TOTAL PRODUCTION INTERNATIONAL

LIVE EVENT DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY • OCTOBER 2016 • ISSUE 206

CALVIN HARRIS
THE WORLD’S BIGGEST DJ CLOSES
CREAMFIELDS WITH A BANG
THIS IS WHAT YOU CAME FOR

FESTIVAL N°6 • SZIGET • BACKSTAGE WITH HARDWELL • BOOMTOWN FAIR • KOI WINNERS OCTOBER 2016
#206
BPM | PRO 2016 • FESTIVAL FOCUS • IN PROFILE: ELATION PROFESSIONAL • EDINBURGH TATTOO
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EDITOR’S LETTER

VARIO-LIFT

Capacity 125 kg - 6000 kg

A time for recognition… (BGV-C1)
I know, I know; this mag is getting heavier than the Bible you never pick up in the many hotels you’re
accustomed to staying in. We’re back to producing bi-monthly double issues with the inclusion of our
MEA magazine, and needless to say, the end of the outdoor event season kept us busy - even if when
we’re meant to take a night off. Our Calvin Harris story is a fine example of this - I only went to Creamfields
to have a cuppa with my pal Joe while he was over in the UK. He was one of the first production managers
I ever met via TPi in 2011, and he’s since moved to LA and had a beautiful family (hi girls!) whilst his
company, eighteentwentysix, has gone from strength to strength. Having said that, a cuppa is never
really just a cuppa when you’re in a festival field, is it? Hence hanging out with Fab, Jim and the crew soon
turned into a worthy cover story…
In various other fields across the UK, BoomTown, Sundown and Festival N°6 were on the agenda.
Stew spoke to the hard-working N°6 team about the challenges they faced this year, and in Hungary,
Sziget was on my agenda. What a wonderful experience Sziget was. One of my favourite things about this
industry is the fact that you can go anywhere in the world and still feel like you’re meeting up with family,
and our Hungarian relatives were no exception! Huge thanks to the production team who welcomed me,
told me their stories, and, let’s face it, got my gin measures right. You’ve made a truly lovely - and safe -
event to attend.
We also celebrated talent in style this month with the new and improved Knight of Illumination
Awards (Pg.12). I say style, but now I look at it, that white hat is questionable. Thanks to Elation • Speed up to 42 m/min
Professional’s Larry Beck and LD Tom Campbell for making Ste and I look somewhat better. (I think?) • Free progammable
And, of course, we’ve just completed the first ever TPi Breakthrough Talent Awards. More on that next Start/Stop Ramps
time when our Ste will be a married man. Stew, race you to the bar mate! • EN 818-7 Load Chain
Kelly Murray • Low Noise Operation
Editor • 5-Pocket Chain Wheel
GRAPHIC DESIGN & PRODUCTION
• 2 Independent DC Brakes
EDITOR
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Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8360 Zoe Willcox: z.willcox@mondiale.co.uk • Precise Chain Guide
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e-mail: m.naeem@mondiale.co.uk Issue 206 - October 2016
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 ITINERARY

EVENT FOCUS
08 Genius Loci Weimar
TPi’s Ste Durham travels to Weimar for
a projection mapping masterclass.

12 9th Knight of Illumination Awards

All the winners from the annual black tie
ceremony.

16 Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo
PRG XL Video and The Projection Studio

08

combine to create a visual spectacular.

20 Pet Shop Boys

ER Productions creates a striking laser
design for the duo’s London dates.

22 Sundown Festival
The event provides one last chance to
dance for UK festival-goers.

26 Hardwell
A multicamera live stream is the talking
point of the DJ’s world tour finale.

PRODUCTION PROFILE

42
32 Calvin Harris
Creamfields witnesses the acclaimed DJ
headline with an audio-visual triumph.

42 Sziget: Island of Freedom

How the Hungarian festival delivers
event safety and quality production.

54 Festival N°6
The crew battles the elements to deliver
another technically successful event.

62 BoomTown Fair
Pushing the boundaries of creativity and
sustainability.

54
IN PROFILE
74 Elation Professional discusses the latest
in product innovation at its Dutch HQ.
FESTIVAL FOCUS
78 In this issue: Tomorrowland, EXIT
Festival, Brighton Pride, Tønder Festival
and more.
ROAD DIARIES
90 A day in the life of Letlive Tour Manager,
Simon Gallacher.
CLOCKING OFF
92 PRG XL Video’s Jason Hodgetts ‘braves

78
the shave’ for Macmillan Cancer Support.
EXPO
94 BPM | PRO showcases a brand new look
at its Birmingham event.

GEAR HEADS
104 Martin Audio premieres its new
BlacklineX Audio Series at BPM | PRO.
INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS
106 The latest movers and shakers.
PSA: THE BIGGER PICTURE
110 PSA offers advice on public liability
insurance.

94 BACK CHAT
114 Noreen O’Riordan of Entec Sound &
Light - from temp to board member.
EVENT FOCUS
GENIUS LOCI WEIMAR
TPi’s Ste Durham travelled to one of Germany’s most historically significant cities to take in the
sights and sounds of the Genius Loci festival, which included live video mapping and immersive
spatial audio.
Once home to famous poets, philosophers, musicians and artists like
Goethe, Schiller, Bach, Franz Liszt, Nietzsche, Kandinsky and Paul Klee,
Weimar is an attraction for tourists the year round. Each year, four
million people visit the city to admire the historic buildings and parks, 12
of which are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. For those who love their
history with a blend of hi-tech, the best time to visit the city is during the
Genius Loci festival, held every August since 2012.
The event provides a comprehensive overview of global video mapping
trends and sees mapping artists from all over the world gather to display
works on the facades of the city’s most prestigious historic buildings. The
one prerequisite is that the content has to present the ‘genius loci’, or spirit
of the location, using the latest media art techniques. As well as serving as
an exhibition, Genius Loci Weimar is also a competition. Artists are invited
to submit their work, which is then judged by an expert panel and public
08
jury, eventually culminating in the three winners being invited to present
their artwork at locations that change annually. This year the projection
sites were chosen to be around the city’s Ilmpark - the Tempelherrenhaus,
the Stern and the Sternbrücke.
Technology expert Barco is a premium partner of the event and, via
AED Display, provided a series of HDF and HDX projectors for the winners
to present their respective visions. Reggy Mortier, Strategic Marketing for
Events at Barco, explained: “Since 2014, Barco has been proud to support
a project like Genius Loci, which is considered a meeting-point for the
international video mapping scene as well as for professionals from the
fields of architecture, media art, design, performing arts and visual arts.”
The three winning projection mappings all took on distinct characters
thanks to the rich and diverse history associated with each site. The ruins
of the park’s Tempelherrrenhaus hosted Romanzero, which was designed
 GENIUS LOCI WEIMAR

Opposite: At The Stern was Erlinde, Eine Optische Illusion, which featured a live, multi-angle silhouetted performance by dancer Maribel Dente. Below: Aided by light
animations, the Tempelherrenhaus was reshaped and re-experienced; The winners made the most of the tech at their disposal; The Stern featured projections that used
arcs of water as their canvases.

to depict a fairytale of nature, pathos, and transience. Aided by light
animations, the building was reshaped and re-experienced. The hand-
drawn black-and-white illustrations interacted with real or seemingly real
segments of the building, allowing the Tempelherrenhaus to reconstruct
itself, open up and collapse by the end, only to recreate itself all over again.
Elsewhere at The Stern was Erlinde, Eine Optische Illusion, which
featured a live, multi-angle silhouetted performance by dancer Maribel
Dente. The act saw the audience huddled together in the darkness of
the Ilmpark while shapeshifting images of nymphs and water spirits were
projected on three sides of the square central area, using arced water jets
as the canvases.
Despite the obvious logistical difficulties of such an ambitious
undertaking, Festival Organiser Hendrik Wendler had confidence that the
Barco kit could deliver. He said: “The projections are much brighter thanks
to the Barco gear, and you can really use them very flexibly. You should see
the eyes of the artists when they play with the Barco projectors. For many
of them, it’s the first time they have had the opportunity to use professional
equipment so they are really motivated.”
Although the festival’s regular performances meant that attendees
could meander around the Ilmpark of their own accord, the final area that

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GENIUS LOCI WEIMAR
Above: The Sternbrücke had the benefit of water below to reflect the projections; Reggy Mortier, Strategic Marketing for Events at Barco.
TPi encountered at the Sternbrücke (or star bridge) was more of a freeform
affair. The festival’s own synopsis said it best: “We want to take a more
universal perspective and embellish this historic bridge with the wonder
and expectations of unknown experiences yet to come. No judgment and
no commentary, just a hand-painted, aesthetic celebration of this special
moment through the use of light and shadow.”
The technology available at this area allowed the artists to, if effect,
live-action graffiti the bridge with various vivid and psychedelic images.
We were even lucky enough to be sat on the rocks of the riverbank as
an impromptu marriage proposal was etched onto one of the arches to
rapturous applause (hopefully he said yes).
EAST MEETS WEST
As well as the projection-related magic that was on display for the crowds
at Genius Loci, Barco was also tasked with providing an audio processor
to drive the impressive spatial audio setup for the competition’s fourth
winner, which was stationed at the Hafiz Goethe Memorial. Cultural Sounds?
was dreamt up by students at the University of Weimar, Martin Recker and
Paul Hauptmeier, to translate the ‘East-West’ idea of the memorial into an
audio format. The work includes field recordings from Germany and the
Arab world, human voices, as well as processed instrumental recordings
and abstract sound objects which they assemble in acoustic spaces
reflecting and disassembling stereotypes. The company was asked to lift
the soundscapes to a hyper-realistic level, using the Barco IOSONO CORE
spatial audio processor.
Again with the help of AED, two walls were installed that stood opposite
each other and were each equipped with 20 conventional loudspeakers.
Stephan Mauer, Professional Audio at Barco, explained: “In this way, we
found a design that mimics the setting of the monument and is very
accessible: everyone can walk inside and around the walls, to experience
the space and really get immersed by the sound.”
Although the company has provided the festival with projection
technology for a number of years, 2016 was only the second time that it
also deployed a selection of its audio arsenal. Mauer continued: “As soon as
Barco added IOSONO to its inventory it seemed that adding spatial audio to
the Genius Loci palette was a logical step to take. Usually the Barco IOSONO
systems are custom designed for each venue and this year’s Genius Loci
was no different.”
In February 2016, Mauer and Wendler surveyed the park in order to
decide which of the areas best leant themselves to housing a spatial audio
installation. “As each site carries its own spirit, its genius loci, the site, the
story and artistic spark is closely aligned,” said Mauer.
“We discovered that the Hafiz Goethe monument has a direct link to
topics that are still so important today and decided it was the best site
for the installation. Hendrik wanted a rather non-technical, anonymous
10
and clean looking install that would not distract the audience from the
sound and the site itself. Following that, we came up with the idea of the
two identical blocks, being neutral and clean, facing each other but still
providing the capabilities of truly immersive sound.”
The ‘official’ route for the opening night of the festival started with the
spatial audio install before leading to the other three projection venues
in the park. Mauer added: “From our point of view, with pure audio and
no visuals in the dark, the install challenges visitors to open up, engage
their imaginations and fine-tune their senses. Even though we are used to
perfect immersive audio all the time in real life, it is often very different to
listening to curated, produced content. With Barco IOSONO, a controlled,
realistic and unheard of auditory experience can be achieved.”
The creators of the content, Recker and Hauptmeier, were also
impressed with the quality of the processor and its Spatial Audio
Workstation. Recker said: “The sophistication and sheer number of
possibilities for spatialising sound provided by the Barco IOSONO system
enables completely new ways of musical expression in our work - the
control and unheard precision of positioning sounds in the vertical
domain is literally adding another dimension to immersive sound design.
Furthermore, the production support we’re getting from Barco Audio
Technologies is extremely helpful to get going with the tools in an instant.”
The timely and thought-provoking nature of the content was not lost
on attendees during the experience and, whether taken as an independent
component of the festival or a representation of its overall ethos, the
install certainly served as an effective aperitif for the audio / visual feast to
come. Although this particular part of the festival is still new, it seems that
the Barco crew were pleased with how it complimented the now standard
projection sites dotted around Genius Loci. As well as this, it gave the
team and the artists themselves the tools with which to create something
particularly special.
Mauer concluded: “Besides the 2015 edition of Genius Loci there have
been dozens of temporary installs all over the world ranging from museums
and domes to theatrical live sound and more. However, the layout of this
system, being 360° capable including floor and overhead speakers in an
outdoor environment, was a first. Furthermore, the detail that was put into
achieving the clean look, hiding all the technology out of sight and allowing
the sound to speak for itself was quite outstanding. Looking at the story
of the monument and the spatial audio production itself, the install at this
year’s Genius Loci was meaningful and relevant, contributing to social
discourse.”
TPi
Photos: Henry Sowinski
www.genius-loci-weimar.org
www.barco.com/en
www.aeddisplay.com
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EVENT FOCUS
 KOI AWARDS 2016

Opposite: The Knight of Illumination Awards took place at London’s iconic Eventim Apollo; Adam Bassett, winner of the MA Lighting Award for Events; Coldplay’s Video
Director Ben Miles; Ayrton Award for Stage winner, Tobias G Rylander; Woodroffe Basset Design’s Terry Cook accepts the award for Patrick Woodroffe; Francis Clegg, winner
of the HSL Award for Club.

KNIGHT OF ILLUMINATION
AWARDS 2016

Winners of the 9th Knight of Illumination Awards 2016 were revealed at Eventim Apollo during a
sparkling ceremony that saw some of the world’s finest LDs together under one roof.

Lighting and video content design ceremony, Knight of Illumination
Awards (KOI), announced the winners of its ninth edition during a
prestigious ceremony at London’s iconic Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith
on Sunday 18 September.
The well-attended ceremony saw almost 500 professionals come
together to celebrate the achievements of lighting and video designers
working on shows across the UK.
The event was hosted by Australian actor, television presenter and
comedian Mark Little. The winners have been revealed as:
THEATRE
The ETC Award for Dance: Michael Hulls for Conceal | Reveal,
Russell Maliphant Company, Sadler’s Wells
The Hawthorn Award for Musicals: Mark Henderson for Sunset Boulevard,
English National Opera
The Robert Juliat Award for Opera: Joachim Klein for Saul,
Glyndebourne Festival
The FIX8Group Award for Projection Design: Will Duke for The Encounter,
Edinburgh International Festival/The Barbican
CONCERT TOURING AND EVENTS
The Ambersphere Solutions Award for Arena: Patrick Woodroffe for Adele
The HSL Award for Club: Francis Clegg for Public Service Broadcasting
The MA Lighting Award for Events: Adam Bassett for The Rolling Stones
Exhibitionism
The Ayrton Award for Stage: Tobias G Rylander for The 1975
The d3 Technologies Award for Video Electronic Content: Ben Miles for
Coldplay
TELEVISION
The Philips Vari-Lite Award for Drama: Sue Gibson for Death in Paradise
(honoured posthumously)

The Elation Professional Award for Plays: Jan Versweyveld for Songs from The Light Initiative Award for Events: Bernie Davis for BBC Proms Season
Far Away, Young Vic 2015/2016

13
KOI AWARDS 2016
Above: Congratulations to all the winners. We will be seeing you all again next year.
The PRG XL Video Award for Light Entertainment: Mark Kenyon for Strictly
Come Dancing 2015
The VER Aurora Award for Small Studio: Dave Evans for The One Show
The SGM Award for Video Graphic Display: Julien Rigal for The Voice UK Final
2016
The winner of the Enrico Caironi Award for Lifetime Recognition was John
Offord, presented by KOI co-ordinator and LD, Durham Marenghi. “John
has been a great influence for the good on a lot of people in our industry,”
said Marenghi. “He launched Lighting and Sound International in 1985, was
fundamental to the success of PLASA and is now not only editor of ETNow
but has also published over 80 books about our industry from technical to
artistic.”
Previous winners of this award include lighting designer Richard Pilbrow
in 2011, Bryan Leitch in 2012, Ian Dow in 2013, Brian Croft in 2014 and CEO of
ETC Fred Foster in 2015. The category is named in recognition of former Clay
Paky commercial director Enrico Caironi (1947 - 2011), whose inspiration
and enthusiasm created and subsequently shaped KOI.
Backup - The Technical Entertainment Charity (formerly Behind
The Scenes UK), the charity which supports entertainment technology
professionals in times of need, received a £5,000 cheque at the ceremony
thanks to a donation from Clay Paky. The company’s CEO, Pio Nahum,
presented the cheque to John Simpson of White Light, who was standing in
for Lighting Designer Rick Fisher.
“We welcome this generous support for Backup and urge all to join Clay
Paky in contributing to our charity and alerting us to those who may need
14
help,” said Simpson during the ceremony.
The awards was originally conceived in 2007 by Italian entertainment
lighting manufacturer, Clay Paky, now Headline Sponsor in association with
parent company OSRAM, and renowned international LD Marenghi and
his partner Jennie who now co-ordinate the awards. Prestigious industry
organisations the Association of Lighting Designers and the Society of
Television Lighting and Design bring together the judging of the Theatre and
Television categories respectively.
Nahum commented: “The KOI has evolved to become one of the most
significant events in the lighting and video design world and provides the
ideal platform for awarding the hard work and stunning creative talent of
professionals operating in it. As we look toward the KOI 10th anniversary
in 2017, we think back to the event Clay Paky started almost a decade ago
and are immensely proud of how it has developed year on year thanks
to the sponsorship and support of almost all the major businesses in the
entertainment lighting and video technology industry.”
Headline Sponsors of this year’s event were Clay Paky and OSRAM. The
event is supported by Spotlight Sponsors Ambersphere Solutions, Ayrton,
d3 Technologies, Elation Professional, ETC, FIX8Group, Hawthorn, HSL,
Light Initiative, MA Lighting, Philips Vari-Lite, PLASA Media and Events,
PRG XL Video, Robert Juliat, SGM and VER Aurora TV plus Table Sponsors
AC-ET, Avolites, Brompton, Carallon, Chauvet Professional, CT London, ELP,
GLP, Martin Professional, Panalux, RC4 Wireless, Robe, Rosco, SLX, Stage
Electrics, TMB and TSL. The event was also supported by ABTT, ET Now,
Focus, Lighting and Sound America and The Theatres Trust.
TPi
Photos: The Fifth Estate
www.knight-of-illumination.com
EVENT FOCUS
ROYAL EDINBURGH MILITARY TATTOO
PRG XL Video and The Projection Studio both upgraded their already impressive arsenals to ensure
that this year’s milestone event would be remembered as one of the most spectacular visual
displays to date.
Having stood for decades as one of the headline events on the Scottish
capital’s festival calendar, this year’s Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo
(REMT) paid tribute to the Queen’s 90th birthday, as well as marking
the 100th anniversary of the naval Battle of Jutland and the Great Arab
Revolt. Set to the theme ‘Tunes of Glory’ and the backdrop of Edinburgh
Castle, the REMT saw a cast of over 1,200 military personnel perform on
a nightly basis from 5-27 August.
The routines were accentuated with an elaborate lighting and
projection show, with equipment provided by PRG XL Video and The
Projection Studio, respectively. The former has regularly supplied all of
the lighting for the main performance area on the castle’s esplanade, as
the company’s Account Director Peter Marshall explained: “We supply
a complete lighting system, equipment, full crew including stage crew
together with a complex lighting design from our LD for the event, Gerry
Mott, who takes the design from a blank canvas every year to create a
wonderful spectacle. Gerry’s remit is mainly to light the esplanade parade
ground, the seating area and all of the castle from the moat area up to the
battlements. It’s a large and exciting job that presents certain challenges
each year.”
16
PRG XL Video provided a multitude of lighting for the production,
including a number of its proprietary fixtures. Marshall continued: “We
upgraded the rig this year to use the PRG Best Boy HP Spot as our main
profile fixture, as well as selecting the PRG Icon Beam to enhance the beam
effects in the design.”
It wasn’t necessary for the team to use PRG’s remote GroundControl
Followspot System, as the spot positions on the gantry could be reached
easily by the followspot operators via a goods lift and staircase, allaying
any heath and safety concerns. Marshall explained: “We used a forerunner
of GroundControl that involved manual kits that we have adapted for
use on the Best Boy and Bad Boy units. This allows them to function as
followspots, giving the operators the ability to manually control the lights
with local control and dimming of the light while the LD can control all of
the other features of the fixture.”
Other key aspects of Mott’s design included the use of low cross
light from banks of SGM Q-7s washing across the parade ground, and
architectural lighting on the castle that came predominantly from Vari-Lite
VL3500 wash lights that were housed in domes.
The equipment was prepared by the lighting team at PRG XL Video’s
 EDINBURGH TATTOO

warehouse facility in Longbridge, and load-in started during the last

week of July, which was followed by almost a week of tech time and
then four weeks of shows. In order to make the most of the short hours
of darkness that are par for the course in mid-summer Scotland, PRG
XL Video provided a mobile WYSIWYG suite for Mott. This allowed him
to pre-visualise his cues at home or in his studio, essentially buying him
vaulable time that he could dedicate to honing the show once he arrived
at the site.
While the WYSIWYG could prepare Mott and the crew for how
the design would look on the parade ground in darkness, it couldn’t
account for the bonus special effects that were added to the inventory
courtesy of Mother Nature. Marshall laughed: “Up in Scotland they
have this peculiar thing called a ‘haar’, which is basically a sea mist that
occasionally rolls into the city and castle esplanade from time to time
and acts like a huge outdoor haze machine! We couldn’t have prepared
for it but it really accented the whole design especially the LD’s beam
effects. We use haze and smoke machines now and again but, halfway
up the rock that the castle stands on, a strong breeze can dissipate the
smoke and ruin the effect quite quickly. When the haar came on the night
I watched the show it was strong enough to create some really wacky
effects, particularly when the wind whips around in different directions.”
While the weather and the location did the crew some favours, it
also provided a number of challenges. Keith Duncan, Crew Chief and
REMT Technical Consultant, explained: “We have been involved in the
Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo for quite a number of years so we know
there tends to be few unexpected challenges. One particular area that
we have to take extra care in is when we are working with in the walls of
Edinburgh Castle.
“We use a crane to place most of the equipment in the moat
and on to the gatehouse; this keeps traffic with equipment to a
minimum through the castle building. We are extra vigilant regarding

17
EDINBURGH TATTOO
waterproofing of cables and connectors. The Scottish weather can be
unforgiving, even though ‘it never rains in Edinburgh in the summer’! This
year we had a few exceptionally windy days, which tested our strapping
down techniques, but I’m happy to say we had no major issues.”
The audience stands themselves were replaced five years ago with
considerable consultation from Mott and Duncan over the preceding four
years, with additions such as a roof with rigging points, cable routes, and
dedicated tech areas that allow the crew to load in and out quickly, despite
the size of the venue.
Duncan continued: “For the load-in and load-out we manage with our
core team of five and supplement with nine local crew. The main part of the
load in takes three days and we aim to do the focus on the fourth night.
“For the day-to-day running of the show we again use our core crew, as
the castle is open to the public during the day and we have to wait until it’s
closed to do our rig and rig check. There are a number of lights that have to
be placed every night for the performance.”
A NEW TATTOO
For the last 11 years, the Edinburgh Tattoo has also employed spectacular
large format projections alongside the already impressive lighting rig,
creating a dramatic and dynamic backdrop for the various performances.
The 2016 season saw the introduction of a new video projection system
specified by digital artist Ross Ashton from The Projection Studio.
The Tattoo purchased the 12 Panasonic PT-DW17K2 projectors following
recommendations from Ashton, who was re-appointed as Tattoo Projection
Consultant for the next five years. Ashton felt it was an opportune moment
to persuade all involved that digital was the way to go, and the team
agreed. Apart from being much brighter, the whole system is much more
flexible. Content can be changed and added quickly and easily via on site
editing and additional materials, also allowing the incorporation of special
moments within the show.
As was the case with the Deep Time opening event featured in last
18
month’s TPi, the castle walls proved to be a challenging projection surface,
its 75m depth front to back, its lack of symmetry and its dark brown colour
devouring lumens voraciously. With the move to video and the greater
intensity, the latitude for materials has also greatly increased. The new set
up also means that the lighting elements can afford to be a lot bolder and
brighter.
The Projection Studio chose the Panasonic machines based on
their extremely good track record using the brand for various projects,
and because of their reliability, brightness, small footprint and cost
effectiveness. A Watchout control system was also part of the package,
which was supplied via Mirage Associates.
In honour of the Queen’s 90th birthday, The Projection Studio created a
completely new set of video content that was projected for two thirds of the
90-minute show after dusk had fallen.
Many memorable moments included the footage for the Lochiel
Marching Drill Team from New Zealand, who performed their precision
routine to a Lord of the Rings medley, with Edinburgh Castle transformed
into Mordor complete with flowing rivers of lava, fire-breathing dragons,
smouldering volcanoes and cracking buildings.
Ashton and his team, including Karen Monid from The Projection Studio,
worked on compiling the show material as soon as it was confirmed that
the video projectors and control would be delivered in time for the 2016
season. He spoke of his delight with the new system: “It opens up the scope
for creativity and for us to produce much more complex visual effects,
and it’s also great to work with the Tattoo team, led by Producer Brigadier
David Allfrey, who have really underlined their commitment to bringing the
highest production values to the whole Tattoo experience.”
TPi
Photos: Ross Ashton
www.edintattoo.co.uk
www.prg.com
www.theprojectionstudio.com
 PURE CLASS
INTRODUCING THE NEW BEAT THE STREET VIP DAY BUSES

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W W W. B E AT T H E S T R E E T. N E T Office UK Cars & Vans: ian@beatthestreet.net | mark@beatthestreet.net
EVENT FOCUS
PET SHOP BOYS’ INNER SANCTUM
ER Productions creates striking laser design for the Pet Shop Boys’ Inner Sanctum dates at London’s
Royal Opera House.
With four sell-out shows, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, masters of
understatement, delighted fans with a host of well-known hits and
newer releases this July.
As one would expect from a Pet Shop Boys tour, the first-class set and
spectacular production design didn’t disappoint, providing the audience
with a visual feast worthy of the high-brow location. Body poppers and
dancers in inflatable fat suits took to the stage, while a show stopping laser
display designed by ER Productions’ Andrew Turner, created a backdrop for
the group’s big entrance.
“We devised a way of splitting one of our new Cyclones in half, situating
each part behind the white, spherical pods, which contained the boys. The
resulting effect has since been immortalised in the national press, which is
a huge compliment and credit to our team. We also managed to terminate
60 scanned laser beams in a flat line across one of the Opera House
balconies, which is not as straightforward as it sounds,” commented Turner.
Another visual feature of the impressive show was legendary designer
Es Devlin’s concentric light installation, featuring an array of scintillating,
coloured LED rings. To give the rings a glossy, shimmering finish, ER
mapped five laser systems to the automated LED rings, skilfully controlling
20
the reflections in order to create the impressive sun-halo effect seen on
stage.
“With a variety of projection screens and gauzes to project video
content onto, we got the chance to rig our mapping lasers (Tripan and
Excellent 21’s) onto the Opera House balconies, complementing the video
projection with laser sharp graphics during the first half of the show,” Turner
continued.
ER’s full suite of lasers, comprised of eight newly released scanning BB3
lasers, six 18WRGBBs, the (halved) Cyclone and all the ring mapping lasers,
burst into life during and following the track, Enigma.
Marc Webber, Co-founder of ER Productions, added: “We’ve worked
with the Pet Shop Boys and their talented production and management
teams for many years now and it’s always a pleasure. Creating a look
that’s a perfect balance between art-installation and pop is challenging,
but our Technician / Laser Programmer Tom Vallis and Laser Designer /
Programmer Andrew did an outstanding job, as always.”
TPi
www.petshopboys.co.uk
www.er-productions.com
 a1TPi_advert final.pdf 1 01/04/2016 11:26

Photo: Adam Kaplan

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T H E N E X T L E V E L O F T O U R S O U N D
EVENT FOCUS
 SUNDOWN FESTIVAL

Opposite: Hawthorn’s Head of Concert Touring, Mick Freer.

