Austria - The annual Amadeus Austrian Music Awards are the country’s most important music awards, presented for excellence in the Austrian music industry. Since the year 2000, the most successful national artists have been accoladed in various categories.
The ceremony traditionally takes place in front of an audience at Vienna's Volkstheater and is broadcast on ORF, but the pandemic caused it to be cancelled, as expected. However, ORF1 prepared the grand stage for the awards to mark the 20th anniversary, as part of a variety TV show, which was broadcast at prime time on 10 September.
Conchita Wurst compered the show with a top-class cast, which not only reviewed current top acts but presented highlights from 20 years of the Amadeus awards ceremony. The show acts for the ‘Amadeus Music Sessions’ were recorded in advance on 30 and 31 July in Vienna's Marx Hallen

Italy - Radionorba Vodafone Battiti Live 2020 was staged from 16 to 24 July. The series of concerts which features all artists on the current Italian pop/rap scene, usually consist of a tour travelling throughout Puglia region. This year, due to the restrictions caused by the spread of Covid-19, the artists performed inside the beautiful Aragonese Castle in Otranto in front of a limited but enthusiastic audience.
Mod Srl, which is part of Rooster Srl (long-time technical partner for this event) was the company in charge of the lighting project. A large number of Prolights products have been used to light up both the stage and the location.
Emilio Lombardi, owner of Mod Srl said: “We had the pleasure to be part of this iconic event again, setting up the lighting design. Our goal was to highlight the venue and the artists in a very impactful way. To do so, we used Prol

Mexico - The Querétaro Centro de Congresos in the city of Santiago de Querétaro serves as the premier professional meeting space for the state of Querétaro. The stunningly designed building can host more than 15,000 people divided across multiple spaces.
Its Aqueduct Rooms, which comprise of 10 different rooms with a capacity for 150 people each; and its Constitution Room, which can hold a large meeting of up to 80 people, are packed year-round with a variety of in-person briefings, conference calls, seminars, corporate breakout sessions, and other events.
The location is also home to the Querétaro Teatro Metropolitano - which includes a 1,345-person theatre, a dance room, and an “experimental” room where live performances take place.
The unifying factor across the multi-use campus is a scalable and interoperable AV-over-IP system backed by Audinate’s D

France - One hundred and fifty years ago, Woerth in Alsace on the banks of the Sauer was the site of a ferocious and desperate battle that opened hostilities in the Franco-Prussian War, or the War of 1870 as it is sometimes called.
Involving thousands of French and Prussian soldiers, the Battle of Reichshoffen was marked by valour and heroism on both sides. In August, the people of this region commemorated the 150th anniversary of the struggle by gathering at some of the solemn monuments that dot its landscape while following social distance protocol.
Among the most impressive of these structures is Le monument Belvédère, a stately 20m stone tower built to memorialise the soldiers of the Hessian Fieldartillerie Regiment No. 11, which fought on that long-ago summer day.
Accentuating the powerful effect of the pillared monument was a balanced and colourful light

New Zealand - For the Good Vibes Winter Festival 2020, NZ Sound Reinforcement deployed a Harman Professional networked audio solution that includes a collection of JBL Professional VTX Series loudspeakers.
Organised by Pato Entertainment and the sister festival of the One Love Festival, the Good Vibes Winter Festival 2020 features an array of local artists, embracing the new music as international borders were closed and set the scene for summer reggae vibes. To elevate the fan experience, the festival organisers hired New NZ Sound Reinforcement, to design and install an audio system that delivers exceptional sound with consistent coverage.
“We had multiple venues that demanded a specific combination of audio systems, so we used an assortment of JBL VTX loudspeakers. We also had tight SPL restrictions in most venues, whilst keeping the system sounding energetic and f

Austria - Live event venues, Arena Wien, sought to upgrade its storied performance stage with a new profile luminaire and chose Elation’s Fuze Profile LED framing moving head for the job.
Arena, Vienna’s top alt-music venue, grew to prominence in the 70s and 80s as a platform for cultural and social activities and is still an important centre for Viennese youth and alternative culture today. Located in a former slaughterhouse and possessing an old industrial charm, the venue houses a large hall for concerts, as well as two smaller rooms for events of all types.
Elation partner AVL-Medientechnik of Traiskirchen, located just south of Vienna, has been supplying consumables to Arena Wien for years so it was only natural that they were contacted about the lighting upgrade.
“Together with the lighting technicians at Arena, we looked for a suitable full-colour

