Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

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Worldwide - Jay-Z's tour Global Express, could be described as open and empty. Everything is reduced to a minimum. To fill the visual void lighting designer Gary Westcott and his associate Matthew Button, applied three Barco LED screens, and lighting control is by grandMAs.

"The system is simple enough - three screens of Barco LED, one a wide-screen centre stage, flanked by two in portrait orientation - very narrow, side screens. There's a three-camera system for live shots, one front-of-house, one in the pit and one on stage," says Drew Findley, who is responsible for the video content. Findley controls the four used M-Boxes from a grandMA. "The show is event driven: what I like about the grandMA is the flying faders - having the ability to move quickly and

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UK - For the sixth consecutive year, London-based event services company PSL has enabled the master coiffeurs of British hairdressing to show off their intricate skills at the Salon International exhibition at London's ExCeL.

The masterclasses of Vidal Sassoon, Trevor Sorbie and Tim Hartley provided the big draw to Salon Live, where, for £90 a ticketed session, hairdressers from around the world could watch their scissor-work on three giant screens in a purpose-built theatre, designed by PSL.

The auditorium featured a flat stage with catwalks, dominated by three 14' x 10.5' screens, coupled with double-stacked Barco ELM R12 projectors. PSL provided a 4-camera PPU to capture every detail of styling technique and relay it to the screens. Over three days of special events, the theatre also hosted presentations on products and techniques from leading brands in the hair indus

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France - Summit Steel helped production company Fourimpact realise the true power of plants at the pre-press launch of the new Ford Mondeo for the Paris Motor Show. The event was staged in the beguiling Pershing Hall Hotel, one of Paris's finest and most elegant establishments, famed for its 27m high vertical walled garden.

Summit's main task was to rig a series of discreet catenary wires between the courtyard's second floor level balconies, onto which over 200 artistically presented orchids were attached forming a ceiling of flowers and looking fabulous. The orchid roots were encased in little parcels of damp compost to ensure they stayed fresh for the event.

Summit's team led by Jon Bray worked closely with production manager Haydn Taylor. "It was an extremely stylish event in a beautiful setting that needed dressing appropriately and sympathetically, " explains Ta

Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

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USA - If you get seven years' bad luck for breaking a mirror, imagine what you'd get for smashing a mirror ball. Arriba Cases has come to the rescue of superstitious DJs everywhere by introducing two new bags that protect mirror balls from damage during transit, the AC-70 and AC-71 Mirror Ball Protectors.

Part of Arriba's line of soft, padded lighting cases, the AC-70 and AC-71 are designed to securely hold an 8" and a 12" mirror ball respectively. Lightweight yet rugged, they can accommodate mirror balls from any major manufacturer. Made of the same durable synthetic material as Arriba's other lighting cases, the AC-70 and AC-71 will protect and help extend the lifespan of delicate mirror balls, one of the most popular and enduring special effects in any light show.

Ideal for DJs, musicians and mobile entertainers, the AC-70 and AC-71 Mirror Ball Protectors are ligh

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Australia - Family Nightclub in Brisbane, Australia, recently overhauled its sound system, installing Allen & Heath mixers in all rooms, including the audiophile Xone:V6, MIDI-enabled Xone:92, and industry-standard Xone:62.

Winner of 'Best Club in Australia' for three consecutive years, Family boasts line-ups with top international artists, and superior technical equipment.

Family installed the full V6 package - including additional EQ Isolator and Crossfader units - in their main dance arena, along with a Xone:92 for DJs requiring sliding channel faders and MIDI capability, and four Allen & Heath VF-1 filter units, one for each turntable and CD audio source. The Xone:V6 is a luxury rotary mixer, with valves on every input channel, discrete circuitry, precise filters, and oil-damped, ultra-smooth rotary faders.

"It's the first time I've heard a million dollars worth of

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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

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Germany - One of the leading companies in the German events industry, Düsseldorf Congress GmbH, has taken delivery of a new Soundcraft Vi6 digital audio console for one of its primary city locations, the 7,500-capacity PhilipsHalle in Düsseldorf.

