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

Business

Details
UK - The Roland O.H.R.C.A M-5000 Live Digital Mixing Console was recently put through its paces as FOH console for the 'Club House' live music tent at the Somersault Festival in Devon. The opportunity to showcase the new live console to engineers working at the festival came from a collaboration with Darryn de la Soul, founder of the audio engineers' network and support service Soulsound.

Renowned Soulsound sound engineer Jose Ortega (also Quincy Jones Productions, Imogen Heap) was at the helm of the M-5000 for the majority of the performances. Describing his experience using the M-5000 for the first time, Ortega commented, "The M-5000 was quick to understand and has really good features that made my life easy."

Roland Product Manager Nico Suarez was also on hand for setup and to support the engineers for three days of back to back performances. Following the success

Details
USA - The 2015 version of Gathering of the Vibes had everything its legion of fans have come to expect from this annual four-day seaside festival that celebrates the sound and the spirit of the Grateful Dead. There was the eclectic mix of music ranging from rock and reggae to bluegrass, jam band and soul, as well as scenic surroundings, arts, crafts and a colourful, freewheeling lightshow anchored by a collection of Legend and COLORdash fixtures from Chauvet Professional, provided by JDI Productions.

The festival, which drew over 25,000 people to Connecticut's sprawling Seaside Park (it covers over two miles of shoreline on the Long Island Sound), is a far cry from the small get-together that Ken Hays and a group of friends held 20 years ago to honour Jerry Garcia, following the death of the Grateful Dead's legendary frontman. Hays, who still runs Gathering of the Vibes, recentl

Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

Details
South Africa - Gearhouse South Africa has purchased four grandMA dot 2 XL-F consoles which will be split equally between their Johannesburg and Durban branches.

"We chose them to fill a gap we felt existed in our inventory of consoles, for desks suited to the smaller and medium sized corporate work," commented Stuart Andrews, lighting operations manager.

"Given that we have established the MA2 platform as the standard for the Gearhouse Johannesburg branch to supersede the MA1 platform on which we operated for many years, it made sense to us to continue in this vein. The units are small and extremely powerful consoles yet very compact."

(Jim Evans)

Details
UK - Now the summer season is over, regular LSi contributor James Eade is running more temporary electrical training courses around the country. The popular industry-backed Creative Skillset Certificate in Temporary Power Systems has several new dates for later this year and into January 2016, including a new venue in Salisbury in November.

With nearly 600 candidates having completed the course to date, the feedback is continually proving positive: visit bit.ly/scites to read more and find out about dates and venues. Some courses are being organised by BECTU so members may be eligible for a discount. Currently the major broadcasters plan to enforce Creative Skillset Certificate in Temporary Power systems on their productions by April 2016, so time is slowly running out to beat the de

Details
USA - Based in Santa Monica, California, fast-casual vegan restaurant Veggie Grill has taken off. The restaurant chain, which opened its first store in 2007 in Irvine, California, now operates over two dozen outlets in three states, focused on offering only plant-based food, with no meat, dairy, eggs, cholesterol, animal fat or trans fat.

Veggie Grill's management works hard to have every aspect of its customer experience reflect a sense of high quality and high standards, and that extends from the food to the background music. That's why virtually all of Veggie Grill's more than two-dozen locations - there were 28 as of the end of 2014 - now have sound systems from Bose Professional.

Depending upon an individual location's overall size and interior dimensions, a Veggie Grill restaurant will have anywhere from four to 16 Bose FreeSpace DS-16F, DS-40F or DS-100 surface-mount sp

Details
UK - Fuelled by Green D+, Midas Productions powered the campsites, 21km of LED festoon lighting and a record-breaking disco ball at Bestival last weekend, generating more kVA but cutting costs and emissions in the process.

Situated at the top of the route into the festival arena, and visible from all the main campsites, Midas three-phase inflated Newsubstance's mirror tile-covered PVC bladder to 10.33m, 35cm bigger than the previous disco ball record holder, and kept it at size via a bespoke pressure management system.

Andy Dann, operations director at Midas, comments, "The Guinness World Record was a fantastic achievement for Bestival and it was a pleasure to keep the ball in shape and to bring Green D+ to the event for the first time."

Introduced to the market this year, Green D+ is cleaner on the generator than red diesel and produces 35 per cent less NOx and 85

Details
UK - The Knight of Illumination Awards (KOI) TV judging panel has announced its eagerly anticipated shortlist for this year's ceremony, which will take place at London's glamorous Troxy club on Sunday 4th October.

