USA – Rapper Pitbull’s Can’t Stop Us Now tour has been zigzagging its way around the US with a backdrop of energetic visuals displayed on three vertical LED screens driven by Hippotizer Boreal+ MK2 Media Servers.
Presented by Live Nation, the Cuban-American musician was joined by stars including Iggy Azalea on the tour, which visited states across America and played more than 50 dates. Florida-based YC3 Lighting Design stepped out again with Pitbull for the new tour, delivering creative direction, production design, and lighting and video design.
“Pitbull is a great guy to work with, and he trusts us to create a great lighting and video show every time,” says YC3’s Yamil Charif, who has a longstanding working relationship with Pitbull. “Once I have the set list, the script, I start to create and plan the visual content. And when I have a solid idea of the entire show, I present it and Pitbull gives us his input and we tweak and add.”
YC3 owns a series of Hippotizer Media Servers, including Amba, Nevis, Karst and Boreal models. As the Can’t Stop Us Now tour was content heavy, terrabytes of visual data was created, and Charif used two Hippotizer Boreal+ MK2 Media Servers to organise, manipulate and power the video elements.
“Hippotizer offers a really good MediaManager system, and I have to be very organised with so much content,” says Charif. “I label everything, and this really helps when we go back and forth to update, change and add in content for the show. It really helps with my workflow. Hippotizer’s FlexRes Code

UAE - Over 400 of Elation Professional’s all-weather Proteus lights were used by lighting designer Bruno Poet on the UAE's 51st National Day celebration, a showcase of the nation’s past, present and future that took place at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre in December.
A 108m cylindrical performance stage, lined with LED strips to form a tunnel and featuring portals at each end symbolizing the past and future, served as a dynamic platform for a parade of floats and massive cast of over 3,000 performers. A backstage staging area stretched nearly 2km before parading through the space and out the other end.
Es Devlin returned as co-creative director for the show, working with show producers People Creative. The organising committee of the 51st National Day Celebration was headed by creative executive producer Rawdha Al Qubasi and artistic director Ayesha Hadhir.
As the venue was an open-air environment, lighting fixtures required an IP rating and had to utilise LED technology to align with the show's commitment to sustainability. The lighting was predominantly powered by Elation, including 160 Proteus Lucius and 260 Proteus Maximus LED moving heads, 27 Proteus Rayzor 760 lights, 28 Proteus Rayzor Blade L battens, as well as 24 Elation KL Panels and other lighting elements. Encore supplied the complete lighting setup, including lighting fixtures, network, control, processing, trackers, wireless DMX, and work light.
“I needed outdoor rated fixtures because although the weather is generally good in Abu Dhabi, you just never know,”

Singapore - Orchard Road has added another jewel to its crown in the form of the first and largest Puma flagship store, not just in Singapore, in the whole of Southeast Asia.
Puma chose the Lumos LED display system, designed and developed by UK based Esprit Digital, who together with Singaporean integration specialist PAVE, installed Lumos throughout the flagship store. Puma is the latest in a growing list of retail brands to choose the Lumos system, amongst them Adidas, Armani, Harvey Nichols, Virgin and Westfield for their stores and screen networks.
Colette Hilton, head of retail at Puma UK/IE comments, “The Singapore flagship project was a really important one for Puma, as it is our largest and highest profile location in Southeast Asia. As part of the overall project, we decided to make digital signage an integral part of our marketing strategy, not only to communicate with customers and enhance their in-store experience, but also to attract passers-by into the store. Lumos LEDs delivered on every level – they can be updated live, look stunning, and they create a real vibe.”
James Wilder, sales director at Esprit Digital adds, “The whole Puma experience starts before the consumer even enters the store, with a massive 19m x 2m 5,500nit ‘see-thru’ Lumos LED facing the street. This display blends seamlessly into the architecture of the building and grabs the customer’s attention from across the street, enticing them to cross over and explore the wonderful world of Puma.”
On entering the store, customers are transported into

