Latvia - The Adazi Cultural Centre is a modern and popular institution that serves numerous community functions with events such as concerts, exhibitions, conferences and many other educational experiences. Not only do residents of the region love the Adazi Cultural Centre, it’s also highly valued by Latvian pro audio industry professionals, popular musicians and concert producers.
The building was commissioned in 2010, unfortunately, the sound system originally installed in the 400-seat hall was outdated and could not provide the necessary sound coverage across the hall or up in the balcony area. Enter Clair Brothers.
Maris Vitols, head of the Adazi Cultural Centre technical department, knew an upgrade was needed and began gathering vital information about high-quality, modern sound system solutions that would meet modern expectations and deliver the kind of sound the cultural centre could be proud of.
Vitols emphasised the need to replace the current 12-speaker acoustic system with a more compact system that, when necessary, could be relocated to another room or utilised in an open-air stage setting. His search led him directly to SGS Sistemas, the Clair Brothers distributor in the region. SGS Sistemas was tasked with solving the uneven sound coverage of the existing sound system while making certain to provide high-resolution sound. Guntars Bluss, technical support at SGS Sistemas suggested the kiTCurve12+ as the right sound system for this specific room.
Before the final decision was made, Vitols requested a demo version of the kiTCurve
UK - Allen & Heath’s dLive and Avantis consoles provided audio support for a wealth of emerging British talent at the relocated British Music Embassy (BME) sessions earlier this month.
For several years, the BME has hosted a live showcase for the hottest new British musicians at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas. When this year’s event was cancelled at short notice, the BME and its partners moved quickly to offer an alternative broadcast event to shine the spotlight on performers such as Aaron Smith, Arlo Parks, Bess Atwell, Liz Lawrence, Jordan Mackampa, Porridge Radio and Steam Down.
The result was a series of closed-door studio sessions, staged at Production Park’s West London facility, The Mill, and broadcast via radio and live streams across social media. Ant Forbes, production manager for the BME and The Mill, explains, “It just seemed like an obvious solution for us and the British artists. The format of showcasing artists in a virtual sense also made huge sense and felt like a natural progression. There’s definitely a future to this style of event and we’ll be looking at potentially recreating this after the event next year.”
With just a few days to pull the event together, the audio system was kept as close to the original plan as possible, with an emphasis on walk-up-and-mix usability for guest engineers working with tight turnaround times.
An Allen & Heath dLive S5000 surface with a DM32 MixRack was used at FOH, with another S5000 paired with a DM64 on monitors, connected via gigaACE. A new Avantis con
UK - Technical production specialist CPL was poised to deliver an elaborate show environment to event organisers Pandora Events for a motivational event and sales conference occupying Hall 4 of the NEC Birmingham, UK, complete with in-the-round staging, live band, dancers and roller-skating artists and high-level presenters - for 2,500 guests, when, during the dress rehearsals, Covid-19 intervened.
The latest UK government advice - at that time, 10 days before the national lockdown came into force on 23 March - was announced, and organisers took the unanimous decision to stop guests journeying from all over the UK to be there.
Instead, with under 24 hours’ notice, the event was transformed into a four-hour webcast.
The band still played, the dancers and the skaters performed. All the routines were pre-recorded by CPL’s video / camera crew and inserted into the webcast - keeping the good energy flowing across the ether.
The most successful delegates were recognised for their achievements and sales and the new season’s products revealed, all in a near surreal setting for CPL’s project manager Mike Radford and their up to 70 crew (during peak times) who were working on the event’s combined technical aspects.
This included locals from Crewsaders who were “nothing short of amazing” stated Mike.
The get-in had originally commenced on the Wednesday for the Saturday showday. The design theme - initiated by producers Vanessa & Andrew Carter from Pandora Events was “Disco in a Starlight Express vibe”.
The stage w
Europe - Austrian Audio OC818 microphones were recently put to use on British singer-songwriter, Sam Smith’s tour as overheads. Smith’s profile raised significantly in 2014 after debut album release, In the Lonely Hour. 2015 saw Smith awarded with four Grammy Awards.
Smith’s FOH engineer, Jim Ebdon started his career in audio straight out of school whilst working at Surrey Sound Studios, where The Police recorded their first two albums. He later progressed to working as a studio engineer, then as a live sound engineer for high profile artists such as Maroon 5, Annie Lennox, Sting and Aerosmith.