SUNDOWN FESTIVAL

As the season comes to a close, Sundown Festival in Norfolk provided one last chance to dance for
the 40,000 strong audience. Creative production expert Hawthorn was on hand to provide several
visual elements for the weekend.

Sundown Festival returned to Norfolk Showground in Norwich this
September, providing one last party before the sun sets on this year’s
summer festival period, with a line-up featuring the likes of Chase &
Status, Jason Derulo, Years & Years, Jess Glynne and Dizzee Rascal.
This year, creative technical production expert Hawthorn supplied the
main stage flown lighting system, including rigging, drapes, FOH control
systems and followspots.
Hawthorn’s Head of Concert Touring, Mick Freer, who led the project to
create the festival house lighting rig, consulted with the lighting designers
for this year’s headline and supporting acts to produce a design that fused
all of their ideas and needs. “The LDs provide a festival/touring plot in their
rider,” stated Freer. “I then pick out the key elements that they wanted. In
this case it included Philips Lighting SL NITRO 510C LED strobes, Clay Paky
Sharpys, A.leda B-EYE K10’s and Martin by Harman MAC Viper Profiles. We
also used two and four way molefay blinders, which I then incorporate into
my design for the festival’s flown rig - the aim being that any floor lighting
packages the bands are touring with can also be incorporated in order to
achieve the very best visual effect.
“It takes several weeks of discussion and planning, looking at budgets
and sorting all the details, before submitting the final drawings to the
Sundown production team and staging company for their structural
engineers to sign off.”
Not leaving the expectant crowds disappointed, the production for
Chase & Status also featured lasers, coloured flames and C02 jets, creating
a spectacular visual display, while Hawthorn supplied Jason Derulo’s
incoming production with a Clay Paky Sharpy-centric floor package. These
rigs were controlled at FOH by an MA Lighting grandMA2 Light console, with
two Robert Juliat Cyrano 2500w followspots mounted above.
At dimmer beach, Hawthorn supplied two Avolites ART 2000 48-way
racks and two SES hot power racks, providing a complete solution for
dimming, moving light power and data distribution. For rigging, a total of
28 2.4m sections of Prolyte S52V and six 3m H30V box trusses were used
along with 19 Prolyft Aetos one tonne motor hoists.
Sundown Lighting Crew Chief, Steve Rusling, worked closely with
Freer before the festival to specify the build. “I got the drawings and
worked out how they were going to get it wired up, how much cable they
needed and all the technical side of it, which I then spread around to the
other members of the crew. Then we build it,” explained Rusling, who
has previously worked with Hawthorn on Mark Knopfler’s UK tour. “I’m a
freelancer, working with a lot of different companies but I do really enjoy
working in the Hawthorn warehouse before a gig. They have some great
people in there who are always really helpful. Most importantly for me,
the kit is always good, which means we’re not running around on site
fixing things. I’ve never had anything but a good experience working with

23
SUNDOWN FESTIVAL
Above: Stage Manager James Bartlett; Festival Promoter Roy Trickett; Lighting Crew Chief, Steve Rusling; Chase & Status in the thick of it.
Hawthorn.
“I enjoy working on festivals and Sundown has a really nice vibe. It’s very
well organised and it has things that matter to us from our side, such as
hard roads with good access to the stage; it isn’t all trackway. Good catering
and real toilets also make a big difference.”
Stage Manager James Bartlett was tasked with taking care of incoming
floor packages and stage logistics, having begun his prep in June. A
Sundown veteran, Bartlett has worked on all six Sundown festivals but
always finds new challenges popping up. “On the stage we had a lot of
room in the wings but they don’t have much clearance height and there is
very little room backstage,” explained Bartlett. “This created an interesting
challenge on the Sunday - we had two acts bringing in stuff that was 5m
high that had to fit in the area where we normally rotate risers on and off the
stage. We had to get around it by line checking a band on what is normally
the wrong side of the stage and running cables underneath, going against
the run that we usually do, in order to make it fit.”
After working on the event for so many years, Bartlett is well placed to
say what he thinks makes Sundown a highlight in the UK festival scene:
“I think a lot of it is the reaction from the crowd. It’s a very happy, young
crowd out to have a good time. There are a lot of local people really excited
to have a big event local to them.”
The initial idea behind Sundown Festival came from Promoter Roy
Trickett. With over 30 years’ experience in the events sector, Trickett was
well placed to see the potential of a Norfolk based music festival, finding
a niche in the already saturated UK festival scene. “There wasn’t anything
24
like this in Norfolk, especially catering to a younger crowd. I thought that
most parents wouldn’t want their kids to travel to Chelmsford for V Festival
[the nearest event of its type] and it would be really nice for them to have
something on their doorstep.”
Six years on and Sundown has gone from strength to strength. With
2016 seeing an improved camping experience, including a new chill out
area, and the introduction of a third stage hosting some of the biggest
names on the London dance scene, it’s clear to see that Trickett isn’t one to
rest on his laurels. “We have a break for about three weeks after the gig to
settle down and sort out the paperwork, then at the beginning of October
we start planning which artists we’ll be getting in for the next year. We’re
always thinking of improvements such as the possibility of introducing a
fourth stage next year and also bringing in some different areas.”
So with nearly a full year of planning going in to each festival, what’s the
highlight for the man behind the best closing party of the summer season?
“I enjoy watching people having fun and making sure they’re safe. That’s
what I really care about. The production is always spot on and seeing Chase
& Status performing on Saturday night was pretty spectacular - that’s the
buzz I get. I’ve worked with Mick for quite a few years now and he’s a solid
guy who knows his stuff, not to mention the fact that he always brings a
great crew and a reliable product.”
TPi
Photos: Dom Henry
www.sundownfestival.co.uk
www.hawthorn.biz
TPI_E-Series_QU03.indd 1 7/11/2016 8:37:09 AM
EVENT FOCUS
 HARDWELL

I AM HARDWELL
The heart-pumping finale to the DJ’s world tour at Germany’s Hockenheimring featured an
ambitious Ultra HD multi-camera production live streamed to Hardwell’s global fan base, in an
adrenalin-fuelled BigCityBeats Virtual World Club Dome event led by VPS Media and NOMOBO.

‘Imma kick lips, tonight / We’re gon’ shove our ass, tonight / I hope I
remember, tonight’. And what a night, or 48 hours, it was for the young
Dutchman Hardwell and the 25,000 of his loyal fans that gathered at the
Hockenheimring, in deepest Rhine country.
It was the grand finale to the DJ / record producer’s two years on the
road with the I AM Hardwell World Tour that has seen him play to sold-out
shows in Jakarta, Singapore, Bangalore, Mexico City, Cape Town, Tel Aviv,
Guatemala City, Manchester, Sao Paulo and Sydney, promoting his debut
album United We Are.
On 27 August 2016 the Hockenheimring, more famous as the biennial
home to the German F1 Grand Prix, was bathed in the light of electronic
dance music - and the heat of an extremely warm summer’s day - as
temperatures reached a peak of 35°C and didn’t relent throughout the
weekend.
The event’s promoter was BigCityBeats, a German private radio station
and music event agency specialising in EDM. It’s most notable promotion is
the annual World Club Dome, which is held at the Commerzbank Arena in
Frankfurt. German video production agency VPS Media has worked closely
with BigCityBeats since 2001 and is tasked with AV production at most of its
events, including live production and aftermovie / trailer productions.
For this tour, finale BigCityBeats wanted something extra special. This
meant not only giving the spectators an unforgettable evening, but sharing
the experience with Hardwell’s global fanbase. With no compromise
on production values, VPS Media translated BigCityBeats’ call into a
multi-camera high resolution capture combining a live switched 4K/UHD
recording for on-demand and after movie purposes, together with a HD
encode streamed live to YouTube.
“This show is definitely the first time ever an EDM dance event has been
captured this way,” said Constantijn van Duren, Executive Producer and
Managing Partner for NOMOBO, a Netherlands live event music producer

27
HARDWELL
After two years of touring, Dutchman Hardwell completed his world tour by producing a multi-camera production - all of which was live streamed on YouTube.
specialising in EDM. NOMOBO itself was commissioned directly by Alda
Events to produce the broadcast side of things - 4K live capture and live
broadcast on YouTube.
The combination of NOMOBO’s flyaway production kit, including live
production hardware from Blackmagic Design, used with ARRI Amira
cameras for a live multicam production has never been employed before.
Explained VPS Media Producer Björn Aßmus: “In early 2016,
BigCityBeats approached us with the request to provide technical
equipment and crew for video production at the event. NOMOBO were
charged with responsibility for the live production and were bringing their
own infrastructure, glass fibre connections, live studio and FOH equipment.
They asked us to provide most of the cameras and camera crew for the
live production, an ATEM mixing panel, as well as some of the streaming
equipment for the playout to social media. VPS Managing Director, Andreas
Schech, was in charge of the planning phase.”
The thrust of the brief was to produce the live multicam coverage in
4K/UHD of the complete show, to be broadcast on YouTube and Facebook
(in 2K), while also playing out parts of the show to SWR (German public
TV network). SWR was on site with a satellite news gathering unit ready to
beam pictures across Germany. In addition, artist interviews and after show
material was to be shot in and around the event with a small documentary
camera crew.
Having supplied and produced the AV for BigCityBeats’ EDM shows and
festivals over many years, Aßmus said the chief difference with this show is
the open-air setting. “The major events we have covered in the past were
almost always indoor events in stadiums, so this time, all equipment has to
be rain-proof, and protected from intense sunlight.”
The immense heat presented its own challenges. “Given the extreme
temperatures, it was an interesting challenge for both personnel and
equipment,” said Aßmus. “The extreme atmospheric conditions combined
with an event taking place on tarmac in bright sunlight, are a challenge not
only for the camera crews, but also in terms of preserving the equipment.
Preserving the equipment was crucial to delivering a reliable and failsafe
production.”
Placing the production offices and mixing workstations in the pits was
especially advantageous, because mixing and production staff were very
close to the stage, while still avoiding the high temperatures outside, which
also helped in protecting the equipment.
Aßmus explains how they managed preparations and rehearsal.
“NOMOBO developed the camera layout and approached us with
their production request. We went through revisions together, made
28
recommendations regarding certain components and finalised the
technical plan together with them, and briefed our camera crew
accordingly.
At EDM shows it is crucial to focus on the interaction between the DJ
and the crowd and I AM Hardwell was no exception. “What you experience
with EDM is a dramatic curve in the music that motivates the crowd to
be active and to react to the cues given by the DJ,” explained Aßmus.
“Capturing these essential moments in this interaction and creating a
narrative through careful image selection is the key to recreating the
atmosphere for everyone.”
Doors opened at 2pm and the team were straight into action covering
the stream of fans into the stage area and various video interviews with
Hardwell and support acts DANNIC, Funkerman and Kill The Buzz. After
each set backstage videos were conducted with each artist. The evening
built to a crescendo at 8:30pm when Hardwell lit up the stage and played
for three hours of electrifying energy.
The camera plan included seven ARRI Amira cameras each operating at
4K (UHD) resolution supplied by VBS. “We’ve got pan shots from our crane
and wide-angle views of the stage to convey a sense of scope to show and
the size of the event, and we’ve placed mobile cameras at the barriers and
on stage to give a sense of presence and to show the emotions of the crowd
in what we hope is an intimate way,” said Aßmus.
To support this, VPS employed Zeiss and Canon Zoom lenses with a
narrow depth of field, and used slow-motion recording at 200 fps for the
aftermovie and trailers.
VPS delivered feeds from the camera positions through glass fibre
connections to the central mixing suite, which was operated by NOMOBO.
Live production and streaming systems were provided by NOMOBO
sending out the master broadcast feed to its Master Control Room (MCR)
in Amsterdam. From there encoded streams were distributed to Hardwell’s
YouTube and social media channels as well as media partners in the U.S.
and Asia.
VPS media used a separate Teradek Cube encoder to stream to
BigCityBeats YouTube channel, configured and operated by a MacBook Pro,
which could also be used as a backup encoding device.
NOMOBO has built a unique fly-away production kit that is able to live
capture any event in the world, using a variety of high-end digital cinema
camera. This fly-away production hub provides full camera control as well
as tally indicators, talkback, audio and camera power all over hybrid SMPTE
fibre cabling.
“Working with NOMOBO made this production a breeze, as their unique
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HARDWELL
NOMOBO, a Netherlands live event music producer, was commissioned directly by Alda Events to produce the broadcast side of the show providing 4K live capture and live
broadcast on YouTube. The combination of NOMOBO’s flyaway production kit, including live production hardware from Blackmagic Design, used with ARRI Amira cameras
for a live multicam production had never been employed in this way before.
solution built around Blackmagic’s ATEM switchers made it very convenient
for our camera operators,” adds VPS Media’s Schech. “Their sophisticated
infrastructure and experienced crew, together with our expertise in high-
quality camerawork is a combination that is hard to match.”
At Hockenheimring, NOMOBO deployed the ARRIs in combination
with cine-servo lenses from Fujinon and Canon. The camera package also
contained a motorised Sam Dolly track and a two-man operated Jimmy Jib
of 24ft length.
More specifically on the cameras, the crew arranged one handheld
Amira on stage and another mounted on the Sam Dolly. A third, also
handheld, was located front of stage barriers. Between the first and second
barriers to the left hand side of the stage, the team placed the 24ft crane
carrying another Amira. A camera-operator wielded a fourth nearby, the
fifth was FOH on a pedestal. The final camera was carried around the
festival to capture behind-the-scenes footage and artist interviews.
During the show, Aßmus relayed information between Laurman, van
Duren, and the camera crew and assistants, while DoP Weber provided
technical support and supervised the camerawork. In addition, the team
deployed a Blackmagic Micro Studio Camera 4K with wide angle optics
from Olympus.
While the overall event management and on-site coordination was in
the hands of BigCityBeats, all media production was planned and executed
by NOMOBO with local support from VPS.
Unsurprisingly, since the Netherlands is arguably the world home of
EDM and because of the close connection to DJ Hardwell himself, the
production team was largely composed of Dutch specialists. Eindhoven’s
250K took care of show production design and direction; André Beekmans’
Art of Light was in charge of lighting design and programming.
BMP Sound Service’s Bas Rijsdijk was the FOH Engineer touring with
Hardwell who worked with GProdukties, based out of The Hague and
commissioned by NOMOBO. to provide the broadcast audio mix. The
company’s mixing engineers are specialised in mixing live EDM events and
tour the world with NOMOBO to capture events together.
GProdukties set up a Riedel Rocknet infrastructure between the stage
and the NOMOBO backstage control room where cameras were switched
for the live broadcast and mix broadcast audio feed.
“The feed is a down mix of 16 audio channels combining crowd
ambiance, camera microphones and discrete audio channels taken
from stage audio infrastructure [DJ mixer feed, backup feeds, wireless
30
microphones used by singers and MCs],” explained van Duren. “The down-
mix is processed by specific multi-band loudness processing hardware and
then embedded with the video signal to be encoded as loud as possible so
online viewers are able to experience the event at home even better than at
the venue!”
He added: “We are using a combination of microphones to capture
crowd noise in fairly difficult circumstances. A stereo microphone pair for
overall capture of crowd noise, some omni-directional mics to capture
front-stage crowd as well as directional mics mounted on handheld
cameras which are actively brought into the mix to capture cheering when
the handheld cameras are switched.”
Live mixing was perhaps the most crucial element of this production’s
workflow. The Blackmagic Design ATEM 2 M/E Broadcast Studio with ATEM
2M/E Broadcast Panel is a core part of NOMOBO’s fly-away production kit
“quite simply because it fits all needs for media production for our clients
anywhere around the world,” said van Duren. “It is a stable and cost-
effective system with the future option to use 12G camera systems for 50p
4K productions.”
Other Blackmagic kit that is core to NOMOBO’s successful live
production solution includes a Blackmagic Smart Videohub 40x40; Smart
Videohub Cleanswitch 12x12 and Hyperdeck Studio 12G for recording the
footage.
Aßmus added that using the Blackmagic’s ATEM 2 M/E Broadcast
Studio 4K switcher and hardware panel has helped VPS reduce its FOH
footprint greatly in past events, “and provided comfortable and failsafe
mixing throughout. Together with the HyperDeck SSD recorders and signal
repeaters and converters we have achieved a level of flexibility and quality
that allows us to adapt to all kinds of different venues, event types, and
technical requirements.”
The live broadcast from Hockenheimring was distributed in HD quality
on media platforms Livit for the US, as well as Hardwell’s own YouTube
channel for the rest of the world. The live 4K switched recordings will also be
used for highlights videos to be distributed through media partners, as well
as the official after-movie of the final I AM Hardwell - United We Are tour show.
TPi
Photos provided by VPS
www.djhardwell.com
http://vps-media.de
www.blackmagicdesign.com
 35
Years
xy

d&b is 35. Marliese is d&b.

Marliese Salzmann is part of the Materials Management Procurement team at d&b HQ.
She’s been board since 2010. “d&b is full of spirit, very exciting, full of energy, freaky. I’m proud that d&b products
are known worldwide.” In 35 years d&b has evolved from a small garage venture to a worldwide standard in
professional sound systems. It’s people like Marliese who make this story possible, and just that bit different from
the rest.

Welcome to System reality.

CALVIN HARRIS CLOSES CREAMFIELDS’ ARC STAGE

Over the British August Bank Holiday more than 70,000 people descended upon Daresbury,
Cheshire, for one of the world’s biggest electronic music festivals, Creamfields. The event has grown
in size each year, with the Cream organisation constantly raising the bar in terms of line-up and
production values. 2016 saw EDM master Calvin Harris, headline the Arc stage on Sunday night. TPi
was on site to chat to his crew…

Technical event producer LarMac Live was once again called in by
promoters Cream and Live Nation to liaise with the artists and deliver
the premium technical production and high quality visitor experience
that Creamfields audiences have come to expect. The result saw some
of the biggest names in the DJ world play the UK festival. Calvin Harris’
production team, led by Joe Sanchez of LA-based eighteentwentysix was
no exception. The crew helped to deliver a jaw-dropping technical feat
that included a show design from renowned creative Baz Halpin, a huge
laser show and pyrotechnics worthy of an end of summer celebration
and an audio package specified to Harris’ ever-changing playlist.
Sanchez told TPi: “I started eighteentwentysix properly once I came
off the road after touring with Rihanna [as her Production Manager] three
years ago. Our LA office now has 14 full time staff and is expanding. We have
a mix of PMs, TMs, production coordinators and stage managers who work
in-house. There’s been a real shift in the industry over the last few years and
it’s evolved into a more structured environment. The live industry is now so
much bigger than the recording side, which still has these giant corporate
labels.” This year eighteentwentysix has worked with Zayn, Iggy Azalea,
P!nk, Thirty Seconds To Mars, Queen + Adam Lambert, Travis Scott, Missy
Elliot and Kygo, not forgetting of course, the biggest DJ on the planet right
now, Calvin Harris whom Sanchez describes as “a really nice guy”.
Their working relationship began when Harris supported Rihanna on
her Loud tour (TPi cover story, January 2012). In his current Production
Director role for Harris’s festival shows, Sanchez works closely with
Production and Set Designer, Baz Halpin and the creative team at Silent
House. Continued Sanchez: “We built the Coachella show as our festival
opener of the year and took the majority of elements from that show for
our touring festival rig, including our Creamfields production. It’s amazing
to see how DJ production has grown and developed when I look at what
Calvin and his team have achieved. They’ve spearheaded the growth of this

