USA - Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas celebrated its 10th anniversary on 23 April 2016 with a fireworks and lighting show featuring Syncrolite XL Xenon searchlights that filled the sky over the resort in an eight-minute choreographed lighting, fireworks and audio display.

The 45 XL's were placed in three groups of 15 fixtures around the resort creating a huge stage for the aerial art. Veteran crew chief TJ Benton along with Travis Slater and Travis Braudaway were on hand to set-up and execute a flawless light show.

Syncrolite coordinated the performance with Fireworks by Grucci who designed and produced the show, which was billed as the largest fireworks display ever hosted by a single venue in Las Vegas.

(Jim Evans)

USA - During the recent NAB Show, two major European-based companies, Broadcast Solutions and Euro Media Group (EMG), joined AIMS (the Alliance for IP Media Solutions); respectively becoming the first International systems integrator and first technical service provider to join the alliance.

Rainer Kampe, CTO at Broadcast Solutions GmbH, signed the membership agreement on the AIMS booth at NAB, citing the "paramount importance, as an international and manufacturer independent system integrator, of offering future-proof solutions to our customers", and of "promoting open standards in accordance with major trade organizations such as SMPTE, VSF or AES".

Also signing the AIMS membership agreement during NAB, EMG CTO, Ronald Meyvisch said that his company was "proud to be the first technical service provider to join AIMS", stating that the move towards IP based technical produ

UK - Soulful, multi-talented vocalist and performer Leona Lewis has been on a 14-date tour of the UK with an SSL L500 console and K-array Slim Array technology, chosen by FOH engineer Dave Wooster.

Lewis' I Am show provides Wooster with around 65 inputs from the stage. "It's a full-on set-up," he says. "The drummer alone has two mics on the bass drum, three snares - each with at least two mics on, four toms, all the cymbals, electronic kick and snare - So he was up to about 20-odd channels on his own."

According to Wooster, the show absolutely benefitted from the L500's exceptional signal path - from the SuperAnalogue mic inputs, through the flexible channel path, and comprehensive internal FX Rack: "What really separates the L500 from the competition is the sound.

"The effect on Leona's vocal was very noticeable in the system," he continues. "I think the 96kHz operati

UK - On Saturday 23 April 2016 the world celebrated the life and work of William Shakespeare, on the 400th anniversary of his death. The commemorative events included Shakespeare Live! From the RSC - a live production including music, drama and comedy, which took place at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Hosted by David Tennant and Catherine Tate who, as well as appearing together in Doctor Who Shakespeare Live! was also broadcast live on BBC2 in the UK, and was recorded for later screenings on TV and in cinemas worldwide.

Working with RSC production manager, David Tanqueray, production designer Robert Jones, llighting designer Vi

UK - Christopher Salmon, who steered Festival of Speed, Revival and the inaugural Vintage festival as events operations director at Goodwood, has launched his own creative agency.

Salmon Event Evolution (SEE) comes to market with vision and experience fostered from 15 years shaping headline attractions. A virtual network of industry experts, the company is designed to develop and deliver new ideas for promoters and organisers.

Proven across the portfolio of sporting events and festivals, SEE solutions range from developing commercial ideas, for partners, sponsors and increased ticket sales, through to complete event management solutions.

Christopher Salmon comments, "The platform and the people at Goodwood, across such a broad spectrum of activity, were the perfect inspiration. It's a mecca for autonomy, creativity and innovation, which has helped me realise a lifelong

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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

Sweden - Moving head luminaires from Osram's subsidiary Clay Paky will be in action to provide a spectacular light show As pioneers in entertainment lighting, Osram and Clay Paky are once again being entrusted to provide exceptional lighting effects for the shows staged at the Eurovision Song Contest, which will take place in Stockholm from 10-14 May, 2016.

Around 1,000 moving heads equipped with state-of-the-art light sources will be used to present, in the best possible light, the contestants from 42 countries during the semi-finals and the final.

"We are really pleased to be back at this prestigious event with our lighting products", said Hans-Joachim Schwabe, CEO of the Specialty Lighting business unit at Osram.

Frederik J

UK - The current tour by Jeff Lynne's ELO features show design by Tim Routledge. "To create a beautiful show you have to have balance," he says, "and a big part of that, in technology terms, is the critical relationship between all the visual elements of the show and the music."

The video system for the tour is supplied by Video Design. "Unusually for an arena tour, all the video is LED; not just the twelve-metre circular central screen and the large floor surface ellipse, even the two IMAG screens to the sides are LED," explains company MD Alex Leinster. "Tim has commissioned some beautiful graphical animation from Ben IB, that's one good reason why Richard Shipman, an expert in running content for live shows, was engaged for the tour."

For this tour Shipman's skill was in working dynamically throughout the show to ensure the balance Routledge desired. "The key is output

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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

Australia - Canberra Theatre Centre (CTC) is a lively and proactive arts and cultural hub at Australia's capital city / territory, comprising three main venues - the 1244 seater Canberra Theatre, The Playhouse which holds 614 people and The Studio, a black box space with 100 capacity.

