New Zealand - On Auckland Anniversary Weekend, on 27 Saturday January, Auckland Harbour Bridge was transformed by the launch of Vector Lights – featuring a renewable energy technology powered light show that ignited imaginations and demonstrated a smarter way to power the city. The cutting-edge installation is designed, managed, installed and programmed by internationally-acclaimed Mandylights, vividly demonstrating the new lighting capabilities and a smarter way to power Auckland as part of a 10-year smart energy partnership between Vector Limited and Auckland Council. The audio-visual performance is made up of three chapters – the first references Tama-Nui te Ra (the sun), the original source of energy, and the second Hikohiko (electrical energy) representing it as energy and technology, and the final Hei te Ao Marama (the future world of light) as an acknowledge
UAE - When it comes to luxurious glamour, expectations in the UAE city of Dubai couldn’t be higher. For any club catering to a high-end clientele, regular refreshes are an essential part of remaining vital to the late-night scene. It was with this in mind that nightclub and lounge, VII - located, appropriately enough, on the seventh floor of the Conrad Dubai hotel - recently undertook a complete overhaul, introducing a fresh look and a new Funktion-One sound system, supplied and installed by Em-Tec. Club owner Rocky Bhatia first met Em-Tec’s Andy Williams and Alex Bracken at the Formula One Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi. Impressed by the Funktion-One sound system they were using there, he asked the pair to visit VII and devise a set-up capable of delivering that same sonic quality. The initial brief was for a very high-end club/lounge space, but as the concept evolved, t
UAE - The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) 46th National Day celebrations took place on 2 December 2017 with a series of events organised by the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism. The centre-piece was a spectacular, hour-long event, which took place in a custom-built, temporary stadium and featured an L-ISA immersive audio system, provided by Delta Dubai with engineering services supplied by Australian Emmy Award winning audio-visual design company, Auditoria. The Here is the Future event programme developed by event producers Done + Dusted UK featured a three-scene, 11-chapter spectacle showcasing a future that will benefit from innovations such as artificial intelligence, space sciences and renewable energy, all slated to enhance the living standards and happiness of the citizens and residents of the UAE. It was attended by the UAE royal families and leaders,
UK - New Zealand artist Lorde has just completed a world tour in support of her second album Melodrama. Kicking off in September in Manchester, she played a series of UK dates running into October, before moving on to Europe, ending in New Zealand and Australia in November. UK-rental company Adlib Audio supplied an L‑Acoustics K2 system for the duration of the UK and European dates, its scalability and light weight making it suitable for the varying venue sizes, as well as their weight loading restrictions. “We chose K2 because it has similar sonic qualities to L‑Acoustics K1, but in a smaller, lighter enclosure,” says Adlib system engineer Sam Proctor. “A lot of smaller venues have a strict weight allowance and K2 proved invaluable.” Sam notes that although there are similar sized systems that are the same approximate weight, they do not repro
Belgium - Not many musicians can claim to have the relentless creative output of Belgian artist Maarten Devoldere. When he's not performing and recording with his award-winning band, Baltazar, Devoldere pushes the musical envelope as the main singer songwriter of his own solo side-project, Warhaus. To mark the release of Warhaus' second album in October of this year, Devoldere brought in Belgian design masters Arf&Yes to craft a powerful yet minimal stage setup for a supporting European tour. Central to Arf&Yes' visual design were six Chauvet Professional Maverick MK2 Wash fixtures that are used to illuminate the stage’s central focal point, a custom-made embossed wall of pyramids. Serving as a backdrop to Devoldere and his band, the pyramid brings an aesthetic element to the stage. The vibrant colours and punchy wash effects of the Maverick MK2 fixtures, po
Italy - Public broadcaster RAI, a long-time user of Lawo products and solutions, has just taken delivery of 37 Lawo V__pro8 8 Channel Video Processing Toolkits. The new Lawo equipment will be employed in a nationwide technical upgrade and renovation of studios and OB vans located all over Italy. System integrator and Lawo partner ARET Video and Audio Engineering, headquartered in Milan, won the tender after participating in a test procedure which scrutinized prominent brands’ ability to process video in broadcast environments. Alessandro Asti, ARET’s VP of sales comments: “The unique features and flexibility of V__pro8 – its ability to synchronise, convert, embed / de-embed and apply delay to both audio and video, as well as monitoring eight inputs at once – received the maximum technical marks in the tender. Thanks to the outstanding performance of the V__Pr
