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“Afrikaans is Groot” powered by DiGiCo
24/02/2025
ChamSys powers Those Damn Crows arena debut
13/02/2025
Claypaky Sharpy X Frames illuminate first World Taekwondo Virtual Championships in Singapore
11/02/2025
Masque Sound brings Adam Fisher’s vision to life for Broadway revival of “Sunset Boulevard”
06/02/2025
Nearly 500 Martin Audio speakers help bring Tulleys Farm Christmas Light Festival to life
08/01/2025
Esteban Tosta lights Maluma with Elation
06/01/2025
Level 42’s FOH engineer relies on DiGiCo consoles
Mark Clements has been touring with Level 42 for over 23 years. For the last sixteen, he has been using DiGiCo consoles provided by Neal Allen, CEO of Merlin PA Hire. For the band’s 2024 touring dates, Allen joined the tour mixing monitors, with Clements at the front-of-house position.
The year began with the pair using a Quantum 225 at front-of-house and an SD10-24 for monitors. Towards the end of the year, they swapped to a Quantum 338 at front-of-house, and a Quantum 326 at monitors for the London O2 Indigo shows. 2025 will see the Quantum 338 changing to a Quantum 225 for the overseas shows to fit the slimmed down logistics package. “I love the Quantum 225 and 338”, says Clements. “We have 48 inputs from stage and for most of these I find the onboard vintage compressors and dynamic EQ are particularly useful.”
Last year was a hugely successful year for Level 42, with dates played across Europe and the UK. When the time came to upgrade the front-of-house console, Allen was grateful to the team at Core Pro Audio for ensuring that a console could be prepped and delivered in record-quick time. “I’ve worked with Mark on and off for over a decade, so when Level 42 needed some help, I offered”, says Allen.
“For the last three or four tours, we’ve supplied everything on the audio side”, he continues. “I purchase my DiGiCos from Core Audio and the team there have been fantastic. They made sure we had the serial number for our new console a good few weeks before it was scheduled to be delivered, so we could complete the touring Carnet.” Allen has continued to invest in DiGiCo consoles, adding the Fourier Transform.Engine to the kit list for the 2024 shows.
“The guys in Level 42 are some of the most precise and knowledgeable musicians I have ever worked with”, adds Allen. “They know what they like, and they can hear the difference immediately if anything changes, so the sound must be spot on. When we go out to Europe, we just take what we need for the stage-end of things. It all needs to fit in a long wheelbase transit, so every piece of equipment has to earn its place on the van, and the compact size of the SD10-24 has been perfect.”
(Photos: DiGiCo)
“Afrikaans is Groot” powered by DiGiCo
For three weeks in November, Time Square’s 8,500-capacity SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa, is home to “Afrikaans is Groot”, a series of performances devoted to Afrikaans music and culture. 2023 was the first outing with DiGiCo Quantum consoles and in 2024 the audio team increased their capacity with a Quantum 338 and Quantum 326 Pulse at front-of-house and Quantum 338 at the monitor position.
2024 was Afrikaans is Groot’s biggest year yet, boasting nine shows over two weekends, with over 70,000 people enjoying the spectacular cultural experience. Kyle Freemantle is Head of Audio for the production and has overseen the growth over the last decade. DiGiCo continues to be Afrikaans is Groot’s console of choice.
“DiGiCo consoles are at the top of my list because of their flexibility regarding Optocore networks and their ease programming”, says Freemantle. “We are running an additional Dante network for all the radio-microphones and playback lines. In total, we have just shy of 128 inputs across both the Optocore and Dante networks. All these inputs are fed via copy-audio and Dante to a pair of MADI/Dante bridges, which feed two MADI recorders for our main recording. There is a backup recording, which is fed by the MADI outputs on the RMIO units to a DiGiGrid MGB to accommodate all 128 channels.”
Freemantle uses Fourier and DiGiGrid MBG for all external processing. Klang is in use for in-ear-monitoring, enabling a consistent environment for the many performers featured during the concerts. “Fourier runs all the effects and multiband compressors on the masters”, says Freemantle. “It’s been great being able to use the Valhalla reverbs. The fact that its Dante I/O ties into our existing large Dante network makes load-in time much faster. The need for third-party gear has also drastically reduced.”
The shows combine musical performances from a whole host of Afrikaans musicians, but they also reflect the cultural richness of the Afrikaans community, combining spoken word performances in a Variety-style. This style of performance can mean a busy time for monitor engineers, but as Gert Watson found out, having Klang and DiGiCo on your team can make all the difference.
“With a variety show like this one, where all the artists join each other on stage to perform a single number, I have countless button presses on the console for each song”, says Monitor Engineer Gert Watson. “I was really surprised by how seamless the DiGiCo/Klang integration is. Using Klang on the artists aux sends did not affect my workflow or speed at all; it was so smooth that I almost never had to take my hands off the surface to fiddle with a laptop because everything was right there on the console.”
Paulo Azevedo is a producer and Executive label manager for Coleske Artists PTY, promoters and producers of the concerts. His understanding of his label’s artists makes him well placed to mix front of house. The show is so complex that there are two FOH engineers, with Azevedo mixing the vocals and Murray Lubbe looking after the band, tracks and additional instruments.
“Afrikaans music is vocal forward, so we need to have the acoustic space to ensure the vocals can be managed effectively”, says Azevedo. “There are some really quick cues in the group numbers, with people entering and exiting in quick succession. This is a unique performance, with a full range of emotions for the audience, from excitement and comedy to nostalgia and legacy.”
The show is staged in a variety format, with a full house-band that is adapted for each performance, with drums, bass guitars and keyboards being added or removed as needed. There are backing vocalists and sixteen lead vocalists, who may also be playing acoustic guitar, all using radio-microphones and in ear monitors.
“Because the show is so big, the audio team have three full days to rehearse”, says Azevedo. “We keep most channels in isolate throughout rehearsals and sound-check, then once the performance has settled, we start recording Snapshots. The rehearsal days are full on before we even hit the first show, but it gives us the time to programme everything nicely.”
Azevedo’s Quantum 326 Pulse is programmed to change Snapshots via timecode, so when there are big group numbers, that could have up to thirty triggers during a song, it is all taken care of automatically by the console.
Günther Müller, Project Manager for the show, supplied the 326, adding the console to MGG’s inventory just in time for the festival, maintaining their position as Africa’s largest stockist of DiGiCo consoles.
(Photos: Kief Kreativ/Ruben Roos Photography/Quintin van der Merwe)
Painting With Light helps Clouseau look vibrant at 40 with Chauvet Professional
“Clouseau 40”, the year-long tour throughout Benelux that celebrated Belgian band Clouseau’s forty years of making music, featured 137 Chauvet Professional fixtures, supplied by Ampli, on the rig. Lighting design was by Luc Peumans, head of Painting With Light (PWL).
Peumans had started with Clouseau back in 1995 on the “Oker Tour” as a light tech and became the duo’s lighting and production designer in 2001. Since that time, he has worked on all Clouseau tours and Sportpaleis shows. Peumans took on a somewhat different role in the “Clouseau 40” tour, handing the role of touring designer and programmer to Jeroen Opsteyn from PWL, so he could focus his attention exclusively on the stage and lighting designs.
Framing the band in a jewel box of coloured light, the design was creating multi-dimensional looks in a variety of venues regardless of their size. “Our set was highly adaptable in size, an essential feature for Clouseau’s long-running tours, as they strive to bring fresh, innovative elements to each show by incorporating new technologies”, says Peumans. “With the tour appearing in venues and festivals of varying sizes, this flexibility was key to preserving the show’s unique identity. The lighting setup featured a range of fixtures to create dynamic effects.”
Twenty-four Strike Bolt 1C units were used as strobe and colour accent lights. While the Strike Bolts created eye-popping looks, a group of 41 Colorado PXL Curve 12 motorized units created a variety of pixel mapped effects. The titling battens were arranged in three lines - one on the back truss and two on the floor.
Also featured on the rig were 48 Maverick Storm 1 Hybrid fixtures, which served as spotlights for beam and effect lighting that connected the band to the audience. Adding more power to the rig were 24 Strike Array 2C units, which served as blinders and also provided colour accents.
Given the wide range of venues on the 30-city tour, including festivals, the lighting setup was created for flexibility and adaptability. Custom-built dollies helped make load-ins as quick as possible. The setup also included a back truss that could be assembled behind the backdrop for festival performances.
