Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
PLASA Show 2025 - Banner - June-Aug 2025

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Europe - When George Michael returned to the stage for 25 Live, the console of choice was the DiGiCo D5 Live. Now, as George travels Europe with Symphonica: The Orchestra Tour! DiGiCo consoles are still an integral part of the audio production, but this time four of the British manufacturer's flagship SD7 digital mixing consoles have been chosen to handle the demands of this production, forming what is currently the biggest SD7 rig on a single optical loop on any touring production.

Symphonica, as Andy 'Baggy' Robinson, Michael's monitor engineer and head of sound for the tour, explains, is "tunes you know and covers you don't, all re-arranged".

"It's the first time George has toured with an orchestra," Baggy adds. "Everything came t

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Australia - After a tireless summer touring the biggest European festivals as well as an extensive run of headline shows, Liverpool-based indie rockers The Wombats have just completed a successful tour of Australia that included several sold-out shows.

JPJ Audio provided the audio set-up for the tour including the Soundcraft Vi6 console specified by the band's sound engineer Dave Samwell.

"When I started my career as a sound engineer I used Soundcraft products all the time and so I really feel at home with them," remarked Samwell. "My first impression of the Vi6 was that it was the first digital console that laid out everything you need right in front of you. You didn't need to look around pages or anything as the whole mix was in front of you. But most importantly, I thought it was the best sounding digital console on the market without spending insane amounts

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South Africa - Robe moving lights - including Robin 600 LEDWashes and Robin 600E Beams - were the core fixtures of the Main Stage lighting design by Johan Ferreira for the 2011 Innibos Lowveld National Arts Festival, staged in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga, South Africa.

The five-day event - among the country's largest arts festivals - attracted over 100,000 people, and kicked off in great style with a performance by South Africa's favourite rock band, the Parlotones and 2010 SA Idols winner, Elvis Blue. The main stage action also included daily live entertainment, culminating in a popular gospel final, followed by the main Saturday night closing concert, with a series of storming sets by Steve Hofmeyer, Kurt Darren, Dozi, Nianell and many more.

Pretoria based Ferreira and his company JSF Productions has been involved with lighting the Innibos Festival - which features over 14

Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

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Wolrd - DJ Sasha, has been road-testing Allen & Heath's new Xone:DB4 digital FX mixer on his busy global tour schedule, and since the beginning of the year it has been his mixer of choice.

"The Xone:DB4 has so many features and it's really compact and easy to transport around. My favourite thing is the fact that you have 4 digital channels, very nice effects and the beautiful A&H filters and EQ, all in one product. For me, the DB4 is a digital mixer with an A&H analogue heart - it's the best of both worlds," says Sasha.

"I use the DB4's big reverbs and delays - all the simple effects. They have a sound to them that isn't coloured like the effects you find built in to other mixers, which you can spot straight away. DB4's effects are very transparent, they sound like studio effects to me as they're so clean."

Sasha's set up is now based around the Xone:DB4,

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UK - The latest TV advert for national clothing chain M&Co shows the fruits of Black Light's latest video project. The company designed and installed the lighting, staging and sound equipment for the fun and fashionable 35m catwalk show that is the focus of the ad.

"It was great to be involved in such a high-profile shoot," says Black Light's head of company development, Phil Haldane. "The main challenge we faced was time, as there was less than a fortnight to turn the project round from the initial client meeting to wrap, but our experienced team were more than up to the job. The finished result, with its atmospheric and dynamic lighting effects, proves that we are skilled at working as part of team and can deliver the highly professional results needed on a project of this profile."

Filmed at the Pyramid Business Centre, Bathgate, West Lothian, the Eff

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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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UK - After seven gruelling stages in England, Scotland and Wales, September's 2011 Tour of Britain came to a high-speed conclusion in London in front of huge crowds. For the third year in a row, AP Security was entrusted with ensuring that the fans enjoyed the event and that the required road closures caused as little disruption as possible.

