Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

Business

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USA - Elation Professional announced at the recent LDI trade show in Las Vegas a distribution agreement with High End Systems that allows the company to distribute the HES HedgeHog 4 in North and South America, India and Southeast Asia. Developed by High End Systems, the HedgeHog 4 is the newest member of the Hog family of consoles.

Featuring the familiar programming and command line interface and user-friendly ergonomic control surface that have made the Hog series so widely accepted by lighting professionals throughout the world, the HedgeHog 4 is a powerful, self-contained lighting controller with a built-in computer running Hog 4 OS software, the same software as all the other Hogs, and even comes with ArtNet and CITP capabilities.

The new console has a 12.1 touchscreen interface, two onboard DMX and four Art-Net universes, ten Playback Faders and many other outstanding fe

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UK - The MOBO (Music Of Black Origin) Awards came of age in October this year when it celebrated its 18th anniversary in style at Glasgow's new 13,000-seater SSE Hydro. Lighting designer Gurdip Mahal, working alongside programmer Ross Williams, bought the M shaped MOBO stage to spectacular life for the BBC3 live broadcast. Not only that, the live audience and VIP guests also enjoyed a dazzling light show that saw the set and stage practically dripping with Clay Paky Alpha Beam 700s.

This year Radio 1 DJs Trevor Nelson and Sarah-Jane Crawford hosted the Awards. Performing on the night, between award presentations, were many of today's top Artists including Tinie Tempah, Naughty Boy, Iggy Azelea, Laura Mvula, Rudimental and So Solid Crew.

Tinie Tempah set the stage alight, backed by a number of flaming, supersized music stands and 16 x high output Clay Paky Alpha Beam 700s place

Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

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UK - The organisers of the International Theatre Engineering and Architecture Conference (ITEAC) report that Stage Technologies is the major Sponsor of the 2014 conference.

Stage Technologies' continued support of the event by taking the principal Platinum sponsorship role for the third consecutive conference, illustrates the tremendous reputation that ITEAC has established over the last 12 years.

The launch of ITEAC 2014 recognises the demand for this major event, which seeks to investigate the developments that have already been made, and the innovations that will be required, in the ever-changing world of live entertainment.

The quadrennial three-day event, which will take place from Sunday 8 June 2014 to Tuesday 10 June 2014, brings together the world's leading theatre technicians, architects, engineers, consultants, acousticians and production managers, plus theatre mak

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South Africa - Magnetic Storm, one of the leading event companies in the Eastern Cape, have invested in their first ever LED moving lights. They now have four Robe Robin DLS Profiles and four Robin DLX Spots.

Glenn van Eck and David Limbert from Magnetic Storm required new spots. Wanting to go with LED technology, they had a good look at Mediatech to see what was available. Harry von den Stemmen from Robe was at hand to introduce the equipment to them. The Robin DLS and Robin DLX fixtures have been making waves, well received for their low maintenance and great output.

"They were the best option available t fit our needs at this stage," said van Eck. "We decided to go LED due to the lamp life, lower maintenance and power consumption. It also brings our intel rig up to date and in line with national standards and offers our national client the latest technology n

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USA - D.A.S. Audio confirms that the company's US-based division has relocated into new headquarters. With the company's expanding presence throughout the Americas, the new facility provides increased warehouse space, newly designed offices, a training room, and a large format demo room-enabling the company to better serve its growing clientele base.

D.A.S. Audio of America's new facility is a 25,000sq.ft free standing building and includes an adjacent lot that will enable the company to expand its operations in the future. Purchased in March 2013, the building underwent extensive remodelling so as to accommodate the special requirements of a sound reinforcement equipment manufacturer. Key to the new facility is the inclusion of an acoustically treated training room-enabling the company to provide the best possible instruction to both its sales force as well as both potential an

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Germany - TS Veranstaltungstechnik GmbH & Co. KG has recently extended its range of Clay Paky lights by adding 38 A.leda Wash K10s and eight Alpha Spot HPE 700s to the 14 Alpha Spot 300s it already had at its disposal. The firm also purchased a grandMA2 light, a VPU light and a 4Port Node onPC from MA Lighting. In the past, they had already chosen a grandMA2 ultra-light.

"Since we are a benchmark as live music technical support goes in the South of the country, with more than 200 shows a year, and since there is a growing interest in dry hire throughout Germany and Austria, it is vital for us to be able to count on highly reliable and easy to maintain products," said managing director Florian Daniel Tospann when commenting on their purchase. "We chose Lightpower for the same reason. They are an unequalled trustworthy distributor, who has so far joined us as a pres

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USA - Tomcat understands the importance of not only having the best truss and hoist/rigging equipment for your support structures, but also having the experience and knowledge to use it correctly and safely.

