USA - When the leaders at Shades Mountain Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama green lighted a full renovation of the mega church’s 2,700-seat main worship centre, the job of designing and building a modern, upgraded audio system was awarded to Blackhawk Audio.
In addition to quality sound and coverage, Shades Mountain also wanted to ensure that the new system was discrete in that it was contained within a very compact grill cloth area. Blackhawk found the solution with EAW and its ADAPTive line, including its Anya and Anna loudspeakers and Otto subwoofers, as well as its VFR89i Stage Monitors.
“One of the biggest selling points of the EAW ADAPTive speaker system was that in addition to its audio quality and excellent coverage, it also was low profile and would not visually overwhelm the sanctuary,” says Blackhawk Audio president Rick Shimer. “The previous look of the sanctuary had a very large ‘speaker cluster’ with grill cloth. Ensuring that the PA system was less obtrusive while also offering pristine sound was a main factor for this project; they wanted a particular look and we are able to achieve this using EAW’s Anya, Anna and Otto.”
The upgrade, which consisted of over 30 EAW speakers, included two Anya’s each for far house left and far house right, six Anna’s each for house left and right, two Anna’s for down-fills, six Otto subwoofers for centre and eight VFR89i passive two-way stage monitors for the choir.
“The EAW ADAPTive platform has proved to be the best choice for sonic clarity and acoustical control acr

USA - Southcrest Baptist Church has remodelled a former worship centre on its campus in Lubbock, Texas, reopening it as The Venue, a multipurpose space outfitted with a new Solid State Logic Live L200 digital mixing console. The new L200 desk is being used to mix front-of-house, monitors and a live stream of The Venue’s Sunday morning service, which features a five-piece contemporary band.
The new L200, which was put into service in early November, is the third SSL Live desk to be installed at Southcrest Baptist Church. In 2017, the church opened a newly constructed 46,000sq.ft, 1,600-seat Worship Centre on its campus that is equipped with a pair of SSL Live L300 consoles. One manages front-of-house and monitors and the other handles audio-for-video duties, including live streaming and recording.
“We put in a new audio system in The Venue and wanted an SSL board to keep the continuity between the two main spaces,” says Rusty Trowbridge, the church’s technical director and FOH/monitor mixer in the Worship Centre. “We have three Live boards now, and it’s awesome.”
Trowbridge and his AV media team integrated the new L200 themselves in the revamped space, which can hold up to 800 people. The new SSL system, which is operated by FOH mixer Tyler Gutierrez, includes an ML 32.32 Stage box with SuperAnalogue mic/line inputs at the stage with an ML 32 at the FOH position, networked via an SSL Blacklight II.D MADI Concentrator.
“We’re doing a live stream out of The Venue, which was one of the things that helped us choose the SSL Live,

USA - In the shadow of majestic Mount Rainier, Experience Church is part of a new generation of houses of worship, a non-denominational Christian church bringing their message to parishioners via modern music and technology. The 500-seat sanctuary welcomes parishioners with upbeat, amplified music and innovative videos.
Installed more than 15 years ago, the church’s sound system was showing its age and in need of an update. Uncertain of the cost and in need of ideas, the church contacted Sumner, WA-based McCauley Systems for advice and consultation.
“I’ve had a long-standing relationship with this church, having designed and consulted on the original sound system about 15 years ago,” reports McCauley Systems principal Ryan McCauley. “Fundamentally the system is still in good shape, with excellent coverage and impact, but many of the loudspeaker components in particular were approaching the end of their useful lives, and some of the amplification and other electronics were beginning to fail.
”With the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, budgets were also a concern. “Since I’d designed the original system, I suggested refurbishing that system rather than replacing it,” McCauley continues. “With the advancements in loudspeaker technology, we were able to not only replace the failing components, but update them with more modern versions, far superior in performance and sound quality.
”Perhaps even more significant have been the advancements in DSP and amplifier technology. “What was state-of-the-art 15 years ago

