Ireland - Robe moving lights proved themselves to be a robust and reliable choice of moving light for any festival situation, with over 100 used on the main stage plus many more around the site at the 2011 Oxegen Festival in County Kildare.

True to form, the skies opened and it pelted with rain throughout the first day of the event, turning the site at Punchestown Racecourse into a slightly sticky, mud-tastic experience - which didn't dampen any of the vibes.

The highprofile festival is promoted by the country's largest concert and live event organisation, MCD and this year it featured a strong line-up.

Dublin-based rental company Just Lite's relationship with MCD's Denis Desmond stretches back over 20 years, and the company headed by Paul and Alan Smith has been involved with

Australia - The Port Fairy Folk Festival is held in early March each year over the Labour Day long weekend on the south-west coast of Victoria in the historic sea-side village of Port Fairy. Australia's 'world famous' independent music festival presents major international and national folk, trad and roots music artists during a four day festival of folk, country, Celtic, blues, jazz, bluegrass, traditions, contemporary, singers, songwriters, acoustic rock and world roots music.

Geelong-based Total Events provided lighting, staging, transport, rigging and AV requirements for the festival across six venues. 2011 was the 35th year of Port Fairy Folk Festival and Total Events managing director Scott Parker has provided various levels of production to the event for over 15 years.

Lighting - consisting of approximately 100 LED fixtures, 50 moving head fixtures and 100 dimmer channe

Norway - Staging and technical production company AVAB-CAC Bergen AS, based in Bergen, has supplied its new custom designed Milos roofing system for a recent series of concerts in and around the town, including a recent show by Swedish pop superstars Roxette.

The band who had a string of chart-topping hits in the 1990s are back on the road again with a world tour and their first studio album Room Service in 10 years.

The Roxette show was staged at Bergenhus Fortress & Castle (a greenfield site, which is part of a medieval fortress and castle) located in the middle of Bergen's historic centre. It was moved from its originally intended site and the capacity increased from 6,500 to 10,000 people - which was immediately - again - sold out.

The roof features seven tower supports and a top trussing grid made up of RTT and FTT trussing.

The structure is 20m wide by 16 deep

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Strictly FX, Pushing Boundaries

Strictly FX was founded in 1996 by industry veterans Mark Grega and Ted Maccabee. Our expertise and knowledge of the world’s leading pyrotechnic, laser, and flame manufacturers allows us to curate astonishing live events. With over 500+ shows performed a year, there’s good chance you’ve seen some of our work!

Russia - Clay Paky's new narrow beam, the Sharpy, has been given its first airing on Russian television following an appearance on Star Factory, a reality TV talent show broadcast on Russia's Channel One. Mixing elements of Pop Idol and Big Brother, the contest aims to nurture the next generation of singing talent with help from pop industry veterans.

Star Factory lighting designer Leonid Pozdnyanskiy made up his mind to use the Sharpy after viewing a demonstration at the studio organised by Clay Paky distributor DOKA.

"We are pleased that Channel One allowed us to promote Sharpy on Star Factory," says DOKA's Vasily Litvin, brand manager for Clay Paky. "Sharpy has found an instant fan base here in Russia; those in the studio were absolutely amazed by the output, and we expect great things from this fixture in the Russian market

Europe - Take That's record breaking Progress Live stadium tour is being witnessed by over two million fervent fans across Europe, who are enjoying music from right across the band's career, as well as some of Robbie Williams solo hits. Sennheiser microphones, in-ears and radio systems are a key part of the production, ensuring that the boys hit the right note.

All five members of Take That are using Sennheiser SKM5200 handheld wireless microphones with dynamic MD5235 heads and EM3732 MkII dual receivers, as well as 2000 series in-ear monitors (IEMs). Further sets of the IEMs are used by the backing band, dancers and technical crew, while wired backing vocal mics are e 935s.

