UAE - Ayrton has appointed NMK Electronics as its exclusive distributor for the GCC countries.
Established in Sharjah in 1987, NMK Electronics is now based in Dubai where it has grown into a leading distributor of professional lighting, sound and AV products in the Middle East.
“The lighting industry has changed rapidly over the last few years with the introduction and acceptance of LED fixtures as suitable replacements to conventional lamp-based fixtures,” says NMK chief operating officer, Alex Kemanes. “Ayrton is on the rise globally, taking a large portion of the market share of the entertainment lighting industry by consistently developing state-of-the-art lighting fixtures which reduce operating costs while maintaining high lumen output. Our team was very imp

South Africa - The Voice is now in its third season in South Africa and is proving as popular as ever. It has just entered the ‘live show’ phase, broadcast from Mosaiek Teatro in Fairland, Johannesburg and aired on M-Net, DStv 101.
This year, this section of the TV show is bringing a new audio experience to its studio audience, courtesy of L-ISA Hyperreal Sound technology by L-Acoustics and DiGiCo mixing consoles, provided by the show’s full technical supplier, Mutli-Media.
Multi-Media has worked with The Voice since the popular competition hit Africa four years ago. During this time, the company has grown and become more involved in live events. At the beginning of this year, it decided the time was right to invest in a top-end audio system, initially purchasing 30 L-Acoustics Kara, 12 SB18, four KS28 and seven LA12X amplified controllers, adding

UK - Grammy nominated punk rock hip-hop band Fever333 recently took the Electric Ballroom in Camden by storm. The Californian band commissioned lighting designer Hayden Borgars to design the atmosphere and electrifying show.
Hayden has has worked with acts including as Hoodie Allen, Symphony X, Gang of Youths and Glassjaw.
Having used Prolights fixtures on numerous occasions before, he was already familiar with the fixtures and explained how he found them “really reliable and innovative” therefore it was no surprise that the package featured a number of the compact-yet-powerful Prolights Diamond7 washes.
Hayden reports, “The notes sent to me outlined specific moments and effects they wanted to achieve, particularly at the start. There were moments that required erratic and chaotic lighting and others where the lighting needed to be contemplative and moody.

France - For one month out of every year, the rhythm of life in French Polynesia becomes even more blissful as locals gather for Heiva, a rich and colourful celebration of ancient Polynesian customs. This May, as it has for the past six years, the spirit of this traditional holiday leapfrogged 15,706K over two oceans and one continent to create a vibrant display of South Pacific culture and community at Heiva i Paris.
Started by Tahitian singer Ken Carlter, this combination festival and dance contest attracts visitors from throughout France and Europe, as well as from as from as far away as Japan. This year, over 200 people participated in its Heiva dance competition, a highlight of the event.
Providing an immersive and supportive visual setting for their choreography as they swayed to the evocative sounds of traditional Polynesian music was a lightshow designed by Dav

USA - The 2019 Billboard Music Awards’ lighting designer Jon Kusner specified 140 Solaris Flares and 58 Solaris Flare LR Linears for a visual display, worthy of one of music’s most important nights of the year. The show broadcast last month on NBC, live from the Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena.
“Flare LR linear fixtures made up a heavy part of our side walls in the performance stages,” says Kusner. “The Flare family of products - Flare, Flare Jr and LRs - in my mind has cracked the code. We also got some new Flare Rayzrs from Tony Ward at PRG to use offstage and we’re excited about having Flare performance in this new ultra-thin ‘blade’ format. Flares are the ideal LED product, and to find Flare technology in a smaller, discreet shape is a total plus.”
“Solaris Flares have become a staple in our inventory,” says Tony Ward of PRG. “Whether for c
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USA - Prolyte Group has announced a rental partnership with Legend Theatrical of Scotts Valley, California.
Legend Theatrical offers a complete array of technical services to the entertainment industry and is a frontrunner on providing new and innovative products to its clients.
Dave Dunning, CEO of Legend Theatrical, first encountered Prolyte’s Verto truss at the LDI Conference in 2016. “After meeting with Prolyte, I kept thinking about how Verto truss could improve our labour efficiency,” Dunning recalls. “At the time, we were working on a couple of projects with short load in times. I realized we could cut a massive amount of time if we had Verto truss in stock. In fact, it could have changed the entire event setup. It was at this moment that I decided it was time to add Verto truss to our inventory.” Legend Theatrical now carries the largest rental inve