USA - When Caesars Entertainment, who operate Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, planned their next expansion phase – Caesars Forum, a new conference centre - they needed a first-class technical infrastructure for site wide multi-signal transmission over this large facility, and opted for BroaMan, the video and data based sister company to Optocore.
Locally based design and engineering specialists, National Technology Associates (NTA) have a long track record working with the Caesars Entertainment family, including LINQ promenade, the High Roller, and many restaurants and venues. Thus, they were again contracted, and as their project manager Shane Snell recognized the building was way too big to run traditional SDI cabling, he instead turned to a BroaMan fibre solution.
The Conference Centre itself measures a massive 550,000sq.ft including more than 300,000sq.ft of flexible meeting space with the two largest pillarless ballrooms in the world at 110,000sq.ft each.
Snell explained that the original design had “tons of SDI cabling” running to a total of nine IDF distribution frames. “With 400 floor boxes going to nine comms rooms, none of them connected, there was no way to tie them all together and certainly not by using coax point-to-point cabling.
“We needed a way to tie these isolated comms closets together—without a bunch of loose gear, adapters, boxes, or anything that could be less than reliable. It also needed to be easy to use by Encore Productions, the in-house productions team who live in the world of event production where flex

UK - Exhibition London is a new multipurpose live music and events venue in White City, West London initiated and operated by Broadwick Live and Venue Lab, offering 1400 seated to 2800 standing capacity. It is designed for conferences, exhibitions, gala dinners, awards presentations, location filming and live music events.
Opened in early 2020, Exhibition London’s complete technical infrastructure was specified and procured by consultant and technical production director Simon Jones of SJ-TPM who also coordinated and oversaw all elements of the technical installation and commissioning. Simon had started work on the project in the second quarter of 2019 after having been involved in other Broadwick Live venues.
He chose both Robe and Anolis products to be core house lighting system elements for the main show-space where the spec features 28 x Esprites and 30 x Robe Spiider LED wash beams plus two RoboSpot remote follow spotting systems with two BMFL Follow Spot fixtures to run with them.
Simon’s previous Broadwick Live project was the new Magazine London concept in Greenwich, where he spec’d nearly 100 Robe LED moving lights including T1 Profiles and Spiiders plus Anolis Divine 160 RGBW LED floods. Once again Anolis Divine 160s were selected for LED house lighting at Exhibition London.
Having had a great experience with the Robe moving lights at Magazine London, Simon looked again at the brand for its “reliability and cost-effectiveness”.
Simon was keen to utilise Robe’s latest technologies for the venue and wanted the Esp

France - Celebrating all things glamorous, sensual and flamboyant, Folies Bergère is one of Paris’ most revered nightspots. Originally a cabaret music hall and variety-entertainment theatre, The Folies made its mark during the Belle Epoque of the late 1800s with its music hall revues featuring stunning dancers. More recently returning to its musical production roots, the Folies Bergère stage has been graced by famous artists from Charlie Chaplin, Ella Fitzgerald, Marcel Marceau, Frank Sinatra, Charles Aznavour through to Elton John.
This year, the theatre’s impressive programme has been matched with equally impressive audio technology when the Folies Bergère became the first performing arts centre in France to permanently install L-Acoustics L-ISA Hyperreal Sound technology.
The venue’s operating contract is handled by specialist live sound company Potar Hurlant, part of the Novelty Group, under the direction of technical director Madje Malki. The company works with many famous French touring artists and the idea of installing L-ISA into Folies Bergère emerged following the company’s successful use of the technology on tour with pop singer Renaud.
“The idea of installing L-ISA came from my desire to progress from a standard left-right system,” explains Malki. “This is a complex venue architecturally, and even though the original L-Acoustics system worked well, the many columns and shadow areas caused issues. When mixing in stereo format, we tried to give as much depth as possible to the audio, employing methods like parallel comp

