Over 300 team members across the six DRPG brands joined forces in-person for an annual company-wide summer conference on 22 July 2021. Held at its studio complex in Worcestershire, all 380 colleagues celebrated alongside those who joined virtually from across the UK, Germany and North America. Over 80 team members had been employed during the pandemic, many of which had not even been to the studios or met their colleagues in person. With a packed agenda focussed on re-charging and resetting for the future, the team celebrated all the positives from the last 16 months and looked to the future on how the improvement,…
Author: Jacob Waite
Taking the stage at the Coweta County Fairgrounds, Alan Jackson led a lineup of artists in the Where I Come From Tornado Benefit Concert. In addition to raising over $2m to help people affected by Georgia’s recovery effort from a category EF-4 tornado, the show was a celebration of hope in the wake of a disaster, as the country superstar performed hit after hit from his stellar career accompanied by an immersive Mason Felps lighting design that featured 36 CHAUVET Professional Rogue R2X Wash fixtures. Positioned on upstage “lighting ladders,” the high output moving fixtures, which, like the rest of…
An industry veteran of more than 20 years and famed for his work as head rigger on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, rigging specialist Erlend Webb established his own business last year and made an investment in Electro Kabuki one of his first actions. Erlend set up Webb’s Rigging in March 2020, unfortunately coinciding with the arrival of the first COVID-19 lockdown. Despite the difficulties imposed by COVID-19 on the event industry, his reputation and expertise kept him busy throughout the past year. Webb has used the Electro Kabuki system many times over the years, predominantly with his work in TV…
Allen & Heath and Audix have announced the release of a new collection of ProFactory microphone presets for Qu, SQ and Avantis digital mixers. Building on the popularity of Audix’s original ProFactory presets for Qu in 2018, the new collection spans a wider range of microphones and applications as well as marking the first time ProFactory presets have been available for SQ and Avantis mixers. The 30 presets cover 18 microphones from the Oregon-based manufacturer, including the D2, D4, D6, i5, and OM range of vocal microphones, and provide optimised EQ starting points for engineers of all abilities in live…
Sound Designer, Andrew Keister – representing original Broadway designer Steve Kennedy – flew in for West End’s latest stage rendition of Hairspray but had to quarantine prior to arrival in the theatre. The UK sound team – Josh Richardson, Callum Wills, Simon France, Robbie Barclay and Larry Golland – were hard at work along with the Orbital team led by Henry Pierce, ensuring that sound was set up in advance at London Coliseum. Keister shared high praise for the whole team. “It would have been amazing to be back in any theatre again after so many months of the industry being shut down, but to…
Following a year of uncertainty, New Zealand put on a show with one of the country’s biggest outdoor summer music festivals, Electric Avenue, supported by powerful dynamic sound from d&b audiotechnik. The Electric Avenue Festival is Christchurch’s biggest outdoor summer music festival, with this year’s event drawing record crowds of 25,000. The festival relied heavily on local talent, with more than 35 Kiwi artists including Benee, Fat Freddy’s Drop and Tiki Taane performing across multiple stages in Hagley Park, Christchurch. With COVID-19 under control in New Zealand and no limitations of mass gatherings or social distancing requirements, the festival recorded…
When Canada’s Stratford Festival was forced to reinvent itself outdoors to meet the challenges of pandemic gathering restrictions for 2021, its need for wireless audio grew greatly in importance. Technical Director, Greg Dougherty; Head of Sound, Mike Duncan, and Associate Technical Director, David Campbell consulted with System Designer, Peter McBoyle, the choice was clear: three Lectrosonics Venue 2 six-channel receivers, 16 ultra-compact SSM transmitters, and four HHa handheld wireless mics. “We had never done productions outdoors, where you have no control over the ambient noise,” said Dougherty. “So, a core decision was to mic every cast member in every show…
Birds in the Moon, a new chamber opera with music by composer Mark Grey, has launched a national tour based on a revolutionary staging concept: the entire production is housed in a 20ft shipping container that can be quickly set up for outdoor performances at essentially any location. To simplify audio production while also offering an extended horizontal soundscape, the production utilises 12 Meyer Sound self-powered loudspeakers mounted on the container and on fold-out wings. The show is mixed on an iPad with Meyer Sound’s Spacemap Go spatial sound design and live mixing software. The “containerised” opera debuted at Domino…
Treadway Events and Detox Nightlife paired an enviable lineup and top-tier production technologies package – including a PK SOUND Trinity robotic line source system – for the Road Rage Drive-In Concert at Portland International Raceway. “This was actually the first concert Detox Nightlife and Treadway Events has ever produced, so we needed to form a great relationship with our community and attendees from the start,” said Brandon Treadway, President & Creative Director of Treadway Events, which specialises in themed entertainment and experiential activations for brands. “To create a name for ourselves and blow away our attendees’ expectations, we knew we needed…
