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Screenco’s involvement in the TV sensation Pop Idol has led to them supplying an LED display to the Pepsi Chart Show - and it’s all thanks to Gareth Gates. Management of the Pop Idol runner-up had been so impressed with the screen during the series that they requested that the same display form the backdrop to his appearance in a Gareth Gates TV Special - and Gareth’s record company BMG were happy to oblige.

Several weeks later, Initial TV approached Natasha Blake of Screenco and booked 11sq.m of 15mm LED high brightness display for use on the Pepsi Chart Show. Initial TV production manager, Vivienne Pheysey, explained: "We spoke at length to Gareth’s record company, who thoroughly recommended the screen. Anything less than an LED display would not have been bright enough."

Artists using video reinforcement on the show included Express 2 featuring Da

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MCL Manchester have supplied a four-camera PPU with Sony DFS-700 video switcher - all running Serial Digital Interface (SDI) - to the British Swimming Championships and Commonwealth for use at the new Manchester Aquatics Centre. The company also fielded the latest Sony MAV-555, instant digital hard disk editor and replay machine, utilising Sony’s latest MPEG IMX technology.

The camera system ran a serial digital feed to the new Barco DLite 7 LED screen, supplied by Screenco, whilst the audio system, in what was potentially an acoustically challenging venue, was installed by Dimension Audio - making this a real Avesco family affair. MCL Manchester supply full digital camera systems, giving greater flexibility over location, cable runs and reliability as well as allowing digital effects to enhance the presentation. MCL took this opportunity to trial the Sony MAV 555 hard disk recor

PLASA Show 2025 - Banner - June-Aug 2025

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Marquee Audio has supplied Blitz Sound with processing and sound reinforcement products for use on the new West End show, The Full Monty. This includes a wide range of products from the BSS Omnidrive family. Blitz - whose equipment fulfils sound designer Mike Walker’s specifications - have been customers of Marquee Audio for the past eight years.

Blitz consultant, Dave Perry, explained: "Although we had built up a relationship with producer Sacha Brooks when he did The Graduate, we still had to tender for the show." The Full Monty is essentially a strong musical show - with a 12-piece rock band and 21 in the cast - and Mike Walker's sound design for the production needed to reflect this. The production uses a distributed, highly-automated system with a lot of discrete channels. According to Dave Perry: "All 32 matrix outputs of the desk are being used

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In a spectacular West End ‘first’, Lighthouse LED video technology will take the lead visual effects role in the new Queen-inspired musical We Will Rock You, written by Ben Elton, which opens at London’s Dominion Theatre on 14 May. This is the first time LED video screens have been deployed as the major staging effect in a West End musical, and in We Will Rock You, the screens are being used in ways that go beyond the staging of the most adventurous TV show or live event.

The musical’s story is set 300 years in the future, when the world is a bland place in which music and musical instruments have long been banned, but a bohemian subculture is determined to bring them back to life. The show is designed by rock’n’roll veterans Willie Williams and Mark Fisher and directed by Chris Renshaw. The upper, everyday world is represented by such

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MCL Manchester has been officially appointed audio-visual contractor for The Skills Show 2002. The Prince’s Trust event, which will take place between November 13-16 this year, will be held in 55,000sq.m of temporary structure on a disused docklands site in Salford Quays. Designed as a celebration of skills, which will motivate and inspire young people to learn, and encourage them to aspire to excellence, ‘Skillcity’ will house extensive exhibition and demonstration areas, a live performance stage and comprehensive conference facilities.

The show will draw on MCL Manchester’s considerable experience in staging large-scale events, with previous projects including Creamfields, Party in the Park, Manchester Millennium Celebrations and many more. MCL will be providing audio, video, lighting and staging requirements for the organizers and will be preferred suppliers

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Soundcraft Electronics have appointed Dublin-based Audio Warehouse to handle their distribution in Southern Ireland. The newly-formed company is run by John Byrne, a pro audio professional for 20 years whose relationship with Soundcraft stretches back 16 years. "In the course of that time we have established a strong reputation for the brand, and enjoyed particular success in the Broadcast and Capital Project sectors," he says.

Byrne is also delighted to be awarded the Spirit business as part of the distribution package. "Who else can boast such a range, starting at a £120 Notepad, and expanding to top-line live and broadcast consoles. The support we receive for both brands is excellent."

