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PCM’s famous Lodestar Motor School continues its on-going world tour, with the first, highly successful event to be held in Dublin. The School was co-ordinated by top Dublin-based lighting sales and installation company Stage Lighting Centre, run by the charismatic Pat Walsh, assisted by Paddy Farrell. It was held in the prestigious Abbey Theatre in central Dublin - the National Theatre of Ireland.

28 people attended the School, presented by PCM’s tutor-in-chief Tony Dickson. They came from all areas of the professional entertainment industry from across the country. The two-day Motor School covered many topics. A king pin of the PCM course is the complete stripping down and re-assembling of a Lodestar motor, enabling students to learn about the role and significance of the machine’s electrical and mechanical components, and how they inter-relate. Working in pairs, st

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The Jiri Myron Theatre in Ostrava is one of the Czech Republic’s leading theatre venues, and the home stage of operetta, drama and ballet ensembles of the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre. During the recent summer recess, the theatre partially upgraded its ageing control system, choosing ADB control and dimmer systems after comparing competitive products from various local and international suppliers. ADB’S Czech representative Zat Easy Control supplied the equipment.

The lighting crew and the head of the lighting department, Stanislav Dvorak, had already worked with a complete range of ADB equipment in the Antonin Dvorak Theatre, which is also part of the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre. ADB’s top of the line console Phoenix 10 was chosen for the control desk. This allows enough flexibility to harness the mix of moving and conventional fixtures installed through

Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

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Theatre Projects Consultants is about to start work on site on a new arts complex in Ningbo, the largest deep water port in China, some three hours drive to the south east of Shanghai. Designed by Theatre Projects in conjunction with French architects Frederic Rolland & Partners, the arts complex will bring Ningbo into line with other Chinese regions and includes a 1,400 seat opera house and 800 seat theatre.

"This project is unique because we have been engaged for the full project," said David Staples, managing director of Theatre Projects Consultants, London. "Normally Theatre Projects, and any other foreign consultants, would be involved only in the initial planning stages and conceptual design phase. Once these had been completed we'd hand the project over to local contractors."

This project is also unique in that, because the site is in a flood plain, the art

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The Event Services Association (TESA) is moving into providing training for the UK event industry with the launch of a series of Health and Safety Courses.

Designed to improve standards in the events industry, the first three courses are planned for March, April and May of next year and will be undertaken for the Association in conjunction with Richard Limb, Director of Leisure Safety and Group Safety Manager with the Symonds Group, one of the industry’s leading event safety consultancies.

Costing just £195 + VAT per delegate, the one-day course will cover everything from risk assessment planning to the evaluation of both indoor and outdoor sites for events. Delegates are given a practical exercise to do in site planning and complete the course with a TESA/Symonds Certificate to show that they have completed the work.

Further courses are also being planned in other areas of

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Impact Europe, a market leader in audio visual integration, has signed a pan European agreement with Christie, a leading supplier of high performance projection systems. The agreement encompasses the entire Christie product portfolio.

Impact Europe integrates audio visual products into a variety of presentation systems ranging from simple meeting rooms, to network management centres and virtual environments, as well as providing customer support and facilities management contracts for those installed systems. "With over 39 engineers and dedicated support staff, based out of their Customer Support Centre in Sunbury, UK, Impact Europe is ideally positioned to provide its customers with Christie solutions, which can be supported by a comprehensive range of service and maintenance offerings, with the added security of facilities management and full service contracts when needed,"

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Legendary New Jersey, NY DJ Tony Humphries performed at Ministry of Sound in London last week with a storming set, during which he used the new Denon DN-S5000 single CD player. This was the first UK public performance using the new Denon machine which is just becoming available after its launch in September.

Denon equipment has always been a favourite with Humphries. The first piece of Denon kit he bought was the maverick DN-2000F twin CD player. This was followed by the state-of-the-art DN-2600F twin CD player and the DNM-2300R Mini Disc recorder. When he heard about the DN-S5000 Humphries contacted Silvio Zeppieri at Denon USA. The gig at Ministry of Sound was approaching and he was keen to be the first person to use the machine at a major UK event. Zeppieri thus arranged for a loan model to be made available for use in his studio. To ensure the a unit would be available at the Minis

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A Nexo Alpha-E sound reinforcement system has been installed in the impressive new Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey, a prestige project which has much in common with another high-profile Nexo customer, the Stade de France in Paris.

