UK - Recently established lifestyle restaurant and bar, Socialite has worked alongside Flipside Soundsystem to create an enticing musical atmosphere in the heart of Brighton’s Lanes. The building, which used to be a Cath Kidston store, benefits from an open concept layout with; a lavish cocktail bar, a private dining area, a generous performance space and topped off with a casual roof terrace.
With the aim of being an all-in-one bar, the space was in need of an AV system that could occasionally simmer into the background, allowing conversation to flow, while also being able to support live music and DJ events.
“After having a brief look around the site, working out its functionality and what the concept was – I knew, pretty much from the get-go, that musicality was the main focus of this place,” recalls Flipside managing director, James Cooper. “From then, we

USA - The Life is Beautiful Music & Art Festival returned to Las Vegas 17-19 September, transforming 18 downtown city blocks into a hub of music, art and culture. The event roared back to life, drawing a record 170,000 attendees for its three-day line-up of performances by Billie Eilish, Megan Thee Stallion, A$AP Rocky, Green Day, and more than 100 additional acts. Between shows, festivalgoers took in comedy events, culinary demonstrations, and multidisciplinary creative installations by local, national, and international artists.
Life is Beautiful planners couldn’t were thrilled that music festivals are back. “We were the first festival to put a line-up out and say ‘We’re going to do this’,” Craig Nyman, the festival’s head of music and live performances said. “I think that really sparked a bit of hope and energy in the industry and let people feel that.

Australia - Theatre Safe Australia (TSA) created the set for the University of Adelaide’s production of Mamma Mia!. It was the major production for the graduating 2021 music theatre students, performed in the university’s own Scott Theatre.
Head of music theatre at the university, George Torbay, was pleased to have the TSA Workshop on board to help create this performance. With other productions throughout the year, Torbay wanted this one to showcase the graduating students and provide them with a stage brimming with scenery to recreate the theatrical experience of the romantic comedy.
Torbay says: “The TSA Workshop undoubtedly helped create a complete theatre experience for the 2021 graduate students. The buildings, painted platforms and flooring bought the musical to life, allowing the students to immerse themselves in professional theatre surroundings.

USA - When faced with shelter-in-place regulations amid the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, Westminster Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, DE, like many churches around the world, decided to shift from in-person gatherings on Sundays to recorded services so churchgoers could watch from home.
The initial offerings relied on existing audio and video equipment, which was more than 20 years old. The church’s streaming feed lacked detail, balance and consistent room ambiance, and the lack of intelligibility of the spoken word made it difficult for remote churchgoers to hear the service well.
To help solve this problem last fall, Tony Thurman, Westminster’s director of music, and members of the church’s property committee, initiated talks with Robert Bullington of Front Row Seat Productions, a local AV contractor, to come up with a new sound system. Together, the tea

USA - The team at Cour Design is celebrating the emotional pull of Lord Huron’s music on the band’s current USA tour with a powerful, image-rich stage design. Adorned with illuminated representations of mountain ranges as well as cactus plants of different sizes and a large semi-circular backdrop suggestive of a setting sun or moon, the set is clearly representative of the kind of environment that runs through the band’s music.
Designer Erik Anderson chose to illuminate this visual panorama with a collection of Chauvet Professional Maverick MK3 Wash fixtures. “I specced the Mavericks,” he said. “They are our workhorses, and we love their brightness, especially with the outdoor shows on this tour.”
Depending on the venue, between eight and 11 Maverick MK3 Wash fixtures are flown on downstage truss, while eight other units are divided evenly between stage

Vietnam - Dotted throughout Vietnam, the government has built private theatres to host regional and national cultural performances for the country’s military. These 700-seat venues serve government officials and military leaders with regular programmes of choir performances that convey messages of patriotism and national pride by promoting the unique history and culture of the Vietnamese republic.
One such theatre in the capital of Hanoi recently received an upgrade to its sound system, installing the new K3 line source array, integrated by local L-Acoustics Certified Provider Distributor, ProAVL Vietnam.
ProAVL managing director Thang Le has been an L-Acoustics user for over a decade, turning to the manufacturer’s sound systems for their quality and flexibility for projects that spanned installations in civic venues and high-end residential markets, as well as for

