UK based international entertainment industry engineering design and safety specialists and consultants BLUMANO launches Stage DB – a unique multi-lingual software tool for coordinating and collating all the necessary machinery / equipment documentation to meet production health and safety requirements. Stage DB has been developed for BLUMANO by Lluis Diaz-Guerra, also 1 of 3 directors of the company which launched in 2014. Since then BLUMANO has led the way in establishing important health and safety related working practices for the world of concert touring, special events and large spectaculars. Any tour or event needs to produce a fully organised bundle of…
Author: Stewart Hume
PSAV, a leading global provider of event technology services, has announced the acquisition of Hawthorn. The joining of companies delivers on PSAV’s vision to connect and inspire people around the globe with impactful meeting and event experiences. Founded more than 30 years ago by its CEO, Martin Hawthorn, the Company is an award-winning creative technical event production company, recently recognised as ‘Production, Rental and Staging Company of the Year’ at the prestigious AV Awards. Hawthorn offers a comprehensive suite of services, including creative design, production, lighting, audio, video, staging, power distribution and rigging services in the U.K. Working with long-term…
Over the course of the festival season, event specialists, Video Illusions spanned the country packed with LEDs, event production staff, stage design and projection mapping. For its third successive year, the Video Illusions production team were video suppliers to Bloodstock Open Air, the UK’s largest independent heavy metal festival, held at Catton Hall on10-13 August 2017. In addition to being Bloodstocks most successful year to date with over 15,000 weekend tickets and the highest day entry tickets for Ghost on Saturday. The team at Video Illusions supplied the main stage with VIL6 IP65 5500 watts LED screens and VIL6 9m x…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9Rd4FqQYZo&t=211s
Sunday 17 September marked the tenth anniversary of the prestigious Knight of Illumination (KOI) Awards, held at the Eventim Apollo in London. During the dazzling evening event, 24 respected designers were ‘knighted’ – and bestowed with the iconic KOI sword. The event was skillfully compered by the inimitable Ola Melzig, an internationally renowned technical director perhaps best known for his tireless work on the Eurovision Song Contest – the world’s biggest televised music event. More than 500 entertainment technology industry professionals gathered together to celebrate the achievements of the many international lighting and video designers, whose work on shows across the…
Cato Music, a Production Park company, recently celebrated its 16th birthday in style with a burlesque-themed party at The Mill, its large-scale production rehearsal facility in Wimbledon, south-west London. As the music industry’s only full-service tour production company, Cato has spent the last 16 years catering for the rental, rehearsal, transport and storage needs of production and tour managers and crew – more than 300 of which gathered to wish Cato founder Glen Rowe and his team a sweet 16. Guests included production teams and band members from across the industry including Muse, Florence + the Machine, The 1975, Duran…
The Danish soul-pop band Lukas Graham is one of the top global breakout artists of 2016. Meyer Sound caught up with FOH engineer Frank Grønbæk when the band returned to Copenhagen for a homecoming show off the back of their USA spring tour. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtYYbdQWwTg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R4mrMcTDT4
BR Remote, the manufacturer of BRADLEY remote controlled camera equipment, will show a new set of mini cameras in the Camball3 family at IBC. These new models feature greater precision in the remote control, completely smooth movement, and links to a computer. The new cameras have 20x optical zoom and use a new Sony Exmor 2.4 Megapixel sensor which matches well with the output from larger cameras. They all provide full HD images at 50Hz and 60Hz frame rates. BR Remote has added an LCD display to the side of the cameras, which gives the operator many pages of status…
When Tim Farquhar took his first look at the site of the Beanstalk Music and Arts Festival, he described it as “a lighting designer’s dream.” Not only was the setting beautiful with its panoramic view of the Rocky Mountains and the Upper Colorado River, but at 6,600ft above sea level and miles from the nearest city there was virtually no ambient light, save the stars in the summer sky, to distract from a lightshow. Farquhar, owner of Farquhar Productions in Boulder, recently made the most of this dream opportunity for himself and visiting band LDs by creating a powerful and…