32

Opposite: Calvin Harris wanted to give each and every festival a production experience to remember. Below: The core crew includes Production Director Joe Sanchez, Tour
Manager Vizion Jones and Stage Manager, Jim Webb.
genre. EDM is here to stay, which is great news for production companies like
us!”
For the festival tour, Sanchez opted to use VER for lighting and video, Major
Tom for audio consoles, BPM SFX and ER Productions to look after special
effects and lasers, respectively, SGPS for automation duties, Sound Moves
to handle freight and Fly By Nite for production trucking. Creamfields’ own
suppliers include PRG XL Video and Britannia Row Productions.
The majority of the day-to-day production management for Harris’ camp
is run by Jon Bumgarner, a full time PM at eighteentwentysix. “I handle show
advancing, equipment logistics, crew travel and lodging, immigration papers
and visas - pretty much anything and everything show-related but during this
festival season Coachella was my biggest challenge; I worked 26 hours straight
on the first show day and 30 hours straight the second weekend. I’m glad to
say we’ve gotten our times down considerably since then!”
Thankfully the production challenges that come with putting on a
mammoth festival show didn’t deter this crew, and the Scottish DJ’s
performances have gained some well-deserved international press attention.
Continued Bumgarner: “It took months of planning and designing, plus a
month of physical build time to create the set pieces and the finished article
is incredible. Creamfields was a great experience for me; it was my first time
there and the festival’s production is run by a great team who took really good
care of us. Every show is rewarding in its own way, but we feel especially good
after this kind of big event. Plus, it’s always fun to look out from the DJ booth
and see a sea of bodies appreciating the show.”
Stage Manager Jim Webb has known Sanchez for 15 years and the pair
have since toured the world together with some huge acts, including Rihanna
and The Pet Shop Boys. For Harris’ production, Webb is in charge of the load
in and on-site set build - the gear for which is transported from festival site
to festival site via four Fly By Nite trucks. He said: “We’ve had a really good
run,” stated Webb. “Our set looks incredible and really makes you stop in your
tracks. We do bring a lot of equipment with us, but that’s because the stage
has to have this signature, bespoke look. All Access Staging’s LA office built our
custom-made lighting towers and video pods for Calvin’s DJ booth, which look
quite special.”
Tommy Rose, Head of Projects Management at All Access Staging and
Productions, discussed the company’s involvement with the event: “We
33
PRODUCTION PROFILE
have worked with Calvin and his team before with the last time being for the
iHeartRadio Jingle Ball in late 2015. For his current festival performance, the
design requirement specified a series of eight LED ring towers, each of which
could be individually controlled as well as grow onstage while looking as
though they were floating. They also needed to be collapsable to fit into a
custom carrying case.” There was also a 27ft wide, 15ft tall triangular rolling
DJ podium covered in video and four audience LED ring towers that also
had to grow. Rose continued: “We completed this task in approximately five
weeks from the first cut of aluminium to the time it left our building headed to
Coachella. We recorded 1,450 hours amongst our entire fabrication team to
accomplish this task.”
The staging itself came courtesy of Acorn Event Structures who have
supplied both the North and South Arc Stages for the last two years. This year
Acorn proudly launched new Super Structure, The Steel Yard; a 50m wide x
20m high x 90m deep  fully weatherproof, interchangeable temporary venue
with 100 tonne capacity production loading, which was constructed of HD
Breams developed. The impressive stucture was engineered by Acorn and
manufactured by Layher.
Crewing specialist Showforce was also on site to help install Harris’ riser,
though they had to think on their feet when the time came. Operations
Director, Chris Martelly, explained: “Annie Mac would not play in front of the
Calvin Harris set, so our crew had to build a makeshift video wall and riser for
her to perform on. The crew then had 20 minutes to remove her set to ready
the stage for Calvin Harris, which they did in perfect time!”
For the onstage ring towers, All Access designed custom floating LED rings
using powder-coated aluminium, and UHMW plastic milled to the exact shape
and size needed and then formed into rings. As the entire set was going to be
exposed to the elements the company made sure that all components would
not get damaged in the rain. The floating look was achieved by using 1/8 inch
aircraft cable that was almost invisible once onstage. There were over 350 of
these rings throughout the stage towers and the audience field towers.
To aid the transport of the set, All Access designed all the pieces to contain
all necessary power and control equipment so that all the stage crew had to
do to install it was put it in place and plug it in. When it came time for load out,
they simply had to lower the rings into the base, place the lid on them and they
were ready to be loaded onto the trucks. “It is important to us to provide not
CALVIN HARRIS
Above: The creative mind of Baz Halpin designed the look of the show with help from the Earlybird Visual and Silent House teams.
only a product that looks good but to have a product that is easy to use,
allowing for rapid deployment,” explained Rose.
The project manager went on to explain that the four audience LED
towers presented the biggest challenge for the team having to grow from
seven ft to 35ft. “They proved to be challenging. Our engineers explored a
multitude of options before we came across a solution that again was both
aesthetically pleasing and easy to use.
“Normally we would send out concrete ballasts to counteract any forces
but as the set was going to go to multiple festivals, ballasts were far too
bulky and a pain to travel with. We designed the bases of these towers to
hold water ballasts that could be filled onsite and emptied when the show
was over saving precious install time and thousands of pounds of shipping
weight. The raising of the towers were challenging but we accomplished it
by using telescoping rails driven by a hydraulic piston and a series of chains
and gears.” The All Access team also designed a control box that would
provide all power distribution for the LED rings and power the hydraulic
pump.
When it came time to put these units on a plane, all the stage crew
had to do was unbolt the tower mast, disconnect a couple connections
and push it on. Rose continued: “We worked hand-in-hand with the stage
carpenter for this show and were able to give him a set piece that we were
both happy with. The DJ podium was a unique scenic element because
it had a triangular shape that needed to roll into place and suspends the
artist 10ft from the stage floor. We broke the large platform into seven
pieces to make it more manageable. Once the DJ podium was all bolted
together, the team attached a custom frame that held over 50 video tiles
as well as custom laser mounting bars. This entire DJ setup was designed
to transport into custom made carts that allowed the stage crew to build it
quickly and efficiently.”
Stage Manger Webb gave his final thoughts on the staging: “It’s a very
visual show in terms of the set, so it does take about six hours to build the
whole thing ready for the show. The most challenging part of the day is the
installation of the booth and securing the positioning of the lighting floor
package. We also carry a fair bit of rigging and automation from SGPS,
which includes eight motors.”
Harris’ touring team is completed by Tour Manager Vizion Jones, Dani
34
Edgren as Backstage Manager and Set Carpenters Roger Cabot, Tom Keane,
Christian Dundee, Andy Bews and Cody Osbourne. Monitor Engineer Darren
Mullis is also an eighteentwentysix employee who joins FOH Engineer Fab
Piazzini on the audio crew. The touring visual department was comprised
of Ben Francis, Video Director and Eamonn McKiernan, LD from Earlybird
Visual.
CREATIVE DIRECTION
Baz Halpin was approached by Harris’ management team to work on a TV
performance for Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show which consequently led to
securing the Coachella design. This evolved into the touring package. Said
Halpin of the impressive design: “We wanted to create a huge LED canvas
and be able to sit the DJ booth within that canvas. As the tour travelled
to a variety of venues and festivals, it was important that the show could
be as flexible as possible. Calvin likes very graphical video content rather
than filmed or photorealistic footage, so we took a very digital approach
to the design of each of the pieces. Making sure that the lighting and the
content were hitting specific dynamics was very important too, so we built
the content while we were in production rehearsals to ensure cohesion
between the two.
“We wanted to have everything triggered by time code. Calvin DJs live,
unlike some other acts - which means that he does not just hit play! He has
a series of tracks at his disposal and can mix in and out of some or all of
them at any time. The song order often changes, so this made creating a
time coded show very tricky. However, with our programming dream team
at Earlybird Visual we found a piece of software that allowed us to time
code stripe all of the base tracks in Calvin’s archive and have a duplicate DJ
rig set up at FOH. This means we could see what tracks he was loading up,
and when he mixed them in. Then all we had to do was trigger the Macros
at the right time when he dropped the new track. This piece of software
also allowed us to track the tempo. When Calvin would speed up or slow
down, our video content and lighting cues would also follow to ensure the
dynamics were always in sync. To the best of our knowledge, this was the
first time this idea had been done effectively.
“Calvin’s shows are a sensory experience. He wanted the audience
to feel the power of the lighting and video almost subconsciously, so we
CALVIN HARRIS
Above: All Access Staging created bespoke products for Harris, including a DJ booth and lighting towers.
utilised the power of the screen and lighting rig in tandem. Often we would
just strobe the screen at full intensity, or let it drop out for a split second
and allow the lighting to take over to create a powerful effect. It’s great to
work with an artist that has such commitment to the end product - both
musically and visually. Calvin is engaged throughout every step of the
process and I think the end result reflects that,” he concluded.
Harris’ Lighting Operator Eamonn McKiernam added: “We have had to
squeeze in and adapt our production into each of the festivals while still
keeping our overall look and idea of the show. Each festival varied greatly in
what they were providing for lighting fixtures, fixture layout and overall size
of the stage. We looked at each festival as a new show, and spent the time
pre-programing each show as much as we could so that each one looked
the best that it could. As Calvin’s set evolved and grew each festival, so did
our production and our programming. Each show we strived to have best
show possible.
“Calvin wanted his show to be a large production no matter where we
went, or what festival we were doing. He wanted to give the best show
experience possible at all times. To achieve that we pulled out all the stops
to give it everything that we could. The set that he plays is very dynamic
and we made sure to have the production followed that. Our video content
alone is enough to be a dramatic visual show, but add on top of that
lighting, lasers and special effects and we have a very varied production.”
The rig for Creamfields was a mix of what the production had advanced
and what the festival specified. McKiernan talked through some of the
highlights of the rig: “The main workhorse for the show are the beam /
hybrid fixtures such as the Clay Paky Sharpy and Mythos fixtures, as well
as Solaris Flare strobes. The rest of the rig is finished with Vari-Lite VL3500
washes, which are a standard fixture in any festival rig and are powerful
enough to cut through all the video elements that are on this stage, as
well as LED RGB blidners that we match to the programming of the Flares.
Everything is laid out so that it can be used solely by itself, evenly across the
whole rig. As we don’t use every fixture for every song, having everything
spread across the whole stage was very important.   LED, giving the former South stage a completely new look. For the Arc stage
“At FOH we travel with two full size MA Lighting grandMA2 consoles, all
networking racks, and our own Resolume rack. I have tried every console
36
by now, and will only use an MA2 for my shows. Its stability, power and
flexibility are unmatched to anything else. We have to be able to go from
a programmed song to a punt page all while controlling video content
and back to a programmed song seamlessly. The show is made up of
pre-programmed songs but also a good amount of punting. This gives
Calvin the ability to play what he wants, and isn’t hindered by what we
have already programmed or planned for. Since we have only done a
handful of festivals this summer, Calvin wanted to make sure every show
was a different. The show can seem overwhelming to an outside observer,
but with all the preparation that we put into each show, things run pretty
smoothly. Our preparation and the people who make up our production
team is what makes our show so successful.  
He concluded: “Creamfields was the closest we have come to replicating
the Coachella festival show we did in terms of the amount of lighting
fixtures and video pixels on stage. With every artist trying to achieve
something new and something fresh, its hard to stay ahead of that.”
IN-HOUSE VISUALS
To help LarMac Live deliver the largest Creamfields to date, PRG XL Video
were brought in to supply video, lighting and rigging across the two vast
main stages Arc - where Harris played - and Horizon, together with video
across six more stages around the 900-acre site.
PRG XL Video’s Head of Rigging Services, Q Willis, oversaw a team
supplying the rigging across stages CF01 - Arc, and CF02 - Horizon. He
explained: “During the design process we worked closely with Charlotte
Scott and Igor Pacejs from Acorn Events who built the stage structures,
ensuring that the rigging for video, lighting and audio was accurately
assessed/plotted and installed as per the agreed plots.”
Both of the two main stages - Arc and Horizon - had new designs
this year. Arc was a curved structure, wider than last year’s North Stage,
extending around the audience to the sides and giving them a truly
immersive experience. Horizon was a mix of varied height towers clad with
Willis’ team, led by Chris ‘Karrit’ Harris and Cleveland Brown, installed a
truss system suitable for the opening show headliners Alesso. That system
 CALVIN HARRIS

NOT ALL
HYBRIDS
CREATED
A
R
E

EQUAL.
The Award Winning
PLATINUM™ Hybrid Series

PLATINUM FLX™
Above: BPM-SFX provided pyrotechnics and special effects across the site.

then formed the mothergrid for the second day’s headliner, Axwell /\ Ingrosso’s 28 Kinesys
hoists, and was then used for Calvin Harris on the final night with the addition of touring
animation.
A similar design was installed on the Horizon stage, with the team led by Stav Hanks
and Kim Klusters, and that allowed them to efficiently change Avicii’s design into Tiesto’s
overnight. Willis explained: “By producing individual, accurate show artist plots, that allowed
us to keep overnight changes to a minimum and costs down. We used the first rig as the
mothergrid for the following nights’ headliners, which included hanging the Kinesys system
from for Axwell /\ Ingrosso’s set on Saturday, which was operated by Pete MacDonald.”
“With PRG XL Video supplying rigging on two of the stages, and working alongside our

PLATINUM SBX™
own lighting and video teams, this really enabled us to plan ahead and work out a lot of the
potential on-site issues in the design stages. That meant we could create an efficient plot
which kept the on-site work to manageable levels.”
PRG XL Video Account Manager Gordon Torrington oversaw the lighting side of the project.
He worked closely with LarMac Live to deliver lighting on the Arc and Horizon stages. The
festival’s aim is to deliver the lighting requirements as specified in each artists’ rider, which
enables them to create a unique look for each of their sets, hence Harris’ full throttle, unique
finale. On the Arc stage Torrington worked with FOH Operator, Chris Scott, and Lighting Crew
Chief, Aidan MaCabe, to specific the lighting for the giant curved wings, creating a look that
would complement the artists’ on-stage lighting setups.
For the Horizon stage, the lighting design was led by the artists’ requirements, and
Torrington worked with Crew Chief, Luke Jackson, and FOH Operator, Adam Power. The
design for the Horizon stage utilised 100 of PRG XL’s powerful Icon Beam fixtures, ideal for an
event of this size and scope. The team also supplied a WYSIWYG suite on site at the festival,
PLATINUM HFX™

allowing the artists’ lighting designers to test and refine their set-ups before the live sets. A
team of 14 lighting crew worked across the two stages, and nine trucks of lighting and rigging
technology, including well over 1,000 lighting fixtures, were supplied to the Daresbury site.
This was the second year PRG XL Video has supplied lighting and rigging to the festival.
Color version

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with LED screens of all shapes and sizes were used across eight stages. This is the sixth
year PRG XL Video has supplied video to Creamfields, working with the team at LarMac Live
to satisfy the ever-more impressive designs each year. PRG XL Video’s Account Managers
Paul ‘Macca’ McCauley and Jay Mobbs-Beal oversaw the video requirements across the
stages, working to specify thousands of square metres of LED, media servers, and screen
management systems, which filled 13 trucks with video technology. Macca and Mobbs-
Beal were supported on site by Video Project Manager, Ian Jones, who was instrumental in
ensuring all the video elements worked to the event’s high specification.
With 250 artists and VJs appearing across the weekend one huge consideration was
ensuring that their video content was correctly formatted for the wide variety of screen sizes
and orientations. On site, a team led by Stuart Merser was on-hand to assist the artists and
VJs with their content, getting it fully working with the Resolume media servers used across Grayscale version

the Creamfields stages. C/50 M/50 Y/50 K/100

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To help artists prepare for the show, PRG XL Video’s Erica Frost created Resolume output
maps which were sent out before the event alongside standard pixel and content maps. These ELATION PROFESSIONAL EUROPE
allowed artists VJs to build their content specifically for the unique Creamfields video layouts. www.elationlighting.eu
Creamfields continues to grow each year, regularly winning the Best Dance Event category at info@elationlighting.eu
the Festival Awards. With this in mind, the two main stages had new designs for 2016. The Arc +31 45 546 85 66 Black version
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37
CALVIN HARRIS
Above: FOH Engineer Fab Piazzini used a Major Tom supplied DiGiCo SD7 console and Eazy10.
stage used columns of LED on either side of the stage to create the curved
arena, as well as using LED for headers, backdrops, risers and DJ booths.
Video Crew Chief for stage Arc was Stevie Marr.
On Horizon, the new design used multi-facetted towers to create an
effect much like a small city built from LED. Horizon was looked after by
Crew Chief Al Bolland across the weekend. In CF3 - Mega Arena - the largest
of the tent stages a multi-layered effect was created with LED backdrops,
risers, DJ booths, and even tent poles clad in LED.
For the CF04 - Steel Yard LED triangles were flown above the crowd on
a Kinesys system which enabled the shapes to move and tilt. The 3m high
stage was clad with LED at the front and paired with a 12m wide backdrop,
both of which were covered with ROE MC-12 LED. The stage was flanked by
four columns each side built from the innovative ROE MC-18 Hybrid LED.
The design of the Steel Yard was a new idea from Creamfields, and is set to
be used for an upcoming show in Liverpool later this year.
Stage CF5, the Curve arena, was created using multiple square LED
screens to build a curve, reminiscent of stacks of TV screens, whilst CF6
used LED towers, risers and backdrop. Stages CF7 and CF8 both used LED
for backdrops, risers and DJ booths. In CF07 used additional LED from PRG
XL Video to further enhance the show. This included additional ROE MC-7
which was used in pre-fabricated blocks for their production.
In total well over 17 million LED video pixels were seen by the audiences
across the weekend festival, formed into a variety of different shaped
and sized screens. Macca commented: “Creamfields is one of the more
challenging festivals we work on each year - purely because of the amount
of equipment we ship to site. I was particularly impressed with the design
of the Steel Yard structure which vastly improved the amount of weight
loading compared to a traditional festival tent. The team from Creamfields
and producers, LarMac Live, strive to make the show bigger and more
impressive every year, and we’re very proud to have played a part in helping
the festival grow over the six years we’ve been supplying video to them!”
SPECIAL EFFECTS
Back on Planet Harris, ER Productions worked closely with Halpin to bring
his stunning laser concept to life. Operated by Eric Marchwinski, the show
was controlled using an MA Lighting grandMA2 console and a Pangolin
Beyond bespoke software solution. ER Productions collaborated with
Pangolin’s development team to create new features for the software,
which enables the lasers to be controlled through the lighting desk. Being
part of a well planned and executed show meant that the visual aspects of
the production looked fantastic.
The lasers, which were seamlessly integrated into the performance
by ER, added excitement at key moments throughout. A total of 21
lasers and Beambursts lined the down stage edge, while Harris’ DJ riser
was populated with 20 Laserblades, a technique that was also used at
Coachella. In addition to providing crucial support to the lighting operator,
ER’s Andrew Turner operated the smoke package live on the night.
Marc Webber, Co-founder of ER Productions commented: “We delivered
a huge laser package for Calvin Harris’s Creamfields set. To achieve the
look, we used our Beamburst and Laserblade lasers combined with
38
scanning systems including the Excellent 21 and Phaenon X Pro. As always,
it has been a pleasure working with Baz Halpin to make Calvin’s 2016
summer festival tour dates look incredible.”
Andrew Turner added: “Running the Beyond show file in server mode
gives lighting operators simultaneous control of laser and lighting fixtures,
which is a huge leap forward. Skilful programming and operating on
the night enabled the seamless integration of lighting, video, lasers and
pyrotechnics.
For pyrotechnic and special effects duties, Sanchez and Halpin
brought in Lancashire-based BPM SFX to add a further flare to the show.
BPM SFX Project Manager across the entire site was Liam Haswell said of
the production: “We provided, 18 Co2 jets with a massive 90 cylinders of
Co2, six stadium confetti blasters, eight X-Treme Streamer Cannons, 12 G
flames, 10, 20m Inferno Flames and over 1,000 units of stage and display
pyrotechnics for his headline performance at Creamfields. We took the
existing show special effects and added in elements to compliment the
stage design at Creamfields He wants to put on a show for the audience
both visually and audibly. Special effects are a big part of that so he takes
them seriously. A lot of thought went into designing this show. It was a
brilliant way to close the festival - with a big bang!”
The BPM SFX team utilised a Galaxis Wireless Pyro Firing System and a
bespoke control rack.
AUDIO
Fab Piazzini has handled Harris’ FOH sound for the past two and a half
years. He described the challenges that come with mixing a live DJ: “The
expectations are very high and the chances of failure have to be zero.
With a standard band you might have 56 inputs, and if one fails you can
blend the problem away, this cannot happen if you’re only working with
two inputs. My approach to a DJ gig is exactly the same as when it’s a
band mix: tune the PA to my needs and focus 100% on the task at hand.
The difference with a band is mixing lots of inputs, whereas with a DJ gig
it’s more like mastering but as EDM music is already highly mastered,
so the RMS is really high, which in turn means the systems are always
working really hard to reproduce the waveforms. The same amount of
‘geekery’ goes into both processes!” he laughed. “I don’t just set a level
and that’s it; I dig deep into the dynamic equalisation as I am constantly
battling with the non-linearity of supposedly linear speakers. Basically,
when a box is pushed to its limit it will not behave consistently across the
whole spectrum. I need to correct this in order to keep a good level of
consistency.”
According to Piazzini, Harris’ sound needs to be the “best and biggest
stereo system you can get,” meaning he doesn’t look for a ‘live’ sound as
such, but for “the highest fidelity possible.” He continued: “You need to be
able to appreciate every little nuance in the tracks. It also needs to get the
crowds dancing!”
For his FOH setup, Piazzini relies on a DiGiCo SD7 console, which he
describes as “the only true redundant console on the market”, Waves
plugins - mainly C6, Vitamin, L2 and RBass - and a 10eazy system to “give a
projection of the show’s SPL so that I can adhere to local regulations and
 “From mix position to any position in the room, it’s hard to
mentally process how consistent it is and how easily we
achieved it. Anya has the purest impulse response I’ve ever
gotten off of a PA system. The acoustic phase response is
just breathtaking.”

Robert Scovill FOH Engineer, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

“Anya sounds more like a giant pair of nearfield monitors than a

typical concert array, with a transient response that allows for an
extremely dynamic show. In the Paramore show there are a lot
of subtle elements that don’t always translate well into the mix.
But with Anya, everything was immediately present.”

Everyone knows all Eddie Mapp FOH Engineer, Papa Roach, Paramore

of that processing “Anya is extremely musical, very powerful and can be

customized to match any environment. What else can I ask for

compromises fidelity. in a system? This system should be on every rider.”

Stanley Soares FOH Engineer, Juanes, Sepultura

Right? “I have been in a lot of challenging venues. It is amazing to

experience how easily Adaptive Systems can blanket the seating
area and drop off everywhere else – and sound better than any
other systems out there. Every show has sounded fantastic.”

Jason Decter FOH Engineer, Blink 182, Bassnectar

“I was hearing a really clean, pure vocal and a very natural

open sound. As I said, I really love it when you don’t hear the
speakers. For me, that’s the mark of a great system! Thank you!”

Jerry Eade FOH Engineer, Placido Domingo

“I have to admit, I have never been that impressed with a

loudspeaker in my life – it’s a game-changer listening to
those loudspeakers.”

Joe Patten Project Design Manager, CDA

photo © Mark Hanna, FxN Productions

That depends on the machine. Conventional line arrays use few, relatively large sources
– like ‘acoustic pixels’. Applying discrete processing to each source means adjacent
devices produce very different signals. This ‘acoustic pixelation’ creates impulse response problems that you can hear.
Adaptive Systems are different. With a large number of sources that are small for their bandwidth, these systems were developed
to harness the power of signal processing without compromise. They apply sophisticated algorithms to the high resolution array
of sources to ensure that processing changes from source to source are small. The result is unprecedented control, consistency
and most importantly a pristine impulse response everywhere. Like rendering the same image with a lot more pixels.
You don’t need better processing to fix your machine. You need a new machine. eaw.com/products/adaptive

www.eaw.com

Adaptive_FOHquotes_TPI.indd 1 6/29/16 1:22 PM

CALVIN HARRIS
Above: Acorn Event Structures were on hand at the festival suppling the North and South Arc Stages for its third year running. The company also proudly launched
its new Super Structure which was used for the the Steel Yard at this years event.
squeeze out the maximum volume allowed!”
Major Tom provided console and monitoring equipment for the festival-
touring rig. Said Piazzini: “It’s a great company with lovely people and all the
right gear for our show; the Meyer Sound Leopard box is the only option for
our DJ booth.”
Over in monitor world Darren Mullis is also operating an SD7. He added:
“Most guest engineers are happy to see these desks on site. DiGiCo is the
only console manufacturer I really feel comfortable mixing on these days - I
know they sound great and I trust them to do the job. The booth will look
after itself once it’s up and running but when dealing with guests on stage I
have to be confident and incisive so that they feel comfortable before they
perform in a different environment than one they may be used to.”
Harris’ booth system is made up of two Meyer Sound 900-LFC’s low
frequency elements and six Meyer Sound LEOPARD compact linear line
array speakers powered straight from the booth (via a Pioneer DJM-900
mixer through a Meyer Sound Galileo Callisto 616 array processor). “Either I
will put a mix together or guest engineers can look after their own clients,”
said Mullis who also utilises Sennheiser SR2000 Series transmitters and
Shure Axient systems in the US, and Shure UFH-R receivers outside the US.
“We’ve kept it nice and simple with a Shure SM58 microphone head and a
choice of SM58’s, KSM9’s or SM58’s for our guest vocalists.” Mullis gave his
final thoughts post Creamfields performance: “Thanks to the diligent and
amiable team at both VER and Major Tom, the summer really has been a
splendid experience for us.”
Britannia Row Productions took on the audio requirements for CF01
and CF02 along with the Steel Yard using an L-Acoustics K1/K2 system. Dave
Compton was Project Manager. “At events like this, teamwork is always the
most important factor. Britannia Row Productions has been providing audio
for Creamfields for some years now and we have a good relationship with
production which goes a long way to making the weekend run smoothly.
There are always challenges – the weather can, and does, often work against
us – but that’s the nature of festivals. Laurie Fradley was our overall Crew
Chief and we had three distinct crews so each stage worked as an individual
event.’
The Steel Yard Arena, as the name suggests, is a stage designed to
embrace the audience in a visual and audio experience. Substantial
numbers of L-Acoustics K1’s, K2’s, KARAs, ARCs supported by KS28 Subs
were more than up to the job with the directivity of the K Series enabling
the required SPL without spill, an important element on a site with multiple
stages.
40
The north and south stages featured identical systems with L-Acoustics
K1 and KS28 subs. For control at FOH was a DiGiCo SD10 and a Yamaha
QL1 console on stage. The south stage saw Avicii headline on Saturday
night and perform his last ever UK show. Avicii’s FOH Engineer Wayne
(Rabbit) Sergeant was on duty for the show. “Working with Britannia Row
Productions is never less than a complete pleasure. The service we get as
a visiting act, whether or not we are the headline act is second to none. I
admit to being a long term L-Acoustics fan and this rig didn’t disappoint.
I’ve used the new KS28’s this season and been really impressed with their
performance; they continue to amaze me with the amount of detail you can
hear in the mix, their tone, the effortless power handling and control. It all
results in a very natural sound.”
The Steel Yard was a new venue for Creamfields and Britannia Row
Productions alike. Specially commissioned by LarMac Live, the Steel
Yard has an enviable capacity for festival goers and has a ceiling at of
twenty metres at its apex. This allows for weather-proofed festival-sized
entertainment and enclosed audio, lighting and AV effects. “As it is a steel
structure with a high roof clearance we were obviously concerned that
sound reinforcement would be an issue,” explains Greenway, “but the
Britrow crew did their magic and the room sounded great. The concept of
the Steel Yard was something of a journey into the unknown for us – it is the
first structure of its kind in Europe – so having a system sound so dynamic
and alive without reflective reverberation was a massive affirmation of that
decision. I can guarantee you will be seeing more of the Steel Yard very soon.
‘The service and level of professionalism we get from everyone at
Britannia Row Productions is exemplary. As Production Manager, I couldn’t
ask for anything more.”
TPi
Photos: Conor McDonnell, TPi and All Access Staging
www.creamfields.com
https://larmaclive.com
http://calvinharris.com
http://eighteentwentysix.com
www.britanniarow.com
http://allaccessinc.com
www.prg.com/uk
http://bpm-sfx.com
www.er-productions.com
www.ver.com
www.acorn-events.com
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 SZIGET: ISLAND OF FREEDOM
Sziget offers its guests a beautiful setting for its world class production values, and boasts an
international crew who put hospitality second only to event safety and quality. Kelly Murray took a
trip to the iconic Island Of Freedom to look at what its main stage had to offer...