“I’ve had a very colourful career,” he says. “I started as a tape op assistant in the studio and I quickly learned mic techniques, how to cut tape, and how to operate a mixing console. That put me in good stead to become a live sound engineer a few years later, which is a whole different process and discipline compared to being a studio engineer.”
Ebdon states that while he has always been a fan of what he calls “the other brand of microphone,” he thinks that Austrian Audio has the upper hand: “This [OC818] is just that one step ahead,” he enthuses.
Although Ebdon is familiar with Austrian Audio’s free PolarPilot app, which facilitates real-time wireless control over analogue patterns, high-pass, and pad-in real time via Bluetooth, he admits that he has never had to make use of it yet: “I’ve got to be honest with you – I haven’t used it because the microphone sounds so good, I don’t need to use it! I don’t wa
USA - When Christian hip-hop recording artist and seven-time Grammy winner TobyMac hit the road for his Hits Deep Tour, the production team knew that growing audiences and varying coverage demands would provide a challenge few loudspeaker systems could meet. Eastern Acoustic Works’ (EAW) worked directly with BlackHawk Audio in implementing its ADAPTive System for the tour, as it extends coverage and provides even front to back response in a physically compact system.
“The tour is a large and complicated audio deployment; the sound system has to be up and out of the way of the many video screens, yet still provide massive power and clarity to the audience,” says Rick Shimer owner of Blackhawk Audio. “We knew EAW’s ADAPTive could handle our needs and consistently deliver the coverage we needed regardless of the size or shape of the venue. The system has delivered and the sound that we are getting is amazing."
The Hits Deep 2020 tour travels with 24 Anya modules, 24 Anna modules and 12 Otto subwoofers. Both the Anya and Anna feature individually powered and processed transducers; each Anya consists of 22 while each Anna has 14.
Time and cost savings extend into the tuning and setup. “Because it hangs straight and doesn’t need physical angles between boxes, it saves a great deal of time during load in and load out,” says FOH engineer Pat Haapanen. “Before we load in we create a model of the venue in EAW’s Resolution software. Once we define the coverage area and enter the array locations, the software optimizes the processing for e
Thailand - AV integrator Mahajak Development Co recently deployed a wide range of Harman Professional Solutions audio and lighting systems in four of the Grande Centre Point Hotel’s facilities to create immersive audiovisual experiences.
Located in the heart of North Pattaya, the Grande Centre Point Hotel is a 32-story luxury hotel and resort. Grande Centre Point also offers a variety of amenities and activities, including the Terminal 21 shopping mall, the Sky 32 rooftop lounge, an amphitheatre for events and a family waterpark. The hotel also includes the Port Ballroom and its seven adjoining meeting rooms, which are used for formal meetings, conferences, private dinner parties and exquisite banquets.
To elevate the entertainment experience, Grande Centre Point hired integrators Mahajak Development Co to design and install audio and lighting solutions in the Port Ballroom, the water park and the Sky 32 Lounge, as well as a mobile AV solution for events. Mahajak selected a wide range of solutions from JBL, Crown, Soundcraft, BSS and Martin.
“The client required various audiovisual and lighting solutions for four of the hotel’s facilities,” said Pongsakorn Kanchanachayphoom, director of project, Mahajak Development Co. “They required a versatile audio solution for the meeting room, which consists of seven rooms that can either be combined or separated for events. The family water park required a PA system to make announcements, play background music and more.
“They required mobile audio, visual and lighting setup for activities suc
The Netherlands - Throughout the Netherlands bundles of light were visible in the sky on Sunday 22 March evening from 20:00 to 20:30. The light and sound industry joined the #LightTheSky #StayAtHome initiative. Organiser Highlite reports, “This showed once again that the power of entertainment is in all of us, no matter the situation.
“From Highlite, we want to thank all those people who are working so hard for all of us to stay safe while we are being affected by the Covid-19. We would like to thank all the industry colleagues who made it possible and projected a light of hope in the sky. We especially like to thank not only the proud owners of our brands but everybody who shared with us and sent us pictures.
“Participants included THE LIGHTS.nl, CREATE amazing things, Paco support, the Light Package and Highlite Rent, who used Infinity Intelligent Light and Showtec fixtures. They used 19 units of Infinity iB-2R, 20 units of Infinity iW-741 and 20 units of Showtec Helix S5000.
