South Africa - MGG is the first rental technical company in South Africa to invest in Braceworks, an add-on module for Vectorworks Spotlight, which helps ensure safety and compliance and is an easy way to assess a temporary structure under load.
Gone are the days when a truck would arrive on-site and the technician would quickly chat to the client and only then decide where the stage and gear would be positioned. “Now everything is so well planned, right to the point of where the motors need to go,” explains Kevin Rieck, head of drafting at MGG. “Everyone can see what the final product is going to look like before the truck is even loaded, but with events getting bigger, we had to ensure safety first and this is where Braceworks comes in.”
MGG recently took owner

USA - At the turn of the year, Lady Gaga kicked off two multi-year Las Vegas residencies at Park Theatre at Park MGM, both of which are presented in L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound technology from L-Acoustics.
Lady Gaga’s first show, Enigma, which has now completed 18 sold-out performances is a nonstop, eye-popping spectacle taking its 5,200 audience members on a full-throttle, futuristic odyssey through two hours of her club classics.
Her second show, Jazz & Piano, is a glitzy return to classic Las Vegas style with the artist accompanied by a full big band complete with string section. Alternating between stripped down solo piano and vocal arrangements of her pop numbers and swinging orchestral versions of Great American Songbook staples.
Although the two productions could hardly be more different in terms of design and execution, the sound tec

Poland - Projection Artworks has completed Poland: First to Fight, an ambitious outdoor live immersive experience to mark the 80th anniversary of World War II at Museum 1939, Gdansk.
The Projection Artworks team scripted, storyboarded, choreographed and produced Poland: First to Fight in collaboration with Museum 1939. The Museum’s dynamic external architecture is transformed into a skyline canvas, creating a 20-minute live sensory experience that integrates archive footage, animation, projection mapping, live action, music performance, narration and sound effects to tell the heroic story of Poland’s journey through the war. An interpretive dance is woven through the show, with dancers and actors interacting with the projection, choreographed by dance and theatre artist Rhiannon Faith.
Museum 1939’s façades are manipulated using 3D mapping illusions, with

Italy - The Milan Latin Festival is a 10-week celebration of Latin American artists. They converge on the external area of the Assago Forum in Milan for 66 days of celebration from mid-June to mid-August, to deliver a varied programme of concerts to enthusiastic crowds. Artists such as the king of Reggaeton, Daddy Yankee and fellow Puerto Rican, Ozuna, lit up the stage for sold-out shows.
At outdoor events such as this, where the hazards of dispersion are more pronounced, the true qualities of an audio system are laid bare and event technology provider Suono e Luci, chose Coda Audio to ensure that every artist performing during the two-month duration of the festival was heard loud and clear.
Claudio Saoncella, head of audio at Suono e Luci, customers of Coda Audio’s Italian distributor Decima 1948, opted for a ViRAY solution configured in Bi-Amp. The system was install

Belarus - Thousands of lighting fixtures and LED devices supported the Bright Year, Bright You theme of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2019 Second European Games earlier this summer. Dinamo National Stadium in Minsk, Belarus was aglow with the glittering pageantry, and a network of High End Systems Hog lighting consoles controlled it all.
The main lighting control system was comprised of two Hog 4-18 flagship consoles plus two Full Boar 4 consoles, all networked in a multi-programmer setup, outputting data via five DMX Processor 8000 units. A near identical backup system was also on standby.
The physical set featured eight stages. In addition to the more than 1,000 moving head fixtures, Hog consoles controlled all the LED pieces, including the set decorations, the interactive audience bracelets and pixel tubes. Because of the massive amount of pixel m
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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. 

For more information visit us at www.etcconnect.com

UK - Lighting console manufacturer ChamSys is opening new headquarters in Southampton’s Brooklands Courtyard.
The facility features a multi-line manufacturing centre, which will enable the company to build its MagicQ Stadium and MagicQ Compact consoles simultaneously. Also inside are storage and dispatch warehousing area, R&D facilities, service department and customer training area along with a dedicated repair centre, two training rooms, and a pre-visualisation suite for visiting programmers.
Chamsys, which is celebrating 15 years in business this year, is officially opening the new HQ with an event on 2 September - contact the company on openhouse@chamsys.co.uk for details on how to attend.
“The new headquarters reflects our dedication to maintaining the highest quality standards as we grow,” comments C

UK - Ambersphere Solutions has announced that Rob Beamer has joined the company as key account manager. Based in Liverpool, he will be representing the Ambersphere portfolio in the North of England.
Beamer has worked in theatre for 14 years before moving into sales 11 years ago, working for Stage Electrics and Sound Technology. He will make his Ambersphere exhibition debut at the upcoming PLASA Show (15-17 September, London Olympia).
“This is a new role created for Rob and will allow us to offer our northern clients a more attentive and personalised service,” says sales director Philip Norfolk. “Rob is professional, knowledgeable, calm and friendly, precisely what our clients appreciate. The whole Ambersphere team is delighted to have someone as exceptionally capable and good fun to join us”.
“I am really excited to have joined Ambersphere. It’s such
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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.

