Details
South Africa - Technical equipment supplier Stage Effects has acquired 24 Robin 600+ LEDWash fixtures from DWR Distribution.
Theo Papenfus, the owner of Stage Effects, explains that when he was contracted for two long-running events it made more sense to purchase new gear than to hire in additional equipment.
“We were hunting for a mid-range fixture and thought that the Robin 600+ would be a good investment,” he says. “When shopping around we found that cross rentals would be much easier if we went for the LEDWash 600 or the 600+. International riders are very demanding when it comes to quantities and lighting designers regularly specify the medium range washes.”
“The Robin 600+ is small, compact, powerful and lightweight saving on truck space due to fou

Details
UK - LED lighting specialists, LED Creative supported lighting director Stuart Pring with an array of low energy illumination solutions used to create the MelodyVR ‘backstage experience’ at Wireless 2019.
Working with Wireless 2019, the virtual reality streaming service gave fans the world over the opportunity to get up-close to the action with hip-hop royalty including J-Hus, Stefflon Don, Rae Sremmurd via the MelodyVR smartphone app.
Alongside the front of house live broadcast, Stuart and the team worked on creating the custom-built backstage VR area. Housed in twin interconnected domed structures, the LD used a selection of LED Creative products to light the spaces with artistic effect.
For Dome One, LC Sigma Neon was applied across the interior skeleton of the dome to form a futuristic, neon-web effect. Tracing the structure’s entire framework, the LED

Details
The Netherlands - Luxor Live is a music and performance venue in central Arnhem, the Netherlands with a colourful history that started in 1915 when it was opened as a film theatre. Architect Willem Diehl was responsible for its art deco look and features, which has also earned it ‘listed’ status. It was purchased by the Municipality of Arnhem in 2002, fully renovated and re-opened in its current format in 2008.
Last year a serious investment in Robe moving lights saw 12 Spiiders, 12 DL4X Spots, eight LEDBeam 150s and four DL4F Fresnels join the lighting rig to help ensure that the 300-plus shows staged there every year can benefit from top quality LED moving lights, explained head of lighting Fon Sanders.
The main hall capacity is a cosy 700 including the balcony, and the stage is scalloped out of an elegantly curved auditorium which features an individually pixel
featured content

Indochine X PixMob Fan Immersion

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's - 40 thousand LED pixels on a ceiling!!! Indochine's whirlwind tour transports fans to another level of the live experience - immersing them from floor to ceiling with PixMob's X4 wristbands, and an LED ceiling made entirely of its NOVA Minis! With the vision of Indochine's creative team, PixMob used its LED fan-technology to turn attendees and venues into an ocean of effects, and a starry sky of LED magic. Très très cool!

Read more about the Indochine tour in the latest issue of LSi

Details
UK - For the fourth year running, The Pride Pleasure Gardens on Brighton’s Old Steine recreated its own experience during Brighton & Hove Pride Festival Weekend. The Old Steine Gardens were transformed around two 1,000-capacity big tops for three days, with entertainment ranging from camp bingo and cheesy pop to cabaret, vibrant live performances, DJs and hot clubbing.
Working for Ian Baird’s production company, Whiskey Bravo Productions, were Brighton based sound and light company Penguin Media Hire, enjoying their first year at the festival. Headed by technical project manager Dylan Thompson, the company was tasked with creating a technical infrastructure, including sound (in the shape of Martin Audio PAs), lighting and temporary power for the site; and although this provided a real challenge, it was one they came through with flying colours.
“We narrowly m

Details
Austria - It is one of the major cultural highlights of the city of Vienna: the Summer Night Concert by the Vienna Philharmonic. Since 2004, the Klassik-Open-Air has attracted tens of thousands of music lovers each year to the Schönbrunn Palace Gardens. This year's concert, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, took place on 20 June in front of around 85,000 people. In addition, the concert was broadcast by public service broadcaster ORF.
For the second time, Jerry Appelt, was responsible for the lighting design. "The Vienna Philharmonic itself suggested the somewhat contemporary implementation of the concert,” he states. “I think that's very brave and I'm glad that concept suited both them and us.”
In 2019, the large, arched-roof platform was again positioned directly in front of the castle, while the audience in the garden spread out between the ornamental flo

