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

Business

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Czech Republic - Czech PA company, MB Agency, has invested in Allen & Heath's dLive digital mixing system as part of an upgrade to its hire stock.

The system was used for the first time when MB Agency was appointed by the Czech Forestry Association to manage the technical production of its 20th Anniversary Gala Ball, which took place recently at the cultural venue, Aldis, in the city of Hradec Kr

PLASA Show 2025 - Banner - June-Aug 2025

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Copyright Row - Led Zeppelin founders Robert Plant and Jimmy Page must face trial in a copyright row over the song Stairway to Heaven, a US court has ruled. A Los Angeles district judge said there were enough similarities between the song and an instrumental by the band Spirit to let a jury decide. The trial has been scheduled for 10 May.

Stairway to Heaven, released in 1971, is widely seen as one of the greatest rock compositions of all time. The copyright infringement action has been brought by Michael Skidmore, a trustee for the late Spirit guitarist Randy Wolfe, who played on the same bill as Led Zeppelin in the 1960s, and claims he should be given a writing credit on the track. Led Zeppelin guitarist Page and lead singer Plant are reputed to have written the track in a remote cottage in Wales.

By Royal Appointment - Kylie Minogue will perform for

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Italy - Japan's view of the world and the beauty of its nature has been displayed across seven giant pillars installed at Milano Salone 2016 - created using 140 Panasonic 55" inch professional video wall displays.

The installation is designed with the theme of K?KAN - the Invention of Space and sees 140 TH-55LFV5 panels arranged into seven pillars each over six metres high. It combines the traditional culture of Japan with state-of-the-art technology.

Milano Salone attracts approximately 310,000 visitors and 160 participating countries each year. It has a strong influence on the design industry as a launch pad for the latest global design trends. In recent years, it has evolved beyond its role as a design exhibition and is drawing attention as a platform of expression for many brands.

(Jim Evans)

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Brazil - NBC Olympics, a division of the NBC Sports Group, has selected Lawo to provide VSM (Virtual Studio Manager) broadcast control and monitoring solution for its production of the Games of the XXXI Olympiad, which take place in Rio de Janeiro in August. The production will also utilize Lawo's innovative IP Commentary System. The announcement was made today by Timothy Canary, vice president of engineering, NBC Sports Group.

With the selection of Lawo's VSM and its LCU, Lawo's IP Commentary System, NBC Olympics will implement new, enhanced control flexibility at both the NBC Olympics production compound within the International Broadcast Centre in Rio, and for the NBC Olympics' studios in Stamford, Conn.

VSM will be the overall control system for NBC Olympics' core routing and tally management, connecting to multiple 3rd party devices on an IP backbone, utilizing approx

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UK - In February, KV2 Audio were involved in a unique, immersive and intriguing live event at Nottingham Arts Theatre.

It is not often that any venue can boast 40,000+ performers in a live multi-sensory experience - let alone the welcoming and intimate Nottingham Arts Theatre - but the two sold-out Be Play One shows saw just that.

One is the soundscape from the UK Pavilion Milan Expo 2015, which sought to highlight the importance of the UK's honey bee in our food chain and plight as a species.

At the production, 12 musicians were augmented by live-streamed signals from Brackenhurst, Nottinghamshire - where the sound of a 40,000+ strong honey bee hive was instrumental to the sonic experience delivered to the audience via a fully immersive 15:2 surround sound system made up of KV2 Audio products.

Following listening tests undertaken at Hoare Lea's Londo

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UK - As you approach or leave Newcastle Central Station on the train, you have your breath caught as you catch sight of the mighty River Tyne and its many famous bridges, but why would you turn your head the other way? This is why the Staiths are so easily and often overlooked, in favour of their skyline dominating neighbours. They do however deserve their moment in the spotlight, as they are a key link to the region's industrial past.

The Staiths, a giant wooden structure on the Gateshead side of the River, has helped carve the North East's industrial past by facilitating the exportation of coal to the rest of country and far beyond. As the coal industry fell into decline towards the end of the 20th century, this structure of wood declined also and with it part of the North East's history. However, after a heritage grant and lottery funding, in 2015 the Staiths was able to op

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UK - Filmed at Belfast's vast T13 Urban Sports Park and Event Space, Can't Touch This is new, fast paced entertainment from the BBC. Hosted by Zoe Ball and Ashley Banjo, the show pits contestants against each other as they navigate their way through a huge assault course in the hope of 'touching' the ultimate prize.