The Atatürk Olympic Stadium seats 80,000 spectators, which makes it one of the world's largest Olympic stadia. The opening event featured a match between the teams of Galatasarray Istanbul and Olympiakos Athenes. Although the venue is intended mainly for athletics and football, it will also be used for concerts, where it’s capacity can climb to 100,000.

At a total cost of about USD140 million, the Atatürk Olympic Stadium is a state-of-the-art facility. Designed in the form of a crescent, the stadium's roof is a complex, huge steel structure with a total weight of 4,400 tons and a total size of 31,000 square metres. In addition to all th

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Large format projection specialists E/T/C UK projected the images of the BBC’s 10 Greatest Britons onto three different city centre landmarks. Contracted by the BBC, E/T/C UK did this over the three evening’s leading up to the broadcast of the final programme in this high profile series.

As the final winner was announced, the face of Winston Churchill, voted the all-time greatest Briton by the public, was then projected onto all three buildings - in London, Liverpool and Bristol - in a simultaneous live broadcast.

The project followed on from E/T/C’s work with the BBC for the first programme in the series - on Viscount Horatio Nelson. They projected the face of Nelson onto the Shell Building on London’s South Bank. This projection was such a success, that the BBC decided to publicise the finale using the same hi-impact promotional techniques of large format p

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Star Hire (Event Services) Limited joined the cream of the pop world once again when it installed the staging for the 2002 Top of the Pops Awards in Manchester.

The Awards, hosted by Ronan Keating, attracted a veritable A-List of pop stars, from Best Newcomer Will Young, to double- winner Kylie and Lifetime Hall of Fame winner Sir Elton John. They also performed live sets alongside Miss Dynamite, Blue and the Manic Street Preachers.

The set, designed by Miranda Jones of Mermaid Design, was in keeping with the look of the televised weekly programme, but expanded to fit the dimensions of the enormous Manchester Evening News Arena. Star Hire was contracted to supplement the Arena’s own staging system to house the huge production. This included building the awards platform sited to one side of the stage and a temporary ‘bridge’ and red carpet walkway connecting the plat

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The World Rally Championships were recently staged in Cardiff, and Stage Electrics was on hand to provide significant resources over a number of key sites for this major sporting event.

The Network Q Rally started on the 14 November and was timed to coincide with the switching on of Cardiff’s Christmas Lights. The main high street in Cardiff was closed to traffic from 10am, and there then followed a race against time to ensure all of the production was in place by 5pm. Stage Electrics provided main stage lighting on a Star Hire Mk1 Stage, as well as lighting to other areas.

The biggest focus of the Rally for spectators was the Super Special Stage, hosted in a purpose- built arena in Cardiff’s Docks. Stage Electrics powered the majority of all site services, as well as all spectator and emergency lighting. A total of 24 generators supplied through Power Electrics of Bristo

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In mid October, CISCO Systems officially opened its new European headquarters in. Spreading over 40,000sq.m, the futuristic premises are designed to accommodate 800 employees. The opening was attended by several hundred invited guests and featured an full line-up of entertainment. The music was provided by the Dutch musical star Linda Wagenmakers, and the sound by an Electro-Voice X-Array system. "For the sound crew," remembers Axel Nagtegaal of Electric Audio, "the need was to cover the full spectrum - the speeches, the gala, the recorded music and, of course, the live music as well - and the results proved yet again how versatile and flexible EV’s X-Array system really is." The system specification included 2 x Xds, 2 Xcns, 6 Xbs, 4 Xfs and 4 Xcbs, together with several EV P-3000 amps.

(Ruth Rossington)

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Creative Technology (CT) produced some unusual television effects for the BBC Children In Need fund-raising marathon hosted by Terry Wogan and Gaby Roslin recently.

The company was contracted by BBC Resources to build on the Totaliser screen reinforcement they provided last year, as well as adding a spectacularly ‘retro’ LED dancefloor. The dancefloor dominated the stage and was in use for much of the evening. CT’s project manager Paul Holden commented: "Last year we provided a flown screen over the Totaliser using Barco i6 high-brightness panels. This year we used 80 of the Barco i8 panels, in a 16 x 5 configuration."

The display - measuring 7.16m wide by 2.24m - was run in 16:5 format, receiving 16:9 aspect ratio feeds, to create a letterbox effect. The content mostly comprised of Totaliser-specific graphics. But the more challenging aspect of the set wa

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A virtual winter wonderland has been created at New York’s Grand Central Station, thanks to High End’s Catalyst system.

