Projects

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USA - Signify (formerly Philips Lighting) has announced that the LA Opera, located in the Music Centre's Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in downtown Los Angeles has invested in the company's new LED-based Philips Vari-Lite VLZ Profile fixtures as part of its stage lighting rig.
LA Opera's current production of Verdi's Rigoletto, with lighting design by Robert Wierzel, is the first production in its history lit with a predominantly LED lighting rig.
Jeff Kleeman, LA Opera's technical director, says, "We already hold a stock of Vari-Lite VL3500 Spots and Washes, VL3000s and VL4000 BeamWash fixtures, so we were very interested in the VLZ Profile when they became available recently.
"Initially we were drawn to the impressive 24,000 lumens output - they are bright, even brighter than our VL3500s. We've had zero issues with the exceptional light source, which creates

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UK - The recent adaptation of Frankenstein at Manchester’s Royal Exchange by celebrated playwright April de Angelis, marked 200 years since the publication of Mary Shelley’s famous gothic horror.
To help maintain the suspense and ratchet up the tension, lighting designer Johanna Town, used four MAC Encore Performance WRM, provided by HSL, in her armoury of effects.
The whisper-silent performance of the warm white fixture was critical for the in-the-round space, as she acknowledged.
"Since the Royal Exchange Theatre is in the round, and the audience sits amongst the lighting fixtures, we needed a moving light that was super quiet - and I have to say we were extremely pleased with the Martin MAC Encore. The lantern has a beautiful tungsten feel to warm white but at the same time is also able to be used for cold attack effects. The beam has a really nice

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USA - Bandit Lites’ crew headed out to the Hangout Music Festival, the one of a kind weekend where nearly 40,000 people flock to the sandy beaches of the Gulf of Mexico to hear artists such as The Killers, Zedd, The Chainsmokers, Halsey, Logic, Kendrick Lamar, Odesza, Foster the People and Sza.
The festival may be in its ninth year, but each year boasts new elements with this year’s additions including a roller rink, full salon, and added water stations along with returning favourites such as beach volley ball, an ocean side Ferris wheel, yoga sessions, wedding chapel and VIP poolside lounging.
Bandit provided the lighting for three of the festival’s stages, including the mainstage, taking careful consideration of supplying a variety of gear that would accommodate the wide swath of artists traveling with their own packages.
“Hangout is the official sta

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USA - Back in 1840, local people discovered the medicinal benefits of the sulphur springs outside a small trading post in south-central Indiana. This led to the emergence of what would become a nationally famous spa in the town of French Lick (named for a French trading post built near a salt lick).
This spa eventually gave rise to an early 20th century resort, which attracted a diverse range of famous visitors, from Joe Louis and Franklin Roosevelt, to Irving Berlin and Al Capone. Years later, the town would take a further step into the limelight with the opening of the French Lick Resort Casino.
Recording artists like Willie Nelson, Styx, Joan Jett and Eddie Money routinely journey to this remote section of Indiana to perform at the popular resort. Lighting their shows, as well as the high-profile conferences that take place there, is the house LD Alan Hamilton, who

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Australia - The Roundhouse at The University of New South Wales Kensington campus has been hosting major rock gigs, corporate functions, and student parties for five decades. Recently re-opening after a major refurbishment, the heritage venue now sports an updated and refreshed lighting rig driven by High End System’s flagship Hog 4.
Sydney integrator The P.A. People were responsible for helming the fitout, ensuring that lighting, audio and AV were integrated for seamless control. “The Roundhouse wanted industry standard equipment and consistency,” said Chris Dodds, managing director of The P.A. People. “That’s why they now have a d&b audiotechnik PA, DiGiCo audio consoles, Shure microphones and a Hog 4 lighting desk. The Hog 4 has integrated nicely with the UNSW’s existing inventory of Hog family consoles, meaning their regular operators don’t need to lear

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Thailand - Transmission Festival Asia returned to Bangkok in 17 March, bringing with it a frenzy of EDM - mixed by world-renowned DJs and delivered with the help of a Funktion-One sound system.
For over a decade, United Music Group’s Transmission Festival series has delivered EDM spectaculars to an increasingly appreciative – and ever-expanding – global audience. Each year, the team serves up a fresh edition of the event, which brings together an impressive roster of acclaimed DJs to perform in a continuous chain of sets, thematically linked under a single overarching narrative.
For this year’s Transmission Festival Asia 2018, Spirit of the Warrior was adopted as the theme, a concept introduced and expanded throughout the night by specially created video content displayed on giant video screens. A loaded package of lights, lasers, live performers and py

