Anniversaries are typically an opportune time for reflection and to take stock. However, this seems even more poignant when emerging from a global pandemic. Siyan – which this year celebrates 21 years at the forefront of the entertainment industry supply chain – is keen to return to normality after a turbulent two years. Having made significant ownership and management structure changes in 2019, the flourishing independent lighting and video rental outfit has managed to weather the economic storm of COVID-19, retaining all of its workforce, while making further investments in people, processes and technology. Founded by Nick Valdez and the…
Author: Jacob Waite
Impact Production Services (IPS) has added over 30km of power cabling and 300 distribution units to its growing hire stock. The investment has already proved fruitful, helping support IPS productions onsite, as well as meeting the needs of IPS’ range of trade hire customers. Over the past few months, IPS has invested in its hire stock and the hardware required for the distribution of temporary power at events. Its close working relationships with suppliers have proved essential while battling sector-specific supply restrictions and varying lead times along with all the other pressures associated with the after effects of the COVID-19…
Swansea Arena, operated by Ambassador Theatre Group, hosted its first live music act and large-scale production on 19 March 2022 when Royal Blood and their tight-knit touring crew descended on the new 3,500-capacity, multipurpose arena – in support of the band’s third studio album, Typhoons. Gilded with a wraparound LED screen made up of approximately 97,500 LED lights, Swansea Arena is primed to host upwards of 160 performances across music, comedy, esports, sport and conferences – bringing an additional 230,000 visitors a year to the city, and generating hundreds of full-time direct and indirect jobs in Swansea. Keith Powles, Head…
Coldplay and BTS joined forces to perform My Universe on NBC’s The Voice in mixed reality – with the British rock band performing in-person and BTS band members performing as holograms in augmented reality (AR), using 3D virtual avatars created via volumetric capture, and rendered live using Unreal Engine 4.27.1. LA-based production studio, All of it Now (AOIN), reflects on this landmark performance in collaboration with Coldplay Creative and Dimension Studio. Has AOIN ever attempted such an ambitious AR performance before? “We first worked on a live AR performance with BTS during their 2019 tour. I believe this was one of…
Despite the live events industry’s joy at the return of live shows, it certainly seems that there are a few more hoops to jump through than there were before 2020. From tighter budgets to ramifications brought on by Brexit, many are looking for an alternative solution to the usual touring model. Take, for example, the production team behind Fatboy Slim. The DJ’s 360° show [see TPi #236] was resurrected as live tours returned to the UK. After this run, the campaign had two more dates in Ireland. Production Manager, Jake Vernum picked up the story. “The two shows in Ireland…
In addition to demonstrating the benefits of its latest ALR (ambient light rejecting) screen systems, AV Stumpfl will present its AT64-SHIFT screen system legs and Fullwhite Curve at booth #3B600 in the Fira de Barcelona as part of ISE Show 2022. The ALR Decoframe Ambiance UST combines years of customer feedback relating to AV Stumpfl’s acclaimed Decoframe series with the latest in ALR technology, which makes it an exciting product for, for example, realising professional meeting room set-ups. Live demonstrations at the booth will allow visitors to instantly see the difference between ALR surface materials and standard solutions. AT64-SHIFT projection…
Anna Valley has underlined its commitment to the rapidly expanding virtual production market by appointing a director of virtual production, Christina Nowak, and making a £1.9m investment in LED technology by ROE Visual. Anna Valley is not new to virtual production (VP) and has undertaken a number of acclaimed projects from its VP facility, including the GRM Rated Daily Awards and the Independent Music Awards. Nonetheless, the company is now ramping up its activities in this market, hence the appointment of its first-ever director of virtual production in Christina Nowak, who has a wealth of experience at cutting-edge film and…
Hot on the heels of JH Audio’s brand new flagship in-ear monitor, the Sharona, KLANG:technologies now reveals that it will soon be giving away five custom KLANG-branded pairs of the latest JH Audio IEM model for free following a month-long contest. To enter the giveaway, contenders will need to take or find their favourite photo of themselves with any KLANG product, then simply go online to www.klang.com/win and upload the image. The competition closes at 11:59 PM (GMT) on Friday 3 June at which point five lucky winners will then be chosen from the images received, with the announcement of the Sharona…
When all touring plans came to an abrupt halt in 2020, most productions took one of two decisions: either carry on working, going into rehearsal spaces before inevitably mothballing productions until live events were permitted, or hold off until there was no shadow of a doubt that these shows would happen. The latter option meant a tight turnaround, but if there is any touring family that is up to the challenge, it’s the dedicated Stormzy Crew. As TPi sat in the office of Tour Manager and Tour Music Live Founder, Trevor Williams, he recalled how he and the core team…
