South Africa - A new Anolis LED lighting installation is helping to highlight the lush and beautiful foliage in Cascades Gardens, part of the five-star luxury Cascades Hotel property in Sun City, South Africa.
Cascades is right at the heart of the Sun City casino and entertainment complex, and Johannesburg-based creative agency Cinevation was commissioned by Sun International to reimagine some of the resort’s public areas, including the gardens, with a brief to make them more accessible and enjoyable to the public.
Cinevision proposed a phased creative lighting scheme starting with the 150m long pathway from the hotel to their ground floor restaurant Bocado. Up until this time, during the evening house, it had been bathed in almost total darkness. In turn, Cinevation asked lighting experts DWR to assist with the specification of fixtures and undertake the installation.
The project was managed and designed for DWR by Johnny Scholtz who proposed using, among other sources, Anolis ArcPad 48s and ArcSource Outdoor 4MCs with ArcSource 24MC Submersibles to illuminate the water feature and 75 ArcPix to outline one of the bridges.
“We wanted to introduce vibrancy, complimentary colour and depth to the environment,” explains Johnny. “Bringing it alive so people could appreciate it for the living, breathing and magical space that it is.”
The high output ArcPad 48s are used to create a series of washes along the pathway, accentuating the shape of the landscaping, the density and diversity of the foliage and the multi-dimensionality of th
South Korea - Gangneung Ice Arena was built for the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics as the venue for the figure skating and short track speed skating competitions. With a seating capacity is 12,000, the arena houses two 60m x 30m ice rinks for competition and training.
South Korean distributor Soundus was tasked with providing an appropriate audio solution and the company designed a system of Python-KP52 line arrays, chosen for maximum clarity and definition and ability to provide continuous, even coverage.
Equipped with Pure Array Technology (PAT), the Python has no crossover points in the voice range and no reflex ports. Only the closely-spaced, full-range 3" identical sound sources are responsible for the Python's true line array characteristics. It shows a perfect phase response both in the near and in the far fields making this compact column speaker the perfect solution to uniformly cover the stadium seating in the arena.
56 Python line arrays were installed horizontally throughout the bleachers to satisfying spectators with accurate audio without obstructing the view of the competitions.
(Jim Evans)
UK - Slideatron - the 20-metre LED Christmas tree slide - entertained thousands of visitors from November 2017 until January 2018 in Wembley Park, London. Designed and produced by event and place-making agency Produce UK, the attraction allowed visitors to reach another level of festivities by accelerating through the tube in 18 seconds.
Guiding the public to the huge structure was a set of eight Airstar Crystal lighting balloons. The 160cm wide LED spheres were deployed around the structure in order to light up the area and enhance the spirit of Christmas.
Lana Guascone, project director for Slideatron and producer at Produce UK explained: “Our ambition was to create something impactful, creative and futuristic – but also fun. Every element of the project, including the lighting, needed to fit the evolving nature of Wembley Park as a place of innovation and excitement. We were lucky to have a client that was brave and willing to embrace the opportunity to do something different.”
The Airstar Crystal balloons were suspended on the 300m long Wembley Boulevard, a main walkway just outside London Designer Outlet and the Wembley Stadium. Rigged on two points – dubbed the North and South Pole - using catenaries wire, the lighting balloons were hanging 4.5m above the ground, providing a non-glaring and diffused light for the public. The two-point rigging system was designed to minimise balloon movements in windy conditions, providing a secured anchorage at a time of the year when weather conditions heavily fluctuate.
In order to provide the
Australia - Professional Audio & Television (PAT) announced that they have delivered, configured and commissioned a Lawo Nova73 and a Lawo crystal console including compact engine for the Joan Sutherland Theatre in the Sydney Opera House via lead integrator The Downer Group.
The Lawo Nova73 Core has been configured as an mc² Mix Engine. Used as the Central Audio Router for the Joan Sutherland Theatre, the Nova73 is combining MADI, RAVENNA and Dante signals, along with traditional analogue and AES by way of a Lawo DALLIS I/O Frame. Lawo’s powerful mxGUI is used as the primary control interface for the router, allowing users to load snapshots for different room configurations, while also offering user manual adjustments of signal flows and parameters.
The system is completed with a VistoolMK2-equipped Lawo crystal console, to provide a simplified tactile, or customisable on-screen, mixing surface. This allows for basic use of the JST for situations such as rehearsals or simple presentations. The Crystal engine communicates with the Nova73 via RAVENNA.
