South Africa - The Joburg Theatre has been one of the first to purchase Philips Selecon PLCYC-2LEDs in South Africa. The 10 new fixtures are being used for the magical production Aladdin, a pantomime by Jannice Honeyman which runs from 30 October right through to the holiday season.

Joburg Theatre were looking for a LED Cyc light solution to light up the cyclorama, the large white backdrop on stage which changes colour during shows. The purchase had to arrive on time for the annual panto.

"We compared the PLCYC-2LEDs with similar fixtures and found them to be more suited to theatre application and surprisingly more affordable," said Enos Ramoroko, technical manager at the Joburg Theatre. "With no need for labour intensive rigging (fewer and lighter units) and almost nonexistent maintenance, we can only hope to buy more of them to put a smile on the crew.&

UK - Chilfest - the new boutique festival staged in Tring, Hertfordshire by Universal Event Productions (UEP) - has been nominated in two categories of the 2013 UK Festival Awards.

The two day event - the first and only music festival to be promoted and staged by an industry technical production solutions specialist - has been nominated in the 'Best New Festival' and 'Best Family Festival' categories. The Awards ceremony takes place at London's Roundhouse on 2 December.

A delighted Steve Butcher, MD of UEP declared, "I can hardly believe it - it's amazing to even be nominated as a newcomer to the scene - and its certainly not something we expected even though we had such a great event."

The inaugural Chilfest was staged at Pendley Meadow in Tring and featured a lively pop night on the Friday headlined by Little Mix and a show-stopping line up of stars from the 1980

USA - RedNet, Focusrite's flagship range of Ethernet-networked audio interfaces, based around the Dante Ethernet protocol, can take music and recording to places it might never have gone.

That's what's taking place at Georgia Southern University, where the school's music technology department is moving forward with an innovative curriculum. The programme utilises eight RedNet 1 devices, which offer eight channels of line-level analogue I/O with Focusrite's precision 24-bit A-D and D-A conversion, to connect acoustical and electronic performances from the school's electronic ensemble. This allows students to manipulate the audio in real time, creating entirely new compositions in the process.

For instance, as John Thompson, the school's associate professor, music technology, explains, a performance by a clarinet in one of any number of venues across the campus, including a perf

USA - Leroy Bennett's lighting design for the current Nine Inch Nails Tension 2013 tour utilises the largest installation of Ayrton's MagicPanel 602 fixtures to date.Following a successful summer festival tour promoting their new album Hesitation Marks across the Far East and Europe, American industrial rock project, Nine Inch Nails, are currently bringing their show to North American arenas under a dramatic lighting rig that incorporates no less than 126 Ayrton MagicPanel 602 fixtures.Well-known rock production/lighting designer Leroy Bennett, whose long line of collaborations includes Prince, Tina Turner, Faith Hill, Paul McCartney and Lady Gaga, Rammstein, Madonna, Beyonce and Bruno Mars has installed 14 motorised pods on variable speed winches above the stage, each containing nine Ayrton MagicPanels in a 3 x 3 configuration.Ayrton MagicPanel 602 is a moving head video p

UK - A strong sense of community is centred on the Hertford Theatre, where a new Yamaha CL3-based audio system has transformed the house sound.

In common with many provincial venues, the Hertford Theatre is council-run and stages a wide variety of events - focusing on drama, comedy, lectures, community events and films. The production centrepiece of the year is the annual pantomime, which runs throughout December and early January, often with two shows a day.

"By the end of last year everything on the sound side was life expired, it had reached a crucial point where we had no choice but to do something," says the theatre's technical manager Alex Antonis. "The pantomime, in particular, places great demands on the audio facilities, but even the amateur companies and semi-pro youth theatres that use the venue were needing more channels.

"We also found that,

South Africa - Rental companies, Prosound and Gearhouse Splitbeam (Pty) Ltd have successfully worked together on many major international and local touring productions where Splitbeam has managed the specialist lighting and Prosound the specialist audio. Splitbeam's primary focus is on lighting for theatre productions and its services have quickly gained traction in the Theatre rental market since the company's launch in February 2010.

This successful history prompted mutual agreements to sell Prosound's lighting stock to Splitbeam allowing Prosound to focus on their core strengths.

"It made sense to move our lighting stock to Splitbeam in order to continue the obvious synergy between the two companies," says Mark Malherbe, Prosound technical director.

