Back in 2018, TPi and TPMEA were lucky enough to visit South Africa to witness Global Citizen: Mandela 100, with the likes of Beyoncé and JAY-Z taking to the stage all in the name of celebrating Nelson Mandela as well as raising awareness for the devastating poverty across the globe. It was a show that demonstrated the sheer scope and ambition that Global Citizen has for its live events. So, after a global pandemic and 18 months of inactivity for live events, it was no surprise that the organisation was going to come out of the gate swinging. The result:…
Author: Jacob Waite
With an extremely short lead time, the level of production for McFly’s latest UK tour was truly incredible. With staging elements that paid homage to the hard-working crew who have been on a forced hiatus for a year-and-a-half, to an enormous pink bear that appeared halfway through the show, the band were clearly looking to make an impression, welcoming fans back into the arena setting once again. While all eyes were on the stage as Tom, Danny, Dougie and Harry ripped through early ’00s classics such as Star Girl and All About You, TPi’s focus was at FOH with Lighting…
Could you tell us a little bit about Backup’s free Mental Health First Aider course? “Unusual Rigging has provided funds to enable up to 100 free places for training Mental Health First Aiders in memory of Alan ‘AJ’ Jacobi. It is, at the moment, for any freelancer who has been in the industry for five years. The MHFA-certified course, provided by Music Support, includes four, four-hour sessions with up to 10 participants looking at the various aspects of despair, addiction, burnout, anguish, irritable behaviour, physical exhaustion and avoidance. Once these are identified, it then needs training to open up conversations…
“The first time I came across Martin Audio was back in 1996 while studying at Keele University,” reminisced Martin Audio Managing Director, Dom Harter. Our conversation took place a month after the firm welcomed friends and employees to celebrate its 50th anniversary. During the celebration, guests were given a hardback book, which contains a detailed timeline of the company and celebrates its highlights through the years. The first page details David Martin’s founding principles of the company, which still ring true today – namely that the audience experience is the top priority. With the overarching goal of making speakers that…
Argentinean progressive house DJ Hernán Cattáneo looked back at the history of progressive house music in a live concept show called Future Memories at the Teatro Gran Rex in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 18-19 September. Lighting Designer and Director, Sergio Lacroix utilised 32 Claypaky Sharpy Plus fixtures to bring the past into the future for a show that represented much more than Cattáneo’s back catalogue. Classic progressive house music has been termed “a boundless adventure” which takes the listener on a journey to uncharted territory. The four-act “Future Memories” followed that path with Cattáneo and his colleagues creating unique visions…
EDM and electropop wunderkind Porter Robinson embarked on a two-month U.S. tour in late September that takes him from coast to coast and back again, promoting his long-awaited sophomore album, Nurture. FOH Engineer, Simon Thomas, was at the helm of a Solid State Logic Live L200 digital mixing console integrated into a fully Dante-networked setup that supports Robinson’s live vocal, keyboards and sample pad with playback tracks. “I’ve used SSL Live since 2014, when they started to come online,” said Thomas, a TPi Award-winning sound engineer whose touring clients over the past decade have included Halsey, Ariana Grande, Sara Bareilles,…
Innovation has been central to Matrox’s identity since its inception 45 years ago, and continual evolution has propelled Matrox through decades of technological and industry change. Its two divisions — Matrox Imaging and Matrox Video — enjoy a longevity that far outpaces many other major players in the pro AV/IT, broadcast, industrial imaging, and machine vision markets. Continued innovative product releases evince Matrox’s sustained market leadership; in 2021 alone, the company launched a highly anticipated IoT edge device, released new software tools that leverage deep learning capabilities, unveiled next-generation multi-4Kp60 encoders, and continues to advance work in remote production and…
Since the end of 2020, PRG, along with its subsidiary Cinegate, has been running the Virtual Production Studio-xR in Hamburg, a facility that specialises in digital events of all kinds. Across 360m² of pure studio space, company events, as well as film and music video shoots, advertisements, and livestream concerts such as Wacken World Wide, can be realised in a virtual environment. In order to be able to react quickly and flexibly to the complex requirements of virtual productions, PRG has turned to 40 GLP impression S350 Wash. PRG Head of Lighting Technologies, Matthias Allhoff explained: “While lighting and cameras…
CAST Software is looking to expand its global pool of field-based freelancers to help support and deliver an ever-expanding array of amazing events and experiences using BlackTrax. BlackTrax is a vision-based tracking system that connects with third-party applications, such as automated lights, media servers, Spatial Audio, and any other system that accepts the RTTrP open-source protocol. BlackTrax enables tracking, interactivity, and automation of all interacting parts of your production providing repeatability, flexibility and accuracy that would otherwise require immense amounts of manpower and attention to detail. BlackTrax is used in concerts, theatres, broadcast studios, at sporting events, onboard cruise ships,…