Denmark - Freedom Day was celebrated with several prominent shows and events including a landmark performance at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen by The Minds of 99 who became only the second ever Danish act to play there, in front of 50,000 fans, complete with a high impact show design from Jannik Kenneth Skov Jensen.
Lighting included over 300 Robe fixtures - a mix of Tarrantulas, BMFL WashBeams, MegaPointes, Spiiders, BMFL FollowSpot LTs and RoboSpots.
Jannik Kenneth has worked with the band since 2017 and he curates all the visual elements of their stage performances - including staging / scenic and video - in close collaboration with their manager, Ole Nørup Peteresen.
Parken was the biggest show that Jannik Kenneth has designed and operated to date. The LD studied to be an actor and director before turning his talents to the more technical disciplines of ligh

UK - London’s The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama staged a production of the musical Spring Awakening recently, which saw lighting and video design students create, programme and operate the visual aspects using Hippotizer Amba Media Servers.
Central student Jack Fone took the helm in the pre-production process, alongside fellow Central students Adler Williams on animation and Simon Moss, who’s studying production lighting. The team created a striking set dominated by a huge crucifix stage back, flanked by projected images designed to augment the narrative.
The two Hippotizer Amba Media Servers were fed three live camera inputs, comprising two operated cameras backstage, and a locked off camera overhead. These fed four projectors, two for the header display and two for the back wall adjacent to the crucifix centre stage.
“I’ve been blendin

UK - Amon Tobin’s life and work in production and sound design spans over 25 years. His different approach to intricate, cinematic electronica continues with the recent release of the album How Do You Liveon Nomark Records. To give listeners in London a preview of the work, the label partnered with Pitchback Playback and L-Acoustics Creations to offer an immersive experience in a 24.1 immersive sound space designed by L-Acoustics.
Pitchback Playback hosts listening sessions for music lovers staged in total darkness to eliminate distractions and ensure that everyone present enjoys an opportunity to fully engage with remarkable albums from start to finish. With the lights out and optionally blindfolded, the sense of hearing is heightened in the absence of visual stimuli. This allows guests to fully surrender to sound and the physical sensations and detailed nuances of

Germany - Founded in 2012, Ruhrtriennale is a three-yearly cycle of music and arts events, which take place from August to October in Germany’s industrial Ruhr region.
The prestige of staging this year’s opening production fell to Ensemble Modern, a global collective of soloists, whose sound designer Norbert Ommer chose a Yamaha Rivage PM10 digital mixing system for the surrealist, unconventional opera Bählamms Fest.
Ruhrtriennale is a festival which embraces a wide range of performances, all taking place in venues created within the region’s industrial architecture. A new artistic director is appointed for each cycle. For 2021-2023 it is renowned German theatre producer and director Barbara Frey. To open the 2021 programme, Barbara chose the premiere of Bählamms Fest, a production which blurs the lines between reality and virtuality, based on the

UK - South London’s Clapham Common hosted three successive festivals organised by event promoter Festival Republic that covered a range of genres beginning with the YAM Carnival, which celebrated the music and culture of the Afro diaspora; RTRN II Dance, a day of bass heavy raving featuring electronic music stars like Chase & Status; and ALT+LDN, a first-ever rock and rap mash up with international headliners Smokepurpp and The Kid LAROI.
Although very different music emanated from the festival stage on each of the all-day festivals, the visuals supporting the sound remained consistently bright, bold and dynamic, thanks to a powerful and flexible lighting kit design and installed by Bigabox Production.
Featuring Chauvet Professional fixtures, the lighting system had the versatility needed to support all the varied artists, yet it was also powerful enough to cover

UK - Wigwam Acoustics, part of the Solotech UK Group, supported multiple stages for both Parklife and Isle of Wight festivals, with just 24-hours to repurpose the Parklife systems into the package for the Main and Big Top stages on the Isle of Wight.
With so many festivals happening over such a short period of time, Wigwam's hire department and its UK partners SSE Audio, Capital Sound and BCS Audio have been at full capacity during the 2021 summer season. The team has had to get used to quick turnaround of gear to support back-to-back festivals. It is a testament to their experience and expertise that these events were handled successfully.
Located on the grounds of Heaton Park, Manchester, Parklife is the UK’s third-largest festival. Working with system technician Paul Stevart, Wigwam supplied the Main, Valley and Palm House stages while UK partner BCS Audio was b

