Denmark - On Saturday, 10 November, lighting designer Kasper Lange turned to a large Martin MAC rig that included Martin Professional's new MAC Viper Profile for the 2012 Danish Music Awards at Forum in Copenhagen.

The event, broadcast live on Danish station TV2, honored Denmark's top musical names of the year with performances from Nephew, Outlandish and many others beneath a mix of Martin LED and HID sources.

The lighting setup, which also included 150 compact MAC 101s used as audience lighting, along with other MAC luminaires, was one of the first shows in Denmark to use Martin's new 1000 W MAC Viper, which Kasper integrated as background light for the presenter podium.

"We needed a small and powerful lamp that could cut through the massive audience light. The problem with such a small and powerful lamp is that the rest of the production tends to look less impressive

USA - Mojo Barriers US office broke its company record, supplying 800m of its aluminium stage barriers to Made in America Festival, Philadelphia, 1 -2 September 2012.

The US crowd barricade specialists provided its largest single rental to date with the length of barriers supplied totalling over the height of eight Statues of Liberties. Its team designed and installed a bespoke configuration to keep the 100,000 festival goers safe as they enjoyed acts including headliners JAY Z and Pearl Jam.

Barriers were provided across all four stages and other sensitive areas throughout the festival site which was located in the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, a busy downtown location. The main stage was located in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

J.B Dolphin, Mojo Barriers US president, says, "We extended our crowd control barriers from the main stage across the street and into

Canada - Xantech has announced that Product Solutions Group will be the Canadian distributor of all Xantech products starting immediately.

Product Solutions Group and Product Solutions West are among Canada's leading distributors of custom installation products and have been distributing Xantech's associated CORE Brands lines including ELAN and Sunfirefor more than a decade, and began distributing Nilesproducts in 2012. According to Jim Peebles of Product Solutions West, the Product Solutions West warehouse in Calgary, Alberta and the Product Solutions Group warehouse in Guelph, Ontario will provide fast, localized support service to all Canadian Xantech dealers.

According to Paul Starkey, CORE Brands senior vice president of marketing, "Product Solutions Group and Product Solutions West have both exhibited an incredible dedication to providing dealers with the best produ

Norway - Wireless Solution Sweden AB is getting high praise on a regular basis from the Den Norske Opera and Ballett, also known as the Oslo Opera House, located in Norway's capital city. The venue is home to the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet and is considered one of the landmark modern buildings in Oslo. The technical crew currently has a total of 24 W-DMX BlackBox FLEX-1 G4 Transceiver units that they use on a regular basis for a rigorous schedule. The hall rotates operas, ballets, concerts and other special performances and W-DMX is used to solve a myriad of challenges.

Lighting technician Audun Bull-Hanssen explains, "W-DMX G4 has worked great so far and with no problems. We have 24 W-DMX F-1 G4 units and we use the system on almost every show since they're so flexible. The performances are all very different and change constantly so it is very practical to use W-

UK - Artistic Licence Engineering provided a small but powerful presence at LuxLive 2012, with a stand jam-packed with new technology. Exhibiting for the first time at this London based show, the company's impressive display attracted high numbers of visitors who were both knowledgeable and focused.

dVnet, the company's new digital video-to-network converter, was officially launched at the show. Pre-recorded and live web-cam imagery played out in spectacular style across a wall of Luminous Textile panels, the new LED product from Philips.

"dVnet can render video to a media wall in less than ten mouse clicks, a feature that we took great delight in demonstrating," reports technical director, Wayne Howell.

Designed for architectural or retail applications that require versatile yet simple programming, dVnet is the billed as ideal complement to many types of display m

China - Trussing manufacturer MILOS recently staged a very successful product seminar and safety awareness workshop at its facility in Guangzhou, China, which was well attended by companies and individuals from Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand and Indonesia as well as mainland China.

The two day event - the fourth that Milos has undertaken in China - was modelled on the workshops that Milos regularly runs in Europe.

It was open for any interested parties to apply for places, and was attended by a wide selection of entertainment industry professionals including riggers, project supervisors, rental companies and designers.

The workshop illustrated "the high quality of Milos' trussing, roofing and staging products and emphasised the benefits of using the best products and always following safe working practices".

The Workshop was led by MILOS China's Chief Engineer Marek

USA - PLASA Focus's latest addition to the North American regional event series landed in Stamford, CT last week, impressing attendees with a wealth of new product launches, crowded seminars and a bustling show floor.