Organised by the ALD, STLD, The Fifth Estate Ltd and Clay Paky and now in its 8th year, the KOI Awards is a celebration of the creative talents of international lighting and digital content designers working in the UK across TV, Theatre and Concert Touring and Events.

The sub-categories for Television are: Drama; Light Entertainment; Small Studio; Events; and Video Graphic Display.

The TV shortlist judging panel comprised: Stuart Gain (Chairman) - Rob Horne (Small Studio) - John O'Brien (Drama) - Stuart Gain (Light Entertainment) - John King (Events) and Mike LeFevre (Graphics).

The shortlist is as follows:

DRAMA - Gavin Finney for Wolf Hall; John

Details
USA - Early in 2015, creative production design company 44 Designs of Nashville, Tennessee, took on set and lighting design duties for country music duo Thompson Square's new music video Trans Am and used Elation Cuepix Panels, Sniper 2R multi-effects and Platinum Beams in the visual design. The award-winning and multi-platinum group liked the look so much they decided to take it out on tour.

"It was a great experience and it's a trending video in the country market," says Jeff Lavallee, lead designer at 44 Designs, who has been designing Thompson Square's stage look for the past four years, almost as long as the duo has been around. "The song and video capture the brazen passion and energy of Thompson Square's live shows. Together with Keifer and Shawna Thompson, we then decided to use the look on their 2015 tour."

An important visual element of the

Details
UK - This week, ArKaos PRO presented a dynamic, interactive demonstration day at White Light's new training centre, Studio15, where it showcased its MediaMaster PRO software and range of media servers.

Entitled Learn to Video Map Like a PRO! attendees of all levels of experience learnt how easy it is to achieve complex projections quickly, trigger shows from a lighting desk and build a quick cue sequence using ArKaos MediaMaster PRO.

"The purpose of today's presentations was to show people how easy it is to use ArKaos MediaMaster on their events," says WL's technical solutions director, Andy Hook. "MediaMaster PRO is the fastest system out there and even a first time user can be mapping and running shows in a very short time. The same software and servers can be used for television studios, theatres, production companies or schools - it is so versatile an

Details
UK - Thorpe Park Resort theme park in Surrey has recently been supplied with a complete EM Acoustics audio system based on the HALO-Compact line array system supplemented with MSE-218 subs, AD and AQ amplifiers and a number of just-launched M-C12 monitor speakers. The complete system as well as lighting equipment was supplied and installed by production solution specialists, White Light. The system was purchased largely to cater for Thorpe Park's busy outdoor events season which includes the monthly Ministry of Sound club nights and the Island Beats concerts over the summer.

White Light's business development manager, Jonathan Haynes, led the project. "After a number of onsite product demonstrations, it quickly became apparent that the EM Acoustics system was ideally suited to their requirements as it provided the flexibility they required in order to handle the wide variet

Details
The Netherlands - A key objective point of Operation Market Garden during World War II, the John Frost Bridge is one of three bridges in the city of Arnhem, Netherlands, and serves as a central connection to the city across the Lower Rhine river. The bridge is named after British Major-General John Dutton Frost, who commanded the Allied forces that defended the bridge during the Battle of Arnhem.

In celebration of the bridge's world-renowned history, the city commissioned Netherlands-based lighting integrator and distributor Fairlight BV to illuminate the bridge in 2004. Eleven years after the initial install, Fairlight BV was brought back to retrofit the design with more energy- and cost-efficient lighting fixtures from Martin Professional.

Fairlight BV faced two main challenges during the installation. The first was the location of the fixtures. Due to the bridge's architect

Details
South Korea - Two high profile Korean music TV shows have recently featured Robe's new BMFL Blade moving lights.

Music Bank and Yoo Hee Yeol's Sketch Book - both produced by and aired on the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) network - had lighting designed by Kim Jung Hyun, with the BMFL Blade fixtures provided by rental company, RGB.

Music Bank is one of the most popular TV shows in South Korea. It airs every Friday night at 6.30 p.m. prime-time KST and is broadcast across a further 72 countries worldwide. Yoo Hee-Yeol's Sketchbook is a K-Pop music programme combining a chat show with live performance. Its celebrity host Yoo Hee-Yeol, also known as Toy, is a one-man band.

Both shows are recorded at the TS15 studios in Seoul, Korea with a live audience of around 300. Kim Jung Hyun used 24 x BMFL Blades for Music Bank and 16 fixtures to light

Details
Denmark - Jakob Kvist, who is behind the light design on Art Zone, was on the lookout for a weatherproof wash light with deep saturated colours and high output for this installation. The SGM P-5 LED wash light met all of his demands.