www.cameolight.com/p6profile

USA - Vari-Lite has announced the VL800 Series of fixed and moving head LED fixtures. These cost-effective event fixtures bring a feature set specifically for mid-sized tours, productions, and entertainment lighting installations.
“Our goal with the VL800 Series was to introduce event fixtures that have been built with the DNA of Vari-Lite,” says Martin Palmer, senior product manager, Vari-Lite and Strand Luminaires at Signify. “This means that the fixtures look, move, and feel the way you would expect from us, but with a cost and feature set that fits installations and smaller rental applications. Our customers trust the Vari-Lite brand and the pre- and post-sale support behind it, and we’re committed to delivering on that promise.”
The new VL800 Series includes three new fixtures which have been designed to work together. The fixtures have been colour-mat

UK - The Olivier and Tony award-nominated Blues In The Night has undergone its first revival in 30 years at London’s Kiln Theatre.
Running until 7 September, and originally conceived by Sheldon Epps, Robert Jones’ hotel-based set design, steeped in Chicago 1930’s depression, is brought to life by eminent lighting designer, Neil Austin, with the aid of purpose-selected LED tools from GLP, with whom he has collaborated frequently in the past.
It was Austin who had initially suggested the more theatre-friendly variant of GLP’s popular X4 Bars, proposing an RGBY batten that would deliver warmer tones, which is now available as a custom option in the GLP catalogue. Austin himself has been using quantities of these fixtures on an internationally renowned production currently being produced around the globe.
It had been Rob Jones who was responsible for

UK - AV distributor PSCo and LED manufacturer Absen will be marking the fifth anniversary of their distribution partnership during the official opening of Innovation House, PSCo’s new, 50,000sq.ft purpose-built premises in Bracknell.
The partnership, dating back to 2014, has given UK customers access to the latest Absen LED displays, with a dedicated local service centre and in-house technical support for both rental and fixed installations. Within five years, PSCo - part of the Midwich Group - has become the top Value Added Distributor (VAD) in Absen’s European partner network.
To celebrate the opening, PSCo is hosting Innovation House Party, a free event for rental partners that on 20 - 22 August from 10am - 4pm at Innovation House, Segro

USA - Six-piece band Fitz and the Tantrums are currently touring with Young the Giant. Lighting design is by Jeremy Lechterman and his team at FragmentNine.
Working with co-designer Jackson Gallagher from FragmentNine, and associate designer Mike Hankowksy from Hemlock Design & Technology, Lechterman uses a collection of 28 Chauvet Professional COLORado Solo Batten fixtures supplied by LMG.
The bright RGBAW linear fixtures are arranged in two layers of semi circles behind the band and in vertical stacks between video panels. From these positions, they backlight the performers, separating them from the upstage area. This seems to bring the band closer to the audience. At the same time, the straightforward geometric configuration of the bright, colourful battens draws the crowd’s attention to the stage bringing them closer to the band.
“Our client’s mus

Germany - Active Blue, a Bremen-based service provider for lighting, sound and event technology, recently acquired several components of the Vio system, dBTechnologies' most powerful PA system.
The Bremen-based company is using equipment from the Italian PA manufacturer dBTechnologies for the first time. The purchase includes 20 VIO L212, 20 S218 SUB and 20 L208 modules.
Active Blue has been in operation for 30 years and since and is active Europe-wide. The company is increasingly active with corporate events and conferences, concerts, parties or cultural events. The aim of purchasing Vio components was to expand the stock of large PA systems and to respond even more flexibly to customer wishes. All equipment has to meet the highest standards. After extensive market research, they decided to take a closer look at the Vio system at the dBTechnologies stand during Prolig

UK - Showcasing the latest and greatest music, Hertfordshire festival Standon Calling was the biggest yet, welcoming a record 15,000 people.
This year’s headliners across the three-day July festival included Nile Rodgers & CHIC, and Rag’n’Bone Man. Other acts included Friendly Fires, Echo & The Bunnymen, Róisín Murphy, IDLES, Lewis Capaldi, Mahalia, Kate Nash, The Big Moon, Steam Down, The Japanese House, Band Of Skulls, The Joy Formidable and Sea Girls.
The festival hosts a range of acts across multiple stages. Adamson’s UK distributor The Warehouse Sound Services designed an Adamson sound reinforcement system for the festival’s main stage.
The system consisted of a full complement of Adamson E15 line array loudspeakers and E119 Subwoofers with additional ground-stacked S10 line array loudspeakers on the sides, all powered by Lab Gruppen PL

Mexico - Emmanuel and Mijares, two leading figures in Latin pop, are delighting audiences across Mexico, Central America and the US by performing their popular ballads and pop songs beneath a large rig of Elation Professional fixtures, with lighting design by Hector Valencia and Axel Rebollo.
The Mexican singers’ career that spans over 35 years with millions of records sold and multiple national and international accolades to their credit. As friends, they joined together to create a show of their all-time greatest hits, Two’r Amigos, a performance that has now been touring for almost six years, breaking several attendance records along the way.
The show has been evolving since 2013 with musical arrangements and set lists changing, as well as the stage, video and lighting design. The show has been re-designed four times and this year returned to Auditorio N

