VDC Trading has launched a significant recruitment drive and expects to hire at least five new employees between now and Christmas, in addition to the two appointments it has already made in September 2021. The new roles will include customer service and production executives. This drive comes as the business has seen its sales rise to almost pre-COVID-19 levels over the summer. After a record year in 2019 – both at domestically and overseas – the 2020/21 COVID-19 pandemic led to significant challenges for VDC, on top of the uncertainty already caused by Brexit and the general election. The business…
Author: Jacob Waite
R&B superstar Usher brought his Las Vegas residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in August to an electrifying new level with a groundbreaking VIP fan experience, powered by Meyer Sound. Ushh: Backstory Pass, considered the first-ever immersive pre-show experience at a Las Vegas residency, is a dazzling production that takes guests on a journey through the musical eras and cultural moments that have defined Usher as an artist. In the multisensory experience, which takes place under the stage at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, six themed environments evoke pivotal moments in Black music and culture, including Le Grand Duc…
ChamSys has taken another important step in implementing its global growth plan by naming Modern Elektronik its exclusive distributor in the Turkish market. Turkey will be responsible for selling and servicing ChamSys consoles in the country and conducting hands-on training classes. “Modern Elektronik is an excellent company with strong values that align with our own,” said ChamSys International Sales and Business Development Manager, Aziz Adilkhodjaev. “Modern Elektronik will be offering a variety of hands-on experiences with ChamSys products. I am looking forward to visiting their facility soon to work with them on master classes on the latest Stadium consoles like the…
When Germany-based Thomas Christmann saw Claypaky Xtylos at a Prolight + Sound expo in Frankfurt and marveled at how the beam “was cutting through everything,” he knew he had to work with the fixture some day. The Lighting Designer and Lighting Director for metal band Korn since 2015, Christmann, who’s known as “Church,” thought the 2020 tour planned for the band would be the perfect opportunity to use the first moving head light with a laser light source. “I’m not a big fan of beam lights and try not to use them for effects lighting,” he said. “But I love…
WorldStage has appointed Mike Watjen as Director of LED, joining WorldStage to head the department where he previously served as Senior LED Engineer. “We’re very excited to welcome Mike back to WorldStage where he will continue to build the LED team and reinforce our position at the forefront of LED technology,” said Josh Perlman, VP, Digital Transformation at WorldStage. “Mike is one of the most well-known and well-respected LED people in the industry. At WorldStage he will oversee the day-to-day operations of the LED team and be the first point of contact supporting our account executives during the sale and…
GLP proved at this year’s PLASA Show that it is sometimes unnecessary to take more than a minimal booth to create maximum impact – presenting visitors with a battery of JDC Lines, FR10s, the firm’s new battery operated Creative Light 1, and FUSION PAR FP7 — the first time these ranges had been seen in public. The stand also boasted a video created by David Stewart and Greg Westwood and designed by Morgan Evans. “That video proved well worthwhile,” stated GLP UK boss, Simon Barrett. “In fact, the show generally exceeded expectations, with a lot more people than I anticipated. Everyone was…
Developed as a unique outlet for the presentation of art and music events, ShapeShifter Lab has recently expanded its activities to new spaces and projects with the Allen & Heath SQ-5 and SQ-6 at the heart of the production. One recent special event was held in New York supported by Apple Inc’s Racial Equity and Justice Initiative (REJI) and the Entrepreneur Camp programs, which served up a live stream in support of a new interactive iOS app, aptly called Matt Garrison. The app contains a living and evolving archive of Garrison’s creative works including past albums, audio and video content,…
Electric Group has revealed details on the organisation’s newest acquisition, NX, formerly the O2 Newcastle Academy. Opening in October 2022, NX will be a “state of the art 21st Century independent music venue” following a comprehensive £1.5m refurbishment of the historical building. Work will begin in March 2022. Designed by architect Stuart Trett at Design At Source with Electric Group CEO, Dominic Madden, the plans for NX’s main room include creating a more intimate gig experience for artist and audience alike with the introduction of mezzanine platforms and staircases, 4 new bars, and access to a contained roof terrace. Sight lines for music fans will be improved to bring them closer to the NX’s main…
Vancouver-based Animatrik is one of the largest dedicated performance capture and virtual production studios in the world – facilitating the creation of motion capture shoots for huge video games, such as Gears of War, and blockbuster movies, such as Avengers: End Game. Over the past year, the studio has pivoted towards virtual production and live virtual performances – with Founder, Brett Ineson co-creating Shocap Entertainment to produce original XR music shows, including the world’s first XR jazz show on BBC Click. Produced by Shocap Entertainment, the unique virtual performance saw famed jazz singer, Jill Barber perform a Christmas setlist in…
