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14 March 2016

A high-profile promotional tour like these BritBus events, needs to travel with an easy-to-assemble, lightweight, modular, transportable staging and decking system. Litestructures' LiteDeck was the choice. Having designed and supplied the ideal rig tour, Litestructures has also become a BritBus sponsor, joining the BBC, Virgin, Gibson Guitars and other world brands.

Litestructures' managing director, Adrian Brooks comments, "When it comes to combining engineering with entertainment, Britain in general, and LiteDeck in par

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14 March 2016

The Forum attracted major interest and was attended by over 200 invited guests including lighting and sound designers, programmers, operators, technicians and consultants from all sectors of the Chinese lighting industry - from television to live entertainment - and organisers and managers from large performance teams.

"Obviously it was very exciting and a great honour to be invited to China to speak about this work," says Marenghi. "There is intense interest in the skills, knowledge and technology involved in producing monumental shows and events ahead of the Beijing Olympics in 2008."

Marenghi's interactive 35-minute presentation detailed the evolution and execut

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14 March 2016

Beat the Baton attracted over 800 participants, who ran the course around the Park to the accompaniment of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, to raise money for people suffering from multiple sclerosis, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, stroke and cancer.

Logistics for the event were taken care of by London-based Absolute Events, working closely with Wandsworth Council's events manager for Battersea Park, Alison Smith.

Formed in 1998 by Jonathan Price, Absolute Events' experience stood them in good stead to handle this occasion. "Not only was this the first Beat the Baton Sue Ryder Care has held, but it was the first time the Royal Philharmonic

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14 March 2016

One of the new flagships in the IRC portfolio is the Restaurant Bar & Grill in the centre of Leeds. Converted from an old post office, this elegant brasserie features a double-height restaurant, which takes advantage of the original Victorian architectural features. Oldham-based installation company Rio Systems chose the newest high-output small-format loudspeakers from Electro-Voice for the main restaurant; 12x EV ZX1s are wall-mounted about 15 feet above floor level, either side of the room.

With ve

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14 March 2016

The Show is close to being sold out, promising one of the busiest shows in the event's history, and paving the way for possible further expansion of this year's event. One of the most radical changes this year will be the show's new layout, which will transform PLASA07 into a two-hall, single-level exhibition thanks to expansion from Earls Court 1 into the adjacent Earls Court 2. PLASA has invested heavily in the new-look event, creating new meeting and presentation areas, a wireless internet zone, VIP hospitality suite and a separate fast-track entrance on Brompton Road. With pre-registrations growing daily, record numbers of visitors are expected at this year's

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14 March 2016

The American indie rock band is currently undertaking a six-week tour of the UK and Europe, including an appearance at Glastonbury Festival later this month.

The MagicQ MQ200 controlled the generic house lights along with a touring package from GLS Light & Sound Production. Lighting designer Ian Cameron Lyles, who had never used a MagicQ console before, programmed the show on the day, highlighting just how easy it is to use the software, which is interchangeable from one MagicQ product to another.

Floor-mounted scaffold bars were arranged on stage to look like twisted signposts, and small lanterns hung on them to give an industrial feel to the set. Pixeltrack LED battens uplit from the back, White cyc washed with Thomas cyc floods and both four and e

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14 March 2016

Freevolution takes place across two stages in Baltic Square and quayside at Spillers Wharf. The larger of the stages is the 'Innovation' stage at Spillers Wharf, where headliners included Maxïmo Park, Echo and the Bunnymen and Joe Jackson. Systems Etc put up two hangs of 12 XLC127DVX, powered by EV's Precision Series P3000RL amplifiers, with 14 X-Subs for subbass and Xi1152s for front-fills.

Surprisingly for Newcastle-upon-Tyne in spring, the weather was shocking; rainy with winds gusting u

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14 March 2016

The live setup comprises Murphy himself on vocals and various instruments, Nancy Whang on keyboards and vocals, Pat Mahoney (drums), Tyler Pope (bass) and Phil Mossman (guitar, percussion, keys and bass). They play at levels that are constantly on the edge of feedback yet Mary Alafetich, LCD's monitor engineer, says Murphy demands much more than sheer power.