Working with LD Gurdip Mahal and Gaffer James Tinsley, Aurora shipped an extensive equipment package to the historic former shipyard to ensure the team had exactly what they needed to spotlight all the action.

With over 60 Spacelights plus a variety of tungsten heads being hung to provide fill throughout the former warehouse, the venue had an almost film set feel, however the LD soon added plenty of automated fixtures to get things moving.

Seventy-two GLP X4 fixtures provided the main wash to the set with Martin Viper Performance, Rush PARs and SGM P

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Taiwan - The National Palace Museum Southern Branch in Taiwan has recently opened and is expected to have more than 5m visitors in its first year.

Audio Light Systems supplied & installed the wireless lighting control system to all 175 specialist display cabinets. Each of the cabinets was fitted with Universal Fibre Optic lighting systems which required full wireless dimming control.

Steve Aitchison a senior engineer at ALS spent months designing and fine tuning the correct system for the project and said, "The museum needed to have day to day control of each light in each cabinet throughout all the floors. We provided a portable touch screen in each gallery so the non-technical staff could easily change or fine tune the lighting. I'm really pleased with the project. Our team in Taiwan did a great job."

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Following on from last year's £500,000 investment, Fisher Hires has responded to client demand and invested another £275,000 into the business, significantly increasing sound, video and lighting stock.

New products include: Nexo speakers such as the versatile Nexo ID24, and the 45N 12 stage monitor, ChamSys MagicQ lighting consoles, more Panasonic display screens including the super bright 80" LED, plus a wide range of mics from Shure, AKG and Sennheiser as well as Yamaha QL5 mixers.

Lighting capacity has also increased with the purchase of SGN G spot IP Rated Movers, Robe Robin Viva LED Profiles and more of the popular ETC Source Fours LED Lustr's.

Graham Beswick CEO of the Fisher Productions Group said, "I am extremely proud of the work that we do across the Fisher group and our rate of growth. This growth has enabled us to carefully select a compreh

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Germany - As in past years, the Production Resource Group (PRG) created their spectacular Highlight Show in the Festhalle at Prolight+Sound 2016.

The first show took place at the event of the LEA Awards, where a spectacular laser display accompanied the performance of the musical group Glasperlenspiel. Afterwards, during the exhibition, the highlight show was played every half hour, showcasing the high quality equipment and show creation capabilities of PRG.

Besides the conventional lighting, video projections and the powerful sound system, an extraordinary and exceptional laser show took place.

More than 400W of laser power were implemented, including the world's-first presentation of a completely new show design lighting fixture - the RTI NEO SIX RGB white light beam arrays with analogue modulation and beam deflection. This new fixture allows for creating twist and w

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South Africa - The Splashy Fen Festival is aptly named. Started on a trout farm in the spring of 1990, South Africa's longest running music festival serves up giant helpings of outdoor fun in and out of the water for thousands of visitors every year. There are also arts, crafts, games and plenty of music, from folk, rock, and techno, to mbaqanga (the up-tempo jive music of the townships), and the wonderfully distinctive Zulu style of isicanthamiya.

Over 1500 different groups have performed on the Splashy stage over the past quarter century. This year, the venerable festival got a bold new look, courtesy of a dynamic contemporary main stage lighting design by Shaniel Laloo that was anchored by Strike 4, Rogue R2 Wash and Legend 230SR Beam fixtures from Chauvet Professional.

"The festival has been an institution with a loyal following - everyone loves its relaxed atmosphere

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South Africa - Rivers Church in Durban has invested in a new MA Lighting dot2 core console which was specified by Rivers' head of lighting, Ed Helliwell. Helliwell is based at the Rivers campus in Sandton Johannesburg, but also oversees the lighting and visuals departments of the busy Durban venue. He's a big advocate of the flexibility of the MA control platform and has had a great experience with the grandMA2 in Johannesburg, which has just opened a brand new 3000 capacity auditorium which is in addition to their older 1200 capacity space.

Durban has also been refurbished to increase the capacity to 950 with a new balcony, and that seemed an appropriate time to upgrade elements of the lighting.