Over 600 visitors, dealers, distributors, and manufacturers gathered on the show floor and in the seminars and saw over 50 exhibitors and 100 new products making their regional debut at Focus Stamford including Clay Paky's new Sharpy Wash 330, A.Leda Wash K20, A.Leda Wash K10, A.Leda Wash K5; Elation's new Energy Saving DMX moving heads; Look Solution's TINY S Fog generator; and Robert Juliat's latest LED profiles TIBO and ZEP, to name but a few. A full report will appear in the November edition of Lighting&Sound America.

The Professional Development Programme was a big hit, packing out rooms that included such diverse sessions as Architecture and The A

UK - Double BRIT Award winner Ed Sheeran's differrent style of music is winning fans around the globe. His current tour has seen him on the move since the end of 2011, with sell out dates in Australia, the United States and across Europe, confirming his popularity. For Front of House engineer Chris Marsh, who has been with him since the tour began relies on a DiGiCo SD11i digital mixing console.

"I'm a big DiGiCo fan and I've been using their flagship SD7 for a long time," says Marsh. "When I started working with Ed, I had just finished working with Diana Ross, where I was using an SD7. I wanted to continue using it because I love everything about it: the EQ; the way all the dynamics work, etc. I also really like the SD range's onboard effects, which are really useful. But it would be overkill to take a desk that big out with a solo artist such as Ed."

Mars

Mexico - Long time Adamson rental company 'Audio Systems Del Norte' has expanded their existing Adamson inventory of Y-Axis, SpekTrix, T21 Subs, and M Series with a 32-box E15 rig. Audio Systems has been providing high calibre tours in Mexico for more than 20 years and employs 60 full time employees. In addition to their audio department, this full service company has a staging, trussing, video and lighting departments, and also offer installation consultancy and services. The system was sold by Showco, Adamson's exclusive distributor for Mexico.

Adamson's application engineer, Ewan McDonald travelled to Audio Systems the week before their first tour on the E15's, for a two-day intensive training course covering all aspects of the new E15 system. Topics included 3D simulation in Adamson's new Blueprint AV software suite, design principles of the E15, preset management, and align

Variety Celebration - The Royal Variety Performance has marked its 100th anniversary with a show in front of The Queen at London's Royal Albert Hall. Host David Walliams arrived on stage as James Bond, complete with jet pack. Girls Aloud, One Direction, 2012 Britain's Got Talent winners Ashleigh Butler and dog Pudsey, and Sir Bruce Forsyth were among the British artists. Kylie Minogue, Alicia Keys, Neil Diamond and Andrea Bocelli were among the international stars.

The sold-out performance is due to be broadcast on ITV1 on 3 December at 19:30 GMT. All proceeds are donated to The Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund (EABF), which cares for entertainers throughout the UK who need help.

Theatre News - The Mousetrap has celebrated going into its 60th year on stage with a gala performance featuring stars including Hugh Bonneville and Miranda Hart. The Agatha

UK - The biggest display yet of SGM's LT-100 3D pixel tubes has appeared at Wonderland Norwich, a new nightclub in Norwich. Operation manager Lucy Herlihy and general manager Charlene Nicholson at No Saints, owners of the club, confirm that the lightshow is generating overwhelming response.

The 1870-capacity venue follows the theme of earlier Wonderlands where SGM is also heavily represented - an escapist venue loosely based on the 'Alice' theme, with references to the Mad Hatter's Tea Party and the White Rabbit. With a mandate to surprise, it commissioned the sensational SGM centrepiece, made up of 220 x 1-metre long pixel tubes, suspended over the main dance floor.

The effect produces a ceiling of dancing lights in ever changing combinations while colour chases are sent in waves or bars across tubes, designed into a giant rectangle and offering a 2 x 170° viewing angle.

UK - SIS LIVE, Europe's largest outside broadcaster and uplink provider, has installed a large Optocore fibre ring on a 2 Gbit network, and BroaMan Repeat48 SDI-to fibre converter at the new MediaCityUK in Salford. This major broadcast project was successfully conducted by the SIS LIVE projects and integration division, under Dave Gill.

SIS has now fully occupied three floors of the Blue Tower within the MediaCityUK complex. The eighth and ninth floors house new broadcast facilities including a master control room, production galleries, studios, voice-over booths, edit suites and data control centres. Optocore's contract required the infrastructural design and installation of seven presentation galleries, two small TV studios, two edit suites, seven VO booths, new central MCR/CAR, new satellite dish farm, IT CAR and new Text Room data centre. SIS LIVE also installed an IT infras

UK - Restaurant chain McDonald's has introduced digital play elements into more than 150 of its key outletss - using gesture-control technology from Paradigm AV.

