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Wavefront delivers for Richmond Folk Festival

The three-day free festival is held annually in the city’s downtown Riverfront Plaza area (Dave Parrish Photography)

Details: 08 November 2022

USA - Martin Audio partner Soundworks of Virginia equipped the five main stages of the long-running Richmond Folk Festival, an annual celebration of American culture and roots music, with the manufacturer’s optimisable Wavefront Precision line array speakers.
Promoted by Venture Richmond, a non-profit organization, this three-day free festival, with which Soundworks have been involved for more than a decade, is held annually in the city’s downtown Riverfront Plaza area - spanning an area of almost 20 acres. An offshoot of the National Folk Festival, it is one of the largest events in Virginia, drawing around 200,000 visitors from across the country and featuring more than 30 global artists.
Some 130 Martin Audio components were specified across the site, and Soundwor

Green-GO founder Joost Van Eenbergen with the golden WBPX and BPX beltpacks

Green-GO celebrates golden milestone for WBPX

Details: 08 November 2022

The Netherlands – Event and broadcast comms specialist Green-GO is celebrating sales of its Wireless Belt-Pack X (WBPX) reaching the golden number of 10,000 – just as its wired counterpart, the BPX, had already done. To mark this milestone, the manufacturer, ELC, kept aside the WBPX unit with serial number 10000 – had it gold-plated, just as it had done with the 10,000th BPX - and presented it to ELC founder and Green-GO inventor, Joost van Eenbergen.
The WBPX units with serial numbers either side of 10000 were dispatched as usual to Green-GO’s global customer network. As chance would have it, the shipment went about as far as it could go, to Green-GO’s distributor for Australia & New Zealand, Sydney-based Event Communications Australia.
Opening the package was sales and marketing manager Rod McKinnon. “With that particular shipment,” he recalls, “

‘Zioux is a fusion of food, drinks and music’ (photo: Louise Stickland)

Robe goes wild at Sandton’s Zioux

Details: 08 November 2022

South Africa - Located in the heart of Sandton, Johannesburg, Zioux is a fusion of food, drinks and music with a funky lounge vibe and interior design inspired by South African wildlife.
Zioux manager Dino Constantinou is into technology and knew lighting would be integral to creating the right ambience in the restaurant. He was delighted when DWR specified 18 x Robe moving lights – 12 x LEDBeam 150s and six Spotes fitted with wide angle lenses – to help make the atmosphere extra special.
Johnny Scholtz headed the project for DWR. Dino already had ideas about what he wanted, which was lighting to create subtle effects and texturing around the room for general dining, which could be ramped up to generate excitement and hustle for the later evenings and live DJ sets at the weekends. The venue is also used for events which have different and additional lighting requi

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Case Study: Hans Zimmer Live

When award winning film composer Hans Zimmer brought his smash-hit tour Hans Zimmer Live to North America fall 2024, the show's audio team sought out to bring infrafrequency bass to the show to add new depth to the show's audio experience. The team chose Danley Sound Labs.

Verge Aero dazzles at Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Details: 08 November 2022

USA - A festival celebrating the earliest form of aviation was complemented by the very latest in aviation technology, when drone show specialist Verge Aero flew a series of spectacular light shows for the 50th anniversary Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta (AIBF) in New Mexico.
Known as “the most photographed event in the world”, the AIBF is a celebration of the oldest human aviation technique, the hot-air balloon, pioneered by the Montgolfier brothers in 1783 and capturing imaginations ever since. This year, the spectacle attracted around 900,000 visitors over its eight-day run in October – and the organisers were, as ever, pushing the boundaries of entertainment for their awe-struck audiences.
“We’ve been interested in drones since we first saw them a number of years ago at Superbowl Half-Time,” says AIBF executive director Paul Smith. “The cost

Bandit Lites chair Michael T. Strickland delivered the keynote address at TCW

Bandit’s Strickland calls for unified approach

Details: 08 November 2022

USA - More than 350 touring professionals, students and mentors gathered at Nashville's SoundCheck rehearsal studios for the 11th Annual Touring Career Workshop (TCW). There they participated in workshops and heard from experts from a variety of fields including affordable health care, tax and savings advice, mental health wellbeing, personal safety, diversity and touring as well as giving back.
Bandit Lites chair and founder, Michael T. Strickland delivered the keynote address where he addressed current legislation before Congress and the industry’s need of The Entertainment Association.
“As we returned back live to our flagship event after a three-year hiatus, we were truly honoured to have Michael Strickland join us to talk about the work he has been doing with Congress and his fantastic initiative with the Entertainment Association,” said Chris Lisle, co-fo

Each console is semi-modular, offering both standard configurations and bespoke layout possibilities