Sabrina Carpenter’s ongoing The De-Tour is taking the American singer, songwriter, and actress to over 30 venues across the US and Canada this summer. The tour uses venue-provided racks and stacks but carries a 32ft video wall and an audio package that includes an Allen & Heath dLive S5000 Surface and DM64 MixRack for FOH. FOH engineer Jason Brandt created his dLive show file prior to rehearsals and made use of dLive’s Virtual Sound Check (VSC) feature and a recording made with Waves Tracks Live. Brandt said: “I continue to track every show because the tour has taken us to…
When Cochavi & Klein was engaged by The Tripping production group to create spectacularly different lighting for a special sunset party in the Gan Haslaim (Rock Garden) of Tel Aviv’s famous Yarkon Park, it came up with the concept of a giant ‘Electronic Sun’ positioned 20m high in the air behind the elevated DJ and VIP areas. Based around a 3-ring circular truss, this huge 8m diameter backlight structure carried 48 of Robe’s 19-segment Spiider LED fixtures together with 24 Pointe fixtures, and two dozen 4-light molefays. The entire structure was suspended at a pre-tilted angle from a 66m mobile…
An Avolites Arena console was recently used as part of an extensive Avolites lighting control network for Dutch rock giants Kensington, at Pinkpop, the world’s longest-running pop festival, in Landgraaf, Netherlands. The Arena console was supplied by Belgium-based rental company, Phlippo, to the band’s Lighting Designer Jop Kuipers. Fairlight supplied two Titan Network Processors (TNP) and an Optical Titan Network Switch (TNS), whilst Kuipers brought in his personal Titan Mobile console as backup. “I have been using Avolites for over a decade,” said Kuipers. “The Arena desk is great for large set-ups like Pinkpop, because it has a lot of…
Maestra London has hired Leonie Cumisky as PA and Office Manager, Paul Hayes as Assistant Technical Manager and Frank Uhl as the new Warehouse Manager. Maestra London Director, Justin Hammond, said: “We’ve had a fantastic year and it’s very exciting to strengthen the team with more excellent personnel. Leonie, Paul and Frank come from a diversity of backgrounds and their dynamics, vitality and excellent personalities will be a great asset to our collective vision and goals.” They will all be settled in ahead of an action-packed autumn season for Maestra’s operations in the UK and Middle East. Cumiskey will be…
Absen Europe has announced the appointment of Liam Winter as Product Director and Michael Scott as Technical and Project Manager. Winter joined Absen Europe in July from PSCo, Absen’s UK distribution partner, and as such is perfectly poised to take up this brand new role. With more than 15 years of experience in the AV industry in a variety of senior sales, business management and product management roles, he has a wealth of knowledge to draw on thanks to time spent with leading manufacturers of cutting edge video wall display technologies, as well as with users and channel partners in…
American musical theatre star, Idina Menzel, recently played the Royal Albert Hall, as part of the UK leg of her 2017 world tour. Production, lighting and video design for the tour was taken care of by Abigail Rosen Holmes, who has also designed shows for artists such as Miley Cyrus, The Cure, Shakira and The Pet Shop Boys. Working with Holmes on the design and programming of the tour were Felix Peralta, Lighting Programmer, Dan Scully Video Content and Editor, and Eric Marchwinski Programming Video. Lighting and Video Director, Teddy Sosna commented: “Abbey and I have worked on numerous projects together—we…
Lifting equipment manufacturer and supplier Hoist UK has appointed General Manager John Ball with immediate effect. Ball will manage the business’s sales and marketing teams, contribute to overall business strategy and lead business development activities which include delivery of Hoist UK’s sales, commercial and customer strategies. With over 25 years in the lifting equipment industry, Ball is recognised throughout the market and a welcome addition to the growing Hoist UK team. Commenting on the new appointment Paul Jordan, said: “Having known John professionally for many years I’m delighted to welcome him to the role of General Manager and have every…
Silent concerts are an interesting alternative at open air concerts in residential areas, allowing bands and DJs to play throughout the night without a loud, intrusive PA. One of the biggest silent concerts ever staged in Germany took place at Marienplatzfest in Stuttgart recently, where an enthusiastic crowd donned more than 1000 headphones to listen and dance to the sound of German band Adulescens. Responsible for the 3D listening experience was Tour Manager and FOH Engineer Tobias Raunigk, who adapted the concept of silent concerts for the band utilising and Allen & Heath GLD-80. “With the 3D listening experience we want to deliver something special for the audience and the organiser alike,” explained Raunigk.…