Roskilde Festival 2015 featured a new edition last year's successful Art Zone. In an area of approximately 6,400sq.m, located on the left side of the renowned Orange Stage, this year's Art Zone consisted of some interesting architectural installations that were stunningly lit.

Dutch architect duo, Marco Zolos and Robbert van der Horst, once again carried out the design for Art Zone. The young aspiring Danish lighting designer, Jakob Kvist, subsequently added the powerful lighting expression - "I got contacted by Johan Kjaerulff Rasmussen, responsible for Art Zone, in May. At that time, the building structures and concepts were already at thei

Details
USA - All three ETCP examinations will be offered at LDI in Las Vegas, NV on the morning of Saturday, 24 October, 2015. Interested applicants must submit their application, along with supporting materials and fee, to the ETCP office no later than 30 September, 2015. The ETCP office is located at 630 9th Ave, Suite 609, New York, New York, 10036.

Candidate information, including eligibility requirements and applications, is available on the ETCP website (http://etcp.plasa.org/ldi2015.html). Materials can also be mailed by contacting Meredith Moseley-Bennett, ETCP Certification Manager, at 212-244-1505 or etcp@plasa.org.

The ETCP Council members are key leaders drawn from entertainment business, labour, facilities, associations, and academia representing the diversity of the entertainment industry. Membership includes PLASA, Actsafe, AMPTP, Cirque du Soleil/MGM MIRAGE, CITT, Dis

Details
France - DPA microphones played a central role in broadcasting this year's Bastille Day celebration in France, an event that ranks as the oldest and largest regular military parade in Europe.

In a tradition that dates back to 1880, this annual French national holiday parade takes place in Paris along the Champs Elysées. The event is broadcast across all major French TV channels, scoring around seven million viewers, and is also screened by a number of foreign TV channels. Approximately 100,000 people flock to watch the parade, which includes mounted and motorised divisions as well as flight squadrons, and of course a large amount of musicians.

French integrator BS Technology has traditionally covered the parade, and this year the company invited audio specialists Fréquence to look after the HF aspects of the event. Fréquence director, Julien Pérille

Details
Luxembourg - Robe BMFLs are the latest major addition to the house lighting rig at the Rockhal in Esch / Alzette, Luxembourg.

The country's best known club and concert venue is located appropriately in the Avenue du Rock 'n' roll in the epicentre of the magnificent steelworks which once dominated the region of Esch-sur-Alzette, now the site of a 450m Euro redevelopment project to preserve the former industrial magnificence of the disused plant, in the process transforming the area into a bustling scientific and cultural centre.

The Rockhal, opened in 2005, is also the largest major concert venue in Luxembourg and regularly hosts a string of international artists who can play its 6500 capacity main hall, a smaller Club space for 1100 people or the 250 capacity The Floor.

It also has a Music & Resources Centre with an infrastructure of rehearsal rooms, a recording studio, a me

Details
UK - For the 2015 Rugby World Cup finals, 20 nations play at 13 stadiums across the UK, with the final being held at the national rugby stadium, Twickenham. In a tournament that is being watched by millions worldwide, this year, for the first time, White Light is providing the production support on the event.

WL's role in the Rugby World Cup is reflective of its recent expansion in the fields of audio and visual technology. Earlier this year, the company acquired video and lighting technology firm Shock Solutions - a forerunner in the field of LED lighting and audio-visual equipment solutions with over ten years in the industry. As a result, WL is able to offer a greater range of production services than ever before - as visible at this year's Rugby World Cup.

Andy Hook, founder of Shock Solutions and now technical solutions director at WL, comments, "This year, we've hel

Details
UK - The Rugby World Cup 2015 kicked off this weekend with 13 of the UK's most impressive stadiums all meeting international event standards n selected as match venues. Almost half of those exercised integrated LED video display systems designed, manufactured and installed by Daktronics.

Twickenham Stadium, the Home of England Rugby, features four Daktronics LED video displays. Two large displays measuring 167sq.m and featuring a 13HD pixel layout are supported by a further two 8.82sq.m displays with 10mm line spaced SMD LEDs. The screens can display one large image to highlight live video and instant replay, or divided into multiple sections for a variety of statistics, game information, graphics, animations and sponsor advertising.

The other match venues in London are, Wembley Stadium and The Stadium, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. These also deploy impressive visual solution

Details
Middle East - As the Middle East prepares for a busy event season Showforce has announced the addition of two new services to their portfolio of event support services. From this September the company will provide female event crew and technical support staff alongside their stage crew, technicians, production staff and promotional personnel.

