Brazil - When Teatro Bradesco opened in the Bourbon Mall San Paulo, its 1,457-seat house made it one of the largest traditional theatres in Brazil. Its Italian-style proscenium stage features some of the most technologically advanced equipment used in any theatre in Brazil - including automated stage rigging designed and manufactured by J. R. Clancy.

The rigging system includes 10 PowerLift automated hoists, controlled by Clancy's SceneControl 500. Designed by Clancy's in-house team of rigging professionals, this touch-screen system shows operators a 3D representation of the stage and the scenery hanging on each batten. Operators can set simple or elaborate cues, group battens to move together, and see exactly what's moving on stage at any moment.

In addition, J. R. Clancy supplied a Zetex fire safety curtain for the theatre, which lowers automatically in the event of a fire o

UK - The Arena Group installed a wide range of temporary event overlay at the 2010 Ryder Cup. The company provided triple and double decker hospitality structures overlooking the 18th green, media facilities, all 19 temporary spectator seating grandstands, over 60 on-course event structures and furniture to all areas of Celtic Manor.

Ryder Cup match director Edward Kitson says, "Extending the strong working relationship between the Ryder Cup, the PGA European Tour and Arena Group, they (Arena) once again justified our trust through the professional delivery of key elements of the event infrastructure. They have provided a very good service and their offering has enhanced this Ryder Cup tournament."

The project had required months of attentive advance planning, with Arena Seating's project director Bradley Merchant and newly promoted project manager Sam Feaviour walki

UK - Audio companies Technical Knowhow and Paul Sparrow Sound are among the first to use DiGiCo's SD9 console.

Having worked for Newcastle-based technical production company NiteLites for many years before setting up his own company, Technical Knowhow director Andy Magee was already familiar with DiGiCo's D series consoles. He purchased his SD9 from Stage Electrics, following conversations with the company's Ed Gamble.

"I used the D series for about four years. They were my desk of preference," he says. "When I heard about the SD9, I decided to get one straight away. To be honest, when I found out the price I would have been happy to buy one without even seeing it. I knew it would be really good."

In contrast, Paul Sparrow was not a previous DiGiCo user. "I was looking for a digital console that used a Cat 5 multicore. I needed 32 inputs and plenty o

UK - The Science Museum's award winning biomedical gallery, Who am I?, has been relaunched as part of the museum's centenary celebrations. The exhibition was first opened at the museum in 2000 but, thanks to significant advances in genetics and brain science, the Science Museum has updated and revamped the gallery with the very latest scientific research, interactive exhibits, hands-on experiences and educational show cases which explore what makes us who we are and what makes each of us different.

AV installation company Sarner was appointed as audio visual systems integrator for the detailed design, installation and commissioning of AV services of the exhibition following a tender process. The project, which was supported by the principal funder, Wellcome Trust, and major sponsors, GlaxoSmithKline and Life Technologies Foundation, took a total of five months from tender

USA - The charity event Farm Aid turned 25 in 2010. Founder Willie Nelson said, "In 1985 I never imagined we would be doing this ever again, let alone 25 years later." Nelson is joined by Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews as the core group behind the cause.

The event has been run for many years by Ron Stern, ably assisted by Lyle Centola. Designer Stan Crocker has been at the helm of the visuals for many years. Working with Bandit Knoxville GM JR Sander and crew chief Eroc Shafferman, the show was a complete success, capping 25 great years. Bandit has been involved since 1990 and welcomes this most important event every year.

Crocker used a wide offering of fixtures including Martin MAC 2000 Washes, Martin MAC 2000 Profiles, Martin MAC 250 Spots, Vari Lite VL 3000 Washes, Vari Lite VL 3500 Spots, Coemar Infinity XL Washes and Lycian 1271 spotlights. There

UK - Allen & Heath's iLive digital mixers were used on all of the main stages at this year's Beach Break Live (BBL) festival in Pembrey, South Wales.

SPS Audio was appointed as the production company for the event, selecting a modular iDR10 MixRack and iLive-144 Control Surface to manage FOH on the main stage, an iDR-48 with iLive-T112 on the dance stage, and an iDR-32 with iLive-T80 on the new music stage. Ellie Goulding also brought in her touring iDR-48 with iLive-R72 surface on monitors for her performance on the main stage.

Beach Break Live is now in its fourth year, and is renowned for having a high calibre line-up for a modest ticket price. The 2010 line up included Vampire Weekend, Calvin Harris, Chase & Status, Ellie Goulding, Plan B, 2Many DJs and the Futureheads.

