India - AV Express, an audio-visual equipment hire company based in Chennai in India, recently added a QSC WideLine-10 system to their sound reinforcement inventory comprised of 16 three-way WL2102-w modules with six GP218-sw subwoofers.

For a decade, AV Express on India's East coast, has been one of the city's premier audio-visual events hire companies, handling audio, video and lighting for everything from live bands and DJ sets to corporate shows.

"When we were looking for a new system to upgrade our existing audio inventory, we would not compromise," comments Mr Murugesh, one of AV Express's principal partners. "We had a lot to choose from, but only the QSC WideLine system matched our parameters of quality and performance. Plus, QSC's representative, Pro Visual Audio, walked us through the entire operation and workflow of the system during our demo, and gave

USA - An awards show like none other took Tampa's Raymond James Stadium by storm when the annual International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards came to the US for the first time. The IIFA Awards honour artistic and technical excellence in Bollywood, India's famed Hindi-language film industry that sells more than 3 billion tickets every year. The show, which aired on Star World Network, used a large complement of Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures.

"The IIFA Awards are the Indian equivalent of the Oscars with 800m viewers worldwide," says lighting designer Eugene O'Connor. "Cinema is huge there, and the awards show lasted more than five hours. It had a very big open and included production numbers with 60-70 dancers."

O'Connor knew that Clay Paky Sharpys "were always going to be the main light" for the show in a stadium that demanded "big looks"

Slovakia - Robe moving lights once again proved they had 'that special something' for the X-Factor - this time the final of the Czech and Slovak edition of the popular talent competition reality TV show, which was staged at the Incheba Expo Arena in Bratislava, Slovakia.

The lighting and visuals designers were Michal Schmidt and Tomás Lecky, and the lighting equipment included 56 x Robe Robin Pointes, 22 x ColorSpot 700E ATs and 20 x ColorSpot 1200E ATs, the supply of which was supported by Slovakian rental company Showservice, based in Bratislava.

The production company was Jam Film 1999 s.r.o and the event was broadcast live on TV channel JOJ in Slovakia and Prima in the Czech Republic. Over 1000 X-Factor fans enjoyed the action live in the arena.

Schmidt & Lecky worked closely with set designer Jaroslav Holota from Ungroup s.r.o. to create the stage environment and the l

Brazil - As national football teams from all over the world line up to compete for victory in Brazil, several hundred million TV viewers will be watching live and many will be more than happy to stay up all night in order to follow the action. During the tournament, the production company Host Broadcast Services (HBS) will be using wireless and wired microphones from Sennheiser, including the new Esfera surround microphone system, to capture the stadium atmosphere as realistically as possible and to provide the matches with thrilling commentaries and pitchside reports.

Whether sports fans or not, for TV viewers football is set to reign supreme for the next few weeks. For HBS, which has been producing such events since 2002, preparations have long been underway the equipment and teams required for Brazil have been on-site since the beginning of April, carrying out intensive groun

UK - The 7th Knight of Illumination (KOI) Awards has announced a new venue for 2014: London's art deco Troxy theatre.

This year's awards ceremony, celebrating outstanding lighting design, is on Sunday 5 October, during PLASA London at ExCel, which runs 5-8 October. Troxy is situated ten minutes' drive from ExCel.

"We're thrilled that KOI will enjoy the luxurious setting of Troxy this year," says Pio Nahum of Clay Paky, which organises the event alongside the STLD, the ALD, and Ambersphere. "With beautiful surroundings comes an even more beautiful event!"

The guest list is open to all who might wish to attend ensuring that KOI continues to establish itself as a pan industry event. To find out more, and submit your entry visit the web address below.

BBC Musical Initiatives - The BBC has announced plans to open up access to the world of musical entertainment within the UK, with two new partnerships designed to train new entrants and increase the technical skills base. Director general Tony Hall, unveiling an ambitious new music strategy, said the BBC would be partnering with the National Skills Academy, which works alongside employers, to increase quality training in the technical and production areas, particularly concentrating on skills required for live performances. "Music is in our DNA just like news" he said, as the BBC gears up for a summer of festivals.

It will also co-fund, with the PRS for Music Foundation, visits for the best new British artists to attend and play at four annual showcase festivals across the United States. Both developments extend the successful BBC Introducing scheme, which dates from 2

UK - London-based Coloursound Experiment has chosen the third generation of SES's 72 way touring racks as their preferred system. Having worked with SES in the past, Coloursound has placed an order for six rack mount units for their ever growing fleet with delivery of the first two units being made this week.