USA - Last October, Wells Fargo Centre in Philadelphia debuted a high-tech scoreboard and arena lighting system that has enriched the fan experience and set a new standard for arena scoreboard displays. Full-service production company Light Action Productions of Delaware played a leading role in specifying, designing and supplying the lighting and included a range of Elation lighting products in the system.
Philadelphia Flyers and 76ers fans know all about the massive configurable display that is described as the most technologically advanced arena scoreboard in the world. The world’s first 4K kinetic centre-hung entertainment system, the new scoreboard has become a huge part of the fan experience.
The new scoreboard is the latest step in Wells Fargo Centre's extensive renovation plan, a $250m multi-year transformation of the arena that began in 2017. Completed in collaboration with Comcast Spectacor, TAIT Kinetix and ANC Sports, the scoreboard features the ability to expand and compress into a variety of formats during the course of a game, splashing the action across more than 6,600 sq.ft of 4mm LED video. Complementing the display are two large crown trusses designed to create a captivating experience with multi-directional movement and lighting effects.
“A scoreboard and complementary lighting package was needed to service all these different groups,” said Light Action’s Joshua Schulman, who was responsible for design of the new lighting system. “The Flyers and 76ers used to have their own individual lighting systems but with this ne
France - Eurosono is a specialist events production company based in the Rhône-Alpes region, which has been serving a wide range of clients nationally and internationally for more than 18 years. Its team comprises a forward-thinking collection of industry professionals who consistently invest in innovation and new technologies to ensure that clients receive cutting-edge service.
As a close and trusted member of the Coda Audio family, Eurosono were last year involved in the pre-launch trials of the company’s new ultra-compact N-Ray line array system. The feedback received by Coda Audio from the partners who took part in the trials played a significant part in the finished product that would be launched at ISE 2020 in Amsterdam. Eurosono were impressed, and having attended Coda’s pre-launch event of the system in September 2019, made an immediate investment. N-Ray was soon in action being deployed at two significant events in Lyon.
The Halle Tony Garnier in Lyon is a venue and a designated historical monument. Originally a market and slaughterhouse, the hall became a concert venue in 1988 and is one of the biggest multi-use arena spaces in France, staging everything from large gigs to corporate events. It is renowned for its good acoustics. Eurosono was asked to supply audio for an event called The Trophies of Enterprise staged by the Progrès daily newspaper and CPME, an organisation supporting small businesses in the region, as Eurosono events director and CEO of tech and live service provision, Mathieu Aufort explains:
“The br
UK - One of the biggest stars of the immensely popular Irish country music scene, Nathan Carter and his band recently finished a 13-date tour of England backed by an ADJ-led lighting and effects rig. From beams to stage washes, smoke effects to dry ice, Nathan’s long-time lighting designer, Derek Reilly, relies on ADJ equipment to create the backdrop for his jubilant performances.
Born and raised in Liverpool by a family that originated from the city of Newry in County Down, music has always been a part of Nathan Carter’s life. After spending his youth traveling to Ireland to compete in the Fleadh Ceoil singing competitions as well as playing accordion and piano in a Liverpool-based Ceili band, he moved across the Irish sea at the age of 18 to pursue a fulltime career in music.
Over the following decade, Nathan has honed a distinctive sound that draws together country, Celtic and pop influences. He has released 11 studio albums, four of which topped the Irish national chart, and won legions of fans throughout Ireland, the UK and around the world. Since 2014, Nathan’s longstanding production manager and lighting designer, Derek Reilly, has been along for the ride.
“I’ve seen the demand for Nathan’s live shows grow consistently over the six years that I’ve been on the road with him,” comments Derek. “Back when I started, we were in small theatres but now the promoter is booking much larger venues and we’re often seeing them sell out. Over the last few years, Nathan’s popularity over here in England, and particularly up in Scotlan
Canada - Lighting designer Normand Chasse of Montreal-based Wysart selected Robert Juliat Dalis 864 LED asymmetric footlights for the recording of Mix Sonore, a new English-French music variety programme, which will air on Canada’s TV5Unis starting in May.
Mix Sonore is a live music series which features Martha Wainwright hosting a line-up of English and French-speaking artists at Halifax, Nova Scotia’s Marquee Ballroom. Performers on the 13 shows include Rose Cousins, Classified, Matt Andersen, Basia Bulat, Jason Collett, Marie-Pierre Arthur, Sam Roberts, Etienne Fletcher and Yann Perreau. It was produced by Connections Productions Inc. of Halifax.
