Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

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UK - XL Video supplied video production including the massive 16 x 7m Unitek V9 central LED screen and two 30msq 16:9 ratio Barco S10 LED side screens for The 25th Brit Awards, staged at London's Earls Court 2.

The screen was integrated into Mark Fisher's scenic design. It split apart vertically into two sides and both sides tracked off-stage utilizing a Kinesys movement system for millimeter perfect accuracy. It was the third year running that XL has been the supplier of video screens for the show to MJK Productions and production manager Mick Kluczynski. It was the second year running that automation specialists Kinesys were called in by show production riggers Outback, to co-ordinate the moving of the screens.

The project was managed for XL by Paul Wood and for Kinesys by Dave Weatherhead. Kinesys attached two variable speed winches to staging company StageCo's 46m wide gro

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USA - Tomcat celebrated 13 years of in depth industry training courses with another successful Hoist and Rigging Workshop in Midland, Texas. Top-notch instructors and 62 industry professional participants from all over the United States, and even Mexico attended the workshop as well as the all new Advanced Workshop.

Don Dimitroff of Columbus McKinnon, as well as TOMCAT's own Dave Sowa, coached participants through the Lodestar electric chain hoist. Rocky Paulson of Stage Rigging, a Freeman Company and Morgan Neff of Mine Safety Appliances stressed safety in rigging techniques and fall protection equipment while Keith Bohn, Tomcat design manager, and Will Todd, Tomcat project manager, offered a course in truss theory and design. Not only did participants receive four days of power-packed, informative classes, but also four nights of fun filled entertainment, including the traditi

Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

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UK - Audio system design and installation specialist Blue Box has completed a compact and versatile audio system for the newly-opened Broadway Theatre in Barking, East London. The theatre, designed by Tim Foster Architects, occupies a former municipal assembly hall, completely redesigned and rebuilt to provide high quality performing arts facilities to the community and accommodation to Barking College School of Performing Arts. Its core is the Dudley Moore Auditorium - a new performance space with galleries and seating for 341. With the retractable stalls bleacher seating removed, there's space for 650 standing.

The venue is designed for a mixed programme encompassing music, theatre, concerts, family friendly performances, contemporary dance and live arts installations. New facilities include an expanded backstage, scenery production storage and rehearsal rooms and technical s

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UK - Hawthorn Theatrical hosted their 18th birthday in style when they transformed their Leicester premises into a party venue. Around 300 invited clients and Hawthorn's staff moved between the main bar (complete with table football and giant Jenga), a nightclub with live band stage, karaoke room, second live band room, and a chill-out room as they partied the night away to the early hours.

After 18 years providing technical and creative solutions for events of all shapes and sizes, Hawthorne's general manager Simon Wood, working with MD Martin Hawthorne, applied their experience to produce a stunning party. This included supplying everything from their own décor, lighting, screens, sound and power, having considered all of the health and safety issues.

Martin Hawthorn, founder commented: "It seemed an ideal opportunity to thank our customers and 60 full-time staff for

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UK - UK company LM Productions LLP has been contracted to supply a StratoFantasia show for a two-week event in March called Planet Coke. The company will be supplying its StratoSphere projection globe, complete with new fire safety doors, and 360° seamless video projection on the sphere utilizing five high-powered video projectors. The brand awareness show for Coca Cola will include live performances in the sphere that the public can attend by collecting tokens from promotional bottles of Coca Cola. The video content will include a three-minute promotional video and 30 minutes of abstract visuals.

LM Productions' laser show designers have pre-programmed a laser beam show using three of the company's new full-colour DPSS whitelight lasers, three DPSS green lasers and a new DomeScan 360° laser projector. The six lasers will be positioned at 60° intervals around the per

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UK - Business analyst Plimsoll Publishing has claimed that acquisition activity is likely to increase in the UK's sound equipment industry in 2005. A new study highlights 54 cash rich companies that are ideally placed to enhance their earnings by acquiring a competitor: 51 companies have been identified as their acquisition prospects. Ranging from some of the smallest to some of the largest in the industry, each is displaying symptoms of financial stress, with low pre-tax margins and high levels of debt. The average level of debt for these companies is 11% of turnover. However, the analysis also demonstrates that each of these businesses could be turned around in a short period of time.

David Pattison, Senior Analyst at Plimsoll, says: "These under pressure companies are running out of options. As the average industry profit margin is only 1.4%, and over half of companies

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Denmark - Copenhagen Opera House, Denmark's new opera house, opened with a royal performance in front of Her Majesty Queen Margarethe of Denmark on Saturday 15 January. Located in the harbour, on the small island of Holmen, the Opera House was a gift to the city from Danish shipping magnate Maersk McKinney Møller.

