South Africa - Carol Thorns and her special bubble, a clear glass-like luminescent sphere attached to a glowing stage base, created a magical contribution to the Slots Factor media launch, hosted at 3 Sixty° Liquid Lounge at Montecasino. MJ Event Gear used Robe Robin fixtures to enhance the lighting already in the venue.

The Slots Factor is Tsogo Sun's annual national championship takes place across all 14 of its casinos with R1.8m in prize money up for grabs.

Theo Roodt from MJ Event Gear and his team added six Robin 100 LED Beams, eight Robin 600 LED Wash fixtures and two Robin 200 E Spots to compliment the ambience. Prolyte H40V Goal posts were used as pedestal on which some of the fixtures were placed.

Lighting was controlled and operated by Olebogeng Boinamo on an Avolites Tiger Touch 2.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Southampton-based live hire company BCS replaced all of its wireless in-ear monitoring on James Arthur's recent European tour with Shure's PSM1000 system. The move came following on-going problems experienced by James Arthur and BCS's monitor engineer Matt Williams during the early dates with the artist's previous IEM system.

"We kept having RF issues with our previous system," comments BCS project manager Dave 'Boxx' Cann, "and it became a real problem during the tour. All of the wireless mics Matt was using were Shure and were working without any trouble, so eventually he asked us to try a Shure in ear system instead. We got a few channels of PSM1000 in to replace the other system."

For the remaining tour dates, Arthur and his live band used 10 channels of PSM1000 in total. The IEM system comprised five dual-channel transmitters and 10 bodypack recei

UK - Pearce Hire has announced its first time sponsorship of the 2014 Technical Theatre Awards. The Technical Theatre Awards were launched in 2013 as a way of formally recognising the outstanding achievements and dedication of the backstage 'unsung heroes' of the technical theatre industry. The awards are presented annually at the PLASA London exhibition at ExCel each October. The nominees are shortlisted from individuals elected by their industry peers at the beginning of the year, and then voting conducted between June and September decides the final recipient of each award.

This year there are a total of 17 awards and Pearce Hire is sponsoring the 'Outstanding Achievement in Stage Crew' award. This award highlights an individual within any role of the Stage Department, who is renowned for their dedication and effort to this discipline and respected amongst the technical theat

USA - For its first location outside of the Northwest, the Cinetopia theatre chain has built three massive GXL screens, each equipped with a Meyer Sound cinema system and Dolby Atmos. Named Overland Park 18, this eastern Kansas theatre complex boasts close to 200 Meyer Sound cinema loudspeakers.

"When we played our demo reel, we would hear a gleeful chuckle and hear comments like, 'I've never heard anything like that before','" says Rudyard Coltman, owner of Cinetopia. "We pride ourselves on the fact that we've been told this theatre is 10 to 15 years ahead of the industry in the technology and amenities it offers."

The local media also noted the life-like detail of the Meyer Sound cinema loudspeakers. "When I heard the rain falling on screen, I could make out the drops, not just a swoosh," writes Jeneé Osterheldt, lifestyle columnist for <

UK - London's Wilton's Music Hall welcomeded brother and sister folk-pop duo Angus and Julia Stone for a pair of sold out shows, featuring LD Toby Hoggarth controlling lights from an Avolites Titan Mobile and Fader Wing.

The Stone siblings, hailing from Australia, delivered a powerful and emotive set that, when paired with Hoggarth's intense imagining of Ed Warren's design, entranced an audience that at times fell so silent you could hear a pin drop.

"The design for the show was very theatrical," says Hoggarth, "All the lights that we used on the show were mounted on the sides or at the back. There was absolutely no light coming from below. It was all incredibly dramatic."

Hoggarth's rig for the show was comprised of an LED star cloth that hung as a backdrop, four boom lights, four Robe Robin 300 washes, four Fresnel spotlights, and a set of festoon light

Europe - Austrian folk singer Andreas Gabalier toured Europe this summer with a Meyer Sound Lyon linear sound reinforcement system, playing his blend of traditional Alpine folk and rock for audiences of 20,000 and more. The Lyon system was part of a complete audio, video, and lighting package supplied by Crailsheim, Germany-based Media Resource Group (MRG).

"I am very happy with Lyon, and am figuring out more and more positive properties from show to show," says Wolfgang 'Wope' Peschmann, longtime FOH engineer for Gabalier. "For a cabinet of such small size, it has endless power under the hood. I haven't reached the end of the system."