The racks are manufactured using extra thick steel and are powder coated. The units come with SES's new Digital meter and complemented with two LED rack lights which are new to the SES range. The racks are fully engraved to indicate all the outgoing functions and have the customers Logo, which is now a standard feature on all 19" racks where space allows.

(Jim Evans)

UK - In partnership with The Science Museum, Blitz is hosting a half day of seminars and demonstrations on Wednesday 2 July on the future of event technology.

Supported by manufacturers and experts in the fields of augmented reality, social media, and mobile applications, topics will include 'EventMetrics' attendee tracking and reporting, and augmented reality by Arcstream. Blitz will also be introducing the 'YourShow' (Google Glass) presenter experience for the first time in the UK events industry. Additional hands-on product demonstrations include 'Displaylite' touch tables and giant iPads.

Attendees will also gain insight from an industry-renowned keynote speaker, offering their views on the role of technology in events. Event organisers will learn about the impact of emerging technologies within the live event sector, with an emphasis on integration to create the most inno

UK - Eclipse Presentations - the east London based technical solutions provider known for innovation and flair - collaborated with the marketing team at Central Hall Westminster (CHW) led by Maria Schuett to provide all the required technical production and infrastructure to facilitate their very successful recent one day 'Meet The Future' event.

Central Hall is one of the high profile central London event spaces at which Eclipse provides managed and technical services and Meet The Future, attended by over 300 delegates, was designed to showcase and raise awareness of a number of state-of-the-art technologies that could potentially shape the future design and production of all types of events.

Meet The Future was co-ordinated for Eclipse by key account manager Matt Green who looks after Central Hall and MD Robin Purslow.

Says Green, "We were keen to support 'Meet The Fu

The Netherlands - Dutch PA company, Ampco - Flashlight, has updated its rental stock by adding 24 ME-1 Personal monitor mixers and 2 ME-U hubs with a MADI option card, as well as 4 Qu-16 rackmount digital mixers, all from Allen & Heath.

ME was selected following an evaluation process comparing it with several different monitor systems. For its debut event, Ampco- Flashlight put ME to use at the TOP 2000 Live Production event in Rotterdam. 20 ME-1 personal monitor mixers were fed with a 40 channel MADI stream to the ME-U distribution unit.

"After only two minutes of playing, all the musicians were making their own mixes!" comments Ampco - Flashlight's Jos van der Hoeven. "The ME system is now a firm rental favourite in Ampco -Flashlight's stock."

The Qu-16's were selected for their small footprint to manage smaller events and to accompany the ME systems.

USA - At this year's ULTRA Music Festival, Martin Professional lit the night with an array of lighting fixtures, including the RUSH 5x5 Strobe, RUSH MH2, RUSH PAR1, MAC III Profile, MAC Viper, MAC 101, MAC Aura, M-1 Control and M2go Console.

In preparing for a massive scale production such as ULTRA Music Festival, an epic battle takes place between the passion and dedication of the team and the challenges posed by the environment and the conditions under which the ULTRA Music Festival engine operates.

For the Miami shows, the location in downtown Miami represents one major challenge, as the festival grounds and the stage are shoehorned in between a busy street and a retaining wall. Lighting fixtures and all other technical elements of the festival and stage design are also being put to the test in this extreme environment, where excessive heat, high levels of humidity and endl

UK - Backstage Academy, the live events industry training centre based in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, is looking to recruit industry professionals, teachers and admin staff ahead of the new term commencing in October 2014.

The Academy's courses deliver industry based training in lighting, sound, staging, live visuals, networks, show control and event planning and are validated by the University of Bolton. It currently runs an FdA in Live Events Production, with a BA (Hons) Top Up year and a BA (Hons) in Visual Production due to commence in 2014.

Said director of courses, Robin Watkinson, "We are looking to add Stage Engineering, Automation, Stage Management, Film & TV Location Management and Sports Events Management to our portfolio of validated courses.

"We are currently seeking applications from: industry professionals interested in delivering lectures, seminars o

The Netherlands - Dutch guitarist Adrian Vandenberg has kept a low profile since gracing the 1980s biggest stages with Whitesnake. But that is all changing now, as he hits the road with a new band, aided by a Yamaha QL5 digital console.