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Poland - Painting with Light was commissioned by interactive and media-based attractions specialist Alterface to light the new Bazyliszek dark ride which has just opened and is creating a buzz at the rebranded Legendia theme park in Katowice.
Alterface, Jora Vision and ETF partnered to create this one-off experience in Poland’s oldest family amusement park.
Painting with Light had previously worked with Alterface, also based in Belgium, on the Comics Station project in Antwerp. Luc Peumans led the project for the Genk-based creative lighting and visual design practice.
He worked closely with Alterface project manager François Danhaive and their overall ride producer Benjamin Walravens, plus Jora Vision’s art director, Simeon van Tellingen and project manager Robin van der Want.
Luc capitalized on his extensive theatrical lighting experience to create

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USA - On the press junket for the premiere of special effects-laden Pacific Rim: Uprising, David Kane and Brian Fisher of Kite & Key Technologies used a special effect of their own: the new High End Systems’ SolaFrame Theatre. Kane and Fisher, working with production company Junket Productions, Inc. were blown away by the quality of the light, its extensive gobo pack, and the fixture’s biggest superpower: its quiet operation.
“Typically, any place where sound is critical - such as the shooting suites at press junkets - are a no-go zone for automated fixtures,” says David Kane. “But the SolaFrame’s dead silent operation allowed us to put the fixtures right next to the talent, and the sound department never even knew they were there.”
Press junkets are one-on-one sessions meant to create a sense of intimacy between the interviewer and

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USA - St Paul held its annual Winter Carnival from 25 January to 10 February, a winter tradition the Twin Cities area has marked annually since 1886.
This year’s celebration was especially well attended as it happened to coincide with the throngs of guests in the area to celebrate the 2018 Super Bowl. The St Paul Festival and Heritage Foundation of Minnesota brought event production company Showcore in to design and run the event’s nightly light shows, which included illumination of a 70ft tall ice palace using Elation Professional IP65-rated lighting.
The massive St Paul Winter Carnival Ice Palace was built out of ice blocks harvested from a lake in Minnesota and constructed in Rice Park in downtown St. Paul.
Showcore used Elation SixBar 1000 IP LED battens within the structure to glow the palace walls; IP65-rated Proteus Beam moving heads to shoot moving pi

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UK - As one of the most well-known reality TV formats, The Real Housewives documents the adventures of a group of women as they go about their day-to-day lives. With all the drama and plot twists that follow, sound recordist Stuart Windle needed a "solid solution to ensure recordings were never lost", leading to his choice of the JoeCo Blackbox BBR1MP.
The Real Housewives franchise began on the TV channel Bravo with the Real Housewives of Orange County in 2006, later spreading throughout USA, and now has accumulated a total of 16 different franchises across the globe. From lavish homes to various other "unscouted, noisy and often not ideal" locations, the productions follow where the women lead, often leaving little time for preparation.
Stuart Windle, sound supervisor and location sound recordist for The Real Housewives of Cheshire, decided

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Germany - Christian von Kaphengst, Till Brönner, Wolfgang Haffner, Torsten Goods, Bruno Müller and Ida Nielsen are just some of the well-known German and international artists to have graced the stage at Musik Kontor in Herford – a high-profile club that has been making waves on the Nordrhein-Westfalen music scene since opening its doors in 2012.
Looking to stay on the cutting edge of entertainment, the club recently updated its visual presentation with a collection of Chauvet Professional fixtures. Emphasising movement, intensity and vivid colours, the new lighting package includes Rogue R1 Spot fixtures, with Amhaze Whisper foggers added for atmospherics.
“We arrived at a point earlier this year when we decided it was time to inject more feeling into live performances with a set of dedicated moving heads,” said Musik Kontor’s Christian Eder. “The combina

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World - American rockers All Time Low know how to deliver high-impact, adrenaline-fuelled arena shows. Backed by a huge, fractured LED screen and stadium-scale lighting rig, their current world tour is a blaze of eye-candy glory.
The band's long-time lighting designer, Jeff Maker, is armed with an Avolites Sapphire Touch console networked with a bank of media servers for complete lighting and video control.
"I'm obsessed with getting things perfect - I needed to programme a punchy and exacting lighting design that worked with the video wall for maximum impact," says Maker, who collaborated with the band and video content creator Oliver Hutchinson to achieve a slick, solid and synchronised show aimed squarely at enhancing audience experience.
For the tour's recent UK leg, ZigZag Lighting supplied Maker with the Sapphire Touch. The LD is a big fan of the console'