One of the biggest challenges of the show is its sheer size, with a B stage projecting well into each stadium. This has meant the addition of Sennheiser's A5000-CP circular polarized antennas alongs

USA - Waves Audio has announced that noted Front-of-House (FOH) engineer Greg Price has joined the Waves Live Division as a product specialist. Since getting his start at California's The Record Plant almost four decades ago, Price has forged a career as a first-call live sound engineer. His live resume includes such acts as Weezer, Foo Fighters, Van Halen, the Cheetah Girls/Hannah Montana, Audioslave, Black Sabbath and ZZ Top.

As part of his role as a Waves product specialist, Price will be called upon to share his vast knowledge with the Waves customer base, as well as shed light upon the digital revolution now taking place in the live sound arena.

Price stated, "I am very honoured and excited to join the Waves Live team. Waves plugins bring my vision of sound to life. If you can dream of the sound, Waves plugins can make it come alive. The best investment you can make

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The Many Looks of Zeo

Delivering ultimate brightness and unique looks, Zeo’s distinct face design is defined by a central LED monolith and four reflectors, backed by four RGBW engines. As a blinder or strobe, Zeo promises powerful impact with 30,000+ lumens. With its sheer brilliance and playful effects, Zeo is ready to amplify the energy on any stage.

Poland - Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2011, the Heineken Open'er Festival in Poland played host to some of the biggest acts on the planet recently, with the likes of Prince, Coldplay, Pulp and The Strokes gracing the stage over the course of the four day event.

With crowds of between 60,000 and 86,000 every day, the demands on a sound system for an event of this size are high. GMB Pro Sound, the company behind the sound system for the main stages, decided to power everything with Lab.gruppen's flagship PLM 20000Q.

Remigiusz Kasztelnik, director at GMB Pro Sound, said, "My colleague, the highly experienced sound engineer Janusz Klimowicz, was instrumental in our purchase of our new inventory of Lab.gruppen's PLM 20000Q. We had used fP and FP+ Series products before, but none of us had experience working with PLM Series.

"Initially, we considered three differe

Argentina The Teatro Argentino de La Plata was recently furnished with a grandMA2. Tchaikovsky's opera Eugene Onegin was the first production to use the grandMA2 ultra-light and premiered perfectly in front of an enthusiastic audience.

Prof. Juan Carlos Greco, technical director comments, "As we needed a very flexible and powerful control, it was logical to go with the grandMA2 as the console offers control for moving lights, conventionals as well as video. Furthermore it features a great back-up solution and fast programming tools."

Besides the main hall with 2,000 seats Teatro Argentino de La Plata includes the smaller 300-seat Astor Piazzolla Hall, as well as rehearsal areas, and space for associated technical shops. The lower level includes the Emilio Pettoruti Exhibition Hall for permanent and transient art collections.

The grandMA2 was installed by Max

UK - PLASA Events has announced the first details of the PLASA 2011 Education and Learning Programme, which runs on all four days of PLASA 2011, at Earls Court in London from 11-14 September 2011.

Headlining the programme is the 2011 Gottelier Masterclass presented by last year's winner of the Gottelier Award and one of the best known designers in the industry, Fred Foster. The theme of his talk will be a huge draw since his title is A Call To Arms - We Must Protect the Quality of Light.

Says Foster, "Faced with the headlong rush towards 'energy efficient' lighting, we as an industry must join together to defend the quality of light. While we have a duty to make and use more efficient sources of light, we must also work to ensure that these sources provide the beautiful full spectrum of light." The Gottelier Masterclass will be presented on Monday 12 September

Australia - For the first time in Australia, at Entech 2011 in Sydney, Meyer Sound will present its real-time demonstrations of the Constellation acoustic system. With a live saxophonist providing musical source, Constellation will transform the Meyer Sound stand by creating a palette of natural acoustical environments, ranging from an intimate recital chamber to a cavernous cathedral, says the company.

"Constellation is a technology that cannot be adequately explained in a brochure or on a website," states Steve Devine of Meyer Sound Australia. "Until you are immersed in it, you won't fully understand what Constellation is about."

