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

Business

Details
UK - Blackout provided extensive draping for this year's star studded National Television Awards (NTAs) on 21 January 2015.

Broadcast live on ITV and watched by a packed live audience inside the O2 arena, Dermot O'Leary lead the glittering ceremony with TV's biggest stars out in force for the 20th annual event. The evening saw Eastenders steal the show, taking home the serial Drama Award and Ant & Dec who took home their 14th consecutive National Television Award for Best Entertainment Presenter.

Contracted by NTA producers Indigo Television and working with set designer Chris Webster, Blackout installed a 30m cross stage drape backdrop that framed the large video screen, which was the focal point of the show for the TV broadcast. Additional drapes were installed to screen VIP areas and mask off the arena seats obscured by technical production positions, to create the d

Details
USA - Coheed and Cambria, the American progressive metal band whose innovative concept albums tell the sci-fi story of The Amory Wars, has wrapped a concert tour that included a complement of Clay Paky A.leda B-EYE K20s and Sharpys.

Coheed and Cambria recently toured with the band Thank You Scientist, playing 25 dates across the US and in Toronto. Coheed and Cambria's setlist followed In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3, their 11-year old second album, which has recently been remastered and rereleased. Clearwing Productions supplied the lighting package for the tour, which included Clay Paky fixtures.

"The album tells the story of Claudio Kilgannon and his journey of self-discovery in a science fiction universe. Each song moves the characters along, and the lighting needed to be able to follow the quick changes to their emotional states," explains Clearwing'

PLASA Show 2025 - Banner - June-Aug 2025

Details
Germany - The Ten Tenors are one of the hardest-working acts on the classical-rock scene, reportedly performing an average of 250 shows per year. For this Australian ensemble, currently on tour in Germany, the Netherlands, Holland and Austria, the big news has been a Nexo STM modular line array featuring the STM M28 compact main cabinets.

This is the first significant international tour for Nexo's new M28 compact module. Rental provider Sound Linear was one of the early-adopting PA companies, embracing the STM Scale Through Modularity concept and engineering when it was first introduced by Nexo in 2013, and owner Kalle Hogrefe was at the front of the queue to snap up the recently-added M28 omnipurpose module to add to his inventory.

With the arrival of the compact lightweight STM M28 cabinet, Nexo's Series of STM modular line array modules is complete. M28 greatly enhances the

Details
Germany - Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt is expanding the spectrum of subjects and segments covered at the coming event from 15 to 18 April 2015. With a set of new offerings, the trade fair will also be of particular interest to companies and trade visitors from the theatre and theatre-technology sectors. An extensive seminar programme for this target group, a special 'Quickfinder' guide to relevant exhibitors and a special VIP programme for theatre planners are scheduled.

Numerous manufacturers and service providers from the fields of stage lighting, trusses, rigging, lifting technology, curtain systems, show textiles and seating have already signed up to exhibit at Prolight + Sound. They include Alfa System sas, American Dancewear, Bu?hnenbau Schnakenberg, Bu?tec, ChainMaster Bu?hnentechnik, Chemtrol Divisio?n Teatro, Enforcer Pülz, ETC, Gerriets, Jelmez-art, Maquinas Iberica

Details
UK - XL Video UK has announced a major investment in new Barco projectors and lenses, as well as a large investment in video distribution equipment from Lightware. Both agreements support the company's commitment to regularly update their inventory with high quality, state-of-the-art video equipment.

XL Video has invested £1.2m in 30 of Barco's HDX-W14 projectors, including a quantity of their TLD+ Ultra Short Throw lenses. XL has selected the HDX-W14 units as they offer outstanding image quality and flexible light output.

The projectors feature a modular construction and common modules for these units can be shared with XL's existing fleet of HDF-W26 and HDQ-2K40 projectors.

XL Video UK managing director, Lee Spencer, commented, "We are pleased to expand our inventory of Barco projectors and lenses. Our existing fleet has proven highly reliable and so these mid-r

Details
Israel - The Hanukkah holiday is celebrated in a diversity of ways, one of which is the annual Festigal performance show which brings the glamour and glitz of leading celebrities to the stage for an all-action music and dance extravaganza targeted at eight - 14 year olds. It's one of the best attended and most popular performance phenomena in Israel.

This year, Festigal's lighting designer Ronen Najar - who has lit the show for the past eight years - spec'd 24 of Robe's new BMFL Spot fixtures to be the centrepiece. The BMFLs were part of a delivery of 60 units purchased by high profile Israeli rental company, Argaman Systems.

