USA - Following their pre-Covid Moving On! tour, The Who are back on the road with The Who Hits Back! 2022 tour. Lighting designer Tom Kenny selected a compliment of active Ayrton Khamsin fixtures, provided by Solotech Las Vegas, for the rig. ACT Entertainment is the exclusive distributor of Ayrton lighting in North America.
The month-long North American spring leg of tour kicked off in April in Hollywood, Florida and wrapped in May in Bethel, New York. After a summer break, the tour resumes in early October with another month of dates starting in Toronto and concluding in Las Vegas.
“I’ve been fortunate to have used Ayrton fixtures before, whenever I came across them,” says Kenny. “Solotech offered me Khamsins for this tour, and I remembered how much I love them

UK - TSL supplied a rigging and lighting package for the recent Grenfell Memorial event held on the 14 June, to mark the fifth-year anniversary.
The truss structure covered the 8m by 5m stage and consisted of silver Prolyte H30v truss together with custom angle brackets to give the roof a sloped 10° angle. TSL also provided a wireless anemometer from Broadweigh and an onsite wind monitoring laptop to give continuous recording and monitoring.
In terms of lighting, TSL supplied six Astra panels from Litepanels to provide a consistent and fully colour adjustable front and side light across the stage. These lightweight fixtures offer smooth dimming and are flicker free at any frame rate, which is perfect for both broadcast and studio work.
A selection of Chroma Q ColorForce 12 and 48 utilised as a ground row offered an even coverage of the backdrop. These LED batten

UK - When Capital Sound, part of the Solotech UK Group, conceived the original design for Stereophonics’ homecoming concert at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff for what would have been their We’ll Keep A Welcome Christmas show, the idea of 23 Martin Audio PA hangs (covering both an A stage and 40m thrust to a B stage) was entirely achievable.
“The kit was already prepped and ready to go out, when the show was suddenly cancelled,” states Solotech senior technical advisor, Robin Conway.
But when the gig was rescheduled for June, there was none of the luxury of pre-production time that had accompanied the original show. Not only did the B stage now need to function as a totally independent stage, with its own PA, (rather than simply as a delay stage), but Friday’s planned production/build-up day suddenly disappeared when the following night’s concert
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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.

USA - Indie groove band Goose’s Dripfield US summer tour united the passion and talents of two lighting professionals – Andrew Goedde and Tony Caporale – who with the assistance of some Robe Tetra2 moving LED battens among other lights, have created an eye-catching look as the band delights fans across America.
Indianapolis-based Andrew has worked as Goose’s LD for four years and also owns a busy lighting rental business. When he and Tony – well known for his lighting work with Billie Eilish among others – met randomly at a Goose show, they hit it off as friends and realised that a design collaboration would be the way to go for this project.
“Two minds can be better than one,” they say, and in this case, the creative results are evident onstage with Tony having worked on programming, bringing his vast fund of experience to the party, and Andrew contin

Spain - Lynx Pro Audio has installed an anechoic chamber within their Research and Development Department in Valencia, the headquarters of the company.
The new anechoic room has the latest technologies, being one of the most modern in Europe. The special design of the room offers an accurate measurement of the sound in a complete sphere (360 degrees), with an accuracy of one degree. The chamber has a Four Audio robot to provide better sound measurement and a new space designed for accurate measurements in a free-field acoustic environment.
Having detailed information on the acoustic response of a box allows Lynx Pro Audio to model each of their enclosures within the Rainbow 3D acoustic prediction software, offering a simulation that is as real as possible. “In this way, we provide a powerful design tool with which installers can carry out all kinds of sound reinforce

USA - With a total audience capacity of more than 7,000, the imposing Filene Centre is the flagship venue at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, located just outside Washington, D.C. The non-profit Wolf Trap Foundation, recently replaced the aging main audio system with a complete Meyer Sound reinforcement solution.
The Filene Centre performance calendar is noteworthy in both its breadth and depth, ranging from classical and Broadway to rock jazz and country. Luminaries such as Sting, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Little Big Town and Elvis Costello highlight popular genres for the current season. An impressive classical programme features the Wolf Trap Opera and an ongoing partnership with the National Symphony Orchestra.
“The Filene Centre is one of an elite group of venues able to serve all genres of music without compromise, and we wanted to cement ou

