UK - Martin Audio has joined forces with Belair Technology and The Bug Club to entertain visitors to PLASA Focus Leeds. The eco-friendly VW Pop-Up DJ Booth will be stationed in the courtyard between the two halls at the Royal Armouries between the 9 and 10 May to demonstrate what can be achieved with the latest in sustainable festival technology.
Already proving to be a popular option for events across the UK, the fibreglass-built vehicle is 30% larger than a standard VW Camper and is designed to be a ‘festival friendly’ DJ booth. The custom-built Martin Audio sound system runs entirely on renewables thanks to Belair’s rack mounted Power Tower. The Power Tower is a clean and modern rechargeable battery-powered replacement for noisy and polluting generators and with its easy-to-use operation combined with silent running and zero emissions delivers the perfect ‘off-grid’ solution.
The sound system that Martin Audio custom-built for The Bug Club is capable of entertaining crowds of up to 500 people. It comprises two 15” 3-way high performance loudspeakers, each pole-mounted to a double 15” direct radiating subwoofer. Amplification for the system is via Martin Audio’s highly efficient yet powerful iKON 81.
“We’re excited to support the live industry and showcase how live sound events can become more sustainable in the future,” said Justin Rushmore, managing director of The Bug Club. “Our Unplugged Bug has been well-received everywhere it has been, from tradeshows to football matches and we’re looking forward to proving what sus

The Netherlands - Impressive visuals from over 200 Infinity fixtures contributed to the success of the Soenda Indoor Werkspoorkathedraal 2022 in Utrecht.
Elevation Events teamed up with T.Y.S Productions and Stagelight to create an unforgettable night at the Soenda Indoor Werkspoorkathedraal 2022, where over 6000 electronic music lovers made their way to the Werkspoorkathedraal location in Utrecht to enjoy their favourite music and dance the night away.
Fitting the industrial look of the venue and Soenda’s signature theme of minimalist geometric shapes, light designer Lars Aarts of T.Y.S Productions created a customised design of five large geometric truss squares that housed 180 Infinity iB-2R moving heads supplied by Stagelight. With their fat beam and long focal length, the iB-2Rs provided exactly the features required for the intended lighting design.
For lighting the DJ booth, two powerful Infinity Furion S601 Profiles were used as side lights. To accentuate the industrial characteristics of the venue, a further 28 Infinity Furion S401 Spot moving heads were chosen for their deep colours and beautiful gobos with razor-sharp images.
The number of moving heads posed a challenge for the two light operators, but the sheer number of possibilities to create the most remarkable dynamic effects and jaw-dropping depth perceptions made it all worthwhile. By timing the lights, huge, dizzyingly fast-moving tunnel effects could be created as well, all the way from the stage to the back of the hall.

USA - St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church has shown itself to be much more than simply a house of worship over its 87-year history. In that time, it has steadfastly combined worship with social-justice pursuits; for instance, it was the first black church in Dayton, Ohio to provide facilities for a civil rights meeting, as well as the first black church in the city to have its own radio broadcast.
To keep the focus on both its spiritual and social missions, and to continue its efforts to use the best technology available to reach beyond the church’s walls, St. Luke’s staff recently chose to install a dozen elektraLite Stingray Profile Warm White spot fixtures in its 900-seat sanctuary, the centrepiece of a 26,000sq.ft worship facility that also includes a 300-seat Fellowship Hall and ten educational rooms.
The move was meant to further improve the visual aesthetic of the space for the church’s online presence, which began as part of its COVID response, as well as to help make the interior brighter and more inviting for the 1,000-plus member congregation worshiping there.
Dayton-based integrator Eagle Eye Design installed the elektraLite fixtures, along with a 12-button pre-set controller that lets the church pick its lighting levels reliably and easily. The new Stingray Profile Warm Whites are the vanguard of a more extensive lighting and technology upgrade, says Eagle Eye owner Tom Sellars, who also installed three remote-robotic cameras as part of this first phase of the upgrade.
“We led with lighting because how the church looks onl

