USA - With headliners like Eminem, The Killers, Muse, Sheryl Crow, Paramore and Kaskade, the 17th annual Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival offered plenty of great music to enjoy.
But North America’s largest outdoor festival has always been about sights as well as sounds. This year’s edition, which ran from 7-10 June, pumped up the visual excitement even more than usual with a massive off-stage lighting display that wrapped around the stages and surrounded the audience in a sea of changing colours.
Looking like a magical tale come to life, the outdoor display, which was

Italy - For the recent Jovanotti tour, Lorenzo Live 2018, which has been playing sport arenas in the main Italian cities, prominent British lighting designer, Paul Normandale, requisitioned 44 GLP impression X4 Bar 20 from rental company Agorà, to light both A and B stages during the show.
These formed the anchors of what he describes as “an immersive design of the whole room, with moving stages, screens and set”.
The designer set 14 X4 Bars in a line on the back of the main stage, behind the musicians, another 14 on the front of the main stage, eight on Stage B

South Africa - The South African State Theatre’s Opera House has recently opened its doors to new musical genres, in particular jazz, and needed a new audio system that could meet the varied demands now placed on it.
At the end of last year, an L‑Acoustics Kara system was installed, bringing the Opera House’s audio bang up to date with a solution that can handle the diversity of productions the theatre hosts in a rider-friendly format.
Originally opened in 1981, the South African State Theatre was the major force behind establishing the performing arts in South Africa

Belgium - Light Moves was a stunning indoor 'son et lumière' (sound and light) installation designed and produced by Koert Vermeulen, an award-winning lighting designer and founder of Belgium-based international lighting design agency ACTLD.
Appearing for one night only in the Gothic remains of an abandoned church in the centre of Brussels, the installation featured the Claypaky Sharbar as star product, amongst a range of other fixtures from the Italian brand.
Originating in France, son et lumière shows focus on historic architecture and places of interest, with li

USA - Operating out of 11 offices across the US, The Sextant Group is a leading firm of technology consultants, providing innovative solutions to a wide range of client needs. Over the past few years, they have embraced the advantages of Alcons Audio loudspeakers for an increasing number of high profile projects.
The Sextant Group’s Joe Hammett is one of its senior systems designers. “I first learned of Alcons in late 2014,” he says. “The following year a co-worker recommended that I take a look at them, because we had a project where we needed to recess multiple subwoofer

UK - The New Testament Church of God (NTCG) has been established in Slough for more than 40 years and has occupied its current Herschel Street location since 1990.
Sound reinforcement for music and speech is of fundamental importance to a contemporary house of worship of this kind and having conducted a review of its provision, the church, led by Pastor Wayne Perkins, decided that the time had come to make improvements. Whilst the church was generally happy with its existing front of house speakers, issues surrounding onstage monitoring had reached a critical point and far greater

China - K-array systems have been installed in the latest bar created by Dining Concepts: Yojimbo, designed by international designer, Ashley Sutton.
Located in the heart of the nightlife precinct of Central, Hong Kong, Yojimbo replicates the underground world of Japanese clubbing through its international DJs, entertainment features and cocktails similar to the underground Ginza lanes of Tokyo.
Yojimbo is a slightly bigger space than many of Hong Kong’s bars or clubs yet a discreet system of four Vyper-KV52 line array elements and two Rumble-KU210 subwoofers powered by a

Europe - Lighting director Dave Lee has been working with Niall Horan since the very first One Direction show at Watford Colosseum to the band’s final performance in Sheffield, and following last year’s Promo tour, is now constantly on tour with original band member, Niall Horan as a solo artist. “In five years I have never really stopped working with him,” he says.
On the Irish singer’s current Flicker World Tour, Lee has been touring with 38 of GLP’s X4 Bar 20s, supplied by rental partner LCR. He found these helped extend a stage set originally conceive

