USA - When Jason Martin, coms A1, and Dave Cheramie, coms A2, were tasked with integrating a new, modern intercom system for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo at NRG Stadium, the duo found a solution to meet all of their production needs with Pliant Technologies’ CrewCom wireless intercom system.
For the 125,000sq.ft stadium, it was crucial for Martin and Cheramie to deploy a coms system that could provide dependable wireless communication and extensive range throughout the three-week long event, which is streamed live to FOX.
“When searching for a coms system for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, no other solution compared to CrewCom,” adds Martin. “It was a no-brainer to deploy the Pliant system as other systems we tested failed to perform in the large

USA - Kool & The Gang’s production manager and FOH engineer Ed Irons uses DPA’s 4099 Instrument, 2011 Twin Diaphragm Cardioid, 4011 Cardioid and d:facto 4018 Vocal Mic to deliver Kool & The Gang’s signature sound to live audiences around the world.
“Once we heard the DPA mics, we were hooked,” he says. “The horn section for Kool & The Gang is a franchise sound. With the 4099s, it is so easy to dial in on the fullness of the group. Most notable is the ease with which I capture the true character of each instrument; whether it’s a sax, trumpet or trombone - they all sound awesome with DPA.”
Kool & The Gang utilises three 4099 Loud Instrument Mics and one 4099 Extreme on their horns section, along with two 4011s for mic’ing the percussion rig. Most recently, they began using the 4099 Instrument mic on bass. “Although the 4099s sound gr

USA - The Greater Cleveland Sports Awards in late January honoured local athletes of every level, from the pros to high-school.
Reflecting the connection between local athletes and their community, the event featured a runway-like path that extended down the middle of the Cleveland Renaissance Hotel’s elegant ballroom, giving the sports honourees and performing talent who walked down it a chance to be closer to crowd.
Lining both sides of the runway and endowing it with a colourfully attractive touch was a collection of pixel-mapped Chauvet Professional COLORado Solo Batten fixtures supplied by NPi Audio Visuals Solutions.
“The runway path ran from the built-in stage at the venue to the centre stage since the program was done in the round,” explains NPi’s Alex Kay, who was one of the project managers for the event. “We lined up 18 of the COLORado Batte

Australia - NanoLumens has announced the completion of a new LED installation in the heart of Karrinyup Shopping Centre, an upscale retail venue located just outside of Perth. The installation, known as The Timepiece is suspended from a two-story ceiling above a central vertex within the shopping centre and consists of a four-sided clock sphere and a rotating double-sided pendant.
The shopping centre is managed on behalf of UniSuper by AMP Capital
“The Timepiece concept came into being during a pivotal moment for Karrinyup Shopping Centre,” said Courtney Ross, general manager - commercial for AMP, Retail. “The design intent is inspired by the transitional time of the $800m retail development of Karrinyup and aims to draw inspiration from both the classic heritage of the Centre’s core, as well as the modern retail transformation taking place around it.”

South Africa - Ultra Events Technical Solutions has recently taken delivery of a DiGiCo SD12 digital mixing console.
According to Costa Champianis, director at Ultra Events, there were limited number of large-format DiGiCo consoles available for dry hire in the region, which was having a negative impact on technical services provider’s ability to meet the demands of international riders.
“Over the past few years, there has been a shift in rider requirements, showing a definite preference for DiGiCo’s larger consoles by the majority of touring artists,” explains Champianis. “In October last year, we were contracted to provide technical services for the Norwegian pop band a-ha, who had booked touring dates in both Cape Town and Johannesburg through Breakout Events and Rogue Entertainment in mid-February. We were able to meet the requirements of about 70% of th
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ETC Halcyon Silent

High End Systems Halcyon Silent builds on ETC’s legacy of fanless automated fixtures by incorporating features from the highly sought-after Halcyon family. Halcyon Silent perfectly balances silent operation with brilliant output of 18,400 lumens and high-impact features. 

