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12 May 2025

UK – The Theatres Trust reports that it has been able to support 21 ambitious theatres with vital projects that will ensure these important cultural spaces can continue to serve their local communities for many years to come.

In the eighth round of the Small Grants Programme with The Linbury Trust, 21 community theatres received grants of up to £5,000 to support vitally important projects.

The vast array of projects funded in this round illustrates the many ways that theatres are keen to improve their buildings to welcome wider audiences and host a broader range of performances and activities.

Arts Centre Washington in Sunderland, Barn Theatre in Welwyn Garden City, Corn Exchange in Newbury, Little Angel Theatre in London, The Place Theatre in Bedford, and The Y Centre in Leicester receive funding for projects to improve their acc

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12 May 2025

UK - The owner of Bear Bright Studios, Luke Edwards is lighting multi-Grammy winner Jacob Collier's global Djesse tour.

When asked which colours are dominant in his tour design, Edwards simply said "all of them". His pithy answer makes sense, considering that the tour he's lighting covers his client's widely celebrated four-volume Djesse album, a 50-song opus that weaves myriad musical influences, including contributions from stars like John Mayer and Chris Martin, into a captivating whirlwind of sounds.

"While I usually follow a rule of using no more than two colours on stage, working with Jacob led me to break that mould," said Edwards. "Each of the four albums in this collection is associated with its own distinct colour. For this production, we embraced all four colours simultaneously, creating a vibrant and dynamic visual exper

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12 May 2025

UK – Area Four is returning to the Royal Armouries on 13-24 May. Stands R-D18 & R-D19 will feature the latest from the Area Four Industries brands including Milos, Litec, Prolyte, Xstage and the full range of EXE Technology chain hoists.

There's also the opportunity to get hands-on with Exe Load Cells where Matt Millward, head of automation will be available to discuss your requirements and show you more around the global interest in our new wireless load monitoring solutions from EXE Technology.

With increased demand following ISE and Prolight + Sound, learn more about the global interest in EXE Flexa sensors. Offered in four load cell management platforms, EXE Cell wired LC-Pro & LC-NLP and EXE Flexa wireless Real-Time and Dynamic. There will also be a wide selection of EXE hoists on demo.

A4I UK's head of automation, Matt Millwar

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12 May 2025

South Africa - DWR Distribution has announced the addition of Kyle Freemantle, a senior audio engineer and systems engineer, to the sales team in the role of solution architect.

In this position, Kyle will lead the design of technical solutions, deliver presentations and live demonstrations to clients, address technical challenges within DWR proposals to clients, and play a key role in shaping sales strategies from project inception to completion.

Kyle is no stranger to the South African live events industry. A freelancer since 2013, he has worked on some of the country’s most prominent shows and events. Now, for the first time in his career, Kyle is stepping into a permanent position.

“We are truly honoured to have Kyle join our team,” says Duncan Riley of DWR. “His experience and fresh perspectives will greatly benefit our clients,

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12 May 2025

Switzerland - Mendrisio is a small town in southern Switzerland that’s home to the FoxTown Factory Stores, the first factory outlet centre in Southern Europe. Opened in 1995, FoxTown is far from a typical factory outlet. Covering 30,000sq.m with more than 160 stores, bars, restaurants, a play area, and even a casino, FoxTown is a shopping and entertainment destination. As the centre’s management team planned an expansion in 2022, they conceived a bold idea for a new entertainment experience: The Sense Gallery, Switzerland’s first multisensory museum.

The Sense Gallery was brought to life in January 2023 under the visionary leadership of Luca Gambardella. Tasked with creating an immersive and modern digital space for FoxTown, Gambardella envisioned a fusion of science and art designed to engage the senses and provoke reflection.

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12 May 2025

USA - Elation is strengthening its commitment to product quality and reinforcing confidence in its offerings by expanding warranty coverage on several product lines. The KL Series and OPS Series (Outdoor Permanent Specification) series, along with the Fuze Pendant and Fuze Pendant Compact, now come with an expanded, complete five-year fixture warranty for long-term protection.

Additionally, the company's new Paragon Series, as well as full-spectrum Fuze Series luminaires, benefit from three-year warranty coverage, offering enhanced assurance for customers. The warranties cover not only the light engines but also any manufacturing defects, materials, and workmanship, ensuring full protection throughout the extended coverage period.

Eric Loader, Elation's global vice president of sales, commented on the enhanced policy: “At Elation, product quality h

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12 May 2025

UAE - Powersoft’s low-frequency transducer technology, Mover, is laying the ground for a new wave of immersive experiences being developed by Power Interactive, an experiential technology pioneer based in Dubai.