Although the Soundcraft Vi6 will mainly be used in the PhilipsHalle, it will be mobile, enabling it to be used in any of the seven other Düsseldorf Congress venues, such as the massive 61,000-capacity LTU-Arena and the 13,400-seat ISS Dome, home of the Düsseldorf ice-hockey team, where the console made its debut on an outdoor show.

Markus Grotheer, event engineer for Düsseldorf Congress GmbH, was assigned the task of selecting a digital console to replace the ageing analogue desk in the PhilipsHalle. He and his colleagues had already decided on a popular mid-range model when they came across the Soundcraft Vi6 at the ProLight+Sou

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USA - Chauvet has released a distinctive LED blacklight fixture. The LED Shadow is an exclusive DMX blacklight combining high portability with the low power consumption and longevity of LEDs. It is fitted with 192 ultra violet LEDs averaging 100,000 hours of operation. The diodes are enclosed in a sleek, 2.5-inch thin plastic and aluminum panel. Total weight is less than 5 lbs (2.22 kgs).

Three channels of DMX control dimming and strobing capabilities as well as the activation of pre-set programs. All functions can also be triggered in stand-alone mode via dip-switches.

LED Shadow incorporates two sturdy brackets (for clamp and wall mount) and one extra power output to daisy chain units. For a more complete mobile show, this distinctive blacklight can also be linked to the newly released LED Techno Strobe featuring all white strobing LEDs and the LED Techno Strobe RGB with ful

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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

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UK - As a result of their ever increasing success in the commercial and architectural lighting market, Dynalite Europe are expanding into other areas through the appointment of Nick Van Tromp as sales engineer to the audio visual market. Van Tromp comes from an HVAC and lighting controls background and with three years experience in the home automation industry, he is looking to work closely with custom installers who are wanting to distinguish themselves from others in this highly competitive market.

He says: "Dynalite not only offer a huge range of control products to suit virtually any lighting application but also have an array of user interfaces and integration techniques which are second to none in the market. Quite simply, what makes us stand out in this industry is our ability to do with ease the jobs that other manufacturers just can't do. We will be running a new

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UK - Leading UK lighting rental company Siyan designed and supplied a lighting rig based on SGM moving lights for the BBC's Electric Proms shows. These were staged at the newly restored Camden Roundhouse.

The rig was a co-design by Bryan Leitch and Nick Whitehouse, with Siyan in the demanding position of working for the BBC Electric Proms team and promoters Metropolis Music, the latter of whom brought the High Wycombe based company in to light the series of shows.

Up to three artists were featured per night including music from The Good The Bad and The Queen (one of Damon Albarn's new projects), The Who, Paul Weller, Young Tiger, The Zutons, James Brown, The Magic Numbers and many more artists and musicians who performed new, unique work and collaborations.

Leitch and Whitehouse utilised 126 SGM fixtures of various different types including Giotto 400 series Washes, Spots an

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USA - Bandit Lites is proud to be supplying lighting again for Montgomery Gentry's current tour. Released in October of 2006, their latest album Some People Change features twelve new tracks.

Lighting designer, Michael Shucher, said that the main objective for the MontgomeryGentry show was to portray a big look with a minimal amount of lights. The initialchallenge was to find lights that could compete with the arched video wall. Shucherneeded the lights to cut through the video wall while still being light in weight and not toobulky. He also wanted the lights to be hard edge and have rotating gobos. The Vari*Lite2500 achieved all of these requirements.

Shucher also found the High End Systems Studio Beams to be very beneficial. Heplaced them on the side towers to act as fans. The HES Studio Beams were also used towash various set pieces, which include anything from flyin

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UK - Lighting Technology Projects (LTP) has completed the installation, programming and commissioning of a large eye-catching light-wall containing 380 ColorKinetics iColor Cove MX fixtures, at 111 Buckingham Place Road, Victoria, London.

