Sweden - Located on a tree-lined avenue, restaurant Usine adds a touch of French industrial flair to the heart of Stockholm’s business district. Featuring a bistro, tapas bar, café/takeaway and conference facilities, a zoned Yamaha audio system blends seamlessly with the venue’s aesthetics.
Usine’s name comes from the French word for ‘factory’, which is reflected in its girders, overhead air ducts and other services being left exposed and made a feature of. AV specialist Watt & Volt was contracted to design and specify a zoned audio system, choosing Yamaha CIS products to deliver high quality audio in a challenging environment of hard, flat reflective surfaces.
Controlled by an MTX5-D matrix processor, the system is divided into nine zones and features 32 VXS8 full-range, surface mounted loudspeakers, plus two IS1112 subs in the main bar/dining area, two

USA - Country music star Brantley Gilbert has launched The Devil Don’t Sleep tour playing arenas in North America through early spring in the first leg. Nathan Alves and Howard Jones co-designed the show, which features Claypaky Scenius, Mythos 2, Sharpy and Stormy Strobe fixtures.
The tour supports Gilbert’s new album of the same name. Jones’ company, Nashville-based DCR, is supplying all of the show’s equipment; it has provided gear for Gilbert since before his first record deal. The tour marks Alves/Jones second collaboration for the artist.
The Devil Don’t Sleep is a departure in design from Gilbert’s recent tours. “In the past tours used truss structure to define a shape, like the motorcycle motif for last year’s tour,” Alves explains. “Now we’re using digital scenery with videowalls front and center. That gives us more flexibility to take hi

The Netherlands - Allen & Heath’s dLive S Class and ME digital mixing systems have been purchased to manage the On Stage live radio show for no.1 Dutch radio station, NPO 3FM.
The new radio show includes performances from live bands, and incorporates visual clips. dLive manages the live radio, floor sound and several feeds for live internet streaming. Comprising a S5000 and DM64 with DX32 expander rack, the system is fitted with MADI and Waves network cards, with an IP8 remote controller and a ME personal monitoring system, including 6 ME-1 mini mixers, for monitoring the bands. dLive is configured to provide three different mixes going to the DJ desk, and dlive communicates with the DHD radio mixer via Dante.
“As a fanatical iLive user, I was pleased to get the opportunity to purchase the dLive and ME systems. The learning curve was only about one hour,” exp

UK - Working for exhibition designers and producers event.live, Blackout were approached for the third year to provide rigging for Microgaming’s stand and bar at the ICE Totally Gaming exhibition at ExCeL, February 2017.
The Microgaming stand and bar designed and produced by event.live had a daily change in set design to encourage repeat footfall and stand out from the visually competitive surrounding stands. The final day of the show engaged delegates with a castle-themed bar, utilising Blackout’s rigging expertise to suspend a number of chandeliers from one half of the truss grid above the bar to surround guests with in-keeping decor, whilst being entertained by professional sandcastle sculptors organised by Microgaming.
Tim Searle, Blackout’s project manager and his six-strong crew, over the course of three days, supplied and installed 300m of black Prolyte H4

USA - The Nashville Municipal Auditorium hosted the Youth Evangelism Conference in March. Bandit Lites provided the lighting package for the event for Orchestrate Experience with lighting designer Trey Meares and Orchestrate Production director Alex Fleming. Featured guests included Dave Edwards, The Skit Guys, Luke MacDonald and the YEC Worship Band.
Due to the audience size and the nature of the conference, Meares created an 'in the round' setup to an end stage in the arena, giving attendees the maximum amount of impact, while still being mindful of the calling of the conference. “Lighting always has the ability to drive the ‘mood’ of the room, and I make an effort to not let the technology overpower the message that is being delivered by the organisation,” Meares shared.
“On the other hand, lighting can make the room exciting for the attendees and can als

USA - Crossroads Christian Church has been growing in Corona, California, since it was founded in 1892. Now occupying a large, multifaceted campus including a modern 2500-capacity Main Worship Centre, the church welcomes around 7000 attendees every weekend to enjoy its message, and the sophisticated live show that frames it.
Tyler DeYoung is the technical director and FOH engineer at Crossroads, and has recently specified an SSL Live L500 digital audio console for FOH duties, which was supplied by systems integrator CCI Solutions.
"As well as the three services in the main auditorium, that space is also regularly rented out for music events and used for other special church events, explains DeYoung. "We run about 48 inputs every weekend - full drum kit, tracks, keyboards, two guitars, bass, five vocals, and a couple of acoustic guitars. On top of that we might add stri