LIPA takes delivery of third pair of Audients

Details: 07 November 2022

UK - Two new Audient consoles have been installed at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) just in time for the new term. They are the third pair of large format Audient desks at LIPA - and the first ASP8024 Heritage Editions.
This purchase is part of phase one of a refresh of the studios, with the desks settling in very well from the get-go. “Obviously returning students feel right at home, with nothing significantly different to learn, just some great new features to explore,” says LIPA’s head of sound technology, Jon Thornton.
The ASP8024-HE was designed to produce the same, smooth clean sound as the original Audient console design from 1997, with a few key improvements. Upgrades include Vintage Mix Bus processing, John Hardy Op Amps on the mix bus output, powerful new additions to the Mix Bus Compressor - and more.
Jon specified Audient d

‘During Act II of the show, we plunged the band into a vintage rabbit hole’ (photo: Todd Moffses)

Vari-Lite rig invokes vintage glamour for P!ATD

Details: 07 November 2022

USA - Panic! at the Disco kickstarted their Viva Las Vengeance arena tour at Austin’s Moody Center in September, with a 70s and 80s rock-influenced high-octane show. Conjuring up rich colours and sharp beams were 128 VL2600 Profile luminaires from Vari-Lite.
Celebrated production designer Sooner Routhier worked closely with the band and their management to design and build the show, collaborating with Alex Specht as associate lighting designer/lighting director and André Petrus as associate production designer/lighting programmer. Together, they created a design that would take the audience back to the early days of large arena rock productions, as the band played their new album in its entirety in Act II of the show. (Acts I and III saw the group treat fans to their biggest hits.)
“We resurrected pods of lights seen in vintage rock productions and added a

OPUS X4 PROFILE – the most powerful LED moving head from Cameo to date

The OPUS® X4 PROFILE is the new flagship model from Cameo and is among the most powerful LED moving heads on the market. Equipped with a 1,400-watt LED white light engine, this spot profile moving head produces an enormous light output of 50,000 lm, providing powerful spot and gobo projections on even the largest stages and much more.
www.cameolight.com

This year’s event was held over the first two weekends in September

Outline’s Newton Rocks In Rio in Lisbon

Details: 07 November 2022

Portugal - Rock In Rio is a long-established part of the international festival circuit and one of the world’s largest, hosting around 100,000 fans each day across the 16 performance spaces at the city’s Cidade do Rock (City of Rock), originally built for the first Rock In Rio in 1985. The Brazilian version is the festival’s flagship event, a sister production staged periodically in Lisbon, Portugal.
This year’s event was held over the first two weekends in September and featured a typically diverse range of headliners from heavy metal to pop and dance. Sao Paulo-based Gabisom Audio Equipment continued their long association with the event in 2022 and once again deployed part of their Outline Newton inventory to manage their sound systems.
Freelance sound engineer / system technician Ewerton Leandro Manca was working with the Newtons throughout the event and c

The tour is scheduled to visit South America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Australia (photo: Todd Kaplan)

Proteus work After Hours for The Weeknd dates

Details: 07 November 2022

USA - Big concert tours were back in a big way this past summer and The Weeknd’s ambitious After Hours til Dawn outing is perhaps the best example. Lighting designer Jason Baeri is using over 450 Elation Proteus Hybrid and Proteus Excalibur moving head luminaires as workhorse fixtures on the tour, an elaborate, visually striking show that has been selling out major stadiums across North America since July.
The first leg of the all-stadium tour kicked off on 14 July at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia and concludes on 27 November at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The tour is also scheduled to visit South America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Australia.
After Hours til Dawn is a monumental show that reflects the artist’s status as one of the world's best-selling music artists and is his most ambitious production to date. The conceptual show,

Guidance Note W2 is published to coincide with International Stress Awareness Week

ABTT launches guide on mental health & well-being

Details: 07 November 2022

UK - The Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT) has launched Guidance Note W2: Mental health and well-being in the workplace – A practical guide to conducting Stress Risk Assessments and creating well-being policies. This is the second in the ABTT’s ‘W series of Guidance Notes which deal with legal duties and best practice for ensuring the welfare of all workers.
Guidance Note W2 is launched to coincide with International Stress Awareness Week 7-11 November 2022.1 The guide provides guidance for risk assessing stress in the workplace. It is closely aligned with the HSE’s current advice provided as part of the Working Minds campaign2 . The guidance note offers concise guidance and a step-by-step methodology by which to begin risk assessing work related stress.
Guidance Note W2 is part of the Code of Practice for the Theatre Indus