"What James really wants is effectively an enlarged studio on stage built to his specification," she says. Band

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14 March 2016

This network of partners will have to have the facilities to demonstrate TT+, says the company. They will of course benefit from a full back up service from RCF.

RCF UK's Greg Oliver comments, "We are very much behind this scheme of Audio Partners, as it gives us a chance to offer a complete back up support service to our key distributors."

The first appointment - Stage Electrics - will be confirmed at the ABTT show in London this week.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

This lighting control software can be used to control any type of lights arranged in a matrix layout. Canvix lends itself perfectly to the growing demand for control of LED products, says the company.

With a touch screen compatible intuitive user interface, Canvix software emulates the control elements commonly seen in traditional lighting control boards, making for a product that is quick and easy to learn. With the use of DMX Input, Canvix can connect to third party control boards to work as a fully functional Matrix plug-in.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

Britannia Row was the main audio provider for the event, with Turbosound's head of R&D Dominic Harter managing the set-up of the Aspect system which comprised six TA-890H mid-highs, nine TA-890L lows and four TSW-218 subs per side, all ground-stacked. QLight TQ-425 subs along with Turbosound monitor wedges were deployed as monitors for the DJs. Amplification was via eight T-25 and 12 T-45 amplifiers, with control by two XTA DP448s and an XTA D2 for any added dynamic equalisation required.

"The decision to have an outdoor arena - and to use Aspect - was quickly proven right, as it was a stunning success, with a huge crowd enjoying the superstar DJ sets on each day. I have never known such an immediate and enthusiastic response to any system from everyo

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14 March 2016

The team of leisure consultants behind the new venture include Piers Adam, who has joined forces with Patrice Gouty, one of the co-founders of Chinawhite, Jeanette Calliva, party planner for Woodhead Calliva, and interior designer Tara Bernerd, of Target Living. It was Bernerd who masterminded the interior conversion, working in conjunction with main contractors, Du Boulay Contracts and The Sound Division Group.

Under the stewardship of the experienced Jon Carey (JLC Contracts) and SDG installations manager Elliot Patterson, the installers deployed the same highly-qualified team of programming and project professionals that had delivered the complex Tamarai in Covent Garden a

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14 March 2016

M°rch-Kerrison became the first engineer to specify a Midas XL8 live performance system for an international tour. The system has been provided by SSE Hire, a member of the M7 Group set up to facilitate XL8 hire in the UK.

"I made it very clear that I had certain parameters, and one of those was the Midas XL8," says M°rch-Kerrison. "I never thought about being the first; I just knew this was the tool I wanted to use. The great things about Midas are reliability, commitment to redundancy, and the fact it has to work every day - it should be able to fa

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14 March 2016

"The solution was simple," says Renata Klimek, managing director of Arcade Audio, "We used the new TT+ line array which easily coped with the conditions at the Katowice's sport airport." Headlining on the day were Hev and Dzem, two of Poland's most popular bands.

The sound system installed for the concert comprised eight TTL33-A for each side of the stage and a series of TTS28-A subwoofers. Klimek adds, "The TT+ system supplied a powerful and clean sound to all of the large audience at the concert, 7,000 people were expected but in the end more than 10,000 young stu

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14 March 2016

Owner John Reynolds contracted Paul and Ian Smith of Dublin-based Just Lite Productions to specify and supply an appropriate lighting system.

Just Lites supplied six Robe ColorSpot 575 ATs, six ColorWash 250 ATs and two MS Zoom 250 XTs. These are being supplied by Just Lites to Tripod on a long term lease basis. "They are absolutely perfect for the job" says Just Lites' Paul Smith, who also supplied the Avolites Pearl house console.

Just Lites has had a Robe rig installed at The Ambassadors Theatre in Dublin for the last three years, lighting acts suc

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14 March 2016

The National Student Drama Festival (NSDF) is held in Scarborough each year, students some of which have never touched anything technical in their lives, have the opportunity to attend seminars and training sessions, meet industry experts and showcase their often newly discovered talents.

