STUFISH Entertainment Architects has designed the ABBA Arena – a brand new performance space in East London. The 3,000-capacity arena will serve as the home for ABBA’s virtual concert ABBA Voyage, which opened 26 May 2022. The building is set to become a new cultural destination in the city, situated close to Pudding Mill Lane DLR station. The steel and timber building has been conceived as a mysterious, intriguing object that demands attention, whilst creating a welcoming atmosphere for visitors to enjoy their experience. Designed from the inside out, the 25.5m high hexagonal form of the arena is in response…
Author: Stewart Hume
4Wall become the first UK rental house to acquire Elation Professional Artiste Monet, Artiste Mondrian and Artiste Rembrandt. Acquisition through Elation UK distribution partner Entedi continues Elation’s growth in the European market. Leading full-service video and lighting company 4Wall has extended its stock of Elation Artiste series LED moving heads into Europe with the purchase of the Artiste Monet Profile, Artiste Mondrian Profile FX and the Artiste Rembrandt Wash. Following on from 4Wall’s positive acquisition of Artiste series fixtures in the US earlier this year, and in the wake of a series of favourable product demos at the 4Wall facility…
Outline’s unique FPGA processor assumes a key operational role at Coachella and Stagecoach Festivals. Both returning after a two-year break. As they have been for every Coachella since 2000, Camarillo-based Rat Sound Systems were the principal audio reinforcement provider for the 2022 event, providing complete live performance systems across the seven largest performance areas: the Coachella Stage, Outdoor Theatre, Gobi Tent, Sahara Tent, Mojave Tent, Yuma Tent, and the Sonora Tent, respectively handling around 180 acts in each of the two three-day weekends. At the Stagecoach Festival, Rat Sound delivered multiple stages worth of audio including the Mane, Spotlight, Honkey…
More AV has extended its Funktion-One distribution to include Belgium and Luxembourg, making it the loudspeaker manufacturer’s representative for the entire Benelux region. The company, which is headquartered in Zoetermeer, Netherlands, has been a key Funktion-One partner for almost 20 years. More AV, which is led by founder Remco van der Werff, will build on the strong foundation left by the outgoing distributor, Soundsystem.be, whose owners – Tia Broodcoorens and Lieven Pillaert – have decided to close the company and pursue personal projects. For Pillaert, that includes working closely with More AV in a consultative capacity. Funktion-One’s Ann Andrews commented:…
One of the most eagerly anticipated live music events of the decade, ABBA Voyage brings the 70s supergroup back to the stage in a seamless blend of the virtual and physical worlds. Several years in the making, the show opened on 26 May in a purpose-built arena designed by Stufish Entertainment Architects at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London. Early reviews confirm that it is like nothing seen before, as it adds a new element to the live music experience by blurring the lines between computer-generated imagery (CGI) and reality that can only be seen in person to fully understand. As…
The final evening concert of the 2022 Volbriöö event in Estonia’s vibrant and picturesque second city of Tartu took place on the Kaarsild (Arch) Bridge, an elegant pedestrian link that connects the centre of town with the Ülejõe District, traversing the Emajõgi River. Andres Sarv, Lighting Designer from Tartu’s famous Vanemuine theatre and a team from production and rental company E&T were asked to assist with the technical elements including lighting which had a key role in the presentation. Sarv specified Robe Pointes, LEDWash 800s, Spikie and LEDBeam 100 moving lights. These were used to light all the stage action,…
Grammy Award winning, Puerto Rican mega-star Bad Bunny kicked off his 36-date sell-out El Último Tour Del Mundo 2022 from the Ball Arena, Denver in February. Featuring a show design as stylishly unconventional as the artist himself, Lighting Designer Alain Corthout, chose to deploy a battery of super-bright, effects rich, lightweight VL10 BEAMWASH luminaires from Vari-Lite, a Signify company. “Bad Bunny takes an alternative approach to his live performance, so the show design had to be as outspoken as he is,” explained Corthout. “I was looking for a lighting workhorse that would offer the ultimate in creative versatility, while delivering…
Creative Technology Asia Pacific has recently taken delivery of a further shipment of Ayrton Diablo S profile fixtures to expand its existing rental stock. The Singapore-based audio-visual company, caters for a variety of MICE events including keynotes, Kick-off meetings, exhibitions and product launches across the region. It made its first investment in the ultra-compact, feature-packed powerhouse profile when Diablo was first launched back in 2019, before increasing its stock levels in 2020, and again this year. “Ayrton Diablo was one of the potential fixtures that we originally looked at when we were searching for a replacement within our rental inventory,”…
The O2 has announced the appointment of Robbie Balfour as Brand and Marketing Director to lead the marketing strategy across the full campus at venue, including the arena, Icon Outlet, Up at The O2 and the Entertainment District. Balfour will be bringing his expertise and experience in growing brands to the world-famous venue, working alongside Steve Sayer and the team to reimagine the customer experience and build on The O2’s reputation as a full day and night out destination. Prior to joining The O2, Balfour gained over a decade of marketing experience working across some of the world’s leading sports…