Ronen, among the country's leading LDs, is known for his 'out of the box' approach and the great style he brings to lighting any project. He once again produced a stunningly colourful and dramatic show for the tour which played three cities - Haifa, Jerus

Details
USA - After a recent summer tour throughout Europe, Stevie Wonder's audio team has something new to sing about; the addition of DPA microphones to his touring rig. On recommendation from jazz singer Dee Alexander, Wonder's front of house engineer tested the DPA Microphones d:facto Vocal and d:vote 4099P Instrument piano microphones while on the road. Now a permanent fixture for all of Wonder's performances, the mics provide the right blend of tone and detail that is necessary for the musician's wide range of styles.

As Wonder's FOH engineer for more than 20 years, Danny Leake has had plenty of time deciphering what audio tools are best suited to the musician. Having used DPA's original 4006 recording mics for Wonder's percussion section for years, the decision to switch the performer himself to DPA mics was an easy one.

"I still use my original DPA 4006s for the percussio

Details
UK - Midlands-based manufacturer of electrical distribution systems, ide Systems, has expanded its operations by opening a new rental division near Lichfield. The move to unit 4AD, zone 2, Burntwood Business Park, has enabled ide Systems to split its business into three distinct areas.

The company, which provided power distribution and cabling for the London Olympics in 2012 and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow last year, will locate its rental division to the 7,950 sq.ft unit after it agreed a five-year lease with London & Cambridge Properties, which owns and manages zone 2, 3 and 4 of the business park.

The company's other business interests - ide Systems, which focuses on sales and manufacturing, and ide Online - will continue to operate out of its headquarters in Cannock.

Managing director Ian Thomas said: "Due to the active increase in demand, our fleet based at o

Details
South Africa - A sunken fashion ramp created a striking effect at the annual Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Joburg presented by African Fashion International and held at Melrose Arch in October/November 2014. Dream Sets supplied the technical and built the set, a seamless platform from which cutting edge South African designers could show off their latest creations.

While stress levels are up on an event like this - there are 12 different shows with each stylists wanting their own look - it's old hat for Mauritz Jacobs from Dream Sets. With a desire to please, his calming nature has kept him working with longstanding clients in fashion for the past 20 years, often as lighting designer and in this case, as project manager.

Precision is essential and Jacobs strives for a simple, clean look. He used 96 Philips SPX Profiles and 12 Robe Robin 800 LED Wash Units.

The Philips SPX Profi

Details
USA - At Winter NAMM, audio specialist Sennheiser and Apogee Electronics, industry leader in digital audio conversion technology, announced their collaboration.

Apogee's Betty Bennett and Sennheiser's Peter Claussen have jointly announced the cooperation of their companies. Peter Claussen, COO of Sennheiser, said that "Apogee and Sennheiser are a perfect fit. We both operate in the demanding premium sector, serving professional and semi-professional audio customers across the globe. Our product portfolios perfectly complement each other, and I am looking forward to collaborate with a company that has truly pushed the boundaries of digital audio."

Betty Bennett, co-founder and CEO of Apogee, commented: "This is an exciting collaboration for us. Sennheiser is a highly respected brand with an incredible product portfolio and an extensive global reach. Our reputatio

Details
Belgium - Luc Peumans of Painting With Light lit the high profile Belgian TV Music Industry Awards (MIA)s event for the first time last year ... and producers VRT (Vlaamse Radio en Televisieomroeporganisatie) Belgium were so impressed with his work, that this year Luc was invited back to create a full production design - incorporating lighting, set and video / visuals.

The event - honouring the very best of Flemish musical talent and success from 2014 - is the most watched music TV show in the country (broadcast on Channel Eén - One) and a massive talking point on the country's music industry calendar. It unites all the glitz and glamour straight off the red carpet - with Awards nominees and celebrities taking their seats in the 'Green Room' right in the middle of the space - with a full audience of very enthusiastic music fans who fill the rest of the studio.

This year

Details
Canada - Calgary's Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts has taken delivery of eight Clay Paky A.leda B-EYE K10 Easy fixtures for its Jack Singer Concert Hall, an 1,800-seat venue which is one of the most beautiful and acoustically acclaimed venues in North America

Located in the heart of Calgary's downtown Cultural District, Epcor Centre is a six-level complex occupying a full city block. It is one of the three largest performing arts centres in Canada and the largest in Western Canada.

The Centre's head electrician, Kris Ladd, discovered the B-EYE K10 Easy in a demo video taped at LDI. Matt La Brie, in the Calgary office of Christie Lites, brought some fixtures to the Centre for Ladd to look at, and he was impressed.

"We try to stick to buying the well-known and well-supported brands," Ladd explains. "We were looking for LED wash fixtures the size of the K10s

Details
Kuwait - Nicolas Kyvernitis Electronics Enterprises (NMK) has been hosting the NMK Roadshow across the Middle East region since November last year and completed the series with the last seminar in Kuwait on 12 January 2015.

