France - Continuing a run of successful festivals as the house consoles of choice, Allen & Heath’s dLive and SQ digital mixing systems headed to Festival Musilac in Aix-les-Bains to provide audio support across FOH, monitors and comms.
Charged with supplying audio for the entire festival, rental company Dushow worked with Allen & Heath’s French distributor, Algam Entreprises, to provide dLive as a house console option on two stages. The dLive systems supplied included S7000 and S5000 surfaces, paired with DM64 MixRacks and fitted with fibreACE cards for optical links with the stage.
Bruno Dabard (application engineer at Algam) comments: “dLive is becoming more and more popular amongst the engineering community in France - it has an extraordinary balance between high-quality sound and powerful tools, all in a reliable package. It’s more than just a console, it’s an entire ecosystem.”
Visiting engineers for acts such as Ugly Kid Joe and Requin Chagrin chose to mix with the house dLive systems on the day, while Therapie Taxi and Kimberose both brought in their own dLive rigs.
Antoine Guests (engineer for Therapie Taxi), regularly tours with dLive. He comments: “dLive’s flexibility, ergonomics and power are what make it a fantastic console, not to mention its Dyn8 processors (each with a four-band compressor and four bands of dynamic EQs), which allow me to control my audio groups efficiently.”
Additionally, chosen for their ease of use and extensive I/O capabilities, four SQ-5s were purchased by Dushow to use for

The Netherlands - In late May and early June, Dutch star Marco Borsato became the first artist to play five sold-out stadium shows at De Kuip, home of Feyenoord Rotterdam football club. A Yamaha Rivage PM7 digital mixing system helped ensure that the performer, his band and an array of guest vocalists gave a quarter of a million fans an unforgettable experience.
Borsato has consistently been one of the Netherlands biggest and most successful singers since winning Dutch TV talent contest Soundmixshow nearly 30 years ago. Playing to 50,000 people at each show, the four evening and one afternoon concerts ensured that fans of all ages were able to enjoy a huge and spectacular stadium production. It included an 80m wide stage set, pyrotechnics and a 1000sq.m. LED video screen, the largest ever used on a Dutch live show. The singer himself said: “It doesn’t get any better than this!”
The shows needed an equally impressive audio production, supplied by Utrecht-based Peak Audio, who have worked with the artist for many years. Experienced FOH engineer and system designer Barak Koren deployed multiple line arrays, ensuring that a high-quality mix could be heard in all seats. This resulted in an unprecedented zero number of complaints from the 250,000 total audience.
Good course good sound out front requires good sound on stage to begin with, which is where monitor engineer Paul Duwel has held the position for Marco since 1996. It was Paul who helped to persuade Peak Audio to recently invest in a Yamaha Rivage PM7 system.
The monitor set-up

France - On 14 July 1789, troops stormed the Bastille in Paris during the French Revolution. Just one year later, the first Fête de la Fédération was held to celebrate the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in France, following the inspiration of a French textile worker, who presented his design for a festival celebrating the Bastille’s storming.
Now formally La Fête Nationale, the tradition continues each year with parades, music and firework displays. More recently, Lawo has become an integral part of the celebration.
Central to the Paris celebration is the Concert de Paris, held at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. It is one of the largest classical music events held anywhere in the world and is followed by a spectacular fireworks display, attracting thousands of live spectators.
The concert is broadcast on France Inter, on France 2, and to 3.13 million people, and upwards of 10 million around Europe. The 2019 concert also celebrated Lawo’s fifth successive year serving both the live and broadcast sound requirements.
Working over the Optocore fibre-optic network deployed by Radio France for the live sound system to connect the event’s mixing consoles and I/O systems, the Concert de Paris continued its relentless technical advance in pursuit of higher audio standards and greater operating efficiencies. With 200 musicians performing and 450 technicians in support, the 2019 Concert de Paris broadcast involved 22 cameras, a helicopter and seven OB trailers.
Previous years had seen a Lawo mc²96 console used for the event’s