Earlier this year, ExCeL London hosted Move It, one of the largest dance event in the world. Move It featured performances by 150 acts, ranging from professional troupes and college dance groups, to community organisations and local schools. Supporting them on stage was a highly flexible production design by Steve Yeardsley and the OneBigStar team that featured over 170 CHAUVET Professional fixtures from the company’s own inventory. Engaging the services of David Howard Lighting Design, the OneBigStar team endeavoured to create stage lighting that was versatile enough to reflect the event’s diverse range of dance genres, a collection that included…
Latin Grammy winner Karol G’s concerts are intense, impossible-to-stay-in-your-seat affairs, with no lulls in the action, jumping from one musical peak to the next. Reflecting this explosiveness in light requires a bold, fast-moving design, which is precisely what the team at Línea Estratégica delivered for the star with help from a massive collection of the new IP65-rated CHAUVET Professional Color STRIKE M. Conrado Santamaría, CEO of the Línea Estratégica, added 120 of the versatile fixtures to his inventory soon after they became available in Colombia, purchasing them from distributor YAMAKI. His vision was to use the motorised strobe/wash lights to…
Astera has launched its latest ingenious and innovative wireless LED lighting product – the HydraPanel – which features the company’s award-winning Titan LED engine. The product offers many unique features such as a beam-shaper module, magnetic mounting, and the Titan LED engine’s superior colour mixing, dimming characteristics and exceptional quality of light. The neat six-pixel product weighs 600g and has an inbuilt battery and wireless DMX module making it ultimately flexible and useable anywhere. It can also be run fully wired. It is IP65 rated in both wired and wireless scenarios so it can be used outdoors or in damp…
Copenhagen’s Bellevue Theatre asked Lighting Designer Mark P Jones to create a practical and versatile lighting scheme to facilitate their recent touring version of A Column of Fire, a musical production based on the work of Ken Follet. It was initially staged at the theatre in 2019, directed by Mads M Nielsen with a set designed by Benjamin la Cour and lit by Mikael Sylvest. The show was a huge success, and so after COVID-19 had effectively shut the industry down for two years, the theatre was keen to get it on the road once things started to properly re-open…
Global Critical Logistics (GCL) has acquired Madrid, Spain-based forwarder Asesores de Flete, S.A. (ADF), an experienced, non-asset-based provider of mission-critical logistics services to the live event, entertainment, sports, and broadcast industries. ADF will be integrated under GCL’s Rock-it Global brand. Together with Rock-it Global’s extensive presence in Latin America, the ADF acquisition solidifies Rock-it Global’s in-house capabilities to serve customers throughout the Spanish-speaking world. “Establishing a company-owned presence in Spain not only strengthens our geographic footprint in continental Europe, but also gives us direct access to customers in key end markets within the region,” said Paul J. Martins, Chief Executive…
“This is a project that we have dreamed about for many years,” enthused Artistic Director Merle Karp when talking about Aavistus, a festival of audiovisual art and Video Jockey (VJ) culture that celebrates and recognises the skills and talents of VJs globally. Although VJs create their own visual work, produce it and perform it, awareness of VJs among the general public is low, as they often perform their art in ‘underground’ scenes. When their work is displayed publicly – such as at concerts and events – it is often overshadowed by the performing artist that their spectacular work has been…
In January, DiGiCo announced New Year New Hope, giving three lucky winners three great gifts – a DiGiGrid MGB MADI to SoundGrid Interface; the first of the newly launched KLANG:kontrollers – Serial Number 1; and a DiGiCo Quantum Range console. What those entering did not know at the time was that this was an opportunity to own one of the first Quantum225 consoles, designed to bring the Quantum Processing power and features in a compact and robust work surface. Sensitive to the hiatus in the large-scale, live touring market, DiGiCo has designed the Quantum225 to be agile and flexible allowing…
This year Pearce Hire, was selected as the sole contractor for the Royal Variety prestigious post-show party. With the show taking place at the iconic London Palladium, the after-party took place a stone’s throw away at the Intercontinental Hotel Park Lane where Pearce Hire’s Project Manager Jake Vernum and the Pearce Hire team were loading in a full production package including lighting, sound, AV and cameras. Giles Cooper of Giles Cooper Entertainment is the Chairman of the Royal Variety Charity, and Executive Producer of the Royal Variety Performance. He explained why he chose to work with Pearce Hire for the…
Focusrite, which comprises the Focusrite, ADAM Audio, Novation and Ampify Music brands, today announced the acquisition of LDC-backed Martin Audio and associated companies, the Buckinghamshire-based designer and manufacturer of high-performance loudspeaker systems for the touring and installation markets. This acquisition follows hot on the heels of Berlin-based studio loudspeaker manufacturer ADAM Audio, but has been a consideration for Focusrite Founder and Chairman Phil Dudderidge for years. He commented: “I have known Martin Audio since its beginnings in Covent Garden in 1971. Founder Dave Martin and I became close friends in 1989 when I served as an advisor to him and…
