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

Business

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USA / Romania - Loud Technologies Inc. announced the appointment of Bucharest-based Stage Expert as the exclusive EAW distributor in Romania. In addition to being one of Romania's premier professional audio and lighting distribution operations, Stage Expert is also a leading production house offering staging, video and event management services as well as PA and lighting rental.

According to Stage Expert partner/production manager Alexandru Calin, EAW offers a high quality complement to his existing portfolio of brands. "EAW remains one of the biggest names in concert touring and has a well-earned reputation for being world leaders in technical audio advancement and creative loudspeaker design. We are very proud to represent EAW in Romania and look forward to a mutually beneficial relationship."

EAW's Sean Martin is equally pleased with the appointment: "In addi

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UK - Hawthorn has announced that here are still some places left for its 'Hawthorn @ Home' event next Friday, 29 July. Hawthorn's Hire and Sales team will host the events, which will kick off with lunch and an informal get-together, followed by the hands-on session / demo of the equipment.

The 29 July event will be an introduction to Hawthorn - people, products, projects and tours of newly extended office and warehouse complex, with hands-on demos of LED for hire, lighting, sound and AV equipment. The second event, on 2 September will cover 'Generic Lighting' products with representation from Selecon, ETC, Thomas, ADB and Strand. The third event, on 7 October, is titled 'Flash, Bang and Feedback' a demonstration of pyrotechnics by Le Maitre and radio mics by Sennheiser, Sony and Trantec.

(Lee Baldock)

Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

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UK - A.C. Lighting's Audio division has sold a Funktion One Resolution 4 loudspeaker system to Dave Nutbrown at Starsound Systems. Nutbrown was already using Funktion One's award winning touring speakers and had been getting an excellent reaction to them from his customers - particularly the quality of audio and powerful output for such compact cabinets, he says.

As a result, Nutbrown wanted to expand the company's hire stock, so he approached audio sales manager Peter Butler at UK dealer A.C. Lighting to supply four Resolution 4 touring enclosures and two F-218 bass enclosures.

The Resolution 4 touring enclosures feature a revolutionary flying system shared by all Resolution touring enclosures, which makes for fast and easy set up due to all the inter-cabinet flying hardware being built into the enclosures.

The F-218 double 18" bass enclosures utilize Funktion One's re

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UK - The 6,000 jobs recently lost at the UK-based MG Rover Group are symptomatic of a wider trend across Europe that has seen manufacturing production decrease. Britain alone has shed a million manufacturing jobs in the last 10 years - a reflection of the general economic shift from manufacturing to service industries.

Part of the reason for this decline is that manufacturers worldwide are dealing with numerous issues - increasingly prescriptive legislation, customer migration to Asia and the challenges of building a successful infrastructure to sustain and improve manufacturing. In recognition of these issues, PLASA (Professional Lighting and Sound Association) has established a Manufacturers Forum to allow the organization to better understand the issues faced by its members. An initial meeting will take place in central London on Tuesday 2 August and all 250 manufacturing mem

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Japan - A wonderful example of a modern classical concert hall, Tamba Symphony Hall in Japan has received many compliments for its striking interior design, particularly the use of local wood, something that is both aesthetically beautiful and acoustically ideal. Though relatively new, the concert hall was built in 1988, the Tamba management felt that advancing audio technology dictated the need for refurbishment.

"An acoustic comparison test was made at the site," said Mr Kunitaka Fukatsu of the Otaritec Corporation, which was asked to advise on a new system. "A few selected manufacturers systems were chosen and carefully examined. Finally a Q1 based system made by d&b audiotechnik was chosen. The reasons were clear; the d&b system's high quality sound and intelligibility; the potential for high SPLs when required with no loss of quality; and the low electrical c

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UK - Martin Professional's Mach CI6 in-fill loudspeakers - 43 cabinets in total - have been installed into The Strand, Preston as part of a high quality background music system. The Strand is the city's newest and most exciting 'must go' venue, a contemporary new entertainment concept aimed at a lively, stylish clientele with good tastes in food, drink, design and music.

Preston is one of the fastest developing towns in the UK, with over 25,000 students, an ambitious urban regeneration scheme underway and a rich history in culture and commerce. The Strand is independently owned by Dave Patterson and general manager Dave Jones. They spotted a gap for a stylish venue outside the city centre that would attract over 25s and those prepared to make an effort to go out. The Strand is also the first completely non-smoking night venue in Preston.

