Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

Business

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Italy - A new sound system opens the second season of concerts at the Live Club in Trezzo sull'Adda, near Milan.

After an unforgettable opening, the new club has already hosted a plethora of Italian and international artists such as Elio e le Storie Tese, Caparezza, Afterhours, Piero Pelù, Joe Satriani, Buddy Guy, Asian Dub Foundation, Marillion, Alpha Blondy, The Blues Explosion, and Blue Oyster Cult.

The Live Club is already well into another year of live performances with a Proel Axiom house sound system. At the foundation of this technical decision was the need for the combination of versatility and power, says the company.

The Main System consists of 16 Axiom AX3210P elements plus 12 EDGE121SP subs with 21" woofers driven by six Powersoft K10 amplifiers and an XTA DP448 processor. 2 NEOS152A enclosures serve as front-fills. Side-fill duties are carried out by 2 ED

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Italy - Lighting designer Giovanni Pinna chose impression and impression XL as key elements for the TRL Awards 2009, staged by MTV Italy at the Piazza Unità di Italia in Trieste.

Pinna selected 12 impression and eight impression XL fixtures - together with standard video and lighting equipment - all supplied by Milan based MMS.

"I really love the impression's rich colours, the colour mixing and the beam quality," he said. "I believe this to be the only professional moving head LED at present ... and they look beautiful on TV." He added, "We had two impression XL at front-of-house shooting a blue front light at a 45 meters distance - but we had to dim them to 50% for the cameras."

The impressions were used as wash lights, as well as for show and peripheral effects.

(Jim Evans)

Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

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Germany - Human Laser Artistics - the successful collaboration between performance artist Martin Mall and Tarm showlaser has thrilled audiences the world over. The multi-discipline show (juggling, diabalo and more) established a new concept of interaction between human performers and laser light.

Building on the international success of the show, Martin Mall and Tarm showlaser invested 18 months into the planning and development of an extended, evening-long, show programme, LichtGestalten.

The project premiered at the Apollo-Varieté Theater, Düsseldorf in March and has proved to be another hugely successful collaboration. Under the direction of Martin Mall, top talent from across the circus arts world have been brought together with new and original content featuring Tarm's colour graphic laser system.

(Jim Evans)

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Greece - Athens's Pallas Theatre has received a full-scale cosmetic makeover, including installation of a sound system based on the Meyer Sound M'elodie line array loudspeaker.

To equip the 1,500-seat theatre with an audio system on par with its architecture, Athens-based audio firm Omikron Control enlisted a complete overhaul of the existing system. Sound designer Vangelis Petridis reports, "The space is mainly used for theatrical performances and musicals, but they also do plenty of classical music presentations, a little jazz, some cinema, and corporate events and ceremonies, making it a truly multipurpose venue. This required an easily adjustable system, but they also wanted us to install the system out of the audience's view."

Petridis decided on flown left and right arrays each consisting of nine self-powered M'elodie loudspeakers, concealed within the prosceni

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Poland - XTA Electronics distributor, Konsbud Audio reports its first successful year representing XTA in Poland, including the recent take up of the brand by three well known and significant Polish PA/sound reinforcement companies.

Airpol Sound & Light of Warsaw has operated in the pro audio market since 1996. Its main business is in sound reinforcement, specialising in events ranging from concerts and festivals to corporate events. Airpol Sound & Light has expanded its original stock of XTA DP226s with the acquisition of DP448s and DP324s. Antoni Paluszkiewicz of Konsbud comments: "Airpol told us that they chose XTA family units because of their high quality, high reliability and their reputation, as well as the easy, user-friendly operation, which is due to accessible software."

GMB Pro Sound, also Warsaw based, is described by Konsbud as 'one of the most renowned

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USA/China - Shure Incorporated reports that it has struck another blow against suppliers of counterfeit Shure products. Following an investigation initiated by Shure, officials of the Baoshan Office of the Shanghai Administration for Industry and Commerce (AIC) conducted raids on wholesale stores and warehouses of Han Si Appliance Co., Ltd and Run Zheng Digital Ltd on Baoshan Road. Both locations are in the Zhabei District of Shanghai.

"Counterfeiters are constantly working to duplicate the Shure logo and other product markings as well as the general appearance of the products," said Anita Man, managing director of Shure Asia. "Due to the popularity and reputation of the Shure brand, they know that consumers are interested in an item that bears the Shure name."

In the two raids, large quantities of counterfeit Shure E2c and E4c earphones were seized as well

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USA - Just five Syncrolite Xenon Skylights units were used to completely wash the West facade of American Airlines Center in Dallas recently, after the US Navy contracted with Syncrolite to light American Airlines Center and West Village to promote the website www.navyformoms.com.