New Zealand - When the COVID-19 pandemic began to go global, the organisers of CoNZealand, the 78th World Science Fiction Convention, scheduled for late July in Wellington, New Zealand, were searching for an alternative to cancellation. Division head for technology services, John Maizels, was already assembling a suite of publicly available tools like Zoom video and Discord chat rooms. But to stage a full virtual convention, they had to find a way to manage it with a globally distributed tech team.
“The key to operating as a team when you can’t see anybody is good communications,” says Maizels. “That meant finding an effective virtual intercom system. Looking at its flexibility and especially the fact that there is no limit to the number of users, VLink quickly became a critical element of the project.”
Maizels, a freelance broadcast engineer based in Sydney,

UK - In 1905, a coal merchant by the name of JH Bennett donated funds for the construction of a massive cast iron and stone bandstand in Penzance’s Morrab public gardens. Standing serenely amidst the winding paths and lush foliage of the park, the open, circular structure with a classic cupola roof, has blended harmoniously with its surroundings ever since.
This sense of balance and proportion made the beloved Cornish landmark ideally suited for the final, season five showpiece of Seeds, an outdoor dance recital involving 30 socially distant performers from the UK. Aside from providing a supportive geometrical setting for the precise choreographed moves of the dancers, the holistic symmetry of the bandstand reflected the performance’s mission of supporting mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lewis Williams wove the bandstand into the lighting design

UK - A Luton van conversion featuring a Martin Audio sound system, has enabled singer-songwriter Olivia Dean to tour her local area during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Conceived by Olivia Dean and Emily Braham, with the help of Rob Sinclair and tour manager Andrew ‘Wilkie’ Wilkinson (of Sinclair Wilkinson) the From Me To Youtruck tour has been arriving at some unusual outdoor locations to help promote Olivia Dean’s new album of the same name.
The Martin Audio rig has been supplied by Wales-based CS Audio. Wilkinson had met the sound hire company’s MD, Paul Hatt, on the Clean Bandit tour, for whom the latter had been handling monitors and providing the audio control package.
As well as mixing monitors for other high profile bands, for the last four years he has also operated Martin Audio PAs increasingly in his hire inventory. “We bought MLA Mini and g

Australia - Based in the Sydney suburb of Rhodes, The P.A. People are leading suppliers of event communications systems, having worked on many of the largest celebrations and events across the globe, including five Olympic Games. Their inventory includes wired matrix and digital matrix intercom systems, trunked and traditional two-way radios, CCTV systems, time code displays, event networking and WiFi, mass cast monitoring and full duplex comms systems.
Recently, the company was looking to augment its equipment arsenal with a broadcast quality video transport solution. “We looked at quite a few solutions from a number of vendors from around the world,” comments Chris Dodds. “Our initial focus was on equipment based on the emerging SMPTE 2022 standard, but it quickly became apparent that the level of networking equipment required was simply not tenable for live short-t

Vietnam - Upgrading its facilities with sound that matches the property’s aesthetics, Silk Path Grand Hue Hotel & Spa hired Ba Sao Audio to design and install a resort-wide premium Harman Professional audio solution.
Overseen by Silk Path Hotels & Resorts, which manages various luxurious hospitality properties, the Silk Path Grand Hue Hotel & Spa is a lush travel destination that is also used for special events, meetings and conferences. With a location in the heart of the regal capital that offers phenomenal city views, the hotel features a blend of eloquent furnishing and traditional architecture.
“The client wanted an audio system for clear background sound and a centrally controlled music system that keeps the resort energized and enhances customer delight,” comments Nguyen Khac Anh, CEO at Ba Sao Investment Co. “They wanted a cutting-edge soun

Belgium - Masked Singer - TV singing competition with celebrities concealed in elaborate costumes and full face masks, in this case depicting the Wolf, the Dragonfly the Queen and several others to keep their identities secret whilst performing cover versions - hits Belgium for the first time this autumn.
Presented by Niels Destadsbader and recorded at NEP Studio in Londerzeel, a judging panel and the audience are drip-fed with clues as to their real identity . . . which is revealed when one is voted off at the end of each episode.
Lighting for the show, broadcast on VTM, is designed by Michiel Milbou and includes nearly 200 Robe moving lights, a combination of 58 x Tetra2 and 56 x CycFX 8 moving LED Bars, 36 x MegaPointes and 36 x LEDBeam 150s. The 400 or so lights in total involved - including video and light-panels - are supplied to the production by rental c

