Switzerland - In the age of social distancing, how can an orchestra and choir create a great musical performance when they cannot be in close proximity to each other? During the coming season, Switzerland’s Zurich Opera House will rely on Lawo IP technology to solve this problem.
The need to find a solution for future performances became clear in early 2020, after Switzerland’s lockdown went into effect on 15 March. That solution came in the form of an IP-based remote production installation from Lawo, designed specially for WAN-based remote productions.
Equipment includes a Lawo mc²36 console, Compact I/O stagebox units, and V__remote4 devices to transport and process video and audio signals, plus an upgrade of the Lawo Nova73 HD Core already installed at the Opera House which adds Ravenna networking and additional SFP Ethernet ports.
“At first we sat at

UK - Peachy Playhouse, a new socially-distanced entertainment concept developed to deliver safe live performances during the coronavirus pandemic, closed its summer season at Loseley Park, Guildford, Surrey, on a high note.
That didn’t just include a spirit-rousing performance and from the Ambassadors Band, the ground-breaking season, a big leap of faith and some serious planning and investment by Philip French from Peachy Productions, was a resounding success.
Philip and his team supplied 95% of the technical production infrastructure for the six-week period including staging, lighting, video, and audio. The Playhouse show schedule ran for two two-week sessions with a two-week break in-between, working alongside some carefully selected locally-based partners to provide the other elements including catering, generators, marquees, and toilets.
Robe moving lights

UK - Last month, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre reopened with a concert version of Jesus Christ Superstar, making it the first major London venue to do so post lockdown (a full technical report will be featured in LSi October). Having supplied the Open Air Season for many years now, as well as working on a host of outdoor productions over the past few months, WL was called upon to supply the lighting for this much anticipated concert.
Created by the team behind the Olivier and Evening Standard Award-winning production, Jesus Christ Superstar: The Concert is a special staging of the Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber classic.
Complying with government regulations, this version is being performed in front of a socially distanced audience in order to ensure the complete safety of everyone in attendance.
While there has been a lot of changes to

Denmark - HEX! Museum of Witch Hunt has recently opened in Ribe, Denmark, complete with a Smart IP loudspeaker solution from Genelec designed and installed by the Moesgaard Museum Exhibition Design Studio.
As Denmark’s oldest town and home to Maren Spliid, the country’s most famous witch, the setting is ideal for a museum that aims to tell the stories of these witches – who they were, why they were so feared, and the myths and superstitions that surrounded them. In order to create the best possible visitor experience, HEX! turned to the museum technology experts at the famed Moesgaard Museum led by Johan Ahrenfeldt.
“We wanted to create a complex soundscape for the various stories being told in each of the nine exhibition rooms,” explains Ahrenfeldt. “However, the building itself posed a few challenges as it’s an old listed building in the center of Ribe.

USA - Kentucky-based production designer, Bobby Grey, already had a wealth of real-world experience behind him - ranging from theme parks to theatre, touring and designing top-end festival stages - by the time he had reached 30.
Concentrating on lighting he came under the influence of Joe Paradise - and it was he who introduced Grey to his current charges, veteran rock band 311. Along the way Grey became an associate designer with Sightline Design Group, before starting his own company, Notan Creative in January 2020.
The band are now noted for their summer tours and legendary ‘311 Day’, held annually at the Park Theatre, Las Vegas (Park MGM) on 11 March. But this year the event went into overdrive as they celebrated their 30th anniversary over three nights. Bobby Grey designed another bespoke rig, using an abundance of GLP X4 Bar 10 and Bar 20 and JDC1 hybrid st

Italy - Situated in the northern Italian town of Arco, the Centrale Caffe recently underwent a complete renovation, which in addition to the general interior and patio also included the sound and video systems.
Local contractors, Iiriti srl, were brought in, and having installed Martin Audio systems many times in the past, again recommended the brand - as did the project architect Thomas Matteotti.
Owners Ciroc Srl had commissioned the substantial upgrade just before the COVID19 lockdown. Special attention was paid to the terrace, which has been completely renewed, with three Blackline X8 mounted horizontally on the external walls of the patio. Meanwhile, 10 Adorn A55 loudspeakers populate the main room and lounge.
The system was designed by Iiriti owner, Giacomo Galassi, and supplied by Audiosales srl, Martin Audio’s territorial distributor.
The sound sy

