UK - The Ford Ranger has been used in virtually every conceivable application since it first appeared in 1983, especially when modified into the more muscular ‘Ironhide’ variety. Now it can add another item to its list of incarnations: DJ stand.
Capitalising on the growing popularity of this American vehicle in the UK (its sales there increased by 76-percent between 2015 and 2020), Welsh performer DJ Weekesey joined forces with ASG Audio Visual to shoot a promotional video from the back of a black modified Ranger Ironhide.
Laying down the signature mixes that have made him one of the region’s top club artists, Weekesey put on a dynamic four-minute show, using the truck itself as a stand. “It was a 4.5- ton DJ booth,” says ASG’s director Scott Cooper. “The video not only served to highlight Weekesey’s talent, it also drew on the image of the Ironhide to set a really captivating, tone.”
Another thing the video did was showcase the capability of ASG to create powerful images with light and atmospherics using Chaivet Professional fixtures. “We worked some nice looks with our WELL Fit uplighters and our foggers,” said Cooper. “Between the colours and the smoke we created the right kind of attitude.”
Key to setting this mood was the rich red glow from the 14 WELL Fit fixtures used in the shoot. Playing off against the vehicle’s dark colour it endowed the video with a deep, underground vibe. The lighter red hues that covered the area surrounding the truck then added a sense of passion.
“We looked at a variety of di
USA – One of the newest and brightest hubs for Houston’s performing arts scene, The Gordy, has equipped its three theatre spaces with stage lighting technology from Vari-Lite and Strand.
Designed by architects Gensler and theatre consultants Charcoalblue, The Gordy is named for philanthropists Russell and Glenda Gordy, and home to performing arts producer Stages. Its three intimate theatre spaces - the 252-seat Sterling Stage, the 220-seat Lester and Sue Smith Stage, and the 134-seat Rochelle and Max Levit Stage - provide settings for a variety of live theatre experiences.
“For lighting, flexibility was key, alongside quality of light output, a deep colour range and smooth dimming resolution,” said The Gordy’s technical director, Joel Burkholder, who chose over 300 Vari-Lite and Strand fixtures, including 200 tungsten-source SPX ellipsoidals.
“We love the SPX’s innovative features,” said Burkholder, “such as the locking shutters, the resolution of lens tube placement, the consistent field of light across multiple fixtures, and the fine-tuning of the focusing.”
LED-based fixtures including 55 VL800 PROPARs and 10 SL STRIP 10 IP units add colour and flexibility. “The PROPAR’s motorized zoom was the big selling point,” said Burkholder. “The wide zoom range and the deep colour work perfectly for our down-light and back-light system. We use the zoom function far more than we had imagined we would.”
He concluded, “We’re very happy with the lighting, especially during the pandemic, when we had to shift programm
The Netherlands - Construction is underway and progress being made to build a new children’s transitional care unit in Amsterdam, showcasing how the AV community has come together to support the project with donations of product, time and services. In a joint venture between ISE, its co-owners CEDIA and AVIXA, and generous contributors from the industry, The Jeroen Pit House will be furnished with a state-of-the-art entertainment space for chronically ill children and their families to enjoy.
The Jeroen Pit House, which is being built within the grounds of the Emma Children’s Hospital, will make the difficult transition from hospital to home easier, safer and steadier for chronically ill children and their families.
Over 30 AV brands have committed to providing services and product for free to develop the media space, which will include a sensory room and home cinema. Woelf & AVEX have contributed design, product management and installation services. Other contributors include ACT, Antratek, Apart, Arcam, Attero Tech, Audac, Audinate, Audipack, AVEX, Barco, Belden, Biamp, Bose, Chief, Cisco, Crestron, GenericAV, Intronics, Kenwell, Kramer AV, Logitech, Middle Atlantic, Monitor Audio, Nedis, Pakedge (SnapOne), Philips, Procab, Projecta, SCP, Sennheiser, Sony, StarTech, TU, and tvONE.