Splitbeam director, Alistair Kilbee is enthusiastic about the possibilities this new stock offers his company. &qu

Hydro News - Glasgow is to host the 20th MTV Europe Music Awards (EMA) next year. The event will be held at the city's £125m Hydro Arena, which opened in October, and has a capacity of 13,000. Bruce Gillmer, from Viacom International Media Network (VIMN), confirmed the ceremony would be held in Glasgow for the first time. It follows discussions between MTV, Glasgow City Marketing Bureau and EventScotland. Said Gilmer, "As one of the world's great music cities, Glasgow is always a favourite with artists and the new SSE Hydro will provide the perfect backdrop for the MTV EMA in its 20th anniversary year. We're thrilled that the eyes of the music world will be on Glasgow next year."

Dance News - Sadler's Wells plans to create a new venue it hopes will help establish London as a global centre for dance to rival New York and Paris. The search has begun for the

UK - The CEO of one of the industry's most successful LED technology companies, displayLED, has given a frank interview as the company he founded reaches its 10th anniversary.

Graham Burgess started displayLED from an office in his London home ten years ago this November, following 20 years working with industry leaders such as Sony and Lighthouse Technologies. The basis in those early years was brokering used screen deals between rental companies. He has since grown displayLED into a global screen supplier and manufacturer, with clients including the world's biggest consumer brands and highest profile music stars.

Today displayLED has offices on four continents, customers in five, and is now one of the largest buyers of LED screens in the world. Drawing from both its own award-winning digiLED brand and other international manufacturers, including in China, the company has dev

UK - Capital Sound made light of Alexandra Palace's notoriously challenging acoustics at the end of October, when they fielded their Martin Audio MLA Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Array at the glazed venue for the first time.

Notorious among the sound community for producing violent reflections inside the venue (and receiving noise complaints from the neighbours), would the Above & Beyond Group Therapy 050 live radio broadcast prove a challenge too far for the award-winning sound system, which promises ultimate pattern control? As for A&B, this was to be one of the biggest events in the dance music trio's calendar.

So just how unforgiving is Ally Pally? In the words of Capital Sound account manager, Martin Connolly, "The Great Hall is a beautiful space; but when it was built in 1873 no one ever envisaged that the building would need to play host to the high volume of a moder

UK - SSE Audio Group's installation division has returned to the high profile Bunga Bunga in Battersea to augment the original Martin Audio AQ series loudspeakers with more of the architectural range, thereby boosting the venue's functionality.

The installation team originally moved in just over two years ago when operators The Inception Group, run by Duncan Stirling and Charlie Gilkes, first opened the site.

The bar/pizzeria operates on two floors; the ground floor has a dedicated restaurant and bar while upstairs, the larger second floor room is dedicated to the Eurovision Song Contest themed private Lucky Voice karaoke room, with DJ booth and live stage. Here the walls are covered with Eurovision memorabilia.

But it was the need to reinforce the sound reinforcement armoury, brought about by the growing emphasis on live entertainment, that inspired the first floor upgrade.

UK / France - Trilogy Communications has announced the appointment of SAV as Trilogy's exclusive distributor in France.

Of particular note is Trilogy's flagship Gemini intercom system, which combines Trilogy's experience and knowledge into an intercom that can expand as a multi-frame distributed matrix system with full bandwidth/zero latency audio and integral, standards-based IP connectivity. Gemini is the only true IP-based intercom on the market.

Bridging the price/performance gap between two-wire party line systems and full-blown professional broadcast systems is the Messenger Intercom system which Trilogy is also pleased to offer through SAV.

Trilogy's director of business development, Mark Ellis, said, "SAV is well-respected in the markets it serves and has a long-standing reputation for providing quality, reliability and market-leading solutions, which makes them

Martin Audio has announced the next OmniLine half day training programmes. The courses, covering OmniLine software, and correct installation and specification of OmniLine arrays, will take place at Martin Audio's HQ in High Wycombe on both 26 November and 17 December (from 12 midday-5pm).

Participants will need to bring a notebook or laptop running Windows 7 or earlier, and have Matlab components and OmniLine software installed (both of which can be found on the Martin Audio website).

