UK - Llanelli- based AV integration specialists PAI recently completed the roll-out of bespoke narrow bezel LCD panel technology for a series of the Reiss mens and womenswear retail stores in central London.

The locations - Barrett Street; Kings Road, Chelsea; Kent House, Oxford Circus and Selfridges in Oxford Street - are some of the busiest locations for the popular high street brand.

PAI was contacted by Reiss's design team who were seeking a technical solution to deliver their concept for a new in-store promotion system requiring an anamorphic screen measuring approximately 1.8M high and 0.6M wide.

PAI won the contract for offering design realisation at the right price and the ability to deliver a fully working end product within the client's demanding programme.

"We reviewed the brief and came up with a simple cost-effective approach," reports PAI's technica

Sweden - The Upsala Nya Tidning (UNT), a noted daily Swedish newspaper, has recently opened a visitor centre in Uppsala. PolyVision Teknik, the A/V system integrator, selected Medialon to be the main A/V controller of the UNT visitor cent.

"The producer, Lars Josefsson at PolyVision Mediaslottet, is really the creator of the whole media centre. My task was to make his vision come true", says Per Sigemark, project manager from PolyVision Teknik.

The UNT combines a media centre and conference facilities - both controlled by a Medialon Manager PRO Show and Media Control software.

The visit starts with a multitude of pictures regarding local, national and international events. From the 7x10m dome-shape ceiling, visitors are surrounded by moving pictures and sound. The ceiling changes colour from deep blue to dark red thanks to LED lights installed behind the dom

USA - The Hard Rock Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma is a $155m upgrade and expansion of the former Cherokee Casino Resort, which has been transformed into a powerhouse gaming/hotel/nightclub complex and re-branded as a Hard Rock franchise.

Still owned and operated by Cherokee Nation despite its new name, the casino was looking to give itself a facelift, when the branding and renovation opportunity with Hard Rock arose. Along with the obvious advantages of aligning itself with the world-famous pop culture icon came the challenge of assimilating $2 million worth of rock music memorabilia and other Hard Rock design parameters into the casino's Native American roots.

Nowhere was this blending of the old and new played out more dramatically than on a large plastic light sculpture that hangs over seven banks of slot machines in the casino's 125,000sq.ft gaming area. Designed in a Native A

France - A mythical Parisian nightclub and clubbers' temple, Le Queen is one of the most important nightclubs in the capital. Located at the heart of the Champs Elysées, the often-packed club distinguishes itself by the quality of the artists that perform there as well as by its atmosphere. With a recent Martin lighting update, Le Queen remains a reference point for Parisian clubbers.

From the outset, the plan for replacing the lighting was simple: conserve the party spirit of the place by remaining as simple as possible. Therefore, the aim was to replace the old lighting kit while reducing the number of sources. It was, however, very important to lose neither the effects of the traditional ACL projectors nor the sensation of the power of the light provided by all of the projectors.

In order to meet different expectations, two types of products have been installed on ei

UK - Firefly has announced that it is to be the exclusive technical production partner for the Brighton Festival Fringe in 2010. Firefly will be with the festival to ensure internal productions are delivered sustainably.

Brighton Festival Fringe is one of the largest and fastest-growing open access arts festival in the world and the largest in England. Anyone can put on an event in the Fringe, so it functions as a springboard for new work as well as a guaranteed platform for more established acts.

Brighton & Hove has held Fringe activity since the Brighton Festival was launched in 1967. In 2006 the Fringe became a company in its own right and appointed an independent board of directors: it is also a registered charity. Fringe 2010 will run from 1-23 May.

Firefly will be providing a number of solar powered stages as well as supplying all technical infrastructure

Germany - A problem faced increasingly by many leading European football clubs is what to do when their stadium - often originally built in the early-to-mid 20th Century - is no longer adequate for the needs of the modern supporter? High on the list of priorities is the provision of high quality audio, which has been achieved at two of Germany's highest profile clubs with installations that feature 120 Yamaha power amplifiers and DME digital mixing engine control.

Bayer Leverkusen and Augsburg FCs both recently faced the dilemma of having stadia which could no longer fulfil 21st century expectations. To achieve this they chose different options - Leverkusen to radically extend its existing facility, whereas Augsburg went for a completely new build.

In both cases new systems were needed to deliver high quality audio. The flexibility, reliability and quality of Yamaha power ampl

Finland - The Season of Light festival used two Barco XLM HD30 projectors to illuminate Senate Square in Helsinki. The festival took place early January and presented two façade light-art installations.