South Africa - Known for working together as technical director and supplier on popular art and music festivals across South Africa like Innibos, Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK) and Aarkloop, Pieter Jan-Kapp (Kappie) from PJK Management and Christiaan Ballot of technical supplier Blond Productions took the road less travelled over the COVID-19 lockdown and established their own online platform, Platform ZA which went live last Friday.
Platform ZA, a digital pay-per-view channel, has opened doors and created work for over 200 people, ranging from actors, musicians, cameramen and technical crew. Kappie and Christiaan did not only create Platform ZA, but even the content thereof such as Stroom, a music programme featuring some of South Africa’s finest artists, cooking and lifestyle programmes, a fishing show and spectacularly, produced and filmed sitcoms and co

Canada - TMB’s Solaris Flare Q+ and Flare Q+ Linear lighting fixtures are playing a leading role in the National Hockey League’s 2020 Stanley Cup. The clashes on ice began 1 August, with a champion to be crowned this week.
When production designer Gary Wichansky and lighting designer Tom Kenny got the call to collaborate on the event - on live TV with an empty audience - they knew their design must pump up excitement for the estimated 5million+ hockey fans watching at home.
The NHL Conference teams were quarantined and divided into two ‘bubble’ cities: Toronto, with its Scotiabank Arena, and Edmonton, with Rogers Place. With near-identical set-ups planned in both arenas, they needed lighting equipment that could light large spaces, and in double the quantities.
The design called for powerfully bright LED fixtures, with flicker-free performance for the cam

Germany - Covid-19 has challenged creative minds to reimagine old ways of doing things. The results have often been transformative. This was the case recently when the backyard of an open-air cinema took on the air of an intimate club for the Craftwork Café in Oldenberg.
An open stage show featuring independent artists, the ‘café’ traditionally took place in a crowded, cosy bar not far from the shores of the Baltic. That was before the pandemic. With lockdown restrictions in place the popular event had to find a new home in more spacious quarters.
That’s when kreativ:LABOR, a local creative collective, and Christian Hansen, owner of Hi-Fi Science Fiction, stepped in. They arranged to have the show moved to a space on the grounds of the outdoor cinema Cine-K.
To give the open-air venue a more intimate look, the team contacted Daniel Bremer from Heinrich Vi

USA - Verge Aero recently took to the skies together with partner Strictly FX for a celebratory light show marking the launch of the 2020 NFL season for the Philadelphia Eagles. The company, which is based in Philadelphia, deployed a fleet of 200 drones to deliver the large-scale aerial performance, which played out above Philadelphia’s Mann Centre for the Performing Arts.
As Eagles fans across the city looked on, Verge Aero’s sophisticated, GPS-guided drones delivered dynamic images, logos, animations and messages of support across Philadelphia’s night sky. Imagery included the screaming eagle’s head of the team’s logo, animated football players, and messages including the Eagles’ Let’s Fly slogan and fans’ familiar refrain, Go Birds.
The Verge Aero team collaborated closely with the Eagles to develop new graphic concepts while optimizin

Germany - The nearly 40m high water tower in Alsdorf is a well-known local landmark that serves as an unmistakable beacon to anyone in the area. Visible for miles in every direction, its prominence has great benefits for the retail establishments nearby, none more so than the Cineplex Cinetower Kinopark that sits at the base of the historic structure. Cineplex Cinetower offers more than 1,600 seats across nine theatres as well as the Zwei Brüder restaurant, a new kind of cinema and leisure experience all at the same location.
The water tower recently received a dynamic night time illumination courtesy of Elation Professional luminaires specified and installed by APA Showtechnik of Belgium. “A tower is a unique architectural structure that is something special and presents a unique opportunity for illumination,” comments Daniel Huppermans of APA Showtechnik. He says the

Croatia - Robe moving lights were at the core of a spectacular lighting scheme designed to illuminate the Pula Arena in Croatia in red for the evening of 1 September.
This was in solidarity with the #RedAlertRESTART action in the USA which saw over 2000 buildings lit in red all over North America on the same date, to highlight the critical stage of the live events and entertainment industry globally during the Coronavirus pandemic and the need for support and roadmap to re-starting.
Pula’s world-famous arena is the only remaining Roman amphitheatre in the world to have four side towers and all three Roman architectural orders – Doric, Ionic and Corinthian – intact. It was constructed between 27 BCE and 68AD, is among the largest six surviving Roman arenas worldwide and is also the best-preserved ancient monument in Croatia.
The lighting scheme was designed