Europe - Jimmy Olausson of Illumity AB, Avatar’s lighting designer, has made it his mission to contribute to create visuals that accent every moment of the band’s performance, from their dramatic romps and leaps to their fierce drumbeats and fiery guitar riffs.
Helping him achieve this fusion on the band’s European tour are 38 Chauvet Professional fixtures owned by the band, including 16 Rogue R2X Washes, 10 Rogue R2 Beams and 12 COLORado Q40 Panels.
“Our set on this tour is two-hours long, which provides ample room for creativity,” says Olausson. “This set is unique in our touring history because we incorporated more theatrical elements, which provided us with another way to engage and captivate our audience. This show was timecoded. A big reason why is that this allowed me to focus more on the dynamics of the lighting, so I could create a tighter bond between each song and the light show.”
Olausson relied on specific light angles, well-timed atmospherics and an intricate, ever-changing balance between brightness and shadows to reflect his client’s powerful theatrical performance. “In my view, dynamic lighting encompasses more than just the intensity of the lights,” he said. “It also involves the direction, movement, and colors of the lights. I always strive for a balance between darkness and illumination, considering what is not immediately visible.
“One of my preferred techniques for creating high contrast looks is to use my lighting rig statically from various angles and directions,” continues Olausson. “By po

Thailand - Opened in 2022, Andamanda Phuket is currently one of the largest leisure and entertainment destinations in Thailand. Incorporating the Andaman Islands’ natural geography and landscapes into its design, the park features numerous family-friendly attractions including a 16,000sq.m wave pool, 300m white sand beach, and Thailand’s longest lazy river ride.
To enhance the visitor experience across the park’s many attractions, Proud Real Estate Public Company Limited required a high-quality audio and visual system that was seamless, user-friendly, and built to withstand the area’s wet and humid conditions. Mahajak Development Co met those requirements with a carefully curated selection of reliable, water-resistant AV solutions by JBL Professional, BSS and Soundcraft.
The new AV system covers all five key areas in the park: the Pearl Palace, the Emerald Forest, Naga Jungle, the Great Andaman Bay, and Coral World. The Pearl Palace not only welcomes visitors to the park, but it also houses the central computer system that channels music and announcements throughout the park.
To optimise the computer’s performance and usability, the Mahajak team installed a BSS BLU-USB link interface to connect the computer to a BSS BLU-100 signal processor for seamless playback and effortless sound configuration. Additionally, a BSS EC-4BV Ethernet controller allows for individual volume control in each zone using an easy-to-use interface design.
For the audio component, JBL Control 14C/T four-inch coaxial ceiling loudspeakers supplied the indoor

USA - The DALI Alliance, the industry organisation for DALI lighting control, will present two seminars at LightFair 2023, a trade show and conference for architectural and commercial lighting, which takes place in New York on 23-25 May.
The seminars will focus on two important areas in lighting control: smart lighting with D4i-enabled luminaires, and the benefits of the Zhaga-D4i ecosystem. The DALI Alliance will also be present on Booth 2162 in the LightFair exhibition and will give a live demonstration of data analytics using Zhaga-D4i luminaires and control devices.
On Wednesday 24 May from 5pm-6pm, the DALI Alliance will deliver a seminar on state-of-the-art, energy-efficient lighting control systems with D4i-enabled luminaires. As part of IES Live on Booth 1974, the seminar will be presented by three industry experts: Kevin Fitzmaurice, principal engineer of lighting and smart services at Georgia Power; Sree Venkit, system architect for connected lighting at Signify; and Nate Mitten, vice president of property standards at Kimco Realty.
The DALI Alliance will also give a joint seminar with the Zhaga Consortium on standardised lighting and control interfaces for indoor and outdoor luminaires, on Tuesday 23 May from 10.30-11.30am. This seminar will explain how the combination of Zhaga and D4i delivers plug-and-play options to the lighting world.

