Rental company Sound Design has purchased Nexo’s STM M28 modular line array system for Ireland’s edition of the popular TV talent show, ‘The Voice’, which is produced in the Mahony Hall at the Dublin venue The Helix. This is Sound Design’s fifth consecutive year of providing sound reinforcement for the live shows, keeping things fresh by changing the auditorium PA from the Nexo GEO S8 compact line array to the more powerful M28 cabinets. However, NEXO’s distinctive wedge-shaped 45°N-12 stage monitors remain in place, having become an integral part of the show’s design. Two circles, each formed out of 6x…
Author: TPi
In the hands of Wicklow-based systems rental house Sound Design, Nexo’s STM Series line array systems have played a prominent role in Dublin’s month-long official commemorations of the 1916 Easter Rising, the long and bloody rebellion of the Irish people against British rule. ‘Ireland 2016’ was an ambitious and wide-ranging national commemoration with an extensive programme of music and speech, theatre and sport. As in 1916, some of the most significant events took place in Dublin, where large crowds attended ceremonial parades and entertainments, culminating in a multimedia spectacular at the legendary Croke Park Stadium. Irish president Michael Higgins and…
Canadian singer-songwriter Claire Boucher, who performs under the moniker of Grimes, recently made several appearances in the UK as part of her Ac!d Reigns tour. The production, in support of her critically acclaimed 2015 album Art Angels, used a versatile floor lighting and console package from PRG XL Video in Germany as they played venues across continental Europe before shows in Manchester, Dublin, Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol, Nottingham and Glasgow; but for the sell-out extravaganza at London’s iconic Brixton Academy, Lighting Designer Sarah Landau called on PRG XL Video’s UK Senior Account Manager Roy Hunt to help add a little additional…
The Sama-Sama Live interactive park in Madrid is a revolutionary new concept in the entertainment industry. The park offers the audience an opportunity to participate and feel how it is to be a performer. Roy Ofer, founder and CEO of Sama-Sama, had the vision to create a fun and loose way to reach out to the visitors inner artist and connect them with their own creativity to the core of this new experience. Skip Sherman, chief creative officer of Sama-Sama describes it as “the evolution of entertainment. This journey takes you from your passive seat and lets you jump into…
Superstar DJ Eric Prydz premiered his EPIC 4.0 shows in America this spring, backed up by his ‘dream team’ of long-time entertainment technology collaborators, RES, to create a colossal visual show driven by Avolites Ai S4 servers. Playing a total of seven shows spread across New York’s Terminal 5, LA’s Hollywood Palladium and the San Francisco Armory, EPIC 4.0 was the fourth incarnation of Prydz’s now legendary assault on the senses. They mix, as online electronic music magazine Resident Advisor states, ‘an arsenal of big room tunes with stadium rock-level visuals’. The behind the scenes team is comprised of Mark…
RCF UK will present several of the innovations that lit up the company’s international stand at Frankfurt Prolight+Sound recently, when they arrive at this year’s PLASA Focus (Leeds Royal Armouries Museum, May 10-11).Occupying stand #N-D20 the showcase will include the following: HDL6-A: The new mini-format entry to the composite D-Line line array series, this active 2-way powered system is partnered by the HDL6-AS sub. Housing double 6.5” bass drivers the HDL6-A is run in combination with 1.75” compression driver with a 2” voice coil on a 10° x 100° waveguide. The HDL 6-AS is a 12” bass reflex enclosure, designed…
Irish rental and production specialist Just Lite delivered full technical production, including lighting equipment and design, for BAMMA 24 working for production manager Sven Knight and his team from KRS. The mixed martial arts tournament was staged in 3 Arena, Dublin, and broadcast live on Spike (UK) Channel 5 in the UK and Ireland, ESPN 3 in the US plus numerous others worldwide as well as streamed live via main sponsor Lonsdale’s Facebook. The Just Lite team, led by John McGuinness and working closely with LD Andrew Harris had to light the action for camera as well as the charged…
Iconic British metal band Iron Maiden is relying on a Meyer Sound LEO Family loudspeaker system to power its successful “Book of Souls World Tour.” The band’s high-octane performances have been filling arenas around the world since the six-month, 35-country tour began in February. FOH engineer Martin Walker chose the LEO Family to ensure maximum power and clarity for Iron Maiden after mixing Judas Priest’s 2014-2015 world tour on the system. “LEO’s clarity and headroom help out a great deal when it comes to balancing the mix,” reported Walker. “Iron Maiden has three guitars, vocals, and occasional keyboards all vying…
German popstar Andreas Bourani is currently out on an arena tour of Germany in support of his latest album ‘HEY’, with a slick and stylish lighting design by Nik Evers using Clay Paky Mythos and A.leda B-EYE K20 fixtures. Evers – who also designed the staging and video content alongside Timo Marten and Philip Hillers – has specified the highly advanced hybrid light Mythos and the LED wash and effects light B-EYE from Black Box Music. Positioned on the floor of the B-stage surrounding Bourani and the band, Evers is employing the sharp and precise beams of the Mythos to…