UK - Lighting designer Matt Tyler used Prolights LED fixtures to provide lighting for space-age performances by Orbital, Public Service Broadcasting and The Radiophonic Workshop at Apollo 50, a one-off event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the moon landing.
Tyler utilised his own stock of Prolights Luma 700s, Diamond 19s and StudioCOB FC PARs to create the dynamic looks. “I needed to use quality fixtures that could truly do justice to this iconic event,” he explains.
Millstone Sound provided lighting and sound production, whilst Tyler purchased the Prolights fixtures from exclusive UK distributor, A.C. Entertainment Technologies.
Held at Cornwall’s Goonhilly Earth Station to celebrate the technological accomplishment of the Arthur satellite dish, which in 1969 beamed the moon landing footage live to 200m people in Europe, the anniversary was marked with a day of music, science, art and culture.
For the evening’s triple-bill concert, Tyler drew upon the technological advancements of Prolights’ LED fixtures to deliver spectacular lighting to bring the artists’ space-age themes and sampled astronaut voice recordings to life.
(Jim Evans)

USA - With most music festivals these days being multi-stage productions, sound reinforcement providers have become remarkably adept in speedily switching over backline setups and minimizing downtime between artists’ sets. But Wilkesboro, North Carolina’s annual Merlefest, reinforced by Greensboro-based SE Systems, was able to take that transition speed to a new level this year thanks, in part, to DiGiCo mixing consoles and the manufacturer’s new 4REA4 networked audio solution.
Established in 1988 in memory of Eddie Merle Watson, the son of bluegrass icon Doc Watson, as a fundraiser for Wilkes Community College, the festival has pushed the boundaries of what Watson called “traditional-plus” music to feature acts as diverse as Elvis Costello, the Doobie Brothers, and Zac Brown Band.
SE Systems has been the sound provider from the beginning, and the systems have grown along with the festival, which annually draws more than 75,000 people to the school’s campus. This year, MerleFest utilised 17 DiGiCo consoles - ranging from the compact S21 to the large-format SD5 - spread out across 13 stages for FOH and/or monitoring.
“On the main stage there were three, maybe four, bands that were just straight-up type bluegrass the whole four days,” says Chris West, who handles production, system design, and installations for SE Systems. “Some people still see MerleFest primarily as a bluegrass festival, but two-thirds of the bands on the main stage had a drum kit, just to give some perspective.
“The main Watson Stage had an SD5 at front

USA - Based in the foothills of Colorado’s Pike’s Peak, Charis Bible College is the main Woodland Park campus of a Christian school that has more than 70 extension and satellite locations around the globe. Founded in 1994 by Andrew Wommack Ministries, the college’s latest major development is the completion of the Auditorium, a new 3,200-seat worship, performance, and teaching space that now serves as the heart of the picturesque campus and will soon host Charis’ 25th anniversary festivities this September.
For the design and installation of the 150,000sq.ft auditorium’s audio, video, and lighting systems, Charis once again turned to Franktown, Colorado-based HOW systems integrator AcousTech, which installed three KLANG:vier immersive IEM mixing systems as part of the project.
According to Roland Dutzmann, AcousTech’s president and founder, he had planned to suggest that Charis use Klang systems for the Auditorium, but his client actually expressed an interest in the technology before he could mention it: “When we met in January of last year to finalize the sanctuary’s AVL system designs and gear choices, Nate Carter, Charis’ AVL engineer, brought up his interest in using Klang before I could suggest it.”
Carter picks up the story: “I was first pointed in the direction of Klang by a Swedish friend who is a musician, composer, and producer,” he says. “Our Worship Arts department practices a great deal of diversity in style and ensemble size and type. We do everything from classic and modern gospel to more "modern" worship st

Poland - Audio rental operation Target Sound has expanded its inventory with a major investment in Outline products, including GTO, C-12, Mantas 28, Superfly, X8 amplifiers and the Newton FPGA processor.
Based in the southern Polish city of Chorzów, Target Sound is one of Poland’s largest full-service production companies, providing lighting, staging, multimedia and audio for a variety of events including conferences, live music, festivals and TV.
The company is also an L-Acoustics K1 partner and owns a complete inventory of L-Acoustics products.
Target Sound’s owner Adam Guzdek describes his reasons for adding Outline: “We chose to make a large investment in Outline products for several reasons. Their systems are characterised by incredible precision in reproducing sound, with unprecedented SPL - the musicality of each of their products is overwhelming, as we discovered when GTO was presented to us last year. In the mixes of bands that performed, even with very densely arranged songs, there was a place for every detail and every single note.
“The transparency of sound offered by Outline systems puts them among the best audio systems available today, systems that will handle everything from symphonic music to heavy metal and all of them will sound amazing. That's why we decided to become a GTO rental network partner and to acquire all the major Outline line array systems.
“We are an L-Acoustics K1 partner but we want to expand our business to cover more of the European market, providing audio production services at the highest