Successful completion of the course will lead to 'OmniLine Certified Installer' status. Those interested in attending can register at: training@martin-audio.com.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Nottinghamshire-based technical production specialist One Big Star boosted their stock of Robe moving lights to help realise Rod Clay's lighting design for the current UK leg of Bryan Ferry's The Jazz Age tour, which plays a variety of venues including London's Royal Albert Hall.

The style and tone of the tour is a vibey mix of jazz and classic hits from the 1970s and early 80s when Roxy Music permeated the art house and alternative music scene with a stylish mix of unique sounds, modern art and fashion

Clay has worked as Bryan Ferry's LD since 2011. This tour kicked off earlier in the year with a floor specials package for the initial gigs, which segued into a slightly enlarged festival version of the rig and in turn evolved into this full production section which is utilizing 18 x Robe MMX spots, 28 x LEDWash 600s and 12 x LEDBeam 100s, together with other moving

South Africa - It was party night as the reggae sounds of Undivided Roots floated through the warehouse of Big Beat Productions. October marked Big Beat's first year in their new premises in Pietermaritzburg, and invited clients celebrated the occasion with them.

This was also an opportunity to demonstrate their latest purchase, a d&b medium-format line-array system, which they used at a recent Lira concert. There are only two of these d&b systems in KwaZulu Natal at the moment. An Avolites Titan Mobile controlled the lighting for the evening. "The guys love it," said Kevin Liddell, owner of Big Beat Productions. "I buy gear based on what the operators want and everyone always wants an Avolites." The company also has an Avolites Pearl Tiger, a Titan 1 and a Martin Light Jockey.

Liddell, like many successful business owners in the industry, started his caree

Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur's bustling clubbing scene revealed a new, definitive standard in VIP party experiences, catered exclusively for Malaysia's elite. Providence KL as it is fittingly named is set to deliver a decadent and luxurious premium nightlife experience with its "plush interiors, the finest table service and bottle-popping culture".

The concept of Providence is in line with Massive Goliath's portfolio of prestigious VIP club venues and celebrity hotspots; Filter Members Club and Mink, which took Singapore by storm two years ago.

Opening in July 2013 at KL's Intermark, Providence brought a taste of Vegas to Malaysia - a premium hotspot for night-out in town that's a class of its own, tailored for tastemakers and aficionados of style and a new generation of elite partygoers and A-listers.

Fast becoming Kuala Lumpur's ultimate lifestyle party destination, P

Sweden - Sweden's cold October was warmed up this year by the lecture Patrick Woodroffe held in Stockholm. It saw the participation of trade professionals, students and enthusiasts from Sweden, other Scandinavian countries and the Baltic States.

In the Södra Teatern in the Swedish capital, one of the most prestigious venues in the city, famous for hosting musical and theatrical events of international importance, over 150 people avidly followed Patrick Woodroffe as he recounted the most exciting moments of his career, focusing in particular on the preparation for the last Michael Jackson tour, which did not take place owing to the singer's untimely death.

The event was organised by Interlite, one of the most important Swedish companies in the lighting industry. Its CEO, Niclas Ardvisson, owns the Wireless Solution brand name, which is particularly well-known among trade profe

The Netherlands - Switch Concepts, a subsidiary company of the Ampco Flashlight Group in Holland, has purchased an ASL Digital system to address the ever-increasing demand for Intercom communication systems during major events. Switch Concepts' business is the design and execution of entertainment events including sound, light and video.

"We were looking at many different intercom systems, but there are several reasons we decided to go for ASL digital intercom," says Frank Verbeek from Switch Concepts.

"We were very impressed with the sound quality of the system and that it can actually produce the required listen levels in environments with high SPL background noise. Many other intercom systems are not able to do that.

"Then we also noticed how easily you can configure an event. It is so quickly done, that you can take the system even for a one day produ

Australia - Achieving the very first projection onto both sides of the epic proportions of Australia's iconic Sydney Opera House as well as onto the pylons of Sydney Harbour Bridge was by no means a small challenge for any technology company.

Australia was celebrating the first entry of the national Australian fleet into Sydney Harbour one hundred years ago and re-telling the story for The Royal Australian Navy's International Fleet Review. Imagination Australia was the Creative team and Producer of the event, who engaged Technical Direction Company (TDC) as their video technology partner.

An evening spectacular involved video projection that was combined with stunning fireworks launched from seven warships. There was lighting from 28 land and ship locations plus live action on board ships culminating in an aerial fly past from the Royal Australian Air Force that was enjoyed b

Australia - In the continuing expansion of its international distributor network, CADAC has appointed newly formed Australian distributor, Entertainment Technology Australia (ETA), for the region.

