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Belgium - Unit 4 - the specialist outside broadcast truck built around a DiGiCo D5 Live console by Belgian company DB Videoproductions - was enlisted to provide a live to air audio mix for Flemish radio station Q-Music's promotional tour.

Taking place in mid-August, the tour took in five Belgian cities in five days, visiting Sint-Truiden, Brugge, Gent, Mechelen and St. Niklaas. Featuring performances by a range of artists - including Level 42, Sister Sledge, ABC and heavy metallers Udo - each show was a free outdoor event and broadcast live on Q-Music.

DB Videoproductions and Unit 4 were brought in to provide a live mix for the live radio transmission, as well as making a multitrack recording. The show's live audio production utilised another pair of DiGiCo D5s on FOH and monitors, supplied by hire company Soundfield, with two stage racks and three local racks. Fibre optic mul

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USA - The 2006 VMAs night broadcast by MTV from New York's Radio City Music Hall featured coverage of the movie and music stars' arrival on the red carpet outside, with Coemar's iWash Halos, ParLite LED, SuperCyc's e Panorama Cyc's performing key roles.

Lighting designer for Light Action, Tom Kenny provided an eye catching show for fans, reporters and TV cameras.

(Jim Evans)

Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

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The Netherlands - Pixlvision, the Netherlands' new centre for professional video distribution, sales, solutions, support and training, has opened for business with office and warehouse facilities located in Utrecht.

The new company, headed by video industry specialist Hans Denekamp, will focus primarily on the importing and distribution of high-end professional video systems. It also has a fully-equipped solutions and support department that can help integrators, designers and end users find solutions for every video application, from installation to rental. Clients include AV system integrators, broadcast facilities, rental companies and cinemas.

The first product lines to be confirmed are Analog Way, Doremi, Smart-AVI and JL Cooper, making Pixlvision the country's leading supplier of hard disk recorders, video matrix switchers, decoders and accessories.

Alongside its siste

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USA - Daystar Television Network is the second largest Christian television network in the US and broadcasts all over the world. Based out of Bedford, Texas, the network recently purchased a Martin lighting and control package for its Studio A which features the station's flagship production Celebration.

The package consists of MAC 550 profile spots, Maxxyz lighting console and a very recent purchase of Martin's Maxedia Digital Media Composer, all supplied by Gemini Stage & Lighting of Dallas. The network also plans to add MAC 700 Profiles.

Michael Cerione, television lighting director and lighting designer at Daystar, commented, "The Martin lights have done everything we have expected, and we have only touched the surface of what they can do. They give movement and really set the mood for the music portions of our productions, as well as helping create an atmosphe

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Sweden - Power amplifier designer and manufacturer, Lab.gruppen, celebrated the company's most successful year ever, and the launch of the new FP+ Series and line-extending C Series amplifiers, by inviting its worldwide distributors to Kungsbacka, Sweden, for the first ever Lab.gruppen distributor conference. The event was held pre-Plasa in early September and more than 45 distributors made the journey to the factory.

Attendees were treated to the unveiling of the new FP+ Series, which includes the FP 13000 (2 x 6500 W), FP 10000Q (4 x 2500 W), FP 7000 (2 x 3500 W) and FP 6000Q (4 x 1500 W) all ratings at 2 ohms, and the new C Series models C 20:8X (8 x 250 W), C 10:4X (4 x 250 W), C 10:8X (8 x 125 W) and C 5:4X (4 x 125 W) all ratings at 4, 8, 16 Ohms and 70V.

Lab.gruppen MD Tomas Lilja opened the conference during breakfast at the factory. Delegates were then split into four

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UK - The Prize Stage at the PLASA '06 After Show Bar once again proved a resounding success, attracting crowds at Earls Court 1's central bar on the Sunday and Tuesday evening of PLASA '06.

The Prize Stage was sponsored by nine of the industry's major players and on both evenings the main event was the £1000 prize draw. The two lucky winners were Gary Sales and Alex McEwan.

"The prospect of winning £1000 was an enticing proposition to make me go and look at all the participating company's products," said McEwan. "This is the second year running I've been to the PLASA Show and the Prize Stage was certainly a very welcome added bonus."

Mc Ewan explained that the money will go towards helping him set up his new business: "I've worked freelance for quite some time and have now set up a production company based in the Birmingham area, so I'm g

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Australia - Brisbane's North-South Bypass Tunnel (NSBT) is a massive project; a new road that will connect north-south traffic under Brisbane between Woolloongabba and Bowen Hills. This vital piece of infrastructure to the Brisbane community will open by 2010 and in the meantime a new permanent NSBT Visitors' Centre has opened in Kangaroo Point.

