Robe BMFLs entered unchartered territory when Fredrik Jönsson, Lighting Director responsible for creating the visual production design for Eurovision 2016, selected 88 BMFL Blades and 6 BMFL Spots to light up his show, which was to be televised to a 180 million audience worldwide. Eurovision 2016 was to be staged in the Globe Arena, Stockholm and Jönsson identified the BMFLs as an essential tool for lighting in the show. “The BFML Blade fitted my specification to the mark, hence their presence on the rig,” explained Jönsson. As the Globe Arena is the largest spherical venue in the world, Jönsson needed…
Author: TPi
German rapper, singer, producer and DJ, Alligatoah has commended the versatility and clarity of Martin Audio’s award-winning Multicellular Loudspeaker Array (MLA) following the success of his recent European arena tour. Alligatoah’s sound company, Complete Audio, had selected MLA to ensure that Alligatoah’s unconventional five-piece backing band, who constantly switch instruments, could deliver the perfect show whatever the venue size. Typically, the configuration was 11 MLA and an MLD Downfill per side for the main PA while the side-hangs ranged from eight to 12 MLA Compact on each flank. Production also carried 16 MLX subwoofers that were set up as a…
American singer and songwriter, Halsey, commenced the European section of her world tour earlier this year with the aid of Ayrton who created an adaptable lighting design for her headline Brixton show. Halsey’s production company, Okulus, chose the flexible yet angular appearance of the Ayrton MagicBlade-R and MagicPanel-R fixtures because it could meet the artists demand of a set based on ‘V’ shapes and be adapted to accommodate the varying size of venues on tour. Okulus produced a V-shaped stage, three V-shaped upstage ramps, a V-shaped video screen backdrop, all topped off by an inverted V-shaped lighting truss arrangement which…
Johannesburg rental company, LaserX, has acquired four new ProLyft 250kg motors in an effort to incorporate a WaterGraphic water curtain into its spectacular laser shows. For almost two decades, owner of LaserX Troy Bentley has sought to evolve the laser show industry. “We have tried to keep up with the changing needs or our clients”, Bentley explained. To meet the changing trend of water curtain laser shows, LaserX had to establish how to power the WaterGraphic. After careful planning it was decided that the WaterGraphic would be best powered using ProLyft 250kg motors, which were recently used at the Miss…
Dutch barrier manufacturer, Mojo Barriers, had its busiest period in May 2016 with three huge events all taking place in The Netherlands. “This was a logistically challenging run of projects,” stated Alex Borger, Mojo Barriers’ Director, as the busy period commenced with King’s Day. King’s Day played host to 16 events across seven cities with the most popular destination being the capital, Amsterdam, where nearly 1.5 million created the world’s largest street party. Mojo deployed 1.8 metre barriers, along with 91 Line Up Gates, 780 Bar Barriers and eight Gatekeeper turnstiles. A weekend later brought Liberation Day, commemorating the liberation…
Over 120 Robe light fixtures were recently used to illuminate the London Roundhouse for YesLive 2016. The awards show played host to a number of artists in an effort to inspire kids aged 15 – 17 in coalition with the National Citizen Service (NCS) initiative. Creative visual design specialists, MIRRAD, were issued with the task of producing a high-energy show through visual production as the likes of Craig David, Jess Glynne and Tinie Tempah performed onstage. Show Designer, Bryan Leitch, and Lighting Director, Jamie Thompson, were given responsibility to organise the production and started with a series of three by…
A meeting 10 years ago saw FOH Engineer Jon Sword and five-piece British rock act The Feeling join forces to forge a successful career as a credible live act. Together, the pro sound buffs have played the world in various sized venues and 2016 marks the year that Cadac consoles became part of the story. TPi’s Kelly Murray speaks to the man behind the live mix of this popular band. The story of how British pop rock act The Feeling came to notoriety is quite the (eventual) fairy tale, as their FOH Engineer, Jon Sword, explained: “They learnt to cut…
US hip-hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis bowled into London’s O2 Arena with a stage show honed during a relentless European tour and crew morale sky high. TPi’s Ste Durham was on site to meet the team. Even the most experienced of touring crews could be forgiven for feeling the strain after a long stint on the road, particularly when the majority of that crew is thousands of miles from home. In the case of the group behind Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ latest production, a strong ethos centred around one hand washing the other has done the power of good…
With a habit of selling out gigs in their native Britain, former The Beautiful South stars Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott embarked on a UK tour in support of the 2015 album, Wisdom, Laughter and Lines. TPi speaks to Lighting Designer Patrick Sollitt and Production Manager / Tour Manager Tom Sheals-Barrett about utilising a Robe-heavy rig, and the technical success behind the tour. British artist Paul Heaton has been penning catchy songs for his entire career, earning himself a reputation as a hit maker and a humble frontman. Alongside former The Beautiful South vocalist, Jacqui Abbott, the pair have once…