USA - History resonates throughout the Roxy Theatre, the legendary Sunset Strip club opened in 1973 by Lou Adler and a group of celebrity partners. It was here that the Rocky Horror Picture Show made its US debut, and the Ramones gave their first California concert. Bob Marley recorded a live album at the club in its first decade, so too did Ratt, Frank Zappa, George Benson, and Bruce Springsteen.
Impressions of these moments echoed through the mind and imagination of Julien Reux, the owner of ReuxLight Design, when he sat down this summer to create some special looks for a virtual four-show tour by Wallows at the legendary venue. Summoning the evocative spirit of the club’s rich past, he gave his shows a haunting, redolent flavour with help from the warm white light of 20 Chauvet Professional STRIKE 1 fixtures supplied by the Envizion Group.
Reux, who has bee

India - Pune nightclub Sky High hired integrators Smart Homes to design and install Harman Professional audio and lighting solutions.
Known as the best rooftop venue in Kharadi, Sky High - The Club spans more than 5,000sq.ft and offers guests a one-of-a-kind nightlife experience. The facility features an indoor clubbing space with a DJ booth and dance floor as well as an outdoor terrace with a patio and bar.
"For the club’s sound, we were looking for control,” said Shaukat Ali of Sky High - The Club. “Since the venue is located in an IT hub and surrounded by a residential neighbourhood, we need to control the levels that we are sending to our audience and outside our facility. It’s very important that we do not annoy our nearby residents.”
In the bar’s indoor club environment, Smart Homes installed JBL AM7212/26 12” high power two-way loudspeakers

USA - Astera products played their part in the recent #RedAlertRESTART campaign in the US on 1 September, a collective lighting action that saw over 2000 buildings, places, structures, landmarks and spaces lit in red to highlight the critical situation facing live events and entertainment.
John DiEleuterio, sales / project manager for from Wilmington, Delaware-based dry hire company Main Light Industries, reached for the company’s stock of Astera AX5 TriplePAR battery powered LED fixtures in support of the event.
This latest lighting ‘red day of action’ was part of a wider international industry campaign being led by the #WeMakeEvents movement, a collective of trade organizations, companies and individuals including PLASA (the Professional Lighting & Sound Association).
Like many in the technical production industry, John is passionate about his job, c

USA - Volt Lites co-founders Matthew Shimamoto and Harrison Lippman and Lulu Creative director Michael Zinman of Zinman Company have launched the 3by3 Space on the premises of entertainment production services company Volt Lites in Burbank.
The three partners have created a safe stage for the COVID-19 era that’s equipped with a trio of lighting, video and xR capabilities. Sixty-four active Claypaky Mini-B LED moving lights comprise the workhorse fixtures for the space.
“We wanted to create a safe space that would allow people to get back to work and stimulate them to think out of the box,” says Shimamoto. The 3by3 Space has already been used by rock band Bush to shoot Quicksand with Augmented Reality, the Black Eyed Peas shooting Feel the Beat for Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular, the iconic Temptations reprising their greatest hits for

South Africa - As the city slept during the Covid-19 lockdown, a deserted building in downtown Johannesburg became a beacon of hope for musicians. Urban Sessions 2020, an amalgamated project by Militia Broadcast, technical supplier Stage Effects and Smack Entertainment for audio, created a studio for musicians to livestream concerts to their fans. To date, over 150 performances have been hosted in this space.
Erik de Bruin of Stage Effects explains that as early as May 2020, Militia Broadcast, Stage Effects, and Smack Ent knew they had to do something to survive the strict lockdown in South Africa as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. They managed to secure an empty warehouse at Thabo Mpelo Studios in Johannesburg and converted it into an intimate environment with a bit of a nostalgic feel, giving viewers at home the impression that they were part of a rehearsal or jamming s

USA - One of the growing trends in entertainment lighting the past few years has been the increased use of UV light in productions of all kinds. On Thursday, 17 September at 11:00 a.m. CEST, the next Elation Coffee Break sees Alistair Smyth and Frederik Afif take a closer look at the Prisma line of advanced UV LED lighting products from Magmatic Atmospheric Effects.
This new generation of IP65 lighting is changing the quality of UV light projection while making it easier for designers and production houses to implement UV light into their projects. Because Prisma uses high quality, medical grade LEDs that emit UV light in the 365nm range, no visible light is emitted, meaning only the UV reactive material glows and nothing else.
The Elation Coffee Break is available on Elation Europe’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ELATION.Pro.Europe/live/. No registration is req

Canada - When Canadian country star Brett Kissel announced the first of what would become eight sold-out Live at the Drive-In shows in Edmonton, AB on 13 and 14 June 2020, drive-in concerts were basically the wild west of what live productions might look like during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the four shows on each day, 180 vehicles spaced several feet apart filled the parking lot of the River Cree Resort & Casino. By tuning into 89.5 FM, fans heard the live feed from FOH through their car stereos and were invited to honk, wave, and even hang out of windows and sunroofs while staying in their vehicles through the hour-long performance.
Kissel had full reign over the stage with a big extension, while each band member was surrounded by Plexiglas partitions. That part may have been strange for the performers, but it wasn’t the most unusual aspect for the wider crew.

