Event industry entrepreneur, David Walley has acquired Star Events, a UK supplier of stages, support structures, rigging and design services. David Walley is well-known in the events industry for transforming businesses, including Arena Group and 360 Creative Events Services. He was Managing Director of De Boer, and most recently led the Freeman company in the UK. This adds Star to Walley’s growing portfolio of events businesses, following the acquisitions over the last 12 months of Mobile Promotions, BluePeg and Beautiful Minds. Star Events has been supplying equipment and services to the events industry for 40 years. They have designed and…
Author: Jacob Waite
Production designers Robert Long and Sooner Routhier of SRae Productions, along with associate designer Ashley Zapar, specified the Vari-Lite VL6000 Beam luminaire to add a bold and dynamic presence to their show design for the farewell tour by legendary rock band KISS. The band’s End of the Road World Tour, which continues through 2019, features all the unmistakable rock and roll theatrics that fans expect of a classic KISS show, described by Long as “Equal parts of the fire, lasers, metal, leather, and controlled chaos”, but with a modern edge. “KISS requires an old school light show with simple cueing…
Funktion-One teamed up with long-term partner Audio Plus to give Vero its first Glastonbury outing at The Glade. The stage, which enjoyed a mixed programme of DJ and live performances, received plaudits from artists, festivalgoers and sound engineers, who praised the system’s precise stereo imaging and generous headroom. Area Coordinator of Avalon, Glade and The Wood, Luke Piper, said: “I was overjoyed with the new system – it surpassed all expectations. We quadrupled the normal capacity of the venue up to 20,000, with people dancing right at the back of the crowd to Carl Cox, Fatboy Slim and Squarepusher. Here…
This June, Meyer Sound returned to Denmark as the exclusive sound provider for the Roskilde Festival, Northern Europe’s largest and longest-running music festival. The event marked the second year of a groundbreaking five-year partnership that aims to leverage the strengths of the iconic music festival and the supplier of professional audio systems to elevate the festival experience for artists, fans, and technology providers. The Roskilde Festival, now in its 49th year, is massive in scale: This year’s events took place over eight days from June 29 through July 6 and showcased nearly 180 acts on eight stages — from big-name…
In 2018, LTM extended their existing offices, creating a bright open plan first floor office. In doing so this has allowed them to convert the existing downstairs offices into a dedicated training room. In addition to the new offices, an open space kitchen & dining room for employees to relax and enjoy their break times has been created. Electric Hoist Training is something LTM has always been widely renowned for, but due to lack of space over the past few years LTM has only been able to offer one to one training in house. It has always been our goal…
Reflecting Riedel Communications’ rapidly growing presence in the U.S. and Canada, the company has appointed industry veteran Rich Zabel as Vice President of Sales for North America. Reporting directly to Joyce Bente, President and CEO of Riedel Communications North America, Zabel will take the helm of the entire sales organization and also focus on expanding Riedel’s presence in key vertical markets. “Rich’s illustrious career spans more than 30 years, and it includes senior executive and sales management positions for some of the biggest names in the video industry,” Bente said. “But his leadership capabilities extend far beyond sales management. He…
All Points East bore witness to opening and closing three-day weekends firmly dedicated to music. The opening weekend main stage headliners included the likes of Chemical Brothers, The Strokes and Christine and the Queens. In between the music, four days of community-driven free entertainment was available, with comedy, film screenings, street food and much more at play. All in all, making for an inclusive, eclectic inner-city festival programme. The experienced AEG Presents team led by Jim King, and event production company LarMac LIVE, led by Director Ian Greenway, returned to deliver the highest of standards across every aspect of All…
Lighting Designer James Scott used the feature-rich VLZ Profile from Vari-Lite on the recent UK tour by hip-hop artist AJ Tracey. The LED fixtures had the power Scott required to deliver a visual complement to the bright LED screens on the Brixton Academy showcase gig that closed the tour. Scott, of design studio Suluko, worked with Production Designer and Creative Director Bronski, and Amber Rimell, of TAWBOX on the tour’s design. Scott had already been impressed by the output and performance delivered by just four LED-based VLZ Profiles on Tracey’s UK tour dates, where limited truck space had called for…
Tappit, the cashless payment and event insights solution, has signed a three-year partnership with UNITE with Tomorrowland Barcelona. The partnership is Tappit’s fifth Spanish festival deal within three months. The deal will see Tappit’s technology integrated with UNITE with Tomorrowland’s own festival currency, Tuents by Tuenti, as the only method of payment. More than 20,000 festival goers will be able to top-up their personal RFID wristbands and benefit from an enhanced payment experience, less worry about theft and security, reduced queuing times and seamless transactions. The festival organisers will also benefit from greater insight into attendee spending and behavioural habits…
