UK - If there is a single festival that defines the English summer, it has to be Henley, which this year celebrated its 40th anniversary with a mix of music, comedy, art and grade A fun.
Production managed by John Harris, Henley’s main stage is placed in the River Thames, backed by a fleet of boats of all shapes and sizes. The site features a variety of other venues ranging from intimate comedy to cabaret and dance bands.
RG Jones has been providing audio at Henley since 1983 - most of it based around Martin Audio PA - and in a relationship surviving that long, the level of trust and commitment is obviously at its highest. Over the years, the style of the event has changed somewhat from the original, fully classical programme to what is now a much more commercial line-up, but with no less determination to deliver an unforgettable experience.
This year’s artists (on the main Floating Stage) were as diverse as Sir Tom Jones, Craig David, Katherine Jenkins, Jack Savoretti, The Script and Pete Tong with the Ibiza Classics Orchestra.
The Floating Stage sound system was manned by the experienced Mark Edwards, using an established design by Simon Honywill. The site is very unusual as it is around three times wider than it is deep, and three arrays each side of the stage structure are required to deliver the requisite coverage; the outer arrays feature nine deep hangs of Martin Audio’s MLA Compact, the forward facing comprise seven deep MLA Compact, and the inner coverage this time was provided by four deep Martin Audio Wavefront Precision Mini
USA - Bandit Lites has invested in some of the latest new offerings from Chauvet Professional. Jake Tickle, Bandit vice president of business and innovation, made a trip to visit the Chauvet facility in Florida and upon return told chair Michael T. Strickland that Bandit must order an initial stock of 100 of the yet unreleased Color Strike M. Bandit did just that.
Upon release, 60+ went out on the new Luz Studios / Keith Hoagland designed Jason Aldean’s Rock N’ Roll Cowboy Tour where they are an essential part of the look. To further create the overall concept, Bandit purchased one hundred Strike 4 Array units which were then all married with 60 Maverick MK Pyxis that Bandit had purchased at the start of the year. Legacy Chauvet Nexus AW 7 x 7 are also incorporated into the design.
Color Strike Units are also scattered across other shows, including country sensation Jimmie Allen while long-time Halestorm designer Craig Richter specified Chauvet Colordash Accent 3 units to dot around the set behind the band.
Bandit further purchase a large quantity of the popular MK 3 Profile and it has been a workhorse across several tours and events.
“My long-term friendship with Albert and the great people at Chauvet are second to none,” affirmed Bandit chair Michael T. Strickland. “When you can get Albert to a University of Tennessee football game and he wears the Tennessee Orange, he is indeed a friend, especially in light of his Miami Hurricane roots. A big thank you to Albert, Bernice, and the great team at Chauvet for all the back up and supp
Italy - Cesare Cremonini's Stadium Tour 2022 Milano, which started in Milan and closed with a resounding event at the Imola racetrack, has just ended. The eight sold-out dates of the tour celebrated the Bologna singer's 20-year career with the aim of leaving behind the long period of downtime due to the pandemic and getting back on track with more drive and enthusiasm.
"We want to give the opportunity to bring back good memories to all of us, to build beauty again, not only artistic beauty, but the beauty of positive emotions and good moments to remember of one's life," says Cremonini himself during a monologue in the show.
The project and lighting direction were imagined and designed by lighting designer Mamo Pozzoli, Cesare's longtime collaborator. For the occasion, Mamo created an imposing wall of light built with different units but amalgamated in a look that is aggressive and elegant at the same time, thanks to very elaborate dynamics and original research on monochromaticism. Eighty Ayrton Domino Profile S and 50 Ayrton MagicPanel R were included in the lighting plot.
"We built an LED wall divided into about 500 units of different types, whose spatial distribution organized in large arrays offered me the opportunity to constantly play on the dynamics of the lighting and the sudden changes of colour," Mamo says.
