Projects

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14 February 2025

UK - Lighting designer Andy Webb specified Robe moving lights to be at the heart of his lighting designs for two high-profile pantomime shows, The Further Adventures of Peter Pan staged at the Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury and Sleeping Beauty at the Festival Theatre in Malvern – two of 11 pantos presented this season by UK Productions.

As the proliferation of mad characters, slapstick comedy, innuendo and humour flowed, so did the illumination, together – literally – with some cast members in Aylesbury, as the action and fun drew heavily on a series of spectacular flying gags – both onstage behind a drop-down projection screen, and out into the audience.

At Aylesbury, the infrastructure needed to make this happen meant a few production compromises, and the lighting department lost several ‘standard’ positions in this 1,

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13 February 2025

UK - As part of an ambitious renovation project to improve the aesthetics and safety at Norwich’s Church of St. Peter Mancroft, a suite of solutions from lighting controls specialist Pharos Architectural Controls has been installed within the historic site to enhance worship and improve its eco credentials.

The Church of St. Peter Mancroft has stood proud in the heart of Norwich for nearly 600 years. As an important heritage site, the church’s lighting needed an upgrade to highlight its architecture, while supporting the multiple uses of the building. To achieve the client’s brief and make the necessary enhancements to the Grade 1 listed medieval building required a high level of sensitivity.

Lighting designers Enlightened were appointed to create a new lighting scheme for the church. The lighting scheme requirements were two-fold: to create be

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13 February 2025

UK - Pixel Artworks, an immersive experience studio, has launched The Lighthouse, a mixed-reality showroom located in the heart of Clerkenwell, Farringdon. This space brings together physical and virtual experiences, showcasing the agency’s innovative technology and creative expertise.

The Lighthouse serves as a dynamic platform for Pixel Artworks’ technology, including augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and holographic displays. The showroom features various bespoke spaces, offering brands a first-hand look at immersive technology in action. The space is designed to inspire businesses by demonstrating the possibilities of immersive experiences and how they can address real-world challenges.

The project’s main contractor Thirdway appointed market-leading manufacturer Light Forms to provide the solutions for the project as a lighting sp

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13 February 2025

Japan - Powersoft’s Mezzo and Dynamic Music Distribution (DMD) are at the heart of a sound system delivering three zones of high-quality audio in Yebisu Brewery Tokyo, a historical brewery and museum located in Tokyo. Once a quiet museum, the new sound system overhaul and installation of the brewing facility have transformed it into a vibrant, multi-zone audio experience with beer tastings in the taproom, exhibitions and a shop for visitors.

 Yebisu Brewery Tokyo’s audio revamp was driven by the need to shift its image from “classic” into a lighter and more playful one, aligning with the changing taste of the modern audience. “We wanted to create a vibrant atmosphere that would change the Yebisu beer’s previous reputation,” says Takako Okii, marketing division deputy manager from Sapporo Breweries. “We also needed to get rid of the echo issu

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13 February 2025

France - In Provence, where verdant cypresses and Aleppo pines line the azure landscape, an illuminated tree designed by Synapse Audiovisuel has been installed.

Measuring 5.6m high and pixel mapped with Resolume, this tree is located in the 809 Social Club, a spot for tourists and locals alike in the heart of downtown La Garde. It sprouts from the centre and extends on to the ceiling and on the wall in irregular patterns.

“The club was completely renovated and needed a new concept," said Ludovic Lozano, technical sales engineer for Synapse Audiovisuel. "Our client asked for something unique, but not overwhelming – something universal that could speak to everyone and not a particular theme."

Responding to this request on the part of their client, the Synapse team came up with the concept of the tree. "The idea came naturally when we starte

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13 February 2025

UK - Manchester-based audio specialist tube uk dipped into its considerable stock of event equipment to service eight special nationwide Christmas trail installations over the festive period that were produced and curated by art and live experience afficionados, Culture Creative Ltd (CCL), in partnership with Raymond Gubbay, a division of Sony Music.

The trails were in different locations up and down the UK in a variety of nature-related settings including Bedgebury National Pinetum and Forest, Leeds Castle in Kent, Wimpole Estate near Cambridge, Stourhead in Wiltshire, Chester Zoo and Dunham Massey, plus the flagship trail in Kew Gardens.

