Details
Vietnam - Ayrton has announced Pro-AVL as its new, exclusive distributor for Vietnam.
Founded in 2011 by Mr. Le Manh Thang, Pro-AVL is the exclusive distributor for many leading brands of sound and lighting in the Vietnamese market. This well-established company also consults, designs, supplies and installs goods, and provides after-sales service for their customers across leading theatres, television companies, event centres and entertainment complexes, and rental and event companies.
Ayrton products are well known and well respected by Pro-AVL which was part of the reason behind the new agreement. “For a long time, Ayrton has been a well-known quality brand used by many lighting designers,” says Mr. Thang. “Part of AVL's mission statement is always to aim for th

Details
UK - Those wishing to enter products for this year’s PLASA Awards for Innovation are encouraged to do so as soon as possible, as the extended deadline for entries is midnight Wednesday 17 August. PLASA Show 2022 exhibitors, PLASA members and non-exhibitors are invited to enter their products to be in with a chance of winning one of the coveted awards.
Organised in association with LSi, the awards celebrate innovative products from across the live entertainment technology industry that can demonstrate a new style of thinking, improve technical practice or safety, introduce new materials or techniques, or offer a new commercial advantage.
Each successfully entered product will be judged by an independent panel of industry experts who have the authority to present up to eight awards of equal standing, plus a potential Gold Award for an outstanding new product.
An Awa

Details
South Africa - Jade Manicom, known for her lighting design, programming and drawing skills has joined DWR as drafts woman.
After graduating, Jade entered the live events industry as a freelancer. Her first gig was with Keystone Productions, an audio, lighting, staging, and video production company that she ended up working for. “They kept me around for three months then offered me a job,” she says. “I learned so much and through them, the world of live entertainment opened up to me.
Said Robert Izzett of DWR, “We’ve known Jade for years, especially with all her work at Keystone Productions. It’s wonderful to have another lighting person join the team. Her experience in lighting shows will be invaluable for DWR going forward.”
The role of draftsman at DWR formerly belonged to Dylan Jones, who is now taking on a new position in the sales team. “I n
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
Canada - The lighting rig that George Gorton designed for Dallas Smith’s Somethings Never Change tour took on a life of its own over the course of the early summer, seeming to expand, contract and morph in new directions with every show.
After a 19-month pandemic-caused hiatus, the Juno Award winning multi-platinum country star (12 of his songs have reach the top of the charts in Canada), took off to play some live music on 24 May, and invited some friends to join him. A total of seven different acts have supported Smith on his 24-show, five-week tour. This diversity made it essential that Gorton devise a rig with an organic-like quality to grow and change.
“There was a constant dialogue with the band,” recalled Gorton. “We had multiple guests joining Dallas, so we were constantly building and updating the show as the tour progressed and got new songs in the m

Details
USA - Rock band Halestorm is back on the road with Bandit Lites and screaming they’re ‘Back from the Dead’, which is both the name and title track of their latest album released in May.
Years ago, when lighting designer Craig Richter first started touring with Halestorm, he found himself at a state fair armed with an array of lighting carts. Staring at a house system comprised of an out-of-date 180K PAR 64 system, Richter naturally wished for a rig full of movers that would better suit the overall look of the show. During the hours before the evening’s show, Richter took the opportunity to make some chases and “program” the par system into the programmed show.
“Once the sun went down and the band went on, I was blown away by the fact that the par can system looked awesome and played very well the vibe and style music of the band,” said Richter. “Ever

Details
Israel - Reality TV singing competition, Rising Star, has upgraded its audio system to a flagship DiGiCo Quantum console, to take advantage of the range’s capacity and flexible architecture. The console is required to manage a challenging run of live shows featuring multiple performances, and servicing FOH and monitors demands from one surface.
Between season 2 and 7, the winner was given the opportunity to represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest. Due to its success, the programme became a global phenomenon in the reality TV sphere with many international television stations buying the rights to produce the programme.
DiGiCo is the brand of choice for the show's head of sound, Yossi Edri, who has used DiGiCo consoles in all of his recent projects, including the major live TV productions, the Israeli-hosted 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, and the annual

Details
USA - 2022 was one of Louisiana State University’s (LSU) most successful beach volleyball seasons in programme history. With 27 regular season wins and 32 overall wins, both school records, LSU had five pairs earn AVCA honours and one player – Melia Lindner, became LSU’s first beach Elite 90 Award winner.
These winning ways weren’t just on the court – they include the courts. Over the past few years, LSU has completed major upgrades unveiling a new beach volleyball venue in the heart of campus in 2019.
The new stadium, formerly a tennis facility, features six competition courts with 24-inch-deep sand. The facility also features energy efficient LED lighting, seating capacity for 450 spectators, new scoreboard, and a brand new Danley Sound Labs system.
“Over the years, many of our facilities have received upgrades or we’ve needed to replace systems,

