Michael Howe Runs Mastodon “Emperor of Sand” Tour Visuals with ChamSys Console, Media Server

ST. LOUIS, MO — For Mastodon’s 30-city North American tour in support of the band’s March 31 album release, Emperor of Sand, Michael Howe created and controls evocative show visuals using a MagicQ MQ500 Stadium console and Magic HD media server from ChamSys.

ORANGE BEACH, AL – Luke Bryan, who wrapped the 2016 leg of his Kill the Lights Tour last fall, returned to the road with a new string of Kill the Lights dates from Feb. 11 to March 18.  Lighting designer Justin Kitchenman selected a big package of Claypaky fixtures from Elite Multimedia, for the shows.  They included Scenius UN1CO luminaires – one of the first appearances made by these fixtures in North America.

LOS ANGELES – The 59th Annual Grammy Awards made headlines for Adele’s five category wins.  Behind the scenes, d3 media servers video mapped the stage’s big screens, delivering high-impact visuals that matched dynamic performances by Adele and more than 20 other top artists. The awards show was hosted by James Corden and broadcast live on CBS from Staples Center on Feb. 12,  Three d3 4x4pros with SDI VFC cards, running a beta version of r14.2 software, were used along with two 2x2plus systems: one a pure master and the other an understudy.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – Chicago-based rock band 7th Heaven has been an entertainment staple in the American Midwest for 30 years. Despite its location in the U.S. heartland, the band does an annual cruise called the “Chicago Music Cruise” and this year played a week of shows on the largest cruise ship in the world, Harmony of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean smartship outfitted with energy-efficient Elation Professional LED lighting. 

GLENDALE, CA – Since the establishment of Green Hippo Media Service Inc. in October 2015, Green Hippo’s U.S. presence has exceeded projections with strong growth in sales and continued formation of alliances into 2016, a trend which has continued into the first Quarter of 2017. Celebrating a continuation of last year’s record figures and increased distribution reach, the U.S. division of the U.K. based Media Server developer has again flourished with the addition of new staff and expanded premises.

NASHVILLE – The National Music Council has announced that songwriter and poet Patti Smith, comic, actor, writer, musician and creators’ rights activist Harry Shearer and country music legend Crystal Gayle will be honored at the organization’s 34th annual American Eagle Awards on Thursday, July 13 at the Summer NAMM Show in Nashville. Smith, Shearer and Gayle are pictured here, clockwise from left.

NASHVILLE — For the April 6 taping of Sing Me Back Home: The Music of Merle Haggard, top artists performed in tribute to the late country artist, who died April 6, 2016 on his 79^th birthday. LD Mark Carver used Bandit Lites-supplied fixtures for the event including Martin MAC Viper Profiles, Vari-Lite VL3500 Spots, GLP X4, X4S and X4 Bar 10 fixtures, Ayrton MagicBlades, Clay Paky B-EYE K20, Sharpy and Mythos fixtures, Sunstrip STP-10 MK2s and Bandit’s own GRNLite Moving Washes and 5x5s, with a grandMA2 full and light console for control.