At the core of Constellation is the new D-Mitri digital audio platform, a flexible suite of hardware and software components adaptable for the most demanding mixing, matrixing, DSP and show control applications. D-Mitri serves as

UK - In order to strengthen its support for the LCD and single chip DLP segment across the EMEA territories, Christie has created a new position at EMEA HQ in Wokingham, Berkshire, and enlisted Miles Donovan to fill it.

Previously working in the leisure and hospitality industry, Donovan's role will be strictly an internal one. "I will be making sure that our sales teams across EMEA have all the tools and support materials they need to exploit these important product sectors," he said.

"As the market continues to change and become more competitive, there is a growing requirement to ensure that all product and marketing needs are being fulfilled across Europe, the Middle East and Africa in order to bolster sales. Each territory will be treated independently."

Reporting to James Belso, Christie UK channel sales manager, Miles Donovan described his appointmen

UK - Live communications and production company DesignScene has expanded with the addition of Matthew Rickard to the project/production management team.

Rickard has a background in music, live performance and experientials and joins the west London based company mid-way through an exceptionally busy year. As a senior production manager, he will be heading up the production department and working closely with DesignScene's founder, creative director and show producer Attila Keskin, together with others in the company.

Keskin comments, "It is challenging to find people who are exactly the right fit. We wanted a knowledgeable production manager with great communication skills and hands-on technical and practical experience to compliment our multi-disciplined team, and Matt is a perfect match. Music is integral to most of our work, so his past experience with bands and DJs wi

USA - The GDS LiteWare range of products continue to make an impact on the US event market as both GDS and ACT Lighting continue to sell the original wireless battery up lighter LiteWare HO and UL across North America.

San Francisco's City Hall was the venue for a recent private party. The main floor interior was bathed in dramatic colours by LiteWareHO (High Output),GDS's wireless LED battery-powered uplighter.

Allegra Entertainment & Events, a full-service entertainment, production and event-planning firm in Burlingame, California and a preferred vendor for, the City of San Francisco, teamed up with award-winning Little Rock-based interior designer Kaki Hockersmith for the event. The elegantly-restored City Hall, which was rebuilt in 1915 following the great earthquake, is a favourite spot for corporate receptions and social galas.

Allegra handled the event production and

UK - Richard Martin Lighting (RML) support Lighting Designer Michael Sutcliffe on the new Rob Brydon Show which is filmed at Teddington Studios in front of a live studio audience.

The BBC2 chat show, which will be airing its second series at the end of July, welcomes different celebrity guests each episode to come along, chat, play games and sometimes sing with the Welsh comedian.

The lighting rig includes Pixel Range Pixel Par 90s and Martin Stage Bar 54s.

(Jim Evans)

USA - Active Production and Design full-service production company took a bold step into a new cutting-edge design concept, when it added an LED video screen to its impressive warehouse of A-V, lighting, special effects, staging and set design offerings.

Billed by the company as 'the largest LED wall in Georgia', the new video screen is comprised of EVLED 1024SMD 20mm LED panels from Elation Professional. Each of the IP65-rated panels features 1024 pixels made of 3-in-1 SMD Tri-Color LEDs (red, green, blue), capable of creating over 14 trillion colours. Active purchased 80 of the 2'2" square panels, which can be configured to form a video screen of any desired size or shape to meet a wide range of design needs.

"Active clients expect innovation, and the LED wall has provided us with a whole new A-V design concept from which to create," said Matt Clouser, preside

USA - First Lady Michelle Obama recently delivered the keynote graduation address to the 2011 class of Spelman College. The graduation event took place at the Georgia International Convention Centre in Atlanta, Georgia. The centre's hall is massive - approximately 200ft wide by 420ft deep and able to hold in excess of 10,000 people.