"The only way I can manage this event within budget is to take care of everything m

Czech Republic - The 2010 Hrachovka Festival, staged near Robe's Czech Republic factory in Valasske Mezirici, featured Robe moving lights on the two main stages, supplied by locally based lighting company Stage Plus, run by Tomas Bierza. Robe also sponsored one of the stages making their Robin fixtures available for use.

The line-up was an eclectic mix of the very best of Czech bands including 2010 Czech & Slovak Superstar winner Martin Chodúr, Airfare, Plastic People of the Universe, Žlut? Pes, Electric Mann, PSH, Cocotte Minute and many more, representing a diversity of styles and genres - rock, urban, electro, pop, punk and dance.

Lighting for both Ostravar and Robe Stages was designed by Bierza, and operated by him plus Dalibor Michenka from High Life Touring and Martin Valovy.

The Ostravar Stage had six Robe ColorSpot 2500 and six ColorWash 2500E ATs on

UK - His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI's public address at Cofton Park near Birmingham was the most significant of his state visit, as this was the day that saw the Beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman. Attended by almost 80,000, the event was managed by WRG Creative Communications, Wigwam Acoustics providing a PA system of a scale that reflects the importance of the day.

"It wasn't that it needed to be loud," said Wigwam Director Chris Hill, "but it was imperative that everyone present heard every word."

Hill with Wigwam's systems expert Rob Priddle devised a temporary installation of monumental scale as befit the occasion. "We put in a main stage system of d&b audiotechnik J-Series, with a mix of d&b J and Q-Series across twenty three delay towers. The park was licensed for 80,000 so we had more than enough PA for an audience that size, but it's

UK - Wireless Solution Sweden reports a successful PLASA 2010, having signed deals with several new OEM partners including A & O, Pulsar, Antari, W-DEV and Aryton, in addition to new distributors. The company also held a Wireless University Seminar during the show and hosted its traditional Swedish vodka and meatball party to a packed booth.

On display was the W-DMX Generation 4. This new standard is transparent and works with several protocols, creating extreme flexibility and reliability without the need for additional controllers or software.

The new G4 product line includes Adaptive Frequency Hopping technology to avoid interference from Wi-fi, Intercom and other radio products, W-DMX invisi-wire and data-safe technologies for fidelity, and support for RDM (Remote Device Management) so W-DMX units and lighting fixtures connected through W-DMX can be configured remotely wit

Australia - Drawing attendees from around the world and broadcast globally via GodTV, the Planetshakers Conference was again a success for the Forefront team who were engaged to provide production management and design for lighting, video, monitor audio and custom motion graphics.

Rob Thorne, of Forefront and lighting designer for the project, asked Phaseshift Productions to make his design come to life for the 2010 Planetshakers Conference held at Melbourne's Hisense Arena.

"Phaseshift did a great job and I love working with them," Rob said. "I've worked with them a few times and they've always been very good."

With six weeks preparation consisting of 3D lighting programming and video content creation, the whole production setup went into Hisense arena in just one day. Restrictions on venue availability meant that the crew only had a very short time fram

China - Milos ran a successful Technical Training & Safety Awareness workshop at its facility in Guangzhou, China, to highlight its facilities, products and services immediately available in the Asia/Australia regions.

This followed the model of the workshops that Milos runs regularly in Europe, and was attended by a selection of high profile, key decision project makers from major companies in Thailand, Indonesia, India, Macau, Hong Kong, Singapore and mainland China.

The aim of the two-day event was to illustrate the quality of Milos's trussing, roofing and staging products, and emphasise the benefits of the brand's reputation for unbeatable efficiency and service worldwide in a highly competitive marketplace.

It also stressed the importance of knowledge in terms of health & safety legislation and standards and safe working practices for rigging and the building of tempora

USA - Production Exchange, the new online exchange for AV and rental staging market sub rentals, has announced a partnership with IntelliEvent. As a result of this partnership, current authorised users of IntelliEvent will be able to subscribe to Lite Exchange, Video Exchange or Audio Exchange individually or as a bundled solution. The Production Exchange solutions will be third party applications that integrate seamlessly with IntelliEvent software's current version.