"I wanted to build a show that would seek a dialogue with the audience sometimes even in an aggressive form, in which the perception of depth was linked to the interaction with the video world and its colours. This was possible th
France - A tailor-made sound system was developed and installed by Amadeus within the Théâtre de l'Archevêché at Aix-en-Provence International Music Festival to subtly modify the acoustic characteristics of the theatre space using 35 microphones processed through Holophonix and more than 50 speakers to play the innovative mix of a live orchestra, choir, and stage performers for a performance of Mozart’s Idomeneo.
Musical director and conductor of the Pygmalion Orchestra and Choir, Raphaël Pichon, made a special request to Amadeus to design and implement an audio technology system combining active acoustics and sound spatialization to maximize the audience’s experience of the opera.
“The work carried out in collaboration with Amadeus’ teams could be compared with some kind of ‘sound restoration’. The Théâtre de l'Archevêché is a unique place, among the most evocative of the past of the old city - a place carrying the weight of the years. Its facade at the back of the stage is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. With its imposing skyward-stretching acoustic shell and its high stone walls overlooking the audience, there are genuine difficulties linked to the room’s natural acoustics, and orchestras have to face them,” said Aurélie Granier, head of the audiovisual department and sound engineer.
“As he was aware of the sound issues imposed by the venue, conductor Raphaël Pichon asked us to develop an immersive acoustic support system for the spectators,” Granier continues. “We designed and deployed a tailor-ma
Indonesia - Located on the perimeter of the Podomoro Golf Complex in a leafy suburb of Jakarta, At-Thohir Mosque was built by the extended family of automotive magnate, the late Teddy Thohir. The pearlescent house of worship features 29 domes meant to signify family. The building, which can welcome up to 1,900 worshippers, is a gift from a government minister, one of Mr. Thohir’s sons, to the local community and was inaugurated this spring by Indonesia’s president.
Wishing to maintain the grandeur of the building - its clean white interior, adorned with gold calligraphy representing the 99 meanings of Allah - the mosque’s technical committee required a powerful and pristine sound system that would discreetly fit into the building’s aesthetic. With recent government guidelines putting a cap on sound volumes at 100 decibels and limiting amplified audio to inside buildings, it complicated the sound system choice. To help them face the challenge, the committee turned to local Jakarta-based pro-audio supplier, PT Gracia Auvindo.
Hendra Halim, project manager and systems engineer at PT Gracia Auvindo, explains that in addition to the aesthetic and SPL requirement, installation options were limited in the 28.5m by 28.5m main prayer hall. Mr. Hendra says, “In addition, the hall is constructed of marble and granite, creating reflective surfaces throughout, compounded by the inner side of a dome-shaped roof.”
Mr. Hendra worked with L-Acoustics application project engineer APAC, Chung Wah Khiew, using L-Acoustics Soundvision to design a system t
South Africa - Robe’s new IP65 rated iSpiider LED wash moving lights passed some serious jungle tests on the latest edition of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here Germany (Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier rau) which was recorded at Blyde River Canyon in Hoedspruit, Limpopo Province, South Africa.
Lighting was supplied by Blond Productions and designed by Mauritz Neethling for production company Triosphere who facilitated the series for franchisee ITV. Normally it would have been shot in Australia, but that was not possible this year due to Covid travel restrictions, so instead they chose South Africa as their new production hub.
Previously four Australian and one French versions of the show have been recorded at the same South African location, and Blond has been a production supplier for the last six years, over which time they have refined the lighting and the processes involved to ensure it is a smooth and efficient operation.
The iSpiiders were a new purchase specifically for this show at the start of 2022. This followed a site recce in late 2021 when Mauritz met the German team including director Michael Maier and DoP Roberto Piersanti.
When the series was broadcasting from Australia, due to the time difference, they were shooting in daylight from three different areas – the camp, the studio, and the trials locations. However, with SA’s time zone being so close to Europe’s, now everything needed to be lit for night-time transmission.