Lawo’s CEO Philipp Lawo visited the facility a couple of weeks ago and reports: “I am delighted to see our technology plays an integral part in making the Joan Sutherland Theatre an even better venue for hundreds of events per year. Over the years we have been able to grow the Lawo footprint in Australia significantly and we have some amazing reference sites here in Australia, but to now also be able to list the Sydney Opera House is something very special. We are honoured to have been chosen
USA - Visitors who entered the Roland exhibit at NAMM during a performance by one of the company’s many star endorsers experienced a sense of attending a concert. When they returned a short time later, they felt an equally immersive, but quite different, sensation of walking through a high-tech showroom. Contributing to the creation of this flexible exhibit space was a versatile lighting design by Justin Preston that featured a collection of over 90 Chauvet Professional fixtures, including 32 Maverick MK2 Wash units.
Having this number of high-output moving fixtures in the lighting design for a trade show exhibit represented outside-the-box thinking, but for Preston it made perfect sense, given his objective of creating a multi-dimensional environment. “Our concept in lighting the Roland space was to merge a club and a trade show look,” he said. “While we wanted to be able to create a full club vibe in the Roland Room during shows, we also needed to create an atmosphere that promoted customer-product interaction between the musical performances.
“The Mavericks were instrumental in helping us do this,” continued Preston, who rented his lights from Kinetic Lighting. “We used the Mavericks to provide a saturated wash of the exhibit between shows, and also to serve up some eye candy effects and beam effects when we had performances. Their large zoom range allowed them to be used as beams during performances and as a general wash between shows; plus, their virtual gobos gave us an extra diversity of looks. I even ended up using them for key, fil
Czech Republic - 2018 signalled the end of the record-breaking 19-date ice arena tour across Slovakia and Czech Republic by Kabat. The multi-platinum selling Czech rock band stunned audiences with an in-the-round show design, complete with 360° stage, wrap-around video screens and a high-impact light show powered by the cutting-edge technology of Italian lighting manufacturer Claypaky.
Lighting and show designer Radek Havliček of production company Pink Panther Agency s.r.o, was responsible for the tour's lighting and production design. Marking nearly two decades of creative partnership between Pink Panther and Kabat, Havliček's latest design stunned audiences with its immersive flair and sophisticated use of space.
"The tour's stage spreads across most of a regulation-size ice hockey rink," explains Havliček. "It was the biggest stage that had ever been used on tour by a Czech band and included four pits or 'pools' for the most dedicated fans. For those within the 'pools' the band was literally surrounding them. In fact, most of the audience felt included - or immersed - in the show. It was not happening 'out there' or 'down there', it was happening all around."
Using WYSIWYG, Havliček designed and coordinated the production's large-scale light show. The design centralised around a central 360° drop of four concentric circular trusses on Cyberhoist motors. LED screens faced each truss to partially mask the mix of Claypaky Sharpy, Claypaky A.LEDA K10 and Claypaky Alpha Spot 1200 that provided the lighting from the show's centralised column.
USA - Philips Lighting stage lighting fixtures were chosen to meet the strict lighting demands on the set of 2017's popular feature film, Pitch Perfect 3.
With eight performances filmed across four locations, in both day and night shoots, the design team, including production lighting designer Trevor Burk and lighting directors Zach Matusow and Mat Stovall chose to use the Philips VL4000 Spot, VL3500 Wash and VL550 Wash, due to their quality of light output, colour range and versatility.
Burk says: "The VL4000 Spot performed well as a key light in the aquarium scene and in the finale. It was really important to have high-level colour control and the super even field of the VL4000 Spot. In addition, we used the VL3500 Wash as a big, straightforward cannon of light in the aquarium scene, while for the festival performances at the airforce base, it was obvious we had to flush the rest of the stage rig out with VL550 Wash."
Colour control, versatility and quiet operation were particular features required from the Philips Lighting luminaires. "We had a lot of ground to cover and wanted fixtures that could do distinctly different jobs scene to scene," says Matusow. "We considered the VL4000 Spot to be a crucial component for whatever task came our way. By the end of filming, we were using it for key lighting, aerial concert effects, water effects and for lighting scenery. The VL3500 Wash was great to have on hand when a scene called for lots of brightness and colour being projected from afar."