(Photos: Picturesk/Frank Lambrechts)
Europalco’s automated solutions selected for Renault Group convention
Europalco successfully executed the Renault Group Convention, hosted at the MH Atlantic Hotel in Peniche, Portugal. In close partnership with agency Prestígio for Brands, the convention brought together around 300 participants for two distinct programs, a press presentation and an internal meeting, under the unifying theme “Shaping the Future Together”.
Europalco, celebrating its 28th anniversary this year, provided a comprehensive range of production services during the event. The company delivered AV solutions, provided furniture, executed a stage design, and implemented automation systems. A central feature of the production was the display setup. Secondary screens complemented the main mobile screens, each a Ledwall P3,9 with dimensions of 6 m by 4 m.
The highlight of the Renault Group Convention was the stage entrance. Europalco created an immersive experience by implementing Ledwall panels with automated horizontal movement that opened to reveal the speakers and the stars of the convention, the Renault models. This portal of light and technology brought dynamism and surprise, capturing attention during every presentation. The video processing and show control were managed through the Analogway Pulse 2 system.
Another notable visual element was the integration of automated features. The event showcased horizontal movement rails and robotic lighting provided by the Ayrton Zonda 3 FX. These elements enhanced the visual appeal of the stage.
Additionally, Europalco managed the carpentry flooring and installed cut-pile carpeting to complete the setup. The chosen furniture reinforced the event’s sophisticated atmosphere. Europalco selected the DSW chairs and Totem Ledwall elements for their seamless integration with the overall layout. These pieces and custom carpentry work created a balanced environment for media presentation needs and internal discussions.
Every event presents its challenges. For this convention, the cart unloading coincided with the Ledwall’s opening, which stood out. The team overcame this potential disruption through careful planning and on-site problem-solving, maintaining an uninterrupted schedule throughout the event. A total of 22 Europalco professionals ensured the event ran smoothly on-site. They completed the assembly in two days.
“I want to thank Prestígio for Brands for their trust and for including us in such an outstanding show”, says Pedro Magalhães, CEO of Europalco. “This year, we also furthered our commitment to innovation by investing in automation, particularly by introducing new rotating stages that we will soon unveil.”
(Photos: Europalco/Renault Group)
One-Source chooses XTA and Funktion-One for Tipper live shows
British electronic music composer and producer Tipper played his first theatre events since before the pandemic at the Orion Amphitheatre in Huntsville, Alabama. Philadelphia’s One-Source Productions provided the audio for the shows.
Joe Adkins, One-Source owner and CEO, deployed a Funktion-One system comprising 20 x Funktion-One Vero for mains, 12 x F124 and 12 x F221 subwoofers, and Funktion-One Evo for in-fills and out-fills. One-Source Productions has been delivering sound for Tipper for almost decade.
One-Source powered the Funktion-One Vero at the Orion shows with amplifiers by UK manufacturer XTA, pairing the company’s DPA and DNA series amplifiers with the Vero system for the first time. “We’ve had a lot of success using the new XTA amplifiers alongside our Funktion-One Evolution 7 system, so for these shows it seemed like a natural progression to integrate them with our larger Funktion-One Vero system”, says Adkins. “We’ve long been fans of AudioCore as it allows us to quickly set up and deploy our systems - crucial for the demanding nature of live events.”
For the main Vero hangs One-Source used a combination of 2 x XTA DPA100 and 1 x DNA per side, with the F124 and F221 subs powered by a combination of DNA120 and DPA100 units, respectively.
2025 is shaping up to be another busy year for One-Source with many festivals already booked. The weekend of July 4th will see them once again hooking up with Tipper and Friends at The Gorge amphitheatre in Washington for another outdoor spectacular.
(Photos: One-Source Productions/XTA)
Dieter Thomas Kuhn auf Tour mit Remote-Follow-System von Follow-Me
Schlager-Unikat Dieter Thomas Kuhn, die „bekannteste Föhnwelle der Gute-Laune Welt“, war auch 2024 wieder auf Deutschland-Tournee: Von Mai bis August standen vierzehn Termine im Rahmen der „Das Festival der Liebe“-Tour auf dem Programm.
Fichtner Tontechnik aus Tübingen betreute die Tournee als technischer Dienstleister und setzte erstmalig ein Follow-Me-3D-Two-Remote-Follow-System ein, um Kuhn auf der Bühne zu folgen. Das System sei zwar initial für diese Tour angeschafft worden, doch Thomas Junger von Fichtner Tontechnik betrachtet „Remote-Systeme als langfristig unersetzlich im Touring-Geschäft“.
Die vorherige Kuhn-Tournee, im Jahr 2023, habe man noch mit einem anderen Verfolgersystem absolviert, sich aufgrund der Produkteigenschaften des Follow-Me-Systems aber schließlich dazu entschieden, für die Tour 2024 einen anderen Weg zu gehen: „In erster Linie ist da die freie Scheinwerferwahl zu nennen, die natürlich ein Riesenvorteil ist“, erklärt Junger. „Darüber hinaus ist Follow-Me flexibler, schneller einsetzbar und kompakter als alternative Lösungen. Die Systemkalibrierung ist gleichzeitig genauer.“
Das Lichtdesign der Tour stammte von Marc Lorenz. Fichtner Tontechnik stellte mit Mario Daszenies (1. Tourblock) und Ulli Schneider (2. Tourblock) auch die Follow-Me-Systemtechniker. Am Lichtpult stand Ottmar „Funzel“ Michalk.
(Fotos: Fichtner Tontechnik/LMP Lichttechnik)
DiGiCo Quantum 338 console of choice for Diljit Dosanjh world tour
Indian singer/actor Diljit Dosanjh’s “Dil-Luminati” world tour utilised DiGiCo Quantum 338 consoles at the front of house and monitor positions, supplied by Solotech Group for the UK and European leg of the tour, complete with DMI-Klang immersive in ear monitoring. Engineers Kenny Narayan and Ranjeet Singh have toured with Dosanjh for many years, and both of them have extensive DiGiCo experience.
“The show was very heavy on Snapshots and MIDI recalls. Dilijit is very active on social media, so we used a lot of busses, too”, says Narayan. “The console really meets our needs. There are often TV news cameras, or social media teams that need feeds, so having the MADI streams at the desk to hit their recording platforms, rather than needing an additional rack, makes it seamless.” Singh adds: “Overall, there were no more than 56 channels in use at the monitor desk. We used timecode for tracks and have additional monitor mixes for video, broadcast mixes and recordings.”
Both consoles were connected via Optocore, enabling additional send and return channels in addition to simplifying system integration. It is a set-up that works well for the pair, as Singh continues: “For this tour, it had to be DiGiCo. There are many features that we appreciate, especially the chat function, which makes it easy to communicate during the show; the SPL regularly went above 108 dB, so it was essential”, he says. “Spice Rack and Mustard worked well, too, especially the DiGiTube valve amp emulator, which means we didn’t have to rely on external processing racks.”
Another feature available directly via the console is the DMI-Klang card. This fully integrated expansion card gave Singh access to the Klang immersive in-ear mixes, delivering a full 360 degree immersive experience for the artists. “DMI-Klang is the first choice for our monitor mixes”, furthers Singh. “The whole band uses the immersive settings, and we had thirteen mixes in total.”
The record-breaking “Dil-Luminati” tour sold out three nights in London’s O2 in a matter of minutes, making it the fastest selling, highest grossing run of shows for a Punjabi artist in the venue’s history. The tour closed the year in India with sold-out shows across the country.
(Photos: DiGiCo)
Richard Wookie Whitley Engages Fans on Cody Johnson Leather Deluxe Tour
The 19,000-seat Enterprise Center, home of the St. Louis Blues hockey team, is widely regarded as a state-of-the-art facility. Indeed, Pollstar has consistently ranked it as one of the top drawing concert arenas in the USA. But on Friday January 24, a headline in the local St. Louis Post Dispatch newspaper declared that the sleek downtown showplace had been "transformed into a honky-tonk."
Such is the infectious feel-good power of Cody Johnson's brand of country music. The multi-platinum CMA award-winning singer is continuing to work this kind of magic at arenas throughout North America, Australia and the UK, between now and the end of the summer on his Leather Deluxe Tour.
Moving right along with Johnson's lively music and charismatic stage persona, while enhancing the goodtime atmosphere, is a high-energy Richard "Wookie" Whitley lighting design, complete with bold fast-moving aerial effects, a compelling video wall backdrop, and (of course) a generous helping of immersive audience lighting that makes it easy for the crowd to join the party.