STRYKE Percussion’s latest show, When No One Is In The Room, an apt title, given that they had to perform in an empty gymnasium as a safety precaution, included an Clifford Michael Spulock lighting design that featured a collection of CHAUVET Professional Maverick, Rogue and COLORado fixtures. “These indoor percussion shows usually don’t go hand-in-hand with lighting, as they have big sets and other objects to tell their stories,” said Spulock. “Since that wasn’t possible in this case, they turned to lighting. I really drew on my background in theatre to advance the narrative in light.” Spulock used shadows and…
Robe has released a new moving head spot light fixture – CUETE. The lighting fixture features include fast pan and tilt movement for lighting all genres of electronic music, highlighting the creative work of DJs or enhancing club environments. CUETE boasts an CMY colour mixing system and 4,200-lumen output. The fixture utilises a patented TE 120W white LED engine. A 16° fixed beam lens has remote control focus and can be swapped to the optional 24° lenses for shorter throw and low ceiling scenarios. Additional features include a CPulse flicker-free management system is ideal for livestream or broadcast setups using…
LEA Professional has rolled out a new 802.1X security protocol for the company’s range of Connect Series amplifiers. 802.1X is an IEEE Standard for Port-Based Network Access Control that provides protected authentication for devices on the network and provides secure network access. 802.1X is the gold standard of network authentication security and defines authentication controls for any user or device trying to access a LAN or WLAN. This new feature further protects data and equipment from a cyberattack, while also preventing rogue devices from connecting to the local network and releasing viruses, malware, or allowing man-in-the-middle attacks. According to LEA…
Dallas Theater Center has selected the CO-8WD waterproof headset microphones from Point Source Audio for its challenging outdoor production of Working: A Musical, based on Studs Terkel’s bestselling book and with original songs by Stephen Schwartz (Wicked), Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, In the Heights), James Taylor and others. Staged at the start of July, the production was Dallas Theater Center’s first to a live audience since March 2020. Working showcases the voices of teachers, waiters, truck drivers, and other essential workers, so the production sound quality needed to be befitting in recognition of their vital service day in and day out.…
Fireplay CEO, Nick Whitehouse and VYE CEO, Maggie Seidel-Laws took to the stage at Nashville’s Summer NAMM to discuss “The Future of Livestreaming” during a panel hosted by Epic Proportions Tour CEO, Peter Sotos. The discussion entered around how creative innovation and new advancements in livestreaming technology are set to revolutionise the live event experience for years to come. “Coming out of the pandemic, we’re learning that artists can now connect with their audience outside of the standard ‘fan purchase ticket and go to local venue,’” Seidel-Laws said, on the topic of bringing an act to the live audience in…
The ALD has voted in favour of a name change that demonstrates both the association’s breadth of membership and its appreciation of every lighting role in the design and production process. The organisation formerly known as the Association of Lighting Designers will represent its members with its new title, the Association for Lighting Production and Design (The ALPD). The ALPD Chair, Johanna Town, explains the importance of this change of name to the association. “While the ALD, which was founded 60 years ago for lighting designers, has for some time included production electricians, programmers, lighting managers, assistant electricians, associate designers,…
A magical ancient olive oil factory near Seville was brought to life by Lighting Designer Yaron Abulafia in May, as contemporary Flamenco piece Agua was performed with a specially rigged array of fixtures from Vari-Lite. Billed as a ‘visual piece that drifts between dance, visual theatre, and art installation,’ Agua was performed at the La Aceitera space by Israeli artist Adva Yer in collaboration with Andrés Marín. As the title suggests, it is a water-inspired piece that explores movement, color, texture and sound – with a nod to the famous Matisse painting The Swimming Pool. Leading the Vari-Lite luminaires was…
A crowd of more than 75,000 witnessed a choreographed Independence Day drone show in the Cincinnati suburb city of Blue Ash, as Verge Aero’s drones displayed patriotic symbols in the night sky. Around 200 Verge Aero drones were programmed to deliver a coordinated display, which included a 300ft wide ‘waving’ American flag as the National Anthem began. Verge Aero’s Director of Show Operations, Mason Hayes, piloted the drone fleet, putting expert skills to good use. It was all part of the much-loved ‘Red, White & Blue Ash’ show, held at the city of Blue Ash’s Summit Park. Blue Ash Director…
The Teatro Nacional de São João (TNSJ) in Oporto, Portugal has increased its inventory of Robert Juliat Dalis Access 863 cyclorama lighting with the addition of a further 20 units after a comprehensive tender process, supported by NAN AudioVisuals. The purchase brings TNSJ’s total complement of Dalis Access 863 units to 34. This is more than sufficient to cover the theatre’s 12m by 9m cyclorama cloth and back wall from floor- and grid-mounted positions, plus fill in as ‘ribalta’ lighting when required. “Dalis Access is a very versatile tool which can be used as both cyclorama and footlight,” explained TNSJ’s…