Scharff Weisberg Pro Audio and Staging in New York is supplying production for the event, using two Catalyst systems with orbital heads on two projectors, controlled by the Flying Pig Systems Wholehog II lighting console. The Catalyst system blends moving light technology with graphics projection technology: when fitted with the optional orbital head, images can be projected anywhere in three-dimensional space. The system can be run on most programmable lighting consoles.

The show started 19 November and runs through to the 31 December, with showings every 15 minutes from 11am to 9pm on the ceiling of the Grand Central concourse in the historic Manhattan landmark. The six, three-minute video projection shows reflect artists' interpretations of the meani

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If confirmation were needed that the era of digital mixing had arrived, then mid November was the time. In a period of frenzied activity Britannia Row Productions had a remarkable eight Yamaha PM1Ds working simultaneously.

"We’re used to being busy," said Brit Row’s logistics planner Roly Oliver, "but even by our standards to have eight PM1Ds out at the same time was a significant event. The applications were a real mix, from events like MTV and TOTP Awards to tours by artists as varied as Richard Ashcroft, Robbie Williams, Jamiroquai and Cliff Richard. Craig David took two boards for a series of TV promotional appearances all over Europe.

"This is a prime example of our commitment to new technology," said Brit Row’s director Bryan Grant. "As a company we actively seek out what equipment best supports our client needs, and both the up

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A big thank you to Le Mark and Roscolab as this Christmas both companies have decided to send their Christmas greetings via e-mail and advertising respectively, instead of traditional Christmas cards, with the money saved being donated to the Light Relief charity.

Stuart Gibbons, managing director at Le Mark explained: "A Christmas card has a life of one or two weeks before it's disposed of, so my suggestion was an e-card to send either via e-mail or to create something along the lines of a virtual Christmas tree to use on an industry news site."

Duncan Smith at Roscolab added: "Light Relief has enjoyed a high profile recently, especially at PLASA 2002, and I wanted to add to that. As we usually buy charity Christmas cards anyway, as well as taking every opportunity to give something back to the industry, I thought this year instead of cards we should make a donation t

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Lightfactor Sales has supplied lighting designer David Hurst of Full-On, and installers Entserv Ltd, with a variety of bespoke lighting, audio and show control equipment for the £1.2 million ‘Bond, James Bond’ exhibition at the Science Museum. It’s the biggest ever official James Bond exhibition, and arrived in London following a six-month installation at the Museum of Photography, Film & Television in Bradford. The run at the Science Museum was designed to tie in with the recent launch of the new Bond film ‘Die Another Day’ (a full report on this appears in the December issue of L&SI).

The exhibition's main contractor, Themetech, was appointed by project manager Jacqui Wicks, in December 2001; they, in turn, approached David Hurst and Steve Richley of Entserv to assist in the huge project’s realization. Entserv have worked on numerous international

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Alfie have become the latest high profile act to join the Audio-Technica family, signing an endorsement deal following a series of successful product evaluations. According to bass player Sam Morris, "the initial contact with A-T came about through our management company. As well as looking after us, they also represent The Charlatans, who have used and trusted A-T mics for ages. We thought it was a great idea in principle, but we wanted to make sure the mics were right for us." After talking to Audio-Technica’s market development manager, Paul Mason, and checking out a range of Audio-Technica mics in rehearsals, the band were keen to extend the association and become fully fledged members of the Audio-Technica endorsee family.

"For the gigs we now have 20 channels of A-T mics", explains Morris, "covering all of the kit, vocals and the bass and guitar rig

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Stage Electrics is extending its reach into the TV arena, following a series of successful projects during 2002, including BBC Songs of Praise in Blackburn, where the company supplied a full rig of tungsten heads, MSR Fresnels, dimming distro and twin set generation; the Good Food Show at the NEC (with two satellite OBs running in parallel in Manchester and London); and Children in Need for the BBC in Cardiff, where the outside of Broadcasting House was lit up for the week prior to the event and an outdoor stage was constructed for Radio Wales OB.

The Welsh connection is particularly strong, with Stage Electrics Wales, which is based in Cardiff, picking up two televised outside broadcast programmes recorded in Amlych (Da De Dil Di) and in Machynlleth (Dafyd Iwan Concert) in the past few weeks alone. Over their 22-year history, the company has supplied technical equipment and skills for

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Marquee Audio supplied a new L'Acoustic dV-DOSC system to Belfast's Production House, just in time for the city's biggest-ever Children in Need charity event, staged at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast. Production House flew 12 dV-DOSC, with four dV-Subs, each side of the stage for a line-up that included Ronan Keating, Lulu, Daniel Bedingfield and local star John Daly performing for 9,000 people.