Helping Wookie with the latter are 34 Strike Array fixtures from Chauvet Professional, which, like the rest of the rig, are supplied by Bandit Lites. Included in this mix are 10 Strike Array 4 blinders on the DS truss, and 24- Strike Array 2 units on the trusses above the stage. The intense output Strike fixtures are flown on an impressively high rig that has a trim of 48-50 feet, depending on the venue, then works its way down in 4-foot increments as it approaches upstage.
"On this tour, we are running our aerial package with the truss flipped," said Wookie. "This gives our spot and profile fixtures clearance while also providing perfect positions for the Strike Arrays. This way they can live in the truss without being removed or moved around, so we save a lot of time with the ins and outs. Also, Cody likes to see the crowd while talking to them and creating moments for all. I wanted to make sure that it was possible for him to do that this year all the way around the room. The Strike Arrays also have given me some really cool marquee style effects that everyone is enjoying."
Speaking of the rig's relatively high trim, Wookie noted that its height makes it easier to incorporate a video wall, which is new to the show this year. "We are using a video wall for different backdrop looks and a few surprises, so we needed to get the rig higher in the air than we had in the past," he explained. "We also wanted to make this rig look huge without taking up a lot of space -- perception is everything this year!"
Although his lighting is creating a festive atmosphere at every venue, Wookie has been dead serious about exploring every nuance of light and color to make his show more effective. For example, he is still "using and loving saturated colors," but has been dabbling in lighter shades as well. "I wanted to get out of my comfort zone this year and it has been a great decision," he said. "Just constantly mixing and figuring out what works or feels right has been quite an adventure and given me some great brain workouts."
Not surprisingly, Wookie has also made sure to reflect the personal elements of every song with distinctive lighting looks. "From lighting one of the band members for a special intro, to accenting a drum break down, or making a solo stand out, we want to support each moment in a unique way," he said, adding that fans will never "see or hear the same thing twice" in the set. By bringing his thoughtful approach to this tour, this designer is ensuring that everyone at this honky-tonk party is having an even better time.
Setlist
That's Texas
Me And My Kind
Dance Her Home
How Do You Sleep At Night?
With You I Am
Dear Rodeo
Nothin' On You
Take It Like A Man
Human
Georgia Peaches
The Fall
People In The Back
I’m Gonna Love You (with Carrie Underwood)
God Bless America (Irving Berlin)
Made In The USA
Dirt Cheap
The Painter
'Til You Can't
Long Haired Country Boy (Charlie Daniels Band)
Travelin' Soldier (The Chicks)
FragmentNine and JAW Studio choose Robe for Hikaru Utada tour design
Creative studio FragmentNine (F9), led by Jeremy Lechterman, was asked by creative director/production designer Jason Ardizzone-West of JAW Studio to collaborate on the lighting elements of a production design for J-pop singer/songwriter Hikaru Utada’s 2024 tour, as the artist returned to live performance after a six-year hiatus for an extensive tour of Japan and Asia, supporting the new album project “Science Fiction”.
The lighting design included large amounts of Robe fixtures including 81 x Esprites, 72 x MegaPointes, 26 x TetraXs and three Robe BMFL Wash Beam EVs running on a 3-way RoboSpot system, all supplied in Japan by lighting vendor Kyoritz. Ardizzone-West’s initial discussions with the artist started a year prior to the tour. “We talked about wormholes, portals, Kubrick’s monoliths, Emma McEvoy’s sand dune photographs, and how we wanted to challenge the expectations and perceptions of how a J-Pop arena concert should look and feel”, he explains.
Their goal was to imagine an operatic-like space that was both familiar and alien, ancient and modern, “a mysterious landscape that is initially a sleeping machine - a portal to another level of consciousness which is slowly awakened by the energy of the audience activated by Utada’s music.” From this alien desert landscape, nine large monolithic sculptures emerged to assist a highly imaginative journey. These were built with a skin of Roe Vanish 8S LED video tiles and internally lit and juxtaposed with three luminous plinths on which the musicians were positioned.
Lechterman and Ardizzone-West have been wanting to work together for some time, and this presented a perfect opportunity. Together with video designer Jackson Gallagher of F9, they pooled ideas and forged creative mixed-media treatments that worked harmoniously, transforming the space into a series of emotionally charged environmental settings unique to each song. A major challenge for lighting was capturing and integrating the scale of the 100 ft wide landscape design, and another starting point was that 75 percent of the lighting fixtures needed to be floor-based to ensure the integrity and impact of the scenography.
The Robe Esprites and MegaPointes constituted all the spot and beam fixtures on the plot. The Esprites were deployed in two long lines, one below the stage at the back, similar to a horizon, with another row above the main upstage video wall, with the balance deployed on the overhead rig. They were used to assist in creating shadows against the monolith video sculptures, and to help push and radiate the energy and movement of the video content that was also at the core of the design.
“The nature and precision of the scenography required the artists to be lit very specifically, to enhance the spatiality of Jason’s original concept”, says Lechterman who has been using MegaPointes since the fixture was launched in 2017. For Hikaru Utada, they were rigged in the over-stage grid and used for pulling visuals away from the floor and adding height and layers of complexity to the design.
The BMFL EVs on the RoboSpots were used in rear and two high side positions for key lighting and low lighting as there was no front lighting on the show apart from in the B-stage area. “The goal of lighting was to always try to enhance but not overpower”, underlines Lechterman. “We had this gorgeous landscape and content for this show, so for light to be reinforcing those choices was a decision we made collectively.”
Lechterman’s team included lighting programmer Erin Anderson and associate designers Sydney Asselin and Alex Talbot. F9’s project manager was Rob Kuhn. Kyoritz’s head of lighting was Tomokazu Takahashi, and the lighting Interpreter was Michiko Rowson.
The collaboration between JAW Studio and F9 was so productive that they have subsequently announced a new joint project - “Loudbox”, a live entertainment design collective that aims to blur the lines between concerts, theater, and architecture through creative direction, production, lighting, and video design.
(Photos: Jason Ardizzone-West/Jeremy Lechterman)
ChamSys powers Those Damn Crows arena debut
Fresh off their successful EU tour, Welch rockers Those Damn Crows were back home to play their first ever UK headline show on December 14, 2024, at Cardiff’s Utilita Arena. The show’s lighting design by Gary Sharpe of Creative Productions Solutions was run by Adam McNally of Stage 11 Productions.
They specified a collection of ChamSys products: the MagicQ MQ500M+ Stadium console at FOH, with a MQ500M back up, and a Magic Q MQ250M Stadium Console for side of stage SFX, along with GN10 and GN5 for network.
“This was the band’s first arena show, and we wanted to make it very special”, says Sharpe. “Adam did a marvelous job as did Damo Hartshorn, our SFX Operator. We were also greatly aided by Zig Zag Lighting Ltd., our main lighting provider. Neil Hunt (owner/founder of ZZ) went above and beyond with all the changes.”
“ChamSys made things go smoothly for all of us”, continues Sharpe. “I first encountered the console on cruise ships, but then picked it back up in 2018 and since then I like to have ChamSys on all my shows. As a very hands-on PM, I like to understand how the programming is coming along. Also, I like to be able to set up calls with the ChamSys technical support team.”
Half of the show at Cardiff was timecoded. For the half that was not, McNally used the Cue Stack feature on his console with busking elements included, so the show still had a “live feel”. For McNally, who has been a ChamSys user since the start of his career, the Cardiff show represented a new experience. “This show was run solely on Group Cues”, he says. “All effects were group cued. This was the first time I had ever worked that way.”
The new Countdown Timer feature in the Cue Stack variables was especially appreciated by McNally in this show. “We greatly depended on the Cue Stack’s countdown timer functionality, to monitor the amount of flame fluid/smoke fluid that had been used during the show”, he says.
Much of the time during the show the SFX was timecoded. However, there were points when these effects were trigged manually for some songs. This made it necessary to have a precise and accurate reading on how much fluid was left in the machines. “The Countdown Timer was essential at those moments”, McNally concludes.
(Photos: Jason Bulpin/Beyond The Noise Photography)
GLP Creos feiert Debüt auf Christmas Light Trails in UK
Die Christmas Light Trails in Großbritannien gewinnen seit der Corona-Pandemie immer mehr an Bedeutung. In diesem Winter boten sie zudem die ideale Gelegenheit für das Debüt des Creos-Washlights von GLP an zwei Landsitzen des National Trust: Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire und Stourhead House, einer Villa im palladianischen Stil in Wiltshire.
Beide Standorte gehören zu einem umfangreichen Portfolio von Outdoor-Veranstaltungen, das von Culture Creative betreut wird. Das Unternehmen ist auf die Inszenierung von Lichtkunst-Erlebnissen spezialisiert - von Feuergärten über Halloween-Events bis hin zu Outdoor-Besuchererlebnissen. Diese beiden Trails, die jeweils rund zwei Kilometer lang sind, wurden in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Veranstalter Sony Music realisiert.
