France - French restaurant and leisure destination Pirates Paradise has specified a Coda Audio sound system to enhance the venue’s immersive environment. The pirate-themed restaurant, located in Neuville-en-Ferrain near Lille, is a family destination that regularly welcomes more than 500 guests during the weekends; entertainment and audio excellence is key to its success. Owner Jérôme Descamps explains: “My dream was to create the best restaurant I could, offering great decor, furniture, atmosphere and food supported by a fantastic sound system. It was important to me to do everything properly, so I engaged a company that could help spec me the highest quality audio on the market." Pirates Paradise engaged local company Public Address, with general manager, Gregory Devilder and head of technical, Benjamin Pauwels taking up the challenge. They recommended Co
Spain - When one of the world’s largest night clubs puts on a special season-end event, its magnitude is difficult to ignore. Open since 1993 on the Spanish island of Ibiza, this mammoth club can host up to 10,000 guests at one time. On the season’s finale evening, Privilege Ibiza made the decision to employ the Clair Brothers C12 loudspeaker system, along with an assortment of more Clair Brothers gear, to cover the entire venue. The size of the venue allows management to redesign facilities for individual parties and artistic shows. For this event, they didn’t hold back, calling on Clair Brothers’ Spanish distribution and rental partner, VTècnics, to recommend and design a sound system worthy of this special occasion. Josep Maria Serra, production manager at VTècnics reports: “The Clair Brothers team understands the concept and value of global sharing bet
USA - Founded in 1908, Harvard Business School in Boston is known worldwide for its MBA and doctoral programmes. With a faculty of over 200 experienced professors and entrepreneurs, the school recently opened Klarman Hall lecture auditorium. Designed by the architectural firm William Rawn Associates, Architects, the hall needed a lighting solution that could meet strict acoustic and performance criteria, so they worked with the design firm Theatre Projects who specified PHX 150W LED profile luminaires from Altman Lighting. “This was a new construction project and our first time working with the Harvard Business School,” says Steven Rust, Theatre Projects’ lighting designer. “In an atmosphere where people needed to hear each other clearly throughout the hall, the criteria from the acoustician was that the lighting had to be ideally convection-cooled, or near-s
UK - Bacchus Bar & Club in Bishop’s Stortford’s recently brought in XS Audio Visual to design and install an extensive sound system, powered by just two amplifiers from Linea Research. The entire project had to be completed to a tight deadline. “We had only four days to completely rip out the existing sound and lighting systems and commission a whole new nightclub sound, lighting, and video install, including relocating the DJ booth and existing TV video feeds,” recalls XSAV managing director Lee Michael. Michael describes the Bacchus Bar as “a perfectly sized, rectangular-shaped venue that can accommodate 500 people comfortably.” On weekends, the well-established hot spot is often busy enough to reach full capacity, with DJs energizing the crowd. During the week, the club’s entertainment systems are used for karaoke and sports events. XSAV ins
China - The historic city of Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, is preparing to host the 2022 Asian Games in the largest Olympic sports centre of its kind in China. The Tennis Centre, which belongs to this complex, has recently been inaugurated with the experience and support of DAS Audio systems. The sound system was put to the test at the official inauguration of the stadium for the 14th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) held from 11-16 December 2018. The team at DAS Audio China worked closely with the local engineering contractor and both sides collaborated in the design and completion of the installation, which has been specially tailored for this multi-sport stadium. The HQ series speakers with IP54 certification were chosen for the installation. The HQ series are specially designed for medium to large size installations offering tightly control
USA - Penn State’s Nittany Lion athletics programme is fiercely competitive and well-supported by the school and its alumni. In that tradition, the Penn State men and women’s lacrosse teams now practice and compete in Panzer Stadium, a new multimillion-dollar, state-of-the-art facility. Its 1,300 seats are close to the action, and the entire facility is wired for modern broadcasting, which will allow Penn State to host high-profile NCAA and Big Ten championship games. Pennsylvania-based AV design and integration firm Clair Solutions handled the broadcast infrastructure and sound reinforcement at Panzer Stadium, earning the job based in part on the proposal of Jim Devenney, Clair Solutions’ senior systems designer and in part on the successful completion of numerous other projects at Penn State. “We originally got involved because we’ve done a lot of other wor
