UK - Sound and communication specialist integrators T.G. Baker have transformed the entertainment experience for Wolverhampton Wanderers FC fans, updating the PA/VA system at Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton with a Nexo solution.
Molineux, the club’s home ground since 1889, was the first stadium ever built for the Football League. It was one of the first grounds in the UK to install floodlights, and one of the founding hosts for European club games in the 1950s. Now owned by Fosun International, a Chinese conglomerate and international investment company, this 31,000-capacity stadium continues to innovate.
Called in by Steve Sutton, Wolves head of operations, the T.G.Baker team was asked to design and install a new audio system for entertainment and public address/voice alarm. “Our old system was 24 years old, and well past its recommended working life,” says S

UK - Paul Heaton’s lighting designer on his current UK tour, Patrick Sollitt has over 70 tunes on his current song page, with new ones being added all the time. “With such a large back catalogue going back 20-plus years ago to Paul’s days with the Housemartins, onto The Beautiful South and his current hits, we draw on a wide range of music,” says Sollitt. “It’s a nice challenge to have to create unique looks for so many songs.”
Sollitt is meeting this challenge with a robust, fast-moving and very flexible six universe lightshow that features 34 wash, 24 spot and six beam fixtures run on a ChamSys MagicQ MQ500 Stadium.
“I would describe the lightshow as ‘big,’” explains Sollitt. “We put a lot of brightness out there and change things up quite a bit as the music goes from full on pop to delicate ballads. Paul conveys a range of emotions and mixe

USA - Psychedelic rockers, Portugal. The Man, have been on a charge. Fresh from collecting a Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance with the song Feel it Still, they're currently on a world tour promoting the band's eighth studio album, Woodstock. Front of House Engineer Charlie Izzo has chosen the SSL L300 live console as the right tool for this dynamic, multifaceted show.
On this tour Izzo deals with anything from 40 to 60 inputs per show, depending on factors that include a steady stream of guests, choirs, and/or orchestras - variable according to the city they happen to be playing in. This, the wide range of material and styles that the band visits, and the fact the band refuses to use any tracks, makes for a challenging, and very 'live' show.
"The set opens with a Metallica cover," says Izzo. "And they might do anything from an Oasis tune, some Be

USA - Some of the biggest names in Latin music landed in Las Vegas in January for a night to remember at the Calibash mega-concert. Held at the 20,000-capacity T-Mobile Arena, the spectacular staging featured an array of 18 LED screens with content fed from by Avolites Ai Infinity RX8 Media Servers.
YC3 Lighting Design supplied the Ai servers to VJ director Richard Vicens, who oversaw the visuals for Latin/Urban music stars including Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez, Ozuna, Maluma and Bad Bunny.
"All of the artists wanted to give their audiences an awesome show," says Vicens. "As VJ director, it was vital for me to be able to design and create pixel maps and LED processing that worked for everybody and be ready to backup all of them with Ai media Servers.
"The show's size meant it was certainly a challenge - I have to go through every detail to make sure the audience

Iceland - The new Lava Centre in Hvolsvöllur is an interactive, high-tech educational exhibition depicting volcanic activity and earthquakes that traces the island’s creation over millions of years.
The idea that gave birth to the Centre originated when one of the founders/owners of the exhibition was stuck in Florida in 2010 as a result of all flights being cancelled over the Atlantic Ocean (and in most parts of Europe) when Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull erupted in April 2010.
The location was chosen because it sits at the heart of some of the major Icelandic volcanos and allows five of the country’s most iconic volcanoes to be seen.
The 2,500sq.m Lava Centre was therefore designed and built as a fully immersive show. The design, preparation, integration and finalisation of all AV equipment for the nine main show items took almost a year. Feris ehf

USA/Europe - Marilyn Manson and his band embarked on a series of pan-European arena and theatre shows at the end of last year followed by a US tour with French LD Nicolas Riot of Chirac Design.
Riot, also known for his work with French metal band Gojira, has been using LED fixtures from GLP, including 15 x JDC1 hybrid strobes and 35 of the award-winning X4 Bar 20 battens in the set design.
All inventory was supplied by the band’s regular vendor, experienced UK rental company Entec Sound & Light, while North American supplier Delicate Productions provided the gear for the US leg of the tour. Entec’s MD (and head of lighting) Noreen O’Riordan confirmed that while this was the first time Entec has worked with the lighting designer, they have a long-standing relationship with Manson’s production manager Matt Doherty. They purchased the X4 Bars in response to th

