Painting with Light has produced a vibrant, inventive visual solution for Zoo of Life a production directed by Luc Stevens to celebrate 175 years of Antwerp Zoo, staged at the new Queen Elizabeth Hall venue in Antwerp, Belgium. The team from the Genk based creative practice was led by Luc Peumans. Painting with Light’s project manager, Wouter Verhulst commented: “Normally you might have two weeks to build a production on this scale and ambition, but we had just three days and nights!” With this time restriction in mind, the set is composed largely of digital scenic elements and was designed…
Author: Jacob Waite
Danish singer, songwriter and music producer Alex Vargas played a special one-off concert at Copenhagen’s 16,000 capacity Royal Arena, with a set and lighting design by Theis Wermuth of creative visual practice, Create This. The centre of the design featuring 22 Robe MegaPointes, supplied, along with the rest of the lighting kit, by Nordic Rentals. The 22 Robe MegaPointes were positioned on a triangular shaped truss immediately above centre stage, right at the heart of the show, and they worked extensively throughout the performance. Their brightness and distinctive quality of light clearly stood out from all the other lights on…
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Star Events’ technology and inspiration was on the menu at a lunch for major promoters, production suppliers and principal venues in Shanghai, China recently. Hosted by Shanghai Mercedes-Benz Arena, China’s second busiest music venue, the event focused on the launch of the ‘China PROM’ (Production Rigging Operations Manual) and the arena’s new house reduction solution, designed and installed by Star Events China, which was demonstrated to the lunch guests. Conceived by Star Events China, with input from engineers, local and international experts, rigging publications and the arena architect, PROM is the first rigging safety manual of its type in China.…
CODA Audio USA has announced the appointment of Jeff Taylor as its new Sales Director. Based in Vancouver, Washington, Taylor brings with him a wealth of industry knowledge, having enjoyed more than 20 years experience working with notable professional audio brands. To firmly establish CODA Audio’s next-generation solutions in the top rank of the US market is central to his new role. CODA Audio Managing Director, Luke Jenks, commented: “Jeff combines a highly developed business sense with the technical understanding of a professional audio engineer, a role he continues to play in venues across his home city and which demonstrates…
The Savannah Music Festival features more than 100 productions over its 17-day run each spring. For almost a decade, as long as Atlanta-based Rock N Road Audio has been the festival’s audio systems provider, DiGiCo consoles have grown to become the primary mixing engines of this world-renowned event. In 2018, at the 1,200-seat Lucas Theatre, an SD12 is at Front of House and a DiGiCo SD10 is being used for monitors at the side of the stage. The semi-enclosed, 700-seat North Garden Assembly Room at Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum uses a DiGiCo SD9 console for both FOH and…
Don’t Let Daddy Know (DLDK), one of the largest international EDM parties, takes its cool Ibiza roots; transitioning into a worldwide dance phenomenon known for spectacular production values. The 2018 Amsterdam edition, produced by Dutch7, returned to the Ziggo Dome for 2 nights, for the first time with creative lighting designed by Bas Knappers from Netherlands-based creative practice, Live Legends. Live Legends has previously provided programming and operating teams for the event and in the design ‘hot seat’ Knappers specified 122 Robe Pointes and 40 Robe MegaPointes as part of a large lighting rig, supplied by Rent-All together with video and…
Since moving to the Djakarta International Expo (JIExpo) in 2014, the Djakarta Warehouse Project (DWP) has blossomed, with Clair Brothers as an indispensable ingredient, into an all-out festival that spans 2 whole days. Clair Brothers was the first and only choice of the production company – Live Production Indonesia – based on its partnership since 2012 with Clair Brothers’ rental partner, Total Audio. Houwdy Boenadi, managing partner of Live Production Indonesia, said: “I first experienced Clair Brothers speakers in 2012 and was immediately impressed. Since then I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no match for Clair Brothers signature…
Allen & Heath and Shure has announced a new collaboration to enable native monitoring and control of Shure’s ULX-D and QLX-D wireless systems from Allen & Heath’s flagship dLive digital mixing systems. With the upcoming release of dLive V1.7 firmware, engineers can monitor supported Shure wireless systems without leaving the mix position. All essential wireless information, including mutes, signal level and battery bars, is visible from Bank screens, allowing simultaneous monitoring of multiple channels. Selecting the Preamp tab on an individual wireless channel reveals more granular information, including RF frequency, device name and peak indicators. Receiver gain and mutes can also be controlled direct from thedLive touchscreen, or from a laptop…
