Celebrating all things glamorous, sensual and flamboyant, Folies Bergère is one of Paris’ most revered nightspots. Originally a cabaret music hall and variety-entertainment theatre, The Folies made its mark during the Belle Epoque of the late 1800s with its music hall revues featuring stunning women dancers. More recently returning to its musical production roots, the Folies Bergère stage has been graced by famous artists from Charlie Chaplin, Ella Fitzgerald, Marcel Marceau, Frank Sinatra, Charles Aznavour through to Elton John. This year, the theatre’s impressive programme has been matched with equally impressive audio technology when the Folies Bergère became the first performing arts centre in France to permanently install L-Acoustics L-ISA Hyperreal Sound technology.

Like video conferencing, music fans and TV audience members utilise a propriety browser-based video platform to experience a live performance or be part of a TV filming production – from the comfort of their home. However, the VLA experience has been created with real time engagement in mind. The VLA system allows for the performance artist or TV host / panellists to both interact and reconnect with confidence during Covid-19 audience restrictions.

During UK Friday night primetime television, disguise showcased its award-winning xR technology on Channel 5’s The Gadget Show, highlighting how extended reality offers virtual production and performance in immersive real-time video environments unlike any other – empowering producers to deliver unforgettable experiences and allowing brands and artists to continue connecting with their audiences remotely. Launched in 2004, The Gadget Show is one of the UK's longest running shows, providing exclusive access to the latest technology trends and future innovations. Presenter Georgie Barrat was treated to an all-encompassing xR experience, taking in the disguise London HQ and filming a series of one-to-one interviews about the origins and ambitions of xR technology with disguise’s executive leadership team, including CSO Tom Rockhill and CTO Ed Plowman.

DCR Nashville and Lighting Designer Nathan Alves, a Partner in Darkroom Creative in Franklin, Tennessee, answered the Live Event & Entertainment Professionals’ call to action by bathing some of Nashville’s iconic landmarks in red light on September 1.  Their contribution to the WeMakeEvents #redalertRESTART initiative was the Mobile Visual Art Platform (MVAP) outfitted with 38 Claypaky Scenius fixtures.  
 

Drive-in concerts have become the necessary norm under the pandemic and Southern California’s moderate climate makes it possible for these fan-thankful events to take place late into the year.

Billie Eilish has wowed the world for being more than a global music phenomenon! A smart teenager with empathy, humanity, and honesty, she will tackle tough topics head-on and her many additional activities include fund-raising for crew and technicians affected by the global halt of live music and performance.  Sweeping off with five Grammy’s earlier in the year, the fertile collaboration with her – also Grammy award-winning – music producing brother Finneas and their contrasty intricate works that connect the dots of life, surreality and expression in a brainy mash of art, reflection and audacity has energized a massive and diverse fanbase.

NOW LIVE AT www.crowdfunder.co.uk/i-love-live

FEATURING UNIQUE MEMORABILIA FROM ARTISTS INCLUDING AJIMAL, ALT-J,

BILLY OCEAN, BLOSSOMS, CAMELPHAT, CHEMICAL BROTHERS, CLANNAD, COURTEENERS, CRAIG DAVID, DISCLOSURE, DJANGO DJANGO, ELBOW, ELLIE GOULDING,