The touring system featured front arrays of 12 Lyon-M main line array loudspeakers over two Lyon-W wide-coverage line array loudspeakers each, with low end provided by dual end-fire arrays of nine-each 1100-LFC low-frequency

USA - Like many houses of worship, Shri Krishna Vrundavana serves its members in a wide variety of ways. The faithful gather at its spacious 3.5-acre campus, which is located 33 miles from New York City, for the Puja prayer ritual, services, holy festivals and meditation as well as more secular events.

Given the multi-faceted role the temple plays in its community, its leaders wanted a versatile lighting system that could adapt to their diverse needs. That's exactly what LD Jason Ayala of Jason Blends (New York) provided them with, drawing on the flexibility of the COLORado Batten 72 Tour and Ovation F-165WW from Chauvet Professional.

Ayala installed 15 of the COLORado units and seven Ovation fixtures around the stage in the 15,000 square foot house of worship. The COLORado fixtures were installed in the ceiling downstage as were three of the Ovation units. The four other Ovat

China - Internationally acclaimed artist Ivan Rutherford turned to DPA Microphones' d:facto Vocal Microphone to help him give an emotional performance during a recent one-off show in Hong Kong. The mic was chosen for being a handheld solution that would allow him to move freely on stage while he sang a series of Broadway hits dating as far back as the 1930s. The company's d:dicate 4011A Cardioid and d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones were also utilized to amplify the piano that supported the vocal performance.

The actor and singer, who has performed the role of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables over 2,000 times on Broadway, was looking for a microphone that could deliver exceptional sound quality and clarity through a large venue sound system. DPA's d:facto fit the bill perfectly. Rutherford used the microphone in a wireless configuration with a Sennheiser Wireless System, w

UK - XL Video renewed its highly productive long term working relationship with Massive Attack, supplying LED screens and d3 media servers for the band's recent festival tour which featured a video concept co-designed by UVA and Icarus Wilson-Wright in conjunction with the band's 3D (Robert Del Naja).

Massive Attack are well known for their innovative and original use of video to reinforce the message of their music and their immersive and visceral live shows. They use video to engage audiences on a cerebral level as well as delivering great music. Sometimes controversial, always passionate and heartfelt, their message and exploding some of the myths and realities of mediated propaganda circulated in daily news . . . is at the essence of any Massive Attack show.

The band have been developing their own highly distinctive text based style of video content ever since first incorp

The Netherlands - Bwefar, a busy lighting rental company based in Zwolle, The Netherlands, is headed by the charismatic Akim Bwefar and specialises in the design and supply of lighting for automotive shows all over the world - although they also engage in lighting other types of events as well.

Akim is known for his expansive character and his enthusiastic approach to life and business! He has followed the development of the Robe brand right from the beginning - when Robe was originally a quality OEM manufacturer - and before 'Robe' was officially launched in 2002 and started blazing a trail in the world of moving light manufacture.

Bwefar was founded in 1998 and grew steadily and in 2008 an audio division was added to help further expand the company's scope. The first Robe products purchased - two DigitalSpot 3000DTs - also joined the hire stock in that same year.

When Robe

USA - San Antonio's new Tobin Centre for the Performing Arts will open in September with a complement of Clay Paky Alpha Spot QWO 800 fixtures dedicated to both the H-E-B Performance Hall and the Carlos Alvarez Studio Theatre.

Rising behind the façade of the former San Antonio Municipal Auditorium along downtown's famed River Walk, the 1,750-seat multi-purpose venue will be the home of the San Antonio Symphony and other resident companies. It also plans to offer a diverse array of entertainment from comedy legend Bill Cosby and radio icon Garrison Keillor and The Prairie Home Companion to the Scottish Ballet's production of A Streetcar Named Desire.

The four-level H-E-B Performance Hall is the largest of the Tobin Centre's performance spaces; the Carlos Alvarez Studio Theatre is a black box-style space with multiple seating options. Dealer Texas Scenic and rep R

UK - Blitz Communications recently made the decision to purchase a substantial number of the new Clay Paky Glow-Ups. Andy Mahaffey, head of lighting at Blitz's Elstree headquarters, says: "It's true that Blitz have owned Wireless LED uplighters for a good few years; our existing stock from another manufacturer was starting to come to the end of its life. Although still a good product, I felt that the LED market had progressed in leaps and bounds over the last few years so the decision was made to shop around rather than just replace.

"Knowing both Glyn O'Donoghue (MD) and Lee House (technical sales) of Ambersphere Solutions of old, I knew that they would give me 'honest' information regarding Clay Paky products. So I went for a beer with them at PLASA 2013 and then again at PLASA Focus: Leeds and reviewed the products."

