Portugal - ETC's Portuguese dealer Luzeiro has supplied ETC Eos control desks to the country's National Ballet Company for use at the Camões Theatre in Lisbon and on tour.

Vitor Paiva, Luzeiro's sales technician, explains: "The company's previous system failed on a regular basis, and they asked us for information about replacements. We showed them both Congo and Eos and they tried each for a week. While they would have been more comfortable with Congo, since they understood its programming syntax already, they felt they wanted to really push themselves and get the Eos, which proved itself to have the power to do absolutely everything they wanted to do.

"Eos is ETC's biggest control desk and was specifically designed with theatre use in mind. The product developers talked to designers, programmers and electricians in order to design a product that is already familiar

UK - When lighting designer Chris Bushell had his first demo of the Avolites Tiger Touch console, he liked it so much that he bought one. It was his first investment in a lighting console and he had an immediate use for it on the Florence + The Machine world tour on which he's been out since February 2010.

"It gives me all the power and functionality I need in a fabulously neat package that can come on the plane with me . . . so I can always have the desk of my choice," he says.

The new Avolites Tiger Touch is a 'hybrid' console - a combination of the Diamond 4's powerful functionality coupled with the friendly user interface of the Avolites Pearl - an industry favourite. The wide touch screen allows fast access to the 'hands on' control and ever evolving software skin, TITAN, enveloping the high performance and intuitive hardware platform.

Bushell has been an enth

Belgium - Visual Productions are pleased to announce the appointment of Face as their Distributor in Belgium. The intention for this collaboration was confirmed during Prolight+Sound in Germany earlier this year. CEO, Karel de Piere and sales manager Geert Custers visited Visual Productions' stand to place their first order for stock of Cuelux and confirm the deal.

Face is the result of the merger of Ampco Belgium and Candela. Specializing in audio, lighting and video they provide hardware, software and services to the professionals, the project market and their dealer network which are active in the entertainment, communication and architectural markets.

The Face headquarters hosts not only a seminar room but also a try-out theatre: the ideal venue for Cuelux to run Plug&Play alongside the Behringer BFC 2000 MIDI desk also distributed by Face.

Cuelux software lighting contr

UK - The 2010 SMPTE Technical Conference and Expo takes place between October 25-28 and is being held at the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel. The event is geared towards the world's leading motion-imaging researchers, scientists, practitioners, and manufacturers.

Calibre UK and their master representative, Marketing Specialists Inc are sponsoring the Audio Issues - Workflows for Embedding Copy Protection Watermarks in Theatrical Sountracks session, presented by Dean Angelico from Verance Corporation in the Mann Theater on Wednesday, 27th October at 10:45am at the 2010 SMPTE.

For visitors looking to gain a closer look at the latest in processing, scaling and conversion technology, Calibre UK will also exhibit their latest innovations in the technology-focused exhibit hall during the event.

Paul Carey, president of marketing specialists, Inc, conference AV chair comments: "It

Oman - Over 130 Clay Paky fixtures were recently featured during the opening of the 2010 Salalah Kharif Festival in Oman. Held every summer during the Kharif (monsoon) season, the Salalah Kharif Festival is one of the most famous tourism events in this tropical region.

With festivities usually running for six weeks. Attractions include folk music, traditional games, art shows, poetry, children's contests, seminars, awareness campaigns, sports and more. The majority of the celebrations take place at the Lake Amphitheatre, while other performances and activities are held at a number of locations nearby.

The opening ceremony of the festival was held was held on July 15, 2010 at the Wilayats Theatre in the Cultural Village at the Municipality Recreational Centre. It included more than 2,500 performers presenting four operettas under the theme March and Achievement.

To hig

World - With planning for the merger between ESTA and PLASA now in its final stages, the elections for places on the new Regional Boards, and over-arching Governing Body, are coming to a close.

The month-long ballot, which ends on 31 October, pre-empts the New Year merger date when the Associations formally unite under the PLASA name.

Members of both organizations have been actively voting to elect candidates for the new European and North American Regional Boards which will feature representatives from the following groups of members - Dealer/Retailers, Distributors, Manufacturers, Production Services, Professional Services and Rental Companies, together with a representative from both the Organizational and Individual memberships.

The Governing Body is a new concept for PLASA and is designed to ensure continuity of decision-making and strategic consistency. Whilst the Chai

UK - Having received planning permission to hold the annual month-long Garsington Opera festival at the Wormsley Estate, the home of the Getty family, Garsington Opera has commissioned an elegant pavilion to house the stage, the orchestra and auditorium.