Since leaving Whitesnake in 1991, Vandenberg has spent most of the intervening years concentrating on his family and a burgeoning career as an artist. But the end of 2013 saw him return to rock'n'roll with Vandenberg's MoonKings.

Having played a European club tour, the band is currently playing a raft of European festivals, with monitor engineer Joost Muller manning a Yamaha QL5.

Joost is the son of Jos, owner of rental company Decilux, and lighting designer Marja Muller, both of whom were closely involved with the guitarist's pre-Whitesnake band, Vandenberg. With MoonKings again renting equipment from Decilux, Joost was keen to use the Yamah

Scandinavia - Lighting designer Henrik Lundin is using a number of the triple-award winning Clay Paky B-EYE K20s to light Swedish songstress Veronica Maggio's first-ever Scandinavian arena tour.

Lundin, of Swedish production company YKNOT, says he was delighted to be able to apply the unique features of the new B-EYE K20 in combination with a strategically designed 'mirror-prop' package. "Using the B-EYE to cover the stage, both as front lights and for exposing the mirror props worked brilliantly," says Lundin. "The B-EYE's incredibly wide zoom, fast response time plus the immense power of the LEDs meant that the design process went very smoothly and we were all delighted with the result."

The B-EYE K20's, supplied to the tour by Swedish rental operation Lagom & Gott Ljud AB, have an output that is over 20% brighter than any equivalent LED wash light curren

Finland - The Finnish companies Audico and Starlike are merging their operations. Measured in net sales, the merger will result in Finland's largest provider of audiovisual and event technology solutions and devices.

"Our product ranges complement one another brilliantly. Audico specializes in sound systems and turnkey AV system deliveries for companies, schools, shopping centres, cruise ships, churches and other public spaces, as well as in the manufacture and import of equipment," says Audico's managing director, Harri Leiva. "Starlike is a leading provider of sound and lighting systems for theatres, concert halls and other performing arts centres, among others. The merger will bring a great deal of expertise under one roof, and together we will be able to offer customers even more comprehensive service.

"The merger enables us to engage in even closer par

USA - When production started on the film adaptation of the Tony Award-winning musical Jersey Boys, set to hit the big screen this Friday, 20 June 20, crew members knew they would need to capture all audio, music and vocals live without any pre-recordings. As instrument miking was not available during the 1950s to 1970s era of the film, the production team also needed to conceal the musicians' mics on set. To address these challenges, they turned to DPA Microphones.

Tim Boot, production music mixer for Jersey Boys, relied primarily on DPA's d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones and d:screet 4061 Omnidirectional Miniature Microphones to capture the live instruments on set. Easy to conceal during filming, these mics provided a very natural sound quality and proved to be the perfect complement to the era of the film. Further keeping with the film's theme, the crew used vintage

Qatar - Neutrik, in cooperation with Nicolas Kyvernitis Electronics Enterprises (NMK), a sole distributor of Neutrik in the Middle East region, held Neutrik OpticalCon Certified Seminar from 23-24 May 2014 in Doha, Qatar. The objective of the seminar was to educate the engineering team of Al Rayyan TV Channel about fundamentals and new trends in fibre connection technology.

The seminar, conducted by Neutrik product application engineer Frank Studer with the assistance of Neutrik Product manager Pavel Aheuin from NMK, focused on the fibre optics theory on the first day of training including the applications for transmitting and receiving audio, video and communications. The second day was dedicated to a hands-on workshop that highlighted the NeutrikOpticalCon field assembly kit where attendees were given the opportunity to improve their skills on terminating LC connectors, applyi

UK - When Grillstock delivered a weekend full of BBQ-flavoured treats and good old-fashioned rock'n'roll bands and DJs at Bristol's Amphitheatre, they called on Bristol-based lighting specialists, Utopium, to supply its full stage production package. This included branded graphics, stage, sound, lighting and video walls to host headliners Fun Living Criminals and Hayseed Dixie, as well as other rockabilly favourites.

Utopium's hire and sales manager Ben Knowles commented, "It was great to work with the festival organisers putting together the full scale production to ensure it translated for every element of the event.

