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11 June 2024

UK - Big Church Festival, Europe's largest Christian and gospel music event, made history this year by powering its main stage with green hydrogen for the first time.

Hosted on the Wiston Estate in West Sussex, this annual gathering brought together over 30,000 attendees from across the UK and beyond to worship alongside some of the world's most renowned Christian artists and the only emission from powering the headline acts was water.

Diesel generators, long used in the events industry, pose significant environmental and health risks due to their emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter. By transitioning to green hydrogen power, Big Church Festival has taken a proactive step towards mitigating climate change, cutting air pollution, reducing noise and safeguarding the well-being both of event workers and of local communiti

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11 June 2024

UK - Britain’s Got Talent contestants battle it out each spring to reach the top spot - this year won by singer Sydnie Christmas, to the tune of £250,000 and a coveted place on the Royal Variety Performance. Viewers tune in at an average rate of 5-6m per episode, with the first episode watched by over 12mviewers, making BGT ITV’s biggest entertainment show this year.

2024 marks the third year television, broadcast and event lighting specialist, Version 2, has supplied the lighting, distribution, cabling, control equipment and supplementary truss for the series’ fun-filled auditions, all of which were filmed over two intense week-long sessions at the London Palladium and Manchester Lowry.

The series was lit again by award-winning lighting designer, David Bishop, who was happy that Version 2 won the tender process for the series once mo

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11 June 2024

Spain - The Teatro Real in Madrid, winner of the International Opera Award for Best Opera House in the world, has acquired five Christie M 4K25 RGB pure laser projectors to enrich its opera, dance, concert, and recital programming with stunning visuals.

The Teatro Real was inaugurated in 1850 and is currently one of the great international centres of opera activity. The building is an architectural mixture with 28 boxes on different floors, in addition to eight prosceniums and the double-height Royal Box. The jewel of the theatre is its 1,472sq.m stage box which accommodates complex scenery changes, including multiple set design elements such as lighting and visuals on stage and in the orchestra pit.

The theatre acquired three Christie lamp-based 3DLP projectors nine years ago, and recently upgraded to more modern and efficient models with improved c

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11 June 2024

UK - Based in London’s West End, The Twist Museum is an immersive, interactive, multi-sensory attraction, set on a 15,000sq.ft site.

Challenging the visitor to explore the world of illusion, Twist - which stands for The Way I See Things - is a collaborative work of leading artists, psychologists, and neuroscientists.

The audio-visual integration was entrusted to London-based Crossover, who specified, installed, programmed and commissioned essential audio-visual equipment, for management and routing over a digital backbone.

Developed by multimedia artist Aristotle Roufanis, the Digital Mirror exhibit uses a camera and large format display to create an interactive ‘mirror’, distorting peoples’ reflections in real time. The Crossover team provided the displays, the audio system, and the back-end processing hardware, that manipul

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11 June 2024

Spain - The newly-renovated Santiago Bernabéu stadium lit up on 18 May with the Telefónica 100 Live spectacular. This celebration of Telefónica’s centenary brought together over 60,000 attendees for a night of music and technology.

The night was a symphony of light and sound, where renowned artists like Alejandro Sanz, Hombres G, and Ana Mena delivered vibrant performances. Each act was accompanied by a top-tier audiovisual display that transformed the event into an unparalleled sensory experience. The mastermind behind this impressive setup was lighting designer Caco García. Known for his creativity and attention to detail, Caco turned Telefónica 100 Live into ‘an unforgettable visual and emotional spectacle’.

“Creating a show perfect for Telefónica’s centenary and the magnificent Santiago Bernabéu was an exciting challenge,” comm

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10 June 2024

UK - The final show on the UK-EU leg of the Classic Tales of Yes tour at Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall on 20 May featured an intricately textured Martin Dudley/Chris Davey light show that included 12 Chauvet Professional Rogue R2X Wash units from Martin’s Lights Ltd.

Early on in the 24-city tour, which began in April at Lisbon’s historic Sagres Campo Pequero concert hall, the design moved into a new more intense realm.

“At the start of the project, we were told that it would be a ‘no haze’ tour,” said Dudley. “Therefore, we knew that the lighting had to be about colour, pattern and texture, rather than beams of light and movement in the air. Many of our lighting designs are quite understated, and after the first couple of shows, the feedback from the band was that they wanted “more” of everything, so we went for it.”

The

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10 June 2024

Venezuela - The chapel of Divina Misericordia is a new catholic house of worship located in the recreational area of the giant Arroz Mary food processing plant in Acarigua.