ERIC CLAPTON, FKA TWIGS, FLORENCE & THE MACHINE,

GARY NUMAN, GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL, HOWARD JONES, IDLES, JACK SAVORETTI, JESS GLYNNE,

JOHNNY MARR, KING GIZZARD, LEWIS CAPALDI, LIAM GALLAGHER, LIAM PAYNE,

LIVE NATION, MARILLION, MARK KNOPFLER, NICK CAVE & WARREN ELLIS, NILE RODGERS,

NOTHING BUT THIEVES, JOHN OTWAY, POLLEN, PRIMAVERA FESTIVAL, RADIOHEAD,

RAG N BONE MAN, RICK ASTLEY, ROBBIE WILLIAMS, ROYAL BLOOD, RUDIMENTAL, SAM SMITH, SJM,

THE DUNG BEATLES, THE SCRIPT,

THE VACCINES, THOMPSON TWINS’ TOM BAILEY, THE XX,

TOM MISCH, TOM WALKER, TRNSMT, WAREHOUSE PROJECT and YEARS & YEARS

*Most of the above will launch today but some will launch on Friday 4 Dec 2020*

Popular UK rockers Nothing But Thieves recently played a sizzling hot series of ‘Live from The Warehouse’ pay-per-view live stream concerts, designed by Warren Hutchison and directed by Tim Perrett, that traversed three time zones – USA, UK and Australia / Asia Pacific – having just dropped new single ‘Impossible’ and announcing a major UK, Ireland and European tour for autumn 2021. Warren – who specified Robe fixtures as the majority of the lighting rig and is also a regular freelance LD and technician for Liteup – pitched a production design to the band for the streams which showcased hits, plus new music from their forthcoming album, Moral Panic.

Pandemic or not, IP-rated lighting will always be the smart choice for outdoor events. This fall’s Drive-In Concert Series at the Westland Mall in Columbus, Ohio, proved that axiom well as an all-weather Elation rig braved the elements for eight straight weeks of live music shows.
 

The 10x120’ series was the first production shot ‘as live’ for linear television at the beginning of the lockdown. It is broadcast on ITV and sees legendary gardener and presenter, Alan Titchmarsh, celebrate all that is great about the British countryside. The Sunday morning show has proven a success already, as an extension to the series has been commissioned. Love Your Weekend’s charming studio was transformed from an old three sided thatched rural Hampshire barn to a four sided enclosed set with glass front onto the gardens. Tony Gill, managing director at Altered Images explains, “The quality and versatility of the cameras, and of the overall system, have completely exceeded expectations.”

Mo-Sys Engineering, a world leader in precision camera tracking solutions for virtual studios and augmented reality, took a central role in the Covid-safe production of a live online entertainment awards show. Normally held in a stadium venue, this year production company and media technologists Bild Studios used virtual reality with the intent of keeping the same scope and excitement as any physical show in the past.

When the global pandemic completely shut down the entertainment industry back in mid-March, Chris Brodman and Cody Lisle, the principals of Phoenix-based LIT Lighting, were faced with two choices: do nothing and simply wait, or hit the drawing board with their crew and make plans to adapt and retool. Quickly choosing the latter option, the Phoenix-based lighting company established LIT Live, a series of live streamed concerts that has allowed its staff and clients to continue doing what they love in an environment that is in compliance with current safety protocols.
 

It was clear from the beginning of discussions with Executive Producer, Greg Fera, that 2020 Latin Grammy 2020 premiere needed to be reimagined to work with-in the confines of the COVID world. This posed a new set of design challenges for Production Designer, Matt Russell, who has designed 34 shows for the Recording Academy and Latin Recording Academy over the past 10 years.. It was not going to be realistic to build physical scenery in an arena and bring all of the nominees together in one place to celebrate as in past years so a virtual production model was embraced. The goal was to create a cohesive visual space that wraps around and embraces all of the nominees gathered virtually with physical hosts and presenters to honor their work.

Signaling the start of its around-the-clock festive music broadcast, iHeartMedia New York’s 106.7 LITE FM marked its “Flip to Christmas” in the New York City skies with a dynamic, animated aerial light show from Verge Aero, the leader in drone show technology. The pre-recorded live stream aired at litefm.com on November 13 from 7pm-8pm.
 

For the last few months, social media and the internet worldwide has been alight with The "Jerusalema" Dance Challenge – a TikTok challenge that originated in Angola and went viral after lockdown – with people sharing funny and uplifting videos of themselves dancing a series of moves often performed at African weddings to the hit song ‘Jerusalema’ by South African DJ & music producer Master KG, featuring the voice of songstress Nomcebo Zikode.