The high performance and reliability of the Phil
Germany - SKALAR is a compelling piece of immersive kinetic light art created by artist / designer Christopher Bauder and musician / composer Kangding Ray.
Ninety Robe Pointes, 65 x double sided mirrors suspended on 195 special motors each with a perimeter ring of 180 addressable pixels feature in one massive cathedral like industrial landmark building.
Kraftwerk in Berlin is the still magnificent shell of a derelict power station that once electrified central East Berlin when the city was divided by cold war politics.
SKALAR “juxtaposes technology and imagination in a cerebral dichotomy to engage the mind and soul in generating the very human reactions of profound emotions”.
While Christopher’s conceptual starting point was renowned American psychologist Robert Plutchik’s ‘wheel of emotions’, his physical one was Kraftwerk itself.
Working there a couple of years ago sparked the ambition to do something huge and exciting with light in the space. He felt the environment naturally lent itself to being honoured with a work of epic proportions!
SKALAR takes over the giant former turbine hall on the third floor which offers a 100m long by 40m wide performance space, with 25m of headroom.
Almost out of the blue, the opportunity presented itself when Kraftwerk’s event team were in touch to say that the venue was available for the month of February. The short lead time at that point - November - galvanised Christopher into a plan of action and SKALAR was born.
The idea was also to pre
USA - Having previously been involved with putting together the lighting design for James Arthur’s club/theatre tour in early 2017, LD Michael Straun has moved up to lighting the larger arenas for the artist — again using GLP fixtures extensively in his toolkit. He was invited by Meggan McKenzie, creative director of production company, The Live Dept, after previously working with the company on shows with Tinie Tempah and Katy B.
He and McKenzie worked closely to evolve the concept. “She would send me ideas which I would adapt and add lighting elements. We wanted to move away from custom builds so we used different fixtures in different ways to create the stage set,” said Straun. “James was also involved throughout the entire creative process. The key was to make the show look big and impressive - and the wall of JDC1’s did this.”
This is GLP’s new low-profile hybrid strobe. A traditional single tube element, created with LED’s to produce a bright, white output, is combined with a surrounding full face of RGB power, utilising a large array of complementary LED sources. These two elements have independent control and can be used as separate or combined effects. It therefore not only functions as a powerful strobe light, but both the tube and full face sections can be run continuously for high output blinder and wash light effects.
Some 80 heads were supplied by Christie Lites along with GLP’s award-winning X4 Bar 20s, both of which exist in large quantities in the hire company’s inventory.
Michael Straun admits there had
Canada - After over 30 years of service, two ageing consoles at Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology (OIART) were put out to pasture and replaced with two Audient ASP8024 Heritage Edition desks. As part of the facilities’ upgrade, they were chosen not only because they supported the curriculum, but also because they came in at the desired price point.
Head of audio production curriculum, Dean Nelson was pleasantly surprised when he first heard the brand new British consoles. “The first thing that jumped out - and this was the cherry on top - was the tone. I’d read the specs, was aware of the Stereo Bus 990C Mix Amps with the switchable Retro Iron transformers and Dave Dearden’s design history, but hearing is believing.
“The Heritages have a nice clarity and punch, but when you want you can drive the pre’s and it saturates quite nicely; the stereo bus has great headroom as well, it does not cave in. I love tone, but as an educator and learning institution, unfortunately, tone didn’t lead the list for requirements, it was form and function.”
It’s been a term since the consoles’ arrival, and Dean is particularly pleased with the results of MidTerm exams, describing them as “very solid, above average from past years. The Heritages reflect what’s needed for recording and mixing for today’s standards; they’re simple, intuitive and quite flexible.
“The first test run I did after the desk was installed and Studio 2 revamped, was with some great artists: Jenny Berkel & Ryan Boldt of The Deep Dark Woods, ho
Europe - The combination of sound and sight is very evident in Marilyn Manson’s current Heaven Upside Down tour of Europe and North America, both in its music, which opens with a cover of The Doors’ Vietnam-era song The End, and in its richly evocative lightshow that designer Nico Riot controls with his new ChamSys MagicQ MQ500 Stadium console.
“There is a strong theatrical element to a Marilyn Manson show,” said Riot, the co-owner of Nantes, France-based Chirac Design. “We create a moody, immersive look on stage with saturated colours, lots of strobes and blinders, a large abstract cross of lights, and V-shaped configurations on either side of that cross to draw attention to Manson.”
