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

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Czech Republic - Czech rental company TD Promo supplied Robe moving lights for three popular Czech bands this spring - all of whom toured simultaneously throughout the Czech Republic with some shows also in Slovakia.

The bands were pop rockers Mandrage from Pilzen (LD Tomas Karban); Divokej Bill a well-established folk-rock band from Uvaly near Prague (LD Matej Mantlik) and loud-and-proud thrash metal outfit SKWOR (LD Martin Samecky).

Three very distinct bands embracing three different genres of music, all enthusiastically received around the country at average 1000 capacity venues over two to three months - and three innovative Czech LDs all loving their Robe fixtures!

The Mandrage tour used 14 x Robe ROBIN Pointes, five MMX Spots and eight ROBIN LEDWash 600s; Divokej Bill had eight ROBIN 600E Beams on their rig, while the SKWOR show made great impact with four Pointes and

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Japan - Hachiko Square, sometimes called Hachiko Plaza, is probably the busiest and best-known meeting place in Tokyo. Named in honour of the famous statue of the Faithful Dog Hachiko, the square is bordered by a department store, two train stations and the well-known Shibuya pedestrian scramble crossing that is reputed to be the busiest in the world.

The plaza is usually teeming with people, especially during evenings and weekends. It is a prime people-watching spot and a very popular meeting place. Most people, locals and tourists alike, gravitate toward the bronzed Akita Inu statue referred to as Hachi or Hachiko. The original statue was erected in 1934 to honour the dog who met his master, Professor Ueno Hidesaburo, every day at the station after work. When Professor Ueno died in 1925 and did not return, Hachiko continued to wait for him daily for the next nine years, appear

PLASA Show 2025 - Banner - June-Aug 2025

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UK - Two different elements of Kinesys automation are in action on Robbie Williams' highly acclaimed Swings Both Ways tour, one for lighting and the other for the set / drapes department, both being controlled by a single Kinesys Vector system operated by Gareth Williams (no relation!).

The tour's spectacular scenic aspects and lighting have been designed by show directors Lee Lodge and Willie Williams and LD Mark Cunniffe.

Lighting includes three eye-catching chandeliers above the stage, each constructed from three concentric semi-circular trusses and flown on a total of nine points per chandelier. These are driven into numerous different positions by Liftket motors fitted with Kinesys Elevation 1+ drive units - giving 27 axis of automation in total.

The chandeliers are made from custom HUD style trussing manufactured by Thomas, which allows all the attached lighting

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UK - The ROLI Seaboard is creating many big - and very new - noises in piano and synthesiser circles, with its re-imagining of the traditional keyboard as a soft, continuous surface. Late May saw the instrument's official launch at the legendary Abbey Road studios, where Capital Sound helped to show off its potential.

The Seaboard is designed to allow its players to apply dynamics, slurs, portamento, pitch bend, vibrato and other forms of expression with the fingers in a new and natural-feeling way. Or, as its inventor Roland Lamb says, it's a way of finding the space between the black and white notes on a traditional keyboard.

The launch event saw a trio of Seaboard players - Marco Parisi, Heen-Wah Wai and Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess - accompanied by drummer Raymond Hearne, playing a set in Abbey Road's Studio 2. Capital Sound supplied a DiGiCo SD9 mixing console,

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UK - d&b GB sales partner Wigwam Acoustics Ltd will hold a d&b Remote network and ArrayCalc workshop on Wednesday 12th and Thursday 13th August 2014.

Both events will be hosted by SSE Audio Group, at their head office in Redditch.

The d&b Remote network workshop is a step by step, hands-on introduction to the d&b control software. The d&b ArrayCalc workshop covers the basics of line array theory and explores the ArrayCalc simulation software for system planning. To gain maximum benefit, participants should have a good basic knowledge of the D6 and D12 amplifiers and be experienced with d&b sound system setup and management. Attendees are required to bring their own laptops.

Spaces are limited so it is advisable to book as soon as possible. To register visit the web address below.

(Claire Beeson)

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UK - The Guildhall School and Stage Technologies have joined together to deliver a 5-day

Automation CPD Training course: Automation for the Entertainment Industry in one of the newest, fully-automated theatres in the UK - the Guildhall School's new building Milton Court. The training is delivered by practicing automation specialists from Stage Technologies and comprises a mixture of hands-on practice and theory.

The Automation for the Entertainment Industry course is suitable for those pursuing a career in automation as well as technical theatre graduates and professionals in other backstage industries, such as lighting and sound, who are looking to increase their skills and knowledge.

