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

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UK - The London FolkFest 2015 recently took place at The Bedford in Balham. It was the fifth year for this boutique festival, which has grown into a four-day event with more than 50 acts playing across three stages all under one roof.

This year, The Bedford worked closely with Shure Distribution to provide a whole range of microphones and DI's that could cover every kind of voice and instrument.

Head engineer, Phil Davidson said, "The beta98a was a stand out for me. Its external preamp design makes the microphone very small, so no matter where it was placed, it was completely unobtrusive for both the musicians and the audience. The inherent design, coupled with the incredible sound quality, made it an invaluable tool, and throughout our four day festival, I used it on a huge range of instruments, including acoustic guitars, drums, accordions and cellos."

When it ca

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UAE - MobileConnect from audio specialist Sennheiser provides live audio streaming to mobile devices for the very first time. The universal system uses a Wi-Fi connection to stream lip-sync audio content to the user's smartphone, which has an app that instantly converts it into a mobile receiver. Applications are unlimited: whether it is in a theatre, a museum, a sports stadium or a company - MobileConnect can be quickly and easily installed and is also cost-efficient in use.

"Smartphone penetration figures in the Middle East exceed the global average making this an ideal market for this solution. For companies, it is an extremely cost effective means of connecting with their audience and also exploits the fact that users are far more comfortable leveraging their own devices as has been proven by the BYOD trend," said Mig Cardamone, director of sales and marketing at S

Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

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USA - The Bay Community Church Malbis campus in Daphne, Alabama illuminates the lives of its congregants in many ways, including through contemporary worship services in a new 1,500-seat worship centre. Eight Clay Paky Mythos fixtures - the first installed in a house of worship - and eight A.leda B-EYE K10 fixtures from ESB Group do their part to light up the weekly services.

The interdenominational Bay Community Church holds a Saturday evening and two Sunday morning services - which are live streamed on the Internet - at its Malbis campus, plus entertaining First Wednesday events known for their high production values. The church also has campuses in Mobile and Foley, Alabama.

ESB Group of Springville, Alabama designed and installed the AV components of the new worship centre. ESB designs and builds unique media experiences from start to finish using leading-edge audio, video

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USA - With winners chosen by the fans, the K-LOVE Fan Awards brings together the biggest names in Christian music, sports, books and movies. Held at the Grand Ole Opry House, the annual awards show is produced by Go Live Productions and each year has grown in both size and popularity. Production manager and show director Scott Moore strives to capture the spiritual significance of the evening through a dynamic yet functional lighting and video package which was supplied by Elite Multimedia.

"I've been involved with the K-LOVE Fan Awards since its inception three years ago and the design process for the show is all about function as opposed to form," began Moore. "There are a lot of specifics that we have to accommodate such as the production schedule of the Grand Ole Opry that we must work around, the artistic desires of the 20 bands that will be performing, , and

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USA - "The responsibility of protecting audiences, crew and gear falls to the production and promoters," says Rich Barr, experienced production manager. "Keeping everyone safe has to be a priority. Unfortunately, there is very little support in place to help large, outdoor events do this efficiently."

Barr, with his intricate understanding of production, together with Mike Chapman, meteorologist at the National Centre for Atmospheric Research, have created Perfect Storm. Designed to educate, advise, and implement weather safety procedures for any live event, their team is dedicated to changing the way the entertainment industry approaches weather.

Perfect Storm offers a direct approach to the needs of each client. With radar coverage around the world, a tactical weather strategy is created for accurate, down to the minute weather warnings. Providing summari

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UK - Possibly the most memorable black tie event in any given student's time during university, the final graduation ball fuses triumph with reflection in one memorable - alcohol consumption permitting - evening. With all eyes fixed upon the stage for an evening of presentations, awards and performances, for one night only the pressure is on the university to give a fond farewell to its graduating students.

When Lancaster University - one of the UK's top 10 universities - approached local event management and production specialists Arranpaul Audio with the task of supplying, designing and executing the 2015 graduation ball, Head of Lighting for Arranpaul and LD for the ball Oliver Wilkinson were all too keen to utilise Arranpaul Audio's vast array of Chauvet lighting, particularly the new Next NXT-1 moving RGBW LED panels from Chauvet Professional.

"I have always been a C

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UK - Controllable LED specialist and design/manufacturing house Light Initiative (LI) is the creative force behind the bespoke LED structured screen on band of the moment Years and Years' UK tour and summer festival dates.