USA - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, one of the largest United Methodist congregation in the country, specified two KLANG:fabrik 3D IEM mixing systems from KLANG:technologies for both the church’s new main sanctuary and a second space.
The KLANG systems were purchased through Raytown, Missouri-based Progressive Electronics, Inc. (PEI), which did much of the systems integration for the 3,500-seat main sanctuary at the church’s flagship broadcast location in Leawood, Kansas as well as the renovation of its former sanctuary, which is still under construction but will soon be used as a second worship and event space.
The installation of the first KLANG:fabrik system was installed by the Leawood audio staff - lead audio engineer Tim Higinbotham and audio engineers Jordan Tracy and Steven Moduno - in the church’s main sanctuary and was, as Higinbotha

USA - When Justin Preston was called upon to provide lighting for Budweiser Live during NBA All-Star Weekend, it really represented two projects in one. The brewing giant’s pop-up entertainment centre for the big game was the first event ever hosted at City Market Social House, a restored 16,000sq.ft industrial space opened in the Fashion District of downtown Los Angeles.
Preston not only put together the ground package for the weekend extravaganza, he also created the permanent lighting system for the new event facility, loading in both rigs simultaneously in advance of the NBA’s big weekend.
Meshing his own permanent design for the venue with a carefully chosen ground package for the event, Preston created a dazzling display for the NBA All-Star Weekend festivities, using over 400 Chauvet Professional fixtures. “I was super excited when VOX Productions, the AV

USA - Rock band Halestorm is gearing up for a huge year, kicking off 2018 with a tour across North America with a lighting package supplied by Bandit Lites.
The Grammy Award-winning band comprised of guitarist and vocalist Lzzy Hale, drummer and percussionist Arejay Hale, guitarist Joe Hottinger and bassist Josh Smith are also wrapping up recording their next studio album and have already announced another tour for this spring.
The expansive design by lighting designer Craig Richter features towers equipped with ClayPaky Sharpys and GLP X4S fixtures, offering versatile looks and striking beams. Bandit Lites also supplied Martin Atomic 3000 LED Strobes, Ayrton MagicBlade-R fixtures, Elation CuePix WW2 Blinders, Chauvet Rogue RH1 Hybrids, ClayPaky B-EYE K20 fixtures and a grandMA 2 lite console for control.
“The system performed really well and under extreme cond

UK - The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) commissioned West Midlands-based Central Presentations Ltd (CPL) to design and deliver all the technical elements for their 2018 annual staff conference and awards, inclduing sound, lighting, video, staging and rigging.
The high-profile event for 400 delegates was staged in Warwick Hall at the NAEC, Stanleigh and comprised a seated conference presentation that was transformed into a glamorous setting for the evening’s dinner and awards.
The client wanted to use the width-ways orientation of the venue for sightlines, so CPL’s project manager Lee Gruszeckyj proposed a widescreen video blend as a striking visual starting point to align with the geometry of the space.
The 30ft wide by 10ft high upstage projection screen was flanked by gauze panels designed to take lighting nicely and elongate the spac

UK - Working with lighting designer Stuart Pring, illumination rental and installation specialists LED Creative provided their Sigma Pulse Wand fixtures to add some neon colour to the BRITs Official After Party held at the O2 InterContinental in London.
Pring artfully suspended a number of Pulse Wands to create a layered look to the ceiling at the venue.
Talking about the installation, he comments: “For The Brits Official After Party we used around 170 Pulse Wands built into frames and hung over the stage and dance floor area. This created a ‘big’ look which was particularly effective during the ‘club’ part of the night, helping bring a wonderful dynamic to the room.”
Pring continues: “The Wands offer lots of chase possibilities via their in-built effects. The range of colour possibilities are great too; especially the cold daylight and tungsten

UK - Technical production supplier Blitz has installed a DiGiCo SD7 sound desk at Her Majesty’s Theatre, London, for Cameron Mackintosh/Really Useful Group’s production of The Phantom of the Opera.
The DiGiCo SD7T replaces a Yamaha PM1D, which was retired after 10 years of service. The new system was installed over the course of a weekend, allowing the show performances to carry on uninterrupted.
Mick Potter, sound designer for The Phantom of the Opera, said, “It’s been a great opportunity to upgrade to the latest DiGiCo SD7 sound desk, which has become an important part of my sound designs for many other Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh productions around the world. It has helped make a significant improvement to the quality of the sound at Her Majesty’s, and the fact we were able to achieve such a major changeover without losing any

