UK - Bandit Lites UK supplied full lighting production, video projection package and touring crew for INXS' recent UK tour. Working closely with lighting designer, Sean 'Motley' Hackett, Bandit Lites' Lester Cobrin was asked on board to support Hackett's design.

Cobrin comments, "It's the first time I have worked with Motley and production manager, Paul 'Kenno' Kennedy. It has been a breath of fresh air to work with two people that are so efficient and good at communicating. It has been a pleasure to work with them on this project."

Lighting technicians, Nigel Julian and Martin Garnish were hired to look after the system while on the road.

Hackett is based in Australia and has worked on and off with INXS for the last 14 years, fairly constantly for the last 11. He describes the current tour (ongoing since the start of 2006) as "an evolution" in terms of l

UK - Dave Ball, technical sales manager of LMC Audio Systems' Birmingham branch, had the unusual task of fulfilling a long-established client's request - having been instructed by the client's accountant to go out and spend his profits from a very successful previous years touring the UK.

Rob McCulloch leader of the four-piece band Magic Bullitz, who tour the UK regularly providing live entertainment for private events and productions, decided to improve the quality and ability of his already impressive PA system.

McCulloch comments, "I was not dissatisfied with the performance of my existing system and did not imagine that much improvement was possible, I thought I already had the best, what I was really looking for was to reduce size, weight and even other things like AC power consumption as well as saving time on set-up and sound checking.

"Having a long establi

UK - Leading theatre figures have been eager to endorse the first Performing Arts Technical Training Handbook, published by Entertainment Technology Press working in conjunction with the Association of British Theatre Technicians.

As an Association, the ABTT is supporting current national initiatives for training and participating in the consultative process with Creative & Cultural Skills, the Sector Skills Council for Advertising, Crafts, Cultural Heritage, Design, Music, Performing, Literary and Visual Arts.

With recent stories in the press of a predicted shortfall of trained technicians in the future, the ABTT sees this book as "the perfect tool to encourage and inspire a new generation to enter the profession. It will also help those already working in the industry to identify how they will continue their professional development."

The Performing Art

USA - Kino Flo, the manufacturer of lighting for film and television has announced a strategic partnership with Element Labs. The partnership is designed to bring intelligent LED lighting into the professional lighting industry.

Element Labs' Kelvin Technology Series LED-based lighting system will be available for rent through Kino Flo in September 2007.

"By combining Element Labs' advancement in LED technology with Kino Flo's industry experience we look forward to developing tools that will further advance the art of filmmaking," says Kino Flo president and founder, Frieder Hochheim.

The Kelvin Technology Series represents a major advancement in the application of LEDs to create intelligent, controllable lighting, says the company. It provides variable colour temperature and maintains a colour rendering index (CRI) of 95 between 3200 K and 6500 K. It also offers d

SPain - Following the successful installations of d&b audiotechnik Q-Series PA systems at the Teatre Auditori in Granollers, and Auditorium de Palma in Palma de Mallorca, another local auditorium has chosen to install a d&b Qi-Series loudspeaker system.

The Auditori Winterthur is a convention centre in the heart of the business complex of L'Illa in Barcelona. The Auditori was planned by architect Rafael Moneo, incorporating acoustics designed byIgini Arau and was originally built to present music concerts without the aid of amplification for up to six hundred and fifty listeners.

In due course, with an expansion into new activities such as conferences and corporate events, the need for a sound system became increasingly apparent. The original installation however, proved less than perfect as all the sound amplified through it was reflected back by a curved wall at the rear of

Belgium - Christie Digital reports that it has installed more than 3,000 Digital Cinema systems worldwide. The company claims that nearly 80% of all installations around the world are using Christie DLP Cinema projectors.

More than 2600 systems are installed throughout the USA as part of the groundbreaking AccessIT software & funding vehicle introduced in 2005. Christie installations also span Africa, Asia, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Christie installations outside North America have begun to accelerate, positioning the company as the leading player in the global deployment of DLP Cinema systems worldwide.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Robe ColorSpot 1200E ATs took centre stage at Glastonbury's Jazz World arena, supplied by Essex based rental company DPL who were making their first Glastonbury appearance as a lighting supplier.

