Brazil - Drawing thousands of people from across Brazil, the annual Sao Joao Da Bahia festival is an opportunity for tourists and nationals alike to enjoy a wide variety of food, music, dancing, games, and more. Held each June, the festival attracts both regional and nationally recognized musical performers and this year's event was no exception.

Sao Joao Da Bahia 2010 ran from 11 -26 June and included Gilberto Gil, Elba Ramalho, Geraldo Azevedo, Candlebox, Dominguinhos, Leonardo, and Alceu Valenca among the 60 performing artists. A substantial outdoor stage erected for the performers and the sound system consisted of numerous models from the Aero Series catalogue of D.A.S. Audio.

Salvador - Bahia, Brazil-based Arena Áudio Eventos was contracted to provide sound services for the event. Alberto Viana, Managing partner, comments, "This event attracts huge crowds. We had au

UK - London based event production company DesignScene delivered glitz, glamour, imagination and excitement - including the full creative concept, technical production and the sourcing of artists and performers - for Starstruck, the 2010 Superdrug charity fundraising event, modelled on an X-Factor/Brit Awards/Best of British theme, including a full 'pop star' talent competition.

The event took place at London's Grosvenor House Ballroom. It was attended by 700 top Superdrug personnel and suppliers and raised approx £200,000 for threecharities - Cancer Research UK, Childline and the Teenage Cancer Trust.

DesignScene was working in conjunction with CL Events, who took care of all the administration, sponsorship deals and selling elements.

The event was presented by Justin Lee Collins. It included a full sit down dinner and live auction, with a silent auction

UK - Glastonbury 2010 saw an impressive seven modular LiteConsoles in action across four stages - including the Pyramid stage.

Kelis, Tinchy Stryder and Simian Mobile Disco were among the names whose stage sets incorporated LiteConsoles. On the Dance Village East stage, Kelis performed with three DJs all using single LiteConsoles. Tinchy Stryder used a single console on the Pyramid stage, while on the Dance Village West stage, double consoles were used by Boys Noize, Nick Warren and Dubfire. On the Glade stage, Way Out West and System 7 also used double format consoles.

LiteConsole's clear presence at this festival heralded the launch of the product becoming commercially available in a modular format. LiteConsole modules comprise just four primary pieces of high-grade easy-to-connect aluminium sections and are designed to house a 50" plasma screen, although this open spac

Australia - Star Struck is a live three-hour variety spectacular presented by the Hunter Central Coast Region public schools. Held annually at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre, the show features a cast of over 3500 young people.

The 2010 production was lit by Mark Hammer with Bytecraft supplying all of the lighting and crew. The whole floor of the entertainment centre is used for the production, so Hammer needed a lighting system that was versatile and delivered many different looks. A total of 37 VL3000 Profile and 37 VL3500 Wash helped him to do just that.

"The VL3000 Profiles are almost like the industry standard at the moment," comments Hammer. "They're very bright, have a great range of gobos and some great onboard effects. For a production like Star Struck they were ideal as they could give me different looks on the floor. Also, with the VL

UK - XL Video supplied video packages for the three Pyramid Stage headline acts at Glastonbury 2010 - Gorillaz, Muse and Stevie Wonder, account handled by XL director Des Fallon. XL also supplied a PPU and three cameras for the Pyramid Stage in a package co-ordinated for host broadcaster, the Production Network, by XL's Paul Wood. Des Fallon, Lee Spencer and Ian Woodall spent the weekend at the festival to ensure everything ran smoothly on site.

The 97mof PIXLED F11 screen was a prominent piece of stage architecture for the Gorillaz show which features the visuals of co-collaborator Jamie Hewlett. The high resolution screen was configured in 16:9 format, 13.2 metres wide, with XL also supplying VVTR playback decks and a Barco Encore screen management system operated by Richard Turner.

Muse is another account that's been serviced by XL since 2001 - and they took their festival

China - DPA Microhones has supplied some 4023 compact cardioids and 4028 compact wide cardioids to the Nordic Lighthouse, a Scandinavian consortium taking part in the Shanghai Expo 2010. The mics, along with flamingo and table stand solutions, are being used for Nordic Lighthouse's conferences.