UK - Light artist Philippe Morvan and programmer Émilien Guesnard relied on the power and feature set of Avolites' Titan Mobile console to realise one of the highlight installations of this year's Lumiere London Festival, which took place in January. Morvan's DOT installation, which was located at St Pancras Square in London's Kings Cross, was the latest in a series of light installations by the French designer, whose work has been seen across the world. Characterised by the synchronisation of light and music, Morvan's designs engage the viewer with geometric, abstract patterns and pulses of movement. As with all Morvan's creations, DOT's deceptively simple result masked a complex creative process, helped in no small measure by Avolites' Titan Mobile. "It was a long process," confirms Morvan. "I wanted to create something organic, smooth and
Belgium - Luc Peumans of Genk-based international design practice Painting with Light designed the lighting The Little Mermaid as it was staged in Belgium for the first time. Lighting equipment was delivered by Benelux rental company Phlippo Showlights together with audio and rigging. The RoboSpot system was tech’d by Ilse Witlox, also the lead operator, who is an expert in the somewhat ‘black art’ of follow spotting. Precise follow-spotting was absolutely crucial to a complex and visually rich production like this. The 11 x BMFL Blades complete with 11 RoboSpot MotionCameras were positioned on a front truss, an advanced truss and on two side trusses. Six on the front truss were positioned as three on the left and three on the right; the three on the advanced truss (‘behind’ the front truss and above the audience) were in the left, right and cen
UK - Stylus Productions recently provided Martin Audio’s MLA loudspeaker array as the preferred sound reinforcement for American rock band Good Charlotte on their UK tour. The service company already owned the control/stage packages for the band and for the PA they turned to Martin Audio partners, RG Jones Sound Engineering and Capital Sound, working closely with Simon Honywill in system development and optimisation. They also supplied infrastructure and production management service for the tour. MLA rigs went into Glasgow Barrowlands, Southampton Guildhall and Brixton Academy, and the PA appeared in various configurations, and with different optimisations to suit the venue - but included MLA/MLX plus MLA Compact and MLA Minis, with DD12s for fills. Stylus Productions MD, Sam Thomas, confirmed that the decision to spec MLA was collaborative, but had not bee
USA - Each year, Inc. Magazine publishes its list of the 5000 fastest-growing publicly held small companies in the U.S. and follows the announcement with a black-tie awards ceremony at the Inc. 5000 Conference & Gala. To land on Inc’s list is not only public recognition that a company is on a successful track, it also serves as a source of pride for up-and-coming companies. The Inc. 5000 Conference & Gala gathering brings some of the nation's most successful business minds together to celebrate the companies that appear on the prestigious ranking. The 10th anniversary edition of the conference was held 10-12 October at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort in Palm Springs, California, with the black tie awards ceremony capping the three-day event on the final night. J. Thor Productions, a growing live event production company based near Tampa,
USA - Optocore has been providing professional digital transport systems for high channel counts of audio, video and data for more the 25 years. The Digico SD series of consoles have been using the Optocore fibre network as their digital fibre transport system since their release because of the redundant and reliable performance of the network. The Optocore platform is easily programmed and connected using redundant fibre connections and allows for near instantaneous transmission of audio, control and data without any loss or electrical interference. This makes Optocore enabled consoles an appealing choice for audio technicians that need to transport a large amount of audio, maintain great quality audio and not worry about IT integration or IP addresses. An additional benefit to using the Optocore fibre network with SD consoles is the ability of using any Optocore R-
USA - Garth Brooks celebrated a new ticket sales record after three years touring North America with his wife, Trisha Yearwood, and his trusted sound system designed by Clair Brothers. The exacting standards by which Garth works and his genuine thoughtfulness, from his song-writing and studio recording, to the level of planning, production quality, gear and pros he takes out on the road with him, set the stage for success. Preparation for this tour began in 2014 when Garth commissioned a custom-made sound system design from Clair Brothers. Six months of research and system development engineering were required to meet the vision conceptualized by Brooks and his production team. This vision garnered Garth and his team a 2018 TEC Award nomination for Outstanding Creative Achievement for Tour/Event Sound Production. His main touring PA consists of a combination of