The course aims to provide students with a thorough introduction to automation and eChameleon software: from control basics and theory through to grid work and complex moves, and two dimension

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Belgium - Multi-talented theatre-lighting professional Luc Peumans of creative design practice Painting With Light has produced the set, lighting and video for rock'n'roll feast for the eyes Grease: The Arena Spectacular, specifying the exceptional power of 35 Philips Vari-Lite VL3500 Wash luminaires to flood the stage with stunning and vibrant colours.

Taking place in some of Belgium's biggest arenas, the show was a fresh and contemporary take on the 50s classic high school romance story, injecting it with energetic dance routines and huge visual effects. Peumans therefore needed a wash light powerful enough to hold its own against the video elements, flooding each massive stage with intense colour in a range of stunning hues.

"The concept behind the design was to create a big, modern and powerful look with vibrant colours that united the video and lighting and fo

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USA - While last year's festival may have been soaked in rain, this year's Governor's Ball basked in both sunlight and Bandit's lights. The three day music festival took place once again on Randall's Island, where 150,000 fans gathered over three days for what The New York Times called "A festival with a New York heart."

In its fourth year, The Governor's Ball features a wide variety of musical styles, from electronica, to indie, to rock, hip-hop and Americana. With a line up including OutKast, Jack White, Vampire Weekend, The Strokes, Axwell // Ingrosso, and Foster the People, there was something for everyone.

In addition to fantastic musical acts, the festival also boasts a multitude of hip New York food, a silent disco, photo booths and lawn games.

Founders Entertainment hired Bandit Lites to provide the lighting and rigging for two of the stages. Bandit

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USA - Known for its high-quality entertainment, Oceans Ten is a popular night club and tourist destination in Miami Beach, Florida, with indoor and outdoor dining areas, live music and DJs and a great location on the beach front.

Unfortunately, the audio in the club's outdoor dining area wasn't up to the quality standards of their indoor areas. In addition, the outdoor loudspeakers had deteriorated from continuous exposure to the beach-front, salt-air environment.

Last year, Oceans Ten asked James Reed and Michael Callahan of Audio Video Lighting Innovations (AVLI) in Miami to propose a new loudspeaker system that would survive the salt air whilst providing high-quality audio for its outdoor dining area customers. AVL Innovations had installed the club's indoor system and understood their commitment to high-quality sound. Reed recommended Community's WET Series loudspeakers be

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France - Before American blues-rock titan Joe Bonamassa hit the road this spring for the initial North American leg of his latest world tour, the production team at Special Event Services (SES) knew they needed a highly versatile loudspeaker rig that could handle anything they could throw at it over most of a year and three continents.

To ensure that they were well prepared for everything - acoustic sets, electric sets, large theatres, small arenas, the U.S., Europe, and Australia - SES specified L-Acoustics' brand new K2 system for its first official tour as a main PA.

Jason Farah of SES says that the venues on this tour made K2 the right rig for the gig and that there are zero sonic compromises due to the K2's smaller size compared to the vaunted K1. "The K1 with its 15s can feel a bit deeper, but there is no shortage of low end in the K2. In fact, the 12s in the K2 are

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UK - The Institute of Sound and Communications Engineers (ISCE) has announced two new training courses to be presented by Tony Stacey MInstSCE. These will take place at Jurys Inn, Watford on September 9 and 10, commencing at 9,30am.

Open to all, the first session, entitled 'Introduction to Sound', is designed to enable delegates to gain a better understanding of what happens to sound after it leaves the loudspeakers.

People interested in this course will want to better understand how sound behaves but not necessarily the mathematics behind it. The course will begin by answering the question, 'What is sound?' and will go on to explain (with visual aids) the various phenomena of sound. By the end of the course attendees will have gained a good understanding of how sound behaves, and hopefully become inspired to delve deeper into the world of sound and communications engineering.

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USA - At a recent Lee Brice concert at the University of Oregon, George Relles Sound showcased its brand new Meyer Sound LYON linear sound reinforcement system. Brice's FOH engineer, Wayne Pauley, said: "The LYON system was a real eye-opening experience. It has remarkable clarity and projection, and it seemed like everything was jumping out of the arrays right at you."

Pauley also noticed how the linear performance of LYON changed his mixing approach. "I found I could get a well-defined mix that sounded louder than its true SPL. Everything came together so well that I was surprised when I looked over at the SPL meter."

Relles's purchase includes 14 LYON-M main and six LYON-W wide-coverage line array loudspeakers, adding to an arsenal that includes six 1100-LFC low-frequency control elements and a Galileo Callisto loudspeaker management system.

One of the

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UK - The Royal Opera House has recently upgraded its lighting rig with 20 Martin Professional MAC Viper Performance moving head lights, continuing a relationship with the manufacturer that stretches back to 2004.