Riot’s 15-universe show also features a variety of up-lighted backdrops. Not surprisingly, given the artist’s iconoclastic nature, Marilyn Manson’s shows are often unscripted. Manson, who comes on stage in a goth-decorated wheel chair (a result of his recent accident), later moves around on crutches, which he occasionally uses to rearrange.
“Busking is perfect for a show like Marilyn Manson,” said the LD. “Manson can change the songs right in the middle of his performance. He can also flip the set-list. This means that I have to be flexible and ready to override my cue list with direct changes from the Programmers Palettes. All the shortcuts available with the MQ500 are quite handy for smooth busking changes during a song.”
For Riot, the Heaven Upside Down tour represents a continuation of his involvement with Cham
UK - As the want of returning sound designers has become more adventurous by the visit, and sound designs and PA systems have grown in complexity, so Manchester’s Royal Exchange theatre has stepped up to match the requirement by expanding its existing TiMax SoundHub to provide an impressive 48 x 48 analogue and MADI inputs/outputs. The upgrade also included a new Digico SD10T main console and QLab over MADI.
TiMax has been integral to the theatre’s sound control for just over two decades and the main productions appearing at the Royal Exchange have long benefitted from the advanced spatial programming that can be achieved effortlessly in TiMax. Head of sound, Sorcha Williams, who oversaw the last upgrade in 2014 to TiMax2 SoundHub, when the theatre’s original system came to its end of life after 16 years, notes that sound designers accompanying productions from elsewhere are amazed by the difference the Exchange is able to engineer. “Though all the settings remain the same, there’s disparity in the detail we’re able to pick out here and play with.”
The extra capabilities of the embellished TiMax system means the theatre can offer its sound designers greater possibilities with the in-house equipment and keep show budget for very specific requirements or building onstage practicals. With the added advantage of MADI, Williams explains, “We have essentially doubled our output capabilities as not only do we have the 48 channels dedicated to TiMax we also have another 56 analogue outputs from the SD rack and a further 8 on the console itself.
UK - With a prime site off London’s Leicester Square, Studio 88 has opened as a new concept in entertainment, billed as “a non-stop, audience requested, live music experience”.
The brainchild of Alan Lorrimer, founder of The House of Song, the venue features a stage that has been equipped with a premium Martin Audio sound system by W1 Productions, using a variety of the company’s components and control.
Every night, two piano vocalists and accompanying musicians form a six-piece band who play a non-stop repertoire of music through the Martin Audio system - decided only by the customers themselves who populate the 350-seat restaurant.
Both W1 Productions MD, Stuart Turvill, and operations manager, Alan Beck, have wide experience in using Martin Audio systems in their various guises, the latter having first encountered the legendary Philishaves and split bins while running FX Music with brother Dave back in the ‘80s.
“I have always been a Martin Audio person, and so it was a no brainer to specify the brand,” said Beck.
Here, the company has designed an ingenious stage system based on the venue’s extremely low ceiling height. Two XD12, mounted horizontally stage left and right, are complemented by four CDD8 in a pelmet line, which project the sound forward towards the main dancefloor. Low frequency extension is provided by three strategically placed Martin Audio S18 bins, and a further CSX112 sub.
W1 Productions had been recommended to the client by a mutual friend, and Stuart Turvill put together the design after vis
UK - A dazzling array of lighting exhibits and artworks brought London to life in January when Lumiere London took to the capital to bring the biggest ever festival of light to the city's streets. Running from the 18-21 January, it showcased London's spectacular and iconic architecture and streets with more than 50 works created by international and local artists. Once again, event organiser Artichoke has worked alongside Unusual – both the services and rigging division – to make the event possible.
Unusual’s Jim Dugan explained: "Lumiere is always an amazing project for us – Unusual has worked with Artichoke on this for some years now –Unusual Services handles the technical production element of Lumiere (this encompasses all technical aspects of an event from power to building permissions and road closures). Unusual Rigging provide the rigging expertise. When we set out this year, one of our main aims was to try and reduce the impact on London's transport system.
“Lumiere London 2018 had an expanded footprint, extending north to south, from Kings Cross, through Fitzrovia, Mayfair and London's West End, to Trafalgar Square, Westminster, Victoria, South Bank and Waterloo. With this in mind, we started very early on with requesting road closures and agreeing plans with Transport for London."
