International News

AMSTERDAM ­– For many years, the legendary rock club, born out of the 1960s flower power era, featured one of Martin Audio’s pioneering Wavefront 8 systems. But after a stringent multisystem evaluation earlier this year, the club opted to upgrade to a 3-way Martin Audio W8LM Line Array solution in their main “MAX Room.”

SAO PAULO, BRAZIL — Held at São Paulo’s Morumbi Stadium, the 2010 World Cup qualifying game between South American soccer heavyweights Brazil and Uruguay used an Electro-Voice sound reinforcement system deployed by the Tukasom Company.

LONDON – Nineteen years after their last appearance, the three surviving members of Led Zeppelin, together with John Bonham’s son Jason, took to the stage at the 02 Arena to perform a tribute concert for their late record label boss Ahmet Ertegun, who signed them to Atlantic Records in 1968.

LONDON – Thirty years after the debut album, eight years after the last tour, Squeeze have been playing their first live shows of this century in the UK. Supported by NEXO GEO tangent-array PA systems supplied by SSE Audio Group, the band has sold out mid-sized venues throughout the UK before stepping up to 5,000-seat, high-profile clubs for the final dates.

MEXICO CITY – One of the biggest entertainment industry events on the Mexico City media calendar, the annual Lunas del Auditorio Awards held in the city’s Auditorio Nacional, celebrates the best live talent, productions and performances from across Latin America. Along with top stars appearing onstage, the new Midas XL8 digital mixing system made its debut at FOH.

PARIS — The Opéra Bastille Paris was inaugurated in 1989 as part of the French Revo-lution Bicentenary celebrations. Always a visionary in audio technology, the Opéra Bas-tille was the first to work with an analog console featuring remote total digital recall. During a recent technical overhaul, the opera integrated Optocore and Yamaha as the basis of the system.

PRAGUE — Jazz piano player Chick Corea arrived in Prague to give a concert at the prestigious Smetanova Hall. RentalPro provided a NEXO GEO S8, CD12 front-of-house PA and a PS Series stage monitoring system. Although undemanding in terms of inputs — just 12 —  sound reinforcement was controlled by an EtherSound network.

OXFORD, ENGLAND — To promote their second album Our Earthly Pleasures, Tyneside-based indie rockers Maximo Park have been touring throughout 2007, with dates in the U.S., Canada, Australia and Japan. For the U.K. and European dates, Britannia Row supplied a Turbosound Aspect rig, with the band’s FOH engineer Trevor Gilligan mixing on a 56-channel DiGiCo D5 console. 

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND — Revival theatre productions are usually a sure bet at the box office. The trick, of course, is to stay true to the original while incorporating fresh, new concepts. With this goal in mind, Sound Designers Chris Full and Terry Jardine of London’s Autograph Sound Recording, Ltd. set out to infuse new life into the UK tour of the classic musical Guys and Dolls. 

LEDBURY, ENGLAND — With over 200 acts playing on 12 stages over three days, Big Chill is rapidly becoming one of the must-visit events of the UK summer festival season. Held at Eastnor Castle Deer Park, near Worcester, from Aug. 3–5, this year was the first that Dobson Sound Productions had supplied the audio infrastructure for all the festival stages. So the company took the opportunity to also make Big Chill ‘all digital’ for the first time.

GELSENKIRCHEN, GERMANY — Tour rental sound company Sirius Showequipment AG recently provided audio services for a sold-out concert featuring Germany’s most popular band Pur. With a supporting symphony orchestra on twin stages at the Veltins Arena, the event drew a crowd of approximately 65,000 people.

TALLINN, ESTONIA —The three-day Estonian Youth Song and Dance Celebration has never been a small event, and its 10th anniversary was no exception. Held every five years, this year’s landmark event featured more than 35,000 participants, including 831 choirs, 127 dance groups, 47 orchestras, as well as a 15,000-member children’s choir and 200-piece brass band.