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Croatia - The Vridilo Je show was a high-profile tribute concert in Spaladium Arena in Split, starring the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra (ZPO) and dedicated to the late singer, entertainer, and Croatian superstar Oliver Dragojević, who passed in 2018 following a career spanning over 50 years.
The event was organised by his family, management and record label, and was an emotional occasion for his many fans.
Lighting designer Sven Kučinić used the opportunity to specify Robe’s new Esprite LED spot moving lights - with the transferrable light engine - for the first time, 24 of which were delivered the day before to Croatian rental company ELDRA which supplied lighting and video equipment for the concert.
Kučinić was asked to design lighting and set by the record company, having worked with Dragojević on numerous occasions both live and on television and in

The Netherlands - AV technology tradeshow Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2020 completed a 15-year residency at the Amsterdam RAI expo centre with a special event held on the show’s last day, 14 February (Friday).
Politicians and executives saluted the venue and the city of Amsterdam while looking ahead to the future, with the tradeshow set to move to the Fira de Barcelona for its 2021 edition.
Despite health concerns brought about by the coronavirus outbreak and major travel disruption caused by Storm Ciara, ISE 2020 took place as planned, but with markedly lower attendance of 52,128 unique visitors compared to 81,268 in 2019.
Mike Blackman, MD of Integrated Systems Events, comments: “This year’s show demonstrated to us just how determined our attendees were to come to ISE. Many of our exhibitors exceeded their targets for customer engagement and lead gen
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Create new traditions – Cameo P6 - High Output Full-Spectrum Ellipsoidal

Cameo's P6 is a future-proof LED profiler with a powerful 600 W RGBACL engine and 16,000 lumens. It’s an energy-efficient replacement for 2.5 kW halogen profile lights in theatres and venues. With excellent light quality and natural colour rendering, it fits perfectly in theatres, musicals, TV studios, congresses, and live events.

With an LED life of 50,000 hours and low power use, the P6 cuts energy costs and supports the EU’s ‘Green Deal’ goals for climate neutrality by 2050. It also meets updated eco-design rules for lighting.

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UK - Stage and theatre drapes manufacturer J&C Joel has appointed Lauren Kellett as its new chief financial officer (CFO), replacing Nick Warton, who will leave the business in December after almost four years of service.
Kellett will helm J&C Joel’s Finance and IT department, assuming full responsibility for the company’s finances including planning, reporting and auditing. Working closely alongside the rest of the senior management team, she will support business growth across the world.
James Wheelwright, CEO of J&C Joel added: “On behalf of the company, I would like to welcome Lauren to J&C Joel. Her experience in the finance industry, as well as her knowledge of fabrics is very valuable to our team here at J&C Joel and I have every confidence she will be a great addition to our senior management team. We have expanded significantly in r

UK - RCF UK has appointed Tom Martin to the role of UK technical sales/support. He will be supporting all RCF dealers south of the M62.
During his career so far, Martin has worked across many sectors, including tour/product management, FOH engineering, corporate production and audio installations, and many large-scale events including The Olympics, The Brits and MTV Awards.
Dean Davoile, UK sales director, comments: “As RCF continues to grow we needed to find someone that was capable of supporting our dealers and demonstrating across all our product ranges. Tom is that person; with his extensive experience in Live, Installed and AV applications, he fits the bill perfectly.”
Martin adds: “I am looking forward to getting my teeth into the RCF product lines and working with some great people, both in the UK and Italy.”

