It is 40 years since Harold Grönemeyer’s album 4630 Bochum was released – and in the time since, the city of Bochum and Grönemeyer have created a special kind of musical love story between them. Now, with seven open-air shows in Dresden, Berlin and – how could it be otherwise? – four evenings in Bochum, the artist celebrated his legendary album, his personal story and the fans who have been loyal to him for decades. Lighting Designers, Rob Sinclair and Gunther Hecker developed a new stage and lighting design for the tour. In a set dominated by large, transparent LED…
Author: Jacob Waite
On 5 to 6 July, the Piazza San Marco glowed with light that captivated the large crowds that turned out to see Pooh, as the Italian pop icons performed the first two shows of their 22-date Amici x Sempre Estate 2024 tour. Pooh’s longtime Lighting Designer, Francesco De Cave specified 100 CHAUVET Professional Maverick Storm 3 BeamWashes for these momentous shows. Supplied by ZAlight and installed by Agorà, the fully-featured IP65 hybrid fixtures supported the artists on stage, in addition to accenting the beauty of the Doge Palace, Campanile di San Marco, Basilica and other structures that contributed to the…
Europalco has revealed a significant expansion of its facilities. The acquisition of an adjacent 18,000m² land increases Europalco’s total operational area to an impressive 42,000m², nearly doubling the current space and extending the perimeter to almost 1km. “This major step reflects our continued commitment to growth and innovation,” said Pedro Magalhães, CEO of Europalco. “The expansion will allow us to double the capacity of our main warehouse from 4,000m² to 8,000m², creating 12,000m² of storage space. This increase will significantly optimise logistics, improve production capacity, and further modernise and streamline our facilities.” Magalhães continued: “Throughout our 27-year history, the dedication…
Girls Aloud are back on the road for the first time in 11 years, performing hits that helped define the sounds of the 2000s, creatively directed by Beth Honan and lit by Peter Barnes. Lighting, video, automation and rigging equipment as well as crew are all supplied by PRG UK to Production North, whose unfazable Iain Whitehead oversaw all related technical production elements for the first leg of the tour that plays UK and Irish arenas including five sold out nights at London’s O2 arena. PRG UK Account Manager, Yvonne Donnelly is co-ordinating everything, and one of the many advantages…
For one glorious day on 11 July, the live events industry came together at the Backup Village Fete to raise much needed funds for supporting those working in the industry when they need it most. This year’s event smashed all expectations, raising a record breaking £56,300 on the day. Even the weather could not resist a day out, as un-forecast sunshine made a welcome appearance for the duration of the event. “The Parish of Backup has its own micro-climate,” laughed Vice Chair of Backup and Mayor of the Parish Fete, Lee Dennison. The Backup Village Fete is the natural evolution…
Cory FitzGerald, the Lighting Designer for Justin Timberlake’s ongoing The Forget Tomorrow World Tour and senior partner at Burbank-based creative studio, Silent House, is using 30 Robert Juliat 864 LED asymmetric footlights featuring a four-colour mixing system to line the stage at the singer-songwriter’s shows.ACT Entertainment is the exclusive North American distributor of Robert Juliat lighting. The tour, which commenced in April and will continue until spring of next year, is Timberlake’s seventh headlining concert tour and his first in five years. It is in support of his sixth studio album, “Everything I Thought It Was,” and has scheduled dates…
The Let’s Go Round Again (One Last Time) tour was the final, farewell trip around the highways of Average White Band’s UK roots. From Manchester to Scotland via the Royal Albert Hall, the tour was a celebration of the Scottish soul and R&B giants. Charlie Dale, at the front of house position, chose to tour with a DiGiCo SD10, thanks to the accessibility of the console’s surface and Mark Gazaille at the monitor position opted for the SD12. The tour covered the UK over April and May, with the band saying their final goodbyes in the USA from July 2024.…
Michigan’s beloved multi-genre Electric Forest festival ramped up its AV offering this year, with the monumental Sherwood Court stage’s proscenium arch LED screen displaying content powered by tvONE’s Green Hippo brand of Hippotizer media servers. Visual solutions company Observatory, which has been providing scenic visual content and delivery/VJ services for Electric Forest’s Sherwood Court Stage since 2022, were brought on board by Leisure Expert Group – the Creative Directors of Insomniac who part own the festival. Observatory’s Simon Harris and his team worked closely with Leisure Expert Group, transforming their visual brief into animated visual content. To realize the visual…
Showstopper is a touring contest that offers dancers of all ages and abilities the opportunity to showcase their talent on a big stage with professional quality production. Lighting, video and audio for the events is the responsibility of the organisation’s in-house technical department, which exclusively utilises ADJ LED video panels and LED-powered lighting fixtures. With an inventory of over 900 VS3 panels, 500 AV6X panels, and 250 moving heads, Showstopper can deploy as many as eight impressive stage setups each weekend, allowing over 50,000 dancers to perform across 50 regional events each year. For every event, Showstopper builds an impressive…