At American Airlines Center, Syncrolite used only five XL10 Xenon Skylights to light the entire West facade of the building (470ft wide x 120ft tall) and only 6 SXB-7/3 units to light the North facade (380ft wide x 120ft tall). 12 more XL10 units were put on the roof of the building to produce beams in the sky.

The XL10s produce around 450,000 lumens each, while the SXB-7/3s produce around 350,000 lumens. The products provide an alternative to far more complex and maintenance-heavy automated fixtures as well as providing savings in time and money over greater numbers of smaller fixtureswhen it comes

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South Africa - Yebo Radio studios at Vodaworld in Midrand features Martin smartMAC luminaires in a design by Gerrie Swart of Secelec Consulting Engineers, whose brief from Tom London and Umayya Theba of Yebo Radio was to make the studio a "funky and exciting" place for 12-25 year olds.

"And it certainly has been the most exciting project I've ever worked on in terms of lighting", said Swart. "The lighting was a key element and once I'd investigated the architectural lighting options available, it was obvious that the Martin gear could offer all the components the client was hoping for."

Gerrie approached Martin's South African representative, Electrosonic, with a CAD drawing of the concept and a request for equipment that would add colour and light to the contemporary design. Electrosonic immediately arranged a demonstration.

"Electrosonic

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USA - On 15 February 2009, the House Depot, along with We Love Industries, teamed up with Congo De Oro Productions to help bring Miami the first annual Carnaval Electronic Music Festival at Miami's Bayfront Park.

Celebrating one of Colombia's oldest carnivals, Carnaval is the 2009 Miami rebirth of that event. Featuring a variety of music, the event drew approximately 2000 spectators. With a crowd of this size, the sound system needed to be and offer considerable control of the sound dispersion characteristics. For Franco Sound, the company tasked with providing sound reinforcement for the event, the solution was to deploy a loudspeaker system drawn from the catalogue of D.A.S. Audio.

Based in Miami, Franco Sound is owned and operated by Ramon Franco, who also serves as FOH engineer for many of the projects his company services. "This festival had two stages running, with

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USA - As part of its ongoing education efforts in the industry, Tomcat has introduced a new video podcast series as an extension of Tomcat U. The Did You Know videos are relatively short in length - about two to four minutes each - and will address a variety of topics in rigging, motors, fall protection and truss.

The first release in this ongoing series addresses fall protection harnesses and how to properly inspect them before use. Additional releases will follow in the coming weeks. The videos can be viewed and downloaded from Tomcat's website.

"TOMCAT is very proud of its industry-renowned workshops and the valuable safety training they provide," stated Keith Bohn, technical sales director for Tomcat USA. "This new series of video podcasts is an extension of our mission to spread the word about safe practices and principles in the entertainment indust

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Brazil - Carnival in Rio de Janiero is one of the most extravagant celebrations of the year, complete with parades, dancing and loads of dazzle. The newest Clay Paky fixture, the Alpha Beam 1500 was included in the recent 2009 gala, helping make the festivities some of the most memorable to date.

Lighting designer Naldo Bueno from Oficina de Luz designed a parade route sculpted with the Alpha Beam 1500 fixtures, creating a skyline effect. Lighting equipment was supplied by MR Light the exclusive distributor of Clay Paky products in Brazil.

Renan Mendez, commercial director for MR Light commented: "Every year for Carnival, we have problems with the power of the common moving lights, because in the Apoteose, where the parade takes place, there are more than 1200 lux of illumination in order to guarantee good video TV reception. Alpha Beam 1500 surprised us all with its ligh

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UK - Lloudspeaker manufacturer Tannoy has launched a brand new website designed to reinforce and enhance the company's presence in each of the three main markets it operates in: Commercial/Professional, Residential/Hi-Fi and Studio Monitoring. The new site reflects the new, more modern brand style and provides a comprehensive easy-to-navigate information resource for both professional and consumer customers, the company says.

"With three distinct areas for each of the main markets, the site is more photographic than its predecessor with a much sharper aesthetic and consistent Tannoy identity. Each distinct section is designed to appeal to its respective target market, in terms of visual appeal and organisational layout - a huge improvement on the previous homogenized site."

Other enhancements include the News section, which allows users to browse through the latest p

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USA - XFC, the newest form of Mixed Marshal Art has tapped Bandit Lites to provide the illumination for their PPV events. XFC is broadcast on HD NET.

