UK - Cincinnati alt-rockers, The National, use Skan PA Hire for arena-scale audio solutions with a boutique approach, deploying a d&b KSL PA system, and Avid Venue S6L consoles with E6L 192 Engines at both ends. “The first time we worked with Skan, I immediately thought, ‘This is the way an audio company should operate,’” says production manager and monitor engineer, Stu Tenold. “Every package I've received from Skan is built for the artist I’m with. There's real attention to detail in what they do. Now being part of Clair Global, I can see what director Chr
USA - The Struts’ recently concluded North American tour was supported by a dynamic lightshow by Carlos Katsurayama that moved seamlessly through dramatic mood shifts with help from a LIT Lighting supplied rig that featured the Maverick Force S Profile, Strike Array 4 and Rogue Outcast 1 BeamWash from Chauvet Professional. Reflecting the UK band’s bold emotional swings, Katsurayama played light and darkness off one another to rev up the crowd. For example, his show started out in darkness, before moving to a lighted backdrop, and then busted out with intense blinding effects.<
USA - Jam band Goose eased into the 2023 festive season with four special concerts staged over two days at the Hampton Coliseum in Virginia, all completely sold out. Lighting designer / director Andrew Goedde chose Robe moving lights as the principal fixtures and worked closely on developing his design with lighting programmer / technical director Tony Caporale, using their 2023 touring rig as a starting point. From this they evolved some new concepts for the tenth annual Goosemas event. They were then both delighted to hear that the band and their creative director Will Th
USA - ATK Audiotek, a Clair Global Brand, demonstrated the versatility of the Cohesion catalogue at Microsoft Ignite 2023, the tech giant’s annual demonstration of new products and solutions, held in Seattle. The deployed Cohesion products emphasised their unmistakable clarity for thousands of eager developers and partners at the Keynote Stage and the IP (Interstitial Programming) Theatre Stage during the corporate event. Andrew Waterman, Microsoft’s account manager for ATK Audiotek, explained that Microsoft’s top goals at any conference are “to be able to see what present
USA - ARRI is the official lighting provider for the 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival which takes place this month. ARRI, together with wholly owned subsidiary Illumination Dynamics, is providing the Sundance Film Festival with ARRI’s lighting solutions, including SkyPanel S30-C, SkyPanel S60-C, and ARRI Orbiter fixtures. These professional and innovative luminaries are shining the best light on personalities, stars, and emerging filmmakers at premiere event venues, stages, and lounges at Sundance Film Festival’s 40th edition. “As we mark our 40th Sundance Fi
Sweden - XM Automation started the new year on a high by successfully demonstrating its XMove software controlling a number of automated bars in an existing theatre system. The XM team were able to show how easy it could be to upgrade the control front-end without requiring costly upgrades to the existing hardware or electrical installation. The demonstrations attracted more than 50 Swedish theatre technical directors, technicians and consultants, all keen to see how XMove, the new front-end software could be used to run an existing system with minimal changes to the back-end. Acc
UK - Over 300 Astera NYX Bulbs and 80 x Titan Tube wireless LED lighting fixtures dazzled festive guests visiting the Neverland Illuminova Christmas trail at Wellington Country Park near Reading. This was a special lighting and visual experience concept developed and delivered by the team at show production and technical specialist, Zeal. The 1.5km trail followed the journey of the character Hope as they discovered their imagination travelling through various areas of visual interest with land, features and foliage speckled, coloured and bathed in light that could be absorbed, in
USA - One of America’s best-known monuments, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, shines more brightly than ever thanks to a new and improved lighting system from Technical Productions, Inc. (TPI) that features 76 Proteus Brutus lighting fixtures from Elation. ‘The Arch’ has stood on the banks of the Mississippi River in St. Louis since 1965 as America’s symbolic ‘Gateway to the West’. The Gateway Foundation, a private non-profit that first lit the structure in 2001, funded the lighting upgrade. Under its direction, TPI spearheaded the specification, design, and installatio
Italy - The 13th edition of Italia's Got Talent was lit by Prolights products. Broadcastfor the first time in Europe on the Disney+ streaming platform, the series relied on AMG International s.r.l. for stage lighting. The lighting setup, consisting of 113 Prolights fixtures, included SmartBat Plus, HaluPix, and VersaPar. This combination ensured an engaging visual effect, both for the studio audience and for viewers watching the show via streaming. The production team expressed great satisfaction with the use of Prolights devices, particularly highlighting their versa
UK - Based on Audrey Niffenegger's bestselling 2003 novel that captivated millions worldwide, a new musical adaptation of The Time Traveller's Wife love story recently premiered at London's Apollo Theatre, showcasing an original score by Joss Stone and Dave Stewart. Sound designer Richard Brooker and associate sound designer Nick Lodge collaborated closely with the production crew - including Callum Donaldson, Isabel McIntosh, Andrew Williams and sound effects designer, Pete Malkin - to bring forth this show, which has been running since October. The production also m
UK - It’s been a busy holiday period at Boisdale Canary Wharf. A popular venue for drinking, dining and entertainment, an all-Nexo sound system covers the main live music area and the downstairs bar. Drawing from Nexo Geo M6, P+, ID and ePS speaker ranges and with networked power and processing from a rack of 11 NXAMP4X2Mk2 powered controllers, the system was installed by Oxford-based Event Production Services. “The Nexo system delivers high-quality sound with even audio distribution throughout the room” comments Boisdale had of sound Ido Tavori. “Despite the challen
The Netherlands - Full Frontal is a new dance piece by choreographer Juanjo Arqués billed as ‘a ballet about real people and actual feelings’ set to Weather One, a musical score by Michael Gordon. It was presented by the Dutch National Ballet and staged at the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam. It explores the stresses and tensions of our fractured and often polarised society as it faces physical obstacles that swap - ironically - with psychological projections of challenging conditions. Full Frontal was the final work in Four Temperaments, a perf