South Africa - The new 8,500 capacity Sun Arena in Pretoria features a house moving light rig of 90 dynamic Robe fixtures.
The multi-purpose venue is part of Sun International’s Time Square development and entertainment complex (read the report in LSi March 2018).
The Robe units are integral to a complete turnkey technical package specified and supplied to the venue by Robe’s South African distributor DWR to operators Sun International. This encompasses a rider-friendly lighting system, trussing, rigging, follow spots and power distribution.
The backbone of the lighting rig is 12 x BMFL Spots, six BMFL Blades, 24 x Spiider LED wash beams, 24 x Pointes and 24

Argentina - The Claypaky Scenius Unico made its official debut in Argentina at the Monsters of Rock (MOR) Argentina festival at Tecnópolis, Buenos Aires. The high-impact light-show for the outdoor festival, part of the global Monsters of Rock movement, was designed by lighting designer Bryan Hartley and featured the Scenuis Unico as the show's high impact workhorse fixture.
Headlining MOR Argentina was heavy metal band Megadeth who were joined by acts including Rata Blanca, Anthrax and others at the day-long festival. Hartley was tasked with designing a versatile rig that could produce a wide range of looks for the international visiting bands. He selected the Scenius Unico for its ability to perform in three powerful modes, Spot, Beam and Wash, allowing him to craft a range of lighting looks for each band in the festival's line-up.
Hartley rigged 36 Unicos on three

South Korea - Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats, one of the world’s longest-running musicals, has been touring South Korea since July 2017.
Specialist rental company Eco & Biz has been supplying the show’s audio requirements for the duration of the South Korea run, which centres around an L‑Acoustics Kara/Kiva II system, chosen for its ability to provide consistent quality and even coverage for the wide variety of venues on the tour’s itinerary.
Eco & Biz’s Kim Ki-young has been a sound designer since 1992. He has a long association with Cats in Asia, starting as manager of the sound team for Cats Korea Big Top Tour in 2003. For the current tour, which is produced by Seol & Company of Korea and Really Useful Company (RUC), the Australian arm of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s UK-based Really Useful Group (RUG), Kim was given free rein on

UK - The annual X Factor Live arena tour recently completed a 14-date UK run with Nick Warren (The Prodigy, Bryan Ferry, Elvis Costello) as FOH, who specified an Allen & Heath dLive for the production.
Supplied via Wigwam Audio, the system consisted of a dLive S7000 surface with a DM64 MixRack, handling up to 12 simultaneous live vocal mics and 24 channels of playback.
“Barney Vickers (Wigwam technical manager) introduced me to dLive initially,” explains Warren. “He left me alone with a surface for an hour, by which time I had it pretty much all pieced together. It’s incredibly easy to walk up and use, which sets it apart from the majority of digital systems.
“The sound of the system also really blew me away - it’s a very warm, analogue-y natural sound with amazing stereo imaging. So many shows sound super-processed these days, with peopl

UK - Tiny Rebel is one of South Wales’ biggest success stories in recent years. A microbrewery founded in 2012, Tiny Rebel is now a fully-fledged brand in its own right, not just for their award-winning beers, but also for their bars and kitchens that serve a wide range of food, and host regular events including live music.
The company currently boasts three sites: the first in Cardiff town centre just across from the Principality Stadium; another in the centre of Newport; and finally, the flagship Brewery Bar in Rogerstone, Newport, which is part of a brand new bespoke brewing facility that has increased capacity five-fold.
The company officially cut the ribbon on the new £2.6m premises in July 2017. Their AV partner throughout the build was Spartan Audio who are supplied by UK distributors, CUK Audio. In addition to the AV installation in the new Brewery Bar, Spa

New Zealand - The annual music awards ceremony known as the APRA Silver Scrolls Awards was held in Dunedin. Silver Scrolls recognises and celebrates the success of NZ music creators across all genres of music and honours those that have had a significant impact on New Zealand's life and culture with inductions into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame.
The event was presented at the Dunedin Town Hall with Lorde winning the 2017 APRA Silver Scroll Award for her international hit song Green Light.
Specialist event production company RB Productions coordinated the event, while AV production company Strawberry Sound Hire supplied audio for the evening.
David Craig, sound engineer for Strawberry handled all audio management for the event. “It is a corporate awards gig, yet still a rock ‘n roll show as you are handling a number of live bands and artists over