This is designed to "enhance the Happy Meal experience, and to increase kids' interaction with their favourite Happy Meal characters".

Tasked with delivering this solution in restaurants with high family footfall, integrated marketing agency, The Marketing Store, contacted Bedford-based Paradigm AV.

And by using the company's advance gesture-controlled technology they were able to create and develop the Happy Meal Digital Play concept - a series of movement-activated, interactive floor media games, linked to each Happy Meal promotion.

Paradigm first began working with McDonald's UK in 2010, trialling ceiling mounted projectors to create this digital floor play, with the content, projected onto the

UK - Entertainment lighting specialist White Light was tapped to provide lighting for a special brand experience event - the internal launch of Everything Everywhere, the company that runs T-Mobile and Orange in the UK. With the event, known as EE Live, the digital communications company invited employees from across the UK to the NEC Birmingham for an introduction to the branding and vision of the new mobile and broadband provider.

In the spirit of innovative technologies, the event was an interactive experience, immersing employees in all things 4G - and uniting them under the look, feel, and vision of the new EE brand.

Richard Saunders, project manager at White Light, oversaw the event planning and completion. The event, produced by WRG, was a major undertaking, incorporating several experience zones spread across two halls at the NEC Birmingham - Hall 2 (for the employee b

Switzerland - The Umwelt Arena is a large-scale futuristic structure designed by René Schmid Architects and completed this summer.

The building shows an expressive synergy among external form, construction techniques, ecologic materials and purpose, that's providing a suitable venue for discussion of sustainability issues from multiple standpoints - social, economic, energetic, ecologic.

The Umwelt Arena features a specially shaped array of photovoltaic panels, covering its hood as an envelope.

The multi-faceted shape of the arena displays a crystal-like appearance.

The environmental impact has been kept as low as possible during the construction of the building; also the Arena runs CO2 neutral, thanks to the photovoltaic panels and to its 'thermo-active' structure, including two large water storage tanks accumulating heat and cold under the foundation.

That's why

Denmark - The name says it all. Xtreme Mandehørm - event organizers call it Xtreme Man-stench in English - is a gruelling, male-only 12K cross-country obstacle course. The race can be run in five different cities across Denmark and is more than just a test of one's manhood: once the race is over participants are in for a night of revelling.

D.A.S. Audio systems were set up in the Nørresundby Sports Centre to help make Aalborg's post-race Oktoberfest-inspired celebration - complete with delicious food, free-flowing beer, boxing and a comedy act by famous Danish comedian Frank Hvam-the perfect way for the roughly 1200 participants to top off the day's challenge.

Event organisers, wanting to take this year's Xtreme Mandehørm to a whole new level, required a complete professional light and sound system for the post-race celebration. Local company Pladebiksen S

UK - Lighting designer Yenz Nyholm used his Avolites Tiger Touch to help reignite the memories of Level 42 fans when the band performed at London's Iconic Royal Albert Hall. The concert marked a quarter of a century since the band launched its seminal album Running in the Family.

Nyholm created a dynamic, clubby, retro feeling lighting and video set, which relied heavily on the use of old footage and promo videos from the 1980s. He programmed both the lighting and the video through his Avolites' Tiger Touch 6.1, which now features enhancements and updates that have advanced the console's capability considerably.

This update is very much to Nyholm's liking who says he is extremely impressed by a number of the new features. "The best thing for me is the cue stacking. You can display your cue list and each individual cue's parameters on the screens, but better still y

Australia - The City Recital Hall Angel Place is a purpose built concert venue situated in the heart of Sydney with the capacity for 1230 guests seated over three tiers of raked seating.

This world class concert venue acoustically designed for fine music and spoken word, has an elegant beauty, intimate layout and professional technical services creating a perfect combination for annual general meetings, conferences, meetings and special events.

The time had come to replace their lighting console with a more technically advanced model especially as the venue recently acquired some moving lights.

After a thorough research of the market, technical manager Cally Bartley found herself drawn to the ETC range of lighting control consoles.

"I was interested in the Eos and Ion consoles but I was told there was a new console coming out that sits between them and would be ideal,

USA - Lighting designer Brock Hogan specified 28 Robe LEDWash 600s for the recent US tour by San Francisco rock band, Train.

