USA - Barco reports that three major band tours - No Doubt, The Crystal Method and the upcoming Aerosmith tour, are all debuting the new High End Systems' Showbeam 2.5 in their shows.

The Showbeam 2.5 is a new 2500-watt automated wash luminaire that features the Twin Beam technology, allowing two hard-edge beams to exit the fixture on command. Features include variable control over the Twin Beam's deviation and rotation speed, all with little brightness degradation, the ability to add incremental colour to the Twin Beam using the CMY colour mixing system, and a LED tracking system encircling the lens. It also features a user-changeable fixed colour wheel, a variable CTO and the ability to produce an 11-degree fixed hard-edge profile with fast colour change and Electronic Strobe. The profile can be rapidly zoomed from 11 to 33 degrees.

Butch Allen, No Doubt's lighting designer,

UK - Oscar's Pizza restaurant in Kings Langley has always been a successful and busy rendezvous for locals and visitors, but owner Tony Russo had felt for some time that the sound was not quite right. As a music producer, he appreciates good sound and was sensitive to the fact that his restaurant lacked good even audio coverage which is an essential factor in creating good ambience in a restaurant.

He approached Bose, who put him in touch with local Bose Pro Partner, Pod 3 AV. A tight schedule meant that they had just two weeks to remove the old system, rewire and install a new Bose system, alongside designers and builders who were refurbishing the whole restaurant and creating a new bar area at the same time.

A combination of Bose FreeSpace 3 satellite cubes and flush bass, plus full range FreeSpace DS16 and FreeSpace DS100 speakers was specified by Tim Dyer of Pod 3, workin

South Africa - Gearhouse South Africa supplied lighting and power for the spectacular closing ceremony of the 2009 DLF Indian Premier League Cricket series at Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. The show kicked off immediately after a knife-edge finish to the Series kept the 35,000 audience enthralled right down to the last ball, before the Deccan Chargers beat the Royal Challengers Bangalore by six runs.

Gearhouse's Tim Dunn designed the light-show for the event, - a fusion of Indian, African, Bollywood, Caribbean and American entertainment with special guest appearances by American rapper Akon, Eddie Grant and Bollywood superstar Katrina Kaif. The high energy show also included drummers, fire dancers, traditional dancers and a Miss Bollywood IPL South Africa model parade culminating in a massive pyro and fireworks show.

Four production companies were involved with the event -

USA - When NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon debuted in the changing landscape of late night television grandMA was close at hand. Lighting designer Christopher Landy, who heads Brooklyn's Vibrant Design LLC, specified the console to control a large complement of moving and conventional lights which give the show a hip vibe while paying homage to talk show legends Johnny Carson and Jack Parr who worked in the same iconic Studio 6B at Rockefeller Centre.

"The grandMA is my board of choice for any show," says Landy. "A nightly show like Fallon is very demanding. The schedule is extremely tight and every night is a different musical performance and a different comedic bit. That doesn't leave a lot of cuing time. We need a console that can handle a large library of effects and is programmer friendly. Versatility is key"

For Late Night with Jim

World - Britney Spears's Circus tour finds the pop diva bringing an in-the-round extravaganza to arenas across the US, Canada, and Europe. Montreal-based Solotech is masterminding the tour's sophisticated multimedia, lighting, and sound, including a highly integrated Meyer Sound system, which provides consistent coverage across the arenas.

"Today's audiences are quite sophisticated, and expect album-quality sound at every show, regardless of the venue's acoustics or other variables," observes FOH engineer Blake Suib, whose previous tour credits include Madonna, Prince, Guns and Roses, and Annie Lennox. "Meyer Sound has really been instrumental in providing the tools to achieve a seamless and cohesive sound to every seat of even the largest arenas."

The 360-degree system begins with 64 Milo line array loudspeakers in four hangs of 16 cabinets each, al

UK - On 12th May 2009, Leicester's Curve Theatre welcomed students of technical theatre from across the country for the first of a planned series of educational open days at the venue. The event follows the ABTT Open Day also hosted earlier in the year by Stage Technologies at Curve Theatre, and was conceived as an introduction to automation for students of all non-performing theatre disciplines, from design to stage management.

Around 90 students and tutors from RADA, LAMDA, Central School of Speech and Drama, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and Rose Bruford got a first-hand look at how the latest automation technology works at one of the most recent performance venues to be built in the UK. The exceptional environment of Curve Theatre allowed Stage Technologies experts to demonstrate the versatility, precision and capability of the hardware and software systems. The programme f

Austria - With a long and colourful history to its name, today the Ronacher Theatre is one of the two leading music venues in the Austrian capital of Vienna, the other being the Raimund Theatre. Owned by theatre production company, Vereinigte Bühnen Wien, both venues are historical and cultural landmarks of the Viennese landscape. Following recent upgrades to the sound system, these prestigious theatres have now standardised on Lab.gruppen's dedicated installation C Series amplifiers.