Normand Chasse says he was “excited to see” the Dalis 864 fixtures at last year’s LDI and has been kept up to date on the fixtures by ACT Canada’s Alex Monat. The Dalis 864 is a new, 150W colour variation of the original Dalis 862 tuneable white footlight designed for the creation of colourful upstage or downstage lighting. Mix Sonore’s Dalis 864 units were supplied by Jonathan Pichette of SoftBox Integration, Montreal.
“I’m a big fan of Robert Juliat products,” says Chasse. “The company makes really good products; I especially like their new LED Fresnels.”
Chasse calls the Dalis 864 “amazing” with “a curve that’s so sweet and soft for an LED light, nice colours and really good results when lighting faces. I can control every group of four LEDs and use two different colours in lighting the full body of a singer or musician. The fixture is a good
USA - At 7pm on Saturday 21 March, the four members of Feed the Dog found themselves someplace they never thought they’d be a few weeks earlier: standing before microphones ready to perform their high energy blend of rock and bluegrass music.
There was no audience present, but the jam banders, who have played at clubs across the US and festivals like SXSW, didn’t care, it was a chance to perform live music - plus it was all for a good cause.
The Feed the Dog show was the first of what promises to be a series of livestreamed concerts at the warehouse, turned studio, of JEM Productions in Wausau, WI.
Joe Ellis, the owner of the production house, came up with the concept of doing the Saturday livestreams, which are lit by his company’s collection of Chauvet Professional Rogue, STRIKE and COLORado fixtures. A guitarist himself, Ellis wanted to do the shows, for streaming on Facebook and later broadcast on public TV, to provide a performance outlet for idled musicians while also raising money for groups that support children’s charities.
He did all this with The Feed the Dog show, while also providing work for JEM team members and showcasing the impressive capabilities of his company’s lighting inventory.
“These are obviously very challenging times and we don’t want to sit idle during them with a warehouse full of great fixtures,” said Ellis. “The livestreamed show concept seemed like a great way to accomplish what we were after. As a company, we’ve always been involved in giving back to the community - and this is the
Germany - Ever since 1963, the Philharmonie Berlin has been the capital's musical heart - at the opening when it was still located at the periphery of West Berlin, and even more so when it became part of the new urban centre after the reunification of Germany.
Today, the Philharmonie designed by Hans Scharoun belongs to the Kulturforum Berlin along with the Chamber Music Hall, the museum of musical instruments and a series of other buildings, and is just steps away from the Potsdamer Platz. Its exceptional design reminiscent of the shape of a tent and the conspicuous yellow colour visible from afar have made it one of the city's landmarks. While initially the unusual and innovative character of its architecture and concert hall design provoked controversy, the Berliner Philharmonie has since inspired architects of concert houses everywhere in the world.
The Chamber Music Hall completed in 1987 seating an audience of 1,180 is the ‘little brother’ of the Berliner Philharmonie - in terms of both the architecture and the range of musical events.
As is frequent practice in cultural buildings, conventional 120V / 250W light bulbs with E27 thread were used in the Chamber Music Hall as well. However due to new EU energy directives this type of bulb is no longer produced, and as the Philharmonie's supplies were becoming scarce an alternative had to be found that would come up to the highest demands the philharmonic orchestra or any other orchestra playing in the Chamber Music Hall might have with regard to lighting.
On winning the contract, ASC in
USA - On 10 March, the Black Rock Church planning team met with the pastoral staff in Fairfield, CT to discuss the upcoming weekend’s services, as well as the church’s 63rd Missions Conference, which was slated to begin five days later. Like many plans in every corner of the world, the ideas the team was drawing up were interrupted by growing concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Reports about COVID-19 infections increasing were obviously very worrisome,” said Christopher Palazini, lighting and associate technical director at the 171-year old church. “The chance of some 2,400 Sunday morning worshippers - and many hundreds more attending the planned conference - being exposed to the virus was not something we wanted to risk. So, after consulting with local health and town officials, the church leadership chose to suspend on-site services, most likely through the end of April and postpone the conference to date yet to be determined.