Europe - In a strategic move to ‘redefine its presence in the professional audio industry’, Cadac is dividing into two distinct, independent business units, reflecting the current evolution of its product development activities; namely Cadac Consoles and Cadac Immersive. Cadac Consoles will retain its focus on the development of advanced digital audio mixing systems, with product development, sales and brand management remaining firmly in the UK. The business is rebranding under a new logo and corporate identity, with a renewed product offering scheduled to be unveiled at ISE
UK - DPA Microphones has announced that its UK Division, Sound Network, has rebranded as DPA Microphones UK. While the name has evolved, the DPA Microphones UK team continues its commitment to offering the highest level of service, expertise and support to all users and DPA partners, as well as embodying the personality and company culture that’s made the brand successful in this territory, says the company. “DPA Microphones UK’s mission is to continue to deliver exceptional audio solutions across the entire UK audio industry, as well as redirect more time and energy to open
South Korea - After the successful launch of an innovative LED stage last year, the National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA) has once more enlisted the expertise of South Korean XR specialists, ARK Ventures, to elevate the NIPA KoVAC XR Stage into a hybrid facility. This transformation introduces LED ceiling enhancements and effects side walls, all powered by Brompton Technology LED processing. The upgrade enables the seamless, simultaneous execution of XR and ICVFX, setting a new benchmark amongst government-affiliated studios. Situated within the South Korean VR AR Complex (
Australia - A $140m redevelopment programme by the state of Victoria’s government has transformed the Geelong Arts Centre into Australia’s largest dedicated regional arts centre, boasting two new theatres alongside new bars and event spaces. The upgrade includes the installation of 28 Claypaky Sinfonya Profile 600s, low-noise LED-based fixtures conceived and developed exclusively for the theatre market. Ben Van Dillen, technical operations manager for the venue, comments: “we needed a fixture that had shutters and an excellent colour profile. I also wanted a moving l
Spain - To commemorate the 20th anniversary of ISE and the 200th anniversary of Passeig de Gràcia, one of the major avenues in Barcelona and home to Casa Batlló, Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) is sponsoring a projection mapping on the façade of the Gaudí building. Following Refik Anadol's mappings in 2022 and 2023, Casa Batlló has once again invited a renowned digital artist to transform the building into a canvas for technology-driven art. The chosen artist, Sofia Crespo, is a pioneer in exploring organic life and its evolution through Artificial Intelligence. Co-founder of
USA - Eric Nam is a “natural born performer” wrote one admiring critic when describing the US-born and South Korean-based star’s recently concluded House on a Hill North American tour. Matching Nam’s passion and reflecting the nuances of each song on the 39-date tour was a far-reaching and evocative Julien Reux lighting design that was programmed by Matt Reynolds, and featured Chauvet Professional COLORado PXL Bar 16 and Color Strike M fixtures supplied by Kinetic Lighting. Like the music of Nam himself, the lightshow was an inspired blend of boldness and sub
USA - Latin pop luminaries Enrique Iglesias, Ricky Martin, and Pitbull have teamed up for The Trilogy Tour, a North American arena trek taking the three artists out for shows in 37 cities between October 2023 and March 2024. Following a successful first leg of sold-out concerts that ran into mid-December, the second half of the Live Nation-produced, Sound Image/Clair Global-reinforced run picks back up in late-January with four performances in California before sweeping east across the continent. The tour is enjoying a tremendous amount of success thanks to the talent and charism
UK - Visitor attraction Titanic Belfast has used Panasonic projectors to convey the emotional impact of the human tragedy within the Titanic story, through the creation of a new, absorbing immersive space that places visitors at the heart of the liner’s ill-fated maiden voyage. More than 12 years on from the opening of the building, the attraction has refreshed the Titanic Experience for returning visitors and continues to draw crowds from around the world. Working with integrator, DJ Willrich, Titanic Belfast now uses more than 30 Panasonic PT-MZ16K, PT-MZ780 and PT-VMZ71 LCD p
UK - The Chauvet Professional UK Road Show that begins on 6 February will wind its way through 11 cities in England, Wales, and Scotland. Developed for install, touring and theatre markets, the new products featured in the traveling show incorporate a range of advanced technologies that make them suited to take designs to the next level in standard lighting projects as well as VR, AR, and AI applications, says the company. The road show begins 6 February at the Beacon in Bristol and ends 26 February at The Place in London. The stops in between include 7 February in Surrey (
Germany - DirectOut has relocated its headquarters in Mittweida to modern and spacious premises, meeting the demands of the rapidly developing work and technology landscapes. For the past 15 years, DirectOut has focused on producing audio solutions for broadcast, studio, live and installed sound applications. The company offers a wide range of interfaces, routing, conversion, audio network infrastructure and DSP-based solutions. The team serves customers worldwide and is dedicated to customising audio solutions to meet individual requirements. "With the addition of three ta
Europe - CAST Group of Companies has announced Controllux as an exclusive distributor of BlackTrax in Europe. Controllux will cover key areas in the Benelux region including the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Expanding on its established role as a key distributor of CAST’s software solutions, wysiwyg and Vivien, Controllux has further expanded its portfolio with the inclusion of the entire BlackTrax hardware range. BlackTrax is a vision-based tracking system that connects to different third-party applications, such as lighting consoles, media servers, immersive audio sys