UK - On 26 January, around 3,000 worshippers gathered at London’s SSE Arena for A Day of Prayer for Britain. Led by evangelist minister David Hathaway, the event saw Christian leaders from across the UK and from abroad coming together to pray for unity in the UK. Audio, lighting, and video for the event was handled by Subfrantic Production Services, whose Yamaha Rivage PM10 and PM7 digital mixing systems managed all live and broadcast audio. David Hathaway’s ministry approached Subfrantic because of the company’s work at The Experience in Lagos, Nigeria - an event which attracts over 500,000 worshippers - as well as its work on other religious events in the UK. The event ran for eight hours and featured a mix of Christian worship styles, with a band, choir, and worship leaders including David Hathaway, Betty King, Bishop John Francis, Lou Engle, musi
UK - The Digbeth district of Birmingham city centre has long been associated with the development of the British electronic music scene. Over the years, the regeneration of many of its old buildings has seen a vibrant club culture firmly established in the area. Located in a former church, The Monastery is described by some as the current Mecca of the Birmingham club scene. It was designed and constructed from scratch, by a team of determined, experienced ravers, motivated by a common aim to create the ultimate music destination that put art before profit. An instinct for moving with the times informed their decision to seek a new sound system for the popular 200 capacity venue. The Monastery chose a Pioneer Pro Audio XY Series system. The pre-existing system looked the part and had served its purpose reasonably well but the sense was that audiences have become far mor
China - Shantou University in Guangdong features a 52,000sq.m sports stadium complex, the Shantou University Sports Park. It includes an international competition-standard gymnasium complete with basketball courts, multipurpose halls, swimming pools and VIP boxes. This year, the stadium played host to the university’s 2018 graduation commencement emboldened by the retirement farewell ceremony for Shing - complete with a substantial, and mobile, Clair Brothers C12 and C8 loudspeaker system. After several close inspection reviews of top brands, DMT, the Clair Brothers distributor in China presented the powers that be with a demo of components. “It was obvious,” explains Chris Fish, technical director at DMT, “that the Clair Brothers gear was making a real impression compared to the other systems.” The final equipment list at the venue consists of a 32
USA - Led by Pastor Jeff Crook, Christ Place Church in Flowery Branch, Georgia, has been serving the community since 1955 by providing a safe place for everyone to come together in worship. The church recently finished construction on their new sanctuary, designed to use the latest in technology to reach a growing congregation. Requiring a theatrical lighting design that could create the ideal worship environment and front light for their high-definition video capabilities, the church worked with the AVL integration specialists PRODUCTION/co who designed a new lighting system using PHX 250W LED profile luminaires from Altman Lighting. “We’ve worked with the church on everything from student camps to smaller jobs, so when they began with the construction of their new sanctuary, we were brought on board to oversee the complete audio, video and lighting integration,
UK - London’s Ministry of Sound (MoS) has upgraded its lighting control with Avolites Arena and Quartz consoles. The South East London nightclub has been at the heart of the capital’s scene for almost 30 years. Household name DJs and performers are a mainstay of its offering, backed by serious sound and uplifting lighting. International technical event production company Bigabox drew on its longstanding relationship with MoS to realise the enhancement of lighting control options in the club’s two main rooms - The 103 and The Box. “It was my recommendation the MoS team got Avolites consoles for their largest-capacity spaces and that’s precisely what they did,” says Bigabox Productions’ director, Dean Graves. “The guys at Avolites are helpful, informative, passionate and incredible people to work with. It was imperative their products were in the M
UK - East of England Arena Events Centre (EEAEC) has announced a collaboration with Pearce Hire. The EEAEC is one of the UK’s top event venues, hosting over 300 events, conferences and meetings a year. The multi-purpose events complex sboasts over 9,000sq.m of indoor space and over 250 acres of outside space. With significant and ongoing investment in the venue and its infrastructure, the venue has appointed Pearce Hire as a preferred contractor working throughout the complex. “With our HQ based in Peterborough we are ideally placed geographically to offer an outstanding level of service and support to the venue, to the organisers putting on events at the venue, and to the exhibitors at all the major trade and consumer exhibitions which take place here throughout the year,” observes Shaun Pearce, managing director, Pearce Hire. “Having provided services for man
UK - Olympia London, the home of the PLASA Show, will undergo a £1billion transformation that will turn the exhibition centre into a 'world-leading cultural hub'. The plans, which include two major venues and a host of arts, office and retail spaces, were approved by Hammersmith & Fulham Council on 31 January. The venue will remain open throughout the works, Olympia London has confirmed, with "no disruption to any trade show" held there. Peter Heath, PLASA managing director, comments: “We wholeheartedly welcome this news from Olympia and are excited to see how the classic venue evolves and expands over the next few years. "We have seen PLASA Show rapidly grow each year since it moved to the west London venue in 2016. This announcement provides more opportunity for growth and secures the show's place in the international calendar for the long-term.”
