UK - Situated in London’s Covent Garden, the Grade I listed Royal Opera House (ROH) is one of London’s largest theatres. Housing both The Royal Opera and The Royal Ballet, the site’s rich history dates back to 1732 when the (then) Theatre Royal was opened.
Earlier this year, prior to staging The Munich Opera’s production of Handel’s opera Agrippina, directed by Barrie Kosky, the ROH received a specific request from lighting designer Benedikt Zhem for the placement of moving head LED units in the front of house. Historically, similar requests for moving heads have created issues in terms of a lack of space, sound control and certain restrictions placed on the auditorium by English Heritage.
In an effort to meet the designer’s wish, the team at the ROH carried out some research into a possible solution and concluded that Elation’s Artiste Picasso product met all the criteria they required. Elation’s UK and ROI distributor Entedi arranged an on-site demonstration, which confirmed that Artiste Picasso met the requirements for power, beam size, beam image and shuttering. Pivotally, the units produce minimal ambient noise, which ultimately enabled them to be hung successfully at Grand Tier level in the auditorium.
The Elation Artiste Picasso units were used to great effect in the production, both near the proscenium on each side, as well as working back into the auditorium. Simon Bennison, lighting manager at the ROH comments: “Being near silent, having consistent beam quality, great output and crisp shuttering, the Artiste Picass

China - Solid German engineering and innovative IP technology are behind the Suzhou Municipal Government’s selection of a Lawo mc²36 mixing desk and three Compact I/O stageboxes for the Suzhou Folk Orchestra’s new concert hall.
The Lawo systems were installed by Chinese partner SWS, who acted as the main contractor for the new facility in Suzhou, close to Shanghai, handling the system integration and infrastructure design.
The choice of the Lawo systems alongside d&b audiotechnik loudspeakers and amplifiers gives the installation a strong German sound, as well as an assurance of quality. It is also the first installation of a Lawo mc²36 audio mixing console in a concert hall in China. The 40-fader, 192-crosspoint and 192-DSP-channel console with three Lawo Compact I/O stageboxes is accompanied by Waves SoundGrid integration.
Lawo has established a very strong reputation among Chinese theatres, beginning in 2006 with systems installed in the National Grand Theatre (China National Centre for Performing Arts), followed later by the Dongguan Theatre, Wuhan Qintai Theatre and several others.
“It is an honour for us to join the Lawo customer theatre community,” commented one of the Suzhou Orchestra concert hall sound engineers.
(Jim Evans)

UK - Nearly 100 Robe LED lighting fixtures - T1 Profiles, Spiider LED wash beams plus Divine 160 RGBW LED floods - are at the heart of the house lighting package at Magazine London - a new event space, located in North Greenwich.
It has been just 300 days since ground was broken in North Greenwich for Venue Lab’s newest venture; Magazine London has now officially opened its doors. This purpose-built destination offers a blank canvas across 3,205sq.m of industrial-style space for up to 3,000 people standing.
The site also features a 7,000-capacity outdoor showground with unbroken views across the river towards Canary Wharf.
Space 1 has an impressive eight-metre-high, floor-to-ceiling glass window and access to a private balcony that allows guests to view the verticality of the Canary Wharf cityscape. This area can be used for a reception, as well as being an attractive space in its own right.
The largest of Magazine’s internal space is Space 2. The interior fit-out comprises over 2,100 OSB boards to bring a warmer wall finish to the warehouse-style design of the building. In total, the project used 13.96 miles of timber, as well as 149,713 screws and 757.5 litres of paint to stain the venue in a specific shade of black; RAL9005.
This black palette is also mirrored in the venue’s polished concrete floor, steel skeleton, production trusses and even the outdoor limestone patio to achieve a unified finish. Space 2 can accommodate 3,000 standing, 2,000 seated for a conference or 1,400 for a large-scale dinner.
Technical Consulta

Italy - The 85th anniversary of the world seaplane speed record set in 1934 at Desenzano seaplane base by Marshal Agello was commemorated on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 October in Desenzano del Garda, in the province of Brescia. His record stands at 709.202 km/h and has never been broken to this day.
A series of air show stunts were performed for this celebration, which attracted hundreds of thousands of spectators, culminating in a display put on by the Frecce Tricolori, the Italian air force stunt team.
Claypaky also took part in the event with a light installation set up on the terrace of the Hotel Estée in Desenzano, which could be seen on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings.
The installation consisted of 10 Xtylos units. Nine projected a very long Italian tricolour flag onto Lake Garda like the trails of coloured smoke from the MB-339 aircraft of the Italian air force stunt team, and the other solo light projected a beam for one minute every half hour of the same colour orange as the MC 72 seaplane used by Marshal Agello to set his record.
(Jim Evans)