So what was the deciding factor in the fin

Italy - As part of a deal signed with Rome's AS Roma soccer club, with which top Italian FM broadcaster Radio Italia became official partner of the club (it also has similar agreements with Inter, Milan and Italy's national soccer team), the radio station recently took delivery of 72 Outline Mantas speaker systems, to be used for pre-match entertainment at the clubs home pitch, the Eternal City's Olimpico stadium.

The set-up comprises 13 stacks, 11 of which have six Mantas vertical line array elements, an Outline DBS18-2 sub and a rack with two of the Brescia company's T5 power amps, while the other two have three Mantas and a sub.

Installed round the perimeter of the pitch prior to matches, four large stacks are deployed in front of each of the two main stands (Monte Mario and Tevere) and two cover each of the two curves (north and south), with one of the small stacks mid-way

Germany - At the beginning of August 2014, the La Folia Baroque Orchestra made recordings on several days in the historic setting of the Palais in Dresden's Great Garden. Experienced recording professionals used carefully selected audio technology components to capture all of the sound nuances at the highest quality level. Microphones from Sennheiser played a decisive role as the first links in the recording chain.

"For these recordings, we are using the best equipment available on the planet," said Günter Pauler who, as mastermind of Stockfisch Records, was primarily responsible for the technical aspects of the recording, leaving the musical management to his colleagues Jakob Händel and Hans-Jörg Maucksch.

The audio experts were in the happy situation of being able to draw on excellent resources when it came to miking. "For four or five years now, I have bee

UK - LarMac Live, XL Video and Star Events Group devised, supplied and provided for 1,300sq.m of screens across the twin main stages at Creamfields last weekend, probably the most extensive use of video on the English festival map this summer.

Designed to appear as if they were floating in the crowd space rather than flanking a festival stage, Star Events Group cantilevered the screens off the front of twin 20m VerTech platform wings, hiding the masts and roof grid supporting the seamless landscape video palettes.

Pete Holdich, head of structures at Star Events, comments: "It took a lot of planning to work out how it could all be achieved. There were 18m by 10m screens either side of both stages with a header linking them across the proscenium and a traditional backdrop screen behind the artist, all mapped together."

Production manager/director at LarMac Live, Ian

South Africa - Southern African Shure distributor Wild & Marr, were recently awarded a gold-plated Unidyne microphone as a mark of appreciation for their 20 year relationship with the company as a Shure distributor.

Shure is synonymous with legendary performance microphones and the Unidyne is one that celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. It the first directional microphone that used a single dynamic mic element and its iconic classic mic appearance has seen it being used by entertainers and celebrities since its introduction in 1939.

Joe Copans, MD at Wild & Marr received the award at a recent distributor meeting with Shure. "Wild & Marr has always been driven to provide integrated solutions," he says, "and in 1994 we were looking for a microphone that would complement our products. Shure has always been a standard of reference in microphones and so I beli

The Netherlands - The Roland VR-50HD multi-format AV mixer has been chosen by Erasmus University as the AV hub of a new purpose built video creation studio at their state of the art facility in Rotterdam.

Acknowledging that a growing trend for 'flip teaching' would affect the way in which their lectures would be delivered in the future, the university took the decision to supply comprehensive video tutorial, web lecture and online learning facilities 'in house'. In order to achieve this, a dedicated AV studio was built at Erasmus, forming part of the Media Support Centre which is the central knowledge point for audiovisual services and communication technology.

The 'flipped classroom' is a form of blended learning in which students learn new content online by watching video lectures away from the classroom. As a result, time in the classroom is used by the teaching staff for p

Germany - Adel Salah Mahmoud Eid El-Tawil, or Adel Tawil for short, is a successful musician, songwriter and producer. He became famous thanks to his work with bands such as The Boyz and Ich + Ich.

For his current tour, Bertil Mark (art director), JoJo Tilmann (image director) and Justus Molthan (lighting director), who together form LesUrbanProgressives, relied on 25 Clay Paky Sharpy Beams and 16 Sharpy Washes, two full-size grandMA2 consoles, one grandMA2 light, two grandMA2 fader wings and four Network Processing Units (NPUs), all made by MA Lighting.