Hogan has worked for Train for the last three years, and was turned on to the features and functionality of Robe products - specifically the LEDWash 600 - by LMG Touring, a national provider of video, audio and lighting equipment.

LMG Touring added Robe products to their inventory last year, and supplied lighting, video and LED for the recent Train tour.

Hogan first used LMG's initial batch of LEDWash 600 on last year's Good Charlotte tour and followed up by integrating them into his latest design for Train.

Hogan's aesthetic starting point for lighting the tour was to create a 'big rock show' look for the band, with plenty of colour, movement and spectacle - bold and effective!

From the outset, he also had the LEDWash's individual ring control in

USA - Community Professional Loudspeakers reoorts that it has gained EN54-24 certification for its R-Series R1, R2 and R6 loudspeaker systems. EN54-24 is the harmonized EU standard for loudspeakers for use in fire detection and fire alarm systems.

R1, R2 and R6 loudspeakers are able to provide the full bandwidth and high-level music and voice reproduction required in venues such as stadia, sports facilities and convention centres. With EN54-24 certification, installations will no longer need to install a separate voice evacuation system for listening areas covered by these R-Series loudspeakers. This can result in substantial cost savings for projects.

Chris Barrow, Community's product manager, explains this advantage, "While specifiers and contractors have previously had to consider the use of non-EN54-24 loudspeakers with 'special application exemptions' to design an ef

South Africa - Joburg Theatre has acquired 20 Robe MMX Spots just in time for Jack and The Beanstalk, an entertaining pantomime which runs from 30 October to 30 December 2012 on The Mandela stage.

Simon James (production manager), Enos Ramoroko (technical manager) and Patrick Mbatha (senior lighting technician) from Joburg Theatre, formerly known as the Civic, were looking for a moving light that was up-to-date with technology and something that would carry them over for the next few years.

"After watching the demo by DWR Distribution's Dave Whitehouse, Duncan Riley and Gareth Chambers, we had no doubt as to which spots we wanted," commented Enos Ramoroko. "Because the MMX has the dual graphics/animation wheel, you can easily create effects that would normally take very long to program in a matter of few strokes. We also have the Robe 700E Wash lights tha

Spain - In 1973, almost 20 years before 'house' became a byword for a mix of euphoric dance and sound, Pacha Ibiza opened its doors and the minds of its celebrants to a new way of immersing the soul in music. The fact that four decades later it is still the leading brand with franchised clubs all over the world is indicative of a questing attitude. Pacha looks constantly to reinvent ways of being and hearing; two thousand and twelve has witnessed just such a reinvention.

"We were looking to the complete renewal of the sound system. What we wanted to achieve was a more homogeneous and exciting sound throughout the Ibiza club and the dance floors," explained Toni Prats, technical director for the Pacha Group.

Prats engaged the services of Imaginamusica, d&b audiotechnik partner for Northeast Spain. "We had done the research," said Toni Prats,"With Imagin

Germany - Beneath the banner Let's celebrate together in the free state of Bavaria a giant open-air party to mark the Day of German Unity was thrown in Munich's city centre on 2-3 October. Over 400,000 revellers accepted the invitation, thronging the area between the Siegestor, Ludwigstrasse and Odeonsplatz in bright sunlight.

The highlight of the celebrations was an ecumenical service in the Jesuit church of St Michael featuring addresses by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Joachim Gauck, and its Chancellor, Angela Merkel, as well as the Minister President of Bavaria, Horst Seehofer. The mix was sweetened by the attractive programme of entertainment on offer in the Odeonsplatz.

The sound production for the stage in Odeonsplatz was the responsibility of the Weilheim-based company TC Showtechnik. The team led by managing director Martin Schulze (sound),

UK - The University of Exeter's stunning new multi-million pound Forum project has transformed the heart of the Streatham Campus and provided it with a vibrant new centrepiece.

Officially opened by Her Majesty The Queen, the inspirational mix of outside and inside space includes an Auditorium, two technology-rich Exploration Labs, a Multimedia Room, featuring three fully specific editing stations with 60-inch preview monitoring, Seminar Training Room and the Seminar Block and Group Study Room - as well as a new Student Services Centre, refurbished library, retail and catering outlets.

Sir Robert Mcalpine, main contractor to the University of Exeter, commissioned GV Multi-media Ltd with the challenging task of providing and integrating the vast AV system in the Forum. Working to tight timescales (since the opening needed to form part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations)

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