USA - When The Muny, America’s oldest and largest outdoor musical theatre, was given the green light to commence its 103rd season, Masque Sound once again returned to the historic venue with a custom audio equipment package. Working directly with sound designers John Shivers and David Patridge, Masque Sound helped the team reboot its outdoor season after presenting an online season in 2020 due to COVID-19.
With the support of the City of St. Louis Health Department, The Muny’s 2021 season operated at full capacity, including the 1,500 free seats available for each performance on a first-come, first-served basis. The five-show season began with Smokey Joe’s Café and was followed by The Sound of Music, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, On Your Feet!, and Chicago.
“Masque Sound graciously added equipment that we asked for from p

USA - There is nothing ‘routine’ about the design Alexander Lehman chose when lighting the annual I Am Woman conference for Faith Church.
Every year, Lehman strives to give the two-day event, which takes place in both St. Louis and West Palm Beach, a visual flourish, not just through the use of brightness and colour, but also with a commanding geometrical centrepiece.
“It’s something that we do working for Pastor Nicole Crank, the visionary behind this conference,” he said. “We want to wow people. So, three years ago we used scaffolding to create towers and bridges on stage. Two years ago, we had three large LED diamonds. It’s our way of strengthening the connection to the audience.
This year, Lehman and his team technical director Marcos Machado, Jonathan Becker, Andre Quirino, Garrett Callahan, and Tim Parfitt created a giant inverted V-structure

USA - Robe Esprites and Spiider moving lights helped lighting designer Myles Mangino create a range of vibrant and dynamic scenes and effects for a three-day Rolling Stone on Twitch digital celebration streamed over the 2021 New York Pride weekend back in June.
The event was recorded and broadcast from PMC Studios in midtown Manhattan, New York City - recently re-opened after their last COVID wave - and was presented by daily hosts from Rolling Stone on Twitch, complete with a line-up of entertainment talent from the LGBTQIA+ community, and assorted Rolling Stone staff writers and editors who presented discussions on relevant issues, topics and perspectives touching on politics, music, and culture.
Thinking laterally and on his feet, Myles - asked onboard the shoot by ATD Audio Visual who provided all the sound, lighting, and video kit - spec’d t

Australia - The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) has often been a first adopter of new technologies in the audio sector. The centre recently made the choice to add two new DiGiCo Quantum 338s to its digital mixing repertoire.
Soundcorp - a Diversified company (SADC) are a supplier and integrator of professional AV systems nationwide. As one of MCEC’s approved suppliers, they were on hand to coordinate delivery of the consoles and provide local support.
“The Quantum 338 offers a fairly dramatic step up in connectivity and processing within the DiGiCo workflow, and so was the logical choice when MCEC enquired about the acquisition of new workhorse systems,” notes SADC’s Scott Jamieson. “As its team is already very familiar with the DiGiCo eco-system, we were excited to provide them with the latest Quantum iteration as the upgraded capabilities

UK - The ‘Who Cares Wins awards, celebrating the achievements of healthcare workers around the UK, took place on Tuesday 14 September at London venue Roundhouse.
The awards ceremony was organised by The Sun newspaper and attended by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the Duke of Cambridge, David Beckham and many more celebrity guests. It was broadcast on Channel 4, Sunday 19 September.
The show featured video clips telling the stories of the winners, in categories such as Best Doctor, Ultimate Lifesaver and Unsung Hero, as well as multiple musical performances.
Lighting was supplied by Full Production, who were brought in by lighting director David Bishop and Thames TV. Bishop has worked on some of the UK’s most high-profile TV, including the Duke of Sussex’ Royal Wedding and the BBC Proms. Bishop and Full Production have previously collaborated on many o

UAE - The Dubai Expo opened its doors last Friday, 1 October, with Van Damme cabling playing a key role. NMK Electronics, Van Damme’s export partner in the Middle East, was asked to provide Van Damme cables for the Expo which was rescheduled from 2020 due to the pandemic.
Van Damme Quad Microphone, Black Series 2×1.5mm speaker as well as Tourcat 6A S/FTP was selected for the job. Many kilometres of each are being used to ensure crisp sound to the many speakers throughout the venue. as well as for the many lighting fixtures needed for the miles of pavilions the expo has.
All of the cables were chosen for their ruggedness and ability to stand up to pressures of a busy and dynamic environment, as well as outstanding flexibility and performance. NMK was able to supply the cable from a significant stock holding in its warehouse in Sharjah. To finish, Neutrik and Switchc