USA - The deep history of Bridgewater Church of the Brethren in Bridgewater, Virginia stretches back into the late 1700s, when the first Europeans migrated into the area. Centuries of branching and growth led to the construction of the church’s current sanctuary in 1998.
The fan-shaped room seats approximately 500 people and is open, inviting, and sympathetically appointed. However, its existing sound reinforcement system (as old as the sanctuary itself) was broken and behind the times. The church's property is on the campus of Bridgewater College, a facility that earlier in 2020 received a Danley upgrade for their chapel.
A member of the church was very impressed and excited about bringing local integrator RTW Media, of Orville, Virginia, into Church of the Brethren to transform their old system. RTW replaced the previous system with a Danley Sound Labs point source sound reinforcement system.
“Bridgewater Church of the Brethren has a stunningly beautiful sanctuary with a 65-foot ceiling at its peak,” says RTW Media logistics manager Zack Guida. “They’re very into music and regularly bring notable Christian musicians in for services and concerts.
“However, their existing loudspeakers were only mid-grade when they went in over twenty years ago. They were flat sounding and threw energy all over the ceiling and walls. One driver was blown completely. However, every sound company they called to replace the old system would look way up at the existing cluster and say, ‘nope.’ Since they were positioned over the lip of the stage, t

UK - Production Park has announced four senior hires to lead its £7m research and development (R&D) project in Wakefield.
The project, XPLOR, will be used to deliver a support programme to facilitate growth for SMEs across the live events industry, and will be headed up by Jim Farmery, former partnerships lead at Creative England.
Farmery has been announced as XPLOR’s development director and will oversee the day-to-day running of the facility. Upon completion in spring 2022, the site will become one of the UK’s first specialist innovation centres in the live events industry, with sector comparisons being made with the world-leading film and television institution, Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire.
Engaging with organisations and researching opportunities for the facility, Farmery’s role will see him build awareness of the centre, not only within the industry and the region, but also across the UK.
A partnership between Production Park’s Backstage Academy and Wakefield Council, the development will be based on the park in South Kirkby and is set to create 150 jobs throughout its construction.
Farmery will be supported by Matt Glynn, concept and product designer, Peter Nye, software controls engineer, and Ben Schweitzer, digital content designer.
Farmery explains: “XPLOR will not only facilitate business growth for SMEs in the region, but will also represent a UK-first powerhouse for the events industry, worth £30bn to the nation’s economy. It’s something we’re all really excited about and proud to pl

USA - There is a special joy the production team at Life Challenge Church, Odessa, Texas, takes in putting together Sunday morning children’s services. Creative spirits run a little more freely, and new ideas are explored more deeply in a bid to make bible stories come to life for young worshippers.
“The kids service gives us an opportunity to go a little more outside the box,” said Gabriel Loera, technical director at Life Challenge Church. “We do more immersive and moving fixtures and contrasting colours across the crowd. We use more upbeat and themed EP backgrounds during the full service rather than just during worship. The kids really respond well to the full immersive environments.”
On 18 October, the church gave adult worshippers the opportunity to channel the childhood imagination that resides inside them with a Sunday Nights Kid Service, an event that shared imagery from the children’s program with the congregation at large. Helping to create this unique experience was a collection of Chauvet Professional fixture supplied by Sweet Southern Sound.
“We do this several times a year,” said Loera. “It’s a family focus initiative that lets parents experience worship as their children do every Sunday morning. Everyone really enjoys it.”
Contributing to the immersive environment through the sanctuary for the event were richly saturated colours from the rig’s COLORado and Ovation fixtures. Loera positioned six COLORado 1 Solo fixtures above the first rows of pews and six over the upstage deck to provide a consistent col