"We are excited to have IntelliEvent as our new technology and co-marketing partner," said Grif Palmer, president of Production Exchange. "IntelliEvent has a great track record of providing AV and Lighting rental companies the technology to run their operations. The partnership we have created will enable IntelliEvent customers to access three exchanges (lighting, audio and video) that can drive reve

UK - Black Light has been contracted to supply the trussing for the return of Black Watch, one of the National Theatre of Scotland's most widely acclaimed plays. Black Light's involvement in this international touring production marks the second time that it has been involved with this show, as it supported the original show during its award-winning debut at the 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

"We have had an excellent working relationship with the National Theatre of Scotland from the Company's earliest days," says Black Light's head of hire & events, Stephen Reid. "They know they can rely on us to deliver exactly what they need, even when we are dealing with a high-profile project such as Black Watch that is touring to many different venues."

Black Watch is touring to eight venues in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the United States.

UK - Academy Music Group (AMG) has again backed Soundcraft's Vi digital platform, giving the mixing console a roving role in its new three-room O2 Academy Leicester, situated at the University of Leicester.

The upgradable 64-input Vi6 moved from its monitor position in O2 Academy2 for the very first show before relocating to the FOH position in the main room two nights later for the official opening (with Professor Green - Thursday 23 September 2010).

"The Vi6 is fast becoming the industry standard, so we wanted to provide the same level of control as we do at our other O2 Academy venues - engineers can then travel between our venues and know what to expect," said AMG's group technical manager, Ed Jackson.

"We needed to be aware of what the sound engineers were saying, and judging from the response we have had to the Vi6 it will be on our spec for a long time

USA - Meeting Services supplied sound to the Comic-Con International 2010 convention in San Diego for the 19th straight year. Using a complete JBL solution, Meeting Services transformed the 6,500-person San Diego Convention Centre's exhibit hall into one of the largest movie premiere venues in the world.

The company deployed an arsenal of JBL loudspeakers, including 24 JBL Vertec VT4889 full size line array elements, 24 VT4888 midsize line array elements, and eight VT4880 full size arrayable subwoofers. Fill speakers, delay arrays and secondary room systems included CBT Series column speakers, VRX932LA compact constant curvature array loudspeakers and JBL EON powered portable loudspeakers. Crown XTi, MAi and I-Tech amplifiers powered the sound rig. The system was configured with Harman HiQnet System Architect software for remote control and monitoring.

"The room is shaped

USA - When Midas announced the release of its new PRO3 digital mixing console at the 2010 Infocomm Show, Atlanta Sound and Lighting stepped up right away to be the first customer.

"We were on the Midas site to download some updates for the PRO6," says Atlanta Sound & Lighting GM Scott Waterbury, "and my lead engineer, Tom Smith calls me over and says, 'check this out, they've got a PRO3'. I took a look at it online and called my rep to get the story. By the end of that phone call, my order was in the system."

Waterbury, who has headed Atlanta Sound since 1978, does not consider himself a classic early adopter. "I admit it - I was slow getting into the digital realm. We tried all the usual suspects and even bought a couple, but I was never really happy with the sound. I still have a (Midas) XL200 and a couple of Heritages, and frankly, digital didn't me

USA - The W Hotel in Scottsdale, AZ is a showplace of advanced architectural lighting. Everywhere in and around the building are visual effects, beginning with the outdoor wet deck, where four massive architectural pieces known as the Grand Lanterns change colours in sync with a 360° mobile bar that 'floats' to different sites around the pool. Then there are the hotel's LED elevator wall panels, which display its big white logo 'W' when guests step into the car, transform into a dazzling light show when the doors close, and revert back to the trademark W when the car stops.

For a time, however, it seemed this ambitious project wouldn't see the light of day. Budgetary, technical and regulatory issues forced the W Hotel to put a hold on its grand lighting plan - until Phoenix design/installation company Burning Retina Lighting & Transport LLC was called to the rescue.

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UK - Projection artist Ross Ashton of London- based The Projection Studio created artwork and designed a large format video projection system for the Illuminata son et Lumière at Caerphilly Castle.

The commission was from Cadw - the Welsh Assembly Government division responsible for preserving and promoting the history and heritage of Wales, and it is the first time that an entertainment spectacle of this genre has been commissioned for one of their historical monuments. Ashton's 20-minute work depicted the history and stories of the castle, accompanied by an audio track produced by sound artist Karen Monid. It ran twice nightly for two weeks to a paying audience.

Working at Caerphilly Castle was a "fantastic" experience says Ashton, who in doing so added another landmark building to his portfolio of world class site specific locations. Caerphilly is the larg

USA - The Green Bay Packers' Lambeau Field is one of the American National Football League's crown jewels - the first stadium built for the exclusive use of an NFL team, and the longest continuously occupied stadium in the league.