“Thanks to the ongoing generosity from industry contributors, we have brought together the best in technology, design and installation expertise to create a hi-tech entertainment space within the transitional care unit. The project will provide, amongst other
France - Audio developer and manufacturer Amadeus has installed an immersive sound system for Le Préau, the National Drama Centre in Normandy-Vire. The newly-designed solution utilises a three-speaker ‘antenna’ system, controlled by the company’s Holophonix spatial sound processor, and offers much higher accuracy of sound localization for the audience in the theatre environment.
Le Préau has a mission of artistic creation, dissemination of these creations in regional and national territories, and artist-in-residence programsme. The Centre has been directed by Lucie Berelowitsch since 1 January 2019.
In France, National Drama Centers (NDCs) are emblematic institutions of the dramatic decentralization policy pursued by the State for 70 years - the first five centres were created between 1946 and 1952.
“Le Préau is a place of creation and sharing, with a strong artistic permanence, to ensure a contemporary creation articulated around awareness and transmission, capable of covering its territory and opening up to the national level and ultimately to the European and international levels,” says Lucie Berelowitsch.
The Main Hall at Le Préau has a capacity of 590 seats, installed over a 22m depth and 18m width.
The electro-acoustic sound reinforcement system designed for the National Drama Centre of Normandy-Vire by Amadeus - in accordance with technical director Alexandre de Monte and director Lucie Berelowitsch – offers high accuracy of sound localisation for the audience as well as high audiovisual correlation.
“The
USA - The final touches are being put on the new studio facilities at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Featuring a 24-channel Audient ASP8024-HE with Dual Layer Control (DLC) in its classroom-sized control room, Recording Studio 381 is a fully stocked, 96-track (64 analog, 32 Dante), surround-capable recording facility.
When choosing the console for the Music Technology programme, assistant professor of music technology, Seth Shafer was determined that his students should have a fully-featured tracking and mixing experience. “They should have the opportunity to experience an analogue inline console with sufficient bus outs, plenty of auxiliary sends and a lot of insert options,” he explains. “On the other hand, the DLC control surface allows them to work in the box with convenient hands-on control.”
During his extensive research, Seth discovered that Audient utilises the same mic pre technology in both the large and small format consoles. He went to see the ASP4816 at Chris Schlarb’s Big Ego studio. “I’m a big fan of the music he’s produced on that console. He praised the reliability and solid sound. In an educational setting with many different hands at the controls, his endorsement gave me the confidence that the ASP8024-HE would be the centrepiece of our studio for decades to come.”
The console was installed in a new studio space as part of a new wing to the Strauss Performing Arts Centre, which opened for courses in spring of 2020. “The inline routing options of the ASP8024-HE are incredibly flexible,” he says, with st
UK - The high-profile owners of new £20m penthouse suites at London’s Battersea Power Station have been playing second fiddle to a breeding pair of peregrine falcons.
As part of the Grade II-listed building’s £9bn regeneration project it was stipulated that a new tower had to be erected to replace the original chimneys, the natural habitat of these birds of prey who have been nesting there for 13 years.
Martin Audio long-term partners Rossco was introduced to the project by Simon Woodward of Polar Bear Live at the inception. As an acoustics consultant and event technical provider, MD Ross Sharples has provided audio support since the original confirmation of the Malaysian Consortium bid back in 2013.
“We are fully qualified when considering the impact of sound on the environment,” he said. And this includes the falcons’ wellbeing, where a 1-min calibrated measurement mic has been placed near the nesting platform to monitor any sound disturbance.
But as Europe’s biggest urban development project neared fruition, operators, the Battersea Power Station Development Company, started to introduce events on the jetty overlooking the Thames last summer. An over-the-top line array was brought in by another service provider with the result that the sound travelled across the Thames to Pimlico and beyond.
“Everyone complained and that jeopardised the licence,” reports Sharples. “So this year they brought Simon back and he commissioned us to achieve more acceptable levels.” The Rossco MD had no hesitation in turning to his Mar
UK - After many months of forced closure due to COVID restrictions, the Chichester Festival Theatre (CFT) has burst back onto the scene with Daniel Evans’s revival of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, South Pacific.
