In support of her latest album, All I Need, English singer / songwriter Foxes set out on a nationwide tour. TPi spoke to the singer’s touring LD Jake Vernum to discuss the artist’s latest visual look. Singer / songwriter Louisa Rose Allen, better known to the world as Foxes, has become a mainstay in the world of electro-infused pop music. In 2013 the singer became known on a global scale after being invited to provide vocals on Zedd’s single Clarity. That same year Foxes released her debut album Glorious followed by her latest record, All I Need. Foxes’ touring LD…
Author: TPi
With French loudspeaker manufacturer Nexo leading the way for economically viable touring theatre productions, TPi’s Kelly Murray speaks to the audio team behind its latest outing, Footloose, about system preferences for touring sound designs and the skills required to maintain them on the road. Produced by award-winning team Dean Pitchford and Walter Bobbie at Sell A Door Theatre Company, producers of Avenue Q and American Idiot, Footloose the musical has once again been reinvented for a UK theatre run. TPi caught the actor / musician show staring Gareth Gates and Maureen Nolan at Manchester’s Palace Theatre to speak to Sound…
Arena Seating’s managing director Niall Gaffney is moving to become general manager of the New Jersey division of Arena Americas as of April 2016. With each of the Arena Americas divisions geographically split into four areas, Gaffney will be responsible for managing and delivering growth across the Northeast Division. Gaffney said: “I’ve enjoyed a fabulous time at Arena Seating, working within a great team of people and on some amazing events, such as the Commonwealth Games, which stands out as a personal highlight. The fact that I can continue to expand my horizons within the Arena Group is a testament…
Renkus-Heinz has announced the appointment of Michal Poplawski to the position of Technical Sales Manager, Europe. Poplawski joins Renkus-Heinz after serving as Head of Support for TW AUDiO in Germany, where he oversaw loudspeaker system design, system commissioning, product training, customer/consultant liaisons, technical documentation and more. With extensive expertise in Renkus-Heinz products and technology, Poplawski previously worked as product manager for Polish Renkus-Heinz distributors M. Ostrowski. He holds a diploma in Audio Engineering from Wroclaw University of Technology. In his new position, Poplawski will provide support and technical assistance to Renkus-Heinz customers across the European continent, taking over for Håkan…
On getting started in the industry… “I started playing in a band at school, but could never hear myself when in shows – so took an interest in the reinforcement of sound. I mixed my first gig (under supervision!) aged 14. A few years later, I talked my way into a local recording studio for work experience – starting as tea/coffee maker – moving to tape op then moving up to learning mic techniques, console mixing, Cubase programming. A good day was when you didn’t have to get the soldering iron out to make the pub PA work!” On her…
Read any contemporary review of a concert by Savages and you’re likely to encounter the words ‘thunderous’ and ‘bass’. While not the defining characteristic of the band, these two terms were certainly upper most in the mind of sound engineer Matthew Farrar when contemplating a visit to London’s famous Roundhouse. “I’d played the Roundhouse just once before; last time it was for the Mercury Awards with Savages, then we were in and out, one song, thank you very much. So for this show on 17 March that concluded our European tour at least I already knew it was a tricky…
Robe has once again made nearly 40 moving lights available for the 2016 Concert Lighting Project at Rose Bruford College in Kent, UK. This practical module offers second years on the BA (Hons) Lighting Design course at the leading UK theatre and performance college the opportunity to explore and engage in non-theatre lighting genres like live music. Covering a period of about four weeks, and mentored by leading industry designer Dave ‘Biccie’ Lee, the programme culminated with the design of a real lighting rig programmed and operated by the students – Will Steggles, Sam Woolass, Stacey Sandford, Andrew Budge, Matt…
For the second year in a row, Georgia’s Savannah Music Festival is an all-Meyer Sound event, with sound systems reinforcing all five venues for amplified music. With more than 100 performances scheduled through April 9, this year marks the debut of Meyer Sound’s Leopard linear sound reinforcement system at the festival, providing sound at the Lucas Theatre for the Arts. Leopard was specified for the venue by Chris Evans, the festival’s chief sound engineer. “Leopard really shined for the Pink Martini show,” reported Evans. “The band is very dynamic, with pin-drop-quiet classical piano and violin sections followed by upbeat big…
SOUND.COM, provider of sound reinforcement and turnkey audio solutions, was chosen to provide the audio solutions for the Opening & Closing Ceremonies at the South Asian Games 2016, held at Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati recently. Once again, they constructed a robust digital network around a redundant Optocore backbone, spanning six nodes, to transport pristine audio around the stadium. Since managing sound for The Commonwealth Games 2010 in Delhi, SOUND.COM has gained the reputation of being a specialist in providing advanced audio infrastructures for major ceremonies and has taken major sporting events to the next level in India, including…