Details
UK - An old cowshed with flagstone floors has been transformed into a home dance studio fit for a competitive dancer, thanks to Le Mark Group. Caroline de Grey, who competes in ballroom as well as a social Argentine tango and Latin dancing, needed a home rehearsal studio for the hours of practice she puts in each day.
Work on the barn conversion began at the end of 2021 and was completed in June 2022, with Caroline now boasting a space that allows her to glide seamlessly through her routines on a new vinyl floor laid by Le Mark.
“The project started in October. I got in touch with a production manager for Holland Park Opera who creates temporary dance floors. He created a frame which sat over the flagstones, before installing a wooden floor on top. He then recommended Le Mark Group for a vinyl to lay over the ply,” explained Caroline.
Caroline did her researc

Details
USA - There is no denying the immense popularity of esports and video gaming around the world. Entire sports arenas sell out for fans to watch their favourite gaming stars compete. But what if this gaming technology could be used as a purposefully constructive educational tool for the local community? What if the technology and creativity that goes into creating a video game could be transitioned into targeted curriculum disguised as entertainment?
This is the vision of the team behind Whitaker Center in in Harrisburg, PA and Ted Black, president, and CEO of Whitaker Center, for the newly created, 7,000sq.ft PNC Innovation Zone.
Says Black, “We saw an opportunity within gaming for a perfect vehicle into learning.” The PNC Innovation Zone is a first in its category – a venue dedicated to experiential learning in disciplines such as science, technology, engineering

Details
UK - First announced in 2019 and opening its doors fully later this year, Sky Studios Elstree is a joint project between Sky and NBCUniversal. The 27.5-acre, complex located just north of London houses 13 sound stages, with media operations provider Xytech Systems offering total operational and financial control by streamlining the new film and TV studio’s internal processes across quoting, resource scheduling, cost management and reporting.
“Not long after Sky Studios Elstree was given the go-ahead in 2019, we started searching for a media operations solution that would meet the strict demands of our cutting-edge studios catering for high-end TV shows and films,” said Tom Avison, director of operations at Sky Studios Elstree. “Sky already had an excellent, long-standing relationship with Xytech Systems through its Transmission solutions installed at the Sky facilit

Details
USA - Summer festivals are always full of surprises for anyone working in production, and not all of them have to do with unpredictable weather. Set to light Rolling Loud’s high-profile Snipes Stage where Money Man, Big30, Sleazyworld Go, and Curren$y (who helped start the hip-hop bash back in 2015) would be performing, Abbas Ritscher expected to have spotlights for front lights, but that was not an option.
Undeterred, Ritscher and his team at The Design Oasis, grabbed 12 extra Chauvet Professional Maverick Storm 1 Wash fixtures from their inventory and hung them “as far down the stage as we could” to create a clean front wash.
“We wanted to have a consistent wash throughout the stage, given who was performing here and because we need a camera friendly setting,” said Ritscher. “The Storm I was our work horse.”
Flown on eight rows of overhead truss,

Details
USA - Jack White –one half of The White Stripes – is back on the road with the topically named “Supply Chain Issues” world tour, currently playing its first US leg. The artist is presenting two critically new albums Fear of the Dawn and Entering Heaven Alive.
Matching this creative excellence on the visual design side is Matthieu Larivee from Montreal-based LUZ Studio.
Matthieu specified over 100 Robe moving lights to help him achieve numerous aesthetic goals, with 63 x BMFL WashBeams, 18 x Spiiders, 36 x MegaPointes and three BMFL Follow Spots running on one RoboSpot system, all supplied by Solotech.
Challenges have included creating a workable and scalable design to deal with both arenas and the smaller more intimate theatre spaces that Jack White loves to play. Also, there is a different setlist each night drawn from a vast catalogue of

Details
UK - Void Acoustics embraced the energy and vibe of their first major presence at Glastonbury on the 50th Anniversary edition of the festival.
Glastonbury’s long-awaited return to this year’s summer calendar saw the addition of two new stages in the popular Silver Hayes area of the festival. One of these new stages was the Lonely Hearts Club – an arresting addition to this club-goers paradise.
It was from the art deco styled Lonely Hearts Club stage that Void Acoustics made an impressive visual and sonic impact in this part of Glastonbury throughout the long festival weekend.
NSL Productions (long-standing rental and integration partner of Void Acoustics) installed this festival stage for Team Love who were the festival production team behind Silver Hayes this year.
“Although we have worked at Glastonbury previously, this was our first year workin

Details
UK - Martin Audio’s programme of biannual open days - designed to coincide with the busy spring and end of summer exhibition seasons - is set to continue over three days this September (6-8).
This year they have expanded the mix to incorporate three other brands from parent company Focusrite Group showcasing a portfolio of relevant products from Focusrite Pro, along with its start-up commercial audio brand, Optimal Audio and the recently acquired Linea Research.
Each brand will have its own dedicated presentation time, and in the case of Martin Audio visitors will again have the opportunity to hear the design theories behind ranges such as Adorn, CDD, Torus and Wavefront Precision, before getting to listen to them as they are put through their paces.
Another change this time around is that delegates only need to register for a day pass (rather than a session pa