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Germany - The 2018 edition of Deutschland sucht den Superstar (DSDS) featured another eye-catching lighting design created by the show’s long-term LD Manuel da Costa and Jonas König of MDC Lichtgestalten, utilising over 100 Robe Pointes which were supplied by Magic Light+Sound from Cologne.
Manuel has been involved with the top TV series since the very start in 2002. It was again recorded in studios 30 and 31 of the Coloneum complex in Cologne and broadcast on RTL’s Saturday night prime time. Now the 15th series, DSDS has become one of the most successful shows on German TV.
The set was designed by Florian Wieder of Wieder Design who also has a long-standing relationship with the series. He always produces a spectacular, multi-layered environment fusing interesting structural and geometric elements with innovative video and digital aspects.
This year

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UK - Located in London’s Covent Garden, the Poetry Café is a cafe and events space for poetry and literature recitals, music, community groups, interdisciplinary arts, craft and much more. A recent refurbishment project has seen a Yamaha audio installation satisfy a diverse client brief.
The Poetry Café is run by the Poetry Society, now over a century old and described as ‘the heart and hands of poetry in the UK’. The venue caters for all ages and demographics, attracting both independent and corporate groups by day and night. A recent major refurbishment included replacing its ageing AV system. Surrey-based systems integrator Flipside was tasked with delivering a solution that was high quality and versatile, but came within the limited budget of a small venue.
“After finishing a modern but cosy refurbishment, we were without any sound. The equipment we had b

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UK - With a string of recent hits such as Chewing Gum, The Best You Had and Somebody Special, Swedish-Scottish singer Nina Nesbitt has earned critical success both in the UK and throughout Europe.
After a successful string of US concerts, Nesbitt recently returned for a UK tour. Lighting designer Ollie Wilkinson, managed to craft equally catchy visuals with the help of Chauvet Professional Maverick MK Pyxis fixtures supplied by Arranpaul.
After searching for a fixture to complement his existing rig, Wilkinson decided to utilize the Maverick fixture’s dual beam and wash features to provide something special to round off his lighting concept. "I wanted a fixture that could be used to fulfil a number of practical functions in addition to providing eye candy," commented Wilkinson. "After considering a number of options, I decided to give the Pyxis a

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Portugal - The Eurovision Song Contest lighting designer Jerry Appelt, working alongside stage designer Florian Wieder, specified a total of more than 600 GLP lighting fixtures for the mega event.
Among the most impressive elements of the show were eight rings, set within truss circles over the audience area, for which Jerry Appelt used the KNV Arc modules from GLP for the first time on TV worldwide. "The most secret light in the world", as production manager Ola Melzig described the modules, at the same time making no secret of how powerful these modules really are. "They're damn bright,” he said, describing his first impression. “It's best to put on the sunglasses before these things come on."
GLP product manager, Michael Feldmann, explains: "The KNV is a modular LED system and combines strobe, blinder and pixel block. There are two basic shapes, the cube-shaped

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UK - Europe’s largest digital marketing conference, the Adobe Summit EMEA 2018 returned to Excel London earlier this month. Creative technical event production expert, Hawthorn was once again chosen by agency Taylor Bennett Partners to deliver the full technical design and production for the two-day event.
Focused on the future of digital marketing, over 5,500 delegates from across Europe, the Middle East and Africa gathered to hear the latest’s updates from Adobe Marketing Cloud and its partners.
Led by group creative director Pete Harding, Hawthorn was tasked to bring Taylor Bennett’s impressive vision to life, delivering the technical production for the main conference plenary, exhibition space, break-out rooms and the Summit Celebration evening event.
Hawthorn collaborated with Cinimod to create a spectacular 6m interactive projection mapped globe that

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UK - Situated in the heart of Newcastle, Perdu, established as a long running champagne bar, was moving further and further towards louder club nights with DJ sets – pushing the existing sound system beyond the limits of what it was originally designed for.
County Durham-based Promotion Time NE were tasked with specifying a new system that could handle the rigors of the new requirements, but could be integrated within the existing cabling infrastructure and without disrupting the running of the venue during key weekend trading.
KV2 Audio’s passive ESD products were deemed the right choice for the task, with the built-in delay and crossover networks ensuring balanced and phase correct signal without the need for any external processing.
With the positioning of the main top boxes restricted to the existing speaker positions a system was designed based around a

