Show Designer and Director Martin Hruska created a performance space for Slovak rap group Kontrafakt for their “New Era” concerts at Prague’s O2 Arena in the Czech capital, this was achieved with the assistance of nearly 200 Robe moving lights. The Robe fixtures included a mix of 51 FORTES, 24 MegaPointes, 57 Pointes, 44 Tetra2 LED moving battens and 10 Tetra1s and three BMFL FollowSpots, supplied by leading Slovakian company Ministry Rental. Lighting was programmed and run for the show by Lighting Designer Lukáš Patzenhauer. Hruska had a blank and proposed a multi-layered stage set with a ground-based section that…
Author: Alicia Pollitt
Following the launch of the new TT+ AUDIO brand, the Division put the fully integrated systems through their paces in front of UK rental companies, tour managers, sound engineers and system designers. Two open days at the Gateshead Glasshouse for northern professionals, followed by the Millennium Studios, Bedfordshire for those in the south saw a number of rental companies in attendance. Dean Davoile, head of RCF UK, noted: “Aside from its remarkable sonic qualities, it was the high-speed deployment, enabled by the complementary accessory package, with easy transportation, handling, and cabling that really stood out”, he noted. Both the GTX10…
Gary Beestone, Technical Director for Netflix and Sonia Friedman Productions’ Stranger Things: The First Shadow recently chose Unusual Rigging to bring the production to the stage from the small screen. “Bringing Stranger Things to the stage is incredibly ambitious and challenging,” explained Beestone. “The Unusual team and I are old friends, having worked on some pretty major events and productions over the years. I knew they were really the only sensible choice for this show and so engaged them to design, engineer, fabricate and install all rigging including specialist custom rigging for the production.” With the original story by the…
The Power of Events has announced the launch of a new Careers Hub on its platform, coinciding with the organisation’s one-year anniversary. The Careers Hub is a resource on the main platform, designed to help guide people already in the industry or those looking to join the industry through various career opportunities. For people looking to change roles, those looking to start their careers and those interested in events currently working in other industries, the hub is packed with information and links to advice, insight, and support. It includes links to some of the key support partners that have helped…
Introducing COBALT, the first of several new products to be launched by Midas Consoles. COBALT is a high-channel count, pocket-sized USB3 audio protocol converter. Consolidating Midas’ position of creation and leadership in the live industry, COBALT debuted at the recent ISE 2024 trade show, COBALT won in this year’s Best of Show awards at ISE 2024 in the Mix category. COBALT allows users to record and virtual soundcheck up to 192 channels all through a single Neutrik locking USB C connection, directly into PC or Mac. The built-in Sample Rate Converters further elevate COBALT’s capabilities, enabling operation at either 48kHz or…
MIDAS has launched its HD96-AIR, an addition to the Heritage-D series. Midas HD96-AIR is equipped with a capability of up to 144 simultaneous input channels and a 96kHz sample rate, it houses 123 time-aligned and phase-coherent mix buses, which provides sound engineers with control and precision as well as a fader bay companion (HD96-FB16), It has 8 XLR Inputs and Outputs featuring Midas microphone preamplifiers. Midas HD96-AIR debuted at this year’s ISE Trade show. The HD96-AIR has also achieved an award-winning status after it won this year’s Best of Show awards at ISE 2024 in the Mix category. The latest…
RH Consulting (RHC) has been counting networked audio products and licensees since 2013 to chart the adoption and evolution of audio networking in the pro audio, AV and broadcast markets. The 2024 edition of this report on Networked Audio Products, which has meanwhile extended to cover also audio, video and control products, is available now and confirms the growing strength of AES67, RAVENNA and ST 2110 and the dominance of Dante and NDI standards. The 12th instalment of the report reveals a significant surge in overall adoption, with a total of 6,013 products from 602 brands. This analysis, building on…
Ed Warren lit The Lottery Winners’ recent homecoming show. Warren had two rows of daisy set pieces arranged across the stage with each having at its centre a CHAUVET Professional STRIKE 1, single source 230-watt warm white LED blinder. “The concept of the flowers came about from a creative meeting with the band,” said Warren. “They mentioned their logo/branding is daisies, so I had the idea of having some daisy set pieces built. The plan was that we would mount lights in the centre disc of the flowers. The Strike 1s seemed like the perfect solution since they provided natural-looking…
Chris ‘Rocketchris’ Glatthor recently accompanied Rea Garvey as a Production Designer he relied on the Cameo PIXBAR G2, AZOR and ZENIT Series, and others for the minimalist stage designs. According to the Production Designer, the Roots tour was something special in more ways than one: “It’s the first real tour in several years. What’s more, there is no new Rea Garvey album, hence the name ‘Roots’. We play in small clubs with capacities of around 600 to 1000 people, and the budget is manageable. Despite this situation, Rea wanted to take material with him to ensure that he could achieve…