The iSpiiders were used for the show’s studio segment that facilitated
Hungary - The Hungarian State Opera House is considered one of the most beautiful buildings in Budapest, attracting thousands of visitors each year. Following a five-year refurbishment project, the historic building has been returned to its former glory, now complete with modern technologies, including High End Systems Sola Silent fixtures from ETC.
The building, located on the elegant Andrássy Avenue, has long been one of the world's leading opera and ballet facilities. Some of the finest singers, dancers and performers have showcased their talent at the venue. Gustav Mahler and Otto Klemperer are among those who've served as directors, while Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Renée Fleming have performed there.
A previous renovation was undertaken from 1980 to 1984 and the building reopened to the public for the 100th anniversary of the institution. This time around, however, the theme was “back to the original” and returning the venue to its 1884 opening-day glory was not a straightforward task. Initially, the plan had been to close for less than a year, to allow for the installation of new stage technology and some other minor renovations, but the government decided to overhaul the entire building.
The reconstruction saw major work undertaken on the opera house’s stage engineering and auditorium acoustics, as well as the restoration of its historic features. Since the venue shut down in 2017, the ornate façade of the Neo-Renaissance building has been cleaned, its statues restored, and roof tiles replaced. The stage technology is n
Estonia – A host of Green-GO’s digital intercom products have been installed at Tallinn City Theatre’s temporary home at the nearby Salme Kultuurikeskus (Salme Cultural Centre) while the main theatre is renovated.
The relocation gave Green-GO distributor and Tallinn-based theatre smart control experts Focuspoint OÜ the opportunity to specify Green-GO solutions to the theatre, which is looking to the future with the rebuild and technical upgrade.
The existing communications system at the Salme Kultuurikeskus (Salme Cultural Centre) was, according to Focuspoint, extremely old, consisting of a one-way announcing mic at the stage manager’s desk and 100V loudspeakers positioned in four wardrobes.
“The team at City Theatre were looking to upgrade their communications system to a full digital, flexible system almost as a try out while they operate in their temporary home, and they start to specify systems for the new main theatre,” says Focuspoint’s Kalle Karindi. “I have a long-standing professional relationship with the theatre from a technical perspective, and found myself in a strong position to recommend a Green-GO system, as I am a big fan of what it can achieve.”
The Salme Kultuurikeskus offers a big stage in one space, and two separate black box performance areas on the upper floors. In addition, there are 33 wardrobe rooms, offices on three floors, and a lighting and sound booth. This required a truly wireless and robust digital communications solution that could scale and be easily installed.
In the sound and light
USA - The Grammy Award-wining Tedeschi Trucks Band is known for its relentless touring, but plans for the group’s sixth Wheels of Soul Tour, originally slated for 2020, obviously had to put on the brakes for a couple of years. Now the band is finally back out doing what it does best, rolling through its North American tour accompanied by opening acts Los Lobos and Gabe Dixon as well as an L-Acoustics K2 loudspeaker system supplied by PRG.
The current tour leg comes on the heels of a three-week break from Wheel of Soul’s initial return to the road, which kicked off on June 24 in Jacksonville, Florida, hometown of vocalist/guitarist Susan Tedeschi and guitarist Derek Trucks, the band’s two married principals who front a 12-piece band often augmented by guest artists.
Recently picking back up at San Diego’s Cal Coast Credit Union Amphitheater on August 18, the West Coast run is stopping at a mix of amphitheaters, sheds, and theaters, before the group moves into New York City’s Beacon Theatre in late September for its annually sold-out residency of seven shows. An 18-date European tour in October and November is currently on the books to follow.
The PA for the North American tour is in the hands of two longtime TTB crew members: FOH engineer/production manager Brian Speiser and systems engineer Chris Bedry. “When Chris and I were deciding what would be best for the Wheels of Soul Tour, we wanted a system that would cover the larger venues with a big, full-range sound,” shares Speiser, who has previously mixed tours for Indigo Girls, Brandi
China - Located in the Songjiang District of Shanghai, the Yun Hall Cultural Art Centre is a major community and economic project of the district party committee and district government. Its aim is to build a comprehensive, high-quality cultural landmark, providing one-stop public cultural services such as art exhibitions, cultural performances, group activities and reading for all.