When Cream announced a night of dance music classics as you’d never heard them before, performed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in one of Liverpool’s most iconic and breathtaking buildings, Liverpool Cathedral, needless to say the city was brimming with excitement. TPi spoke to the suppliers who brought the event together. Uniting three of Liverpool’s cultural institutions for a unique event saw global dance brand Cream collaborate with musicians from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and transform some of the greatest dance classics from the electronic music genre in the majestic surroundings of Liverpool Cathedral. The unique concert featured…
At this year’s festival, neo-soul star Izzy Bizzu and Stockport indie pioneers Blossoms (coincidentally named after the Blossoms public house near TPi HQ), both showcased the new Shure KSM8, the world’s first dual-diaphragm dynamic handheld microphone. TPi’s Stew Hume asked the artists and crew their opinion on the product… Live at Leeds has become something of a warm-up for many bands before the onslaught of summer festival shows. During the metropolitan festival, 22 venues within the West Yorkshire city open their doors to the 192 artists that play throughout the day. Two of the highlights of the festival were indie-quintet…
TPi’s Ste Durham catches up with Theis Romme of Victory Tour Production to find out how the company managed to provide lighting, audio, video and staging elements for one of the most talked-about live acts of the moment. It may seem naïve to utter such a statement in the year 2016 but, when it comes to live concert touring, chances are you really haven’t seen or heard anything quite like Japan’s BABYMETAL. For the uninitiated, the group is essentially an extreme metal band fronted by three teenage girls, singing anthemic, EDM-tinged J-pop (mostly in Japanese) as part of a theatrical…
TPi’s Kelly Murray goes to London’s Roundhouse to speak exclusively with Tour Manager and FOH Engineer, Ben Hammond, about his experience on the road with cult post-hardcore crew, At The Drive-In. When the word ‘band reunion’ and ‘2016’ are typed into a search engine, you’re more than likely to be bombarded with articles referring to Guns N’ Roses’ long-awaited comeback. However, for those with a penchant for heavier rock music, the return of post-hardcore titans At the Drive-In is the true headline story of the year. It’s been a long 16 years since the band released any new material, with critically…
From its conception, Miss Atomic Bomb was made to push boundaries. The world premier of the new musical by Adam Long, Gabriel Vick and Alex Jackson Long brought together a renowned cast and crew to create an explosively funny dystopian fantasy with a unique staging concept – there is no set to speak of. The musical is produced by Tanya Link and is set in 1950’s Las Vegas, during an era where atomic bomb testing was not only a military endeavour, it was also a celebrated tourist industry with every businessman worth his salt trying to capitalise on the interest.…
d3 Technologies is pleased to announce that the Amsterdam-based Live Legends has recently upgraded its entire fleet of d3 4x4pro media servers with Video Format Conversion (VFC) quad DVI output cards. Live Legends, formed earlier this year by the merger of The Unit Showcontrol and content creator LiveLAB, is a d3 rental partner as well as d3 Studio offering a full d3 workflow as its in-house solution for pre-production and production of live events. Having collaborated on many global productions for major marketers such as Heineken, Nike, KLM, Disney, Tommy Hilfiger, Mercedes as well as musicals like Moeder Ik Wil…
David Dohrmann, Adamson’s technical director Asia Pacific, has teamed up with their Chinese Distributor, Real Music, to take the new S10 line array on the road. Real Music and Adamson will host technical seminars and S-Series product demonstrations in four Chinese cities in May 2016. Consulting firms, integrators and sound engineers are invited to attend any of the four Adamson events held in Beijing (9 May), Shanghai (11 May), Chengdu (13 May) and Guangzhou (15 May). During each seminar, David will provide a product demonstration of the S-Series S10 line arrays supported by the newly introduced S119 compact subwoofers. He…
Home to the world’s tallest building, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is accustomed to doing things big. The extensive festivities marking the 44th UAE National Day were no exception. The official National Day event at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi was a high-end production featuring grandMA2 consoles. UAE National Day commemorated the Emirates’ 44-year union with fireworks, concerts, heritage attractions, regattas, and art and theatre festivals across the Emirates. The official National Day show at Zayed Sports City celebrated the spirit of the union and the Emirates’ national pride. Produced by Five Current with lighting and video design by…
Visual production expert FIX8Group is expanding its dry hire division with the addition of a wealth of new products under the direction of the company’s Technical Director, Nick Charalampidis. Charalampidis, who has been with FIX8Group since early 2013, is now responsible for enhancing the division’s dry hire inventory with industry-leading products, carefully selected to suit almost all requirements. “Before joining FIX8Group I worked with Green Hippo for five years, so my knowledge of Hippotizer servers and software is second to none,” said Charalampidis. “I am adding an array of Green Hippo kit to our stock, including the Boreal, Karst and…