CFT is one of the UK’s leading producing theatres, regularly selling out the 1300-seat auditorium and transferring plays and musicals into London’s West End. The Grade II listed venue recently underwent an extensive renovation project followed by by a comprehensive audio upgrade to an EM Acoustics sound system in 2019. This has since been upgraded again to feature EM Acoustics’ flagship award-winning R10 loudspeaker and the medium format HALO-B line array system.
“It was all a bit piecemeal following the renovation, but having replaced our existing outer delay line with EM Acoustics EMS-61s and added EMS-51 front-fills, we wanted to update the rest of the house to EM to create a more cohesive system,” explains CFT head of sound, Mike Keniger. “This is always a challenge in a venue with a thrust stage but in 2019 we were able to replace the larger existing boxes for EMS-129s which made a huge difference in both coverage and quality and was of great benefit to the mix of productions - from plays to musicals – that the theatre produces.”
Subsequently, Keniger became aware that EM were working on a new point source box, having seen it featured in industry press. He was able to attend a demo in 2020 and was immediately hooked. “I was extremely impressed by the sound of the R10 from the moment I heard it,” he r
USA - It may well go down as one of the most moving live music moments never seen. At the conclusion of the We Love NYC: The Homecoming Concert, after a bountiful feast of big looks, New York’s own Paul Simon was to take the stage to sing The Boxer, lit only by a soft tungsten glow.
It would have been a very special scene, notes Tom Kenny, lighting designer for the start-studded Central Park show, one that he, like some 80m TV viewers who tuned into the concert, would have loved to have seen had the show not been called off early due to lighting strikes associated with the approaching tropical storm Henri.
In addition to cancelling Simon’s performance, the weather washed out appearances by Bruce Springsteen, Cynthia Erivo, Elvis Costello, Patti Smith, Maluma and The Killers among others. Still, there was much about the evening to celebrate. Over half the Live Nation concert, which was produced by Diversified Production Services, Done + Dusted, and Clive Davis, was completed, providing an uplifting celebration of the city, it’s creative drive, and live music’s journey back from the pandemic.
Providing a captivating visual backdrop for the spectacular show, was Bruce Rogers’ bold set, along with a massive lighting design by Kenny that featured over 600 fixtures and 108 IP video panels from Chauvet Professional that were supplied by 4Wall Entertainment.
“As a fan, I would have loved to have seen this concert take place in its entirety, but the evening provided us with so many wonderful memories as it was,” said Kenny
The Netherlands - Schouwburg Kunstmin is a theatre and performing arts venue in the Dordrecht, which has invested in Robe’s T1 Profile LED moving lights.
The sale - delivered by Robe’s Benelux distributor Controllux - was just before the pandemic shut down the industry in March 2020, and with re-opening now on the horizon, the theatre is looking to add more T1s to the inventory to replace their aging 2Ks on the FOH bridge with an LED source.
Head of lighting Bart Meester and head of technical and facilities Martijn Lohuis were both involved in this latest Robe investment. Bart has been head of lighting at the venue for 15 years.
It followed another set of T1s, LEDWash 300+s and LEDBeam 150s purchased in 2019 for M3, a fully flexible ‘bare floor’ performance space just up the road at Energiehuis, a reimagined old power station building now dedicated to culture and the arts. This vibrant multipl-hall, multi-purpose venue is used by several different promoters and organisations, and M3, its largest space, is programmed and run by the team from Schouwberg Kunstmin.
Separate to that, other halls and rooms in Energiehuis also contain various Robe fixtures that have been supplied over recent years by Controllux.
The current spectacular neo-renaissance style Kunstmin building dates to the 1930s - when what is now the Main Hall was added - and it is now a designated national heritage-protected ‘monument’. It has seen several renovations over the years, the latest in 2012-14 which saw a substantial reworking and enlargement of the prod
Czech Republic - AudioMaster CZ recently upgraded the historic Reduta Theatre in Brno with a Soundcraft Vi2000 digital mixing console to complement the existing Vi3000 mixing system.