UK - White Light has returned to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe where it is supplying the lighting and rigging equipment for all of the Gilded Balloon venues for the sixth year running.
WL’s customer service key account manager Dan Last comments: “We work closely with Gilded Balloon across their five buildings: Teviot (nine spaces), The Museum (auditorium space), Old Tolbooth Market (three spaces), Rose Theatre (three spaces) and the newly-acquired Patter Hoose (five spaces). Our role is to supply the lighting and rigging solutions in each of these, ensuring that they are well-equipped and able to host a range of performances throughout the Festival.”
Prior to the Fringe, Last and the WL team work closely with Gilded Balloon to decide on the equipment that will be used in each space. “We initially work with Karen and Katy Koren who each run Gilded Balloon, whi

Early Closing - Peter Pan, the opening production at the Troubadour White City Theatre in west London, will close nearly two months earlier than planned, producers have announced. Sally Cookson’s devised adaptation of the JM Barrie novel began performances at the theatre in July and will have played for just six of the scheduled 14 weeks when it closes on 1 September.
A statement from the producers said: “The production received acclaim from critics and a hugely positive reaction from audiences, however due to ticket sales, we have reluctantly taken the decision to close in September. We’d like to thank our wonderfully talented cast and creative team for all of their hard work, as well as the audiences who have enjoyed the production.”
The production is the first show to play at Troubadour White City, one of two new theatres that were launched last month

UK - MDG has partnered with Arcadia Spectacular for this year’s Glastonbury Festival by supplying two of its Me8 fog machines for Arcadia’s new creation, Pangea.
Named after the Paleozoic-era supercontinent that broke apart to form the seven continents we know today, the Pangea installation replaces Arcadia’s Spider, a prominent fixture at Glastonbury for the past decade. The installation also marks one of the first major installations for MDG’s Me8 fog generator.
“As the first year of a five-year permanent installation, we were able to 'go to town’'with Pangea on a totally different scale from a touring show,” says Arcadia’s head of communications, Cyrus Bozorgmehr. “We wanted to explore possibilities with more scope for upward expansion into three-dimensional space, and investigate how to take over the area above people’s heads to make

UK - Kent-based stage engineering company Triple E has named Lucy Edelstein as deputy director and appointed Tokyo Velludo Co as its distributor for Japan.
This expansion of Triple E’s international distributor network ties in with the longer term aim to increase worldwide representation across key territories, as well as expanding the company’s sub-contract precision engineering services, an aspect of the business which has been reinforced with the acquisition of Thorley Engineering.
“Lucy has been brought in to carry Triple E forward as myself and Brenda begin to step back from the business,” explains Tripple E’s David Edelstein. “After spending three years working in many different parts of the company Lucy has taken on the role of director, deputising for Brenda and myself when we are not in the office. We are delighted as Lucy has already made signifi

Europe - Area Four Industries has announced availability for James Thomas Engineering’s latest aluminium truss, the JTE Quatro (4CF30).
Made from EN-AW-6082 T6 aluminium alloy and designed for medium-duty structural requirements, the truss achieves extended free-spans of up to 20m (65ft) and provides heavy-duty loading characteristics. Compatibility with JTCELL 200/400/600 series cell clamps and Xtruss accessories extend its wide range of applications. The 4CF30 also offers 50mm (2’’) aluminium tubes and anti-twist end brace, whilst powder coat colour finish is available on request.
Area Four Industries’ David Gore comments: “Quick, simple and secure assembly is ensured by its popular conical connection system, and comes with the well-known durability and reliability you’ve come to rely on from James Thomas Engineering.”
(Jim Evans)

Europe - eLumen8 has released a new fixture - the the MP180 LED Fresnel RGBALC, part of the company’s MP series.
With 180W LED source and smooth colour mixing, this luminaire is designed for short to medium throw applications, including use in theatres and studios. It can produce an even field of light thanks to an adjustable 13°- 46° beam angle, while the addition of amber, lime and cyan within the COB LED source makes for “perfect colour on any scene or subject, giving this fixture the edge over Fresnels with only quad-colour LEDs” according to eLumen8.
Andrew Jeffrey, Prolight Concepts Group MD, comments: "Since the inception of this series, the units have proved to be amazingly popular for many applications and this new addition with higher power and six colours will further expand the market for this series."
As with most others in the series, the MP

Europe - Radio Active Designs UV-1G wireless analogue intercom system has passed the EU’s Low Voltage, RoHS, Radio Equipment and EMC directives, the company has announced.
The six-channel intercom system that operates primarily in VHF is now available across Europe.
“We are extremely pleased to have crossed this hurdle,” explains James Stoffo, CTO, Radio Active Designs. “We have been actively working with European distributors who are excited to bring our product to their countries. We think the European production community will embrace the UV-1G as the true problem solver it is for a crowded RF market.”
The RAD UV-1G base station utilises Enhanced Narrow Band technology, which enables the unit to occupy a mere 25kHz of bandwidth in the UHF range, thus minimizing its UHF footprint. The body packs operate in VHF, which has more open bandwidth in Europ

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