After the success in Oman and especially Qatar, the distributor of several high quality brands, which were also presented during the roadshow, was pleasantly surprised with the turnout of the attendees in Bahrain and Kuwait. The attendees were interactive and eager to learn about new products and technologies while getting to know the distributor that is covering their region.

The roadshow mostly attracted the AV professionals from broadcast, rental and installation companies. Shure Axient Wireless System, Neutrik Xirium wireless audio system together with Clear-Com, Roland AV and HK Audio products were the most discussed topics during the event.

"NM

Details
USA - DPA Microphones and the Villalobos Brothers, the contemporary Mexican ensemble known for their debut album Aliens of Extraordinary Ability, teamed up for the closing performance of the 2015 NAMM Show.

Playing the GoPro Stage at the Grand Plaza of the Anaheim Convention Centre on Sunday, 25 January, the Villalobos Brothers performed a blend of songs that celebrate the richness of Mexican folk music, with the intricate harmonies of jazz and classical music, which lends to the natural reproduction of the DPA d:facto Vocal and d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones.

The Villalobos Brothers, comprised of siblings Luis, Ernesto and Alberto Villalobos, are a trio of renowned vocalists and violin players. The group is supported by band members Humberto Flores on guitar, Rosa Avila on drums and Leo Sherman on bass. Having recently acquired the DPA mics for use in both the stud

Details
UK - At the PLASA Awards 2014, the judges said, "The Mythos hybrid automated light works as a hard-edge spot, a beam light, or a wash light with a range of effects. It has excellent colours, incredible brightness, terrific optics, and a small housing. It's also very energy efficient and it has a patented and innovative cooling system. In the Clay Paky tradition, it's a real winner."

Since those auspicious words in October, Ambersphere Solutions have been busy fulfilling orders and shipping Mythos units to numerous clients across the UK. Its hybrid versatility and wide range of effects has attracted the attention of lighting companies and designers alike.

Ambersphere's sales director, Phil Norfolk elaborates on the market reaction to this latest Clay Paky unit, "The interest in Mythos is incredible. It's such a versatile fixture. Rental companies recognise the po

Details
UK - When tasked to create the ambience in a special setting for award winning singer, writer and guitarist Anna Calvi's performance with the Heritage Orchestra at St John's Church, Hackney, east London, lighting designer Tom Campbell combined imagination with a Robe moving light rig and some novel ideas ... to unfold a richly layered piece of lighting sculpture.

Factors galvanizing the production were no flying facilities and only a single phase 63A power supply to run all the technicals - sound, lighting and a full camera shoot. This was split into two single phases to run the production.

In addition to the Heritage Orchestra, with whom Calvi had performed a Giorgio Moroda tribute earlier in the year at Sydney Opera House, the evening saw many exclusive collaborations with a series of special guests.

Tom lit a festival tour earlier in the year for Calvi, including her ince

Details
Moldova - Elation Professional's new Platinum SBX hybrid moving head showed both its brain and brawn at the King of Kings Eagles Series and King of Kings World Grand Prix kickboxing tournaments held 20 December at Manej Sports Arena in Chisinau, Moldova.

Broadcast live on FightBox HD and Eurosport HD respectively, Elation dealer Eventica Grup SRL, a regular staging and technical contractor of KOK tournaments, turned to the Platinum SBX for its multifunctionality as well as its power and dynamism.

King of Kings events are some of the most popular kickboxing events in the world. Intense affairs with pre-bout introductions a vital step in building up the exciting atmosphere, a powerful, dynamic light was need to match the emotion and adrenaline of the fighters themselves. Lighting designer Serghei Mosin of Eventica Grup turned to the Platinum SBX, lining the front edge of an entr

Details
UK - Holo-Gauze, 3D display solution for hologram effects, is set to feature as part of the new series of Gadget Man for Channel 4 after wowing the show's producers, who were "hugely impressed" with its effectiveness, both on-set and on-camera. The ingenious, highly transparent metallic gauze was used to create a giant, revolving holographic vase of flowers during filming of a 'Date Night' episode. The show is expected to air sometime in the Spring.

Holo-Gauze is claimed to be the only gauze able to work with 3D polarised projection systems which use a minimum of two projectors - although it can also produce believable 2D hologram effects using one projector, as was the case for Gadget Man. Holo-Gauze screens can be produced to any dimensions, and hologram sizes are only limited by projector distance and power - assuming the correct lighting is used.

&q

Details
Denmark - BroaMan's Danish distributor Danmon has been providing broadcast solutions to the country's public service broadcaster TV 2 for nearly two decades.

Last year, when they decided to upgrade one of their SNG trucks (DNK-47) from SD to HD, the Odense based facility moved its commentator intercom onto a Clear-Com platform and added a BroaMan Mux22 transmission device for signal routing.