A pair of a pair of DiGiCo Quantum 338 consoles form part of its high-end technical infrastructure, designed and installed by DiGiCo distributor, Rightway Audio Consultants (Racpro).
Designed by Xing Tonghe, chief architect at Shanghai Xian Dai Architecture, whose works encompasses an organic combination of the spirit of the times and national tradition, modern technology, and history and culture, the Yun Hall Culture and Art Centre communicates a strong sense of innovation and highlights the ‘new Chinese’ aesthetic style.
The Centre includes the Yun Theatre, which extends to approximately 10,000sq.m, can accommodate a 1,200-capacity audience, and can meet the needs of a variety of performances including dance, opera, drama, symphonic concerts, Chinese opera and variety shows.
To complement a substantial L-Acoustics PA system, Racpro recommended DiGiCo consoles, specifying two Quantum 338s, their size, the advantage of a trio of screens and 38 touch sensitive faders making it perfect for the theatre’s engineers. The consoles are situated in a control room at the rear of the auditorium, which is ideal the ideal position for the theatre’s engineers and those
USA - Holy Redeemer Catholic Church near Grand Rapids, Michigan needed more light, more colour, and more control – but didn’t have the budget for a complete overhaul. With ETC’s flexible lighting solutions, they were able to get a whole new look without installing a whole new system.
To add more illumination, David Kolenda of West Michigan Lighting and Controls replaced incandescent fixtures with ETC Desire D22 fixtures featuring a Lustr+ colour LED array in the track surrounding the altar. ColorSource Spots and PARs added accents and highlights.
“They loved the D22’s and ColorSource fixtures – especially with the colour tuning,” says Kolenda. “All the fixtures output automatically calibrated colour so they get an even field from all the fixtures.”
The colour also offers them more possibilities in the space. When children present scripture plays on the altar, or holidays require a little extra emphasis, the colour adds extra vibrancy. The church is also thrilled with the intensity of the fixtures. “They kept wanting to turn the lights down, the LEDs were so bright compared to what they were used to. They’re only running at 17 percent of output! They’re amazed at the variety of levels that they couldn’t get with incandescent.”
They were also pleasantly surprised they didn’t need to upgrade their ETC Paradigm system, even though it was nearly a decade old. Kolenda designed new menus for the Paradigm Touchscreen controllers, letting the church control all the new looks and colours from the same system they were u
Europe - Ed Sheeran kicked off his Mathematics (+–=÷x) tour, his largest to date, on 23 April in Croke Park Stadium, Dublin. Since then, the singer-songwriter has been playing stadiums across the UK and Ireland, with further dates planned across Central Europe, Scandinavia, Asia, Australia, Latin America and North America as part of his mammoth 2022 / 2023 world tour.
Continuing its long-term relationship with the artist, Colonel Tom Touring (CTT) is once again supporting the production, supplying over 1100sq.m of a variety of ROE Visual LED panels, all powered by Brompton Technology LED processing.
The spectacular 360-degree stage design incorporates a giant circular ‘halo’ video screen, comprising 462m2 ROE Vanish V8T high transparency outdoor LED panels, fixed over a 90m2 revolving LED stage built from ROE BM5 panels.
The stage is surrounded by six 30-metre-high masts, with 398m2 of ROE CB5 making up six plectrum-shaped, double sided IMAG screens dangling from the masts, and further 220m2 of ROE CB5 half panels completing the LED hoops around the outside of the masts. The giant LED set-up is powered by five active and one backup 4K Tessera SX40 LED processors, as well as 20 Tessera XD 10G data distribution units.
The tour’s video director Phil Mead has been working with Ed Sheeran for 11 years and still remembers the first time CTT used ROE Visual technology with Brompton LED processing.