USA - The sold-out co-headlining Trey Anastasio Band (TAB) and Goose winter 2022 tour played multiple arenas along the north-east coast and was a massive hit with fans, who, not only enjoyed some superlative music, but also witnessed a collaboration between the two artists’ respective lighting designers.
Marc Janowitz (TAB) and Andrew Goedde (Goose) plus their lighting directors / programmers and operators on the road, Patrick Hayes for TAB, and Tony Caporale for Goose, engaged in teamwork and creative synergy to make this happen while utilising Robe moving lights.
The mix of Robe Fortes, Tarrantulas, Spiiders, Spikies and Tetra2 fixtures was supplied by Gateway Studios & Production Services (GSPS), together with all the tour’s lighting equipment.
There was no playback video onstage, but all the shows were streamed, so both band sets were lit for a full live broadcast camera package, as well as for the live audiences.
For expedience and efficiency, some lighting elements were shared but there were also individual aspects to each rig to meet all the various creative requirements. With Goose playing first, their complete floor package and risers had to be struck after their set each night. TAB’s set up and the relevant overhead lighting bars were flown out and in during an impressive lightning-quick 20-minute changeover.
This feat of creative co-operation, production value, and logistical planning was masterminded, coordinated, and supervised on the road by production manager Jesse Sandler.
The 90-minute Goose set, and

USA - Having grown up as musicians, it’s no wonder that George and Geoff Hazelrigg fully immersed themselves in the industry and every new opportunity it provides. Between being two-thirds of the Hazelrigg Brothers jazz trio, manufacturing the D.W. Fearn line of circuits and co-founding Hazelrigg Industries, the duo is familiar with every step of the musical process: from creation to production to performance.
With 30 years of production experience and 15 years of high-definition recording knowledge under their belts, the Hazelrigg brothers are now tackling the newest force to take the music world by storm - immersive audio recording.
For these recording projects, the duo relies on DPA Microphones’ 4006A Omnidirectional Condenser Microphones and accompanying nose cones. “These mics are just so quiet,” explains Geoff. “When we record in DSD, an extremely high-detailed recording format, the DPAs are so quiet and capture the total dynamic. All the little nuances of the room are picked up without having excess noise getting in the way of anything.” George agrees, adding, “the nose cones make the mics absolutely flat from top to bottom. There are no hotspots anywhere in any frequency range. These mics are sort of magical.”
When it comes to tackling an immersive project, George says, “the entire industry is thinking about how to remix tracks to fit an immersive format, but we start from the ground up and build tracks specifically for immersive. The 4006s are the standard of excellence for this.” The duo has implemented this concept f

Europe - Following the recent launch of the Pioneer DJ XPRS2 Series of active loudspeakers, the Pioneer PRO Audio team was in attendance at ISE 2023 in Barcelona to give visitors an up-close, hands-on experience of the new units.
For Pioneer, the show proved an overwhelming success that saw sustained interest in both its commercial audio CM-Series speakers, which were available to examine on the joint Frenexport/Pioneer PRO AUDIO stand, and in the demo room, where XPRS2 was put through its paces under the strap-line ‘Versatile XPRSion’.
Pioneer Pro Audio marketing executive, Federico Sidero comments, “We staged four hours of demos per day in our fully branded demo area, which featured a DJ booth to promote a genuine ‘club’ feel to events. The demos were broken down into half hour slots, all of which were expertly presented by our product specialist David Ferreira, and the vast majority of which attracted a full room.
“We’d expected a good deal of interest in the products, but nothing quite prepared us for the level of attention and subsequent enthusiasm that they received. More than 500 people visited our demos during the week, which was hugely gratifying.”
The demonstrations featured all of the available new models - XPRS102 10” and XPRS122 12” full-range units, and XPRS1152S single 15” and XPRS1182S single 18” subwoofers. All the units were demonstrated individually and in different combinations, with visitors able to experience the four DSP pre-set modes which can be switched between live, music, speech and monitor s

