A unique festival in Cardiff Bay is being seen as the precursor to reviving a once popular venue at the City’s Alexandra Head. The four-day extravaganza, promoted by Live Nation, combined the two-day electronic Titan Festival at the weekend, book-ended by Bay Series on the Friday and Monday. In residence throughout the entire event and broadcasting sound from an all-star line-up, ranging from Biffy Clyro and Frank Carter And The Rattlesnakes on the opening night, to Eric Prydz and Chic featuring Nile Rogers, was a Martin Audio MLA loudspeaker array —provided by Stage Audio Services (SAS) under the project management…
Author: Jacob Waite
Nicolas ’Nico’ Labbé has joined Solotech’s Montreal Live Productions team and will act as Senior Technical Specialist, Business Development. Over the last 35 years, Labbé worked as a lighting designer for Charles Aznavour, Véronique DiCaire, Garou, Lara Fabian and Roch Voisine, among others. He has also served as director and designer of photography on multiple live show recordings. Labbé will also play a crucial role as an ambassador of Solotech’s multiple technological solutions. His lighting and video expertise will help the Solotech team to better support Canadian designers. He will work closely with all the representatives of the Live Productions…
Lighting Designer, Milton de la Cruz drew on the colour rendering power and brightness of CHAUVET Professional fixtures on an in-house rig built by Juan Pablo Marulanda for an evening of Colombian and Caleño music at the historic Teatro Pablo Tobon Uribe. With no LED video wall, Marulanda used 31 COLORado Batten Quad-9 IP linear fixtures, arranged vertically and horizontally to create a geometric background that added depth and texture to the stage. He complemented the patterns that he devised with the 1,000mm-long RGBW strips by positioning 24 COLORado 2-Quad Zoom fixtures between the linear units. Lending added punch and…
Panasonic has expanded its PTZ camera range with five new models. The 4K integrated cameras AW-UE80W/K, AW-UE50W/K, AW-UE40W/K, AW-UE20W/K and the HD integrated camera AW-HE20W/K will be released sequentially from the first quarter of 2022. The AW-UE40, AW-UE50 and AW-UE80 will have a 24x optical zoom and up to a 36x intelligent zoom, as well as a 74.1° viewing angle to support usage in both indoor and outdoor environments. The latest generation of optical image stabilisation (OIS) ensures excellent stability. All cameras will support PoE, enabling a single-cable solution whereby video and audio, control, and power can be provided to…
Creative Technology Northern Europe AB and parent company NEP Group have signed a definitive agreement to purchase Bright Group, a 360° live events service supplier in Northern Europe. Headquartered in Vantaa near Helsinki, Finland, Bright Group was established in 2011 when AVABCAC and Eastway joined forces to support the event and entertainment services business in the Nordics. Since then, more than 20 live event companies in Northern Europe have joined Bright Group – many of which have over 30 years of experience in the industry. Today, Bright Group employs teams across its locations in Sweden, Norway and Finland. The addition…
Pixotope brought Broadcast augmented reality (AR) technology into the Singapore National Day Parade for the first time in the show’s history. In collaboration with Anomalyst Studio, the televised show used visual illusions that blurred the lines between reality and virtual. Pixotope was used to generate all of the AR overlays for five segments of the large scale TV event, with the AR elements conceived as part of the show’s main narrative, including notable segments such as five stars rising up from a physical stage prop, transitioning to form a virtual display of the Singaporean national flag. To ensure visual consistency…
Lighting Designer, Neil Austin has relied heavily on Martin Professional MAC Encore Performance moving heads to help light the West End production of Frozen The Musical for audiences at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane. He selected 115 Martin MAC Encore Performance CLD fixtures as part of a fully moving rig as he “predicted there would be quite a lot of cold white light on Frozen!” The inventory was supplied by White Light, whom Austin says he has been renting from “since I was a 15-year-old schoolboy.” White Light were supplied by Sound Technology. As the predominant fixture in his rig, the…
Taking place in the grounds of Harewood House, MAMMA MIA! Under the Stars was a pilot series of open-air experiences, bringing the now iconic Greek island romance to the English countryside. Having supported MAMMA MIA! the tour for over 17 years – by supplying lighting and trussing packages – following the news of the tour’s open-air debut, PRG UK worked closely with the show’s team to translate the show to its new surroundings. The combined package of lighting and video captured the original vibrance of the stage show while complimenting the exposed elements of the venue and delivered additional video…
Livestreaming a stage production is not a new approach, but Internationaal Theater Amsterdam (ITA) is adding its own unique twist, with help from Clear-Com Eclipse HX Digital Matrix, FreeSpeak II Digital Wireless Intercom and HelixNet Digital Network Partyline systems, designed and supported by Dutch Clear-Com partner Ampco Flashlight Sales. ITA, a theatre company in Holland and a global hub for showcasing the diversity of Dutch performing arts, introduced live streaming in the fall of 2020 through its project, ITALive. What sets their approach apart is ITA’s use of multi-camera set-ups to show audiences all aspects of the performance, including the…