Starting in Whitehall, the cyclists rode up to Trafalgar Square, down Northumberland Avenue and then along the north bank of the Thames to the Tower of London, returning by the same route to pass beneath Hungerford Bridge, a quick dash past the Houses of Parliament and then back to the starting point via Parliament Street.

"As usual, several weeks before the event we liaised with Westminster Council, Transport For London and independent traffic consultants, planning the road closures and how to move staff to different areas as the eve

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Spain - From the moment the Estrella Levante SOS 4.8 festival kicked off the start of the 2011 summer concert season, D.A.S. Audio and its Aero Series 2 loudspeaker systems were at the front of concert sound throughout Spain. Dates included the 16th Annual Viña Rock Festival of Native Art in Villarrobledo, Albacete and the Benicàssim International Festival (FIB.

Viña Rock 2011's artist roster included artists such as Rosendo, Raimundo Amador, Habeas Corpus and Los Delincuentes and uncooperative weather did not stop more than 30,000 music fans from attending the Festival's upbeat three days. D.A.S. Aero Series 2 line array systems provided the sound for two of these stages, the Metalika and the Babilonia, which stood up to the weather brilliantly.

May's SOS 4.8 festival saw some 80,000 music revellers taking in performances by artists like Suede, Patti Smith, Lori Meyers, Ve

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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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Europe - dBTechnologies' latest and largest line array module, DVA T12 has been showcased simultaneously in Holland and Spain this month, at two local events organised to give current and prospective dBTechnologies customers unique chance to hear the new system in a stadium set up.

"What better way to find out about the T12 than to actually hear it in a live situation?" says Michael Herweg, MD of dBTechnologies German HQ, who was at the demonstration. "In my experience this is the only way to fully appreciate what the product has to offer."

Holland's Kerkrade football stadium was the backdrop for the Dutch event, where visitors were able to hear different configurations for a DVA system. Twenty-four T12 units were flown (12 per side) and after hearing these, tracks were played through the 36 T4 units (18 per side). Then the subwoofers were added to create a

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UK - 5 Star Cases has delivered the latest purchase by lighting rental company Static Light of 75 new road trunks.

The cases were ordered in two different colour schemes and comprise 5 Star's Super Tour type road trunks, based on its popular Eurotrucker series.

Sixty of the cases were made in light grey with navy blue lids, and the remaining 15 in dark green with light grey lids. This helps to easily identify different contents and also the cases themselves.

Internally, the trunks are all lined with a generous layer of 12mm of polyethylene foam which gives excellent hard-wearing protection and aids a snug fit. 5 Star's in-house screen printing facility was utilised to display the Static Light logo prominently on the tops and sides of the cases.

Static Lighting, headquartered in Waltham Abbey, Essex, is a regular 5 Star client and specialises in supplying daylight lightsour

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UK - IT and AV rental company DB Systems has invested in both new people and equipment this month. "As a rental company, DB is continually updating its inventory to ensure clients have access to the very best technology, which is why the company has increased its stock of the new Samsung 55" and 46" LED LCD screens to over 100 units, as well as purchasing 40 thin bezel 40" LED screens," says the company.

In addition, DB can now offer customers the 22"AG Neovo L-W22 LED display after buying 500 of the screens, which boast Full HD resolution, ultrahigh 20,000,000:1 contrast ratio and digital HDMI input for any diverse environments. With built-in speakers and dual PC and HDMI inputs, the screens are ideal for multimedia applications.

Meanwhile, several new members of staff have joined the company. Katy Stannad and Jessica Walters have joined operatio

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USA - PLASA has announced the winners of the 2011 Members' Choice Awards presented on Saturday, October 27th at the LDI and PLASA awards ceremony. The awards recognised newly released, outstanding entertainment technology products. Voting on these awards was open to all employees of PLASA member companies who attended the LDI show. The 2011 winners are:

Gadget Category

Apollo Design Technology's Wrenchmate 2:

An adjustable wrench with a closed-end wrench built into the handle with three different sizes to provide easy access to the common sizes found on lighting fixture clamps.