Stage Electrics has been involved with the festival for the last seven years, supporting the NSDF since 1999. The company supplies the festival's technical requirements and helps to deliver the workshop programme.

Chris Patton from Stage Electrics explains, "We have run various courses from basic moving lights workshops to sou

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14 March 2016

The project is allied to the BBC public space broadcasting network to provide some of their live events content. It also shows a high percentage of relevant local arts material, reflecting the wide range of cultural influences and ensuring that the installation benefits the entire community.

The screen features processing by Lighthouse's proprietary X-drive Pro, LIP-DX and automatic

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14 March 2016

With 20 years' experience in the events industry, the UK-based company plans to serve the entertainment and installation technology markets through a series of dedicated B2B networking forums. The first of these will be evenTech Scotland, which is scheduled for 20-21 February 2008, at the Marriott Hotel, Glasgow.

Says Darren Brechin, who leaves his present post at the end of July following the PALME Asia exhibition, "We have long recognised the need for an entertainment technology forum in the North of the UK, and Glasgow is the ideal location as Scotland in particular is cu

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14 March 2016

Günter Jaeckle comments, "With the grandMA I have a tool, that works perfectly. We attended the rehearsals with our consoles as well as during the pre-programming for Peter Maffay. But this time it was a bit more complex - all in all we have 150 moving lights attached. Furthermore a Grönemeyer concert is hugely influenced by the spontaneity of the artist. Mostly you are occupied by watching his actions and react to them. Flexibility is very important."

The stage is dominated by a high-res Mitsubishi LED video screen. "The photographer Anton Corbijn created the picture and video contents, my design is based on this - for example the colours are selected to harmonise with the vide

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14 March 2016

Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, Sir Nicholas Winton organised the rescue of 669 Czech Jewish children from the Nazi death camps in an operation known as the Czech Kindertransport.

The evening commenced with a showing of the 2002 International Emmy Award-winning documentary film, The Power Of Good, followed by an interview with Sir Nicholas Winton by Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis of the Kinloss Synagogue.

At the conclusion of the interview, Rabbi Mirvis unexpectedly announced that he would invite two 'surprise guests' onto the stage - Kathe Fischel and Vera Gissing, who were two of the original Czech children saved on the Kindertranspor

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14 March 2016

The RFH closed for a £91m refurbishment two years ago and finally reopened in June this year. An essential element of this transformation has been the total overhaul of the lighting system. With a brief from theatre consultants Carr and Angier to increase flexibility and efficiency while maintaining low ambient noise, specialist installation contractor Northern Light has installed the latest ETC dimming, networking and ligh

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14 March 2016

"Six decades after Mr. Moore first established this company, Crown still adheres to its founder's reputation for creating innovative products that are both sonically superior and highly reliable," says Crown International president Mark Graham. "And with the resources and support of Harman International combined with our dedicated network of employees, reps, distributors and dealers around the globe, Crown is well-poised to carry on that legacy for yet another 60 years."

Crown's history traces back to an Elkhart, Indiana minister named Clarence C. Moore (1904-1979). Moore, a longtime rad

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14 March 2016

"The Novello is much smaller than the Broadway theatre where the show played previously. We've had to cut the rig by half and light primarily from front of house. It first opened in May last year, so I went to watch it a couple of times to refresh myself before thinking about how it could move across. I looked at which lights are only rarely used and decided to rationalise and simplify based on that," says Billington.

He continues, "I broke plenty of rules when lighting this show - such as the first 3.5 minutes being in darkness. I was always taught that if th

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14 March 2016

"We know that quality is an absolutely crucial requirement for customers in this market and quality has been a recognised hallmark of our products for the past 30 years, so we feel our products are ideally suited" says Formula Sound's Barry Penaligon.

"Combining this with the considerable experience that Reference Audio has and the service levels it provides was a logical step to take our products into this region. We are delighted to extend the scope of our dealings with Reference Audio and look forward to doing good business with them in the future."

(Jim