“The first time we rolled out Brompton’s Tessera LED processors and ROE panels was on Ed’s last tour, the Divide Tour’ 2017 – 2019
USA - Embarking on their first full-scale tour since the pandemic, the Black Keys were eager to get back to the basics, eliminating all distractions, and turning out rock infused blues with the free-flowing spontaneity that has made the duo from Ohio a powerful force in popular music. Patrick Carney, the band’s drummer described the experience as “feeling like a band’s supposed to feel”.
It was a sentiment that Michael Grant and Eric Cathcart of Bigtime Lighting Design understood well. Tasked with creating the set and lighting design for the band’s 32-date summer Drop Out Boogie tour, the Bigtime team focused on the fundamentals.
“For this design, it all went to back to basics; keeping things streamlined while still being exciting and creating a visual spectacle,” said Grant, who took the lead role in the design. “We believe that is what the band represents. It’s all about matching, and correctly interpreting, the dynamics, rather than just throwing as much as you can out there.”
In keeping with this approach, the designers opted to use a blow-through video wall for the tour, which is made up of large amphitheatre dates. This allows Grant to hide fixtures and create dramatic mood changes with subtle shifts in lighting.
Helping him accomplish this feat is a collection of 96 Chauvet Professional STRIKE 1 fixtures supplied by Upstaging. “We used these fixtures on a tour before the pandemic, and had them arranged in a massive wall,” said Grant. “Since this is a shed tour, we tried a different format, having them behind t
France - At the recent Dub Camp Festival on the banks of Lake Vioreau in the Loire Valley, minimalist sub-bass sounds and riddims filled the air over five stages supported by the subtle lighting designs created by the team at Ecom-Events.
Internationally acclaimed dub artists like Mighty Jah Observer and Martin Campbell who performed at the seventh edition of this annual festival did not “want much light cast on them” said Mathieu Simon of Ecom-Events. Instead, they preferred to perform in an ambient atmosphere, where light reflected their music in more nuanced, but still powerful, ways.
As production manager, Simon led the design team that created subtly evocative moods on stages ranging in size from 18x18m to 40x40m. Relying on ample use of shadows and dark space, punctuated by back and side lighting projected from off-center angles, the design team created an ethereal aura on stage that captured the deep essence of the music.
The colours used against the shadowy background of the stage, were often muted, nonprimary hues, such as dark, pine green, creating an absorbing mood on stage. There were also times, however, during toasting or deejaying moments, when tightly focused key light drew eyes to the artist.
Helping the design team create this subtle power was a collection of Chauvet Professional fixtures from Ecom-Events’ own inventory that included eight Maverick MK2 Wash fixtures, four-to-eight COLORado 3 Solo wash lights per stage, 12 OnAir IP Panel 1 units, and 16 COLORado Q40 Panels, as well as a collection of Rogue R1 FX-B and Ov
UK - The Llanerch Vineyard Hotel near Pontyclun in South Wales, with its beautiful surrounding grounds, is a popular venue, principally for weddings but also hosting conferences, corporate events, galas and parties.
A large marquee is a permanent fixture there and provides ample space for over 200 guests when required. In common with so many similar venues, the pandemic had caused a huge backlog of weddings and despite its rural location, the sudden rise in noise levels following reopening was causing some difficulties with nearby residents.
Spartan Audio Visual of Cardiff were approached to design, supply and commission an installed sound system that would meet all the various needs of a modern multi-purpose venue, yet also meet the noise control requirements of the area.
Dave Morgan is Spartan AV’s sales & installation director and he remarks, “We knew from the get go that this would be a very difficult challenge, given that we were effectively working outside, with the residences just a few hundred metres away as the crow flies. I was confident we could design the best system of compromise with regards to speaker layout, limiting and control, but it was clear that in order to present a solution that all stakeholders, including bands, DJ’s and wedding parties would be happy with, the audio fidelity had to be very high.”
“This is how we settled on the Outline brand. We’d used some of their kit previously and I found they sounded on par with all of the biggest names in the industry, yet, crucially for this task, they didn’t
UK - Since investing in a Nexo Geo M12 line array a couple of years back, Bluestone Audio is winning more and more mainstage jobs at festivals where they might previously have supplied systems for second or third stages.
