and mirror surfaces of various dimensions and formats, however, opens up completely new design options for use at events and presentations of any kind,” says managing director Ralf Lottig. This performance can be experienced li