With many events in the Middle East attended only by women, there is a need for can-do ladies who provide an extra pair of hands and ensure their successful delivery. Showforce's newly launched female event crew offer a team of experienced, friendly and resourceful all female event crew. Launched primarily to cater for private events, weddings and galas they can assist with set-up, decoration, operate lighting and sound desks, follow spots and other technical elements.

Ian Spendlove, Showforce's founder and chief executive comments, "

Details
Pastures New - War Horse is moving on to pastures new after a seven-year run in London's West End. The play, based on Michael Morpurgo's book, has been a major success since its award-winning puppetry first took to the National Theatre stage. The final performance at the New London Theatre will take place on 12 March next year. Morpurgo paid tribute to an "iconic play, but not simply a play, certainly not a musical, a show like no other, with puppets at its heart". He said, "It has moved millions in London and all over the world. How great to see the theatre always full of people of all generations, all caught up in the story playing out before them, in a show once called 'the greatest anthem to peace ever seen on a stage'." War Horse is the most successful play in the NT's history.

Cultural Ties - Shakespeare's Globe and the National Theatre ar

Details
UK - ArKaos PRO, pioneers in interactive video technologies, will exhibit at PLASA London 2015 on the stand of its exclusive UK distributor, White Light (C30).

ArKaos PRO will demonstrate the latest version of its MediaMaster software which has consistently remained at the forefront of the industry's creative projection and LED applications. MediaMaster 4.2 which was released earlier this year, adds an integrated Cue Player for reliable, accurate playback of visual sequences, and 4K support which enables three layers of 4K video to be played on servers with a Core i7 processor. MediaMaster 4.2 is available as a free upgrade to existing MM 4.x users.

An impressive ceiling of LED lightsources will be used to showcase MediaMaster 4.2 on the stand, alongside ArKaos LEDMapper, its all-in-one LED show control solution. LEDMapper delivers LED show control in three easy steps, working

Details
USA - Schoolhouse Audio-Visual, a Plano, Texas based systems design and integration firm, has brought new life to nearby Sojourn Church, by integrating Dante network from Audinate. Since launching the network, the 950-seat church has significantly elevated its routing flexibility and audio quality, pleasing everyone from parishioners to clergy and the church band.

Schoolhouse Audio-Visual was first hired to repair existing loudspeakers, and soon discovered that Sojourn Church wanted to bring a number of disparate audio components into a common system. For Blair McNair, systems project manager at Schoolhouse Audio-Visual, the choice was simple.

"Dante is the first and only networking system I have looked at to date that really makes sense out of the box," said McNair. "When looking at this project, it immediately dawned on me that I can incorporate wireless micro

Details
USA - Foo Fighters front man, Dave Grohl, has famously reclaimed the stage for the band's Sonic Highways tour, mounted on his own 'iron throne' after breaking his leg in a fall from the stage in Gothenburg in June.

The throne is adorned with a corona of 12 Ayrton MagicDot -R LED moving lights which are used by lighting designer, Dan Hadley, both as feature lighting and for illumination of the charismatic singer.

MagicDot-R is one of Ayrton's newest fixtures and the first professional LED moving head to feature a single 60W 4.5° RGBW LED source. Its totally round head fits within the diameter of its cylindrical base in all positions, allowing bold new configurations with barely a centimeter of space between two luminaires.

"When Grohl came up with the napkin drawing of the throne I knew, from seeing Ayrton's demo video, that the MagicDots were exactly what the throne

Details
UK - PLASA Show organiser PLASA Events has outlined the pro audio highlights awaiting visitors to the show this year, taking place at The ExCeL exhibition centre in London's Docklands on 4-6 October.

"We are seeing a definite shift from audio manufacturers and distributors towards PLASA as a viable event to launch a variety of new products, with the PLASA Awards for Innovation being a great place to showcase new technology," says Christopher Toulmin, Director of PLASA Events. "This year we have over 50 leading brands joining us from the pro audio sector with many new names joining that list."

Pro audio products and features at this year's show include:

A.C. Entertainment, AC-ET's Audio division, will provide hands-on demonstrations of the latest cutting-edge digital mixing consoles from a wide portfolio of leading brands, with exclusive demonstrat

  1. WI offers Cup of Hospitality to Kazakhstan
  2. Shure Europe announces vocal competition
  3. Meyer Sound Lyon enhances Ottawa's Northern Lights
  4. Penn Elcom invests £2m in global expansion
  5. Martin Audio appoints key European distributors
  6. The Church get atmospheric with Chauvet Rogues
Page 1758 of 1803
Astera - Large MPU - June 2025
Sennheiser - MPU - June 2025

Latest Issue. . .