Taking place in Grant Park, Chicago, after a year hiatus, Lollapalooza welcomed back around 100,000 people to witness headline sets from Foo Fighters, Tyler, The Creator, and Post Malone. Marking its eighth year with the festival, LD Systems was back providing an audio and lighting solution for the two main stages – the T-Mobile and Bud Light stages. Having handled the audio delivery at the festival’s main stages for the past three years, LD Systems’ Thomas Ruffner explained that there was a decent amount of “rinse and repeat’’ when it came to the PA configuration. “We’ve got a good game…
The new d&b audiotechnik XSL System scales the features of the SL-Series into a smaller, lighter-weight, energy efficient, package. The XSL System comprises installation specific and mobile touring variants. The XSL mobile version addresses the needs of the broadest range of touring applications. Both XSL and XSLi can be deployed as a stand-alone, self-contained package, or as a delay, or fill system to accompany its GSL and KSL siblings. XSL’s extra small dimensions bring the SL-Series feature set – two-way active design, high SPL and impressive cardioid low frequency performance – to a huge range of events. “The performance-to-size ratio…
Astera has appointed Thor André as a member of its after-sales technical support team based at the company’s HQ in Munich, Germany. The new recruit along with his 12-year-old Norfolk Terrier dog, Maiko, are upping sticks and relocating from Norway to Munich. “This is a fantastic and hugely exciting chance to work directly with one of the world’s leading entertainment LED lighting manufacturers,” he remarked. Andre will engage with Astera customers and companies offering after-sales support and be working with gaffers, DoPs, lighting and set designers, rental and production companies, combining his communications skills and expertise. The role will also…
Pairing the company’s Delaware shop, Main Light West’s new Las Vegas facility at 6435 South Valley View Boulevard allows the dry hire company to support the western US more effectively – duplicating the depth of equipment and customer service synonymous with Main Light. “Main Light is pleased to have expanded our market reach by opening a West Coast location, which we know has been a wish of many of our customers for some time,” stated Main Light East and West General Manager, Randy Mullican. “Whether on the East Coast or the West Coast, clients can be confident of finding a…
CHAUVET Professional’s versatile 560W luminaire, Maverick Silens 2 Profile, has been honoured at the PLASA Awards for Innovation. The only moving fixture – and one of two lighting products – to earn this recognition at the PLASA Show, the Maverick Silens 2 Profile was singled out for its “near silent operation,” being described by the independent panel of judges as “the sound engineer’s favourite light.” Without making a sound, the Maverick Silens 2 Profile wowed judges with its impressive visual performance, thanks to features like CMY+CTO colour mixing with CRI, R9, CQS, and TLCI all between 91 and 97 (depending…
As part of this summer’s Theatre on Kew programme, The Australian Shakespeare Company staged an open-air production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the botanical surroundings of Kew Gardens. White Light (WL) was chosen to provide all lighting and audio equipment for the project. Each performance during the four-week run began at twilight, to take full advantage of staging the Shakespearean favourite beneath the stars and canopy of Kew Gardens’ heritage trees. To enhance the play’s woodland setting and achieve Lighting Designer, Peter Amesbury’s vision, WL specified a range of different lighting fixtures, controlled by a High End Systems Road…
Following the cancellation of its Scotland date, Rewind Festival’s long-term sound suppliers, Capital Sound, were in action at Macclesfield (Rewind North) and Temple Island Meadows, and with the exception of an additional delay tower at Rewind South, fielded identical Martin Audio MLA PA rigs under the supervision of Production Manager, Keith Morris of Riverside Productions. Set on the banks of the Thames, the 40,000 capacity Rewind South featured an all-star line-up of ’80s pop icons, with Jimmy Somerville’s Big Band-tastic Boogie and Wet Wet Wet headlining. Capital Sound fielded a highly experienced technical team with FOH Engineer and Supervisor, Mike…
Copper Candle has won three Awards for Innovation during September’s PLASA Show 2021, held at London’s Olympia. The winning products – Copper Stream, Bone Stream and Cue29 – were chosen by a panel of industry experts and have been create to optimise the real time design, broadcast and audience engagement of live music, theatre shows and events in the virtual environment. The PLASA Innovation Awards judging panel said: “The Judges have chosen to award a suite of products from this boundary-pushing software developer. They felt the group of products shared the same innovative approach to merging gaming technologies into a…
Staged in the elegant courtyard of the Palazzo Farnese in Piacenza, the flagship performance of this year’s Notte d’Opera a Palazzo was a stirring representation of Puccini’s Tosca. The natural acoustics of the sixteenth century architecture were lifted powerfully yet naturally by the immersive prowess of TiMax spatial audio processing. Complementing TiMax’s sympathetic spatial amplification and to ensure complete audience immersion, impressive virtual scenography was video-mapped onto the imposing façade of the building. TiMax afficionado, Federico Bianchi, designed the multichannel d&b sound system, drove the TiMax SoundHub processor and mixed the show on a Digico console. With social-distancing maximised to…