Australia - Lighting specialist Resolution X, a company based in Melbourne and Sydney with an impressive track-record of high-profile production services, has recently supplied White Night Melbourne with lighting and rigging services. White Night is an outdoor art festival that attracts over 500,000 attendees each year.
The team deployed over 25 W-DMX transceivers and receivers over the White Night weekend through several spaces, from the Royal Exhibition Building (REB) and surrounding gardens.
“Our control position was at the heart of the Carlton Gardens, where we had our new compact GrandMA onPC command wing Systems, running two separate W-DMX networks, each with a BlackBox F-1 G4S transceiver, and an 19dBi directional antenna,” commented Mark Hopkins, of Resolution X.
The first receiving point was 80m away, on a roof, feeding DMX to IP64 ShowPro Quad PARs,

UK - Situated at the heart of The University of Manchester’s campus, the Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama recently underwent a significant refit, including the installation of a state-of-the-art, energy-efficient production lighting package, featuring a control desk, LED luminaires and power controls from ETC, and auditorium lighting from GDS, all supplied and installed by Stage Electrics.
An important arts venue for north-west England, the Martin Harris Centre offers students a fantastic space in which to study and perform, as well as hosting many professional musicians, performers and prize-winning authors. It provides an excellent space for contemporary and classic theatre, music and comedy events, and holds a reading series that has in the past featured such literary luminaries as Martin Amis, Will Self, John Banville and Clive James.
The project, which w

USA - Most of the fans who turned up at The Holding Company to hear a St. Patrick’s Day concert by the popular Irish band The Fooks were appropriately dressed in green. They weren’t alone. The well-known Ocean Beach music venue was also adorned in brilliant emerald, thanks to some imaginative lighting by Matt Collier and a collection of fixtures from Chauvet Professional and Chauvet DJ.
The touring LD for Brothers Gow, Collier took time off from the road to light the San Diego nightspot. He transformed its stage and exterior into a sea of green using Rogue R1 Spots and SlimPAR 64 par-style fixtures. “The Rogues and SlimPARs both render excellent greens, so it was pretty easy to create something that looked good,” he said. “It added to the spirit of the evening. Everyone wears green on St. Patty’s Day, but we got the whole building green, so it stood out.”

UK - Colour Sound Experiment supplied a lighting and video floor package for the latest run of live shows by talented music producer Bonobo (Simon Green), with a new lighting look for the stage designed by Will Thomas.
The tour is in support of Bonobo’s recent UK Top 5 album, Migration, released in January on independent label Ninja Tune Records. Will Thomas has previously worked on Bonobo’s extensive Black Sands and The North Borders tours, which culminated at the end of 2014 with a sell-out show at London’s Alexandra Palace.
Will has produced an energising and refreshing show to match the vibe of the music of Migration and its transitory themes. A major starting point for this was the visual material commissioned by Bonobo and produced by Strangeloop from LA, who also created the screen design which brought an architectural presence to the stage.<

UK - Winner of the 1991 Olivier Award for Comedy of the Year, Ray Cooney’s Out of Order is making a triumphant return to the stage. Starring television favourites such as Shaun Williamson and Sue Holderness, this classic farce will now embark on a nationwide tour. White Light is providing the lighting equipment on this production.
Out of Order tells the story of Richard Willey, a Government Junior Minister, whose plans to spend the evening with one of the opposition’s typists go disastrously wrong. This revival is being produced by Tom O’Connell and the lighting designer is Jack Weir. He comments, “Out of Order is a purposefully over-the-top, hilarious farce and typical of Ray Cooney’s work. The show takes place in real time, in the one location of a hotel room overlooking the London skyline. My role was to light the action and highlight the f

China - Nexo STM M28 has made its debut appearance in the great city of Shanghai, in a new entertainment venue that has become one of the main hotspots for both local and foreign visitors.
VShow, a five-year-old KTV brand, has recently made the leap into live music, commissioning the V Livehouse in the heart of Shanghai’s ‘club central’ on Huaihai Dong Lu, another sign that the Chinese nightclub and bar entertainment market is getting back on its feet. At V Livehouse, the band is the central attraction. The performance stage is embraced by high-end interior décor, superior food and beverage service, and top-class management.
For this environment, a high-specification front-of-house PA was essential. The STM M28 ‘omni’ cabinet was a perfect fit for the venue, offering high SPL from small unobtrusive cabinets. Three M28s per side were installed, fitted with 12