A recent example is Lakefest which took place in August at the picturesque Eastnor Castle Deer Park in Herefordshire. The Bristol-based sound rental company has previously handled the VIP Gold Stage at the festival, but this year moved up to the mainstage, with headliners including UB40, Manic Street Preachers, Leftfield and Supergrass.
“This year’s Lakefest gig is typical of how our business is growing with the Geo M12 system,” says Bluestone owner Sam Brook. “And we’re building relationships with other Nexo-equipped rental companies like Total Sound Solutions from Swansea, who are partnering with us at this event.”
With an audience of around 8000 people, the system at Lakefest comprises left and right hangs of 10 x Geo M1210 line array elements with two Geo M1220s at the bottom as down-fills. Sharing the same sonic signature, small hangs of four Geo M10s are employed as delays, and PS10 cabinets are used across the stage for front-fills. Two stacks of 10 x MSUB18s in a cardioid configuration deliver a powerful and tightly focussed LF response.
“We usually spread the subs evenly across the front of the stage but Nexo’s Engineering Support Team suggested the cardioid configuration in their NS-1 software system design for the event,” comments Sam. “And it works fantastically well.”
A long-term fan of
Czech Republic - The majestic former Vítkovice steelworks in Ostrava again resonated with the music, and animated carnival atmosphere of the Colours of Ostrava festival.
The four-day 2022 event is the largest music festival in the Czech Republic and one of the most popular in Central Europe, presenting multiple stages and a diverse line-up of mixed-genre local and international talent.
Technical production – staging, rigging, lighting, sound, video, audio, stage management and all associated infrastructure – for 18 of the 19 stages was co-ordinated by Prague-based SMART Production, with a team led by Josef ‘Pepa’ Ženíšek, and a Robe moving light rig made impact on the Liberty Stage.
The Liberty Stage was full of Robe moving lights provided by rental specialist AV Media Events, and tech’d and run by Kamil Kruźík and Martin Nakládal.
When choosing their rig, they perused all the lighting specifications – Phoebe Bridges, S+C+A+R+R, Voice of Baceprot, Sam Ryder and many more – and based the rig on their riders, choosing 12 x Robe Esprites, 38 x Spiiders, 17 x MegaPointes, 12 x BMFL Blades and nine Pointes, plus strobes, blinders and MDG hazers for the production lighting rig, complete with grandMA3 light for control.
A relatively modest number of moving lights for a large stage space, but with the flexibility and features of these Robe luminaires plus some imaginative programming, this was enough to produce a series cool and distinctive light shows for all.
Designed to offer the maximum options to as wide a v
USA - Verge Aero took Chicago’s famous Lollapalooza festival to new highs in July as 300 of the company’s custom-built drones danced high above the site to elevate the experience.
Acts as diverse as Dua Lipa, Metallica and J. Cole performed over the four-day event, which took place at the city’s Grant Park. It was the first time that drones formed part of the Lollapalooza spectacle, and Dua Lipa’s Friday night slot was the setting for the specially created Verge Aero drone show, which was staged in partnership with cellphone network company T-Mobile and Google Pixel phones.
“We actually launched the drone show over T-Mobile’s 5G network, using a Google Pixel phone,” reveals Verge Aero’s Mason Hayes, who designed the drone show using the company’s unique software and piloted the drones on the night. “We have a Verge Aero-created app that we can load onto smartphones and set the drones off on their pre-programmed flight formations, and it worked perfectly.”
Verge Aero has an existing relationship with T-Mobile, having collaborated on a gig for Canadian pop star Justin Bieber to ring in the new year in 2021.