In March 2022, Glaswegian singer-songwriter Amy Macdonald walked out to a packed hometown crowd at the OVO Hydro. The loyal fans that filled the venue that night had held on to their tickets after the show was postponed from December 2021 due to the pandemic, but the journey to get to this show goes back far further and represents a true milestone in Macdonald’s live career. Winding the clocks right back was her Manager, Chris Kiely, who regaled TPi with the tale. Kiely’s journey with Macdonald started back in 2007 as her Guitar Tech, before becoming her Tour Manager in…
Having first been discussed in 2019, The Last Domino? tour has been a long time coming. With rehearsals halted due to the pandemic, hard work behind the scenes during lockdown meant that the show was one of the first out of the gate when live performances were allowed to restart. Sadly, COVID-19 reared its ugly head once again and put the breaks on the last few dates of the UK tour, but with unfinished business in the UK, the trio of Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford, and Tony Banks reunited on stage for Genesis fans again in 2022 for a three-day…
To celebrate the release of the band’s 10th studio album, Hi, and three decades since the release of their debut album, Southside, Texas and a rejuvenated touring crew traversed the length and breadth of UK, Ireland and Europe. TPi joined the camp eight dates deep into the mammoth campaign at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall to unearth the crew’s stories, reveal the touring tech involved, and gauge a unique insight into life on road. “Having a consistent three-month tour is a blessing after such a difficult few years,” Production Manager, Dan Woolfie began. Having earned his stripes touring the world with Blossoms,…
Lighting Designer, Manfred Nikitser chooses Elation Professional Artiste Monet – supplied by Volt Lites – as the workhorse luminaire for Scorpions’ Sin City Nights Vegas Residency. America’s love of Scorpions was on full display 26 March to 16 April in Las Vegas where the German rock band played a string of shows at Zappos Theater in Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. Dubbed Sin City Nights with special guests Skid Row, the three-week residency was lit by Austrian designer Manfred Nikitser, who turned to Elation Professional Artiste Monet LED moving head as a workhorse fixture on the show. America’s affection for Scorpions, one of…
“When Leo Fender built his first guitar, it’s not as if they had Jimmy Hendrix in mind – he had no idea how musicians would use his creations,” mused Michael Case, VP Artist Relations for d&b audiotechnik. “You could say the same about Soundscape. We’re still at the beginning of its journey and have no idea how people may end up using it in the future.” For the uninitiated, Soundscape is the immersive offering from audio solutions provider, d&b audiotechnik. Using the principles of object based mixing, the system is an alternative to the traditional left and right stereo system.…
Following the release of his widely-acclaimed second studio album, TYRON – and hot on the heels of THE SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO TOUR in support of small venues post-lockdown – slowthai and his production crew commenced a countrywide campaign in March, wrapping up with two back-to-back, sold-out headline shows at O2 Academy Brixton, whereby ‘creative integrity was at the forefront’ of production values, as TPi discovers. Tasked with telling the story of TYRON on stage was Stage Designer / Creative Director, Lewis James, who collaborated with slowthai and his Manager, Lewis Rest, to curate stage and production design, show…
The use of video within the live events space has arguably seen some of the biggest leaps when it comes to technological innovation in the past decade. With more artists and set designers opting to utilise LED screens in shows, the increase in the sophistication of media servers, processors and the LED surfaces themselves has been remarkable. Even throughout lockdown, the speed at which software such as Unreal Engine progressed was nothing short of jaw dropping. Not only that, but with the rapid progression of techniques such as xR, video technology now takes the lead when it comes to the…
Back in May 2021, Sennheiser revealed it was selling its consumer division of the company to Sonova. A year on, co-CEOs Andreas and Daniel Sennheiser review this change of culture within the Sennheiser camp, how the company fared over the past two years, and how this new framework is set to improve the companies’ progression within the professional audio sphere. “One of our main goals over the past 24 months has been making steps to set Sennheiser up for future success, which has involved streamlining many workflow processes,” began Andreas. “The sale of our consumer division was the end of…
Having curated a COVID-19 secure production for 35 breakthrough acts to showcase their talent with UK-only production and equipment at Production Park as part of SXSW Online 2021 [see #TPi 260], the latest edition of SXSW saw a return to in-person audiences and increased production values with over 70 sets by some of Britain’s most exciting acts taking to the BME stage over eight days at the new backdrop of 700-capacity venue, Cedar Street Courtyard in Austin, Texas. Effectively the first ‘British invasion’ of SXSW since the COVID-19 pandemic struck, TPi sat down with Production Manager, Ant Forbes, Stage Manager,…