USA - Bandit Lites provided lighting for Elle King’s A-Freakin’-Men Tour presented by Slow & Low, which played to sold-out audiences across the country.
Shelley Rodgers, lead designer and CEO of Tribe inc and Bruce Rodgers crafted the set design for the nearly 30-city tour with two large-scale E and K letters and silver grand drapes as the focal point of the design. LD Craig Richter provided the lighting design.
“They added a nice element to break up the stage and gave a more dimensional look to the stage rather than just having her name on a backdrop,” said Bandit LD Craig Richter who programmed the lighting.
King provided an overview of the vibe she wanted for the show, choosing to keep her band tight with her onstage, emulating the small club roots she came up with.
“I went about programming this show with simplicity and dark moody vibes in mind,” said Richter. “We kept things somewhat dark and gritty; dark colours, simple dimmer chases, very little physical movement of fixtures, colour effects and things like that.”
Bandit supplied Mega-Lite Circa Scoops which allowed Richter to get multiple looks out of one static fixture due to their outer LED ring, inner LED ring and the scoop glow.
“I could get modern colour looks and effects along with a nice tungsten glow when needed as well, without the need of a conventional fixture,” he explained.

USA - Last September, Westminster College, a private liberal arts school in Salt Lake City, inaugurated Florence J. Gillmor Hall, a modern facility equipped with modern instruction, rehearsal, and performance spaces for the school’s music, dance, and theatre programmes.
Elation lighting has been integrated into the hall’s dance studio and performance space, a package that includes Fuze Profile, Rayzor 760 and Seven Batten 14 luminaires, along with the first U.S. installation of the company’s innovative KL Profile FC ellipsoidal fixture.
Florence J. Gillmor Hall is a 26,000sq.ft expansion of the college’s Jewett Centre for the Performing Arts and the Emma Eccles Jones Conservatory. Besides the Beverley Taylor Sorensen and Joan Taylor Fenton Performance Studio, the recent expansion added practice rooms, a theatre rehearsal space, a choir rehearsal room, and a 93-seat recital hall.
The performance studio, which can seat approximately 120 audience members, offers an intimate atmosphere suitable for showcasing various types of dance performances. Spencer Brown, who has been affiliated with the school since 1998, has served as a full-time technical director for the past 13 years. He has also been the resident lighting designer for the college, lighting numerous shows and occasionally teaching classes as an adjunct professor. Spencer has extensive knowledge of dance lighting, gained from 10 years as production manager and resident designer for the Trisha Brown Dance Company in New York, where he also had the opportunity to collaborate with Barysh

UK - Conceived in 2005 to bring leading fashion brands and emerging designers to discerning customers in the North-East of England, END is now “a leading fashion, sneaker and design destination” with retail stores in Newcastle, London, Glasgow and Milan. The brand recently opened a flagship store in Manchester, with an audio system designed, installed and commissioned by Tyne and Wear-based Blaydon Communications.
Requiring an audio solution that fitted with END’s distinctive brand aesthetics, Blaydon specified a speaker system from Audio Pro Business that, in Blaydon MD Paul Dougherty’s words, “sounded superb, looked even better and would help create an in-store ambience to encourage customers to stay longer”.
“END, as with other retailers, need complete control of their brand. They want to ensure safe music is played into the store with no profanities and the genre of music must be in line with brand and customer demographic. To achieve this, the client provided a small audio streaming unit that would provide a music feed to the store, once in store, we would take over and distribute that as required.
“Although the same music was required throughout the store, zoning was still required to ensure a good balance of audio volume levels were maintained. The zones for this project were ground floor retail space, first floor retail space, and changing areas.”
The APB system included 12 SP-1 wireless speakers, 9 SP-3 2-way bass reflex speakers, four subs (both 8” and 6.5” versions) and two SPW-5 ceiling/wall-mount speakers, al