The wall graces the impressive atrium entrance to a shared office block, housing several high profile companies and organisations. LTP was recommended for the project to the site's main contractors Simpson York by Nick Tolkein of Architainment, CK's UK distributor.

Each of the 380 sections of Cove MX - the highest intensity member of the iColor Cove family - measures 320 mm and utilises the latest in CK's Powercore technology. This simplifies the installation by integrating power and data management directly within the fixture, eliminating the need for external low voltage power or data supplies. Inbuilt power factor correction also significa

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UK - The busy Avolites sales team has been boosted with the arrival of two new faces - Simon Harris and Chakir Mustafa.

Mustafa joins as sales executive and will be working closely with Avo's Steve Warren and Koy Neminathan in developing and promoting Avolites sales worldwide. Fluent in Spanish and also speaking Arabic and French (in addition to English of course!) Mustafa will be covering these territories as well as the UK.

Before joining Avolites, he studied Spanish and Business Studies at Queen Mary University, London, whilst also working in the retail sector. He brings enthusiasm and a great sense of humour to the Avolites equation, and is "really looking forward to working with a great team, and so many exciting and innovative products".

Simon Harris joins as sales engineer and will be putting his fund of technical experience gleaned from working with comms g

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Austria - Austrian performance art company Lawine Torrèn used the natural beauty of the Danube Valley as a vast backdrop for Leviathan, an unusual piece of theatre. Robust Lighthouse Technologies outdoor LED video panels were deployed demonstrating the successful integration of art, nature and technology.

Leviathan - staged in association with the Austrian Army - took place at various scenic locations along the valley. The story is based on the spread of the philosophical ideas of Thomas Hobbes and seamlessly combines art and technology to create an exciting choreographic deployment of heavy military machinery and people. This was interweaved with film and photographs of local history, all delivered from a huge Lighthouse R19 19mm LED video wall built on a military ferry, which cruised up and down the Danube.

The screen with dimension 8.5 x 6.4m (55sq.m) was con

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Europe - Meyer Sound has long been committed to providing the professional audio community with high-level training seminars that present scientifically valid information on both theoretical concepts and their practical applications. Continuing the steady expansion the company's education program has seen in the last few years, Meyer Sound's latest seminars are now coming to the European continent.

"Our goal with the Meyer Sound seminars is to impart accurate, real-world professional information to the audio community," says educational programmes manager Gavin Canaan. "By offering instruction from some of professional audio's consummate authorities, we aim to bring a vital frame of reference and an unparalleled body of expertise to our users."

One of the most important seminars is a two-part, in-depth course encompassing both system design and training on

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Australia - Leading Australian lighting rental and production company Bytecraft has invested in a 10 channel Kinesys Elevation 1+ automation system. The system consists of 10 Elevation 1+ controllers, 10 1-tonne Liftket chain hoists, an Array PD-ES distribution module and Kinesys' proprietary Vector software.

Bytecraft's technical manager Darren Irving explains that they first became aware of the Kinesys system - one of the most popular, flexible and powerful movement systems on the market - after it was highly recommended by crews and rental companies both locally and overseas. "It's now also being specified on numerous shows, so getting one over here was a really logical step," he concludes.

Apart from the word-of-mouth recommendations, the functionality, ease of operation and competitive pricing all combined to swing the decision Kinesys' way, says the company.

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Worldwide - Despite announcing his retirement from touring and producing records more than two years ago, worldwide rap superstar Jay-Z has found it hard to sit on his laurels; he's been constantly busy in the studio, and this Autumn has seen him cris-crossing the globe on a massive world tour. And handling all of his on-stage vocals every night has been an AKG WMS 4000 wireless mic system, supplied by his tour production manager Bryon Tate, after the original mic system used on the tour proved unsatisfactory.

