With a long history of providing unrivalled audiovisual solutions to a multitude of large-scale live events for BBC Studios, Creative Technology is extremely proud to have delivered the main LED screens and projection mapping of Windsor Castle for the Coronation Concert of King Charles III. “It is always a huge honour to work on such high-profile live events, from the 75th commemoration of VJ Day, to the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. It is incredible to see not only the public’s overwhelming response but also the entire live events industry showing such high praise and support for the people behind the…
Author: James Robertson
GLP (German Light Products) can reflect with complete satisfaction on the recent Prolight + Sound Show in Frankfurt. Both the quality and quantity of visitors – as was the case last year – were impressive, and despite prophecies of doom, it was particularly gratifying to note that 51% of visitors were international. Stefan Wagner, GLP sales director EMEA, attributes its success, especially with regard to international customers, to the company’s high level of commitment in the run-up to the fair. “We invited global customers on a widespread basis,” he explains, “with the result that we received an unexpected number of…
Techno-based Rotterdam Rave runs 9-10 underground rave events a year which draw in excess of 50,000 visitors. Originally located in old industrial buildings, the sold-out events have grown rapidly in size, and the organisation recently adopted the 8000-capacity RTM Stage at Rotterdam Ahoy as the newest addition to the Rotterdam Rave territory. As a purpose-built venue, the RTM Stage needed to prove its worth as a genuine ‘rave cave’ with plenty of underground vibes. Helping bring about this transformation at the Rotterdam Rave Kick-Off 2023 event in February was Peitsman Licht en Geluid which supplied two MDG ATMe haze generators…
KlingNet3 is a new hugely flexible, cloud-compatible, lighting and visual control protocol for the future developed by InMusic Brand’s ArKaos for the entertainment industry. It takes flexibility, user-friendliness, feedback, and ultimate control to next-gen levels. The whole ArKaos stand at the Prolight+Sound expo, featuring 50 fixtures, was running on a KlingNet3 network via MediaMaster control to demonstrate the stability and robustness of the system. KlingNet3 (patent pending) enables control of ALL parameters of a lighting fixture – and so much more – and is a viable alternative to DMX. ArKaos’ KlingNet2 has been a massive success over the last 12…
British rock band Muse recently finished the North American leg of their Will of the People tour named for the band’s ninth studio album that’s packed with UK and Billboard chart toppers. Lighting Designer Sooner Routhier of Sooner Rae Creative, who served as Co-production Designer with tour Creative Director Jesse Lee Stout, chose Ayrton Perseo and Domino LT fixtures as stage lights and spots. ACT Entertainment is the exclusive distributor of Ayrton lighting in North America. “I love the reliability of the fixtures and that they are rated IP65,” said Routhier. “With Muse heading to Europe for a summer stadium…
Florence + The Machine’s world tour, which began late summer 2022 in North America and subsequently spanned shows as far afield as Melbourne and London, will again prove that distance is no barrier as the festival season looms, with imminent outdoor events in Brazil and Europe. Masterminded by a largely new creative team, the lighting is based on an original concept from the highly imaginative Andi Watson, complementing Es Devlin’s set design. However, one long-term Florence collaborator is the show’s lighting director, Sam O’Riordan. Upstaging supplied a cutting-edge inventory which included large quantities of GLP JDC1 hybrid strobes, some impression…
Tablo, DJ Tukutz and Mithra Jin, the trio that make up South Korean hip-hop trio, Epik High don’t just connect to audiences through their music and onstage charisma, they also welcome fans into their world, by sharing heartfelt stories and experiences. The crowd eagerly accepts the invitation with their warm, enthusiastic (and often loud) response their heroes. “My biggest challenge was protecting my ears from the sound of the fans around me,” laughed Aaron Sweatt, the LD and main programmer on the trio’s recently concluded global All Time High tour, which featured a lighting design by Julien Reux. “The emotional…
Robert Juliat (RJ) has announced the appointment of PSI Production as its new exclusive distributor for the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. PSI Production was established in 1996 to provide high-quality technical solutions to the corporate, arts and entertainment industry. Its dedicated lighting department specialises in all aspects of lighting from theatrical, architectural, live concerts and festivals, to television, conferences and special events. PSI also has an excellent in-house lighting design team, and a network of talented LDs at its disposal. The company will be responsible for promoting and supporting the entire range of Robert Juliat lighting products. With…
Sound Technology has been appointed as the exclusive distribution partner for LC Innovation’s Macula follow-spot system in the UK. For applications where a remote-controlled follow-spot system is required, the Macula system offers unprecedented performance thanks to its incredibly high-resolution fluid head and simple yet powerful software control. The Macula system is not tied to any brand of lighting fixture, offering wide compatibility with intelligent moving heads from a number of manufacturers, including the Martin MAC Ultra Performance, Ultra Wash & ERA 600, Jb-lighting P18 & M18. Robe, Ayrton, Cameo, Clay Paky, High End Systems and more. As a standalone system,…
