The South African State Theatre in Pretoria’s 550 seat Drama Stage hosted both the rounds and finale of the 2020 edition of Idols SA, complete with a lighting design by Joshua Cutts of Visual Frontier and technical production delivered by Dream Sets for SIC Entertainment. This, the sixteenth series of Idols SA was directed by Gavin Wratten and broadcast on the Mzansi Magic network. The show would usually have shifted to the 3000 capacity Carnival City Big Top Arena in Johannesburg for the finale, however this time, due to Covid-19 restrictions, everything remained at the State Theatre, and Josh drew on some imaginative and original lighting techniques to keep all the broadcasts looking fresh, interesting, and spectacular.

WARPRO, the Edinburgh-based specialist in audio visual equipment, is the first in the UK to invest in Panasonic’s latest generation 4K PT-RQ35K projectors. The company has acquired four of the world’s smallest and lightest 30,500 lumen, 3-Chip DLP projectors to upgrade its rental stock, as well as Panasonic’s latest PTZ Remote cameras. The purchases are part of a significant investment to enable WARPRO to deliver 4K end-to-end production in preparation for the mass return of the events industry in 2021.

Countries worldwide welcomed 2021 in many different, creative and Covid-safe ways, recognising the highly symbolic temporal roll-over from a year where everyone everywhere has been impacted dramatically by the pandemic. Brussels’ “Laser Lights” – which featured Robe moving lights among others and 12 custom lasers – was designed to be enjoyed from the comfort and safety of people’s homes, uniting everyone in spirit, feeling and determination during these extraordinary and restricted times. Fundamental to the project was that, while being a streamed event, Laser Lights should contain some core human elements relating to real life and not just be in a virtual digital environment.

Last November 8th, rock band Dance Gavin Dance performed their new album Tree City Sessions 2 in its entirety on Tower Bridge in Sacramento, California, a setting that provided a visually stunning framework for the introduction of their latest music. The PPV concert, executive produced by Danny Wimmer Presents, was lit by Justin Wade and Sacramento Production & Lighting (SPL) using a rig of Elation Professional luminaires.

The 2020 series of Finland’s ‘Tanssii tähtien kanssa’ – a version of the BBC’s popular Strictly Come Dancing TV show – climaxed at the end of December following a visual feast driven by Hippotizer Montane+ RTX Media Servers.

California’s SilverLakes is best known for attracting sports fans and horse-riding enthusiasts with more than two dozen full-sized soccer fields and five equestrian areas. But this past New Year’s Eve, the complex upped its showmanship game by serving as the high-energy host site for a drive-in concert headlined by superstar DJ Kaskade, who rang in 2021 on an L-Acoustics K2 system deployed by San Diego-based Pro Systems AV.
 

Colombian rapper and singer/songwriter Nanpa Básico held his virtual KOSMO concert last fall with a large complement of Claypaky fixtures lighting up the live-streamed show.
 

The biggest Brazilian live DJ show in 2020 took place in xR, as local DJ and musician Alok attracted 750,000 people to his ‘Alive’ live stream in December, also clocking seven million views on YouTube. The disguise xR workflow drove the music special with a vx 4 media server and two rx platforms enabling the show to incorporate content from leading render engines Unreal, Unity and Notch. Alok is one of the most prominent icons in the Brazilian electronic music scene.  He was named by Forbes Brasil as one of the most influential people under 30 in the country. Following the cancellations of all his live shows last year, the aim of the xR live stream was to bring a fresh way of broadcasting the artist’s performance to his large fanbase.

Leading Japanese lighting designer Mr. Mitsumasa Hayashi created “The Robe Lighting Show” – a piece of light art at the Urayasu Mai Studio of the Nihon Stage Co.,Ltd. – which featured over 350 Robe moving lights. These were supplied by prominent Japanese rental companies, M-Tech Style and the Mula Corporation. The piece was commissioned by Mr. Masaharu Sakamoto who heads up LTG, Robe’s Japanese distributor.  With live performances halted worldwide due to the pandemic, Mr. Sakamoto was keen to produce a lighting art video concept that could be enjoyed and appreciated by lighting enthusiasts worldwide, and he knew Mr Hayashi was the right person to create a brilliant, poignant, and high-impact work.

The Belgians definitely didn’t let the pandemic dampen enthusiasm for the festive season, and while it was “different” in every sense with a lockdown in place and none of the usual round of parties and celebratory shows … theatrical musical producers Deep Bridge created a special streamed ‘Home Edition’ version of their 2020 Christmas Show, with appearances and special Christmas collaborations from a host of celebrities and music stars, all presenting unique festive musical moments.

Live Company is a full technical production and rental specialist based in Skovlunde, a suburb of Copenhagen, Denmark, owned by Peter Clausen, Mikkel Bedsted and two other business partners, all of whom are dedicated to providing excellent service and high production values to clients across multiple performance genres. Since 2018, the company has invested steadily in Astera products, the first ones being AX1 PixelTubes which were purchased to illuminate the domed roof of Cirkusrevyen’s big top venue in Dyrehavsbakken (the north of Copenhagen).

Lightswitch redesign preserves lighting magic for adaptive driving experience

For The Morton Arboretum, the idea of not running Illumination this past holiday season was not an option, says Lightswitch principal John Featherstone about the popular wintertime lighting display in Lisle, Illinois. Illumination continues to shine through after being redesigned for a drive-thru experience using additional Elation luminaires, the eighth year for the project.

The Collectv, the Emmy award-winning broadcast solutions and workflows consultancy, will be playing an instrumental part in ensuring that ITV Studios Entertainment’s smash hit Dancing on Ice reaches a live audience of millions when it returns to UK screens on 17 January. Shot at a purpose-built facility at Bovingdon Airfield, just south of Hemel Hempstead, the show has been remotely produced at ITN Productions in London since the 2019 season. The Collectv ensures this process runs smoothly by providing media management, integration, and support on location at Bovingdon, helping to ensure not only that the right material gets into the main broadcast OB, but is also supplied back to the production team in London to provide content for ongoing social media clips, VTs, and more.

With six huge shows behind it and 12 more running until the end of January, Summer Sounds in Adelaide’s Tulya Wodli (Bonython Park) is Australia’s first month-long, financially independent, and COVID-safe outdoor music festival. A shining example of the way forward for the industry as a whole, promoters Five Four Entertainment, Groove Events, and Secret Sounds have partnered with Novatech Creative Event Technology and Nexstage to bring a diverse programme including Bernard Fanning, Groove Terminator, Ball Park Music, Ruel, and Lime Cordiale to a 2,100 capacity audience sustainably over 18 shows.

Axiom Events is the major new rebrand from North East based equipment rental company R&M Productions Ltd and production management company Immersive Precision Ltd. Axiom Events is a new and unified, joint brand aimed to bring continuity to the companies’ combined full event production service.