Tony Simpson, Leiter der Lichtabteilung und Chefdesigner bei Culture Creative, setzte in Stourhead fünf Creos ein. Der freiberufliche Lichtdesigner Adam King verfolgte in Wimpole Hall einen anderen Ansatz und platzierte vier Creos strategisch als Blickfang auf den Stufen des historischen Anwesens.
Der IP65-zertifizierte Creos basiert auf der X5-Plattform von GLP und verfügt über achtzehn 40-W-RGBL-LEDs, die in drei Reihen zu je sechs Pixeln angeordnet sind, sowie einen motorisierten 1:12-Zoom und einen 190°-Tilt. „Wir waren die ersten Anwender des Creos in Großbritannien“, sagt Simpson. Für diese Einsätze wurden die Geräte im Modus 5 (DMX Multipix Advanced) programmiert.
Beide Designer nutzten den Creos hauptsächlich als Blickfang dür die Besucher. „Wir haben in Wimpole Hall eine große Timecode-Show veranstaltet, synchronisiert mit einem Loki-Remix von ‘Carol of the Bells’“, erläutert Adam King. „Vier Creos wurden auf den Stufen der Halle positioniert und sorgten für Farbkontraste und gezielte Lichtakzente.“
„Die Leuchten eignen sich sowohl für die Beleuchtung von Gebäuden als auch für gezielte Lichteffekte oder in den Himmel gerichtete Beams“, so King weiter. „Besonders beeindruckend war die Wirkung an einem nebligen Abend, als die Beams in Kombination mit vier Hazern ein spektakuläres Bild erzeugten.“
In Stourhead entwarf Tony Simpson bereits seine fünfte Show in Folge. Aufgrund der Lage in einem „Dark Skies Reserve“ war jegliches Licht über der horizontalen Ebene hinaus verboten. Dennoch gelang es ihm, am Ende des Weges, wo ein Tor mit Türmchen den Haupteingang markiert, sein gewünschtes Design zu realisieren.
Die Creos wurden hier auf den Zinnen platziert und mit einem lebhaften Soundtrack synchronisiert. „Die Leuchten sorgten für funkelnde Lichteffekte und waren eine Freude beim Gestalten eines eindrucksvollen Abschlusses“, so Simpson. Die Lichttechnik wurde von White Light und IPS bereitgestellt.
(Fotos: James Sharples)
Claypaky Sharpy X Frames illuminate first World Taekwondo Virtual Championships in Singapore
Claypaky Sharpy X Frame hybrid luminaires illuminated the inaugural 2024 World Taekwondo Virtual Championships in Singapore where more than 120 athletes from 23 countries participated in the first-ever event of its kind.
The competition took place at the Singapore Sports Hub OCBC Arena 1, November 16-17. The event marked the return of the sport to Singapore after the city successfully hosted the first Olympic Esports Week in June 2023, where Virtual Taekwondo made its debut. Virtual Taekwondo uses a motion tracking system and virtual reality headset in matches of non-contact sparring.
Lighting Designer Michael Chan of Singapore-based Lighting Insomnia selected 36 Sharpy X Frames for the event. Chan has worked on a wide range of arts, entertainment and installation projects. His experience ranges from consulting on installations and major events to designing and programming for 3D visualization, musicals, concerts, special events, galleries, exhibitions and architainment.
For the World Virtual Taekwondo Championships, it was his goal “to create an exciting opening ceremony, while providing sufficient face light for the field of play. The idea was to maximize the number of fixtures we had and to make the lighting rig look bigger and more imposing than it actually was. To achieve that, we had six slanted trusses at varying heights and fitted them with 36 Sharpy X Frames to occupy more of the vertical spaces above the field of play and in the FOH.”
Rental house MediaPix Pte Ltd supplied the fixtures. Haikal served as the Lighting Operator for the event. Acoustic and Lighting Singapore is Claypaky’s distributor in the region.
(Photos: Claypaky/World Taekwondo Virtual Championships Singapore)
Squeek Lights creates big Beartooth homecoming with Chauvet
Ohio-based metal rockers Beartooth kicked off 2025 with a January 18 homecoming concert at Columbus’ 20,000-seat Schottenstein Center. Immersing the crowd was a lighting and production design from Squeek Lights. Victor Zeiser, Ben Jarrett and the Squeek team utilized 119 Chauvet Professional fixtures to create their panorama.
Drawn from Squeek Lights’ own inventory, these fixtures included 22 Color Strike M motorized strobe-washes, and equal number of Maverick Storm 4 Profiles, along with 18 Maverick Storm 1 Hybrids, 18 Storm 2 BeamWashes, 24 Strike Array blinders, and 15 Colorado PXL Bar 16 battens. Also lending a special aura to the show was the video content design by Luke Shomo (brother of Beartooth frontman Caleb Shomo), which was run live by Drew Mercadante of Supervoid Productions.
“Victor and Caleb have been dreaming about designing a large arena show for Beartooth for as long as they’ve been working together”, says Jarrett. “So, when Caleb told Victor it was finally happening, the directive was clear - we wanted to go as big as possible, to create a really special hometown show to cap off a very big and successful 2024 touring season for the band.”
Setting the stage for this special show was a massive (60’ wide by 16.5’ high) upstage blow-through video wall, along with (26’ wide by 13’ high) DS video banner sides, and a (60’ wide by 13’ high) DS video banner center.
“We wanted a big wall with enough transparency to let light shoot through it, while also still looking like a solid video wall when there was nothing behind it”, says Jarrett. “It was also important for us to get lighting between the upstage video wall and the downstage header walls. It can be very challenging to get light through such a big video element, which is why we selected the Storm 1 Hybrid and Storm 2 BeamWash. Besides having an intense output, they have that super narrow beam action which will cut through any video screen.”
The big video wall was artfully used throughout the 18-song set to change the aura on stage. At times, the wall seemed to disappear, before returning to present a very large single image that enveloped the entire stage. At other times, the wall content was divided into different images. As for the content itself, it presented an evolving storyline that included real images and abstract patterns.
“Luke was very dialed into the music and what his brother Caleb was looking for”, says Jarrett. “This made the imagery meaningful in the way it related to the music. A lot of credit also goes to Drew Mercadante for running the live video and playback to the DS video banner walls. We all worked together closely to make sure our colors for each song matched or complement each other.”
The Squeek team flew twelve Maverick Storm 4 Profiles as side lighting and used the remaining ten units to line the upstage floor. The Maverick Storm 2 Hybrids and BeamWashes made up the bulk of the overhead rig and were spread across two 48-foot truss structures, while PXL batten were arranged on the floor to line the stage.
The Maverick Storm 4 Profile was “vital to my big crowd blinding moments in this show”, notes Jarrett, adding that this was the largest show Squeek Lights has ever designed. It was also the largest headline show to date for Beartooth.
(Photos: Sarah Hess)
Masque Sound brings Adam Fisher’s vision to life for Broadway revival of “Sunset Boulevard”
When “Sunset Boulevard” made its return to Broadway, Sound Designer Adam Fisher turned to theatrical sound reinforcement, installation and design company Masque Sound, to bring director Jamie Lloyd’s revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical to life at the St. James Theatre.
Fisher’s collaboration with Masque Sound was his first with the rental house and his first as a lead designer on Broadway. “I had never worked with Masque Sound before, but my Associate Sound Designer Josh Hummel and Production Sound Engineer Mike Wojchik have a good relationship with Scott Kalata at Masque Sound, which ultimately convinced me to work with them. I was impressed with how the company handled the complex and unique outside RF requirements that were required for this show.”
The revival of “Sunset Boulevard” originally began at the Savoy Theatre in London, which is a much smaller space with no real proscenium. “For London, we designed a system based around d&b Audiotechnik speakers, which worked well for that venue”, adds Fisher. “Transitioning to New York, we needed to maintain the show’s sonic identity while adapting to the significantly larger St. James Theatre on Broadway.”
To meet the demands of the St. James, Masque Sound supplied Fisher and his team with nearly 220 speakers, all from d&b Audiotechnik. The custom d&b loudspeaker package included XSL8s and XSL12s for the main PA; a V7P cluster; 44S front fills; E6 for fills, delays and surround; E8s for foldback; d&b Y10P for effects; supported by D40 amplifiers. “It was my first time using d&b’s XSL system, but its ability to scale up and deliver consistent sound quality was critical”, says Fisher. “This speaker setup expanded the surround sound elements of the production and enhanced the orchestra’s audio.”