USA - Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg, Pennsylvania has completed the first phase of upgrading its park-wide audio systems. Located in the bottom of an abundantly green valley formed by two converging streams that flow through the very heart of the park, Knoebels is America’s largest free-admission amusement park, with over 60 rides, award winning food, swimming in its 900,000 gallon Crystal Pool, games, and gift shops. Visitors can also enjoy golf at Knoebels’ Three Ponds Golf Course.
Drew Kanaskie, Knoebels’ audio technician, was in charge of the project from conception to implementation, with design assistance provided by Moyer Electronics of Pottsville, PA. Kanaskie explains: “The audio upgrade is planned for completion over several years of off-season projects. The first phase of the upgrade was to replace our aging 70-volt system, with a new system that has more comprehensive coverage and which provided an open platform that we can continue to expand.
“The 45-acre park began back in 1926 and has grown steadily ever since. Finding a way to reach thousands of park visitors today is a different puzzle to solve than it was just 10 years ago. Our goal is to be heard clearly, everywhere.”
After much research, followed by on-site evaluation, Kanaskie settled on Community’s E Series column-format line source and point source loudspeaker systems. “We are able to create a canvas of sound using the advantage of E Series’ wide angle of coverage,” says Kanaskie. “In the environment of an amusement park there is ambient sound co

USA - Broadweigh Bluetooth has been put to the test for the first time at the New York International Auto Show.
Broadweigh’s US product partner Paradigm Rigging supplied the kit to Hang Ten Rigging, who were hired by brand experience agency, Imagination Group, to oversee the rigging component of the build of the Ford booth, complete with lighting, video and scenic truss.
As the exhibit booths at these motor shows compete to be ever more impressive, the designs become more and more challenging. Michael Sorowka, managing director of Paradigm Rigging is no stranger to these events. He explains: "Not only do the auto shows put the riggers to the test, but increasingly, the kit they use in order to build impressive, safe displays is also being required to do more.
“Load cells have become an absolute must, at times, in this industry - whether that's because of weight restrictions imposed by the venue, or because we're being required to fly cars above the heads of thousands of visitors. Sometimes it's video walls and at other times lighting trusses, as was the case at this year's show."
In order to monitor the loads on the lighting truss, Michael loaned four Broadweigh Bluetooth load cells to the project. "This was prior to the official launch of Broadweigh Bluetooth", explains Sorowka. "We felt it imperative that the new kit should be tested in various environments prior to the official launch - and I knew an event like this would really put it through its paces."
Head rigger Joe Harrison installed four Broadweigh Bluetooth load cells a

Belgium - In the heart of Brussels, private members’ bar Impérial oozes with charm and the underground cool of a turn of the last century speakeasy. The vintage atmosphere and jazzy vibe that draws guests in, however, integrates a full, leading edge, AV solution with TiMax SoundHub and dcontrol central to the immersive environment, realised from concept by design and installation integrator, FACE Projects.
The vision of Carl de Moncharline, owner and manager of several successful Brussels venues was for an ‘immersive environment creating spherical sound experiences’, as well as a stylish lighting system in keeping with the historical façade and vintage ambience of the venue, that was versatile enough for live jazz concerts, a DJ clubbing experience, or even as a cocktail bar. The challenge to create this in a low-ceiling and small, 300sq.m space fell to long term and trusted AV partner, FACE Projects, working in conjunction with refurbishment project manager, Laurent Grietens of Wisely Ltd.
Simplicity was key to the specification for the venue. Dramatically different sound environments would need to be recreated at the flick of a switch which for FACE, made TiMax a necessity. As FACE CEO, Karel De Piere confides: “I do not even want to think how we would set up the sound system without TiMax, no other product could provide this level of precise control.”
The TiMax SoundHub-32S spatial audio matrix controls a total of 38 discrete speakers from Electro-Voice. Effective sound control without spillage is a deliberate consequence of the many

