SUMMER 2017 // ISSUE 4 Production Crew Joins the Trip Down Memory Lane on Tom Petty’s 40th Anniversary Tour Tour Link Magazine 1 2 Tour Link Magazine Britannia Row Productions Goes Global with Clair Global Following a successful strategic alliance which About Clair Global: has been in place since the beginning of the year, Britannia Row Productions recently announced Building on over 50 years of experience, Clair its acquisition by Clair Global, Inc. Global continues to boldly advance the entertain- ment experience in the touring, festival, broad- Clair Global has a long-established history and is cast, and corporate markets. Our clients are ex- one of the most respected entertainment industry traordinary. We strive every day, at any hour, to suppliers with serval international operations. exceed their expectations. Our employees’ crea- tivity, talents, problem-solving skills and commit- Britannia Row Productions is one of the leading ment to service set us apart. Our passion is to UK audio companies with links throughout the provide our clients with solutions that meet their world. “Both companies see this as the perfect needs in audio, communications, backline, and way to expand and strengthen their worldwide data services. client base, allowing them to offer consistent ser- vice in all major territories,” said Britannia Row www.clairglobal.com Directors Bryan Grant and Mike Lowe in a joint statement. “The synergies we’ve experienced with the entire Britannia Row team have been over- whelmingly positive. Culturally and profes- sionally, we are on the same page. We are excited to bring this new level of global sup- port to our clients and better serve their pas- sions to advance this industry.” Troy Clair, President/CEO, Clair Global. About Britannia Row Productions: For over forty years, we’ve been listening to what our customers want while keeping one ear close to the ground for the very latest developments in audio technol- ogy and the other ear out for the finest technical talent in the busi- ness. Altogether, we’ve clocked up over 100,000 productions – from global sporting events, con- cert tours, corporate and theatre shows to live radio and worldwide television broadcasts. www.britanniarow.com Tour Link Magazine 3 CONTENTS SUMMER 2017 // Issue 4 EDITORIALS 3 // Britannia Row Productions Goes Global with Clair Global 6 // PixelFLEX is the ideal LED video solution for Piranha Productions 9 // Meet SIR, the company that’s been helping musicians sound their best on tour for over 50 years! 14 // Tom Petty’s 40th Anniversary Tour 12 // Airworks Provides Smooth Flights for Heartbreakers 40th Anniversary Tour 14 // Feature: Production Crew Joins the Trip Down Memory Lane on Tom Petty’s 40th Anniversary Tour 26 // Planet Ten Recasts The Dream With Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 2017 Tour 30 // Festival News 12 // Airworks Provides Smooth Flights for Heartbreakers 40th Anniversary Tour 26 // Planet Ten Recasts the Dream For the latest info on the industry’s leading conference check out - www.tourlinkconference.com 30 // Festival News 4 Tour Link Magazine LARRY SMITH PUBLISHER The cover feature on the Tom Petty 40th Anniversary Tour in this issue gave us an op- portunity to examine the rapidly growing area of video. We present an interesting piece on Planet Ten, a business with a vision and one we think is a company to watch in the future. We predict they will be involved in many more major tours. [email protected] Also in this feature is a piece on Airworks, a well-established aviation company that is supporting the Petty tour. It is no secret that I have been an aviation enthusiast since my teen-age years. I was involved, since the mid-80s in touring air charter and was the first journalist to encourage the quality charter companies to promote themselves to our Industry. Airworks represents the qualities I have encouraged since those early years. We are pleased to congratulate Studio Equipment Rentals, better known as SIR, on their 50th Anniversary! We are just as pleased to present an article in this issue giving a little of their history and some of what they offer you in their various locations. On a different topic, we previously launched a series of stories and news on festivals this year. This issue presents an article by Laurie Kirby and Beka Breneman from FestFo- rums on the explosion of and demand for culinary experiences at festivals. We plan to follow the festival series with a new one on tour & festival security-- an issue that unfor- tunately, continues to concern all of us. We plan to include these discussions at a high level at the next Tour Link Conference. So, we hope you enjoy this issue and watch for more expanded features in the future as we try to identify the issues impacting our Industry. Get the Magazine app for exclusive interactive extras! Larry Smith Publisher Publisher & Advertising...... Larry Smith - 615.260.6699 STAFF Editor ........................... JJ Janney - [email protected] Accountant …............... Sharon Baldwin - [email protected] Ad Traffic ...................... Rachel Janney - [email protected] Layout / Design … Warehouse Multimedia Inc.