UK - Shure Incorporated has joined the Microsoft Teams certification programme and is working to achieve certification for a select portfolio of Shure networked systems products.
Microsoft Teams provides a complete online meeting solution that includes online meetings, live broadcasts, Microsoft Team Rooms, cloud video interoperability and audio conferencing.
“We are excited to announce that several of our core products are in the process of becoming certified for Microsoft Teams,” comments Chris Merrick, director global systems marketing at Shure. “Joining the Microsoft Teams certification process is a clear indicator of our intention to provide best-in-class experience, compatibility and reliability in the unified communications market.”
(Jim Evans)

UK - Julian Clary is back on the road on his Born to Mince tour, which has just finished its first leg.
Visuals are important to comedy performance to develop the mood and deliver the punchlines; with a one-person stand-up routine, these need to be eye-catching but not distracting.
The spectacular backdrop upstage was custom made and delivered by S+H Technical Support. The pink and purple seven 5m silk-lined printed ShowLED starcloth contains 1,100 warm-white LEDs that outline large pink letters making up the artist’s name and swoosh up in fan-like lines from these in the centre to the outside edges.
There is a conduit pocket in the bottom for weighting and eradicating wrinkles, and it folds down elegantly into a neat trunk for transportation in the back of an SUV.
The design was based on the tour’s poster / promotional artwork and visuals, an

USA - Robe moving lights were lighting designer Crt Birsa’s spec for the recent US tour of cellist duo 2CELLOS.
Birsa has been lighting the band since 2014, when he worked as the production LD for Schengenfest, one of Slovenia’s largest music festivals. The band liked what they saw and asked him onboard, a move development has opened the door to large-scale international touring and one-off shows all around the globe.
“There is always massive scope for lighting 2CELLOs and being visually imaginative due to the vast range of the music” he comments. “Lighting is also an active way in which we like to help draw all the fans into the performance.”
The main moving lights on the US tour were 34 Robe MegaPointes, 24 Spiider wash beams, with five BMFL Spots for key lighting, all supplied together with other lighting kit by Upstaging, who have been a steady

USA - Australian psychedelic band Tame Impala’s busy year reached its zenith at the Coachella Festival in Indio, California.
Headlining on the Saturday night, at the festival, the big occasion gave lighting designer Rob Sinclair and his technical team full rein to unleash over 300 fixtures from GLP, supplied by Christie Lites.
The LD had been brought into the Tame Impala family back in 2017 by creative director, Willo Perron. “The band wanted a super precise show,” he remembers, describing the set today as “a modern take on 60’s psychedelia, which hopefully really messes with people’s heads”.
Among the GLP fixtures were 250 impression X4 Bars (in a mix of Bar 10s and longer Bar 20 battens) - a deployment that enhanced the psychedelic mood.
“The design was an adaptation of the touring rig, but with some iconic statement pieces purpose desig

Denmark - The Rytmisk Sal of Musikhuset Aarhus - the largest music house in the Nordic region - has upgraded its stage machinery system with ETC’s Prodigy P2 hoist and QuickTouch+ 12 controller.
The popular culture and events house draws over a million visitors each year for concerts, musicals, theatre shows, opera and much more. The building’s lighting and technical teams had been looking to renovate the rigging system in the Rytmisk Sal (or rhythmic hall), also known as the ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll hall’ in the music house.
Head of lighting at Musikhuset Aarhus, Ole Nielsen, came across ETC’s range of upper stage machinery products during a visit to the renowned ETC factory in Middleton, USA and was keen to find out more. He recommended the equipment to head of production Jonas Knive, which lead to Atendi, the Danish distributor of ETC, being contacted to supply
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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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Costa Rica - Televisora de Costa Rica operates Teletica Canal 7, a private TV channel that was the first TV station in the country back in 1958. Although the station produces a variety of popular programming for the local market, they have been operating for years using a mix of budget lighting fixtures and rented gear. Seeking to upgrade, Elation Professional automated luminaires were chosen as part of an on-going lighting refurb.
With four or five different productions a year to tend to, most of which last for a period of three months, Canal 7 lighting manager Alejandro Alvarez has many roles to play. During the recent lighting install, Alvarez and his team handled rigging of the stage, including design and rigging of the TV lighting and intelligent moving heads, as well as configuring and mapping video, LED screens, and projectors. He is also behind the lighting console

USA - For 87 years, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, also known as RodeoHouston, has reigned as the largest livestock exhibition and rodeo in the world. The 20-day-long event at NRG Stadium offers a plethora of attractions for the 2.5m people who visit every year.
Providing visual support for this multi-faceted event in 2019 was an immense and very versatile lighting rig from LD Systems that featured over 150 Chauvet Professional fixtures.
“When putting together the lighting rig, we really needed to be flexible,” said Nathan Brittain of LD Systems. “Our lighting had to offer full production looks for the wide range of artists that appeared on our stage night after night. At the same time, we also needed lights that could contribute to the atmosphere throughout the event grounds. The key challenge was managing a project of this scale, which is something we
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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 - Lighting designer Tom Kenny specified 42 Astera Titan Tubes as part of the lighting rig for The Who’s Moving On! tour.
The iconic band is playing 31 dates in the US, Canada and England accompanied by a local orchestra conducted by Keith Levinson, plus special guests including violinist Katie Jacoby and cellist Audrey Snyder. The tour is also promoting The Who’s first new album in 13 years.
The orchestral presentation demanded a new style and approach to the visual design. With Roger Daltry against the idea of deploying a video wall at the back - or in fact, any onstage video elements - there was a clear directive to strip back and encourage audiences to focus on the show.
The backdrop is made up from a silver threaded laser fabric, a beautifully textured surface that takes the lighting well. Meanwhile, a curved, mid-stage drape made from Bule and