The various social areas within the Str

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UK - Specialists in lighting, sound and power provision Pearce Hire was contracted to manage the temporary power requirements for Birmingham's National Day of Commemoration with a spectacular Victory Fireworks Fantasia and a stage set on the lake in Cannon Hill Park. Continuing work with Birmingham City Council, after successfully providing power in recent years for the Jubilee celebrations, New Years Eve events, Diwali and Centenary Square, Pearce Hire has become a regular provider to the City Council.

Over 15,000 people enjoyed the fine weather and music at Cannon Hill Park's Victory Fireworks Fantasia. Chaired by Nick Owen of Midlands Today, a fabulous 1940s-themed afternoon concert starred British favourites Max Bygraves OBE and Joan Regan, while extracts from the Rat Pack Live featured music from Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Junior. Rousing the crowd th

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UK - On Wednesday 13 July, David Caulfield, the UK managing director of Martin Professional, presented £1,000 to Lyn Paver, chief executive of the Devon Air Ambulance Trust at Stage Electrics, Exeter. Martin Professional offered Stage Electrics a sales incentive promotion for a two-month period in late 2004, similar to many promotions in many sales organizations around the country. "However, Stage Electrics does not incentivize sales staff individually as we believe it is always about team efforts," explained Linda Moore, sales and marketing manager of Stage Electrics. "Therefore we gave each of our branches the opportunity to win £1000 for a charity of their choice for the branch with the highest achievement over budget."

Exeter Branch nominated Devon Air Ambulance and set about winning the money for them. All of the Stage Electrics branches participated a

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UK - Lighting company Blinding Light supplied all design, effects and ambient lighting for production company Sledge at Microsoft's recent spectacular 'After Hours' party. The event was staged in the grounds of Stratfield Saye house - a rambling 17th century pile, home to the Dukes of Wellington since 1817 - in a huge De Boers 'Star Show' circus tent measuring 68m by 44m. Catering was housed in an additional 45m by 20m 'A' frame marquee next door. "The client wanted a special location with a great ambience to accommodate up to 2,000 people" explains production manager Matt Phillips.

After Hours featured live performances by Basement Jaxx and Madness, and the show closed to a rousing set by DJ Norman Jay. Matt Phillips came onboard to oversee the complete production management needed to support the event along with Grant Mitchell looking after the finer technical detail

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UK - Live brand experience company MMM recently conceived and produced a new model launch and dealer training event for Jaguar UK, based on the hands-on demonstration of the company's new XJ Diesel and X-TYPE 2.2 models, pitted directly against their competitors' vehicles. As well as coming up with the event concept and format, MMM's technical production crew supplied all necessary sound, lighting, video and AV.

An active car mechanics workshop at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground, Leicestershire was transformed into a high-tech auditorium and presentational space for the three-week event. The environment created also included break-out learning centres, and a series of lit walk-throughs with industrial sculptures made from Jaguar engine parts. The primary objective was to highlight Jaguar's new diesel and aluminium technology, perceived as being central to the future of the brand.<

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UK - Metropolis AV has designed a colourful new architectural lighting installation, including some specially customized LED fixtures, at the new Sportsman Casino in Old Quebec Street, central London. Tucked away in a discreet street near to Marble Arch, the venue - a world class gaming facility - wanted something eye-catching that would distinguish it from the surrounding buildings and that would be an additional finishing touch. Exterior lighting was the perfect solution. In addition to conventional colour changing wall-washing effects, they also wanted a bit of movement.

Metropolis's Simon Harris and Andy Shelton thought laterally when designing the scheme. They asked their manufacturing division Met 3 to make some special moving versions of its TC12 LED spotlight, complete with 6° lenses. These are mounted within existing down-lighter fittings and fixed onto off-the-shelf p

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UK - Avril Lavigne's FOH engineer John Kerns looked pleased as he watched the crowd response at the recent Hammersmith Apollo gig. "This is probably the first time I have taken a real rock show out with a Meyer loudspeaker system," Kerns admits.

Having taken over FOH duties from Jim Yakabuski partway through Lavigne's extensive European and American tour, Kerns found himself in the capable hands of Audio Analysts system technician Brett Dicus. "Jim came up with a setup that he really liked," explains Dicus, "which was Meyer mains and a centre sub-hang. That is our priority whenever possible. The Meyer high-end energy from about 5kHz on up can't be beaten. We find we do not have to do the usual boosts for intelligibility with the MILO boxes."

The typical setup for a Lavigne show employs substantial quantities of MILO high-power curvilinear array lo

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UK - The Princess Pavilion in Falmouth, Cornwall has recently enjoyed a pro audio upgrade in the form of a twin HK Audio Actor PA system. Part of HK Audio's portable, self-powered active pro audio range, Actor delivers 2.6kW RMS per system, giving the Princess Pavilion a useful 5kW-plus of quality sound reinforcement.