The €337m ($442m) building has already been the subject of controversy, the architect complaining about "architectural compromises" he had to make when McKinney Møller demanded that the building be changed to incorporate his ideas. Despite that, the public seems to have taken the building to their hearts, with all opera and dance performances for the coming season completely sold out.

At the heart of the venue is the main stage, with seating for an audience of nearly 1,500. Alongside this are five adjacent stages constructed in a modular design enabling

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UK - White Light has been selected as lighting supplier for the stage production of the smash-hit British film, Billy Elliot. The story of a boy from the north of England who discovers the joy of dance, Billy Elliot became one of the most successful British films ever made upon its release in 2000. The film was nominated for three Oscars and thirteen Bafta awards, breaking box office records around the world.

The film is now being turned into a stage musical by its original creators, director Stephen Daldry, choreographer Peter Darling and writer Lee Hall; the music for the show is being written by Elton John. To create the stage production, Daldry is working once again with the team behind his acclaimed, long-running stage production of An Inspector Calls, designer Ian MacNeil and lighting designer Rick Fisher.

To light the show, Fisher has specified a rig featuring eleven Va

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Germany - Organized by KTV, the Asian equivalent of MTV, the Daechon Lux Festa 2004, which ran from the 17 July to the 21 August, introduced Asia to a new dimension in musical entertainment, uniting almost the entire galaxy of Asia's top stars and including a fringe programme packed with highlights. Several million viewers followed the event on TV and hundreds of thousands travelled from all over Asia to the Korean city of Daechon to sample the atmosphere first hand.

Sound equipment obviously has a key role to play. To eliminate unnecessary risks and problems of incompatibility, the organizers of the Daechon Lux Festa 2004 opted for a complete solution composed of systems from EVI Audio. The central element in the entire sound reinforcement strategy was a Dynacord Cobra system (including 16 Cobra-4 PWHs, 24 Cobra TOPs and 21 Cobra-2 SUBs). A further 56 enclosures from the Dynaco

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Germany - In early December, TV station Kabel 1 presented a major evening show, running through the '100 best films of all time', including classic blockbusters like Alien, Das Boot, E.T., Platoon, Schindlers List, Spider Man and Lord of the Rings. More than 350 Pulsar ChromaPanels were used in the set design, supplied by Procon and installed by Schall & Shein Design, Münich. They were used to create the matching atmosphere for the show in Bavaria Studios, Unterföhring. The set and design for the ChromaPanels was originally designed by Florian Wieder for the Pro7 production Geniale Erfinder-der Wissenspreis.

Daniel from Schall & Schein commented: "LED lights have high efficiency, their effects are produced through RGB colour mixing, they radiate homogeneous light and are absolutely lightweight. The whole design of the set was designed so the LEDs could be controlled in c

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UK - Green-I used all the attributes of the new Soundweb London DSP matrix device to fulfil a unique request at the recent Schroders London Boat Show at the ExCeL in Docklands.

ExCeL-based Fox Bars and Restaurants, who use Green-I as its preferred systems integrator, decided (as one of the Show's major sponsors) to create its own bar - Fox@Waterside - down on the exhibition floor. While Green-I's sister company Canegreen Commercial was invited to provide a conventional PA system for the feature, Fox had something more creative in mind when a pub quiz was scheduled midway through the show.

"We were asked to design Quiz Buzzers for each of the six tables," reports Green-I's Ian Woodall. "Although pressing a button is straightforward they wanted a scenario whereby the first finger on the buzzer disabled everything else."

By using a BSS Soundweb London

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The Netherlands - Lumileds Lighting has announced that it will issue an advisory to the solid-state lighting industry later this month regarding its intellectual property (IP) that pertains to the manufacture and assembly of mirror substrate LEDs. The action comes in response to reports that certain die manufacturers and LED packagers are violating Lumileds' patents. Users and manufacturers of LEDs have a responsibility to avoid infringement of Lumileds' patents. All LED package manufacturers and resellers should investigate whether their mirror substrate LEDs use Lumileds' patented technology and whether the source of their mirror substrate LEDs is authorized under Lumileds' patents.

Lumileds recently announced the upcoming expansion of its Luxeon high-power LED family with new emitters that the company claims set industry-wide performance standards for light output, temperatu

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Italy - In Venice, leading Italian PA rental company Audio Uno has flown Nexo GEO S speaker arrays in one of the most exquisite architectural settings in the world. The historic Gran Teatro La Fenice de Venezia, which dates back to 1792, has been completely restored to its original glory following a devastating fire in 1996. Audio Uno was called upon to provide a premier-quality sound reinforcement system for the first major event to take place in the Gran Teatro since its renovation and re-opening. The Premio Campiello is Italy's top competition for writers, and this was the first occasion the prestigious awards ceremony had been held in the Fenice.