Sweden - With music and the spoken word at the heart of the modern worship service, any renovation of a church sanctuary calls for a critical appraisal of the performance of the fixed audio system. In the Bethlehem Church in Gothenburg, Sweden, just such a renovation resulted in the installation of a new Nexo Geo M6 compact line array, after careful analysis of the church room’s acoustics and a shoot-out between manufacturers’ solutions. Tech 4 Event AB has specialised in church installations over recent years and was called in to assess the needs of the Bethlehem church, and its 800-strong congregation. Björn Carlsson, the CEO of Tech 4 Events, and his colleagues looked at a number of different sound reinforcement systems for the installation, considering the aesthetic appearance of the audio solution as well as its sonic performance. The church called for a dem
New Zealand - Jands NZ recently installed a networked audio system by Harman Professional Solutions at the Australian High Commission facility in Wellington. The Australian High Commission (AHC) acts as the Australian government’s official agency in New Zealand. In addition to providing a range of diplomatic services to the public, including passport, immigration, citizenship and cultural relations, the AHC also represents Australia’s interests to government and business organizations in New Zealand. A dedicated event space in the facility allows the AHC to host numerous events and meetings throughout the year. The AHC event space consists of four individual rooms that can accommodate multiple events simultaneously or be combined for large events. In order to ensure maximum intelligibility, versatility and ease-of-use during a wide range of events, the AHC hired
France - The artistic adventure of the Grand T in Nantes began in 1983 with the inauguration of the Espace 44, an 879-seat theatre designed by architect Claude Jeffroy and scenographer Igor Hilbert. The venue gained a strong reputation under the aegis of Jean-Luc Tardieu, the Grand T artistic director from 1985 to 1998, who directed many shows starring iconic actors such as Jean Marais, Edwige Feuillère and Anouk Aimé. Catherine Blondeau is the director of the theatre since 2011. Designed on the principle of an insulated staging area, Le Grand T stands out due to the short distance between the stage and the last row, creating an intimate feeling between the actors and the audience. To enhance this proximity, Le Grand T recently decided to upgrade the entire front-fill sound system. French integrator, Sonowest, trusted loudspeaker manufacturer APG and its new Uniline Compa
USA - Seminal horror punk rock band and at The Forum in Los Angeles with a pair of high-octane shows guaranteed to please fans of the iconic musicians. Lighting designer/Director Jason Cain selected Claypaky Mythos2 and Sharpy Wash fixtures for the back-to-back arena shows. “The Misfits are the reason we have Metallica, Guns N’ Roses and Rob Zombie,” says Cain, who is also an account representative at Gemini LSV (Light Sound Video) in Dallas, which provided the lights. For the shows featuring long-time band members Glenn Danzig, Jerry Only and Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein, Cain wanted lights that delivered “a lot of output, were quick and able to strobe saturated colours. Both the Mythos2 and Sharpy Washes delivered that: They were pretty raw and powerful.” The Misfits’ stage was outfitted with a 40x20ft 6mm LED videowall, a pair of 13ft tall prop
USA - Broadcast live on 28 January, the 60th Annual Grammy Awards delivered all the excitement and drama audiences have come to expect from the music industry’s marquee event. Several of the biggest artists in the industry, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year winner Bruno Mars, made use of 20 channels of Sennheiser’s digital wireless technology and four channels of its analogue wireless technology. Kendrick Lamar kicked off the show with a powerful performance of his song XXX from his Album of the Year nominated record DAMN. Lamar used a Sennheiser Digital 6000 wireless system featuring an SKM 9000 transmitter and MD 9235 capsule for transmission of his riveting rhymes. He would take home five Grammy Awards on the evening. Lady Gaga took the stage next, performing sensitive, piano-focused renditions of both the title track from
UK - Following the success of their last show A Christmas Carol, Voice of the Show were back in 2017 with The Adventures of Pinocchio. Based on the original book by Carlo Collodi, David Mansell directed and adapted the tale into a magical family performance which follows the naughty puppet on his many adventures and begins on Christmas Eve in toy maker, Geppetto’s workshop (played by Guy Siner). The Little Theatre by the Park in Chesham played home to the dark family fable for 19 shows throughout December, boasting West End-worthy lighting designs and a small but talented cast. At the heart of the lighting rig were four Chauvet DJ Intimidator hybrids, six Chauvet Professional Q-Wash 436Zs, four Rogue R2 Spots and eight ETC Source 4 Junior fixtures that were evenly positioned around the circular stage. Both Rogue R2 Spots and Intimidator hybrids were c
