USA - Federal Hill Commons, a 6.5-acre multi-use site just north of Indianapolis in Noblesville, Indiana, recently opened a community amphitheatre designed to hold any and every type of outdoor event. Professional production company and Elation dealer Stage Tech, Inc. of Indianapolis was commissioned to handle everything lighting on the project from concept and design to installation and programming and turned to Elation’s leading line of IP65-rated luminaires to realise the task.
“The nature of this installation demanded weatherproof fixtures so the IP rating was the first and most important criterion when compiling a list of options,” says Mike Trotta, owner of Stage Tech, Inc. “Elation has a wide range of IP-rated fixtures, so we were able to weigh the benefits of

UK - At this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival visitors are not only enjoying comedian Abandoman’s freewheeling performance, but also got an inside look at the lighting that supports his on-stage magic. On Monday evening, 13 August, Chauvet Professional sponsored a behind the scenes tour of the popular entertainer’s FOH and lighting rig, which includes Maverick MK Pyxis and Rogue R1 FX-B fixtures supplied by SLX.
Taking place at the Fringe Festival’s Underbelly at George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9LD, the ‘Open Day’ event featured a lively chat with Abandoman’s lighting designer Robbie Butler, ALD’s Tom Wilkes, Underbelly’s head of lighting Cat Neufeld, and a special guest on the inspiration and techniques behind successful improvisational lighting.
After the interview and subsequent tour, Wilkes donned his Chauvet hat (he is the company’s UK South pr

UK - ADI supplied in excess of 900sq.m of LED screens across 12 competition and non-competition venues to the Glasgow 2018 European Championships for the benefit of over 250,000 spectators and brand partnerships.
The largest sporting event held in Scotland since the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games featured a combination of ADI’s mobile and modular LED screens - in addition to plasma displays - to suit the specific indoor and outdoor locations.
Nick Robinson, ADI’s director of screen rental, comments: “Nine months of planning have come to fruition with diverse, tailored solutions across a variety of sports and cultural venues. We’ve been able to add value through centralised project management of the screens and HD video signal distribution across all 12 locations. Our delivery of market-exclusive mobile and modular LED provides the very best quality to enhance

South Africa - The Gearhouse Group, a network of companies, branches and divisions that service the event industries, has recently added Showcom to its ranks.
Johannesburg-based Showcom (Pty) Ltd is headed up by Nickolas Chapman and specialises in supplying communication solutions to the events industry, offering a range of wireless, wired or two-way radio communication systems.
The company’s official launch was marked on 1 August. Showcom is based at 18 Lang Street, Bezuidenhout Valley.
(Jim Evans)

UK - Cambridge-based conference technology provider Brähler ICS UK has rebranded as BUK Solutions.
The change comes as the company marks 30 years of trading and enters a new phase that incorporates new distribution partnerships and a more diverse range of suppliers. The company is also offering enhanced complementary event services as part of its rental portfolio including consultancy, interpretation and translation. Launched in the late 1980s, Brähler ICS UK operated alongside German parent company Brähler ICS Konferenztechnik AG until 2012. It then became independent but remained a member of the global Brähler ICS Network until recently.
Simon Sainsbury, managing director of BUK Solutions, comments: “The success of our expanded portfolio, which now includes several new non-Brähler products and services, prompted us to redefine our identity in the marketpl
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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 - SGM Light has bolstered its relationship with Architainment Lighting by making the High Wycombe company the official architectural distributor for the Danish brand in the UK.
The deal means Architeinment Lighting will represent SGM Light's IP66-rated POI (Permanent Outdoor Installations) luminaires.
Ian Kirby, MD at SGM UK, comments: “SGM is a forerunner in launching new technology in Entertainment lighting and is focused on high-quality IP65/66-rated LED luminaires. SGM have also been developing an Architectural version of its luminaire range and we have been in discussion with Architainment for some time with a view to Nic and his team including the architectural range in their portfolio.”
Peter Johansen, CEO, SGM Light, adds: “I am pleased to announce that our discussions have been successful and Architainment have now been appointed our exclusive di

UK - The Hay Festival, an annual festival of literature and the arts, held in Hay-on-Wye in Powys, Wales, has expanded to encompass a broad spectrum of cultural activities. This year’s 10-day event welcomed more than a quarter of a million visitors.
The festival site comprises temporary marquee structures of varying size (capacities vary from a few thousand to less than a hundred) connected by covered walkways and is located in a field on the edge of the town. The infrastructure required to meet the needs of the festival audience and the 800 or so events that take place is significant.
From lectures, readings, concerts and screenings, to discussions, sales, children’s activities, catering, media centre and more besides, Hay Festival presents logistical challenges that might bring a frown to even the most seasoned events professional. This year, Cardiff-based events
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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