USA - Marking the popular event’s 15th anniversary, this year’s Riot Fest was successfully reinforced by Technotrix with Martin Audio MLA, WPL and WPC line arrays on four stages in Chicago’s Douglas Park.
With a variety of high-powered artists ranging from Slayer, Anthrax, The Flaming Lips, Violent Femmes and Bikini Kill to The Raconteurs, Patti Smith, Wu Tang Clan and the Village People, Riot Fest offered some particular challenges in terms of controlled coverage on site and noise mitigation off site.
As Technotrix Audio lead, Brent Bernhardt, points out, “As always, there’s a commitment to keeping off site noise to an absolute minimum. We’re still avoiding the same two hospitals behind and alongside Stages 1 and 2, along with neighbourhoods around the festival.”
Asked about using Martin Audio’s Wavefront Precision Longbow (WPL) system for the first time, Brent responds, “It was very impressive to have virtually the same amount of control we get from an MLA rig with only slightly less resolution. WPL was very good and the tonality wasn’t lacking either, while the onsite coverage was uniform and consistent as well.
“On site coverage for Stages 1 and 2 is always a challenge as they fire into the rear of 4 and 5,” Brent continues, “especially this year because of gusty wind conditions on the first day of the festival. We’ve never used delays with MLA because it throws further than any other PA, even under adverse weather conditions.
“WPL was able to provide exceptional sound quality and tonal characteristics

UK - A lot has happened in Maggie Rogers’ world since 2016, when a video of her demoing a then-newly-recorded song, Alaska for Pharrell Williams at NYU went viral. Following opening slots on major tours with both HAIM and Mumford & Sons last year, Rogers dropped her own major label debut, Heard It in a Past Life, this past January, which charted in the second highest slot of the Billboard 200. Consequently, the artist has spent much of 2019 on the road in support of the album.
The “look and feel” of Rogers’ tour this year has been a collaborative effort between the artist and lighting designer Ben Everett, who first started working with her when he lit Rogers’ first-ever show in London two years ago. Having toured with an impressive roster of bands over the past five years, Everett is now part of the UK-based MIRRAD team, which has been supplying a pair of Avolites Sapphire Touch lighting control consoles for Rogers’ 2019 worldwide trek.
While on tour with Rogers, Everett sits behind Avolites’ flagship Sapphire Touch, with a twin second console used by Bodie Tureson or Chas O'Bradovich, his techs, for the show’s opening acts (Empress of, Jacob Banks, Melanie Faye, or Now, Now), and as an immediately-available backup desk, should the need ever arise.
“I have used these consoles with many different types of artists and shows, and I can set them up in a way each time that works exactly as I need them to for that show,” he says of his Sapphire Touch. “Essentially, I just really enjoy working on this console.”

Poland - The Polish state folk group of song and dance, Mazowsze, is named after the country’s Mazowsze region.
In 2018 it became even better known after featuring in Paweł Pawlikowski’s movie Cold War - and just before that, it invested in some of Robe’s large Tarrantula LED wash beams, which met a tender specification that was initiated by technical manager and lighting designer, Lukas Rúzewilz.
Their impressive rehearsal and performance facility on the outskirts of Warsaw has been open since 2009, and Lukas has worked there for a year, before which he was the technical manager of the Dramatic Theatre in Warsaw, another cultural landmark.
Mazowsze’s 600-capacity venue is funded by the government and, in addition to being home to the company, it stages several other dance, music, theatre, comedy and ballet shows, amounting to around 250 a year. All Mazowsze’s own touring shows are produced there before going on the road.
When Lukas joined the production and technical team a year ago, the venue’s existing moving light rig was 10 years old and in need of an upgrade, so he started the ball rolling on this process.
A tender for new moving lights was offered to selected companies, and the section to provide LED wash lights was won by Robe’s Polish distributor Prolight with the Tarrantulas, which met the spec nicely.
Prolight supplied 24 Tarrantulas as part of the new package, on which Lukas commented: “They have everything you want in a lamp and are extremely powerful and strong.”
He lights all the pro