Originally constructed during the Renaissance, the Reduta Theatre is the oldest theatre building in Central Europe and has continuously hosted concerts and productions since 1620. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Béla Bartók and Thomas Adès are just a few names in the rich history of concerts that have been performed in the Reduta Theatre.
In addition to dramatic performances and concerts ranging from jazz and classical to modern pop and rock, the Reduta Theatre hosts a wide range of events, such as TEDx conferences, Opera Europa conventions and corporate events.
In 2016, the Reduta Theatre found itself in need of a new front-of-house console literally overnight when their previous analogue console caught on fire in the middle of a show. In order to replace the console in time for the next performance, director of stage operations Jan Vrbka and the theatre’s two audio engineers - Jirka Pochvalovsky and Standa Mitana - tested a Soundcraft Vi3000 digital mixing system against two consoles from other brands. The engineers ultimately selected the Soundcraft Vi3000 console for its user-friendly mixing interface and manoeuvrability.
“The main purpose was to create a good working environment for staff and guest sound engineers working in our building,” related Vrbka. “On the day that the Vi3000 was installed, our engineer Standa Mitana was able to mix that evening
UK - As the theatre industry gets back to more regular working patterns, sound designer Ben Harrison has a Yamaha Rivage PM5 digital mixing system working 9 to 5 on a new touring production of the Dolly Parton musical.
Playing in venues from Inverness to Southampton and Plymouth, the UK tour of 9 to 5 The Musical runs through until March 2022. It features a new Ben Harrison sound design.
With an array of past credits - including Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Starlight Express, Evita, Fame, Hairspray, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Blood Brothers and many more - Ben’s choice of the Yamaha Rivage PM5 digital mixing system for this tour neatly brought his past and present together.
He notes that everything he learned about digital mixing came from earlier experiences with Yamaha consoles, both the PM1D and PM5D-RH. “I had shows going out with Yamaha desks for years. Probably longer than I should have, but they were the systems I’d built my workflow around,” he says.
“Finally, with the advent of a Rivage PM5 at this price point and specification, I now have the chance to revisit my roots.”
One of the advantages for Ben of returning to Yamaha is there has been no need for the production to carry extra outboard equipment.
“All the plug-ins I use are built in and there are so many more new and useful features onboard to hone the mix,” he says. “The way the Rivage PM5 can be easily configured to be dual operator is a huge advantage. The #1 sound operator can be concentrat
USA - When Michael Garrison Associates (MGA) was contracted to upgrade the existing loudspeaker system for Abundant Church’s 3,600-seat main auditorium at its East Campus (AC-East) in El Paso, Texas, president/owner Michael Garrison and his team turned to Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) and its ADAPTive PA system.
MGA and Abundant Church have a long working history, as they partnered together back in 2004-07 to design and install the original loudspeaker system for the then new AC-East facility. Ten years later, MGA was on the team to develop plans for a new “satellite” campus on the west side of El Paso, featuring an 1,800-seat main auditorium. The Abundant Church leadership wanted to “raise the bar” for this project, so MGA presented an option to employ EAW’s ADAPTive technology in a true “left, center, right” system, where each of the three arrays individually cover the entire fan-shaped seating area.
“The ability of ADAPTive to be hung straight to smoothly cover wide seating areas, plus its stellar sonic performance made it a no brainer for the church to choose this product,” says Garrison. The final design for the West Campus (AC-West) consisted of 26 Anna main modules and eight Otto subwoofers; it was commissioned in May 2017.
“I am impressed with this system’s imagery and coverage throughout the room – it’s beyond anything I’ve heard in a live setting,” says John Buntyn, Abundant Church’s audio director. “The system’s ability to respond to minute adjustments makes it a joy to mix on. I appreciate that the m
Italy - Riccione is known as the Green Pearl of the Adriatic on account of its tree-lined streets, parks and gardens.