The pavilion, which will be re-erected each year, is made from a limited palette of materials - timber, fabric and steel - and will combine transparency and lightness with a sense of intimacy. Lifted above the ground to give an appearance of 'floating' over the landscape, architect Robin Snell's design takes its cue from a traditional Japanese pavilion in its use of sliding screens, extended platforms, verandas and bridges to link it to the landscape.

Unusual Rigging, a regular supplier to Garsington Opera, has won the contract to coordinate the detailed design, procure specialist suppliers and to construct and commission the

UK - Grand Central is a booming club, directly south of Miami's infamous Park West club district. Grand Central offers its patrons a complete experience with live music, club D.J.'s and corporate events. The 10,000sq.ft venue can hold approximately 1200 people inside and 300 on its loft.

Grand Central's technical consultants, the Miami based Beachsound, had demoed and looked at various high-end systems from other vendors, but chose the Canadian based Adamson Systems. Beach Sound had initially become familiar with Adamson while touring the globe and was impressed with the brand's performance. Their decision for Adamson was swayed by the demo held by Adamson's director of marketing & sales, Jesse Adamson.

The presentation showcased Adamson's solid system components and the high SPL they reached while maintaining tone with undistorted clarity, all of which are conveniently packag

USA - Once again, Tomcat offered its innovations and solutions to customers worldwide at LDI 2011. First, Tomcat presented Safely Building the Beast, a new workshop as part of LDInstitute. This course offering was included as part of the first ever Rigging & Electrical Boot Camp.

In addition, the company launched its new products for the Fall 2010: QU Truss Series and Curtain Track Truss. Throughout the show, Tomcat and Brilliant Stages representatives shared solutions of recent projects. Tomcat representatives were also on hand to speak at the New Technology Breakfast Audio, Rigging, and Staging.

Safely Building the Beast included instruction from recognised industry experts: Bill Sapsis, president and founder of Sapsis Rigging, as well as Keith Bohn, custom projects director and Will Todd, product support manager, of Tomcat USA. Training over the day and

UK - Cirque Bijou supported Diana Vickers and Katy Perry's live performances on X Factor , working with two production teams to create a mix of circus, pyrotechnics and aerobatics.

Katy Perry and Diana Vickers performed their new singles and brought in event production and performance specialists' Cirque Bijou to make their performances visually stunning.

When Katy Perry took to the stage to perform her new single Firework, the backdrop featured pyrotechnics. Cirque Bijou's Julian Bracey worked with Quantum FX and international show designer Baz Halpin to manage a team of four fire dancers who wore pyrotechnic backpacks.

Cirque Bijou's Billy Alwen worked with choreographer David Leighton and 24/7 Productions to direct a troupe of circus artists; recreating the circus theme of Diana Vickers' new video as the star returned to the stage which shot her to fame two

USA - Lighting designer Seth Jackson created an all green lighting solution for Toby Keith's 2010 tour.

Jackson used Bandit 36 Lamp Pods full of hundreds of GRN PAR 3-36's and Versa Tubes for a very heavy metal look. The pods carry the PARs in the centre and are bordered by Versa Tubes. All trussing is the versatile Tyler Green Truss. GRN 6 Lamp Bars carry all the PARs, eliminating 80% of the cable a standard system would require.

GRN 8 Lite units illuminate the audience while GRN Moving Wash 3-120's and GRN Wash 3-36 provide continuous onstage visual arrays.

Jackson used VL 3000 Spots and Coemar Infinities for his hard edge lights. On the control side of things, he chose the Grand MA with an MA Lite as a backup. Jackson used a Grand MA Media Server to control every individual LED in the rear wall of PARs, treating every LED as a pixel. He then pixel mapped them

The Toby s

The Netherlands - When the management of a new auditorium in the City Concert Hall in Leiden required a visually unobtrusive but versatile lighting system, they turned to Lightco, the Dutch lighting sales and installation division of the Ampco Flashlight Group.

While sister company TM Audio were installing new audio systems in both the Great Hall and the Aalmarkt, Lightco was brought in to design and install a highly-specified but low-profile stage lighting system for the Aalmarkt (the name - 'Eel Market' in English - reflects the building's former use).