The second biggest challenge of the event was the ability to handle and monitor crowd numbers. During 2016, Unusual had identified various pinch points in the event and so this year brought on board a crowd management specialist to work
USA - Ilusio, Magic on Ice, a riveting spectacular created by and starring Steve Wheeler, has played to millions of people in more than 4,000 performances across the US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
To help light the show when it appeared last fall at The Berglund Centre in Roanoke, Virginia, lighting designer Emiliano Morgia chose Claypaky Sharpys and Sharpy Washes supplied by Lee Hartman & Sons in Roanoke.
24 Sharpys were mounted on four custom trusses built by Wheeler Productions over the show’s ice rink. Ten Sharpy Washes were placed on the floor as back lights.
“Sharpys are unique beams lights. There is nothing in the market that can compete with them – my choice was obvious,” says Morgia. “Claypaky is without doubt my favourite brand in the industry, not only for the high quality of the hardware and the quality of the light beams. Claypaky also offers incredible support worldwide for both technical and sales.”
Morgia recalls being just nine years old the first time he met Claypaky’s Pio Nahum. “When I finally decided to start working in the industry I took Claypaky as my reference and have never had any sort of problem with any of their products,” he says. “I started back in 1990 with Superscans, and I find it remarkable how the company has evolved. Every time I start a new show I think of [Claypaky founder] Pasquale Quadri, who is always present in my heart, since he was a real pioneer in the industry.”
Morgia’s biggest challenge during the show’s design process was “to consider the hug
Nigeria - With an audience estimated at close to three quarters of a million people, The Experience is an inter-denominational gospel concert held annually in Lagos. Convened and hosted by Pastor Paul Adefarasin, the colossal event debuted in December 2006 and is now the largest musical concert in Africa, featuring guest artistes from numerous countries leading the crowd in worship and praise.
Lagos-based CyTech World Communication provided the serious audio infrastructure necessary to deliver speech and music to the vast crowds. Such is the success CyTech have achieved at this unique event that 2017 is actually the fifth consecutive year in which they and their Outline loudspeaker systems have been entrusted with the technical responsibility for reaching every corner of the enormous audience area within the huge 280m × 200m Tafawa-Balewa Square.
A long-standing fan and client of Outline, CyTech’s owner Cyril Utomoibor has in the past deployed numerous Outline products from his inventory for these events including Butterfly, GTO C-12, LAB 21, DBS 18-2, DVS, Doppia, Subtech 218 and others, but for the 2017 event he extended his investment in Outline with the purchase of their flagship GTO system.
Outline’s own Vinnie Perreux was on hand in Lagos in his system technician role and describes how the huge rig was configured.
“I started with the Outline OpenArray1 file containing the system design used in previous years, which I sent to Steve before we flew out and he was happy with it. The 2017 project was designed on OpenArray2 an
South Africa - Two concerts organised by AMP Events at the newly-opened, 10,000-capacity Sun Arena in South African capital Pretoria were chosen to record a live DVD for American rock band LIVE.
LIVE was one of the first bands to tour free South Africa in the mid-1990s after the end of apartheid, and have a loyal and enthusiastic fan base in the country.
The DVD shoot was designed and lit by LIVE’s LD, Synapse Design partner Graham Hicks using nearly 100 Robe fixtures which are part of the house rig. These are looked after by a team from SA production company, MGG, who provide the venue’s in-house technical services.
The two sold-out arena shows were part of the band’s Reunion World Tour, which saw the original line-up back together in 2017 after a lengthy hiatus, and has included a mix of headline dates and high profile festivals like Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, PinkPop and Ottawa Bluesfest, and sharing the stage with acts including Guns ‘n’ Roses, the Foo Fighters, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
These South African shows used a custom, one-off design, Graham explained: “The whole production design, from initial lighting and video plots to final content selection, is something we worked on with the band through the summer. They were great about laying out the elements that were important to them, and the way they wanted the show to feel, both on stage and in the crowd. That gave me a great launching point to draw the show around how the lighting and video need to play together to create that end-result.”
Th
USA - There’s a sense of magic one feels upon entering the century old Ogden Theatre. It’s not just because Harry Houdini appeared there soon after the stately building on Denver’s Colfax Avenue opened its doors in 1917. The transformative aura comes more from some of the special acts that the theatre has hosted over the years, like the two shows that Prince performed in Ma, 2013 (his last in Colorado). Closing his concert by leading the audience through the chorus of “Purple Rain,” the rock great asked, “Does that feel good?” Then answered, “It’s like medicine.”