USA - When French record producer and DJ Gesaffelstein launched his impressive stage set at Coachella last April it created a blueprint for the Against the Night, Across the Time US tour that was to follow towards the end of the year.
Positioned behind the artist was a 32ft high monolith covered entirely in Vantablack, a fragile material reported to deliver the world’s blackest black, erasing any visible features on a 3D surface and making objects very disorienting for the brain. The UK-designed material was being used for the first time in a live performance context.
Show producer, Matthias Leullier, from Live Nation France, worked alongside LD Pierre Claude to turn the concept into reality, the latter in turn dipping into his GLP toolbox. He requisitioned 54 x JDC1, hybrid strobes as the main fixtures (running them mostly in SPix Pro Mode4, using 62 DMX chan

China - Sing! China is a TV singing competition broadcast by Zhejiang Television. The show is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. The latest season of the show recently came to its climax with a spectacular Finals production staged in the Beijing National Stadium, known globally as the Bird’s Nest. Watched by millions on TV, the show attracted a live audience of more than 60,000 in the stadium itself.
The show’s production values were of the highest order, with its designers sparing no creative efforts in presenting the artists in an incredibly dynamic and high-quality presentation. On stage, a 360° rotating decoration with a four-sided screen was deployed to present every detail of the show and this year, the team fully upgraded its follow-spot technology to further enhance the audience experience.
In a large capacity stadium like th

UK - Eighteen of Zero 88’s new RigSwitch cabinets - for controlled and synchronised power switching - have been installed at P&J Live at The Event Complex Aberdeen, a new multi-million-pound flexible entertainment, exhibition, event and conference facility delivered by Aberdeen City Council in partnership with Henry Boot Developments (read more on the development in LSi February 2020).
The building was designed by architects Keppie and constructed by the Robertson Group. Theatre Projects were commissioned to define and specify the site-wide technical infrastructure for Hall C and Conference Suites 1 and 2, and the tender for electrical contractor for these areas was wo

Qatar - Painting with Light (PWL)’s creative director Luc Peumans was asked to design an eye-catching lighting scheme for the opening ceremony (OC) of the first Qatar eSports WEGA Global Games. The OC event was staged in the Khalifa Stadium in Doha and attended by 14,000 eSports fans.
Show artistic director Steven Martin from The Cintamani Stone: ArchitectofEMOTION (TCS-AOE) asked Luc onboard for their pitch, and they were awarded the project by Doha-based event company The Planners LLC.
Working together for several years now, the experienced team at The Planners combined with TCS and Trimex has become a major player in the Qatar market for these types of shows and events.
Luc was excited to be part of an all-Belgium technical design and imagineering team including OC technical director Ludo Vanstreels from Trimex with whom PWL has also worked on several previo

Australia - Urban Theatre Projects (UTP) is dedicated to telling real-life stories which portray the many facets of modern-day Australia through site-specific cultural experiences. Many of its projects are presented in Blak Box, a portable venue that uses Alcons Audio pro-ribbon systems for a fully immersive audio experience.
UTP’s latest production was Momentum, which was presented in Blak Box at Barangaroo Reserve, Sydney, throughout the first half of November. Alcons Audio systems for all Blak Box productions are supplied by David Betterridge of Sydney-based Loud And Clear Audio Pty. The Momentum system comprised six pro-ribbon VR5 mini monitors and two BF151mkII compact subwoofers, powered and managed by two Sentinel3 amplified loudspeaker controllers. The VR5s were evenly-spaced around the perimeter of the internal wall, with the BF151s placed in opposin

UK - Television lighting rental specialists Version 2 has relocated to a repurposed factory in Reading, Berkshire.
The site is located within easy reach of the M4 into West London and nearby national motorway networks. The facility, formally occupied by Boomf (James Middleton), offers significantly extended storage space alongside modern equipment preparation areas. The move will also see an expansion to the company’s project management offices.
Nick Edwards, managing director, comments: “The whole team here at Version 2 are extremely excited to be moving into new premises. The move is essential to meet the ever increasing demand for our service. This will allow us to grow not just our inventory but also enable us to recruit more key personnel.”
The move comes at the time of recent news that US company Blackhall Studios plan to build a new £150m film stud