The town’s reputation for hospitality dates back to the thirties and it has been a trendsetter since, with clubs in the surrounding hills, beach and spa facilities and its famous main drag, Viale Ceccarini.
The noted street recently hosted the opening of The Balena (The Whale) Lounge Bar by the Villa Delle Rose and Peter Pan group, a venue offering ‘a combination of taste, style and design’, in a strategic point once occupied by the Trussardi Boutique.
An Outline loudspeaker system has been installed at the Balena. Marco Tiraferri explains on behalf of the group that manages the Villa delle Rose and Peter Pan clubs, “It’s not a disco in the town centre: we cater for a clientele aged from 25-30 upwards who want to pass an evening in a stylish setting, but also enjoy a music selection that is not only refined but above all reproduced well.”
He adds, “Music plays a key role in creating the right atmosphere in all environments. Even more so in the case of a lounge bar, which must have top-grade music reproduction, and a good sound system on which time and care have been spent from the drawing board stage can make all the difference.
“The Outline brand was chosen due to our desire to ensure clients premium quality audio to accompany them from breakfast to dinner and from champagne tasting sessions to the great selection of dishes proposed by our chefs. The Outline sound literally knocked us out. However, the o
UK - The CPL crew led by Lee Gruszeckyj were back working on a festival site again, providing video design and production for Camper Calling 2021 which took place over four days at Ragley Hall, Warwickshire during the UK’s August Bank Holiday weekend.
The festival, organised by Jazz Events, was back with a lively musical megamix and additional fun and adventure.
CPL working via Urban Audio Productions supplied a video equipment package comprising screens, cameras, and control. The last event was in 2019, and each year the production values and scale of Camper Calling are increased alongside the great attention to detail that ensures it retains its friendly boutique style.
The big change up on the video front from 2019 was rigging the side stage IMAG screens in portrait format, a move suggested early in the design process by CPL to frame artist close-ups and full-length shots beautifully and elegantly. With this decision made at the outset, all the bespoke content could be tailored to fit.
The two IMAG screens each measured 4.4m wide by 6m tall and were complemented by five columns of screen onstage which were varying widths - tapering down as they went offstage, all with a 4.8m drop.
All the screen was from CPL’s stock of Roe CB5, and 115 panels in total were on the project. This was driven by Brompton SS40 processors and XD boxes for distribution, running via a fibre system with loop redundancy.
Three operated Sony HXC 100 HD cameras were positioned, two either side of the FOH platform - for cross shooting - and one hand-
UK - East London art deco venue Troxy unveiled a substantial restoration project ahead of its 88th birthday on 11 September.
The venue, which reopens this month with a series of events, including a gig with ska band The Specials on 25 September, has completed the first stages of an ambitious transformation project. The team has been working for over 12 months, to create a new stage, enabling larger productions, restored the foyer and entrance area and created new facilities for visitors to the venue.
The project design has been led by historic building specialists Ian Chalk Architects with on site management by M Bradbrook Electrical Services. The owners of Troxy have invested heavily in the refurbishment with significant support from Arts Council England. The works have been championed by the Theatres Trust and Tower Hamlets Council, ensuring every element is in line with its Grade II-listed status.
On arrival, visitors to the venue will immediately see the return of the impressive travertine floor in the foyer thanks to the removal of the 1990s box office and renovation by stonemasons. This space has been completely transformed in line with its original design.
The stage has undergone considerable work to expose the original fly tower within the original proscenium arch, not seen since the 1970s, and bring it up to date with cutting edge production. The stage has moved back to where it was situated in the 1930s. The non-authentic rear wall has been removed to expose the huge original stage area, behind the proscenium arch. One huge stage
UAE - AO Drones, part of the AO Creative stable of companies, launched a 600-strong fleet of drones inside Dubai’s 150m-high landmark Frame structure, for a campaign to announce the July unveiling of the UAE’s first Nike Jordan Concept store.