South Africa - The newly refurbished Seabrooke’s Theatre at Durban High School (DHS) is making waves and delighting audiences with one successful comedy after the next. After a seven-month entertainment famine, the theatre was launched with Sylvia, presented by KickstArt Theatre Company, which ran from 23 October to 1 November.
Seabrooke’s Theatre is a 100-seater auditorium used by the schools Dramatic Arts Department as well as by amateur and professional companies and groups. Thanks to a generous contribution by DHS old boy and theatre lover, Chris Seabrooke, a much-needed renovation and equipment upgrade was made possible and commenced at the start of the Covid-19 South African lockdown. The theatre has been repainted, seats reupholstered, a green room/dressing room is currently being built, and on the technical side, a lighting and audio system has been supplied and installed by DWR Distribution’s Michael Taylor-Broderick and Nick Barnes.
The new lighting equipment includes 13 Robe ParFect 150s, six Robe LEDBeam 150s, four ETC Source Four 25 to 50 degree Profiles, a Le Maitre MVS Hazer with control via a grandMA dot2 onPC.
A Quest Sound system comprises of two HPI25 Front loaded 600w rms low profile and high power speakers, two HPI 12S Compact Passive Sub-Bass Speakers, two Quest 2004 Stereo Power Amplifiers, a Allen & Heath 16 channel digital console, two Audix OM2 Vocal Microphones, one Audix AP42 OM2A Wireless Microphone. In addition, Michael and Nick have rehung some of the lighting bars and added a patch panel to allow for

Thailand - Hotel Indigo Phuket Patong hired audio integrators Mahajak Development to design and install a Harman Professional audio solution that delivers quality sound throughout the property.
Hotel Indigo Phuket Patong is positioned near Patong Beach in the heart of the city of Patong. Located in a touristy area with a property size of 6,400sq.m, the hotel includes 180 guest rooms, a fitness centre, an outdoor pool as well as entertainment and dining amenities. The hotel also marks the first collaboration between renowned hotel companies, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) and Kebsup Group Company Limited.
The hotel required a premium audio system that provides excellent sound across the resort. Meeting those requirements, Mahajak selected a Harman Professional audio solution that includes JBL Professional loudspeakers, Crown amplification, BSS signal processing and more.
“One of the challenges we faced was that the hotel had multiple zones with specific requirements, including meeting spaces, lobbies, seminar and banquet rooms, among others. We put our dedicated efforts to install Harman Professional products and provide the best service to the customer,” said Pongsakorn Kanchanachayphoom, director of project, Mahajak Development Co. “The client wanted the latest hi-tech audio solutions, and we were able to design the ideal systems using Harman products thanks to their flexibility, reliability and impeccable sound quality. To ensure consistent sound throughout the facilities, we installed JBL speakers with Crown amplifiers.”
Provid

Germany - Martin Audio's German rental partner, Kotsch-Showtechnik from Nessetal near Gotha, recently supplied a sound reinforcement solution for the faithful reproduction of classical music at the Schlosshofkonzert 2020.
In order to meet the COVID-19 requirements, the Gotha Thuringia Philharmonic Orchestra moved for three evenings into the courtyard of the baroque Friedenstein Castle in the City. Here, taking into account the rules of distance, a baroque evening, an operetta gala and a concert with violin and grand piano were able to take place in front of an audience of 400.
Torsten Kotsch, owner of Kotsch Showtechnik, implemented the sound and lighting design with his team and explained the special features required of classical music reinforcement: "The dynamic range of a classical concert is far greater than at many rock concerts,” he said. “Since the concerts were open-air, and not in a theatre or concert hall, we had to pay special attention to the correct set-up of the system.”
The choice of loudspeaker technology was always going to be self-powered products from Martin Audio. The MLA Compact was used as the main PA, with the area in front of the stage covered with DD12 speakers, and CDD-LIVE8 speakers were used as stage monitors.
Torsten Kotsch explained this selection rationale: "I can connect all speakers via Martin Audio's VU-Net and control and monitor them in the software,” he said. “Since we wanted to achieve the same sound experience at all seats, the mix of MLA Compact and DD12 was perfect. Both systems distribute s