Hungary’s Sziget Festival is a not-so-hidden-gem of the festival world. Set
on a tiny island, linked to the city of Budapest by bridge, Sziget now attracts
450,000 music fans from almost 100 countries to experience the week-long
outdoor event. 2016 played host to some very sought-after performers from
all manner of genres. The eclectic line up that played between 10-17 August
included Bring Me The Horizon, John Newman, Sigur Rós, Muse, Rihanna,
Manu Chao, Bastille, Sia and Hardwell. It’s easy to see why 25% of tickets
sold out in the first 24 hours...
The popularity of the event has been cemented in European festival
culture, but this year the crew were also in a state of shock and mourning
with the sudden loss of Dan Panaitescu, the festival’s popular International
Booking Manager, who was tragically killed in a traffic collision just three
weeks before Sziget 2016. An official statement from the festival read: “We
are speechless. We have always envied him for not getting older, but we
have never ever thought that he would not get old… The whole festival
industry is grieving.”
THE SHOW MUST GO ON
With this sadness potentially casting a dark shadow over the festival and its
team, Sziget could have easily hit a rough patch. And yet when arriving on
site in the blistering heat, the welcoming faces and the camp morale were
instantly noticeable. Naturally, road crew have an inherent ‘the show must
go on’ mentality, and this case was no exception. In the backstage area
of the main stage, a candlelit shrine was placed near Panaitescu’s office,
at which all of the people he worked with over the years could pay their
respects.
Taking up the role of Head of Production is Daniel Benis, who looks after
five festivals throughout the season in Hungary, including Balaton Sound,

42

Opposite: The main stage at Sziget complete with a roof system from Stageco Germany. Below: Head of Production, Daniel Benis; Capital Sound’s Paul Timmins with Stage
Manager Zsolt Szicso; Mojo Barrier’s Rik Beulin and Stanley Jilesen; Audio Crew Chief, Marci Mezei.
Volt, Children Island, and Gourmet as well as his biggest production, Sziget.
Benis has taken on a weighty task despite his relatively young age. His story
is an interesting one; he was, at the start of his career, a history teacher.
He explained: “My diploma is in economics and management, so when I
decided to join this industry, I had to learn everything on the job.”
“What’s remarkable is the fact that I became the Head of Production
aged 25.” He continued: “I’m now 34 years old, and I’ve learnt so much over
the years. The biggest challenge was wanting to change how things were
done within the production. I was the new guy fighting with old standards.
I’m very interested in health and safety issues and crowd control, and we’ve
progressed with that greatly in recent years. Now we’re working with Mojo
Barriers I’m educating the security teams on how to use their systems. We
need these barriers in place for our pits because they are the best, and
we’re serious about what we do on this site.
“It’s the same with the constant updates in technology, as I’m very
curious about new products. I’ve learned about the MA Lighting grandMA2
desk, and how to operate the Robe BMFLs. We’re also using a Martin Audio
MLA system for the second time, and we’re very happy with the results once
again. As always, it’s been tiring but we’re happy with what we’ve done so
far. The good thing about our production is that we’re always looking for
ways to improve. Next year we know already that we’re going to make this
stage bigger.”
“Outside of the technical aspects, we’ve also invested a lot in making
the festival a great place to visit in terms of what it looks like. People are
coming to Sziget on holiday so they have to want to stay on site for a week.”
Benis’ right hand man is Stage Manager and acting main stage
Production Manager Zsolt Szicso - fondly referred to as ‘George’, much to
the relief of TPi’s questionable accent. He himself has a long history with
the festival, begining his time with Sziget in 1993 as a lighting tech. In 2002
43
PRODUCTION PROFILE
he left to concentrate on political and corporate event production before
being asked back by Panaitescu four years ago to take up his current role.
He told TPi: ”It’s not as simple as saying ‘this is my job and that’s the only
work I undertake’. We all help each other with various duties. I work on the
technical production, with booking agents, in hospitality; we’re always
working as a team. It’s the Hungarian way to do more than one aspect of a
job and pitch in all together.”
Over the last few years Szicso has seen the changes implemented on
the main stage such as the introduction of the Martin Audio MLA system
from Capital Sound, lighting rig changes, and the addition of the Stageco
roof. He continued: “The key thing for having a successful stage is having a
great team to work with - I need people around me that I can trust. It’s very
important to look after every band that plays on your stage too, it’s not just
about the main headliners. We want to understand why someone is happy
or stressed so that you know what’s working or if a problem needs fixing. At
Sziget we want people to feel at home. Obviously how the stage is delivered
affects the arts and their crew, but it also affects the crowd’s experience.”
Szicso was also keen to heap praise on his Finnish Co-Stage Manager,
Peppi Lotta Arrimo: “We’ve worked together for two years now at the
festival. She’s become an essential member of the Sziget main stage
family.”
THE AUDIO SOLUTION
Following an introduction to the festival organisers at Germany’s
Prolight+Sound tradeshow, Capital Sound first supplied equipment
to Sziget in 2006 with its Meyer Sound PA inventory and some DiGiCo
D5 consoles for FOH and monitor duties. Over the next decade, the
relationship between the British rental company and Hungary’s premier
music festival became cemented, with Capital’s Paul Timmins looking after
SZIGET FESTIVAL

Bastille performed to a crowd of thousands and impressed the Hungarian crew with their visual content.

the account. It was determined that, as the festival was growing in size, so for all three events. He continued: “We were now dealing directly with the
should its main stage audio design. Timmins recalled how he’s seen the festival and it was decided that Capital would supply both Volt and Balaton
festival develop into the heavyweight attraction it is today. “By 2009 we Festivals in order to try the MLA system, but Sziget’s main stage was again
were sending a complete A+B flip flop monitor system for the main stage awarded to their local supplier. The MLA proved itself however, and in 2015
with local Hungarian vendor, Expander 2000. 2010 was the first year we MLA was also specified for Sziget.”
supplied - with the exception of the delay towers - the complete main stage The supply included four main MLA field delays and a central mix tower
system. At this point we were still only sending one audio tech over from of MLAC delays. “Due to the incredible success of how the MLA performed
the UK and the local Hungarian crew worked with the system. Over the next in 2015 we managed to get through a lengthy tender process and have
couple of years we continued to upsize and upgrade the design. In 2011 we now secured a contract with MLA for the next couple of years, which also
were very close to providing a festival package that would be considered includes supplying the two sister festivals,” said Timmins. “I’m really happy
UK standard. By 2013 we’d made a key investment with Martin Audio’s MLA about it because we love being involved with these festivals. The teams in
system due to the demands we were seeing for that particular system at Hungary are great to work with because they genuinely care about their
venues such as London’s Hyde Park for the British Summer Time events. events. They’re very passionate about what they do, and that makes it all
“In order to continue our relationship with Sziget, we sourced the new the more worthwhile when you’re sending trucks of equipment over. We
Meyer Sound LEO system from a Meyer Sound also get to meet a lot of touring crews coming
rental partner in Poland as per the festival’s through and using the MLA system. It’s been a
request. Then in 2014, as our track record at really popular move to make.
delivering quality audio had been established, “The 2016 MLA design rocked, even with
we were asked to look at supplying audio for the increased audience size this year, the
Sziget’s sister festivals Volt and Balaton Sound.” optimisation tweaks gave incredible coverage
An important aspect of Capital’s DNA is its
“The biggest challenge was and high SPL across the whole audience area.
knowledge and expertise when it comes to wanting to change how things The Introduction of the Spaced MLX sub array
different sound systems. It currently offers four
were done within the production. gave impact and control with headroom for
different audio brands to its clients - Martin even the loudest acts. Sound system choice
Audio, Meyer Sound, d&b audiotechnik and I was the new guy fighting with may be subjective, but all of the visiting
Outline - with a ‘one size does not fit all’ motto. old standards...” engineers this year were complimentary about
As Capital was going through its own the design and PA performance. Muse’s crew in
inventory changes, Timmins suggested that the
Head of Production, particular went out of their way to express their
festival should consider using the MLA system Daniel Benis delight with the system.”

44
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SZIGET FESTIVAL

Above: Visual Power provided video kit and crew; Visiting LDs made use of the lighting consoles provided by Colossal; Lighting Crew Chief, Mark Kontra; Vari-Lite VL3500
Washes featured heavily in the lighting rig.

To complete the audio package, Capital also supplied two Avid Profile the headliner act during the overnight load-in and the other that is here
desks for FOH and two Yamaha PM5Ds for monitors. The latter was for the daytime to look after everyone else. My problem is that I try to be in
specified for the last time, as Timmins noted: “The PM5D is a very standardboth of the teams!” Kontra also advances the rigging plots for the Stageco
desk to use at monitors - it’s been seen on festivals everywhere for the last
roof team.
10 years - but we’ve made the decision that it will be the last time we supply
“Big bands such as Muse have touring festival designs, so they require a
it; we’re moving into a new era and replacing those desks with the Yamaha flown rig from us. Muse [operated by double TPi Award-winner Oli Metcalfe]
CL5 console.” have a very cool, high tech yet festival-friendly design. Bastille have a very
For RF, six ways of handheld Shure UHFR radio microphones were awesome visual design too, but my personal favourite is working with The
chosen, and Shure was also the brand of choice for in-ears, resulting in Chemical Brothers - they have lots of equipment and that’s really fun!”
the specification of 10 PSM1000’s. Although most artists brought in their For the main stage fixtures Colossal supplied 32 Vari-Lite VL3500
own microphones, a mixed package of Sennheiser, Shure, Audio-Technica, Washes, 32 Robe BMFL Spots, 40 Robe Pointes, 32 Robe Robin LEDWash
Harman’s AKG and Audix was supplied. 600’s, 24 Robe ColorStrobes, 60 CitySkape 48’s and a mixture of two, four
Handling the sound teams on site is the Hungarian Audio Crew Chief, and eight-lite generic molefays.
Marci Mezei, himself a Sziget veteran. He told TPi: “I spend a lot of my year
Kontra furthered: “There’s usually a lot of dust and very little time for
on tour, but when I’m travelling, I work on Sziget. I must like this festival
maintenance when we’re on site, so we need reliable fixtures. This festival
because I keep returning - it’s my 15th year here and my 13th working on hosts a lot of rock bands, so for our rig we chose to use Vari-Lite VL3500’s a
the main stage. The festival just keeps getting lot in our rig. This light has a big output, creates
stronger.” beautiful colours and has more power than
some other options. It’s a key wash light which
LIGHTING AND VIDEO we see on basically every festival rider. We use
Mark Kontra, Head of Lighting at the main a lot of Robe’s new BMFL Spots. These products
stage, as well as the area’s lighting and rigging have a great output and are a very reliable unit,
designer stopped by the backstage area for a “We like the excitement when just like the Robe Pointes. We also opted for the
chat. Now in his sixth year working with Sziget new Robe ColorStrobes. The LDs we’ve spoken
- and his third year in charge - he commented the PA kicks in and the spotlights to have really enjoyed using it.
how his company, Colossal, had seen first hand come on; we’re gadget freaks!” “For control we have an MA Lighting
the “complicated” set up the lighting world has grandMA2 Full Size and Light for backup. This
to provide for such a wide variety of acts. “I split
Head of Lighting, year I also brought in a High End Systems Hog4
my crew into two parts - one that works with Mark Kontra for a few bands that had requested it.

46
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SZIGET FESTIVAL
Capital Sound provided sound reinforcement to the main stage featuring a Martin Audio MLA system; Mojo Barriers created a breaker system to halt the possibility of
crowd crushes; The company also added extra doors to the FOH area for ease of crew access.
“This job is hard work, but I guess like everyone in this business, you
must like the rush of making it happen - we like the excitement when the PA
kicks in and the spotlights come on. We’re gadget freaks!” he laughed.
Local Hungarian supplier, Visual Power, also enjoyed its 15th year at the
festival, again providing the main stage video requirements. Led by Project
Manager Peter Perjesi, the video design delivered a classic look comprising
L-R IMAG and an upstage video wall.
The IMAG screens consisted of 9m x 5m of YUCHIP P6.25 per side, while
the upstage screen was a 16m x 9m wall of Uniview CO-7.8. The company
also provided 200m of 16mm pitch LEDBlade that was installed on the
edges of the main stage.
Perjesi explained: “We have been using 8-10mm LED screens over
the past few years, but this year we upgraded to 6-7mm in order to have
best possible resolution. This is also the second time we have used the
LEDBlade system, which has been welcomed again by the bands and
performers. We have plans to increase the amount we provide to around
500m next year.”
The vendor also supplied a crew made up of of two project managers,
two show operators, a show designer, and three technicians who were on
site at all times during the festival.
Perjesi continued: “The look of a festival is much more important
these days, I believe. Therefore we try to improve year-on-year, and keep
up with the expectations of the present trends and line-ups. We have
done this by introducing new systems like LEDBlade, going higher with
the resolution, and offering a whole system control for all the available
screens. I’m sure that the whole look of a stage like Sziget’s Main Stage will
have a considerable effect on the audience, and will definitely enhance the
performance of the artists on stage.”
48
STAGING AND BARRIER SAFETY
Mojo’s Stanley Jilesen, Sziget Account Manager is in charge of the
compnay’s international festival and touring clientele. When Jilesen met
Benis at an event, it was clear the two had a very similar way of thinking.
Jilesen’s approach to crowd control with barrier technology impressed
Benis so much in fact, that Mojo won a contract with Sziget almost
immediately. This was the beginning of a real breakthrough for the H&S
conscious Benis.
Jilesen explained what changes have been made since the two minds
met. “When we got involved with this festival, the first thing we altered was
the fact that they had no breaker at the main stage area. Once we created
one, it kept the pressure off the people at the front of the crowds.
“To be honest, that’s what we do everywhere we work. Every leading
festival has something like that factored into its design. People at festivals
have a sheep mentality – they will walk until they hit a barrier, and then they
stop. If there’s no breaker, they’ll keep on walking and the pressure mounts.
Our systems stop this from happening because safer is always better.
“This festival is still evolving because it’s in a somewhat difficult area;
we’re placed by the main ‘high street’ within the festival grounds where
everybody walks in and around the main stage. Three days ago, Daniel
[Benis] called me to say he needed some extra line-up gates; half an hour
later we put the extra equipment in a truck to Budapest from Holland.
That’s what we’re known for. If our client has a problem, we help them
immediately. We always leave a project manager on site in case any changes
are required, or if a band wishes to bring in some extra set that affects the
barrier layout, such as a catwalk, and having one of our team on site means
this can be quickly accommodated. It’s great to work on such a progressive
festival, one which has such a brilliant team and which is constantly
 SZIGET FESTIVAL

evolving, and we look forward to building on our relationship in the

future.”
Rik Beulin, Mojo’s man on the ground at Sziget, agreed. He
commented: “You’ve got to be able to handle your crew and prioritise
safety. For example yesterday I put in an extra door into a barrier
section. It only took me 10 minutes but we wanted to have an extra
door at FOH, and today access works better for everyone who needs
to get there.”
A total of 400m of barrier, 50m of High Fence and 20 line-up gates
were used for the 2016 event. As well as stage barrier within the main
stage arena and line-up gates throughout the festival site, Mojo also
supplied its high fence to the main stage FOH in order to enhance
security and improve the aesthetics of the structure. With a crew of
10-12 people, Beulink’s team installed these elements in a day.
Jilsen likes being part of the festival’s evolution process. He
continued: “We are quite a new suppliers compared to some of the
companies they’ve worked with over the years. For us, it feels as
though the possibilities are all ahead of us. Sziget is becoming more
professional in every aspect now, and as partners it feels very cool to
work with a festival that is clearly growing into something bigger and
better every year. Also,” he smiled, “a great part of working with Sziget
is how nice the people are.”
Benis commented: “Over the last few years, we have used barriers
from our existing partners but couldn’t beat the quality of Mojo
Barriers, neither in equipment or service. In the last few years nearly
all riders have placed greater emphasis upon crowd controlling issues
and Mojo Barriers are now seen as a standard, so we had to step up.
Mojo’s services and equipment has solved all our problems, and any
incoming production manager knows what they are getting when
they see Mojo Barriers. Regarding the Hungarian regulations and
Hungarian folk punks Bohemian Betyars performed on the main stage. crowd controlling issues, we had to find a solution to help improve
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49
SZIGET FESTIVAL
Head Chef, Mihalik Zoltán; The Kiosk team provided a number of options including a BBQ pit; Bastille and Manu Chao entertained the crowds.
the circulation of the crowds, in terms of normal flow and also in case of
heavy crowds. Our security teams were also really satisfied with this.”
Stageco Germany was hired to build a four-tower roof, introducing some
key modifications to its standard specifications, such as extending the PA
wings to the rear. The goal was to create a structure that allowed the Sziget
team to cover the reverse side of the roof with custom made PVC prints.
Another ‘special’ for this roof was the inclusion of pyro platforms above the
canopy. Hardwell in particular used a vast array of effects from Quantum
Special Effects, including its own custom wireless Spitfire Flame System, its
show-stopping fireball named ‘The Harvey’, and a burst of summery white
confetti and streamers that flew over the happy crowd below.
In total, Stageco Germany delivered around 830 tonnes of gear that, as
well as the roof, included the FOH riser, delay towers and 4,500sqm of VIP
platform decking. Hungary’s B.L. Crew co-operated on the project, while
Manuel Billian led Stageco’s R&D effort and Stefan Stadelmann headed
Stageco’s crew.
QUALITY CATERING
Kiosk is the catering company behind the vast array of culinary
compliments we hear flying around over the weekend. Needless to say
the risotto station wasn’t going to try itself… credit where credit’s due,
the food is freshly made to order with any vegan / vegetarian / cave man
preference you have. There are also salad bars, cheese counters, BBQ pits
and beautifully-decorated desserts that wouldn’t look out of place in a
Disney cartoon.
All under the instruction of Head Chef Mihalik Zoltán, the festival is
responsible for feeding up to 500 production crew and artists per day. With
50
an impressive 100 catering staff on site, no dietary request is too much
for Kiosk. Zoltán is clearly here for his menu moulding and gastronomic
creation skills. Having worked at the Four Seasons in central Budapest, his
kitchen training is Michelin Star quality.
THE 25TH CELEBRATIONS
2017 will mark the 25th anniversary of Sziget Festival, taking place on 9-17
August. We’ve been left in no doubt that this milestone will involve some
extra special celebrations. It certainly delivered a wealth of local and
international production knowledge that has worked tirelessly to produce a
space that welcomes each and every person with respect and outstanding
hospitality.
The festival encourages you to come for a holiday and leave your
worries behind as you enjoy a first class festival experience and from
what we’ve seen, whether you’re a part of the crew or a member of the
audience, the Island of Freedom has set its Hungarian heart on giving you
an experience to remember.
TPi
Photos: TPi, Plaster Creative Communications
http://sziget.hu/fesztiva
www.capital-sound.co.uk
www.kiosk-budapest.com
www.colossal.hu
www.visualpower.hu
www.stageco.com
www.mojobarriers.com
www.q-sfx.com
 IF YOU CAN
IMAGINE IT,
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BUILD IT.

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SZIGET FESTIVAL

WHAT THE CREW SAY…

JOEL STANLEY
PRODUCTION MANAGER, BASTILLE
“It’s my sixth year here and I always have a good experience.
They’re like our Hungarian family! They definitely go above and
beyond to make the experience better. Everyone’s so friendly and
the crew are really helpful. We’re not headlining here but they gave
us an overnight load-in so that we got some programming time.
And whether you’re an artist or part of the production crew, the
catering’s amazing - they look after you from the dressing room to
your rider, and absolutely nothing is a problem. As I arrived I saw
Rihanna’s crew loading out. I used to work for her too, and the
guys said to me ‘this festival will look after you’. That makes a huge
difference when you’re on show number 174 in the cycle!”

STEVE PRICE
VIDEO DIRECTOR, BASTILLE
“After doing the rounds of European festivals for a few years you start to
bump into people you know over and over again, and some of those people
you really look forward to seeing. Zsolt Szicso, our main stage production
manager is one of those faces. He’s very video friendly, and so easy going.
He even gave me a preshow banana! If you search #preshowbanana on
Instagram you’ll see what I’m talking about... [Thanks for the tip Steve,
we now stalk you…] I have a banana before every show and a I started
Instagraming them a couple of years ago. It took off in a weird way. For
example Adam Lambert’s fans often turn up at Queen gigs with bananas
for me, so it’s become a bit of a ritual! Bananas aside, Sziget was one of
those festivals were everything just lined up in the right way. Bastille are
a great band to work with and their crew are awesome. The festival video
team were fantastic at Sziget too, and the artist village was one of the best
I’ve ever seen. With the sun out and the crowds fired up, it was a perfect
day at work.”

ROB HIGHCROFT
PRODUCTION MANAGER, BRING ME THE HORIZON
“Sziget is a great festival to work on; it’s really well-run and expertly
organised. Their attention to detail is something more festivals
should look towards. 2016 was was under a dark cloud with the
departure of much-loved Daniel Panaitescu, who passed away only
a matter of weeks before the festival started, yet the event was held
together brilliantly in the same manner and professionalism that it
always did. He taught the crew well.”

TUPAC MARTIR, LD FOR UNKLE

AND CATE CARTER, LD FOR ELBOW
“I had heard what a great festival this place is, and it didn’t disappoint. The crew
was fantastic and the crowd was epic - I love operating shows in which it’s all
about the vibe because you can feel everyone experiencing the same synergy.
“As with any show that has little pre-programming time, there will be missed
cues or some elements working against you, but thankfully the guys were ready
to make the changes on the fly - even sending the screen to 100% when I lost my
desk to compensate and make it feel like part of the show.”
Bryte Design’s Cate Carter added: “It’s without doubt one of my favourite
festivals. Every time we are here we have a great show. It’s a beautiful location,
the crew are brilliant, and there are great audiences and an incredible vibe!”
52
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54
 PRODUCTION PROFILE

FESTIVAL N°6

Once again taking place in the dreamlike world of Portmeirion, Wales, Festival N°6 invited its
contingent of loyal patrons to jump headfirst into the cultural wonderland. However, as is the nature
of the Great British summer season, the festival was blighted by severe weather conditions. TPi’s
Stew Hume spoke to the crewmembers who went toe-to-toe with Mother Nature.

If there is one thing that you can take from the UK festival season over
the last few years it’s that the nation’s ticket buying public certainly
loves a boutique event. Offering a more intimate experience than its
larger brothers and sisters, the boutique event is fast becoming a
firm favourite among those who no longer want to share a field with
another 50,000+ patrons. But among this sub-genre, Festival N°6 is one
of the most charming Britain has to offer. Set in the idyllic village of
Portmeirion, which straddles the estuary of the River Dwyryd, the annual
music, poetry and cultural gathering offers festivals-goers a chance to
lose a sense of mundane reality and discover various untrodden paths.
Whether you want to explore the main festival site, take a trip to the
famous village green or even get lost in an enchanting wooded realm;
there are not many places like N°6.
As it moves into its fifth year, it’s safe to say that the secret is out. The
festival sold 15,000 tickets in no time at all. Sadly, after being spoilt by a
run of good weather in the past few years, this year’s event was blighted
by some serious precipitation on the second day of music. However, with
a team of long serving suppliers and crewmembers, there could not have
been a stronger group of men and women ready to tackle the elements. TPi
sat down with Ground Control’s Managing Director Jon Drape to talk about
how his experienced team ensured the show went on and the magic of this
fantastical event was not lost…
I AM NOT A NUMBER… BUT I AM RATHER DAMP
Since the festival’s inaugural year in 2011, the event has attained a loyal
group of devotees who gleefully return to the quirky world that is N°6 each
year. There is always a risk that smaller, boutique-style events could lose
their way, but N°6 has stuck steadfastly to its core mission: it never fails to
give a punter a place where you can ‘lose yourself in your own fairytale’.
Along with a stellar line up including headline sets from the likes of Bastille,
Hot Chip and Noel Gallagher (with a surprise appearance from Paul Weller),
2016 saw the addition of several new elements. For the festival regulars,
one of the most notable additions was the main stage IMAG screens, which
catered for the swelling audience sizes. The annual cultural gathering also
boasted several new interactive art pieces such as Captain Kronos: Return to
Planet Earth, an art exhibition from Liverpool-based production company,
The Kazimier. During the performance, the audience welcomed Captain
Kronos, on his hedonistic mission, to spread peace and love throughout the
galaxy...well, there’s a sentence I never thought I’d write.
With such an array of activities to keep visitors occupied it is no
surprise that many of the punters make the trip to Portmeirion year on
year. The same can be said when you head backstage; many suppliers and
crewmembers pay the Welsh town a visit for the festival every year. With
returning production company Ground Control at the helm, 2016 also saw
the homecoming of audio and lighting suppliers Audile, alongside Adlib,

55
FESTIVAL N°6

dbn Lighting and Serious Stages. “We have an incredibly good relationship about festivals within the UK market. With so many years at the helm,
with our team of suppliers,” began Drape. “For instance, we have had Audile he speaks with some authority when it comes to contingency plans for
on board since the festival’s inception and for another year the company outdoor live events. “This year market the fifth year for N°6 and although
provided a fantastic service.” Even one of the newest suppliers to the we have been blessed over the last two years with some great weather,
festival, Transition Video, had personal ties with the event. The company’s this was not the first time that the site had been hit by the tail end of a
Director, Rhodri Shaw, has been involved with N°6 under different guises hurricane,” began Drape. “Both myself and the rest of the Ground Control
for multiple years. It is clear, even to a N°6 first-timer like myself, that the team are all well versed in what can happen when extreme weather hits
crew have a tangible personal connection to the show. For many, it is the and the control measures that need to be in place.”
highlight of the summer and marks the end of the working season. The forecast had predicted rain over the weekend, however, the
Drape talked about some of the new production initiatives put in place: severity with which it would hit was not known until the 11th hour. “With
“This year we set up an off-site point where artists came in and then we any event like this we obviously are continually checking local weather
ferried them to and from the site. The site was located near Porthmadog, a forecasts. At N°6 we also keep in touch with the Met office at RAF Valley.”
short drive from the festival site, and it worked Drape explained that, as with all events Ground
incredibly well. The onsite logistics are so tight Control heads up, he and his team prepares for
at N°6 and we are not blessed with a great deal the worst-case scenarios involving weather,
of room, so having all the VIPs off site meant with particular focus on the biggest threat -
we could run a tight ship and everything to wind. “Rain is one thing but high winds really
schedule.” The initiative was so successful that pose the biggest risk and danger. To put it
Drape stated that it would most definitely be simply we have three different levels at which
returning next year. “Both myself and the rest of the we judge wind. The first (and lowest) means we
However, no matter how well you plan an begin a schedule of continually testing wind
event there is one element that you can never
Ground Control team are all well speeds. The second level is when we begin to
control; the weather. It is hard to talk about this versed in what can happen when consider evacuating a structure. The final, most
year’s event without mentioning the extreme extreme weather hits and the severe level begins when we evacuate an area.”
wind and rain that hit the site on Friday evening Throughout the N°6 site there were a
and Saturday. Not wanting to avoid the subject, control measures that need to be number of different structures, from the Main
TPi asked about the apocalyptic conditions. in place.” Stage to smaller scale venues such as the Lost
With over 25 years of experience in the live in the Woods Stage, as well as various pop-up
events industry, Drape has been instrumental
Jon Drape, catering and hospitality areas. Each had
in the creation of some of the most talked- Managing Director, Ground Control different thresholds requiring round the clock