According to Erich Hofbauer of ATEC Pro Audio, the exclusive Lab.gruppen distributer in Austria, a number of powerful four-channel Lab.gruppen C 48:4s were put through their paces on the musical Rebecca at the Raimund Theatre last year, driving the in-house high-efficiency coaxial APG Micro Axial FoH system. The reaction was extremely positive, and so the production company decided to inves

UK - PEL Music & Media reports the completion of its fifth Bose Professional sound system installation for high street retailer Oakley.

Originally known for its innovative optical technology for sport professionals, Oakley, Inc. has grown into a world renowned sport and lifestyle brand featuring high performance sunglasses, prescription lenses and frames, goggles, apparel, footwear and accessories. It has a chain of retail platforms across the world, including six Oakley Stores in the UK.

Oakley chose Bose as its sound system and PEL for the installation work for its second UK Oakley Store - in Bluewater in 2007. John Pollard, Oakley (UK) director and general manager, took a hands on role in specifying the sound system.

"I took a far more proactive role in the sourcing of additional services and it was fitting that a technology driven company like Oakley should chose to

Switzerland - Tele Südostschweiz, located in southeastern Switzerland, has recently installed a Studer OnAir 3000 console into the broadcast control room.

The installation of the Studer OnAir 3000 consoles into the new studios emphasise the necessity for clear workflows and an infrastructure that supports the production of daily newscasts and the administration of purchased programmes as efficiently as possible. The VJ's of Tele Südostschweiz have a total of nine HD cameras available, which allows them to directly record reports onto flash data carriers for additional broadcast versatilty.

The Studer OnAir 3000 operates with 12 faders in the main control room at Tele Sudostschweiz studios and is responsible for broadcasting Swiss newscasts, weather reports and talk shows. The programmes are then produced and provided by affiliate TV stations and are efficiently transcoded vi

UK - There will be keyboards, but no traditional wind or string instruments, when a 'laptop orchestra' gives its debut performance at the University of Derby.

Laptop orchestras, of which there are only a handful in the world, use laptop computers to play music, but assemble before a live audience to jointly play a whole composition, as would a traditional orchestra.

Rather than have all the players just using ordinary laptops, the Derby Laptop Orchestra (or DLO) is developing a new range of digital musical instruments for its first ever performance, at 7.30pm on Friday 5 June, in Auditorium Three, at the University's Markeaton Street site.

The event is part of the University's 2009 Degree Shows, running from Thursday 4 June to Saturday 13 June.

The music could be made using Wii game remotes, engineered to produce sounds reflecting the player's motions, or DJ turntables whi

USA - Hip-hop, duo Chester French , currently touring Europe, return to the US in July to begin opening for punk rockers Blink-182 on their North American summer tour. For every performance Chester French will perform through Electro-Voice microphones, mixed by Tour Manager/FOH Engineer Sean Peel.

Peel, a longtime Electro-Voice user, is a busy freelance tour manager and FOH engineer who trusts his EV mics to stand up to the rigours of touring. The new PL80's sound, along with its rugged, natural-feeling design, has made it Peel's go-to vocal mic.

"I love the PL80," says Peel. "It's awesome - I'm glad it's back with a vengeance. The PL80c is just like it was back in the day, but with all the advantages of state-of-the-art materials. And not only is it a great live microphone, it even works great when we're recording TV and doing in-studio stuff like that. But it

Turkey - The end of May saw the spectacular opening ceremony of the five star Mardan Palace hotel take place in Antalya, drawing an illustrious international presence of celebrities and press. LSE, the Belgian based multi-media show company, worked with long-time collaborator Tara W Smith, the Australian creative director of Stargrace, to create a memorable visual experience for the opening.

The event, which took place over two days, was a high profile affair featuring presenters and performers including Sharon Stone, Richard Gere, Paris Hilton, Monica Belluci, Tom Jones and Seal.

Two multi-media shows took place over the two days, the first at the Grand Inauguration on 23 May, the second the following day at the Dance of the Scorpion beach party on the hotel's Scorpion Pier.