Austria - World renowned lighting designer Björn Hermann employed 60 x Claypaky Mythos2 and 20 x Claypaky Supersharpy2 to deliver two titanic light sculptures as part of global crystal producer Swarovski's Festival of Light, hosted at their seven-hectare fantasy park Swarovski Kristallwelten (Crystal Worlds) in Wattens, Austria.
Lead creative agency for Festival of Light was Berlin-based international creative production company StudioNOW, who originated the project's concept. StudioNOW worked alongside Hermann and German art collective phase7 to create an adventure park of sound and light that included the two colossal light sculptures crafted by the beams of Claypaky's award-winning long-throw arc lamps. The Mythos2 and Supersharpy2 fixtures were supplied to the event by German event production and rental specialist satis&fy.
"The inspiration for the project cam

USA - Shaping Sound, the mash-up of contemporary dancers, musical genres and dancing styles has returned to the road with a new production with Shaping Sound: After the Curtain.
Bandit Lites is providing the lighting package for the spectacle which is cultivated under the artistic direction of Emmy Award winner Travis Wall and co-created with Nick Lazzarini, Teddy Forance and Kyle Robinson. The dazzling show follows the story of a man as he struggles to come to terms with the loss of his one true love, his struggle to find his creative voice and grasp the reality around him.
Co-lighting designers Nathan W. Scheuer and Teresa Fensler created a plot based on a typical dance set up, with four booms for side light and spreading out overhead electrics for high sides and a good down wash.
“In dance, the most important aspect of the design is obviously showcasi

UK - Aliens have invaded earth and in order to save humanity you need to create a capsule with the best the human race has to offer – what would you choose?
That’s the very loose premise behind the new ITV show Harry Hill’s Alien Fun Capsule. Lit by lighting designer Martin Kempton, supported by Richard Martin Lighting, the show sees the responsibility fall to the wacky comic who gathers a panel of celebrities each week to deliver judgment on comedy moments, some of which are dug up from television gone by, some created in the studio to help fill the capsule. All to sway our new alien overlords to spare the human race.
The celebrity panel each week are put through their paces like all of Harry Hill’s victims in previous success TV Burp, with clips from television appearances dug up and commentated on with the dry and witty asides Harry is famed for.

UK - The Little Angel Theatre (LAT) in the heart of Islington, London, is a home for puppetry. Not only does the theatre serve to inspire and ignite the imaginations of young minds with its repertoire of productions but it also works to equip tomorrow's puppeteers with the tools they need to succeed. The LAT has a lively and imaginative education programme which works with local schools and community groups as well as providing training opportunities for puppeteers and puppet makers, helping to maintain this rare art form in the UK.
In 2014, the LAT took on a second building - a disused community centre behind Islington Town Hall. After a couple of years of using it for education and rehearsal space, David Duffy head of production, decided that it could be used to stage performances. With the support of the local council, the LAT made plans to install a lighting rig, sound s

Norway - ViFlyr is a new permanent exhibition at the Norwegian Aviation Museum which details the history of civil aviation within Norway. Truly a part of modern Norwegian culture and history, aviation has linked the country together, overcoming the mountainous terrain.
When Michael Loftus, curator at the museum and the man responsible for the care of the exhibits, was briefed with the task of preparing and suspending the aircraft, he brought Unusual Rigging on board to come up with an effective solution that would show off the objects to maximum effect while ensuring that each item was conserved and protected.
Michael explained, "It was quite clear early on that the suspension plan for these aircraft was complex enough to require specialist skills. I had previously worked for Engineering Conservation at National Museums Scotland and knew that Unusual had been contracte

UK - The Pleasance Theatre Trust has bought its first venue. Designed by Triple E, the pop-up 80-capacity ‘Project 33’ will launch at the ABTT Theatre Show in June before going on to host eight shows a day at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
A first major UK application for Triple E ModTruss, the award-winning Meccano-style construction system, Project 33 will provide a sought-after alternative for the courtyard-based Pleasance Beside.
In stark contrast to the prefab cabins which preceded it, limited to 8ft to fit through the archway access, Project 33 will arrive flat packed and provide a 13ft internal height to the benefit of lighting, production and performance.
With a unique clover and bolt-hole pattern repeated every 3” on all six sides, ModTruss has unlimited connection points, allowing the product weight to be reduced without sacrificing any of its s