UK - The summer classical concert season is in full swing at a range of heritage sites across Britain. The Proms in the Castle in the grounds of Pontefract Castle, West Yorkshire was an evening of music with the West Yorkshire Symphony that took place at the end of June and was witnessed by a capacity crowd of 2,000 people.
Local full-service production company, Sound & Light UK, put an EM Acoustics HALO-A large format line array system through its paces for the first time on a live outdoor event.
SLUK has been looking after the event since 2015 with an active system that required covered PA towers to protect the internal electronics. The client was extremely nervous about changing the system which, according to SLUK’s Chris Bottomley, had always done the job well enough, but as he pointed out, the opportunity to put HALO-A on the event was too good to miss.
“Ian Downes [programmes and events officer, Pontefract Castle] was very uneasy about changing anything. I had to use all my powers of persuasion to let us try out HALO-A, and he’s now very glad we did.”
The West Yorkshire Symphony is a 60-piece orchestra. The brief was to individually mic each instrument which resulted in 96 channels of audio and provide sound reinforcement capable of covering quite a large area - 50m wide by 80m deep with the FOH position at 60m down the the field. SLUK provided four HALO-A cabinets per side flown from traditional truss PA towers supplemented by two MSE-218 subs on the ground.
“The sheer power delivered by HALO-A was incredible,” sa

UK - The beautiful surroundings of the Royal Botanic Gardens in south-west London, better known as Kew Gardens, provided the location for the facility’s annual six-day music festival Kew The Music.
Now a consolidated part of London’s summer festival tapestry, and with the world’s biggest Victorian glasshouse as the imposing backdrop, it is the quintessential summer event. For the past five years rental company, Capital Sound, and its loudspeaker partner, Martin Audio, have enjoyed a growing presence on the site.
Working with promoter, Stuart Galbraith from Kilimanjaro Live, and production manager, LarMac Live director Ian Greenway, Capital Sound again fielded Martin Audio’s MLA for audiences of 8,000 who arrived to see headliners, including Lewis Capaldi, Rick Astley, Garbage, Craig David and Billy Ocean.
To provide balanced audio coverage, Capital had to take into account an awkwardly long, thin site, tapering off from a wider field at the stage end.
Capital now has the speaker design down to a fine art, flying 10 MLA Compact elements each side of the stage, with a ground stack of four MLA Compact infilling at stage right and stage left to serve the picnickers out on those flanks. Four Martin Audio DD12s across the stage provided nearfield coverage for those who wanted to get up close and personal with the broadside cardioid array, which comprised 14 WS218X subwoofers.
Several delay points were set, the first mast off to house left comprising 10 MLA Compact. Further down the park at 65m from the mix position a second delay comp

UK - The stars came out in force to celebrate the career of the late Dame Gillian Lynne, with Unusual Rigging brought on board to rig the event at the newly named Gillian Lynne Theatre in London's West End.
The evening also saw the launch of the Dame Gillian Lynne and Peter Land Foundation, set up to help young performers, with Jerry Donaldson, technical director at Cameron Mackintosh providing his experience and expertise to manage the production.
Lean Two Productions, the producer behind the event, comments in a statement: "It was Jerry who brought Unusual in to work on this project which made complete sense as they are not only the very best at what they do, but had themselves worked with Gillie on shows for many years."
Scenically, the show was kept very simple with a small band onstage and a 'moon' which had been designed and built for the re-naming of the venue in June 2018 was reused. Extra lights and projection was required, making the event complex in terms of working with and around what was already in place for the theatre's resident production, School of Rock. Meanwhile Adam Fisher and the sound department had over 70 people needing to be heard onstage, plus videos, speech clips and recorded track.
Lean Two Productions adds: "We started the load in directly after the show on the Monday evening and worked through the night in order for the stage to be ready for rehearsals on the Tuesday. There was another big event in the theatre the day after us, so we had to do the get-out immediately after the show and be out of the bui

Denmark - In lighting Musicalteatret’s Jack the Ripper musical at Copenhagen’s intimate Folketeatret, lighting designer Mikkel Bedsted faced some major lighting challenges. He found his solutions in the new VL2600 Profile LED stage luminaire from Vari-Lite.
Bedsted’s main challenge was the venue’s limited weight loading. With the small theatre’s fly bars able to support only around 125kg, it became essential that his lighting fixtures were lightweight and compact in size. Versatility was also a crucial factor, as the more functions a single fixture could fulfil, the fewer units would be needed overall. Next, as the show’s designer, operator and sole lighting technician, Bedsted required maximum reliability. And, of course, he needed quality performance - including high output, excellent optics and advanced theatre lighting features.
Through supplier Live Company, Bedsted sourced 14 of the new compact, VL2600 Profiles from Vari-Lite. He placed five on each of the front-stage and upstage overhead lighting bars, plus four in front-light positions. “The VL2600 is my workhorse fixture on this show,” he says. “With its power and zoom range, I can use it as a wash light, a profile and a spot. The big feature for me is to get that much output from such a relatively small light.”
Bedsted values the VL2600’s theatre-friendly features, including colour temperature control. “The CTO wheel is really, really nice to have,” he says. “I don’t think I could have lit this show without the CTO wheel. I use it a lot in transitions o