Spain - Organisers of the Porta Ferrada Festival, staged on the Costa Brava, report that the fortnight of concerts has been hugely successful, playing to 95% capacity, despite the coronavirus pandemic. Audio production company BTM worked closely with Nexo to deliver the PA systems for the event, servicing new venues which had to be redesigned according to new festival safety protocols.
Now in its 58th edition at home in Sant Feliu de Guíxols, near Girona, the festival had to re-invent itself, presenting the new ‘Guíxols Arena’. Once the main stage of the event, this space had to take on the character of an auditorium, restricting capacity to no more than 800 socially-distanced spectators, divided between stalls and stands. Nevertheless, more than 10,000 tickets were sold, and 20 concerts were staged.
Girona-based audio rental house BTM Sound has serviced the Port

UK - Creative experience and performance designers, Black Skull Creative, transformed this year’s GRM Daily Rated Awards show into a blended reality experience with the help of Anna Valley and subsidiary company, Matrix UK Solutions.
The awards (hosted live at the Eventim Apollo in previous years) were streamed exclusively on YouTube and Ratedawards.com on 9 September 2020 from a digital environment designed to challenge the audience’s perception of reality – and to comply with social distancing restrictions.
The fifth GRM Daily Rated Awards sought to celebrate some of the biggest names in urban music and their contribution to the genre in the year leading up to June 2020. The show was hosted by Julie Adenuga and Mo Gilligan and winners included J Hus, Stefflon Don and D-Block Europe for Album of the Year, Female Artist of the Year and Male Artist of the Year r

USA - BBC World News America recently underwent renovations to their high-profile studio in Washington, D.C. BBC is an iconic news brand known around the world. With a new set design, comes the need for new studio lighting.
Eastern Lighting Design worked closely with award-winning (broadcast) production design firm Clickspring Design to create a slick studio environment. The studio is a small space and the challenge was to create a clean and sleek design while giving BBC as much lighting flexibility as possible. While the entire studio was gutted and re-built, the lighting had to fit into the existing power load footprint.
“Small spaces can quickly become crowded with lighting fixtures,” explains Matt Gordon, lighting designer and president of Eastern Lighting Design. “Our goal was to blend the lighting fixtures into the architectural aesthetic as much as possi

USA - On 26 August, the voice of women shined on the exterior of the Columbia Museum of Art, as the sleek postmodern building was lit in radiant purple, gold and white for Women’s Equality Day and the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment’s passage.
David Sneath of ACS Sound and Light, organised the inspiring display with the city of Columbia. A collection of 30 Chauvet Professional WELL Fit fixtures were used to light the museum and the historic building across the street from it at 1530 Main Street.
Delicately balanced with varying degrees of saturation, and white light blended artfully with colour palettes, the commemorative lighting at the museum commanded attention as it played off harmoniously against the building’s exterior lattice work of columns and cross beams.
Denise Simpson, a member of the ACS team, was responsible for positioning the IP65

Thailand - To offer attendees an engaging training experience, the Panyatara Learning Service Centre hired Mahajak Development Co to design and install a Harman Professional audio-visual and control solution.
Established by the Charoen Pokphan Group to operate Thailand’s convenience store business under the ‘7-Eleven’ trademark, the Panyatara Learning Service Centre - part of the Panyatara Company - offers personalised training courses and seminars.
The facility features a training room with 45-90 seats as well as another that accommodates up to 200 attendees. Wanting to provide guests an enhanced learning experience, the centre equipped the training rooms with premium audio-visual (AV) and control systems that offer pristine sound as well as simple, intuitive operation.
“The client wanted an audio system that provides clear sound and music to keep traine

