Installations

Seventy inputs– most of them guitars–are a big enough challenge for any live engineer. Now factor in all of this: Those guitarists are all world-class players doing a show that tracks the history and influence of the guitar. The mix of players changes over the show's three-day run and range from acoustic-based classical and bluegrass to the searing electric vibe of Albert King and Eric Johnson. The show is seen as a possible "audition" for a theatrical run and is being recorded for a DVD. Oh yeah, and you are mixing in surround on some gear that is seeing its first public use in this country.

What room is so large that a 350- voice choir: is so far from the podium they can't hear the conductor; is 45 feet back and 12 feet above the orchestra; can't hear the orchestra (and vice versa); sings directly in front of a pipe organ whose ranks and pipes can overpower a room with seating for 21,000?

If you said the Conference Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints then you are correct!

LOVE, the latest production from Cirque du Soleil is a collaborative effort between the Cirque and Apple Corps. The show features original Beatles tracks from master tapes at Abbey Road studios prepared specifi – cally by Musical Directors Sir George Martin and his son Giles Martin. "We wanted to make sure there are enough good, solid hit songs in the show, but we don't want it to be a catalog of 'best of's'," said Sir George Martin. "We also wanted to put in some interesting and not well-known Beatles music and use fragments of songs. The show will be a unique and magical experience."

As I was making my way to North Las Vegas to check out this room I have to admit that I was a bit torn. On one hand, I had recently met the technical director and A-1, and they were the kind of production guys I like to hang with–dedicated, down-to-earth and without any "don't you know who I am?" BS. Other production folks in town that I had talked to described The Club at the Cannery as an "A" room in a local casino in the "C" part of town. The important part, they stressed, was that it really was an A-level room.

At a time when churchgoing worldwide is on the decline, the stratospheric rise in attendance at Resurrection Life Church in Grandville, Mich., makes for a real study in contrasts.

Under the leadership of senior pastor Duane Vander Clok since 1984, this nondenominational Christian church has gone from 400 or so parishioners to serving thousands each weekend in every demographic–adults, children, teens, college-age, the elderly, as well as Spanish-speaking members from one main church campus and two satellite campuses. At present, weekend attendance hovers around 8,000 people, which puts them into the top 100 churches in the nation for attendance.

In the heart of New York City's Times Square, one of the world's largest crossroads of talent, a new jewel has emerged that is destined to become an integral part of the neighborhood's famed history. Exceeding the expectations for sound reinforcement set by the numerous legendary venues in the immediate vicinity, Nokia Theatre features a fully functional, rider-friendly sound system designed and installed by Clair Brothers Systems.

It's out with the Blue and in with new as Las Vegas's Luxor Hotel bids farewell to its azure-painted performers The Blue Man Group and makes way for a brand-new draw–the hit Broadway show Hairspray. The musical turns the back the clock to 1962 when big 'dos ruled and plus-sized trend setter Tracy Turnblad just wanted to dance on a local Baltimore television show.

The show, which opened on Feb. 15, is a shortened, 90-minute reprisal of the multi- Tony-winning Broadway adaptation of the John Waters film that came out in 1988 and made actress and talk-show host Ricki Lake into an instant star.

"Omaha, somewhere in middle America…"

When Adam Duritz of Counting Crows fame penned these words in 1993, he probably didn't know that we'd still be hearing them on the radio more than a decade later. And yet, for many people, this chorus may be the first thing that comes to mind when we hear mention of this Midwest city. David Lemke is one of many people working to change all of our minds.

When I telephoned Gary Nellis on Dec. 19 for an interview, he certainly sounded calm. Talk about the eye of a storm.

Nellis, who headed up the electronic install at the brand-spanking-new South Coast Casino in Henderson, Nev., a city that hugs the southeastern rim of Las Vegas, didn't actually answer the cell phone; someone on his crew answered for him as he discussed business on his other cell phone. Momentarily, he switched over, and with mind-boggling calmness, talked to me about the task of getting a big electronic install done under pressure.

It's September 21, 2005, and Tim Hannum finds himself among the more than 500 patrons at the opening of one of the most anticipated adult entertainment spots (or "gentlemen's clubs") in Manhattan. Located in the former Paradise Club spot, the building alone cost $7.6 million, plus another $3 million to make it pole-worthy, and it's in the desirable spot between Madison Square Garden and the Empire State Building. It's the 10th club opened by Rick's, a publicly-traded company.

Any performance hall audio installation is certainly challenging, but what happened when Illinois State University, located in the city of Normal, wanted its new performance hall to also function as a major classroom area for its Arts Technology courses?

It turned out to be an awesome combination. But there were challenges to achieve those satisfying ends, including several bone-crunching go-rounds between the school and consultants on what the two performance spaces needed, some lengthy delays with funding that held up the overall project and, of course, all those garden-variety install issues that go with every job.