What was your role at Glastonbury Festival 2024? “I had the opportunity to undertake two distinct roles at Glastonbury Festival, in my first role, collaborating with the dressing room crew to ensure artists had the best possible experience during their stay as well as a work experience position in the FOH area of the festival. It allowed me to gain valuable knowledge about the operational aspects of managing large-scale events.” How did it feel to be involved in one of the biggest festivals in the world? ”Working at Glastonbury was an incredible experience. I woke up each morning with a…
Author: Jacob Waite
KLSTR was founded in 2019 with a clear mission: to make networking technology accessible by simplifying the management of lighting fixtures. To fully grasp this innovative workflow, which aims to challenge the current way lighting professional’s setup and manage lighting rigs, TPi visited one of the world’s largest and most technologically advanced festival sites – conveniently located near KLSTR’s innovation headquarters. “Our vision is to give the users a modern way of configuring and managing their lighting rig. We want users to simply connect their fixtures and have their setup ready to go with just a few button clicks. We…
Glastonbury Festival has often celebrated its opening ceremony with a firework display that welcomes punters. This year, organisers treated festivalgoers to a debut drone show 15 minutes beforehand. The display showcased famed Glastonbury iconography, which closed with a 3D peace symbol standing high above the green site, underlining the festival’s ethos. A key figure in the delivery of the spectacle, John ‘JP’ Partridge, Head of Production at Celestial, reflected on the project and considers what events like these mean for the future of drones in the live entertainment sector. How did this project come about? “I’ve spent much of my…
After establishing the business that bears his name in Vancouver in 1984, Brock Adamson led his company on a journey to become one of the most widely recognised loudspeaker manufacturers worldwide. Holding patents in everything from chamber design and transducer architecture to innovative rigging systems and cabinet configurations, the company is celebrating 40 years of business. Emphasising greener development, Adamson develops nearly all its components, from transducers and cabinets to onboard electronics itself. “The ability to control the entire process, from design through production, is essential to ensuring that every individual component delivers optimal performance and durability,” explained Adamson. “Keeping…
In the build-up to the first ever BLUDFEST, singer YUNGBLUD visited the site at The National Bowl, Milton Keynes, to get a sense of what the day would look like. To mark the occasion, and to fuel the growing excitement for the festival, KB Event surprised him with one of its trailers, wrapped in a special BLUDFEST design, which was then parked by the main stage during the event. “This whole idea came about following a conversation with YUNGBLUD’s management,” stated Leanne McPherson, Company Secretary at KB Event, who was on site to present the vehicle. “It’s such a brilliant…
This year, Ultimate Ears Pro – part of the Logitech Family – announced its latest innovation, the UE 150, UE 250 and UE350 – a line of universal fit in-ear monitors (IEMs) designed for up-and-coming artists. As well as giving greater access to IEM technology to up-and-coming talent, the new line also feeds into the company’s goal to push the conversation of hearing health to more musicians. “We’re trying to push ear health awareness early into an artist’s career,” Philippe Depallens, VP and General Manager at Logitech began. “We don’t want people to come to us when it is too…
Prior to the election, what issues were MVT making the government aware of? “MVT published a Manifesto for Grassroots Music which contained the top five opportunities to support the grassroots music venue sector for any incoming government. That work echoed the conclusions of the cross party Commons Select Committee Report on grassroots music which was released in May 2024, covering the most obvious chances any new government has to promote growth in the sector and turn around the current decline – cutting VAT on tickets, implementing a legal version of Agent of Change, reviewing business rates, and supporting the development…
Having spent half a decade working in a management role in a 3,000-capacity nightclub, AVM-SFX founder, Emerson Wellens was looking for a new way to connect with the music scene. “I recognised early on that with so many well-established sound and lighting companies, I needed a unique niche and during my time working in the nightclub, I discovered the powerful impact that special effects could have in enhancing peak moments during events,” he recalled. With this thought, Wellens invested in two CO2 jets, which he hired out on a weekly basis at nightclubs in his local area – thus laying…
Prior to the original and groundbreaking dLive, Allen & Heath focussed mainly on houses of worship and regional rental houses. Since its release, the brand has become prominent in the live market, featuring on major productions including the likes of Billie Eilish, Bring Me The Horizon, Sam Fender and Lewis Capaldi, as well as some the world’s biggest festivals including Reading & Leeds and Coachella. dLive, in many ways, has redefined and elevated the Allen & Heath brand. After extensive development, testing and innovative upgrades, the company recently launched its V2 firmware and new RackUltraFX to provide even more solutions…