France - The centrepiece of Roland-Garros in Paris, the 15,000-capacity Court Philippe-Chatrier, host to one of the most anticipated events in the tennis calendar and the only Grand Slam tournament to be played on clay, has received a major makeover with the completion of a new retractable roof and night lighting installation.
The project also marks a new era of sound for the fabled court, with the installation of an L-Acoustics K Series PA, which was managed by the French Tennis Federation (FFT) with the support of French acoustic and audio consultant, Scenarchie, and installed by integration company, SNEF.
The global renovation programme at Court Philippe-Chatrier was launched three years ago after the court was almost completely rebuilt to accommodate the strengthening required for the retractable roof, which weighs half that of the Eiffel Tower and was finally comp

UK - Outdoor event specialist Ethix has been supplying its services to high end corporate clients and the live events market for the past 20 years. The company made its first investment in DiGiCo consoles a couple of years ago, purchasing two SD12 consoles and SD-Rack systems through HD Pro Audio. Before lockdown, the consoles were working constantly, and the investment now sees them ready to take on the challenges of the restart of live events.
“The SD12 ticks all the boxes,” says Ethix director, Paul Jones. “It’s the most popular console across the festivals that we work on and we had noticed for some time that the monitor engineers’ desk was almost always an SD12.
“The SD12 is such a versatile console and can do anything from a basic, generic set up to those that are really complex. We can do pretty much anything with it and it’s really rider friendly,

UK - Based in South Kirby on Production Park, XPLOR is a £9m research, development and innovation centre that aims to support SMEs across the creative industries from music, film and TV to sports, theatre, corporate events and the arts. The scheme secured grant funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
Circlesphere is Tschida’s first exhibition in Europe and is being hosted at Neon Workshops Project Space: 7A and The Art House in Wakefield from 29 September – 28 November.
Fred Tschida, retired Professor at Alfred University, New York, was one of the first generation of artists and professors to explore and teach neon for nearly 40 years, since the 1970’s, and - until now - his artworks have not been exhibited in Europe.
The exhibition was the brainchild of artist Richard Wi

Canada/USA - Having famously removed his left ear, Vincent Van Gogh would have missed the full impact of the Immersive Van Gogh exhibitions currently selling out in nine North American cities and coming to at least eight more before the end of 2021. What the visitors hear is integral to the complete experience, with the all-enveloping projections of the artist’s paintings enhanced by an original musical score reproduced through Meyer Sound loudspeaker systems. All audio and video technology for the nationwide rollout is supplied and installed by Production Resource Group (PRG).
Immersive Van Gogh is produced by Toronto-based Lighthouse Immersive, with the company’s director of production Sean Richards charged with supervision of technical systems at all locations. Richards notes that while the importance of visuals is obvious, the role of audio often is ove

Gibraltar - For the past two years, Steve Richardson has been on a journey of his own inside the 60m-deep St. Michael’s Cave perched high on Gibraltar’s Upper Rock Reserve, leading a crew from Full Production tasked with designing, installing and programming the lighting for The Awakening, an immersive show inside St. Michael’s created by Christian Wright and the team at Pixel Artworks.
Asked to describe the site, Richardson says: “It is a massive cave, in a rock, in Gibraltar. It is damp, humid, hot, and massively acidic. It is pretty much the worst place to be installing lights. However, that said, the cave is also the hero. Nothing compares to its natural rock formations. There are stalactites in the millions there, ranging from small 300mm to 900mm outcrops to large 12-30m structures. The cave and its history were the heroes - they were the two defining cr

Spain - La Citi at Barcelona’s popular La Maquinista retail centre is not the kind of dining experience one normally expects to find in a shopping mall. The outdoor rooftop space is a celebration of culinary diversity and pop-up and food-truck dining, with a choice of the type of vendors more commonly found at festivals and street food markets.
Creators of the 1000sq.m specially designed experience have spent years meeting in food-truck markets and directing some of the leading restaurants on the city’s culinary scene. Gastronomic kiosks and pop-up stalls feature vendors like the Van Van Chicken Bar, Chivuo's, The Fish & Chips Shop, Mosquito Asian Tapas, Dos Coyotes, Taiyaki Born Japanese waffle bar and Café Crem specialty coffees, as well as a bar and a cocktail counter. Billed as a ‘street food and cultura urbana’ La Citi also presents ‘cultural workshops

Latest Issue. . .