The Visitors' Centre is an initiative of the Brisbane City Council, Rivercity Motorway and LBBJV Consortium who, as part of Queensland's largest Public Private Partnership (PPP), has created a state-of-the-art information centre for Brisbane residents and visitors. The Centre features artist impressions, models of the finished tunnels, maps, photography throughout the construction and short construction videos.

Brisbane-based Iceworks Design was given only seven weeks to design the centre from initial concept sketch through to finished

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Australia - Jands Production Services (JPS), Australia's largest sound rental company, has made a significant upgrade to its monitor systems, including the purchase of 12 Clair Bros Audio (CBA) custom Dolby Lake Processors. The units feature proprietary software and custom CBA presets not available in the standard Dolby Lake Processors.

Additionally, JPS purchased 48 new Crown MA3600 amplifiers and added an extra 32 Clair Bros Audio 12AM monitor wedges to its already extensive CBA speaker inventory. The new monitor racks debuted in September on a national concert tour by the Australian electro-rock band, Rogue Traders. Monitor engineer Ben Shapiro commented: "This is the best monitor system I have ever heard. They sound absolutely fantastic. After I ran the 12AMs with the new Clair Dolby Lake Processor presets, I left my outboard equalizers back at the shop!"

The Dol

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UK - Bandit Lites UK has once again supplied lighting and rigging systems to the British Fashion Council (BFC) main venue at London Fashion Week. Pitched in the grounds of the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, the BFC tent hosted over twenty shows - many of them back-to-back - from a spread of major international designers.

Lighting designer, Simon Tutchener has lit London Fashion Week (LFW) for the past ten years and 2006 marks Bandit's fourth season on the case, working for production company S2 Events. The production was managed by Bandit's business development manager, Lester Cobrin at the Bedford-based lighting company. The event's production manager was Tom Brunsdon and S2 Events MD, Wolter Dammers provided technical coordination.

For the 2006 autumn show, the BFC wanted the option of having a straight or u-shaped catwalk in the tent. To achieve the desired resul

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UK - Huge, life-like dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum in London appear to be feeding in water thanks to the creativity and technical knowledge of Stagecraft Theatre Services (STS). The company recently installed the Rosco X-Effects 3D projector into the Museum, as part of its new Dino Jaws exhibition. Salisbury based STS, a leading lighting, staging and sound company, was responsible for the supply and installation of the new equipment, which creates 3D moving effects.

"The Rosco X-effects is an extremely versatile piece of equipment and it has been used to great effect at the Natural History Museum. Each gobo in the X-effects rotates off-centre, which results in an image that seems to have no visible direction or pattern and the on- board potentiometers control the speed of the movement. The 3D image produced by the projector has been used to create the effec

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USA - For Shakira's Oral Fixation North American tour, lighting designer Abbey Rosen Holmes' multilayered lighting rig includes an automated and conventional lighting package supplied by PRG Lighting. The design features 34 of Clay Paky's Alpha Spot HPE 1200 luminaires, which are the only lights used for the graphic effects on the stage.

The Alpha Spot projectors offer a rich and innovative graphic section, featuring twenty gobos on three wheels, rotating prisms, an animation disc and infinite colours (CMY colour system + Linear CTO + 7-color wheel). Clay Paky created the gobos for the luminaries by following Holmes' exacting specifications.

Ben Hammett, the PRG Lighting technician who is responsible for the Shakira lights on a daily basis, adds, "The Clay Paky lights have been great; they are very reliable, and have needed very little service."

The entire crew reh

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USA - LeAnn Rimes is touring the country with a production for which the design is centred on 5 High End Systems DL.2 digital light fixtures. LD Steve Fallon, assisted by programmer Keith Hoagland, decided to use the DL.2s after touring last year with its predecessor, the DL.1. "The experience with the DL2s has been great," says Fallon. "It's like night and day: ease of use, compact and reliable and by far a much better fixture for my tour."

The show also includes 10 HES Studio Command 700 automated wash luminaires. "The Studio Commands are super. With their full beam, they're like little sky trackers. I will have them in play again next year," adds Fallon.

