USA - Nashville-based band Big Daddy Weave has been raising the roof and bringing down the house on their ongoing 2023 Heaven Changes Everything Tour. The Dove Award winners - including founding members Mike Weaver, Joe Shirk, and Jeremy Redmon, who met at the University of Mobile and formed the band in 1998, along with the newer rhythm section of Brian Beihl and Raul Jose Alfonso - have long been popular and enduring staples of the contemporary Christian music universe.
They’re also extremely conscious of the role that technology plays in their sound, so this tour saw the addit

Mexico - Xcaret is one of Mexico’s leading tourist attractions. At the end of 2021, the park’s technical team upgraded a problematic projector-based video system in its main Tlachco Theatre with ADJ LED video panels.
The new setup not only improved the clarity of the video content shown as part of the venue’s resident production but has also proven to be far more reliable than the previous system, following over a year of continuous use across daily shows.
Opened in 1990, Xcaret is a visitor attraction on the Riviera Maya that celebrates Mexico’s present and rich pa

USA - Christie MicroTiles LED took the stage with Something Corporate during the band’s headlining reunion show at Las Vegas’ House of Blues on 20 October and their main stage performances at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds on 21-22 October as part of the When We Were Young festival.
Vocalist and pianist Andrew McMahon performed on a piano fully wrapped in Christie MicroTiles LED, which displayed images and lyrics from the band’s catalogue. Kevin ‘Clutch’ Page, principal, Procraft Media, who is also the bassist in Something Corporate, led the integration of this one-of-a

Italy - Vivitek reports that its DU8395Z, DU9800Z and DU9900Z projectors have been chosen for use in immersive projection experiences created by Playartmultimedia. The scenographic project has been enlivening events ranging from private wedding events to public town activities in over 150 venues across Italy.
Immersive projection experiences are much in demand, thrilling audiences with their fusion of colour, vivid images and punchy soundtracks. As with many modern artistic endeavours, the immersive rooms – or ‘Sala Immersiva’ - marries a labour of love with the latest in A

The Netherlands - Prolights' Jet Wash7 illuminated the Urban Garden room of the Vibes complex in Eindhoven. From a sports centre to a location for corporate and private events, Vibes is a concept location based on technology, innovation, knowledge and design and unfolds in various multifunctional rooms designed to host any type of event.
The Vibes team turned to Hoevenaars for the lighting of the Urban Garden room, a modern space based on the aesthetics of the urban jungle, with a surface area of 360m2 the room can accommodate up to 700 people, meeting the needs of events other th

The Netherlands - Clear-Com and The Crew BV come together to bring the latest OB van technology to take on their variety of programmes and set locations. Based in Nederhorst den Berg, close to the broadcasting centre of the Netherlands in Hilversum, The Crew BV has a refreshing view on broadcasting. Focused on the skills and talent of their people, they seek out the best equipment and tools to accomplish their wide variety of work.
Their programming runs the gamut, from live sporting events to gameshows, talent shows to national fundraisers, from reporting to biographies, cooking

UK - LPM Restaurant & Bar, a French and Mediterranean restaurant in the heart of Mayfair, recently upgraded their audio system to 1 Sound. Leonardo Dani, sales executive from 1 Sound, approached Middlesex Sound & Lighting Limited (MSL) looking for a UK installation partner to work on this project, which would mark the first 1 Sound installation in the UK. 1 Sound had previously been installed in LPM’s Miami restaurant location.
The design challenge was to create evenly distributed audio where the main dining area is an unusually triangular shape. MSL deployed 16 Cannon C

Indonesia - Argo Visual, a multimedia equipment rental company based in Jakarta, is a long-time user of Brompton Technology LED processing. Since its inception in 2007, Argo Visual has achieved many milestones, including adding LED screens to its inventory in 2012. A significant breakthrough in 2018 saw it also take on big video mapping projects, including the Asian Para Games opening ceremony and 2022 G20 gala dinner.
Argo Visual’s favoured combination is Tessera SX40 4K LED processors powering its AOTO LED video wall. “Many of the projects we work on are seen on the world s