Bristol-based lighting and video rental specialist Fineline provided LED screen for the 2018 Teenage Cancer Trust (TCT) shows at the Royal Albert Hall, which has seen another series of show-stopping performances and unique collaborations which help raise awareness and funds for the charity. The 2018 line-up included Kasabian, The Courteeners, Def Leppard, Ali Campbell, Astro and Mickey Virtue from legendary reggae band UB40 who appeared as a trio, Nile Rogers and Chic, side-splitting comedy from Russell Howard as well as The Who’s Roger Daltry, who has been instrumental in driving the annual RAH concert week since it started in 2000.…
Allen & Heath digital mixers were once again in abundance at 2018’s South by Southwest Music and Media Conference (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, USA. Mixers from the whole range were used in venues across the city, from corner bars and impromptu stages, right up to the British Embassy Music showcase which saw performances from rising stars like Che Lingo, Pale Waves and Idles, as well as established UK artists including Gaz Coombes and Frank Turner. Hosted at Latitude 30, the British Music Embassy showcase sees a new act and engineer every 40-minutes, so having a system that combines ‘walk-up-and-mix’ usability…
Brian Jenkins of Flicker Designs, designed and programmed the lighting and directed Maroon 5’s annual 2-night New Year’s Eve show at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas. The veteran LD selected a large complement of Ayrton MagicBlade LEDs as well as MA Lighting grandMA2 consoles for lighting control, supplied by ACT Lighting. “It’s a push to come up with something new and creative when you have programmed the same songs off and on for a few years. That’s probably the biggest challenge: How do I give new life and feeling to this song?” questioned Jenkins. For this show he…
WorldStage has made a major investment in speakers, subwoofers and amplifiers from d&b audiotechnik. The latest equipment further expands the company’s extensive inventory of the highest-quality audio gear. WorldStage supplies events that range from 100 to 20,000 people. “The purchase rounds out our existing inventory and adds new stock that continues to enable us to bring the very best audio support to the large variety of shows we manage,” stated WorldStage Vice President Scott Schachter. “This powerful, top-of-the-line equipment opens new opportunities for us.” Schachter commented: “WorldStage has a long history with d&b. We value the brand for its ease…
Some 27 years after exploding onto the big-beat electronic scene, Prodigy recently embarked on another wild tour. Tim Fawkes was tasked with creating a fresh regime of visual anarchy. The lighting and set designer chose to work with UK rental specialist HSL as his preferred vendor, and among the inventory supplied were a large number of Martin by Harman Atomic 3000 LED strobes. Martin by Harman originally defined the standard for strobes with the release of the original xenon-based Atomic, which dominated the market for 15 years, but in the new era of LED they have developed the perfect blend…
American alt-rock outfit Paramore, amidst a whirlwind of a world tour supporting their latest release, After Laughter, selected an Adamson Systems Engineering E-Series and S-Series audio system supplied by Eighth Day Sound Systems. The lengthy run began in Dublin, Ireland in June 2017, hitting a wide range of venues across multiple continents. Regardless of where they’re playing, though, Paramore aims to deliver a high-energy, high-impact show for a ravenous fan base every time they hit the stage, and precise, pristine, and powerful sound is critical to that mission. “Paramore is very much a vocal- and guitar-driven band, and the Adamson…
With more than 1,060 sold-out performances, 5-time GRAMMY Award winner, Celine Dion sounds better than ever as she continues to dazzle audiences each night with the assistance of DPA Microphones’ technology. For Dion’s long-time Sound System Engineer Francois “Frankie” Desjardins and FOH Mixer/Tour Manager Denis Savage, much has changed in the live sound world since Dion began her residency 14 years ago. On a never-ending quest to deliver clear and natural sound, the duo has come to rely on a wide selection of more than 40 microphones from DPA Microphones for the megastar’s sold-out performances. Desjardins and Savage met with…
Solotech, Montreal-based premier end-to-end provider of entertainment technology services, has made major purchases of Claypaky lighting fixtures, MA Lighting products and MDG atmospheric generators; exclusively distributed in North America by ACT Lighting. The majority of the equipment is destined for Solotech’s US offices. “It’s part of our overall strategy to add more Claypaky, MA and MDG equipment to our inventory,” explained Francois “Frankie” Desjardins, Director of R&D. He continued: “We’re building our inventory in the US to gain more presence for the touring market. We’ve been happy with Claypaky, MA and MDG products and so have our clients in all…
Peterborough-based touring and event power company, Pearce Hire, recently hosted a workshop organised by James Eade with Patrick McGinley from the Health and Safety Executive, for a group of HSE electrical inspectors. The aim of the day was to share information about the application of generator safety measures, especially in relation to earthing requirements, and to discuss some new safety concepts that Eade is proposing for new IET guidance on the subject. “The current guidance on generator earthing in particular has not seen many changes for years” noted Eade. “The advent of modern technologies such as inverter generators coupled with…