The production looks big but in reality is a one-truck show with a small crew. Fallon says production manager Bill Farris enjoys having the DL.2s in the show "for their cost-effectiveness&

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Germany - 3,500 blocs of ice with an overall weight of 320 tonnes were used for the world's largest Ice-Bar (300sq.m) in Schüttorf, Germany. The bar includes a discotheque, called Index, where nearly everything from furniture to walls is made of ice. To give the bar another very special touch there are about 52,000 LEDs - or 160 LED PAR-Spotlights -implemented into the building. Lighting control is done by grandMA onPC and an NSP. Index also utilizes two grandMA full-size and a grandMA light, and grandMA video is also integrated into the network.

"The grandMA consoles are easy to handle and immediately ready for action. Furthermore they're very versatile; they control everything but mainly multimedia devices like the server and LEDs. We use grandMA technology also because of its reliability and quality workmanship," explains Sven Janning of F.A.C.E., which provided pr

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UK - Adlib Audio supplied a JBL VerTec line array system and full audio production for the Scissor Sisters' acclaimed album launch gig in Trafalgar Square. The Adlib team worked closely with event production manager Steve Allen, technical consultant Roger Barrett and independent sound consultants Jim Griffiths and John Staunton from Van Guardia, plus event producers SJM.

The band launched their second album Ta-Dah in front of a hugely enthusiastic Saturday night party crowd, and were introduced by their special friend, Kylie. Sponsored by comms giant Motorola, all proceeds were donated the Global Fund to raise AIDS awareness in Africa. The show was also recorded for broadcast on E4.

Scissor Sister's FOH engineer is Adlib's Dave Kay. Another Adlib engineer, Ben Booker, looks after monitor world, and Adlib will also supply PA for the band's upcoming UK arena tour later in

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UK - SDD Sound & Light has been awarded a distributorship for Bosch Security Systems. Steve Durrell, CEO for the SDD Group, said: "We are delighted that we have at last found in Bosch, a range of audio installation products that delivers everything in one package."

"Customers are increasingly requesting fully integrated digital systems that provide not only effective distribution and control of BGM along with selective paging but are also approved as emergency systems. The range of Bosch security products now allows us to supply complete solutions whereas historically we have had to 'mix and match' brands in order to achieve the desired results. We are now looking forward to supporting all of our clients, both trade and end user, with what must be the most advanced technology in this field."

SDD Communications, the installation arm in the SDD Group, already

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USA - From June to August, Bandit programmers Greg Shipley and Jeff Wilkin pushed the Compulite Vector Red and Blue consoles to their extremes. After a short time, it was evident both consoles were ready for Live TV and ready for the three weekly redesigns common to WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment).

Greg Shipley, chief programmer, is running the Vector Red. Shipley says: "The console handles things very smoothly," and is "unmatched in processing power". He is driving anywhere from 8 to 16 universes worth of automated and LED fixtures. "There are very few consoles out there that can run a high volume of LED fixtures at 61 channels a piece with ease like the Vectors. I look forward to driving up to 40 universes through the one console on the next Wrestlemania."

Jeff Wilkin, lighting director and assistant programmer, is running the Vector Blue. H

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UK - Despite having to contend with torrential rain and freakishly high winds, the organisers of this year's Minichill Festival are delighted with the success of the event, which attracted more than 1,000 people.

The two-day festival, held on private land near Marlow in Buckinghamshire, aimed to raise money for The Action for Brazil's Children Trust (ABC) and was supported by voluntary performances from a range of artists, DJs and VJs including Hexstatic, The Bays, Cooper's Rage, Alice Mclaughlin, Groovenik, Decatone, Tom Currie, Nettie (Daft Pink), Michael Heap and Nickin & Puskin.

Harman Pro UK supported Minichill by supplying PA systems for the main stage and DJ barn. The company also supplied a Soundcraft Vi6 console, which was used for FOH and monitor mixes. Among the extensive equipment list needed to make the festival rock were a JBL VRX line array speaker system, top o

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USA - When pop sensation Shakira needed some custom equipment for her Oral Fixation tour, Tomcat and Production Resource Group were all too happy to help with the project.

In all, Tomcat USA fabricated 30 custom light frames with each individual frame designed to hold six Par 64 short fixtures. When assembled, the wall is five frames tall and six frames wide with each column of frames supported independently. Each frame is approximately 87" long x 58" tall and 18" wide and arranged so that the fixtures would be on 29" centre through the entire wall. To make the system load-in and load-out more quickly, the design included locking over-centre latches to hold the frames together as they are assembled vertically. All of this equipment was powder coated flat black.