Around 150 shows covering a wide array of performance genres are staged annually, an eclectic mix ranging from rock 'n' roll to choral music, shows to drama, musicals, stand-up comedy and dance - a massive cross section involving a host of one-nighters to much longer runs of two or three weeks.

Last year, the CTC invested in its first moving lights - which were Robe.

These were specified by head of lighting Andrew Tweedie and delivered by Canberra entertainment rental and production specialist, Elite Sound and Lighting.

Andrew has worked at CTC for six years, and the lighting upgrade

New Zealand - New Zealand's theatres, venues and hire companies have enthusiastically embraced the High End Systems Hog platform, with multiple units installed around the country by NW Group.

The latest addition, a Road Hog 4 in Auckland's SKYCITY Theatre, joins a flagship Hog 4 in Tauranga's Baycourt Theatre, a Road Hog 4 in Auckland's Bruce Mason Theatre, multiple Hog models across the seven council-run Positively Wellington Venues, and Hogs for hire across the country.

The 700 seat SKYCITY Theatre has had the same lighting desk since it opened in the late 1990s - a Hog 2. With the console at the end of its working life, it was more than ready for replacement. "SKYCITY Theatre is a flexible, multipurpose theatre that's doing everything from bingo, to theatre, to comedy acts," explains Simon Garrett, general manager of lighting at NW Group. "They do a lot of 'one-day-wond

UK - Soulsound is teaming up with Birmingham City University to deliver a four-day seminar programme that will explore Calibration & Design Techniques for Modern Sound Systems. The programme, which is aimed at intermediate and experienced sound engineers, will be held at Birmingham City University, Millennium Point.

Presented by experienced sound and system engineer, Merlijn van Veen, the seminars are intended to remove the 'magic' surrounding sound systems. They will provide participants with the means and physical insight necessary to create predictable sound system designs, regardless of brand and type of speaker, and then verify the results using the dual channel FFT analyser (SIM 3, SMAART v7, SysTune, etc.).

Merlijn will thoroughly investigate the complete transmission path from source to receiver in the acoustical, electrical and psycho-acoustical domains. He

USA - Lumileds and Arrow Electronics have announced a strategic agreement for the global distribution of Lumileds comprehensive portfolio of application optimized LEDs including high power, mid power, low power, CoB, colour and UV LEDs as well as the infinitely configurable Matrix Platform. The agreement aligns with both companies' dedication to providing customers with responsive, accelerated service and reliable, high performance solutions.

"Lighting is an extremely dynamic market and today's lighting producers expect timely delivery of the right LEDs where and when they are needed," said Emmanuel Dieppedalle, senior vice president of marketing and sales at Lumileds. "Arrow is a technology leader that is known for connecting customers with the right comprehensive solutions, quickly. We are confident that this agreement will expand our market coverage, and with Arrow, custome

Germany - GLP recently completed its most auspicious theatre installation at the hands of experienced theatre lighting designer Rick Fisher.

In taking the Santa Fe Opera production of Madame Butterfly, which he first lit in 2010, to the much larger, 3000-plus capacity Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at LA Opera, he found a dynamic role for GLP's versatile impression X4 Bar 20, from GLP's range of battens.

"There were challenges in relocating this production from the relatively small stage in Santa Fe that is also open to the elements upstage," he explains. "The night sky is their back drop and that gives a depth that completes the stage picture and in many ways allows for a simpler stage design than you might choose for a traditional venue."

To make this work in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion an impressionistically painted scrim and rear projection screen were added by

UK - PLASA Focus 2016 sees Yamaha sharing a stand with loudspeaker manufacturer Nexo and highlighting the interconnectivity of the company's professional audio systems for installation, broadcast and live production.

A focal point of Yamaha's presence will be the MRX7-D open architecture signal processor, the RMio64-D Dante/MADI conversion i/o unit and the RSio64-D Dante/mini-YGDAI convertor. In addition, the latest V4 software for CL/QL series digital mixing consoles will be on demonstration.

Complementing the Yamaha Commercial Installation Solutions (CIS) range of MTX series fixed architecture matrix processors, the MRX7-D delivers simple yet outstandingly flexible control for complex, high-capacity sound systems in hotels, ballrooms, houses of worship, schools, libraries, theatres, convention centres, conference rooms and many other applications.

Featuring eight mic

USA - Norwegians Ketil Jansen and Ulrik Denizou Lund, better known as Lemaitre, can be considered a two-man melting pot of music. In the tradition of bands like Phoenix and Daft Punk, the red-hot duo effortlessly blend dance, indie, pop and even heavy swing brass into a fast smooth electro tinged sound that's all their own. Their most recent release "Closer" already has 12 million streams.

Expectations were high when Lemaitre performed at this year's Coachella festival, and the pair didn't disappoint, blending their eclectic sounds with a mesmerizing lightshow created by LD Michael Sheck of L7 Productions. A key component of Sheck's show was the 'sizzling pixel-mapped eye candy' served up on Chauvet Professional Nexus Aq 5x5 LED panels, supplied and installed by Kilroys Lighting and Production of Las Vegas.

