Naostage’s beaconless 3D tracking system, K SYSTEM, dazzled hundreds of thousands of revellers with seamlessly automated lighting effects at two of this summer’s biggest international music festivals. Fred Hamonou, technical director for Mawazine and Main Square Festival – among the most prestigious music festivals in Morocco and France, respectively – used K SYSTEM to save festival organisers time and money, all the while delivering an immersive visual experience with less equipment than would be required from a traditional lighting set-up. Hamonou is a long-time fan of K SYSTEM, having utilised its automatic tracking technology on a number of previous productions,…
Author: Jacob Waite
The Hippodrome de Longchamp pulsed with energy this summer as Solidays Music Festival marked its 25th year, drawing a record-breaking 260,000 attendees. At the heart of this sonic spectacle? L-Acoustics professional sound systems, ensuring every beat and every message rang out with crystal clarity. Solidays isn’t just about the music – it’s a movement. For a quarter-century, this unique festival has fused chart-topping performances with powerful advocacy, raising funds and awareness for AIDS prevention and support. “L-Acoustics has been our go-to choice for Solidays for over 15 years,” said Samuel Birais, Site Manager for B Live, the L-Acoustics Certified Provider…
The stars gathered onstage, backstage and at the stage right artists bar in Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena packed with music fans and anticipation for Toby Keith: American Icon – a tribute to late, singer-songwriter. Tom Kenny was tasked by producers Adam Freed and Alex Colletti to light this show which was filmed for broadcast on the NBC network. The lighting rig included eight Robe BMFL followspots on RoboSpot systems, 12 iFORTE LTX WashBeams and 61 MegaPointes, supplied by 4Wall Entertainment’s Nashville shop. Kenny’s remit was to ensure the broadcast had a sumptuous ‘big rock show’ aesthetic that looked great on camera…
Given the iconic Las Vegas neon signs’ evocative power, the scenic designers at StationSix thought it would make an ideal backdrop for another “Las Vegas institution,” The Killers, when the multi-platinum band embarked on their three-week residency at The Colosseum At Caesars Palace, which ended on 1 September 2024. Steven Douglas, the band’s long-time lighting designer saw things the same way. He collaborated with the scenic designers to make the sign come to life in all its glittering glory which had a colourful and dynamic collection of lights, including 2,835 individually controlled bulbs, led tape and fake neon. A key addition…
One of the more unusual events in Soundworks of Virginia’s busy summer concert schedule was the recent show at the spectacular Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, NC, when the Flaming Lips performed Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots live in concert. Referring to the title of their latest album, the psychedelic band played two distinct sets. After performing the album faithfully from front to back, they followed up with a typical concert set from their general repertoire. The long-serving band held the stage throughout, with no support act. Hired by the venue (and working with the band for the first time),…
Adele in Munich transcends the bounds of traditional concert experiences. Built following months of intense collaboration, a a roadie-specified stadium houses a close to 700,000lb production, which envelopes 80,000 attendees nightly in a sensory journey through Adele’s back catalogue. Spearheaded by a consortium of industry titans, each element – from Adele World, 5,000 sq m of LED and 36 hangs of PA through to meticulously laid cabling and purpose-built infrastructure reflects a commitment to flawless execution. Behind the scenes, a delicate dance of logistics orchestrated by a dedicated crew ensures that every detail, down to the last pixel and biodegradable…
Returning to Worthy Farm in June for its 52nd edition, Glastonbury Festival witnessed Coldplay embark on their fifth headline slot, British artist Dua Lipa fulfil her dream of headlining the Pyramid, and neo-soul artist SZA bring a sci-fi-inspired mesmerising stage design for a historic year on the farm that saw two women take headliner slots for the first time since its inception in 1970. After disclosing that Glastonbury was on my bucket list in the office, I was sent down to Somerset to draw a close on my first year at TPi Magazine. Arriving at the farm on the Thursday…
The past few years have seen British group Jungle experience a stratospheric rise, both in terms of their global popularity and their well-earned reputation as a solid live act. With this increasing weight of expectation on their collective shoulders, the band and their crew of touring specialists have had to dig deep to ensure that they spend every day on tour at the top of their game. “Josh, Tom and Lydia are persistently driven,” said Production Manager, Matt Greig. “They’re across all elements of the Jungle project, so they always expect nothing less than perfection. This has driven the crew…
Celebrating three decades since the release of Oasis’ debut album, Liam Gallagher, a band of 12 talented musicians, and a robust team of touring personnel bring Michael Spencer Jones’ iconic album cover shot for Definitely Maybe to life on-stage, backed by stellar production values. “The past five years have been quite a ride,” Production Manager, David ‘Davey’ Murphy said, citing the support of Tour Manager, Neil Mather, Tour Assistant, Amy Williams; Production Coordinator, Amanda Davies and Tour Rigger, Sean Pagel. “It’s great having a strong team to support you on the road.” The supplier roster comprised 4Wall Entertainment (video), All…