More than 60 companies representing Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Iceland, as well as sponsors, are participating in the Nordic Lighthouse to promote market opportunities for Scandinavian companies in Asia. The consortium is housed in a three storey converted warehouse lit up like a beacon to reflect its name.

Among the speakers using the DPA mics was His Royal Highness Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, who visited the Expo to present some speeches at a Sino-Danish business conference.

"Given our presence in the Chinese market, and as a manufacture of professional micropho

Germany - tarm Showlaser GmbH has moved to new and expanded premises at Berthastrasse 6, D-44793 Bochum, Germany. Tel. +49 234 5793700.

The new building features modern and enlarged offices, production studios, and storage-facilities.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Summit Steel has just completed one of its busiest phases at The O2 arena in London, where the Kent based company provides the venue's in-house rigging services.

The all-action schedule included a 12-night residency by Bon Jovi and shows by Leona Lewis, Aerosmith, Rod Stewart, George Benson & Marti Pellow and Al Green & Michael McDonald, with the real logistics-twister presented by the dates for Leona Lewis's four shows and Aerosmith's one, all dotted within Bon Jovi's run. Leona's show entailed four separate ins and outs - three of them either side of Bon Jovi's, with Aerosmith slotted right in the middle of both of these.

In the Summit office, the technical requirements and logistics for the busy contract are co-ordinated by project manager Simon Frost and administrator Kate Parsons.

The Bon Jovi show was the most complex in terms of rigging, involving 117 points - 33

Finland / USA - Engineering and consulting firm FUNA International, has outfitted Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas cruise ship with a multitude of BSS Audio Soundweb London processing devices. FUNA has deployed Soundweb London devices extensively in various projects throughout the past eight years, including the last four new cruise ships built out of its Turku, Finland manufacturing facility.

The ship's audio system, covering everything from background music, acrobatic, musical and comedic entertainment, is handled by 29 Soundweb London BLU-800 and 21 BLU-120 devices, with BLU-10 programmable touch screen remotes for local control outfitted throughout the ship as well.

"As BSS Audio signal processors have continued to become more advanced in their ability to provide comprehensive system networking and control, we have been able to use them in more complex and larger a

Australia - After 30 years of entertaining the locals, The Ford Theatre at the Geelong Performing Arts Centre (GPAC) recently underwent an extensive makeover thanks to a $3 million grant from Arts Victoria. The theatre re-opened recently as The Playhouse a modern 797 seat venue.

One of the key design concepts was to make the venue much more attractive on the eye than it had been previously. Studio 101 Architects took the dated auditorium and transformed it into a stylish and modern-looking venue, through a combination of green upholstered seats with walnut timber frames, padded rear auditorium walls that accentuate the green of the seats and reference the red of the new house curtain, which is all complemented by a fashionable lighting design.

Lighting design consultancy Electrolight was contracted by Arts Victoria for the architectural lighting design of the auditorium. The r

Australia - In an effort to embrace green technology, The Videoplus Group has been researching more environmentally friendly light sources and this lead to them recently trialling the new Vari*lite VLX LED wash light.

Two of the Vari*lite VLX fixtures were utilised on the Breast Cancer Awareness Gala Dinner hosted by Olivia Newton John and held at Palazzo Versace on the Gold Coast. The VLX supplied general room wash and effect as well as stage lighting for acts such as James Blundell.

"We're actively trying to become a greener company," remarked James Dee, regional manager Queensland for The Videoplus Group. "The new Varilite VLX moving wash was very impressive. They deliver such richness and variety of colours in the LED - in fact the colour rendering is spectacular, also through the colour correction and skin tone."

Dee adds, "The smooth operation

UK - Mark Knopfler's Get Lucky tour marks the first time video has ever been incorporated into his performance, projected courtesy of four Robe DigitalSpot 7000DTs.

The DigitalSpots were specified by lighting designer Simon Tutchener, who has been working with Knopfler since 2002 and completed his first major tour with him in 2005.

Tutchener specifically wanted a neat, tourable, flexible lightweight video solution that would integrate seamlessly - both physically and creatively - with the lighting.

The four units are rigged on the front lighting truss. They are soft-edged together and project one large image onto a 26ft wide by 16ft deep video screen hung on the back truss, which is covered by a pair of starcloth curtains for most of the show. They are controlled via ArtNet protocol over Ethernet from Tutchener's grandMA lighting console.

