UK: The National Theatre’s (NT) River Stage Weekends festival returned to London’s Southbank from July 29 – August 29, with Chief Lighting Designer Huw Llewellyn choosing an Avolites Tiger Touch II and Fader Wing running the latest Titan v10 to deliver versatile, power-packed control across the month-long programme of weekend takeovers. The free summer festival played host to a diverse range of artists and acts from family friendly workshops to energetic riverside raves. Throughout August, the festival saw numerous National Theatre partners from across the country tread the boards of the outdoor stage, painted red to mirror the NT’s iconic…
Author: Festival Insights
Nathaniel Hanna is the Managing Director of Stax Creations. After studying Visual Communication at the Birmingham School of Architecture and Design, he took his expertise into the third dimension in 2014 by founding Stax Creations. He now works closely with Stax’s Creative Director Chris on conceptualisation and creative design, and leads on technical design and build. We first met the guys from Festival Insights at Liverpool Sound City when the event moved to a permanent, unique venue for the first time. We had started Stax Creations a year earlier and were brought on board by Sound City to design and…
CROATIA: Sister festivals Dimensions and Outlook have joined forces with Neuron Pro Audio, Danley UK and Pure Groove Systems this year to provide sound for their ‘Stables’ stages. Neuron will be using Danley’s signature speaker: the famous Synergy Horn known as the J1 Jericho. Each J1 Jericho consists of 6 x 18” long excursion woofers, 6 x 6” midrange drivers and three coaxial high frequency drivers, all working together simultaneously in each box to produce a full range sound described by Danley engineers as ‘simply the most accurate high power loudspeaker ever created’. For fill in, two SBH10s will be…
DENMARK: Customer service is a core value for any lighting designer visiting the 17,000 capacity Arena Stage at Roskilde Festival, one of Europe’s leading music events, and this year production lighting designer Sune Verdier used 40 x Robe BMFL Spots at the heart of the rig, which he co-ordinated for the fifth year. These were supplied – together with other lighting including 24 x Robe Pointes – by leading Danish rental company, Comtech, which has invested heavily in Robe over the last year. The Arena accommodated a wide variety of bands over the four day festival – from breaking talent…
Hampshire’s Matterley Estate once again played host to the fully immersive BoomTown Fair from August 11 – 14, which this year welcomed an increased capacity of 60,000 music lovers and saw the addition of over 80 street venues. Mojo Barriers expanded on its presence at the festival by supplying 600m of kit, 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 Sector 6 – a new district introduced to the 2016 event. Founded in 2009, BoomTown Fair is an expansive metropolis split into nine different…
UK: Studiomaster & Carlsbro returned to Bloodstock from August 11 – 14 as an official equipment sponsor. Studiomaster & Carlsbro kit was in use across the site during the four day, four-stage festival at Catton Park in Derbyshire, having last supplied equipment to the festival as a sponsor in 2014. The Hobgoblin New Blood Stage featured an array of Carlsbro backline, with assorted EVO tube heads and 4×12 cabs for guitars, and Viper heads, with 4×10 and 1×15 cabs for bass. The Hobgoblin New Blood Stage hosted almost 40 bands over the course of the festival. The stage area in…
UK: Crowd Connected, the multi-award winning developer of pioneering location intelligence software, has announced the first close of a new round of financing, taking the company to over $1 million USD in funds raised to date. The company will use the latest tranche of funding to further enhance its product functionality across multiple market segments and invest in sales and marketing, including building out the Crowd Connected team. Headquartered at the Surrey Research Park, widely regarded as the best science park of its kind in the UK, the company has developed ground-breaking location intelligence technology. Crowd Connected’s patent-pending platform intelligently…
UK: Temporary power specialist Midas provided for a record number of Jockey Club Live shows this summer. In the sophomore year of a three-season contract with Symphotech, which manages production for Jockey Club Live, Midas supplied the shows with three separate kits of 220 kVA synched generators on the road. Starting at Aintree in May, with turns from Tom Jones and Deacon Blue in a 10,000 capacity structure, Midas supplied stage and backstage power to a further 21 dates at seven racecourses across the country. Busted, Bryan Adams, Tears For Fears and Jess Glynne were among the performers, and with…
NETHERLANDS: Mysteryland, the world’s longest running dance music festival, will become the first festival in the world to showcase its event using a virtual reality livestream when it takes place this weekend. The festival – which focuses on music, culture & arts and sustainability – takes place from August 27 – 28 in Haarlemmermeer, The Netherlands. Mysteryland claims that this is the first time a festival of its size has utilised VR technology in this manner, whereby fans can experience the festival through VR headsets using an app or via the Mysteryland YouTube channel. The special VR livestream will consist…
CARIBBEAN: SXM Festival, a clandestine electronic music getaway, has revealed that it will return to the idyllic shores of Saint Martin from March 15 – 19. SXM Festival’s 2016 debut treated attendees to blissful ocean views, beatific sunset and sunrises, intimate jungle soireés, and a diverse local culture to explore. Beyond the location, it remains the festival’s dedication to deeper shades of electronic music that makes it a contender for the intercontinental spotlight. It is this commitment to the sounds of the underground that yielded a who’s who billing for SXM Festival’s first foray, featuring the likes of Apollonia, Audiofly,…