USA - Speaking about his work as lighting director and programmer for the 10th annual iHeartRadio Music Awards, Felix Peralta observed: “it’s all about the art.” His lighting design at the Dolby Theatre animated the entire room right up to its balcony railings.
Marked by dazzling pixel effects, bold aerials, and rich, immersive washes, the programme’s lighting pulled millions of television viewers, as well as those in the live audience, into the mood of the music. This began with the work of lighting designer Allen Branton, a master at creating rigs that convey a concert vibe on the TV screen.
“Allen is a great designer, editor, and collaborator,” said Peralta. “Early in the design phase, we had a series of discussions on the philosophical approach we wanted to take with his design. After that, we had regular meetings to go over the plot, and confirm that everyone was happy with fixtures placements and such. His vast experience is always priceless throughout the process.”
As one of the lighting directors and programmers for the event Peralta and the rest of the lighting team turned Branton’s vision into a versatile lightshow that reflected the styles and personalities of a wide range of artists. The nationally televised and globally streamed programme featured an array of acts, beginning with Icon Award recipient Pink opening the programme with an acrobatic performance of her hit Trustfall, followed by Keith Urban’s Las Vegas show-inspired appearance, as well as music from host Lenny Kravitz, Kelly Clarkston, Pat Benatar,

USA - On Saturday, 13 February 1960, after being denied service at the dining counter of Nashville’s Woolworth store, a group of students began a non-violent movement to challenge the decades-old practice of enforced segregation. They seated themselves at the counter and refused to leave until they were served. The resulting violent backlash, as well as the ensuing national and international media coverage, helped reinforce the nascent equal-rights movement.
Today, the building is a registered historic site, part of the Fifth Avenue Historic District in Nashville, for its role in the Civil Rights struggle. In 2021, country music artist Chuck Wicks and partners 615 Ventures and investor and entrepreneur Rob Bellenfant acquired the historic Woolworth building and converted it into an event venue and theatre with a capacity of over 750.
The central hub for the venue’s audio is a DiGiCo SD12T console optimised for theatrical applications, as well as a D-Rack and DMI-Waves card, all purchased through the Brentwood, Tennessee office of S&L Integrated, and installed by them in what is now known as the Woolworth Theatre.
“We chose the SD12T because it can handle theatrical and music production equally well,” states Hayden Chipley, technical director and FOH engineer for the Woolworth Theatre. “It was important that we had a desk that could do both, with plenty of worksurface area, and yet also have a compact form factor and footprint to maximize the available space without compromising power and features.”
The venue has been hosting it

USA - Chris Tomlin, ‘America’s Worship Leader’, as worship-music website The Christian Beat called him, recently returned to Nashville’s 20,000-seat Bridgestone Arena for his seventh annual Good Friday Nashville concert benefiting foster care and adoption crises through For Others, a non-profit foundation created by Tomlin and his wife, Lauren.
Since its inception in 2017, the event has become a record-setting evening, smashing attendance records as the largest ticketed Christian concert in the history of the venue. This year, on 7 April, the Grammy Award and multiple Dove Award winning artist and his band were joined onstage by a number of special guests, including CeCe Winans, Blessing Offor, and Bethel Music’s Jenn Johnson, plus New York Times best-selling author/pastor Max Lucado, who shared a poignant message for the evening.
Good Friday Nashville fell near the middle of Tomlin’s latest musical trek, The Stories of Worship Tour, which began on 23 February in San Antonio, Texas and crossed the finish line 26 shows later on 23 April in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Aside from the artist’s songs and personal stories, what also characterized all of these shows was sound mixed through DiGiCo Quantum consoles, supplied by Spectrum Sound, with engineer Jeff Sandstrom manning a DiGiCo Quantum338 desk at front of house.
Monitor mixing for the Good Friday event was handled by Joseph Mirakovits on a Quantum7, while for the tour, monitors were mixed on a second Quantum338 by Meredith Empie, a Belmont University audio engineering-technology g