The popular venue is host to a variety of shows and performances ranging from theatre and live concerts to charity and benefit evenings. In recent months, an increasing number of musical acts has included teen blues-pop favourites Rooster and rockgrass cult act, Hayseed Dixie amongst many others.

Supplied and installed by Cornwall-based specialists RJF Audio Visual, the twin Actor system setup is supplemented by four HK Audio Premium Series PR115X plus two Premium Series PR112M stage wedges. The Pavilion's management has said they are "supremely happy'"

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USA - The new $2.7billion Wynn resort and casino in Las Vegas features an abundance of Martin Professional equipment supplied by Production Resource Group (PRG), say the company. The equipment appears in four main areas - the central outdoor feature, the Wynn Theatre, convention and meeting space, and a pair of high profile clubs. PRG was the lighting system integrator for all the theatrical and most of the architectural lighting systems on the property.

The centerpiece of Wynn Las Vegas is a 150ft tall mountain with a five-story waterfall that cascades into a three-acre, man-made lake. Unlike most front features in Las Vegas, however, the Wynn feature is only viewable from within the property. Mac fixtures works alongside Jem Roadie smoke machines and submersed LEDs as part of a multimedia light-and-water show that runs every 15 minutes. The fixtures include 23 Mac 2000 Wash wi

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UK - Wigwam Acoustics' hire department deployed large numbers of Audio-Technica microphones to reinforce and provide broadcast feeds for the 100 piece tri-service orchestra at The WWII Commemoration Show on Sunday 10 July, staged on Horse Guards Parade, London.

11,000 WWII veterans joined a line-up of celebrities, including Dame Vera Lynn, Jane Horrocks, Bruce Forsythe and Simon Callow, with the tri-service orchestra and the Bach Choir, for the Festival of Commemoration in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen. Televised live, the gala performance was designed by leading sound designer John Del Nero, whose credits include The Edinburgh Military Tattoo and Queens Golden Jubilee Celebrations at Buckingham Palace.

The Show was very complex and needed over 220 channels of microphone and instrument feeds, along with numerous sound effect and video feeds to and from the BBC. Audio-T

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UK - APR Audio made a successful debut at Glastonbury this year, using some of its large inventory of Electro-Voice X-Line to provide audio production services for the Jazz World stage, which this year hosted Roy Ayers, Roots Manuva, The Wailers, Taj Mahal, Femi Kuti, and the Levellers amongst others, attracting crowds of up to 30,000 for the biggest shows.

Under the supervision of Pete Russell, APR Audio provided left and right Electro-Voice X-Line hangs, each featuring 14 Xvls and two Xvlt cabinets, and using 32 matched X-subs, with eight XI 1152s for fill. Control was provided by way of Midas Heritage 3000 consoles on stage and at front-of-house, with KT Helix EQ with DN370s. All power was delivered by Precision Series P3000RL amplifiers, managed by the latest v2. IRIS control software which allows up to 250 amplifiers to be remotely controlled and supervised.

APR is partic

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UK - FX Rentals provided the PA system for an important new fixture in the arts calendar - the New Music Award, presented by the PRS Foundation for New Music, held in July before an invited audience at London's Living Room. FX, one of the major sponsors of the event alongside the PRS (Performing Right Society), provided four Mackie SRM 450 self-powered speakers with two HZ PB400 sub bass units, Pioneer CDJ1000 mk2 CD turntables and a Pioneer DJM600 DJ mixer, mics and a video distribution box for the evening's speeches, music and visuals.

"The PRS Foundation has worked with FX Rentals on several occasions, and their ongoing support is hugely significant," says PRS Foundation manager David Francis. "They are extremely helpful in working with us to ensure that our events run smoothly and successfully, and their technical knowledge and experience is second to none.&qu

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USA - Bonnaroo has been the top-grossing festival in the US since it began in 2002 and Bandit Lites has been lighting the two principal stages every year. Set in the fields of Manchester, Tennessee, some 60 miles south of Nashville nearly 80,000 music lovers descended for the annual three-day festival. The New York Times noted, "Bonnaroo, in just its third year, has already revolutionized the modern rock festival." In a special issue of Rolling Stone, Bonnaroo was named one of the 50 moments that changed the history of rock'n'roll.

Produced by Superfly Productions of New Orleans and Ashley Capps of Knoxville, Tennessee, the show celebrated its fourth year in 2005 with a line up of such notables as Widespread Panic, Dave Matthews Band, Trey Anastasio, Jack Johnson, The Black Crowes, Allman Brothers, Modest Mouse, Joss Stone, The Mars Volta, Kings of Leon and over 60 oth

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The Netherlands - Luxeon LEDs from Lumileds have been used to light Stevenage Borough Council's new Customer Service Centre in a project that turns the entire ceiling into a bespoke luminaire that simulates the sky.

