What first sparked your interest in live events? “I started doing sound for high school theatre productions and events. I didn’t want to be on stage but I always had an interest in anything technical. Following work experience placements in the local theatres at the weekends, I decided I wanted to go into lighting and when I went to see Coldplay’s Mylo Xyloto Tour, my heart was set from there.” How did you land your first gig? “My first proper gig was landed through one of my lecturers at BIMM. Although I studied Live Events Management, I was much more interested…
Author: Jacob Waite
Steam engine enthusiast Dan Pratley is 23 and hails from Thetford, Norfolk. Regular visits to the Weeting Steam Engine Rally & Country Show might not at first glance appear to be connected to a career in production, but as will become clear, they played their part in this professional technician’s journey to being a full-time member of staff at Pearce Hire. Pratley’s passion for the technical aspects of live events began aged 12, when he started taping down cables for his high school’s drama and music productions. A deeper interest developed during his school years and led to him studying…
Cirque du Soleil’s latest production, KURIOS: Cabinet of Curiosities made its long-awaited European debut this January. Featuring 13 jaw-dropping acts, KURIOS draws inspiration from the Victorian era and 19th Century industrial revolution, promising to be a larger-than-life steampunk spectacle for people of all ages. The show fittingly arrives in 2023 at the end of London’s Royal Albert Hall 150th anniversary programming. Behind the scenes, Duncan Fisher, Vice President and General Manager of Cirque du Soleil’s Touring Show Division, Tour Director, Zoe Caldwell and Technical Director, Benjamin De Pomeroy were assisted by the Show Support department led by Gerard ‘Ges’ Edwards.…
One of the overarching changes we’ve seen in the live events industry in recent years has been the growing complexity of audio networking. There’s no doubt about the added value it can bring for proAV devices, with open standard providing a sustainable and reliable domain for audio networks. However, the implementation process can create numerous issues for manufacturers. This is where Joyned steps in. “We help manufacturers of professional audio systems to implement open-standard network technology into their products,” explained Richi Rozas, CMO and Co-Founder of the Austrian software start-up. “Our product is a software development kit that allows for…
Hosted annually in Eindhoven, Netherlands, GLOW sees some of the world’s leading creatives and specialists in the art of video mapping descend on the city to showcase the very latest in what this visual technique can achieve. Although somewhat of a departure from the typical show that appears in the pages of TPi, we were keen to speak to some of the leading experts to find out the latest developments from this side of the industry. As in previous years, the projection equipment for the event was supplied by Sahara Benelux. Two of the centre points of this year’s event…
GDTF, developed by the GDTF Group, is an industry standard for live entertainment technology, intended as a unified definition for the exchange of data for the operation of lighting consoles, visualisers, CAD programmes or similar tools. Integration with My Virtual Rig (MVR) – a file format that is used to share data for a scene between technology associated with live entertainment – allows the transfer of parametric and geometric data between different programmes. At LDI 2022, GDTF & MVR originators – Vectorworks, MA Lighting and Robe – put aside their competitive differences to provide TPi with an exclusive update on…
Matteo Cifelli began his career in audio as a studio engineer in 1987, but since moving to the UK 15 years ago, has found more opportunities and prosperity mixing live sound. After many years visiting and being underwhelmed with rehearsal spaces, he decided to band together with video specialist and projectionist, Nicola Romanini to create a space in the heart of London, which both veteran Italian-born engineers would not only be happy to visit but to service visiting production teams and artists. “For me, a studio should be somewhere that breathes and inspires creativity,” Cifelli began. “I’ve never been happy…
Equinox has launched the Clean Sky Index, an initiative that empowers clients to control how their travel impacts the environment. The effort allows travel buyers the choice to favour private and commercial aircraft operators when it comes to booking, thus taking concise action towards reducing their travel’s environmental impact. Through its private charter and full-service travel management units, the UK travel company will demonstrate to clients how prospective operators perform within two specific criteria. The first is net zero initiatives towards emission mitigation from Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) use to offsetting efforts and future tech investment). The second is flight…
With benefits like greater reliability, increased energy efficiency and less maintenance for a lower cost of ownership, the transition from discharge lamp-based lighting fixtures to LED sources in the entertainment lighting industry was understandable if not inevitable. Then, as LED engines began to compete with discharge-based fixtures in terms of brightness, the writing seemed to be on the wall – it was surely only a matter of time before discharge-based lights would disappear from use completely. However, that hasn’t been the case. So, why are manufacturers still launching lighting products with discharge sources? “It’s really about what you want to…