Denmark - The Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen has invested in 80 Robe Forte luminaires in a package featuring 32 x Forte Profiles, 34 x Forte Fresnels, four Forte FollowSpots and 10 x iForte (IP rated) moving lights, as part of a technical upgrade.
Chief LX Sune Schou has worked at the Copenhagen Opera House for five years. The venue is one of the most modern such facilities in the world and is located on the island of Holmen in central Copenhagen. Sune is one of three chief LXs based there and is involved with all aspects of lighting production across all the Opera House’s per

USA - Guns N’ Roses have been touring the world this year, delivering hard-hitting shows throughout North America after having played in Europe and the Middle East over the summer. With them on tour is front of house engineer Dave Natale, who has used Austrian Audio mics for two of the most recent Rolling Stones tours.
For the world tour, Natale has employed Austrian Audio OC18 precision microphones for overheads and CC8 true condenser microphones on the hi hat, ride cymbal and cowbell on drummer Frank Ferrer’s kit.
Not only are these Vienna, Austria-made mics delivering

UK - Manzi’s was a landmark London West End fish restaurant, which originally closed in 2006. Now, inspired by its legacy, The Wolseley Hospitality Group has added this brand to its estate in the centre of Soho.
Opened at the end of June, the operators turned to one of their regular suppliers, Marquee AV, to enhance the atmosphere by providing an advanced music system. This needed to be capable of delivering DJ levels within a restaurant environment, situated on two floors.
Project director Stacey Tough turned to Martin Audio’s popular CDD range knowing they would meet t

The Netherlands - On 9 September 2023 the Smeerboel Festival took place at the Grasweide Papendorp in Utrecht. Around 18,000 house and dance fans and other festival goers enjoyed the tunes of numerous DJs and acts. On different stages, equipment supplier Stagelight provided Infinity and Showtec fixtures to bring the performances to their peak.
The Smeerboel Festival entertained the crowds on a hot Saturday in early September with famous acts and DJs on six stages. For the Joy' and 'Basis stages, Stagelight supplied a whopping 178 Infinity iB-2R moving heads, 13 Furion S401 Spot mo

UK – panLab Console, the new spatial audio solution from Innovate Audio, enabled a surround sound performance at London’s Southbank Centre on 4 November, when cellist and composer Peter Gregson presented a performance of his 2021 album, Patina, in the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer.
Patina was written and recorded for spatial audio, so a live surround sound presentation was a natural step – albeit one that required a touch of audio innovation. Called Patina 360, the presentation, in which Gregson was accompanied by the Carducci String Qu

South Africa - The 2023 Brixton Light Festival in Johannesburg delivered its third – and largest to date – event filled with the magic, mystery and imagination evoked by light. It started during the covid lockdowns as a community-led and driven art-based lighting experience to unite the already tight-knit, lively and diverse neighbourhood of Brixton. The goal is to celebrate the spirit and importance of community, and the power of art and empathy.
Sound designer and Brixton resident Fried Wilsenach from Working Dog helped implement several lighting installations this year, in

Canada - Matthieu Larivée and the team at Lüz Studio have been relentlessly pushing the envelope of late, driving technology in new directions to transform stages in ways that would have been unimaginable not long ago. So, it should come as no surprise that following their widely acclaimed work on last year’s Jason Aldean tour, when they turned the entire upstage wall into a stunning 3D video screen, these creatives dramatically changed their plans for 2023.
Unlike its predecessor, this year’s just concluded Highway Desperado Tour had a production design that was dominated b

Colombia - They knew her as Carolina Giraldo Navarro in her native Medellín, Colombia, but the world now knows her as platinum global recording artist Karol G. She’s the multi- pop culture icon, and trend-setting powerhouse who’s at home with reggaeton, Latin trap, sertanejo, and other genres that are creating a new artistic front in global music.
She recently completed the US leg of her headlining Mañana Será Bonito tour. It kicked off in August at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and made stops in Pasadena, Miami, Houston, Dallas, and East Rutherford, NJ, and will continue