A.C. Entertainment Technologies, a ‘one-stop’ international provider of cutting-edge professional equipment with over 40 years’ experience supplying to the industry, will showcase a selection of the very latest solutions available from their vast portfolio of over 200 premium brands – on stand A26 in Hall 5.0 at Prolight & Sound 2016 in Frankfurt, Germany. Staff from AC-ET’s International Sales division and specialist Product, Film & TV, and Technical Sales Teams, will be on hand to demonstrate and discuss leading technologies from a portfolio supplied to dealers, distributors and end users in over 80 countries worldwide. The stand will feature the…
Following on from last year’s highly acclaimed event, Letters Live returned to the Freemason’s Hall in Central London in mid March for its second run of shows. Letters Live celebrates the art of letter-writing, and features a variety of well known actors, personalities and performers, reading interesting and significant correspondence, both modern, and from history. This year’s shows supported a number of literacy charities and organisations including First Story, as well as providing some much needed profile for Help Refugees UK, which supports people fleeing from conflict in their home countries.For the show production, PRG XL Video worked with production…
Building on its 15 year relationship with Roskilde Festival, Mojo Barriers has secured a further three year contract to ensure artist and audience safety throughout the eight day event. Roskilde Festival is one of Europe’s most established large festivals, taking place in Denmark from 25 June – 2 July 2016, with Mojo Barriers once again supplying its unique barrier configuration. This unique pen system splits the front of stage area into four pens, which are emptied between the bands, allowing organisers to control the number of people in the front of stage areas and divides the audience to prevent large…
In the wake of his successful Right Here album released in the Autumn, former Westlife star Shane Filan and his band embarked on a successful theatre tour, with a set list that mixed old Westlife favourites with new material. It also reunited husband and wife sound engineering team of Chris Pyne (FOH) and Becky Pell (monitors), metaphorically linked by 100 metres of cable, the former mixing the house sound on a Martin Audio MLA Compact System 36. The two had previously worked together with Kylie Minogue, Anastasia, Il Divo and the original Westlife before Pyne took up his position at…
Late January and early February saw John Grant on tour in the UK and Ireland, culminating in an appearance at the BBC 6 Music Festival at Bristol’s Colston Hall. Front of House engineer Gabriele Nicotra and monitor man Matt Pengelly carried a pair of Yamaha CL5s on a Dante network, the system impressing the BBC engineers so much that a longstanding refusal for Nicotra and Pengelly to use their own equipment at the festival was reversed as soon as the broadcast staff saw what they were using. Nicotra is a long term Yamaha user, having the distinction of being the…
Blackburn, UK based lighting and visuals specialist HSL is supplying lighting and production rigging for the recently opened and much talked about theatrical staging of Jeff Wayne’s 1978 cult album “War of the Worlds” at the Dominion Theatre, Tottenham Court Road, London, produced by Bill Kenwright. The work is based on HG Wells’ 1879 novel about a Martian invasion and has the additional resonance of being played completely with a mix of orchestral and electronic musicians conducted by Wayne himself. Directed by Bob Tomson, it’s the first such presentation of the work, which is well known as an arena touring…
ArKaos Pro and High End Systems have announced an exciting new software collaboration which delivers simple, seamless, fast integration of video and lighting control. The two companies have worked in close cooperation to create a new Auto Patch feature which enables any Hog lighting console to take control of an Arkaos media server, quickly and easily, at the press of a single button. The new Auto Patch feature allows any Hog lighting console to automatically detect and configure itself to any ArKaos media server and its MediaMaster software, so the lighting designer/programmer can patch the media server with just a simple…
Entertainment motion control systems expert XLNT Advanced Technologies is exhibiting its CyberHoist II system at ProLight + Sound Frankfurt in Hall 3.0, Booth G73. The ultimate variable speed chain hoist system, CyberHoist II features reliability; smooth, silent and accurate operation; phenomenal speed control and safety. CyberHoist II has been specifically designed to manage and accommodate the creative, logistical and physical rigours of automation design for entertainment environments, large-scale events and touring. “We are looking forward to demonstrating the CyberHoist II system in live presentations throughout ProLight + Sound,” said XLNT’s Director of Sales and Marketing, Marc van der Wel. “We…
VUE Audiotechnik Europa will introduce new VUE loudspeaker products in booth 3.1J40, at Prolight & Sound in Frankfurt. The VUE booth will unveil new products in the al-Class and h-Class range, and present the technologies behind VUE’s most distinguished products. The central focus will be on the much-awaited addition to the al-Class Line Array Systems. The European reveal of the al-12 system will extend the VUE al-Class to address large-scale applications while showcasing VUE’s CST technology across the series. The al-12 exhibits all new component designs across the frequencies and is optimised for more demanding applications, making the al-12 a…
