Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
PLASA Show 2025 - Banner - June-Aug 2025

Business

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UK - Fineline, an event supply company based in the South West of England, was named Lighting Company of the Year at the Total Production International Awards, which celebrate the achievements and contributions of individuals and companies working within the live event production industry. Fineline is owned and run by Darren Wring and is divided into two operations. The company's hire business houses a substantial range of lighting and rigging equipment which has lit up stars such as Jet, Blue, Busted, Status Quo, Westlife, Donny Osmond and Tom Jones. The company offer professional design and installation services for events of all descriptions both in the UK and internationally and is a major player in outdoor summer festivals like Glastonbury and the Powderham Castle Concerts.

The company also has a manufacturing facility where it has the capability to cater for all of its cl

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UK - White Light recently completed the installation of a new lighting grid and dimming system for LAMDA, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. LAMDA, which dates back to 1861, recently moved to a new home in West London, the former headquarters of the Royal Ballet School. As part of this move, one of the building's ballet rooms has been converted into a black-box drama studio, named the Linbury Studio for former Royal Ballet ballerina Anya Linden Sainsbury.

As part of the conversion, the room required the installation of a technical infrastructure which would be used to rig and control lanterns from LAMDA's existing stock. White Light's Roger Hennigan worked with Claire Cooper, LAMDA's buildings administrator, and Paul Rowland, the college's head of lighting, to specify the system. This provides a 6m x 11.5m fixed overhead lighting grid with 60 15A sockets on internall

Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

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Canada - The first-ever World Stage Design will be held from 12-19 March 2005 in the Canadian Hall at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The exhibition and catalogue of set, costume, lighting, and sound design will present work from designers around the world. An international jury has selected 188 works from a total of 951 submissions to be presented in the gallery exhibition, representing designers from 35 nations. All the submitted designs will be presented in the digital exhibit section and included in the print and digital catalogues available for sale at the event.

The exhibition is co-produced by three prominent theatre associations: United States Institute for Theatre Technology Inc (USITT), the Canadian Institute for Theatre Technology/l'Institut Canadien des Technologies Scenographiques (CITT), and the International Organization of Scenographer

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USA - The televised pre-game entertainment from Super Bowl XXXIX (that's 39 for non-Romans), held at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, used a variety of Sennheiser equipment. "The entire pre-game entertainment was all Sennheiser," confirms James Stoffo, an RF expert who works on many major sports and entertainment events. "There were Sennheiser 3000 in-ears and Sennheiser EM1046 receivers and Sennheiser 5000 handhelds with Neumann heads."

Stoffo, whose Professional Wireless Systems (PWS), a Masque Sound company, is based in Orlando, Florida, supplied the RF microphones, receivers and antennas, while sound production company ATK AudioTek supplied the 3000 Series personal monitor systems. Every handheld comprised a Sennheiser/Neumann hybrid RF mic, which combines a Sennheiser 5000 Series wireless transmitter with Neumann's KK105 capsule.

"But the cool th

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USA - Bogen Communications. and Apogee Sound announced today that Daytona International Speedway has installed a broad and extensive array of leading edge Bogen and Apogee sound equipment in its new "World Center of Racing". The World Center of Racing, built in just seven months, embodies a new multi-million dollar, state-of-the art venue located within the Daytona Speedway's infield. It offers the world's most extraordinary, "up-close and personal" fan experience in motor sports: interactive displays; a tribute area to the legends of the Speedway; rooftop spectator areas; upgraded specialty vehicle infield parking; renovated NEXTEL Cup Series and NASCAR Busch Series Garages; a new Gatorade Victory Lane; and a new signature infield structure, the Daytona 500 Club building. All sound reinforcement in each of these locations is delivered exclusively through Bogen

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Dubai, UAE - Now in it's third year, PALME - the Middle East's leading professional sound, light, music, audio visual and systems integration exhibition - has firmly established itself as a must attend event on the industry trade show calendar. Internationally acknowledged as the key forum for the industry in the Middle East, the event is supported by PLASA, the Professional Lighting and Sound Association. Other major industry associations such as APIAS (Italy), Secarty's (Spain) and ILDA (US) are also enthusiastic supporters.