Lightco project manager Bas van Schelven says, "We spent a lot of time and energy making or proposed design as unobtrusive as possible. For example, the ETC Source 4 Revolution moving lights are partly hidden in coves in the ceiling." As the ceiling is non load-bearing, this proved a substantial challenge in itself f

Malaysia - Clay Paky fixtures shone on Malaysia's top entertainers as they gathered to celebrate the prestigious 24th Anugerah Juara Lagu (AJL) music awards. Held in Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur and organised and produced by local television station, TV3, the show was graced by the presence of celebrities such as Datuk Siti Nurhaliza, Misha Omar, Aleya, Bunkface, Black, Hujan, Aizat Amdan, and Stacy.

Utilizing a theme of Origami, the show successfully catapulted the simplicity of the paper-folding art for its lighting and stage design. For the lighting system, Mr. Siswa Azmi from Mubari Sound Light Sdn. Bhd. picked Clay Paky to illuminate the stage. He said, "For a prestigious and grand event like this, we will usually go for the best brand available. For me, Clay Paky is one of the most flexible and reliable brand out there." In addition to lighting, Mub

The Netherlands - TM Audio, Renkus-Heinz distributor for the Netherlands, has equipped two auditoriums in the City Concert Hall in Leiden with IC Live digitally beam steerable PA systems, including one system finished in metallic gold paint to match the room's décor.

The City Concert Hall is an historic building housing several multipurpose rooms, including the 19th century 838-seat Great Hall, the new 349 seat Aalmarkt Hall and the 250 seat Bree Hall.

To coincide with the opening of the Aalmarkt Hall, new audio systems were installed in both the Great Hall and the Aalmarkt.

The objective was to expand the halls' ability to host a wide range of uses ranging from jazz and classical concerts and stage musicals to corporate presentations and lectures.

TM Audio project manager Reinier Bruijns explains that although the client's original tender had called for separate sp

South Africa - Stage Audio Works, based in Johannesburg, has concluded a licence manufacturing agreement with the Total Solutions Group to manufacture the Total Fabrications range of industry standard aluminium truss products in South Africa. The agreement was signed at the end of August 2010 whilst Gustav Barnard and Jaco Kruger, head of manufacturing, visited the Total Solution Group Headquarters and factory in Birmingham UK.

The major benefits of this agreement allow clients in South Africa and Africa to access the range of proven UK truss designs, with local manufacture and back-up service with comprehensively reduced international freight costs.

Gustav Barnard, Stage Audio Works technical director commented, "It is such an honour to be able to manufacture Total Fabrication products in our factory. We are enthused and aim to maintain strict quality control standards a

UK - White Light has recently helped the Regent's College Conference Centre in central London upgrade its lighting system with some of the latest lighting and control technology.

White Light has supplied the centre with 10 Coemar Parlite LED fixtures in silver. A replacement for the traditional Par Can, the ParLite LED offers three-colour mixing and interchangeable lenses offering beam angles ranging from the standard 12degrees up to a 110degree flood, all in a compact fixture that weighs just 3.5kg. The Regent's College ParLites were supplied with the optional IP65 rear panel kit, which converts the fixture for use outdoors.

The centre also needed a system to control their new fixtures, and opted for LSC's Clarity software-based control system. White Light supplied Regent's College with a single DMX universe system and an Enttec DMX USB Pro interface to output DMX data from t

UK - PLASA is hosting a special update day for members on legislative developments and business issues. The event, which takes place on Thursday 25 November at ETC's offices in West London, will see HR specialist Clive Payne providing members with an overview of recent changes and the implications for their businesses.

In addition to a focus on legislative issues, the day will also feature presentations from Simon Miller of Allan Chapman & James, who will provide an update on recent changes to the insurance market and how members can keep insurance costs down, Krystyna Gibbons of Westfield Health, who will outline the options for a cost-effective alternative to private healthcare and Paul Robson of Medialease who will talk about leasing funding, providing an overview of current market conditions and how members can get into the best possible shape to attract leasing funding when

At The Q Awards - Florence Welch, of Florence and the Machine, was a double-winner at the Q Awards in London taking best female and best track for You've Got The Love. Take That also made their first public appearance since Robbie Williams rejoined them in July. The band, whose comeback single, The Flood, and new album, Progress, are both due out next month, won the magazine's hall of fame award.

Kasabian were named best act in the world. Take That, who were sneaked into the awards to avoid the red carpet, were led on stage by Gary Barlow to collect their award. Another newly reformed band - Suede - picked up the Q inspiration award.