UK - The latest season of Strictly Come Dancing, the celebrity dance show, kicked off in September with a new performer, the VL1100 LED from Vari-Lite. David Bishop, in his new role as the show’s lighting designer, sees the introduction of the VL1100 LED as a significant improvement for the Strictly lighting rig.
“I chose the VL1100 LED as an upgrade to a fixture we already knew worked well in our show environment,” said Bishop. “The original VL1000 had served the program well for many years, but the VL1100 LED’s extra output, combined with removing the vulnerability of the traditional bulb, made this new fixture an obvious choice.”
The reliability of the LED source, combined with the VL1100 LED’s framing capability, high output and consistent colour temperature, help Bishop to maintain the quality of image that viewers expect. “Whilst Strictly is a dance show, it’s also a celebrity show, and our viewers expect to see their favorite stars looking as they do on the pages of magazines. Well-controlled keylight, at the correct angle for each shot, is very important.”
Bishop is using 25 VL1100 LED fixtures in his design, providing a mixture of front-light and cross-light. As the season continues, they have more than justified his faith in the brand. “It’s everything I hoped for,” he said. “The output is much greater than the VL1000 ever delivered, and you’d never know the source wasn’t a tungsten bulb.”
The 17th season of Strictly Come Dancing runs until the grand final on 14 December.

Australia - Further evidence of the growing multi-dimensionality of art can be found at the 24th edition of the Communicating the Arts conference which, for the first time, sees participants from the performing arts join those from the visual arts. The theme of this edition is Cultural Leadership.
“An example of great leadership is when in the face of challenges, people can stick to the values of inclusion, rigour, honesty, respect and courage.” This is an example of what the participants will learn from attending as explained by Wesley Enoch, artistic director at Sydney Festival who will also hold the opening keynote.
Taking place at multiple cultural venues in Sydney from 12-14 November, some 250 Australian and international cultural leaders, senior arts professionals and innovators will gather for three days of immersive learning, masterclasses and exhibits - including Anthony Bastic, founder and CEO of Sydney-based creators, AGB Events, who will be talking about his company’s experience in curating and producing major celebrations.
“Our approach is to re-imagine ways to honour art, history, and culture,” explains Bastic, “inspiring audiences with deeply engaging story-telling. Our process begins with extensive research to bring a fresh perspective to our projects, finding our clients’ stories and reinterpreting those narratives visually. We work extensively with renowned artists to craft and deliver creative concepts that resonate deeply and that give their work new dimensions and scope, using digital animation and 3D projec

Belgium - Although the Fantasia festival succeeds in attracting some of the hottest EDM and trance DJs year after year, it’s built a loyal fan base with much more than music alone. Drawing on the power of its wildly imaginative and elaborate stage scenery, Fantasia succeeds in cocooning festival-goers in a multi-sensory experience that intensifies the power of its electronic music.
Forming the central visual backdrop to this year’s stage was a representation of an exotic burlesque palace measuring 15m tall by 45m wide. Providing dramatic visuals to accentuate the mystique of the stage was a lighting design by Creative Rental Solutions (CRS) that included a collection of Chauvet Professional Rogue R2 Wash, RH1 Hybrid, COLORdash Par H12IP, STRIKE P38, and COLORado Panel Q40 fixtures.
“Given the ambition of Fantasia’s organisers to create ever more impressive stages, we went back to the drawing board to come up with something especially different this year,” says Thomas Vandekerkhove of Creative Rental Solutions. “Our solution was to develop a lighting rig that awarded a certain mystique to this year’s stage theme by creating powerful looks and vivid colours.”
To douse the palatial stage designed by CRS’s Lieven Tacq (complete with three large burlesque masks) with a variety of pulsating atmospherics, Vandekerkhove and his team incorporated a carefully curated combination of 18 Rogue R2 Wash, 18 RH1 Hybrid and 28 COLORdash Par H12IP fixtures into their design. The resultant blend of saturated colours and powerful wash effects gave a