Season of Light is an annual light-art festival in Helsinki. During the dark winter month of January, two façade light performances gave the country's capital an exciting atmosphere. Both installations, Reflections at Senate Square and Oratoribus at Parliament House, were created by lighting designer Mikki Kunttu.

The performance at Senate Square is a 15-minute story, projected on the façade of Helsinki Cathedral. Reflections is a voyage through time into the past and onwards into a world of fantasy. Senate Square and its surroundings return to the year 1852 when the St Nicholas church - now Helsinki Cathedral - was inaugurated. Starting wi

Sweden - The TC Group has announced a restructuring that has resulted in the formation of a new organization known as TC Group International which will operate out of Aarhus in Denmark and Coatbridge, Scotland.

The new organisation, which comes into being today (1 February), will offer "a new and revitalised sales and support structure based on vertical markets" across all TCGI-owned brands, namely TC Electronic, TC Helicon, Lab.gruppen, Lake and Tannoy, as well as the distributed brands Dynaudio Acoustics and Blue Microphones.

All sales activity that was previously handled at individual brand level, such as order processing, and account management will now be centralised and handled at group level out of the offices in Aarhus and Coatbridge.

In addition to this, all sales force and sales support activity will be organised by market segment, of which there are five

UK - Liverpool based rental company Adlib supplied Lighting, AV and PA to the latest successful UK tour by award winning comedian Jimmy Carr.

Adlib has worked with Carr for the last four years and they have also been enjoying a spurt of comedy tours in recent months which included Russell Howard's pre-festive arena tour.

The lighting rig was designed and operated by Adlib's Tim Spilman. The set-up featured a front truss with eight Martin Professional MAC 250 wash lights, with three 90 degree ETC Source Four profiles on side booms each side of the thrust stage for downstage side illumination. There were six floor PARs, fitted with front filters to eliminate facial shadows.

A black back curtain was up-lit with another five floor PARs. There were three main performance positions - centre stage, sofa stage right and table stage right - each of which was lit with two profiles and

USA - Behind The Scenes, an initiative of The ESTA Foundation, has announced its first-ever holiday card student design contest, open to any lighting, set, video or costume full-time design student interested in creating an original design for a 2010 card.

The winner will be chosen by an all-star panel of previous holiday card designers including Bob Bonniol, Beowulf Borrit, Scott Pask, Bruce Rodgers, Douglas Schmidt, and Tim Hunter Design. The winner's design will be among the cards offered for sale to raise money for Behind the Scenes, which provides financial assistance to entertainment technology professionals who are ill or injured.

The winner will also receive a free pass to the Live Design Master Class of choice (lighting, sound, or projection) to be held in May in New York City.

"This is an incredible opportunity for student designers to have their work seen by

UK - Berkshire-based sound rental company Event Sound has joined the ranks of UK mid-format line-array providers, with its purchase of an Electro-Voice XLC system from Shuttlesound.

The upgrade of an inventory which has included two generations of Electro-Voice PA products signals the serious intentions of Event Sound's owners Nick Billinghurst and Jason Spencer, who are now committed full-time to building the high-end rental operation, and adding a sales and installation dimension to the company.

Shuttlesound will supply Event Sound with 18 XLC 127DVX modules with eight Xsubs, and a stock of new Tour Grade amplifiers, which are fitted with RCM26 remote control modules, providing the full complement of IIR filters, signal routing, level control, compression and limiting, and FIR-Drive processing.

"They have big plans and they're prepared to work hard," says Shuttle

Guadeloupe - L-Acoustics' rental network agent in Guadeloupe, J2C Antilles, has supplied a Kudo/Kiva system for a concert by Lionel Richie at the Baie-Mahault Stadium in Pointe-à-Pitre. The international star, who has sold more than 100m records worldwide and is promoting his new album Just Go, performed before an audience of 15,000.

The system comprised nine Kudo line source cabinets and four SB28 subwoofers per side, a centre cluster of six Kiva ultra compact line source cabinets, and out-fills of three Kivas per side. The whole system was driven by nine LA8 amplified controllers housed in LA-RAK touring racks.

François Chaumeil, L-Acoustics' technical support for France, explains , "The total audience area was 60m wide by 100m deep, with the nine Kudo covering an area from 15m back to 100m. Using Kudo's K-Louver system, the top three cabinets were open at an

UK - The first National Skills Academy for Creative & Cultural Skills (NSA) annual conference takes place at the Birmingham Hippodrome on 25 February 2010.