UK - The Association of British Theatre Technicians’ Annual Awards took place on the evening of Wednesday 22 June, after the first day of the 2022 ABTT Theatre Show at Alexandra Palace, London.
Engineering Product of the Year: XM Automation’s XMove
Sound Product of the Year: Clearcom’s Arcadia Central Station
Lighting Product of the Year: Robe’s T11
Widget of the Year: CallQ’s Showcaller Training Software
Stand of the Year: Prompt Side
Technician of the Year: Daniel Ewing
Award for Emerging Excellence: Kat Ellis
Virtual Ideas Platform, Idea of the Year 2021: Matthew Dean
Additionally, commendations were made for d&b’s 5d amplifier, ETC’s Eos Apex, Whirly Reeler and trackingThis’ plug-in.
The next ABTT Awards will take place on the evening of 7 June 2023 at the 43rd ABTT Theatre Show at Alexandra Palac
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BikeFest Spain 2025 - Join the ride!

BikeFest Spain is set to return for its fourth consecutive year, inviting cyclists from across the industry to join the 360km ride towards ISE in Barcelona. From 31 January to 2 February 2025, riders will again rally in Valencia, cycling along the Mediterranean coast in support of industry causes.
For more information and to sign up, visit: www.joinbikefest.com

USA - Australian pop/punk band Stand Atlantic are currently on their three-continent tour in support of their third studio album F.E.A.R..
Jaclyn Ash, the designer behind their light show, comments, “Stand Atlantic is a beautiful blend of pop with a punk edge, absolutely. For my lighting, it makes it easy to incorporate subtle chases and fx with very harsh strobes to balance each song. Whenever there is a screaming vocal or a breakdown in a song I love to emphasize with a full package strobe. The band is definitely punk in their sound, but they also have a lighter rocking through a chorus, or if there's a lot of hi-hat - I love to match with a fun chase or a flashy gobo.”
Helping Ash conjure up this mix of moods on the US leg of the band’s tour is a Squeek Lights supplied rig that features Chauvet Professional Rogue R1 BeamWash fixtures. Arranged mid-stage

UK - The Killers Imploding The Mirage stadium tour played the UK and Ireland in May and June. For this leg, band, audience and crew benefited from audio delivered through a GSL PA system from d&b audiotechnik’s SL-Series.
The GSL system is provided and supported on tour by Capital Sound, now part of Solotech UK Group. As long-standing clients of Capital, the band’s sound team was able to draw on the company’s continuing investment in d&b systems to specify an extensive GSL/KSL setup for this major tour.
“The first time I used the SL Series was at a festival in Memphis,” says The Killers’ front-of-house sound engineer, Kenny Kaiser, who works closely with monitor engineer Marty Beath on all aspects of the band’s touring sound spec. “We just turned up and used it, and I was floored – it was awesome.”
Planning ahead, the pair wor

UK - The atmosphere was electric at Daytona Sandown Park as the industry gathered for the first Kartfest in three years. With Chauvet once again headline sponsor, Backup was anticipating the biggest and best Kartfest yet. With more teams and more spectators joining than ever before, and a grand total of £35K raised, it certainly did not disappoint.
In opening proceedings, Backup trustee Lee Dennison paid tribute to Backup chair, John Simpson, who was instrumental in starting the charity and worked tirelessly to ensure it fulfilled its remit and sadly passed in June, whilst welcoming the 33 teams who were about to take their places on the starting grid, with the hope of becoming Kartfest 2022 champions.
Adding to the fun, was the first Roadie Games, which started with the Flight Case Team Relay on the main track, which was almost as fast and furious as the racing itsel