Ice Cube recently made his long-awaited live return to the UK and Ireland, performing a run of six live shows with an L-Acoustics K Series rig supplied by Adlib. Promoter TEG Live Europe selected Adlib to provide full technical production for the six shows. It was the first time Adlib had worked with the artist, and to ensure the sound at these shows delivered a fittingly powerful punch, an L-Acoustics K Series rig was specified. Adlib deployed a system made up of two main hangs each side consisting of 12 K1 and up to 6 K2 down. A total of…
HOLOPLOT received a Best of Show Award in the AV Technology category for its X2 Matrix Array – a third consecutive win, with its X1 Matrix Array winning back-to-back in 2022 and 2023. The awards’ editorial team noted: “All winning companies in this year’s Best of Show awards should be immensely proud. We all experienced how busy ISE was this year with some of the highest attendances recorded in recent times; to stand out and be recognized as Best of Show is truly impressive and a testament to all the hard work companies put into their products and solutions.” Footfall…
Astera boosts its battery-powered PlutoFresnel LED luminaire with the launch of the new ProjectionLens. The ProjectionLens offers precision optics, zoom, accurate shutters for highlighting specific areas, plus gobos. The ProjectionLens is installed by sliding in and out of the luminaire. The integrated manual zoom has a range of 16° to 36° for projection and is adjusted by twisting the lens barrel like a camera zoom lens. Two focus wheels are included in the ProjectionLens to assist in producing gobo projection at any distance. One is for standard focus and the other enables a focus for close proximity surfaces. The E-Sized…
Celestion began the celebration of its centennial anniversary year at the 2024 Winter NAMM Show by being honoured with the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Milestone Award for 100 years of service in the music products industry. Presented by NAMM, the Milestone Award recognises music product businesses that have flourished through changing business environments to reach a noteworthy anniversary. Celestion is extremely grateful and humbled to be recognised by NAMM with the Milestone Award,” commented Nigel Wood, Managing Director at Celestion. “As a company, we started making loudspeakers 100 years ago, and all this time later, we’re making loudspeakers.…
Allen & Heath had a memorable presence at the 2024 NAMM Show. The company showcased its entire product range; from ZED analog series mixers to its dLive systems, and showed off some of its latest innovations; including the CQ series of compact digital mixers and the Avantis Solo, a more portable version of its popular 64-channel Avantis console. Allen & Heath sponsored the Worship Musician Pre-NAMM Hang: featuring performances by artists such as Doug Doppler, Bob Bennett, and Chris Rocha. Performances were mixed using a CQ-18T mixer, and a second CQ was on display for guests to explore. The Allen…
NEXO rental partner VDB-PA has deployed its STM system at the annual New Year’s party in Leuven, with a change in format for this year’s event. Last year the DJ tower was located in the centre of the Oude Market, presenting two separate crowd areas of 30m wide by 60m deep. This year, the tower was located centrally along the long side of the space, making an audience area of 120m wide and just 30m deep. “The challenge was to create a club vibe with a stereo sound stage for as many people as possible, regardless of where they were…
Supporting Callum Beattie with bold visuals was a light show by Steve Mccraken of Mac-Events, who programmed the show and ran it throughout the tour on his ChamSys MagicQ MQ500M Stadium Console. Working with a kit supplied by Limelight Event Services, Mccracken busked some manual flashes, strobes, and other looks, but most of his show was cue stacked. “We kept the looks consistent from show to show to create the experience that fans expected,” he said. “Although we had to make some changes to accommodate some venues, we remained consistent overall.” Mccraken created some effects mixing silhouettes with wide prisms…
Drawing acts from across the world, Kerstcircus Ahoy, served up performances that surprised anyone who entered Ahoy arena expecting to see typical circus fare. Supporting these performances was a lighting design by Ricky Bouckenhove of Live Systems that featured 70 CHAUVET Professional fixtures. From “Space Elements,” the human pyramid builders from Ukraine to RCC Aruba and their Caribbean-inspired springboard act, to the gravity-defying young Austrian Stefan Dvorak, this circus featured all-kinds of entertainment. Bouckenhove relied on a mainly blue and white colour palette to highlight its 12 different acts, which featured performers from 16 different nations. At the circus’ center…
Urban Audio Productions (UAP) has consistently delivered packages ranging from sound and lighting equipment rentals to full-service production. From supporting emerging bands in intimate venues with compact desks and IEM systems to providing complete touring packages for established acts, UAP span diverse locations and venues, relying on Shure wired and wireless products for audio consistency. UAP provides audio solutions across industries, from high-profile corporate projects such as the TED global conferences to some of the most prolific songwriters, including providing full touring audio solutions for artists such as Ian Brown, Steve Vai, Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott. Since 2011, Dan…
