The South African live events industry joined hands with #WeMakeEvents, and participated in #TheSurvivalTour, which saw 24 cyclists participate in a 60km route visiting Constitution Hill, Teatro at Montecasino, Sandton Convention Centre, Nelson Mandela Square, Joburg Theatre, Market Theatre, Mary Fitzgerald Square and the TicketPro Dome on 24 October

Signalling the start of the new NFL season, The Killers staged a special, highly symbolic one-off performance of their anthemic and hugely popular “Mr Brightside” on the rooftop of Caesar’s Palace … for the Las Vegas Raiders who have just moved into the newly completed Allegiant Stadium. Produced for ESPN,

  A couple of years ago Belinda Saville, a Project Manager and Technical Events Coordinator from Durban, put together a lighthearted yet useful Survival Guide for freelancers (see below). Belinda is known for her generous heart and she is often involved in helping people within the industry especially when they

  Cape Town based Ultra Events has launched Streamstudio, a creative space for creative content, to complement their existing service as a technical and rental supply company. With easy access to the N2, N1 and the Southern Suburbs, Streamstudio is conveniently situated in Observatory.   With over 25 years’ experience

Making a decision to swim rather than sink, Sound HQ Solutions along with Production Manager Sharif Baker, who is also the Chairman of TPSA and spokesperson for #LightSAred, have survived the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa with fewer bumps and bruises than many other companies during this tough time. They

  Join Jannie de Jager as he presents grandMA3 Basic Training on 3 & 4 November at the DWR Distribution, Johannesburg, from 9am to 5pm. The two-day practical training course will cover topics of interest such as setting up of the MA3 series of consoles as well as basic programming

The Event Safety Council, a sub-committee of the SA Events Council, has drafted the Re-Opening Guidelines for the Events Industry in South Africa. The guidelines are based on current South African legislation covering the National State of Disaster as well as global best practices. They provide COVID-19 specific processes and

Many new friendships and partnerships have been forged during these tough Covid-19 times, such as the feel-good story of Capetonians Alex Van Dyk from SOLID Group and Alan Muller who created Solid Studios that ran from April to the start of October this year. When the South African lockdown was

  September  – The LD Talent Club – The Warehouse Competition held its 2020 contest finale in September at the historic Zeche Zollern in Dortmund, Germany where Claypaky fixtures were among more than 500 lighting instruments featured in show projects and on site illuminating architecture and landscapes. Eighty-eight young lighting

  Major broadcaster purchases new Quantum338 and SD12 consoles from ATK Audiotek and immediately puts them into service on tenth annual iHeartRadio Music Festival   BURBANK, California – October 2020 – The tenth annual iHeartRadio Music Festival, a two-day virtual streaming, radio and TV broadcast event in late September, featured a

       Lighting designer Dav Bettenhausen of design firm Lankford Fendler + Associates redesigns the exterior lighting experience for one of the world’s most recognizable concert halls   Home to the Kansas City Ballet, Lyric Opera of Kansas City and Kansas City Symphony, The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

  The brand-new Theater Zuidplein in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, has over 200 Robe LED fixtures – including T1 Profiles, Spiiders, LEDBeam 150s and ParFect 150s – installed as part of an all-LED lighting rig. It is among the first cultural centres worldwide to have no dimmers! Theater Zuidplein was designed

Clear-Com tech and training made big difference as new network dealt with launch and COVID-19   TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Launching a new network is difficult enough, but almost immediately having to adapt to a global pandemic raises those challenges to a new level. That was the situation that faced Black News Channel,

UK – Video manipulation expert Green Hippo is launching an online version of its popular ‘HippoSchool’ training for the first time, making it universally accessible in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The move means more emerging users of its industry-leading Hippotizer Media Server range can access learning in a virtual environment

  A4i.tv is a brand new website which provides tips and knowledge on rigging, trussing and staging. Created by the manufacturers of Prolyte, Milos, Litec, Tomcat, JTE and EXE Technology, www.a4i.tv offers a fantastic range educational videos available which includes rigging basics and product basics, to the sharing of useful

The 29th series of the popular TV dance competition “Dancing With The Stars” (DWTS) returned to ABC this month with new host Tyra Banks and 178 x Robe MegaPointes on the lighting plot as part of lighting designer Tom Sutherland’s precision-crafted epic look for the first series performed without a

  Stockholm, Sweden – 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,

  Heartfelt Arena, a 4 500-seater venue in Pretoria, and technical supplier AJR Audio have stood together in protest by hosting events, without making a profit, to prove how shows can safely continue during the Covid-19 pandemic. In July, Eugene Pienaar from Heartfelt Arena and Altus Janse van Rensburg, owner

The Pilbeam Theatre in Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia, is a lively performing arts hub for the city and region. Located in a commanding position fronting onto the Fitzroy River, before the coronavirus pandemic dramatically impacted on all areas of performing arts … the venue regularly presented a diverse mix of drama,

Persistent and torrential rain didn’t dampen any spirits or enthusiasm at Silverstone Circuit in the UK where moving light manufacturer Robe UK, rental and production company Clearsound and Silverstone’s events and conference team transformed the world-famous race track’s ‘Wing’ building and conference centre ‘resplendent red’ for the evening of 30th