UK - Media serving and pixel management experts, 7thSense Design supported a celebration of subterranean karst cave systems in the Museum Building at the heart of Dublin’s Trinity College earlier this year.
The event, Inception Horizon, took the audience on a sensory journey deep underground, following the flow of water through song, sculpture, visual projections and spoken word, also featuring the world premiere of the choral piece Inception Horizon by composer Norah Constance Walsh, performed by the Mellow Tonics choir.
Laurence Gill, Professor in Environmental Engineering in the School of Engineering at Trinity College Dublin, was the driving force of the event.
Behind the on-stage choir, visuals designed by Dara Ní Bheacháin, were projected onto the internal wall using two 7thSense Pico media servers and four Panasonic PT-RZ660BEJ projectors

UK - Since opening its doors 17 years ago, Suffolk creative entertainment, education and enterprise hub, the New Cuts Art Centre (The Cut), has gone from strength to strength, becoming a centre for arts in the community, and now offers a full programme of activities, including a weekly cinema, theatre, music, regular art exhibitions and an educational programme.
Looking to the future, the venue decided it was time to upgrade their existing lighting rig in the theatre to LED. As the space is used for a variety of performances and events, they needed fixtures that were versatile, easy to use and that could work for a range of styles - Prolights fixtures proved to be the answer.
Callum Macdonald of CM Lighting oversaw the specification and install of the lighting fixtures. He commented: “The theatre is a small community theatre that doubles up as a cinema. The programm

Australia - When Big Picture announced its partnership with South West Solutions and Ikonix to offer ‘the most technologically advanced and connected virtual event space in Australia’, the industry was anticipating something spectacular. They were not disappointed. Top-of-the-range technology means the new premium live event studio facility in Sydney transcends all expectations, with Brompton Tessera processing playing significant part in its success.
The live event studio offers a professional soundproof studio with full backstage facilities, global broadcast-grade fibre connectivity and industry-leading production technology.
The main studio set showcases a 40sq.m ROE Black Onyx 2.8mm LED screen, made up of 243 panels in its largest configuration, built in a concave curve. Dual ROE Carbon 3mm LED screens are used for presenter feedback, showing visuals like remo

UK - After almost a decade of operation it was decided that the Sky Studios reception area needed to more contemporary, brighter and have a more inviting feel.
The Sky creative team approached David Atkinson Lighting Design (DALD) who had been involved with the various specialist lighting projects for Sky. General lighting of the space was quite a challenge as the existing metal tile ceiling is finished in dark grey with a charcoal floor, which limited the amount of ambient reflection. It was decided to introduce a fragmented linear lighting approach which would create a bold feature in the overall design of the space
Linear extrusion strips in varying lengths with opal diffusers were suspended below the ceiling and fitted with cool white 4000-kelvin LED with Dali gear. The grey granite reception wall was fitted with a full length floor to ceiling graphic light box whi

USA - Conmy Hall, the historic events space used by the United States government in Fort Muer, Va, recently underwent a significant transformation with the installation of a massive 144ft by 14ft Christie CorePlus LED wall. Spearheaded by The Bridge Group and integrated and installed by Quince Imaging, the video wall is powered by a Christie Spyder X80 image processor with content management handled by a suite of Christie Pandoras Box solutions.
“Conmy Hall was originally built in 1934 as an indoor equestrian facility used by General George Patton,” says Cathy Arevian, CEO & managing director, The Bridge Group. But as the mounted cavalry was phased out, the Hall was converted into a gymnasium and later into an indoor ceremonial area. It’s now the U.S. Army’s principal performance centre, used for presidential functions and military ceremonies, as well as hosting

UK - Set in the tranquil parkland and ancient woodland of a Berkshire country estate, Medicine Festival 2020 proved to be a tonic for attendees and crew alike. It had been at least six months since most had been involved in any form of public event, but with safety measures in place, the five-day festival prescribed a healthy concoction of music, ancestral wisdom, art, wellbeing, future thinking, food, environmentalism, spirituality, dance and performance.
Audio Feed had been appointed as the sound partner long before COVID-19 turned the world upside down. When the organisers decided to go ahead, the Funktion-One specialists were tasked with updating the sound system designs for the three-stage set-up.
The decision to host the inaugural Medicine Festival in such challenging circumstances was founded in a desire to provide some much-needed positivity for the downcast ev

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