Algeria - French lighting designer David Seligmann-Forest of Paris-based Lite4Life chose 10 Robe DL4S LED profiles to be right at the heart of his lighting rig for MasterChef Algeria, which was recorded in a new purpose-built studio and former envelope factory in El Hamis, a suburb of the bustling, vibrant capital of Algiers.
David was working as both LD and director of photography for broadcaster the Allégorie Group who produced eight episodes of the series plus the finale, which was a huge hit with the public. He is one of France’s leading TV lighting specialists and has also worked on the French version of the series, which a few years back gave him the initial opportunity to use the first generation of Robe’s then DLS units.
He has been a fan of Robe for some time and is a bit of a pioneer when it comes to introducing LED lighting into French TV. A coup

USA - Multi award-winning and Tony-nominated lighting designer Justin Townsend finds that he is using Elation Professional lights more and more since his first experience with them in 2013/2014 on the Broadway musical A Night with Janis Joplin. Currently, he is using Elation Satura Profile and Platinum Seven LED-based moving heads on the world premiere of Joan of Arc: Into the Fire, an exciting new Off-Broadway musical penned by David Byrne.
“Elation has stepped up in the last few years and you see Elation gear used more and more in theatre,” Townsend stated. “They have some fantastic products with great features and they make them very quiet as well. In an industry where more is more, the fact that you can afford twice as many lights with the Elation product is exciting. With more fixtures we get more colour and more effects on our productions. It’s a

China - A new three-day music festival, Dragonland, made its debut on the Hong Kong event scene recently.
Billed as the region’s first outdoor festival to combine pop with EDM, it joins Clockenflap as the only large-scale event of its kind in Hong Kong.
The venue was the Central Harbourfront - part of the latest land reclamation in the Victoria Harbour. where Clockenflap also took place last year. It is thus perfectly located on the waterfront - in the heart of Hong Kong Island - with the amazing skyline as a backdrop.
Promoted by Playerone, a crowd of 15,000 people per day had been estimated, and in terms of production AHM Engineering supplied 20 of GLP’s award-winning X4 Bar 10 battens and 90 impression X4, as one of the mainstays of the stage set.
On the opening day, Leon Lai, one of the four heavenly kings of Canto Pop, presented the latest in his P

Kenya - PA company Sound Creations introduced its new Allen & Heath dLive S Class system at the third annual Gospel Extravaganza in Nairobi. Comprising the flagship S7000 surface and DM64 MixRack, the system was installed at FOH, managing a wealth of national and international gospel artists.
Attended by around 2000 people, Sound Creations and organisers, Trublaq Entertainment, hosted performances from artists, including, Gloria Muliro, Dr. Ron Kenoly, Esther Wahome, Size 8, Willy Paul, Solomon Mkubwa, Mercy Masika, and Pitson.
Lead sound engineer Edwin Martin was overwhelmed by the functionality of the system, noting, “This is the best desk I have worked with.”
(Jim Evans)

Europe - André Rieu is a Dutch violinist and conductor who has consistently made it into the world's top ten grossing tours lists with his exposition of the popular classical canon. His Johann Strauss Orchestra entertains and involves audiences worldwide by mixing exceptional musicianship with immersive, light-hearted, and energetic performances.
Front of House engineer Wim Van Der Molen, who has been touring with Rieu for about 24 years is considered as much as part of the orchestra as the musicians. Rieu himself told Van Der Molen early in their partnership that the mixing console was to be his instrument – an instrument that has recently been upgraded to an SSL Live L500. The console, supplied supported on tour by Solotech, now mixes up to 128 inputs from stage for both the PA and monitors, from the FOH position. Also touring with the show is Solotech project manager a

World - In a bid for the title “The hardest working band in show biz”, the Red Hot Chili Peppers have 52 dates booked for The Getaway tour across the US, Canada, Europe, and Latin America. Such a rigorous schedule requires rugged and reliable lighting fixtures, which is one of the reasons why the tour’s lighting rig features the Solaris Flare.
“We have 22 Flares arrayed on moving torms across the backline, 11 of them with two Flares each,” says the tour’s programmer Leif Dixon. “The Flares are great because they’re bright, bright, and bright! We also use four more on the deck as shin-busters. They don’t get as hot as conventional lights, which can be disappointing if you’re looking to heat up tacos like we used to do with the old-fashioned lights.”
Dixon adds, “The Flares are also extremely reliable. We love that they can just be on for long dur

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