DiGiCo has disclosed its participation in the Avnu Alliance. This move to AVB networking and the Milan family, along with a keen focus on how best to integrate Milan into its range of digital mixing consoles, is an ambition the company is delighted is now underway. Milan has been developed through close cooperation between a number of manufacturers. It builds on a common networking technology to create a link between AV, IT and silicon industries. It is already being used in projects around the world and by manufacturers including Adamson, Biamp, d&b audiotechnik, L-Acoustics, Meyer Sound, Neutrik and RCF. “DiGiCo…
SJ Lighting created lighting production designs for four stages and the main stage VIP area at Miami Rolling Loud Festival which took place over three days at Miami Gardens’ Hard Rock Stadium, in Florida, offering 75,000 hip hop fans their first chance to see A$AP Rocky, Post Malone, Travis Scott, and more perform live for the first time since March 2020. Robe moving lights were integral to the lighting design. A total of 92 MegaPointes graced the main stage, while the Audiomack stage featured 66 MegaPointes and 36 BMFL Blades, supplied by 4Wall’s Miami office. An additional 22 Spiiders for…
CHAUVET Professional has introduced its first IP65 series of soft light LED panels, onAir IP, suited for indoor and outdoor projects. Available in three sizes, the onAir IP offers an effective broadcast lighting solution for a variety of setups, including close ups, as well as projects filmed in small to medium quarters. All three models in the onAir IP family have a 90+ CRI and equally impressive TM-30 score, as well as +/- Green adjustment, and onboard emulated red-shift control via CRMX wireless control and DMX. The largest of the three, the onAir IP Panel 2, is a 2×1 format…
Nashville-based singer/songwriter Emily Rowed bursts into ‘bloom’ in a new music video shot entirely in the disguise Extended Reality (xR) workflow, supported by disguise gx 2c media servers and rx II rendering nodes. Atlanta-based virtual production studio MEPTIK joined forces with video production company Gear Seven to shoot the music video at Arc Studios. Arc Studios features more than 8,000sq ft of studio space, including more than 500sq ft of PixelFLEX LED video wall surface integrated with Unreal Engine, and stYpe camera tracking, with the disguise xR workflow tying all systems together to deliver the stunning content on screen. Bloom…
For the rehearsals and the world premiere of the musical, The Sound of the Silk Road, at the Shanxi Grand Theatre in Xi’an, Panda Dream Quan Cultural Development supplied a comprehensive Clear-Com system with a combination of FreeSpeak II Digital Wireless Intercom, HelixNet Digital Network Partyline, LQ Series of IP Interfaces, Agent-IC Mobile App, and the newly released Station-IC Virtual Desktop Client. The Sound of the Silk Road commemorates the city of Xi’an as the origin of the Silk Road — a network of trade routes connecting China with Europe and the Middle East — during the Han Dynasty over…
CODA Audio’s reputation for manufacturing robust, weatherproof enclosures is already well-established. All speakers across the range have been developed with specifications that offer high weather resistance as standard, both in terms of exterior and interior features. Externally, this is achieved by means of wooden multiplex cabinets for outdoor use in accordance with German norm DIN 68705 Part 3/BFU 100 standard, which uses waterproof glue – class D3 according to EN204. All cabinets are also coated with a highly reactive polyurea prepolymer – a substance that is waterproof, strongly adhesive and elastic, and thus far superior to conventional lacquers. Internally, CODA…
On 16 September 1810, Roman Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang a church bell in Dolores, Mexico, heralding a call to arms that triggered the Mexican War of Independence. Re-enacted each year on the eve of Independence Day in the Zócalo square in the heart of Mexico City, this year the Cry of Independence ceremony (Grito de la Independencia) was bolstered with lighting effects from Elation Professional Proteus lighting fixtures. Effects from IP65-rated Proteus Smarty Hybrid and Proteus Hybrid moving heads shone from atop the National Palace as part of a lighting design by Bolo Josaphat and Aaron Carrascoo…
In December 2020, Quito-based EASA completed the installation of a new theatrical lighting system at Teatro León. This spring, the hard work and dedication came to fruition when Columbian pianist Mauricio Arias-Esguerra took the stage for the first in-person concert at the revived 93-year old theatre, premiering two works by Colombian composers, as well as Beethoven’s Quasi una fantasia (Opus 27), known also as Moonlight Sonata and Chopin’s piano sonata No.3 (Opus 58). Supporting this performance and all subsequent ones was a powerful and versatile CHAUVET Professional-heavy lighting rig that featured 12 Rogue R1 BeamWash, 12 COLORado2 Quad Zoom, six…
To bring stunning and immersive visuals to The Gather Again Tour, the Eric Church lighting crew selected the new and highly versatile Martin Professional MAC Ultra Performance LED fixtures for an intimate yet large-scale lighting experience. In support of his new triple album Heart & Soul, Eric Church set out on The Gather Again Tour this fall with the intention to unite fans and celebrate the return of live music. While the shows take place in arena-sized venues, the stage is set up in an intimate, in-the-round style where the audience surrounds the performer from all sides. Despite being large-scale…