The video clips are all sto

UK - Ofcom today announced the details of how Government funding will be made available to the Programme Making and Special Events (PMSE) sector to support its migration from channel 69 to channel 38. This follows the Government's decision last month on the level and nature of this funding, which will contribute to the cost of modifying or purchasing equipment.

Wireless microphones and other wireless equipment that uses channel 69 are being cleared from this part of the 800 MHz band. Countries across Europe are clearing these airwaves to make way for new services like next-generation mobile broadband. Citizens and consumers in the UK stand to significantly benefit from this, especially those that live in the countryside, where the roll-out of broadband and mobile services has been more challenging, say Ofcom.

In June last year Ofcom announced a replacement channel for those af

UK - Light Projects has supplied 18 Lumascape inground 343 uplighters for a refurbishment scheme on the lighting of the Queen Elizabeth Gates in Hyde Park as designed and specified by Light + Design Associates.

These were supplied with both 35w and 70w CDM-T lamps using Lumascape's 'PureOptics' dichroic reflector system which range from 10° to 60° for precise illumination. In addition, different refractors, tilt lenses and prismatic lenses were used to create exact effects and to obtain different light distribution patterns to bring the gates to life.

Lumascape 343 uplighters are specifically designed for this kind of challenging and high performance application. Manufactured from 316 marine grade stainless steel and with an IP68 rating, they come complete with an integral wicking barrier and can house different light sources from 35w to 70w CDM-T lamps, TC-TEL compact

USA - Rochelle Park, NJ-based Audio Services provides sound and lighting for a regular roster of events across the NY-NJ-PA tri-state area, from car shows and county fairs to concerts and corporate events. And for Audio Services' president Jack Sinsabaugh, that calls for gear he can depend on, including an assortment of Renkus-Heinz loudspeakers.

"We use our PNX102LA line arrays on an almost daily basis, especially during the busy summer season, and we've never had a problem," Sinsabaugh says. "We've put those boxes up against a lot of more expensive systems, and they outperform them all in coverage and in output."

He continues, "In a typical week, we'll go from a hip hop show like the Funkmaster Flex Celebrity Car and Bike Show, to a fireworks celebration at the Donald Trump International Golf Course, to a rock concert for Six Flags or maybe a gospel

UK - Successful audio post production house, Out Post Sound, has now completely separated it's retail sales activities into a new arm under the banner of Out Post Distribution.

Out Post Sound, well known for its high quality, cost effective audio post services has also been the exclusive UK distributer of Punchlight automatic Cue Light and Timecode display systems for nearly three years. The success of Punchlight has seen the company sell to Bang Post Production in Cardiff, Waves Studio in London and the Beijing Film Academy as well as many other international clients.

"We decided to split the sales into Out Post Distribution to ensure that customers of our audio post services do not get confused about what our core business is, which of course is our work in the film, television and gaming markets. However, we want to drive the retail side forward and so splitting the co

New Zealand - Nelson-based PA company, BB Sound, has invested in an Allen & Heath iLive digital mixing system to cater for an increase in music theatre work through the region's newly refurbished Theatre Royal.

BB Sound purchased an iDR-48 MixRack and iLive-T112 Control Surface from Allen & Heath's New Zealand distributor, Jansen Professional Audio & Lighting, which debuted at the Theatre's reopening.

The Theatre Royal is the oldest working wooden theatre in the Southern Hemisphere and dates from 1878 when Nelson had a population of 6,000 people. In 2005 the theatre was closed for major refurbishment and was reopened with two gala concerts this year, featuring 26 different acts on each night.

BB Sound's MD, Bob Bickerton, took delivery of his new iLive system only three days before sound check. "I was nervous about using a new digital desk on such a major event with so

USA - St. Mary Catholic Church in Mt. Angel is one of the oldest parishes in the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon, and certainly one of the most beautiful and majestic in the entire state. The building, begun in 1910 and completed in June of 1912, is the fourth church this faith community has built and maintained since its founding in 1881. The church features multi-angled vaulted ceilings, ornate stained glass windows, intricately stencilled walls and cruciform Gothic Revival architecture.

That same architecture creates a challenging environment for an acoustical designer. Though ideal for choral and instrumental music, spoken word intelligibility - whether readings from Scripture or a sermon - was a challenge even for those with excellent hearing. As Delta AV's Steve Jellerson explains, the church has long struggled with acoustical issues.

