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UK - Bandit Lites supplied lighting production and crew for LD Jonny Gaskell's spectacular visual design at the Top Shop Fashion Show and Awards. The two-day event was staged at Syon House in West London, and each day saw 1500 of the popular retailer's design teams and store managers as guests.

The project was managed for Bandit by Lester Cobrin who has worked with Gaskell several times in the past. Gaskell and his partner Nick Gray of Renegade Lighting were asked onboard by event producers 9PR, who are regular clients.

Lester Cobrin comments, "Jonny is one of the most talented and enthusiastic LD's I've had the pleasure of working with. He has tremendous vision and the end product is always refreshing and innovative."

Gaskell had to light the show and catwalk area in a 150ft long marquee, featuring a central stage area with four runways coming off it at right angl

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France - The biggest fireworks display in Europe was held on the first Saturday in August, as it is every year, at the Fete du Lac in Annecy. Set against the stunning backdrop of the French Alps, it is a truly spectacular event that attracts tens of thousand of visitors every year.

This year's theme was Chansons d'Amour with a prelude courtesy of Les Choeurs de France (the choirs of France), an ensemble of 700 choristers whose music also accompanied the pyrotechnic display. Production was handled by Annecy Evenements who turned to Austrian pyrotechnician, Armin Lukasser for the second year running to create the fireworks spectacular. Also for the second year running, audio was handled by Starlight Evenementiel a full service production company from Alsace.

Starlight worked in conjunction with German rental company, Omega, and between them they fielded a powerful 130-box

Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

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UK - Club operator Mark Sansom who made his name at London dance temple, Bagleys in King's Cross, came out of his self-enforced retirement to open the 350-capacity Vanilla Bar in Windsor. He has spent around £1m fitting out an empty building on the town's leisure strip, with a sunken fish tank in the entrance and separate Main Bar, Club Bar and luxurious LED-lit Lounge/Cocktail bar. "Although we are no longer DJ-led I still get a lot of top people wanting to play here because of past connections," says Mark. "I know the calibre of DJs we will get and what they will want to play on."

For the sound system, he passed up the rackmount twin CD option in favour of two of the individual Denon DN-S1000 tabletops, which also support MP3. Denon were able to design this as an affordable, entry-level product after first adapting the template of the award-winning DN-S500

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UK - With little more than two weeks to go until PLASA 2005 opens its doors, here are 10 reasons why you can't afford to miss out on this year's Show - taking place between Sunday 11 and Wednesday 14 September at Earls Court, London:

1. You'll see lots of new ideas - over 1,000 new products will be launched, and the best of these will be featured in the Innovation Gallery.
2. You'll see all the major international brands and manufacturers from around the globe.
3. You'll find more new companies exhibiting this year than ever before.
4. You'll hear about numerous new industry initiatives.
5. You'll find out what others are spending their money on and why.
6. You'll get to talk to lots of different people, many of them potential customers.
7. You'll take back knowledge to your workplace.
8. All the major industry trade associations will be there to offe

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UK - Lightfactor Sales has sold SGM Palco colour changing LED luminaires to Bristol-based lighting rental company, Fineline. Fineline's Darren Wring first trialled the Palcos on a corporate job at the NEC in Birmingham for Spandex, after which he was so impressed he decided to invest in the units. These went straight out again on another show for Spandex in Amsterdam.

The new Spandex exhibition stand's design and lighting design is by Wring and was built by James Thomas Engineering. It's an impressive 12 metres wide by 16 metres long, and the whole stand spins round in a circle, and is animated by both movement and changing colours.

Lightfactor's Peter Coles completed the deal with Fineline, "It's great to see companies like Fineline investing in LED technology, and we're really pleased that Darren chose the Palco as his first LED wash fixtures. It's generally been an exc

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UK - Shure Distribution UK will be showing products from Shure, QSC Audio, Phonic and Sound Devices at PLASA 2005. Shure will present the UHF-R Wireless Systems which features networked automatic set-up to minimize set-up time and effort, 75MHz bandwidth for reliable, trouble-free operation, integrated Wireless Workbench Software for advanced, real-time network control and Audio Reference Companding technology for exceptional audio quality.

Shure's new premium KSM9 vocal condenser wireless capsule will also make its official UK debut. Available exclusively with the UHF-R systems, the KSM9 capsule will be offered in champagne and black finishes by the end of the year. Shure UHF-R/KSM9 seminars will take place during the show from Monday to Tuesday at midday and 3pm.

From Phonic the show visitor will witness the latest and most powerful additions to the XP Series of amplifiers,

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UK - DJs keen to see all the latest DJ technologies should head to this year's PLASA Show, which runs for four full-on days at Earls Court 1 in London, from 11-14 September. Both show floors will be packed with the hottest DJ gear - everything from the smartest decks to top-of-the-range mixers.