“I am a big DiGiCo fan, so we used a DiGiCo Quantum 7 for front-of-house mixing fed by approximately 120 inputs, with a Fourier Audio Transform.Engine to host VST plug-ins”, continues Fisher. “Additional audio gear includes a QLab5 for FX, as well as several plug-ins including a McDSP FutzBox, TC Electronic VSS4 HD and VSS3, and LiquidSonics Seventh Heaven.”
A unique challenge for Fisher happens at the start of Act Two when star Tom Francis performs the title track of the show outside the theater on 44th Street, amidst the hustle and bustle of Times Square. “This required an incredibly complex wireless solution”, says Fisher. “The performer’s voice had to be transmitted back into the auditorium and synchronized with the live orchestra with zero latency while at the same time, the actor needed to hear the orchestra clearly while navigating a highly hostile RF environment.”
“Masque Sound’s expertise in RF technology and its partnership with Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) proved invaluable”, he adds. “Masque designed a custom solution that involved a small cart with three antennas that goes up 44th Street. We have a set of antennas on top of the marquee, so when the lead actor goes outside, he’s on that set of antennas. As he gets halfway up the street, we switch to the cart, which bounces the signal back to the marquee. This acts like a relay station back to the theater. When he walks back in, we switch back to the marquee antenna.”
The production utilizes Sennheiser 6000 series transmitters and antennas inside the St. James Theatre, including the foyer and stairwells, with Wisycom antennas used for the outside component. Lectrosonics IEM systems were suggested by Masque Sound. All performers are mic’d up with DPA 4066 microphones.
(Photo: Marc Brenner)
Tube UK supports Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture Opening Event
A team of engineers from audio specialist Tube UK worked through freezing temperatures, icy winds and snow to deliver sound systems for the two key areas of Bradford’s UK City of Culture Opening Event, staged in City Park.
The show, “Rise”, was created by director Kirsty Housley and Bradford-born magician Steven Frayne (formerly known as Dynamo), with a cast of around 200 including poets, rappers, aerialists, dancers, an orchestra, community choirs and more. Attended by 20,000 spectators over two sold-out nights, it kicked off Bradford’s year as the UK’s Capital of Culture.
Tube UK’s work was system designed, and project managed by Melvyn Coote. The Manchester-based company was working directly for Bradford 2025 under the direction of the production and technical management of Thomas Reilly and Jacob Gough from Deryncoch Ltd, with oversight of Shanaz Gulzar, Bradford 2025’s creative director, and Ben Pugh, director of production for Bradford 2025.
Tube submitted their tender for the work and were successful in part due to their extensive experience in working on these kinds of shows, including Hull’s year as UK City of Culture in 2017. Once confirmed, Coote and the crew worked closely with Olivier and Tony Award-winning sound designer Gareth Fry to implement all things sonic.
“It was a fantastic opportunity to work with someone of Gareth’s calibre and experience”, comments Coote. “The results were also a great tribute to the commitment and determination of all our crew who made it happen in the harshest and toughest environmental conditions.”
On site, the opening event vista spanned several hundred metres and included LED screens and two 15-metre-high special scaffolding structures on which aerialists performed and across which large scale projections were beamed. A large community choir was positioned on the steps of the Magistrates Court, poets performed in the midst of the audience, as well as on the roof of Bradford’s 19th century town hall.
Behind this main area to the right was the One City building, a 5-storey glass windowed office block. On the third level, Airedale Symphony Orchestra performed, and all their sounds were fed into the main PA and their images to the LED screens.
Tube’s mission - working with Fry’s direction - was to design a PA system to cover the whole area with audio, which was achieved using five ground stacks of d&b Audiotechnik’s V-Series, all sitting on PA risers, each with six d&b V8 tops, two V-Subs and one KSL sub.
These stacks were positioned to work together as a unified system and also separately, so different areas along vista sightlines could also be localised sonically, pulling focus of the sound image as needed to where the action was as the show unfolded. This was powered by d&b D80 amps.
While the input side was relatively straightforward, outputs were a lot more complex. A major challenge was managing the numerous feeds that the different performers - poets, rappers, orchestra, aerialists, DJ, community performers, etc - needed at various times, resulting in 63 outputs running concurrently, distributed site-wide via a Dante network utilising multi-fibre and Cat 5 multicore systems.
The Dante and control networks were distributed to six node points extending over 350 metres of infrastructure cabling. To the left of the main show vista in Centenary Gardens was a large entry and concession area which was also central to the event.
The audio requirement here was for a background style sound system to relay the show and this was achieved via nine PA positions around the food trucks, created using a combination of twelve Y7P point source speakers with different combinations of Y and V-Subs, all powered by four D20 amps.
All the show’s audio sources were controlled via QLab running off two Mac Studio machines for full redundancy, with d&b R1 system control. Monitoring included a pair of d&b Y10s for the choir and six M4 speakers for the two aerial performance towers, four d&b E8s for the orchestra, and two M6s for the DJ. Tube also supplied the DJ kit in the form of a Pioneer DJ900 NXS2 mixer and CDJ3000 decks. Press feeds were sent to seven different locations, and additional feeds were provided for captioning and BSL signers.
Along with monitoring, talkback was a major element of this event, and Tube was also asked to deliver site-wide show comms as a separate tender to the PA. They proposed a Green-Go/Riedel Bolero combination integrating both wired and wireless comms, the mix was necessary due to the amount of movement between the different areas.
The Green-Go was used for the fixed comms stations and Bolero for the mobile ones, amounting to 20 ways of Green-Go and 24 of Bolero, a total of 44 people on comms to run the shows. Most of the comms action was also outdoors, but the system also included indoors comms for the orchestra, DJ and musicians in the One City building, all of which needed to seamlessly transmit between the two protocols.
“We definitely pushed the envelope in the comms universe”, notes Coote, all of which was co-ordinated and tech’d on site by Tube’s comms wrangler, Adam Taylor. John Redfern was crew chief and head of audio on site, Rob Parkinson was the FOH operator, and Tracy Harper co-ordinated all the radio mics.
The RF systems included twelve ways of Sennheiser 5000 series belt packs and hand-helds and twelve ways of Sennheiser 2000 IEMs running off six monitor feeds. The FM transmission for community participants and general foldback consumed another fifty belt packs, and there were also four wired IEM feeds. Matt Waltho was Head PA technician, and Coote together with Harry Park were assistant rig techs.
(Photos: Ian Hodgson/Dave Levene/Tube UK)
Young designer Tegan Rehbein chooses Chauvet fixtures for The Conference Live at Lititz
In keeping with its mission to foster “innovative creativity” within the live event industry, the Conference Live at Lititz selects one young designer to light the main stage at its popular event every year. In 2024, that honor belonged to Tegan Rehbein. She worked with a rig supplied by the 4Wall Entertainment team led by Project Manager Zack Spadaccia. Anchoring the rig were 246 Chauvet Professional fixtures.
Rehbein painted the stage in an array of vivid colors, while filling the venue with dramatic aerial patterns and audience lighting. Key to helping her create her show were 48 Color Strike M motorized strobe-washes in full pixel mode. “Very early on in the design process I knew from the event organizers that Studio 1 had three different uses over the course of the conference: party, speaking, and a gathering place for meals”, says Rehbein. “They expressed the desire to have it lit well and evenly for the speaking and the dinner.”
“With the space having three distinct modes, there were some changeovers regarding the lighting”, she continues. “When I was given a list of available gear from 4Wall, I knew that the Color Strike M was the perfect light to meet these goals. The color pixels provided a nice color wash for the event, while the center white LEDs provided bright and even work light for the room flips. I used twelve of the Color Strike Ms on the six overhead torms that were along the upstage wall. The rest were placed approximately 20-feet or so from each other on the trusses throughout the room for that nice even down wash.”
Rehbein’s talent was also evident in the way she used the rig’s 22 Maverick MK3 Profiles to accent the set created by Tait and Atomic. “I placed four of the profiles out by FOH to provide texture on the chandelier that the set designer from Tait had made using Atomic Designs’ Gaus”, she details. “I wanted to have the ability to cut shutters in the production as I saw fit.”
The eighteen remaining MK3 Profiles were placed in the air around the stage to provide key, fill and hair light for the various speakers - six of them were positioned on the farthest downstage part of the inner curves, six others were on either side of the stage, while the final six were flown over the stage. When the room was reconfigured for the final party, Rehbein repurposed most of her fixtures.