"As with most cathedral-type

UK - PLASA Events and United Business Media's Pro Sound News Europe and Installation Europe have announced the launch of AVNetworks 2010, a technology and business conference which will run alongside PLASA 2010 on its final day - Wednesday 15 September 2010.

PLASA 2010, which runs from the 12-15 September at Earls Court in London, is a major platform for the launch and promotion of innovative new ideas emerging across the event, entertainment and installation industries. The co-location of the AVNetworks Conference is a significant new addition to the event, and is the second Conference to be launched alongside this major international trade show this year.

The one-day event will throw light on the burning issue of networking technologies and protocols, how to make the best use of today's standards and what can be expected in the future.

The conference is aimed

Australia - Professional Audio Technology (PAT) founded by managing director Patrick Salloch and technology director Tony Fitzsimmons is now the exclusive distributor of K.M.E. for the Australian market.

"Professional Audio Technology is delighted to have been appointed as K.M.E.'s Australian and New Zealand distributor," says Salloch. "We feel that the outstanding sound and manufacturing quality in addition to K.M.E.'s commitment to deliver world class public address products provides great synergy with other world class manufacturers PAT represents in Australia. We are looking forward to a long and prosperous future between our companies which will consist out of bringing Australian and New Zealand pro audio Industry access to K.M.E.'s live sound technology which is second to none."

PAT will present a selection of K.M.E. products at the Integrate show 201

UK - Switchcraft has unveiled its comprehensive new website (www.switchcraft.com) which features " a wealth of information and more features in addition to the new streamlined design and intuitive navigation".

Highlights of the new site include: Comprehensive product lists and part number builders; Distributor stock checker located on product pages so visitors can check which distributors currently have stock available; application pages to showcase how Switchcraft and Conxall products have been incorporated into applications for different industries; Separate Pro Audio and Industrial sections of the website to help visitors quickly find what they are looking for; 2-D drawings for many products are now downloadable directly.

Visitors to the site can also sign up to follow Switchcraft's news and product introductions on Facebook and Twitter.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Showsec implemented a balance of maintaining safety and security with a very customer focused operation for festival organisers Rob da Bank and John Hughes along with the Loud Sound production team to deliver a successful, family friendly, Camp Bestival 2010.

Southern regional manager Steve Reynolds reports, "Customer care was a high priority for everyone. We worked with all stakeholders to create a plan and briefed staff very thoroughly in that area. It was imperative we create a relaxed and safe environment for the 25,000 capacity crowd from the moment they arrived on site. Parents with small children had travelled for hours in warm cars, so all staff were encouraged to welcome guests courteously, familiarise themselves with all key locations for giving directions and to be patient at all times."

The team of 280 event security professionals from Showsec office

USA - Sensaphonics Hearing Conservation has graduated three more audiologists from its Golden Circle audiology seminar in Chicago. The seminar is a two-day training event that provides audiology professionals with the specialised knowledge and hands-on training required to serve the special needs of musicians and audio engineers.

Audiologists graduating into the Sensaphonics Golden Circle network include Mandy Rhody of The Hearing Clinic in Walkerton, Ontario, Canada; Alan I. Segal of Advanced Ear, Nose & Throat Associates in Atlanta, Georgia; and Sheri MacGregor of Highland Hearing Clinic Limited in Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia, Canada. They join a Golden Circle roster that receives priority referrals of musicians interested in personal monitors and custom earphones.

Seminar topics covered include details of how musicians and sound engineers differ in both needs and attitude

UK - Event branding specialist Sunbaba worked with Bristol City Council for the first time to brand two of the Harbour Festival's most popular stages. The festival attracted 250,000 people during the weekend from Friday 30 July to Sunday 1 August, 2010.

The Bristol Harbour Festival, now in its 39th year, is one of the largest UK free arts events, covering two miles of waterfront along the city centre's harbourside, with seven different performance areas.

Branding was created for the Queen Square and Millennium Square stages, which showcased a diverse selection of music and dance respectively. The Queen Square stage hosted the Friday night concert, officially opening the 2010 festival to an audience of more than 5,000, while the New York City Ballet made their debut performance in Bristol on the Millennium Square stage.

The scrims for the two stages were both made from Sunbab

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