Hungary - The worst band in Hungary! The popular quintet, Republic, has, on occasion, introduce themselves as such, tongue planted firmly in cheek. Anyone familiar with this group knows that this sort of self-deprecating humour, is in keeping with the freewheeling, let’s-not-take-things-(or ourselves)-too seriously attitude that has marked their career.
After 32 years and 30 top-selling albums, Republic remains as bold, adventurous, and irreverent as a newly formed garage band. As their lighting designer, András Praksch, knows the importance of keeping intense, contemporary looks front-and-centre in his shows supporting the band’s blend of traditional Hungarian folk music infused with new electro-rock sounds.
“Republic is legendary, and they’ve been around for over three decades, but they are definitely not ’old school,” he said. “Their sound is always evolving, and so are the looks we create for them. We use LED walls with a lot of break out patterns and pyro for their shows, except when indoors. Instead of going with traditional cues, we try to create a WOW feeling that connects to younger fans.”
The forward-looking attitude was very much in evidence recently when Praksch lit Boros:60, a nationally televised concert at the Budapest Congress Centre to celebrate the 60th birthday of the band’s Csaba Boros. Helping him give the show, which featured the band backed by a 20-piece orchestra, dynamic looks was a collection of 58 Chauvet Professional fixtures supplied by G-Sound Limited.
Praksch positioned his 18 Maverick MK2 Wash

The Netherlands - Toverland theme park in Sevenum faced the challenge of opening its doors outside the standard theme park season for its immersive Winter Feelings experience and successfully turned to Antari snow machines supplied by Highlite International BV to add to the wintery ambiance.
From 26 November to 15 January, the Dutch theme park offered visitors a magical winter wonderland. For their immersive Winter Feelings concept, they aimed to transform the entire – normally tropical-themed – Port Laguna entrance area into a winter-themed world. To meet this challenge, they invested in 14 Antari S-500 L Snow Machines, acquired from Highlite. The Antari S-500 L is a professional, silent snow machine that delivers snow showers to medium and large venues and was therefore perfectly suited to the occasion.
The main activities centred around a large ice-skating rink, providing traditional winter fun for all the family. Set up around a 10m-tall Christmas tree, young and old could be seen enjoying a turn on the ice. The 14 snow machines were scattered throughout the Winter Laguna area and provided much of the winter weather experience with their artificial snow showers.
Toverland added a new element to the Winter Laguna - a curling rink where groups of up to eight people could enjoy a friendly game of curling. There was also a 5m high tubing hill for children and adults to slide down. Food & beverage stalls decorated in appropriate winter style in the area completed the picture.

Mexico - Martin Audio has reorganised its distribution set-up in Mexico, appointing NTX Distribution specifically to handle the installation sector. Equally, sister company Optimal Audio also forms part of the new agreement to supplement the offering specifically towards commercial installation and small to medium multi-zoned venues.
Confirming the appointment, Berenice Gutiérrez, founder and CEO of Proactive LATAM, who represent the two brands in Latin America and the Caribbean, stressed that negotiations had been conducted independently. “The move is highly significant for Martin Audio, as having had only one distribution partner for so long we can now focus on the important fixed installation market via NTX,” she stated. “But each brand has something different to offer and addresses markets not necessarily covered by other products in the NTX portfolio.”
The negotiations began back last summer and were finally concluded at the turn of the year, to take effect from January 2023.
As a result, Proactive LATAM will provide full support and also train NTX’s tech team. “They already have a high level of tech and received further training over the course of the recent ISE Show in Barcelona,” confirms Gutiérrez. “Going forward, tech representatives of both brands will visit from the UK to organise formal certificated courses.”
Promotion of the brands will be via a combination of social networks, mail, showroom demos and training events, trade conventions and one-to-one sessions. Tours are planned throughout the country to train

Spain - Following a successful year, Wharfedale Pro celebrated its extensive network of global distributors at an awards ceremony preceding Integrated Systems Europe 2023. The event was held on 30 January at the Barcelona Experience Centre, a venue created by Wharfedale Pro and their Spanish distributor Kinson specifically for the purpose of demoing Wharfedale Pro gear.
Over 40 Wharfedale Pro distributors attended the event, representing many countries from across the world - a testament to the brand's global reach. This event, complete with keynote speeches from Wharfedale Pro team members, brought together the company’s extensive family of distributors.
“It was rewarding that so many of our distribution partners and friends were able to make the journey to Terrassa and their support was invaluable,” says Wharfedale pro sales director, Simon Godfrey. “The purpose of the event was to bring together our partners, launch our new solutions and gain vital feedback for the future of our brand. Seeing everyone sharing intelligence and ideas was inspiring and hugely beneficial to us here at Wharfedale Pro. I am particularly proud of our team and our good friends from Kinson s.a. who worked so hard to make this event such a success,”
Winners were chosen based on their performance across the past year across four categories of awards: Business Transformation, Customer Focus, Brand Innovation and Top Performing Partner.
The Business Transformation Award was awarded to those partners who had demonstrated transformation and focus in their terr