This year's event, already a sell-out according to the organizers, is set to build on the outstanding success of PALME 2004, which attracted 30% more exhibitors than the 2003 event, 134 companies from 25 countries, from as far away as the US, Australia, Korea and Belgium, participating - this exceptional growth is the result of the high quality of the eve

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UK - Ampetronic induction loops have recently been installed at the heart of two major London tourist attractions, ensuring that the hearing impaired can enjoy the experience just as much as those with no disability. Driven by twin Ampetronic ILD9 induction loop amplifiers via an SP5 phaser, Scanaudio has installed adjacent ultra-low spill loop systems at the British Museum's Virtual Mummy exhibition. This showcase is made possible by CAT scanning technology, allowing the Museum to see 'inside' an Egyptian mummy which has resided intact at the museum since the late 19th Century. The exhibition is based on the resulting three-dimensional model and explores who the body inside the mummy might have been, how he lived and so on. Visitors are treated to a 20-minute IMAG show, featuring full surround sound and 3D visuals.

"Because of the show's format, our main consideration was

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UK - Hawthorn Theatrical, has made its first investment in line array technology - with Martin Audio. The company has consolidated a relationship with the High Wycombe company that extends over a decade by purchasing 16 x W8LM Mini Line Array enclosures, matched with six WLX subs.

Hawthorn's head of sound, Iain Reinhold, said the acquisition made perfect sense. "It creates compatibility with our already comprehensive inventory of Martin Wavefront systems and will allow us to expand our work portfolio by quoting for more outdoor work."

This portfolio is already substantial, as Martin Hawthorn's Leicestershire-based company has carved out an enviable share of the large-scale corporate event market since setting up the business 18 years ago as sound and lighting specialists.

"As we were being asked to service more arena-style conferences we decided to demo the Ma

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USA - Sennheiser RF and wired microphones and wireless personal monitor systems played a significant part in the 47th Annual Grammy Awards show telecast, held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. In addition to the wide array of Sennheiser and Neumann equipment used onstage, this year, for the very first time, the stereo and 5.1 surround broadcast audio was enhanced with the addition of more than 36 audience microphones. Capturing the crowd ambiance were four Sennheiser shotgun microphones, plus Neumann cardioid compact miniature and large diaphragm mics.

Wireless systems, provided and overseen by frequency coordinator Dave Bellamy and his Soundtronics RF service company, included Sennheiser SKM5000-N handhelds fitted with Neumann KK 105-S elements for a variety of artists, including Eve, performing with Gwen Stefani, Tim McGraw, and Joss Stone. Two-thirds of the 24 RF persona

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UK - Although Andrew and Roselyn Baldwin have been operating in the nightclub industry for the past 14 years, it has been during the 12 months since establishing Jedi Light and Sound that they have really made an impact on the installation front.

Last month the company provided a radical sound and lighting upgrade to the former Oval in Wood Green - animating the venue (now known as Club KO) with a number of original Geni scanning effects from Lighting Effects Distribution and re-configuring the resident Martin Audio sound system.

DJ Spoony had been one of the partners in the previous Oval operation, which opened in the spring of 2002, but these days the venue is under the proprietorship of Mick Theo. "It was already a nice venue but lacked that wow factor," declared Andrew. Firstly they recommended two Geni Burst 2X 360° full-barrel effects - flipping and spinning 1

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UK - Kylie Minogue, Travis, The Strokes and Liberty X are just some of the artists who have benefited recently from the touring combination of Van Damme Cable and Capital Sound Hire. "When you're putting together equipment for a major artist's tour, the three key elements you look for are quality, reliability and flexibility," says Capital Sound Hire's Simon Barron. "Van Damme's Black Tour Grade cable fits all three criteria perfectly, which is why we specify it for just about every tour we handle."

London-based Capital Sound Hire, incorporating Capital Sound Design and Capital Productions, is responsible for hiring sound equipment, freelance technical crews and transport to the entertainment world. Touring artists make up a large percentage of its business - and their tours may involve anything from a few UK dates to major international events incorporating

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UK - With a total of 132 points, Summit Steel's installation of Cirque du Soleil's ambitious Dralion show at London's Royal Albert Hall has broken the record for the most number of rigging points ever installed into the venue. The previous record was also set by Summit Steel - for installation of the same show last year. What's more, the rigging process also had to be completed in and even shorter time slot of two days less than last year.