When performers put on an anniversary hometown show to celebrate a notable milestone, you often see them head back to a small venue in which they got their start. However, when Andrea Bocelli looked to celebrate his 30th anniversary of his career, he turned the ‘hometown show’ on its head – instead, opting to create a stunning temporary venue in the hills of Tuscany not too far from his local village. STUFISH Entertainment Architects designed the stage, debuting a large kinetic art sculpture, encapsulating the themes of time, place, and Bocelli’s personal and musical journey. The three nights of performances…
After 15 years of Arcadia Spectacular’s iconic spider providing a space for Glastonbury’s late-night punters to dance until the early morning, the performance art collective has returned to the fields with a completely new structure that metamorphosed an ex-military Royal Navy helicopter into a dragonfly. Coming in at 30m long and 8.5m high, the installation stood tall overlooking much of Glastonbury, watching festivalgoers wandering from stage to stage during the day, but as the sun set, it welcomed world-renowned DJs as well as audience members to dive into a 360° immersive experience. The Dragonfly began its journey over a year…
SLX has announced a raft of new client wins and ongoing partnerships that underscore the company’s commitment to excellence and innovation. The Bristol-based B Corp has expanded its state-of-the-art lighting to well-known names in the theatre, culture and entertainment. Following a successful run supplying the rig for the West End production SIX The Musical since 2018, SLX is working on the hit show for its international tour. The company is also providing technical expertise working on the Hear You Come Again UK Tour. Long running partnerships are continuing with the Welsh National Opera and English Touring Opera for their forthcoming…
Adele’s highly anticipated residency in Munich, Germany, has not only pushed the boundaries of live entertainment but has also officially broken records. Solotech, the official video supplier, has landed a Guinness World Records achievement on the project by constructing the Largest Continuous Outdoor LED Screen (temporary) – a groundbreaking feat in live event production. The screen is the largest of its kind ever deployed for a temporary live event. This monumental installation provides an unparalleled visual experience for the audience and artist, enhancing the performance’s overall impact. “It is an immense honour to present the iconic Adele with this Guinness…
All-female Mexican vocal groups, Pandora and Flans recently undertook a 17-city theatre and arena tour of the US, mostly visiting the Southern States. The Inesperado (‘Unexpected’) tour, as it was known, was supported by a large inventory of Martin Audio WPL line array, provided by New Mexico-based rental partner, High End-RG Productions. The high energy show itself, which combined the two legendary groups in one spectacular event, had never previously been presented, and it picked up 5-star reviews wherever it played. Martin Audio’s Wavefront Precision PA was deployed, 12 boxes per side for the group’s FOH sound engineer, Luis Quiñones.…
This summer, some seven decades after Brutalism first shook things up in the design world, Production Designer, Bryan Barancik has channeled its visceral power to create a gripping, deeply moving show for Lenny Kravitz on the four-time GRAMMY Award winner’s 27-city European tour, which began 23 June 2024 in Hamburg at Sporthalle. With its stunning wide zoom monochromatic colour schemes, and an intense Stufish-designed set that featured blow-through video cubes, the Kravitz show cuts to the quick in true Brutalism fashion, connecting audiences to the core elements of the artist’s performance on stage. Aiding Barancik in lighting this deeply moving…
Production Futures, the organisation founded to create opportunities for young people to learn, train, network and develop real careers in every sector of the production industries, has announced the dates for its autumn ON TOUR events. They will take place between 10am and 3pm on Tuesday 15 October at the Backstage Centre in Purfleet and Wednesday 27 November at Production Park in Wakefield. The latter event will see the presentation of this year’s much anticipated Production Futures Breakthrough Awards, where as well as receiving the kudos of being named a winner, successful nominees will benefit from direct contact with the…
CHAUVET Professional’s new STRIKE Bolt 1C combines “old school with the new cool,” to come up with a unique IP65 fixture that offers unimaginable and unlimited design possibilities. Featuring twin strobe tubes and a single row of 66 RGBA LEDs, the STRIKE Bolt 1C works superbly as a traditional strobe. However, thanks to its integrated smart glass Frost Filter, the fixture is able to create solid clean colour block effects, radically expanding design possibilities. The STRIKE Bolt 1C’s tool-free stacking feature, makes it fast and simple to arrange the fixture in multiple units. Multiple hanging points, end-to-end connections, and floor…
Initially billed as a “reunion tour,” blink-182’s World Tour 2023/2024 marks the band’s 30th anniversary and first tour with original singer and guitarist, Tom DeLonge, since 2014. Given the significance of the tour, FOH Engineer, Charles Izzo and Monitor Engineer, Ray Jeffrey set their sights on a variety of DPA Microphones vocal and instrument microphones. To ensure the band delivers unbeatable sound on stage throughout the North American and European legs of the World Tour, Izzo and Jeffrey selected DPA’s d:facto 4018VL Vocal Microphones for Singer/Guitarist Tom DeLonge and Bass Guitarist, Mark Hoppus. They also deploy DPA microphones across Travis…