The healing power of music, along with ample amounts of magic, were in the air at the legendary theatre in late December, when world music collective Nahko and Medicine for the People performed a blend of music that seamlessly wove in elements of jazz, gospel, rock, reggae and other genres. Fitting the vibe of the music was a subtle but colourful and constantly changing lightshow that Alec Szuch controlled with his ChamSys MagicQ MQ100, with an Execute Wing and Extra Wing, supplied by Synaesthesiax.
“Alec is an emerging talent, and we were happy to provide him with this console,” said well-known LD and Synaesthesiax owner Jonezy Lights Jones. “We have owned that MQ100 for five or six years; it’s a durable workhorse. It’s travelled all over North America, Japan, the Philippines and Europe. It’s good to see what Alec is doing with it.”
Szuch, who designed the show in addition to programming it, says that running his console has been a pure pleasure. “Workin
UK - In one of the company’s biggest ever projects in the UK, J&C Joel, helped keep sound in check by installing their acoustic solutions in the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire’s performance spaces.
The £57m facility is an international music and drama academy, which is part of Birmingham City University. It has over 500 students on undergraduate, postgraduate and research programmes, as well as a junior department of over 200 students. In 2015, renowned cellist and conductor Julian Lloyd Webber was named as Principal.
The Conservatoire has moved to a new building adjacent to Millennium Point, where Birmingham City University already has a campus. The new building includes The Concert Hall – a 500-seat concert hall with a large stage, to accommodate a symphony orchestra. Other venues include The Recital Hall with retractable seating, The Lab, a cutting edge, completely flexible black-box studio, and Eastside Jazz Club, the first permanent jazz space in any UK conservatoire
For the multifaceted project J&C Joel provided an array of stage engineering and acoustic solutions for The Concert Hall. This included 24 acoustic concertina banners, rolling beams, moving stage, temporary demountable forestage and an acoustic reflector rigging system.
One of the most important aspects of the job was the acoustic properties in the performance spaces. To improve the acoustics in The Concert Hall, 24 acoustic concertina banners were installed ranging in size from 2.2m wide to 4.5m wide.
The banners were manufactured by the in-house fabri
Namibia - Jazz and soul singer and songwriter Joss Stone visited Namibia for the first time - and for one night only - as part of her on-going Total world tour, making an appearance in the intimate environs of the Warehouse Theatre in vibrant capital Windhoek.
This much anticipated, high-profile and instantly sold-out gig – which saw Stone play a duo set accompanied by acoustic guitarist Leon Michael King – needed to be lit beautifully and appropriately, a task for which the theatre called on the talents and creativity of LD Ramon le Roux of A&R Technologies.
Ramon chose to augment the house rig with Robe moving lights, supplied by Windhoek based rental company dB Audio, and he specified 12 x Robe Spiiders for the main wash fixtures and seven 600E Spots for the hard-edged luminaires, all rigged on the house trusses.
Ramon’s industry career started at the Warehouse Theatre, and he worked there as resident LD and lighting systems tech for around three years before spreading his wings, an experience that means he is well acquainted with what will and won’t work in the space.
For front generic lighting, he utilised three 25-50 profiles and a couple of 2K Fresnels gelled in CTB, which easily covered the space, together with a dozen of the theatre’s LED and conventional PARs. For atmospherics, they also hung a collection of dimmable lightbulbs at varying heights in the roof above the stage
Ramon received a brief from Joss Stone’s production team which included keeping it simple and straightforward, nothing too busy or
USA - The Winter Jam Tour Spectacular, Christian music’s largest annual tour, is travelling the East Coast with a lighting package provided by Bandit Lites. The evening of worship and fellowship features performances and messages from Christian music’s top artists and speakers including Skillet, Kari Jobe, NewSong, Jordan Feliz, John Crist, Nick Hall, KB and Building 429.
Due to the number of acts taking the stage, production manager Jerry Holcomb designed a lighting system that offered plenty of options for various looks, while balancing budget and flexibility. “Because Winter Jam allows each artist full access to the rig, we need to have enough depth and variety to allow for different programming styles,” said Holcomb. “Also, because Winter Jam is seated end stage 360, leaving open sight lines in always a concern.”
Bandit Lites provided more than 200 fixtures for the production, including Martin Atomic 3000 strobes, VL 3500 Washes, GLP X4, GLP X4S, GLP X4 Bar 20 and Chauvet Rogue RH1 Hybrids.