While Audio Warehouse’s strengths are in broadcast - they recently supplied a B400 to RTE and have equipped a total of six on-air studios using Soundcraft consoles since t

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Microphone specialists Shure Incorporated are to move from their existing Evanston, Illinois HQ to an award-winning office building at 5800 West Touhy Avenue in nearby Niles, designed by renowned architect Helmut Jahn. The purchase, from CenterPoint Properties, includes the building and 18.6 acres of land and is pending a 60-day period of due diligence for both parties.

"While we are sad to leave our Evanston home of nearly 46 years, Shure is a growing company, and we needed to find a new home that could accommodate that growth," said Sandy LaMantia, President and CEO of Shure Incorporated. "When the opportunity to purchase this new, architecturally significant building just a few miles from our current home presented itself, we jumped at the chance."

(Ruth Rossington)

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In a joint statement, David Edelstein and Steve Tuck of Blackout Triple E announced that they have decided to demerge the two companies. With immediate effect, Triple E and Blackout will trade independently, although they will continue to share office and warehouse space at Colliers Wood.

David Edelstein, managing director of Triple E, commented: "Steve and I have known each other for many years and will continue to supply product and equipment to each other, just as we have done for nearly 12 years. But we simply concluded that it would better for our two respective companies if we operated independently."

With the fullest order book the company has ever had, Triple E is busy installing its specialist track worldwide - including for Bombay Dreams at London's Victoria Apollo, the Concert Hall in Gothenburg and Theatres on the Bay, Hong Kong - as well as recently cont

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Sheffield’s £46million Magna Centre has recently benefited from the opening of a new visitor attraction. The Living Robots Show is a unique feat of invention which uses artificial intelligence in an absorbing game of cat and mouse. In the center of the 500-seat arena, predator robots hunt down their automated prey in an epic struggle to survive. This technological game of 'chase' was devised by Professor Noel Sharkey (TV Robot Wars judge) and cost £200,000 to take from concept to opening show.

The lighting for the visitor attraction was devised by Lighting Technology’s Davie Bell who, in conjunction with the technical expertise offered by LT’s Andy Elsegood, specified, installed and commissioned a wide range of lighting and sound equipment. In order to enhance the Living Robot theme Davie specified Clay Paky Mini-scans, Martin Robo Colours, Strand Profiles, Pulsar C

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The first commercial installation of the new NEXO Geo sound reinforcement system has been implemented in Paris, at the Stade de France. Although France’s premier soccer stadium is one of NEXO’s most prized showcases for its Alpha arena sound system, the venue went out to full commercial tender for sound reinforcement for its Concourse area.

Independently specified, the tender involved a four-way shoot out between different proprietary systems. NEXO won the contract with a Geo line array system, featuring 18 clusters of 4 x S-805s to cover the large concrete and asphalt Concourse, which covers the underground parking facilities and is home to four Villages of sub-attractions. The 1,750,000 sports and music fans who attend events at Stade de France can visit Animations for video game action, buy apparel and gear at the Boutique Officielle, get refreshments at Kiosque Coca-Col

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The versatility of the BSS Soundweb as an expandable DSP building matrix has moved into a new dimension with Kingston Inmedia’s imaginative use of its fibre technology for carrying broadcast signals.

Kingston Inmedia, a leading supplier of satellite-centric broadband applications, are contracted by Services Sound & Vision Corporation (SSVC) to handle all the technical facilities and engineering support for British Forces Broadcasting Services (BFBS), and transmit to military bases throughout the world, with all programme streams assembled in studios at Gerrards Cross. The content travels from SSVC's Central Technical Area to Kingston's Master Control Room for uplinking to satellites from earth stations situated a few hundred yards away.

Broadcast engineer Dave Gill told us: "SSVC had asked us to investigate alternatives to the analogue copper links between the two areas. W

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The Sun Microsystems JavaOne developers’ conference at the Moscone Convention Centerpresented lighting designer Bill Berner with the challenge of illuminating a large projection area, while working around many obstacles. To accomplish the feat, Berner chose 50 Vari*Lite VL1000 ellipsoidal reflector spotlights.

"The light had to have a big zoom because of where the truss had to hang and based on what had to be lit," said Tom Thompson, account executive of Island Creative Management, contractor and a supplier of automated lighting for the event. "Because of its shutter capabilities, the VL1000 ERS was able to cover the entire area, yet avoid the various video screens that were also being used."