Architects were determined that the requirement for a high-quality sound system with impeccable speech intelligibility should make the lowest possible visual impact, so Nexo distributor Sun Music Pro proposed a Nexo system using ultra-compact ID and ePS Series speakers.

“In the first phase carried out in October 2023, a temporary black system was installed to allow the inauguration of the chapel and the celebration of masses while a custom-finished system was being prepared,” reports  Sun Music Pro commercial manager Valeska Grüber.

The finished installation includes a pair of Nexo ID84 column speakers with a central ePS10 at the front, all finished in a custom RAL c

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07 June 2024

UK - Singer/songwriter James Blunt’s production team relies on Skan PA Hire for additional sound reinforcement due to audience demand on James Blunt’s Who We Used To Be tour.

Tour and production manager Robert Hayden has worked with James Blunt since the singer first ventured into full time musicianship. He begins: “James and I started off doing little club shows around England before we went to mainland Europe where we played to even less people! When we returned, everything just took off for him, first with the single, and then the album.”

Following 2005’s You’re Beautiful from debut full length record Back To Bedlam there’s only ever been one audio supplier to help James’s sound reach audiences on tour. Robert continues: “I’ve used Skan since the beginning of needing production,” he explains. “The

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07 June 2024

Portugal - Choreographer and contemporary dance innovator Andrew McNicol presented the world premiere of Upstream, his first collaboration with the Companhia Nacional de Bailado (CNB) – the National Ballet of Portugal – for which he asked lighting designer Yaron Abulafia to create scenography and lighting for the performance which was staged at the São Carlos Opera House, Lisbon.

Upstream was presented as part of a trilogy of works, together with Baracco Concerto by the late George Balanchine and Workwithinwork (which originally premiered in 1998) by William Forsythe – three distinctive works from very different eras and generations of choreographers based on classical dance.

Yaron was excited to use the CNB’s 20 x Robe T1 Profile moving lights – the only moving lights on the rig – as the backbone of h

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07 June 2024

The Netherlands - The Pop on Top festival returned to the scenic hills of Valkenburg aan de Geul last month, captivating thousands of visitors with a blend of music and light. Central to the festival’s success was Sonic Support VOF, whose lighting and LED screen solutions from Showtec, Infinity, and DMT transformed the event into an unforgettable visual spectacle.

The family-friendly event attracted thousands of visitors who defied the rain to enjoy performances from national and international artists including Lucas & Steve, Rowwen Hèze, Clouseau, Krezip and many more across four stages.

Sonic Support VOF used 60 DMT Premiere Series PS3.9 Blue Line LED panels to create two large LED screens on either side of the main stage, ensuring that every audience member had a good view. These panels were complemented by an additional 30 DMT Premiere Ser

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06 June 2024

UK - At Hamilton the Stereofunk Festival, staged in the Chatelherault Country Park, Hamilton, Steve McCracken of Mac-Events, used the ChamSys Stadium MagicQ MQ250M to busk lightshows for Wanda Dee, hip-hop artists from The Bronx, Vengoboys, a Top-10 Dutch Euro-dance group, and Urban Cookie Collective, a UK electronic duo, along with a wide range of other global acts.

“None of the artists brought their own LDs, so we busked the entire festival,” said McCracken, whose boldly coloured looks flowed as freely and joyfully as the do-it-yourself artwork that seemed to be everywhere at the festival site, which was set against the background of a hunting lodge from the 1700s.

The flexibility of his MQ250M was invaluable for McCracken, who designed his show in Capture and programmed it onsite, then added to it throughout the festival. “There was a bit of

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06 June 2024

Germany - Vortex, the new electronic music festival, made its debut at Göppingen’s EWS Arena, offering techno, trance and hardcore continuously over 12 hours, through Martin Audio’s flagship Wavefront Precision line array series.

It was a far cry from EWS Arena’s normal sphere of activity, which is hosting the Bundesliga handball club Frisch Auf! But since the venue is located in the centre of the town, surrounded by shops and flats, the requirements with regard to noise escape were predictably stringent.

As a debut event, it was particularly important for the organisers not to provoke complaints from local residents in order to preserve the future of the event. The Martin Audio Wavefront Precision systems deployed met these high requirements.

Jürgen Schuster, from event technology specialist Skyeline Live, who provided the technical

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06 June 2024

Columbia - Grammy winner Eladio Carrión’s performance on stage features a mix of trap, reggaeton and other sounds and also draws on his background as a comedian. The stage on his The Sauce Tour features a fast-moving and majestic lightshow by lighting designer, Andrés Campos.

