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USA - Eminem's lighting director Benny Kirkham used 60 James Thomas PixelLine LED batten fixtures for the artist's recently concluded high profile Anger Management Tour. It played arenas and amphitheatres throughout North America.

Lighting designer Dan Boland specified the PixelLines, then programmed and directed for the road by Kirkham. Ed and Ted's Excellent Lighting of Oxnard California supplied the gear plus much of the tour's rigging, with 10 Vario motors overhead provided by Show Distribution of Quebec City, Canada.

Boland used 37 Pixelline 1044s on the ground in DMX mode, broken down into 666 separate "cells" of control. The 1044s lined the entire downstage edge, fully outlining three 16 x 4ft stage thrusts.

Overhead, there were 22 of JTE's latest 110ec PixelLines, which were broken down into five cells apiece, giving a total of 110 "cells"

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UK - Denon DJ has confirmed a high-profile DJ line-up which will add an extra to buzz to DJ Sunday at the PLASA Show this year. The company has confirmed that the 'experimental' DJ Jonathan Lisle from MTheory Records and John Digweed's Bedrock organization, will be demoing on the stand (after taking part in one of the seminars - see here for full programme) at 2.30pm. Lisle will be using the DN-S5000 table top CD players, which he used on the Bedrock label's OS:02 original series CD mix album launched earlier this year, as well as the new DN-S3500, which Denon say everyone's shouting about on the forums right now. Joining Lisle will be the guys from online radio station www.cheekyhalf.net, as well as the Angels of Dex, who have their launch party at Turnmills (alongside Eddi
PLASA Show 2025 - Banner - June-Aug 2025

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UK - In order to make full use of your days at the PLASA show, the show's organizers are encouraging visitors to 'check in' early. The doors to the exhibition will be open from 9am every morning and you will be invited to go up to the Top Deck to collect your show catalogue, and have a cup of coffee at one of the outlets around the PLASA stand while planning you day, prior to the show's official opening at 10am.

Please note: due to the current security situation, there will be full bag checks as you enter the show and all visitors are being asked for their co-operation. In the meantime, to help you plan, don't forget to check out the show website - see address below - for all the up-to-date news in the final run-up to the show.

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Germany - Sound designer Peter Jehle from Neomy Sound & Light had more than one reason for choosing a Camco-powered Nexo GEO S tangent-array system for the Open Air festival in Reutlingen, south-west Germany.

With more than 60 open microphones on stage, the festival's Classic Night opening event at the Kreuzeiche stadium was a major project. Peter Jehle's first choice of PA was Nexo's GEO S. "Besides the first-class sound characteristics, we were particularly impressed by the compact, inconspicuous shape of the Nexo GEO S system and the fact that the software support enabled the volume in the auditorium to be predicted exactly. That's what convinced us. In retrospect, the sound reinforcement quality was exactly what we expected. On stage, there were as many as 60 open microphones in use simultaneously. That could only be done without great difficulty because of the GEO S sy

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Canada - XL Touring Video's Des Fallon from the company's London office and John Wiseman from the Los Angeles office worked together as the video contractor for Coldplay's Twisted Logic Tour 2005. Video content consists of two of the new Barco SLM R12 Plus Performer projectors, a Sony 5 camera system, and a Lighthouse LED screen provided by Pete's T.V.

Production design was conceived by Bryan Leitch, Hangman and Coldplay. Touring on behalf of XL Video is Andy Bramley as video director/creative consultant, Alan Yates as video crew chief, Mark Antonuik as camera man, Jimmy Johnston as projectionist/camera perator and Mark Wilkinson as camera operator. Tour production is under the management of Mark Ward and tour management is Andy Franks. The North American leg of the tour began 2 August in Toronto and wraps up on 9 September in Bristow,Va.

(Sarah Rushton-Read)

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UK - Stage Technologies has been awarded a contract by Fincantieri for the supply and installation of the complete stage rigging systems for two venues on board the Emerald Princess being built in Monfalcone, Italy. The Emerald Princess will be another of the 'Grand' family of ships that started with the delivery of Grand Princess in 1998.

Stage Technologies has many years experience of working in the Italian shipyards of Fincantieri supplying and commissioning stage automation systems for the theatres on board many of the large cruise ships that have been built there, including ships for Disney, Carnival and Princess. However until now this has always been as a subcontractor supplying only part of the theatre rigging system, for installation by others. This contract direct with the yard includes the supply and installation of the complete stage rigging system.