Commissioned by the band's lighting designer Squib Swain, the screen is based on the vibrant album artwork for their debut offering Communion. The striking image comprises lines branching and intersecting at different angles from a central 'Y' shape.

"As the album artwork is such a strong visual image, it was fairly obvious we had to create some sort of 3D version of it for the live shows," says Squib. "Light Initiative created a unique set piece that turned my vision into a reality. It makes such an impact with the crowd."

Light Initiative expanded the album cover outwards and extrapolated the lines to create a wider screen that

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UK - The Brindley is a theatre and arts centre located in Runcorn, Cheshire on the banks of the River Mersey and is the main centre for arts and entertainment for the borough of Halton which covers the twin towns of Runcorn and Widnes.

The Brindley's success can in large measure be attributed to the innovative, forward-thinking ethos of its team. In 2014, in keeping with its dynamic approach, its management team took the decision to address a number of technical issues at the theatre that required attention. At the top of its agenda was the theatre's tired and increasingly unreliable house lighting system. A few years before, to its great satisfaction, the theatre had replaced its backstage blues lights with GDS BluesSystem and following a meeting at The PLASA Show, invited GDS to design a house lighting system that would resolve all its issues. Northern Stage Services (now Nati

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Singapore - On Tuesday 14 July, the Arsenal away kit for the 2015/16 football season was revealed in a spectacular fan activation at the Esplanade in downtown Singapore; the first time the Gunners have unveiled a kit outside of the UK.

Having completed the launch of the Puma Arsenal Home Kit in June, innovision was tasked with creating another experience that was 'Powered by Fans'; using local supporters from the region as a key ingredient to energise the big reveal execution.

innovision designed a giant 5m high 3D torso as the centrepiece of the stage, set against a 15m x 5m LED wall. Hundreds of local fans sang a classic Arsenal away chant to power the countdown to the launch before a graphical 'lightning storm' struck the LED walls. A projection mapped sequence gradually revealed the new kit, stitching the new shirt to the torso. Completing the launch, 10 Arsenal first team

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Spain - Over a 25-year musical career, Fito Cabrales has played to fans across the Spanish-speaking world and now this popular rock band Fito & Fitipaldis is out on the road again in support of their latest album Huyendo conmigo de mi. Lighting design is by well-known LD Luis Pastor, who has integrated into the set three eye-catching crosses of light made up of Elation Cuepix Panel RGB matrix luminaires.

Following an initial winter leg in arenas and theatres, the band's current summer tour is playing outdoor venues across Spain. Lighting, sound and visual equipment for the tour, including the Cuepix Panels, is being supplied by PRG of Spain.

The three light crosses make up the set's visual overhead focus, each cross mounted on an individual cross-shaped truss structure and made up of 13 Cuepix Panels (39 total). Part of Elation's Cuepix Series of LED blinders and strip

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Italy - Over 60 Clay Paky Mythos fixtures are currently lighting the famous Tree of Life sculpture for the Milan Expo 2015, in a stunning light show conceived by renowned lighting designer Koert Vermeulen of ACT Lighting Design.

Koert Vermeulen worked alongside creative director Marco Balich of Balich Worldwide Shows and architect Florian Boje from Gio Forma Architect for the project, specifying the award-winning Clay Paky fixtures from rental house Agorà. Located on the Expo site in front of the Italian Pavilion, The Tree of Life serves as a centrepiece and meeting place throughout the 6-month event, with the light show repeated twice daily to entertain visitors.

"The Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life theme of the Expo is reflected in the light show," explains Vermeulen. "It evokes the relationship between man and nature and the Mythos play a particul

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UK - Florence + the Machine's infectious enthusiasm at Glastonbury 2015 was enhanced by an elegant stage set with powerful, tasty lighting by lighting designer Rob Sinclair. To complement Florence's dramatic and eccentric music, Sinclair combined new and traditional technology in different ways to reinforce Florence's grandiose performance on the festival's celebrated Pyramid Stage.

Central to the backline were 36 ProCan Par 64s, with custom finish turned around in record time by TMB. Six rows of six ProCans, at 1000W each, could be seen by a Glastonbury audience of over 100,000 from any location at the world's largest greenfield festival.

Also across the backline a large 'kinetic wall' of mirrors, made by Jeff Wickley, was agitated to great effect by 20 DMX-controlled ProFan wind machines. Built into the stage risers was a Firefly LED festoon system with clear Filament versio

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USA - Robe MiniMe and LEDBeam 100 fixtures are proving a perfect choice to help bring the atmosphere alive at Haven in South Beach, Miami, a trendy eatery, lounge and nightclub known for its eye-catching video wall, cool music, onyx bar and tasty mix of organic eats and exotic cocktails, all available to the in crowd until the early hours of the morning.