Equipment Category

LightConverse 3D Show Platform Version 52:

Integrates and visualizes multiple show-related disciplines including lighting, video, laser, pyrotechnics, and moving objects. New features include 3D Object Tracking capabilities and the ability to realistically visual

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Strong Words - The Who guitarist Pete Townshend has urged Apple's iTunes to use its power to help new bands instead of "bleeding" artists like a "digital vampire". Townshend made the comments in BBC 6 Music's inaugural John Peel Lecture, named in honour of the legendary DJ. He also argued against unauthorised file-sharing, saying the internet was "destroying copyright as we know it". "The word 'sharing' surely means giving away something you have earned, or made, or paid for?" he said.

The talk, held as part of the Radio Festival, will become an annual event given by a different music figure every year. Held at The Lowry theatre in Salford, it is intended to be the music industry's equivalent of the annual MacTaggart Lecture, which is given by a leading media executive at the Edinburgh International Television Festival every

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Australia - The award-winning Australian production of Love Never Dies has enjoyed six successful months at Melbourne's Regent Theatre, giving a welcome boost to the sequel of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera. Thanks to their extensive experience in professional theatre, Melbourne's System Sound were asked to fulfil Mick Potter's sound design, using their new DiGiCo SD7T and SD8 consoles.

The SD7T and an EX-007 expander wing are at the Front of House position, while the SD8 is on monitors. Inputs and outputs come from five DiGiCo racks - backstage, three DiGi-Racks handle all radio mics, the orchestra and all system feeds respectively, while a MINI rack hosts additional orchestra inputs.

Most of the actors carry a redundant microphone pack as backup, the SD7T being configured so that it can easily switch over to the alternate mic in the event of any pro

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UK - ETC's newest control desk, Gio, has had its first ever use on a show, with programmer Andi Davis using it on the UK tour of Dirty Dancing. The production opened in Bristol with an extensively revised lighting design by original LD Tim Mitchell.

The desk fills the mid-range position in the Eos family, between Eos and Ion. It offers the power of full Eos functionality, but in a smaller footprint.

"We'd already specified an Eos system for the show, so we jumped at the chance to use a Gio," says Davis. "We initially intended to use it just for pre-visualisation, but the opportunity to see how the all-new hardware performed in a real-world environment was too good to miss! We had an Eos on standby - but Gio's amazing speed and stability meant the Eos was soon back in its case, unused.

"Given the production's tight schedule and extensive rig, introd

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USA - The winners of the LDI Awards were presented on Saturday, October 29 at the LDI Show in Florida.

The 2011 Wally Russell Lifetime Achievement Award went to Rusty Brutsché, PRG. The founder of Vari-Lite, Brutsché helped to usher in the modern era of this industry with the invention of the moving light, and many other pace-setting products.

In the booth categories Performance Truss Fabrications, was cited for best small booth, while Chauvet took the ward for best large booth, Clay Paky was cited for most creative use of light, and Christie Digital won the nod for best product presentation.

The award for best staging/rigging product went to Eco Live Systems' Rising Sun solar-energy charged modular battery road cases. In the special effects category, the award went to : Firelinx Aegis wireless pyro control system from Birket Engineering. In the relatively slim

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UK - Entertainment lighting specialist White Light helped mark the 25th anniversary of the hit musical The Phantom Of The Opera, supplying the lighting to a spectacular party held at London's Natural History Museum after the sell-out anniversary concerts at the nearby Royal Albert Hall.

The concerts - produced by Cameron Mackintosh and the show's composer, Andrew Lloyd Webber - were organised to celebrate the phenomenal quarter-decade success of the show. Phantom has played over 10,000 performances at its original London home, Her Majesty's Theatre, has played in 27 countries around the world, has been seen by more than 130 millionpeople, and has a total worldwide gross in excess of $5.6bn. The three concerts featured an all-star cast, and were sold out both at the Albert Hall and at the many cinemas worldwide where the event was also shown.