The completed s

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Italy - SIB 2006 - Italy's international event and entertainment technology exhibition (11-14 March 2006, Rimini Fiera, Italy) will once again host specific demo areas where trade visitors will be able to test equipment efficiency and effectiveness. 'Sound Power' - the world's only opportunity for trade members to see and hear the best and most advanced sound reinforcement systems currently on the market in action under outdoor working conditions - will have some interesting new features for 2006, say the organizers, including the location: the demos will be set up in a reserved zone near the West entrance - a much larger area that will ensure a better yield from the systems. The participation of six different high-powered systems has so far been confirmed.

There's also news as far as performances are concerned. The regulation 10-minute performances will be divided into two part

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UK - Stage One, one of Europe's leading scenic production companies is using its expertise to help BMW with its current high profile promotion of the 1 Series. The Company was brought on board by production company, TRO, to realize the creative design of David Hatton. The challenging brief required delivery of a futuristic viewpod, capable of displaying two vehicles (at differing levels) and containing technical information about the 1 Series.

The shape and profile of the viewpod was a key design factor and so Stage One faced a major construction challenge to produce a balanced, seamless, 'floating' structure, able to bear a weight of nearly one-and-a-half tonnes, whilst at the same time ensuring it was aesthetically pleasing and in keeping with the designers vision.

Stage One rose to the challenge, fulfilling the brief by constructing the pod in steel and then cladding it in

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USA - On 2 June, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame members, ZZ-Top embarked on Whack Attack, a six-month North American tour. With a complete lighting package provided by Bandit Lites, lighting designer Chris Stuba is continuing an 11-year tradition as the extended tour continues to move through the US and Canada. "Working with Chris Stuba is fantastic and his show design and execution is beautiful," said Bandit Lites VP Mike Golden. "The ZZ-Top staff are all true professionals and it's a pleasure to work with them each year."

The Vari*Lite portion of the complete lighting package includes four VL3500 spot luminaires.For the Whack Attack tour, Stuba was looking for a sort of a retro-garage feel, as there is diamond plating on the set which is partially made up of amplifier cases and LED tubes. The amplifiers also have electro-luminescent rope for piping, which outline

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UK - Star Events Group Ltd was approached to offer a staging solution for three regional football stadiums- Hull, Ipswich and Nottingham Forest for the UK leg of the REM World Tour. The brief from promoters CCE was to maximize audience capacities whilst maintaining the large, festival appearance of a traditional Vertech stage and of course accommodate REM's exciting and creative lighting and video set. After the first round of site surveys it became obvious that the way to maximize the capacities would be to construct as much of the stage as possible in the terraces of the stadiums. Once the limited height to the underside of the stadium roofs was taken into consideration it became apparent that a new approach would be required.

With the experience gained from involvement with the Wembley Pavilion project where a large back stage area was required, the Star Events Group design t

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Europe - PRG Europe is making room for new and updated rental equipment by selling some of its older stock. The sale, at PRG's Greenford offices in west London, will feature control consoles, automated and fixed lighting, followspots, dimmers, truss and motors, special effects equipment such as smoke and haze machines, strobes and LED battens, along with cabling.

Scheduled to run at the same time as PLASA, so that show visitors can visit both while in the capital, special offers include Wholehog II consoles, Source Fours and Vari*Lite fixtures and infrastructure.

PRG Europe group asset manager Paul Weaver says: "As a single source provider of lighting and projection solutions for the entertainment and events industry, we offer a range of resources unmatched anywhere. This means we have an enormous amount of stock, and storage space isn't cheap, so to make room we'd prefer

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UK - It's still possible to pre-book spaces for this year's seminar programmes at the PLASA Show by logging onto: www.plasashow.com/seminars. Tickets cost £10 per session, or you can save money by booking a three-session pass for £20. Tickets can be collected on the day from the Seminar Theatre located on the Top Deck at Earls Court.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - More than half a million people in the UK music and entertainment industry at serious risk of hearing damage are to receive protection under revised UK regulations that come into force next April.

The new statutory limits lower acceptable noise levels by five decibels. Employers will be required to take action to limit staff exposure to excessive noise and also provide adequate protection from hearing damage.