The PA system, provided by Atlanta-based AEE Productions, utilised 16 EAW KF740 three-way full range line array Loudspeakers flown in two line arrays on either side of the 60ft wide stage. Another 16 EAW SB1000z large format subwoofers were set up and stacked on the stage itself. In addition, a pair of the new EAW KF394 line array modules was used as an out-fill on the wings of the main line array, positioned three feet behind and two feet to the side of the line array hangs, and eight EAW KF730s were used as delay speakers. The system was processed

UK - Tait Technologies has appointed Carol Scott as chief operations officer for Europe.

Scott has an extensive track record in both the international and domestic touring markets and will utilise her proven management experience to integrate the European and North American operations to provide a seamless operation on both sides of the Atlantic, says the company.

"Tait are an extremely well respected brand known for their innovation and technology; I am very excited to have the opportunity to work alongside such dedicated professionals," says Scott. " We aim to continue and expand the delivery of first class stage sets and motion control technology to a global market."

(Jim Evans)

UK - Visuals-for-events specialist Bluman Associates worked to a brief from West Design and Production (WD&P) on the premiere of the last ever Harry Potter film - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II.

Bluman Associates provided and managed the giant high definition screen, which formed part of the ambitious WD&P design that wowed a crowd of thousands in London's Trafalgar Square. The screen was used to showcase a specially cut trailer (created by Edit Poole) along with live camera footage from the event.

Event designer and producer for the world premiere Lucy Smail of WD&P, comments, "This was a huge event and the screen formed a crucial part of our design concept. The screen added an extra dimension to the event and we were delighted with the impact it had. Excerpts and trailers from the Harry Potter film, specially put together by Edit Poole, looked grea

Chile - Teatro Municipal de Las Condes in Santiago de Chile, regarded as one of the finest theatres in Chile, has purchased a quantity of Robe ColorSpot and ColorWash 700E AT moving lights, which were supplied by Robe's Chilean distributor Valook in a deal co-ordinated for them by Leo Macaya.

The first use of the new lights was by the theatre's resident lighting designer, Yury Canales for a high profile production of the classic musical Cabaret recently staged at the venue.

Teatro Municipal de Las Condes prides itself on high quality production values, and had been looking to invest in the latest moving light technology for some time to replace their existing stock. They underwent a lengthy evaluation process from which Robe was the brand selected.

"Robe was a clear winner because of the smooth colour mixing and wide range of colours, the incredible beam angles a

Switzerland - Waves Audio, and DiGiCo have teamed up to "bring studio-quality sound to the world of live sound". Currently, Waves processing is being employed in DiGiCo consoles at the 45th Edition of the Montreux Jazz Festival, currently taking place in the Swiss resort.

Since Waves and DiGiCo entered into a strategic alliance in 2010, Waves reverbs, equalizers, compressors, limiters, delays and more run directly from DiGiCo's SD series consoles. Waves plugins that are noted for their use in leading recording studios, mixing rooms and mastering houses the world over are now being use in live sound reinforcement as well.

Suitable for front-of-house, monitor, broadcast and theatre applications alike, Waves live sound applications for DiGiCo consoles provide instant access to the industry's leading audio processors. Powered by Waves SoundGrid technology, Waves integrat

Australia - The Adelaide Convention Centre (ACC) is one of the busiest in Australia with a wide range of events from trade shows to corporate dinners to product launches. The ACC recently added to its audio inventory with the addition of 18 Turbosound Flex Array TFA-600HDP self-powered cabinets.

The system is rigged as two hangs of nine elements for large events but can be easily split into smaller systems as required. Each Flex Array element consists of dual horn-loaded 10" drivers, a 6.5" Polyhorn loaded mid-range driver, a Dendritic loaded 1" and dual 800w power amplifiers with DSP.

Eight Turbosound NuQ-8DP (8"/1") self powered cabinets were also purchased as front-fill and general purpose speakers. Both the Flex Array and NuQ self-powered speakers include network functionality allowing the team full laptop control (gain, delay, EQ and monitoring) o

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