France - The famous Palais des Papes in Avignon came alive bathed in a vibrant collage of colours, shapes, and textures – thanks to 12 x Robe Esprite moving lights – which were part of a design by LD Fabien Chamakoff for the 2020 Helios Festival.
Launched in 2017, the event highlights – with silent projection / visual works and light art pieces – Avignon’s stunning architecture and rich, diverse heritage as the ‘City of Catholic Popes’ between 1309 and 1377. It remained under Papal rule until 1791 when it became part of France. The Palais des Papes (Pope’s Palace) is one of the largest and most important medieval Gothic buildings in the whole of Europe.
For Fabien – who works for the Helios Festival organisation – it was a great honour to illuminate the intricate and imposing architecture, one of seven key sites lit up this year.
The 10-minute

Russia - RCF provides coverage of more than 10,000sq.m with more than 500 speakers in the latest religious complex built in Russia. The Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces (Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ) is a Patriarchal Cathedral in honour of the Resurrection of Christ, "dedicated to the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, as well as the military feats of the Russian people in all wars".
The impressive 100m-tall building was completed in May 2020 in the Patriot Park in the Odintsovsky District, Moscow Oblast. The steps and other metal parts were cast from melted Nazi weapons.
The interior capacity of the temple holds up to 6,000 people. The church is located a few hundreds meters from the nearby open-air museum, celebrating the historical times of the Great Patriotic War. The temple’s main complex is 11,000sq.m.
“The task

UK - London’s Southbank Centre has stood on the south bank of the Thames for nearly 70 years. A celebration of progress and modernity, Europe’s largest arts venue was built in 1951 for the Festival of Britain and, under normal circumstances, stages over 2000 performances of music, dance and literature a year, and more than 2000 free events.
Like all arts venues, the Southbank Centre is not immune to the economic and cultural upheaval caused by COVID-19 but, prior to lockdown, the Southbank Centre had, over the past two years, made a long-term commitment to LED performance lighting, with complete moving head installations in the fixed rigs of three of its performance spaces: the 2700-seat Royal Festival Hall, 916-seat Queen Elizabeth Hall and the 295-seat Purcell Room.
As part of this drive towards LED, the team at the Southbank Centre invested in Ayrton Ghibli and

France - To mark the re-release of his album Eden at the end of 2019, French singer-songwriter and pop star, Etienne Daho, embarked upon a 17-date concert tour of France's leading venues, including Philharmonie, Pleyel and Olympia. The final date took place in January 2020, narrowly avoiding the lockdown measures introduced by the onset of the Covid-19 crisis.
Victorien Cayzeele, a gifted young lighting designer, was determined to obtain the best possible interpretation for his artist, so he specified an MDG Atmosphere haze generator to materialise the light within his design.
"I had mostly washes and very few spot sources in my kit, so I needed a density of haze that was strong enough to materialise the colour that bathed the set. And, on this tour, we wanted to maintain a uniform and stable level throughout the show.”
Etienne Daho's music, with its ele

Russia - On 24 June, a spectacular concert was hosted at Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd in honour of the 75th anniversary of VE Day. One of the only concerts allowed during Russia’s COVID-19 lockdown, it featured artists from Russia’s vibrant theatre, opera and cinema worlds, accompanied by the All-Russian Youth Symphony Orchestra, which was conducted by Yuri Bashmet.
The concert was also broadcast live on the state-owned TV channel, Russia-1. Rental company Stage Audio was chosen as a technical support contractor for the show.
The audience was seated on the steps along the rectangular reflecting pool in Volgograd’s Heroes Square, with the artists performing in different locations during the concert, tens of meters away from each other. This necessitated special requirements for the mixing and routing system. Signals were received from four locations across the site

The Netherlands - West Side Studio is a creative partnership between four Dutch production professionals, specialising in post-production sound and offline editing for motion picture and television. Its most recent addition is a cinema screening room, where an Alcons Audio pro-ribbon 7.1 surround system has impressed the studio’s owners and clients alike.
Located in the busy port area just north-west of central Amsterdam, West Side Studio is the brainchild of Evelien van der Molen, Mieneke Kramer, Lennert Hunfeld and Vincent Sinceretti. Featuring several edit suites and an ADR studio, for the new cinema room they wanted 7.1 reference monitoring, but with the quality and flexibility for future expansion to full Dolby Atmos specification.
Cinema exhibition services specialists CinemaNext was contracted to supply and install the equipment in the new room and, after look

Latest Issue. . .

Save
Cookies user preferences
We use cookies to ensure you to get the best experience on our website. If you decline the use of cookies, this website may not function as expected.
Accept all
Decline all
Analytics
Tools used to analyze the data to measure the effectiveness of a website and to understand how it works.
Google Analytics
Accept
Decline
Advertisement
If you accept, the ads on the page will be adapted to your preferences.
Google Ad
Accept
Decline