The event was specifically designed to be filmed for a Nike Jordan digital and social campaign, with the 600 AO drones programmed to generate a four layered, three-dimensional, rotating facsimile of the Jordan ‘Jumpman’ logo. The logo then morphed into a fully scannable 3D QR code, enabling potential customers to discover more about the store.
Owing to COVID restrictions in Dubai, the client could not make the show public, so the activation was designed to be filmed from the get-go.
“The huge Dubai Frame provided a spectacular illuminated border for the Jumpman logo and QR Code,” says Marco Niedermeier, show producer at AO Creative. “We animated the Jumpman icon with strobes and colour but creating the figure in 3D was challenging, especially as the object was presented in four layers and then rotated 360°.”
When the team turned the images 360°, it meant that everyone in the park and surrounding apartments could see and scan the code.
In addition to the drone show, AO Creative employed three camera drones to film and photograph the event. The resulting video was then edited for a Nike Jordan digital and social campaign across the brand’s communication channels.
AO Creative also delivered full event production, including the lighting execution, which added drama and atmosphe
USA - New Yorkers gathered in Central Park on 21 August to celebrate the city's comeback from COVID-19 with one of the most diverse and star-studded line-ups ever assembled on one stage entertaining beneath a complement of Elation IP-rated luminaires.
Organised by NYC in partnership with music producer Clive Davis and Live Nation, the show offered a potpourri of genres from LL Cool J to Barry Manilow. Scheduled to be headlined by Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Patti Smith, Elvis Costello and others, the concert was stopped a little more than halfway into a planned five-hour show due to lightning storms tied to approaching Hurricane Henri. Still, performers like Jennifer Hudson, Carlos Santana, LL Cool J, Andrea Bocelli, Earth Wind & Fire, Kane Brown, Journey and Barry Manilow, among others, were able to take the stage.
Despite the weather, the show was a huge success with a crowd of 60,000 responsible and vaccinated music fans celebrating the return to live music. “It was a good example of how you can put on a safe, large live event,” stated veteran designer Tom Kenny, who was brought on the project by Diversified Productions Services (DPS) to design lighting.
Kenny teamed with renowned production designer Bruce Rodgers on the spacious open stage design, which featured generous amounts of automated lighting and huge NYC letters across the front. “We only had about an hour of darkness so it needed to look big and spectacular during the day but we didn’t want to depend on lots of gags,” Kenny explains. “So powerful lighting was a must
Taiwan - The dramatic combination of lighting, audiovisual, choreography and staging in fashion shows requires highly creative and specific design.
For the debut of his Salon des Visionaires - Luxxury Godbage, a 1990s fashion themed fall-winter collection and Sherry Bomb Opening Party held at Ximen Literature and Arts Centre on 8 May 2021, Justin Chou, designer and founder of Taiwan fashion label JUST IN XX selected Calibre LEDFusion A130-15 all-in-one Direct View screen management solutions.
The 1990s was an era of freedom, boldness and adventure with bright colours and style – people dared to experiment. JUST IN XX’s philosophy when it came to technology echoed this, and he collaborated with Calibre UK for LEDFusion A130-15 LED displays to be positioned on each side of the main stage for the show.
Justin Chou held two different shows at Taipei Fashion Week Fall Winter Season on March and May 2021. Themed around fashion sustainability, Taipei Fashion Week was organised by the Taiwan Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Education and was supported by fashion brands including Loreal Professional as well as Vogue, GQ, Elle, Marie Claire, Bazar and Cosmopolitan.
“In the fast-paced world of fashion, there’s no room for compromise,” said Justin Chou. “We rely on lighting and video to play a powerful role in the creative design and to help tell the story of each of the garments. For this project the main stage needed to look amazing, from so many different angles to meet the demands of photographers, television broadcast, socia
India - When it comes to lighting production, young aspiring lighting designers Sachin Dunakhe and Amey Pendharkar are always keen to experiment. Recently, they have invested recently in the grandMA3 onPC command wing. With their lighting company, Pixelbug, which is based in Pune, they are enjoying steady business.