With its campus closed off to worshippers, this thriving house of worship initiated Black Rock Church @ Home a programme that streams pre-produced Sunday services to worshippers at home. This concept was nothing new for the church. Although it traces its roots back to the 19th century, Black Rock Church is firmly rooted in the digital age. Palazini, a former commercial and visual effects editor, creates dynamic visuals through lighting for its worship services, which are live streamed every week under ordinary circumstances.
What makes Black Rock Church @ Home different was that the services being
Australia - For New Year’s Eve, TDC was commissioned to design, deliver, install and operate a projection spectacular, with a focus on the sandstone pylons of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
“It wasn’t just the projection,” says TDC’s Steve Cain, who is head engineer and media server specialist. “We designed everything from the content templates for the animations through the 3D models to the control system.”
TDC has worked on the Sydney New Year’s Eve spectacular for a number of years, and Cain was as anxious as the city to put on something bigger and better than ever before. He worked with colleagues Geraldine Shine, director brand strategy and AnthonyPellizzari, technical project manager at TDC from concept to completion.
One area of focus was to deliver even more vibrant colours at even higher levels of brightness. To achieve this, he took the unusual step of specifying two different projectors to leverage the different strengths of each.
“I chose Barco UDX 4K32 projectors for their incredible capability to deliver the primary colours -red, green and blue - with stunning contrast and black levels,” he explains. “Then, I overlay blended them with Barco HDF W26K projectors because they deliver amazing punch and really excel in the secondary colours - cyan, magenta and yellow.”
The result, according to Cain, was a truly stunning, very impressive representation of the whole colour spectrum, delivered from a network of projection towers. “It even kept up with the tonnes of pyrotechnics going off around it,” he adds
USA - The Setnor School of Music is located in Crouse College on Syracuse University’s main campus. Built in 1889, Crouse College is one of the oldest buildings on campus, and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
This year, the college is taking a big step into the future with three Rupert Neve Designs RMP-D8 Dante-connected microphone preamps and converters provided by Sweetwater Sound with the intention of providing high-quality recording capabilities to the entire campus.
“We don’t have to worry about 200ft of analogue copper running upstairs from the closet,” says Kevin Muldoon, recording engineer at Setnor. “We can run all our microphone inputs through it, and we’ll have the ability to send signal to the live board, to the recording, to the stream, everything.”
With the three RMP-D8s providing a total of 24 channels of class-A microphone preamplification and 24-bit/192kHz conversion, they will be used as the school’s primary microphone preamps for every application. “The Dante system will be able to go to our entire campus network, so we can have things to go another studio off-site, we have a jazz building off in a different spot, we have our Belfer Recording Studio in a different spot - in the future, this will allow pretty seamless integration between all of them.
“Dante is the future,” Muldoon continues. “At a professional modern recording studio or school of music, this should be the backbone of the recording that goes on.”
“Over the last few years, network audio has really taken over,”
USA - The Knoxville Museum of Art held the 17th annual L’Amour du Vin, its primary fundraising event that features a wine dinner and auction. The soiree took place on 7 March, and Bandit Lites donated a lighting system for the event, lighting spaces ranging from the façade of the museum to multiple interior spaces and the tents into the gardens.
“For these locations, we chose the Chauvet Freedom Par Quad-4 IP,” said Bandit Lites general manager Giff Swart, noting that most of the spaces had limited power available. “Another advantage of the Freedom Par is that they can be controlled wirelessly, and this keeps cables from cluttering the floor and creating trip-hazards.”
“As an event planner and designer, I can attest that few other event elements have the same impact as lighting,” said event designer Carla May Paré. “It has the power to transform an experience and create magic, which Bandit has done for the Knoxville Museum of Art fundraiser L’Amour du Vin for over 15 years. I am proud and grateful to work with Bandit to create beautiful, ever-changing designs from year to year. Their professional and talented team always help to elevate my vision to more than I could have imagined.”
The moment guests arrived at the museum, they were greeted with the museum’s façade constructed entirely out of pink Tennessee marble illuminated with glossy colours. Crossing the threshold into the foyer with several auction items, Bandit ensured the lighting set the mood for the gala.
“From there, guests moved into the Great Hall for
UK - When forming special effects company, Encore SFX, George Baker and Anthony Earles, both of whom have many years’ experience in senior roles in the SFX business, decided to invest in the highest quality special effect products available, and knew exactly which company and products they wanted to partner with.