- ph: 615.420.6153 • f: 866.929.9651 3050 Business Park Circle suite 500 Goodlettsville, TN 37072 www.warehousemultimedia.com Websites Graphic Design Online Marketing Video Contributing Writers........ Jordan Haymaker, Mike Wharton, Laurie B. Kirby, Beka Breneman Feature Photographer ..... Chris Brooks Cover Photo: Chris Brooks Tour Link Magazine 5 PixelFLEX is the ideal LED video solution for Piranha Productions The Texas-based live event production provider invests in FLEXLite Plus 8.9mm LED video technology for its rental inventory to create powerful production designs Located in Weatherford, Texas, Piranha Productions is a full-service production company specializing in all the design elements needed to create a powerful, live event production designs. With LED video becoming a con- sistent component to many of their most successful de- signs, the decision was made to make an investment in the technology for their rental inventory. Needing a high- resolution and durable solution from a trusted provider, they called upon Nashville-based PixelFLEX and made an investment in FLEXLite Plus 8.9mm LED video. photographs and videos extremely well and its tiles are “Piranha Productions began in 2000 as an event produc- calibrated directly out of the box to decrease failure, and tion company providing sound, light and event manage- ensure the perfect color and brightness of any LED video ment, but as the technology has progressed we began design. to get into video design and production as well,” began Greg Teagarden, Vice President of Production. “Previ- “Over the years, I’ve seen so many different iterations of ously we had sub-rented the LED video screens through video screens and within the past few years everything other companies, but we recently decided it was time to had progressed to the small, lightweight LED video pan- invest in the technology for ourselves. I’ve kept an eye els,” continued Teagarden. “For our designs, we needed on PixelFLEX over the years so when it came time for a solution that was durable enough to be mounted on a us to make the purchase, it was a quick call to discuss trailer, but also had the ability to create custom, modu- what they had to offer and the FLEXLite Plus 8.9mm was lar configurations. We also wanted a product that was exactly what we wanted.” a higher resolution than what we have dealt with in the past, and it was great to be able to look through the Pix- FLEXLite Plus from PixelFLEX is one of the highest res- elFLEX catalog of products to get down to the precise olution curve-able LED displays on the market and is 8.9mm pixel pitch we needed for our shows.” capable of a 15-degree curve in any direction. With its bright, dense display and high refresh rate, FLEXLite Plus As FLEXLite Plus was identified as the ideal LED video solution, there was another characteristic that Teagarden was looking for in a technol- ogy partner. Wanting to make an investment [email protected] in a company known for quality products tourcatering.com and support, the industry reputation of Pix- 530.307.0003 elFLEX solidified the new relationship. “In making this investment, I really wanted T to partner with a company that was estab- O ATS lished in the United States with plenty of in- U ventory and a proven ability to respond to C any service needs,” admitted Teagarden. “I R didn’t want to have to send product over- seas or wait for spare parts to arrive from another country, and I knew the PixelFLEX 6 Tour Link Magazine technology has onsite and how quickly it all goes together and comes been road- down. Even though we haven’t had any issues with tested over the the system whatsoever, should we need to service the years so we panels, it is extremely serviceable in the field, and it that purchased 70 makes the FLEXLite Plus a quality LED video solution.” FLEXLite Plus LED video pan- For more information on Piranha Productions, or to in- els.” quire about their FLEXLite Plus 8.9mm LED video pan- els, call 817-598-0511 or visit www.piranhashows.com. With the pur- chase now An American-based LED manufacturer, PixelFLEX offers complete, Pi- creative solutions, reliable products, and dependable ranha Produc- service for our industry-leading LED display technolo- tions wasted gies and solutions. Driven towards excellence to meet no time putting your standards, PixelFLEX offers a one-of-a-kind design their new LED for your tour, event or installation through our award-win- video panels out on the job. Often placed in challenging ning line of LED video walls and video screens.