With this in mind, Tomcat is reintroducing its popular Tomcat U for newcomer and veteran riggers and hoist technicians in the entertainment industry.

The 2014 Tomcat U takes place from 17-20 February in Knoxville, Tennessee, home to the Tomcat factory and epicentre for the education of riggers and hoist technicians.

"The schools give extra value. I've been to three Tomcat schools and have used this training in practical applications. The knowledge and hands on experience from TOMCAT U have given me the confidence to handle situations when they turn nasty," says Kurt Jaeckel, Quickbeam Systems.

Tomcat U is an annual all-inclusive four-day hoist and rigging sch

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USA - From his base in Los Angeles to venues as far apart as Nashville and Hong Kong, Daniel Ho has taken the traditional music of Hawaii far and wide. The Oahu native has recorded 18 solo albums and produced over 100 albums, in the process winning six Grammy Awards as an artist, producer and audio engineer.

But Ho's greatest pleasure is taking Hawaiian music to people, performing it in concerts all over the world. And besides his ukulele, he always travels with his L1 portable sound system from Bose Professional Systems. From ukulele clinics at venues around the country, including Guitar Centre stores, to huge concert settings, Bose L1 systems and T1 ToneMatch components have supported Ho's live performances night after night.

Ho travels with a pair of Bose L1 Model II loudspeaker systems and uses one or both, depending upon the size and the acoustical nature of each venue. F

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USA / Australia - Tucson, Arizona based lighting designer Martin Thomas, of Relentless Lighting Design, used Robe's new Pointes for the first time for multi-talented Grammy Award winning singer / songwriter, actress and poet Jill Scott's recent highly successful Australian tour.

Thomas has worked for Jill Scott since 2007, after working with her previous designer, the late Tyrone 'Admiral' Long on the Sugarwater Festival Tour in 2006. For this tour, the start of a live performance campaign that continues into 2014, he took a complete departure from the last one in terms of the lighting aesthetic, putting intimacy, close communication and a sense of timeless elegance right at the heart of the performance.

"The previous tour featured large, dynamic lighting elements while this year's look is more subtle and refined," he comments.

The 24 Pointes were newly purchased f

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USA - The School of Church Music at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary recently enlisted the help of DPA Microphones and Steinway Hall of Dallas, Plano and Fort Worth to put on Keyboards at Christmas - a performance of 'grand' proportions. With 17 Steinway Grand Pianos on stage, student and professional musicians performed holiday songs for the packed house at the 3,500-seat venue.

Already DPA Microphones enthusiasts for the ability of its mics to reproduce the natural beauty of a Steinway, the music staff at Southwestern Baptist knew it wanted to equip all 17 pianos with three d:vote 4099 Instrument Mics each, for a total of 51 mics. A clear, pristine sound was the school's primary requirement when searching for a mic, and it was obvious that the DPA d:vote was the only choice.

"The Steinway instruments have a very beautiful, very unique sound that other in

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The Netherlands - With its recent purchase of the 1100-LFC low-frequency control elements and JM-1P arrayable loudspeakers, Veldhoven-based rental company Bazelmans AVR has grown its inventory to include more than 100 Meyer Sound loudspeakers.

"We had heard through the grapevine that the 1100-LFCs were amazing, but when we first fired up the units for testing we were dumbstruck," says Aart Habraken, rental manager for Bazelmans AVR. "The 1100-LFC maintains linearity regardless of power levels and SPL output. It truly raises the bar for all others to follow. With the EDM [electronic dance music] market now showing keen interest in Meyer Sound, the 1100-LFC couldn't have come at a better moment."

Wiljan Bazelmans, founder and CEO of Bazelmans AVR, adds, "We want the best experience for our customers, not just once but every time. We decided to step up fr

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UK - Sennheiser's 9000 Series digital wireless system is proving a winner in theatre sound design where absolutely silent operation is critical. After a highly successful trial run on the West End production of Dear World with a system, sound designer Mike Walker has invested in 9000 Series for his company Loh Humm Audio.

Walker had been using Sennheiser's 5000 Series systems for around 15 years, so he was keen to try the 9000 series. "I really like the 5000 Series - of the earlier Sennheiser systems I think it's the best suited to voices and I've been very happy with its audio quality," he says. "But the 9000 Series completely surpassed it - it's the best-sounding digital microphone system I've heard, by quite a large margin."