USA - Master Sound Productions of Miami has taken delivery of a full complement of Elation Professional’s IP65-rated weatherproof lighting fixtures. In operation since 1996 in one of the country’s most competitive markets for entertainment technology providers, Master Sound Productions is known as one of the most versatile event rental and full production companies in South Florida.
“South Florida is very competitive; you’ve got to diversify in this market to stay ahead,” comments Lazaro Soto, owner of Master Sound Productions. “Our goal is not to be the biggest event production source in South Florida but to be the very best one. That’s why I’ve chosen to offer my clients a 100% outdoor-rated all Elation lighting rig.”
Over the past couple of years, Elation Professional’s Proteus line of IP65-rated lighting fixtures has established itself as the market’s leading line of weatherproof moving heads for outdoor events. Meanwhile, the company has been expanding its line of multi-environmental IP-rated products across the board.
Master Sound’s new lighting package consists of 12 Proteus Hybrid moving heads, 12 Proteus Rayzor 760 LED moving heads, 24 SixPar 100 IP and 24 SixPar 200 IP LED PAR lights, and 12 DTW Blinder 350 IP variable white LED blinders.
With the majority of his business in outdoor events, Soto says he has seen his lighting stock deteriorate quickly while the expense and hassle of using domes and bags has only increased. “You can do a dome or cover fixtures with a bag or tarp, but they still get wet and

Columbia - Pop-rock singer songwriter Andres Cepeda is one of Colombia’s most popular artists, loved for his multi-genre repertoire, humour and dynamic style. He recently played a month of sold-out shows at the 1,300-capacity Teatro Major Julio Mario Santo Domingo in the north of Bogota.
His long-term lighting designer Nestor Gaitan - universally known as Cariňosito (‘care bear’) - lit the show, and used the theatre’s 12 Robe MiniPointe moving lights which are part of the house lighting rig.
These were rigged on four vertical stands on tank trap bases, positioned two (stands) either side of a prominent central LED screen. The miniPointes were used extensively throughout the show.
Andres’ large band for this series of shows was enriched with the sounds of a full brass section. The musicians and backing vocalists were split between a raised deck above the LED screen and on the stage floor with Andres.
Nestor programmed and controlled the miniPointes plus all the other lights in the ‘top’ house rig, using the venue’s grandMA2 console.
He has worked for the artist for the last five years, touring frequently around Colombia and other Latam countries including Mexico, Panama, Ecuador and Peru.
“I like many things about Robe and their products,” he states, “the optics are great, the light weight is a big plus and the zoom is always good and it’s also a feature that’s been consistent over the years. It was a great decision to get the miniPointes here in this theatre, and as small ‘hybrids’ they are perfect f

USA - In Dayton, Ohio, in the heart of the downtown Arts District, the Mead Theatre is the cornerstone of the Benjamin & Marian Schuster Performing Arts Centre. Opened in 2003, the 2,300-seat venue hosts a wide range of performances, including the Dayton Philharmonic, Dayton Opera, Dayton Ballet, touring Broadway blockbusters, rock concerts, comedians and more.
Helping to inspire the imagination and refresh the spirit of the three-balcony facility, Scenic Solutions of Ohio specified and installed FloppyFlex LED neon into the architectural details of the venue.
In addition to the installation in the concentric rings of the ceiling that culminate in a representation of the night sky when the Wright Brothers took their first flight, “We used 204m of FloppyFlex White 2100K deployed in the existing coves that accent all three balconies,” says Andrew Persson of Scenic Solutions. “We were able to utilise the existing wire infrastructure - with the addition of magnetic dimmable drivers installed remotely - which made circuiting simple and efficient. FloppyFlex was a good solution because of the level of control it allowed, its smooth and consistent output, plus it fit the profile of the incandescent rope light it replaced.
“FloppyFlex was able to conform to the curved shapes of the architecture in which it was mounted and produces a far superior light output compared to conventional rope lights. It has been performing extremely well and uniformly.”
Persson continues: “The Mead Theatre is an important venue and we wanted to get it righ

USA - Lighting designer Justin Townsend specified 38 High End Systems SolaWash 2000 High CRI automated LED luminaires for Moulin Rouge! The Musical. Since its summer opening at New York City’s Al Hirschfield Theatre, the show has received critical acclaim not only for the glam costumes and glitzy scenery, but also for its rich lighting.
A review on Broadway World says it’s “sumptuously-designed in more shades of red than you previously knew existed on the colour spectrum”.
New York Stage Review notes “The real stars are the artists who don't appear onstage. Lighting designer Justin Townsend can evoke anything from a pulse-pounding nightclub to the shadowy alleys of Argentina to a hallucinogenic electric-green drunken dream.”
Townsend, a two-time Tony Award nominee, says: “The SolaWash 2000 unit has been instrumental for my work on Moulin Rouge! The Musical.” He chose the High CRI version of the automated luminaire for requisite features such as its accurate colour rendering and key light for face lighting.
“It is a silent, super bright light that can be Fresnel-soft and still sharpen razor-edge to its own shutters,” he says. “I was able to cut around the complex scenery in the show and really pop the costumes and faces with clarity.”
The silence refers to the fixture’s quiet cooling system. “The fixtures do great work for me front-of-house where fan noise is essential to eliminate in modern musicals,” he adds.
The designer also enjoys using the colour palette - using CMY colour mix