Puerto Rico - As part of his mammoth Love + Dance world tour, Luis Fonsi, the Puerto Rican singer best known for the smash hit Despacito, played on home turf to an ecstatic crowd at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum of Puerto Rico in San Juan.
Luis may be a fan of taking things slowly but FOH engineer Yamil Martínez has embraced how quickly he could work on a DiGiCo SD10, which was at the heart of the tour's audio system supplied by local provider Wichie Sound Performance.
Yamil Martínez is a seasoned pro when it comes to hot Latin performances. Prior to spending the last three years as Luis' FOH engineer, Yamil worked with the likes of Ricky Martin, Enrique Iglesias and Alex Campos, and has been a fan of DiGiCo consoles ever since he first got his hands on one.
“I have been using DiGiCo with other artists since 2011,” explains Yamil. “It w

Spain - GLP fixtures have been hard at work in Barcelona, providing DJs with visual dynamics for the annual Wet Deck Summer Series 2018 in W Hotel. The fixtures were provided by rental company, PI Sound having been initially supplied by Monacor Iberia, GLP’s Spanish distributor.
Taking part every Sunday between 10 June and 19 August, the season kicked off in style with Erick Morillo, and also features the likes of Roger Sanchez, Sam Divine, Claptone and many more.
It was back in March that the partners of PI Sound decided to acquire their GLP lighting equipment from Monacor Iberia since they were continually carrying out events of all types, where lighting played a leading role.
With the support of Monacor Iberia, the GLP fixtures have taken centre stage at this famous pool party, where the GT-1, impression X4 L and X4 lit the Barcelona sunset to the rhythm of

China - When Audi introduced its A8L luxury saloon to the Chinese market, technical service company Redline turned to the BlackTrax real-time motion tracking system to help deliver the wow factor to the launch show.
Each of the cars featured in the show was fitted with BTBeacons which transmitted the exact position of the vehicles as they moved around the stage to BTCams, which then relayed the information to the lighting console so that any lighting look could be designed while automatically following the cars on the stage, regardless of speed or direction, with an accuracy that would not have been possible to achieve manually.
Another big part of the reveal, was the futuristic graphics projected on the floor and not only accented the beautiful car, it also helped explain some of the A8L’s new built in technology and features. The mapped projection interacted with

Italy - Six dLive systems were chosen to run the show at this year’s spectacular Primo Maggio event in Piazza San Giovanni, Rome. Over the course of the day, over 30 major artists performed in front of a giant crowd and a huge live TV audience, including names such as Gianna Nannini and Fatboy Slim, and a 50-piece orchestra.
With 36 acts, short changeover times and a live broadcast to the RAI national TV channel, Primo Maggio featured a spectacular revolving dual-stage setup, with each stage having its own dLive system, each consisting of an S5000 surface and DM48 MixRack at front of house, and an S7000 surface with DM64 MixRack and DX32 I/O expansion for monitors. Both M-Dante and GigaAce cards were selected for audio distribution.
Specified by contractor ABC, supported by Arcadia Digital and Exhibo S.p.A, the set-up also included a further two dLive systems compri

Switzerland - A highlight of this year’s FestspieleZürich was the 150th anniversary concert of the city’s famous Tonhalle Orchestra, performed as a thank you to its faithful concertgoers.
Swiss event technology company Hyposound AG chose L‑ISA’s Hyperreal Sound technology to deliver “an exceptional experience” for this special occasion which featured guest pianist Yuja Wang. L-ISA is a multidimensional, object-based mixing and sound reinforcement technology and toolchain that achieves clear and natural results with accurate localisation of sound sources.
Hyposound owner Christoph Müller has worked with the Tonhalle Orchestra on a regular basis and has been dealing with natural sound reproduction for several years. “Using L‑ISA gave us the chance to take things to a different level,” he says. The concert took place on a specially built stage i

UK - Founded in 1830 in London, the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) is the leading centre for geographers and geographical learning. With over 16,500 members, the venue is home to a collection of more than two million historical items including maps, photographs, books, documents, paintings and artefacts.
The Society recently decided to upgrade its 750-seat Ondaatje Theatre.
Luciano Figueira, business development manager at the RGS, comments: “When we voted to invest in the theatre revamp, the sound system became our first priority. Most of the events we host are conferences, speeches and lectures, so we needed a solution that would help the speakers deliver their insights and bring the best in audio clarity, regardless of where the audience is seated in the theatre.”
The RGS commissioned integrator Plus 4 Audio to tackle the brief and the two organisations

USA - Lynyrd Skynyrd’s compelling history and influence on music were never far from the mind of their lighting designer and director, Jonny ‘Tosar’ Tosarello. Designing for the group’s Last Of The Street Survivors Farewell Tour, which runs from May through December, Tosarello wanted to create a look that was as big and bold as the story of Lynyrd Skynyrd itself.
He succeeded in doing just that with help from a collection of 28 Chauvet Professional Rogue R2 Wash fixtures, supplied by Premier Global Productions.
“When you think of who Lynyrd Skynyrd is and what all the band has done over the years, you want to have a ‘big look,’ especially for their ‘farewell tour,’” says Tosarello. “We wanted something that stood out and was unique, but was also clean and simple. We have 180’ of silver truss spread out into six fingers that run up to dow