This exciting conference will bring together 200 delegates in the context of discussing the current state of the offstage and backstage industry in today's economy, evaluating problems and discussing the solutions to key issues.

The NSA is a network of industry professionals working together to develop and improve the skills of people working in the sector. Their vision is to create an internationally acclaimed technical theatre and live music sector supporting the best stages in the world.

More information and to register for the conference, go to the website address below.

(Lee Baldock)

UK - Sting's recording engineer Donal Hodgson recently embarked on a project to record the artist for A Winter's Night...Live from Durham Cathedral - a concert version of his latest album, If On A Winter's Night... for DVD release and international broadcast.

Hodgson selected a wide range of DPA microphones to assist him in this complex task, which presented many challenges. The largest of these was the building itself. A beautiful cathedral dating back to 1093, Durham provided an amazing backdrop to the concert, but its solid stone construction threw up some serious reverb problems. As the concert was also being filmed, clean sight lines were essential.

"The cathedral has a lovely sounding reverb, but it's at least five seconds long," recalls Hodgson. "The only way to make it sound good was to close mic all 38 musicians. The biggest challenge I

UK - Eat to the Beat provided catering support for the Cirque Du Soleil's spectacular show Varekai, which took place at the Royal Albert Hall on 5 January 2010. Eat To The Beat joined forces with the CDS touring Kitchen Team - an idea that came originally from Varekai's production manager, Jamie Reilly. Now Jamie's idea has come to fruition. Headed by ETTB event manager, Michele Bearsby-Lewis and CDS kitchen manager, Isabelle Turcot, the team will cater for the CDS during their London residency.

Jamie Reilly commented: "Having an opportunity to collaborate with a company like Eat to the Beat is a privilege to learn new methods of working, new recipes and meeting extraordinary people, this is how, at Cirque du Soleil we remain innovative in all different aspects of our business, from the stage to the Kitchen! I am very pleased to have found with Eat to the Beat the op

Austria - The Four Hills Tournament is the ski-jumping highlight of the entire season, followed avidly by enthusiasts throughout the world. This latest (58th) edition of the tournament, ski-jumping's unofficial world championship, ran from the 29 December 2009 to the 6 January 2010 and comprised four competitions on four different slopes.

Traditionally, the Garmisch-Partenkirchen leg of the tournament (the other venues being Oberstdorf, Innsbruck and Bischofshofen) takes place on New Year's Day and in 2010, for the eleventh year in a row, the task of providing the sound reinforcement was entrusted to the Weilheim-based production company TC Showtechnik. The team led by Martin Schulze and Stefan Rehthaler once again relied on Electro-Voice. The centrepiece of the solution proposed by TC Showtechnik for the event, which was watched live by 25,000 spectators and followed by million

Singapore - Eight Robe DigitalSpots and a moving light rig have been installed in the main room of the Bellini Grande jazz entertainment and dance club, the latest in a long line of nightspots created by Dennis Foo.

The venue features three bars and a dining room with a capacity of nearly 1400. The decor introduces large black & white chequered tiles and semi circular booths, bringing a chic 1970's society feel to the environment.

The Robe fixtures were specified by Craig Burridge, technical director for St James Holdings, the parent company of Bellini Grande and the project's AV systems and lighting designer.

The lights were supplied by Robe South East Asia, and follow on from the successful installation of over 200 Robe moving lights and LED fixtures into leading Singapore nightclub St James Power Station in 2007, also spec'd by Burridge.

The main stage at the Bellini Gr

UK / UAE - SES Entertainment Services, based near London, has appointed the newly formed RFW Trading LLC as its sole UAE distributor for its extensive range of power distribution products.

RFW, owned and managed by Fragille Wade, formerly of Dubai-based Protec, has tied up with SES to sell its products to an already extensive client base in the region.

