Production and rental houses across the entertainment technology industry have had to think creatively in order to continue to serve the industry and stay in business. One of the more successful has been Synergetic of Bensalem, Pennsylvania, who has converted a portion of their warehouse to a professional TV studio for live streaming complete with a full Elation Professional lighting system.  

A total of 35 artists - including Miley Cyrus, The Roots, Major Lazer and Leon Bridges - played in multiple venues in cities across the US and joined the Foo Fighters in raising awareness and funds to keep North America’s cherished independent concert venues from closing indefinitely. Named #SOSFest, the three-day virtual music festival was created to support the Save Our Stages initiative and America’s National Independent Venues Association’s (NIVA) Emergency Relief Fund. NIVA’s YouTube hosted the festival, with individual sets also aired on artist channels.

An effective way to raise awareness for those in need is through a benefit concert where artists, sponsors, technical crew and an appreciative public come together in a spirit of solidarity to shed light on a noble cause. Such was the case earlier this year when a large Elation rig was used to light up the 2020 edition of the Noche del Sabor benefit show in Honduras with proceeds going to support the Honduran Foundation for Children with Cancer. Held at Expo Centro, a renowned venue in the city of San Pedro Sula, Noche del Sabor is an open air party boasting top musical entertainment and the best of Honduran food. Despite a bit of rain at show time, nothing could dampen the enthusiastic crowd of some 10,000 who gathered for the emotional evening amid the sounds of Colombian musician Juanes and pop group Piso 21.

New England audio production company, Paddle Out Productions is in the middle of a 16-week contract with M.E. Productions at the Cheshire Fairgrounds drive-in music venue – a huge open field, allowing up to 425 cars parked in every other space – hosting performances from the likes of Guster and Grace Potter. To ensure every spectator could enjoy the live performances, Paddle Out Productions deployed its recently expanded Martin Audio WPM system.

Tom Sutherland was back on the set of Dancing with the Stars recently, lighting his second season of the American reality dance competition for the ABC network. Lead designer at DX7 Design, Sutherland, who used Elation lighting on last season’s show, again turned to Elation fixtures to light the myriad of dances while finding a unique visual solution to fill empty audience space. “There were some challenges this year as there was no audience, which usually plays a big role in the show. Nobody, especially in television, likes black holes,” said Sutherland, stating, “When you have an expensive set that looks like a million dollars, you don’t want to sacrifice that by a few dodgy shots. With HD cameras and 360-degree looks we have to make sure we have all our bases covered.”

Visual design studio PXLFLD recently deployed Hippotizer Media Servers from Green Hippo, the specialist creator of tools for the real-time manipulation of video for the AV industries, to provide the visual backdrop for a top-secret party and live performance by singer-songwriter Veronica Maggio. Conceived by Red Bull, the exclusive event, staged at the Nobis Hotel in central Stockholm, was available only to fans who completed a treasure-hunt-like series of tasks.

Pixel Artworks, the award-winning specialists in light and pixel technology, lit up the skies above London’s Greenwich with the colours of the rainbow as it harnessed cutting-edge creative technology to fly London’s very first drone light show above a regal residency. Additionally, the trailblazing company now holds exclusive permissions to hold further drone displays over additional iconic venues across the capital.
 

Greek football club Olympiacos celebrated the 45th championship title in its history by sending a message of hope and optimism to its supporters in Piraeus, all of Greece and around the world.  A spectacular televised show, filled with light and music, was staged in the empty G. Karaiskakis Stadium where the team demolished a coronavirus pandemic “wall” and fans joined players virtually to raise the championship trophy.  Claypaky Mythos 2 fixtures contributed to this “Lights of Hope” ceremony and its theme of overcoming obstacles to emerge triumphant.
 

The iHeartRadio Music Festival marked its tenth anniversary virtually this year recording its headline artists live, with no audiences, in Los Angeles and Nashville.  Lighting Designer Matthew Ardine handled the LA portion of the show, which hosted Miley Cyrus, Migos, Alicia Keys, Swae Lee, Khalid and Usher at the iHeartRadio Theater.  He utilized an array of Claypaky fixtures, which are part of the theater’s rep plot.

Emmy-award winning production company, 7 Cinematics, celebrates an epic weekend of shows and livestreams at Denver’s legendary Red Rocks venue Sept. 24-27 with Tiësto, Fitz and The Tantrums, and Lotus, with a pay-per-view only livestream for Billy Strings. Shot via a live drone, 6K REDs, and Blackmagics, each artist simultaneously had a 4K livestream available to fans via Nugs.net, opening up the viewership of each concert to a worldwide audience. With a pre-pandemic capacity of 9,595, Red Rocks scaled down the tickets to a maximum of 175, allowing fans to safely attend Tiësto, Fitz and The Tantrums, and Lotus in person while abiding by socially distant guidelines.

It’s approaching a year since Spanish lighting designer Juanjo Llorens first enthusiastically compiled his design for Circo de Hielo 2, the latest winter show from Madrid-based Productores de Sonrisas (Smile Producers), creators of large scale multidisciplined extravaganzas like Circo de Los Horrores and many others. The newest arena show, directed by Suso Silva, played in a bespoke 1800-capacity circular tent that was erected for the run of shows at IFEMA Madrid that combined premium ice skating with acrobatics, breath-taking stunts – including a skater fighting with a violinist playing live – and heaped with theatricality, pumping live music and incredible visuals!

disguise’s latest software release, 17.4 combined with its new RenderStream software, rx and vx hardware bundle creates the complete solution for hosting real-time content from render engines, Unreal Engine and Notch. A proven leader in xR workflows for experience creation, disguise designed the vx, rx and RenderStream bundle as a complete toolset for delivering real-time content into unique physical spaces. Be it a stage, a set, studio or stadium, rx and RenderStream support a robust and integrated delivery platform for managing complex setups.

A unique Luton van conversion for singer-songwriter, Olivia Dean, featuring a Martin Audio sound system, has enabled the East London based recording artiste to tour her local area during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Masked Singer – TV singing competition with celebrities concealed in fantastic elaborate costumes and full face masks, in this case depicting the Wolf, the Dragonfly the Queen and several others to keep their identities secret whilst performing cover versions – hits Belgium for the first time this autumn! Presented by Niels Destadsbader and recorded at NEP Studio in Londerzeel, a judging panel and the audience are drip-fed with clues as to their real identity … which is revealed when one is voted off at the end of each episode.

Verge Aero, the leader in high performance drone shows, recently took to the skies together with partner Strictly FX for a celebratory light show marking the launch of the 2020 NFL season for the Philadelphia Eagles. The company, which is based in Philadelphia, deployed a fleet of 200 drones to deliver the large-scale aerial performance, which played out above Philadelphia’s Mann Center for the Performing Arts.