Partnering with specialist collaborators in science, light, film, sound and projection mapping, NEC Display Solutions provides laser projection technology in the creation of BEAM, an immersive and multi-sensory experience at Glastonbury Festival. The Greenpeace field at the Glastonbury Festival hosts innovative ways to raise awareness for environmental issues. This year, Nottingham artist Wolfgang Buttress, famed for his Hive sculpture in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, will highlight the plight of the honey bee with a multi-sensory, immersive sculptural experience. “I am delighted with the NEC laser projectors that are being used in BEAM. They have been essential in creating…
A pioneer of the ‘French Touch’ and key player on the international electronic music scene, DJ Étienne de Crécy is renowned for the eclecticism and efficiency of his productions. His latest tour, Space Echo, came to a packed Philharmonie last April, with a striking show design that featured Smode’s ground-breaking technology at its heart. In a video produced by Smode and shot during rehearsals in Bry-sur-Marne cinema studios in France, he takes viewers through the creative process of his new visually striking show where sound and video are intertwined. “Music is no longer my only means of expression,” said Étienne…
Etienne de Crécy’s Space Echo tour includes summer concerts and festival dates. Watch the first episode of the Meet the Smode Users video series featuring Etienne de Crécy below. www.smode.fr
LED screen, drapes and special FX specialist S+H Technical Services supplied its Glux 10mm LED screen to the recent UK tour by iconic rock band 10cc which played key cities around the UK. The tour’s production manager Dave Cobby also looks after the video elements on the road, and he specified the screen returning to S+H, the Ilfracombe, Devon based company which has supplied previous 10cc tours including the 2016 40thanniversary celebration of seminal album Sheet Music. Cobby has worked with the band since 2006, and this time around took on both roles. “It’s always a pleasure doing business with…
Arriving at the SSE Audio Group HQ in Redditch, you very quickly get a sense of how far this company has come over its 40-year history within the live events industry. From the frosted windowed entranceway, adorned with logos of the various branches of the audio empire, to images and tour posters from some of the biggest artists in the world, the SSE HQ is a perfect showcase. The manifestation of its history is rounded off rather nicely at the company reception where its 2019 TPi Award for Favourite Sound Rental Company which sits pride of place. If the past…
Lighting Design for Kelly Clarkson’s Meaning of Life outing was achieved by Roy Bennett, who employed an overhead grid of 120 Elation DARTZ 360 LED fixtures to accentuate nearly all aspects of the highly entertaining show. Key design elements of the set included a VIP bar that surrounded the B-stage to enhance the party environment and a large upstage video screen that displayed a variety of content including heavy amounts of I-Mag. The DARTZ, housed in 10 overhead lines of truss, 12 fixtures per truss, complemented both in Bennett’s cohesive design. “The DARTZ 360 is a bright, reliable, fast, and…
Ohio-based hardcore act Beartooth, are currently touring around the world, taking on festival season with two dLive Wings set-ups. dLive Wings is becoming the go-to mixing system for many touring engineers due to its flexibility and compact format. Danny Harvey (FOH engineer) explains, “The size of the C1500 is ideal for travelling, being able to fly with it is amazing and having that much power in two fly cases is perfect for international acts, making their sound consistent all over the world.” “I love the way dLive sounds and how easy it is to customise everything. At the bigger festivals…
Tappit, the global cashless payment and event RFID solution, has today launched Tappit Insights. The comprehensive, market-leading, online portal combines real-time actionable insights with a simple user interface, taking data analysis to the next level. Tappit Insights will empower event organisers and venue owners, helping them to make informed decisions, and improve the overall event experience for fans. Tappit Insights has been specifically created to address the needs of the global events business and has been borne from the pain points felt by all event professionals: managing footfall, improving operational efficiency, recognising retail trends, and directly connecting purchasing and consumption…
N&M shows its commitment at the successful premiere of the Greentech Festival in Berlin Impressive premiere for the Greentech Festival: from Thursday to Saturday, over 1,000 conference-goers were at the site in Tempelhof and were fascinated by sustainable technologies and innovations during the congress, award ceremony and accompanying exhibition. N&M was one of the festival sponsors and showed what is currently technically possible in terms of “green rationale”. Resource-conserving mobility, sustainable consumption and a lifestyle with future viability: these topics have been the focus of discussion since long before the “Fridays for Future” demonstrations. The Greentech Festival was initiated to…