In order to help organizations meet this challenge with the correct information and the best practical advice, the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) in partnership with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is holding Sound Off - Noise Reduction at Work at the Earls Court Conference Centre in London. This two-day event, on October 11 and 12, is managed by CMP Information and supported by the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID).

Lawrence

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UK - An Avolites Diamond 4 Elite console was chosen by lighting designer Alan King to control the newly upgraded and boosted lighting rig for Manumission at Privilege - one of Ibiza's hottest superclubs and also used for its new 2005 Ibiza Rocks Friday night event.

The D4 was also utilized for Manumission's famous, highly theatrical Monday night club night, also staged at Privilege, the largest club in the world with a capacity of 10,000 and including a huge swimming pool in its midst.

The additional lighting for Privilege's 2005 summer season, which also includes several other high profile club nights, was supplied by Oxfordshire-based Production Hire Ltd (PHL). Alan King designed the new rig and ran it for the season. It was this first time he'd used an Avolites Diamond 4 console, selected because he needed a powerful, versatile and easy to use control platform for the large

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UK - Sunbaba will score a hat-trick of prestigious events this weekend, with its plain and full colour digitally printed banners and PA scrims featuring at the fifth Ashes Test at the Oval, the BBC Proms in the Park and at Artsfest, a huge free festival-taking place in Birmingham City Centre.

Events branding specialists Sunbaba was brought in by Surrey Cricket to provide over 600sqm of its Austronet and DigiMesh branding for use at The Oval during the fifth Ashes Test. Sunbaba's specialist work in the events industry makes them a key choice when venues and sponsors want printed branding that fits perfectly and matches their corproate image.

For the BBC's Last Night of Proms in the Park events, Sunbaba was chosen to provide its specialist "DigiSound" PA scrims for the events in Manchester, Glasgow and Swansea, in addition the company supplied BBC Scotland with heras f

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UK - Perth Concert Hall is to be host to a Gala Concert, given by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, on 16 September 2005.

The event marks the public opening of the first full-scale purpose-built concert hall in Scotland since 1990. The £17M building is the result of an international architectural competition, chaired by Eva Jiricna, and won by BDP's Glasgow office in 1998.

Located in Perth's historic Horsecross, once a thriving market area but more recently marginalized, Perth Concert Hall is viewed in the round and BDP's free form plan is a unifying response to the irregular edges of the urban fabric bounding the site. The Horsecross area has already witnessed significant urban regeneration, as a result of the impending opening of this new facility, which includes a streetscaping project by the local authority following completion of the Concert Hall.

Bruce Kennedy, B

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UK - S-Cluster has recently been successful in securing a series of major orders. The systems are to be installed throughout the German Railway network after a pilot project was conducted by Tramway Operator SSB in Stuttgart earlier this year. SSB were so impressed that it is due to update its complete audio communication system to S-Cluster technology in 2006.

One of the very first S-Cluster installations was the Metro system in Athens, which was completed just in time for the Olympic Games. S-Cluster encoders and output boxes are now in action, streaming train times, background music and security alerts to stations via a fibre optic network. S-Cluster system can also stream audio using Mpeg 4s and aptX over a standard IP Network (TCP-IP).

"This is great news," commented John Midgley, managing director of beyerdynamic. "The system has already proven itself to b

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The World Youth Day 2005 in Cologne - the highlight of which was the Pope's visit on the Marienfeld - was an exceptional event, equipped by CT Creative Technology Germany, the international supplier for audio-visual media technology, with a gigantic array of LED screens, LED trucks and the latest production and broadcast technology. CT Germany together with XL Video as supplied more than 1,200sq.m of LED screens and mobile LED trucks, which were used in and around the city.

For the Pope's visit on 20-21 August, 20 modular LED large screens and 12 mobile LED trucks were set up and technically supported by CT and XL. Each modular LED screen measured more than 40sq.m and the mobile trucks were equipped with LED screens which with a size between 25 and 40sq.m. About one million of pilgrims met on the former open-cast mining area of more than 2.5sq.km. They were able to experience live the

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USA - The Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal CityWalk is currently undergoing a complete audio system retrofit from Sound Image of Escondido, California. Using the Harman Pro HiQnet System Architect configuration and control software, the 6,000-seat amphitheatre represents the first multi-brand HiQnet installation in North America. Additional Harman HiQnet installations are now operational at the Hong Kong Stadium in Hong Kong and the Stade due Suisse in Berne, Switzerland.