Australia - The Burdekin Theatre is the home for arts and entertainment in Burdekin, playing host to a diverse range of live performances including musicals, plays and rock concerts. The venue also hosts conferences and seminars, plus local events such as dance recitals, school award nights, and more. The theatre features a 473-seat auditorium with proscenium arch and orchestra pit, supported by a professional technical staff. When it came time to upgrade its sound system, Clair Brothers topped the list after a competitive review of major loudspeaker brands. David Luscombe, theatre technician, at Burdekin Theatre, explains: “As time went on, I knew our old system was reaching the end of its life expectancy. It just wasn’t keeping up with our ever-rising standards. I saw it as an opportunity to upgrade, so I took a listen to several top brands before I got the oppo
Russia - Since being founded 2012, the Moscow Musical Theatre has earned a considerable reputation for its original productions and unusual approaches to classic stories. Just in time for the 2018/19 season, the Musical Theatre has made a new home for itself in the remodelled and refurbished Rossiya Theatre on Moscow's Pushkinskaya Square - one of the most frequented squares in the world. This new venue has an opportunity for the sound department to push the creative potential of the theatre to a new level by installing the first permanent theatrical installation of L-Acoustics’ L-ISA technology. The theatre’s repertoire ranges from a rock opera production of Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment to a fusion of circus performance with operetta and musical genres in The Circus Princess, and a re-telling of Cinderella. The new sound installat
Hungary - Madách Theatre (or Madách Színház), one of the most popular musical theatres in Budapest, has recently undergone a major audio upgrade with several Allen & Heath dLive digital mixing systems. The 800-seat venue holds around 350 performances a year, in front of approximately 500,000 visitors and stages some of the biggest international musicals, including works by Andrew Lloyd Webber, and is currently premiering dLive’s capabilities in Lloyd Webber’s School of Rock production. Supplied by Allen & Heath’s Hungarian distributors, Audmax, the installation features three dLive Surfaces, three MixRacks, eight Expanders and several ME Personal Monitoring systems, which allow for the independent mixing of vocals, orchestra and IEM / stage monitors. “The requirements of this installation were quite complex. Madách needed a system t
The Netherlands - Fifty years ago, ‘t Spant was established as the first theatre in Bussum, a town 30km from Amsterdam. The venue now hosts a wide range of theatre, live music and television productions, as well as conventions and other corporate events. One of the few unsubsidised theatres in the Netherlands, it is celebrating its golden anniversary with a new, completely updated Yamaha digital mixing system. ‘t Spant was built in 1969 as a home for local music, theatre and operetta associations. This was replaced by a new building in 1980, which was further refurbished and renamed simply Spant in the 2000s, before the venue was bought by its managing director Paul Haighton and financial director Bert Dijkstra. Spant has two theatres, the 780-seat Podium 1 and 275-seat podium 2. It hosts around 100 theatre performances and 200 conferences and other events each ye
USA - California rental company Rat Sound Systems has decided to purchase some Newton 16+8, Outline’s FPGA-based processing platform. Jon Monson, project manager at Rat Sound Systems states: "Rat Sound has been searching for several years for a solution to drive our festival sound systems and Outline has met the challenge with an elegant solution. With the Newton we can combine consoles and drive outputs in a multitude of popular formats, and we appreciate all the various clocking options. “Our system engineers instantly appreciated the intuitive, easy to use software control. Rat has immediately started deploying Newtons on a multitude of festivals, and we plan on utilising them on all our festival events in 2019 and beyond." Top bands, performers and venues serviced by the company from Camarillo, including Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., Warped T
UK - Adlib’s installation division are part of a team which has helped to deliver Europe’s first installed L-Acoustics L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound system at EartH (Evolutionary Arts Hackney), a vibrant new arts centre for live music, mixed arts, and performance located in the former Savoy cinema in Dalston, east London. Adlib worked closely with client Auro Foxcroft and his team, with support from L-Acoustics’ sales manager, Paul McMullan and applications engineers, Jeff Woodford (installation) and Sergey Becker (touring) to specify and install the 360° L-ISA system with the aim of delivering an all-round audio experience for audiences and artists alike. EartH is the brainchild of Auro, champion of Hackney nightlife and founder of Shoreditch venue Village Underground, a commercially successful, sustainable and community driven initiative that also provides a