56
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FESTIVAL N ° 6
monitoring, especially at the height of the storm. This meant short-term
evacuation of some of stages until the weather subsided, as well as closing
the main stage and dropping the PA for a period.
Drape went on to state that his team were able to act on the extreme
conditions due to the in-built production infrastructure that Ground
Control implement for all its live shows. “On all our projects we have
six hourly event leadership meetings between myself, our Technical
Production Manager, Ryan Esson, and all the heads of departments. The
idea of these meetings is to update people on all sides of the festival. As
well as discussing potential weather issues we discuss everything from
crowd management to policing. During the Friday night meeting when we
began to get word of the severity of inbound weather we set out all the
contingency plans that were put into effect on Saturday.”
Drape was keen to give praise to all the suppliers and crewmembers
that, despite challenging conditions, were able to keep the festival running:
“The fact that we have such a good team of suppliers really helps when we
are faced with conditions like this. Everyone is very familiar with the site
and knows the limitations of what can and can’t be done. They are also
really familiar with one another and that makes it easy when faced with
such trying conditions.”
SOUND & LIGHTING
Rob Ashworth, Director of Audile, has been with N°6 since it’s inception and
knows the site better than most. Along with the 31-strong team of Audile
crewmembers, the company also supplied sound and lighting for the main
stage in addition to the iStage, Clough, Estuary, Gatehouse, Lost in the
Woods and Stone Boat venues. If that wasn’t enough, the company also
supplied all the decorative site lighting working with creative designers
58
Decordia, as well as sound and lighting for the Boutique Camping areas.
“This year saw quite a few changes across the site,” began Ashworth. “In
the iStage we supplied a pair of concentric truss circles rigged over the
dancefloor, supporting LED video tubes and decorative string curtains
supplied by Decordia, which added greatly to the creative production.
In Clough, the move from DJs to cabaret saw several changes, such as
theatrical lighting design and a more discrete - but no less capable - sound
system. Gatehouse received an upgrade also, with draping and additional
lighting to create an enhanced stage set, and additional audio provision to
accommodate more complex live acts.”
For the main stage, the lighting and audio specialists supplied a
complete d&b audiotechnik system comprising of 16 J8’s, four J12’s and
12 J-SUBs all controlled by an Avid Profile. Monitor control came courtesy
of a Yamaha PM5D-RH digital mixing console. For lighting, an Avolites
Pearl Expert Titan was used to control a rig of 18 Clay Paky Mythos and 12
Sharpys along with 18 Robe Robin 600’s and 12 Robin 100’s. For effects,
Audile deployed 11 Clay Paky Stormy CC strobes as well as six James
Thomas Engineering 4-lite molefays and 18 2-lite molefays.
As with every festival, certain acts have specialist rider requirements.
One of the most challenging at this year’s event came with Bowie
Reimagined on the Sunday. Ashworth expanded: “Bringing together
the 28-piece Manchester Camerata orchestra with a band and multiple
vocalists, we were required to provide a complete control, microphones
and monitoring package which could be deployed first for an off-site
rehearsal on the Sunday morning, and then moved over to site to be
deployed for the set itself.”
Ashworth and the Audile team are no strangers to extreme conditions
and were more than prepared for everything the weather could throw

at them. “Wind is always the major concern for us in terms of exposed
equipment with significant surface area, and we have wind management
plans that layout actions that must take place when wind speeds exceed
defined thresholds,” stated Ashworth. “In this particular case, wind speeds
overnight on the Friday and through Saturday were forecast to exceed the
threshold for safely suspending large speaker arrays, so we lowered them
at the close of Friday night and stayed grounded while we monitored onsite
conditions, until the point where we could safely raise the hangs again.”
Rounding up his fifth year with the festival, Ashworth commented:
“It certainly was a challenging year. It’s unfortunate the conditions
overshadowed the event but I have no doubt that it’ll bounce back next
year. It’s such a unique festival with a brilliantly eclectic line up in a magical
location. Had the weather been kinder, I’m sure it would have been hailed
by all as a triumph - the festival goes from strength to strength every year,
and when all is said and done, I hope this year will be viewed as the blip that
it was. I have great expectations for next year!”
As the festival continues to grow, the production team’s only option
was to bring more hands on deck including Adlib and dbn Lighting. For
its second year, Adlib was brought on board to supply PA, lighting and
technicians for several stages including the Colonnade Stage, the Town hall,
Tim Peaks as well as several of the hospitality areas including the VIP area,
the Rum Bar and the dining area.
“We are really proud to be involved with N°6 for our second year
running,” said Phil Kielty, Adlib’s Client Manager. “Everyone on our team
loves working the festival because it’s different to the rest, especially
with its unique setting.” Kielty went on to detail the ways in which the
peculiar festival setting forces them to change some of its methods. “We
are incredibly respectful of the village as well as its residents. This means
having to plan transport a little differently to other festivals during the
59
FESTIVAL N° 6
season. We have to load eight of the stages via lots of transit vans as
opposed to our usual 45ft or 18ft trucks.”
VIDEO
Although it is part of the N°6 extended family, this year was the first time
Rhodri Shaw’s Transition Video joined the line up of suppliers. Founded
just last year, the company has already been involved in some big events
including Bluedot and the TPi Awards. This year, IMAG screens were
incorporated on the main stage. Transition deployed two 5.4m x 3.6m ROE
MC-7H 7.5mm LED screens. “The screens really stood up to the weather
conditions which is testament to the product,” stated Shaw. “We also
supplied three Sony HXC-100 camera channels under the direction of
industry veteran Richard Shipman.” The video specialist also supplied
further support for headliners Bastille and Noel Gallagher who both
brought additional cameras, which ran through Transition’s PPU system to
the screens.
Along with main stage responsibilities, Transition also supplied 10
columns of the Vies 4mm LED screens on the iStage. “It was great working
with such a creative team, with Nick Buckley from dbn Lighting driving the
screen using a Resolute Arena. The show didn’t miss a beat all week,” stated
Shaw. Transition also supplied a Panasonic PT-DZ12000E 12,000 ANSI video
projector along with a 16ft x 9ft Fastfold screen for the Gatehouse stage.
“Working on a festival site such as Portmeirion certainly has its challenges,”
stated Shaw giving his final thought on the event. “The single road
access along with the severe weather conditions made loading in tricky.
However working with Ground Control as well as Go To Live made the
whole experience a lot more manageable, having worked on numerous
events with the team this year alone. I think the crew did a great job at N°6
regardless of the weather and the show went on!”
FESTIVAL N°6
SERIOUS
For the third year running Serious Stages supplied services to N°6. Steve
Corfield, Managing Director of the company discussed his thoughts on
the event. “The poor weather at this year’s Festival N°6 did create some
challenges during the build, however despite the rain our stage and
ancillary structures were installed to the highest quality and offered
increased weather protection for the artists and their equipment against
the torrential showers.”
For the main stage, Serious Stages supplied a 16m Supernova Lite
stage, complete with five 3.6m bays and a cantilever roof, which offered
additional weather protection. Covered extensions were added stage left
and right, to house monitors and technical equipment, as well as a rear
access ramp which ran from the back of the stage to the loading dock. The
speakers were hung from Serious Stages’ free standing Asteroid PA tower
systems, which flanked the stage and offered 2,000kg of load capacity. A
covered FOH tower was installed, decked on three levels to accommodate
lighting and sound, along with a 7.2m x 4.8m assisted viewing platform to
ensure optimum views for the whole audience.
Two 6m by 3.6m screen supports were also installed to hang festival
branding, which required additional ballast and steel due to the uneven
ground. For the indoor iStage, Serious Stages installed a 24m x 9.6m deck
inside the tent, along with a 4.8m x 4.8m FOH tower, decked on two levels.
“This was the third year we’ve worked with Ground Control at Festival
N°6,” stated Corfield. “It was once again a fantastic event to be part of.
Being based in the UK, we’re used to the unpredictability of the British
60
weather and despite the rain the festival offered an eclectic line-up in a
beautiful location.”
BE SEEING YOU...
To say that this year’s event created a challenging environment for
crewmembers would be an understatement. Now the dust has settled and
the rain clouds have cleared, we get one last word from Drape regarding
what to expect from next year’s event. “The festival has hit its limit. It really
can’t get any bigger in terms of numbers. What we hope to do is maintain
the quality and improve the customer experience and continue to attract
the high calibre of artists that we have enjoyed over the past six years.”
Drape even hinted that some of the highlights from previous years may
yet return. After all, the sixth Festival N°6 is quite a milestone. “We have
only just started the booking process so nothing is in place as of yet, but
undoubtedly the booking team will want to be making a big statement for
our sixth birthday!”
TPi
Photos courtesy of Carousel
www.festivalnumber6.com
www.groundcontroluk.com
www.audile.co.uk
www.adlib.co.uk
www.dbn.co.uk
www.transitionvideo.com
www.stages.co.uk
 All Access_TPI_halfpage_Oct16.pdf 1 9/30/16 12:02 PM

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 PRODUCTION PROFILE

BOOMTOWN FAIR 2016

BoomTown held the eighth edition of its wildly idiosyncratic festival from 11 - 14 August in
Hampshire, UK. With an increased capacity of 60,000, featuring nine fully themed and diverse
districts, over 80 street venues, all manner of immersive arts programming, and more renowned
acts than you could count on seven hands the 2016 event was something to behold.

In anticipation of more people on the ground, sustainability steps
were taken at BoomTown Fair to minimise the festival’s impact on its
surrounding environment. With audience travel contributing around
70% of an event’s carbon footprint, BoomTown encouraged eco-
conscious travel and facilitated reduced congestion via a number of
public transport initiatives, including coach and festival ticket packages,
shuttle buses from the train station, and car share schemes. To help
those who opted to travel via public transport, the event organisers
offered a couple of pre-pitched tent hire options to help minimise the
load and encourage attendees to only bring what they needed and
intended to take home.
Sticking to the promotion of environmental awareness and
sustainability, BoomTown’s main charity partner for 2016 was Energy
Revolution. Every penny donated was directly invested into clean, green
energy projects to help balance travel emissions.
BoomTown’s charitable and sustainable ethos went even further, with
a vast amount of guilt-free shopping available across a spectrum of charity
shops. Vintage clothing could be found at Help Refugees, where items - at a
stall decorated by refugees from the ‘Jungle’ in Calais - had been donated
to its Calais refugees project. For the fancy dress lovers who wanted to
preserve memories, the Barrio Loco crew snuck a photo booth into the
set. For those who may have left some essentials behind, the Oxfam
Festival Shop had a range of second hand items - from practical warm and
waterproof clothing to sparkly and vintage wares. All money raised went
directly towards helping people all over the world fight against poverty.
AN IMMERSIVE METROPOLIS
For its sixth year supplying the immersive metropolis, Utopium provided
lighting and rigging equipment to 12 stages and venues across the site,
including the Town Centre, The Lion’s Den, The Jolly Dodger, The Old Mines,
The Ballroom, Rusty Spurs and Tangled Roots.
To illuminate The Lion’s Den stage, which is the largest reggae stage
in the country, Utopium used a host of equipment from its existing
inventory including Martin by Harman MAC Quantum Profiles, SGM P-2 LED
Washlights, Chauvet Professional COLORado 1-Quad IP LED PARs along
with 32 Chauvet Rogue RH1 Hybrids. To enhance the ambience, Utopium
also installed lighting to the six towers around The Lion’s Den area, a new
addition to the arena for this year.
In addition to lighting, control, trussing and rigging for the festival’s
stages, Utopium was also tasked with providing all of the architectural
lighting within the Town Centre, to enable the cityscape to be synchronised
with the stage lighting.
Utopium’s Jon Newman commented: “This is our sixth year working
with BoomTown, and every year we love having the chance to provide

63
BOOMTOWN FAIR
Above: Sector 6, BoomTown Fair’s dystopian district.
something a little bit different for both the stages and the sets. BoomTown
is constantly looking to push creative boundaries and it’s great to be part of
that.
“This year we installed lighting and rigging throughout the various
districts, and enhanced our offering to The Lion’s Den stage, which
produced a fantastic end result. We had a great team onsite, including Will
Howie, who designed and project managed the installations, ensuring that
each was in keeping with the style of the stage and the district it sat within.
Will did a tremendous job in the planning stages and onsite, directing his
team to deliver the project as specified and on time. As well as increasing
the kit and utilising some of our new equipment, Avolites’ Steve Warren also
supplied us with The Avolites Arena, its newest console, which suited our
team and the touring lighting designers very well.”
Sector 6 - the festival’s dystopian district - has grown considerably in
recent years. Expansion in production and theatrics has resulted in a set
to rival that of the Bang Hai Palace and now has a line-up to reflect its new
status. The brainchild of Dan Borg, the crazy set design was created from
several tonnes of reconditioned scrap metal and much ingenuity as a
living, moving, breathing industrial sculpture - inspired by iconic structural
components from steel works, power stations, and nuclear reactors.
Borg and BoomTown’s Production Manager Robin Collins asked Dave
Whiteoak of Video Illusions to be Visual Production Manager and Video
Designer, tasked with co-ordinating visual production elements from
lighting to video content creation. Whiteoak commissioned LD Sam Tozer
from Vision Factory - a regular LD on Video Illusions projects - to add some
original lighting magic to Sector 6.
64
Video Illusions, which works closely with leading UK lighting rental
company GLS, asked the company to specify and provide the appropriate
lighting kit.
Director of GLS, Ian Turner, said: “We were delighted to be involved
with an invigorating, fresh and imaginative project like this. The set was
completely stunning, Dave’s video was amazing, Tozer made a fantastic job
of the lighting and it was clear that much thought and precision went into
creating a fantastic visual harmony.”
Lighting was a carefully struck balance between architectural sources
highlighting and emphasising the meticulous scenic detail of the structure
- which included several moving parts - and the effects lighting needed to
immerse the audience fully in the Sector 6 narrative.
It was also absolutely crucial that the lighting kit survived the event
whatever the weather, so the vast majority of it was IP65 rated and from
leading brand SGM, in which the HSL family has made major investments
this year.
Turner continued: “This stage was about using the right kit in the right
place. On a structure this huge, inflatable domes just don’t cut it. We agreed
from the start to specify IP rated lights that did the business and could
survive whatever meteorology was thrown at them. The SGM range was
ideal.”
The total SGM count was over 150 fixtures with 29 G-Spot moving lights,
32 Ribalta LED battens, 22 Q-7 LED strobes, 22 P-5 LED wash lights, 30 Q-2
strobe / floods and 16 G1 moving head beams.
They were joined by six Clay Paky Sharpies in weather domes, six Atomic
3000 strobes, 31 LED PARs, 12 GLP X4 impression wash lights and six ZR33
BOOMTOWN FAIR

Above: Bang Hai Palace showing the festival’s illusive masked man.

hazers, which worked hard every night to maintain smoke coverage. All of highlighting the different metals and raw material, texturing and providing
these were run through the lighting console operated by Paul De Villiers. key light in strategic areas like through the windows. They also created
The 63m wide x 35m high stage was divided into four key areas for some effective shadowing across the moving parts, enhancing the depth of
lighting purposes. Stage right was for the pistons and oil silos; the centre the space.
was split into two sections, the main centrepiece and inside that, the DJ The smaller P-2 LED floods / strobes were ensconced in the tighter
booth, which was treated separately. Stage left was for the wheels and positions and used to create multi-tonal lighting.
chimneys. Ribalta battens were positioned along the front of the stage for an
To add an extra dimension of set lighting, four large trussing towers even wash, and inside the DJ booth two banks of six GLP X4 Impressions
were installed at the back to add height and facilitate fixtures that could were pixel mapped to create an eye-catching low-res pixel wall behind
shoot up into the sky. the DJ. Tozer was impressed with the SGM fixtures’ performance - both
The 29 G-Spots were the workhorse fixtures on the rig, and these were aesthetically and in their physical endurance.
dotted throughout the four areas, mostly When it came to programming, Paul de
clamped onto the structure itself. Villiers worked closely with Whiteoak to ensure
Eight of the G-1 Beams were rigged to the continuity and fluidity between the lighting,
towers together with eight Q-7s, which provided visuals, lasers and pyro.
a searchlight effect visible from all over the site. Working together with Simon Stuart of
A principal focal point was a 12 x 15 panel HSL and Ian Turner of GLS, Video Illusions
circular LED wall wrapped in G-1 Beams which accepted responsibility for delivery of both
was flown above the main DJ booth and above lighting and video design, and worked closely
that, nearing the ‘crown’ of the structure, was with Borg and Tozer on the integrated plan to
an 8m circular video screen with another eight “They pulled numerous elements light the structure and treat specific areas with
G-1’s around the perimeter.
together to create a flowing customised video.
The Q-7’s were also scattered around The video theme was based around the
both side sections, with another 10 on towers storyboard that ran coherently BoomTown’s masked man and industrial
around the arena, enveloping the audience and throughout the weekend.” revolution steam punk. For the content
drawing them into the action. animators providing an unusual concept
The P-5 LED floods were the main
Nick Whiteoak, meant they had something interesting and
architectural lights, grazing up the metalwork, Director, Video Illusions invigorating to work on in the studio.

66

Old Town promised an eclectic mix of music including traditional Balkan music; Utopium was also tasked with providing all of the architectural lighting within the Town
Centre, to enable the cityscape to be synchronised with the stage lighting.
“They pulled numerous elements together to create a flowing
storyboard that ran coherently throughout the weekend,” said Whiteoak.
Video Illusions supplied 355 panels of its new high res IP-rated VI-L6
LED product giving 5500 Nits of brightness, which even with the lucky
BoomTown sunshine blazing, still punched through with the fabulous
steam punk animations.
A Resolume media server with six full HD outputs was used for control
and with its new advanced mapping feature each section of LED could be
mapped pixel by pixel.
The server’s new DXV 3 codec offered smooth and seamless playback
for running the special nightly AV show, and video animators Kev Watts and
Tom Wall could mix back-to-back when VJing throughout the weekend.
Gruelling though the whole Sector 6 experience was in terms of creating a
highly original and bespoke environment for the first time, imagineering
the lighting and visuals was also one of the most rewarding projects that
Whiteoak has ever undertaken.
67
BOOMTOWN FAIR
“Getting a text from Dan on the Sunday night after the final show and
Robin saying it was literally the best rave-up atmosphere ever was such a
great feeling,” he enthused. “It made everything worthwhile and recognised
the incredible teamwork and synergy that united to make it all happen
in such a spectacular fashion that was enjoyed by so much of the festival
population.”
The team was supported further at Sector 6 by LED Techs Ross Jordan,
Justin and Kai Murray, and Rigger James Box.
CRITICAL FACTORS FOR FESTIVAL SOUND
Rental company Audio Plus has been a longtime partner of BoomTown,
having initially supplied equipment on a dry hire basis. This year it supplied
audio for two stages - The Old Mine and Robotika - both of which made use
of the latest Funktion-One system, Vero.
Audio Plus’ Kris Hayes talked TPi through the audio design: “Noise
pollution is a critical factor in system designs for BoomTown. The Robotika
BOOMTOWN FAIR
Above: Sector 6 has grown considerably in recent years; Funktion-One’s Vero system made its BoomTown debut and was greatfully recieved by the production. team.
stage ran until 2am every night, the time at which most sound systems on a
festival site get turned down to avoid noise complaints. We addressed this
issue by using Funktion-One’s prediction software, Projection.
“With Projection we can map in the areas where we want to concentrate
the audio energy from Vero and look at reducing the energy in areas it isn’t
wanted. We also liaised with the production company for BoomTown, AF
Live and had the whole stage surrounded by two-high shipping containers
- this allowed us to run louder than most stages on site. Noise pollution
for The Old Mine stage was slightly less critical as it ran until 10pm each
night and, due to the nature of the lineup, it wasn’t a nuisance to the local
residents.”
Hayes explained that the festival’s production company was
particularly keen on seeing what the Vero system was all about, given the
pedigree and reputation of its manufacturer. “Like many of our customers,
they were intrigued as it’s a completely new concept from Funktion-One.
As soon as we played our first track on the Robotika stage, the production
company were very impressed - not only with how it sounded but also
how well contained the audio was within that arena. We had lots of guest
engineers on The Old Mine stage who were delighted with how the system
performed and enjoyed the characteristics it showed.”
The company deployed a relatively small crew one site, with System
Tech Darren Clark on the Robotika stage, and Hayes acting as FOH /
System Tech at The Old Mine stage alongside Monitor Engineer, Ben
Peilow, and Stage / Patch Tech, Rob Humphries. The crew made use of its
purpose-built LAKEDrive system at BoomTown, which incorporates Lake
processing distributed via Dante to the PLMs driving the PA. Hayes said:
“This system has been refined over the last four years and is now something
many engineers and system techs envy! In reality it’s kept very simple but
68
sometimes simplicity is the key.”
Elsewhere, Void Acoustics debuted the new Arcline 8 line array at
BoomTown. Void’s technicians were onsite to tune and position the
systems, ensuring that sound didn’t spill over to neighbouring stages and
remained contained within the festival’s boundaries.
Void’s flagship system, Incubus, was a popular fixture at last year’s
edition of the festival - with many attendees queuing to have their pictures
taken next to the mighty stacks in the Barrio Loco district. This year Void
systems were found on many stages, including Bassline Circus, Vamos, Mr
Whompy, 24hr Garage Girls and The Dance-Off.
“We always look forward to the summer festival season and especially
BoomTown,” said Void Acoustics’ Managing Director, Alex Skan. “The
festival is particularly special to us due to numerous personal connections
and our associated involvement with one of the best UK festivals of the
year. This year was particularly exciting for us as it was the first appearance
for our new Arcline 8 line array system.”
THE CONTINUATION OF AN INSTITUTION
Acorn Event Structures returned to BoomTown this year in a continuation
of the two institutions’ auspicious relationship. Working closely with the
in-house directors and creative designers for months before the event,
Acorn was instrumental in helping to engineer a number of new aspects of
the show’s production.
In addition to constructing The Lion’s Den and Old Mines stages, as well
as miles of street façade like it has in previous years, Acorn was responsible
for the 2016 debut of the industrial Sector 6.
Creating captivating structures in-line with the festival’s vast, ever-
expanding lore and its propensity for ostentatious production necessitated
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BOOMTOWN FAIR
Above: Production values are ramped up in Sector 6 after night falls.
the use of Acorn’s unique assets. With Europe’s largest stock of Layher
Event System and Prolyte modular staging products, the event structures
outfit had the requisite freedom and flexibility to translate BoomTown’s
vision into reality, tailoring the various staging structures from stock
components.
“With more and more festivals looking to differentiate their offering in a
crowded marketplace, we anticipate an increase in demand for customised
staging solutions,” said Emma Petty, Acorn’s Marketing Manager.
Aside from the aforementioned, Acorn’s full range of ancillary
components include staircases, towers, ramps, gantries, walkways,
bridges, grandstands, hoarding and facades - ensuring a turnkey solution
for its clients.
A QUIRKEY NATURE
Mojo Barriers expanded on its presence at BoomTown by supplying 600m
of kit to this year’s edition, which was installed across the entire festival
site. Mojo’s barriers were installed at all festival stages, including The Lion’s
Den, The Jolly Dodger, and the newly introduced Sector 6.
Kevin Thorborn, Mojo Barriers’ UK manager, commented: “The
individual and quirky nature of BoomTown makes it such a special event
and it’s great to see organisers pushing boundaries when it comes to
creativity and imagination. BoomTown Fair is famed for its impressive
stages and immersive set design and this year saw the introduction of the
new district, Sector 6.
“As well as supplying new areas, we also installed our barriers at
BoomTown’s infamous stages, including The Town Centre and The Lion’s
70
Den stage, which is situated within a natural bowl, meaning we had to
design an effective layout which matched the contour of the land. It’s great
to be involved with such a progressive event, which keeps growing year on
year, and we look forward to expanding our work with BoomTown Fair in
the future.”
The idiosyncratic and production heavy nature of the site provided
some minor challenges, but as Thorborn told TPi these were overcome
with relative ease: “As we were supplying new areas of the festival site this
year, it was a matter of visiting, checking the ground and the contours
and designing a barrier layout to offer maximum crowd safety. As well
as supplying new areas, we also installed our barriers at BoomTown’s
infamous stages, including The Lion’s Den stage, which is situated within a
natural bowl.
“This did pose some challenges when it came to a designing a barrier
layout to fit safely within the bowl, however drawing on our experience
from last year’s event we once again worked closely with the organisers to
advise on a barrier configuration which offers maximum safety.”
TPi
Photos: HSL Group, Lindsay Cave @ loosplat and BoomTown
www.boomtownfair.co.uk
www.utopium.co.uk
www.videoillusions.net
www.hslgroup.com
www.mojobarriers.com
www.acorn-events.com
www.audio-plus.co.uk/rental
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IN PROFILE
 ELATION PROFESSIONAL

Opposite: The Elation Professional family, Frederik Afif, Key Account Manager; Marc Librecht, Sales & Marketing Manager of Elation Europe; Dennis Scipio, Key Account
Manager, Nancy de Lang, Office Assistant; Roger Hamers, Head of R&D and QA Europe; Bert Schmeits, Key Account Manager Benelux, Patrick Strunk, Marketing/Graphic
and Design; Dennis Bruynseels, Technical Sales.

IN PROFILE:
ELATION PROFESSIONAL
Since its establishment in the early ‘90s, lighting manufactures Elation Professional has fostered
innovation, garnering both respect and awards from the live events industry. TPi’s Stew Hume
travelled to Kerkrade, Netherlands to meet the European team and talk new products, customer
relations and the future of the company.

Quality means doing it right when nobody is watching. Henry Ford 1863
– 1947, reads a sign in the centre of Elation Professional’s European HQ.
As TPi stood in the company’s warehouse, surrounded by hard workers
putting each and every fixture through rigorous product testing, this
poster’s sentiment became a poignant focal point. Marc Librecht, Sales
and Marketing Manager of Elation Europe, gave special mention to the
motto: “This statement really outlines what we try and do here. Our first
priority is to make sure that those using our fixtures have the very best
products possible and that means they are put together with care. Every
employee knows the importance of their role within the chain. We really
care about our products; we want each one to leave our warehouse with
the same high standard across the board so they can deliver the quality
all our users deserve.”
Elation shares more than just its motto with the founder of the modern
motor car. Just like Ford, Elation Professional originates in the US but has
since raised its profile within the global professional lighting industry.
After observing a need for a company producing feature-packed products
at a competitive price back in 1992, Elation’s goal to deliver that has not
changed.
The main headquarters of Elation Professional in Los Angeles proves
an ample base for all state-side operations, which are headed up by Sales
Director Eric Loader. The team remains proud of its status as a privately
held corporation and member of the ADJ Group family. Several years into
the creation of the company, a European branch was opened in Kerkrade,
Netherlands, sharing a building with fellow ADJ Group members Duratruss
and ADJ. Sitting upstairs in the company’s private bar, TPi pulled up a stool
with Librecht and Larry Beck, Elation’s Head of Communications, to take
stock of the last few years…
PARTNERS, NOT CUSTOMERS
“It’s a challenging time for rental companies at the moment,” stated
Librecht. “The time in which investors can make their money back on
products is getting shorter as new technology is being built at an ever-
increasing rate. However, one thing that I believe really separates us
from other companies in the market is that we don’t see our investors
as customers, but as partners. We want to ensure that those purchasing
Elation products are able to gain the greatest profit from their investment.”
Librecht described how Elation’s relationship with partners never ends
once payment has been received. “If there is ever a problem we will find
a solution, it doesn’t matter when or where it is. We are not a one-off sale
business and are proud of the strong relationships we have with all of those
who buy our products.”
This personal approach to business is something that does not end
with clients. On the first floor of its European HQ, the whole team sits in an
open plan office where each member of staff can easily talk to one another.
“We really have a flat hierarchy here,” explained Librecht. “We all work on
the same floor which really instils the ‘team’ mentality. If someone needs
help then everyone will assist them. We even have an Elation family group
on Facebook. If we work together as a cohesive team then it helps with
customer relations.”
THE COMPLETE TOOL BOX
After meeting the ‘family’ in the main office, TPi visited the vast warehouse
shared with ADJ and Duratruss. Among the endless rows of stock, Librecht
pointed out various elements of the Elation products, from the company’s
staples to the brand spanking new fixtures. Away from the shelves of
products and spare parts, we entered the product testing area. The
extensive process is one element that all the Elation team are particularly
proud of. “As we developed the Elation brand we found ways to cut down
on failures and errors that may put a fixture out of commission,” stated
Librecht. In the time between creation of a fixture and sending it out the
warehouse door, each fixture is put through its paces. The quality control
period for each fixture spans between eight and 24 hours. This even goes
for the strobes - although Librecht admitted this often takes place over
night - as warehouse productivity may be affected with constant effect
fixture testing.