Denon, Numark, Pioneer, Stanton and Vestax will be just some of the big-name brands at the Show, and a key part of the 300-strong line up of exhibitors showcasing current trends in lighting, sound, AV and multimedia technologies.

DJ Sunday, sponsored by iDJ magazine, will get the show off to a flying start with numerous events, giveaways and on-stand demos by leading DJs. In the DJ Lounge (at the back of the hall), visitors can watch the winners of iDJ Magazine's monthly Raw Talent competition and there will also be an opportunity to take the first steps into music production with a Tal

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Australia - Australian manufacturer LSC Lighting Systems was contracted to design and supply a cabinet dimming system for the Australian Government's pavilion at World Expo 2005. Held in Aichi, Japan, World Expo commenced on 25 March and will wind up in late September. It provides a significant opportunity to promote Australia to the world and averages 20,000 people through the pavilion every day, with the grand total of visitors nearing the two million mark.

The Australian pavilion reflects the theme of the Expo - Nature's Wisdom - from an Australian perspective. Visitors to the Australian pavilion gain an understanding that through learning the lessons of the past and using modern-day technology, we are better able to provide for the sustainable future - environmentally, economically and socially. The pavilion showcases Australia's unique lifestyle - a lifestyle that ha

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USA - In October 2004, Jeep found a spectacular way to drive home the point that the 2005 Grand Cherokee literally could "go anywhere": they sent the vehicle up the outside of the 27-storey high-rise at 2 Penn Center in midtown Manhattan. On the ground, a half-million unflappable New Yorkers stopped to stare, while TV and webcams sent images to millions of viewers worldwide. The amazement was real, but the feat was an elaborate theatrical illusion, made possible by the meticulous planning, engineering and fabrication that PRG puts into every production.

In just three weeks, PRG designed, installed and tested the mechanism that would make the vehicle appear to climb the 414-foot structure under its own power. To reduce weight, they removed the engine and transmission from the Grand Cherokee, installed a motor that made the wheels turn, and fixed the assembly to a sled t

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Sweden - On the evening of 18 August, Ericsson Racing Team's Volvo Ocean 70 was baptised by her godmother - HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, at a spectacular christening ceremony in Gothenburg, Sweden. The Swedish company Spectra Stage & Event Technologies used W-DMX BlackBox products to control four units of Syncrolite SX B/52 and six units of Studio Due City Color over the harbour of Gothenburg. The distance was about 200m open water between console and fixtures. W-DMX BlackBox with standard antenna was used and chief technical officer of Spectra, Abbe Westerlundh who used the products was very happy with the simplicity and power of the W-DMX equipment from Wireless Solution Sweden AB.

Spectra Stage & Event Technologies have invested in several W-DMX BlackBox Systems for the indoor and outdoor events and completed several events in the last month, including Doobidoo

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UK - Glasgow is to host its first Festival of Light this November, bringing together celebrated lighting and visual artists and emerging talent to create a three-day spectacle placing light at the centre of urban culture. Radiance, Glasgow Festival of Light will be staged in the city's vibrant Merchant City from November 25 - 27.

Commissioned and funded by Glasgow City Council, and organised in partnership by nva and DF Concerts, the festival will "introduce light as an art form, creating an engaging and visually striking artistic experience at the festival site - whilst illuminating the beautiful, significant and often hidden architecture of the Merchant City".

The festival will coincide with Glasgow's hosting of the 2005 AGM of LUCI, the Lighting Urban Community International Association which promotes creative lighting strategies within urban contexts, of w

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Denmark - TC Group has announced the complete acquisition of TC-Helicon, the leading manufacturer of vocal technology products. TC Group previously owned 50% of TC-Helicon, which is headquartered in Canada. By purchasing the remaining 50 % of the shares from IVL Technologies Ltd, TC Group now welcomes TC-Helicon as a full-fledged member of the group, which includes Tannoy, Lab.gruppen, TC Electronic, TC Applied Technologies, and TC-Helicon.

Kevin Alexander will continue to serve as CEO of TC-Helicon, which was founded in 2000 as a joint venture between IVL Technologies Ltd and TC Group A/S. The aim of TC-Helicon, which today enjoys a strong position in the MI and professional audio markets, is to provide dedicated tools and solutions for the human voice. With this year's release of the flagship vocal processor, VoicePro, TC-Helicon further establishes itself as the world-leading

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UK - The Lighting Design Awards represent the UK's most prestigious opportunity to achieve recognition for excellence and innovation in lighting design and technology. Rigorously judged by leading industry professionals, finalists and winners earn the plaudits of their peers, industry respect and publicity across a wide range of media, including national press and TV.