Ireland - Early last year the INEC Killarney venue, the largest music and multi-purpose venue in Ireland outside Dublin, worked with AC Entertainment Technologies to fit a complete new lighting rig which featured a full fixtures range, cabling infrastructure and lighting control console. Since Gavin James, the first artist to use the rig, many other big names have played at the INEC. Snow Patrol, Nathan Carter, Una Healy (the Saturdays), Jimmy Carr, Walking on Cars and Jake Carter have all subsequently performed at the INEC, with their production teams enjoying the benefits of a full existing rig at their disposal. Mark Egan, director of corporate and leisure events at INEC says: “The lighting rig has been incredibly well received. The feedback we’ve had from LDs has been fantastic.” The Prolights fixtures form the cornerstone of the rig, which uses a vari
UK - As one of the UK’s premiere performance venues, the National Theatre (NT) presents a wide-ranging programme. In 2018 a new permanent structure for corporate and other events was added to the roof space known as The Deck. A flexible audio system based on the Yamaha MRX7-D matrix processor has been installed, thanks partly to the unit’s success in providing show relay throughout the NT’s three theatres and other spaces. Previously occupied by a pavilion-like tented structure, The Deck’s views across the River Thames to the City of London make it a popular rental space for corporate gatherings, product launches, parties and weddings. Last year, the NT redeveloped the space by installing a bespoke permanent structure with state of the art sound and lighting. The audio solution is based on the Yamaha MRX7-D, with control via an iPad running a custom-designed ProVisio
France - Arena Pays d'Aix is a modern, multi-purpose venue which can house audiences of up to 8500. Designed to host a wide range of events, a Yamaha and Nexo audio system delivers quality, flexible audio throughout the arena complex. Located close to the southern French city of Aix-en-Provence, the outside of Arena Pays d'Aix presents a futuristic vision, its clean, sweeping lines contrasting with the surrounding countryside of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It has quickly become a popular destination for sport and entertainment from throughout the region, including nearby Marseille, France’s third largest city. Designed by architect Christophe Gulizzi, the vision of the future continues inside, where a modular format allows the 4000m2 interior space to offer 17 different configurations, depending on the type of event being hosted. The main space (Grande Salle,
UK - Stage Electrics has announced it has won a £2m contract for the supply and installation of specialist production lighting and audio-visual infrastructure for Riverside Studios, Hammersmith. The broadcast, arts and entertainment venue closed in 2014 for demolition and redevelopment and is scheduled to fully reopen its doors again in 2019. The new 90,000 sq. ft. Riverside Studios will comprise three studios, small, medium and large, as well as public and community spaces including a two-screen cinema, rehearsal space and a number of restaurants and bars. The design of the medium studio is particularly flexible allowing for the easy alternation between theatre, music, events and television. During the consultancy phase of the project, Stage Electrics advised on the supporting infrastructure to allow it to function as a multipurpose space. The smaller studio is int
The Netherlands - Blumano, engineering consultancy for design and safety in the entertainment Industry is expanding its operation with the announcement of Blumano Netherlands. This prime west European base will work in close collaboration with the existing offices of Blumano in the UK and in Italy. Michiel van der Zijde is joining the ever-expanding organisation, who in addition to his extensive knowledge of stage machinery, brings a background in project management to the dynamic equation. He is an industry professional and has an impressive track record in production design and product development spanning over 20 years with experience working as a technical producer with industry leading brands. “We share the same core values - a commitment to excellence, a passion for what we do and a dedication to making our industry a safe working environment. It’s the art o