Also featured in the rig were the Maverick MK3 Wash, Rogue R2X Wash, and Rogue R1 BeamWash. Rehbein arranged the MK3 Washes on vertical torms to compliment the MK3 Profiles and positioned most of the R2X units on the four fingers over the stage to work with the MK3 Spots. The R2X units we positioned in the “Plaza”, an area that featured hanging set pieces from Atomic along with material from Tait that highlighted client projects. “I ran the R2X in 33 channel mode in case I wanted some visual movement in the rig with the ring control”, says Rehbein. “They provided a really good wash for this very unique set element.”
Throughout the show, she paid careful attention to color rendering. “I color balanced everything in the rig for the party using my C-800 meter”, she explains. “I was really happy with the CRI that I was able to achieve in the MK3 Profiles to make the video team, and myself, very happy. I went with 4200K for the key, 3200K for fill and 5600K from the top. I felt like this gave me a good and flattering wash on all of the panelists.”
Rehbein appreciated the team she had around her: “I want to give a shoutout to Project Manager Zack Spadaccia and Lighting Crew Chief Steve ‘Scuba’ Onoszko along with the entire team from 4Wall. They prepped and built this design and it worked flawlessly. Also want to thank James Weir from Tait. He worked on the set design and truss layout. He handed me great bones to put some meat on. Thanks too to Emily Cassidy, the Conference Director for Rock Lititz, and Natasha Benne, Senior Producer at Atomic. Every one of them was great to work with and get to know.”
Looking back on the event Rehbein sums up the experience this way: “This project is one of the biggest things I have designed to-date. I also knew my peers in the industry, as well as some legends, would be there, so I wanted to make sure I put my best foot forward in this design.”
(Photos: Chauvet Professional/The Conference Live at Lititz)
www.theconferenceliveatlititz.com
Mediapool setzt Martin Audio WPS in Oktoberfestzelt auf dem Cannstatter Wasen ein
Grandls Hofbräu-Zelt auf dem Cannstatter Wasen ist vom Event- und Mediengestalter Mediapool Stuttgart mit dem WPS-Line-Array-System von Martin Audio ausgestattet worden. Das Festzelt auf dem zweitgrößten Oktoberfest der Welt hat ein Fassungsvermögen von bis zu 8.000 Besuchern.
Insgesamt 24 WPS-Elemente, kombiniert mit zwölf SX218-Subwoofern, kamen im Hofbräu-Zelt zum Einsatz. Angetrieben wurden die Systeme durch sechs iK42-Systemendstufen, die je viermal 3.000 Watt Leistung lieferten. Das WPS-System von Martin Audio hatte Falk Gruber, Inhaber der Mediapool Stuttgart GmbH, zuvor gezielt für Veranstaltungen wie den Cannstatter Wasen, aber auch für Live-Veranstaltungen in vergleichbarer Größe mit Rock- und Popmusik, angeschafft.
„Martin Audio ist ein englischer Hersteller, und in England ist Rockmusik die Volksmusik - das spiegelt sich auch im WPS-System wider“, erklärt er. „Das System von Martin Audio hat in den Mitten deutlich mehr Druck als andere Systeme in der Liga. Damit ist es für Rock, Pop, Punk, Blues und ähnliche Stile in besonderem Maße geeignet.“
(Fotos: Thomas Niedermüller)
“Parapapam” at Montreal’s Maison Symphonique lit with Chauvet
In December 2024, lighting designer Pierre E. Roy was called upon to light the holiday show “Parapapam” at La Maison Symphonique in Montreal, Canada. “The director wanted the stage to be kind of dark - but not black - to make it dramatic”, he shares. “He also wanted to make the solo artists more prominent by having most of the stage a bit subdued. When the soloists weren’t singing, the orchestra, and or choir, became more prominent and brighter.”
But the darkness also created challenges when it came to key lighting a cast that included thirty musicians and more than twice as many chorists. Complicating matters further, the soloists often roamed the stage. “When the solo artists came to do their numbers, they had specific places to sing, but of course, they never stayed on the X, so I had to follow-spot them on the show”, says Roy. “I had to rely on the fixtures on the FOH to follow them. In other words, I had their starting X and I had made myself an override sub that moved the fixtures from stage right to stage left, in addition to being focused on the operation of my show. Nevertheless, this was a very fun project and all of us were happy with how the five shows in the series turned out.”
Roy’s use of color was one reason for the lighting design’s success. Throughout the concert, he created different depths, tones, and auras on stage through color changes. “I used the colors that I felt best represented each song”, he explains. “Another designer might have chosen different colors. The choice of colors is a personal signature for every designer.”
Roy used 38 Chauvet Professional Colorado 2 Solo RGBW LED washes, supplied by Solotech. Arranging the fixtures on three levels - the stage, Balcony One, and Balcony Two - he filled the venue in deep, vivid colors from cool blues and greens to soft ambers and purples, to powerful reds that popped against the relatively subdued stage.
Beyond setting the tone on stage, the colorful lighting from the Colorado fixtures accented the architectural features of La Maison Symphonique with its curved balconies and walls and Quebec beach wood facade.
(Photos: Chauvet Professional)
Mehr als 100 GLP JDC1 intensivieren Ant Wans Rekordshow in Stockholm
Mit einem Konzert vor 40.899 Zuschauern hat der schwedische Hip-Hopper Ant Wan kürzlich den von Madonna aufgestellten bisherigen Besucherrekord in der Stockholmer Tele2 Arena gebrochen. Es war erst das zweite Live-Konzert des Künstlers überhaupt (nach einem ausverkauften Gig in der Avicii Arena im vergangenen Jahr).
Lichtdesigner der Show in Stockholm war Jakob Larsson von Light it Production, der mit dem szenografischen Konzept des bildenden Künstlers Alexander Wessely interagierte, welcher gleichzeitig als Showregisseur fungierte. Larsson integrierte eine ihm vertraute Familie von Hybridprodukten in die Show: JDC1 und JDC Line von GLP. Er hatte sich in der Vergangenheit schon oft für diese Kombination entschieden, das JDC1 nach eigenen Angaben „im Grunde seit dem ersten Tag“ spezifiziert und später Schwedens führende Verleiher motiviert, auch in die JDC Lines von GLP zu investieren.
Diesmal wurde das Equipment von Soundforce bereitgestellt und umfasste 84 JDC Line (ein Mix aus JDC Line 500 und 1000) und vierzig JDC1. Die JDC Lines wurden hauptsächlich zur Beleuchtung der Laufstege und der B-Bühne verwendet, während die JDC1 mit einem Abstand von jeweils etwa einem Meter hauptsächlich als Gegen- und Gassenlicht auf der Hauptbühne dienten.
Ihre Rolle war allerdings nuancierter, da sie auch Wesselys Bühnenarchitektur in Szene setzten, welche aus einem großen LED-Screen, neun Säulen und einem Altar mit Thron als Centerpiece bestand. Die Inszenierung verlangte vom Lichtdesigner, die Lichtquellen möglichst zu verbergen. Gleichzeitig sollten die JDC1 in der von Lasern und Pyrotechnik dominierten Show bestehen können.
„Daher wollte ich die Lampen im Bühnenbild verstecken und es wirklich klar und sauber halten“, sagt Larsson, der die JDC Lines entlang des Laufstegs um 45° neigte, während der Künstler zur Bühne B hinunterging. „Wir haben sie im Vollpixelmodus verwendet, während er den Weg abschritt, und ihn jeweils einzeln beleuchtet. Aber die JDC Lines konnten auch die gesamte Arena bis zur gegenüberliegenden Seite beleuchten. Außerdem brachten wir JDC Line 1000 auch hinter allen Säulen an, sodass wir, wenn wir sie anstrahlten, neun wirklich große, dramatische Schatten auf der Bühne erzeugen konnten.“
Einige der JDC1 wurden am Rand der Hauptbühne eingesetzt, „um viel Farbe in das Bühnenbild zu bringen“, wie Larsson sagt. Programmierer war Nikolaj Brink, selbst ein versierter Lichtdesigner. „Wir haben alles in Depence vorvisualisiert und hatten dann zwei Tage Vorbereitungszeit in der Arena“, so Larsson weiter. „Die gesamte Show lief über Timecode und wurde von Nikolaj überwacht. Ich habe die Verfolger und Nebelmaschinen bedient und die gesamte Kinesys-Automatisierung gecallt.“ Wenn das Kinesys-System bei einigen Songs das Overhead-Rig absenkte, feuerten die JDCs auf dem Boden nach oben, wodurch ein dynamischer Effekt entstand.