Italy - The Leonardo Da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology in Milan has recently inaugurated the Leonardo Da Vinci Galleries, the largest permanent exhibition in the world entirely dedicated to the Italian scientist and artist.
The 1,300sq.m exhibition area takes visitors on an interactive multimedia journey through the life and masterpieces of one of the most important artists of the Renaissance.
The lighting installation, which contributes to give value to Leonardo’s inventions and works of art, has been set up by Sater 4.0 using more than 140 Prolights MiniEclipse.
Fabio Carolis, who works in the logistics department at Sater 4.0 says: “We chose MiniEclipse because of their extremely interesting features in terms of light output, power and colour reproduction.
“We mounted the fixtures on trusses using different optical solutions. In t

USA - Every form of the city’s creative expression seems to find a home with the 24,000sq. ft confines of Elsewhere in New York City, which houses a loft café, art gallery and four performance spaces. It is, as one New York newspaper critic declared, a “community-driven environment where art thrives and different cultures meet”.
Tying this creative cauldron together is a flexible lighting system that includes a large number of moving luminaires and stage fixtures as well as LED panels, most of which are controlled by the house ChamSys MagicQ MQ80 console. Chris Madden, head of production at Elsewhere, selected the ChamSys desk as the club’s main console because of its price to performance ratio.
“In addition to having a large number of fixtures, Elsewhere relies heavily on LED installations in the Hall, and throughout the building,” says Madden. “The MQ

UK - Northern Light was commissioned to design, supply and install a new lighting and AV system by The Robertson Trust for Stirling.
They were asked to provide systems which were as flexible as possible and allow the room to be used in many different configurations as the final configuration of the rooms was yet to be determined.
The proposed systems included: overhead suspension bars and lighting grids, power distribution, LED fixtures, projection, installed sound, fixed control rack, facility the new conference space within the Barracks Conference Centre, panels with cable infrastructure and a lectern.
Northern Light was also asked to provide video conferencing and presentation systems for the meeting rooms within the barracks building. The systems had to be capable of interoperability between the systems as the room will be hired out for many different clie

South Africa - DWR Distribution has appointed Andrew ‘Andy’ Pettit in the role of sales and technical support for the Cape Town market. He will be joining Bradley Bruchhausen at DWR’s offices in Milnerton, Cape Town from mid-February.
“I am very excited to be taking on the role of sales and technical support at DWR Cape Town. I believe that the position will present some much-welcomed new challenges and will allow me to grow both personally and professionally,” says Andrew. “I am honoured to be a part of the DWR family and am looking forward to a bright and rewarding journey with the team.”
Andrew is no stranger to the technical entertainment industry. After matriculating, Andrew attended The Cape Audio College where he achieved his Diploma in Audio Technology while working as a freelance technician. Following graduation in 2015, he joined SOLID Group, a

USA - Visitors to Arcadia Earth can’t help but feel at one with the assortment of environments represented in the art installation’s 15 rooms in Manhattan’s NoHo district, ranging from the depths of the sea to the tops of glaciers. They will also be touched by the dangers posed to each from climate change, from overfishing and plastic pollution to deforestation, as envisioned by environmental artist Valentino Vettori. But what brings it home emotionally is the score and ambient sound created by Dave Hodge of Finger Music, with specific music and sound design for each of the rooms, delivered subtly but powerfully.
The audio is riding on a networked backbone with components from Focusrite’s RedNet range of Dante-networked audio converters and interfaces. Four RedNet A16R 16-channel analogue I/O interfaces provide 119dB of 24-bit/192kHz dynamic range and Focusrite’s s

UK - The Factory Live is a new venue in the UK's south coast town of Worthing. Already attracting much critical praise, its audio system of Yamaha DZR and DXS XLF loudspeakers is impressing audiences and artists alike.
The 300-capacity venue is the brainchild of managing director Steve Gardner. Having taught himself to play piano upon retirement from a successful corporate life, Steve was approached by an old school friend who had an empty building in the town of Worthing, formerly used by the local college as a music and dance training centre. Spotting an opportunity, Gardner started the successful Soundhouse and Dancehouse rehearsal businesses.
It was natural for him to approach nearby high-end audio retailer The Audio House when equipping the rehearsal studios, developing a close working relationship with company founder Gerry Heeley.
As Soundhouse and Danceho

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