Summit continued its working relationship with Cirque du Soleil, with this, the fifth Cirque production they've installed into the RAH for Dralion's fully sold-out five-week residency. Summit's Chris Walker started work on the project in September 2004. Working closely with a team of people including Cirque's rigging project manager Ewen Seagel; Marc-André Leclerc, technical manager for the transfer to the RAH; Adrian Bray, t

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Denmark - The Council hall of Aalborg, the 4th largest city in Denmark, north Jutland, recently renewed it's lighting looks with a batch of Soffio luminaries. During the project's design phase, Bico Professional A/s, dealer for LDR, was contacted for advice on how to light the council hall. After a short visit it was clear that the internal architecture wasn't clearly defined.

Lighting designer Hans Henrik Schmidt from Bico, decided to use the luminaires to highlight and emphasize the internal stone columns. Located at 10m high on each side of the columns the 150W Soffio luminaires are projecting a white lighting beam all along the column length. The final touch is given by a profile luminaires which project the municipal 'logo' into the centre of the round table.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - When the stage fly system of the Wallingford Corn Exchange was condemned by load inspectors, Philip Burton, the venue's new volunteer general manager, turned to Tomcat UK who sent their technical manager, Paul Jordan, to the venue. "The project was a challenging one for us," says Jordan, who was one of the first to survey the system. "The existing system was suspended from small tube members resting on the internals of the building's cast iron portal frames. The pulleys were of unknown origin and ropes were of different constructions. The gallery platform support structure was manufactured from a scaffold-type arrangement which had a timber top and was buried into the side stage walls without any exterior fixings. The existing header beam arrangement consisted of a 2" diameter tube slung between the cast iron portals, which had a timber beam clamped to it

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UK - Creating a big impact launch to Cancer Research UK's largest ever integrated fundraising campaign, large format projection specialists, PRG Europe, were used to project huge teaser images on to Battersea Power Station.

Ogilvy's cross media campaign, evocatively titled 'I shouldn't be here', was launched on the 4 February with DRTV advertising across 15 channels, while a second wave of press advertising and direct mail went live on the 14 February.

Working on behalf of event management specialists Event Force, PRG Europe beamed three faces on to Battersea Power Station using a 12K PANI projector. Photographed at an angle and 'key stoned' so that the projected images appeared straight, the event ran for four hours to coincide with rush hour - ensuring the launch teaser got maximum exposure.

Chris Stephens, project manager at Event Force Ltd commented: "Having contact

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UK - Before Christmas, Mushroom Event Services washed St Paul's Cathedral with colour for Cancer Research UK's biennial Carol Concert. The cathedral is Sir Christopher Wren's masterpiece and one of London's most famous landmarks. The best-known aspect of the building, the West Front, was revealed earlier this month, following an 18-month extensive programme of cleaning and repair. And it was here that church-goers entered beneath a beautiful mixture of magenta and blue light produced by a combination of high powered colour changers and conventional lights, with gobo projections creating the effect of falling snow. At the end of the concert, the design was changed to include stars projected onto the Baroque towers on either side of the main façade.

"We've had a fantastic reaction to this project," comments Mushroom's Paul Butler. "It's always a great pleasure to

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Germany - Mega Audio, the German distributor for InnovaSON digital mixing consoles, has supplied an Sy80 to the Estrel Convention Centre in Berlin, part of Europe's largest convention, entertainment and hotel complex, boasting 1,125 rooms and suites, five restaurants, two bars and a beer garden. The Convention Centre itself offers a total of 15,000sq.m of event space including the 4,800sq.m convention halll - which can be partitioned as required -as well as four galleries, a VIP area and a range of further conference rooms and foyers. The InnovaSON console, which replaces an old analogue board, is configured with a stagebox, seven SI8D3 mic/line input cards, two XO8D2 processed output cards and a set of digital in and output cards.

Thomas Herzberg, head of the Estrel Convention Centre's technical department, chose the Sy80 for its flexibility and easy handling. "Since we a

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USA - The Black-Eyed Peas, helped "get it started" at this year's 47th Annual Grammy Awards show with fellow Shure endorsers and Best New Artist award winners, Maroon 5. The Black-Eyed Peas performed 'Let's Get it Started', which won the Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, using Shure U2/58 microphone systems, while Maroon 5 opted for U2/Beta 58 systems to sing their hit, 'This Love'. "This year was an incredible showcase of talent across every genre of music from hip-hop to country to rock," said Shure artist relations team member Ryan Smith. "Bono said it was the best Grammys ever and I would agree."