France - Bordeaux is the site of the world’s largest wine museum, La Cité du Vin. Covering over 65,000sq.m and featuring four zones of virtual-interactive exhibition space, the museum is a celebration of wine, not just varieties of the Bordeaux region, but wines from all over the world, and every era of history. For example, in one exhibit, visitors can take an aerial journey over vineyards across the globe.
Enhancing the experience of visitors to La Cité du Vin is a recently upgraded lighting system of the auditorium designed and installed by Audio Pro from Mérignac (a city in the Bordeaux suburbs) that features a collection of Chauvet Professional Ovation and Rogue projectors.
“Our creative brief for this project was to replace the existing halogen projectors with more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly LED products,” said Philippe Chassereau, sales & purchasing manager of Audio Pro. “We wanted to reinforce the existing lighting with LED pars and LED projectors.”
After evaluating a variety of different options for a period of six weeks, the specialists at Audio Pro along with the technical team from La Cité du Vin, led by the museum’s general manager Sylvain Lafforgue, selected six Ovation E-910FC colour-mixing ellipsoidals with 15/30° lenses, as well as four high-output 300-watt Rogue R3 Spot moving projectors.
Speaking of the Ovation and Rogue projectors, Chassereau noted, “The Ovation series corresponds perfectly to the replacement needs of the traditional halogen sources at the museum, hence its choice

UAE - MNK Studios supports artists and musicians looking to hone their talents in a professional studio environment. Initially, plans called for building multiple recording studios, but the focus shifted to constructing multiple live rooms for rehearsals and other activities in addition to two recording studios, all catering to artists as well as production companies and corporate clients. Flexibility in the audio system was a priority to maximize studio usage, which is why MNK built its system using Dante-enabled products.
“I went with Dante because I wanted to route audio signals for our various requirements seamlessly,” said Miltiadis Kyvernitis, founder and engineer-in-chief of MNK Studios. “Quite frankly, it was the best decision I made for the facility.”
The facility's primary goals were to have acoustically isolated rooms designed for superior live instrument performances and the best-sounding rooms for recording. While the live rooms primarily serve as rehearsal spaces, they’re often also used for podcasts and video shoots. Two rehearsal rooms, Studio M and Studio S, are each 320sq.ft in size, with sound attenuation of approximately -55 dB.
The main live room of the facility, Studio B, is 700sq.ft and connected to both control rooms via Dante. With sound attenuation at around -65 dB, Studio B also serves as a multipurpose room, with in-room stereo and multitrack recording abilities, ADR for film, music rehearsals, video shoots, and podcasts.
Up to 24 audio channels (expandable) are transmitted bidirectionally between Studio

USA - When audiences tune into the Minnesota Orchestra’s Digital Concert Hall or social media channels to hear the Orchestra’s livestreams and digital concerts, they’re treated to a sonic spectacular - an immersive rendering of the performance’s mix that puts every listener using earbuds or headphones virtually at the conductor’s podium.
Utilising KLANG:technologies’ immersive software solution developed to allow musicians on stage to very naturally hear themselves through their in-ear monitors in a realistic three-dimensional soundstage, the Orchestra’s audio team has now essentially extended that experience to anyone, anywhere, with earbuds or headphones.
“We did this the first time in September of 2020 as a proof of concept of spatial audio for the digital audiences, and we could see that it was something special,” says Minnesota Orchestra head audio engineer Jay Perlman. “KLANG's immersive processors were originally designed for musicians that wear in-ear monitors to give them a sense of location on stage and derives its 3D imaging by encoding binaural processing directly to the stereo signal. We are using it differently to give audiences an immersive experience instead.”
Perlman sets up the immersive mix perspective on the venue’s DiGiCo Quantum338 front-of-house console using its virtual soundcheck feature, recording to Reaper multitrack software, and rehearsing along with the orchestra three times during the week before each performance, which offers him the opportunity to fine-tune the mix and placement of instruments