Details
Taiwan - When you are giving an acceptance speech at a major awards ceremony, there are two things you want to be sure of - that everyone can see you and that everyone can hear what you have to say.
Achieving both these aims was key to the sound team at the recent Golden Melody Awards in Taipei, and the reason why they chose DPA’s d:sign 4098 Supercardoid Gooseneck microphones as their speech microphones.
Andy Chen, president of Winly Production Services International Corp and production manager for this event, says: “DPA’s 4098 Supercardioid microphones offer much clearer and more transparent sound than the microphones we were previously using, plus the miniature capsule is so slim and so amazingly small that is doesn’t block the faces of the speakers. This is really important, especially for the female artists.”
The Golden Melody Awards (GMA) take p

Details
Costa Rica - Colegio Humboldt is an international school in San José, Costa Rica, that serves preschool through secondary students. The school was founded in 1912 by Germans and emphasises a German-based education, Humboldt is also known for its profusion of extra-curricular activities. The school recently built a new performing arts space to further its programme, Auditorio Humboldt, a multi-purpose auditorium outfitted with Elation Professional luminaires.
Auditorio Humboldt is a modern, 238-capacity space where students conduct recitals and perform all manner of dance, music, theatre and debate. It houses top-of-the-line AV equipment with specialised technical personnel to provide support.
Elation dealer and distributor for Costa Rica, Darko Lighting of San José, completed the lighting project. They supplied, designed and installed new stage and architectural lig

Details
UK - The Warehouse Sound Services provided an advanced audio solution for Edinburgh International Festival’s spectacular opening event. Aberdeen Standard Investments Opening Event: LA Phil at Tynecastle celebrated the start of the 2019 International Festival and was attended by a capacity crowd of 15,000 people.
The 2019 International Festival opened in style with a spectacular concert from the Los Angeles Philharmonic and conductor Gustavo Dudamel, celebrating Hollywood film music.
A stage replicating the Hollywood Bowl, where the LA Phil famously perform every summer, was recreated in Tynecastle Park, the home of Hearts football club.
The LA Phil brought authentic gleam and glamour to the grandeur of Hollywood film scores in this year’s Opening Event, featuring classic movie music from the Golden Age of Hollywood by Korngold, Herrmann, Waxman and a

Details
UK - The Television judging panel for The Knight of Illumination (KOI) Awards has revealed the 2019 shortlist for the Television category.
The judges were television editor for The Times James Jackson, critic for FT Weekend Susie Feay, art director and production designer Fleur Whitlock, lighting director John O'Brien, lighting designer and programmer Ross Williams, and television critic for The Guardian, Lucy Mangan. The meeting was led by lighting designer and longstanding KOI chair, Stuart Gain of the Society of Television Lighting and Design (STLD).

The shortlist is as follows:
The DTS Award for Events
Philip Brines for Proms in the Park Belfast 2018
David Gibson for BBC Football World Cup 2018, Russia
Tim Routledge for Stormzy at Glastonbury 2019

The Altman Lighting Award for Small Producti

Details
UK - Flightcase Warehouse has acquired London-based case manufacturer ABS Cases. The acquisition came into effect on 1 August and will see all manufacturing being transferred to Flightcase Warehouse’s head office site in Tamworth, Staffordshire.
ABS Cases has built a global portfolio of clients over the past 30 years, from corporate giants to leaders in the entertainment industry. The company’s reputation has been built on the back of client recommendation and has seen ABS Cases grow into a respected UK flightcase manufacturer.
Sam Austin, managing director of Flightcase Warehouse, comments: “The Flightcase Warehouse acquisition of ABS Cases complements our overall offering whilst strengthening our hand in the production and live events marketplaces. Combining the manufacturing processes of our two brands, Pro Flightcase and ABS cases, we will continue