To celebrate their 25 years of musical success, Spanish duo Estopa is embarking on a tour that is setting new benchmarks in every city they visit. Beyond their distinctive musical style and engaging stage presence, the tour’s standout feature is its impressive stage design, which showcases an extraordinary lighting experience crafted by the skilled Juanjo Beloqui and supported by equipment from Fluge Audiovisuales and Stonex, the Spanish distributors of Claypaky. After a successful tour across the United States and Latin America, Estopa is now bringing their anniversary celebration to Spanish cities including Valencia, Sevilla, Madrid, and Bilbao. From the grandeur…
The stunning backdrop of the historic Ragley Hall in Warwickshire once again played host to the Adventure Bike Rider (ABR) Festival 2024, one of the UK’s biggest motorcycle festivals returning to the estate for its fifth year. Henley Theatre Services was commissioned by the festival organisers to provide all the stages, technical production support and onsite technical crew to operate the main Bikerhead Stage and five further stages located at various positions across the ABR Festival site. Adventure motorcycling enthusiasts from around the globe geared up for an unparalleled celebration of freedom, exploration and community from 27th to 30th June…
An innovative event power solution was deployed by Energy Management Solutions to run the whole site from a large battery for the first time in the UK, reducing carbon emissions at Brighton’s series of On The Beach shows. 60,000 people attended Brighton’s On The Beach concert series, featuring artists ranging from Bicep, Underworld, The Kooks, Sub-Focus, Carl Cox and The Libertines from 19 to 28 July 2024. NW Live delivered the site planning and management and production, their project lead Joe Nichols, commented: “Having worked with Gerhard and James at Energy MS to introduce the solar panels for the production…
Hootie & the Blowfish’s latest 43-city Summer Camp With Trucks Tour takes on an outdoorsy appearance with frontman, Darius Rucker and the band singing in front of a campfire. That flourish, like so many other immersive visuals, is part of a production design by Kevin Northrup and Will Lowdermilk of Silver Bullets Design. Drawing on the performance features of over 100 CHAUVET Professional fixtures, supplied by Special Events Services, Northrup and Lowdermilk have created a multi-layered light show that is marked by subtly shaded colour washes, some bold downlighting, intersecting aerial effects, and a generous serving of crowd lighting. Throughout…
OPUS X4 is Cameo by Adam Hall Group’s newest spot profile moving head with a 1,400W LED white-light engine which generates enormous light output of 50,000 lumens and provides powerful spot and gobo projections – even on the biggest stages. Its little brother, the OPUS X PROFILE, has already made impressions in the past with its 750W in countless live, TV, and theatre productions. The OPUS X4 PROFILE now marks the next stage in OPUS development: the combination of a 1,400W LED engine, 193mm front lens, and particularly large 5° to 55° zoom range enables equally flexible use as a…
Neumann & Müller Veranstaltungstechnik has been certified to the ISO 14001 and 45001 international standards in the fields of environmental management and occupational health and safety management. The criteria the company had to meet represent a further milestone in the implementation of a comprehensive sustainability concept. Neumann & Müller Veranstaltungstechnik (N&M) meets the high standards associated with certification to ISO 14001 and 45001. The company now has proof of its effective management systems in the fields of the environment and occupational health and safety. Martin Hartmann-Schüler, Sustainability Manager at N&M, elaborated: “These certifications mark a significant step for Neumann &…
Amas Produksjon Lyd & Lys has been named the new exclusive distributor for Voice-Acoustic and TENNAX in Norway. Originally started as a booking agency in the early 1990s, the Norwegian company quickly developed into a rental company for professional event technology. Since 2004, the company has focussed on the sale and rental of pro audio solutions of the highest quality. As a full-service provider of sound, lighting, stage and artists, we are delighted to have found two very competent and professional partners in Norway in Morten Egil Paulsen and Harald Hole. “The combination of Voice-Acoustic and Harald as a technician…
Obsidian Control Systems has achieved tremendous success with its popular NETRON line of DMX/RDM Splitters and Ethernet to DMX gateways and is pleased to now offer the world’s first IP66 range of data distribution devices for entertainment applications. Available now are a six-port EtherDMX Node (EN6 IP), a six-port DMX/RDM Splitter (RDM6 IP), and an eight-port managed POE Switch (NS8 IP). The NETRON IP66 range, which was recognised at the 2023 PLASA tradeshow with an Award for Innovation, blends the proven chassis and connector technology of Elation’s market-leading IP65 Proteus range of lighting fixtures with the NETRON data platform. Utilizing…
Rik Kirby has been appointed to the newly-created role of Commercial Manager for spatial audio innovator, TiMax, and the industry-standard OutBoard motor control brands, recently acquired by Focusrite. Kirby brings with him a wealth of experience from previous roles in sales and channel management. Originally from the UK where he worked in international sales management for BSS Audio and Turbosound, Kirby moved to the United States and Renkus-Heinz in California over 20 years ago, before starting his own highly successful pro-audio distribution company, Allied ProTech. Returning to the UK, Kirby assumes the global development of sales and promotion channels for…