Jazz World featured a strong line-up including Amy Winehouse, Corrine Bailey Rae, the Guillemots, John Fogerty, Mr Hudson and the Library, Rodrigo y Gabriela and many more.

DPL's Darren Parker says, "It was a great honour to win the pitch to supply Jazz World. We had to design a flexible rig that would accommodate a wide variety of top quality international artists and the creative requirements of an array of visiting LDs. We chose the best equipment for the job which was Robe moving lights."

He adds that with the notoriously unpredictable nature of the Glastonbury weather, they also wanted really robust and reliable lights that would withstand the elements.

Pete Wa

China - In the first week of June, China International Entertainment Technology Forum was held in CTS Plaza Beijing. The seminar's subject was The Application of Entertainment Technology in Stadiums. It was attended by the Chinese Ministry of Art and Culture and the organising committee of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Outline's exclusive distributor for China, Guangzhou ACME invited Outline's Sales & Marketing Director Giorgio Biffi to talk about Outline's experience with large sound systems in Stadiums.

Biffi spoke about the recent experience gained by Britannia Row Productions who have had experience with not only the Barcelona Olympics but also the newly built Wembley Stadium where they carried out the initial sound tests.

These tests resulted in their decision to combine the use of a temporary concert or 'touring' PA system with the permanently installed 'house

UK - Ra'alloy Trading Company, better know as Ra'alloy Ramps, has completed the first of two orders for a revolutionary designed modular combined ramp and platform system to allow multi level, disabled platform heights for London's O2.

The aluminium system can made longer or shorter, narrower or made even wider by adding or removing modules. The system boasts just five components including ramp and balustrade modules and all components are in sections, which are easy to handle, and fit together in minutes, says the company.

The two level Disabled Riser sited in the main arena, from concept to installation took just six weeks, and was in place just in time for Bon Jovi to perform marking the 02's opening on 24 June.

The modular aluminium structure can be moved simply by dividing into sections, unplugging the handrail, and stored in a minimal space when the arena is required f

UK - As Brighton's Great Escape Festival entered its second year, prominent local PA hire company, Alstublieft Audio discovered the benefits that using a DiGiCo console brings to a festival situation.

Headed up by Giles Bristow, Alstublieft was employed by festival organisers The Barfly Group to look after audio production across the entire festival, which this year featured around 150 bands playing across 20 venues. Featured acts included The Happy Mondays, Captain and The Magic Numbers.

A DiGiCo a D1 Live 48MDR, featuring a local Minirack and eight analogue I/O and eight AES I/O at FOH, and a stage rack with 48 in and out, was used for shows at the Corn Exchange and The Brighton Centre, East Wing. "Initially Giles was a little hesitant about using a digital desk in a festival situation," says DiGiCo's technical sales manager, Tim Shaxson, who was on site throughout

Denmark - Martin Professional has published its latest Club & Bar lighting magazine, billed as "a stunningly visual pictorial of some of the hottest reference projects from around the world" and including "insight from some of the industry's top club lighting designers and operators".

UK - The ABTT Show's organisers, The Association of British Theatre Technicians, have described its 29th edition staged at London's Royal Horticultural Halls 13-14 June "a resounding success".

With its attendance figures showing an increase on last year, UK visitor numbers were boosted by a strong attendance from mainland Europe as well as by attendees from the Theatres Trust annual conference which the ABTT co-sponsored.

The Show's three halls were packed to capacity with 100 exhibiting companies. Show director, Roger Fox comments, "It is particularly interesting to see how the show has evolved into a key industry event. This year we had many important product launches and with visitor numbers showing a steady increase year on year, we are confident of the show's continued growth into its third decade."

(Jim Evans)

USA - Elation Professional was commissioned to light this year's InfoComm Show Awards Ceremony held at the Anaheim Hilton on 18 June 18, 2007.

"Of all the lighting companies in attendance at InfoComm, it was a great tribute to have our company and its products chosen to provide lighting and visual effects for this very prestigious industry event," said Eric Loader, director of sales for Elation Professional. "The Awards Ceremony offered an excellent opportunity to showcase some of our most popular fixtures and cutting-edge technologies to the AV industry."