Belgium - Clouseau, one of the most critically acclaimed Belgian rock bands, delighted throngs of long-time fans recently with a string of concerts across Belgium, marking their 30th anniversary. Providing 30 tour with a fittingly memorable lighting and stage design was the band’s long-time creative collaborator, Luc Peumans of Painting with Light.
Central to Peumans’ visual concept, which was based around creating a lounge-style environment, were 12 Maverick MK2 Spot and 18 Rogue R2 Wash fixtures from Chauvet Professional, supplied by Coruna Sound & Light.
Much of Clouseau’s show was made up of acoustic renditions of hits the band has recorded over its illustrious history. Peumans reflected this intimate sound by carpeting the stage and adorning it with warm, welcoming scenic elements like Edison-style Lucenti bulbs and an upright piano. “It’s a

USA - When Thievery Corporation, played a month-long tour last autumn, lighting designer Luke Stratton turned to Elation Professional’s Platinum FLX hybrid moving head to visually complement the band’s innovative music with a variety of dazzling textures and graphics.
Stratton, owner of Luke Stratton Designs, who designed lighting for rock band Dopapod for seven years, punts all his shows, a hands-on approach that allows him to better customize looks for a creative band like Thievery Corporation. Calling himself an ‘old Elation user’ and ‘a big fan of hybrid lights’ and the versatile design options they provide, Stratton has been using Elation gear for years, including the Platinum FLX on festivals.
On Thievery’s fall tour, Stratton alternated the Platinum FLX hybrids with 1000W short-arc discharge fixtures across up- and mid-stage trusses with more fix

UK - Midas’ generators beat the Beast from the East to power London Marathon Events’ Vitality Big Festival in Greenwich Park on 4 March (Sunday), across the finish line from the inaugural Big Half, which Mo Farah won in 61’ 40’’.
11,000 amateur runners, many from host boroughs Tower Hamlets, Southwark, Lewisham and Greenwich, followed the elite athletes’ race along the 13.1-mile route from Tower Bridge, the majority joining friends, family and supporters at the festival afterwards.
Event management specialist Relevent commissioned six Midas sets for the contract, providing for stage production, the sponsors’ area, including a New Balance shop and a fitness centre, a run of street stalls and the production village.
James Hodgson, director at Relevent, comments: “We have worked with Midas for a good many years. It’s an independent company that I

UK - Production company UK Events Group used ADJ’s new AV4IP LED video panels to create a New York-inspired festive display for independent designer clothing store Union 22.
The display transformed the store’s façade and allowed a video show to be played throughout the day.
Union 22 director John Cooper comments: "I lived in New York for four years, so I saw what places like Macy’s and Saks do; the Christmas spirit is there in abundance! Since coming back to Liverpool, I’ve always wanted to do a large-scale project that was a showstopper and I knew UK Events Group were the ones to do it.”
James and the UK Events Group team installed a total of 184 ADJ AV4IP LED video panels behind all of the windows on the building’s four upper floors. This provided a large canvas for which a custom video show was created that ‘opened up’ the windows to provide

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) has supplied an Allen & Heath dLive digital mixing system to the Victoria Theatre, Halifax, for use on its diverse programme of live shows and events.
Built in 1901, the 1,512-seater venue required an upgrade of its existing analogue PA system and mixing console to a new system that could harness the very latest advances in digital sound reproduction and manipulation.
Steve Eaton, senior sales executive in AC-ET's dedicated audio division carried out a site evaluation to assess the system technical needs. Based on the console input, output and audio network distribution requirements, as well as the processing power and flexibility that were required for the differing types of live shows, Steve knew that the fully featured Allen & Heath dLive S Class S5000 console and DM48 MixRack system would be an appropriate solu

UK - Experienced lighting designer Davy Sherwin has been turning increasingly to GLP’s X4 Bar 20 battens to provide stage dynamics for popular British bands including Foals, Wolf Alice and Sundara Karma.
The KOI award winner admits to having used them on his last four stage designs after he was introduced to them when planning his production design for Foals back in the summer, when seeking a row of LED pars for a low-level curtain effect. "I have been using them all quite differently with each band," he says. "What I have been trying to do is replace conventional moving lights instead of having rows and rows of wash lights and strobes."
As for the recent Sundara Karma tour, to bring the best out of the Reading-based indie band, with the exception of a few strobes, he ran the entire show with the X4 Bars

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