KYOTO, JAPAN – It’s impossible to walk through the prefecture of Gion and not be swept up in its vibrant pace of life. The most celebrated geisha district in a city that is itself the cultural heart of Japan, the neighborhood is renowned for its world-class dining and entertainment attractions. Both of these offerings are […]
CLEVELAND, OH – When the multi-talented Nick Cannon announced that he was taking his hit MTV program “Wild N Out” on the road, some critics wondered how well the fast-clipped, hip-hop improv comedy show would translate into a live tour format. They needn’t have worried. The hugely successful show (one of its episodes was the […]
ORLAND PARK, IL – In 2002, Parkview Church moved into a new larger campus to accommodate its growing membership. At the time about 600 people attended Sunday services at the 54-year-old house of worship. Today well over 7,000 people come to the Orland Park church or one of its two satellite campuses to worship every […]
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – Not even the Wicked Witch of the West could scare away the crowds at the recent theatrical run of the Wizard of Oz, staged to sold-out audiences at the 2,000-seat Thomas Hassall Anglican College in Middleton Grange, Australia. To give the school production a professional stage look, technical supplier Showtools Australia specified […]
NASHVILLE, TN – A good fog machine effect not only evokes strong moods among the audience, it can also fire up members of the band. Tim Creedon, lighting director for chart-topping country star Canaan Smith, knows this first hand. Not long ago, he was running the board at one of the crooner’s shows when, just […]
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – After a short hiatus, Australia’s most popular all-night dance music festival, Midnight Mafia, was back with a bang this year at the magnificent Showground event space in Sydney’s Olympic Park, hosting some of Australia’s most popular DJs including The Enforcers and The Ace of Spades. With the Midnight Mafia organisers promising to […]
CRANSTON, RI – It goes without saying that a floor package has to be quick and easy to set up and take down. But LD Freddy Thompson of JDI Productions was looking for more than speed when he put together the rig for the recent national tour by Killswitch Engage. In keeping with the hardcore […]
NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Sitting down to design the lighting rig for the Albany resort’s White New Year’s Eve Party, Paul Francis Aranha and his team repeated the same vow that they’ve been making every year since they began working on the annual event in 2011: find a way to make this party more visually exciting […]
NEW YORK – Even by the standards of pop punk, a genre famous for blending outrageously divergent sounds, The Wonder Years stands out for its incredibly wide-ranging style. Deftly swinging from subtle melodies to heart-pounding choruses in the blink of a musical eye, this freewheeling band from the Philadelphia area takes fans on an emotionally […]
LAS VEGAS – They say you can find anything you want in Las Vegas. Adventure Combat Ops, one of the city’s newest attractions, falls into that category. Located in a 77,000 square foot former warehouse just off the famed Strip, this unique venue serves up a two-hour adrenaline rush of non-stop action by enlisting customers […]
STURGIS, SOUTH DAKOTA – A small spec on the map in the western part of America’s 46th most populous state is hardly the type of place where one would expect to encounter a traffic jam. However, anyone who journeys to little Sturgis, South Dakota (population 6,900) during the first week of August will find that […]
NEW YORK – Rock and roll never dies; neither do rock and roll dreams, although sometimes they may take an extended hiatus while “adult responsibilities” are looked after. Such was the case for New York attorney Charles Bonfante. In the ’80s and early ’90s, the Long Island native was the drummer for a number of […]