Located in Universal City, California, the Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal CityWalk has been a state-of-the-art indoor venue since 1982. The amphitheatre has long been known for its sightlines and outstanding acoustics, a reputation that has been upheld and enhanced with the recent installation.

To date, Sound Image has installed 42 Crown I-Tech 800 amplifiers outfitted with HiQnet technology, along with 24

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Italy - When it comes to Jazz, Italy is a very special country. Gil Evans, elsewhere known only to Jazz aficionados was a superstar here, and Keith Jarrett, the master of almost claustrophobic Chamber Jazz, is filling stadia and other giant open air spaces.

It started ten years ago in the Arena di Verona, the place of monumental opera works like Aida or Nabucco, that Italian rental company BH Audio together with Fichtner Tontechnik from Germany joined forces to provide crew and equipment for a breath-taking concert of Jarrett's trio.

Ever since whenever the American pianist along with Gary Peacock on bass and drummer Jack de Johnette perform in Italy it's the same sound team that are used to reproduce their subtle interpretation of Jazz standards. This year was no exception when in July they took to the stage at the Arena Flegrea in Naples.

A d&b audiotechnik sound system, s

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UK - Specialist Mobile staging company SRC has signed a five-year contract to provide all of the mobile staging to Liverpool Culture Company's events, debuting at the Matthew Street Festival 2005.

Liverpool Culture Company's three day Mathew Street Music Festival is Europe's biggest free city centre music festival, annually attracting over 350,000 visitors over the August bank holiday weekend. Visitors watched artists spread over five SRC stages. Still a celebration of where it all began with the music of the Beatles, the festival, now celebrates a myriad of musical tastes from Abba to Tony Christie.

SRC and its fleet of mobile stages enabled the hugely complex logistical requirements of installing performance areas in the City Centre, which were operated and then removed - some within a 24-hour period. The scale of the operation is unparalleled in any city in the UK, with ove

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Australia / Hungary - ARX Systems, the Australian manufacturer of professional audio equipment, has announced the appointment of Budapest-based RMS Audio KFT as its new distributor for Hungary. ARX's managing director Colin Park said: "Following discussions with Tibor Kiss from RMS at the Frankfurt Pro Light & Sound exhibition earlier in the year, we feel RMS Audio offers ARX the opportunity to team up with a very professional and driven distribution company to promote and develop ARX's products in the Hungarian market."

Along with ARX, RMS Audio also represent Martin Audio in Hungary.

(Lee Baldock)

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USA - Audio Products International Corp, manufacturer of the world famous Energy, Mirage and Athena Technologies brands, has announced its entry into the professional and commercial sound markets under the brand Energy Pro.

The first products created under the new brand will be launched on booth 636 at the AES (Audio Engineering Society) Show in New York City, 7-10 October 2005. On show at AES will be a comprehensive line of studio monitors, focussed on the recording, post production, project studio and broadcast markets. Stereo, surround, passive, active, analogue and digitally controlled systems are all featured and API has used its considerable R&D resources to design in digital compatibility and upgrade paths for this advanced range.

To manage the business unit, API has employed the services of industry veteran Bill Calma, well known as the man who established Tannoy in No

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UK - Wigwam has invested in 20 channels of Klark Teknik DN9340 Helix EQ for touring use by art-rockers Franz Ferdinand. The band from Glasgow debuted the new units at selected festival appearances this summer, before heading off to start an autumn tour in the USA.

The KT Helix system, which was specified by FF's monitor engineer Tilda Bruynooghe with full STS (solo tracking system) and wireless tablet control, will be used with a Midas Heritage 3000 console. Wigwam's Chris Hill confirms that the Helix system was chosen primarily because of the wireless control, which allows instant and simultaneous online control of up to 64 channels of EQ from a tablet computer. "This frees the engineer from the traditional side-of-stage monitor world position, and that's especially useful during initial system equalization. Tilda can take her tablet and set up the system from anywhere on

  1. Star Events uses Orbit Flexidome
  2. Making it Personal at PLASA 2005
  3. PLASA 2005 opens with DJ treats
  4. Full-On first day for PLASA 2005
  5. PLASA Launches National Rigging Award
  6. PLASA Awards for Innovation
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