Finland - Nestled between two lakes, Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi, Tampere is listed on MoveHub’s world’s most popular hipster spots and, with the most saunas in one city, is considered the sauna capital of the world.
The city is also home to the Tampereen Työväen Teatteri (Tampere Workers’ Theatre), fondly referred to by locals as the TTT-Theatre. This is one of the county’s main theatres and its recently updated sound system features L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound technology, chosen both with audio excellence and the future in mind, as well as to address historic localisation issues caused by the venue’s extremely wide stage.
Originally, a standard L-C-R system had been specified for the theatre’s major audio overhaul, until Pauli Molnár, sales manager at L-Acoustics certified provider distributor, Audico Systems Oy, introduced them to the concept of L-ISA and its ability to create a completely different listening experience for the theatre’s audiences.
“We did a demo for the team and they were blown away,” says Molnár. “They understood that not only would L-ISA technology deliver more than they wanted in terms of sound quality, but also that it would address some key issues with which they had been struggling.”
The curved stage lip at TTT-Theatre measures a full 20m wide, likely one of the widest in Finland. This means that no matter where loudspeakers are placed in a standard configuration, the sound is not properly localised for the audience. In addition to this, the audio team struggled with gain before feedback

South Africa - MJ Event Gear has created an outdoor music concert environment at The Local Bar and Kitchen in Kyalami, no. 66 on the R55 Main Road, for those who want to enjoy good music in a space that strictly complies to the COVID-19 safety regulations. MJ has also set up a venue incorporating sound and lighting at the Bryanston Country Club.
The Local has JOC approval and has been given the green light by the SAPS and the fire marshal. The venue has various seating options available and includes paramedics on-site in case of an emergency, while all tables and chairs are sprayed and sanitized by Gary Love and the Viral Shield team. Patrons entering the venue will walk through a humidifier tunnel (not spray) and endure the usual hand sanitization and a temperature check, while face masks are sold on site.
Mike Jones, the owner of Johannesburg technical supply company MJ Event Gear, explains how the projects came about. “I’ve always wanted to build an outdoor concert venue and it’s something I’ve thought about for the past two or three years. Sven Hansen of 4 Plus 3 Productions and I had been looking at different venues where we could put up a roof on a more permanent basis, and then lockdown happened, and nobody could work.”
When President Cyril Ramaphosa announced in September that South Africa would move to Level 1 in regard to eased restrictions to allow 500 people at outdoor gatherings and 250 people at indoor gatherings, at a 50% capacity. Mike approached the Bryanston Country Club. “They allowed me access to build a venue to comf

UK - The Sugar Hut nightclub, bar and venue - made famous through its association with reality TV programme The Only Way Is Essex (TOWIE) -returned to TV screens earlier this month boasting a new refurbished look featuring Void Acoustics kit.
The venue has recently been acquired by the same experienced club operator who also owns London super club Studio 338 – a large music and arts venue on the Greenwich Peninsular, and sister club The Bridge (also in London). The team has consistently chosen Void as their audio system of choice for the last decade, starting with their install at Studio 338, which currently boasts a 4-point Air Motion system covering their large capacity multi-room club including one of the largest outdoor terrace arenas in Europe as well as a Loft Room and VIP level.
Sugar Hut has been celebrating 10 years of TOWIE. The venue’s re-opening and refurbishment has been eagerly anticipated and well-received.
“Being familiar with Void and the aesthetic quality of their products combined with their excellent audio credentials, it was an easy decision to specify Void throughout our Sugar Hut refurbishment,” explains Larry Field, technical manager and sound engineer for Studio 338 and Sugar Hut.
Acoustic challenges abound at Sugar Hut because it is located in a listed historical building, which, by its nature, provides a challenging layout. It is a maze-like 15th century coaching inn with a courtyard and hundreds of years of history.
Field comments: “From a sound perspective there are local residents to take