China - Ayrton has announced the installation of its first white Ghibli LED spot fixtures at the China National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. Eighty of the white units were recently installed into the elegant interior of the Centre’s Concert Hall by ACE, Ayrton’s distributor for China, as part of a major upgrade of its lighting inventory.
The Concert Hall, designed by French architect, Paul Andrew, within a giant oval shell that includes a 2,000-seat opera house and 900-seat theatre, is distinctive in its silver-white interior with an acoustic ceiling that resembles undulating white waves. The 1,900-seat auditorium is arranged in-the-round to enable the large-scale symphonies and Chinese traditional music that are performed there to be heard and viewed from any angle.
Consequently, its new lighting fixtures had to be capable of handling swift lighting changes and multiple staging configurations. ACE recommended Ghibli on the basis of it being a truly versatile fixture that can handle a variety of uses and throw distances - and be customized in appearance to blend it with the stylish surroundings.
“Stage lighting for concert halls always requires an elegant appearance, uniform illumination, comfort and quietness,” explains Zhang Wei of ACE. “Classic halogen lights have always been used in the past. However, with the development of LED technology, the luminous efficacy of LED has overtaken most of the halogen lamps and discharge lamps, and Ayrton’s product portfolio is a testament to how good LED lighting fixtures have now bec

For 11 years, DiGiCo has supported the Montreux Jazz festival. At this year’s event, the company introduced its latest product development, the new SD7 Quantum console, and the 32-bit ‘Ultimate Stadius’ microphone pre-amp and DAC analogue output cards.
In 2019, DiGiCo consoles were installed at all of the festival’s major sites, each fitted with the new 32-bit I/O cards, whilst SD7 Quantum consoles were installed at FOH and monitor position at the flagship venue, Stravinski Auditorium. An SD7 Quantum was also installed in the demo/prep room, a facility DiGiCo provides each year, for visiting engineers to come and explore the new developments.
As well as the two SD7 Quantum consoles, the system specified for the Stravinski Auditorium included four SD-Racks and two SD-Mini Racks.
Festival highlight Janet Jackson performed her much-anticipated headline show at Stravinski, with FOH engineer Kyle Hamilton using her own touring SD7 Quantum system. She was preceded by Quincy Jones, who performed a ‘soundtrack of the 80s’ mixed on the house SD7 Quantum consoles.
Other key artists who also arrived with their own touring DiGiCo consoles were notably ZZ Top (with Jamie ‘Jamo’ Rephann using an SD10 at FOH plus two SD12 consoles at monitors all supplied by Clair Brothers), Joan Baez (SD12 at FOH operated by Derek Williams and SD11 at monitors via Wigwam Acoustics), James Blake (an SD10 via Skan PA), Rag‘n’Bone man (SD7 Quantum on monitors via Entec), George Ezra (SD12 and SD10 via Stylus Producitons), Janelle Monae (SD12) and Rita Ora.

UK - A week-long summer school run by the charity Magpie Dance at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley has provided the opportunity for children and young people with learning disabilities to develop their creative dance skills, thanks to a donation from Unusual Rigging.
Magpie Dance was founded in 1985 by Avril Hitman BEM as a way of including, rather than excluding people because of their disability. Since its inception, the group has grown from 45-minute sessions once a week to 13 sessions per week plus outreach workshops, enabling over 300 people to access regular dance activity sessions each year.
Alan Jacobi, managing director of Unusual Rigging, comments: “We are delighted to have sponsored Magpie Dance’s summer school this year, to give children and young people the opportunity to access an activity which provides such enjoyment. Just as importantly, it helps build on important skills - communication, confidence building and improving self-esteem. The arts should be accessible to every group of society - regardless of age, social status or ability.”
Laura Graham, general manager of Magpie Dance, adds: “We want to encourage young people to realise that a learning disability should not be a barrier to personal and artistic success in dance. Our mission is to enable all our participants to reach their full potential through dance and to challenge other people’s perceptions of what people with learning disabilities can achieve.
“We rely on generous donations from our supporters to keep our much-needed programmes going and we are in