As Lighting Systems Manager at the Royal Opera House for the past 14 years, Paul Hornsby looks after the infrastructure of the building for performance lighting, including the maintenance, testing, and upgrading of the venue's lighting systems. "We run a continual refit program - a lot of the moving lights we have are 13 or 14 years old now, so we're gradually replacing them," he said. "The latest upgrade was made in summer 2013 when we brought in Martin's MAC Viper Performance moving lights to replace our MAC 2000 Performance fixtures. The Vipers are significantly faster, brighter, and more energy efficient than their predecessor [MAC 2000 Performance].&

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France - Chromlech, the French manufacturer behind innovative LED lighting products such as Jarag and Elidy, has gone out of business with the loss of 14 jobs. NKown as an innovator of lighting products, Chromlech enjoyed great success with its Jarag line of LED modules, which sold well for years, and still selling right up to the company's demise. Gleamer, a dimmer dedicated to low-voltage lighting, won a PLASA Award for Innovation in 2011. Then came Elidy, a striking 5x5 LED matrix tile producing warm white beams of light, launched at the PLASA Show in 2012.

However, copies of the Elidy concept, made in China, began to appear on the market with months of the product's release, and Chromlech found itself unable to take legal action to protect their intellectual property. Two patents covered Elidy - one for the technology and one for the design, or form factor. Unfortunately for

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Dubai - After operating Martin Audio line array systems in its hire fleet for nearly a decade, Dubai-based Almoe AV Production/Rentals has purchased the first MLA (Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Array) in the UAE.

The company placed an initial order for 36 MLA and 12 MLX enclosures with Richard Maunder's company, VTi - Martin Audio's territorial distributor.

"It was an easy decision to opt for the MLA after we had heard the system, its capabilities and the technology that adapts to the ever changing environment," stated Almoe general manager, Glen Dougherty.

Along with Almoe senior sound engineer, Bruno Vitanza, he had originally been invited to attend a live demonstration of MLA back in 2010, and the two men were immediately impressed by its performance in a difficult venue.

With momentum building, they have now decided to act. "Our decision was entirely based

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USA - EAW has announced that Sound Image has joined its expanding global network of Adaptive Performance Partners with the purchase of an Anya system - which will be immediately deployed on Tom Petty's Hypnotic Eye Tour. Award-winning FOH engineer, Robert Scovill, insisted upon Anya after putting the system through an extensive evaluation at a private event.

"I haven't been this excited about a new approach to PA technology in a couple of decades now," said Scovill. "The approach that EAW has taken with Anya is a leap forward in the quality and the way in which audio can be presented to a large audience. I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to be an early adopter of Anya. I'm literally counting the days to our first shows."

The arena tour, featuring very special guest Steve Winwood, will additionally make stops at the scenic Gorge and Red Rocks amphitheatre

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UK - The elections to the European Parliament in mid-May inevitably attracted a huge amount of news coverage from across the continent. Much of the attention was focused on the European Parliament building in Brussels, where a pair of DiGiCo SD10 consoles kept the world's media up to date.

The European Parliament itself commissions all of its broadcast facilities, these are then used to relay feeds to broadcasters; in this case the many who were covering the elections.

"The Parliament's sound engineer, Oliver Martin, wanted the same team for the audio systems who worked on the last election, in 1999," says Laurent Fortier, CEO of PA company Fortyeight.tv. "In '99, we worked with Patrick Vancauwenbergh who designed the PA system. Naturally, we continued to work together.

"We talked to DB Video, the Parliament's AV systems integrator, about which mixing con

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UK - While the second half of June saw the eyes of the world focusing on stadiums across Brazil, the UK's most iconic football stadium saw Sennheiser UK helping to deliver a Ball of a very different kind.

The 2014 Capital Radio Summertime Ball took place at Wembley Stadium on 21st June and featured line-up which read like a 'Who's Who' of contemporary pop and DJing talent with 22 high profile names gracing the Wembley stage throughout the day.

As in previous years, Sennheiser UK provided support and technical backup to the Ball's audio provider Adlib. Sennheiser in-ear monitoring was exclusively used throughout the entire event, while the company's wireless microphone systems were also extensively in use.

Headliner Miley Cyrus and all of the show's Capital Radio presenters used the flagship Digital 9000 Series, while Enrique, Jessie J, Cheryl Cole, Union J, Ella Henderson an

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Norway - A Norwegian venue has employed Yamaha's AFC3 acoustic enhancement system to transform its main auditorium into an acoustically enhanced space.

Opened three years ago, Lørenskog Hus is a multi-purpose municipal venue located 20 minutes from Oslo. Covering 15,000sq.m over eight floors, it features five auditoriums, four cinema screens, seven meeting rooms, a restaurant and a library. Providing a focal point for the regional community, it stages a wide variety of live productions and hosts conferences, corporate and cultural events, as well as showing films and other activities.