Each trail involved between 15 and 28 separate sonic installations – 156 in total – which were essential to enhancing the mood, atmosphere, and magic, together with lighting and SFX. The sound installations ran

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12 February 2025

USA - On Sunday, 9 February, High End Systems Zeo fixtures lit up the much-anticipated Halftime Show in New Orleans. Among the crew who put on the show were lighting designer Al Gurdon, lighting director Ben Green of 22 Degrees, gaffer Alen Sisul, moving light programmer and lighting designer Mark Humphrey of TruCreative Design, and moving light programmer and lighting director Eric Marchwinski of Earlybird Visual. The lighting package was supplied by PRG.

“We had a very clear aesthetic approach to this year’s halftime show, which was very much aligned with the wishes of the artist’s camp,” says Gurdon. “This was to always aim for contrast and lighting angles different from those of conventional television lighting. We wanted to prioritise drama over ‘beauty light’. It needed to feel monolithic and synchronised to the heavy beats, with

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12 February 2025

UK - The popular Christmas light trails create an almost magical and magnetic visitor experience. This winter, they have provided an opportunity for GLP’s Creos washlight to make its debut at two National Trust country estates – Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire and Stourhead House, a Palladian style villa in Wiltshire.

Both form part of a large portfolio of outdoor events for Culture Creative, who specialises in delivering light art experiences – everything from fire gardens to Halloween events and outdoor visitor experiences. These two trails, covering around 2km each, were produced in partnership with promoters Sony Music.

Culture Creative’s head of lighting (and senior designer), Tony Simpson, used five Creos at Stourhead while accomplished freelance LD, Adam King, took a different approach at Wimpole where four were deployed as eye candy on

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12 February 2025

UK - The brainchild of Bring Me The Horizon frontman Oli Sykes, and housed in the listed Osborn Works in Sheffield’s Kelham Island/Neepsend neighbourhood, Church - Temple of Fun is a multi-use venue which features a vegan bar and restaurant, outside terrace, PS4 gaming pods and 220-capacity live music venue.

Opened in 2018, the venue has hosted notable acts such as Bring Me The Horizon, Deaf Havana, and Static Dress, as well as DJ sets with the likes of Toddla T and Annie Mac. Church’s busy programme of events also includes gaming days, film nights and art evenings.

With such a varied spectrum of activities taking place in the venue’s different spaces, high-quality, easy-to-control zoned audio is essential. Experienced installer Audio Engineering Services (AES) of Sheffield is Church’s preferred audio supplier and was responsible for the inst

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12 February 2025

UK - Ben Howard's 10th anniversary tour for 2014’s UK No1 album I Forget Where We Were visited venues across Europe with Eighth Day Sound's audio services, looked after by account executive Stuart Wright.

Tour manager Martijn de Jong comments: "Ben's a musician with a wide range of records and songs that hold a recognisable sound. No two records are the same, and neither are his tours. He knows what he wants and strives to get there with his sound, look, feel, and the overall live experience of his shows, Ben and his band are inspirational to work with.”

To help provide this exact experience, de Jong explains what the production requires from a vendor: "We need answers and solutions,” he says, simply. “We knew what we were after and got there with Eighth Day Sound and Stu by our side. Their flexibility and an ongoing effort to jump o

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12 February 2025

Austria - The Wiener Stadthalle is Austria’s largest events complex. Opened in the late 1950s and located in Vienna’s 15th District, the venue has hosted leading international stars for decades, and is regarded as one of Europe’s premier entertainment venues.

To maintain its position as a front-rank venue, the hall’s management team keeps its technology provision under careful review and recently decided to invest in a new audio system. In order to ensure that they chose exactly the right fit, the team invited four leading loudspeaker manufacturers to present their offerings in a comparative test.

After a rigorous shoot-out, the Stadthalle team selected a Coda Audio system. System integrator Audio-Integra of Munich won the contract for the installation, whilst Wilhelm & Willhalm Consulting and Sales (W&W), also based near Munich, over

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11 February 2025

USA - Billed as an 'evening of music and solidarity', the FireAid Benefit Concert – hosted by the Intuit Dome and Kia Forum on 30 January – saw 35 artists perform in a live broadcast that helped to raise millions for wildfire recovery efforts.