The Old Grindstone has undergone an extensive programme of refurbishment

Atlas IED processing runs smoothly for Grindstone

Details: 04 November 2022

UK - Owned by the True North Brew Co, The Old Grindstone in Crookes is a popular Sheffield pub which recently underwent an extensive programme of refurbishment.
Essential to the overall refurbishment, particularly in the light of the pub’s commitment to a wide programme of events, was to install a high-quality, versatile and flexible zonal audio system that could fulfil a wide range of demands. The pub needed to be able to separately control audio for four music zones, five TV screens, meeting room, and two recently installed upstairs karaoke pods. Any solution needed to be powerful enough to meet all the requirements whilst being simultaneously easy to operate for the venue staff.
Sheffield-based Audio Engineering Services was engaged to install the new system. Audio Engineering Services’ Andy Fisher consulted with Polar’s Integrated Solutions team about a pote

The Cameo P-Series expected to be available in December

Cameo debuts P-Series LED profile spotlights

Details: 04 November 2022

Germany - Cameo has introduced the P-Series. These LED profile spotlights are aimed at professional users from the theatre, TV and event sectors and are available in Tungsten, Daylight and Full-Colour versions. In addition to its light output and flexible handling, the P-series also features high CRI and TLCI values as well as a lifelike white light and colour rendering.
The P series includes the P2 T (Tungsten, 3,200 K), P2 D (Daylight, 5,900 K) and P2 FC (Full-Colour, RGBAL) models. With a light output of up to 17,000 lm (P2 FC), the P2 profilers are the perfect replacement for conventional 1kW profiled spotlights. The units can be flexibly adapted to different stage requirements via a variety of optional interchangeable lenses. There is a choice of interchangeable lenses with fixed beam angles (19°, 26°, 36° and 50°) as well as zoom lenses for the ranges 15°-30° an

Nita Strauss has played and toured with Alice Cooper for years

Nita Strauss tours with Austrian Audio

Details: 04 November 2022

Austria – Guitar player Nita Strauss has played and toured with Alice Cooper for years and is currently with Demi Lovato. Earlier this year, Strauss became the first female rock solo artist in 32 years to hit number one on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart with her song Dead Inside. She’s also had a successful solo career, including her album Controlled Chaos.
She is believed to be a descendant of Austrian composer Johann Strauss on her father’s side and keeping in concert with her Austrian connection, Strauss has been using Austrian Audio microphones on stage.
"Austrian Audio checks all the boxes for a working musician - pristine, clear sound in a stylish package,” says Strauss. “We have been using them on our recent tour with Black Label Society." The band, completed a 17-stop US tour earlier this year, putting the microphones to the test -

The Paul Robbrecht and Hilde Daem designed Concertgebouw Brugge

Mavericks operate in silence in Concertgebouw

Details: 04 November 2022

Belgium - Completed in 2002, the Paul Robbrecht and Hilde Daem designed Concertgebouw Brugge has been hailed the world over for, as one critic wrote, “its acoustic wizardry,” the result of a series of technological innovations that reduce the length of reverberations.
In keeping with its commitment to providing the most pristine acoustical experience possible, Concertgebouw Brugge replaced its traditional tungsten moving fixtures with the Chauvet Professional Maverick Silens 2 Profile, a completely fan-less LED fixture designed to operate in total silence.
Concertgebouw Brugge installed the first eight of its 20 Maverick Silens 2 Profile units during the COVID lockdown; the remaining dozen were added just recently. “We went ahead and acquired more of the fixtures, because we were so impressed with the original eight,” said stage manager Geerolf Jacques. “Ove

Robe Saaremaa Opera Festival 2022 Gala (photo: Gunnar Laak)

Robe chosen for Saaremaa Opera Festival 2022

Details: 04 November 2022

Estonia - Robe was the moving light of choice for the 2022 Saaremaa Opera Festival staged in a purpose-built tented arena erected beside the charismatic Kuressaare Castle in the south of Saaremaa Island which was the dramatic location for five days of popular opera and other performances, all presented this year by the Silesian Opera (Opera Śląska) from Bytom, Poland.
The substantial venue measured 30m wide by 60m long and accommodated 8000 guests over five days. The event was organised by Eesti Concert and saw a repertoire programme comprising operas Romeo & Juliet and La Traviata, a gala show, a Mozart evening with a ballet production of his Requiem and a specially created children’s opera.
Polish LD Dominik Ksol created a production lighting design to cover all five shows, and was assisted in Estonia by Andres Sarv and Tõnis Järs from