New this year, sponsored by PLASA and the PLASA Show, is the Entertainment Lighting category. Open to theatrical productions, concerts, music festivals, corporate events, exhibitions, temporary and one-off lighting installations, this new award will see lighting designers in the event sector recognised for excellence.

The event or events must have taken place in the UK, Ireland and Channel Islands between 10 December 2004 and 9 December 2005 (the deadline for entries). Judges will require full technical informati

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Denmark - The new MAC 250 Wash is currently playing an important part in Danish amusement park Tivoli's celebration of Hans Christian Andersen's 200 year birthday. Titled A Tivoli Fairytale, the show pays tribute to Denmark's beloved writer through the daily presentation of an imaginative puppet show. The free show plays at Tivoli's Open Air Stage and includes living fairy tales, special effects, historical readings, newly composed music and song. Andersen was a frequent visitor to the amusement park and it was there that he found inspiration for the fairytale The Nightingale.

Cascades of light, music and special effects set the stage for a gigantic puppet show whose main character is the writer himself. Surrounded by iridescent puppets standing several meters tall, Andersen presents ten of his most popular fairytales including Thumbelina, The Emperor's New Clot

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UK - Designer Paul Daly has opened Underbelly, a new nightclub designed for DJ's and live performance in Hoxton, London. The venue is located underground, downstairs from another Daly-designed venue, Zigfrid's. "It's an amazing venue," remarks Peter Kellet, owner of Viba*Optics, the company that designed and installed both clubs. "It's all a brand new build, but it's pretty compact, and there were a few challenges in integrating such a relatively complex system into the space."

The versatile sound system, purpose-built for the room, can support live performance in traditional stereo mode, or be reconfigured into a full-on surround system for DJ nights. QSC's RMX amplifiers, including three RMX 1850HDs, two RMX 2450s and a single RMX 1450 unit, drive all of the room's loudspeakers.

The amps are fed from a single BSS SoundWeb unit, with a 24-channel Soundcraf

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UK - SSE Hire's festival package, which provides a huge range of visiting sound engineers with the familiarity of use and reliability of Midas consoles, has starred in all the UK's major outdoor events this year, and the 10th V Festival in August was no exception.

SSE provided its standard festival package of two Midas Heritage 3000s at front of house and two XL3s on stage for the main V stages at both sites - Hylands Park in Chelmsford, Essex, and Weston Park in Staffordshire. Additionally, the Channel 4 (second) stage at both sites featured an XL4 at FOH and an XL3 on stage, again supplied by SSE.

"Our standard Midas festival package has been the mainstay of our festival work throughout the summer, from Homelands, Download, Glastonbury, T in the Park, Oxegen, Summer Sundae and Cropredy through to V2005 and the Carling Reading and Leeds festivals," says SSE's hire m

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UK - Scenechange and Green Hippo have merged to form Green Hippo Ltd. Until recently digital media specialists Scenechange had been working as the exclusive worldwide distributors of the Hippotizer media server.

James Heron, director of Green Hippo comments, "It became more and more apparent over the last year or so that the combination of Green Hippo and Scene Change as a force for furthering the Hippotizer has really been a meeting of like minded enthusiasts. For Hippotizer to continue going from strength to strength, the merging of the two companies was the only sensible option."

He continues: "We now have the team we always wanted under one roof and this puts us in a strong position to develop, evolve and support our media server range."

As part of the merger, the two companies have completed a move into larger premises. Nigel Sadler, formerly technic

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USA - Audio designers and engineers from the western US joined Meyer Sound at the 6,300-seat Shrine Auditorium, home to countless televised award shows over the years, for an introduction to and demonstration of Meyer Sound's new MICA compact high-power curvilinear array loudspeaker.

MICA, a smaller, lighter version of the large-format MILO high-power curvilinear array loudspeaker, is billed as being ideal for mid-sized venues not requiring the additional power and throw of MILO, or as an adjunct to a MILO main system.

The Shrine demonstration was held over two days and offered attendees the opportunity to hear MICA several ways: without EQ, with recorded music and with live music.

After being greeted by Meyer Sound's Western Regional Sales Manager Jim Sides, the event's host, a CD selection was played over what Meyer Sound's John Monitto called "MICA in the raw":

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UK - Stagecraft Theatre Services has completed its four-year project at the New Theatre Royal in Portsmouth, part of a series of upgrades following a fire backstage at the Victorian venue in 1972.