The lights - three MiniMes and seven LEDBeam 100s - were specified by Tom Griffin of Griffin Automation OSF and are installed in the centre of the venue. Their small size and unobtrusive design is a perfect blend with the classy high-detail style and vibe on display at Haven.

The Robe units were recommended by David Chesal, who was asked by Haven's technology director Ricardo Agudelo to provide a fresh, new, contemporary lighting scheme that offered something different and interesting for Haven customers.

"They were abs

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UK - STM modular line array could be found on one of Glastonbury's legendary venues. The Rabbit Hole is a festival highlight; theatrical, interactive, artistic - and super-exclusive, the Alice-in-Wonderland themed live venue attracts top-end DJs and artists such as Mark Ronson to perform in the 600-capacity tented space. This year, the dancefloor system was comprised of Nexo STM modular line array loudspeakers, featuring the new M28 cabinets.

Posh, the production manager for The Rabbit Hole, explains that "our music is primarily house-based dance, and we have live bands with DJs in between, so the sound system is integral to the success of the venue. Nexo's STM set-up looks as though it's not going to do that much but, when you turn it on, it does an awful lot."

Set up as a quad system, STM modules were groundstacked in the corners of the venue. Each stack comprised

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UK - For more than 100 years, the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Children's Fund has supported children whose parents work, or have worked, in the Naval Service. Initially supporting the children of ex-servicemen, the charity has grown considerably over the years, with 80% of its current beneficiaries' parents still in service. On Saturday 11 July, to celebrate its work, the charity held a fundraising day at Leadenhall Market in Central London and approached White Light to provide the production support.

Led by Clare Scherer, assistant director at the RNRMC, the day featured a dinner provided by Chamberlain's of London with guests entertained by the RMA Jazz Trio followed by a performance from All That Malarkey cabaret group. Clare comments: "We wanted to host an event which would not only raise funds for the charity but would also be highly entertaining within a unique setti

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UK - SGM's IP65-rated LED solutions featured heavily across this year's vast Glastonbury Festival site. Starting at the Pyramid Stage, a wide range of powerful washes, LED strobes and dynamic 3D effects cascaded down to a number of smaller stages where they performed long duty cycles flawlessly over the four days.

While 14 of the G-Spots, provided by HSL, graced the main stage (seven on each PA wing) elsewhere the scramble was on to secure inventory, in particular, for the popular and award-winning P-5 washlight.

Main stage lighting was supplied by Neg Earth, and with The Who headlining, their LD Tom Kenny, had nothing but positives to say about G-Spot. "I was impressed with its power, and the way it fought through everything else. I also loved the colour and they matched the other fixtures well."

Enlightened Lighting's Simon Marcus was one who drew on the P-5s to

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USA - Country superstar Kenny Chesney is one of the biggest concert attractions in the world, although he rarely leaves North America. Each of his tours - 13 since he began headlining in 2002 - has sold in excess of 1m tickets; the current 2015 Big Revival Tour passed the million ticket mark before the first note of music was even played.

Production audio - as well as lighting - is provided by Nashville-based Morris Light and Sound. Working with Chesney's front-of-house engineer Chris Rabold, they have pioneered the use of Nexo's STM Series modular line array to deliver in such large venues.

The 2015 Big Revival Tour marks ML&S and Rabold's second outing with Nexo. Chesney's regularised tour schedule - playing many of the same venues, with the same crew and the same rental provider - has provided near-scientific conditions for judging the development of Nexo's radical modular

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USA - If LA had a town square it would be Grand Park, 12 beautifully manicured acres in the middle of America's second largest city, where Angelenos gather to celebrate festivals and special occasions.

Not surprisingly, thousands of people from throughout Southern California decked for the most part in lavish red, white and blue stream into the park every Fourth of July to take in the city's largest rooftop fireworks display. This year, in addition to the pyrotechnics, a collection of 20 Next NXT-1 panels from CHAUVET Professional also tickled the eyeballs with an intensely bright and fast moving lighting display.

Kinetic Lighting of Glendale, CA positioned the moving LED panels on the truss structure at one of Grand Park's two music stages. Powered by 25 pixel-mappable RGBW LEDs, and producing razor sharp beams with an illuminance of 22,780 lux at 5 meters, the Next NXT-1 had

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Germany - Engineering and automation specialist WIcreations designed and built the six moving video pods which are the major structural element of the current Herbert Grönemeyer tour, which features another innovative and interesting stage design by Gunther Hecker of Cue Design.