Spain - DAS Audio systems returned for the second year to the eighth edition of the Paellas Festival Live 2019 in Alicante. Located at the 200,000sq.m Rabasa Multispace facility near the university, the Paellas Festival offers uninterrupted live music, gastronomy and entertainment from 10am to 9pm to a 30,000-strong audience.
Oxigen Sonido e Iluminación was in charge of the installation of the systems in the venue. A main system of 28 Aero-40A was enhanced with 12 Aero-20A for out-fill, eight Aero-40A for front-fill, 24 Aero-40A for delay and 16 UX-221A subwoofers.
The audio challenges faced in this edition were different from last year´s since the festival has shifted from being a multi-stage event to focusing on a single stage. On this occasion, the objective was to achieve uniform coverage and high intelligibility all over the audience areas, as well as delivering pressure and sound quality throughout.
To ensure these requirements were met, the systems were adjusted and optimised with DASaim for controlled SPL and directivity. DASaim also allowed the design of FIR filters for each cabinet of the arrays enabling optimal control of the of the Aero-40A and Aero-20A systems. Additionally, the acoustic prediction software EASEFocus 3 and DASnet v1.70 was used to optimise the design with DASaim.
The producers of the event, Babalú, and rental company Oxigen, which provided the sound equipment, opted for DAS Audio systems to rock the festival. Jorge Henderson, Oxigen's technical director, comments: "We work with DAS Audio for all types of insta

Hungary - The open-air theatre in Nyíregyháza recently upgraded their stage lighting capabilities with Prolights.
Located in the heart of the city of Nyíregyháza, the 1,000-seat theatre has been a key attraction in the area since 1955. Previously fitted with halogen fixtures, the renovation focussed on re-invigorating the space throughout and upgrading the technology to reduce running costs, increase energy efficiency and increase light output.
The new stage lighting system contains 20 Prolights Eclipse HD2 TU fixtures that were chosen for their brightness, even beam and clean shutter cuts, along with 20 Prolights full colour LED fixtures which provide a dramatically higher lumen level than their halogen predecessors. Both ellipsoidal fixtures were chosen for their versatility, broad functionality options and outstanding output levels and completed the reinvigoration of the space.
To complete the package, four Prolights Sunrise fixtures were installed; the theatre opted for the LED blinders as they could equal the brightness of traditional fixtures.
(Jim Evans)

Germany - A Yamaha audio and control solution has been installed at the multi-purpose conference room of regional German newspaper Eßlinger Zeitung.
The paper publishes in print and online, as well as having an online television channel (ES-tv), YouTube and social media presence. Used for meetings, presentations, interviews, staff and media briefings, the new conference room needed a flexible, high-quality AV system, which could be easily controlled by any member of staff.
events creative GmbH - based in nearby Hochdorf and with over 25 years in the AV installation and live production business - was asked to design and install the system. Managing director Markus Zimmer specified a Yamaha solution based on the MTX3 matrix processor and the MCP1 advanced surface-mount control panel, because it could deliver flexible control as well as high quality sound.
With up to 36 parameters assignable to the MCP1’s home page and its six sub-pages, it has allowed the entire system - including the inputs and power to an Epson laser projector, as well as the audio system - to be controlled from the same panel.
The system also includes a pair of wall-mounted Yamaha VXS8 full-range loudspeakers and a floor-mounted VXS10S sub, all with white finish to blend with the room’s décor. They are powered by an XMV4280 multi-channel amplifier, with an SWR2100P-5G L2 network switch supplying PoE to the MCP1 control panel.
“Thanks to the GPI connectors on the MTX3, we could not only supply a system with great sound, but with very versatile control,” says Ma

Australia - After months of anticipation and secrecy, Halo - the light and sound experience designed specifically for Townsville, a coastal city in north eastern Queensland - has opened.
Created and produced by Sydney-based AGB Events, Halo transforms Castle Hill, the natural ‘halo’ that hovers above Townsville. Presented by the Townsville City Council, Halo runs in conjunction with the inaugural North Australian Festival of Arts, and has been made possible through the support of the Australian Government’s Building Better Regions Fund.
“Townsville City Council wanted to create something highly memorable that would truly mesmerise and captivate the public’s imagination,” says Anthony Bastic, CEO and creative director of AGB Events. “We were thrilled and honoured to be asked to undertake such a prestigious and challenging project. We’re delighted with the results.”
Halo which runs from 19 July - 4 August between 6:00pm and 10:00pm - is the latest in a series of large scale multimedia shows produced by AGB Events. These have included Vivid Sydney Light Walk, Australia’s largest annual event; Parrtijma, a light festival in Alice Springs that took its inspiration from indigenous stories and culture, lighting up two kilometres of the MacDonnell Ranges, and the Lights of Christmas in Sydney and Brisbane.
“Halo is a new event experience that showcases creativity in one of the most aesthetically compelling new art forms; light art,” continues Bastic. “Over the past decade, th