USA - With their home serving as a pastoral, inspirational setting, Christian music duo Jonathan and Melissa Helser chose to record their latest live worship album at their farm, alongside family and friends. To enhance the album, entitled The Land I’m Livin’ In, the duo also chose to film the sessions, which added a personal touch.
The Helsers turned to Brad King, engineer and co-owner of worship sound production studio Creak Music, for all the recording and mixing work necessary to achieve their artistic vision. Knowing it was imperative to capture the Helser’s vocal stylings as well as the environment in which they were recording, King turned to DPA Microphones for the natural sound and clarity the new album deserved.
Having previously used DPA mics on live recording projects, King knew that the brand would be the best option for miking both the vocals

Sweden - From 14 May until 18 September, Verket contemporary art museum is host of the Avesta Art 2022. Among the installations available at the Swedish museum, Vivaldi. The Four Seasons offers an immersion in Antonio Vivaldi’s composition.
Produced by Emotional Experiences and WhatWeAre interactive studio, the immersive show involves 12 Panasonic video-projectors, as well as four Modulo Player media servers by Modulo Pi used for projection mapping, and integrated control of video, audio, and lights.
The immersive exhibition is a co-production of Italian companies Emotional Experiences & WhatWeAre interactive studio. The immersion relies on 10 PT-RZ770 and two PT-RZ370 video-projectors with ET-DLE150 and ET-DLE030 optics by Panasonic. The video-projectors are powered by four Modulo Player Standard media servers, each equipped with four ouputs. The media s

France - The impressive Mairie de Pantin is being illuminated by a new Anolis LED lighting scheme designed by Rozenn Le Couillard from Noctiluca commissioned by the city council to tastefully highlight their newly renovated flagship building.
The modern Renaissance-style building, constructed in 1850 and inaugurated as the district’s town hall in 1886, is in the town of Pantin, Seine-Saint Denis, now a suburb of Paris, and overlooks a square formed by the intersection of two major road arteries, the Avenue du Général-Leclerc and Avenue Édouard-Vaillant.
It received historical monument status in 2017, and that same year the renovation project was launched to recondition the roof and front façade.
The client specifically wanted a lighting scheme that could offer a stylish signature warm white look as well as dynamic-coloured effects, enabling them to transf

South Africa - Gripelectric Worx, the company of Emmanuel (Manny) Sitole, is based in Johannesburg, South Africa, and owns some specialist lighting kit, which is primarily used on Manny’s own projects.
Most recently, it purchased eight of Astera’s award-winning PixelBricks from South African distributor DWR, which were the first in the country.
He first heard about the PixelBrick via the ICLS (International Cinema Lighting Society) a global group of gaffers, rigging gaffers, and console programmers dedicated to expanding the field of cinematic lighting. The organisation frequently informs members about new and emerging technologies.
Manny also already owned a set of Astera’s Titan and Helios Tubes which are constantly in use, so he was already familiar with the brand, the quality and functionality of the Titan LED engine and the excellent overall engineerin

The Netherlands - Armin van Buuren played five This Is Me, Feel Again shows at Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome with lighting designed by his long-term LD Marc Heinz who included over 300 Robe moving lights on the rig.
Postponed twice due to Covid, the shows featured a line up of dancers, guest vocalists and musicians
Marc utilised 161 Pointes, 84 MegaPointes, 90 Spiiders and nine BMFL WashBeams with a RoboSpot system on his spec.
He and assistant LD Jordy Veenstra worked closely with the TWOFIFTYK/EYESUPPLY team led by creative director Sander Reneman and show director Sophie Reneman who presented the dramatic set and visual concepts that defined the performance space. At the heart of this was a dynamic 20 14m box centrepiece that framed an A-shaped DJ booth containing Armin’s decks and performance tech.
Central to the scenic design, above the box were f