Campos’ touring rig varies by locations on the multinational tour. For the Latin American leg, it featured 68 Color STRIKE M motorised wash-strobes and 54 COLORado PXL Bar 16 motorised battens from Chauvet Professional. In the United States, the tour excitement is driven by 30 Color STRIKE M units, 32 COLORado PXL Bar 16 battens, 32 Rogue R2X Beams, and 12 Maverick MK3 Washes.

The lighting design has been created to be carried out in three scales: one large, one medium and one small for the United States, according to Campos. “The main objective was to be able to generat

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05 June 2024

Columbia - Mega star Karol G said goodbye to 2023 with two spectacular home-coming nights at the Atanasio Giradot Stadium. Part of her epic Mañana Será Bonito (Tomorrow will be Beautiful) tour, which continues until July 2024, the sell-out shows marked the end of the first phase of the tour.

Prodigy.MP was at the centre of the audio infrastructure with its flexible, fully modular hardware fulfilling a number of roles across the whole system.

The multi-format, hybrid audio signal flow was handled by Prodigy, thanks to the analogue, MADI, AES and Dante audio modules integrated into the main chassis. The flexibility and modularity of the DirectOut solution was essential in providing the production with all the interoperability options required.

Multiple mixing consoles were connected via Prodigy.MP and the Sample Rate Conversion technology mad

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05 June 2024

USA - Rock band Breaking Benjamin recently wrapped their Spring tour with a lighting system from Bandit Lites. With six studio albums, two compilation albums and over 19m units sold in the US alone, Breaking Benjamin fans have come to expect consistent, powerful performances.

Bandit Lites project manager and lighting designer Craig Richter took a simple yet effective approach to the design in choosing versatile fixtures that could be deployed in multiple ways. Bandit Lites supplied Claypaky Mythos 2, Claypaky B-EYE K20, Martin VDO Sceptrons, Martin MAC Viper Profiles as well as 9 Lite Maxi Brutes.

Richter balanced the functional need of front light so the audience could see the band members once they step away from their mic stands. Additionally, when a video wall was added later into the design process, he pivoted to make sure the right fixtures wou

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05 June 2024

France - The renowned Lido on the Champs-Élysées, a Parisian nightlife staple since the Roaring Twenties and once famous for its exotic cabaret and burlesque shows, has been completely renovated and reopened as Lido 2, a premier musical theatre.

Now presenting major works of theatre in an immersive cabaret setting, Lido 2 attracts both French and international audiences with a lighting kit almost exclusively from Elation.

Global Technique Concept, led by project manager Eddy Couloigner, oversaw the renovation and was enlisted as the lighting management service provider for the venue. In February 2023, the historic cabaret shows ended, and renovation work commenced shortly thereafter. Over seven months, the new lighting kit was meticulously installed to meet the venue's unique requirements, including a relatively low proscenium ceiling height of 5.5

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05 June 2024

UK - Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), the first institution in the world dedicated to research and teaching in tropical medicine, recently undertook a significant project to extend its teaching and event capabilities. Pembroke House, a mixed-use facility was constructed with three main teaching spaces alongside small huddle areas and group collaboration zones.

Initially engaged as consultants, leading Higher Education integrator GVAV subsequently secured the integrator scope for the Pembroke House project. Collaborating closely with Audiologic, a comprehensive spread of equipment from Q-SYS and Sennheiser was specified for deployment across the different spaces.

The Audiologic team was engaged to assist with confirming the final designs for the audio solution plus programming and commissioning of this aspect of the project. Due to the co

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04 June 2024

Europe - Metallica’s ongoing M72 World Tour has begun playing its 2024 dates with the lighting design that Rob Koenig introduced last year featuring 48 Claypaky Sharpy Plus Aqua IP66-rated beam/spot fixtures.

The tour is in support of the band's eleventh studio album, 72 Seasons, which was released in April 2023. The tour commenced that month in Amsterdam and is set to conclude in September 2024 in Mexico City. The 2024 dates kick off at the end of May with nine cities scheduled in Europe through July then resumes in August and September with six-cities in the US, Canada and Mexico. 