A company specialising in theatre design, Stagecraft was responsible for the complete refurbishment of all lighting and sound systems, including internal and external lighting design. "We have been working with the New Theatre Royal for many years on a refurbishment programme, and it is great to see all our hard work finally come together," comments Martin Palmer, Stagecraft director.

A team of ten engineers from Stagecraft Theatre Services worked with the theatre Manager to relocate the infrastructure of all sound and lighting systems. The lighting and sound control room was moved to the gods of the Theatre to enable the restoration of the upper and lower circles to

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UK - For the fourth year running, Entec Lighting supplied CMP Entertainment with full lighting production, foyer area and VIP tent illuminations and crew for the month long Liverpool Summer Pops event. The hugely successful 2005 Pops season featured a dynamic assortment of home grown and international talents - including McFly, Anastasia, Meat Loaf, The Australian Pink Floyd, Paul Weller, Diana Ross and many, many more.

Once again staged in its 4,500 capacity 6-pole Big Top, this year the location was shifted to a site on the Dock Road as Liverpool's new stadium is under construction on the previous one. The lighting rig was designed by Dave Hill. He wasn't able to physically run the shows himself this year as he was fully committed with the Rolling Stones. Instead, Entec dispatched their cheerful team of Phil White and Leigh Yeomans, both of whom have also worked on the show be

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USA - Fresno, California-based Michael Garrison Associates (MGA), a design-build systems contracting firm that has served the church market for nearly 30 years, installed its first L-Acoustics system at the new 110,000-square-foot Calvary Church (formerly Calvary Temple) in Irving, Texas.

Under the direction of senior systems designer Brian Roggow, twin arrays, each comprised of ten L- Acoustics dV-Dosc cabinets plus three dV-SUBs, were flown above the left and right sides of the stage in the 1,500-seat main sanctuary. For low-frequency reinforcement, four SB218 subwoofers are positioned up in the room's centre cavity while two SB118s are located under the stage. Four additional coaxial MTD108a systems are further called upon to deliver front-fill, and all loudspeaker systems are powered by L- Acoustics' own LA Series amplifiers.

"Our initial system design for Calvary Tem

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UK - Lighting filter supplied by Lee Filters has been used to help control the lighting levels at the recent New Dawn Women exhibition at the Watts Gallery, Compton near Guildford. The Exhibition explores the role of women in the Arts & Crafts movement around the dawn of the 20th century and curator Irene Cockcroft has traced a unique collection of work never before presented to the public.

A number of the precious artefacts in the exhibition have been lent by leading British museums, so strict lighting conditions needed to be applied to protect the pieces from any damage. One major concern was the elimination of the ultra-violet light levels from the fluorescent lamps used to light the display cabinets. Lee Filters Fluorescent Sleeves with UV inserts were used within the cabinets, which removed virtually all traces of ultra-violet light. This ensured that none of the exh

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France - While Lance Armstrong was making history on the world's stage for his seventh Tour de France win, another stage was being set up for his victory and retirement party. High End Systems digital lighting products and a Wholehog 3 console helped set the celebratory scene for the cyclist and the Discovery Channel cycling team at The Ritz Paris.

Capital Sports & Entertainment (CSE) hosted the post-awards party. The main party room in the hotel's indoor swimming area accommodated 700-plus guests by adding a custom dance floor over the pool. Four ballrooms upstairs were also used.

Rudiger Haeming of Arcus supplied technical support and 4 High End Systems DL1s, 4 Catalyst Pro media servers and a Wholehog 3 console. French event producers Adelie Evenements and STe Displays provided additional lighting, audio and video equipment plus local crew.

The party's visual elements cen

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USA - Digidesign has reported a number of international touring acts including Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Travis Tritt, Vince Gill, Kelly Clarkson and many others are among the early adopters of the Digidesign Venue live sound environment.

After only six months of availability, Venue systems have been used all over the world by major tours such as Nine Inch Nails, Black Eyed Peas, The Cure, Placebo, John Hiatt, Donny Osmond, Joe Satriani, Alicia Keys, Sound Tribe Sector 9, the popular Japanese band Love Psychedelico, Umphrey's McGee, The Thrills, Nena, and many more. Venue systems have also been called into service by those bands and others at major festivals, such as Live8 in Paris, the Montreux Jazz Festival, The Gathering of the Vibes music festival (celebrating Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead), 10,000 Lakes Festival, and Lollapalooza.

"Sixteen days of the festi

  1. Dynacord at Leipzig's Central Stadium
  2. V & P Sounds adds MH3 to rental fleet
  3. Pioneer's DJ line-up for PLASA 2005
  4. Universal at the V Festival
  5. Sonny Sonnenfeld: keynote session at PLASA
  6. Community sound for Crazy Horse memorial
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Astera - Large MPU - June 2025
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