The primary purpose of the fixtures was to light with colour and texture, a pair of 20ft-tall fabric pieces that curved and wrapped around the stage. Close to the surf

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When Inflight Studios recently opened a multi-format transfer and archiving facility, dealing mainly with the format copying and archiving demands of the UK record labels, they simultaneously decided that a Soundcraft Ghost mixing console would be the best vehicle for expediting their audio transfers.

The facility is run by producer/engineer, Tony Taverner, and ex-Dreamhire general manager, Keith Knowles. Ex-Dreamhire chief copyroom engineer, Nick Kirkland, is handling and overseeing the day-to-day transfers and archiving, with a staff of a further two engineers. Explained Keith: "We are able to accommodate all the formats used in today's (and yesterday's) recording processes - ranging from multi-track analogue through to the very latest hard disk formats. We also have an on-site tape incubator allowing our engineers to safely bake any tapes that are in danger of shedding, or show

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Italy’s longest-running TV event, the annual five-day Sanremo Festival of Italian Song, now in its 52nd year, featured a stage set with one of the largest video screens ever seen in Europe. Produced by state-owned broadcaster RAI, artists included Michael Bolton, The Cranberries, Destiny’s Child, Alicia Keys, Kylie Minogue, Alanis Morissette and Britney Spears.

The high-technology show featured an all-digital fibre optic linked audio set-up using a Stagetec Cantus/Nexus control system and a JBL Vertec PA. For the first time, the show’s set was designed around an LED screen, with no less than three Lighthouse LVP1010 screens. Stefano Montesi, RAI’s technical head at Sanremo, says the idea for the LED screens was set designer Gaetano Castelli’s. They were supplied by Eurovideo, a Lighthouse rental partner based in Casarsa Della Delizia, who also handled inst

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The Burswood International Resort Casino in Western Australia is one of the most popular and long-standing facilities in the country. Since opening in late 1985, Burswood has made several additions to its lighting infrastructure, with Coemar-DeSisti Australia (CDA) involved in several of these additions.

The latest redevelopment saw changes made to several areas. The tender documents included the reuse of several existing products in the nightclub area, amongst which were a range of Coemar products including Mini UltraScans (compact 200MSD moving mirror units) and Synchros (club effects lighting) - a testament to their quality and longevity. Additional specifications for the nightclub area included reference to the popular Reel EFX DF50 Diffusion Fogger - one of the world’s most popular effects units.

The lighting of the Atrium area, the large glass dome that is a major visual

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Millions across the world tuned in to the BBC's live coverage of Elizabeth, the Queen Mother's funeral on Tuesday 9 April, while in London itself over a million people turned out to pay their respects. Live audio coverage of the funeral service along the length of the route from Westminster Abbey to the end of The Mall was provided by Dobson Sound, under contract to Westminster Sound, who have been responsible for audio relay at events such as the Remembrance Day Parades and the funeral of Princess Diana.

Westminster Sound has been involved in the planning and design of the event, codenamed ‘Tay Bridge’, for over two years. According to Paul Dobson, who was responsible for much of the design, the system itself was reasonably straightforward. Nevertheless, it involved some 96 d&b loudspeakers along the route, and literally miles of cable, none of which could be run at ground

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Creative Technology North America provided display technology, screens and technical expertise for the recent 74th Annual Academy Awards ceremony, better known as the Oscars. ABC aired the live event nationwide to an international audience of approximately one billion viewers.

Creative Technology was responsible for an impressive quantity of display devices including large scale projection equipment, screens, LED panels and plasma displays. Using a total of 14 Digital Projection and 11 Christie Digital projectors, CT displayed the evening’s images onto a variety of screen sizes and shapes. For the extremely bright ‘Best Picture’ screen, CT utilised Digital Projection technology, including two 15 SX and one 25 SX projected onto a 16ft x 29ft Stewart screen. The ‘Cinerama’ screen consisted of a massive 18ft x 72ft Stewart Aeroview 100 screen that was masked

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Edwin Shirley Staging (ESS) has been commissioned to provide the staging for another major Royal event, this time to mark the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in June 2002. The Queen will host two major events in the grounds of Buckingham Palace on 1 June and 3 June this year to celebrate her Golden Jubilee. These two unprecedented events will be held in front of 12,000 people on each day. The format involves an audience drawn from all over the UK. The events will be broadcast live by BBC television and radio around the world as well as over the internet.