The show was mixed by Harry McLean from BBC Northern Ireland, who was as impressed by the dV-DOSC rig as its new owner, John Willis of Production House. "The coverage was even, and the output and sound quality was impressive for such a physically small box. Once Harry had done a walk round the venue, he was completely confident that everybody in the arena would be hearing the same thing and that let him concentrate on mixing the show which, in true Children in Need style, was hectic from sta

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Rental company Centre Stage have made a strategic move into high-end PA, with the purchase of 20 Martin Audio Wavefront W8C/WSX stacks. Centre Stage proprietor, Graham Baker - who shares his Staples Corner warehouse facility in north west London with another W8C-based company, FX Music - placed the order through Steve ‘Bunty’ King at LMC Audio in London. This will give the combined companies a joint stockholding of 50 W8C stacks - providing ample power to undertake large stadium and arena shows.

In the past Centre Stage have specialised in one-off arts events shows and local authority events - and this summer provided coverage for Miss Dynamite at West Ham’s Upton Park stadium. Graham told us: "I was introduced to Martin Audio and have always felt confident about their systems. The day FX Music went out and bought 30 stacks the writing was on the wall."

He

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Midas has announced the launch of Midas DIRECT, a web-based service designed for the sale of pre-owned Midas consoles. As part of the Approved Pre-owned Console Programme, Midas engineers inspect each console - mechanical and electrical components, chassis, all modules, case and power supplies. The console is then music-tested before being offered for sale on the website. For further peace of mind, all consoles, regardless of age will be sold with a comprehensive six-month ‘unlimited hours’ warranty from the factory. Alternatively, if the console is less than three years old, the balance of the existing warranty will be transferred to the new owner.

Midas’ head of sales, David Cooper, says the new initiative has two key benefits: "Firstly it allows us to offer an upgrade service for our existing client base - say from an XL200 to a Heritage 2000," he said. &

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PCM’s Projects division has supplied the main theatre space in Dublin’s Liberty Hall Centre for the Performing Arts with specialist lighting bar winches. The new venue has been completely refurbished - along with the rest of this historically significant building. It was re-opened as the Performing Arts Centre by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, TD.

Installation of the new lighting and technical infrastructure was undertaken by Dublin lighting supplier Stage Lighting Centre, who also supplied a full set of stage curtains, complete dimming system and stage lanterns. They worked very closely with Brian Tracey, Liberty Hall’s head of technical, throughout the installation period. When it came to custom engineering and installing the specialist lighting bars required at the FOH and forestage positions, Stage Lighting Centre’s Paddy Farrell approached PCM.

Working to the s

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Martin Audio Blackline speakers have made their second appearance at a West Midlands football stadium - courtesy of Birmingham-based Argus Services Ltd. The contractors had already fitted Blackline F10s at Birmingham City’s St Andrews ground when the PA/VA specialists were asked to put a distributed system into Walsall FC’s Bescot Stadium.

Argus director, Jerry Matthews, said that a 30-year-old system had to be removed to accommodate the new Martin enclosures - which are used for music reproduction on match days. After the construction of the new Purple stand (formerly Gilbert Alsop stand), Argus were called in to bring the public address and sound reinforcement in the remainder of the stadium up to the same level. The solution was provided by 27 of Martin Audio’s Blackline F10s, assigned to five QSC 100V line amplifiers. These are all mounted individually under the s

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Arbiter Pro Audio has supplied Reading-based sound installers, Reflex Ltd, with JBL Evo intelligent speakers and AKG microphones for an impressive installation at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. The vast Churchill Hall auditorium is the largest MoD briefing facility in the South of England, providing lecture facilities for every officer candidate in the British Army in addition to hosting major conferences for high profile UK businesses and organizations.

The auditorium - seating 1,202 with a ceiling height of 50ft - was opened in 1970 and has been in constant use ever since. Matt Horwood of Reflex Limited was approached by Margaret Young, head of media support at RMA Sandhurst to improve the ageing facilities in the auditorium. With the help of specialist audio distributor Leisuretec, Horwood came up with the specifications for the project. In turn, he approached Arbiter to sup

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