75
ELATION PROFESSIONAL
Marc Librecht, Sales and Marketing Manager of Elation Professional, Martin Heuser, Global Director Lighting and Rigging Services for satis&fy, and Gunther Hecker, Cue
Design and LD for Cro; For his MTV Unplugged tour, Cro’s production deployed several of Elation’s Platinum FLXs, seen here just to the right of the singer.
To ensure the enduring quality of its products, Elation gives each fixture
a unique ID number as standard, which can be tracked back to the in-
house engineer responsible for checking each product. This, according to
Librecht, enables the company to have an incredibly effective production
line with the ability to track down any issues quickly and effectively. He
also gave compliments to the diligent team on the warehouse floor whose
incredible work ethic is the reason for its consistency in high-performing
products.
Over the years Elation has developed a broad range of fixtures with the
goal of providing the ‘complete tool box’ for users. Librecht continued: “Our
ultimate aim, which we are well on the way to succeeding, is to provide a
service where clients can get everything they need from one place. We can
provide fixtures for every situation, all at an attainable price.”
NEW GEAR
While on the subject of new equipment, the next stop for TPi was the
company’s showroom located in a custom built room that displayed all the
new wares on offer. Dennis Bruynseels talked us through the products.
One of Elation’s notable contributions to the industry is its development
in LED technology with innovations like premixed colour, quad-colour,
six colour and chip on board (COB) technology. Also, as more clients
demanded more effective lights, Elation, in partnership with Philips,
decided to start from scratch with a new lamp. With the remit of producing
brighter, cheaper, longer-lasting lamps, Elation’s Platinum Series began to
spark the interest of the professional lighting community in 2009. This year
saw the completion of the Platinum Family with Elation’s HFX [featured in
TPi September’s Gear Heads] joining the SBX and FLX. The hybrid fixtures
fully encapsulate Elation’s ‘tool box’ goal, providing a product capable of
beam, spot and wash functionality.
Another noteworthy aspect of the company’s line-up over the last
few years has been the Emotion fixtures. “The Emotion has been one of
our successful fixtures,” stated Librecht. “It was the first fixture to offer
a projector in a moving head offering over 4,000 lumens.” Bruynseels
continued: “On board is an Axon media server that was used due to a prior
relationship Elation had with High End Systems. It’s completely controlled
by DMX and all content can be loaded on to the fixture via a CAT 5 Cable.”
While in the showcase area, both Bruynseels and Librecht described other
fixtures that have recently joined the Elation roster including the new Fuze
Series, the ZCL Series and the DTW Series. Fuze, an LED wash fixture, offers
a homogenised colour system and zoom optics. “What is great about these
fixtures is that there is one LED source rather than the ‘pizza effect’ you get
with fixtures with multiple LED sources,” stated Bruynseels. “With the one
source LED you are able to create some old fashioned looks that you used
to get with traditional fixtures.” A personal highlight for Bruynseels in the
new products was the new DTW Series of blinders: “These new blinders
are one of the coolest things to come out of the industry in the last couple
of years. We have had LEDs fill the role of washes, spots and beams but
blinders have an area where LEDs have not made the jump.”
The new fixtures have a variable white LED light with custom ‘dim
to warm’ and ‘dynamic tri white’ settings. This effectively allows LDs to
replicate the blinder effect of the amber glow seen in traditional bulb
products. “Before it was released we even tested them next to a traditional
blinder fixture and you could not tell the difference,” stated Bruynseels.
Finally, one of the latest fixture series is the ZCL Series, a high-output LED
76
effect that, with its new Zooming Collimator Lens system, is able to offer
amazing effects and coverage.
A MUSICAL INTERLUDE
During our tour the folks at Elation were kind enough to escort TPi to see
one of the company’s latest fixtures in action; the FLX, which was being
deployed on the MTV Unplugged show featuring Cro. For the uninitiated,
he is a German rapper who is known for performing in a panda mask.
Although I admit being unaware of his work before the trip, the young rap-
pop crossover has built himself a mighty fanbase that appeared to cover
an age range of 8 - 80 on closer examination of the site at Essen, Germany.
So while sipping on a beer that was branded by Cro’s logo with the slogan
‘Ain’t nobody fresher than my motherf*cking clique’, TPi watched both the
rapper and the FLX in action.
Cro’s vendor for this tour was satis&fy from Karben, Germany. The
rapper’s LD, Gunther Hecker, specially selected the fixtures for the run,
which the supplier was more than happy to provide. “It’s been interesting to
test the FLX on this open air tour,” said Hecker, who was introduced to the
fixture by satis&fy, whom he has worked with for many years. “After I saw
a shootout of the fixture at their facility in Karben I was sold on it. They’ve
worked out well using them as both a spot and a beam light utilising the
wide palette of colours.”
satis&fy took a shipment of the Platinum FLXs earlier this year, adding
100 of the fixtures to its inventory. “Because we have a wide variety of
clients and a wide range of shows to do, we are always looking for flexibility
of product,” stated Martin Heuser, Global Director Lighting and Rigging
Services at satis&fy. “The Platinum FLX fits our needs perfectly. It’s not a
product we chose for just one special effect but a fixture we can use on a
large variety of shows for beam looks, washes, gobo projections, mid-air
profile looks and certainly a lot more. It’s a ‘real’ hybrid compared to other
hybrids.” He went on to state: “The rentability of the Platinum FLX is very
high and it’s multifunctional so we can use it on car shows, corporate
shows, EDM events and a lot of other events.”
Librecht added: “We are extremely pleased that a company like satis&fy
has chosen to add the Platinum FLX to its inventory. It’s a real validation
of the quality of this fixture and as some of the first FLX units in Europe,
the purchase has made a big impact in the market and several other
companies have followed.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
After spending time with the Elation team, one final question remained -
what is the end goal for this company? Answering plainly, Librecht stated:
“To be one of the top five professional lighting companies! And, from
the traction we’ve had over the last few years, we are well on the way to
succeeding. I think we have done a great job of building up the brand in
European.”
With partner satisfaction at the top of the list of priorities and a line-up
of fixtures able to fulfil a wide variety of requirements, the future of the
company certainly seems bright. Plus, any company with a private bar in its
office certainly gets the TPi seal of approval...
TPi
Photos provided by Elation Professional & TPi
www.elationlighting.eu
www.satis-fy.com www.cromusik.info
 Razor-sharp, pure Platinum
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Platinum lamps have always offered stage lighting
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compactness and powerful beams. The latest star of

Photo credits: Ralph Larmann

the range is the new Platinum 11R. With an arc working
distance of 38.74 mm, the longest in the Platinum family
so far, it allows fixture makers to optimize the optical
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1885_00_521_ADVERT_Entertainment_190x136.indd 1 24-02-16 16:14

FESTIVAL FOCUS
EATON’S ZERO 88 OFFERS ‘A MILLION STEPS’
OF SUPPORT ON THE FRINGE
The 2016 Edinburgh Festival Fringe drew to a
close after three weeks of action in and around
the city, offering over 50,000 performances
in over 300 venues. Showcasing thousands
of events with some of the newest, most
innovative and exciting works including drama,
musical, dance, physical theatre, comedy,
cabaret, opera, music, spoken word and many
more. Zero 88 lighting control was once again right at the hub of this
vibrant experience.
Over 280 technicians were trained during the 2016 Festival Fringe, from
around 130 performance spaces all running Zero 88 consoles. Products
included the new FLX, Solution, Jester and even the now ‘classic’ Fat
Frogs which have been running Festival Fringe venues since the turn of the
millennium.
Eaton provided advice during the early planning stages for several
larger venues, and Zero 88 Product Specialists Paul McEwan and Product
Manager Jon Hole were onsite for the build and throughout the festival
period to provide venue training and to support companies with more
complex plotting requirements.
While performers returned to their post festival world and thousands
of technicians executed meticulously planned get-outs designed to return
78
them as quickly as possible to their beds - or the pub - Zero 88 / Eaton
gathered some heartfelt comments.
Assembly Festival Head of Lighting, Doug Thomas-Currie, summed up:
“The support and advice I have received from Eaton has been incredible
through the whole festival. The technical support provided was second to
none! We have had great feedback on the full range of Zero 88 desks, with
particular interest in the FLX. I can’t thank Paul and Jon enough for their
help with everything this year.”
Brian Hutchison, Technical Manager for Summerhall’s Fringe, agreed:
“Zero 88’s consoles have been a great solution for our Fringe venues, easy
to use and flexible. The equipment is great, however the most valuable
thing for us has been the customer support. Training and troubleshooting
help on call throughout the Fringe is vital when each console is running
10 shows over 12 hours a day. Zero 88 has been a great help and we look
forward to working with them again in the future.”
McEwan added: “Between Jon and myself, we’ve walked over a
million steps and lost a stone and a half in weight while visiting numerous
venues including C venues, Gilded Balloon, Assembly Festival, Underbelly,
Summerhall, Laughing Horse, Zoo Venues, Spotlight and SpaceUK.”
TPi
www.zero88.com
www.edfringe.com

ETC COLORSOURCE SHINES AT EDINBURGH FRINGE
Every August, the world’s largest arts festival,
Edinburgh Festival Fringe, takes over Scotland’s
capital. C venues was back for its 25th year,
creating and curating more than 20 theatre,
performance and exhibition spaces at pop-up
venues in and around the city centre. This year,
C venues’ visiting designers and technicians
used some of the latest products from ETC for
a vibrant and packed programme of theatre, circus, cabaret, musicals,
dance, comedy and children’s shows.
“ETC has been supporting C venues for a number of years, allowing
us to improve the capability of our venues and exposing ETC products to
young, up-and-coming theatre companies and technicians,” said Richard
Williamson, head of production, C venues. “ETC has a long reputation for
producing well-built, reliable equipment and providing an exceptional
level of technical support; and we are thrilled to be using the new ETC
ColorSource consoles and lanterns.
“The consoles are a great addition to the market and are perfect for
our smaller spaces. We have been looking for a lighting desk which people
new to the industry can quickly and easily pick up and use. We’re excited
about the possibilities that the ColorSource consoles give us. They fill an
underserved niche in the market for a truly intelligent console for smaller
venues.”
To equip the festival’s larger spaces, C venues added to its existing
stock of ETC Eos family consoles, supplementing its Ion desks with Ti and
79
EDINBURGH FRINGE
Element consoles. Notably, a Ti is situated in the largest theatre, C scala,
controlling a number of high-profile shows including Tipping Point by
Ockham’s Razor; Fringe favourites The Rat Pack Live; and the all-male a
cappella group All The Kings Men. “The Eos range is the de facto industry
standard console so we couldn’t imagine using anything else for our bigger
venues,” says Williamson.
The issue of heat generated by conventional tungsten fixtures has long
been a challenge for C venues. For several years, the company has been
looking to move its lighting rigs towards LED to help combat this. This year,
several venues are benefitting from the installation of ETC ColorSource
fixtures that - as well as their low heat output - are recognised for producing
a richer, more natural light output than other LED fixtures at such an
accessible price point.
“While LED units have been on the market, we have struggled to
find any that properly give the level of control and colour rendering that
tungsten offers. The new ColorSource LED fixtures are perfect for our needs
and, used alongside ColorSource consoles, we are now able to look to
significantly expand our use of LED,” said Williamson.
Hartley T A Kemp, C venues’ Artistic Director, concluded: “ETC’s support
to C venues is invaluable as it enables young designers and technicians the
chance to work with the latest kit, developing their skills and experience.”
TPi
www.edfringe.com
www.etcconnect.com
DOWNLOAD THE TPi APP
Search “TPi Magazine” on the App Store and Google Play.
WWW.TPiMAGAZINE.COM
LEEDS & READING

TRANSITION VIDEO
Transition was approached by Matt Miley, Tour
Manager for US electro pop quartet Imagine
Dragons, to provide a solution to the band’s
video rider for their slot at Reading and Leeds
festivals this year.
The company was brought in to supply a
system that could be deployed in 30 minutes
changeover and be struck from the stage within
10 minutes, before the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ headline slot - a tall order for
even the most established of video companies!
The product selected for the show was Stealth by Element Labs.
According to Transition, the panel’s lightweight design and high brightness
made it a clear choice for the job. Each of the six 1.2m wide x 6m high
columns could be concertinaed into a flight case, allowing the crew to
simply attach each header to the truss and take the screen out to trim in
minutes.
Director of Transition Video, Rhodri Shaw, said of his experience with the
festival: “Both shows ran perfectly and the team even had time to spare
after they had cleared the stage for the headline slot.”
TPi
www.readingfestival.com
http://transition.video.com

ZEUS
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WWW.CLF-LIGHTING.COM CLFLIGHTING

80

JBL VTX TAKES OVER THE BIG TOP
AT STANDON CALLING
Harman Professional’s leading pro-audio
brands dominated the Big Top Stage for the first
time at this year’s Standon Calling festival in
North Hertfordshire.
The fast growing boutique event, which
began as a birthday barbecue for founder Alex
Trenchard in 2001 before becoming a single-
stage, one-day live music event in 2004, has since
grown exponentially. Today it occupies the picturesque Standon Lordship
site, where Suede, Kelis and Jess Glynne were the main stage headliners.
Dominating the landscape, the vibrant red and white canvas of the Big
Top, which was largely used for electronic dance and other diverse acts,
could be seen for miles around. Here the line-up included Goldie MBE, Greg
Wilson, Theo Parrish, Joey Negro, as well as rising talent Gold Panda, Luke
Abbott and the Mercury Prize-nominated, Ghostpoet.
Glasgow-based Alive Sound is the traditional sound system provider,
and its MD, Iain Mackie, is Production Manager for the entire site.
A meeting between Mackie and Stuart Strachan, from Harman Pro
UK and Ireland distributors, Sound Technology, in January - followed by
a series of product demos - convinced the Scottish company’s sound
engineers that JBL VTX was the system to back.
Said Strachan: “We knew the JBL dual 10-inch of the VTX-V20 would be
a straight replacement for what they had used previously.” He also realised
this could be optimised with the use of JBL HiQnet Performance Manager
configuration software.
Mixing at FOH, experienced sound engineer and musician Keir Long was
able to pilot Soundcraft’s new generation Vi3000 digital mixing console,
having previously familiarised himself with the Soundcraft topology on
the Vi series forerunner, the Vi6. This time around he was boosted by the
Soundcraft Realtime Rack, offering the full suite of UAD Powered Plug-Ins.
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STANDON CALLING
As one of the sound engineers who had previously given a favourable
opinion, Long found the transition from Vi6 to Vi3000 an easy one. “It’s a
very similar layout and I really enjoyed the sound, which was noticeably
different from other desks I had used. I would probably opt for the Vi
because it is slightly more forgiving and more analogue-sounding.”
Long also runs his own studio in Glasgow that uses UAD plug-ins, so
he was able to take full advantage of the Realtime Rack. “I used a couple
of reverbs and compressors, such as the EMT 140 plate reverberator, the
Lexicon 224 digital reverb.” Overseeing FOH throughout the three days, he
reported that there were four visiting sound engineers, all of whom had
varying degrees of proficiency on the desk.
Festivals usually run a generic patch and the Soundcraft desk makes it
very easy to move channels around and label them for visiting engineers’
preferences without getting into the complications associated with soft
patching. One engineer commented that the Vi3000 shines as a festival
desk whereas others are so unfriendly to walk up to.
The VTX system was configured in two hangs of eight V20 per side, with
left / right stacks of four S25 arrayable subwoofers and a centre cluster of
four S28 dual 18-inch subs, supported by six JBL VerTec VT4886 for front fill,
helping to provide even coverage. These were powered on the side of the
stage by Crown amplification, with a total of six VRacks, comprising a total
number of twelve I-Tech 4x3500HD and six I-Tech 12000HD.
“I was very happy with VTX,” concluded Long. “Stuart did well to achieve
even coverage [with Performance Manager] and the front to back coverage
of the arrays was very even.” He added that the predictably narrow vertical
response calculated accurately by JBL LAC prediction software limited
undesirable reflections from the tent.
TPi
www.standon-calling.com
www.jblpro.com
PARK MUSIC FESTIVAL / TØNDER FESTIVAL

MARTIN BY HARMAN
ILLUMINATES A HISTORICAL
CELEBRATION AT THE MATRIXX
AT THE PARK MUSIC FESTIVAL

Martin by Harman MAC Axiom Hybrid fixtures

and Atomic 3000 strobes delivered an
immersive lighting experience for the 100th
anniversary of the Four Days Marches event. 
Sound and lighting provider Focus
Amsterdam recently used the fixtures at Matrixx
at the Park, a seven-day music festival held in
conjunction with the annual International Four
Days Marches Nijmegen - the world’s largest multi-day marching event. In
celebration of the event’s anniversary, the stage at Matrixx at the Park was
decorated with a collage of Nijmegen’s most famous landmarks. Lighting
and Stage Designer Joris Schenk was hired to integrate concert lighting into
the complex stage design, and he selected Martin by Harman fixtures for
their powerful performance, versatility and reliability.  “We had the opportunity to test the Axioms before the show and we
“There were lots of external decorations on the stage, so it was were very impressed,” said Schenk. “The aspects that stood out were the
challenging to include lights, video, sound and effects without outstanding depth of colour, the incredible zoom range, the nice package
compromising the entire theme,” said Schenk. “I chose the new MAC Axiom of gobos and the focus, which automatically adjusts and syncs perfectly
Hybrid fixtures because they can provide a very narrow beam, spot and with the zoom.” 
wash all in one fixture. They were the perfect choice for the stage.” Reliability was also a key concern, since there would be little time
The Four Days Marches is an annual walk that has taken place in to repair or replace a fixture during the festival. The Axioms performed
Nijmegen since 1916. Over 40,000 participants walked up to 50km each flawlessly throughout the entire event, despite high temperatures and near
day during the event and more than one million attended various events continuous use. 
throughout the city. For the 100th anniversary celebration of the march, the “It’s always exciting to incorporate a new fixture without using it
stage at Matrixx at the Park was decorated with a collage of the Waalbrug extensively first, but after two nights of programming and seven days of
Bridge, St. Stephen’s Church, Belvedere Watchtower and the Waagh, a the show - almost 100 hours total - the Axioms have produced excellent
famous building in the city’s market square.  results,” said Schenk. “We used 32 Axioms for the show, and didn’t have any
When it was time to design the lighting rig, Schenk knew that space problems throughout the entire event - a perfect score! In the future, I plan
would be at a premium. He needed fixtures that were not only powerful, on using the Axioms more because of their incredible reliability, output and
but could function in multiple roles on stage. The MAC Axiom Hybrid is multi-functional use.”
an all-in-one product that met his needs by combining beam, spot and TPi
diffused wash functionality in one compact unit. Furthermore, the Axiom’s Photo: Vincent Vandenboogaard
small footprint and lightweight design enabled Schenk to integrate the www.coloursound.co.uk
fixtures seamlessly into the complex stage design.  www.barnonthefarm.co.uk

TØNDER FESTIVAL CELEBRATES LARGE SUCCESS WITH GRAVITY

The who’s who of the folk and Americana scene, After the stands’ outstanding festival performance, Cooke has identified
a fantastic atmosphere, over 11,000 visitors and further fields of application for the Gravity stands: “The Tønder Festival has
perfect festival weather: The Danish Tønder a small live club in Tønder. After the summer break, the Gravity stands will
Festival - Europe’s largest folk music festival be deployed there immediately and again at the Tønder Festival next year.”
- celebrated an overwhelming success from TPi
25 to 28 August 2016. Gravity stands were an www.gravitystands.com
essential part of the festival. www.adamhall.com
The Danish Tønder Festival has been one of http://tf.dk/en/
the most important folk music events since the mid 1970s. The festival’s
42nd edition will likely go down as one of the most successful in history; in
summer temperatures, more than 11,000 music fans from across Europe
enjoyed shows by the folk and Americana music scene’s elite. These
included top acts such as The Avett Brothers, Jason Isbell, The Blind Boys of
Alabama and Rosanne Cash with John Leventhal. 
Ashley Cooke, Production Manager - who is also responsible for Tønder
Festival’s lighting and sound production - relied on the Adam Hall Group’s
new brand for the first time - and was very enthusiastic about the outcome:
“We are very satisfied with the Gravity stands,” he said. “They are very light,
but nonetheless stable. The musicians thought they were great with their
good feel, their cool look and because - thanks to the clamps - they can
be quickly and easily adjusted. This was exceptionally well received by the
musicians.”
Additionally, Ashley Cooke was convinced by the G-Rings: “The colour
code system is really great. You can personalise the stands and the
man at the monitor immediately knows which stand belongs to which
microphone.”

82
B.B. KING HOMECOMING FESTIVAL
DPA MICROPHONES GETS THE ROYAL TREATMENT
AT THE B.B. KING HOMECOMING FESTIVAL
When Bill Alford, Owner of ShowTec
Productions, first took over the company in
2011, he wanted to compete with the bigger
production companies, so he began to update
his equipment. As part of this upgrade, he
knew that DPA Microphones would provide
the perfect audio support. Alford successfully
won the bid for the 35-year-old B.B. King
Homecoming Festival, where he was tasked with supplying the gear for
the stage sound.
At the festival, Alford used two d:facto 4018VL Linear Vocal Microphones
to capture the dynamic vocals of the lead singers. Some of the acts that
used DPA at the festival included the B.B. King Museum All-Stars, Jake And
The Pearl Street Jumpers, Steve Azar and The Kings Men, and Teeny Tucker.
“I was really surprised with how loud you could turn the microphones
up without feedback,” said Alford. “The clarity of the d:facto 4018VL was a
big selling point for me. I like how you can turn the gain up more than most
other microphones, while still getting a clear sound. It is such a relief to
know that DPA can take both extreme power and elegance from a vocalist
and handle the sounds with ease.”
DPA is known for its versatility and ability to handle every type of
vocalist, from the beginner all the way up to the expert. “Some performers
do not have good microphone etiquette, they don’t know how to hold
the mic and want to cover the bottom part of the head with their hand, or
when they hit a high note they don’t back off the microphone,” continued
Alford. “DPA has done a good job concerning these problems that other
microphones continue to face. When using DPA, my FOH and monitor
84
engineers don’t have to worry about the small things, and that is fantastic.”
ShowTec Productions also received microphones on loan from DPA
to test out on instruments at the B.B. King Homecoming Festival. The
kit included a d:vote 4099D Instrument Microphone for Drums, d:dicate
2011C Twin Diaphragm Cardioid Microphones for the kick drums and
as overheads, and a few d:vote 4099S Instrument Microphones for
saxophones.
“The instrument microphones are night and day compared to the ones
we previously used on a regular basis,” explained Alford. “The sound is
phenomenal. My FOH engineer couldn’t stop talking about them. When
your FOH engineer is that excited about a product, you want to do whatever
you can to try to keep those microphones around. The d:vote 4099Ds are
just awesome. They give the drums a boost and make them sound like
nothing you have ever heard.”
Alford hopes to purchase d:vote 4099Ds sometime in the near future. In
the meantime, the d:facto 4018VL Linear Vocal Microphones will be centre
stage this autumn at the Delta Blues and Heritage Festival and Frogfest, a
festival that celebrates Kermit the Frog and Mississippi native Jim Henson.
ShowTec Productions is the Deep South’s premier regional provider of
live entertainment and professional sound services for events, receptions
and parties. With over 30 years experience in the sound and entertainment
industries, Alford oversees a crew of sound and lighting technicians who are
responsible for every aspect of the event, including conceiving, planning,
staging and producing.
TPi
www.ShowTecllc.com
www.dpamicrophones.com

BRILLIANT STAGES AT TOMORROWLAND
In July this year one of the world’s biggest
electronic music festivals, Tomorrowland,
returned to the 75 hectare recreation area De
Schorre in Boom, Belgium for its 13th edition.
Over three days some of the worlds biggest
names in dance music including Deadmau5
and Armin van Buuren, performed over 16
performance areas against a backdrop of jaw-
dropping sets, intense laser shows and spectacular firework displays.
Tomorrowland’s 2016 main stage, designed by Patrick Moerland and
created by Brilliant Stages, comprised a 120m enchanted forest landscape
built around a magnificent central 25m, 3D tree which was set against
a cluster of bas-relief trees studded with additional detailed such as
doorways, pipes, platforms and canopies.
This is the second time Brilliant Stages and Tomorrowland have
collaborated on the main stage set with the staging company supplying the
clock face for the 2014 edition of the festival.
This time however, Tony Bowern and his team at Production Park took
on the vast majority of the build, with Jacqui Pyle overseeing the creative
direction of the project.
The Brilliant design team worked from a very detailed, hollow, gaming
model of the outer skin of the set provided by Moerland, designing a
structure that was engineered to support the load for platforms, ad-ons
and inflatables whilst still retaining Moerland’s original vision of intricate
organic tree shapes and forms.
Brilliant’s Asset Design Manager, Giorgio Castronuovo explained:
“We decided on a process that partly derived from the clock face we made
previously for the 2014 festival which used a sandwich of very thin ply
and foam. This lead us to the path we took this year which utilised hand
sculpted foam which was then hard coated so it could be scenically treated
with various different artistic textures and effects.”
Castronuovo continued: “The biggest challenge came from the organic
nature of the design; there were no straight lines, symmetry or repetition so
every single element had to be drawn by hand which made it complicated,
but we didn’t want to compromise on the overall look of the set.”
Stephan Saliba, Scenic Workshop Manager, drafted in a team of 11
artists, sculptors and carpenters from the Maltese film industry to help
creatively realise the project. The team of artists joined a mammoth team
85
TOMORROWLAND
of 74 creatives, engineers, fabricators, designers and sculptors who worked
at Production Park.
The scenic process began with interpreting the initial drawings and
designs by Patrick into 3D pieces explained Saliba. The team created a
scale, clay model of the full set that was then broken down into sections
and distributed to different creative teams who then worked on carving the
outer sections of the 25m trees.
Once the 3D forms were completed by the sculptors, the sections
were then hard-coated and passed to the artistic team who painted the
sections using layering techniques to create the appearance of bark.
These completed sections were then taken into the main studio where a
21m x 18m scaffold was used for pre-building the structure, ensuring that
each section fit within the rest of the elements around it. Once the team
were happy with the completed section, textures and paint effects were
re-touched and the add-on details, which were scenically treated with gold
leaf, were slotted into the main structure of the trees.
Central to the main 3D tree was a tubular support system for the
branches which also acted as support for the bark, consisting of mesh,
expanding foam and hard coat assembly. The bespoke scaffolding fixture
was then interfaced into the central scaffolding which was supplied by
Stageco.
Once built, the colossal set had to be transported to Belgium in sections
that could be easily man handled and fit into sea containers, so once the
trees had been pre-built they then had to be carved up into smaller chunks
and stored, ready to be transported to Belgium. The main central tree was
made up of over 60 pieces not including all the many intricate, doorways,
stain glass windows, railings and inflatable leaves, supplied by Air Works,
that sat on top of the branches.
During the build the team grew to over 30 as the final bits of the set
arriving at regular intervals from Wakefield. The main stage set took
approximately 780 blocks and 430 sheets of polysterene and over 40,000
man-hours to build.
Pyle describes seeing the finished set for the first time in:
“It still blew me away, even though I’d seen it built on site. To see it finished
brought tears to my eyes.”
TPi
www.tomorrowland.com
www.brilliantstages.com
BRIGHTON PRIDE