Die JDC Lines wurden im Modus 3 SPix (68 Kanäle) betrieben. „Wir stehen gerade total auf Pixelmapping“, lacht Larsson. „Das JDC1 haben wir jedoch im normalen 23-Kanal-Modus betrieben. Ich verwende das JDC1 sehr gern im Normalmodus, da man mit den Makros und Effekten im 23-Kanal-Modus fast alles machen kann.“
(Fotos: GLP)
Nearly 500 Martin Audio speakers help bring Tulleys Farm Christmas Light Festival to life
Based in Crawley, Sussex, Tulleys Farm turns into a seasonal theme park in the Autumn and Winter months. It’s then that they promote a programme of festivals and visitor attractions with “Shocktober” (developing into a Pumpkin Festival), now followed by a newly inaugurated Christmas Light Festival through its various woodland trails, occupying the month of December.
When Martin Audio partners SWG Events were brought in to create an integrated and immersive sound and light trail - part of an overall Christmas experience - it required around 400 of the manufacturer’s Adorn A55T series loudspeakers, spanning forty zones. SWG Events were introduced to handle the inaugural Christmas Light Festival, which occupies an entirely new trail through the woods.
Simon Purse, Head of Audio, says the installation is an extension of the Pumpkin Festival where Adorn speakers already featured. For the Christmas light trail, wooden fencing follows a pathway through the trees where the Adorn speakers, weather-protected by their IP kits, are festooned along the route. These are powered by a series of Martin Audio Via2004 and Via5004 amplifiers.
According to Purse, the 26 dedicated DX0.4 2-in/4-out network system processors also play a prominent role: “The client wanted to be able to control everything from a central position, and with the DX0.4s all on the same network we were able to use the Martin software in a single location. From here, any adjustments could be made to the sound remotely - and all 26 devices can be controlled from anywhere with access to our wireless network.”
“Of the forty different zones each might have a different track or require a different level - all fed and adjustable from that master control location over a Dante network”, he adds. In terms of security there is a live mic override which ducks the system in the event of an alert.
Since the experience needs to be constantly evolving in and out of different themes, SWG are also sending timecode down the same network to various locations, as the content, played out from a media server, works through different genres - from love songs, to classical, rock and disco - synced to the various areas that require programmed lighting. Projection video reinforcement is also tied into the show control. Leading the project for SWG Events is Dan Jenkins. “It’s very much Dan’s vision of system deployment and flexible control”, says Purse. “In fact it took eight of us a month to put everything in.”
However, it doesn’t end there: the trail opens out to a pair of large lakes which offer views of the lights, and alternate between different shows. To match this dynamic, SWG Events have beefed up the sound system, installing 48 Martin Audio Blackline X12 speakers. “Since the lightshows are more impactful it required a bit more SPL and low end”, says Purse. A further area provides a live band stage and lasers.
(Photos: Martin Audio)
Jonas Brothers’ engineers choose DirectOut solutions for worldwide tour
DirectOut’s Prodigy.MP has been selected for the Jonas Brothers’ “Five Albums. One Night.” world tour. Adam Robinson, Front of House engineer, along with systems engineer Cameron Manes, explain how they came to decide on Prodigy.MP for Jonas Brothers system and redundancy requirements.
“In the past we were using different system processors, but it felt like it was coloring our sound, so we wanted to look for a new solution that gave us the flexibility we were looking for without affecting the signal”, says Manes. “We needed a way to future-proof our system and respond to the growing demands of the production throughout the tour, but also retain the clarity we were looking for.”
Self-confessed geeks, both Robinson and Manes were excited by the opportunity to expand control of their audio system and were interested in the level of autonomy that DirectOut and Globcon offer. Hand-in-hand with long-term vendor partner Clair Global, their investigations have been a success. The rental company helped them try different cards. Manes is now using Globcon and a Stream Deck interface, to control multiple Prodigy devices and his playback system, as well as using the Prodigy.MP to control their Smaart acoustic test and measurement software.
“Prodigy has become my Smaart interface. I no longer have a separate Smaart computer and that means that I can route all my wireless mics wherever I want”, says Manes. “We’re running quite a few wireless mics for system measurement and tuning. With Prodigy I can route that to our Front of House console, which makes it visible to Adam at the console and on Smaart.”
When doing one-off performances or fly-ins, the team sometimes find the supplied sound system is not exactly what they were hoping for; there could be a little less energy in the front fills or stage thrust loudspeakers than they need. With Prodigy powering the system, Manes can send an extra feed via MADI to the Front of House (FOH) console which then gets passed on to the stage rack, where it can be split into additional powered speakers that can be placed exactly where required.
“We are using two additional Prodigy.MPs, one on either side of the stage”, continues Manes. “They send AES signals directly from the FOH Prodigy.MP into our d&b amplifiers. Should there be any issues, I also have the signal in analog. Our primary transport is AVB. A lot of manufacturers are integrating AVB into their products now, so we have transitioned to that format for our networking.”
With Globcon software, Robinson and Manes can view and edit any part of their system simultaneously. Manes’ interface layout displays only what he needs for the show ensuring a streamlined look, while Robinson’s screen shows just system EQ, as a reference. “Cameron has given me an ‘All’ page, so I can just make a quick EQ change to the whole system if needed”, says Robinson. “It’s great that we can both interact with the system, making changes at the same time, even to the same EQ. If I add a filter and Cameron adds a filter, we’ll both see them.”
“I’m the type of person that only wants to see the things that are relevant to me at any given time,” adds Manes. “With Globcon, you can create floating objects and configure a page where everything that’s relevant to you can be right at your fingertips. I have also integrated a Stream Deck for tactile control of my scripts.”
Manes has written scripts that send OSC commands to automate functions throughout the show, including switching from work-mode into being ready for the audience to enter. With a single push of a button on his Stream Deck, Manes can switch to the correct music playlist, start the audio, un-mute the correct loudspeakers in the system and bring music to the correct level with a gentle fade-up.
“My scripts are executed seamlessly”, concludes Manes. “When I first started playing with automation, I was a little apprehensive, but Prodigy has quickly become the most reliable part of the entire audio system. Whatever I ask it to do, it does it, and exactly how I want it to.”
(Photos: DirectOut GmbH)
Lighting Design Group turns iconic Times Square NYE rig all IP with Chauvet and 4Wall
For the first time in its over 50-year history, the “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest” TV special, broadcast from New York’s Times Square, had an all IP rated lighting rig. This was the result of The Lighting Design Group adding the Chauvet Professional Colorado Solo Bar 6, supplied by 4Wall Entertainment, to its rig for the five-hour broadcast, which is watched by 18 million.
“Over the past handful of years, we’ve been slowly migrating our equipment to IP rated gear because of the sometimes terrible weather conditions that we deal with”, says The Lighting Design Group’s Mike Grabowski, project manager of the New Year’s Eve broadcast lighting. “The Solo Bars joined the other Chauvet IP units to complete the package.”
“With the show being live all those hours straight, we have limited opportunities for swap outs”, he continues. “I specifically do the broadcast stage, where the midnight countdown happens, as well as taking care of Ryan and his co-hosts as they run all over Times Square on the big night. There’s a lot happening, so we don’t want to have to worry about unreliable fixtures in the elements. This year was a prime example. We had rain during our setup day, but we didn’t have to worry about putting out fixtures. Additionally, we had several pretty gnarly storms that soaked us right as we went live and well into the show.”
Grabowski has been working NYE shows in Times Square for almost twenty years and can only think of “maybe two years when the weather wasn’t bad for at least part of it”. Weather concerns are often compounded by the tight setup schedule the production crew has in advance of the NYE show. “You can only shut down chunks of Times Square for so much time”, says Grabowski. “We are in the shop to prep right after Christmas, and then are out on site on the 28th. We try to get things setup on the 28th and 29th, allowing 30th for programming and rehearsal, but sometimes weather has a big say in that. We’ve had years where the 30th is projected to be absolutely awful weather, so rehearsals get pushed up and my team and I have to be nimble to roll with how things go.”
As for the new Colorado Solo Bar 6 fixtures, Grabowski says the 24-cell linear fixtures played a key role in the NYE broadcast, specifically in creating a bright, colorful backdrop. The fixtures also help focus attention on the on-air talent by blocking out distractive backgrounds. “We have about a dozen of the Colorado Solo Bar 6, landing right in that big background that you see as you watch Ryan and guests have the countdown to midnight”, says Grabowski.
“Our platform is about 12-feet in the air”, he furthers. “This means we have pretty extensive railings. Even if they’re pristine, these railings are not terribly interesting to look at. Add to that there are egress lanes left in the middle of Times Square for emergency responders and the production crew - and it can get pretty bland looking. We want to show the energy and the vibe of the event, not gaps in the crowd and streetlights. It’s a little visual sleight of hand to help the mayhem of energy translate to the viewer at home.”