The previous console was old and having issues, so when Helliwell attended a course run by MA's South African distributor DWR to introduce and highlight the power and simplicity o

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UK - Busy rental company Storm Lighting, based in Woking, Surrey, has invested in 30 x Robe BMFL Blades and 30 x LEDWash 1000s for their ongoing work which includes a diverse range of premium corporate events, leading theatre tours and some music shows.

This new sale follows Storm's initial Robe purchases made in 2014, of LEDBeam 100s, LEDWash 600s and Pointes. These fixtures have all been a great success, and impressed with their reliability and the excellent customer service from Robe UK, Storm founders Dave Knapp and Pete Kramer decided to continue their commitment to the brand. The BMFL Blades and LEDBeam 1000s replace some older moving lights.

Robe UK came to Storm and conducted a demo explains Dave, "As soon as I saw the BMFL Blades I knew they fitted the bill! We were hugely impressed with the output, the speed and the compact size of the unit."

They also have a

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India - On 6 April, India's National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) opened its long-awaited Science Exploration Hall - an impressive new exhibition centre within the famous Kolkata Science City. The new Exploration Hall features three galleries, which together tell the story of human evolution.

Eight HDX-W20 FLEX projectors from visualization expert Barco, set up by VizExperts, bring a breathtaking 360° view on human evolution in the crispest of colours.

Established in 1997, the iconic Science City is India's largest science centre. "Our goal is to bring science to the people, and to young people in particular. To stir their enthusiasm, we make our message as fun and interactive as possible, by using state-of-the-art technology," says A D. Choudhury, Director of NCSM, science city park.

When in 2013, Science City decided to build a new hall fully dedicated to an

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USA - The growth of the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) continues apace, as a further seven international companies, at the forefront of digital video production and delivery, opt for membership. Avid, Dejero, Ikegami, IntoPIX, Matrox, NEC and TVU Networks have swelled the ranks of the alliance in the last few weeks.

Avid led the revolution in audio and video editing over 25 years ago. Its software-based, non-linear editing system is a television and video industry standard, providing the tools needed to create, manage, store, distribute, and monetize content.

"The smooth transition to IP is going to depend on customer confidence in the interoperability of equipment in the production and distribution chain," Tim Claman, vice president of platform and solutions at Avid. "At Avid we're fully committed to supporting standardization efforts that facilitate this interope

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USA - Wohler Technologies of Hayward, CA in the San Francisco Bay Area has joined the rapidly growing ranks of the RAVENNA Partnership community. With over three decades' experience in in-rack audio monitoring technology, the company is now one of the leading lights in signal monitoring and correction solutions in multiple form factors for broadcast, motion picture and production facilities.

NAB sees the unveiling of Wohler's first RAVENNA/AES67-enabled products, the iAM-AUDIO monitoring device which offers AES67 decoding, metering and monitoring in a compact 1U package and a new AES67-enabled module for their flagship AMP2-16V audio monitoring and management platform.

According to Craig Newbury, Wohler VP sales & marketing, "As customers continue to migrate over to IP, the requirement to support technologies such as RAVENNA/AES67 in monitoring solutions, like our new iAM-

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USA - Audio-Technica ATH-M70x M-Series Professional Monitor Headphones have been used for both mixing and playback for a remarkable sonic and visual art installation in Times Square, New York City.

From 1 April, Soundwalk Collective, an international sound collective based in New York and Berlin, is presenting JUNGLE-IZED: A Conversation With Nature - a month-long interactive multi-sensory art installation that transforms Times Square and transport close to half a million visitors daily to the heart of the Amazon.

Presented in collaboration with David de Rothschild, The Times Square Advertising Coalition (TSAC), Times Square Arts, Audio-Technica, and CXA+ART, the immersive installation includes a participatory audio experience and an interactive video, to encourage a conversation with nature and to heighten awareness of the environmental impact of climate change.

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Denmark - Vejle Musikteater is the largest performing arts venue in the picturesque cultural hub of Vejle which sits at the head of the magnificent Vejle Fjord and the convergence of the Vejle and Grejs rivers in southeast Jutland, Denmark.

The venue has invested in over 50 Robe fixtures, including MMX Spots and LEDWash 600 moving lights and PARfect 100s in the last three years, a move instigated by Technical Manager Tor Futtrup.

Opened in 1993, the Musikteater has two main auditoriums, the Great Hall with 1,134 seats - and it can also be configured as a standing venue - and the Jacob Gade Hall which seats up to 300, plus an active programme of drama, large scale musicals, concerts and comedy productions.