UK - Sound Stage Lighting Live (SSL Live) has been busy installing a combination of CDD and Adorn series speakers, BlacklineX and ceiling speakers for use in venues ranging from leisure and hospitality to immersive fitness centres.
The company, which was set up by brothers Elliott and Jack Smith three and a half years ago, had also added a Martin Audio WPC scalable line array to the company’s events subsidiary pre-lockdown.
The brothers are firm believers in Martin Audio. “We liked the clarity of sound, functionality and ease of deployment,” they say. “We also liked the reliability - we have since installed 500-600 installation speakers and there has never been a problem.”
All four Martin Audio commercial ranges feature in Red Fox & Peacock’s new flagship Lytham House, a multi-zone bar/restaurant, occupying a prime position on the coastal resort of Lytham, on the Fylde coast.
Run by Ross Robinson, the company’s other venues - The Eagle at Weeton, The Ship at Freckleton and The Queen’s Hotel, Lytham - are already equipped with Martin Audio from SSL Live.
“From an audio perspective the owners trust us, and once again we have given them the best speakers for the purpose,” they say. The site, a former Italian restaurant on a large plot, was left empty for two years as potential buyers waited for the price to drop. Eventually purchased by a local building contractor it was promptly leased back to Robinson’s company and the interior designers set to work in creating a multi-zonal, upmarket venue, incorporating restau

Germany - AO Drones’ fleet of drones lit up the sky above Munich’s Olympic Park in October to mark the launch of Deutsche Telekom’s 5G network in the city.
The GPS-guided, 300-strong swarm of drones performed a 10-minute night-sky performance, creating Deutsche Telekom’s logos and messages in white and Telekom’s brand colour, magenta for the video cameras below.
Tasked with creating the launch event, Düsseldorf-based event management company DO IT! brought in their regular production technology partner, AO Creative. They in turn called on their Dubai-based AO Drones team to deliver the state-of-the-art drone technology. Responsible for the overall production design was Jerry Appelt of JALD (Jerry Appelt Licht Design).
The AO Creative team, including show producer Marco Niedermeier, technical director Matthias Meyert, and project manager Tim Klopp, working within the strict procedures required during the COVID-19 pandemic, successfully realised Appelt’s creative vision, including the illumination of the stadium itself and the carefully choreographed drone show.
With just three weeks from go-ahead to show day, time was tight, explains Klopp. “But thanks to the great working relationship we have with DO IT!, it was extremely smooth. Achieving a project like this in such a relatively short time is only possible with a great client, and outstanding teamwork.”
Key to the success of the project was the advanced, integrated hardware and software of the drone system. Developed in the USA by Verge Aero specifically to meet the req

USA - After more than 12 years of growth and success, West Kendall, Florida, chef Adrianne Calvo, the owner and manager of Chef Adrianne’s Vineyard Restaurant & Wine Bar, decided it was time to move to a larger, more customised location.
Chef Adrianne took over and completely renovated an existing 8,000sq.ft restaurant space. The new space features a large indoor dining area, two private dining rooms, and a social-distance-friendly terrace outfitted with a large retractable projection screen and other AV tools throughout to accommodate special events. The new space has been designed with a warm, modern, Napa Valley wine country décor featuring tall ceilings and wide-open spaces. It can accommodate 270 patrons - a sizable jump from the old location's capacity of 60.
With audio support playing an essential part of the restaurant experience, Calvo turned to audio expert Ivan Sotomayor, president, and owner of ISF Enterprises, a south Florida-based audio and AV integration firm that focuses on restaurant, club, retail, and multi-use facilities.
“This installation was fun but also a bit challenging,” said Sotomayor. “There are multiple indoor audio zones we need to control, and outdoors, the facility is next to a waterway, so we needed an appropriate volume level and control for optimum sound quality and intelligibility for music as well as presentations - and they even needed surround-sound capabilities outdoors.”
Sotomayor explained that the team used a programme called Ease to help map out the number, size, and speakers' location