South Africa - Future Menus 2023 by Unilever was recently held in Durban where top chefs from around the world encouraged local chefs, restaurants, and hotels with ideas to create modern comfort foods to boost the use of wild and pure foods, incorporate mindful proteins when cooking and to create low waste menus.
Insane Sound was commissioned by experiential company Matriarch to supply both the full technical, which included the use of their new Absen Neptune NT 2.9 Lite series screen, as well as the manufacture and installation of the complete set.
For Vimal Rawjee, who s

Italy - Prolights products illuminated the Marrageddon festival, a celebration of Italian hip-hop, conceived and hosted by hip-hop artist Marracash.
With two dates between Milan and Naples, the festival hosted a line-up that included Fabri Fibra, Salmo, Guè Pequeno, Lazza and Madame, attracting more than 130,000 tspectators.
To support such a large entourage of guests it was necessary to design a lighting setup that was up to par with the live performances of the festival; the lighting design was entrusted to Giorgio De Cassan, alongside Lorenzo De Pascalis, who oversaw the

USA - California punk rockers The Offspring’s FOH engineer, Greg Bess, chose Britannia Row Productions for 2023 audio solutions, culminating in a US autumn tour.
Bess has worked with The Offspring for 26 years, yet his relationship with Britannia Row dates back even further - four decades and counting.
“The first time I contacted Brit Row was in 1979, when I wanted to drop in on Pink Floyd’s The Wall tour,” he begins. “I’m proud to say that I’ve now known Bryan Grant for longer than I haven't.”
Fresh from summer festivals, The Offspring - whose members

USA - Right from the start, Papa Roach fans at Newark’s Prudential Centre knew that the trailblazing metal masters were going to be coming at them in full force. Walking onto a dark stage, the band started to play Between Angels and Insects as the background behind them suddenly erupted with strobing images from a massive video wall that ran almost the entire width of the stage.
The menacingly raw and powerful images on the wall were repeated on the extended riser, making the band members on it look as if they were being absorbed into the foreboding video. It was exactly

UK/USA - Three leading West End/Broadway theatre lighting designers are using GLP’s new impression X5 Wash - all supplied by Paul Anderson at Sparks Theatrical Hire - to light current or upcoming shows.
Leading the charge was Paule Constable, who originally requested them for Guys and Dolls at London’s Bridge Theatre. This has been followed by Tim Lutkin, who is responsible for lighting The Crucible at the Gielgud Theatre, and Paul Pyant, who is in production for Noises Off at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.
“These are three highly respected designers

Malta - Manta, a luxurious poolside Mediterranean experience in the heart of Sliema, opened this year with a 1 Sound audio system. Black Box Pro is the AV integration company that was contracted for this project. Black Box Pro signed on to be 1 Sound’s exclusive distributor in Malta earlier this year making this their first project to include 1 Sound shortly after signing.
This lido and restaurant offers a captivating ambiance, and breath-taking views on the Mediterranean Sea. This restaurant called for elegance in every aspect and especially durability regarding the loudspeake

UK - Celestial delivered a spectacular drone show on 4 November in partnership with Frome Town Council for a fundraiser event in the place of a more traditional fireworks display. The ticketed event saw over 7,500 people gather to see the drone show.
Close Encounters of the Frome Kind was an extra-terrestrial extravaganza that celebrated the colourful character and quirk of Frome with its blend of innovative drone light show technology, UFO intrigue and touch of celestial magic. The show was designed and delivered by Celestial who, since their last Frome display (the first

USA - The annual Billboard Latin Music Awards is the biggest night of the year for Latin American music and this year lighting designer John Daniels employed a selection of Elation lights to create captivating effects and aesthetic looks on the show.
Aired live on 5 October from the Watsco Centre in Coral Gables, Florida, Daniels creatively incorporated Elation Proteus Rayzor Blade, Proteus Excalibur and Smarty MAX luminaires as some of the most impactful lights on the event.
Daniels, in his fifth year working the show, designed lighting looks for 16 performances from top t

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