The RGBW Nexus units were rolled out quickly on the Gobi Tent stag

UK - After dedicating over 40 years of his life to pro audio, Amber Sound's founder and owner Graham Paddon has decided to hang up his cables and retire.

Fear not though, he has left his legacy to the next generation who will be here to help where Graham left off, starting with PLASA Focus in Leeds where Claire, Aaron and Marco look forward to meeting you.

Claire Paddon has become commercial director which basically means she has to do all her own work plus some of Graham's.

As well as accounts Helen Odysseos has also taken on a large share of Graham's duties in her new role as operations manager.

Being the most experienced pro audio person in the team, Glen Thompspon leads the sales department as sales executive.

Aaron Sofocleous has recently moved into the role of technical sales and is here to help with your more complicated requirements. Marco Marini is off

UK/USA - Focusrite has announced the launch of the Red 4Pre, the pinnacle of Focusrite's interface range. The 58-in/64-out Thunderbolt Red 4Pre interface combines four of Focusrite's specially-developed digitally-controlled mic preamps, plus high-headroom instrument inputs, with dual Pro Tools HD DigiLink and Dante network audio connectivity.

Featuring Focusrite's most advanced low-noise conversion and beautiful yet robust design, the Red 4Pre interface is the perfect balance of form and function, delivering the sound quality and versatility engineers and producers around the world expect from Focusrite.

Four of Focusrite's new, specially-developed Red Evolution preamps lie at the heart of the Red 4Pre, featuring clear, honest audio performance with -129 dB EIN and 63dB of gain. Software control allows recall of settings and stereo linking, plus configuration of HPF, polar

UK - Taking a short break from pre-season planning for the busy summer ahead, Pearce Hire will return for a fourth consecutive time to the PLASA Focus regional event in Leeds next week.

PLASA Focus: Leeds is a well-established date on the industry trade show calendar, and senior personnel from Pearce Hire will be on hand at the show to meet existing and new clients who are visiting the show. The two-day show provides ample opportunity for the team to discuss event production needs, on any scale and at any venue or site (greenfield, urban or otherwise) and how Pearce Hire can provide turnkey solutions for power, lighting, audio and staging requirements.

Pearce Hire has become a regular exhibitor at PLASA Focus and will once more be promoting their production services and rental business. With an increase in events and a growing portfolio of new customers, Pearce Hire is in

UK - Zero 88 will be exhibiting at Plasa Focus Leeds - Stand N-B12 - with several exciting new products and releases.

Following its successful launch last year, FLX8 now joins the FLX family of lighting consoles as the latest eight-universe version of the PLASA Innovation Award winning FLX product line.

FLX and FLX8 will be shown with demonstrators highlighting the latest software release - ZerOS 7.9 - and the online universe upgrade program for FLX.

This continues the planned FLX programme of feature and capability enhancements ... all continuing to making FLX an even more powerful, durable, portable and extendable lighting control console package.

ZerOS 7.9 also brings significant advancements to the whole ZerOS console line-up, as we combine the software's feature set across consoles.

Sitting alongside the FLX will be the new ZerOS Wing, allowing the expansi

USA - Video display manufacturer PixelFLEX has announced a West Coast open house designed to showcase of its innovative line of LED technologies.

Highlighted by the FLEXLite Plus, FLEXLite NXG, reFLEXion, trueFLEX, and FLEXCurtain HD, the open house will take place at INVENT (Institute of Venue and Entertainment Technology) in Los Angeles, CA, on 26-27 May, 2016. The event is free and open to all video designers, integrators and production rental houses throughout the area who may be interested in taking an in-depth look into the latest in LED video technology.

"With Los Angeles being at the epicenter for touring on the West coast, we know how important this market is for our continued growth," said David Venus, PixelFLEX Director of Marketing. "Through our headquarters in Nashville, we are able to routinely visit with clients on the East coast, but we also understand how

UK - DPA microphones played a key role in delivering exceptional sound quality to the Comhaltas National Folk Orchestra of Ireland, which made its London debut over Easter with a special concert at the Barbican.

Formed by Comhaltas Ceolt

USA - Sean Palmer, Front of House engineer for US rock band The Used, has been mixing audio for almost two decades. He has recently discovered the delights of DiGiCo's new S21 digital mixing console, supplied by Clair Brothers, PA rental company for the band's current album celebration tour. It has, he says, changed everything for him...

"I haven't used DiGiCo consoles much before," says Sean. "I've always loved the sound of the consoles and thought they were incredibly capable, but I just couldn't get my head around the workflow.

"Then I went and did training with Tom Williams at DiGiCo HQ. I learned how to create the workflow I wanted and there's nothing I haven't been able to do with the S21 since."

Sean had been using what he describes as 'an insane amount of plugins' on previous consoles. "They were all great, but there's this sterile tone to them and still a lot

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