Several other Shure endorsers walked away with Grammy awards on Sunday night, including:John Mayer, who won Song of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for the song 'Daughters' from his album 'Heavier Things'; Ozomatli receiv

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USA - When the ACME Comedy Theatre in Los Angeles changed hands and underwent extensive renovation, technical director Mike Cernicky needed a new console that was powerful and flexible, yet at a price point that the theatre could afford - and he chose a Fat Frog from Zero 88. The Fat Frog first came to Cernicky's attention two years ago while helping out on a low-budget production. "The rental house gave us a killer deal," says Cernicky. "Nobody else seemed to want to spend the time to learn the console, so I sat down with the Fat Frog manual for about five minutes and then began programming the show!"

A friend of Cernicky's, Travis Oates, bought the 15-year old ACME Comedy Theatre and asked him to supervise the renovation of the theatre's technical elements. Cernicky brought two second-hand High End Technobeams to the theatre and immediately realized that t

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UK - Located in the heart of the capital on Trafalgar Square, Albannach is one of the hottest openings of the year. A brand new contemporary Scottish bar and restaurant Albannach is offering the best in food and drink along with the latest technology in sound and lighting to provide an unusual location for corporate meetings, events and product launches.

AV systems integration specialists, The Sound Division Group was called in to design, specify and install the audio visual system throughout, which includes LCD screens for laptop presentations, a 12ft projection screen with a powerful Mitsubishi projection system on the lower ground floor, and a 50" plasma screen in the VIP room. All are equipped with the usual DVD, CD and VCR facilities along with terrestrial and SKY TV feeds.

The brief was for a fully integrated and zoned audio visual system with the ability to route a

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UK - A new late-night twin-scene - Club East and Persia Lounge Bar and Restaurant - has been opened by The Chapman Group in Worthing. Fitted by locally-based Marshall Technical Solutions, it draws heavily for its decorative effects on a wide range of LED lighting sourced from the catalogue of Lighting Effects Distribution.

James Bryant, who runs MTS, explained that this is the third time he has fitted out the venue, previously known as XS. "The Chapman Group were looking for ideas to create a wow factor - particularly on the dancefloor of Club East - and so we decided to augment the traditional disco lighting with LED effects. At the same time we wanted to enhance the general mood of the bar and restaurant with some general colour-changing washes. This is by far the biggest LED project we have carried out - and for each application Lighting Effects Distribution were able to

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UK - Harrods - one of the world's premier department stores - blazed the eco friendly technology trail as one the first retail establishments to invest in a fixed installation of James Thomas's PixelLine LED fixtures. The PixelLine battens created another dimension to the windows and were chosen for their flexibility, their energy saving properties, low heat emissions and easy maintenance requirements.

A total of 26 units grace eight of the famous main display windows running along the prime Knightsbridge façade of the building. The battens run the full width of the rear of the windows, washing the back walls and offering a massive range of colours.

The creative potential of Pixel LED fixtures initially came to the attention of Harrods after they were used to illuminate a special installation window display promoting the James Bond 007 movie at the end of 2002. The lighting s

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UK - Reynolds of Raphoe, directed by Liam and Declan Reynolds, was responsible for the sound installation of D.A.S. Audio products at the Quaywest Restaurant and Winebar located in Derry, Northern Ireland's second largest city. This unique space situated on the Foyle River offers an attractive ambiance spread over two floors. Good food and great music both play a part in the experience of a visit.

To differentiate the sound in the dinning area and the bar, Reynolds of Raphoe created two zones. For the restaurant area, located on the second floor, the system is based around the D.A.S. Factor 5W in white, providing the high quality background music required for a locale of this type. The bar area, requiring a more predominant sound, was fitted with white D.A.S. DS-8 two-way systems. These high-output, compact enclosures are ideal for a wide variety of installations requiring a hi

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Europe - Celebrating the 35th anniversary of the legendary album, The Who's Tommy has hit the road for a 20 week European tour with a lighting rig supplied by PRG Europe. The original Broadway production has been so well received that it was nominated for six Drama Desk Awards, including one for Outstanding Lighting Design.

After changing its lighting and sound suppliers at the last minute, the producers, Theatrical Management Group (TMG), put the job out to tender across Europe with PRG Europe's Croydon office winning the contract. Alan Thomson, Loz Wilcox and the team at PRG Europe, along with production electrician Simon Needle had only two weeks between getting the contract and having to ship to Frankfurt.

Simon Needle explained that to accommodate the huge lighting rig within the turnaround times - just one and a half days including traveling between each gig - the

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Astera - Large MPU - June 2025
Sennheiser - MPU - June 2025

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