The rig also featured a generous amount of Chauvet Professional’s Maverick Storm 4 Profile and Color Strike M fixtures among others, all supplied by 4Wall, led onsite by Drew DeCorleto and Tara France. “The Maverick and Color Strike fixtures were doing a wide range of things”, says Grabowski. “They were covering railing, hiding, and masking. Why put up tape and black fabric, when we can add to the energy with these fixtures! The Storm 4s are just big old beasties in terms of output. That’s the other end of things - we had a helicopter shot covering our show, so not only did we need the small picture to look bold and dynamic, but the entire overview as well. Having these fixtures has made life easier for me and my very wonderful team: veterans Joey Cartagena and Paul Braile, along with newcomers Sam Short, Jeremy Dominik, and Nyle Farmer, not to mention programmers Ryan Philip and Cypress Staelin.”
Sarah Jakubasz, a well-established lighting designer and Grabowski’s longtime collaborator and member of the NYE show team, who was instrumental in converting the NYE rig to all IP65 rated, could not see the completion of her vision as she passed away last year. “Sarah set me down this path of slowly getting this rig to an IP rated place”, shares Grabowski. “She was the one who, when we discussed going IP rated, pointed out that it wasn’t just the waterproof aspect of the IP rating that mattered so much, but also the temperature rating. There are some IP rated fixtures that are fine in rain - but we also deal with temperatures well below freezing and for extended periods.”
“As we discussed it, ‘heat sink’ rapidly becomes ‘cold sink’, and once you push a fixture below its operating threshold, it takes a long, long time for it to recover”, he adds. “Because of her insight, we’ve taken our time to migrate everything over to IP rated. We want new and pretty and interesting - but we also need it to work in what is sometimes fairly adverse conditions. Now we have all of this Chauvet Professional IP gear out, not just in wet conditions but also frigid conditions, and it’s all been pretty bulletproof.”
(Photos: Chauvet Professional/The Lighting Design Group)
Esteban Tosta lights Maluma with Elation
Esteban Gil Arcila, professionally known as Esteban Tosta, has risen to become a well-recognized reference in the lighting design community of South America. Working alongside stars like Colombian singer Maluma, he turns to Elation’s new lighting technology to fulfill his clients’ vision.
At 38 years old, Tosta has travelled a path full of challenges and learning experiences, from small youth parties known as “minitecas” (mobile music and light events very popular in Colombia), to illuminating the world’s biggest stages for talent like Maluma. His relationship with the Elation brand goes back over a decade. He says that the influence of lighting technology is essential in his design process.
“Every show we imagine is tied to the type of equipment we use”, shares Tosta. “That’s why the constant innovation of brands, offering new equipment and fresh ideas, is key. This not only facilitates the design but also allows for testing and experimenting with new setups, which boosts confidence when integrating them into the riders.”
Early in his career, working for one of Medellín’s biggest production companies, Genesis Producciones, gave him the chance to work with international artists before eventually venturing out as a freelancer, which opened doors to new opportunities. One of the key moments in his career came when he began working with Maluma, who was just starting to rise to stardom at the time. As Maluma’s fame grew worldwide, Tosta became a key part of his team. Not only did he design the lights, but he also got involved in video, special effects, and even took on the role of general producer for a year.
“My focus has always been to make him look impeccable, both for those who see him up close and for those who see him on the screens”, explains Tosta whose collaboration with visual director Camilo Mejía has been essential to achieving the cohesion between the lights and the visuals displayed at each show.
For Maluma’s most recent show, Tosta chose a variety of Elation fixtures - Proteus Maximus, Proteus Excalibur, Proteus Rayzor 1960, Pulse Panel FX, Sol I Blinder, and Chorus Line 16. One particularly impactful moment during Maluma’s show came in the final stretch, when Tosta decided to maximize the power of the 100,000-lumen Pulse Panel FX. “This not only enhanced the atmosphere of the song but also created a play of shadows and shapes that highlighted the musicians and dancers on stage”, he says.
(Photos: Carlos Alvar/Elation)
Interpol’s “Antics” shows lit with Ayrton Cobra
NYC post-punk band Interpol concluded the penultimate leg of its world tour with five dates in the UK at the end of 2024. The tour celebrated the 20th anniversary of the band’s “Antics” album, which the band played in full. Ed Warren’s stripped back lighting design employed 21 Ayrton laser-sourced Cobra fixtures - Warren’s only moving lights - in what the LD terms an “extremely considered and precise” show.
“There was a lot of symmetry going on between all the elements, and paramount to the geometry of it all was to have clean straight beams emanating from above and below”, he explains. “Fifteen Cobras were flown on a staggered array of truss fingers over the band and six remained on the deck between and flanking the drummer and keyboard risers.”
“I chose Cobras because we needed a clean, crisp, bright, narrow beam for a number of key looks”, he continues. “We spot-lit the bandmembers, especially lead singer Paul Banks, from above with a single spot for many parts of the show. We also used the floor Cobras to backlight the band members and produce wide silhouettes which projected to the back of every room. I also chose Cobra for the mirrorball moments.”
Warren has worked with the band for fourteen years, and been a fan since their first single 22 years ago, so his feel for the design came naturally. “It’s hard to pinpoint what the concept for the ‘Antics’ tour was inspired by, as it just came together in an hour while I was on a flight in front of my computer”, he says. “The band’s music is so claustrophobic yet grand, it was pretty easy to complement.”
“I knew I wanted to use three projectors, I wanted it to be symmetrical, I wanted every song to be its own singular piece of art but I wanted the entire show to look as one”, he furthers. “I also wanted to limit myself as much as possible and create something from relatively nothing. Quite a few people were surprised we only had fifteen flown moving lights in venues such as Alexandra Palace and the LA Forum, but it worked.”
The Cobra fixtures were supplied by LCR as part of the minimalist lighting inventory. “LCR were great from the start”, notes Warren. “They were on hand for any questions and the technicians, George Milner and Matt Brown, were ace.” The operator and production manager was Christian Lincoln.
(Photos: Luke Dyson)
Events United celebrates Teddy Swims’ “Deck The Hall Ball” with Chauvet
There were many special moments at Boston’s 7,200-seat Agganis Arena on December 14, 2024, as Christmas came early for music fans with the arrival of Teddy Swims’ “Deck The Hall Ball”. One that stood out for many was when the host performed the hit “Over My Head (Cable Car)” with The Fray, the rockers that made the song famous two decades ago.
Contributing to the special mood at the show was a production from the team at Events United, led by Project Manager/Systems Engineer Chase Clark. Rachael Fahey, Production Designer for the concert, describes how the fixtures were used: “When I design a show, I try to give our lighting designers a variety of tools to work, with”, she says. “Our Light Director, Meg Fiske, consistently does a great job working with these lighting rigs with amazing success.”
Playing a key role in making the show come alive were 82 Chauvet Professional fixtures from Events United’s own inventory, including 64 members of the Maverick family (MK2 Spot, MK2 Wash, Force 2 Profile, Storm 2 Beam, and Storm 1 Wash) ten Colorado PXL Bars, and sixteen Strike 4 wash-blinders.
Speaking of the fixtures in the rig, Fahey notes: “For this show we used Chauvet Strike 4, Storm 1 Wash, Storm 1 Beam and Force 2 Profile fixtures for audience light. The mixture of these fixtures gave Meg Fiske and the touring lighting designer for Teddy Swims the ability to use a variety of different colors and textures.”
Though their adroit fixture placement, the Events United team - which also included Stage Manager Joel Pelletier, Light Techs Ryan Lane and Zach Dafeldecker, as well as LED/Playback Tech Felipe Bida, along with Trifon Athnos on monitors and David Bickel on patching - created looks that struck a harmonious balance between power and intimacy.
Most of the lighting/video trim heights on the 60-foot wide by 40-foot deep stage varied between 20 and 25 feet. Fixtures on the upstage truss and two side structures were trimmed to frame the video wall. This design strategy created a “light-box effect”, focusing attention on the stage, while at the same time creating a warm, inviting glow throughout the venue. This mood was amplified by amber audience lighting.
“We had hanging upstage fixtures trimmed with everything further down stage slightly higher so the audience could see the entire lighting rig”, explains Fahey. “When a rig is trimmed like this, it not only gives the lighting fixtures a full range of motion, but really fills the room.”
(Photos: Pat Dunn/Events United/Messi Productions LLC)