Recently, on the eve of the park's 50th anniversary, a massive redevelopment plan was undertaken, transforming the venue from a stadium that fans would tolerate a few days per year in order to see their team, to a year-round tourist destination that has been recognized by Sports Illustrated as the top stadium experience in the NFL, and the eighth-best facility in the world to see a game.

While the stadium's original classic seating bowl was preserved, the rest of the park's infrastructure has been completely revamped, including an audio system upgrade that includes Community Professional Loudspeakers' WET and R-Series weather-resistant loudspe

China - The five star Hengda Hotel recently opened in Guangzhou in south-east China. Its spectacular appearance becomes even more stunning in the evening, when the Coemar moving heads are switched on.

The entire external lighting project, created by lighting company Guangzhou Zhilliang, is highly innovative: it uses moving heads that aremore usually found in the theatre.

Walking through the gardens and along the paths of the park during the evening, your eye is drawn to the light beams lighting up the sky. The design includes 63 of the Infinity S model ACL, some of which are located in the upper part of the building in order to create light beams towards the sky. Others have been positioned along two sides of the garden, to light up the darker areas and fill them with colour.

The small moving heads of the Infinity S range have been combined with the larger Infinity Spot XL o

UK - Advanced Optocore systems were used for site wide signal distribution by both SSE Audio Group and Wigwam Hire when Pope Benedict XVI visited the UK recently.

While SSE was entrusted with providing the full audio design and implementation for the two-and-a-half-hour mass at Bellahouston Park, Glasgow - as well as the full programme of pre- and post-service entertainment - as previously reported, Wigwam did likewise at Cofton Park in Birmingham.

The solution provided for SSE project manager Dan Bennett, had far-reaching consequences. The bespoke fibre system, configured and supported by Optocore (from both Germany and the UK), was designed to enable them to tunnel Ethernet through their optical fibre system, enabling L'Acoustics' new Network Manager Remote Control Software to reside on the network.

Bennett realised that Optocore would give them the combined benefit of suf

Remembering Lennon - A monument to John Lennon has been unveiled in Liverpool by his first wife Cynthia and son Julian on what would have been the star's 70th birthday. The statue is intended to act as a shrine for fans who want to pay tribute to the late Beatle in his home city. In the shape of a globe with doves flying above, it is also designed to be a monument for peace.

The global birthday celebrations also included a performance by his widow Yoko Ono in Reykjavik, Iceland. In New York, Lennon's original band The Quarrymen headlined a tribute concert and fans gathered to remember the icon in Central Park.

Unveiling the statue, Julian said: "We come here with our hearts to honour dad and pray for peace and say thank you to each and every one of you and everybody involved in the celebrations today." The onlookers also included original Beatles drummer Pete Best, w

UK - With 65,000 pilgrims attending the Papal mass at Bellahouston Park in Glasgow, the task of delivering Pope Benedict XVI's voice with absolute clarity across the site was entrusted to a pair of Soundcraft Vi6 digital consoles, supplied by SSE Audio Group - augmented at the last minute by a Soundcraft Vi1 to increase the channel count.

Once SSE became aware that they would also be mixing a 35-piece brass band, as well as an 800-piece choir - plus various ensembles and pre- and post-show concerts, the Vi1 was brought in specifically to handle the choir sub-mix; this was then piped back into the main Vi6 FOH desk, and sent as a L/R monitor feed to the Vi6 stage desk.

Mixing at FOH was the experienced Craig Pryde - a long-time Soundcraft Vi devotee (whose induction into the Soundcraft environment had originally taken on the first Vi4 prototype). He and monitor engineer Kevin S

UK - Harrier and Jaguar, the Duveens Commission 2010 installation by Fiona Banner at Tate Britain features two decommissioned fighter planes.

In the incongruous setting of the Duveen Galleries, a suspended Sea Harrier is transformed into a captive bird, the markings that tattoo its surface evoking its namesake the Harrier Hawk. A Jaguar lies belly up on the floor, its posture suggestive of a submissive animal.

The planning for the rigging of the two aircraft began at the end of 2009. Unusual Rigging was asked to tender for the project following similar work at RAF Hendon and RAF Cosford although, says Robin Elias, Unusual's project manager, "the two RAF projects were very different! For those projects, we had to keep restoration and conservation in mind, but in this case, we were free to gut the planes and, because of access problems, to 'cut and shunt' them."

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