Details
UK - Absen’s versatile Polaris series of rental LED displays supplied visual flair for the recent NWG Innovation Festival, which returned to Newcastle Racecourse (UK) after a two-year hiatus.
Organised by Northumbrian Water Group (NWG), the 2022 NWG Innovation Festival featured live music, comedy, tech demos and wellbeing events, as well as design sprints, hacks, workshops and activities aimed at solving difficult problems around topics such as climate change, cyber-security and water scarcity. The theme for this year’s festival, which took place from 12 to 15 July, was ‘Untapped Potential’ and focused on bringing together untapped talent from different sectors, backgrounds and locations.
For NWG Innovation Festival 2022, Sam Gordon, director of Big Purple Group (Big Purple Productions/Big Purple Events), specified the Polaris LED panels in two configurations:

Details
UAE - Creative Technology has appointed Jemma Joy as head of operations. Over 20 years, Jemma has been involved in many projects including EXPO2020 Dubai, Qasr Al Hosn, Laureus World Sports Awards, Dubai World Cup, and Volvo Ocean Race.
Jemma comments, “I have worked alongside CT on some of the region’s biggest and technically advanced shows in the past and I am delighted to now be part of the CTME team.”
The company has also appointed two new project managers, Croft Clinton and Bhans Sheomangal.
Croft has worked alongside top event and production companies in the UAE as well as having a strong passion to deliver high quality events that exceed a client’s expectation.
Bhans has over 14 years of experience throughout the Middle East and Africa. He has extensive knowledge in production and is responsible for providing AV technical management across

Details
Belgium - The 177th edition of Gentse Feesten drew some 1.6m visitors to the port city of Ghent over 10 days in July.
More than 3,000 different acts, both local and global, representing a wide range of music genres, performed at 14 different city squares at Gentse Feesten. Helping Ghent glitter throughout the festival while also supporting the artists on stage was an impressive collection of Chauvet Professional fixtures and video panels, including the new Color STRIKE M.
At the main stage on Sint-Baafsplein, the Euro P.A. team put together a power-packed rig that featured eight Color STRIKE M fixtures and eight STRIKE 1 blinders, as well as 24 Maverick MK2 Wash and 16 Maverick MK2 Spot units. Run with a ChamSys MagicQ MQ500M Stadium console, this collection of fixtures delivered searing intense looks with generous servings of audience lighting along with aerial effec

Details
Canada - The Montréal International Jazz Festival roared back to life in 2022, reinforcing its distinction as the largest jazz festival in the world. With 350 concerts scheduled over 10 days - two-thirds of them free - the festival once again drew audiences numbering in the hundreds of thousands to downtown Montréal, where AVL supplier Solotech had equipped eight indoor and outdoor stages - including the Scène TD main stage - with Meyer Sound reinforcement systems.
The resounding success of audio at this year’s festival can be credited to the work of festival technical coordinator Dan Meier and his team from L’Equipe Spectra. Meyer Sound and Solotech worked closely with Meier and his team to develop and deploy the sonic experiences at the festival.
The enthusiastic response came as no surprise to director of R&D and technological solutions David Brazeau, who

Details
Venezuela - Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Kany García visited Caracas, Venezuela, for the first time where she played two shows in the Ríos Reina Hall of the Teresa Carreño Theater. Production manager Jorge ‘Mosquito’ Redondo of Caracas-based OZ Shows selected Claypaky Sharpy Plus fixtures for the concerts, which were provided by Touch Me Marketing in Caracas.
García, whose songs tell the stories of 21st century women through reflective lyrics and expressive performances, is a five-time Latin Grammy winner. She partnered with AGTE Live Entertainment and Conecciones Entertainment to deliver a show that made such a hit with fans that she plans a return visit to Venezuela this fall.
The initial design for García’s Caracas show came from the artist, her lighting designer Will Rivera of WRDesigner in San Juan, Puerto Rico and the design and technical teams at OZ

Details
USA - It’s been a busy year for lighting and production designer Chris Lisle and his company CLLD. The production design firm recently wrapped up work on Lollapalooza, their sixth major event back-to-back, and turned to an Elation rig, including Proteus series IP65 luminaires, to light the festival’s popular Perry’s Stage.
“Weather is one of the biggest factors we face on a festival and if I can predominately get IP65 fixtures in a rig I have a better guarantee that they’ll be working day after day,” Lisle stated. But, he adds, it’s not all about the IP rating. “I also want something with a feature set that I know LDs will like - solid colours, a good gobo package, nice strobe, fast fixtures - something I know they will be happy with, can clone quickly and then are good to go.”
Flanked by a towering skyline and the shores of Lake Michigan, this year

Details
USA - Recently, the Student Services Department of the Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences travelled to southern California on behalf of its current and future students.
“We sent members of our staff to the greater Los Angeles area for the purpose of visiting studios and companies that CRAS has had long standing relationships with, and additionally open up new doors for future students and graduates,” explained Kirt Hamm, CRAS administrator. “These visits help place our students in their mandatory internships prior to graduation, and then open potential graduate job placement opportunities. All of this helps our current and future students get a leg up when positioning themselves near or after graduation in some of the industry’s best available pro audio environments.”
During the visit, CRAS staff met with personnel from Touring Video, VSI TV, Everg
Page 377 of 3465

Latest Issue. . .