During the drone performance, key messages and on-brand graphics were formed, including an alien UFO, a cassette, the Chicago flag and skyline, and a heart and rainbow. The imagery and words were created in Verge Aero’s visualisation and programming software by Hayes, in collaboration with the Lollapalooza, Google and T-Mobile teams. Hayes designed the show to be continuous with no dead space, forming the 300-strong dr
Austria - The annual Summer Night Concert (Das Sommernachtskonzert) by the Vienna Philharmonic at the illustrious Schönbrunn Palace is the second biggest show every year in Austria, only outdone by the orchestra’s renowned New Year's Concert. This year, lighting designer and director of photography Jerry Appelt used 280 Elation Proteus series luminaires to light the summer show for 80,000 spectators in the Palace Park plus a worldwide television audience of millions.
Appelt has been part of the event for five years, lighting the entire space for a live audience and camera, which includes the orchestra and stage, the majestic backdrop of Schönbrunn Palace, and the surrounding park. This year, the designer had 124 Proteus Maximus, 92 Proteus Excalibur, and 64 Proteus Rayzor 760 at his disposal.
Over the years, the event has transitioned to more and more IP65-rated lighting like the Proteus range. Appelt has a long history with the Proteus series, having showcased the Proteus Hybrid on the Burj Khalifa New Year’s spectaculars, as well as several other projects over the last four years. He comments, “A lot of our input from our experience with the Proteus on large scale projects like the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai I can now find in the Proteus Excalibur, which is the reason why I like the fixture very much. They really listened when we gave feedback - big output, the diameter of the lens, better colours - and we found that is has been fulfilled in the Excalibur.”
Appelt has used the Proteus Excalibur on other outdoor shows this year, also f
South Africa - Noot vir Noot (Note for Note), a long-running popular and successful Afrikaans language TV music-based games show produced by Stemmburg TV and broadcast on SABC 2 has returned to screens after a two-year break due to Covid, with edition 40 featuring a slightly reimagined version of the new set designed by Michael Gill and built by SDS for the fully visually revamped 2019 season.
Lighting is again designed by Ryan Lombard from Blond Productions – the company also supplying the lighting kit – and he specified Robe Esprites for the first time on this show, together with two of his trusty favourite moving lights, the Robe LEDWash 300 and the miniPointe.
The series was filmed at Urban Brew Studios in Johannesburg, and while some features remained constant from the last edition, the set lighting and video are now fully integrated, and Ryan found there was some additional scope for him to be more creative and colourful rather than just supplying a series of ‘flat’ studio looks.
All 18 episodes were shot in a six-day period divided into two parts, first the contestant and eliminations rounds followed by a very tight changeover, then all the live band performance segments were recorded in the same space over two hectic paced days.
Lighting had to be dynamic and flexible to accommodate these two different required styles for the separate parts of the programme, for which the studio floor was marked up in advance so the band sets could be installed seamlessly and quickly.
Six Esprites were spec’d, and becau
USA - When officials at the La Crosse Centre in Wisconsin were looking to replace the venue’s aging PA system as part of a $42m dollar renovation, the task of finding a sound system capable of handling today’s complex audio demands while delivering unrivalled clarity was given to operations manager Kris Salzwedel and his team. Salzwedel found the solution he was looking for with a custom Radius RSX Series PA from Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW).
Located in the heart of downtown La Crosse’s riverfront district, the La Crosse Centre hosts conventions, meetings, trade shows, concerts, weddings and sporting events that welcome hundreds of thousands of attendees each year. Built in 1980, the centre was recently expanded to include the South Hall.
“We chose to install EAW’s RSX PA system in our 21,000sq.ft arena because the system checked all the boxes,” says Salzwedel. “The space is utilised as a general meeting area as well as an arena. The EAW system we installed in South Hall A is great for presenters and the overall fill of the room. It works great for large events and provides fantastic coverage within the seating areas as well as on the ground floor.”
The installation, managed by Minnesota-based Video Services Inc. (VSI) features eight hangs of seven RSX212L 2-way self-powered loudspeaker boxes, eight hangs of two RSX18F 18-inch self-powered subwoofers and four QX326 two-way trapezoidal enclosure speakers. The arena area features a down-fill arrangement with a line array.