Bandit VP Michael Golden works with XFC production manager Kenn Bradley to deliver the event production. Lighting designer John Lucksinger brings the violent vision to life with an octagonal truss grid to mimic the cage below.

PARs, MAC 600's, Atomic Strobes and other equipment all driven by a Hog 2 console provide the gritty crunch the event demands and Bandit delivers.

(Jim Evans)

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Italy - Italy-based trussing manufacturer Litec, part of Vitec Group Plc, has announced a company restructure in response to the changing economic climate. The restructuring plan, the company says, "aims not only at optimising productive capacity, but also reviewing processes and adapting them to the new market conditions".

Litec's statement says: "The reorganisation was aimed at focussing on the business, brands and product range in the core market which we serve. It was this strategic decision that caused us to sell the IFF brand last March, to concentrate on Litec and strategic partnerships like Tomcat, Manfrotto and Columbus McKinnon."

The company says it will continue to introduce innovative products such as the RF40 (pictured) and MyT, and to improve existing products, whose success is increasingly confirmed in Europe and internationally (Libera and H

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UK - The recent completion of Sheffield Crucible's £15.3m Phase 1 regeneration project has seen the removal of the theatre's old counterweight flying system and its replacement by Centre Stage Engineering's Artisan computer controlled power flying system and 12 zero-fleet angle variable speed hoists.

The stage engineering specification for the Phase 1 work called for a fully automated flying system that could handle multiple shows and cues together with operational controls that would be intuitive, straightforward to use for a variety of personnel but designed with budgetary constraints in mind.

Centre Stage's success in winning this contract was based on its new Artisan power flying system, launched at PLASA last year, and soon to be installed in the new Corby Cube later this year with 21 zero fleet angle hoists with 350kg SWL and a maximum speed of 1.2m/sec.

The syst

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Israel - Long-life LED luminaires in hard-to-reach recesses are providing a special viewing experience at the new Yitzhak Rabin Museum in Tel Aviv and minimising disruption to visitors from unplanned maintenance. The vision to create small, almost invisible light sources that wouldn't detract from the artifacts, was accomplished by embedding Luxeon LED based lighting solutions in walls, the floors and awkward spaces where conventional light sources wouldn't be practical.

Two luminaires manufactured by D-LED, the D-Spot and Nano, were specified for the project. Each uses Luxeon K2 LEDs driven at 700 mA to achieve the light output and lumen maintenance required for the application. D-LEDs experience with SSL solutions coupled with engineering expertise and support from Future Lighting Solutions enabled to project to come to fruition and for the museum to create a special experienc

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USA - ETC's flagship lighting control system, Eos was in control at the recent Golden Globes and Academy Awards shine brighter.

For the 2009 Golden Globes, an Eos lighting desk, along with a 2x20 ETC Universal Fader Wing controlled all of the conventional and practical lights. Board programmer Gil Samuelian built the entire cue and submaster contents in Blind and was then able to modify the lighting smoothly during rehearsals before the show. Once it came time to stage the whole show, everything went efficiently with Eos. Samuelian especially appreciated the 'About' function: "It's one of my favourite tools. I can quickly see exactly what is influencing the current output and it gives me detailed information on a selected target. It takes out the guesswork."

An Eos control desk also controlled 700 channels of conventional dimming and hazers, as well as house, archite

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Ghana - South Africa-based Prosound, together with Italian construction company Micheletti are going for round two in Ghana as they prepare to take hockey to a new level. After having previously completed a project for the stadium in Accra, the client was confident to give the go-ahead for a second time, following good results and the punctual, on-budget completion of the first project.

Prosound has now been brought in to provide audio coverage both internally and externally to the Hockey Park Complex in Accra, Ghana. The equipment provided included Electro-Voice PA series power amplifiers and RCF-Acustica P Series outdoor loudspeaker systems. All equipment is being acquired to ship to site for installation.

The facility will encourage students to participate and get excited in future hockey events, providing seats for 1,200 people and including a hostel for participating team

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Busking Cancer - Madness frontman Suggs and Rod Stewart are helping to launch a charity busking campaign on HMS Belfast. Suggs will perform on the ship, which is moored on the banks of the River Thames near Tower Bridge, on 20 June. Other acts will also perform. Busking Cancer aims to get musicians raising money for Cancer Research UK.

Rod Stewart, who started busking in Paris, told the BBC: "You don't have to be a great singer or the best musician, you just have to entertain people." Stewart, who has survived thyroid cancer and will attend the launch but not perform, said: "Busking is what music is all about - just getting out there and singing or playing for the sheer joy of it. And if you can earn a few quid for Cancer Research UK - a few quid that might just help to save someone's life - what could be better?"

