Features

LOS ANGELES — It’s been 12 years since the annual Audio Engineering Society show made an appearance in Los Angeles, this time returning to the L.A. Convention Center from October 8 through 12, 2014. And for audio professionals, this was the place to be, with the exhibit floor, panels and technical sessions packed all four days, with 15,403 registered attendees — representing a 28% increase over the 2012 San Francisco Show, the last time AES was held on the West Coast.

Even though she knows it won’t last past summer, sound mixer Carin Ford loves manning the board of the Tony Award-nominated musical Bullets Over Broadway. “I really enjoy the music because I grew up listening to and playing jazz,” says Ford, who, like her father, has played saxophone. “I love the music. I can really relate to it and can get into the mix of it. I love working with this cast. We have a great band and a great cast. I haven’t been with a good ensemble like this in awhile. I really enjoy the show, and I think Susan Stroman did great work with it. That one tap number with the gangsters (“‘Tain’t Nobody’s Biz-ness If I Do”) is off the chain.”

What makes a hometown hero? What does it take to be the best, without being the biggest? FRONT of HOUSE readers have spoken and here are this year’s six Parnelli Regional Audio honorees. They all answer the two questions, and while each has whittled their own path to this year’s winner’s circle, like a snowflake, no two are exactly alike. They do, however, share commonalities: Gear, sure, but it’s the people; savvy business sense to survive and thrive and a business that is getting harder to navigate every year; and an insatiable desire to please the client. FOH readers can now visit www.parnelliawards.com and  vote on which of the six should be named the Hometown Hero Sound Company of the Year.

In what began as a conversation involving concerned live event professionals the month after the Indiana State Fair stage collapse in August 2011, the Event Safety Alliance (ESA) is expanding its influence over event safety in North America. As it celebrates its unofficial third year this month (it incorporated in February of 2012), the ESA has made solid progress in their quest to align the industry with best practices in live event safety guidelines. A four-day training session, a new strategic partnership, a new headquarters, and The Event Safety Guide are some of their recent accomplishments.

LAS VEGAS — Some 37,048 professional audiovisual buyers and sellers worldwide from more than 114 countries made the annual pilgrimage to the InfoComm (infocomm.org) conference and exhibition. Established in 1939, the organizers marked the event’s 75th anniversary this year. Held at the cavernous Las Vegas Convention Center from June 14-20, this year’s event represented a 5.5 percent increase in attendance over InfoComm 2013.

From an arts perspective, the Empire Music Festival is Guatemala’s biggest show. It was also the country’s first multi-stage festival. Primarily focused on electronica and dance music, it attracts artists from around the world. Held at the Guatemala Raceway in Escuintla over the country’s Easter-related national holidays on April 16 and 17, this year’s festival had three stages. The gargantuan 115-foot Main Stage was reserved for the biggest names on the global electronica scene; the Live Stage focused on various live acts, while the third Back to Basics Stage featured emerging and underground artists.

FRANKFURT, Germany — If there’s any slowdown in the industry, it wasn’t evident at the recent 2014 Prolight+Sound expo, which drew 897 exhibitors from 42 countries. This year’s PL+S featured plenty of new sound reinforcement consoles; live speaker systems and subwoofers were also big news at the show, along with an assortment of production essentials for live sound applications. We’ll provide full details in the April issue of FRONT of HOUSE, but until then, here are our picks for the top hits of the show.

ATK Audiotek supported the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, held at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Jan. 26. The show, hosted by L.L. Cool J, was broadcast on CBS. The 56^th event included performances by 56 different artists and acts.