Walker and his team were so impressed that Loh Humm invested in 24 channels of the 9000 Series, which have immediately been

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The Netherlands - In October 2010, an Alcons LR14 loudspeaker system took its bow at the first performances of Soldaat van Oranje, De Musical (Soldier of Orange, the Musical), a huge, technically complex theatrical production based on the book by Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema and the film of the same name. Three years, a thousand performances and over a million audience members later, the Alcons system is still performing flawlessly.

Soldaat van Oranje, De Musical is by far the biggest theatrical production ever staged in the Netherlands, housed in a converted aircraft hangar at a former military aerodrome in Valkenburg, near the city of Leiden. It tells the story of a group of Dutch students in the Second World War, each of whom follows a different path during the conflict, either as a collaborator or as part of the resistance under Nazi occupation.

The show's produc

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UK - As part of the recently returned UK and Ireland tour with X-Factor singer/songwriter Lucy Spraggan, Event Production Services provided a Yamaha LS9-32 and Senheiser EW300 In-Ear Monitor system to Element Audio, who also supplied their own Midas Pro2c to the tour party.

James Apperley of Element Audio said of EPS: "The kit was great, reliable and performed well. It was great working closely with Rob again and we've got a good working relationship. I hope that this continues in the coming years."

Event Production Services Robert Nisbet was mixing monitors for the duration of the tour, which took in venues of around 1500 capacity, though Rob's own highlight of the tour was the intimate venue in Galway. "The staff and punters at the Roisin Dubh were friendly, fun and really into it. The atmosphere was great and we were made very welcome. We had a lot of fun at

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UK - There is perhaps one venue whose name is carved deeper than any other in the hearts of every self-respecting British music fan. Opened in 1932 and designed by Robert Cromie in Art Deco style as The Gaumont Palace cinema, it was renamed the Hammersmith Odeon in 1962, later the Hammersmith Apollo and now after an extensive refurbishment that has restored it to its former Art Deco glory, it will be known as the Eventim Apollo.

For a certain generation, this Grade 2 listed building has and will always be known as Hammy O. Ziggy Stardust was killed off there, Motorhead wouldn't sleep until they got there and it was there that Thin Lizzy recorded, some would say, much of the greatest live rock album of all time. No matter what age or genre, it remains the ambition of musicians across the world to tread its boards and its future programme attests to the fact that this is a situati

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UK - Case manufacture the 5 Star Group - parent company to 5 Star Cases Ltd. and Mossman Trunks Ltd. has launched an exciting new brand line - ProTect Bags & Covers.

This will specialise in the design and manufacture of tough, hard-wearing and practical bespoke padded bags, covers and associated products that will complement the vast range of case and trunk products offered by the 5 Star Group.

Manufacturing for ProTect is based at the existing 5 Star site in Cambridgeshire in a separate production unit recently acquired to help facilitate a general increase in business throughout 2013.

Being in a dedicated space will keep a separation between the case and the bag divisions and ensure maxim efficiency for the ProTect production process, which is headed up by operations manager, Andy Hudson, who has worked for 5 Star for over 23 years.

ProTect's products will bear all the h

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UK - Buckinghamshire based lighting rental specialist Siyan supplied a floor specials package for chart-topping British singer / songwriter Conor Maynard's recent UK tour, where he opened for Will.i.am.

Maynard's lighting designer Paul Smith from Edge of Blue Design wanted to make an impression, and so chose Robe Pointe and LEDWash 600 moving lights, among other fixtures to help achieve his goal.

The project initially went out to quote, and he recalls that Siyan were the first company to come back with all their requirements at a good price so they didn't have to start making substitutions to the kit.

Siyan's Tom Grant project managed, saying, "It was a pleasure working with Paul again - his designs are always practical, well thought out and look fabulous in action."

In this case and being the support act, time was absolutely of the essence in getting the rig on

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South Africa - AV Unlimited was again appointed by Mela events to supply full technical for the South African leg of the Samsung Note3 World Tour launch. The event was held in Cape Town at the CTICC on September 26th where invited guests were flown in to the beautiful mother city to attend the launch of the Galaxy Note 3.The technical set up included over 240 moving lights and a truss count of more than 800m.

Earlier this year AVU provided the full technical at the Samsung S4 Launch and their new brief was clear: To create something absolutely different from the S4 Launch as the same press and celebrities would be in attendance.