September  – 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

  DWR Distribution’s Kyle Robson is delighted to invite you to join him for Basic DiGiCo operational training on Tuesday, 13 October form 9am to 5pm. Due to adhering to the Covid-19 safety regulations, a maximum of ten delegates will be permitted to attend.   The practical training will include

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

– FreeSpeak II and HelixNet complete state-of-the-art facility upgrade – The University Cultural Centre (UCC) is the cultural heart of The National University of Singapore.  Since its opening 2000, the UCC has hosted political and cultural leaders, thought leaders and many well-known artistes and musicians. It is also key asset

  To mark the re-release of his classic album Eden at the end of 2019, French singer-songwriter and pop star, Etienne Daho, embarked upon a 17-date concert tour of France’s most beautiful venues, including jewels like Philharmonie, Pleyel and Olympia. The final date took place in January 2020, narrowly avoiding

Robe moving lights were at the core of a truly spectacular lighting scheme designed to illuminate the magnificent Pula Arena in Croatia in red for the evening of September 1st … This was in solidarity with the #RedAlertRESTART action in the USA which saw over 2000 buildings lit in red

You are invited for an introduction to Vectorworks Spotlight 2021 with Dylan Jones from DWR Distribution on Thursday, 1 October at 14:00. Join us on Zoom.   As entertainment events get more challenging and technology evolves to handle more complex levels of productions, designers demand tools that help solve intricate

  Synonymous for working together as technical director and supplier on popular art and music festivals across South Africa like Innibos, Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK) and Aarkloop, Pieter Jan-Kapp (Kappie) from PJK Management and Christiaan Ballot of technical supplier Blond Productions took the road less travelled over the Covid-19

  Colombia – TV singing contest The Voice continues to dominate global viewing habits, and The Voice Kids in Colombia on Caracol Television is one incarnation of the phenomenon. Like its sister shows around the world, the spectacle demands ever-better visuals as each season ups the one before.   For the

  For those who refuse to give up on life, events and making memorable occasions, DKSS are proud to announce Pop-Up Events and their in-house virtual live studio. Midrand based technical supplier, DKSS, has surrounded itself with upbeat clients and suppliers to create unusual events during these unusual Covid-19 times.

The South African Live Events Industry is invited to stand with industry players across the globe, most of whom are still unable to work during this time, as they raise awareness at the #WeMakeEvents campaign – please join them on 30 September at 8pm local time. While you may want

  It’s a step in the right direction for the live events industry in South Africa as the country is scheduled to move to Level 1 of the risk reduction strategy implemented to slow the spread of Covid-19, next week Monday, 21st September. The eased restrictions will allow up to

Creative Conversations: Jon9 of Holonyne Corporation   Los Angeles, USA – As a leading specialist in visual content delivery, Jon9 thinks big. Not necessarily in terms of screens, pixels and layers, but in the bigger-picture possibilities of experiential entertainment and visual storytelling. With technical and creative expertise in equal measure,

September  – Volt Lites Co-founders Matthew Shimamoto and Harrison Lippman and Lulu Creative Director Michael Zinman of Zinman Company have launched the 3by3 Space on the premises of entertainment production services company Volt Lites in Burbank.  The three partners have created a safe stage for the COVID-19 era that’s equipped

  As the city slept during the Covid-19 lockdown, a deserted building in downtown Johannesburg became a beacon of hope for musicians. Urban Sessions 2020, an amalgamated project by Militia Broadcast, technical supplier Stage Effects and Smack Entertainment for audio, created a studio for musicians to live-stream concerts to their

The famous Palais des Papes in Avignon, France came alive bathed in a vibrant collage of colours, shapes, and textures – thanks to 12 x Robe ESPRITE moving lights – which were part of a design by LD Fabien Chamakoff for the 2020 Helios Festival. Launched in 2017, the event

  On 24 June, a spectacular concert was hosted at Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd in honour of the 75th anniversary of VE Day. One of the only concerts allowed during Russia’s Covid-19 lockdown, it featured famous artists from Russia’s vibrant theatre, opera and cinema worlds, accompanied by the All-Russian Youth

  For the South African Live Events Industry, September the 8th will never be the same again – it was an emotional day that will be tattooed in the hearts and souls of the two hundred people consisting of business owners, technicians and freelancers, who gathered at the Paul Kruger

Three key live music venues in New York City managed by The Bowery Presents – Brooklyn Steel, Webster Hall and most recently the Mondo Award-nominated, 2800 capacity Terminal 5 in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan – all feature Robe moving lights in their house rigs. The lights have been specified by Luciano

The #Flightcasemovement is a call for all South African technical companies, technical crew and freelance technicians, to hand deliver a memorandum of demands to the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture (DSAC) on Tuesday, 8thSeptember 2020. Business owners, technicians and freelancers in the live events industry will meet at Paul

Technical events supplier, MGG, have set up two virtual studios at their premises to accommodate their clients’ wide range of events from conferences to product launches, live broadcasts, and music performances. Interestingly enough, this professional virtual experience is extremely affordable. It’s not a Zoom meeting but rather an appealing package