For the Grand Inauguration, Smith wanted to celebrate the historical influences, modern techn

USA - The Broadway production of British-born musical Billy Elliot swept the board at last night's Tony Awards, taking home 10 of the 15 awards it was nominated for including Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical (for Stephen Daldry - who also directed the film version of Billy Elliot) and Best Performance by a Leading Actor for the three teenagers who share the role of Billy - David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish. It was the first time in the 63 years of the Tonys that three actors won for one role in the same category.

At the Creative Arts Awards, a special ceremony held prior to the main event and broadcast online at www.tonyawards.com, British theatre talent continued to shine as Billy Elliot won in six categories - including Rick Fisher for Best Lighting Design of a Musical and Paul Arditti for Best Sound Design of a Musical. The award for

USA - SIA Acoustics has recently completed the design and commissioning of the P.C. Richard & Son Theatre in TriBeCa, NYC. The 5,500sq.ft theatre will serve as a live performance, recording, and broadcast space for Clear Channel Radio, which includes New York stations Q1043, Z100, WKTU, Power 105.1 and Lite-fm.

To meet the theatre's demanding performance requirements, two four-element arrays of Outline Butterfly C.D.H. 483 loudspeakers were specified, powered by Outline T7 amplifiers. Low-frequency reinforcement is provided by six Outline LAB 15 SP subwoofers, arranged as three cardioid pairs under the stage.

For delay, one array of three Mini-COM.P.A.S.S. self-powered line array loudspeakers is employed, with additional fill provided by Micra II SP self-powered loudspeakers. Both the Outline T7 amplifiers and the Mini-COM.P.A.S.S. self-powered loudspeaker include on-board DSP

USA - Jeff Dunham has amassed legions of loyal fans with his thousands of sold-out arena, theatre, and comedy club performances, countless television guest spots, and three top-rated specials on Comedy Central. Building on this success, Jeff Dunham is taking North America by storm in 2009. Dunham's newest tour, Spark of Insanity, is playing to sold-out arena crowds. An Electro-Voice sound system from LIVE! Technologies is taking care of sound reinforcement.

The tour's extensive run includes stops at American Airlines Arena in Dallas and the HP Pavilion in San Jose. To meet the challenges posed by such imposing venues, Dunham and his crew needed a touring rig with a reputation for outstanding audio quality and reliability. LIVE! Technologies prescribed Electro-Voice X-Array and X-Line loudspeakers for the job.

The Spark of Insanity touring rig comprises 12 X-Lin

UK - Baldwin Boxall has presented the staff of RAFT with two very heavy collection boxes. Over £400 was raised for the charity on Baldwin Boxall's exhibition stand at this year's International Firex. Visitors to the, now infamous, Plug & Socket stand were asked for donations in return for a glass of Harveys Real Ale.

The boxes were presented to chief executive of RAFT Leonor Stjepic and laboratory technician Julian Dye. The team at RAFT were delighted by the amount raised (£437.04) in such a short space of time. The charity relies heavily on donations such as this.

After a tour of RAFTs laboratories in Northwood, Nick Baldwin, marketing director, Baldwin Boxall, commented, " We had the idea of raising money shortly before the show. Although we have supported RAFT on other occasions, this is the first time we have used an exhibition for this purpose. The

India - Volkswagen, Europe's largest vehicle manufacturer, recently opened the doors of its new corporate factory in Chakan, India, with one of the year's most prestigious corporate launches. Sound engineers from India's Sound.com selected the Soundcraft Vi6 digital console to mix the high-profile event. The occasion required a versatile and intuitive board and the engineer, Fali Damania, mixed the event with the assistance of the Vistonics interface of the Vi6.

Sound.com managing director, Warren D'souza, noted that the success of the event would set a new benchmark for the Indian sound industry to live up to and states: "Many managers pitched for this project and the entire industry was anxious to see how well this event would be executed."

D'souza continues, "The production of the show needed to be flawless, which is why we selected the Soundcraft Vi6."<

UK - Taking to stage a wildly successful Australian film about two drag queens and a transsexual driving across the Australian outback in a bus, including 25 big show songs, is a challenge definitely not for the faint hearted. But with Priscilla Queen of the Desert - The Musical, this is exactly what production company Back Row Productions has achieved.

Receiving rave reviews, Yamaha digital consoles are helping to ensure that Priscilla is also queen of the London stage.

Award-winning sound designer Michael Waters is a long-term user of Yamaha consoles and, for the run at London's Palace Theatre, switched to a PM1D from the PM5D he specified for the stage show's original Australian run.