USA - When Athens First United Methodist Church in Texas decided to transform an old and seldom-used fellowship hall into a new contemporary worship space they selected an all ADJ, all LED-powered rig. Then, pleased with the quality and reliability of their lighting, the church again chose ADJ when it was time to replace the aging projectors in their main sanctuary with modern LED video walls.
A former paramedic/firefighter who then spent 10 years working in the oil and gas industry, Wes Akin felt a sense of calling to serve others again and began volunteering as the technical director at Athens First. Over time this simultaneously led to a full-time role at the church, overseeing business and operations, and a rekindling of his passion for technical production. Wes founded Gain Stage Productions to offer live audio and visual services to local venues as well as to provide installation services for churches in the area.
Wes’ first project was to design and install the audio and lighting system for Athens First’s new contemporary worship centre, which was created by renovating the church’s old fellowship hall. After meeting over coffee and donuts, members of the congregation now have two choices: a contemporary service in the new worship space or a more traditional service in the main sanctuary.
For the new contemporary venue, Wes designed a system that would offer a great deal of flexibility while also giving a very modern feel to the relatively small space. He also purposely selected all LED-powered fixtures, both to minimize future maintenan

UK - In these difficult times for the live entertainment industry, Yamaha is working with both practical measures and its #BringingLive2Life campaign to help audiences and performers alike to experience live entertainment again. One of its first successes was playing a key role in helping Boisdale of Belgravia - the first live venue in London to reopen.
Boisdale is a chain of four themed restaurants, located in London’s Belgravia, Bishopsgate, Canary Wharf and Mayfair. Before lockdown they featured live music every night, with a number of well-known artists - including Alexander O’Neal, Mica Paris, Natasha Hamilton, Rebecca Ferguson and Omar - booked for the Canary Wharf restaurant.
Boisdale managing director Ranald Macdonald has previously worked with Yamaha Music London and, as the national lockdown began to ease, contacted retail operations manager Stephen Davies to see if the company could help to restart live performances in a safe, sustainable way.
“Ranald and I came up with the idea of moving the artists they had booked for the 250-capacity Canary Wharf restaurant to the smaller Belgravia venue, playing two sets a night for two sittings of diners,” says Stephen.
As a result, on 15 August, Boisdale Belgravia was the first live London venue to reopen.
To make the initiative financially viable and ensure that live performances could be staged according to Government guidance, Yamaha Music London sponsored the stage and offered Ranald a combination of loaned and purchased equipment. This included a TF-RACK mixer and a pair of

Australia - Situated in Melbourne’s east, the community at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church was being crowded out by a suburb fast-tracked for urban growth.
Needing to relocate to a quieter location with room to expand, they became aware that a short distance down the road the St. James Uniting Church, with its striking mid-century early modern architecture, was looking to sell.
A deal was done which duly led to a full-blown renovation of the church, including a sensitive, high quality audio visual fitout in the heritage-listed building. This included a Martin Audio O-Line as the sound reinforcement system.
St. Paul’s Lutheran found an integrator in Mozaix that really understood house of worship requirements, and director Paul Tucker immediately struck up a rapport with the church’s building committee.
Paradoxically, the original St James space had been too acoustically ‘dead’ - which is an unusual problem to find in a church building. Due to its carpeted floors and construction of the vaulted ceiling, in its previous unrenovated form it didn’t suit St Paul’s style of ‘call and response’ congregational worship.
Acoustic engineer, Andrew Nicol, thus applied acoustic treatment in the form of an array of signature reflective diffusers for the front wall and behind the band stage, as well as hard stone tile flooring, acoustic panels on the rear wall and acoustic absorption on the balcony fascia. The result is an acoustically lively but controlled space that suits congregational involvement and accommodates high SPL sound rein