Busking Cancer began in 2007

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USA - The 30-years-young Catholic Church of St. Ann in Marietta, Georgia recently completed a $5 million architecture, audio and video renovation, adding a new 4400sq.ft Narthex or gathering space and completely renovating the Nave or worship area. The acoustical challenges of new, hard surfaces were met with Renkus-Heinz Iconyx IC32 digitally steerable array loudspeakers, custom coloured to match the architecture.

A marble sanctuary, tile floors and new radius-designed wooden pews, while visually stunning, presented drastically altered acoustics and a challenge to intelligibility and the quality of music.

Reverberation times (RT) of 1.4 to 1.5 seconds mid-band rose to 2.4 to 2.5 seconds after the refurbishment, says D. Wayne Lee of A/V consultants Lee Sound Design, as the firm had predicted following its modelling of the renovated sanctuary in EASE 4.1 and 4.2 with AURA. He a

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UK - Events group, 5CATFish, has taken delivery of a K-Array Redline PA which is now accompanying them on the road throughout the UK. 5CATFish are made up of pro audio luminaries and session musicians Andy Lewis, James Shears, Jay Cresswell, Tim Gray, Craig Blundell, Andy Duffield and Ben Cole and the band is dedicated to "delivering a better kind of musical event experience".

Band leader and keyboard player, Andy Lewis says: "When clients organise an event, a celebration, corporate function or a wedding, they need to be sure that the band and the DJ will deliver. There are very few things worse than a perfect day being ruined by a band or DJ who don't view the event from a professional perspective and don't or can't play what the clients want to hear.

"5CATFish, unlike so many covers and functions bands and DJs, always strive to deliver the entertainment t

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UK - Vaughan Sound Installations (VSI) was asked to provide specialist lighting, AV and audio consultancy, design and specification services for the performance facilities at the newly built Queen Elizabeth School in Johnstown, Carmarthen, Wales.

VSI worked directly with the electrical contractors Whitehead Building Services who undertook the installation, working for main contractor Carillion. WBS's project director was Steve Jones and VSI's project managers were Keith Fish and Tony Morruzzi. Keith Fish designed the systems after receiving an outline brief of the requirements from project consultants, Hoare Lea.

Three new areas have been created in the project - the Performance Hall, the Assembly Hall and the Drama Studio, each of which needed well thought-out stage lighting, AV and sound systems to accommodate a wide range of uses, events and performances.

VSI has consider

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UK - As the year unfolds in Europe Bandit Lites reports that it is very busy with a variety of major projects. Lester Cobrin and the team in Bedford are working overtime to meet the demands.

George Thorogood is out with Ron Norvell at the helm as LD, tour manager Adam Conde and production manager Jeff Pitt. They are carrying VL2500s, Studio Beams, DL2's, a Hog 3, Colorado 3's, Pixel Micros, Color Blocks and Lycian spots.

Peter Barnes is designing Capital FM's Summertime Ball and uses MAC 2000 wash and spots, Hog 3 console, Gladiator 3K spots and Stadium Hazers as part of his kit. Steve Levitt from Production North is producing the event and Bandit is the supplier.

Simon Tutchener has two separate upcoming projects with Bandit. B.B. King and John Mayall have teamed up for a dynamic outing with a system comprising of MAC 2000 washes and spots, grandMA consoles and Lycian 1290

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Russia - The recent Eurovision Song Contest is one of the most-watched television productions in the world, with estimates of some 200 million viewers. When Russia won Eurovision in Belgrade, Serbia last year, Russian show producers were immediately driven to make the 2009 production in Moscow the biggest and most breathtaking in Eurovision history.

The equipment list for the show an astounding 2,000sq.m of scenic LED and a long list of lighting fixtures, including 72 PRG Bad Boy luminaries, first seen at PLASA 2008 in London last autumn. Since the fixture hit the shelves at the beginning of this year, it has been seen on major tours from Oasis to Britney Spears and on television from the Grammy Awards to The Celebrity Apprentice, but in the words of Eurovision production manager Ola Melzig: "We got 72 - eat our dust!"

Two Virtuoso consoles controlled all of the stag

  1. W-DMX key to Ankara park project
  2. Saxon endorse Electro-Voice
  3. Fibre Optic Systems rebrands as Diva
  4. Robe at the South African Music Awards
  5. Butterflies fly for the Pope in Amman
  6. Dual Midas system on Paolo Nutini tour
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