For the 2500-capacity theatre, Audio Uno supplied a GEO S tangent-array system which was configured in left and right arrays of eight GEO S830 cabinets each side. Two CD12 sub-bass bins were included on each side of the stage, and

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UK - A.C. Lighting supplied Neg Earth Lights with the Thomas Broadway Truss back wall lighting and much of the other lighting rig equipment used on the recent 14-date UK arena tour for rock band The Darkness. The spectacular show took four days of pre-production and a further two days of rehearsals to create, and visited Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Sheffield, Cardiff and Birmingham, finishing off with three nights at Wembley.

For the ambitious stage lighting rig, LD Rod Clay required a dramatic backdrop to complement the band's very theatrical performance style and provide effects for the more 'epic' songs in the band's set list. Clay specified a Thomas Broadway Truss system originally racked with seven rows of 10 High End Studio Beam PCs to create a dramatic wall of light. Neg Earth Lights used custom clamps to join the truss structure, which was flown on three two-tonne C

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USA - Fur, in Washington DC, is a new multi-level entertainment establishment that's been drawing record crowds since it's opening late last year. Fur features a sophisticated décor, including the trademark mink-covered walls, but more importantly, it's the state-of-the-art EAW Avalon sound system that keeps the devoted patrons coming back for more.

Designed by John Fiorito, owner of OHM Productions and installed by his associate Jeff Darby, the EAW Avalon system was conceived during the renovation stage of the classic 1890s building. "Because we entered the renovation stage early, we were able to design the floor plan around the Avalon system itself," explained Fiorito. "As a result, Fur's Avalon system is cleverly integrated into all areas of the club whilst not detracting from the meticulous décor."

The main floor, which hosts the stage and dance flo

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USA - Lighting, audio reinforcement, video and technical production management was provided for the Celebration of Freedom Concert on the Ellipse in Washington DC by Showcall Inc, a Maryland based technical event production company. "The Showcall team delivered a flawless event to us despite the crew and equipment having to brave heavy rain, sub-zero temperatures, biting wind and three inches of snow during the load in process on the Ellipse. These guys are just incredible," said Jason Recher, a managing director of events for the Presidential Inaugural Committee.

The event was designed to accommodate 65,000 attendees and included three LED videowalls, a Martin Audio Line array for the main and delay audio system as well as dozens of intelligent lighting fixtures. The stage, measuring 60ft x 100ft, was illuminated by BSL Productions using 28 Vari-Lite 3000 and 14 Var

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UK - Following a highly successful 2004, Specialz Ltd has started off 2005 with a contract to remove 189 hoists from Carlton Studios Nottingham and transport them to Pinewood Studios. The project was completed on schedule in five days. Dave Smith commented: "This is the type of project we really excel at; the whole project was planned and executed in 10 days which pleased the client as they had allocated over a month to complete the job!"

2004 saw Specialz making major technical contributions to projects as diverse as kids' TV show, Fun Song Factory (set lights installation), Phil Collins (five DMX controlled Louvre panels), Morrissey (the 12ft high illuminated sign) and two stage sets for Daniel O'Donnell, each including a lightweight electrically operated scissor-lift drum riser, designed and built in-house. Other projects included BBC Proms light boxes, the Scissor

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USA - Even before his graduation from Pasadena Art College of Design as an illustrator and graphic artist, it was pretty clear that Mike Shinoda's band, Linkin Park, was onto something big. In fact, as the story goes, Shinoda was doing his eighth term finals on the same weekend the band was playing a showcase for six different record labels. Despite his growing renown in the hip-hop and rock music scenes, Shinoda's background is in piano and production. "I listen to everything," he explains, "and I try to experiment with as many types of music as I can. I try hard to stay versatile."

Shinoda says a good part of the band's material is written in his home studio or on the tour bus. "We always like to get the basic shell of a song together before taking it into a studio - it's less stressful that way, plus you're not paying for a big studio while you're sc

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The Netherlands - HK Audio's Dutch Concert Sound distributor, Audio Insight, supplied an HK Audio Cohedra (Coherent Dynamic Response Array) system for a six-day indoor cycle tournament at the Rotterdam Ahoy club in early January.