“We needed great products from a reliable company who could offer not just the quality but the essential support required, and immediately thought of MDG,” says Baker.
The company purchased four MDG Ice Fog Q HP low fog generators with DMX interfaces, and four pneumatic Round Floor Pockets with remote control boxes. The Ice Fog Q HP produces a thick, low-lying fog with zero residue. The award-winning Round Floor Pocket is DMX/RDM operated and can be embedded in the stage floor or set wall to conceal a fog output and deliver low fog or fog to precise locations.
“The ethos of our company is to make effects more accessible and give our clients the best products for their money. The only way to do this is to offer the best,” says Baker. “We have worked with many different brands of fog and haze machines over the years, and as we are not tied to any one brand, we can choose which we want to go with. When we started the company we were in a unique position of having no pre-existing stock, so could make a fresh start by investing in the best, and latest, products on the market.”
Baker and Earles have very definite reasons for their faith in MDG: “We believe the Ice Fog Q HP is one of the best-built units we have seen. The v
China - Shanghai, a metropolis with a population of more than 24 million people, has a new venue - Club Beehive. Two Eindhoven-based design companies were behind its design: multidisciplinary design studio, 250K, created the Beehive concept and commissioned The Art of Light to come up with an equally stunning lighting design for this new club venue. The partnership follows a successful first collaboration for Club Myst in Suzhou, west of Shanghai.
In keeping with the Beehive theme, Mees Bouman, 250K’s set designer, developed a concept based around a tornado of hexagon shapes arrayed in a honeycomb design. An organic, tree-shaped centrepiece is sited behind the DJ booth which, in turn, is flanked by curved LED screens.
The honeycomb theme is repeated throughout the entire club interior as well as across the set design and décor. The honeycombs spread up and out above the dance floor, with moving, tilting chandeliers extending the depth and variety in the shape of the room.
As a company, The Art of Light designs, programmes and performs next-level light shows for artists, festivals and corporate events all over the world, and its work for this club is no exception. In between the distinctive hexagons, Marco, The Art of Light’s lighting designer, decided to place a large number of Ayrton Khamsin-S, Bora-S and Mistral-S LED fixtures to add richness and variety to the design. “We chose the Ayrton fixtures because they all have an impressive LED-engine, great colours and a very complete gobo package,” he says.
Marco interspersed a total of
Germany - James Blunt’s concert at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg planned as one highlight in the Telekom Street Gig series was heavily affected by the spread of the coronavirus. Respecting the demands of the coronavirus outbreak, but not wanting to disappoint invited fans and viewers, Telekom and James Blunt took the decision to continue with the concert - but to perform to an empty hall and stream the concert to the public.
With Telekom already commissioning Peter Brandt and his team at Remote Recording Network to mix and record the concert, the current changes meant only minor adjustments to the production. The company has been handling the sound for the Telekom Street Gigs since 2007.
To ensure the recording of the concert in excellent studio quality, Peter Brandt relied on remote mixing and his Remote Mix Room in Cologne, 400 km away from Hamburg. For on-site conversion of the audio signals and transport between Elbphilharmonie to Cologne, equipment from audio specialist DirectOut came into play.
The signal chain started as close as possible to the musicians. All analogue audio signals coming from James Blunt and his band were fed into two DirectOut Prodigy.MC units as mic-preamps directly on stage and converted into a MADI stream. The MADI stream with 64 channels audio routed to a van from Remote Recording Network, placed in front of the Elbphilharmonie and serving as a hub.
Within the van, the team recorded all audio signals and forwarded the mix to the Remote Mix Room Studio Boecker in Cologne, using public internet connections. To
USA - Expectations were high when metal band Code Orange announced plans for their Underneath album release party. The excitement level for Sam Jimenez, their new 20-year old lighting designer and production designer was “through the roof”.
Describing himself as an “extreme fan” of the band, Jimenez had sent unsolicited renderings months earlier to Eric ‘Shade’ Balderose, their keyboardist and content creator, offering his design services. Shade in turn shared them with Reba Meyers, the band’s guitarist and production manager.
The dream came true! Jimenez was brought on by the band. Everything was all set, with the album release party slated for 14 March at the Roxian Theatre outside the band’s hometown of Pittsburgh. Then, just like that, everything was shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. But, with one door slammed shut, the Code Orange team opened another, staging a 53-minute opening party show at the empty theatre that was live streamed on Twitch.