USA - A total of 2.48m guests turned out at NRG Stadium for The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, over half of them (1.36m) paid to attend the live concerts it offered by stars ranging from Jason Aldean and Brad Paisley, to The Chainsmokers and New Kids on the Block. Then there were also the 2.8m carnival riders, and some 215,000 Barbeque contest guests.
Lighting this massive and diverse affair was a tall order; and it was one that the LD Systems production services team met with help from a versatile and powerful rig that featured hundreds of Chauvet Professional fixtures, from the COLORado 3 Solo units that highlighted the iconic rodeo announcer’s booth, to the 66 STRIKE 1 blinders that filled the massive stadium concert venue with crowd-engaging audience lighting.
“Our goal was to have a lot of flexibility from day to day without sacrificing output,” said LD Systems Nate Brittain, the lighting and technical director of RodeoHouston. “Having to programme 20 different acts in 20 straight days presents a lot of challenges; one of them is to keep the looks fresh and unique for the show each day. So, having a versatile toolkit of fixtures is critical. Output is also important here because it is a stadium, so our throws are further than normal. Also, there are seemingly acres of video wall all over the place creating a lot of light pollution. IMAG throughout the stadium and all over the rodeo site as a whole is also critical for this event, so we always focus on these issues when choosing fixtures.”
Having a well-chosen collection of fixtures

Australia - Equitana is a four-day equine extravaganza staged every two years at Melbourne Showground, celebrating the spirit and passion of Australian equestrians and the integral place that horses play in Australian hearts, minds, history, culture, and society.
The last such event was in 2018 as the 2020 one was canned due to Covid, so this year, organisers GTR Events brought it back bigger, better, and more brilliant than before!
Lighting designer and technical producer for the event Marcus Pugh specified Robe Esprites and MegaPointes as primary moving lights on his lighting scheme for the 2022 Mane Event, an entertainment spectacle staged on the Mane Stage of the Grand Pavilion venue.
This all-action night for all horse lovers showcased multiple horse-based and related skills and featured numerous breeds and equine performers!
The Mane Event was presented by Australian horseman Guy McLean, known for his magnetic wit and charismatic personality as well as his almost supernatural connection with horses which delighted the 4,260-capacity sold-out audience for Mane Event.
Marcus also lit this show in 2018 but in a different venue. The Grand Pavilion is a large 89ft high six-pole ‘big top’ style tensile membrane structure which is the Showgrounds’ centrepiece. In this case, a 70 x 30m sand arena was created inside to accommodate all the horse activities.
Rigging – with six poles – is a major challenge and creativity is a must, so Marcus and the team from Melbourne based rental specialist Harry the Hirer Productions, who

Hungary - Szigliget Theatre, located in the central city of Szolnok, has recently opted for TiMax SoundHub spatialisation with TiMax TrackerD4 precision stagetracking to dynamically enhance the audio experience for the audience at every seat in the house. Hungarian TiMax specialists Votec recommended the solution to achieve vocal clarity across the entire auditorium where previously up to a third of the audience had struggled to hear clearly.
As well as providing full saturation audio immersion through a small number of unobtrusive loudspeaker positions, the versatile TiMax SoundHub spatialisation platform also provides playback and adds 3D sound effects capabilities.
TiMax TrackerD4 actor tracking enables the individual voices on stage to be not only heard clearly but perceived from exact positioning on the stage, which confers a deeper level of context to the audience. The theatre opted for a package of twelve TTd4 Tags, so that groups of singers and soloists can be ‘tracked’ and spatialised by TiMax SoundHub to match the performance, along with static spatial imaging for the orchestra.
Distributed above the stage and around the auditorium, a network of five TiMax TrackerD4 Sensors with inherent overlap redundancy provides reliable and responsive 3D tracking of the miniature TTd4 Tags easily secreted in the actors’ costumes.
As part of a wider audio upgrade carried out by Votec, an Allen & Heath desk also triggers cues in TiMax which in turn outputs to a total of 12 Powersoft amplifiers controlling loudspeakers from Votec’s propr