Sachin Dunhake has been using the grandMA2 console range for more than three years now, and he also owns a grandMA2 onPC command wing. He says: “grandMA2 has always been a go-to console for me for various types of lighting design work, ranging from theatre and fashion shows to live concerts and corporate events. The all-new grandMA3 user interface and improved software functionality are definitely worth the time and money investment to help create more enriching visual experiences for the audience. And what better time than this pandemic to dive into this all new grandMA3 world.”
Pixelbug offers a repertoire of lighting solutions with the primary motto of providing innovative and enchanting visual experiences. Now with the new grandMA3 onPC command wing, the company can further expand its client base, and especially with an eye on corporate and business ‘hybrid’ meetings, virtual events and product launches / experientials. Architectural installations are also now on their agenda.
Pixelbug’s co-founder Amey Pendharkar has worked in the entertainment industry for more than a decade including being a touring lighting designer and operator for assorted artists including Sunidhi Chauhan, Amit Trivedi, Divine, Vishal-Shekhar etc. He
USA - Singer/songwriter Hardy is a rising star on the country music circuit and with that newfound fame comes an opportunity to up his on-stage game in order to appeal to an even wider audience. Out in support of his debut album A Rock, Hardy is touring with an upgraded lighting rig of Elation DARTZ 360, Artiste Picasso and other lighting fixtures. Lighting design is by Zac Coren.
In early August, he started warming up audiences on Jason Aldean’s Back in the Saddle tour while headlining his own dates in between Aldean shows.
Lighting designer Zac Coren picked up with Hardy earlier this year and has known the artist for quite some time. “He didn’t have an LD and I was designing some things for him already,” Coren explains. “I was fortunate as Hardy was one of the first artists to get out there and start doing shows again. He did a lot of shows this past spring in smaller venues with lots of restrictions like limited capacity, pod distancing, outdoor sets, etc. It felt a bit like we were part of an experiment on how to do shows again but Hardy loves touring so we did what it took.”
Part country storyteller, part rocker, Hardy is a dynamic and versatile entertainer. “Honestly, he’s one of the coolest artists to work for,” Coren says. “He lets you do your thing; he might have a few comments at rehearsals but for the most part he trusts the folks working for him. After showing him some options, I helped guide him toward what I felt was best and we charted a path based on what he likes.”
That combination is reflected i
The Netherlands - The newest addition to the Dutch based Jules Boules Bites Bar chain of drinking, dining and jeu de boules experience venues has opened in the city of Rotterdam. Its exclusively Amate Audio sound installation prominently features the company’s latest G7 loudspeaker.
This, the fifth branch of the themed restaurant chain, encompasses a 12-lane indoor jeu de boules ‘parcours’, together with extensive bar and restaurant facilities. Audio for the entire bar and restaurant area is provided by an installation of 12 ultra-compact G7 loudspeaker cabinets and a pair of N12WP subs - the titanium colour scheme of the G7 cabinets matching the exposed metal work in the ceiling.
A separate installation for the jeu de boules parcours comprises 12 Amate Audio Nítid series S6P 2-way, high power handling birch ply cabinets, together with a pair of N18WP subs.
Power for both installation zones is provided from a rack of seven Amate Audio HD series high efficiency amplifiers, totalling almost 13,000W RMS power. System control is managed with two LMS608 loudspeaker management processors.
Specifications include four analogue and dual channel AES/EBU inputs, and eight analogue XLR outputs, a 64-bit DSP architecture, and a continuous ‘around the clock’ operating capability.
Rotterdam based Imagination AV’s technical sales manager Jason Lupgens states: “In keeping with the ‘high-end’ interior design, we needed to visually blend the loudspeakers, in so far as possible, with the decor. In a meeting with the owner, Peter van Leeu
France - Paris-based producer and head of the Mille Feuilles label, Romain Delahaye - a.k.a. Molécule - has been called ‘the pioneer of nomadic electronic music’ and the artist takes his musical inspiration from far-flung locations, recording ambient sounds on his expeditions around the globe and turning them into lively, atmospheric musical creations.