With a background in interior design, AVU's In-house Creative Designer, Garrith Castelyn, worked closely with colleagues Victor Vermaak (Project Manager) and Renaldo van der Berg (Lighting Designer) to come up with a concept that would work in that ven

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UK - SGM's X-5 LED strobes helped to create accent and drama on the recent high profile Robbie Williams: One Night At The Palladium show, seen by millions of prime time viewers on the UK's BBC1. With lighting heavyweights Oli Richards (LD) and Theo Cox (moving light operator) at the helm, the show was also recorded for DVD.

As part of the London Palladium scenography, the LD utilised six X-5's - four attached to the set and two placed inside very large gold closets - which sprung into life when Robbie and Rufus Wainwright sprung from within in pink glittery top hat and tails to celebrate their 'coming out' in Swing Both Ways. The strobes were supplied by TV rental specialists, Aurora Lighting, and all fixtures were triggered from a Hog 4.

Commented Richards, "The feature I like most about the X-5s is that they physically look good on camera - nice and low profile,

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Gross Income - US rock band Bon Jovi had the biggest international music tour of the year, according to Billboard magazine's 2013 rankings. The group played to more than two million fans during 90 sell-out shows, grossing $205m (£125m).

Cirque Du Soleil's Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour was second on the list, followed by singer Pink. The Rolling Stones were the highest placed British act - at number six - raking in $126m (£75m) from 23 shows. They finished behind Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, who were fourth on the list after grossing $147m from 53 shows. Rihanna was at number five in the rankings after she played to more than 1.5m fans during the year, bringing in £137m.

Ticket pricing - A majority of audiences say booking fees for concert and theatre tickets are too expensive and any extra charges should be revealed up

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UK - Hot on the heels of his European tour, Bryan Ferry toured the UK with his 'Jazz Age' tour - with production managed by OneBigStar Limited. The set featured a video wall backdrop comprised of 36 CHAUVET Professional PVP S7 video panels.

Six separate 1m wide by 1.5m high screens, each made from six individual PVP S7 panels, were exploded across the stage. The content, designed and created by Anna Boburg, was relayed via a Catalyst media server, controlled from the desk of Ferry's lighting designer, Rod Clay.

"The image on the Chauvet Professional screens has been super-crisp at all times - even when the space is tight. I've been throwing a lot of light across the screens too and still the image is bright and true. I'm really impressed with the quality of the screens and the image itself - the panels have been perfect for this tour," said Clay.

Chauvet Profession

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Australia - The Adelaide Festival Centre has joined the Sydney Opera House, Melbourne Theatre Company, Sydney Theatre Company, His Majesty's in Perth, State Theatre Centre of WA and most of the country's leading company's and venues, in installing ETC lighting consoles.

Most significantly, they were the first venue in Australia to receive an ETC Eos Titanium, ETC's flagship lighting control console. Ti includes many software and hardware features that add to its award-winning Eos-family functionality, including large-format, articulating multitouch displays, a multitouch encoder display, a solid-state hard drive and the ability to work with Magic Sheets.

"It was time to replace our aging Strand 500 Series consoles and ETC was the obvious choice," commented Nathan Luscombe, head lighting technician at Adelaide Festival Centre. "Strand used to be the industry stan

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UK - It promised to be the most spectacular British Military Tournament to date and it didn't disappoint. In front of an audience of thousands and HRH the Duke of Cambridge, the Tournament presented dramatic re-enactments, nail biting high speed chases and daring stunts. And as show organiser Nick Mattingley of IMG explained, none of it would have been possible without Unusual Rigging on board.

"We have a somewhat historical relationship with Unusual Rigging. Four years ago, IMG approached Earl's Court as we wanted to stage a reincarnation of the Royal Tournament and Unusual Rigging was recommended as a company that would oversee the project from the technical stunt side of things. We have worked with them every year since and as the technicalities behind our stunts become more complex, we are certain that none would be possible without the Unusual touch."

While the

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UK - For their recent 20th anniversary tour, UK band Tindersticks turned to Schertler's new Magnetico AG6 pickup to enhance their acoustic guitar sounds. The AG6 is the first model in a range of specially developed, fretted instrument pickups that combine high-end Schertler electronics with active multiple coil technology.

The compact AG6, equipped with it own volume control, is designed to fit inside the guitar's sound hole. Schertler produced a customized "left-handed" version of the pickup for guitarist Neil Fraser who used it in combination with the new S-MIC-M, a high-quality condenser microphone designed to add more warmth and harmonics to the AG6 sound.

"Jamie (Hickey), our sound engineer is always on the lookout to make us sound better ... so, when he suggested the AG6, I was immediately interested in what it could do for my acoustic guitar" says Fr

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