It seems apt that in the same issue where we’re featuring a show that has claimed the Guinness World Record for the largest LED screen [all praise Adele and her creative team, p28], we’re also exploring the topic of video processing – with Rob Fowler, Director of Business Development at Brompton Technology, discussing the history of the field and speculating on what the future might hold for LED in the live events space. Established in 2012, Brompton has become one of the dominant names within video processing, with the company’s technology being deployed on a wide range of significant projects,…
The working relationship between Patchwork London and Burna Boy has incredibly humble beginnings – starting with a direct message on social media. “They originally reached out to us on Instagram, then came to visit our office,” revealed Patchwork Founder, Steve White, reflecting on the working relationship with the artist’s team alongside Patchwork Touring Director, Calum Mordue. Following this initial meeting, the company went on to support the team during the artist’s album launch at PRYZM Kingston and underplay at Roundhouse, London in August 2023. With the Roundhouse and PRYZM shows done, Burna headed out on a stadium and arena tour…
When a manufacturer looks at creating the next generation of products, rarely does a company take the drastic decision to start from scratch and build something completely new. However, that is just how James Godbehear describes the past four years at Cadac Consoles. “Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, internally, we had decided to re-engineer our desks,” began Godbehear. Despite the obvious downsides to the lockdown, including Cadac’s team having to shrink, Godbehear shared the one silver lining – time to tackle the re-engineering project, without the distraction of sales and support allowing the team, within a relatively…
In TPi #282, we spoke to representatives from MA Lighting and Avolites about the growing issue of counterfeit products within the live events space and explored some of the ways in which the industry could tackle this problem. It was always a topic that would merit further investigation – hence, we found ourselves on a video call with Christian Hertel from MADRIX who was keen to give his take on the issue. “We were hiding the counterfeiting situation for a few years,” stated Hertel candidly, explaining how MADRIX didn’t want to give greater exposure to the wider market that such…
Having featured in the pages of TPi and TPiMEA several times during our recent coverage of live events, it has been a while since we paid a visit to PRG’s UK base, just outside of Birmingham. Not only was the company’s headquarters primed for major renovations but there has been a significant reshuffle of personnel, with the addition of some new faces to greet TPi at the door. The first, Miles Hillyard – a veteran of the live events industry, who joined PRG back in 2022 and now holds the title of Business Development Manager, alongside newly appointed Marketing Coordinator,…
Hot on the heels of their second album, Where’s My Utopia, and a triumphant UK tour, punk-funk rockers Yard Act returned to their hometown of Leeds on 3 August to partake in a victory lap after their UK and Europe tour in the spring. Named the most booked band of 2022, and much like their live scope, the band have also increased from a four- to a seven-piece with a core crew of six following them along the way. Taking place on a sunny Saturday in Leeds, Jacob Price, Tour Manager and Production Manager, alongside Dean Cross, Monitor Engineer, met…
Vivid LIVE marks the annual centrepiece of the Sydney Opera House’s year. In keeping with the festival’s history of creative programming, Swedish singer-songwriter Snoh Aalegra lit up a 360° stage with her talent and magnetic presence, backed by a dynamic and eye-catching production design. “Snoh Aalegra’s music is emotional, and she has impeccable taste, so I knew the design for this show had to reflect those qualities,” Production and Lighting Designer, Ricardo Rojas commented. “A design which felt grand yet intimate, vulnerable yet powerful, intentional, graceful, emotionally charged, atmospheric and dreamy. A living, breathing design that could evolve, unfold and…
There is no escaping the fact that modern touring productions are becoming increasingly complex, with monolithic stage structures and lavish designs now regular features among the world’s leading tours. However, despite this increasing complexity, the time allotted for stage managers and local crews tasked with unloading and assembling these structures is narrowing. Hoping to shed light on this conundrum, TPi tracked down stage management duo, Duncan Ladkin and Jack Dunnett, who have demonstrated that two is sometimes better than one. In stadiums, crew generally have a day or one-and-a-half days to load-in and build a show, with more space and…
As live productions grow evermore complex, data translation, monitoring and connectivity between departments becomes crucial. Virtual Innovation Partners’ Hans Cromheecke, possesses more than 30 years of experience in production technology. On the set of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest [see TPi #282], Cromheecke, who was responsible for all video requirements, utilised a critical linking tool to unify departments and data flows. The linking tool in question is SP software from Stage Precision. “There were a lot of moving parts to this production, both from a video perspective and in terms of automation,” recalled Cromheecke. “Everything needed to work together in…