South Africa - Bethel Music, one of the foremost names in the contemporary worship movement in the US, recently headed to South Africa for a two-night concert series. Alongside a much-anticipated appearance in Pretoria, Bethel Music led an evening of song and praise with the Henry Pike Worship Band at Meerendal Wine Estate, Cape Town.
The event, organised by Tygerberg Radio, required a powerful sound system, capable of achieving sufficient coverage across a crowd of up to 17,000 fans in an open-air setting. A full d&b system provided by Cape Town-based Golden Circle Events was chosen to meet the technical requirements of the bands.
“A great deal of kit is required for a production of this size, including audio, backline, lighting, video and power supply,” explains Golden Circle general manager Lindsay Barton. “We worked closely with several other technical companies to organise the event, whilst loudspeakers were sourced by us, C&S Audio and Ultra Events. d&b’s compact V-Series line array system was chosen for its versatility and transparency of sound.”
On the day of the event, heavy rains made for a challenging set-up environment. Despite the conditions, a powerful system was deployed including 48 flown V-Series line array loudspeakers, 16 flown V-Series V-SUB subwoofers,12 B22 subs in a cardioid sub array, 4 V7Ps as front-fill and 12 Q1s, all driven by d&b’s D80 and D12 amplifiers.
“Getting the subs to spread wide enough and to project all the way to the back at the same time was initially challenging, but with

World - Depeche Mode are back touring in a big way with their Momento Mori world tour with lighting design by Jason Baeri and lighting supply by 4Wall. Elation lighting features in Baeri’s design, including three fixtures from the award-winning Artiste series of LED movers - Monet, Mondrian and Rembrandt - along with Elation’s new Proteus Rayzor Blade.
The Momento Mori tour, which is out in support of their newly released album of the same name, kicked off on 23 March in Sacramento, California, marking their first tour in five years. The European leg begins 16 May in Amsterdam with a North American fall leg set to launch in September. Baeri has support from Joe Bay, who serves as associate lighting designer and lighting programmer, while Sarah Parker is out operating the show as lighting director.
His first outing with Depeche Mode, the designer says talks with the band began in late October of 2022 and by mid-December a preliminary design was completed, which later saw small refinements. The tour features a ft-tall M backdrop, a large structural piece running video that Jason says was one of the most important aspects of the design. Dutch artist and longtime Depeche Mode photographer/videographer Anton Corbijn came up with the basic concept, which Baeri helped flush out and turn into a physical product for the production design.
The M has a dual role as Baeri explains. “It’s designed to be a scenic piece rather than just a video screen so it has depth and weight. So when you play video across both the main screen and the M, you have two p

Ireland - Dublin's National Concert Hall is a renowned and prestigious venue that showcases a diverse range of musical performances, from the National Symphony Orchestra and Choir to up-and-coming artists.
In an effort to enhance the experience for both performers and audiences, the Concert Hall partnered with Cine-Electric to revamp its lighting system. Prolights was chosen to provide a stunning visual display for all who attended.
Illuminating the National Concert Hall posed several challenges and finding the right fixture was a priority.
A.C. Entertainment Technologies Ireland provided demo fixtures of the Prolights EclProfile FW TU that were tested on-site for an extended period. This ensured they met the Concert Hall's requirements.
The fixtures were chosen for their high lumen output, quality of whites (3200K) and a high CRI >98 that provides more natural light for musicians to read sheet music. In addition, the silent operation makes the fixtures perfect for use during rehearsals and performances.
After approval from the Concert Hall, AC-ET Ireland supplied 30 Prolights EclProfile FW TU fixtures to Cine-Electric. The fixtures came with a 15°-30° PRL zoom lens and custom-length DMX cables.
The National Concert Hall is dedicated to enhancing the overall experience for both performers and audiences alike. Collaborating with Cine-Electric and AC-ET Ireland, the Concert Hall has taken a significant step towards achieving this goal. The recent upgrade of the lighting package is just one aspect of a larger initiative to mainta