Germany - International Christian Fellowship Munich (ICF) has recently upgraded its audio system with an Allen & Heath dLive solution for its weekly services and events.
ICF Munich is a non-denominational free church, which in addition to its regular Sunday services, also hosts other live events with up to 800 participants.
Due to size of the services and events, a large number of microphones and extensive I/O is needed for the speakers and live performers. As such, one of the main requirements for ICF was an audio system that could meet the demands of a professional concert.
To serve its growing needs, ICF’s new audio system comprises a dLive S5000 paired with a DM48 MixRack and two DX168 expanders for additional I/O. A Dante card is utilised for multitrack recording, connection to wireless microphone receivers and the PA.
Head of audio technology, Marc Deisen, has been working at the ICF for five years and oversees the dLive system. “When we decided on a dLive a year ago, it was very important to us to have a straightforward, well-structured system,” explains Deisen. “Many of our technicians are volunteers and have very little trouble working with dLive, especially as we already had an iLive console in use. Above all, we quickly learned to appreciate the I/O patching matrix, which is very clear and easy to use for everyone.”
Aside from dLive’s easy and intuitive workflow, a large part of Deisen’s decision to use dLive came down to its processing features. “Now we have enough processing power for more than 50 channel

USA - Carrie Underwood recently wrapped up her Cry Pretty Tour 360 with a lighting package provided by long-time vendor, Bandit Lites. Underwood has been thrilling audiences around the globe all year with her all-female tour featuring a an ‘in-the-round’ lighting design by Nick Whitehouse of Fireplay production studio.
“This tour is by far the most ambitious design yet for Ms. Underwood and it has certainly paid off in terms of visual artistry,” said Bandit Lites vice president, Mike Golden. “Carrie has a veteran staff in tour Manager Geoff Donkin, production manager Graham Holmes, show producer BarrymLather and lighting director Nate Cromwell, and with Nick Whitehouse and the visionary team at Fireplay, this year’s production is unmatched and flawless.”
Drawing inspiration from the Cry Pretty album artwork, Fireplay designed a stage using the eye logo and infusing an impressive pod design that held the majority of the light fixtures.
“When lighting in the round, each side of the stage needs to have key lights, effect lights and audience lights as each person’s perspective of the lighting show will be different,” explained Whitehouse, “so each pod contains just that: an amount of each. The rest of the design came out of the necessity of lighting around the screens.”
Bandit Lites supplied nearly 400 fixtures for the design, including GLP JDC1 Strobes, Martin Professional MAC Viper AirFX, Claypaky Sharpys, Claypaky Mythos 2, VL 3000 Spots, Scenius Unicos and Robe Spikies. Two grand MA 2 full consoles provide Li

UK - Pixel Artworks has designed and delivered The Garden of Light, a multi-sensory installation for McArthurGlen Designer Outlet, Ashford.
The Garden of Light uses the latest LED pixel lighting and immersive audio technology to create a 360° virtual garden environment and is part of the expansion of McArthurGlen Designer Outlet. In tribute to Kent’s status as the ‘Garden of England’, The Garden of Light provides shoppers with a multi-dimensional walkthrough experience designed to stimulate the senses and reflect on visitors’ connection with nature.
The experience will also feature “Europe’s largest living wall installation”, made up of more than 120,000 leafy green plants, and although the experience is free, visitors are encouraged to donate money towards building a sensory garden for the William Harvey Hospital.
Light is the key factor of the installation, and the immersive and interactive experience offers shoppers a journey into a lush secret garden through projection and LED, with elements of the four seasons accompanying their journey.
Riaz Farooq, creative director at Pixel Artworks comments, “Producing The Garden of Light has truly been a creative journey through a multitude of artistic and technological disciplines. Collectively we have explored the boundaries of motion design and real-time graphics, effectively creating a living game-like environment, full of discovery and play.”
The Pixel Artworks team used TouchDesigner (TD), a visual development tool, to combine projected