USA - The 2018 Bounce Trumpet Awards were held on 20 January at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre with a lighting package supplied by Bandit Lites. 2018 honourees were Jermaine Dupri, Richelieu Dennis, Tamika Mallory, Marley Dias, Dr. Lonnie Johnson, Rhyon Brown and Cameo. The evening featured performances from Arrested Development, Michel’le and Major along with a musical tribute to So So Def Recordings founder and honoree Jermaine Dupri which included performances from Anthony Hamilton, Bow Wow, Xscape and a surprise appearance by Ludacris. Using over 180 fixtures from Bandit Lites, lighting designer Bob Peterson crafted looks that would translate both for those in attendance at the live awards and for those who would be watching at home. HES SolaSpot 2000 Framings provided reconfigurable, automated key lights from the rail and first electric, while Rob
USA - Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Conquest, which cruises to the Bahamas, Bermuda, and the Caribbean, recently upgraded its sound reinforcement capabilities for its poolside LED screen. After carefully considering options from several well-known loudspeaker manufacturers, the company ultimately selected loudspeakers from the WR Series catalogue of D.A.S. Audio. North Miami, FL headquartered Control AV, an AV system design / build firm that specialises in entertainment technology projects for cruise ships and other specialist applications, was contracted to design and deploy the new sound reinforcement setup for the ship’s outdoor theatre. Ultimately, the firm installed 16 D.A.S. WR-320FXW installation line arrays and four WR-S218FXW subwoofers. Amir El Yordi, President of Control AV LLC, discussed the job and his reasons for selecting D.A.S. Audio equipment.
France - Sound engineer and designer Alain Roy, head of rental company Espace Concept, is one of the most respected names on France’s professional audio scene. A recent classical concert in eastern France gave him the opportunity to examine the Nexo STM Series modular line array as part of his new conceptual approach to immersive sound. The event, staged at the Axone Arena in Montebeliard near the Swiss border, featured 80 musicians of the Orchestre Victor Hugo Franche Comté, who were joined by a blues band for the second half of the concert. For the main PA, the Besançon-based rental team of Espace Concept set up a L/R system with (per side) 12x M28 main and six B112 bass modules from Nexo’s modular STM Series. In this application, Roy’s system design exploited the sound quality of the 12” drivers in the B112s, rather than increasing the number of double 8
USA - Music is important to the mission of Believers Church. So much so, that this 2,100-member non-denominational house of worship in northeastern Ohio has its own bands and combos, including the aptly named BC Band. It also welcomes an impressive array of guest performers to its services and events. Supporting the music at the church’s newly remodelled Youth Room with immersive live venue-style lighting is a collection of Chauvet Professional Rogue and Ovation fixtures supplied by Goliath Lighting. “Our youth services have a lot of very expressive high-energy songs,” said Cory Clement, the church’s technical director, who oversaw the lighting upgrade. “Being able to reflect this music with colour changes, zooms and effects from 19 moving fixtures really provides an engaging and enriching experience. Previously, we had no movers in our Youth Room, so the differenc
Europe - The MSC Meraviglia is a new-generation mega-ship and the first of a new fleet of high-tech cruise ships that MSC Cruises is launching over the next decade. Built by STX France at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard, the 5,700-passenger capacity cruiser is outfitted with the latest in cutting-edge technology, including a large energy-efficient Elation Professional LED lighting package used in the ship’s entertainment and relaxation areas. For several years, Audio Effetti S.r.l. of Genova, Italy, has collaborated closely with both the technical department of MSC Cruises and the renowned engineering design studio CM by Claudio Mazzucchelli. The latter was commissioned by MSC to define and optimise the technical equipment on board. “We have worked with MSC for years as a partner in the research and supply of the most suitable solutions and products to meet the st
USA - Rockrose Development recently began work on the renovation of their property at 300 Park Avenue. Located in the prestigious Park Avenue submarket in Manhattan, the project renovation was to include the creation of a completely new rooftop, outdoor living experience. Wanting a dynamic visual display to be the focal point of the design, Rockrose Development called upon the team at VJVIT who installed an IP-65 rated FLEXStorm LED video display from PixelFLEX. “We have done other technology related work Rockrose Development in the past, but this was our first time creating an outdoor LED video display,” began Victor Perez, VJVIT COO. “The property had a high-end client moving into the top two floors of the building, and they wanted to create an exciting rooftop deck for them as well. As part of the build-out, the elevator was to be extended to open onto the roof