Designed to streamline setup and deliver maximum results
UK - Adam King captured the powerful, punchy and uplifting spirit of the musical Legally Blonde when lighting a recent Franny Rafferty directed production of the Olivier Award winning musical at Mountview’s The Mack Theatre.
“Given the nature of the story, vibrant pink was the major colour theme for Elle Woods, so it was important that we be able to transition to it when necessary,” he said. “However, we also had to lean away from this palette when the scenes were not so linked to the character in order to make it more effective.”
At its core, Legally Blonde is a story of transitions. In this Mountview production, Elle’s transformative journey is supported by well-timed and placed lighting changes that King executes with a rig anchored by Chauvet Professional Ovation fixtures.
“There were lots of different locations that we needed to create so it was vital that we had colour changing ability in the rig to allow us to seamlessly step from one location to another,” he explained. “We needed the ability to light the space as a whole. but at the same time be able to close right down and isolate different areas of the space. Accomplishing this was a lot simpler, given the colour rendering capabilities of these fixtures, as well as the skill of our in-house production electrician Hakan Hafizoglu and the Mountview students.”
Endowing the stage with texture and depth was critical to King’s plan to convey a sense of different spaces throughout the play. The set had a pink brick wall; behind this was the theatre’s
UK – Multi-genre English musician Jacob Collier is back on the road for a grand world tour to celebrate his DJESSE album series. The show features an energetic lighting design harnessing the rich colours of the VL2600 range of luminaires from Vari-Lite.
The design was put together by Luke Edwards, specification sales specialist at Signify. Edwards, who was a full-time lighting designer before joining Signify earlier this year, took the opportunity to push the boundaries of his lighting design dynamism, to match five-time Grammy Award-winning Collier’s enthusiastic performing style.
“Jacob’s concerts are as much about the audience as they are about him and I find working with him hugely inspiring,” says Edwards. “His high-energy approach to every moment is infectious and I wanted to create a design that would reflect that and embrace the natural colours of his DJESSE campaign. To that end, I chose colours that evoke the qualities of earth, wind, fire, and water.
“Usually, I’m not keen on using more than two colours in a lighting look but in the case of Jacob’s show I threw all my creative rules off the stage and used colour with the same joyful abandon he takes to performing, and it has worked beautifully.”
Edwards chose to use the Vari-Lite VL2600 Wash and the VL2600 Profile fixtures, which were supplied to the tour by rental company Siyan Lighting: “I wanted my colours to be sharp and clean, as well as deep and rich,” says Edwards. “The colour rendering of the VL2600 range gives me those qualities and m
USA - San Francisco’s Outside Lands Festival, presented by Another Planet Entertainment and co-producer Superfly, returned to Golden Gate Park 5-7 August, with headliners including SZA, Green Day, and Post Malone. This year, a Meyer Sound Panther large-format linear line array loudspeaker system powered the Lands End main stage, provided by Bay Area rental company UltraSound, LLC.
While previous generations of Meyer Sound systems have been in place at the Lands End main stage since the festival’s inception in 2008, this year marks the first edition with the new Panther loudspeaker. Although it was introduced just six months prior to Outside Lands, Panther was welcomed by visiting engineers who were mixing on the new system for the first time.
“Overall feedback was positive, and engineers had a fun time mixing on the system,” says UltraSound senior systems engineer Tom Lyon. “I don’t think anyone had issues getting their mix up and running on the rig.”
One of these engineers was Phil Strong, mixer for the Friday night headliner, who heard Panther for the first time at the festival.
“It’s really exciting to get to experience [Panther]. I’ve been a huge Meyer Sound fan for many years,” says Strong. “Panther obviously is the evolution in the series, and it was stunning. It’s extremely clear with a lot of power and very defined in detail.”
The system configuration for the Lands End stage consisted of 18 Panther-L loudspeakers per side for the main arrays, plus six Lyon-M over four Lyon-W loudspeakers for side-fill