Belgium - Since recent reviews of the Nerdland Festival in Wachtebeke, building on the enthusiasm of nerds of all ages, were universally positive, it was decided a spectacular show at the Lotto Arena in Antwerp would be next.
Featuring captivating presentations on scientific wonders, and a captivating visual spectacle, the Nerdland for Small Nerds show provided entertainment for young and old alike. A significant contribution to the visual aspect of the show was the vivid and dynamic lighting design by Yann Windey that made use of 68 Chauvet Professional fixtures supplied by Splendit.
“For the past few years, I have been closely involved creatively and technically with projects by Working Class Heroes, so this was a project I looked forward to working on,” said Windey, owner of WNDY. “The hosts of the session in the Lotto Arena, Lieven Scheire and Hetty Helsmoortel, bring a great deal of energy and genuine enthusiasm to the program, so we tried to reflect that attitude in our lighting.
“Pre-made content was created for the LED screens, so it was essential that we matched them in terms of colours and overall look,” continued Windey. “We found that a mix of warm and cool palettes, combined with different accent colours worked best, taking into consideration practical considerations as well. For example, the ‘football robots’ could not function properly under overly bright blue or red light. We had to balance the lighting carefully to meet the technical requirements of the equipment. No one wanted to see the robot featured in the event

UK - When Projects Department were contracted to kit out a studio at The Bartlett School of Architecture, at UCL in Here East in Stratford, East London, they turned to Doughty Engineering to provide its Studio Rail. The room, which will be used by students for motion capture, required a solution for mounting cameras as well as curtains for both privacy and to aid with acoustic absorption.
Peter Daffarn, director Projects Department said: “In 2020 we supplied and installed a similar system at another UCL site. For projects like these our preferred supplier is Doughty as we know we can get any bespoke items made and the sales team are invaluable in listening to what we need and then suggesting alternatives that might work better. For a job like this, the products have to be high quality and operate to a high standard."
To complete the job, Projects Department specified some made-to-order IWBs as well as the Studio Rail. Studio Rail is a light and extremely strong track system with several unique features. A pair of four-wheel double swivel carriages allows an adjustable moving rail to be mounted to a pair of fixed parallel rails. The six-wheel carriage with a 28 mm receiver has a SWL of a massive 100 kg. Fitted with a friction brake it stays where it’s put. It can be used for luminaires, monitors, pantographs, and drapes.
Peter concluded: “Doughty is our go to supplier for grip and suspension because we know they will always give the customer the best end result. The product range is diverse and there is always a solution to any challenges we fa

Thailand - Mahajak Development Co collaborated with Harman Professional Solutions to outfit Grande Centre Point Space Pattaya with comprehensive audio and lighting solutions by JBL Professional, Soundcraft, dbx, Martin, BSS, AMX and Crown.
Located in the seaside city of Chonburi, Grande Centre Point Space Pattaya is Thailand’s first space-themed five-star hotel. The hotel offers a wide range of facilities that combine outer-space-inspired design and innovative amenities, including a 12,000sq.m intergalactic water park—the largest of its kind in the country.
To support the guest experiences with the latest technology, hotel owners turned to Mahajak Development Co to bring their vision to life. Mahajak worked closely with Harman Professional Solutions to outfit the complex with a comprehensive audio and lighting installation.
The Space Convention Centre required versatile AV solutions that could support a variety of functions and room configurations. Mahajak installed JBL Control 18C/T, Control 14C/T and Control 19CS ceiling speakers to provide balanced and even coverage throughout the modular meeting spaces. The team also included Soundcraft Si Impact digital audio consoles, JBL BRX308-LA line array speakers and BRX325SP subwoofers to be used as the main PA and mixing system for events requiring concert-style presentations.
Additionally, the team included JBL PRX Series portable speakers and subwoofers for maximum flexibility when organizing spontaneous events in miscellaneous locations. For the lighting component, Mahajak equipped the spa