"When the venue was built, the goal was to make the acoustics in our main auditorium flexible enough for all genres of music - everything from choirs, marching bands and symphony orchestras to pop, rock and rap," says Kristoffer Engen, Technical Manager at Lørenskog Hus.

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Ireland - Dublin's Old Jameson Distillery offers a warm welcome to the hundreds of visitors per day who pour through the doors for its tour of the Irish whisky making process. The attraction recently upgraded its reception area using fixtures from the Chauvet Professional and Iluminarc ranges. Designed and installed by Gorilla Design, supplied by QLX Lighting, the area now presents a more unified look which for guests is the first point of contact with the brand.

The installation encompassed the main reception area, café, stairwell and underfloor of the attraction. A more welcoming feel was created using 24 of the resourceful Chauvet Professional COLORado 1 Tour fixtures, 24 Chauvet Professional COLORdash VW wash lights powered by seven cool and warm white LEDs, for purer whites and a colour temperature selection ranging from the warm and inviting to crisp, cold shades.

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Worldwide - Controversial popstar Miley Cyrus is performing her world tour 'Bangerz' under the super sharp, vibrantly coloured beams of the Clay Paky Sharpy and Sharpy Wash 330.

Fast becoming one of the most talked about touring shows around, Bangerz features everything from giant tongue slides to flying hot dogs. Lighting designer Rob Sinclair, who has worked with Peter Gabriel, Queen, Pet Shop Boys and may others, collaborated with award winning show designer Ez Devlin to create the show's unique look.

"The creative brief for the show was that it should be fun," explains Sinclair. "We went for big, bold and bright looks. The show required punch after visual punch so we designed a high fashion pop lighting concept with plenty of bright colours and well-timed effects."

In addition to the fast-paced lighting is the production's giant 40ft LED screen, which

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UK - Bristol-based lighting and visuals rental company, Fineline Lighting supplied lighting and rigging including ground support systems to five popular, action-packed stages at the 2014 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts. This included the Acoustic, Cabaret, Circus, Astrolabe Stages and HMS WOW at the world's largest and highest profile greenfield music and entertainment festival which took place last weekend in Somerset, UK.

The project this year involved over 130 moving heads and over 350 conventional lighting fixtures from Fineline - utilising moving light products from Martin, Robe and High End Systems plus Avolites and ChamSys control and Martin LED products, together with 38 crew, who rocked up at Worthy Farm in Pilton for the week that culminated in four days of fun and nearly 200 full-scale performances lit by Fineline's team.

Fineline has been invol

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Germany - Robe moving lights have been installed in the main theatre and club venues aboard Mein Schiff 3 (My Ship), the latest state-of-the-art cruise ship to be delivered from the STX Finland shipyard in Turku to German-based operator, TUI Cruises.

Lighting for the two areas has been designed and specified by Chris Moylan of Berlin-based Optikalusion, who designs touring shows and assorted live and special events as well as currently designing lighting, video and automation for TUI Cruises' new shows and consulting on equipping the key entertainment locations on their new vessels.

He collaborated closely with TUI Cruises' head of technical Torsten Hirche on both these areas on Mein Schiff 3 to come up with a dynamic lighting rig that could meet all the various demands.

In the 1000 capacity theatre, the core of the lighting rig is 47 x Robe ROBIN DLF Washes which are rigged

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Spouth Africa - Big Electronic, the electronic music powerhouse collaboration between Big Concerts, G&G Productions and Rusco Events brought South African electronic dance music fans a mind-blowing one-night-only experience. Having already toured much of the globe, The Armin Only Intense World Tour debuted at the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg on 14 June. Acrobats, dancers, singers, lasers, pyrotechnics and world class technical packaging combined to engage all the senses in this one-of-a-kind EDM spectacular.

DJ, Armin van Buuren is known for creating visually extravagant events and this one blew the lid off all expectations. Technical suppliers, Gearhouse SA, Sets, Drapes, Screens, LEDVision and Splitbeam - all members of the Gearhouse Group - provided the technical production for the event including structures, set, lighting, audio, power, rigging and a considerable am

  1. Cross Pointe Church upgrades to Meyer Mica
  2. Wicreations moves the 14-18 Spektakel Musical
  3. AC-ET appointed UK distributor for LumenRadio
  4. Robert Juliat sponsors SIBIU International Theatre Festival
  5. Nexo reinforces French mega metal festival
  6. Canberra's Greenroom chooses Soundcraft
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Astera - Large MPU - June 2025
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