France - AuviTran has announced that their Audio ToolBox AVB card has received MILAN certification, the first for a bridge device. This ensures compatibility with other AVB/MILAN certified devices and allows users to easily bridge from AVB/MILAN to other audio protocols.
Yves Ansade, AuviTran’s founder and CEO, explains “We’ve been offering AVB solutions for some time and we’re very proud to be part of the Avnu Alliance, and to have received MILAN certification. With many users needing to interface MILAN to other protocols, Dante or MADI for example, our Audio ToolBoxes have become a popular solution.”
AuviTran’s Audio ToolBox card frames are available in three and seven slot versions and can be loaded with cards for multiple audio protocols. Available cards include AVB/MILAN, Dante/AES67, CobraNet, AES/EBU, EtherSound, ADAT, along with a variety of Analog and Digital I/O options. Once configured users can simply matrix signals between protocols, and with the addition of an optional ADSP card they can even sample rate convert between them, for example bridging between a 96kHz AVB/MILAN and 48kHz Dante or MADI.
In addition to bridging between protocols, Audio Toolbox has a new automation function that can manage presets, fallback from one protocol/card to another, loss of clock synchronization, muting or changing signal routing, and other features, all triggered from GPIO contact or scheduled events.

USA - Weekends With Adele, her residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, which comprises a five-month series of weekend-night shows between November 2022 and March of this year, is the next step in a singular career. Presenting Adele in an immersive-audio environment for the first time, and DiGiCo - in the form of two Quantum7 consoles supplied by Brit Row/Clair Global -are there with her to ‘assure a fantastic and flawless show’.
In true Vegas style, it’s a big show, says Dave Bracey, who has worked and toured with Adele for much of the last 10 years, after stints with Depeche Mode and the Cure in the 1990s, and later with Robbie Williams, Björk, Massive Attack, and P!NK, among others. Ten weeks into the weekends-only schedule they haven’t yet had to move out to let the venue be used by another production during their breaks, but he estimates that it will be at least a four-day affair when that time does come. “It’s Vegas, so it has to be more magnificent than the other shows, right?” he says. “The Quantum7 lets me handle it all without a problem.
“It’s so easy to create an elegant workflow on this console, which lets you concentrate fully on the mix,” he says. “I make good use of the Mustard parallel compression I’m using on her vocal and the FET Compressor on the bass, for instance. The Spice Rack also has some very nice tools, such as the dynamic EQ that I apply to her vocal. But what’s amazing is that anything I’m using is with a very light touch; if you were to look, for instance, at the channel EQ on

USA - For the 2023 broadcast of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, lighting designer Lee Rose with supplier PRG selected and deployed a comprehensive range of Martin lighting solutions.
A network television staple since 1972, Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve annually rings in the New Year with a varied roster of performers and guests alongside coverage of the festivities in New York, Los Angeles, and other cities throughout the globe.
The Los Angeles portions of this year’s special were filmed at two locations in Disneyland - Flo’s Diner in California Adventure and the Sleeping Beauty Castle -alongside the usual studio location, this year from Radford Studio Centre. Each location also featured performances by a wide variety of artists including singer Ciara, Halle Bailey of pop duo Chloe x Halle and K-Pop group Tomorrow X Together among others.
Given the multiple filming sites and eclectic artists, Lee Rose knew he needed lighting solutions that not only translated to audiences both in-person and at home, but also accommodated the strict requirements and turnaround times for filming within Disneyland. To meet these requirements, Rose worked with PRG to implement classic Martin fixtures, such as the RUSH PAR 2 Zoom, alongside modern solutions like the new Martin MAC Aura XIP.
“You are really limited in programming time when shooting at Disneyland,” said Rose. “From the park closing time, and the point where guests are cleared, to opening the next morning is around six hours. The other hurdle this year