UK - For 14 hours each day during the festival, the Glastonbury Festival Circus Big Top hosted 30 different acts by a colourful assortment of aerialists, acrobats and other performers, many of them internationally acclaimed troupes like Briefs Bite Club and Deja Voodoo.
Ensuring that things progressed smoothly without a minute being wasted was a logistical triumph. Helping James Loudon and his crew realise this remarkable accomplishment was a flexible lighting rig supplied by Fineline Lighting that featured 12 Maverick Storm 1 Spot and an equal number of Maverick MK3 Wash fixtures from Chauvet Professional.
Loudon, who started lighting the Circus Big Top at Glastonbury 20 years ago, ran his lighting rig on a ChamSys MagicQ MQ500M. “Everything is programmed, with no busking,” he says. “I designed the rig and programmed the lightshow based on the routines of the v

USA - The Verge Aero team was out in force across the USA on 4th July, helping thousands to celebrate Independence Day with multiple drone shows in Florida, Colorado, Nevada and California.
The mammoth cross-country spectaculars were staged in collaboration with local authorities in each location and saw around 1,000 of Verge Aero’s high-performance drones take to the skies to display both patriotic imagery and content specifically tailored to each community.
Many districts chose to present drone shows instead of the traditional fireworks to address public safety fire and environmental hazards, and in consideration of those who experience PTSD or have pets.
Nils Thorjussen, CEO at Verge Aero, says comments: “America adopted drones for Fourth of July celebrations this year like never before - the interest in drone shows is increasing exponentially. People just

Europe - Martin Audio has appointed Flemming Bjerke to the newly-created position of sales manager for the Nordic region and Germany.
Bjerke will report to Brad Watson, international sales director, and his duties will include business development across the region while supporting existing sales channels and specialist partners.
Bjerke spent 19 years with distributor LydRommet AS in Norway before becoming MD of their Danish operation for 10 years and then more recently spending three years as CEO of Listen Technologies Europe.
Commenting on the appointment, Watson says: “Flemming’s experience is the perfect choice for this new role, and I am excited by his relationships and insight that will be invaluable as this business continues to grow.”
Dom Harter, managing director, adds: “I’ve known Flemming for 20 years and it’s a testament to Martin Au

USA - Audinate’s Dante Controller is now available with built-in language support for English, Spanish, German, Chinese, French, Japanese, Portuguese and Korean.
“This new release of Dante Controller shows that Dante is truly spoken everywhere,” says Audinate product manager, Laurence Crew. “Now people all around the world can more easily use Dante in their native language to more clearly understand what settings and messages mean. With this update, Dante is truly a global citizen.”
Dante Controller v4.6 is free of charge and is available for immediate download at www.audinate.com/LatestDC

USA - ESTA will host a Midwest Rigging Intensive course on 25-27 August in Chicago. The weekend-long event will feature a curriculum developed by a group of dedicated instructors, all of whom are ETCP recognised trainers.
With a focus on practical learning for entertainment riggers, the sessions will feature Ben Brian (Reed Rigging), Tyler DeLong (DeLong Rigging Solutions), Brent ‘Mickey’ Henry (ETC), Ed Leahy (Chicago Flyhouse), Tracy Nunnally (Vertigo), Patrick Stewart (ETC), Shane Kelly (DePaul University), Rebecca Knipfer (ETC), and Verda Beth Martell (DLR Group). This event will provide enough hours to fulfil a technician’s ETCP Education Renewal Credits requirement.
Education sessions will include topics such as fall protection, hoists, loading by math, hardware, and more. The event will comprise two days of classroom training starting at 1 pm on Thursday a

Japan - To achieve sound quality throughout the Life Grand Ship Ofuna Ekimae Store, Hibino Corporation outfitted the facility with dynamic JBL Professional Control 24 Micro ceiling speakers.
Life Corporation is one of Japan’s largest retail chains, specialising in groceries and clothing. In 2021, the company opened the Life Grand Ship Ofuna Ekimae Store in front of Ofuna Station, a major transportation hub located on the border between Yokohama and Kamakura. The store’s management wanted to provide a memorable in-store experience for both customers and employees, but the existing sound system became a setback due to its poor sound quality.
Hibino Corporation investigated and found that the current speakers were too sparsely installed for effective sound coverage and also doubled as the emergency broadcast system. The installation team then selected speakers from

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