Staged in the Anaheim Hilton's spacious Pacific Ballroom with more than 1,000 attendees, the Awards Ceremony was a full production event that required substantial illuminative power to light up the massive room and stage.

Four of Elation's Power Spot 700 CMYs led the way. The Power Spot 700 CMY created

China - The Guangzhou Xinhai Odeum, a 14,000sq.m facility located on Guangzhou Er Sha Island includes a 1500-seat symphony performance hall, as well as a 460-seat indoor performance hall, complete with a 100-seat AV presentation room. There is also a 4800sq.m music culture section.

EM Acoustics' Chinese distributor Jolly ProAudio was invited to participate in the audio renewal project for the Xinhai Odeum and recommended EM Acoustics loudspeakers from UK to improve the in-house audio reproduction system.

The fourteen-enclosure system, flown from the trusses in the Odeum's ceiling includes EMS-152 15" x 2" and EMS-121 12" x 1" full range enclosures, EMS-81 8" x 1" enclosures and i-2 compact enclosures as fills and a pair of the ultra-compact i-8 subwoofers flown in the roof for low frequency reinforcement.

(Jim Evans)

UK - The Metropolis Group of companies based at The Power House in Chiswick has further expanded its surround mastering capabilities by constructing a 40sq.m surround mastering room with the inclusion of PMC's large-scale high definition surround monitoring system.

Such a large room afforded large monitoring, therefore free standing BB5 XBD Actives serve as the front L, C, R and MB2 XBD Actives as the rears, both are in the vertical tower configuration. The equipment list also includes Maselec MTC6 desk, new Maselec multiband compressor, Prism ADA8s, AD2s, DA2s, DSD-SADIEs and a collection of rare Sontec EQs.

Technology development manager of the facility Crispin Murray comments: "We have decided to capitalise on our position as the leading surround music and mastering facility and adding this resource to our portfolio can only strengthen our position. Our commitment to d

UK - Stage Electrics were once again contracted by English Heritage to supply the technical infrastructure for the Managed Open Access of Stonehenge World Heritage Site on 20-21 June 20 to celebrate the Summer Solstice.

The Managed Open Access has now become a regular fixture in the calendar for the World Heritage Site and 2007 saw approximately 24,000 people from the UK and further afield enjoying the experience.

Stage Electrics technical production manager John Radford says: "Stage Electrics has been involved with the Managed Open Access since its inception eight years ago. In that time we have developed a system that provides for the safety of the large numbers of people whilst maintaining a level of empathy with the people that attend and their interpretation of the Stones themselves. Many visitors see Stonehenge as a sacred site and therefore this needs to be taken i

UK - Digital Projection International has recently been awarded the contract to supply the XTP (Cross Track Projection) systems within the London Underground network. This contract has been awarded by CBS Outdoor which controls the marketing and advertising rights for the whole of the London Underground Network.

Digital Projection has been working on the solution for a number of years and very closely with CBS Outdoor for the last two.

This unique combination of technologies offers advertisers and companies the opportunity to address 3,400,000 passengers a day with an environmentally friendly display. The images and content can be tuned on a minute by minute basis to best suite the relevant demographics.

One of the primary challenges facing the Digital Projection development team was the architecture of the tunnel network. The curvature of the tunnel wall meant that the scre

UK - XL Video UK, via Blink TV, is supplying 15,089 Barco 510 O-Lite panels with 270 control boxes, plus 102 panels of Mitsubishi 16:8 high resolution screen in a record breaking 9m pixel LED surface for the Genesis Turn It On Again world tour.

The O-lite makes up a spectacular 13m high, 55m wide set back wall and is surrounded by seven lighting towers reaching heights of up to 28m, which together resemble a giant conch shell. This was designed by Mark Fisher/Stufish.

The screen provides an elegant 3D curved wall and an elegant architectural back drop immediately behind the performance area. It is an interactive canvass for video playback, graphics images and IMAG which are integrated with lighting (designed by Patrick Woodroffe) effects.

The O-lite pixels are fitted into customised touring frames designed by XL Video and made by Brilliant Stages, populated at differe

UK - The Hospital, housed in the former St Paul's Hospital in Covent Garden, offers film, television, music and other media professionals access to a state of the art 60,000sq ft creative hub with a range of production facilities.