Every concert tour undertaken by the former Pink Floyd man extends his reputation for presenting rock ‘n roll on a scale that few contemporary artists can emulate, while delivering his own unique take on politics, world affairs and the human condition. Every performance is a visceral multi-media experience and his current This Is Not A Drill tour, his seventh as a solo artist, is no exception. Delayed, as so many were, by the global pandemic, the tour eventually got underway in July 2022 and is scheduled to wrap in June 2023 at the AO Arena in Manchester. By that point…
The L-Acosutics L Series was launched in April at a private event at the Hollywood Bowl, and in Europe at the Prolight + Sound trade fair in Frankfurt. Six leading L-Acoustics certified partners around the globe, including Dushow in Europe, will deploy the new technology as part of a pilot phase through October 2023. Since the beginning, Dushow has always been a forerunner in research and development and innovation. Today, the adventure continues as Dushow works in collaboration with L-Acoustics to introduce L Series in Europe. This new sound system will be tested in France in the coming months. These…
To ensure a visually stunning experience for gamers and fans alike, Lighting Designers Mathew Stovall, Tiffany Keys, Pete Thornbury and Michael Appel worked together to provide the League of Legends World Championship Finals with an impressive lighting rig featuring an array of Martin professional lighting solutions, supplied by Christie Lites, with MAC Aura PXL playing a key role. League of Legends is a team-based multiplayer online battle arena video game by developer and publisher Riot Games. Founded in 2011, the League of Legends World Championship is the annual tournament to decide the best team in the world each year, and…
On 6 May 2023, the world turned its eyes to Westminster Abbey. The coronation of King Charles III was held here in front of 2,300 invited guests. One day later, more than 20,000 visitors attended another Royal highlight: in front of the magnificent scenery of Windsor Castle, the official Coronation Concert took place with live performances by global stars such as Katy Perry, Take That and Lionel Richie as well as an emotional speech by Prince William. To light up this unique event, which was produced and broadcast live by the BBC, lighting designer Nigel Catmur relied on more than…
Backup is set to bring together over 300 live event industry fellows for its annual summer fund raiser – Kartfest -The Village Fete on 6 July 2023. “Building on eight years of successful Kartfests we’re adding an extra layer of theming to this year’s event and incorporating the traditional British village fete,” says Backup Trustee and Kartfest organiser, Lee Dennison. “This now provides the day out we have been looking to create for the live events industry with the karting becoming part of the day rather than the focus. We will be delivering a host of other attractions and areas…
An ADJ heavy lighting rig incorporating Focus Profile moving head and Jolt Panel FX static LED luminaires, amongst other fixtures, was used to illuminate a recent sold-out concert by Easton Corbin at Yucaipa Performing Arts Center in California. Lighting Designer Tommy Frisch utilised the ADJ fixtures both to light Corbin and his band as well as to fill the stage with vibrant colour, movement and pattern projections, creating a wide variety of looks for a performance that included a mixture of big hits and brand new music. Having sold over 500,000 albums and 5 million singles since his eponymous debut…
FOH Engineer Lloyd Williams (Against the Current, The Fray, Trixie Mattel) has chosen the Waves eMotion LV1 Live Mixer and Waves plugins for the 2023 UK/EU tour of the American pop/alternative act PVRIS, formed by multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and producer Lyndsey Gunnulfsen (aka Lynn Gunn). Williams comments on choosing the eMotion LV1, for live mixing the tour: “I had been using the eMotion LV1 since 2021 on headline, support tours, festivals and one-offs with the band Against the Current. When the opportunity to work with PVRIS came around, my immediate choice was to bring in the LV1. I worked from…
Over the summer of 2022, Santana, together with Earth, Wind & Fire, got enthusiastic fans singing and dancing throughout North American arenas during their Miraculous Supernatural tour. Kevin Madigan, Santana’s FOH engineer made sure the sound would be top-notch by employing two Austrian Audio OC818 large-diaphragm condenser microphones to record Carlos’s guitar and one OC707 true condenser vocal microphone for his vocals. “We needed something to reproduce that guitar tone everybody knows, and to handle high SPL show after show,” said Madigan. “The mics worked out great throughout the year on the Santana tour and residencies, and we’ll be using…
Wireless LED lighting specialist Astera enjoyed a busy and successful 2023 Prolight + Sound expo over four days at the Frankfurt Messe, complete with a brand-new booth design and lighting concept that highlighted their current range of handy and ingenious ‘must-have’ lighting solutions for live events and broadcast applications. Astera’s sales & marketing director Sebastian Bückle and the team were energized to be back at the show and prominent in Hall 12.1 at this major European entertainment industry hub … where they enjoyed the buzz of an international audience visiting from all over Europe and much further afield. The large,…