The post-show party was orga

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USA - A new International Green Theatre Alliance (IGTA) has been launched at this year's LDI show in Orlando, Florida. The IGTA formalises the growing partnership between Julie's Bicycle (UK), which works on environmental sustainability across the creative industries in the UK, and the Broadway Green Alliance (USA), which works with the US theatre community and its patrons to adopt environmentally preferable practices.

The Alliance's first project is a new website www.igtalliance.com which will go live in December 2011 and provide an entry point for international practitioners seeking information and resources on environmentally sustainable best practice in the arts. The website will introduce the extensive sustainability programmes of alliance members and direct users to international resources and support networks.

Alliance members will be working together on a range of proj

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USA - The 2011 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee was the Greenest one yet. Bandit Lites delivered very green systems for both the main and the second stage at this major event.

Production guru Hadden Hipsley of Lambda Productions once again called on Bandit Lites to serve as prime lighting contractor for the three-day arts and music festival. Bandit's Dizzy Gosnell worked with Hadden, Leslie Radigan, Joel Carmichael, Steve Drymalski, AC Entertainment, Superfly Productions and Coran Capshaws Red Light Management to provide the artists with their illumination needs at the award-winning event.

Artists at the 2011 Bonnaroo included Widespread Panic, Eminem, Lil Wayne, Arcade Fire, Buffalo Springfield, My Morning Jacket, Mumford and Sons, The Strokes, Primus, Robert Plant and The Band of Joy, The Black Keys, Galactic, Wiz Khalifa, The Decemberists, Grace Pot

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Germany - when Pope Benedict XVI returned to his native Germany for a historic visit to the cradle of the Reformation, Meyer Sound systems provided audio reinforcement for two key events.

In Erfurt, the Pope celebrated an outdoor Mass for 30,000 from a temporary stage erected adjacent to the majestic cathedral in the city's central Domplatz. To blanket the expansive and oddly shaped open space with sound, Hamburg-based PRG Germany deployed 120 Meyer Sound self-powered loudspeakers. The front arrays and delay towers were configured from a combination of MILO, MICA, and M'elodie line array loudspeakers.

With a remote live feed from the cathedral organ as part of the programme, 10 M3D-Sub cardioid subwoofers were positioned to carry controlled low end into the crowd while limiting bleed onto the stage. UPA-2P, UPM-1P, UM-1P, and UPJunior VariO loudspeakers were deployed for front

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Germany - AFMG (Ahnert Feistel Media Group) has made significant changes to distribution and support of its software products for audio measurement and room-acoustical simulation. The company will sell its software, including EASE, EASERA and SysTune, direct to customers in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India as of September.

"Many of these markets are growing rapidly in both size and technical sophistication," said AFMG's Stefan Feistel. "With direct distribution, we can offer end users better access to both software and technical support."

AFMG already distributes its other software products directly worldwide. These include: EASE Evac, the design programme for audio professionals planning mass notification and emergency systems; AFMG SoundFlow, which simulates absorption and transmission loss in multi-layered wall structures; AFMG Reflex, the scatt

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UK - White Light is lending its support to Omnibus Clapham, a charity established with the aim of turning the former library of Clapham, south-west London, into an arts performance hub for the community.

With Clapham's existing library facilities due to relocate to a new building, part of a leisure and residential complex, in 2012, future plans for the traditional library building have been uncertain. Omnibus is a group of local people determined to see the building retained and transformed into a vibrant local arts centre.

To support their campaign, Omnibus is running a series of events in the library featuring famous local residents -so far, acclaimed actress Miriam Margolyes and author and broadcaster John O'Farrell.

To help transform the library into a makeshift performance space, Omnibus' George Owen turned to another local resident, lighting designer Rob Halliday, who

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Astera - Large MPU - June 2025
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