SUNBABA DELIVER BRANDING FOR

BRIGHTON PRIDE FESTIVAL 2016
When this year’s Brighton Pride Festival took
place from 5 to 7 August 2016, Sunbaba was
delighted to provide branding solutions to
production team Wilde Ones. The Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ)
community event attracts a huge number
of participants, spectators and visitors from
across Sussex and further afield and according
to Tourism South East, the festival is the biggest event and tourist
attraction in Brighton.This year was no exception with the UK’s biggest
Pride festival attracting nearly 300,000 people participating in the
celebrations across the city.
Working to the client’s brief and the event’s theme, ‘Carnival of
Diversity: Uniting Nations’, Sunbaba produced branding for the Main Stage,
the aussieBum Wild Fruit Big Top Dance Tent and Heras fencing.
The Main Stage branding provided the perfect setting for artists like
Carly Rae Jepsen, Sister Sledge, Fleur East and Alesha Dixon, and consisted
of two stage scrims, 7.2m wide x 11.83m high, printed in Sunbaba’s
Ultramesh material. They were produced with rope-reinforced edges with
eyelets and then finished and reinforced with bowmer bond on the reverse
side around the video screen cut out. In addition, they were designed with a
pole pocket to fit a 50mm diameter scaffold pole.
As always, the Wild Fruit Big Top Dance Tent proved to be one of the access, as well as the festival’s line-up.
most popular attractions during the festival at Preston Park, featuring Dean Parker, Wilde Ones Production Manager, commented: “Branding
headline DJ performers Stonebridge, DJ Fresh, Freemasons and many plays an important part in the success of any event, from effectively
others. Here Sunbaba produced an 8m x 4m roof banner in Ultramesh and delivering your sponsors’ messages to ensuring visitors are exposed to
four door banners, 4m high x 1.25m wide in polyester, all demonstrating key information, accuracy is vital. Once again, Sunbaba was able to deliver
sponsor, aussieBum’s brand to perfection. exactly what we needed when we needed it and the overall result was
With over 80m of its branded Heras fencing screening also supplied, excellent.”
Sunbaba was able to provide branding for sponsors and partners along TPi
with directional signage for festival goers. This included information about www.brighton-pride.org
the Street Diner, Pride Parties, the location of box offices, gates and VIP www.sunbaba.co.uk

plays nicely with others

r14 is here • real-time generative effects • device recording
d3technologies.com/r14

86
FESTIVAL FOCUS
THE SUMMER SEASON ROUND-UP WITH SSE HIRE
The summer kicked off for SSE Audio Group
with MTV Crashes Coventry at the end of May,
then for the next 15 weeks SSE Hire’s Redditch
warehouse was a constant production line of
prepping, packing, dispatching, unpacking and
re-prepping the company’s festival systems.
Across the summer, SSE supplied a total of
36 stages on 23 festival sites. Over 50 megacube
articulated trucks were required to ship the equipment from Redditch to
site. On average each weekend SSE Hire supplied 138 line array cabinets
and 72 sub bass cabinets just to meet its festival commitments.
SSE’s Hire Operations Manager Stefan Phillips expanded on the
numbers: “If you look at the totals for the summer we sent out over 500
L-Acoustics K1 cabinets, 600 K2 cabinets, 900 subs and nearly 600 wedge
monitors. The festivals have required 179 crew to be on site (crew numbers
on a single site can range between two and eight), many of whom were
moving straight from one project to the next.
“Typically we’d have trucks tipping from a weekend’s festivals on a
Monday and everything had to be tested, prepped and out on a truck again
by Tuesday afternoon. The only way we can achieve these turnarounds is by
running the warehouse like a military operation.”
To meet the tight turnaround times SSE is constantly looking to refine
its festival package. At the beginning of May it assembled Flip-Flop A, a
control system that includes two Avid Venue Profile consoles for FOH, two
Yamaha CL5 consoles for monitors, an SSE DriveRack and all the ancillary
equipment required to run a festival system. This package then stayed
together as a system throughout the summer. Alongside this an identical
Flip Flop B was assembled for the two-festival weekends and then Flip
Flops C and D were added to cover off additional requirements such as
second stages and one off events.
With a standardised control system, SSE then tailored the speaker
and amplification package to the requirements of the individual stage or
festival. SSE retains a core crew of engineers throughout the summer who
can be interchanged from festival to festival yet all have the experience of
the SSE system.
88
For 2016 SSE expanded its existing L-Acoustics festival solution, based
around the K1 and K2 systems.. The Hire department invested in the
latest L-Acoustics KS28 subs with LA12X amplification and these were well
received by engineers on the circuit.
“You’d have thought that one sub is much the same as the next,
however I was surprised at just how musical they are,” commented FOH
Engineer, Robbie McGrath. “Their tone and energy is absolutely second to
none compared to anything else on the market.”
SSE also opted to upgrade the consoles used on monitors, from Yamaha
PM5Ds to Yamaha CL5’s. Output requirements have steadily increased over
the years,” commented Dan Bennett, SSE Hire Manager. “24 outs used to be
fine, but with more wedges, sidefills and stereo in-ear monitors, nowadays
that isn’t enough, so the CL5 was the obvious replacement as a monitor
desk.”
Much of SSE’s development work has been focussed on simplifying
the setup procedures on site, with the aim of saving time and making
hire systems more flexible and reliable. At the heart of every SSE festival
system is the SSE DriveRack, which SSE has further refined this year. The
key hardware remains the same including Lake Processors and an Antelope
world clock, but the packaging of the rack has been greatly improved.
Bennett explained: “By patching all the inputs and outputs onto the rear
panel of DriveRack, our systems can be quickly setup and configured. They
can accommodate just about every conceivable production request from
front of house engineers. By making the panel hingeable, our engineers can
get access to the individual units quickly to make a change.
“The new rack is all about making the system tech’s life that much
simpler. It’s not just a case of providing somewhere for them to recharge
their phone, but features like the provision of a Wi-Fi tablet really help
when we are conducting the initial system equalisation and conducting
walkabouts during a show.”
The aptly named End of the Road Festival took place over the first
weekend in September at Larmer Tree Gardens in Wiltshire, bringing to a
close SSE’s festival season.
TPi
www.sseaudiogroup.com

EUROTRUSS PUT A ROOF OVER
EXIT FESTIVAL
Eurotruss first became involved with Serbia’s
EXIT Festival in 2014 when it linked up with
Serbian supplier Sky Corporation to work on
the Dance Arena. Sky Corporation CEO Milenko
Škarić explained: “It was a real pleasure and
challenge for us as the EXIT Dance Areana was
considered one of the best in the world.
“Our goal was to improve and make it
even better. We really succeeded in this and according to all, this was an
important and large step forward for the festival. Today we sit as one of two
major shareholders of the event.”
Sky Corporation supplied two Eurotruss pitch roofs, one 24m x 15m for
the main stage and an 18m x 15m for Dance Arena, all closed with canopies
and with changeover / production areas. Škarić continued: “Since the
89
EXIT FESTIVAL
weather can be a real risk, without the Eurotruss Pitch roof structures being
as reliable as they are, we can freely say that there would be no Dance Arena
stage. Eurotruss is perfect solution for our rental as the products are very
flexible - we can literally make any roof size as we want. We already have
three pitch roof structures and all of them are matching our needs for any
application.”
We are actively looking for now shapes and solutions for our stages.
I believe our designers will try to add more rounded and curved shapes
rather then cube look. As we have recently invested in our new state-of-the-
art sound system with an EAW Anya, we will try to find a best solution to rigg
this heavy system under the roof which means expanding main stage roof. 
TPi
www.eurotruss.com
www.exitfest.org/en
ROAD DIARIES
SIMON GALLACHER
Tour Manager, letlive.
“A gig is like a drug-deal…..There are NO good surprises!”
On a fine, cold October evening we loaded out of Manchester’s Sound
Control and started the overnight drive to Cairnryan, Scotland, so we could
make the 8:00am ferry crossing to Northern Ireland. Coffee going down,
Cro-Mags in my ears and a bit of nervous energy with regards to how rough
the ferry was going to be got me through the drive. We arrived at the port in
good time to discover the seas were calm (phew). Full English at £15 and a
broken sleep on the floor (serenaded by a screaming child) before we arrive
into Belfast, drive to Dublin and ready for load-in at 2pm.
Ah, Fibber McGee’s! Not been to this venue since 2009 when I came
through with Madball, even the same promoter as last time (good news!)
and he tells me the show’s sold out (even better)!
We set-up, soundcheck and all seems fine. There’s people queueing
from 4pm, the pub is packed already and by 9:30pm it’s time for change-
90
over! At that point, my FOH guys come into the dressing-room as I’m getting
out of my seat to go downstairs.
FOH - “Eh, have you seen it down there?”
Me - “I’ve not been down in a bit, I’ve been having a bit of shut-eye after that
drive.”
I make my way down to be greeted with a sea of gridlocked people - you
can’t move! I ask the promoter how many tickets we’ve sold and at this
point I’m informed that there’s been a bit of a mistake - they’ve actually
sold 100 tickets too many for the show (please refer to my opening
statement)!
Well we’re in the thick of it now and I’ll be buggered if I’m asking
100 pissed up Irish letlive. fans to leave the venue, so it’s everyone for
themselves. Hold on tight!
After fighting our way through the crowd for change-over, we’re all on-
stage. I’ve never felt heat and humidity like this in my life. The FOH engineer
had his shirt off before we even started (I think the venue gave a discount
because of that, anyhow).
We quickly line-check and as the band rings out, it begins... The first
person climbs onto the cigarette machine by the side of the wall, flips into
the crowd and scrambles towards the stage, as this is happening I have
seven people onstage trying to dive off - the first song hasn’t even begun!
The band start and all hell breaks loose; kids are hanging from the beam
above us, there’s no less than 10 people trying to stage-dive at any one
time, people are swinging from the hanging PA stacks and Jason, our singer,
is in the crowd (as is the guitarist).
It was quite simply 45 minutes of the most intense madness I’ve ever
witnessed in my 17 years of watching live music. All of a sudden, silence.
We’ve lost power to sound and lighting.
Now, as a tour manager, there is a certain level of professionalism that
needs to be adhered to. However, letlive. are not your standard band and
I’m not your standard TM. So, with an oversold sweaty punk show and
issues at FOH, I find myself crowd-swimming across everyone to FOH where
my lads are trying to fix the problem.
Power back on - hurrah! Now, to get back on-stage (yup, you guessed
it) our sound guy lifts me straight up and I’m carried back across the crowd
for the band to do their final four songs with all of them in the crowd and
the crowd on the stage! Show finished. Loaded-out. T-shirt in the bin. Job
done!
You want to work for letlive.? Ha! You wouldn’t last five minutes...
Simon Gallacher
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CLOCKING OFF

PRG XL Video Operations Manager, Jason Hodgetts, was determined to do anything he could to assist Macmillan Cancer Support in its work.

PRG XL VIDEO
When he experienced losing three friends to cancer in the space of six months, PRG XL Video
Operations Manager, Jason Hodgetts, knew he wanted to do something in their memory. Fundraising
for Macmillan Cancer Support, he decided to #bravetheshave!

Lately, It seems that more and more people are affected by cancer,
whether suffering with the illness or losing a family
member or friend, it never feels far away. In the last
six months, three people I knew have passed away
due to cancer related illnesses.
My old pal Brian Evans, who was a long term PRG
employee, passed away on 13 June after battling for
only a short time. He was incredibly popular, and a
real character in our warehouse.
Mark ‘Scratch’ Hitchcock, our dear friend and
another Brummie legend, lost his fight with ‘C’ a few
short months after he was diagnosed, and to say he
https://bravetheshave.org.uk/
and Brian will be sorely missed is far too short of the
mark. The ripples were felt across the globe.
The third person was my wife’s cousin who was
diagnosed and passed within a month.
I decided I needed to do something, anything,
to try and help in whatever way I could, and having
read the #bravetheshave blog it seemed like a small
sacrifice.
Cancer turns peoples’ worlds upside down but,
with the Macmillan team behind them, sufferers
DONATE receive some strength from knowing they are never
alone during this difficult time.
HERE
I’m hoping the money we’ve raised will go some
way to helping these fantastic people.
My donation page is still open so if you’d like to
shavers/jason-hodgetts/ add to the £1,140 already raised then get clicking!
Come on, dig deep people!
TPi

92
 MAKE
THREE
WISHES|PLB-280

Steerable sound isn’t just

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EXPO
BPM | PRO 2016
Successful changes pave the way for the future of BPM | PRO.
Celebrating 10 years of BPM, the new-look BPM | PRO continued to
exemplify the energy and creativity that drives the DJ & Studio and AV
industries. This year’s show - which took place from Sunday 11 until
Tuesday 13 September - boasted a solid two days of visitors with a
further day focussed on the trade visitor, building a strong foundation
for the future of the brand new BPM | PRO format.
Marked Events Head of PR and Marketing, Sara Walker, commented:
“Closing on a high in the new venue, the Genting Arena at NEC Birmingham,
the reaction from visitors and exhibitors alike was positive; many feeling
very much at home in a venue that was fit for purpose. With a social space
for DJ & Studio, a full-height arena for professional lighting and special
effects, and individual rooms for sound demonstrations, the move from a
traditional exhibition space into the new venue has proved a resounding
success.”
An audience of end user DJs, music producers, lighting designers, sound
technicians and venue owners flocked to the show, providing brands from
around the world with the opportunity to show off their new products to
visitors. Walker continued: “The main aim of BPM | PRO is to unite attendees
and exhibitors, acting as the ultimate platform for networking, sharing new
94
and upcoming products and cultivating new business relationships.”
Mark Walsh, Marked Events Director and co-founder of BPM | PRO,
added: “We have made a lot of changes this year, and they appear to have
all paid off! A change of days has not affected our visitor numbers, but
has allowed us to build on creating a strong trade visitor demographic
in the up and coming years. The new venue has been the absolute right
choice for our industry. Not only is the space fresh and exciting; it’s also
surrounded by plenty of hotels, bars and restaurants, which allows the
show atmosphere to continue on through the evenings.
“I am extremely thankful to all those exhibitors who have supported the
show over the past 10 years and especially to those who took a chance on
us again this year. Myself and my team are already excitedly working on the
2017 event, where we will build on the positives from this year and listen
to feedback from both visitors and exhibitors to create an even bigger and
better show for 2017!”
BPM | PRO will return to the Genting Arena in 2017 and the dates are due
to be announced soon. Tickets will be available in Spring 2017.
TPi
www.bpmpro.show

2016 SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
Above: Bose Professional were out in force, showcasing the company’s latest release, the ShowMatch DeltaQ; TW Audio’s Simeon Ludwell, who will head up the UK branch
of the company; Martin Audio launched its new loudspeaker system, the BlacklineX at this year’s show; Martin Audio’s James King.
Martin Audio
During this year at BPM | PRO, PA specialist Martin Audio showcased its
latest series of loudspeakers, the BlacklineX. This was the third iteration of
the Blackline Series that was launched back in 1999, setting a new standard
for affordable professional loudspeaker systems and quickly became
synonymous with sound quality and reliability for live music venues and
nightclubs worldwide.
Now, with the BlacklineX, Martin Audio’s R&D team has engineered a
whole new range of speakers delivering the signature sound of warmth,
nuance and clarity at a price point not previously possible, all in a clean,
smart design with no-compromise between the needs of installation and
portability. Comprising of four, two-way systems - from the ultra-compact
X8 to the powerful X15 - and three subwoofers, including an unobtrusive
slimline model, the multi-purpose BlacklineX Series raises the performance
of loudspeaker systems in its class to a new level.
During the show, Martin Audio hosted several demos off from the main
hall giving visitors a chance to hear the whole range. James King, Director
of Marketing at Martin Audio commented on his experience at the show: “It
certainly gave us the opportunity to get in front of a core customer target
with over 300 people going through the demonstration it helped reaffirm
that we have a winning proposition with BlacklineX.”
TW AUDiO
Germany-based TW AUDiO has recently announced the launch of its UK
branch. BPM | PRO was a chance for TW AUDiO to introduce TW AUDiO UK to
the market as well as announce Simeon Ludwell who has been appointed
95
BPM | PRO 2016
as Managing Director.
Setting up shop in London, TW AUDiO UK now has a warehouse space
and offices ready to supply the British marketplace. “Due to increasing
sales and projects in the UK, the time was right to appoint a distribution
company to act as a sole distributor for the UK market, and handle our
interests directly in this key territory as expected by our customers,”
commented Bernhard Wuestner, MD of TW AUDiO. “Many of the projects we
see, utilise UK integration and suppliers and this set up will help us to assist
and maintain this trend and growth.”
Speaking to Ludwell on the show floor, he discussed his plans for the
company’s future: “This coming year we will be looking to strengthen sales
in the UK by adding a dealer network. BPM | PRO produced some good
conversations and we are in talks with potential dealers.”
Bose
With its release of the new ShowMatch DeltaQ, BPM | PRO gave Bose
Professional a chance to showcase its latest release to the marketplace. Sue
Harrison,
Business Development Manager for Bose Professional discussed
the company’s experience at the show: “The timing of BPM | PRO could not
have been better as we embarked later that week on a European Roadshow
to launch the ShowMatch DeltaQ array loudspeaker.” The new loudspeakers
feature the most versatile DeltaQ design, optimised for both permanent
installations and portable applications, with field-changeable waveguides
in compact enclosures that can form DeltaQ, constant-curvature, or
‘J-shape’ line-array configurations. This versatility helps ensure the best
possible sound quality for a given audience area and system budget.
BPM | PRO 2016
Operations Manager for Peavey Commercial Audio, James Kennedy; Brian Dowdle, Marketing Director of ADJ Lighting; TPi’s September edition was out in force; ADJ
Lighting demoed one of its newest releases, the AV6X 6mm LED Video panel.
The ShowMatch DeltaQ could be heard in the demo area during the
three day event. Harrison commented: “The Pro Audio Demo Area allowed
visitors to the show to be the first to see and hear the new arrays, and the
feedback we received was positive and very encouraging. We also had our
VIP room that allowed us to meet customers away from the busy show
floor, and many valuable discussion took place there during the show.”
Chromateq
During this year’s BPM | PRO, Chromateq wasthere in force offering demos
and training with its helpful team. Offering visitors the chance to get some
hands-on experience with latest release of Pro DMX and Studio DMX. During
the three-day event, ArtNet and DMX were running on moving heads and a
six universe LED Panel.
Peavey Commercial Audio
Crest Audio, a division of Peavey Commercial Audio, was on deck at this
year’s show displaying the latest Tactus digital mixing system. Visitors
were able to get their hands-on Crest Audio’s latest modular touch-screen
system, which includes The Waves eMotion LV1 mixer application that runs
on a Windows PC or Mac with one, two or three multi-touch screens.
The system had its first full field test at a recent live music event staged
by UK distributor Midwich and pre-orders are being accepted for the first
time.
The Tactus hardware is comprised of the Tactus.FOH, the audio
96
processing core for the system, and the Tactus.Stage, a 32-in/16-out remote
stage box. The modular capability of the Tactus Digital Mixing System,
which connects via standard Gigabit Ethernet cabling and an internal
Gigabit switch, allows multiple configurations in a range of channel counts
to best suit each application.
James Kennedy, Operations Manager for Peavey Commercial Audio
EMEA said: “Working closely with Waves, we believe that Tactus offers
a professional sound mixing platform that is fitting for today’s digital
demands, with features that will benefit all users, from the workplace to
a live music venue. We’ve made connectivity and networking simple, with
USB, Ethernet and MIDI all available.”
ADJ
Along with a large selection of products from the ADJ stock room, the
company also showcased one of its latest releases, the AV6X, an affordable
6mm LED Video panel designed for nightclubs, bars, bands and mobile
entertainers. The new features on the AV6X, which have been upgraded
from AV6, are that it uses higher quality LEDs for better colour consistency
and a darker black masking for higher contrast.
Brian Dowdle, Marketing Director of ADJ Lighting commented on the
company’s experience at the show: “BPM | PRO has always been a fantastic
show for ADJ Lighting. With the recent PRO side of the show, ADJ has been
able to properly demo our products to their fullest potential to dealers,
production professionals and end users.”
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BPM | PRO 2016
Above: As well as showing its new MagicQ MQ500 Stadium console, ChamSys also hosted basic and advanced training sessions on their consoles; In collaboration with
Production Park and sister publication mondo*dr, TPi hosted a party on the Saturday night at the High Line New York Bar & Lounge; FBT displayed its wide range of audio
products including demonstrations of its renowned MUSE and MITUS line array systems in the Pro Audio demo space.
Shure
During the three days of BPM | PRO, Shure Audio Institute UK hosted
a digital wireless seminar that covered the recent changes to the RF
landscape and explained how digital wireless systems help to secure a
positive future for wireless microphones. Entitled Wireless Mastered - RF
& Digital 2016, the seminar also features a digital wireless question and
answer session. By tackling common digital myths, Shure distinguished
fact from fiction in what has become one of the pro audio industry’s most
misunderstood topics.
Tuomo Tolonen, Shure Pro Audio Group Manager commented: “The RF
spectrum for use by wireless microphone operators has changed a lot over
recent years. From the digital TV switchover to the rise of mobile phone
ownership the demand for a clean spectrum is greater than ever. Digital
wireless systems have a lot to offer in securing a positive future for wireless
microphones through spectral efficiency, and it’s imperative that we as
audio professionals arm ourselves with the facts.”
ChamSys
Situated upstairs up from the main show floor, ChamSys set up a demo
room used for both basic and advanced training sessions. However, it
was not just the training days that the lighting company had on offer as it
showcased its latest release, the MagicQ MQ500 Stadium console. Designed
to operate at the highest level of show control, the MagicQ MQ500 Stadium
enables shows to be designed from concept to reality including lighting,
media, LED and scenic design. The console also features dual multi-touch
displays in full HD with adjustable viewing angles and gesture support.
98
The MQ500 Stadium has inbuilt MagicVis 3D visualiser with high quality
beam and gobo rendering supporting up to 200 universes on-board direct
from the console without the need for external processing. The MQ500 is
scheduled for release before the end of 2016.
FBT UK
During this year’s show, FBT UK displayed its wide range of audio products
including demonstrations of its renowned MUSE and MITUS line array
systems in the Pro Audio demo space. New to the UK market and shown
on the main FBT stand was the FBT’s Vertus CS1000 compact line array
system. Vertus is designed to offer a no-compromise choice for live
performers and installers and epitomises FBT’s hallmark ergonomic design
flair and superb sound quality. The Vertus CS 1000 can be deployed on
stage within minutes, making it ideal for performers, or taking advantage
of its discrete good looks, can be integrated into the most sophisticated
locations.
Also on show was FBT’s Ventis range of passive and active speakers
as well newcomers to the FBT range, the ProMaxX, which represents the
company’s latest refinements to a long established leader in polypropylene
housed enclosures. Also shown during the three days were the extremely
powerful subwoofers, the Q118SA.
FBT’s partner, JTS Professional also showed of its newly released TC-22
replacement microphone capsule for JTS, Shure and Sennheiser wireless
systems. The TC-22 offers an extremely wide dynamic range and very low
touch noise, making it suitable for stage applications where the highest
quality reproduction is required. Also on show for the first time was the
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BPM | PRO 2016

Allen & Heath’s flagship dLive S7000 control surface was one of the main highlights, with the new app-controllable Qu-SB and touchscreen-equipped Qu-Pac digital mix-
ers; Essential Supplies UK were pleased to announce its new brand Titan Power at this year BPM | PRO; The Chauvet Arena made a welcome return to this years event with
an array of the company’s newest fixtures.

JTS R-4 UHF four-channel diversity system. To cope with the squeezed radio
spectrum the system provides more compatible channels within the limited
bandwidth. The R-4 is a four-channel system in a 19-inch one U case.
Essential Supplies UK
Essential Supplies UK was pleased to announce its new brand Titan Power at
this year BPM | PRO. Titan Power designs, manufactures and supplies a large
range of high quality solutions for temporary power supplies using premium
components. A well as offering a range of off-the-shelf power distribution
products, Titan Power can also manufacture in-house any board to any
specification, from 16a to 800a, with various options such as lifting points,
variable RCDs, key switches, audible pre-trip warning, ammeters, PowerLock,
19-inch rack, flight cased.
Allen & Heath
During the three-day event, as well as showcasing several new products for
the DJ market, Audio-Technica was also displaying a variety of Allen & Heath’s
live-oriented digital mixing systems. The flagship dLive S7000 control surface
was one of the main highlights, with the new app-controllable Qu-SB and
touchscreen-equipped Qu-Pac digital mixers and popular Qu-24 also on
show.
An array of Audio-Technica’s newest product offerings were also on show
including the recently-launched E70, E50 and E40 in-ear monitors and M
Series headphones along with the latest Artist and Artist Elite microphones.
Chauvet Arena
This year’s BPM | PRO also saw the return of the Chauvet Arena, which
honoured the new location in style with an impressive array of the company’s
newest fixtures in one spectacular stadium-ready lighting concept. This
collection included the Maverick MK2 Wash and MK2 Spot, STRIKE 1, Rogue R1
FX-B, and Ovation E-910FC.
According to European Product Expert Sam Bowden, the new arena
presented the team at Chauvet with the ultimate opportunity to see the latest
fixtures in their natural habitat. “When we learned of BPM | PRO’s expansion
plans for the Chauvet Arena, we realised we could create something on an
entirely different scale this year,” commented Bowden. “As a result, we’ve gone
for a lighting concept worthy of any large stadium tour. The fixtures we’ve
chosen to install reflect this.”
In addition to DJ competitions, parties and workshops, BPM | PRO guests
had several opportunities to see the Chauvet Arena light display during the
show.
Chauvet Europe General Manager Michael Brooksbank added: “We’re very
enthused about our new products being presented in the larger and improved
Chauvet Arena this year.”
TPi
www.visitbpm.co.uk

100

“We’ve chosen BPM | PRO to
display our new-game changing
passive end-fire subwoofer, which
is due for official release in the
near future. The show looks great
and there’s been a good turnout.
The pre-launch of our new sub is
going really well as a result.”
Mika Isotalo, Aura Audio
“BPM | PRO was a great event
for both the artists and industry
professionals who came across
the three days of the show. As
the UK’s Magic FX Distributors,
Pyrowarehouse along with
Pyrojunkies produced a live demo
show, four times a day. The whole
performance was time coded
with video, lights and, of course,
a whole array of special effects.
The combination of pyrotechnics,
CO2 blasters, confetti and even
bubbles, created a magical and
unforgettable experience and
drew big crowds over the three
days.”
James Priddle, Pyrojunkies
BPM | PRO 2016
TALKING HEADS
“PRO was a great
show once again
for Le Maitre. It is
always good for
us to be able to
show our pyro in
action and PRO
provides the perfect
opportunity for us to
do so. Our twice-
daily shows on the FX Stage were packed, attracting hundreds of visitors
over the three days. It was the ideal platform to show a wide range of
our products, explain all about them and answer people’s questions.
The show floor seemed really busy with a good flow of visitors, and it
was a good chance to catch up with industry friends and make lots of
new contacts too.”
Elaine Frost, Le Maitre
“What a way to celebrate 10
years! The team are only just
recovering from the three days
at BPM | PRO this year, but it
was definitely worth it - a great
vibe, new faces and overall
a fantastic opportunity to
socialise with customers and
suppliers. You can be sure to
see Leisuretec exhibiting at the
show next year.”
Charlie Henden, Lesiuretec
“The new layout of this year’s
BPM | PRO show worked really
well for us and it seemed that
there was a real increase in
numbers, especially those from
the rental and install market. We
were also pleasantly surprised
“BPM | PRO is a growing show with the number of new sales
with good future business leads we got from the show.”
potential. Although not a Johan Gunsing, International
major tradeshow for us, Sales Manager for Adam Hall
we made several excellent
contacts at last year’s show
and are confident that this
year’s event will yield the
same results.”
Dirk Bosloirs, PRG Proshop
101
BPM | PRO 2016

PRO 2016 LIVE TALKS: JOBS IN THE INDUSTRY

During the second day of the show, PRO hosted a panel aimed at those wishing to find a job in the industry; The panel consisted of Richard Wear, Founder of Interfacio,
TPi’s Kelly Murray, Al Mouat, UK sales at Adlib and General Manager of PSA, Andy Lenthall who chaired the panel.