Organised by the Annenberg Foundation, as the event began, $2m dollars were raised thanks to a $1m donation from Irish rock band U2 matched in contribution by Clippers Organisation and Intuit Dome ownership Steve and Connie Ballmer. At the time of press, an estimated $100m has been raised, with funds allocated to the rebuilding of LA communities and wildfire prevention methods.

Clair Global’s team was led by Meegan Holmes, general manager of Clair’s Sun Valley, CA location. Clair, together with group brands Eighth Day Sound and Sound Image supported client rehearsals for Billie Eilish, Jelly Ro

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11 February 2025

UK - Oliver! has made a triumphant return to the West End at the Gielgud Theatre. With Simon Lipkin as Fagin, Shanay Holmes as Nancy, and Aaron Sidwell as Bill Sikes, this latest revival brings Charles Dickens’ tale of young Oliver Twist to life once more.

Cameron Mackintosh’s new production, directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne, with co-direction by Jean-Pierre van der Spuy, showcases a lighting design by multi-award-winning Paule Constable and Ben Jacobs. To realise their creative vision, they turned to White Light – a d&b solutions company – to supply the show’s lighting rig.

Since its original West End premiere in 1960, Oliver! has seen numerous revivals, yet each iteration brings a fresh perspective. Paule Constable, having previously lit the 2009 Theatre Royal Drury Lane production, relished the opportuni

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11 February 2025

UK - IPS (Impact Production Services), supplier of staging and structures, technical production, and equipment hire to the events industry, is proud to announce a major milestone in its growth and development: the opening of a new, state-of-the-art, purpose-built warehouse in Milton Keynes this April. This expansion represents a pivotal chapter for IPS as the company continues to build on its steady growth since the pandemic, strengthening its capacity to deliver efficient, sustainable, and innovative services to clients.

Since its inception, IPS has experienced remarkable growth, doubling in size with each move to larger facilities. This latest expansion, located just a mile from the current site, is no exception. The impressive 6.5-acre site features newly constructed buildings purposefully designed to meet modern standards, with significantly upgraded inf

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11 February 2025

Germany - Stars of German stage, screen and music walked the red carpet at Leipzig’s Messe Halle 1 for the Golden Henne awards ceremony, with tvONE's Green Hippo brand of Hippotizer media servers on video duty.

Some of Germany’s biggest stars performed at the gala, on a stage backed by a 32m LED screen and a LED floor, which dominated the proceedings. Producer MDR Fernsehen (Television) worked with content design agency Lupixx to create individual content for 15 acts, with a brief to showcase the country’s best entertainers with glamour and an upbeat, celebratory vibe.

Media technology solutions company ICT supplied two Hippotizer Tierra+ MK2 and three Hippotizer Boreal+ MK2 Media Servers to power Lupixx’s creative ideas.

“We created mood boards and discussed ideas with the producers and the director of the show and brought them to

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11 February 2025

Japan - 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 an impressive production design for J-pop singer/songwriter Hikaru Utada’s 2024 tour. The artist returned to live performance after a six-year hiatus for an extensive tour of Japan and Asia, supporting a 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 three-way RoboSpot system, all supplied in Japan by lighting vendor Kyoritz.

Jason’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

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11 February 2025

Brazil - Inaugurated on 28 November, 2024, during the 200th anniversary celebrations of the city of Franca in Brazil, the latest Sesc unit opened its doors with over 100 free activities for people of all ages. Covering an area of 35,555 sq.m, Sesc Franca is the largest facility of its type in São Paulo’s interior, and as such is one of the most important in the country, supporting social, cultural and educational projects.

The supply and installation of the sound systems for both the theatre and gymnasium were entrusted to Gobos do Brasil, a company with 24 years of experience in the professional audio and lighting market. For this project, they chose premium equipment from Martin Audio.

With a capacity of 370 seats, the Sesc Franca theatre features one of the largest stages of all the Sesc units in the state of São Paulo. The venue itself offers

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10 February 2025

USA - The official announcement for Apocalyptica’s just launched North American tour refers to them as ‘cello rockers’.