Fans may not have been present at the theatre, but head banging energy and excitement were. The place was pulsating with visual energy too, as an array of content created by Shade was flashed on a massive 9ft x 11ft centre stage videowall created with Chauvet Professional F2 panels supplied by Star Design Event Services.
Code Orange, Roadrunner Records, along with long-time friend and noted hardcore videographer Sunny Singh and Jimenez organized the live stream event. Singh directed the livestream which Jimenez recommended the video wall for, with Meyers product
USA - Céline Dion recently brought the curtain down on her residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas after more than 1,100 sold-out performances and embarked on a 12-month tour in support of her Courage album.
Solotech has provided sound, lighting, video and rigging - everything except the stage - for the Courage World Tour, including multiple Solid State Logic Live L550 digital mixing consoles, one at front-of-house and two at monitors.
Denis Savage, who has been Dion’s tour manager and FOH engineer for several decades, began using SSL’s Live series desk at Caesars Palace in 2013. But this tour has provided the opportunity to implement some changes that have further enhanced the performance of all three consoles on the production, he says. “Just before Christmas we switched everything to 96 kHz and the difference was incredible. Everything got lighter and smoother and brighter.”
The production also switched band monitor engineer Martin Paré and Jean-Sébastien Boucher, Dion’s engineer, to L550 consoles at the end of last year. “Everybody in the band was very happy about it,” reports Savage. Boucher has been using an early version of L550 software that enables him to control an analogue SSL Sigma Delta summing mixer to eliminate latency in Dion’s in-ear monitor signal chain. That control functionality is now standard in the recent SSL Live V4.10 release.
Francois ‘Frankie’ Desjardins, systems engineer for Savage and Dion for the past 27 years, is also VP of R&D and technological solutions for S
USA - Every year since 1996, Dropkick Murphys in Boston has marked St. Patrick’s Day with rollicking live performances of their irrepressible blend of Celtic, punk and rock music. This year was no different . . . almost!
Given the prohibition on large public gatherings due to the coronavirus crisis, the band went digital to reach their fans on the day of Ireland’s patron saint, performing a livestreamed show. Sent out over four platforms - Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Twitch - the show was seen by over 10m fans, making it one of the most viewed livestreamed concerts in history.
Lighting designer Brian Lareau conveyed the energy and excitement of a Dropkick Murphys live music venue performance with a fast moving and green-tinged lightshow that featured over 100 Chauvet Professional fixtures and video panels designed and supplied by Derry, NH-based Events United, which put together the lighting rig and studio set up in 48 hours.
“It was a nonstop effort,” said Tim Messina of Events United. “Everyone involved in this show pulled together in very short time; our team alone consisted of 25 production crew members. It felt amazing and stressful at the same time accomplishing this in the face of everything going on today with the coronavirus. The energy in the studio was incredible. Maybe it was because of the immense amount of pressure to put on something so big in such a short amount of time, or maybe it was the combination of the Dropkick Murphys band and crew working so well with our team.”
The Dropkick Murphys livestream rig wa
UK - G-SMATT has announced the launch of the P20 smart LED glass panel for displaying engaging media content in a high-definition, mobile format.
Known for their innovative media glass that transforms glass facades of any type into a vast, interactive visual media canvas, G-SMATT technology has brought entire buildings to life. With the introduction of the P20, G-SMATT offers a scalable, mobile solution suitable for both interior and exterior use in a variety of formats.
The freestanding P20 units are constructed from best-in-class architectural laminated safety glass that can be used for internal partitions. Offering the best definition yet of any G-SMATT product, the 20mm pitch P20 delivers extremely high light transmittance due to its ability to drive current through transparent laser etching on FTO glass, and still maintains an impressive 99.7% transparency. With top-rated LEDs from Nichia, media content is visible at angles of up to 140 degrees, providing excellent visibility from a wide range of viewpoints.
Available with a freestanding, portable base the P20 is designed for any application requiring an engaging visual display on a smaller scale, such as retail and corporate environments, as well as visitor attractions. Units may be used singly, or arranged together to form a straight wall, square corners, or box shapes. The electronics are neatly concealed in the base unit, making the P20 both mobile and self-sufficient. All that is required is access to a standard power supply. Media content for the P20, and indeed any G-SMATT product, can