The system was set up as a flown centre cluster in the middle of the venue, to cover the audience of 7,500. The cluster consisted of two arrays of 12 Cohedra CDR208 mid/high cabinets, each with six CDR 210 F flyable subwoofers, to cover either side of the hall where the audience was seated. This small 2 x 12 setup covered almost all the audience area around the cycle track, while four sets of two VT115X multi-functional two-way speakers covered small areas in the four corners of the venue, flown closer to the audience and delayed as necessary.

Two hangs of eight CDR 108C Cohedra Compact cabinets, each with two CDR 210 C compact subs, were used for co

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UK - Lighting and sound rental house HSL kicked off 2005 as it means to continue, purchasing a large quantity of Vari lite VL1000TS framing units for hire stock. This is in response to the steady and continuing growth of HSL's hire division and to service several immediately up-coming productions.

Other recent lighting purchases include Avolites dimming and control - with more Pearl 2004 consoles and rack mount optical splitters joining the inventory. Additional WholeHog II and Hog 1000 consoles have also been added to HSL's stock, plus a series of power distribution units from SES Ltd.

Blackburn-based HSL also continues to invest heavily in LED technology, and the number of James Thomas Pixel LED units continues to increase. HSL now offers access to over 250 JTE 1044 PixelLine battens and 150 PixelPAR 90 units - making HSL the largest European supplier of LED lighting.

MD S

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UK - A.C. Lighting's Special Projects division programmed BT's Tower logo with Olympic colours for a London 2012 Olympic Bid launch event held last November and preparations for the IOC's official visit to London this month to review the Capital's Bid plans. BT is a premier partner of the London 2012 Bid and is playing an integral part in the campaign to promote the Bid to the UK public and International Olympic Committee. As a follow-up to this event, the Olympic colours scheme will again light up the London skyline this week to commemorate the IOC's short visit to London.

London creative agency Rufus Leonard designed the original BT "connected world" globe logo lighting concept last April and also provided the new Olympic colours scheme. Design and events company Imagination developed and implemented the original design of the lighting system. A key requirement of t

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UK - Hadley vs. Fry & ABC (starring 1980s superstars Tony Hadley from Spandau Ballet and Martin Fry from ABC) are using Robe ColorSpot 250 XTs on their four-month UK theatre tour which kicked off last week. The fixtures were specified and highly recommended by lighting designer Dave Gibbon, who also used them on last year's marathon Hadley vs. Cox (Go West) tour.

"Robe is the most reliable and value-for-money moving light on the market" he states, "I've used Robe fixtures on numerous occasions - both on tour and on one-offs and special events, and they have always just worked and worked whatever the conditions and however hard". He adds that when it came to specifying kit for the Hadley vs Fry tour, he had no hesitation in again choosing Robe.

Gibbon is using the eight Robe ColorSpot250 XT's on the tour as his main 'specials'. Each day they are rigged on

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UK - The fourth annual Total Production International Awards event attracted a sell-out audience of 800 industry people at the Novotel London West in Hammersmith on Monday 31 January.

The event was hosted by the broadcaster, author and 'Professor of Pop', Paul Gambaccini. As well as a number of cameo presentations by a wide range of industry personalities, including DiGiCo's Bob Doyle, PR guru Jerry Gilbert, Martin Professional's David Caulfield, plus Adrian Forbes-Black and Andy Lenthall of the PSA, the event was crowned by special guest appearances by Pink Floyd legend David Gilmour, ex-Undertone Feargal Sharkey (now Chairman of the government's Live Music Forum) and former BRIT Awards producer Lisa Anderson.

Of the winners, catering firm Eat To The Beat celebrated its third consecutive award and XL Video and the Star Events Group both won their third award to date, while mo

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UK - Sound design and installation company CP Sound has completed an eye-catching integrated audio system at Cocoon in Regent Street - an elegant, classy sushi bar and Japanese restaurant. CP Sound encountered many challenges throughout the project, the major one being the design and build of 18 custom spherical speakers: these contain JBL components, and were designed and produced by CP Sound's in-house team. CP Sound won the contract on the strength of previous successful one-off projects for Cocoon's owners and operators, Ignite.

The entire geometry, design and individual ambience of Cocoon - created by the renowned New York-based Stephan Dupoux - revolves around a spatially lavish series of interlocking circles and spheres. This specific environment required highly precise audio: "The only way to achieve exactly what they wanted was to start from scratch, producing a s

  1. AD Systems line array in Reading University
  2. Anolis: new LED company launched
  3. Fineline Lighting collects TPI Award
  4. White Light installs for LAMDA
  5. World Stage Design event
  6. Sennheiser at the Super Bowl
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