In the first project of its kind in the UK, Future Group Lighting Design and Light Projects, a certified member of the LUXEON Lighting Network, were briefed to create a welcoming environment for both members of the public and call centre staff, through the creative use of light.

To achieve this the architect Brian Martin designed a feature ceiling, consisting of a series of coffered arcs that conceal a specially developed light solution. Using white and blue Luxeon LEDs a colour changing effect that runs over the course of the day has been created, simulating the sky and creating a feeling of light and space.

Key to the lighting solution is the light source, spec

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USA - After a devastating fire, the Hilton Garden Inn/Thelma Keller Convention Center complex in Effingham, Illinois, has re-opened with a renewed emphasis on attracting event-related business.

AVI Systems, St Louis, Missouri, handled the extensive audio-visual work for the complex and selected the Symetrix SymNet modular audio mixing, routing and digital processing system as a core technology for managing the complexities of its design.

Michael McNeil, who helped design and install the system, says: "SymNet was virtually the only product on the market with the ability to discretely and intelligently perform multiple tasks," McNeil says. "It's the core of the whole system design."

Four 8x8 SymNet units, two Break-In 12 boxes and two CobraNet units handle the mixing, processing and routing of audio to the convention center ballroom area, which can be parti

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UK - Leading entertainment lighting supplier White Light has recently completed the supply and installation of a new lighting rig to Patidar House in London, the headquarters of the Federation of Patidar Associations, a Gujarati Hindu Patel community organization. Having completed demolition of their existing building in December 2003, the Association has been working since to complete a new headquarters incorporating a custom-designed performance space for their performing arts programme. The new space is of a proscenium arch design with a balcony on three sides of the auditorium, and with a retractable main seating bank to allow the creation of a flat floor area when required. With its seating in place, the auditorium can accommodate around 250 people.

White Light's Projects team, led by Roger Hennigan, became involved with the project through White Light's regular collaborato

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UK - Superstar DJ Pete Tong recently selected two Allen & Heath Xone VF-1 analogue stereo filter units for use in his London studio, and performing live at his numerous global tour dates. Tong has also installed two VF-1 units in the Pacha club in Ibiza for him to use during his summer residency at the venue. "I'm always looking for ways of enhancing my live performance," comments Tong. "I got into Allen & Heath's filters when using the Xone:92 mixer, so, as a dedicated unit for the job the VF-1 is the next level in sophisticated filtering. It offers an impressive and dynamic range for me to experiment with."

The Xone VF-1's circuitry is an enhanced version of the filters built into the industry-standard Xone mixers, offering three basic filter types, which can be combined to create further filter types. The VF-1 can interface with any mixer, has MIDI capabil

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UK - Slingco has installed an 8.6m wide by 18m long CABLEnet tensioned wire grid at 6.4m above the main stage and auditorium of the new Junction 2 Theatre in Cambridge.

With no intermediate members below the grid - it's completely clear to the venue floor - and capable of supporting 250 Kg vertical loads. It's believed to be the largest grid of this type to date in the UK.

Junction 2 is a brand new flexible 220 capacity arts, theatre and education space, with a new technology laboratory aimed at inspiring the next generation of artists, musicians and audiences.

Designed as both a receiving and producing house, it's the first purpose built theatre to open in Cambridge since the 1930s and is operated by Junction CDC. Robin Townley, development director of Junction 2 knew that full flying facilities would not be required for the type of productions they would be staging, so he

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UK - The Diffusion Group have launched a new website to auction professional lighting, sound, staging and video equipment. Gearsales.com aims to become the industry site to buy and sell new and used equipment. "There is not an auction website specializing in production equipment. I believe that gearsales.com will enable sellers to connect easily and directly with buyers, creating quicker and hassle-free sales," said Diffusion Group managing director Darren Wain.

"Sometimes hire companies' list ex-hire equipment on their own websites - this can mean hours of searching individual websites to no avail," said Tom Nicholson, Diffusion Group director. "

The site benefits sellers due to the auction format, allowing items to reach higher prices than if they were sold with a fixed price," adds Wain.

To celebrate the launch of the site, Gearsales.com is c

  1. Angles of Dex with Denon
  2. IES sine wave dimming for Muziektheater
  3. Lighthouse success at InfoComm
  4. i-Vision at Bollicini
  5. VDC Supplies Cable to Coventry City FC's new stadium
  6. Wynn Resorts to PixelMAD
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