UK - The Institute of Physics for the UK and Ireland (IOP) has an impressive new London HQ, built from the ground-up with a modern architectural statement that has AV designed-in from the start.
The site is an old plumbing supplies shop in the developing creative industries area near Kings Cross, London. Leaving just the original brick façade, it has been transformed into something completely new. The polished concrete structure of this £13.5m project brings focus to the large screens and interactive experiences that will greet more than 200,000 IOP visitors every year. It is a space that radiates cutting-edge science, and one that required visual and audio technologies to be as much a part of its essence as the concrete itself.
Recursive AV, the AV consultant on the project, had the opportunity to liaise with and influence the architects more than two years before completion, allowing them to achieve the best visitor experience possible.
David Yates, the managing director at Recursive, went about choosing premium technologies to complement the institute’s ambitious aims, including specifying L-Acoustics Syva and Kiva as the audio solutions. "We really felt that the IOP deserved a high-end audio approach," he explains. "They have people coming from all over the world: academics, policymakers, broadcasters, and so on. We wanted to be sure that the sonic quality and the visual impact would be absolutely correct, and that the system could cope with a challenging space. We needed to deliver fantastic intelligibility and a consistent sonic signature

Latvia - The Latvian College of Culture (LCC) in Riga is part of the larger Latvian Academy of Culture and is described as "the best place to study creative industries" in the country.
The college has a continuous and built-in effort to keep up with the times, which is why school administrators called on SGS Sistemas, Clair Brothers distributor in the region. Normunds Eilands and Guntars Bluss of SGS were asked to recommend the best loudspeakers for LCC’s next upgrade of its audio production equipment. After evaluating the school’s needs SGS recommended the Clair Brothers kiT12-i loudspeakers, and kiT-Subs.
Along with the selected kiT12-i loudspeakers and kiT-Subs, the Clair Brothers PLM 12K44 power amplifier was also specified and installed. Other equipment chosen by the college includes a Lab.gruppen power amplifier; a Midas digital mixing console plus a Midas input/output stage box; Beyerdynamic wireless microphones; Clay Paky LED moving lights; Chauvet LED moving wash lights; and a Swefog haze generator, among other international brands.
The Latvian College of Culture gives special thanks to the team at SGS Sistemas. “Likewise,” adds Eilands. “We appreciate our relationship with LCC and are always pleased to play a part in the development of education, offering the best for the students - the opportunity to use world-class sound equipment from Clair Brothers as chosen by professionals.”
(Jim Evans)

Norway - Touring theatre productions in rural areas of north Norway can be very challenging, especially with limited local facilities and equipment that has to cope with fast-changing extremes of temperature. But an Alcons Audio LR7 pro-ribbon system is proving equal to every challenge for the country’s northernmost regional theatre.
Established in 1971, Hålogaland Teater was the first regional theatre in Norway, serving counties of Troms and Finnmark. It occupies a modern building at Teaterplassen in Tromsø, built in 2005, which features two modern theatre stages, a cafè stage and a rehearsal stage.
It tours productions all year to 15 regular venues located throughout Troms and Finnmark, often in local dialects. The varied programme includes contemporary and classic drama, musicals, children's theatre and more. These shows need an audio system which can be easily transported and is very roadworthy, but delivers high quality audio for any kind of production in every venue where Hålogaland Teater tours.
Recently, the theatre needed to replace its touring system, so chief sound engineer Jim-Oddvar Hansen put together a technical specification based on all the needs, wants and challenges that it had to satisfy. He thoroughly researched every possible solution and system manufacturer and, after putting some systems ‘head to head’, an Alcons Audio pro-ribbon solution was the winner.
Supplied by Alcons’ Norwegian distributor and Pro-Ribbon Partner Lydproduksjon Tromsø AS, Hansen chose an Alcons LR7 pro-ribbon micro line array system, co

Qatar - The IAAF World Athletics Championships took place in the Middle East for the first time since the inaugural event in 1983. The 10-day competition saw nearly 2000 athletes from 209 countries compete. The 17th edition of the event took place at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha.
For 2019 a multitude of technical innovations were introduced to the event including light shows, new camera angles and increased engagement with athletes. Florian Weber, IAAF event presentation manager, was responsible for the athletics presentation concept and challenged Creative Technology (CT) to deliver.
In order to successfully deliver the track projection, it was essential that the stadium was dark which required the sports lighting to be switched off. Naturally, switching the stadium lights off during a televised stadium sports show is not something Broadcasters are comfortable with, so Florian Weber commissioned CT to deliver a VR model of the Khalifa Stadium featuring athletics apparatus, production overlay and the proposed LED screens and track projection.
CT supplied over 500sqm of its recently delivered curveable 4.8mm LED screens providing a high-resolution, high brightness, high quality solution to display all the sports presentation content including event information, live video feeds, athlete information, and live results.
CT also supplied eight mobile battery-powered LED Monoliths that could be positioned anywhere around the athletics arena displaying live data for athletes’ names and country flags.
Lighting enhanced the overal