Power Interactive founder Fahad Javaid was introduced to Mover – a powerful moving-magnet direct-drive transducer designed to shake the listener to their core – at a tech event in 2019. After being struck by the device’s potential to add a visceral, physical layer to immersive environments, Javaid decided to invest in the technology, and Mover is today being deployed in several of Power Interactive’s internal R&D projects, including installations using Full Dome Pro, a proprietary projection dome solution.

“We’re currently using Mover as part of a haptic platform, integrated with other immersive technologies to elevate senso

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12 May 2025

USA - PPDS, the global provider of Philips Professional Displays, has announced its advanced and flexible suite of digital signage solutions has been selected to enhance communication and collaboration capabilities at The Putnam County School System (PCSS), in Cooksville, Tennessee.

Located an hour’s drive east of Nashville and 100 miles west of Knoxville, the PCSS is one of the state’s largest public school districts, employing over 1,700 staff and educating over 12,000 students. Boasting a 93 per cent graduation rate, PCSS is responsible for 22 schools in total, including elementary (x11), middle (x4), high (3), as well as virtual and adult learning.

With a commitment to providing best-in-class communication and collaborative experiences across all campuses, the use of display technology plays a critical role in the teaching and learning experi

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09 May 2025

UK - L-Acoustics staged its Keynote 2025 event at London’s Roundhouse Theatre. The invitation-only gathering drew attendees from 40 countries to witness the unveiling of a comprehensive suite of audio innovations and strategic partnerships.

“The emotional connection between a performer and the audience results from the perfectly crafted collaboration between artists who create the source, engineers who perfect the system, and venues that curate the space to deliver exceptional experiences," said Laurent Vaissié, co-CEO at L-Acoustics. "The innovations announced at our 2025 Keynote support our vision to create the best shared sound experiences."

The audio innovation ecosystem introduced by L-Acoustics includes a suite of products and solutions built to harmonise artistry, engineering, and venue acoustics, rooted in three essential pillar

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09 May 2025

Europe - Belgrade, Serbia-based Light and Sound Design (LSD), headed by Milan Scepanovic and run by him and his team, became a Robe distributor for the Serbia with Kosovo region in 2023 and have been very successful with the brand.

Their area of operation has now been extended to embrace the entire Balkans region – adding Bosnia & Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Montenegro to their list.

Avolites and LSC Control Systems – also Robe businesses – have chosen to go with LSD distribution to stimulate their presence throughout the Balkans and additionally in Albania, together with all the strategic advantages this will bring to LSD’s customers.

LSD is a stocking distributor, and for speed, efficiency and quick turnaround will always aim to have a large stock of Robe moving lights in the warehouse, ready for immediate dispatch. The rea

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09 May 2025

Europe - Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) has announced the appointment of industry veteran David Budge and Blue5 Technology as an independent sales rep for Europe. In this role, Budge and Blue5 will work with EAW’s sales team to support existing partners in Europe as well as identify and bring on new partners in countries that do not currently have local EAW representation.

“EAW is excited to welcome David Budge and Blue5 to the team,” says TJ Smith, president of Eastern Acoustic Works. “With specialties in sales, channel and relationship management in the EMEA region, we look forward to his expertise in developing business and solidifying customer relationships across Europe.”

Budge serves as managing director at Blue5 Technology where he has been since 2020. Headquartered just outside of London, England, Blue5 Technology offers manufacturers

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09 May 2025

UK - Sixty82 has announced the opening of its new UK office at Production Park in Wakefield - the dynamic hub for live events, touring, and production industries.

Having successfully served the UK market for years via distribution, Sixty82 is now taking the next step in its growth by establishing a full presence in the country to further enhance the already strong product support, improve lead-times and listen even more closely to its UK customers.

The UK office will be led by managing director Tom Richter, who brings a wealth of experience from his time as UK head of integration at TAIT. Working alongside him is technical director Johnny Marshall, a well-known and highly respected figure in the trussing and staging industry.

“Sixty82 has always believed in being where our customers are,” said Tom Richter. “With our new office and exten

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09 May 2025

Europe - Designer and manufacturer of high-performance, precision-engineered lighting, Light Forms, has announced the appointment of their first European distributor – VisionTwo based in Germany.

VisionTwo is a distribution company for professional theatre, architecture, TV/studio and event technology, supplying modern and innovative lighting technology. This made them the ideal choice to become the dedicated European distributor for Light Forms.

The agreement will offer VisionTwo’s clients access to the Light Forms suite of made-to-measure high-performance lighting solutions. This includes MoonFull,  Moonband 60, Moonring, Lightplane 2.5, Lightplane 1S, Round Lightplane 1 and Lightplane 1 Concave.

Harry Prior, managing director from Light Forms said: “With an eye on growth, we knew that securing better distribution and supply across E

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09 May 2025

USA - It was a magical moment. At the end of Alice Cooper's outdoor CoopStock show in Mesa, AZ this spring, the rocker was joined on stage by a group of other artists including Rob Halford of Judas Priest, as well as Corey Glover and Robin Zander of Cheap Trick, to perform his hit classic School's Out For Summer.