The three classically trained musicians from Helsinki's prestigious Sibelius Academy fuse two different worlds, playing metal rock (often covers of Metallica hits) on their cellos with ‘an unbridled ferocity that ranks with the best bone crushing bands of the genre’.

Among Apocalyptica's admirers is renowned lighting designer Mikki Kunttu, who has worked with them on a few occasions since 2007. "I love the band, and it is always so great to work with them," said Kunttu. "I have the highest appreciation for what they do – and for who they are."

Kunttu is showing this appreciation in stunning fashion with his lighting design for Apocalyptica's current APMB4C Vol 2. tour, which began its 24-city North American leg 6

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10 February 2025

Puerto Rico - An Audient ASP8024-HE console has recently been installed at the Universidad Profesional Dr. Carlos J. Borrero Ríos (UP University) in Puerto Rico in the new, on-site recording lab. Designed to be centred around an analogue recording console, the studio comprises a control room, live room and isolation booth.

Taking advantage of Audient’s modular console design, UP University was able to specify a console which aligned perfectly with their needs: a 36-channel console with dual layer control and patchbay.

Armando Sepulveda, an audio engineer professor at the university, outlines the decision: “The Audient console is a great fit for us here at UP University since it gives us the flexibility and capability to run big live sessions and mix in the console. It's also a great tool for teaching how to run a recording studio in the hybrid s

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07 February 2025

South Africa - Truth Nightclub in Midrand Johannesburg, recently celebrated its official reopening with a new lighting setup from Elation. The Production Warehouse, Elation’s exclusive partner in South Africa, collaborated closely with the venue to select the equipment for the upgrade.

The installation was completed under a tight schedule, just in time for the pre-launch of the revamped The Terrace dance floor. The new lighting rig was crucial for the club’s 25 Years of Truth anniversary event featuring Township Rebellion on 30 November and the New Year's Eve 2025 celebration with Pleasurekraft.

Truth, known as the Home of the Underground, is a regional landmark and one of South Africa’s best-known nightclubs. With five dance floors, it has hosted artists like Paul Van Dyk and Richie Hawtin, among many others.

The Terr

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07 February 2025

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. 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 landmark event. Chan has worked on a wide range of arts, entertainment and installation projects. His experience ranges from consulting on installations and major even

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07 February 2025

USA - When Sunset Blvd. made its return to Broadway, sound designer Adam Fisher turned to 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 had many excellent conversations with Scott and the level of support and innovation Masque Sound brought to the table exceeded all expectations. I was also very impressed with how the company handled the complex and unique outside RF requirements that were required

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07 February 2025

USA - Allman Betts Family Revival wrapped a 19-stop USA tour at the San Francisco Fillmore on 21 December. What has become an annual tradition to celebrate the music of the Allman Brothers Band is led by Devon Allman and Duane Betts, sons of original members Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts.

The touring show relied on Meyer Sound MJF‑208 stage monitors that went on the road to stops at legendary venues around the country. Devon once again specified the Meyer Sound wedges for the tour. “Absolute best in the biz,” he said about the Meyer Sound touring wedges after wrapping in San Francisco.

The Fillmore features a house system anchored by Panther large-format linear line array loudspeakers and 2100‑LFC low-frequency control elements.

Nathan Gilberg, FOH engineer and production manager on the tour, comments, “We’ve been using M

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06 February 2025

Austria - Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s Medieval morality play Jedermann has become a classic centrepiece of the world-renowned Salzburg Festival. First performed in 1920 – directed by Max Reinhardt – when the festival was inaugurated, it has been staged most years since then in the city’s magnificent Domplatz (Cathedral Square).

2024 saw the staging of a new, fresh, contemporary, and acclaimed version created by Canadian director Robert Carsen, who was also the scenographer, and costume designer Luis Carvalho. Lighting was designed by Carsen and Giuseppe di Iorio, with the latter specifying Robe iForte LTXs to deal with all the essential key lighting needed to bring the work alive and disrupt preconceptions about how the play can be presented.

Jedermann was performed nightly throughout the five-week 2024 event, either in Cathedr