The Oral Fixation tour began its Stateside visit in El Paso, Texas at the beginning

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UK - A new partnership emerged at PLASA '06 between Strand Lighting Inc and Northern Light, after Strand approached Northern Light with a brief to design and build their exhibition stand at the international show. The 11 x 6.5m stand designed by Northern Light resulted in a versatile and welcoming exhibition space, ensuring that traffic throughout the four-day show was drawn in to view products and chat with Strand representatives, say Strand.

Ken Berreen, regional sales manager of Barndoor BV, representing Strand, said: "We were extremely pleased with the stand created by Northern Light for our participation in PLASA 06. The inclusion of a bar and seating area made sure that visitors felt secure enough to stay on stand as long as they wanted. The trussing and rostra enabled us to display our products to their best advantage."

Strand took the opportunity to display t

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UK - Franz Ferdinand, headliners at this year's Reading and Leeds Festivals, produced a model performance with the help of eight synchronised dancing mannequins provided by Specialz. The "dancing girls" were commissioned by the band as a special surprise to festival-goers. Hidden behind several backdrops the girls saved their star performance until later in the show and proved to be a real crowd-pleaser. When revealed they were dressed in stunning red costumes had VL5 Arc lights for heads.

Specialz also provided the dramatic 10ft-high "Franz" sign and the whole show was excellently lit by Cormac Jackson who commented: "A lot of the time you are tying to create a design that doesn't exist, but my client had a very clear idea of what they wanted. Specialz were able to bring those very obscure ideas to life and now that's why we have 10ft high female manneq

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USA - Maryland Sound International (MSI) has recently purchased an additional 36 JBL Vertec VT4888DP-AN midsize powered line array loudspeakers. Located in Baltimore, Maryland, MSI has been an audio production and services company since 1966 and is now celebrating its 40th year in business. MSI provides numerous services, including special event production, concert touring packages, system design and engineering, and system analysis and construction.

MSI has recently been the sound company of choice for diverse and prominent acts like Neil Diamond, Josh Groban and Dream Theater. MSI has provided live sound for high-profile events including the dedication of the National World War II Memorial in Washington D.C., the Presidential Inaugurations at the US Capitol in 2001 and 2005 and New York City's Times Square New Year's Eve.

Vertec line arrays have played a significant role in

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UK - RG Jones MD, Stephen Hall and his hardy shipmates won the overall trophy at this year's Audio Industry Regatta (AIR) on 23-24 September. AIR is a sailing weekend held over two days for experienced and inexperienced sailors alike, with the emphasis on having fun, with prizes awarded for winning races whilst raising money for The Elizabeth Foundation for Deaf Children. This year was another great success - the conditions were perfect and a great weekend was had by all. Stephen Hall has been an avid sailor and boat owner for many years and with his skill and the determination of the Leisuretec crew, he sailed them to success.

"Over the decades RG Jones has been fortunate enough to be involved with some extraordinary projects, amplifying some of the most magnificent sounds, and it's easy to take the ability to hear for granted," say the company. The Elizabeth Foundati

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Dubai - Recently voted Most Innovative International Retail & Leisure Concept of the Year and International Retail & Leisure Destination of the Year, the Mall of the Emirates in Dubai has attracted over 10 million visitors in its first six months of operation. Quickly establishing itself as both the number one leisure, entertainment and shopping resort in the Emirates and the second largest shopping centre in the world outside North America, the Mall of the Emirates is well on track to hit the 30 million visitor mark in its first year of operation.

Strategically located in the heart of what is now deemed 'New Dubai', the $820m, 250,000sq.m retail and leisure resort is home to over 400 retailers including Harvey Nichols, Emporio Armani, Dolce & Gabanna, H&M, Carrefour, Debenhams, Banana Republic, Zara and Virgin Megastore. However, it is the Ski Dubai complex within the mall that

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USA - Reventón, the largest Latin rock and pop music festival in the US, recently packed nearly 50,000 fans into the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to watch RBD, Ricky Martin, Alejandra Guzman, Sin Bandera and seven other Spanish-language acts perform a non-stop afternoon and evening of high-energy live music.

Arcadia-based Spanish Contemporary Hits radio station KSSE 'Super Estrella' 107.1 FM, which has hosted the annual event since its inception in 1998, has typically staged Reventón at Anaheim's Arrowhead Pond in the past. However, after selling out last year's show in less than 15 minutes, the decision was made to finally move it to a much larger venue - the Coliseum.

Reventón 2006 also marked the seventh year that the production team at 3G Live has provided staging, lighting, and sound for the event. Considering that the attendance was expected to triple this year, whic

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