USA - For Modest Mouse’s recent Lonesome Crowded West Tour, FOH Engineer Peter Thompson utilised Soundcraft audio control solutions.
Founded in Issaquah, Washington by singer/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green and bassist Eric Judy, Modest Mouse is an influential indie rock band. While best known for their crossover hit Float On, the band has built a reputation for experimentation and overhauling their sound across every album, evolving from a post-grunge trio of high schoolers to a five-to-seven-piece band of violins, horns and percussionists.
For long-time fans, however, the band’s sophomore album The Lonesome Crowded West - a ramshackle collection of songs about the struggle for self-understanding in an increasingly urbanized, consumer-driven and chaotic world -remains their definitive work to this day.
To celebrate the album’s 25th anniversary, Modest Mouse embarked on the Lonesome Crowded West Tour in late 2022. Performing as a four-piece for the first time in over a decade, the band played the 1997 album in its entirety and in order, along with an encore of older fan favourites.
Given the band’s back-to-basics approach compared to their recent tours, the live sound in turn required a simple yet reliable setup to ensure a balanced and impactful mix for every show. To meet these requirements, Thompson enlisted a Soundcraft Vi7000 digital mixing console with a Vi Stagebox and Realtime Rack Core.
“Modest Mouse was a seven-piece during my first run with them last summer,” said Thompson. “This Lon

USA - Special Event Services (SES) has significantly expanded its Ayrton lighting inventory with additional purchases of Domino LT, Bora S, and Khamsin fixtures and further committed to the product line with large first-time investments in Perseo Beam, Diablo, and Zonda 9 FX lights. ACT Entertainment is the exclusive distributor of Ayrton products in North America.
Headquartered in Mocksville, North Carolina, SES offers audio, lighting, design, video, staging, and live event production to a wide array of clients. The company has closely watched the growth of LED technology and set a goal of getting its lighting inventory as close to 100 percent LED as possible. While SES offers LED fixtures from several different manufacturers it has kept an eye on Ayrton and its new LED offerings.
“Ayrton became very attractive to us because, within one company, small to large size LED fixtures were available with features that fit several needs,” says lighting designer Jeff Cranfill, one of the founding partners and vice president of SES. “We realised that our earlier model of purchasing fixtures involved buying from many different manufacturers based on requests we received from various lighting designs. Now we can find what we need for most designs from the complete Ayrton product line.”
“During the COVID shutdown, Michael Brammer and I had time to closely analyse our inventory of LED and arc fixtures from various companies. We concluded that most of them could be substituted with a fixture from the Ayrton line. So, we decided to set a goal of making t

USA - Beyoncé was not the only one who broke records at the 65th annual Grammy Awards that took place last week in Los Angeles. Austrian Audio mics have been a staple at previous Grammy Awards, but this year they broke their own record. Twelve OC818s and 12 CC8s mics were used on stage, primarily to record the drum kits for the performing acts that night.
Michael Abbott, the chief engineer and sound designer of the Grammy Awards, has been relying on Austrian Audio quality for years. He and his team of engineers have always been impressed on how the hand-made mics from Vienna cover the drums. In such a widely broadcast event, quality and reliability are key.
Handmade in Vienna, the OC818 is a multi-pattern dual-output condenser microphone equipped with a world’s first: optional wireless control, while its sibling – the OC18, is a cardioid pattern precision microphone. Its unique design and outstanding sonics, combined with new wireless control technologies offering highly optimized workflows, have garnered the OC818 five-star reviews from all over the world.
The CC8 small diaphragm microphone excels thanks to Austrian Audio’s OCC7 condenser capsule. It can handle extremely high sound pressure levels of up to 156 dB without distorting. Combined with a very low self-noise of only 16 dB SPL (A), this results in an exceptional dynamic range. The CC8 sounds natural and open and never becomes harsh or spiky, even at extreme volumes. The mids and highs are silky smooth and never exaggerated.

UK - Recently, White Light was approached by BATS (Brantham Amateur Theatrical Society) who wanted to invest in a series lighting fixtures; both for their upcoming production of Guys and Dolls as well as all future productions.
The history of BATS dates back to 1972 when a drama subcommittee of the Community Council known as the Brantham Community Council Drama Group staged their first production. Ever since, it has regularly put on shows; all of them taking place at the Brantham Village Community Hall. The first show to be staged this year was Guys and Dolls, on which John Hoskyns was the musical director.
He comments: “Alongside my role as MD, whenever I’m working on a show, I always find myself becoming involved with the technical elements. Initially, this was just sound (alongside being a local GP, I also used to run a sound hire and sales company). Over the years, this saw me invest in a much-needed sound system for the venue. Over the past couple of years though, I’ve also realised that the lighting required updating; given that the fixtures were all tungsten and the desk at least twenty years old”.
Following his recent retirement as GP, John then decided to take the step and upgrade the lighting set-up. He comments: “I was fortunate enough to receive quite a good pension pay out, so thought I could spend some of it on updating the lighting. It was around this time we were also about to start rehearsals for Guys and Dolls.
John started to reach out to various companies and visited the PLASA Show at Olymp