Canada - The Empire Theatre in Belleville, Ontario, recently invested in a new audio system built around Adamson’s IS-Series and sourced through London, Ontario’s The PA Shop Productions.
The building, originally erected as The McCarthy Theatre in 1938, was purchased by Mark Rashotte in early 2002 with the goal of returning it to its original use. In September 2003, The Empire Theatre was open for business, and its team has been working hard to advance their shared vision of enhancing the community they serve ever since.
In the autumn of 2018, ahead of a special show commemorating 15 years of operations, Rashotte and his team decided to invest in a new audio system to better cater to visiting productions and invited several manufacturers to demo their array systems in the Empire’s 700-seat auditorium.
Kyle Schroeyens, VP and production manager with The PA S
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UK - Since their initial investment in Outline point source systems in 2017, growing rental and installation company Novum AV has been deploying its Vegas 12CX and 8CX inventory in a wide range of work around the UK from their base in Tamworth, Staffordshire.
Tim Jacques, managing director of Novum AV, explains the reasons for that investment: “Back in 2017, Outline was very new to us and a surprise choice. We ran blind tests with seven different manufacturers and Outline was unanimously chosen by our six technicians who all thought they had selected their preferred brands. The system has changed how we operate and design certain jobs as not only is there a like-for-like weight saving compared to our previous point source enclosures, but the HF throw is so great and the sound quality so clear that we have often needed fewer speakers to achieve the required results. The pur

Canary Islands - Around 600,000 people attended Las Palmas de Gran Canaria’s carnival this year. The Drag Queen Gala event, which had A Night in Rio theme, utilised a large complement of Claypaky fixtures to fill the stage with light and colour. Stonex is the official distributor of Claypaky lighting in Spain.
“The Drag Queen Gala is seen everywhere in the world by large audiences,” says lighting and technical director, Jonay Diaz, who is a partner in RGB Canarias S. Coop. “This is reason enough to be careful when choosing lighting equipment.”
Diaz selected 30 Claypaky Mythos, 16 Super Sharpy 2s, 16 Sharpys, 30 A.leda B-EYE K20s, 20 Claypaky A-leda B-EYE K10s and 16 Stormy CCs for the 21 shows that took place on the gala’s main stage. Jacinto Cabrera and Iban Negrin operated the grandMA2 lighting console.
Diaz opted to use LED moving heads, c

Europe - Moving light and LED manufacturer Robe Lighting has appointed ASL Electronic AG / SA as its new distributor in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, effective 1 July.
Basel-based ASL Electronic is a leading sales and distribution specialist in Switzerland that has operated in the professional lighting market since 1982. The company also distributes trussing and rigging products from Eurotruss, Doughty Engineering, Liftket and Kinesys; theatre lighting from Spotlight and City Theatrical; accessories from Le Mark and Chris James; and special effects from Smoke Factory.
David Scherz, ASL CEO, comments: “We are very excited to be distributing the complete Robe Lighting range in Switzerland. It is the leading industry brand right now and, even more importantly, a European brand. We intend to make it the number one moving light choice in Switzerland.
“We are extr

USA - Sharon Draper has joined the corporate team at Bandit Lites as controller, overseeing all aspects of the accounting systems while developing and maintaining accounting policies and procedures.
Working out of Bandit’s world headquarters in Knoxville, Tennessee, Draper brings more than 40 years of experience in accounting and administration to Bandit’s financial team.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Draper has worked as the vice president of finance for Atmospheric Glow Technologies and as the chief financial officer of Container Technologies Industries. She returns to Bandit’s team after an eight-year hiatus, where she had been the financial reporting manager for five years.
“I am so delighted to be back at Bandit Lites,” says Draper. “The energy and enthusiasm around this place is contagious and it’s an exciting time to be back i

UK - To keep pace with the growing demand for its products in the UK, Chauvet has expanded its team by appointing Shaun Robertshaw and Ritchie Reed as business development managers.
The duo will be responsible for the Chauvet Professional, Chauvet DJ and ChamSys lines in the in Midlands and South markets.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Shaun and Ritchie to the team,” says Matt Hallard, Chauvet’s UK sales manager. “Both are well known and well respected throughout our industry. Shaun and Ritchie have a wealth of insights and experience that will enable us to better serve our customers during this period of unprecedented growth across the industry by our family of brands.”
Robertshaw has been involved in the entertainment lighting industry for over 25 years, most recently as sales manager at Vari-Lite and Strand Lighting for the UK. Earlier in his career,

USA - Elation Professional has announced that Niccolo Cascino has joined the entertainment lighting company’s LA HQ as a business development manager.
He was previously at 8th Ward Management, a management company for live production creatives that he founded in 2013.
Cascino’s role at Elation encompasses building collaborative relationships across the industry, including working closely with lighting designers to keep them abreast of Elation’s growing line of innovative lighting products while communicating market insight to the company product team to meet their exacting demands.
With a background in sales and entertainment industry experience from the Abrams Artists Agency, it was at 8th Ward Management where Cascino laid the foundation for his knowledge of live production by working with top lighting and production designers, video content studios and

USA - Laredo, Texas has broadcast its city council meetings via public access cable TV since 1984. The city updated its 10-year-old conference system with a DICENTIS Conference system from Bosch, providing significant upgrades in control, sound quality and ease of operation with IP connectivity.
The public access centre manager of the city, Gerardo Leal, is responsible for operating the conferencing system during meetings, and porting the audio into the video feed. The programme is aired on large video screens within the meeting room, which accommodates about 100 people. In addition, the meetings are streamed online and aired on the city’s public access channel. Audio, data and power for the discussion devices all run over a computer-based IP network using Bosch-developed OMNEO media-networking technology.
Laredo’s set-up features 16 DICENTIS Discussion devices wi