The stage is comprised of several levels and depths, meaning that no matter where someone is seated, they get a good view of the spectacles. GLP X4 Bar 20 fixtures line the upstage edges of every layer, accentuated by more Chauvet Rogue RH1 Hybrids, and depending on the venue, more Hybrids are placed on the upstage concourse, giving another layer of depth.
This year’s design also incorporated audience trusses loaded with GLP X4s, Chauvet Rogue RH1 Hybrids and Martin Atomic 3000 Strobes, bringing the stage look out over the au
USA - Charlie Puth hasn’t had much downtime since the release of his debut album, Nine Track Mind, in early 2016. The breakout pop singer hit a number of major markets for the first time on his most recent North American tour alongside Shawn Mendes, and utilised Adamson Systems Engineering’s E-Series and S-Series loudspeakers.
The tour marked FOH engineer Liam Clifford’s first outing with an Adamson system. He says: “I loved the vocal clarity in the E-Series more so than any other box I’ve mixed on. That’s the most important thing to me, especially when mixing a pop artist. The other big plus is the amount of headroom we had. FOH was often between 140ft and 160ft from the PA every day due to a B-stage located where FOH would typically go. Even at this distance, it felt like the PA was right in front of me.”
The typical configuration on the trek, which hit major arenas in 28 cities in the U.S. and Canada, had main hangs of 15 Adamson E15 three-way, true line source enclosures and three E12 three-way, full range enclosures per side. The complementing left and right sub hangs were each comprised of eight E119 subwoofers. Also, in the air were a pair of side hangs comprised of 12 E15s and three E12s each.
“The single 19-in. subs were new to me, though I really liked the way they coupled with the E15s,” Clifford adds about the E119s. “I had a great low-end response and even coverage from front to back without slamming the first couple of rows with low end.
“We made a great impression on this tour, and a lot of that had
South Africa - DWR Distribution’s initiative SOS Charity Fund helped secure bedside lamps and other lamp fixtures for The Hope School in Westcliff, Johannesburg.
The school provides education for around 200 students - from the age of three to those in grade 12 – with physical disabilities and disadvantaged backgrounds.
Recently a company approached the Hope School to assist them with the refurbishment of the hostel bathrooms. They then took it a step further and generously decided to upgrade the girls’ dormitory with new furniture, bedding and curtains. All that was needed was mattresses and lamps.
The receptionist at the school, Val Rogers, who assists with fundraising, was set to task and sent out e-mails to various companies. She wrote: “Our school tries as best we can and we do have a programme, which enables families with a need. On Fridays, the identified children get food parcels to take home with them. We have a lot of wonderful hardworking therapists at our school who assist the children and the results speak for themselves. That said, our school is nearly a hundred years old and due to this, we have some areas that need assistance. There is a project in progress in our girls’ hostel and I am asking if you could help by sponsoring our school with the possibility of twelve bed lamps.”
It seemed a small request and the SOS were glad to help. As additional dormitories are revamped, the SOS has pledged to supply additional lamp fixtures.
DWR has put out an invitation to the pupils from the Hope School to visit its offi
UK - An investment in a pair of 7,000lmPanasonic projectors has enhanced the University of Birmingham’s drama students’ adaptation of the book Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy.
With the requirement for a projector that could achieve a high level of output to cut through stage lighting plus project onto two different surfaces during performance, the University of Birmingham went to Stage Electrics for guidance.
Stage Electrics’ Paul Lucas liaised with the Universities Drama Department to interpret their requirements. He says: “It became apparent that the department wanted to acquire professional technical equipment that exposes students to the leading brands and technology. They needed projectors that could be used for full performances, delivering a high-quality presentation whilst still being portable enough to move between their various spaces and studios; I knew Panasonic’s PT-DW750 was exactly what the university needed”.
The PT-DW750 has an operating noise of just 30 dB which makes it suitable for noise-critical situations, along with image projection quality, a single chip DLP and 7,000 lm, Stage Electrics knew that this projector would be the tight fit – a choice Phil Speck, a technical tutor and lighting designer of the University of Birmingham’s Drama Department, agreed with.
“As a department, we could not be more pleased with the PT-DW750’s and the variety afforded by the options of control and input,” reports Phil. “Stage Electrics were great in listening to all the requirements we had and provid