"My first mixing was done on an M916 in the mid 1980s, progressing to the PM2000, M2800, PM3000, PM4000, PM5000 and many more from the O1V to the PM1D/PM5D," says Mich

UAE - Milos trussing was at the heart of the rigging system designed and utilised by Almoe AV Productions' Dubai office for the official launch event of the new UEA-based budget airline, flydubai.

The venue for the high-profile VIP event was the former Royal Hangar at the Expo site at Dubai International Airport, and Almoe were contracted direct by flydubai LLC as the technical services provider. In addition to rigging, this included sound, lighting and AV.

The big technical and creative challenge for the Almoe team was to transform the barn like structure of the hangar into a theatrical space for the event. The launch culminated in the reveal of a new Boeing 737-800 airliner, which necessitated flying trussing the length of the hangar, and bringing the new aircraft in underneath screens that were suspended from it. With the plane valued at $75 million, the rig above had to be

UK - A.C. Audio, a division of A.C. Entertainment Technologies, has recently been appointed as a key stocking dealer for both Allen & Heath and Soundcraft's latest digital audio consoles; the iLive-T Series and Si / Vi Series respectively. The new ranges extend A.C.'s portfolio of digital consoles, which includes Yamaha's LS9, M7CL and PM5D models.

Peter Butler, sales manager of the A.C. Audio division, commented, "A.C. are thrilled to be named as a key stocking dealer for both brands. We have been eagerly anticipating the release of these ranges for some time now and the entire Audio sales team are thoroughly impressed with the final products, which have exceeded all our expectations."

He continued, "Allen & Heath have really thought about the needs of the current user when designing the iLive-T. They have brought to the table an extremely cost-effective digita

UK - Rental supplier Amber Lites (Scotland) invested in Chroma-Q Color Web 125 LED panels to provide scenic elements for the recent Elaine Paige 40th Anniversary UK tour and other client events.

Amber purchased 60 Color Web 125 LED panels to offer their clients a flexible LED stage backdrop suitable for different size tours and events. William Adie, a director of the company, commented, "Originally, we looked at traditional LED display screens, but after seeing a demo of the Color Web at our premises we knew it was ideal for our clients' needs.

"The product is very effective for providing both video and lighting effects across a large stage area. Also, it is an elegant solution for touring as it can be transported in small, flightcased sections. From our point of view it's a great investment and we expect a lot of interest."

Lighting designer Martin Nicholas h

France - Johnny Hallyday used a bespoke stage built by Stageco when he embarked on his tribute to American rock culture, Tour 66. Hallyday, who took the inspiration for this tour from symbols such as the Harley Davison, the American eagle or the iconic Route 66 shield emblem, needed a stage which would look impressive on an international scale.

The tour is scheduled to play stadia of all sizes in France, Belgium and Switzerland, so it required a flexible touring set that would create a dramatic visual impact in different capacity venues, from the 60,000 seat Stade de France in Paris to smaller venues like the Stade Jules Deschaseaux in Le Havre.

Stage designer Mark Fisher of Stufish designed a stage dominated by a large mythic bird, wings outstretched and spanning the entire width of the performance area. Beneath it were two pairs of giant caryatids, half human, half av

Good Show Business - The summer exhibition season gets into full swing this month and despite all the negative news continuing to hog the headlines, event organisers are reporting healthy exhibitor levels and strong visitor pre-registrations.

This week's ABBT Theatre Show - the 31st - will host a full-house of over 100 exhibitors. Show director Roger Fox notes: "Exhibitions are so important in our seemingly faceless world of E-commerce, as they offer an opportunity to get face to face with customers. We're looking forward to another successful year, highlighting the true potential of theatre technology and its impact on the West End, in regional theatres, education and retail."

Meanwhile, over in Orlando, Florida, Infocomm 2009 (14-19 June) is being billed as the largest and most comprehensive pro-AV event in the world. According to the organisers, more than 30,000 p

UK - The organisers of the ABTT Theatre Show, which takes place in London this week, have told L&SI that the Show is set to open its doors despite the 48-hour strike by London Underground workers. Spokesperson told L&SI: "The ABTT Theatre Show is delighted to announce that show will be opening its doors tomorrow, 10 June, despite the Tube strike. Presenting a full house of over 100 exhibiting companies, the show's pre-registration figures are up by 5% on last year's figures, which highlights the interest and demand for technical solutions in auditoria and multi-purpose performances spaces."

Transport for London (TfL) has said it will bring in a taxi-sharing scheme at all major rail stations, escorts to lead cyclists across the capital and additional parking for cycles as part of its contingency plans. Oyster cards will be accepted on all trains, 100 extra buses and a f

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