Germany - Starting from the middle of the year, Neumann&Müller Veranstaltungstechnik will be NürnbergMesse's new service partner for rigging and safety-related wire suspension systems.
Exhibitors and their service providers will benefit from the N&M trade fair team's many years of expertise as well as from numerous innovative services. Furthermore, trade fair clients will be able to take advantage of the fact that N&M will be able to provide the entire spectrum of media equipment needed to make a success of a trade fair appearance at the new location.

World - Genelec is marking its 45th anniversary this year by launching the Genelec 45 World Tour, which celebrates ‘truthful sound and the passion that powers it’. The extensive tour combines demonstrations of Genelec studio monitors with a programme of learning and listening experiences, complemented by a major global music collaboration.
Central to the tour is the Genelec | Experience series of premium events, which includes face-to-face listening sessions at Genelec’s growing international network of Experience Centres, complemented by hybrid and virtual events, regional partner events and traditional trade shows. The Genelec | Experience will not only provide an opportunity for customers to audition Genelec’s studio monitors, but will also allow customers to learn about and experience a wide range of Genelec stereo and immersive loudspeaker systems in a controlled, critical listening environment.
For those that can’t attend the Genelec | Experience in person, Genelec will also be making full use of its digital channels throughout 2023 to deliver a programme of online masterclasses, tutorials, webinars and informal knowledge-sharing sessions, while the new Genelec Virtual Showroom allows customers across the Professional Audio Monitoring, AV Installation and Home Audio segments to instantly access valuable Genelec information and resources. Additionally, the Create With Genelec loan campaign will be run in selected territories to allow audio professionals, creatives and music educators to experience Genelec technology in the comfort of their

Denmark - ETP is a large full technical production – lighting audio, rigging, staging and roofing systems, seating and grandstands– rental company based in greater Copenhagen, which started its lighting department in 2010 with 20 moving light fixtures.
There are now over 230 x Robe fixtures alone in the rental fleet, plus numerous other lights, with the most recent purchase being 34 x Fortes, acquired for the busy record-breaking 2022 summer touring and festival season.
The lighting department is headed by Emil Finsen and Sune Verdier. Emil joined as a student in 2010, and Sune, a well-known lighting designer in his own right, joined the ETP team full time in 2019. In addition to designing most of ETP’s in-house lighting projects, he continues to work on design projects for other clients.
“We wanted a large, bright LED moving light that could also be used outdoors for festivals and summer tours,” stated Emil.
Their previous experiences with Robe’s DL4S and DL7S in the theatre had all been great in that environment, but they needed something seriously bright that would also cover concerts and gigs. Last summer 32 x Robe Esprites joined the rental stock which were out all the time, but to service the unprecedented number of festivals and live events during summer 2022, they needed something even brighter.
Any substantial purchases in the lighting department are 50% driven by external demand including rider specifications, and the other 50% by what are deemed to be the best options for ETP’s own shows.
Sune, Emil and

USA - First Baptist Church Woodstock (FBCW) is no stranger to major undertakings. Spanning three centuries, the church’s current 16,000-member congregation worship in a 7,500-seat worship centre in its 435,000sq.ft building on an 80-acre campus in the North Georgia town of Woodstock twice each Sunday.
Last year, FBCW notably became the site of the world’s largest permanent installation of L-ISA immersive sound technology, which is paired with DiGiCo Quantum338 consoles at front of house and monitors. Now, the church has embraced immersive mixing in the house and in the ears with its December addition of a DMI-KLANG module, supplied by the church’s integration partner, Diversified.
FBCW’s monitoring landscape is certainly an ambitious one. Every Sunday, there are two completely distinct worship experiences. The first, starting at 9:30am, is choir-driven with a sizable individually mic’d front line backed by a full band and orchestra. After the conclusion of that service, a second 11:00am service begins that is band-driven with a completely different set of songs, musicians, and vocalists.
Nick Geiger, account executive, worship environments at Diversified, says the move into immersive sound for FBCW’s stage monitoring came about as part of the same conversation that saw the immersive audio move with the PA. “With so many different audio sources, the need to expand the sound field to hear more distinction between the different voices and instruments is critically important. It was also equally important to maintain the high audio fidelit