Ahead of their London’s O2 arena show scheduled for November, New Order played two one-off, outdoor shows recently – the first at Piece Hall in Halifax, followed by a hometown show two days later at Manchester’s Heaton Park. Lighting Designer, Andy Liddle – who celebrates his own landmark of 40 years as the band’s LD this year – specified 66 Robe MegaPointes, supplied by Siyan, on the rig. MegaPointes were rigged on three overhead trusses above, below and around the sides of the screen, with another row upstage on a low truss. In a show characterised by heavy and dramatic…
Cheltenham’s Imperial Gardens became a cinematic hotspot of international sport, films and music over the summer as the town’s Big Screen Festival took place, utilising Production AV’s substantial stock of Desay M6 outdoor LED screen panels to make up the visual display. Production AV’s Nathan Dunbar project managed the supply, delivery, build and operation of the screens. The main screen was made up of 18 panels of the modular Desay M6 outdoor LED screens, which the team fitted together to create the large-scale LED wall. A host of content was shown to audiences enjoying the summer weather, including live BBC…
Qdos Event Hire will launch its latest modular building solution, the PLUS Line range, at The Showman’s Show 2021 when it is held at Newbury Showground from 20 to 21 October. Available for long term hire projects or direct sale, the sleek and stylish contemporary buildings are perfect for studio facilities, marketing suites, offices, pop-ups and brand activations. It boasts several bespoke features that can be combined to create unique spaces. These include a flexible panel system, numerous glazing, window and door configurations, modular partition walls and sanitation. The new range is available in 10’, 16’, 20’ and 24’ modules,…
Panasonic projectors are helping to bring to life some of France’s most iconic architectural landmarks with an electronic music and light show as part of the Monumental Tour 2021. The spectacular sensory experience combines a show of light and creative projection mapping on historic landmark buildings such as lighthouses, castles and abbeys to the music of famous DJs and new acts. Now in its third year, the Monumental Tour is the brianchild of DJ and Producer, Michael Canitrot and AV-Extended Founder, Jérémie Bellot. Around 30 technicians work on each show, with three creative managers and a graphic designer working on…
Team GB returned to home soil from the Tokyo Olympics for a victory celebration at London’s SSE Wembley Arena with a music concert, dazzling pre-made content and performance footage driven by Green Hippo Hippotizer Boreal+ media servers. Artists including Rag ’n’ Bone Man, Laura Mvula and Nile Rodgers took to the stage to celebrate Team GB’s 65 medals at the Olympics, backed by an oval-shaped IMAG screen displaying colourful content made by motion design studio, Shop. The stars of Team GB were interviewed in front of a large invited audience of NHS frontline workers and National Lottery players. Transition Video…
Adorned with illuminated representations of mountain ranges as well as cactus plants of different sizes and a large semi-circular backdrop suggestive of a setting sun or moon, the set of Lord Huron’s latest US tour, curated by Cour Design, is clearly representative of the kind of environment that runs through the band’s music. Designer, Erik Anderson chose to illuminate this visual panorama with a collection of CHAUVET Professional Maverick MK3 Wash fixtures. “I specified the Mavericks,” he said. “They are our workhorses, and we love their brightness, especially with the outdoor shows on this tour.” Depending on the venue, between…
Putting the decibel meter to the test this year’s heavy rock and metal Furnace Fest held at the Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham, Alabama were key acts such as August Burns Red, ERRA, Fit for a King, Mayday Parade, Motionless in White, and Underøath — all sporting an Allen & Heath console at FOH. Admission for all 90 performing bands across three stages at heavy rock and metal Furnace Fest required vaccination card or proof of negative COVID-19 test to be shown at the gates. A number of compact dLive C1500 surfaces and an SQ-5 were put to work over the…
After two years away from the hallowed fields of Daresbury, Cheshire, LarMac LIVE delivered the iconic electronic music festival cinch presents Creamfields with a stellar line up of artists including Tiësto, Eric Prydz, Chemical Brothers, Carl Cox and Basement Jaxx. LarMac LIVE produced Creamfields’ return alongside its familiar technical partners. “It’s like we’ve never been away,” began LarMac LIVE Director, Ian ‘Lar’ Greenway. “We’ve run countless scenarios and drafted numerous budget versions over the last two years, so when the time to get our first acts on stage and deliver finally came, it was really quite special.” LarMac LIVE’s number one priority…
Lighting Designer, Crt Birsa and Set Designer, Greta Godnic were tapped to create visuals for the 40th annual MMS song contest, which this year was built around the appropriately titled theme, Festival of the Melody of Sea and Sun. “The whole idea for the general look of the set and lights was to create the sensation of waves spreading from a central point,” said Birsa of Blackout Lighting Design. “MMS was held at a sea side town, and the most of the songs performed were about the sea, so connecting the stage design with water was essential. At the same time,…