Czech Republic - Architectural LED lighting manufacturer Anolis has appointed Peer Oestergaard as sales director.
Based in Denmark, Peer will be managing and co-ordinating Anolis sales teams globally and travelling extensively in his new role. He has most recently worked at SGM Light (sales manager) and has also held a business development role at Alfred Priess and international sales management roles at Thorn Lighting and Martin Professional.
Anolis director Tim Van den Eede comments: “We are delighted to have someone of Peer’s calibre and talent on-board. His personality, approach to business and smart outlook is the perfect match for us, and we share the same core visions for taking Anolis to the next level of operation. This is the first of several important upcoming announcements for Anolis over the coming months.”
Peer adds: “I am lucky enough to ha

UK - Virtual reality (VR) specialist MelodyVR is working with the NEC Group Arenas to offer virtual access to live events in its venues.
Concertgoers will be able to access a selection of live events held at the Genting Arena and Arena Birmingham venues, using the power of virtual reality technology, including performances from chart toppers Royal Blood, The Script and UB40 Feat. Ali, Astro & Mickey.
Over the coming months, MelodyVR will also live stream real-time concerts via VR and offer virtual tickets to sold-out shows with the biggest artists, enabling an unlimited number of fans to attend in-demand concerts around the globe.
The concerts, as well as virtual tickets, will be available to purchase via the MelodyVR app, on Oculus Go or Samsung Gear VR virtual reality headsets (with more platforms coming soon). Information on upcoming shows will also be p

UK - AV technology specialist Peerless-AV has added Kate Butcher as key account manager (southern region) to its UK professional sales team. She will be responsible for maintaining and building on existing relationships with Peerless-AV’s reseller network, promoting new product offerings, and providing support on new tenders and sales enquires.
Butcher brings over four years’ AV sales experience, having held key account manager roles at Exertis-Medium, Sahara Presentation Systems and Beta Distribution. She studied International Theatre at the University of East London (UEL) and spent eight months at the University of Colorado Boulder campus in the USA.
Keith Dutch, managing director EMEA at Peerless-AV, comments: “Kate’s energy and enthusiasm, combined with her AV distribution experience and good industry connections, make her perfect for the Key Account Manage

France - Airstar has launched NEO, the latest addition to the French manufacturer's inflatable lighting range dedicated to event staging.
The tube-shaped product measures 5m x 20cm and offers 8,500 lumens of brightness. The tubes can be either installed on the ground or mounted and are suitable for events and music festivals or as a part of a creative set.
Jean-Pierre David, an industrial designer at Airstar, who designed the product, explains: "It may sound odd, but the NEO concept could be described as a genesis of the Jedi lightsaber and my grandmother's kitchen neon. Although relatively simple, it is truly unique in the marketplace: it creates extravagant and creative lighting effects. Event professionals can let their imaginations run free with the help of this fun and easy to use solution."
NEO was trialled at this year’s Solidays festival, a major music

UK - The Brewery, the Grade II listed events venue on London’s Chiswell Street, has confirmed Blitz, a GES company, as its new in-house AV partner. The technical event production specialist has been selected with a brief to enhance the venue’s AV capabilities and manage the technology infrastructure.
The new partnership, which will start from 1 September, will see Blitz utilise The Brewery’s advanced technology and digital infrastructure, to “create show-stopping AV experiences; from breath-taking projection mapping installations, to top of the range widescreen blending displays and flawless audio performances”.
As well as AV services, Blitz will assist clients with digital branding and digital signage opportunities helping event organisers increase exposure while maximising sponsorship revenues and increasing ROI. The partnership also brings a range of new s

Germany - On 11 May, TUI Cruises celebrated the launch of the new cruise ship Mein Schiff 1 during Hamburg Port’s 829th Anniversary festivities and adorned the christening party with an impressive fireworks and light show featuring effects from over 200 Elation Professional Proteus Hybrid moving heads.
Lighting designer Martin Kuhn developed a spectacular lighting design for the ship's christening show on behalf of insglück, the Berlin agency that staged the party in front of the industrial backdrop of the HHLA Container Terminal Burchardkai. The up to 70m-high container bridges of the Burchardkai - the symbol of Hamburg as a gateway to the world - were integrated into the staging and equipped with lighting equipment and pyrotechnics.
For the widely visible light show, the designer relied on a total of 206 weatherproof Proteus Hybrid moving lights, Elation’s mult

USA - Grammy-nominated artist Logic is on the road with The Bobby Tarantino vs. Everybody Tour, a 33-date summer amphitheatre and arena run produced by Live Nation with support from rising hip-hop artists NF and Kyle.
The tour began 8 June in Boston and wends its way cross country through major outdoor venues, such as the Ak-Chin Pavilion in Phoenix, Austin360 Amphitheater, and FivePoint Amphitheatre Irvine, as well as arena dates including New York’s Madison Square Garden and The Forum in Los Angeles.
Tour sound-reinforcement provider Thunder Audio Inc. assembled a highly flexible L-Acoustics PA system comprising K1 and K2 components that can be configured to fit each and every stop on the tour.
For most of the dates, the audio crew is flying up to 18 enclosures per side in the main PA hangs - six K1 over 12 K2 - with eight additional K1 per side flown

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