South Africa - The Academy of Sound Engineering Cape Town, a tertiary institution for the entertainment industry, and DWR Distributions teamed up for an audio workshop to give the sound engineering students exposure and practice on some of the industry’s higher-end gear like L-Acoustics, DiGiCo and Audix.
“ASE Cape Town lecturers are all active industry professionals; this keeps them engaged with the technological developments. Basically, we are massive gear heads which is the reason we want our students exposed to some of the great products that a company like DWR distributes”, says Gaston Roulstone a lecturer at ASE Cape Town.
Jaco Beukes from DWR Distribution went to the Cape Town campus to give the students some “play time on some of the best toys”. “Before I began my portion of the workshop, I had the students set up the audio equipment with some real

UK - Technical event specialists Light Fantastic Production Services partnered with FUTR Summit to produce its recent event at London’s Business Design Centre.
Billed as Europe's only annual summit focused on fresh thinking and progressive change in the future of retail, marketing and commerce, FUTR brings together a diverse mixture of international brands and retailers.
Featuring over 200 guest speakers, this high-profile event required planning and delivery of a comprehensive audio, video, scenic and technical support solution, to create the perfect environment in which to welcome both presenters and delegates.
Keeping the main stage presentations crystal clear within the venue’s bright central atrium, LFPS deployed their new Panasonic RZ 12K laser projectors.
In tandem with a main stage auditorium, the company also created a pair of ancillary stages

Hungary/USA - Budapest-based PDF Production (Perfect Design Factory) was started by Peter Paricska in the 1980s. The company has grown into one of the leading and most successful rental companies in Hungary, specialising in the television and film lighting / production sectors as well as live events.
PDF was among the first rental companies in the country to have moving lights, and Paricska used the equipment to help establish and build his name as a creative lighting and production designer for a myriad of high-profile bands and music tours, before turning his expertise to the worlds of television and film.
He’s also been a distributor for several leading brands, and most recently, has steered PDF in the direction of Robe, purchasing 16 RoboSpot systems in 2017, followed up this year with 40 MegaPointes, all delivered through Hungarian distributor, AVL Trade.

UK - The White Rock Theatre on the Hastings seafront is a historically significant cultural landmark in East Sussex, with origins dating back to 1927. As one of the region’s largest receiving houses, the theatre accommodates 1,066 seated and nearly 1,700 standing.
Marquee AV recently installed an EM Acoustics EMS Series point source system to bring the audio up to the standards demanded by modern audiences.
Adam Harkin, the venue’s technical and building manager says: “Sound is everything - without sound, there’s no show. Our new EM Acoustics system stands head and shoulders over what we had before which was old and no longer fit for purpose by modern standards. What we have now is simply amazing - it’s a proper theatre system and has made a huge difference - everyone can hear everything regardless of where they are sat in the venue.”
When the decisio

Europe - Following the success of two acclaimed, chart topping albums, singer-songwriter George Ezra continues the momentum with a sold-out UK and European arena tour (see LSi May 2019).
Created around a concept devised by Ezra himself, the aim of the production was to bring an intimacy to arenas, as if inviting the audience into the artist’s living room, with the show tracking his day from sunrise to sunset.
Translating Ezra’s vision into a workable touring solution, show designers Bryte Design developed the idea, applying their creativity across all aspects of the lighting, staging and visual content to deliver a stunning, immersive audience experience.

Germany - Adam Hall Group’s Experience Centre has won the Art Directors Club (ADC) Competition award for Spatial Experience, Corporate Interior.
The ADC Competition recognises the best in craftsmanship, beauty and attention to detail in the worlds of design, advertising and other creative disciplines. The award for the Experience Centre was presented to Adam Hall (the building owner) and to interior design agency Stilbruch United Designers and M&P Architects.
“Our goal for the Experience Centre is based around offering people the opportunity to not only be inspired but also to implement their creative ideas in a modern environment with state-of-the-art technology,” says Alexander Pietschmann, CEO of the Adam Hall Group. “Since the grand opening now a year ago, the Experience Centre is valued as a place for sharing great emotions and moments together

USA - The Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre near St Louis, Missouri seats 7,000 people under its roof, but another 13,000 can sit on its vast lawn. However, the previous line arrays that covered the lawn - and thus the vast majority of patrons for a well-attended show - strained to provide the necessary volume, irritated neighbours and literally rotted under the stress of the summer humidity and heat in St Louis.
Rather than replace the failed system with an equally doomed solution, Logic Systems Sound and Lighting completely re-conceptualised the entire approach. They installed four clusters of two point-source Danley Sound Labs J7-95 Jericho Horns each and opted for Danley’s fully-weatherised version that can be left out, not only all summer but, all winter as well, with no ill effects.
“The Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre was on its third lawn sound reinforcement syst

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