Belgium - Lighting designer Rik Uyttersprot from GRAViTY Design injected an edgy and raw lighting aesthetic to help showcase the stark bare stage production values of WOW at the Kortrijk Xpo in Belgium.
The performance comprised over 50 dance segments which were presented as the end of year work by classic and contemporary students from the Pirouette Dans School, one of the most famous dance and choreographic academies in Belgium.
Woven into the intense action and drama were 20 x Robe Spiider LED wash beams and 48 little LEDBeam 150 moving lights. These are part of a

UK - Manchester’s 2,400-seat Bridgewater Hall presents a challenge for the facility’s technicians, who are often called upon to run the lighting for its many events.
Jonathan Rowland, technical manager of the hall, recently made it easier for his staff to perform this task by installing a ChamSys MagicQ MQ80 console. “Given the volume and diversity of what is booked here - everything from orchestral to rock concerts, as well as corporate events and graduations - our techs are often running the lights,” he explains. “We needed a lighting desk that all of our technicians c

UK - Belfast’s award-winning Lyric Theatre, the only full-time producing theatre in Northern Ireland, has upgraded its FOH sound mixing console with a new Soundcraft Vi1000.
According to technical manager Ian Vennard, the facility’s existing desk had become dated and needed replacing. “We were starting to struggle with what we were trying to achieve with it,” he admits, “and our programme has included shows that stretched us way beyond its capabilities.” Consequently, over the past few years, they had rented different consoles - including Soundcraft - on shows that dem

UK - Illumination specialists LED Creative supported set designer Rudi Thackray and lighting director Gurdip Mahal, providing LED and control systems to help create the look for the recent London run of The Late Late Show with James Corden.
Making a welcome return to the Central Hall Westminster, The Late Late Show with James Corden once again staged its mix of interview, sketches and live performance in front of a studio audience at the impressive venue.
With a set designed to mirror the feel of the US show, Rudi Thackray re-created the look with plenty of vib

The Netherlands - Pinksterfeesten in De Moer festival has consistently delighted fans for 37 consecutive years. Looking to keep the festival experience fresh for performers and fans alike, Mercury Audiovisueel and Oetelaar Sound Service incorporated 24 Chauvet Professional Rogue R1 Spot and 8 Rogue RH1 Hybrid fixtures into their visual concept on the main stage at this year's festival.
"One of the main challenges with this festival is to keep the visuals and the energy fresh and interesting year after year," comments Mercury. "The Rogues were the perfect tools. They provided surpr

Chechen Republic - A new dolphinarium has opened in the Chechnyan capital of Grozny - the centrepiece of a major new complex that also includes several parks, attractions, race circuit, restaurant, theatre and an equestrian park. The total area of the facility is more than 300,000sq.m.
The Grozny Dolphinarium itself measures around 10,000sq.m. and includes eight swimming pools for training and a recreation area for animals where they can engage in water performance. In the centre is a 12m diagonal screen where up to 665 people can watch the water show.
The LTM Group was tas

USA - Currently performing at festivals across Europe, American rap and hip hop artist Vince Staples spent the first quarter of the year in the USA opening for headliner Tyler, the Creator.
To give each of the artists a dramatically different visual definition for their respective parts of the show, two contrasting designs were devised, with Staples’ performance taking place in front of a dramatic backdrop that juxtaposed cold white, stark and graphic looks, which then gave way to Tyler, the Creator’s set that featured a magical forest with lots of saturated colour, Kabuki dro

France - Lighting designer Thomas Dechandon of the 4eleven collective created a stunning show for pop-rock band Indochine’s recent tour, including over 200 Robe moving lights on the rig – with MegaPointes, Spiiders, LEDBeam 150s – plus a six-way RoboSpot remote follow spotting system that was run by three operators..
These were part of an impressive kit list supplied by leading French rental specialist Dushow, and it was the greatest number of RoboSpots to date on a French tour.
Each RoboSpot operator positioned behind the stage controlled two BMFL WashBeam moving ligh