The Panel:
Richard Wear - Founder, Interfacio
Kelly Murray - Editor, TPi
Al Mouat - UK Sales, Adlib
Chairman: Andy Lenthall - GM, Production Services Association
On Monday 12 September, as part of its ongoing live talks, PRO
hosted a session on industry jobs - how to mentally prepare for them
educationally, train for them and eventually, successfully obtain them.
The panel was aimed at young people seeking relevant experience and
advice on formal education within their chosen sector. This topic has
become somewhat of a talking point throughout recent months here at
TPi, with the launch of Production Futures - a careers fair for students,
recent graduates and young freelancers held at Production Park’s
Yorkshire site in Wakefield.
With a full audience to hand, it’s clear that the demand for career
advice is rife. The room provided a captive audience for Interfacio - a
global, specialist recruitment service within the audio and music sectors,
and Adlib - one of the UK’s leading audio and lighting rental companies,
known for its mixture of veterans and young, innovative crews. A new
recruit to Adlib himself, Mouat commented: “It was great to get a chance
to engage with the younger generation and to help steer them on the
right path within the industry. There are too many of the cliched ‘grumpy
old roadies’ still out there who are in need of a youthful dynamic on tour.
Some of our best road crew need a well-earned rest!”
TPi

102
 NOTHING ELSE

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for inquiries please contact Mr. Ralf Lattig or Mr. Sascha Kwasny
GEAR HEADS
INTRODUCING
MARTIN AUDIO’S BLACKLINEX
This year Martin Audio revitalised its well-known Blackline Series, creating the BlacklineX. Preceding
its official launch at BPM | PRO, TPi speaks to Martin Audio’s R&D Director,
Jason Baird, to discuss the new range.
This is the third iteration of the Blackline series. What was the incentive
to reinvent the brand and why was this the right time to bring it to the
marketplace?
Blackline was originally launched in 1999, while its early successor
[Blackline+] appeared in 2003, so the latest range was over 13 years old.
Although its performance was still highly regarded, the look of the products
had dated and the price points had crept over the years to become
uncompetitive. The time was right to reinvent a much-respected range to be
as strong if not better, performance-wise, with a premium look and build at
a breakthrough low price for Martin Audio.
What was the overall design brief for the R&D department during the
earlier stages of development?
The brief was simple; exceed the performance of Blackline+ while targeting
104
a significantly more aggressive price point and not compromising on
construction quality.
Could you give a brief overview of the range of four speakers and three
subs, outlining the various features of each box?
Comprising four two-way systems - from the ultra-compact X8 to the
powerful X15 - and three subwoofers, including a slimline model, the multi-
purpose BlacklineX Series raises the performance of loudspeaker systems in
its class to a new level. Each symmetrical, multi-angle, full-range enclosure
features a user-rotatable horn for horizontal or vertical orientation, and
has a screw-free, foam-backed steel grille. Comprehensive mounting
options include wall-bracket, eyebolt suspension and pole-mounting.
Ergonomic handles at the rear of each full-range enclosure make for easy
handling while maintaining clean lines. All BlacklineX Series enclosures are
MARTIN AUDIO BLACKLINEX
Opposite: The latest rendition of Martin Audio’s Blackline Series, the BlacklineX. Below: The series was showcased for the first time as BPM|PRO in Birmingham;
Martin Audio’s R&D Director, Jason Baird.
constructed from plywood and are finished with a durable black textured
coating, with white and custom RAL colour options available to order.
What where the main challenges during the creation of the series?
The main challenge was how to reduce the cost of the products, while
building on the performance of the Blackline name. Given that BlacklineX
is suitable for portable as well as installed applications, we also had to
ensure the products were rugged enough for life on the road. Meeting these
challenges was done via a combination of design and sourcing of more
competitively priced, yet high-quality components. Importantly, we also
didn’t compromise on power handling, reliability or output capability.
You recently showcased the series at the BPM|PRO show. Why did you
choose this show to launch the product? What was the feedback from the
listening sessions and those that saw the product over the weekend?
BPM|PRO was a very timely show and its target market is perfectly suited to
this launch. Equally, the way that Mark Walsh and his team deliver efficiency
105
for the exhibitor made it an easy solution for our needs.
The feedback from the demos was very encouraging and reaffirmed all
that we set out to do with BlacklineX. People were delighted with overall
performance to value relationship, and many could see that for weekend
hire jobs for DJs and bands it was now a very compelling offering, while on
the installation front they really liked the professional look and design which
also gave opportunity to mix and match with our CDD line of products. The
slimline X210 sub was a big hit, having been an omission in our portfolio for
some time, so we expect to sell a lot of this.
Now that the Blackline has made its debut to the market what are the
plans for the series? Can you reveal any places we might see it cropping
up over the next few months?
It’s too early at present, but we have a huge order book already so watch this
space come November when we start shipping the products.
TPi
www.martin-audio.com
INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS
INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS
Above: JP de Vernon and Kevin Stannett have joined DWR Distribution; Kinesys has appointed The Rigging Shop as the exclusive distributor for its products in Australia and
New Zealand; Monacor Iberia has taken on the exclusive distribution of GLP products in Spain; Bradley Watson and Robin Dibble have rejoined Martin Audio.
DWR Distribution has announced the addition of two new members to
its team. JP de Vernon has come on board as Sales Representative for
Africa, taking over the position of Johnny Scholtz, who will now oversee
architectural sales at DWR. Handling sales in theatres, schools, broadcast,
television studios and casinos will be Kevin Stannett, who replaces Dave
Whitehouse after the latter relocated to the UK.
“When Dave told me he was leaving DWR and moving back to the UK it
broke me,” said DWR Director Duncan Riley. “One evening I phoned Kevin
and asked if he would be interested in joining us. I think what is good is that
Kevin, a talented Lighting Designer, has a background to Back of House so
he is not trying to sell a product that he’s not comfortable with. He will also
be able to sell knowing the infrastructure behind products.”
The two new additions to DWR’s team are already familiar with each
other, having met four years ago when both worked at the Emperors Palace
- Stannett as a freelance Lighting Designer, and de Vernon as Theatre
Services Manager.
“When we worked together we always did things proper,” said de
Vernon. “Between the two of us, there’s pretty much not a solution we can’t
come up with. It’s what we’ve always just done.”
“I look forward to this amazing opportunity,” said Riley. “That these guys
chose DWR to be their place is important for me and it’s an honour to have
them.”
106
Sponsored by
www.interfacio.com • +44 208 986 5002
Kinesys has appointed The Rigging Shop (TRS) as the exclusive
distributor for its products in Australia and New Zealand.
Based in New South Wales, TRS is part of Pollard Productions, a long-
term customer of Kinesys. It is headed by James Ring - who also owns
Pollard Productions - and Mike Stephenson.
“TRS share our core values, standards of excellence and attention to
detail,” said Kinesys MD Dave Weatherhead. “They have the right attitude
and bring a huge amount of knowledge and enthusiasm to the equation
and, through the Pollard Productions connection, the TRS team is also
really experienced with our product ranges.”
“We are proud to take on the distributorship and really value being part
of the Kinesys international team,” added Ring.
Spanish wholesaler Monacor Iberia has taken on the exclusive
distribution of GLP products in Spain with immediate effect.
GLP Managing Director Udo Künzler commented: “It was important to
have a presence in the Spanish market, and to do so with a professional
partner who understands the needs of the local market. After some
discussion it was clear that Monacor was the ideal partner for this
development.”
“GLP products are fantastic, but more so in the way that they undertake
business,” said José C. de las Heras, Managing Director of Monacor Iberia.
“It was these two key aspects that made us decide on starting a business
 business
begins here

Every January, the industry gathers in California to get the business year started.
And with a new focus on professional live and touring sound, plus dedicated live sound
and pro audio seminars, there’s more business to be done than ever before.

To learn more and to register for badges visit: namm.org/thenammshow/2017

JANUARY 19–22, 2017 • ANAHEIM CONVENTION CENTER • ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA • NAMM.ORG/THENAMMSHOW

NS17_TPI_Ad.indd 1 8/25/16 2:06 PM

INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS
Below: Robe’s Asia Pacific team based in Singapore has been bolstered by the addition of Jens Poehlker, who joins as Managing Director; White Light has appointed Tom
Wilkes as Business Development Manager.
relationship with GLP and take on distribution of their products in Spain.”
Monacor Iberia will now offer a complete product range from GLP’s
impression X series.
Technical Direction Company (TDC) has become the latest d3
Technologies partner in the Asia Pacific region.
Established 35 years ago, Australian company TDC supplies video
technology solutions for a variety of major events and live productions.
Based in Sydney and Melbourne, its portfolio includes TV shows such as
The Voice and The X Factor and concert tours for Kanye West and Kylie
Minogue.
“TDC is well known for its technical and creative expertise and holds the
largest stock of high-brightness projectors in Australia as well as extensive
LED and media control systems,” said Desmond Yim, d3 Technologies
Regional Sales Manager, APAC. “Our partnership with TDC will enable us to
support an increasing market for d3 solutions in Australia.”
TDC has been a d3 Technologies rental partner in the region for
several years and is currently in the process of building new d3 studio
space at its Sydney office to accommodate its expanding business and d3
requirements.
“We are delighted to become a d3 partner, it allows us to work side by
side with the developers at d3,” said Michael Hassett, CEO of TDC. “This is
invaluable in future technology development for both of our organisations.”
Robe’s Asia Pacific team based in Singapore has been bolstered by the
addition of Jens Poehlker, who joins as Managing Director.
Poehlker’s experience in the industry, and the region, includes opening
108
www.interfacio.com • +44 208 986 5002
and running the Singapore office of MA Lighting for the last nine years. His
joining the company was described as an ‘easy decision’ by both himself
and Robe’s Sales Director Harry von den Stemmen.
“I believe Robe is poised for further growth,” said Poehlker. “And I am
extremely proud to come on-board and be a part of making this happen.”
White Light has appointed Tom Wilkes as Business Development
Manager.
In his new role, Wilkes will focus predominantly on managing the
hire aspects of the various markets in which the company works. He
commented: “I am absolutely delighted to be joining White Light at such an
exciting time. Whether it’s corporate events, broadcast, education, trade,
retail, or themed attractions, we have a strong reputation in each of these
fields and this is something I will be looking to strengthen further.”
Wilkes’ industry experience includes a previous stint working at White
Light, as Hire Co-ordinator. He joins this time around from Vision SL, a
technical production company that he founded in 2009, which will become
part of White Light as a result of his move.
“We have such a strong relationship with our current Vision SL
customers that this is something I want to continue as we move over to
White Light,” said Wilkes. “By continuing our relationship, this simply means
that we can continue to offer them a great service, with the additional
resources of White Light.”
Martin Audio has announced the return of two members to its team,
with Robin Dibble and Bradley Watson rejoining as Product Support
Engineer and EMEA Sales Manager respectively.
 www.interfacio.com • +44 208 986 5002 INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS

Their reappointment comes after a successful period for Martin Audio, Watson, who was with the company for 10 years before leaving in 2010. “I
under new Managing Director Dom Harter, which has seen the launch of its can’t wait to get going.”
CDD-Live! and BlacklineX series.
“Martin Audio’s core customers know
Robin well - I couldn’t think of anyone better
to further our credentials in the installation
space given his knowledge, reputation and
his understanding of Martin Audio products,”
said Harter. “As for Bradley, I’ve known him for
many years; he knows Martin Audio well and
most importantly has worked throughout the
installed sales channel, which adds skills and
market understanding.”
Dibble, who left Martin Audio less than a
year ago, said: “When I was asked if I would be
interested in returning to the fold, I jumped at
the chance.”
“I’ve always kept a fond eye on [Martin
Audio] developments, including using its
current portfolio of products on installation
projects during my six years away,” said
Tech LED has moved to Production Park, the complete pre-production
“Moving to Production Park is the
logical next step and a definitive
move for us. It meets the
expanding needs of the company
whilst allowing us to maintain
stability and consistency with
customers.”
Gordon Addison,
Managing Director of Tech LED
and live events centre for the UK.
The supply and design company for LED
lighting equipment joins existing customers
Perry Scenic Creative, Brilliant Stages and
Litestructures, bringing them within reach for
easy project collaboration.
The move coincides with the
announcement that Nick Tetlow has joined
Tech LED as Sales Manager for the northern
region.
Managing Director Gordon Addison said:
“Moving to Production Park is the logical
next step and a definitive move for us. It
meets the expanding needs of the company
whilst allowing us to maintain stability and
consistency with customers.”
TPi
www.tpimagazine.com/category/industry-jobs/

VER is a leading, global provider of production

equipment and engineering solutions.
We currently have a selection of exciting opportunities to
become part of the team at our North London base

sourcing of cutting-edge laser products, the company has one of the largest
TECHNICAL SERVICE MANAGER
Responsible for the management and excecution of the technical
operations activities for all external and internal manufactured lighting
products to ensure quality, reliable product supply. Directly responsible for
managing other technical service staff such as, Service technicians, Bench
technicians, Control-network technicians and Client support specialists
SERVICE TECHNICIAN
The service technician’s primary role will be to evaluate, repair and maintain
all electronic and mechanical equipment for both the technical services
department and equipment that exceeds the technical capabilities of the
general QC programs of other internal Lighting departments. Will also be
responsible for participating in and executing required software upgrades
and hardware retrofits to manufacturer’s Lighting products as needed.
A fantastic opening has arisen to join an award winning laser show and
laser system design specialist with credits spanning high profile events,
advertising, television and international concert tours. Constantly pushing
the envelope when it comes to the ongoing development, manufacture and
collections of laser solutions worldwide and can offer highly competitive
rates to its clients. With offices in the UK, Ibiza, Australia and USA, ER
Productions is perfectly placed to deliver systems and show-stopping
displays around the world.
LASER TECHNICIAN
Salary depending on experience
Benefits include: company phone & private healthcare
Based in SE London/Kent at our head office you will be part of a team that performs
laser displays in the UK and all over the world. Laser and lighting industry experience
is preferred but not essential. Computing and basic networking experience is also
preferred. The right candidate will be required to regularly travel UK and World Wide.
Please send a CV and covering letter to: contact@er-productions.com

AUTOMATED LIGHTING QC TECHNICIANS

These entry level positions will ensure all automated lighting fixtures
are fully compliant with required inspection and maintenance plans/QC
Programs. Participation and involvement in all automated fixture cleaning
& testing with final verification on all newly received products and ensure
all quality control checks have been completed and executed; Ensuring
assets are ready for all outbound shipments.
All positions are on a 40-hour week, shift basis including some weekend
work, salary and benefits will be commensurate with experience.
PROJECT MANAGER
Salary depending on experience
Benefits include: company phone & private healthcare
Based in SE London/Kent at our head office you will be part of a team that project
manages projects from one day single laser displays to tours, TV shows and national
days. Laser and lighting industry experience is preferred but not essential, industry
experience is essential. The right candidate will be required to regularly travel UK and
World Wide.

Enquiries will be handled in the strictest of confidence and should be made Please send a CV and covering letter to: contact@er-productions.com
in writing, enclosing a current CV to Gemma Oldfield: goldfield@ver.com

109
Job ad TPI.indd 3 03/10/2016 11:26
PSA: THE BIGGER PICTURE

INSURANCE
BEYOND THE HEADLINES

£15,000 is a lot of money to most people but it’s less than £10,000,000. So, if your public liability
cover indemnifies you for the latter, a claim for the former shouldn’t be a problem, right?
Well, this is insurance we’re talking about, so that depends.

Public liability insurance covers you for losses you cause by your actions,
it’s like the third party bit in your car insurance paying for the damage
to the lamp post you reversed into. There are exclusions though; the
large print giveth and the small print taketh away. A few years back, a
technician damaged some hired in kit by virtue of a voltage mix up, the
subsequent claim was refused because the kit in question was in the
custody and control of the individual. A tough way to learn about looking
for exclusions - that particular one is more common than you might
think. A common misconception is also that, if the kit is insured by the
actual owner, then their insurer will cover loss. To a certain extent that’s
true, they’ll sort the owner out with new kit to help business continue but
they’ll still be chasing the person that caused the damage - for £15,000 in
this particular case. Of course, cases are not always so easily settled so,
when legal arguments ensue and lawyers get involved, it’s comforting to
know that your insurers are picking up the tab too.
For over 20 years, the PSA has helped members with insurance matters.
In fact, one of the first issue discussed by the association was whether
subcontractors needed cover (yes) and where they could get it. Cover was
expensive until words were had and discounts proffered. The work didn’t
stop there though, only in the past few years have we gone deeper into the
actual wording of policies and the exclusions that exist, mainly with the help
of Precision Broking, whose mission to give insurers a better understanding
of the work of our sector, which has resulted in specialist policies that better
serve our requirements. Take the ‘custody and control’ issue. When we
worked together to create Crewcover, that exclusion was removed and the
limit for claims set at the highest level of any insurer in the sector (for some
it is still extremely low or excluded altogether). Work at height, pyrotechnics
and work overseas were also factors that needed to be considered and
covered adequately.
It wasn’t just the policy wording under consideration, time and money
were invested into an easy, online application process for those last
minute jobs that necessitate swift delivery of documents to the client for a
load-in that starts in eight hours or, as has happened, applying at the gate
of a festival and having documents in your inbox within minutes. A policy
and application process designed with our members in mind so it made
complete sense to include membership of the PSA in the price, giving not
only a representative voice but a collection of business and individual
benefits that could far outweigh the cost of the policy.
Of course, insurers take risk and claims happen. It’s in the event of a
claim that insurance proves its worth and your broker goes to work. Imagine
wheeling a flightcase out of a venue and accidentally scraping a car; sod’s
law dictates that the gig is a corporate, the hotel is the Dorchester and

110

the car is a Bentley. That claim was settled swiftly and more since. Equally
important is a broker connected with the industry so they can deal on your
behalf when it comes to claims - a fairly recent case was some damage to
equipment in a club venue. The blame was laid at the door of a technician
and their invoice wasn’t paid ‘to cover the damage’. A little chasing from
the PSA and the insistence that the claim for damage was dealt with by the
insurer smoothed things out - a fine example of how the benefits of both
work effectively together.
It’s this attention to detail that has led Precision’s development of
their new product, Live Insurance, aimed at small to medium businesses
supplying production services. Together we looked at how businesses in
our sector start and grow, with individual contractors gathering the tools
of the trade and perhaps taking on work that requires more than just the
individual contractor. This paints an altogether different liability landscape,
with the addition all-important employers liability for those that are
instructing or managing people in the workplace (and not necessarily on
their payroll), the only cover that is a legal requirement.
Devising an industry-specific policy wording, starting from a blank
sheet of paper is an expensive, time consuming and sometimes frustrating
experience, with the final 5% seemingly taking 95% of the development
time. But, in the case of Live Insurance, it has resulted in a policy that covers
risks associated with our line of work.
Of course, the tools of our trade come with a hefty price tag, so property
cover needs to be effective. Transported by someone other than you, left
unattended and rented to anyone who’ll pay the going rate, your pride and
joy needs a policy that doesn’t exclude associated risks. Take fraudulent
conversion - someone rents your kit and doesn’t come back, having left you
ONE SIZE DOESN'T FIT ALL
Our extensive, world-class inventory features
the best equipment from a multitude of
leading manufacturers to offer perfect
solutions for live events of all shapes and sizes.
WHEN FREEDOM OF CHOICE
MEANS NO COMPROMISE
CAPITAL SOUND HIRE LTD | ABACUS HOUSE, 60 WEIR ROAD, LONDON SW19 8UG
+44 (0)20 8944 6777 | INFO@CAPITAL-SOUND.CO.UK | CAPITAL-SOUND.CO.UK
111
PSA: THE BIGGER PICTURE
with stolen or fake ID documents. You’ve taken reasonable measures but
they count for nothing if it’s excluded from your policy. Needless to say, it’s
included in Live Insurance, as well as opportunistic theft from venues. Also
covered is theft from unattended vehicles - crucial if a driver is required to
take their extended break away from the cab, a legal requirement in some
EU territories.
It goes without saying that the liability elements of cover, like Crewcover,
have no height or heat restrictions, Worldwide Cover if you need it,
including work in the US, cover for equipment being worked on or in your
custody and control and, importantly, cover for structures during build.
Throughout its 21 year existence, the PSA has helped its members
understand the importance of risk reduction, mainly in terms of reducing
the risk of injury, banging the health and safety drum, introducing our
world to Safety Passports to help spread the word about safe workplaces
and how individuals fit in and working with the health and safety executive
to advise and encourage effective policies and enforcement. Perhaps it’s
because of this that companies like Precision Broking are prepared to put
in the time and investment to develop specialist products and that their
insurers are prepared to listen. It’s not always about driving down prices,
especially in such a market-driven business, it’s about working together do
drive quality and, essentially, insurers having the foresight to support the
growth of their customers’ representative body. We’d rather things didn’t go
wrong, we certainly don’t want anyone to have to test the full limit of their
sum insured, but accidents happen, so we’d rather that you were covered,
however or wherever.
TPi
www.psa.org.uk
It’s a rule that applies equally
to microphones, consoles
and PA systems.*
Even yours.
*and sunglasses
TPi PRODUCTION GUIDE

THE PRODUCTION GUIDE

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112
 TPi PRODUCTION GUIDE

Seattle Opera
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Screens by Gerriets

Photo: Robert F. Reynolds / Seattle Oper

Gerriets Great Britain Ltd. +44 20 7639 7704
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113
BACK CHAT
NOREEN O’RIORDAN
Entec Sound & Light
How did you get your start in the industry?
“In the early ’80s, I was a temp at Shepperton
Studio Centre working anywhere on site from
moulding models in the Model Shop to meeting
and greeting at the Preview Theatre. I helped
Jake Duncan, the Bay City Rollers’ Tour Manager,
with logistics and itineraries, and soon met John
Denby, Entec Sound & Light’s then-MD who gave
me a temporary contract as Entec’s receptionist
and admin clerk. The position became permanent
as I slowly worked my way through the different
departments of the company, meeting some
fabulous mentors who shared their knowledge
and expertise along the way.”
How have you seen the live
events sector develop over
the years?
“When I started at Entec, the
big adventure for us was the
‘No Soap ’til Shepperton’
festival run - the crews and
trucks would sweep through
all the major European
festivals with a generic kit
list that would suit all festival
stages, artists and capacities.
Of course, email and mobile
phones didn’t exist back then, so communications
were made via the promoter’s telex machine or
hotel receptionists, not that there were many hotel
stopovers. Nowadays, the technical preparation is
very sophisticated and customised for every show
and venue. So much preparation is spent getting it
right without a piece of kit even being touched.”
What are your thoughts on the newly launched
Production Futures recruitment event for young
people wanting to step into your shoes?
“It’s a great initiative and, being part of the PSA’s
Apprenticeship Trail Blazer committee, I’ve heard
first hand that all the major industry suppliers are
totally committed to setting a standard. That’s
certainly true of Entec, which for years has been
a successful breeding ground for new industry
114
talent. Naturally, I wish Production Futures every
success and Entec looks forward to assisting
wherever possible.”
Can you tell us about an event or gig that you’re
most proud of?
“That’s like asking to choose between your
children! Last week, my star was Gordon Isaacs
from Live Nation who asked us to assemble a very
last minute production package for comedienne
Amy Schumer. We sourced everything for him
including trucks and sleeper buses. This week’s
is Allen Spriggs at AEG who has hired sound and
lighting from us for The Libertines and Ricky
Martin. Next week, it will all be about putting
the finishing touches to The
Australian Pink Floyd Show’s
European tour with Kevin
Hopgood and Chris Gadd -
two very important stars in
the Entec galaxy. If pressed,
I would say the ones that
shine brightest, because of
our shared history of more
than 25 years, are Blur, whom
I admire for never once
compromising their values.
We’ve known some of the
guys since the beginning and
Craig Duffy and I have worked together and been
friends for over 20 years.”
When you’re not working, what would TPi
readers find you doing?
“I’d like to say that when I am not climbing
Kilimanjaro, running a marathon or kayaking up
the Amazon, I do a bit of sky diving but, in truth,
being the rental representative on the PLASA
Regional Board and a very active member of
the PSA means I’m always too busy. Entec has
also been designing a brand new website - www.
entecLIVE.com - and digging through the archives
from the ’60s onwards has uncovered some
amazing stories, images and footage. My favourite
thing to do when not working is to catch up with
family and friends, many of them made through
work. Never underestimate the power of a work-
life balance.”
 MONITORING ESSENTIALS

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14919_HYDRUS_AD_MAY_TPI_v1R_OL.indd 1 18/04/2016 11:25