"It was also a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase our new lighting technology live for the first time. We supplied six SGM X-5 LED Strobes, 12 Chauvet Legend 419 Washlights, 16 Chauvet 230 SR Beams and 18 Chauvet Nexus 4 x 4 panels, which allow f

UK - Audio Logic, provider of pro audio sound equipment products has appointed Derbyshire-based Commercial Audio Solutions as a sub-distributor of its Ecler, Audac and Procab exclusive brands. A shared business ethos and an eye for a mutually advantageous forward move underpin this arrangement, which sees Audio Logic continue to develop and grow its business.

Commercial Audio Solutions is a long established supplier to the installation market and stocks a large range of prestigious world-wide brands as well as offering an in-house system-design service. The addition of these Audio Logic brands increases further the scope of Commercial Audio's offer whilst at the same time extending Audio Logic's reach into new markets.

Interest in Audac's new range of amplifiers at the recent PLASA Focus event in Leeds was keen. Ecler continue to offer a quality product for just about every au

Singapore - One of Singapore's leading educational institutions, the Republic Polytechnic, has completed the installation of a Nexo Geo S12 line array in its primary theatre at The Republic Cultural Centre (TRCC).

Designed by Maki & Associates (Japan), TRCC exudes an elegant simplicity and balance of aesthetics and functionality that reflects an appreciation for the arts and culture. Under its fan-shaped roof, TRCC has three main performing arts venues: a 1,000-seat theatre, 300-seat studio and, 120-seat lab, all of which are open to the public.

This is the first upgrade for the main theatre since its opening in 2007. With more international acts gracing its stage, and taking into account the evolving needs and criteria of modern shows, Mark Spencer, former student and Head of TRCC's Audio Division, felt it was time the audio caught up to speed. "Audiences nowadays are mo

Italy - Pope Francis' address to the 37th National Convocation of the Renewal of the Spirit at Rome's Olympic Stadium recently, was clearly received by the gathering of over 50,000 people who thronged to Rome's Olympic Stadium - thanks to RCF loudspeakers.

After walking a short distance across the field, the Pope arrived at the stage where the previous night Italian rock star Luciano Ligabue had delivered a major concert. The audio system used on this occasion was made up of four of RCF's flagship TTL55-A Touring & Theatre line arrays, comprising 84 elements in total. This was not the first time an RCF system has been used to amplify an event of this kind: in 2012 the company provided the audio system for the official and historical visit of Pope Ratzinger to Cuba, an event followed by millions of people all around the world.

Now, two years on, RCF has again amplified t

UK - Aggreko, an official supporter of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, has awarded Showforce a contract to supply local event crew to assist with the deployment of temporary power across the Games' 14 Competitive venues for 17 sports and 16 non-competitive venues including the International Broadcast Centre (IBC) at the SECC, Glasgow.

Showforce was selected following a successful tendering process where the company demonstrated a longstanding commitment to investing in training and development to ensure optimum sustainability for any roles provided on the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games contract In addition local people will be employed wherever possible to maximise the economic and environmental sustainability of the roles created.

Aggreko's Commonwealth Games contract requires deployment of in excess of 120 generators, 1110 distribution panels and over 220 kilometres of

Russia - Novosibirsk-based production company Elkruff specified a wide range of Clay Paky fixtures for its stylish design for global product solutions company NL International's 13th Anniversary Event in Moscow's Crocus City Hall. Overseeing the project was Elkruff's chief technical officer Aleksey Bulgakov who worked with lighting designer Anton Maltsev to deliver a sharp, clean design that focused the audience's attention on the stage's large projection video element.

"Onstage we had a huge video widescreen that displayed a presentation of new online products from NL International," explains Bulgakov. "We created a clever design made up of vertical rows of plastic tubes with RGB LED fixtures mounted in the base platforms that drew audience attention to the centre of the stage and the video presentation. The event was also being filmed for broadcast so we needed

Turkey - Martin Professional has appointed SF SES vs ISIK Sistemleri A.S., also known as SF, as the exclusive distributor of Martin products in Turkey. Istanbul-based SF has been a valued member of the Harman distributor network for over 25 years and this partnership will enhance the sales, distribution, and support of Martin Professional lighting solutions throughout Turkey as well as Azerbaijan and Northern Cyprus.

"As distributors of top brands in audio, video and lighting systems, we are sure that Martin will be a valuable addition to our existing distribution lines, as our reseller and solution partners always look to offer more sophisticated and robust turnkey lighting solutions to present to their end-user customers. Samim Mutluer, CEO of SF, said: "We look forward to providing our resellers and partners with the value-added services in support of Martin's compl

Latest Issue. . .