This has enabled them to transport multiple data and video signals down a single fibre in the SNG truck, including HD-SDI, RS422, Sync and Ethernet network, using Dante as their audio platform.

TV 2 project manager, Kim Hansen, explains, "For years, the truck has been a key component in our technical setup for major sporting events (such as Tour de France, Handball World Cup etc.) where it acted not only as SNG, but as a small OB truck."

This latest upgrade involved stripping

Details
France - Every year, Mairie de Paris (Paris City Hall) turns the square in front of the building into an ice rink for the citizens of Paris to enjoy ice skating during the winter. This year technical audiovisual specialist, Novelty Group, decided to add enhancements to the traditional Christmas animation on the ice rink, and after conducting stringent testing on the SGM G-Spot LED moving head, placing it under a shower for three days, they were convinced by the IP-rating of the luminaire.

Supported by Sonoss, SGM's local partner, this year's festive installation went very smoothly. "This is typically the kind of site where it would have been very hard and expensive to install waterproof domes to protect standard moving lights, and thus making advanced animation impossible," says Vincent Criulanscy, product & project manager at Sonoss. He further adds that domes do not

Details
USA - As it approached its hundred-year anniversary as a congregation, Highland Park Baptist Church in Columbia, Tennessee sought to revamp its four hundred-seat sanctuary. It hired Church Interiors of High Point, North Carolina to help design and organize the work, which included structural and aesthetic improvements, as well as a new Sharp/Extron video system based around three huge LED screens and a cutting-edge sound reinforcement system.

Now, Danley Sound Labs horn-loaded loudspeakers and subwoofers deliver musical and highly intelligible sound, with power and processing supplied by rock-solid Ashly Audio amplifiers and digital signal processors. The sound system is zero compromise, exceeding Highland Park's hopes for fidelity and quality while still meeting their budgetary requirements.

"Highland Park's old sound system had an undersized sixteen-channel board and fr

Details
UK - XL Video supplied one of its new bespoke mini-cam packages and LED screens for the latest UK and European tour by talented singer / songwriter and Brit winner Ben Howard, working with lighting and visuals designer Andy Rowe.

The tour - Howard's most comprehensive to date in terms of video production - was project managed by XL's Paul 'Macca' McCauley who commented, "We are thrilled to be involved with this fast rising star and an imaginative production design with an interesting and different slant on video."

Andy, Macca, production manager Chris Pollard and tour manager George Sewell met before the start of the tour to discuss video requirements and practicalities, and XL proposed their Pixled F-25 LED screen as a lightweight medium resolution solution that met the creative brief, together with the four mini-cams, which needed to be discreet, tourable and cost-

Details
Europe - Helene Fischer's Farbenspiel tour of Germany, Austria and Switzerland in late 2014 marked the first set built by Brilliant Stages under Dark Arches Holdings ownership.

The German television presenter and singing star's sell-out tour saw her perform on a complex, multi-level stage with a large LED tree as a spectacular backdrop.

Working from a design concept by Stufish Entertainment Architects, with whom Brilliant Stages has worked on innumerable occasions, the main design realisation was driven from Brilliant Stages' drawing department, led by their chief CAD designer, Mel Welch.

Fabrication of the 22m wide x 12.5m deep x 2.1m high main 'A' stage took place at Brilliant Stages' site in Hitchin. The stage surface incorporated two 5m long travellators, a star trap and rear access steps, with the whole structure built on a rolling aluminium frame for easy deployment. T

Details
Romania - The glittering new Club NOA (Nest of Angels) has opened in the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca following a major renovation of a well-known clubbing site on the Strada Republicii.

Oozing fashion and luxury, the club has a potent Martin Audio system based around the W8VDQ, at the heart of an advanced sound and lighting infrastructure costing €500,000 to put together, and boasting 65kW of sound.

The Sound and lighting systems were specified by Romanian installation specialists Simo Sound SRL (Disco Zone), with support from Martin Audio's Product Support Group. The 18 W8VDQ enclosures specified dominate the main room, combining line array and differential dispersion technologies to provide an advanced hybrid solution to the requirement of even coverage over wide angles and throw distances..

The owners, Kàlmàn Jozsef, Horvàth Julieta and Kàlmàn Ladislau had already

  1. Green-Go chosen for Warsaw National Theatre
  2. ETC Congo Kid fills Munich church with light
  3. uTRAC discounts for PSA members
  4. Britannia Row Productions in Chinese takeover of Trafalgar Square
  5. Intevi and PSCo deliver for Melissa
  6. Sir Richard Eyre at Rose Bruford College
Page 1677 of 1804
Astera - Large MPU - June 2025
Sennheiser - MPU - June 2025

Latest Issue. . .