Australia - Eventec has been appointed PR Lighting’s new exclusive Australian distributor.
“Given the prior relationship between PR Lighting, and notably Sasha Xiong, with myself and our operations manager Yan Shao, it seemed obvious that Eventec would be in an excellent position to bring PR Lighting back to Australia,” says Eventec MD, Emanuel Maniatis,
Xiong adds: “Emanuel Maniatis is an old friend of PR Lighting, and his extensive knowledge about our products, the industry and the market trends makes this an ideal partnership. I believe Eventec can offer high quality service and support, and take PR to another level in Australia and benefit all our customers there.”
Maniatis had formerly been the service manager, and later purchasing manager for one of the previous distributors for PR Lighting, dating back to the days when the manufacturer was an OEM

USA - Michael T. Strickland, Bandit Lites founder and chair, will be the 2020 winner of the Parnelli Visionary Award.
Strickland has now led Bandit for 51 years, having founded the company in 1968 when he was just 12 years old. The award will be presented at the 19th Parnelli Awards on 17 January 2020 at the Anaheim Hilton in California.
“You must remember that in 1968 no one had stage lighting,” Strickland commented, “they all played with the ceiling lights on in a high school gym or National Guard Armory. When we showed up with ‘borrowed’ lekos and Fresnel’s, this was all new to the acts. At the same time, others in New York and LA were also experimenting and doing very psychedelic stuff, but they were adults, and I was a 12-year-old kid.”
Because of his appearance, Strickland notes he was able to bluff his way into situations that a 12-year-old

UK - ROE Visual Europe has appointed David Morris to lead business development in the UK and Ireland region.
“Having worked in the AV market for several years and with a broad experience in the live events market, Morris is the perfect candidate to support our current client base on the one hand and open up different market segments on the other,” comments ROE’s operations and sales director, Auke Meijer. “For ROE Visual Europe Morris is a good addition to the sales team, which is now covering key countries in the European and Middle East region. We’re happy to have him joining our team.
“Following our continued growth, recently spiked with the introduction of our LED line for fixed installation and AV integrators, an expansion of our sales team was high on the wish list. We like to keep our customer support at 200% and with David located in the UK, we’re

USA - Elation Professional’s 50,000lm all-purpose luminaire Proteus Maximus is now shipping.
With flexible use as a profile, beam or wash light and all-weather IP65 rating, the Proteus Maximus is suitable for any outdoor or indoor application that would require bright output, powerful beam looks and precise gobos and colours. The dust and waterproof design makes the fixture ideal for theme parks and cruise ships, while its quiet operation, flicker-free functionality and DMX-controllable LED refresh rate will be welcome in TV and other broadcast environments, says the company.
“With Proteus Maximus we managed to create the perfect package for the most challenging environments,” says Elation product manager, Matthias Hinrichs. “From its hotspot engine to its large front lens, this is an outstanding fixture that provides designers the power to cover huge areas and

Mexico - Fifteen years after winning the Mexican reality/talent show La Academia, Carlos Rivera is still finding new ways to connect to audiences and stir passions. The award-winning singer and actor is demonstrating this on his current tour of South America, Mexico and the United States in support of his latest album, Guerra.
At his tour’s recent stops in Ciudad Juárez and Chihuahua, Mexico, lighting designer Daniel ‘Gacela’ Romero delivered a richly textured lightshow that featured Chauvet Professional fixtures, supplied by Pro Audio Solutions.
Romero chose 12 Maverick MK1 Hybrids, 12 Maverick MK3 Wash luminaires, 14 Maverick MK2 Spots, and 24 Rogue R2 Washes to amp up his tour design. The Maverick fixtures anchored his show.
Drawing on the overlapping 8- and 4-facet prisms, as well as the versatile gobo package of the Maverick MK1 Hybrid

China - Marking the start of the summer season in China, the Xi’an Strawberry Festival was one of the first major multi-day festivals of 2019 and featured a Martin Audio PA on the main stage.
The event included multiple stages, many top Chinese acts and indie foreign acts over the two days. The festival included Chinese rock legends New Pants, well known R&B singer and producer Fang Datong, creative singer Wang Shi’an, Tizzy T & Man Shuk, the young generation’s leading female rapper Wan Nida, and avant-garde Japanese act Yahyel.
Modern Sky, the company behind the Strawberry Festival and a number of other large music festivals, has a long-term relationship with Beijing Pacific Budee and Martin Audio that dates back to 2012. Since then, the Strawberry Festival has been held over 75 times in 27 different cities and Martin Audio’s line arrays have always