Details
UK - Shure has announced the launch of the VPH - a long microphone handle for on camera interviews and reporting that features the flexible Shure RPW interchangeable cartridge interface and convenient XLR connectivity, for easy connection to broadcast mixers and recorders.
On-camera reporting changes drastically from situation to situation and the broadcast industry expressed a need for a cardioid microphone with a longer handle for live interviews in noisy environments, says the company.
Loud, side-line sports interviews call for one type of microphone while capturing superstar sound bites amidst a dozen other reporters at a chaotic awards show, might call for another. With VPH, you get to choose from a wide variety of Shure wireless interchangeable capsules that offer different polar patterns and sonic characteristics to match your situational needs. Polar patterns

Details
USA - Bose Professional is now shipping new ControlSpace EX processors - two designed specifically for conference rooms (EX-440C and EX-12AEC) and one dedicated for general purpose applications (EX-1280).
With an open-architecture, all-in-one design, the ControlSpace EX-440C conferencing processor facilitates high-quality microphone integration and audio processing for small-to-medium size conference rooms. Various inputs and outputs allow for flexible configuration: four mic/line analog inputs, four analog outputs, onboard VoIP, PSTN, USB, Bose AmpLink output, eight-channel acoustic echo cancelling (AEC) and 16 x 16 Dante connectivity.
With an open-architecture design, twelve acoustic echo cancellers (AEC) and 16 x 16 Dante connectivity, the ControlSpace EX-12AEC conferencing processor provides a cost-effective, robust expansion for conference rooms using ControlSpac

Details
USA - On his current tour, Grammy-nominated Chris Young is being supported by a light and video show that is pointed emphatically toward the future. “We do have moments for sure when everything settles and there’s a nice solid traditional look, but overall we pushed things the other way toward pretty advanced technology,” said Chris Lisle of CLLD, who designed the forward-looking show for Young’s Raised On Country tour, using a rig supplied by Bandit Lites.
A key contributor to Lisle’s fluid and dynamic design for the 28-city summer tour, which runs through 14 September, are the 60 Chauvet Professional Maverick MK Pyxis fixtures in his rig. Positioned 10-apiece in six square automated truss pods that move throughout the show, the RGBW fixtures provide a steady stream of multi-faceted looks, thanks to their continuous 360° pan and tilt movement and outer rim of 15

Details
Canada - Christian Life Assembly (CLA) in Langley City, 25 miles from downtown Vancouver, has grown in leaps and bounds since its humble beginning in 1937 as a sidewalk Sunday School, first moving into a tiny hall, then a succession of larger buildings as the church has attracted more congregants.
The worship centre at the Langley Campus, built in 1978, was expanded to hold 2,000 churchgoers in 2008 during renovations that also readied CLA for multimedia technology. Most recently, the church has taken its audio technology to the next level with a new DiGiCo SD12 digital mixing console at front-of-house and a KLANG immersive IEM mixing system, all specified and integrated by Ellis Pro Media of Tacoma, Washington.
“The SD12 has been super-flexible for anything we have wanted to do,” says CLA assistant technical director Will Lee. “I haven’t had a situation where

Details
UK - Tower 42 in the City of London is home to Jason Atherton’s Michelin star restaurant, City Social. Situated on the 24th floor, the venue commands spectacular views across the metropolis. As well as serving an extensive range of drinks, Social 24, the venue’s bar, also hosts popular and busy DJ nights.
The City Social management team faced a number of issues relating to its audio provision and consulted with integrators Excite AV and the application team at Audiologic to help determine a practical way to overcome some tricky problems. The basic brief was to deliver a new background music system that could be used as a main system for DJ events.
The existing ceiling speaker system suffered from uneven sound and coverage, with 100V line speakers dotted only near the windows and above the bar. On busy nights as customers gathered on the dance floor, any lift in vo

Details
USA - Singer-songwriter Keelan Donovan, originally from Maine and now based in Nashville and Austin, knows the road. “After I graduated Belmont University, I knew I wanted to tour. So, from 2015-16 I was playing around 200 shows a year out on the road. Anywhere, for anyone, any time - I would book the shows myself and just play, play, play. I was trying to get my name out there, but I was also learning more about my music and performing every day.”
The things he learned during those intensely busy years helped him focus in on his performance style and learn to recognise the tools that make performers sound their best – and now a key piece of his successful performing regimen is the L1 Model II portable line array system from Bose that he travels with and uses at many of his gigs, including house concerts and smaller venues.
“At this point, I almost think of t