Fragille Wade commented: "Having worked with SES's products for many years, I was pleased to be able to represent them in the region and supply a market that has an insatiable appetite for quality distribution equipment. There has been a significant gap in the market here for some time which we hope to be able to fill with a wide range of Power Products which we will hold in stock at our new warehouse in Dubai. We will be adding to our product range over the coming months and will be a one stop shop for the production and e

Teenage Cancer Trust - Noel Gallagher is to play his first solo concerts since quitting Oasis. The guitarist and songwriter will play for the Teenage Cancer Trust, which he has long supported, at the Royal Albert Hall on 25 and 26 March. Other acts announced for the annual run of charity gigs include Arctic Monkeys, The Specials, Depeche Mode, JLS and reformed Britpop band Suede.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Teenage Cancer Trust shows, which are curated by The Who's Roger Daltrey. Announcing the line-up, he said, "When The Who first got together in 2000 to raise money for this brilliant charity, I had no idea we'd achieve so much from these shows. In the last 10 years we've raised over £8.7m, helping Teenage Cancer Trust to open nine more specialist cancer units for young people across the UK."

Eurovision Update - Pete Waterman is to write

UK - Guests at the 2009 EuroHedge Awards were treated to an unusual walkway at this year's Grosvenor House event with PSCo's Infinite Plasmas designed to make a striking welcome.

The EuroHedge Awards celebrate hedge fund managers' achievements throughout Europe. Over 800 managers, investors, and other industry professionals turned out in force for the occasion.

Capitol House Productions installed two strips of bezel-less Infinite Plasmas, the first ran down the hotel's entrance walkway to The Great Room and the second greeted guests once inside. The plasmas displayed event and sponsor branding to catch the eyes of guests as they walked into the event.

Eight new Infinite 4230R Plasmas were used for the event, sourced from PSCo, which has recently updated its videowall fleet with £100,000 of new screens and accessories.

Head of production Amanda Murray comments: "

USA - LEDtronics has introduced LED replacements for recessed T-bar fluorescent ceiling luminaires: CLL2X2-400-TPW-001W uses only 24W power and replaces 2ftx2ft standard fluorescent 64W units, while CLL2X2-800-TPW-001W consumes less than 36W and replaces 80W fluorescent fixtures. They operate on a voltage range of 100-277VAC, providing solid-state 5000K pure-white lighting that creates less heat compared to conventional lighting, reducing air conditioning demands in offices, closets, hallways, classrooms, work rooms, conference rooms and other retail or commercial indoor lighting locations.

The LEDtronics luminaires offer up to 300% longer lifespan compared to fluorescent lamps, using up to 50% less energy than standard fluorescent 2ftx 2ft (600mm x 600mm) panels, without compromising on performance. The CLL2X2-400-TPW-001W provides a bright beam of 1,840 lumens, with an efficie

The Netherlands - Daktronics is showcasing its latest LED innovations at Integrated Systems Europe this week. As a highlight, Daktronics booth features a full-scale LED video display made up of PST-6i-b LED portable display panels, the latest addition to the Daktronics PST modular video display series.

"We are excited to take part in of one of the largest AV tradeshows in Europe, and to introduce the PST-6i-b to our peers at ISE," said Myron Linde, Daktronics mobile and modular manager. "In addition to being the lightest portable LED video panel of its kind, the PST-6i-b uses a high-contrast design to offer viewers surreal image quality and deep, vivid colours."

The newest member of Daktronics' PST product line, the PST-6i-b panel, weighs in at 52kg/sq.m and joins a pair of other newly unveiled PST products, the PST-12 SMD (50kg/sq.m) and the PST-10 SMD (57

UK - G-LEC Phantom30 frames have been used for an interactive art exhibition at the National Railway Museum in York. For the installation, media artists KMA formed a bridge-like structure across the roof of the exhibition space using 13 2m x 2m screens, each of which comprised four G-LEC Phantom30 frames.

Artist Tom Wexler explains: "It was the railways which first created the need for standardised time across the country, so we came up the idea of an exhibition based on time, place and distance. We placed the 13 screens across the curved roof of the hall, with a thermal imaging camera at each end. The cameras captured people's movement and a few seconds of each person was looped. This was then shown on each screen in turn until the two people's images met in the middle.

"We specified the G-LEC transparent frames because we didn't want the screens to be too 'heavy' o

USA - This month sees new releases in Tomcat USA's ongoing educational Did U Know? podcast video series - and the extension of Tomcat U.

The current topics are How to Tie a Figure of 8 Knot and How to Properly Inspect Your Truss. Will Todd, product support manager, of Tomcat USA leads both of these informative sessions.

The videos can be viewed and downloaded at www.tomcatglobal.com. These videos arrive just in time to serve as a sneak preview of some topics to be covered during Tomcat's Hoist & Rigging Workshops to be held on 17-20 February 2010 - Space is still available.

(Jim Evans)

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