Belarus - Kraftwerk Trade LLC, the exclusive distributor for Adamson Systems Engineering in the Republic of Belarus, has installed the country’s first permanent S-Series solution in the Grodno Regional Philharmonic’s new concert hall.
In addition to being the professional home for the philharmonic, known locally as Kapella Grodno, the hall will serve as a creative and cultural hub for both the city and wider region of Grodno in Western Belarus, presenting various artistic disciplines for residents and visitors alike.
“As the new, state-of-the-art home for arts and culture in Grodno, this venue will showcase world-class artists and performers, so we were tasked with installing a world-class audio system that would properly cater to their needs,” shares Ulyana Barkova, deputy commercial director, sales & field services division, with Kraftwerk Trade. “Adams

Italy - Prase Media Technologies is the latest addition to Absen’s value added distributor (VAD) network. Prase will promote Absen LED products in Italy and provide training for local end users as well as building showrooms, exhibiting at relevant trade fairs and organising roadshows.
The company joins a list of Midwich Group plc group members from France, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany and Spain. The agreement, which is already into effect, will also strengthen the growing video portfolio of the Veneto-based distributor.
“Prase started life as an audio distributor, setting very high standards for ourselves along the way,” comments Ennio Prase, managing director and BDM at Prase Media Technologies. “Recently, we have been working hard to build our video portfolio up to meet those same levels and have identified Absen as a perfect partner in this process.”

USA - Biamp has acquired Audioprof Group International, the parent company of Community Loudspeakers and Apart Audio.
The two audio brands will join as separate product families within Biamp's product portfolio but business functions will gradually blend to form a single Biamp business.
Rashid Skaf, Biamp president, CEO, and co-chairman, comments: “I am tremendously excited to complete this transaction. Building a comprehensive lineup of speakers has been a priority of mine as we move to position Biamp as a full line provider of professional audiovisual solutions. Acquiring Apart Audio and Community Loudspeakers was my preferred route to accomplishing that quickly with incredibly strong and respected brands. The many products added to our portfolio give us powerful positions in several key growth markets for Biamp - most notably retail, hospitality, restaurants, sta

USA - Bandit Lites has appointed Jesse Poreca to the sales team. Poreca joins the company’s Charlotte office as an installation and service specialist where he will assist in project management, installation and customer support of new theatrical lighting system install projects and renovations along with assisting the sales and installation division to provide existing clients customer service support, service calls and repairs.
“Jesse brings years of permanent AVL installation experience to the team and will immediately lead another crew to service the multiple ongoing projects we have,” said Chris Barbee, Bandit Lites director of sales and installations. “He is a very welcomed addition to an incredibly busy time of growth.”
(Jim Evans)

UK - Polar has announced that Biamp’s new Parlé ceiling microphones are available for shipping. Aimed at conference rooms and utilising the Beamtracking technology found in the TCM-1 pendant microphone, Biamp has responded to a growing demand amongst architects, designers and end users for ‘invisible’ technologies, with the TCM-X ceiling microphone.
With four 90° zones for full 360°room coverage, the TCM-X’s beam tracking technology, which actively tracks and intelligently mixes conversations, works straight out of the box, simplifying installation and reducing commissioning time.
Each microphone uses just one channel of acoustic echo cancellation (AEC) for far more efficient processing resource utilisation than conventional beamforming models. The range also includes the TCM-XA with 2-channel PoE and amplifier for further ease of installation (requiring onl

USA - Vari-Lite has announced that its new Vari-Lite VL6500 Wash is now shipping.
The high-output wash lighting fixture, first demonstrated at Prolight+Sound 2019 in Frankfurt, combines the VL6000 Beam’s arena-scale performance with a visual attraction reminiscent of the legendary VL5. The fixture offers show designers a mix of modern power and vintage styling.
“The initial response to the VL6500 Wash has been tremendous, and it’s not surprising really, because we made this fixture as a direct response to the requests we have received from lighting designers,” explains Martin Palmer, senior product manager, Vari-Lite and Strand Luminaires at Signify. “We partnered with designers every step of the way when creating this fixture and tailored it to provide the capabilities our customers asked for most often.”
Palmer reports that customers like that the

USA - ADJ has announced the expansion of its Focus series of LED-powered moving head fixtures with the introduction of the Focus Beam LED.
The first dedicated beam fixture in the range, this new model generates a concentrated beam that is suited for creating impressive and engaging aerial effects.
Powered by an 80W white (7400K) LED light source with 50,000-hour average life, Focus Beam LED features an optical system that creates an output comparable to an MSD 5R lamp. The front lens projects a beam with a 5° angle that has an even field with no hot spots, and which remains uniform over long projection distances.
The fixture is also compact and lightweight, measuring 10.96" x 6.85" x 17.61" / 278 x 174 x 447mm (LxWxH) and weighing 27 lb (12.25 kg), whilst its relatively low profile also makes suitable for installations in venues with limited ceiling height or f

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