USA - Peter Frampton recently concluded his Peter Frampton Finale - The Farewell Tour, where FOH engineer, Jim Yakabuski, used an SSL Live L550 to produce a signature analogue sound.
Yakabuski began mixing audio in 1981, and with almost 40 years of mixing and touring under his belt, was only introduced to SSL a few years ago – admitting he was at first reluctant to switch to the console manufacturer.
“I wanted to hear from my colleagues that stability on the road was not an issue – and I did,” he recalls. “So I knew I needed to get a board and give it a try. With an upcoming tour approaching, I decided to look further into using an SSL L550 for the FOH mixer. I made some calls, and then was treated to a few hours of one-on-one instruction from SSL's Fernando Guzman which peaked my interest. I was ready to dive in.”
Peter Frampton Finale - The Farewell Tour culminated in October 2019, and was Frampton’s chance to say farewell to fans that have been coming to his shows for over 50 years. After being thoroughly impressed with the L550, Yakabuski switched to the console for this tour, and hasn’t looked back since.
“The FOH mix on this tour could easily be done on a large format analogue console, but the previous FOH engineer and current monitor engineer decided to move it to digital for footprint reasons, and also ease of save/recall when using consoles brought in for private and one-off events,” Yakabuski explains – adding that he did not use automation scenes for each song or many of the other ‘digital' benefits the c

USA - Colombian reggaeton artist J Balvin recently wrapped his North American Arcoiris (Rainbow) fall tour, playing 25 cities from San Juan, Puerto Rico to LA.
The colourful visual production by The Squared Division who collaborated with The Friends With You Art Collective who designed his Coachella performance, featured a large complement of Claypaky Mythos 2 and Scenius Unico lighting fixtures from lighting and video vendor VER PRG.
Nathan Paul Taylor, Production Designer with The Squared Division, devised the show’s concept; Andre Petrus of Clear All Visuals was the associate lighting designer and programmer. “It was a very bright show – Nathan used every colour in the book and every song was taken to 100 percent,” says Petrus.
The rainbow theme was apparent in graphical elements and colour, and a cloud-shaped LED screen topped a stairway at centre stage. Cartoon-style characters appeared in animations displayed on the cloud and as dancers in costume. There were inflatable set pieces and characters, too: 18ft inflatable Little J sat on the steps for the duration of the show.
Lighting played a major role as well, notes Petrus. “The entire show was time coded; every song was accented with lighting – there were thousands of cues. There are a lot of intricacies with reggaeton music, and every bit was accented with light. We really pushed technology on this show to make things go as hard and fast as they could.”
Nathan Taylor mounted 68 Mythos 2 fixtures directly above the main stage with 16 more on the floor. He positioned e

UK - UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) has announced a partnership with Leeds City College, which commenced with the distributor supplying a full range of production technologies for the institution’s new £60m Quarry Hill Campus.
Leeds City College is one of the country’s largest further education providers, with over 20,000 students attending its courses. The new campus, which includes the college’s School of Creative Arts, puts students right at the heart of Leeds’ cultural quarter - surrounded by institutions such as Leeds Playhouse, Leeds College of Music and Northern Ballet, and the BBC.
To create learning environments where students can achieve their full potential, there is a significant programme of investment in the college’s campuses. This includes offering industry-standard facilities which allow students to fully develop the skills and experience needed to work in their chosen sector.
With the School of Creative Arts’ Media & Performance Production department offering backstage arts courses in technical theatre, TV and film production, it was therefore vital to equip the purpose-built facilities with technologies from some of the most innovative and popular brands.
Having a history supporting the college in various ways for a number of years, AC-ET’s Leeds-based Northern sales office was approached to tender for the supply of technical facilities equipment for Quarry Hill’s 200-seat theatre, dance studios, TV newsroom gallery, film studio, and media suites.
AC-ET’s external sales executive