USA - Since its start in 2013, Faith Family Church in Baytown, TX has seen continued growth, quickly outgrowing its roots as a portable house of worship. Land was acquired, a campus was planned, and a 60,000sq.ft. facility with a 1400-seat sanctuary was opened in early March 2020. The integration of the church’s audio, video and lighting systems across the main auditorium and several ancillary rooms was handled by worship AV specialists Ellis Pro Media, a Continuant company.
“This was a design-build, and great client to work with,” says Austin Hess of Ellis Pro Media. “We knew that Electro-Voice would be a great solution, especially paired with the new Dynacord IPX series amplifiers. It’s a product we wholeheartedly believe in, to the point where many of the designers and staff at Ellis Pro Media have EV products in the churches we attend.”
A combination of EV loudspeaker models ensures a consistently high level of sound quality in spaces across the campus. The loudspeakers are powered by Dynacord IPX amplifiers configured as a centralised Dante/OCA audio/control network, and operated by SONICUE sound system software. “This is the first X2 rig we’ve deployed using SONICUE for processing,” says Hess. “It allowed us to be up and running more efficiently than in the past, and both our team and the client appreciated that.”
The main system in the sanctuary consists of twin X2 line arrays; six with a 90° horizontal dispersion above two 120° models. These are augmented by two EVF-1122D/126 loudspeakers for front fill and three EV

USA - 5 Words Media (5WM) is a US systems integrator based in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 2011, principally as a design/build company for houses of worship, its team also designs and installs audio, lighting and AVL systems regionally across the entertainment, education and corporate sectors
In recent months, 5WM has been working through a programme of audio installations in houses of worship using Coda Audio loudspeakers. Whilst the challenges of the Coronavirus have impacted the audio industry as never before, owner and design principal, Daniel Gourley and his team have worked tirelessly within regulatory constraints to install the systems whilst churches have been temporarily closed.
A recent initiative by 5WM was its #FreeChurchAV contest which invited churches across the US to pitch for a new AV system by telling their story and highlighting the benefits that upgrading technology within their church could bring. Music and the spoken word play a fundamental part in a church’s activities, so in tandem with a number of their suppliers, 5WM put together an AV offer which attracted more than 500 entries across the country.
The lucky recipient of the system was Hope Church in Danville, Virginia, where 5 Words felt that a new system would have the greatest impact. Having taken account of the Church’s requirements, Daniel undertook a thorough design process, before arranging the shipment of all materials and sending a team from Arizona to complete the install. A major part of the project was the purchase of a Coda Audio N-APS system, which was ins

Japan - When LD&K purchased a former theatre with the intention of converting it into a live music venue, there was no question about the fixtures that would make up its lighting rig. The company, which operates ‘live houses’ throughout Japan, had almost always used halogen fixtures, and it was set to do the same at its newest venue, the 1000 Club, located just three blocks from the bustling Yokohama train station.
That was until its management sat down and talked to the team at Hibino Lighting. Surveying the 1000-capacity room, Hibino recommended that, given the limited power supply available, it would make more sense to install Chauvet Professional LED fixtures. LD&K was hesitant, but trusting its vendor it agreed.
As a result, when the club opened (as a livestream venue) in August, it featured a powerful and versatile lighting rig comprised of 56 COLORado, COLORdash and Ovation fixtures. Arranged along the upstage deck, hung on overhead truss, and positioned on stage left and stage right poles as well as upstage stands, this collection of fixtures provides designers with a diverse range of options when lighting artists like Razor Oneman who perform at the club.
Key to this versatility are the 22 COLORado 2-Quad Zoom wash units in the new rig. Drawing on the wide 14ﹾ - 44ﹾ zoom range of the fixture, designers can easily use it to change coverage areas on the stage, moving from total color wash saturation to more focused spot effects.
Added colour is provided by the rig’s 22 COLORdash Par-Quad 18 fixtures, which feature ambe