On The Move? - Almost €400,000 has been spent in the search for a new home for Ireland's national theatre, the Abbey - but so far without success, reports newspaper.

Arts minister Mary Hanafin told th

UK - Gearhouse South Africa supplied full technical production to the 2010 Loerie Awards staged at the Good Hope Centre in Cape Town for the second year running.

The event was again produced by H-Factor, with a production and set design by H-Factor and The Loerie Awards Committee, to celebrate the most innovative creative talent in advertising, communication design and experiential media from Africa and the Middle East. The two nights of Award presentations is the biggest seated awards show in the country, and a high pressure event in terms of design and technical production, requiring plenty of invention and originality to match the occasion.

The 2010 event energised the skills and resources of Gearhouse's Sound, Lighting, AV, Media, Rigging, Structures and Power departments. Sister company Sets, Drapes,Screens built the set and supplied all the scenic elements, and the proje

UK - Just past its tenth birthday and The Lowry at Salford Quays in Salford has something to celebrate by having the first installation anywhere in the UK of d&b audiotechnik's latest E6 loudspeaker. The E6 replaces the E3, d&b audiotechnik's most popular loudspeaker ever.

"We had decided to go with E3s," said Dave Woodward, technical manager at The Lowry. "We've needed delays in the Lyric since we opened 10 years ago, but they were value engineered out at the time. Virtually everything that tours here carries d&b loudspeaker systems; so we made our decision almost by default."

The Lyric seats 1,730 with a deep circle and upper circle. "A lot of what we present here has TV actors performing drama, so the need for delay reinforcement was twofold. One, TV stars don't seem to project as well as regular theatre actors, and two, these shows generally attrac

USA - When Pyxis Industries in Riverside, California was asked by North Coast Church to bid on the design and installation of sound systems at two different locations, owner Chad Costanzo commented, "These installations had to come together extremely quickly. But our past experience with Electro-Voice gave us total confidence that everything would work out fine. And it did."

Based in Vista, California, North Coast's two newest purpose-built venues are North Coast Live and The Edge. The vendor that had originally been retained to design and install sound reinforcement systems for the sites had to pull out of the project only two months before opening day at both facilities. Pyxis got the call from North Coast, and Costanzo went to work with systems engineer Alan DiCato, deciding how to handle the project within the church's allocated budget.

While the previous provide

USA / Europe - Monitor engineer Ramon Morales is currently on tour with Lady Gaga. The production is all in-ears, including all the musicians, the dancers and the audio crew. "I've been a huge fan of Sensaphonics several years now," he states. "In fact, I basically insist on wearing the 2MAX when I mix. I've tried pretty much everything out there, and there's really nothing that can match it for sound quality and comfort. On Lady Gaga, the whole band is on Sensaphonics, and most of the techs are wearing them, and others are on the 3MAX as well. Everyone is really happy with them."

In terms of hearing protection, Morales sees a major advantage to Sensaphonics soft-gel silicone construction. "It's not just a comfort thing, although that's part of it," he says. "The silicone gives better isolation than anything else, which keeps everything you don

USA - American Pop-Rockers Passion Pit have been touring extensively since 2008's debut EP Chunk of Change propelled them firmly in to the limelight. They've since been riding high with 2009's follow up album Manners.

2010 has seen no let-up for the Massachusetts-based five-piece; this past Autumn they supported Muse for a string of North American dates. Tour manager Andrew Dobbins and monitor engineer Francois Pare - both a part of London-based live music production house Cato Music - spec'd the equipment for the tour, including Shure PSM900 in-ear monitors.

"Before the tour we were looking to try something new - mainly because we weren't very happy with the system we were using at the time. We were getting a lot of interference and the sound quality wasn't great. I'd heard about this new Shure system so I thought I'd try them on a tour that started back in

USA - At Chicago's United Centre, 16 Martin MAC III Profile spot luminaires play a key role in generating excitement and raising the energy levels for more than 200 sports and entertainment events per year.

Last year, the United Centre production team took a hard look at their ageing lighting gear and decided it was time to upgrade. Brady Tieman, technical production manager at the United Centre, reports, "Eight of the fixtures were a pan and tilt model that was prone to frequent failures; they spent too much time in the shop which resulted in countless hours of programming to come up with workarounds for defective fixtures.

"The other eight moving mirror fixtures were over 12 years old and had become too expensive to maintain. Unlike a touring act, we don't have full time light techs on staff to quickly repair moving lights." The tech team brought their challen

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