Justus Molthan, who took part in the tour with JoJo Tilmann, explained: "We used both Sharpy Beams and Sharpy Washes on the rig. I already know the Sharpy Beam well, and there is nothing else to add. On the other hand, I worked with the Sharpy Wash for the first time on this tour, and it was a pleasant surprise, especiall

Trinidad - Michael Pereira of Trinidad & Tobago based creative design and engineering practice Streamline Systems enthusiastically specified Robe and Anolis lighting fixtures for a new installation at the landmark night destination Club India Nex 5.0HD in Chaguanas, Trinidad.

This was an integral element of a major refurbishment and technical upgrade to the 800 capacity club which has enjoyed great success and a high profile over the last five years. The owner wanted a fresh new look to ensure they keep at the forefront of trend-setting on the island.

Pereira chose 10 Robin LEDBeam 100 moving lights and two Robe Faze 800 FT Pro hazer for atmospherics; together with 72 Anolis ArcSource 4MC LED fixtures for the ceiling grid, with another 16 used to downlight a set of glass-bead chandeliers.

The LEDBeam 100s are positioned at the front and back of the stage areas and are used i

UK - Monty Python Live (mostly) brought together five of the six original Pythons - John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones - for 10 sell out dates at London's O2 arena this summer. DiGiCo consoles were deployed at both FoH and monitor positions for something completely different.

With an audience of Python aficionados requiring that every word be heard, the challenge of delivering perfect audio for this full-on theatre show in just two weeks was taken on by sound designer Rory Madden and a crack crew. "They're the best I've ever had in 40 years working in the business" he says.

Rory's company Sonalyst also supplied all the sound equipment. His familiarity with the venue - he works on between 15 and 20 shows at The O2 each year - means that he is well versed in what works and what doesn't and his choice of three DiGiCo SD7s (two at

The Netherlands - Mennegat Trading B.V. and Audioprof N.V. have joined forces to further strengthen the position of the Apart brand in The Netherlands. From 17 September 2014, Mennegat Trading will be the exclusive Apart distributor for The Netherlands.

"We are excited to welcome Herjan and his team as our exclusive distributor for The Netherlands. We are convinced that Mennegat Trading B.V. will join us in our vision to grow the market in a sustainable way. We share the same vision on professionalism and dedication towards our customers and the audio business," says Kris Vermuyten, sales & marketing director at Apart Audio.

"Mennegat Trading is delighted to be representing the Apart brand in the Netherlands.", says Herjan Mennegat, director of Mennegat Trading. "Mennegat Trading has built a strong local reputation in this market with contractors and d

South Africa - The Rivers Church in Sandton recently purchased 26 Robe Robin 100 LEDBeams wanting a discreet fixture that could be used for effect and mood lighting. Rivers is part of the Hillsong Family and the church is active with worship services, various projects and seminars and community outreaches.

"There are many reasons why we chose these fixtures," explained Edward Helliwell, head of lighting, "but the main reason is that they are incredibly punchy, small in size but big in effect. They respond well to commands and the pre-programmed effects in them make it easy for our volunteers to use. I also like the three LED Zones that allow for various colour chases.

"We originally looked at getting eight fixtures, but when we saw them in action we felt that 26 would be a better option."

Rivers have built a substantial Robe retinue over the years an

USA - The demands that a large musical variety show can place on a lighting rig are great so when Smoky Mountain Opry in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, sought to replace their aging lighting rig they turned to the versatility and reliability of Elation Platinum Spot 15R Pro and Platinum Wash ZFX Pro luminaires to provide the dynamic color and effect needed to support the high-energy two-hour spectacle.

Featuring a variety of music that spans from rock n' roll to gospel, as well as dancing, aerialists, comedy, magic and more, Smoky Mountain Opry includes something for everybody and the lighting system needs to be able to keep up and transition accordingly.

Smoky Mountain Opry is produced by the Fee/Hedrick Family Entertainment Group, one of the largest show production companies in the southeast. Technical director for Fee/Hedrick Family Entertainment is Marshall Whaley who was lookin

Australia - As the clock ticks down to the January 1, 2015 deadline that will see most existing wireless users vacating their spectrum, the University of Sydney have carefully plotted their exit strategy with Shure and integrator Rutledge AV. A major user of RF devices in teaching and performance spaces, the university was faced with the enormous task of replacing every single wireless microphone device, which are soon to become both illegal and unusable.

"For a university our size, the government changes to frequency laws were a big deal" said Jason Wheatley, manager - Interactive Learning Services at the University of Sydney. "By the time you add all the labour, it's a million dollar proposition. It's a big investment, and one we carefully considered the options for over a long period of time."

Not only did Jason and the team have to replace all of their

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