Like a lot of rappers, Jay-Z 'cups' the mic on stage, holding it close to the capsule. When using other mics, this resulted in a huge boost in mid-range response due to the microphones' natural proximity effect, but the effect was not as noticeable with the WMS 4000 system, and so it won the day. It is thought that Jay-Z made the switch to AKG after Kanye West noticed simi

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UK - With a champagne reception at chic London venue the Hedges & Butler Members' Club, London PA rental company Systems Etc celebrated its first decade.

Since it was founded in 1996, Systems Etc has increased its turnover 200-fold, expanded its workforce from two to 20, and acquired nearly £2 million of hire stock. The company's commercial trajectory has been determined by acquisition, to date three sound rental operators have been absorbed into the group portfolio. Systems Etc owner Bernard Mani says he's aiming for a 30% share of the UK's pro-audio rental market.

The origins of Systems Etc date back to 1990 when Bernard Mani, still at school, began building loudspeakers and using them on student productions. Leaving college at 18, equipped with an engineering qualification, he headed off to Spain. The scene there was one big party, and Mani's response was to put toget

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Canada - Rental sound company P.A. Plus Productions recently provided a live audio system for Just Give Me Jesus, an event featuring Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of renowned evangelist Billy Graham, at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

The Just Give Me Jesus Series is a collection of unique events designed to be a life-changing revival for women. The most recent Just Give Me Jesus event took place twice over the weekend of September 29, drawing an average attendance of 17,000 per event.

Because the stage was located in the centre of the arena, John Lacina of P.A. Plus designed an "in-the-round" loudspeaker system that included 72 Vertec VT4889 full-size line array elements and 32 VT4887 compact models. This gave a total of 104 full-range Vertec enclosures in the system design, which was carefully formatted in co-ordination with four massive video p

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UK - One of the UK's most historic stately homes - Hatfield House in Hertfordshire - has opened the Riding School Conference Centre in its magnificent grounds, complete with a QSC sound reinforcement system. The Old Palace at Hatfield dates back to 1485 and the Jacobean Hatfield House to 1607, celebrating its 400th anniversary next year.

The Riding School itself is an early Victorian building - but the new facilities show high quality refurbishment at its best, as designed by architects Brooks Murray. Today its use will be multipurpose - hosting a wide range of events from conferences to fashion shows and wedding receptions. The main atrium can accommodate up to 200 comfortably, with adjoining breakout/meeting rooms.

The contract for the audio visual installation was awarded to Hammonds AVS Ltd, who imaginatively deployed QSC AcousticDesign AD-S282 and AD-S52T loudspeakers, bo

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USA - Since ETC's new Eos lighting control system made its official debut at LDI 2006 in Las Vegas and won the LDI 2006 Product of the Year Award for best debuting product in the lighting category, it has been drawing huge interest, the company reports.

In response to such a demand for information on Eos, ETC has introduced a new interactive graphic tour on their Web site - highlighting the innovative features and functionality that, they say, sets Eos apart from other control systems.

The Eos product tour allows viewers to see why this is the flagship system in ETC's new Complete Control line-up, says the company.

The European launch of Eos is expected in June 2007.

(Chris Henry)

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The Netherlands - In Holland, the club Paard van Troje in Den Haag has just taken delivery of two new Soundcraft analogue mixing consoles for the smaller of its two venues. Although nominally a pop venue, the club's sound engineer Peter Kerkvliet explains that "our productions vary from hardcore, punk, metal, reggae, hiphop, singer-songwriter, americana to multimedia, presentations, debates, standup-comedy, theatre, lectures and so on. About 50 per cent of our activities are dance events."

With such a variety of presentation, one of the main reasons for his choice of Soundcraft MH3 and MH2 consoles was their versatility. "Often we do monitor-mixing from the front of house position, or FOH-mixing from the monitor position. Because of the dual-purpose set-up possible with both the MH2 and MH3, we have the option to swap desks. In most cases, the MH3 is used out fron

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Astera - Large MPU - June 2025
Sennheiser - MPU - June 2025

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