UK - As announced by the #SaveStageLighting Campaign, the period of public consultation for the proposed ECO design regulation – that will affect lighting products of all types – has expired. The EU DG Energy department has passed on a revised draft to the next stage of the legislative process. Expecting to know its content within a few weeks, it will progress through the committee stages of the process of turning it into a law.
Ruari Cormack, SLX business development manager, comments: “Following on from the recent news from the #SaveStageLighting front we at SLX would like

USA - Hard rock band Stone Sour recently wrapped their Spring touring leg with a lighting package provided by Bandit Lites. The group released their sixth studio album Hydrograd last summer and are currently on tour in Europe.
“I wanted the rig to be compact so we wouldn’t have to take off 36 fixtures every night,” said lighting designer Scott Warner. “I asked Bandit to come up with a way to mount them on pipes which could lifted quickly, and stay wired,” said Warner. “At load out, they’d drop down into the pods. Bandit did a great job in building the pods so i

USA - Fayetteville First Baptist Church in Fayetteville, Georgia is aware of its strengths, even as it shifts to a more blended worship style. The goal is to engage the next generation so that they keep their roots firmly planted at FFBC without going so far as to make church an alien experience for the older generations who have been supporting the church their entire lives.
Although it met the church's needs when it went in 15 years ago, the sanctuary's sound reinforcement system was straining under the weight of the more contemporary demands placed upon it by the shift in servi

USA - Since 2006, Rock Community Church in Littleton, Colorado, has grown by leaps and bounds, adding to its congregation through strong leadership, dedicated purpose and family values.
Ben Carson, Rock Community’s technical director along with other key church decision makers chose to install a Clair Brothers sound system.
To make a greater impact through additional land, flexible building design and dynamic performance systems the church hired Kurt Butler of Butler Engineering & Technology Group (BETG). Notes Butler comments: “The AVL and acoustics installation at

South Africa - Joshua Cutts once again lit the Miss South Africa beauty pageant event, which this year selected the country’s delegates for the Miss Universe and Miss World contests.
The show was staged for the first time at the new Sun Arena venue at Times Square in Pretoria, and Cutts chose to illuminate the show – produced by Entertainment and directed by Gavin Wratten for live broadcast on M-NET (DSTv channel 101) and Mzansi Magic (DSTv channel 161) – with a substantial Robe moving light rig of 170 fixtures.
Josh is a leading South African lighting and visual desig

USA - Nexo’s flagship modular line array system, the STM Series, with supplementary Geo S12, was used for a very large house-of-worship event in the impressive US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Fifty thousand people attended the free Pulse - Twin Cities show, with Reach Communications providing the 360° Nexo PA system.
Multiple headliners played the concert, including LeCrae, Hillsong and Jaberwockies. The recently-built stadium is already known for its challenging acoustics, but, as one of the largest venues in the region, it has played host to many world-class touring ar

USA - Barry Manilow began an extended residency at the International Theatre at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino on 24 May. The 1,600-seat theatre is where Elvis Presley performed 837 consecutive sold-out shows. As part of a $150m renovation, it now boasts a RoomMatch sound system from Bose Professional.
Ken Newman, Manilow’s long-time front-of-house engineer, says he had some hesitancy about using the new sound system ahead of the first shows, having never worked with a RoomMatch system before. “I went there and put the system through the same evaluation process I

UK - Stage Electrics have supplied the Stamford Shakespeare Company with a new Altair wireless communication system ahead of their summer season of plays. The Stamford Shakespeare Company is an amateur theatre group, who perform at the distinctive Rutland Open Air Theatre, within the grounds of Tolethorpe Hall, Stamford.
Requiring a new wireless comms system ahead of their 2018 season, the Stamford Shakespeare Company enlisted Stage Electrics for guidance. “The client approached us with an idea of what they wanted. We discussed several different comms systems but settled on Alt

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