Grönemeyer's music and message for this tour is straightforward and uncomplicated, so Gunther's design was based on the Bauhausian principals of simplicity with clean lines and clear definition, all the time keeping the understated - and sometimes reluctant superstar - as the focus onstage.

The six pods (in the full rig format) are initially in their 'home position' in the roof and move to various different looks throughout the show - completely changing the dynamics of the stage space and also creating an impressive high-impact wow factor. The first time they come into their full vertical positions

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Europe - British electronica trio Years and Years are touring summer festivals and venues with an ingenious bespoke LED strip screen mapped by an Avolites Ai Infinity EX8 server.

The concept for the LED screen was the idea of Years and Years lighting designer Chris 'Squib' Swain. It reflects the cover artwork for the band's debut album Communion, with coloured branches of LED strips intersecting at different angles from a central 'Y' shape.

Years and Years have played some of the summer's biggest festivals, including Glastonbury, BST in Hyde Park, and T in the Park.

London-based controllable LED specialists Light Initiative created the screen. It is freestanding at almost 5m high and constructed in sections of LED which makes it easy to install, dismantle, and travelwith short festival turnarounds in mind.

"Avolites' Ai Infinity EX8 can take an LTC timecode inp

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USA - Located in scenic Columbia, the University of Missouri (MIZZOU) is the Show Me State's flagship public university, with over 35,000 students. In their free time, those students hang out in the MU Student Centre, which offers numerous dining options, a bookstore, a games area, retail outlets, a bank, and countless places to relax and catch up with friends. In addition, it houses university offices.

Recently, A/V integration firm TSI Global Companies, based in St. Charles, Missouri, designed and installed a comprehensive music playback, paging, and sound masking system for the student centre. The new system covers all three floors via 18 zones from a centralized location, but because TSI used Ashly Audio network- and CobraNet-ready multi-channel amplifiers, it required only minimal cabling.

"There were a few spaces, such as the bookstore and a few of the other retail

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UK - The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London is now opening its spaces for any company, charity or private individual to hire. To celebrate this significant occasion, it hosted a launch event on 15 July which showcased many of the impressive spaces it has available. The gallery enlisted White Light as the sole technical supplier for the evening's production requirements.

By allowing companies the option to hire without corporate memberships, this means that the National Gallery is opening up its Central London spaces to a wider range of clients than ever before. Alicia Earls, White Light's business development manager, comments: "The National Gallery is such a historic and renowned venue so this is a really exciting development. It will see more organisations use their amazing spaces and, as a result, ensure that the events they host will be elevated by taking plac

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Australia - In live theatre, communication between the stage manager, sound and lighting operators, stage hands, fly crew and all the other people behind-the-scenes that bring a show to life is paramount. In an environment where half a second can mean the difference between an audience crying or laughing, it's absolutely vital that the command to 'go' on cue comes through clean and clear.

Ben Lightowlers, head of sound at Sydney Theatre Company's Wharf Theatres, had been looking for almost two years for a digital replacement for their aging wireless comms system, but kept coming up against the recurring problems of sound quality and digital signal latency. "There were teething problems in digital wireless technology," he related. "Latency was a problem across many brands, and the audio quality just wasn't there. Latency was particularly troubling; if there's someo

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USA - Tom Kenny is used to designing amazing, eye-catching lightshows for high profile TV events and loves a good challenge, so making the 2015 Country Music Television (CMT Music) Awards in Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN, look "out of this world" really energized his creative spirit.

Tom worked in close collaboration with a creative team including production designer Anne Brahic and art director Aaron Black. He was also assisted by over 250 Robe moving lights.

With some of the most popular country music stars taking the stage for the event plus a series of sometimes unexpected collaborations, the show was kick started with a full on DJ Zedd / Lady Antebellum set.

The CMTs present a series of fan-voted awards for country music videos and television performances, broadcast live on the CMT network with voting administered via CMT's website.

This year Tom chose 93

  1. Luke Bryan rocks the house with Sensaphonics
  2. Sennheiser UK hosts 20th annual charity golf day
  3. Hippotizer V4 on John Peel stage at Glastonbury
  4. XL Video solution for Pointless scoring tower
  5. Kasabian stand out on festival big screen
  6. ProLights Illuminate British Grand Prix party
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Astera - Large MPU - June 2025
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