The tour maintains an upgraded in-the-round stage design by creative director/production designer Dan Braun, which relocates the coveted  audience ‘snake pit’ to the centre of a ring-shaped stage surrounded by eight towers, each  topped by LED video cyl

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04 June 2024

USA - Hosted by Reba McEntire, the 59th Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards featured a series of performances, including duets between country artists and some of today’s most influential pop stars, as well as celebrated artists like Lainey Wilson, who was named Entertainer of the Year.

With the support of Shure’s Axient Digital Wireless Microphone System and PSM 1000 In-Ear Personal Monitoring System, the ACM Awards’ expert audio team ensured that every note was heard by the audience and those watching the live broadcast on Amazon. The quality audio performance was made possible thanks to the group of industry professionals running the show, the audio equipment supplied by ATK, and the antenna infrastructure and coordination managed by Soundtronics. The Radio Frequency (RF) coordinator for the event, Steve Vaughn, weighed in on the impact Shure gear

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04 June 2024

USA - The success of Luke Combs continues as he follows his late-2023 European dates with a string of shows across the USA, scheduled to run through to October 2024.

The loudspeaker technology supporting the tour also continues unchanged, with SES of Mocksville NC providing a stadium-filling Outline system, combining the flagship GTO enclosures with GTO-LOW, Mantas 28, GTO C-12, LAB21-HS subs and LIPF-082s.

As last year, the venues require 220-degree coverage due to the size of the crowds and so the sound system is deployed as a main left / right with LL/RR arrays and then out-fill LLL / RRR arrays beyond them to deliver the required horizontal and vertical dispersion. FOH system control is again via two Outline Newton FPGA processors.

One of the few changes to the current part of the tour is the Saturday support acts and that has provided th

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04 June 2024

UK - The Grade II-listed Winter Gardens Blackpool has a proud heritage dating back to 1878. As a driving force in the regional economy of the North West of England, the venue hosts a diverse range of events in its various spaces. These include concerts, theatre productions, conferences, exhibitions, weddings, dance competitions, and international matchplay darts.

This varied programme necessitates versatile and flexible technical provisions. Recently, the Winter Gardens Blackpool team, in consultation with supplier ArranPaul, reviewed its audio systems to enhance and future-proof its inventory. As a result, they chose two HK Audio systems.

Venue Technician Allen Hendley explains: “We needed replacements for systems that were no longer meeting our needs. The new systems had to deliver high-quality audio and be powerful and portable enough to suit va

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04 June 2024

South Africa - Afrikaans is Groot (AIG) continues to celebrate Afrikaans music. The production, held at Time Square in Pretoria at the close of 2023 pulled out all the stops incorporating two DiGiCo Quantum 338, a Quantum 225 and an SD10 into the audio set up.

Ian Vos, technical director of Africaans is Groot, serves as the technical director at Coleske Group, a subsidiary of Warner Music Africa, ultimately owned by Warner Music Group in the United States. He oversees all technical aspects of the show, from design to execution, including budgeting.

“The technical team are amazing,” says Vos. “Coming to the Sun Arena improved the show as we had hit a bit of a ceiling, literally! In our previous church auditorium the ceiling couldn’t handle any more rigging, we never expected it to get this big. If you look at Afrikaans as a language and the de

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04 June 2024

New Zealand - Cincinnati rock band The National’s touring lighting crew appreciated using a mix of Robe BMFL Blade and Spiider wash beam moving lights for their show at Auckland, New Zealand’s Spark Arena venue, for which equipment was supplied by rental company NW Group / Oceania and used to great effect to realise a touring version of Michael Brown’s production lighting design.

The National played the Australia and New Zealand leg of their ongoing world tour in February and March in a show that embraces new material from two albums including the latest Laugh Track and continues through 2024.

The production is being co-ordinated on the road by production manager Stuart Trenold and includes lighting and video crew chief Emil Hojmark from Denmark and lighting director Matt Greer from Virginia, USA who is operating lighting on the road.<

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03 June 2024

UK - Brand experience technologists, Audience & Brands, and drone display company, AeroAVA, announced an innovation in live event technology at The Media Production & Technology Show in London.

The two UK-based companies unveiled Augmented Drone Shows, a concept that ‘elevates drone performances into a captivating mixed reality experience for live event broadcast audiences’.

Audience & Brands has worked with AeroAVA to introduce the ability to live track, generate and overlay digital content accurately, in real-time.

Tom Rees, AeroAVA managing director, said, “This innovation offers a never-seen-before enhancement to existing drone shows, specifically for broadcast viewers.” Rees continues, “Taking multiple live camera feeds, our system combines drone telemetry data, high performance media servers and very accurate align