The sold out crowd loved it, but ironically ‘school’ will not  be out, but open a little longer thanks to CoopStock, an event Cooper initiated to raise funds for Solid Rock Teen Centre, an educational institution Cooper cofounded 30 years ago to provide  young people between the ages of 12 and 20 with places they could go to learn more about music, art, film, photography and other forms of creative expression.

Providing Cooper and his fellow legends with a dynamic background to support their performances for this worthy cause

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09 May 2025

UK - AbsenLive, a division of Absen, recently brought Culture Club's UK Tour to life with immersive visuals, delivering a truly memorable experience for concertgoers.

Culture Club embarked on a UK arena tour in December 2024, with special guests Tony Hadley and Heaven 17. The tour took place in venues such as the O2 in London and Manchester’s new Co-op Live. Axiom Events, the production management and equipment provider for the tour, were responsible for delivering robust touring LED panels that could also push the creative boundaries of the show.

The tour marked the first large scale deployment of Axiom’s new stock of AbsenLive LED screens which includes over 140sq.m of XL, Standard and Cube corner panels. When making the investment it was key that the product was of exceptional build quality and suitable for indoor and outdoor use. Therefore, t

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09 May 2025

Spain - It’s typically the abundance of world-renowned architecture that attracts visitors to Barcelona’s iconic Passeig de Gràcia - one of the historic city’s main thoroughfares and most popular shopping and commercial areas.

But to celebrate the storied avenue’s 200th anniversary and simultaneously close out the America’s Cup Cultural Regatta in late 2024, it was a pair of Spain’s most revered performing artists that drew a crowd of thousands into the heart of the Catalonian capital.

Famed operatic tenor José Carreras and flamenco choreography queen Sara Baras headlined a free performance – complete with a full orchestra and dance troupe – on a stage erected right in the middle of Passeig de Gràcia at its bustling València Street intersection.

To ensure each of the nearly 10,000 spectators along the 300 m stretch of pave

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09 May 2025

USA - The Barnert Temple in New Jersey, a 178-year-old congregation that has been in their synagogue for about 40 years, has undergone a renovation and integrated a new audio system utilising 1 Sound loudspeakers. The goal was to have great sonic clarity in every seat for spoken word from the lecterns and have the capability for versatile live music while blending in aesthetically to not distract from the architecture of the space.

ComNet Communications worked with Barnert Temple’s AV team to implement the new audio system, choosing 1 Sound’s Tower Series as the main loudspeakers. The Tower LCC84 is a line array that has even sonic distribution in its field, covering wide with a long throw. Its true line-array arrangement means microphones are extremely less likely to feedback if they are in the field of the loudspeakers.

The Tower LCC84 was a go

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09 May 2025

USA - Wellington, Florida, is home to Wellington International. Established in 1974, the equestrian venue covers over 111 acres and boasts 14 competition arenas, along with more than 500 permanent equine stalls. Wellington International is recognised for hosting the Winter Equestrian Festival, the world's largest and longest-running hunter/jumper horse show, from January through March. In combination with the ESP Annual Series Circuit, Wellington International hosts 42 weeks of equestrian competitions annually, regularly hosting some of the top riders in the world and over 350,000 attendees.

Wellington International’s management team is very tech-forward and acknowledges the value and benefits that superior AV solutions bring to outdoor venues. The venue has recently undertaken a holistic overhaul of its AV systems to provide a more consi

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09 May 2025

USA - Portland International Airport (PXD)has long been celebrated for its integration of local culture, sustainability, and innovation. The latest modernisation project, part of the ambitious PDX Next initiative, reimagines the airport experience, blending cutting-edge technology with architectural design.

Central to this transformation is the installation of Renkus-Heinz’s Iconyx CompactICC12/3loudspeakers, which deliver audio clarity while seamlessly integrating into the airport’s aesthetic.

The PDX Next initiative is a comprehensive, multi-phase effort to expand and modernize the airport. The main terminal’s overhaul serves as the centrepiece of this vision. Designed with an emphasis on openness and natural elements, the new terminal features soaring wooden ceilings, abundant daylight, and locally sourced materials, all re

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09 May 2025

UK - London-based integrators, Tateside, has hired two new employees on an apprenticeship basis as part of their commitment to fostering the next generation of AV industry professionals. As part of their training, George and Joe will shadow the Tateside team on projects, undergo technical training and spend time with different departments to gain an understanding of the integration business and the world of AV.

“Many of us started out in AV quite young, and we want to give others the opportunity to do the same,” says Jack Cornish, technical director at Tateside. “It can be difficult for people to find a clear career route into the integration business, so through these apprenticeships, we are offering a path to a future in AV that will hopefully inspire these young people to continue their journey within the company or the wider industry.”

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