These include a fully equipped High Definition television studio which has been kitted out with a Clear-Com digital matrix system and FreeSpeak wireless intercom systems. The scalability of this system has enabled The Hospital to simply expand the original network to meet increased demand.

"Clear-Com provided our original intercom solution when The Hospital was set up in 2003 and was operating Europe's first HD TV studio," says Paul Daniels, head of engineering & operations. "Now, as part of a recent upgrade of studio facilities at the beginning of 2007, we've expanded the FreeSpeak system as well. This has enabled us to offer greater

Denmark - Martin Professional A/S and G-LEC Europe GmbH have entered into a licensing agreement that allows Martin Professional and its affiliated companies to manufacture, market and sell the Martin LC Series of LED video screens world wide.

The licensing agreement allows Martin Professional to use G-LEC's LED patents and utility models covering Martin's LC 2140 and the LC 1140 LED video screens. The agreement also includes the setting up of a technology cooperation regarding the development of successors to the licensed products.

The agreement allows Martin to apply its market expertise and worldwide distribution reach to the market opportunity for LED video screens. "We are extremely pleased to have entered into this agreement with G-LEC," commented Lars Dige, chief financial officer at Martin Professional A/S. "This represents our entrance into the potential

Spain - Two crew members are reported to have been killed in an accident during the dismantling of the stage after the Rolling Stones' Thursday night concert in Madrid, according to BBC News Online. Two other crew members were injured in the accident at the Vicente Calderon stadium and are now in hospital.

A spokesman for the band said they were "deeply saddened" to hear the news. "Their heartfelt wishes for a speedy recovery go out to the injured and their profound sympathies to the deceased," he continued.

According to local police, three of the workers fell 10m (33ft) from a metal structure and landed on a fourth. The deceased workers were said to be 38 and 44 years of age. One was an employee of the Belgium-based staging company Stage Co, while the other was a local contractor.

(Lee Baldock)

UK - Audio Alliance, the Manchester based corporate events sound design and rental company, has moved to roomier and brighter premises. The new facilities include their own in-house recording, production and editing studio.

With investments in new and further Meyer Sound loudspeaker systems, Yamaha digital mixing consoles and even more Sennheiser radio microphones, the new warehouse space is filling up.

Since the move, Audio Alliance has not only been busy settling in to their new dwellings, but a hectic sound design and rental schedule has also kept them on their toes. Recent projects include the Visa Paralympics Awards Dinner & Show and NatWest Senior Management Nationwide Roadshow.

Founder and co-director Oliver Driver, says, "With an even busier schedule ahead, the move and further investment in new kit is invaluable. This step-up will allow us to take on more clie

UK - Essential Lighting Group last week hosted the industry at its West London headquarters to demonstrate its recent investment in Barco MiTrix and MiStrip Scenic LED fixtures.

Tony 'Turbo' Hall transformed Essential's demonstration and preproduction suite in to a full-size event with creative use of MiTrix and MiStrip fixtures including a wave shaped ceiling piece, moving screens and reveal pieces, multilayered alcoves revealed and concealed though the semi-transparent scenic LED screens.

The event was very well attended with hundreds of lighting designers, production managers, trade customers and set designers getting the opportunity to see the equipment in action, and get a hands-on look at the components and how the system is constructed.

Essential Lighting recently became the world's first lighting rental company stocking Barco MiTrix and MiStrip Scenic LED fixtures. M

UK - After studying a full report given to him by the Glastonbury site environmental team following the Killers' set at this year's Festival, organiser Michael Eavis has withdrawn his earlier statement to reporters that the new sound system was not quite strong enough for the site.

Having investigated the sound level problems further, he has stressed that the PA system and highly skilled technical team were in no way responsible or at fault for the complaints.

Unusual meteorological conditions caused abnormally high off-site noise measurement levels which needed to be reduced swiftly in order to comply with the terms of the licence. This led to the sound engineers on the Pyramid Stage being directed by the authorities to dramatically reduce the sound level for the Killers as the fastest route to attain this. The directive was implemented immediately, as compliance with the ter

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