It also hosts parties and special events, and the Musikteater crew facilitate technical production at the nearby Spectrum Conference and Sports Centre and for the ann

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USA - With over a decade long relationship, Sir Paul McCartney, once again, commissioned TAIT Towers, the company that supplies live staging equipment and scenic design for 19 of the top twenty highest grossing artists world tours including The Rolling Stones, Taylor Swift, U2 and many more, to build a one of a kind stage and scenic set for his One on One Tour. McCartney will be performing a high-energy, high impact show by displaying a repertoire of his music catalogue supported by electrifying video animation, a moving stage and a collection of his personal photos.

Since McCartney's compelling Super Bowl XXXIX performance in 2005 where TAIT provided its artistic talent and staging experience, the two have worked closely together to continue executing the best audience experiences. Likewise, for the One on One tour, TAIT worked closely with McCartney's production manager and

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UK - The British Entertainment Industry Radio Group (BEIRG) urges Programme Making and Special Events (PMSE) spectrum users to respond to an Ofcom consultation on funding for a possible compensation scheme for those affected by the clearance of the 700 MHz band (694-790 MHz).

On 31 March 2016 Ofcom issued a consultation document entitled Managing the effects of 700 MHz Clearance on PMSE and DTT viewers. It can be found here: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/700-clearance-cfi

The consultation is designed to ascertain the possible level of funding that will be needed to compensate PMSE users whose equipment will be left fully or partially redundant after the 700 MHz band is cleared of PMSE users.

Towards the bottom of the webpage listed above, there is a link to a 'PMSE Financial Questionnaire'. While the UK Government has not yet formally committed

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UK - The Salisbury Playhouse has recently brought down the curtain on a Myrtle Theatre Company production of Up Down Man by Brendan Murray. The lighting of this internationally acclaimed play was designed and programmed by award winning LD, Michael Straun. He chose to run the show on an MA Lighting dot2 Core console after attending one of the seminars run by exclusive UK distributors, Ambersphere Solutions.

Straun was keen to get a closer look at the MA dot2 console after his first brief encounter at a show in Sydney, Australia. "I didn't have time to have a proper 'play' to explore what it could really do so I grabbed the chance to attend one of the sessions offered by Ambersphere. It provided a good insight into the basics of the desk but the Ambersphere team were also on hand to answer more in-depth questions. However well you think you know a console you always lear

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UK - With a loyal fan base in the UK eager to see their favourite wrestler vie for ring dominance, American professional wrestling organization TNA Wrestling travelled to England earlier in the year for a series of arena shows dubbed the Maximum Impact 8 Tour. Elation Professional lighting fixtures have been staples on TNA Wrestling events in the UK recently with this year's lighting package predominately made up of Elation Platinum Beam 5R Extreme and Platinum Wash ZFX Pro moving heads.

This year's shows, which included an extra layer of emotion as they marked wrestling legend Kurt Angle's final bouts, were designed by Emmy Award-winning LD Jeff Bornstein with Ian Livie, whose production company has provided entertainment technology for TNA's UK shows for years, assisting with the design elements. Lighting operation was by Andre Huff.

Lighting designer/director Jeff Borns

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UK - Lifting, control and rigging specialist Lift-Turn-Move (LTM) supplied LoadGuard hoists to SSE Audio which were used for The Corrs tour. Four of the LTM team were invited by SSE Audio's Russell Holt to watch the load in at Liverpool Echo Arena. This was the first time behind the scenes for some of the team to see their gear in action. It has proved a very valuable experience, improving their understanding and product knowledge.

The attendees from LTM comprised of Clare Sheppard from Sales, Alison Marshall from Marketing and Jack Triggs from the Workshop. Jack Triggs stated, "Today has been extremely beneficial, I am based in the workshop building the hoists I have never had the opportunity to see what the hoists were used for in a concert, it gave me a great overview of how the hoists are used."

The LTM team enjoyed watching the rigging by SSE Audio's Perttu Korteniemi

  1. GLP helps Blake Shelton get back to his roots
  2. Coopers Malthouse installs L-Acoustics X Series
  3. Video Design meets the challenge of WE Day: London
  4. Arena Group on track at Aintree's Grand National
  5. Alpine Rigging invests in Kinesys
  6. Bosch headquarters installs Dynacord and EV system
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