Australia - Melbourne Catholic secondary college St Peter’s recently opened a new performing arts centre, designed by international theatre consultancy Schuler Shook. Located alongside its Clyde North campus in the south-east of the city, the Geode Centre features a full complement of pro-level AV technology solutions designed and integrated by local supplier/installer Factory Sound, including a Nexo Geo M12 line array system.
Working closely with St Peter’s College, the team at Factory Sound were brought in early within the design process to evolve a technical fitout which would serve the school’s intentions for the space whilst ensuring budgets were always under consideration. Working directly for the school over the 18 months prior to construction meant many of the pitfalls which can occur when tech is considered ‘just another trade’ were avoided entirely. Factory Sound AV installer and programmer Phil Rowbotham takes up the story.
“The brief was for a high-spec, fully controllable professional grade theatre that would be simple and easy to use for non-technical operators like teachers running their own presentations, without losing any of the complexity that somebody using a full spec theatre would expect.
“The Nexo system was specifically chosen for its ability to suit every purpose that the room requires – intelligibility for speech and school-based functions like assemblies, right through to the full dynamic range that you would expect with a high-dynamic rock band on stage. It really does tick all the boxes.”
The sys

USA - Just outside the bustling Houston metropolis lies St. Mary Magdalene Catholic church. The church was established in 1912 and would hold Mass in the homes of its parishioners until a sanctuary was built and consecrated in 1915. Now home to a thriving congregation, St. Mary Magdalene conducts seven worship services each weekend, and its sanctuary supports up to 1200 people.
Stained glass windows depicting the 14 Stations of the Cross flank the sides, while an altar featuring an ornate carving of the Last Supper dominates the dais. The high-peaked, wood-panelled ceiling and other hard surfaces combined with an underpowered audio system resulted in low speech intelligibility, making it difficult for churchgoers to understand the worship service. Steerable loudspeaker arrays from Renkus-Heinz were installed in the church to improve intelligibility and enhance worship experiences for the congregation.
Church leaders approached Shawn Mullins, founder and CEO of Covenant Communications, to redesign the audio system. An AV integration company with over 20 years of experience specialising in houses of worship, Covenant Communications has 35 employees in Houston and San Antonio and has worked with Renkus-Heinz since the company’s inception.
When specifying the audio upgrade St. Mary Magdalene needed, Mullins recommended Renkus-Heinz’s ICLive X Series of steerable arrays to meet the church's goals of even coverage and high intelligibility. The ICLive X Series provides complete customization of room coverage through individually steerable beams, and th

Germany - The cabaret-style Cologne Stunksitzung is the original father of the ‘alternative carnival session’ and the largest format of its kind. From 7 December 2022 to 21 February 2023, 46 Stunksitzungen took place at the E-Werk venue, including a TV broadcast on the WDR channel.
The lighting technology for the Stunksitzungen was once again provided by the Cologne-based event and media technology service provider al-media. Together with lighting designer Jojo Tillmann, the team relied almost exclusively on Cameo spotlights.
The al-media firm has been active as a technical service provider for the Stunksitzungen for many years and is located in the immediate vicinity of the famous E-Werk and Palladium venues. In 2021 and 2022, al-media owner André Lyrmann invested in a broad Cameo portfolio ranging from Zenit W600 washlights to Opus SP-5 profile moving heads and Opus H5 beam moving heads, to F-Series LED Fresnel spotlights. After the 2021/22 stunt sessions were cancelled due to the Corona situation at the time, the spotlights finally came into play.
A total of 15 Opus SP5 profile moving heads serve as front light, back light and for gobo use; the Evos W3s are used as lighting for the live band and as side and effect lights. The Elferrat, placed on a gallery above the stage, is illuminated from behind by four compact F1 T Fresnel spotlights with Tungsten LEDs and additionally staged with eight F2 T PO (rod-operated), which are simultaneously intended for various individual positions and offer even more power than the F1 T with their 12,500 lm l