This tour marked Cyrus’ first visit to Australia since being introduced to local audiences as Hannah Montana in 2006. Miley Cyrus has released ten albums and sold in excess of 500,000 singles in Australia.

Massive Attack - Sydney Opera House forecourt

Massive Attack toured Australia in March 2010 off the back of their album `Heligoland`. JPS provided a L-Acoustics K1 system for the tour.

Tour Dates

March 12, Perth, Kings Park
March 15, Sydney, Opera House Forecourt
March 19, Canberra, Royal Theatre
March 20, Melbourne, Myer Music Bowl
March 21, Adelaide, Entertainment Centre
March 23, Brisbane, Riverstage

Review

Alex Lalak From: The Daily Telegraph February 22, 2011

DR ZHIVAGO is a show for theatregoers looking for something to chew on. It is a slow-burn musical, with polished performances, gritty plot, a fighting spirit and, most importantly, an excellent score.

Written by US composer Lucy Simon and directed by Des McAnuff (of Jersey Boys fame), Dr Zhivago is based on the lengthy novel by Boris Pasternak. It follows part of the life of Yuri Zhivago (Anthony Warlow), a doctor and poet raised in a wealthy family after the collapse of his own and married to the daughter of the house, Tonia (Taneel Van Zyl).

After a couple of chance meetings, the feisty Lara (Lucy Maunder) captures Yuri’s poetic heart and their troubled love story plays out against the bloodstained backdrops of World War I and the Russian Revolution.

There are some shaky elements, including pacing in the first act, simplification of politics and the rapid-fire ending. However, considering it has been in previews for a mere week, it shows serious promise on all the points that matter. It looks fantastic, with early scenes of aristocratic splendour contrasted with later visions of war-time griminess, set off by black and white images digitally projected on to the backdrop to assist scene changes.

Simon’s score is a delight, with powerful ballads rubbing shoulders with jaunty chorus numbers and a stirring quartet. The cast does an excellent job delivering Simon’s music, with sharp performances from the soloists. Trisha Noble, Peter Carroll, Martin Crewes and Van Zyl hold their own, but it is the balance of Maunder and Warlow that holds the show.

Despite her youth and occasional lack of depth in her voice, Maunder has a good crack at Lara’s complexity and brings her to life, particularly in the duets with Warlow. Warlow might seem too old for the role but the heart and experience he brings to the stage is invaluable and there is never a doubt he is in total control.

Dates

Sydney, Lyric Theatre, February and March 2011
Melbourne, Her Majesty’s Theatre, April to July 2011
Brisbane, Lyric Theatre, QPAC, July to August 2011

Bruce Jackson

Along with his school friend Philip Storey, Bruce formed J & S Research Electronics in the late 1960s, the company which soon became known as Jands.

In 1970, Bruce sold his share of Jands and went to America, where he did live sound for performers such as Elvis Presley, Bruce Springsteen and Barbara Streisand. Bruce went on to become one of the pioneers of the live audio industry, working with Clair Brothers Audio, Apogee Electronics and Lake Technology to develop many sound technologies we take for granted today.

Bruce will be sorely missed by his many friends around the world, and by those of us at Jands who knew him from the early days, or who got to know him more recently through his involvement with the Sydney Olympics and other major events.

Our heartfelt condolences to Bruce’s family and to all who knew him, worked with him and appreciated his immense contribution to the audio industry.

Links

http://clairglobal.com/bruce-jackson/

The world’s most famous virtual band, Gorillaz, made their live debut in Australia in December 2010.

After headlining the UK’s Coachella and Glastonbury festivals earlier in the year, Gorillaz headed to the Southern Hemisphere to tour Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and then Auckland.

The band – the brainchild of Blur singer Damon Albarn and Tank Girl cartoonist Jamie Hewlitt – consists of an eccentric animated quartet: singer and keyboardist 2-D, bassist Murdoc, guitarist Noodle and drummer Russel Hobbs.

As part of their first world tour the band included over 20 musicians on stage at any one time. JAS provided a D&B J system – and lots of it.

Date

December 11, 16, 19, 21

System

60 x d&b J series
16 x d&b J-sub
18 x d&b B2
Powered by d&b D12 amplifiers

FOH

DiGiCo SD7

Monitors

DiGiCo SD7
24 x L-Acoustics 115xt HiQ wedges

JAS audio crew

Craig Gordon
Conor Dunne
Guto Magic – Otavio Santos
Matthew ‘Boz’ Boaro

Powderfinger hit the road late in 2010 for their farewell tour of Australia and New Zealand. The band had decided after 20 years of making music and touring the world to call it a day and set out on the Sunsets Farewell tour. It consisted of arenas for the capitals cities and big-top tents for the regional areas. They toured for 3 months in total.

The band’s FOH operator Mark McElligot contacted JAS and asked for a D&B J system for the tour. He was enthusiatic about the systems amazing sound quality and knew that because of its size and weight it would be ideal for the big-top tents.

The system design incorporated J8 & J12 for the main and side hangs. J-subs were also flown with B2 subs on the ground.
The tour also had a B stage just in front of the FOH desk and with a separate monitor system package.

At Acer arena in Sydney a 2nd audio system was supplied and flown above the B stage and thus above the band.

Jet supported Powderfinger on the whole tour with FOH duties by “John Boy Rock” and Monitors by Will Burston.

Date

September 1 – October 16 2010

System

60 x d&b J series
16 x d&b J-sub
18 x d&b B2
Powered by d&b D12 amplifiers

Acer Arena B stage system

48 x Adamson Y18
24 x Adamson Y10

FOH

1 x Midas XL4
1 x Midas XL3 extender sidecar (B stage mix)
1 x Digidesign Profile (Jet and other acts)

Monitor system

1 x PM5DRH console
Nexo PS15 wedges
Nexo Alpha M3 side-fill system

JAS Audio Touring Crew

Conor Dunne
Craig Gordon
Mark Crawley

Fanfest Darling Harbour

While 32 nations played in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Sydney was one of only six cities around the world to host an International FIFA Fan Fest. More than 500,000 people visited the Cockle Bay and Tumbalong Park sites, at Darling Harbour, where all 64 matches were broadcast live on four large screens.

JPS provided sound reinforcement and crew for the 31 day event.

Both companies have long histories in the touring sound market and over the past four decades have supplied production services to nearly every major tour and music event in Australia and New Zealand.

Eric Robinson, CEO of JPS, commented, “In our discussions it has become clear that we’re both facing the same challenges on large tours and music events. Our clients are looking to us for increased efficiencies and jointly we’ll be able to respond in a way that reduces costs, expands our equipment offerings, and solves logistical problems. Potentially it brings major benefits to promoters and touring artists.”

The companies will continue to operate from their existing premises in Sydney and Melbourne and both expect to benefit by having access to a larger pool of equipment and expertise. The merged group expects to use the synergies of working together to deliver outstanding service for their clients.

Commenting on the move, JAS Managing Director Bruce Johnston stated, “I am excited about the new equipment and services we’ll be able to bring to our customers. The combination of JAS and JPS will create one of the best audio companies in the world, providing real benefits to Australian and international artists.”

The merger of the two companies will increase the level of support and service available to JPS and JAS clients and reinforces the group’s ongoing commitment to meeting the challenges of the modern touring market. Together the companies intend to remain at the forefront of technology, clearly demonstrated by the recent introduction of new speaker systems and significant investment in control and amplification packages.

Jands Production Services was founded in 1970 and operates in the theatre, corporate and touring audio markets.

Johnston Audio Services commenced operations in 1985 and provides audio for tours, festivals and fixed installations.