The first event is a classical concert, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, with Mstislav Rostropovich, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Sir Thomas Allen, amongst others, providing a repertoire of opera and musical theatre pieces. The second event, the Party at the Palace, brings together a roster of familiar artists including Eric Clapton, Phil Collin

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Leading manufacturer DPA Microphones, based in Allerød, Denmark, marks its 10th anniversary this month. Founded in 1992 by Morten Støve and Ole Brøsted Sørensen, DPA Microphones traces its origins back to the Pro Audio division of Bruel & Kjaer, and the two companies enjoy a mutually productive working relationship to this day.

DPA Microphones has recently moved into stylish new premises in its home town of Allerød, some 30 miles north of Copenhagen. The 1600sq.m facility houses the R&D team, led by Ole Brøsted Sørensen, all sales and marketing, service and dispatch, and a work force of 30 people. DPA’s engineers and visiting customers enjoy the luxury of an in-house recording studio. Purpose-built with a 30sq.m live room, the studio is equipped with a digital console and outboard electronics from fellow Danish companies, such as TC Electronics, DAD and TubeTech. It is us

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The Avesco Group has secured a major contract to supply AV services to Manchester 2002, for this year’s Commonwealth Games events. Negotiated by Group Business Development Director, Dave Crump, it will become one of the largest single projects ever undertaken by Avesco, and has earned the company the status of ‘Official Provider of Audio Visual Services to the Manchester 2002 XVII Commonwealth Games.’

Few UK companies have the resources to be able to service such a wide range of venues and sporting activities simultaneously, and Dave Crump confirmed that the implementation should require participation from almost every company within the Group - notably Screenco, MCL Manchester and Dimension Audio. Crump himself will be co-ordinating the overall project as well as the Screenco activity, while Jamie McAffer will be project managing for MCL Manchester and Mark Boden for

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Tony Swayne, a new face in the industry, a qualified electrical engineer and an experienced businessman is the new owner of Andolite Limited, the manufacturer of internally wired lighting bars, standard and custom panels and power distribution.

Swayne is taking over from Alex Collister who, following a handover period, is retiring. Both will be attending this summer’s ABTT (London and Leeds) and PLASA shows and look forward to meeting old and new customers there. Swayne will continue to develop the company as a manufacturer of products tailored to the needs of the expanding industry.

(Ruth Rossington)

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The Association of Lighting Designers (ALD) recently officially welcomed its new joint Presidents, Richard Pilbrow and Robert Ornbo, at a dinner held in their honour at Kettners, in the heart of London’s theatre district. The dinner, which was made possible by a bequest from Michael Northen MBE, the previous president who passed away last year, was attended by some 25 members and guests of the ALD. Richard and Robert, together with Chairman Rick Fisher, have an enormous amount of combined experience and the ALD will benefit greatly from their knowledge, not just of the theatre but of all the other various sectors in which lighting designers work today.

(Ruth Rossington)

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In a move designed to better serve the growing market, Bandit Lites has purchased additional facilities in Nashville, Tennessee. Michael Strickland, CEO, explained the rationale behind the move: "In order to meet our client’s expectations, we needed an additional facility - with this space we will be able to quadruple our output in Nashville." While the current property will continue to serve as the main base of operations, the new warehouse will serve as an overflow storage facility and a suitable space for preparing multiple shows to the Bandit Standard, while still allowing for expansion.

Bandit’s Vice President, based in Nashville, Michael Golden explains: "Our plan will involve a fully staffed facility to build and prep systems while our current facility will become more of an administration and pre-rehearsal programming facility. It is our intention to

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Conventionally, sponsors at the Royal Opera House have a physical corporate presence at the venue. But in a complete break with tradition on April 4, Audi became the first sponsor to light the outside of the building with its corporate brand at a performance of the ballet Giselle, with Darcey Bussell dancing the title role.

In addition to lighting the exterior of the Royal Opera House, two Audi cars, one a vintage 1930s model and the second, the latest A4 convertible, were also on display. In support, Fourth Phase London and DHA Lighting joined forces with Pandemonium Events to make sure the evening was a success. To light the two cars Fourth Phase London used Source Four Pars and a Source Four profile. The cars were lit in open white, whilst the profile was equipped with a DHA monochrome gobo and projected the famous Audi rings onto the pavement between the cars. Two Mac 500s, also f

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  2. ESS helps to bring people face to face with Orange
  3. Lighthouse at Electroworld
  4. Miss Saigon - reveals all to LIPA students
  5. Wavefront pops the cork at Club One
  6. Blackpool Odeon Refurbs for Funny Girls
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