When did Hedwig De Meyer start talking about you taking over as STAGECO CEO? “We began talking about a possible transition in Autumn 2020 just before the pandemic closed down all our activities. Focus then went on to surviving as a business for both STAGECO and WICREATIONS; keeping our people in their jobs, re-scheduling, contract updates and all kinds of insurance claims. 2022 was a year of explosive revival absorbing all our operational attention but just before the summer festivals and tours began, Hedwig contacted me to pick up the transition talks. Being 68 he wanted to retire and the…
alt-J certainly holds a unique place within the indie-rock landscape, with a signature sound that makes them easily distinguishable from their peers. Due to their unique nature, it’s perhaps not surprising that they are a group that has always cared very much about their live sound. For example, pre-pandemic the band did numerous dates using an L-Acoustics L-ISA system, something which at the time was certainly not the norm. When TPi caught up with the band in late 2022, although not out with an immersive system, it was once again a tour where the crew and band put their faith…
For the singer’s latest world tour – The Alicia + Keys World Tour – 4Wall Entertainment provided the lighting, video and rigging for shows on both sides of the Atlantic. 4Wall’s Jordan Hanson and Rhodri Shaw walked TPi through the lighting and video delivery. While 4Wall’s US branch coordinated the deal with the singer’s production, the tour started in the UK before heading Stateside. The show boasted a large video and lighting package, with TAIT providing a mother grid, which accommodated numerous automated hoists along with a large rear LED screen, which could be split in the middle, providing a…
With over 18 strategic locations in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and China, 45 years on from breaking ground in Montréal, Solotech is considered as a trusted source for audio, video, lighting, rigging, soft goods, control, and collaboration solutions and services. To support its growth, the company has recently opened the doors to a state-of-the-art, 80,000 sq ft facility in Las Vegas, Nevada. Eschewing the city’s age-old slogan – what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas – the company was forthcoming in providing TPi with a sneak peek of the space amid the revelry of LDI 2022.…
We at TPi are no strangers to covering stories on the establishment of new companies or entities within the live events sector, but what is incredibly rare is for us to be writing about a new company that is already out on the road with two separate touring parties. However, 22live – the newest face in the world of professional audio – has done just that, supplying touring PA and control packages for Sigur Rós as well as The Australian Pink Floyd Show. Although the name 22live may be new to many, the people behind the company will be familiar…
There is no doubt that touring post-pandemic has become much trickier than in years past. With longer lead times, a lack of resources for both equipment and crew, and every aspect of touring becoming increasingly expensive, many up-and-coming artists are erring on the side of caution when it comes to pushing the envelope of a live show. However, despite these notable roadblocks, American EDM duo Odesza are still pushing for progression no matter the size of venue they are playing. With a visually striking stage show that adds live instrumentation to the traditional EDM setting – most notably with an…
On 15 October 2022, Carl Cox performed his new album, Electronic Generations, live for the first time at OVO Wembley Arena to a crowd of 12,500 electronic dance music fans. This pivotal moment in his decades-spanning career marked a shift from DJ to live electronic artist. Cox’s evolution into live performances emerged during lockdown when Awesome Soundwave Live Online Festival III burst onto our screens in December 2020, signifying a change in direction for the king of dance music. The living room party was well and truly established by then and here was some of the most progressive programming to…
There aren’t many modern artists that transcend generations and even fewer that have sold over 80 million albums globally. Robbie Williams is one of them. With a quarter of a century of stage time under his belt, the singer-songwriter’s live productions are synonymous with showmanship and technical creativity. This time around, Williams has set out his new manifesto. Gags make way for a stripped-back, 32-year musical journey featuring some of his greatest hits – reworked by Jules Buckley, Guy Chambers and Steve Sidwell, and re-recorded with the Netherlands’ Metropole Orkest – interspersed with anecdotes and brand-new tracks from his latest…
For those who are unaware, the name TPi stands for Total Production International. It’s a name that we’ve always strived to live up to, covering shows from across the globe and speaking to the crewmembers responsible for making them happen. As we move into 2023, one of our goals for the year is to provide far greater international on-site coverage of shows, which is why, in late 2022, I was on board an international flight bound for Taiwan. The gig in the question I was skipping time zones to see was one of Mandopop’s biggest names, JJ Lin. The famed…