Founded in July this year by David Croxton, ETA has offices and warehousing in Sydney and Melbourne. ETA adds the legendary console brand to a specialist portfolio that notably includes KV2 Audio, a brand with which Croxton has a long association: "I have been working globally for KV2 Audio since 2011 and prior to that, held the line in my previous distribution company Australian Audio Supplies which I sold in 2006. Having secured a group of willing brand partners early in 2013, ETA was born and officially launched at this year's Entech trade show in Sydney.

"ETA is only focusing on high quality innovative brands and currently our portfolio consists of SGM Lighting, KV2 Aud

Australia - A 48-channel ASP8024 console has been installed in each of the Brisbane and Melbourne SAE Institutes, and after a very straight-forward and painless set-up, they were set to work playing a central role in the audio engineering teaching programmes.

Each of the two Antipodean educational facilities had a definite idea of what they wanted. Senior studio technician in Brisbane, Louisa Lachi says, "When we were looking for a replacement, we needed a console that was future-proof, sturdy, looked sexy and sounded great."

Brad Toan, studio technician in Melbourne was of the same mind. "We needed a console that will be able to withstand almost constant use all year round, along with being stable and built with quality components that will last. As audio engineers we also want something that sounds fantastic and was easy for students to use and get their heads

Finland - Airing on MTV3, Idols is a Finnish reality-television singing competition that debuted in the summer of 2003 and went on to become one of the most popular shows on Finnish television. Part of the Idol franchise, it originated from the reality programme Pop Idol created by British entertainment executive Simon Fuller, which was first aired in 2001 in the UK.

Lighting, set and video designer Mikki Kunttu once again created a stunning design for the TV show that seeks to discover the best unsigned singer in Finland. To achieve this task, Kunttu relied on one grandMA2 light and one MA onPC command wing as backup for lighting control and stated, "grandMA2 is the only choice for me. As we are working on one of the most popular TV formats we had to use the best equipment on the market. The grandMA2 has never let me down."

Kunttu continued, "This

Oman - Sir Tom Jones recently performed live at Shangri-La's Barr al Jissah Resort & Spa, Muscat, as part of his world tour.

The concert was held at the resort's amphitheatre, with an audience of more than 3,000 people. Having last performed there three years ago, Tom requested a return. Aged 73, the performer sang his classics including It's Not Unusual, Delilah, and What's New Pussycat, all aiming to rock the local and international expatriate audience.

Production was provided by the Muscat-based Talentz Centre LLC, the largest production operation in Oman and whose expertise in large-scale events takes them all over the region, including the UAE. The company has invested significantly in Outline Butterfly systems with the MD, Baltazar Fernandes, quoting the products' consistency, quality and flexibility as key factors in his company's ability to handle

Belgium - The Belgian organisation CAP48 aims to change society's view about the question of handicap (be it physical, mental or social) with enhanced integration. It strives to raise funds for the disabled in Belgium via activities such as an annual TV show, produced in cooperation with Belgian TV channel RTBF.

The charity appeal - in the shape of a special show featuring top national and international artists - is broadcast live, and as such the TV set calls for an exceptional stage design.

Belgian lighting designer, Jean-Jacques Marotte, was tasked with delivering this, and his vision for achieving it hinged around the SGM LT-200 LED tubes.

"We wanted the audience to be very close to the stage, with an illuminated centrepiece creating an intimate effect during the dialogue, but also deliver a bright set, as you would expect on prime time TV," explains Marotte. &

France - A pyrotechnic blast during a rehearsal for French Revolution musical 1789, the Lovers of the Bastille at the Palais des Sports auditorium in southwest Paris has killed one and left around 15 people injured - five of them seriously.

According to reports, the accidental blast occurred on Friday 8 November shortly after 6pm when pyrotechnics under the musical's stage exploded, possibly due to a faulty power tool.

"An initial investigation determined that the explosion had been caused by the disc of a circular saw breaking away and igniting fireworks to be used in the show," reports the BBC.

A second explosion then caused a wall of the Palais des Sports arena to collapse. Technical director Marcus Toledano, one of many who rushed to the scene of the incident, is believed to have suffered a heart attack as a result of the explosions. When rescue workers

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