Details
Portugal - Singer, musician, and songwriter, Pedro Abrunhosa is currently on tour across the country. Known for his large, live band and penchant for straddling different genres of music, the singer’s FOH engineer, Joao Bessa, relies on an SSL L200 to make his hands-on approach to live jamming a breeze.
Starting out in the studio and honing his craft for 14 years on an SSL 4000E console, Bessa eventually made what he calls the 'natural transition' to live engineering.
“The transition between the studio and the road was so natural to me: in my head, it's just mixing sounds and textures, and that is the thing I like to do,” he explains. “It's a completely creative art, and it's that which really interests me. I have tech knowledge, but I am not scientific - I just need to know the tools, and to know what I am doing, then switch that off and take care of the cre

Details
Europe - Lighting designers Roland Greil & Patrick Woodroffe of Woodroffe Bassett Design specified over 100 Chroma-Q Color Force II LED battens to provide effects lighting for Rammstein’s European stadium tour 2019.
The German industrial metal band’s first-ever stadium tour - which sees them play 31 European dates this summer to promote their number one self-titled studio album - further ups the ante on their explosive and ground-breaking live shows.
Working in collaboration with production designer, Florian Wieder; production director Nicolai Sabottka; lighting directors Faren Matern & Marc Brunkhardt; and set designer, Cuno Hahn, Woodroffe Bassett Design created a distinctive lighting concept which works hand in hand with the overall production design.
Adopting a theatrical approach, the contrasting scenes range from bold industrial looks fitting R

Details
UK - PLASA has announced its line-up of seminar sessions in the run up to the PLASA Show 2019 (15-17 September, London Olympia).
In collaboration with top industry figures and brands, the programme will feature an array of creative achievements as well as advice on salient industry issues.
Pro audio journalist and consultant Phil Ward will lead a panel of industry figureheads - Chris Hill from Wigwam, Jim Griffiths from Vanguardia and Steve Jones from d&b audiotechnik - in ‘Equal rights for audio!’ They will assess how live performances, including the recent Spice Girls reunion tour, can neglect audio in the rush for spectacular video, lighting and set design.
Moving from concerts to theatre, Shure will present the future of audio for theatre productions, in association with Curtain Call. This panel will explore how the advancement of microphone technolo

Details
UK - The shortlist for the Theatre category of this year's Knight of Illumination (KOI) Awards has been announced.
The KOI Awards are dedicated to celebrating British and international lighting and video designers for their work in the UK. The KOI theatre judges, each serving a two-year term, are all leading UK critics. Neil Fisher, deputy arts editor of The Times and Tim Bano, lead critic of The Stage, both made their KOI judging debut. Louise Levene, dance critic for the Financial Times returned for the first year of her second term while Zoë Anderson, dance critic for The Dancing Times, opera critic George Hall and Britain’s longest-serving theatre critic Michael Billington completed the final year of their time on the Theatre panel. The judging was once again expertly overseen by founding chair of the theatre panel, critic and broadcaster David Benedict.

Details
Tax Relief - Nearly 3,400 productions benefitted from £78m worth of theatre tax relief last year, new statistics show. This represents a £1m increase on the total figure paid out in 2017/18, however the number of individual productions benefitting from tax credits increased by 13% in the same period.
Theatre tax relief, which was introduced in 2014, allows touring shows to claim back 25% on eligible costs. All other productions can be reimbursed for 20%. In the first year of the scheme, £15m was paid out, rising to £46m in the second year and £77m in 2017/18.
Statistics published by HM Revenue and Customs for 2018/19 reveal there were a total of 930 claims, representing 3,380 productions, of which 950 were touring and 2,430 non-touring. A single claim can request tax relief for multiple productions.
Financial secretary to the treasury, Jesse Norman, said:
Page 736 of 3465

Latest Issue. . .

PLASA Media Limited is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 4111709 - VAT Number GB 762 5913 14
PLASA Media Ltd, Redoubt House, 1 Edward Road, Eastbourne, BN23 8AS, UK Tel: +44 (0)1323 524120

 

login