Molécule records sound in extreme locations: aboard a fishing boat in the Atlantic, in a village in Greenland or on the mythic surf swells of Nazaré in Portugal. More recently, he captured the sound of Thomas Ruyant's monohull during the Vendée Globe yacht race. Molécule transforms his recordings into spatialised music with the help of sound designer Hervé Déjardin, engineer in charge of developing immersive audio at Radio France.
Now, Molécule and Déjardin have brought a 360-degree spatialised sound experience to concert audiences listening in darkness, in the round. With the moniker Acousmatic 360°, the duo has taken the concept on tour, using L-Acoustics’ L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound technology
The term acousmatic, from the Greek word akousma, ‘a thing heard’, can be traced back to Pythagoras. The philosopher tutored his students from behind a screen so as not to let his presence distract from the content of his lectures. Taking inspiration from the idea, Molécule discovered he could create extra synergy with his audience by extinguishing the lights.
Molécule and Déjardin came up with the concept after performing at Paris' Rex Club in 2018. As an experiment, they pla
France - The Monumental Tour is an innovative visual and musical concept initiated by DJ and music producer Michael Canitrot and visual activists AV-Extended in conjunction with French cooperative bank Credit Mutuel, which encompasses streamed electronic music performances and collaborations with outstanding monumental sites all around France.
Lighting designer Cédric Davignon of Bordeaux-based creative practice Electron Libre Design designed lighting for the first digital gig of the tour, staged at the Phare des Baleines (Lighthouse of the Whales) on the Ile de Ré, which is off the west coast of France near La Rochelle.
Cédric chose to work with 10 x Robe Spiiders and 13 x MegaPointe moving lights to create his lighting design which complemented stunning large-format projections beamed onto the newer of the two Ile de Ré lighthouses, transforming its octagonal tower and base building below into a magical kinetic canvas for the performance.
The intriguing 57m-high lighthouse building was designed by architect Léonce Reynaud and started operating in 1854.
It stands nearby to the original 29m-high lighthouse - which dates to 1682 and has the same name - and is directly on the Ile de Ré’s Atlantic facing beach. The old lighthouse has been restored and now operates as a museum, and both lighthouses are heritage listed monuments that provided a stunning backdrop for the concert.
Cédric adds that the goal with lighting was “very much to support” the video mapping and reinforcement of the music and video.
He wanted to add
Australia - Striking a pose on the skyline of the city of Brisbane, the new Hotel X is located in the centre of the city’s Fortitude Valley, also known as the ‘Valley’.
The hotel’s custom façade lighting system has been created to reflect the Valley’s progressive and dynamic atmosphere.
To deliver this large-scale, high-profile façade lighting system, integrated solutions provider bluebottle was appointed to the project. Given its sheer size, LED fixtures were the only choice to fulfil the requirements, with Color Kinetics the chosen brand. The iColor Flex LMX gen2 RGB luminaires were used; mounted in a custom aluminium channel that forms part of the building façade.
To fulfil the control elements of the lighting scheme, bluebottle partnered with Pharos Architectural Controls. A Pharos VLC 500, directly controls the hotel’s façade fixtures creating a showpiece, celebrating notable events, calendar dates, and more.
Commenting on their collaboration with Pharos, Claire Enoka, technical sales from bluebottle said: “The Pharos VLC 500 Controller handles the pixel mapping of over 40,000 nodes. Used in conjunction with the bluebottle remote management portal, it has allowed for an intuitive, easy-to-use system with full visibility of status, shows and schedules for the facility manager.
“To date some of the more notable shows we’ve been able to achieve have celebrated Easter, The State of Origin Rugby and Brisbane’s successful 2032 Olympic bid.”
Tony Symms, regional manager from Pharos added: “The façade of B