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New Zealand - Singer, songwriter, and record producer Lorde has been out on her international Melodrama tour, which accompanies the new album of the same name. The show is also set to visit some of this summer's biggest festivals, and front of house engineer Philip J Harvey has been along for the ride, engineering on the first international tour on the road with the new L-Acoustics L-ISA Live multichannel immersive technology. To complement this, Harvey needed a console that could do justice to the band and L-ISA, so he chose SSL Live.
The stage set-up is relatively simple. An acoustic drum kit, guitar amp, and vocals are the main analogue sources, with two keyboard stations and triggered drum samples making up the rest. "It's a nice, quiet stage," says Harvey. "As the majority of the inputs are the keyboards, software synths, and playback, I have 34 inputs from stag

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USA - Located in Reading, PA, the Santander Performing Arts Centre is home to the Reading Symphony Orchestra and hosts numerous events which have included acts such as Willie Nelson, Alice in Chains, Jerry Seinfeld, David Copperfield, Melissa Etheridge, and many more.
David Farrar, general manager for the venue was well aware of the fact that his 2,000-seat theatre was special and would require a custom approach to achieve a consistently powerful sound that show-goers would never forget. Says Farrar, “Clair Brothers provided more than I could have expected with their specifically-customised C8-TrueFit sound system.”
Beyond overcoming unique architectural nuances of an historic venue, the new Clair Brothers C8-TrueFit system had to bring out the best for a wide range of performances, from children's shows and comedians to orchestral performances and heavy metal band

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Portugal - Ampco Flashlight played a major role as supplier of all lighting, rigging, video and motion systems for the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest.
Preparations started as early as October 2017. The dedicated team of commercial, technical and logistics specialists, working closely together with local Portuguese partner Pixel Light, laid a solid base for a flawless production in the Altice Arena. Build-up started early April and ended with a 60-hour speed load out.
Over 2500 fixtures, almost four kilometres of truss and a huge amount of, cabling, dimmers, distro’s and a state of the art data network was used in this massive TV production attracting over 350m viewers worldwide.
Marc van der Wel, project director, commented: “It was very exciting being part of the team, and seeing how our specialists put so much effort, experience and knowledge into this proje

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USA - CyberHoist by CyberMotion is on tour again, this time with Vegas native band The Killers on their Wonderful, Wonderful tour. The band finished their European leg at the end of 2017 before starting their US leg at the beginning of the year.
The primary driving visual elements on the stage were video-constructed triangles with one anchored on the stage and an inverted triangle hanging above it nicknamed ‘The Flying V’ made up of video tiles that would fly apart, turn, twist and move into different shapes utilizing the CyberHoist automated moving system. 12 active CyberHoist 1000kg and 1 MotionCue control system, all with spares, turned the Flying V into an ever-changing video spectacle. These automated hoists came from CyberMotion North America and controlled by David Diamond, the show operator and motion specialist.
Diamond explains, “Working with LD

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World - Queen + Adam Lambert will complete their current year-long, 78-show world tour in July, which has seen them play sell-out shows in North America, Oceania, and over Europe. The tour provider is Clair Global, and at the heart of all things audio, is a pair of DiGiCo consoles.
FOH engineer Tom New moved into live sound when a former bandmate began promoting live shows at a small venue in Brighton asked him to help out with the sound.
“With limited knowledge, and a healthy enthusiasm, I threw myself into it, and didn’t look back,” says Tom. “Nowadays, I try to view things holistically: a show is about combining all the elements of a production, in much the same way you combine the elements of a mix, so when everything comes together in the manner that this has, it’s a huge feeling of job satisfaction.”
Tom has been with the band for nearly four

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UK - Ghost Notes, a new bar and music venue in the heart of South East London’s Peckham, hosts an array of music each week, ranging from live bands and DJs, through to spoken word and speeches.
To cope with this diverse array of events and the building’s challenging acoustics, SSE Audio has installed an L‑Acoustics X Series system, providing Ghost Notes with a high-quality solution that also delivers on brand recognition, thus meeting the demands of visiting artists and engineers.
Ghost Notes, which shares its space with sister business vegetarian and vegan restaurant Wildflowers, is located within the Peckham Levels, a thriving multiuse business space with a host of facilities for local creatives and professionals. The Levels is a converted multi-storey carpark and the venue is situated within a wide, low-ceilinged, concrete room.
“Providing a system t
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