Beach Park in Florida’s famous spring break city is 893 miles from Ryman Auditorium, birthplace of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. But for three days this April, the eyes of the country music world were on Fort Lauderdale, as the Tortuga Music Festival welcomed stars like Blake Shelton, Tim McGraw, Sam Hunt, Thomas Rhett, Kip Moore and others to its three stages. Of course, being on the ocean, Tortuga treated 90,000 fans (from 47 states and 16 countries, according to organisers) to a tropical escape as well as music. Contributing to the mood was a collection of Caribbean-inspired lounges…
Two Allen & Heath dLive digital mixing systems managed the recent two-month run of Green Day’s stage show, American Idiot, at Cirkus Theatre in Stockholm, Sweden. Parashoot PA was appointed to manage the sound, selecting S7000 Control Surface and DM64 MixRack at both FOH and monitors, and a ME system for personal monitors, from its hire stock. “I wasn’t sure at first when the producer asked me to design and engineer the show as we are a touring PA company but he was adamant that the show was about capturing the Green Day sound and attitude,” explained Parashoot’s Oscar Söderlund.…
Ljubljana Castle – a top tourist attraction in the beautiful Slovenian capital – has added more Robes to its lighting inventory with the purchase of CycFX 8s, LEDBeam 100s and six Robe LightWare HO battery powered up-lighting LED units, complete with integrated charging case. The Castle sits majestically above the city and defines the skyline. Originally the site of a medieval fortress, its present outline dates back to the 15th century with the majority of the current buildings constructed during the 16th and 17th centuries. In addition to being a place of great historical interest, it’s also a busy event…
West Midlands UK based production and live video specialist Central Presentations delivered a stunning widescreen projection system plus lighting and sound production for ‘Big Day Out’, an event for ITV Commercial sales teams staged at Heythrop Park in Oxfordshire. A series of motivational talks and presentations, interspersed with choreographed entertainment and magicians, took place in the venue’s Lecture Theatre for which CPL supplied a 12 metre wide by four metre high projection screen, fed by Panasonic 12K laser projectors. This was installed by a CPL crew project managed for CPL by Lee Gruszeckyj and Liam Griffiths. The three projectors were…
Focusrite Audio Engineering Limited, based in High Wycombe, UK, has been awarded the 2016 Queen’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade. The Award follows seven consecutive years of sustained growth in global business and market share for Focusrite. This is the third time Focusrite has been honoured with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise, having collected prizes for Innovation in 2008, and International Trade in 2012. Founder and Executive Chairman Phil Dudderidge commented on news of the Award: “This is a great recognition of the outstanding growth of our international business over the past seven years, during which period we have…
Philips Lighting, a Royal Philips company, is celebrating its Entertainment division’s most successful Prolight + Sound show to date. With a record number of on stand visitors, the Entertainment team is crediting Prolight + Sound’s new concept and location in the Eastern section of the Messe for the boost. “We really saw a noticeable increase in visitors to our stand from previous years,” said Philips Entertainment General Manager Grant Bales-Smith. “The show’s new set-up, along with our completely new stand concept, worked well to highlight to visitors our fresh and original approach.” Philips Lighting opted to theme its stand ‘inspired…
Muse is the latest band to benefit from Mojo Barriers’ specially-designed touring barrier as 160 metres of the system keeps crowds safe throughout ‘The Drones World Tour’. Mojo Barriers was contracted to ensure audience and artist safety at all the US and European dates of Muse’s nine month tour. Mojo supplied 160 metre of barriers, ADA and heavy duty cable ramps along with custom designed Double Flex Corners to allow the Muse production team to pass cabling under the barriers safely. Mojo’s JB Dolphin and John Wagoner oversaw all 27 Mexican and North American dates, whilst Stanley Jilesen oversaw the…
MUSIC, umbrella company of industry-leading brands MIDAS, LAB GRUPPEN, LAKE, TURBOSOUND and TANNOY, has today announced the launch of the MIDAS M8000, an ultra-high performance 192 kHz, 8 channel A/D converter with unprecedented audio and sonic performance. Andy Trott, SVP, Enterprise & Entertainment Division stated: “For over four decades, MIDAS has been the undisputed leader in audio and sound performance, especially known for its award-winning microphone preamplifiers and best sounding mixing consoles. Our Manchester Innovation team spent over three years and close to one million dollars to develop what we believe is the world’s best-sounding A/D converter. Based on advanced…
PRG XL Video, the UK operation of global event technology provider Production Resource Group (PRG), has announced a new addition to its Corporate Account Management team. Thomas Walsh joins PRG XL Video from Hawthorn, where he was a Project Manager, supplying multi-discipline production services to a variety of events. Events Thomas has delivered include the Coronation Festival Gala at Buckingham Palace. Prior to working at Hawthorn, Walsh graduated from Leeds Beckett University with an honours degree in Creative Music and Sound Technology, and subsequently gained broad industry experience working as a Technician and Production Manager for Aztec Event Services. Walsh…