Saudi Arabia - The Jeddah World Festival Closing Ceremony was the first of its kind and saw acts such as Janet Jackson, Liam Payne, Future, Tyga, 50 Cent, Chris Brown and Steve Aoki perform. The ceremony marked the end of the 41-day festival, which comprised of a series of events to include performances from national and international artists.
The ceremony took place on 18 July in the vicinity of King Abdullah Sports Stadium, which gave festivalgoers a view of the stadium as a backdrop to the main stage.
The event was not only the largest music festival to have been held in Saudi Arabia, but it also marked ‘a milestone in KSA’s 2030 vision to expand the entertainment sector in the country’.
Creative Technology (CT) worked alongside client The Manual, technical director, John Adkins (World Class Events) and production designer, Mark Cunniffe to deliver all live video aspects of the sold-out event.
CT supplied 15 custom-mounted 4.8mm outdoor LED screens in the shape of diamonds at 4x4m each, two 4.8mm rolling DJ risers and 150 running meters of ROE LED strip which outlined the stage and catwalk.
The design was achieved through rotating the screens 45 degrees across the 90-meter structure.
Giorgio Devecchi, CT’s project manager, explains: “Mark Cunniffe’s creative design required an engineering safety approval before we could hang the LED panels 45 degrees along the scaffolding structure. Prior to delivering the project, we carried out pre-production testing of the large diamonds at CT headquarters in Dubai. During t

South Africa - Rental company MGG - the largest Claypaky stockist in South Africa - has purchased six Scenius Unicos from DWR Distribution.
“We initially received the Scenius Unicos as demo units and it was love at first light,” explains Denzil Smith from MGG. “In the end, they were never given back. The punch, brightness, versatility and fantastic gobo selection make it the first choice for events (budget dependent), and my personal favourite fixture.”
The Scenius Unico is able to perform in spot, beam or wash mode, and offers an assortment of solid colours. MGG’s lighting HOD, Jacques Pretorius, has test-driven the new workhorses and used them for front light and back light. What stands out for him is the full framing shutter, effective for applications like highlighting banners on stage as well as the renown Claypkay optical design.
“Claypaky is reliable and our crew is proud to be associated with the brand,” continues Smith. “MGG already own Alpha Profiles that are showcased on larger productions such as Afrikaans is Groot and EOH, the Sharpys are utilised on most day to day events, Mythos, A.leda B-EYE K10s and K20s.
“While the Scenios Unico may be the new kid on the block, the highly appealing fixture is a magnificent spot light and excellent wash light. But it’s the ability to generate a powerful narrow beam of super concentrated light makes it a formidable tool for lighting designers.”
(Jim Evans)

UK - Britannia Row Productions continued a busy summer of festivals and tours with a packed roster at Glastonbury 2019.
The audio rental company supplied PA and control to the British festival’s Arcadia stage - this year named Pangea - and teamed up with US partner Clair Global to supply bespoke control and monitor packages for a host of major acts, including headliners The Cure.
Arcadia, through its Spider and Metamorphosis spectaculars, has earned a reputation for wildly creative, multi-sensory experiences. This year, Pangea - a towering crane structure loaded with dazzling projections, a plethora of pyrotechnics and vivid lighting designs - created a ‘blank canvas in the sky’.
The Arcadia team has worked with L-Acoustics for a number of years, and following a recommendation from the loudspeaker manufacturer, Britannia Row was appointed as the 2019 audio rental supplier.
Britannia Row’s Marc Soame explains: “The new stage is a real centrepiece and sets a great platform for future expansion of the show. Audio is a key component of any Arcadia show, and the production team are well versed in audio design and its considerations for being able to provide a high-quality experience for eager audiences.
“The Arcadia team is incredibly creative and forward-thinking, but also very practically minded. They’ve refined their approach over a number of years with the development of the previous stages and wanted to retain a similar approach for 2019 as it was a proven model.”
The main tower systems were inwards facing L-Acou