Claypaky Mythos 2 fixtures light KL party

Details: 04 November 2022

Malaysia - When a retailer staged its first public exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, it kicked off the event with a party for 300 VIP guests capped by a light and drone show in the heart of the city.
Lighting designer Michael Chan of Singapore-based Lighting Insomnia designed the lights and lasers for the event using 120 Claypaky Mythos 2 fixtures mounted on the 6th Floor of Suria KLCC (the rooftop), which is connected to the Twin Towers on both sides. Guests attending the party at the nearby Sky Garden at Permata Sapura were invited into the garden at the close of the evening to enjoy the surprise of a thrilling aerial show.
“As the first private event to be held at the Petronas Twin Towers, the idea was to have power light beams emit from the towers and create an awe-inspiring light and drone show in the heart of the city,” explains Michael. “I believe it was the fi

The Mix Marrakech gets in the mood with Nexo

Details: 04 November 2022

Morocco - The Mix restaurant and club located in the city of Marrakech features a DJ booth in the centre of the restaurant delivering music via a Nexo P+ Series system.
With a vision for a restaurant with music in its DNA, owners of the venue approached Casablanca-based sound, light and video technology specialists Smart AV to design and install a sound system that could shift gears seamlessly from background music to powerful, floor-filling sound when the DJs take over.
Working in collaboration with Nexo’s Engineering Support Team, a Nexo P+ Series point source system was configured using Nexo NS-1 software to predict coverage in the venue. Four P12 loudspeakers and four L15 subs are installed in the main room, with amplification from Nexo NXAMP4X1MK2 powered controllers. The centrally located bar is equipped with two Nexo P8s.
“P12 is the perfect system for

Dominik Rieskamp joins HOF sales team

Details: 03 November 2022

Germany - After industry expert Dirk Möhlenbrock joined the HOF sales team at the beginning of the year, the HOF team has now gained another event technology expert in Dominik Rieskamp.
Dominik has been working in the industry for over 13 years and is already very familiar with HOF's portfolio. As key account manager, he will look after HOF's major customers in the German-speaking countries.

The CCU-08 is designed for larger production/events, rental houses, large theatre productions, and house of worship applications

Pliant debuts Crew-Com control unit at LDI

Details: 03 November 2022

USA - Pliant Technologies will showcase its CCU-08 CrewCom Control Unit at LDI 2022 (Booth 406). The CCU-08 is the latest addition to the CrewCom system and gives users the ability to use up to eight 4-Wire ports while retaining all the same features of the current companion CCU-22 and CCU-44 products.
Like the current Control Units, the CCU-08 Control Unit contains no radio and is frequency agnostic and can therefore control and monitor any device across CrewNet regardless of radio frequency bands being utilised. With the combination of CrewCom Radio Transceivers, the new CCU-08 supports up to 82 Radio Packs, 18 in Normal mode and 64 in the recently released High Density mode, across all RF bands. Up to four CCU Control Units can be used in one system for larger user counts.
“The new CCU-08 is designed for applications that need additional I/O but do not require 2-w

Beabadoobee - the first full band show at Electric Group’s NX Newcastle

NX Newcastle opens with Beabadoobee

Details: 03 November 2022

UK - Beabadoobee, the first full band show at Electric Group’s NX Newcastle, and similarly sold-out turns by localist Andrew Cushin, Liverpool hitmakers the Wombats and London post-punkers Black Midi, amplify the new venue’s accessibility, standard-setting sightlines, sound and provision.
Up the stairs into the main room, via Instagrammable city colours décor and the NX logo, ticketholders are met with a full, unmitigated view of the stage.
The sound system features Encore’s d&b J Series PA, driven by Allen & Heath desks.
John Tinline, managing director at Encore Sounds, says: “We spec’d the PA by committee, working with Electric Group and the architect, developing the original want for a ‘facsimile of the system in Electric Brixton’, which works so well, to accommodate the tiers at NX. It’s a great sounding room.”
The 1,550 str

The North American tour began in Raleigh, North Carolina in July and concluded in Hollywood, Florida

Pitbull Can’t Stop Us Now with JBL VTX

Details: 03 November 2022

USA - Thunder Audio recently powered Pitbull’s Can’t Stop Us Now tour with JBL Professional VTX line array systems and Crown amplifiers in stadiums and amphitheatres across North America.
Following the success of his I Feel Good Tour in 2021, Pitbull’s Can’t Stop Us Now 2022 Tour is presented by Live Nation and features performances by Iggy Azalea and Sirius XM’s Globalization DJs in addition to the Cuban-American superstar himself. The 50+ date North American tour began in Raleigh, North Carolina in July and concluded in Hollywood, Florida on 19 October.
Pitbull’s veteran front-of-house engineer Will Madera and production manager Victor Martinez hired Thunder Audio to supply a complete stadium-ready JBL VTX system for the three-month tour. With the help of system engineer Nick Turner, the audio team selected and designed a touring sound solu

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Case Study: Hans Zimmer Live

OPUS X4 PROFILE – the most powerful LED moving head from Cameo to date

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